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    Realities
    Realities
    Realities
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Realities

    By Noel Gray

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    REALITIES

    The need to explain creation and all that followed is quite possibly the most enduring activity of thought. Throughout the history of western culture it has taken many forms, all of which have about them the air of universality, or at the very least, inevitability. Since the renaissance, this activity has morphed into basically two combatant camps, the believers in faith and the pursuers of proof: is existence, and its attending realities a result of a singular who, or a multiple what – divine intervention or laws of Nature? Some argue for both. Here, in these essays, my interest lies solely in exploring some theories of reality that have emanated from certain disciplines in the sciences and humanities.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNoel Gray
    Release dateFeb 10, 2018
    ISBN9788827567302
    Realities

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      Book preview

      Realities - Noel Gray

      Noel Gray

      REALITIES

      © Noel Gray 2016

      ONDINA PRESS

      www.noelgraybooks.com

      Book cover: original photograph by Christopher Burns (on unsplash.com), digitally altered by Ondina Press

      UUID: eb981676-93d0-11e8-b676-17532927e555

      This ebook was created with StreetLib Write

      http://write.streetlib.com

      Contents:

      EDITOR'S NOTE

      FOREWORD

      PROTO REALITY

      ABSTRACT REALITY

      VIRTUAL REALITY

      REAL REALITY

      RELATIVE REALITY

      AFTERWORD

      SELECTED REFERENCES

      EDITOR'S NOTE

      Realities is the second book in a series that covers a period of twenty-five or more years of academic writing by the author. Some essays in this series have previously appeared as book chapters in other scholars' publications, while several have appeared as articles in numerous American, Australasian, Middle Eastern, and European academic journals. Other essays originated as conference papers, and several as invited responses to keynote and conference speakers; a few have been re-drafted from guest lectures given by the author. The last in the series, Screens , is a scaled-down version of the author's doctoral thesis in which he initially developed his early ideas concerning the philosophy of geometry. Other elements from the thesis also appear throughout the rest of the series.

      The themes included in the entire series range from philosophy to geometry, from aesthetics to cultural studies, and from science to fine arts. Many have either as a central or as a cursory element the role that geometry, and by extension, the image, play in the production and construction of meaning in both the sciences and the humanities. Others touch on the truth claims made by various disciplines, while some seek to examine obliquely the porous nature of what many disciplines consider their boundaries. The role and mercurial nature of specific metaphors is also a recurring theme in many of the essays.

      In most cases, the texts have been wholly or partially trimmed of their original academic format in the hope of making their contents more appealing to a wider audience.

      Laura Fabbris

      Series Editor

      FOREWORD

      Chaos and Nyx, the blacked-robed goddess of Night, reigned over the shapeless mass that was everything. Their son, Erebus (Darkness), eventually dethroned his father and married his mother. In turn, their children Æther (Light) and Hemera (Day) dethroned their parents. With the assistance of their only child, Eros (Love), they created Gæa (Earth), and Pontus (Sea). Eros used his life-giving arrows and pieced the cold heart of Earth. The disc-like shape that was Earth became emblazoned in colour, and Gæa, aroused from her slumber, created Uranus (Heaven) so that she may be cloaked in beauty. Gæa and Uranus finally dethroned their creators and later became the parents of twelve awesome and immensely powerful children, the Titans, all of whom Uranus quickly banished to the dark abyss (Tartarus). From this hell eventually arose the youngest of the Titans, Cronus (Time). In line with his heritage, he dethroned his father who subsequently laid a curse on his usurper: he would devour his children. And thus, it became so evermore.

      The need to explain creation and all that followed is quite possibly the most enduring activity of intellection. Throughout the history of western culture it has taken many forms, all of which have about them the air of universality, or at the very least, inevitability. Also, inherent within their constructions is the imperative of replacing their predecessors, along with invalidating their contemporaries. By definition, there can only be one theory of existence. Yet, those who once ruled supreme, or who are currently in competition, are forever tenacious and impossible to replace or invalidate completely. This unwanted but continuous co-existence is a torturous affair, giving birth in turn to countless bastard children, all engaged in the Battle of Truths.

      Since the renaissance, this altercation has morphed into basically two combatant camps, the believers in faith and the pursuers of proof. Both sides have brought an abundance of benefits to western culture, and an abundance of detriments. In earlier times, before the pursuers had gained a foothold, it was called the battle of the gods; now it ought more aptly be named the defence of origins. Namely, is existence a result of a singular who, or a multiple what? No doubt history will continue to weigh the balance while the conflict rages, a contest that is seemingly unstoppable in its fervour, particularly when waged by those few who believe that intolerance is a winning strategy.

      However, putting aside the possibility of any victor, or even a lasting truce, all theories of existence contain a structural fault: they must exclude themselves from their own theory; they must speak as an impartial observer in order for the theory to gain its desired and credible universality. The only problem is that they are inherently embedded in the very thing they are attempting to explicate. It is difficult to see how getting the fish-out-of-the-water, so that the floundering creature may impartially explain the nature of water, is to be accomplished. However, they have both tried: the believers in faith rely on an absent signifier, God. The pursuers of proof also appeal to a distant enabling force, inviolable laws of nature. The first is omnipresent and unfathomable; the second is universal and knowable (albeit, never completely). The first sees change as divine will and hence ultimately inscrutable; the second as lawfully prefigured yet constantly influenced by initial conditions, hence never indisputably predictable.

      Accordingly, reality suffers a cleavage in both schemas. In the first, it is split along the lines

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