EXPLORING LIMINALITY, STRING THEORY, MYTHOLOGY AND THE SEVEN YEAR CYCLE PART ONE

Sensus Divinitatis- A Sense of the Divine is our Sense of Our Soul.

Religion has feed men's appetite for knowledge of the soul for too long. Aristotle's

statement "All men by nature desire to know" conveys this hunger for deep understanding. Throughout these series of posts, I have abandoned traditional ideas of the soul by probing into nature's complexities. I extracted emergence- a unique pattern intrinsic to nature. I stretched the imagination about the soul by arriving at a plausible alternative explanation for the soul. Claiming that emergence is a manifestation of men's soul. Incidentally, my suspicion are shared with others. Metanexus, an institute that promotes transdisciplinary approach to the most profound questions of nature, culture, and the human person makes connections between emergence and the soul. Below is an excerpt from Metanexus article on Emergence.

The other characteristic of a science that might speak in the same grammar as theology is one that is aware of the depth of nature beyound out knowing even our possible knowing. This sense of depth is important in allowing faith space to work. The theory of “emergence” is another clue to God, or at least the possibility of God, and hence of an eschatology. Emergence is recognizable in a number of natural phenomena. Take the hardness of water as it freezes for example. At a certain point a new phenomenon occurs which is not reducible to previous states, even though it has emerged out of them. The universe seems to be full of examples of emergence at every level, of solid planetary bodies from gaseous precursors, of light emerging out of darkness 900,000 light years after the Big Bang, perhaps of life emerging out of the primal mud, of consciousness out of the long evolution of hominids.

In a world dominated by positivism and reductionist science, distinct levels of reality have long been explained away. Emergence, at least in some of its forms, counters this reductionism, claiming that higher ontological levels really do exist, that direction and movement toward another level is not illusory. There is now a whole science of emergence, with strong and weak forms, and with various thresholds being debated depending on whether the new state can be predicted, whether it acts back upon the substrata, where it is composed or non-composed.

One of the theological repercussions of the science of emergence is that however thorough we think our knowledge of the universe to be, it is likely to be very scant. For inevitably there will be new emergent levels in the future about which we can know nothing or very little in the present. Although a new emergent level sometimes “makes sense” backwards it cannot be predicted or anticipated forwards. This gives us hope that there will indeed be a final, eschatological transformation which will emerge out of this universe, a universe which currently appears to be headed only for annihilation, darkness and emptiness. Emergence does not necessitate such but it does begin to open up the possibility within the imaginable for the first time in two hundred years. Extrapolating from present parameters gives us only future death—of our species, of our sun, of our galaxy. But extrapolating from previous emergences of new phenomena suggests there may be surprises in the future we cannot yet envisage or begin to imagine. Overall, a conception of strong emergence points to hierarchies of existence, and to an ongoing process whereby the universe, presumably as it is indwelt by God and transformed by incarnation, gives rise by an emergent process to new and surprising states of being.(CLICK HERE to see article in it's entirety)

This article eloquently articulates the connection between emergence and God. Though this article does not explicitly define emergence as the soul, a direct assertion that "emergence is a clue of God" is the closest to the realities of an otherness. This otherness is not God but rather is man's soul. Experience not by our physical senses but rather by our sensus divinitatis-a sense of the divine felt by no other than our soul and interpreted by our mind as meanings. Our mind and our soul are permeable to one another, in an constant flow between meaning and sensus divinitatis. Have you been touch by your soul today?

The Soul and Space: The Missing Pieces to the Puzzle

The following Brief Video on Emergence points to two signposts. One is space and the other is movement. But what is space? According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, among it's various meanings, space is simply that limitless area in which all things exist and move. Let us look at space from an anthropological and historical perspective. Mircela Eliade, anthropologist, and historian wrote a great book entitled The Sacred and the Profane. In it she states that space is homogeneous and neutral; no break qualitatively differentiates the various parts of its mass. Geometrical space can be cut and delimited in any direction: but no qualitative differentiation and, hence, no orientation are given by virtue of it's inherent structure. On the other hand, for the religious man space becomes sacred. Now stay with me. Eliade's makes the observation that to the religious man space is not homogeneous: he experiences interruptions, breaks in it: some parts of space are qualitatively different from others. "Draw not nigh hither," says the Lord to Moses; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon tho standest is holy ground" (Exodus, 3.5). There is, then, a sacred space, and therefore a strong, significant space; there are other spaces that are not sacred and so are without structure or consistency, that is amorphous. Nor is this all. For religious man, this spatial nonhomogeneity finds expression in the experience of an opposition between space that is sacred-the only real and really existing space-and all other spaces, the formless expanse surrounding it. Furthermore, it must be said that the religious experience of the nonhomogeneity of space is a primordial experience, homologizable to a founding of the world. For it is the break effected in space that allows the world to be constituted, because it reveals the fixed point, the central axis for all future orientations. When the sacred manifests itself in any hierophany, there is not only a break in the homogeneity of space: there is also revelation of an absolute reality, opposed to the non reality of the vast surrounding expanse. Eliade continues and says that the manifestation of the sacred ontologically founds the world. In the homogeneous and infinite space, in which no point of reference is possible and therefore, no orientation can be established. the hierophany reveals an absolute fixed point, a center. Sacred space is "symbolized" space as it reveals a reality which is not evident in ordinary experience. Historian of religions, Winston King summarizes Eliade's conception of sacred space. "It is at once the center of the universe, a copy of the universe, a principle of order, and a channel of vital interconnection between the divine and the human planes of existence" Eliade suggests that humanity can only live in sacred space and that the sacred as an element in the structure of consciousness draws every human being, "even unconsciously, toward the Centre, and towards his own centre, where he can find integral reality--sacredness."

