TOPICS
Head
Preliminary
The four Divisions or Topics…are ways or modes of exploration and transformation in being. The intent is to present a complete set of modes with regard to being and the world. Meaning, nature and validations of concept of being and world and of meaning will be given later.
The first two Divisions are general in nature; together, in interaction, they aim at completeness in exploration and understanding of being. These are the modes of being and knowing. The first division, World and Being, is an exploration of the world and being as such. The idea of exploration includes construction and transformation and possibilities for construction and transformation. In a sense, this first division includes the second division on Ideas and Meaning; however the role and development of ideas and meaning deserve and require some separate treatment for their maximum development and utility. Dimensions of the world and of being including mind, their elaboration and validation, and the idea, nature and viability of validation or justification are part of the exploration: they are developed from roots in the history of thought and being and through experience, hypothesis, analysis, transformation and construction of both ideas and being; a concept of hypothesis and the real is developed so that even while hypothetical and in process, the dimensions partake of the real; the dimensions so developed are meshed and merged with the Divisions or Topics and the Functions. In the way of an incomplete distinction between object and process, Topics and Functions have overlap.
Divisions Three and Four could be included in the earlier divisions; they are, however, are of special interest in themselves and as illustrating and supporting the main development.
Origin of Being and The Elements of Being…Transition from the Individual to the Universal
…in my life and exploration from personal to universal… begins with discovery: being in the universe [despite pain] is essentially beautiful - - share, cultivate - - full being partially realized by humankind: death is [as] a concept - - objective glimpsed - - crystallizes as a process - exploration-research-writing-sharing - - reflexive… i.e. ., the process examined - - a design - the objective: the nature of being, of my [our] presence in the universe, Being and the Absolute - - sharing, application in the world… i.e., social action.
Focus of Division One: World and Being
What is Being, and what is its nature? To be in the world is to partake of its nature - to be is to know; an essential aspect of Being is knowledge of the world. What does it mean to know? If world processes are indeterministic - as required by of newness… and creation so must be the process of knowledge, if novelty emerges through variation and selection so must novelty in knowledge. This marginalizes the idea of certainty in knowledge, and definite justification and so much analysis of the nature and growth of knowledge. Knowledge is a form of relationship which, we shall see, generalizes as meaning; of course, just as an indeterministic world will have phases of determinism else there would be no enduring elements, knowledge will have its phases of certainty. It is the concept of knowledge as certain or definitely justifiable that is marginalized. Knowing and action are a two way interaction between Being and world; the second aspect is Action. Meaning is a generalization of relationship and so of knowledge; action is a generalization of process; and Being is the full generalization of the object that endures over process and operates at the level of knowing and meaning.
Being, world and universe. The universe is constituted of being.
The individual and the iniversal… an Individual Life and
its Elements and Transformations
Extension and duration: being and process… or space, time and number
Asking the question of the nature of being is possible on account of space, time, number? This question is valid regardless of the epistemological status of space and time.
Being and process generalizes
Concept and dimensions of being. Being, meaning and action- and alternatives… as natural. Derivation… analogy from established disciplines, from standard metaphysics and exploration, from construction and transformation; direct and transcendental approaches.
Concept of being.
Levels: nature, society, mind, absolute; kinds of process: deterministic dynamics, indeterministic emergence. Other formulations. Variety of being.
Dynamics of vision, being, limits and reality.
Provide conceptual and theoretical foundation in interaction with exploration of being. Includes the concept of being.
Focus of
Division Two: Ideas and Meaning
Knowing - as contrasted to and as included in the focus for Division one… and founding, nature and implementation of founding.
Concept and dynamics of spoken and written word, text. A system of texts.
The dynamic, in general, of texts and textuality is to effect the ways in which individuals, societies, meanings, ideas, influence and communication thread through time… and in which ideas spread across geographical and cultural borders
Here, consider influence of worldwide networked electronic information systems [the networking revolution] on the nature of the text and its influence. The idea is not new. An essential point is the breaking down of barriers: informal / formal, draft / publication, accessible / inaccessible, public / private, text1 / text2 / text3..., text / media, hidden / visible...
Being
and The Elements of Being.
Material and conscious process
and evolution. Being in the world.
The Absolute and the Noumenon
Head
The general topic is machines that enhance human function... as extensions [tools] and or as agents that simulate or replicate human function. The topic focuses on the being, if any, of machines rather than merely on utility. Therefore the topic does not include technology as such which is [a small] part of Division One.
The focus of this division is on digital information processing. In part this is because of my interest in the topic. It is also because the topic is current - both paradigmatically and as the focus of intense technological development. I use my computer in a number of ways over and above the standard general and scientific applications. These center around the development of knowledgeware - software that performs assistive or a degree of independent function in thought, e.g., concept development. I continue to develop applications; some are being used and developed for this work. Finally, computers and mathematical theories of and related to computer function may provide insight into the nature and processes of mind. I do not agree with all claims or sympathize with all computer or information approaches to the mind but do believe that the avenue continues to deserve attention. Further, computers and computer architecture remain in evolution. There is some promise of the development of a quantum computer that may simulate alternate logics, simulate faster, simulate in new ways; and, recall that machines, socialization and humankind are in co-evolution. I emphasize both hardware and software - at times interactively; theoretical paradigms and an experimental approach; fundamental development and deployment of established systems to novel ends - the approach is a combination of end-oriented design and natural evolution to natural "ends". A primary purpose of the present division is to use computers as examples of being and for insight into the mind - and into being. That purpose, various practical uses, and modern technology and concepts form a connected system outlined in the sub-topics below.
Focus of Division
Three: Machines as Agents and Artifacts
Machines as being; machines as sentient; machines, process, mind; machines as agents - actors and knowers, and machines as artifacts or tools.
Routine application and use in the project for Being and The Elements of Being.
Knowledgeware; the Human Knowledge Project.
Theory and engineering for data, information, knowledge and meaning processing machines; Artificial Intelligence, Life… cognitive science.
To be an agent does not require completely independent existence. Natural agents are naturally co-existent with the world. An agent is capable of some action… is a dynamic element in the loop of being. The distinction between agent and artifact is not sharp.
Machine as agent - as dynamic element in the
loop of being.
The concept is that of machine as being. Rather than give machine or human / being primacy consider and develop the loop as distinct from -though not irrelevant to- independence and value.
Knowledge and learning: automated and semi-automated
Modern cognitive science
Machine as artifact - as extension, tool,
aid
For the exploration in being
As a significant technology
For Being and The Elements of Being and its divisions; for the programs of action.
Design Considerations
The Uses
Backup, retrieval and publication
Acquisitions, Access and Upgrade
Nature of machine function and intelligence…
Thinking, AI
AI vs. synthesis… natural vs. evolved function and design
Information resources
Automation of tasks
A project to form a dynamic database of human knowledge. Essential aspects of the project are that it aims at being complete, being useful and being an active or dynamic link in the knowledge loop. The balance of any such system of considerations conditions the meaning of each element. Utility must be a balance among factors that include the present and the ultimate. Completeness is not with regard to information as such but requires a concept of what knowledge and what is essential to completeness in being; this theoretical consideration, the dynamic aspect, and the fact that the knowledge base is a link rather than prime generator results in a lean system. This enhances utility and the dynamic aspect.
Head
Social action is of interest to me as application or contribution and as context. More significantly, mutual action is both satisfying and essential to the broadest canvas for exploration by a social being.
Focus of Division
Four: Social or Mutual Action
Mutual knowing, transformation and construction in social action.
Design for a Group or Enterprise.
Focus of the Enterprise
Critical Areas of Focus