Philosophy and reality

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

The question of the nature of reality has been
a human occupation since, well human beings
moved from the trees to the ground… millions of years
ago…

What is real?

That has many different answers, the Christian denies
the reality of current existence in favor of the reality
of god and heaven and hell… This current reality is
negated by Christians in favor of god and the search for
salvation…

To the Buddhist, reality is being born and reborn,
and the key aspect of this reality is the attempt to
escape being reborn… to be reborn again and again
is to invite ongoing suffering, and the point of existence,
for the Buddhist, anyway, is to escape this rebirth and
suffering…

and for scientists, the phrase that Einstein used pretty
much sums up science, "God does not play dice’’
and that is the belief that there is an ultimate reality that
plays out in the universe as the solar system that keeps
on moving, and a galaxy that revolves around the universe,
and a universe that itself keeps on moving… if there is
one truth in the universe it is this, reality is motion…
everything, everything is in motion in some fashion…
as I look about the room, I see my bookcases and they
stand there solidly, not moving… and the table that
my computer is on, not moving at all… and yet,
we know that everything on earth is moving because
the earth itself moves and rotates all the while its
moving around the sun while the sun rotates around
the galaxy…
for example, the Earth rotates at the speed of roughly
1,040 miles per hour.. that is at the equator… at the
poles, the speed is effectively zero… you are simply
rotating in place around the axis…in other words,
the speed one travels at on planet earth, depends
on where you are… much faster at the equator and much
slower at the poles… and there is varying amounts of
speed on the planet also… if one is walking as oppose
to one being on a jet plane, or on a train…
the truth is that the one reality we can count on is
the motion that we all have, even if you are dead and
buried, you are still traveling on planet earth at over
1,000 per hour… and that earth is also traveling in
space and the entire galaxy is also moving…
the one constant ‘‘reality’’ is motion…

The next step is to think about reality in another way…
we have a couple different versions of this reality…
We have the determinism of Spinoza and the flux
of quantum mechanics… which version of reality,
the determinism or is the flux the ‘‘true’’ reality?

reality itself lies somewhere between the absolute
determinism of Spinoza.. and the flux of reality which
is Quantum mechanics, in which the atoms and the
behavior of particles at the subatomic level, are not
bound by the laws that govern the rest of physics,
in which the sun revolves around the galaxy and the
galaxy itself is moving through the universe…
we have two different set of reality within physics…
the large, determined, set reality of planets, solar
systems, galaxies and the universe itself… those things
seem to operate on a different set of rules then
the atoms and the subatomic world does…

Which reality is the ‘‘true’’ reality? the random nature
of the subatomic world or the ‘‘set’’ certainty of the larger
universe of galaxies and planets?

I hold that both ‘‘realities’’ are true…
and are both governed by another ‘‘rule’’ that
we call entropy…
and my handy dandy dictionary defines entropy as:

A thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a
system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical
work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or
randomness in the system…

''the second law of thermodynamics says that entropy
always increases over time…

  1. lack of order or predictability; the gradual decline
    into disorder…

that the science tells us that our universe is not a
‘‘set’’ one… that the defining feature of our universe
is motion… and that motion itself must follow the
‘‘rule’’ of entropy… the movement from order to
disorder… that entropy itself can be seen in
the universe… the aging process is one of moving
from order to disorder… and enough disorder and that
become death… our lives, from birth to death is
one great example of entropy… going from order to
disorder… all life, every life travels the same path,
from order to disorder… the ‘‘law’’ or ‘‘rule’’ of life
is that it travels from order to disorder…
the question becomes at what speed of disorder
every single life travels at… insects travel at
a different speed of entropy than human do and
humans travel at a different speed that turtles travel
the same law/rule applies but at different speeds…
and this is true at both the smaller level, ants, bugs,
humans and at the larger level, planets, solar systems
and galaxies… entropy is another word for chance,
randomness… for as we travel from order to disorder,
we also travel within disorder and chaos… for entropy
is the cause of chance and disorder within the universe…
for the disorder and chaos is chaotic in nature…