Space is everywhere; in the cosmos, in the world, in men's anatomy, in cells, in molecules, in electrons, and qua tum physics. Why? Because living systems in order for them to move, to grow, to expand, to contract, to vasodilate, to vasoconstrict, to pump, to collide, to travel, need a limitless area to do so. And so with space before us, and endless amout of it I may add, we find emergence moving in and about it. Moving so well that its as if emergence knew spaces geographic coordinates like the back of his hand. Movement obeys the laws of physics and a lesson in physics is not possible in this blog article. Sufficient to say, that perhaps emergence is not only obeying the laws of physics but derives its power from the collective force of human energies into a synergy so outstanding I cannot help but ascribe to it a special meaning. This meaning is the human soul. The soul is a byproduct of a collective synergistic energy humans eminent when human's life circumstance recombine in a meaningful way. This meaningful way is experience by people to be unique and inspirational. In conclusion, emergence shows how the soul operates and the location of it does not reside in the heavens or in religious houses of worship, but out there, in space, in time, before us, behind us, surrounding us and for us.

Emergence In Surface of The California Desert/Part II

The semiarid climate dominates this desert biomes of California . It's ridges, canals and scarce vegetation shapes the landscape into a distinct aerial view. The wind, water,  and sun all collaborate in supplying the right conditions for the microorganism of that desert habitat. These conditions in turn create the optimal environment for the growth of nutrients in the soil. The microorganism nourish themselves with minerals, proteins, and amino acids. Who would have thought by just looking at this God forsaken land that in it lives a thriving community. An example of emergence at work. It's the subtleties of it all,  the microscopic size of it all, the indiscreet panorama of it all that interplays with one another in such a dynamic way so as to create a powerful force. Coincidentally the canals in the desert surface resembles the canals of the canaliculi in compact bone. It is an obvious observation to make, but an important similarity to denote. This similarity has the markings of emergence all over it. Emergence leaves its footprints like a thief leaves his fingerprints at a scene of crime. In the same manner, a crime scene investigator is hired to uncover the criminals fingerprints, science experts breakdown nature into it's component parts. Emergence, the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions, is the same force behind both canals, the one in compact bone, the other in the desert surface. This same force acts on people but in a very subtle way. It is not felt by people, kinda of indiscernible. The force of emergence in people is characteristic of a more van der waals type. 

Emergence In The Morphology Of Compact Bone/Part I

Now that we have an understanding about the concept of emergence from a biological sense. Emergence can arise from social interaction as well. But before I extract the social component of emergence in social relations, a lesson in the anatomy of compact bone is first needed. A microscopic structure of compact bone contains a central canal and all the concentric lamella surrounding it are referred to as an osteon, or Haversian system. Also identifiable canaliculi, tiny canals radiating outward from a central canal to the lacuna of the first lamella and then from lamella to lamella. The canaliculi form a dense transportation network through the hard bone matrix, connecting all the living cells of the osteon to the nutrient supply. In short, the canaliculi allows each cell to take what it needs for nourishment and to pass along the excess to the next osteocyte (bone cell). What draws my attention when looking at this microscopic illustration of compact bone is the canaliculi, these tiny canals. Thousands of tiny canals, one after another forming such a fascinating landscape. An example of emergence at work. All collaborating with one another in sculpting such an intricate design.

Exlporing Emergence/Introduction

Few people have the time to stop and smell the roses.  Modern life keeps many too busy to do otherwise. But when we do take a moment and look at nature we are often taken back in awe by it's beauty and complex design. Nature has complex patterns that captivate us. Take a look close look at the pattern created by a flock of birds. Birds flying together often form a V-shape formation.  A school of fish swimining together form circular shapes. The waves on the shore form a distinct shoreline. And last we observe the dunes in the desert shaped by desert winds. Emergence is one of those properties in nature that is responsible for this phenomenon. It is a way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions.  In the same manner that emergence takes place among nature people form similar dynamics in social interactions.