[MD] the many worlds

[david buchanan]

Hey Adrie:

It seems to me that James's list of sub-universes can be mapped onto the four levels of the MOQ, at least roughly.

(1) The world of sense, or of physical 'things' as we instinctively apprehend them, with such qualities as heat, color, and sound, and such 'forces' as life, chemical affinity, gravity, electricity, all existing as such within or on the surface of the things.

This (#1) almost matches the MOQ's description of the inorganic level - as we perceive it.


(2) The world of science, or of physical things as the learned conceive them, with secondary qualities and 'forces' (in the popular sense) excluded, and nothing real but solids and fluids and their 'laws' (i.e., customs) of motion. (3) The world of ideal relations, or abstract truths believed or believable by all, and expressed in logical, mathematical, metaphysical, ethical, or aesthetic propositions.

These two (#2 and #3) are both intellectual level static patterns, although #3 is more abstract and less empirically based.


(4) The world of 'idols of the tribe,' illusions or prejudices common to the race. All educated people recognize these as forming one sub-universe. The motion of the sky round the earth, for example, belongs to this world. That motion is not a recognized item of any of the other worlds; but as an 'idol of the tribe' it really exists. For certain philosophers 'matter' exists only as an idol of the tribe. For science, the 'secondary qualities' of matter are but 'idols of the tribe.' (5) The various supernatural worlds, the Christian heaven and hell, the world of the Hindoo mythology, the world of Swedenborg's *visa et nudita*, etc. Each of these is a consistent system, with definite relations among its own parts. Neptune's trident, e.g., has no status of reality whatever in the Christian heaven; but within the classic Olympus certain definite things are true of it, whether one believe in the reality of the classic mythology as a whole or not. The various worlds of deliberate fable may be ranked with these worlds of faith -- the world of the *Iliad*, that of *King Lear*, of the *Pickwick Pacers*, etc.


I'd put both of these (#4 and #5) on the social level. Tribalism and myth still rule in some hearts. We see it today in the patriotism and literalism of today's religious right but in terms of evolution it goes all the way back to our pre-human ancestors. We can only speculate, but I'd guess the social level began to emerge out of the biological level several hundred thousand years ago, maybe more. (The oldest stone tools are dated at 2.6 million years, the first USE of fire is guessed to be around 1.5 million years ago and the oldest evidence of actually making fire is only 15,000 years old. They've found graves as old as 60,000 years.) 

It's off the topic but I think it's interesting enough to share: I just learned that the world's oldest dope stash is about 2,700 year old and weighs in at nearly two pounds. This enviable amount of marijuana was found in a grave in the Gobi desert. This stash was tested by scientists who determined that it was carefully cultivated for its psychoactive ingredients and the corpse belonged to a blue-eyed, 45-year-old Celtic Shaman. Two Pounds of the stuff! They acted as if they thought it was important to get high in the afterlife too. How does one become a shaman these days? Is there a grad school for that? Can you get a Ph.D. in being stoned? (Yea, California, I'm looking at you.) I wonder what campus parties are like at the University of Cheech and Chong?