Platonism remains embedded in science. The notion that the abstractions of mathematical formalism underlay the processes generating the patterns being abstracted.
1+1=2 does not apply in the void, as not only does it require distinct objects, but a process of addition.
Spacetime as the basis of General Relativity, or quantum super position as the basis of Quantum Mechanics are premises based on this belief.
We should have learned the lesson from modeling a geocentric cosmology. Epicycles were brilliant math. Crystalline spheres were lousy physics.
The problem goes to the basic nature of reality, that structure is recursive, while energy is expansive. Galaxies are energy radiating out, as structure coalesces in.
So our knowledge builds on priors, like rings of a tree. Yet the grain of sand at the center of the pearl, be it God, mathematical formalism, truth, money, is necessarily subjective, not objective. The force of gravity, that centripetal dynamic, might be universal, but any particular center of gravity is local.
Meanwhile the ambient energy is traded around, creating overall equilibrium.
As multicellular organisms, it is our nervous system that coordinates all the cells and organs into one fairly coherent entity.
It's just that our digestive system processes the energy, while our nervous system sorts the patterns, signals from noise, that there is this cognitive focus on the patterns and attempts to reverse engineer from what is effect. Thus getting caught up in these cognitive feedback loops and spiraling down the innumerable rabbit holes.
John, I see what you're saying here! You're making the classic "map versus territory" distinction, and that IS very Platonic way to view mathematical models vs empirical observations.
But I'd like to suggest that what we have here is TWO territories and only a single map, because we assume that those empirical observations are measuring objective reality. I believe that modern empiricism is making a fundamental mistake, tantamount to measuring gravitational acceleration within a dream. We've bought into an illusion. It seems to me that the reality we experiencing is a structure that's one step removed from ACTUAL reality. Does that make sense?
Anyway, your comment raises a brilliant point! I hadn't considered Platonism in those terms before.
That "objective reality" is Platonism. The omniscient omniscience. "The "All-knowing absolute."
Yet the observer creates the observation, as much as the observation frames the observer.
The effect, consequence, is knowledge. That self referential recursive feedback loop of building on and fixing priors. Which are the signal we extract from the noise.
The alternative would be to simply step off the edge into the void, of unframed noise.
So the problem is when the priors are flawed, more subjective than we realize, conflict with other frames, etc.
So what I see is necessary is to recognize that recursive nature of structure.
In physics, it is called gravity and it remains the big mystery.
When to realize the other side of the equation is all that noise, excess energy, ambient light, the fertile medium/network/ecosystem in which our structural organisms take root, both absorbing energy and information and shedding it.
Platonism remains embedded in science. The notion that the abstractions of mathematical formalism underlay the processes generating the patterns being abstracted.
1+1=2 does not apply in the void, as not only does it require distinct objects, but a process of addition.
Spacetime as the basis of General Relativity, or quantum super position as the basis of Quantum Mechanics are premises based on this belief.
We should have learned the lesson from modeling a geocentric cosmology. Epicycles were brilliant math. Crystalline spheres were lousy physics.
The problem goes to the basic nature of reality, that structure is recursive, while energy is expansive. Galaxies are energy radiating out, as structure coalesces in.
So our knowledge builds on priors, like rings of a tree. Yet the grain of sand at the center of the pearl, be it God, mathematical formalism, truth, money, is necessarily subjective, not objective. The force of gravity, that centripetal dynamic, might be universal, but any particular center of gravity is local.
Meanwhile the ambient energy is traded around, creating overall equilibrium.
As multicellular organisms, it is our nervous system that coordinates all the cells and organs into one fairly coherent entity.
It's just that our digestive system processes the energy, while our nervous system sorts the patterns, signals from noise, that there is this cognitive focus on the patterns and attempts to reverse engineer from what is effect. Thus getting caught up in these cognitive feedback loops and spiraling down the innumerable rabbit holes.
John, I see what you're saying here! You're making the classic "map versus territory" distinction, and that IS very Platonic way to view mathematical models vs empirical observations.
But I'd like to suggest that what we have here is TWO territories and only a single map, because we assume that those empirical observations are measuring objective reality. I believe that modern empiricism is making a fundamental mistake, tantamount to measuring gravitational acceleration within a dream. We've bought into an illusion. It seems to me that the reality we experiencing is a structure that's one step removed from ACTUAL reality. Does that make sense?
Anyway, your comment raises a brilliant point! I hadn't considered Platonism in those terms before.
Nathan,
That "objective reality" is Platonism. The omniscient omniscience. "The "All-knowing absolute."
Yet the observer creates the observation, as much as the observation frames the observer.
The effect, consequence, is knowledge. That self referential recursive feedback loop of building on and fixing priors. Which are the signal we extract from the noise.
The alternative would be to simply step off the edge into the void, of unframed noise.
So the problem is when the priors are flawed, more subjective than we realize, conflict with other frames, etc.
So what I see is necessary is to recognize that recursive nature of structure.
In physics, it is called gravity and it remains the big mystery.
When to realize the other side of the equation is all that noise, excess energy, ambient light, the fertile medium/network/ecosystem in which our structural organisms take root, both absorbing energy and information and shedding it.