Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

  Post 122.  December 20, 2021 continued . . .

  Unscripted Free Will

  All Abstractions are Imaginary

 Having determined that Determinism is the immoveable obstacle to Free Will, the rest of the book was an attempt to convince himself that Fatalism is a good thing. His rationale sounds similar to ancient Greek Stoicism10 or Buddhist Dharma, to surrender to inevitability. We should no longer strive for illusory earthly or heavenly goals. Instead, just “be here now”; live in the moment. Yet, he can’t help finding comfort in the notion that humanity-in-general has a special role in the world. “The intuition of Eastern philosophy, the empiricism of modern science, and the rationality of strict determinism all come together in confirming an unbroken wholeness. The universe is one thing, and we are part of it.” I can agree with that uplifting notion, that we are integral parts of a magnificent Holistic System, that is more than the sum of its parts. Not only that, “we are the part (the only part) that comprehends — that knows it exists”. So, he extols that role. “We are created by the Cosmos — intimately entwined and totally engaged in it, determined by it, inseparable from it . . . . We are its consciousness. . . . You and me are just different points of view”.

Note that he portrays the Cosmos as the Creator of itself. But that would only make sense as Self-existence. However, we are made aware by Science that the physical universe had a specific beginning, not in time, but as space-time. And the current judgment of cosmology is that the evolving world will also have a Nirvana11 of its own : a snuffing out. That’s why I have concluded that self-existence must be eternal, hence not confined to the temporal illusion of material Reality. So, I look beyond the Big Bang instant of creation to an ultimate Source that is Ideal and immaterial. And that only makes sense to me, if both the Cause (Creator, or Programmer) and its Effect (Creation or Program) consist of some power or substance that is not degradable by Time or Entropy.

That’s where the notion of EnFormAction12 comes to the rescue of Carter’s hope against hope for an immaculate Creation. The thesis of Enformationism 13 is founded upon the ubiquitous role of ordinary Information in the world. Before Claude Shannon attached the word “information” to computers and programs, it referred to the imaginary contents of a Mind. The Latin root meant : “formation (of an idea), conception. teaching, instruction, creation, arrangement”. All of those are mental concepts (ideas) not material objects (things). And yet, Quantum Physics has led scientists to believe that shape-shifting Information14 is the essence of Matter & Energy, and incidentally Mind. Shannon defined Entropy as the absence of Information; hence the presence of Information must be Energy. Moreover, Einstein defined “matter” as a form of “energy”. Hence, invisible intangible mental Information (meaning) is also material and causal. That’s why the original Creator of the Cosmos, can be understood as the Enformer of a Singularity of potential Space & Time, which has evolved into Energy & Matter, and most recently into Mind, with its illusory (imaginary) ideas of Reason & Causation, that only exist as Ideals in a Real world. Consciousness is Information aware of itself. FreeWill is just a thought. 

                Blog Post 122 continued  . . . .

10. Stoicism & Buddhism :
“They both advocate seeking happiness from an internal source, so that the ups and downs of life will not be your masters.”
https://dailystoic.com/stoicism-buddhism/

11. Nirvana :
Buddhist doctrine looks forward to the eventual “snuffing out” of the flame of life, with all its illusions

12. EnFormAction :
Ententional Causation. A proposed metaphysical law of the universe that causes random interactions between forces and particles to produce novel & stable arrangements of matter & energy. The newly
coined term refers to the act of giving form to the formless. It’s the “Creative Force“ that Carter alludes to in his summation.
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page8.html

The
EnFormAction
Hypothesis
http://bothandblog3.enformationism.info/page23.html

13. Enformationism :
A philosophical worldview or belief system grounded on the 20th century discovery that Information, rather than Matter, is the fundamental substance of everything in the universe. It is intended to be the 21st century succes-sor to ancient Materialism. An Update from Bronze Age to Information Age. It's a Theory of Everything that covers, not just matter & energy, but also Life & Mind & Love.
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page8.html

14. Information :
Knowledge and the ability to know. Technically, it's the ratio of order to disorder, of positive to negative, of knowledge to ignorance. It's measured in degrees of uncertainty. Those ratios are also called "differences". . . Difference is the cause  or agent of Change. In Physics it’s called "Thermodynamics" or "Energy". In Sociology it’s called "Conflict".
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page11.html

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-energy-and-information

The Single Simple Question
That challenges All Convictions

Peter Carter MD

Primary Care Physician

“Connecting the conundrums of God and Immortality, Free Will, the Strange Reality of Quantum Physics, and Finding Purpose in Existence”.

Illusions are Mental Reality

ENFORMATIONISM

“The consciousness within – that is, of – the universe emerged from its potential. . . The Cosmos formed itself, and with the evolution of the human brain the Cosmos awakened to its own existence. . . There is a creative force within the universe . . .”

__Peter Carter