In order to move forward, we must first ask the question “How physical is physical reality? What are we coded with biologically which carries us into this world and allows us to interact fluidly in any given situation?” For our conversation, we cannot ignore the biological. Important note here is that I am not a scientist, so examples given here will be connected through strands of philosophy and abstract thought in general. So for all you concrete thinkers, I apologize. Bear with me as I move forward.
I was born a twin. An identical twin. My sibling has the same genetic code as I do and we even share very similar traits that, at first glance, have nothing to do with our physical reality. We have the same tastes in food, music, movies, etc. We also share a lot of the same tendencies as for mood. We are both quick to anger but have an ability to reason within that anger. We are very similar. Now, throw in the fact that I was adopted at the age of 11 and have not lived with him on even a part time basis since I was 9 years old and the conversation becomes much more interesting. Our similarities remain even though I was adopted by an upwardly mobile upper middle class family while he remained in a working class situation on the brink of poverty, even having to fend for himself on the streets for many years. When one looks at our many similarities, one cannot deny the power of what I refer to as “hard wired truths.” Yet our divergence has created two very distinctly different realities.
So what we think of as truth has a basis in the physical world. I was born with some sort of genetic code that later became a cognitive map for basic understanding. The reality I share with my brother allowed me to immediately understand, philosophically, that our coding and decoding of the world starts with a cognitive toolbox, which I like to think of as tools for establishing the foundation of the structure that we talked about last week called collective consciousness. It is in my reading of John McDowell, a noted philosopher at the University of Pittsburgh, where my idea becomes a grounded point of conversation. He talks about every object of the world having its own individual reality. Like we said last week, I believe every individual exists first in their reality and then they become exposed to numerous realities as they interact with individuals in the world. The point of this week’s article is here: that because we are physical beings (we aren’t angels floating in cosmic nothingness), the realities of our physicality, what’s happening in our brains, what happens when we are somehow born with an abnormality or what happens when we receive that abnormality later in life…well, that affects how our mind meets with the world. If my reading John McDowell is correct, and it may not be, everyone’s reality, every THING’s reality, has that same presence of physicality to measure against or work within.
In a biological model, in the Darwinian sense, I develop a new coping mechanism for the world as a response to my individual physical needs.
The idea of mind as I understand it is not a physical one. I am talking about something that does not directly refer to the brain. It may, in fact, be generated within the brain but it is something that exists independent of biology, except that (and I giggle as I say this) the mind is completely dependent on the physical world. I still think very much like my brother, but because of experience I am a different person. Now, this would even be true if we had lived together our entire lives. My perception of my mother and her actions in our childhood are completely different than any of my siblings, and this would be true for any one of you readers. If you asked your brother or sister to retell a story, they might not put emphasis on certain images that you would, but in fact they were in the room when you had said experience. Interesting, this building of reality.
So far we’ve asserted that humans are born with a basic toolbox of consciousness which allows them to explore their world. As I said last week, exploring the world is primarily about collecting experiences and then filtering those experiences into language forms. Now, I gave a clear definition of what a language form was last week (in the broadest sense). For this week, let me add that if we responded to the world with the simple toolbox I illustrated that my twin and I possess, we would be, I believe, wandering around in states of toddler-like perceptions. Our reactions to all things would be limited to gut response and extreme emotion. Civilization a we know it would not exist. This is why it is important that we do not simply rely on the toolbox to build small isolated structures, but we use it for all it’s worth and build cathedrals and wonders of complex language forms.
In order to build on reality, to extend our spheres of influence, we MUST interact in the world. It is through a sort of cognitive metaphor building exercise that we become more sophisticated and more capable within the world. I understand what a physically challenged person is because I see he or she interacting within that world. By what they are I mean their capacities in general: abilities, weaknesses, all of it becomes a vocabulary for the broadening of your perspective. Now last week we talked about the individual and his or her consciousness being the building blocks for a collective consciousness. Well, this week I am going to suggest that the mortar binding the bricks together is one’s physical experience. By physical I don’t necessarily mean of the soil, but I mean experience by classism, racism, sexism, and any other -ism you want to insert here. These -isms are physical truths. They have a bearing on our realities. My brother has a distinctly different reality in a physical sense than myself. We have unique challenges which we bring to bear on our own consciousness.
To end, let me offer this for reflection in preparation and anticipation of next week’s article: John McDowell asserts that the reality, the consciousness that all things have (consciousness is my word), plays itself out in the action of individuals and or things. This makes me reflect that an individual IS his or her actions. That reality, the mind, the true self, reveals itself in the action of the individual/person/thing/etc. For what it’s worth, a tree is a tree because it acts as it does. Its reality is defined in these actions. The same may hold true for humans. Until next week!
