The Extent of My Current Perspective

Newsweek.com, accessed 4/4/2018

Given the state of our world, and my current state within it, I thought it would be a good idea to write a post demonstrating the extent of my current understanding and perception of the world at fundamental levels. I know that what I am going to write here will only be empty words, written in English and the English grammar syntax, and quite limited in its ability to articulate my meaning. This will be brief, since the biggest of concepts can be held in the smallest of words.

In my estimation, we have a fairly accurate broad-stroke grasp on about 13.8 billion years of the visible universes' history. While there is likely a lot more in the details of this history than meets the eye, I hypothesize that the general dynamics of history (cliodynamics, as Turchin would put it) and social species play themselves out in ways that are fairly predictable. In fact, we hypothetically can load the patterns of behavior and internal logics of each sentient species into digital environments, and watch how the dynamics play out. We can also vary or control for different traits, to see how changes in those behaviors play out in a simulated environment of our design. In this way, we can have a probably predictive model for our own species' nested-polycentric organization on Earth, as well as a model for our expansion and possible future interactions with other species and entities in the universe.

Now, it may not be possible to claim that all other sentient lifeforms in the universe behave as humans do. After all, our experiments will always be limited by our abilities to accurately perceive, make sense of, and interact with the other elements of the universe that are currently and, possibly, permanently beyond our grasp and perception. Humans may be able to perceive things that are beyond our perception with tools, such as a spectrometer, or a microscope. However, like our logical inability to prove a negative, there may be aspects of the universe that will always be beyond our logical, physical, and psychological grasp. If we come across an aspect of the universe that is logically, physically, or psychologically beyond our ability to grasp, we must first acknowledge it as such, and then develop mental or physical tools to work with or beyond those initial limitations, such that we can come to a more accurate understanding of ourselves and the universe. That is why in statistics we speak of "failing to reject the null-hypothesis" in statistics, to overcome the inability to disprove a negative. That is the process of science, and the infinite track of development and growth for living beings. The physical universe may change according to laws of nature, as does the mental quality and condition of a social species.

While we're on the subject of social species, I hypothesize that it is not common for non-social species to rise to the level of success humans, ants, bees, termites, and other eusocial or pro-social species enjoy. The amount of energy it would take for a singular, non-social animal to achieve our level of development would be astronomical; too much for the environment to sustainably support, too much for the individual to process. They also wouldn't be good at working with the environment, or other species (as humans and ants do, for example), because they would likely not be able to work beyond themselves with other aspects of the universe. Thus, social awareness, and other kinds of empathetic or sympathetic abilities is extremely important for the long and short term success of a inter and intraspecies/individual complex.

For the record, I do not know how I developed this perspective on life, the universe, and everything. I think it's mostly based on the luck of having been born at a time and place to consciously be able to study and commit time to study the universe in ways we have never been able to do in the past. Digital calculations, agent-based models, and computer simulation technology are rapidly developing, and we have the perspective of that 13.8 billion Earth-year history of the visible universe, and the 4.5 odd billion Earth-year history of our own planet and life on the planet. The dynamics and hypothetical simulations can be used to make predictions of how things could work in the rest of the universe, and on our planet. However, we must always be open and aware first and foremost, to our present conditions in order to get the most benefit from this multi-epoch known history of our shared universe. Any form of repetition, or mindless recitation and imitation, will not be as helpful as remaining true to the core underlying laws of nature, and the principles of discovery, observation, and compassion for others. One is free to ignore the discovered laws of nature and the needs of other beings. But they are not free from the consequences of doing so, as per the ultimate laws that the Hindus call karma (action; cause and effect). It's pretty silly, in my opinion, to ignore the laws of nature and facts about the universe to preserve a sense or ideology of freedom.

With that, I must call this a night, as I have to continue with life in the morning. Suffice it to say that I wish to dedicate this mind for the ethical improvement of life in the universe, for life in the universe.