So, how does this work? we see disorder/entropy
every single day of our lives… the movement of
life, objects, planets, go from order to disorder
and thus, we get chance and randomness in
the universe… for the problem lies within
entropy itself… this going from order to disorder cannot
be predicted, or graphed, or turned into mathematics…
it is chance itself at work for we cannot describe nor
plot the path going from order to disorder…
entropy cannot be mathematically plotted…
entropy can be generalized but not specialized…
which means we can roughly guess the path of
entropy, but we cannot be specific about the path
of entropy… such as saying, I am born, I lived,
and at some point, I will die… but we can’t predict
how my own body failing will work out… which
body part, will fail next… and it will be a relatively
slow process in that failure of my body…
that is entropy… we know the body will fail,
we just can’t be sure of the order of that failure…
moving from order to disorder… we can’t
predict the movement of the disorder…
and that is chance, randomness…
the inability to predict the path of entropy into
chaos and disorder…

and this is true of everything single object in the universe…
the universe itself is ‘‘suffering’’ from entropy…
the movement from order to disorder…
it is taking a very long time, billions of years,
but it is happening and will continue to happen
long after human ‘‘have left the building’’…

but if the universe is the movement from order to
disorder, why does that say/mean to us?

That our universe is essentially moving from order
to disorder.. which is to say, moving from certainty to
uncertainty… into chaos and chance and randomness…
and what keeps the universe from falling into
complete randomness and chaos?

Those pesky rules/laws of the universe is what
keeps the universe from falling into chaos and randomness…
and what laws/rules are we talking about?

to name a few, evolution, gravity, speed of light,
the laws of thermodynamics, are few of the law/rules
of the universe that keeps entropy and randomness
away, at least for the moment…
so, we live in an essentially chaotic universe held
together by rules and laws that cannot be violated…
what keeps the universe from falling into total chaos
are the forces of gravity, the speed of light, evolution…
to name a few of the laws/rules that govern the universe…

So, philosophically, what does this mean to us?

next post…

Kropotkin

2

the bottom line seems to be that we create our own
reality, but we are, as all things are, bound by a set of
laws/rules like evolution, gravity, thermodynamics,
and of course, entropy…

Kropotkin is bound by set of rules/laws… I cannot overcome
evolution, I cannot overcome gravity, I cannot overcome
entropy… but within those rules, I can, to a degree,
create my own ‘‘universe’’, my own reality…
I have needs, I must eat, drink water, sleep,
health care and shelter and education… are some
of the bodily needs I must, must fulfill… but I also
have, as set by the rules of evolution, psychological
needs such as love, esteem, safety/security, a sense
of belonging… human beings are, as set by
evolution, a rule, that we are social beings, that
must, MUST have contact with other human beings,
on a daily basis or we more quickly, go from order to
disorder… the defining feature of our lives is both
the social aspect of being human and the process of
entropy… we have both in our lives and we must,
on some level, engage with entropy and human social
engagement… those are the rules… now we try
to fight the rules/laws but in the end, we must, must
follow the rules of existence…

So, to a certain extent, we can create our own reality,
but we are also forced to accept the rules/laws of
existence, that line our choices of reality…
I can create my own reality, but it must conform
to the laws/rules of being human/alive…
entropy, evolution, gravity are all rules/laws
that we must obey… but the odd thing is that
we ourselves, are the creators of randomness
and chance within our lives… and within creating
our own reality, we invite chance and randomness
into our lives…

My reality is that, until Friday, which is my last day
before I retire, that I go to work, where there are certain
rules/laws that I must follow as an employee, and that
the shoppers, I work in a grocery store, must also follow,
and yet, due to the interaction between customers
and employees, we engage in chaos and randomness…
the rules/laws of making profits for example, dictate
that we cannot give our products away for free…
and yet, we do that depending on the situation…
the rules/laws guide our actions and behavior,
and yet, within those laws/rules, we engage
in often random and chaotic actions and behavior…
in response to the actions and words of others…
there is a set of rules/laws limiting what my words
and actions maybe, and yet, within that, I can
operate randomly and chaotically…
depending on my words/actions, I can practice
entropy… the movement from order to disorder…
by insulting a customer, I can create chaos and disorder
when he comes to beat the shit out of me…
(I have had people take a swing at me before, they have
not have connected, but that was due to my getting
out of the way, the grocery business is a tough one)

but let us connect this business of going from order to
disorder in real life…

Kropotkin

3

Now given what we have previously said, what is the
role of the government?

