"We speak of the evolution of Life in Matter, the evolution of Mind in Matter; but evolution is a word which merely states the phenomenon without explaining it. For there seems to be no reason why Life should evolve out of material elements or Mind out of living form, unless we accept the Vedantic solution that Life is already involved in Matter and Mind in Life because in essence Matter is a form of veiled Life, Life a form of veiled Consciousness. And then there seems to be little objection to a farther step in the series and the admission that mental consciousness may itself be only a form and a veil of higher states which are beyond Mind. In that case, the unconquerable impulse of man towards God, Light, Bliss, Freedom, Immortality presents itself
in its right place in the chain as simply the imperative impulse by which Nature is seeking to evolve beyond Mind, and appears to be as natural, true and just as the impulse towards Life which she has planted in certain forms of Matter or the impulse towards Mind which she has planted in certain forms of Life. As there, so here, the impulse exists more or less obscurely in her different vessels with an ever-ascending series in the power of its will-to-be; as there, so here, it is gradually evolving and bound fully to evolve the necessary organs and faculties."
- Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine.
The above statement is a remarkable description of complexity, the science of emergence also known as the science of spontaneous order. The science of complexity seeks exactly to justify emergence of spontaneous order to the rational intellect, in so far as that is indeed possible without oversimplifications. My object in bringing the above statement is not to hint that the present science of complexity has been anticipated at an earlier date. Even if that indeed be true, it would in no way replace present contributions to the domain. For, the whole purpose of knowledge is not really to pit one point of view against another, but to bring several points of view together, to justify, not 'others' points of view. Rather, to harmonize the conflicts in oneself between several faculties of knowing.
Thus, certain faculties in me may be all for accepting the involutionary, mystical, spiritual-philosophical explanation of existence. I may even take it as a starting point to embark on such an inward quest, and indeed have done so in the past. Yet, the rational being in me demands its own manner of fulfillment. This is exactly analogous to how the physical being in us has its own manner of fulfillment, and so do the vital, emotive, and intuitive faculties. Each have their own modes and methods of 'knowing'. This is the reason behind the classification in NLP into the primary representation systems of Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Gastrulatory and Olfactory modes. So also is a similar rationale behind the diverse Yogas in the Indian spiritual tradition, each approaching ultimate reality via its own modes, -Knowledge, Shankya Yoga, the original Shankya, Jnana Yoga, Action, Karma Yoga, Devotion, Bhakti Yoga, Phycho-Physical, Raja Yoga, Energy centres, Tantra, Shakta, Kashmir Saivism, the Natha traditions and the several later developments due to Mahayana Buddhism and its offshoots, Zen, the approach of the martial arts and of course, the christian mystical tradition, the sufi traditions, the Hawaiian Hoponopono tradition....all too numerous to enumerate here.
The diverse approaches that inquirers take outwardly, is therefore, more of a reflection of the diverse modes inherent in one's own cognition and seeking self-expression. I hold it small matter, therefore, to limit oneself into holding or not holding a particular belief system. I may choose to use a particular belief system in certain domains and a completely opposite kind of belief system in another. All this became so much clear to me in course of pursuing the science of complexity. To me, it was and is not a science alone. It is a powerful method of approaching cognition itself as an emergent phenomenon.
Now, as to what indeed initiated that emergence, would be too much for the method itself to answer. That 'something' initiates, as to this there is no doubt, be it noted, to the intuitive mind. The rational mind is uncomfortable with things beyond its purview as Kant long ago demonstrated with absolute clarity, 'metaphysics is the art of asking questions about which the mind can know nothing.' Of course, scientists in the twentieth century were so impatient with this kind of attitude that they would declare vehemently with Eugene Wigner that, 'philosophy is the misuse of a terminology that was invented precisely for that purpose.' We in the twenty first century are more sober to admit rather with Shakespeare's Hamlet, ''There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than is written of in all your philosophy.'
Thus, certain faculties in me may be all for accepting the involutionary, mystical, spiritual-philosophical explanation of existence. I may even take it as a starting point to embark on such an inward quest, and indeed have done so in the past. Yet, the rational being in me demands its own manner of fulfillment. This is exactly analogous to how the physical being in us has its own manner of fulfillment, and so do the vital, emotive, and intuitive faculties. Each have their own modes and methods of 'knowing'. This is the reason behind the classification in NLP into the primary representation systems of Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Gastrulatory and Olfactory modes. So also is a similar rationale behind the diverse Yogas in the Indian spiritual tradition, each approaching ultimate reality via its own modes, -Knowledge, Shankya Yoga, the original Shankya, Jnana Yoga, Action, Karma Yoga, Devotion, Bhakti Yoga, Phycho-Physical, Raja Yoga, Energy centres, Tantra, Shakta, Kashmir Saivism, the Natha traditions and the several later developments due to Mahayana Buddhism and its offshoots, Zen, the approach of the martial arts and of course, the christian mystical tradition, the sufi traditions, the Hawaiian Hoponopono tradition....all too numerous to enumerate here.
The diverse approaches that inquirers take outwardly, is therefore, more of a reflection of the diverse modes inherent in one's own cognition and seeking self-expression. I hold it small matter, therefore, to limit oneself into holding or not holding a particular belief system. I may choose to use a particular belief system in certain domains and a completely opposite kind of belief system in another. All this became so much clear to me in course of pursuing the science of complexity. To me, it was and is not a science alone. It is a powerful method of approaching cognition itself as an emergent phenomenon.
Now, as to what indeed initiated that emergence, would be too much for the method itself to answer. That 'something' initiates, as to this there is no doubt, be it noted, to the intuitive mind. The rational mind is uncomfortable with things beyond its purview as Kant long ago demonstrated with absolute clarity, 'metaphysics is the art of asking questions about which the mind can know nothing.' Of course, scientists in the twentieth century were so impatient with this kind of attitude that they would declare vehemently with Eugene Wigner that, 'philosophy is the misuse of a terminology that was invented precisely for that purpose.' We in the twenty first century are more sober to admit rather with Shakespeare's Hamlet, ''There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than is written of in all your philosophy.'
It is with this spirit that characterizes the science that I begin to put forth my appreciation here. Much of it I take from the book, "Complexity" by Michael Waldrop. I also refer to the standard literature on Dynamical Systems whenever I need to support technical arguments. More in my next post
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