Basically, the government exists to help keep and
maintain order…it defines the rules/laws and
provides for observance of those rules and laws…
think about the laws and the police…
we have laws, about violence for example,
what if we no longer have the police to
help keep the peace? How do we maintain
order without the police? How does order work
in a society without police? the police stands for
the laws and rules we must obey to help keep
our society in order… without the police,
how do we keep order within the state/society?
the police act like the rules/laws of gravity,
evolution, or entropy… by their energy, they
help keep order within the society… to keep it
from doing what all systems do, which is go from
order to disorder… that is the entire function
of the government… to help maintain order
and prevent the movement from order to disorder…
think about it… peace and war… peace is order,
and war is violence, which is disorder, writ large…
violence is disorder, love and peace is order…

and the government stands for order… which is to say,
it is part and parcel of the laws and rules of gravity,
evolution, and entropy… part of the same system that
helps keep order…

so, the IQ45 attack on the government, the reduction of
government is to move from order to disorder…
to take away the ability of people to feed themselves,
taking away the snap benefits, that is moving from
order to disorder… to reduce the ability of the
government to help keep order is to engage with
entropy… all IQ45 and his minions are doing
in moving our state and society from order to
disorder… they are actively engaged in destroying
the state/society we live in… because all societies/
states to exist, requires rules and laws to help maintain
order… and by removing the government, we are
removing the laws and rules of the state/society…
and for what? what is the reason for ending the
order of the state and society?

They themselves cannot tell you… and why?
because the reality they tell themselves that exists,
is the wrong reality… we create our own reality, but
that reality can cause us to move from order to disorder…
as IQ45 belief that the government is the enemy…
it isn’t… and that people, especially those not
white, wealthy or Christian… are the creators/cause
of disorder within the state/society…

The truth is that the rules/laws must be obeyed,
and those rules are just as much about science,
as it is about the state/society… if we live, as
I have suggested in a society that has chance
and randomness within it, we must work toward
order, not disorder…

As Hobbes stated, that the ‘‘state of nature’’
is ‘‘Chaotic, violent, and unstainable..
‘’‘the war of all against all’’ has no winners,
because it is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’’
and with every single removal of the state/society,
we move every closer to this ‘‘state of nature’’..
‘‘the war of all against all’’ which appears to be
the goal of IQ45 and his minions, is a place where
the only actions are chaotic, random, and full of chance…
because if one removes the rules/laws, what is left?
only chaos and randomness…
removal of the institutions of government, as
IQ45 is doing at a rapid rate, is an engagement with
bringing about chaos and randomness… which is
another way of saying, a ‘‘state of nature’’…
and that cannot be the goal, for within
a ‘‘state of nature’’ only the wealthy and powerful,
will retain a voice or a presence in the state/society…
all others will be swept aside in the coming violence
that comes with the ‘‘state of nature’’'…
to advocate no government or institutions
of the government is to advocate for violence,
anarchy, a ‘‘state of nature’’… of going completely
toward chaos and disorder and staying away from
order… and what happens with disorder and chaos?
it is death… that is what entropy does, it goes from
life to death… and that is what IQ45 is hoping for,
complete and total chaos and disorder…
entropy completed… which is death to the state
and the society…

what next?

Kropotkin

4

government is the necessary condition for the
existence and continuation of existence for people…
we must have rules/laws, just as we have rules/laws
like entropy, gravity, evolution, thermodynamics…
laws like this, are laws that allow for order, to
allow existence the freedom to be…for without
laws and rules, we reside in a ‘‘state of nature’’’
where life is ‘‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
short’’…

is that what you want or hope for in your life?

Kropotkin

5

so, the question becomes, not that we have or
don’t have government, but what kind of government
should we have?

and therein lies the ongoing battle between conservatives
and liberals…

and what does liberalism and conservativism bring to
this question of government?

Kropotkin

6

Life moves towards order. Humans are moving towards technological order, becoming cyborg machines with ever increasing technology.

I don’t know the truth about the big bang or the universe. But most likely scenario is, this is not the first universe, the universe big bangs, expands, then shrinks into a singularity and then again big bangs, over and over, and it never truly fulfills entropy.