This post is about 1,700 words long and takes about 13-15 minutes to read. Banner art taken from a drawing by Carlo Allioni (1728-1804).
The Truth Project, Continued…
Welcome back to the Truth Project! This is our second foray into the seeming complexity of an examination of the nature of Truth. The good news is that the Truth turns out to be entirely simple, clear, and applicable to your life, while also being free of opinion, bias, and belief.
Wait, are you scoffing? I think I hear you scoffing, or at least raising an eyebrow in disbelief. OK, I may be acting a little glib about all this Truth stuff, but that's only because I've seen the simplicity. Hang with me for a bit and I'll make a few points that I think will allow you to put the skeptical part of your thoughts away for a time. I'll also be introducing the second of our Essential Universal Human Truths at the same time.
Warning! If you're reading this and have that feeling you've just arrived in the middle of a conversation for which you have no context, then you probably missed the introduction to the Truth Project last month. Here's a handy link to that first part so you can get caught up. We'll wait here while you go read that.
Essential Universal Human Truth 2: The Truth is a Pattern
Here's our second Essential Universal Human Truth, or EUHT:
“The Truth is a pattern upon which everything in the Universe is patterned, including you.”
To begin to understand our second Truth in the Truth Project, consider these fun physics facts: Everything is energy, and as energy coalesces into stable patterns, it becomes information-like forms that allow for the replication of those same forms. As those forms begin to propagate, they can shape energy further until more complex "structures" begin to take shape. When those structures further stabilize and replicate, they then become the rules that all additional energy and information are built upon.
Small structures, lead to larger structures, which lead to even larger, more complex structures, and so on. This process, which we are all acquainted with, is a form of a primary rule for the entire Universe. You cannot escape it. The most basic patterns throughout the Universe, the ones that dominate everything, including you and your life, are Truths.
Our banner art above is a drawing by the famed 18th century researcher Carlo Allioni, (1728-1804). His drawings of nature remind us of the intricacies of how all of the biological world exists as patterns upon patterns, repeating in such a way that we can only see them as beauty in action. This member of the dandelion family is also a wink, wink to our Inception Publishing logo, just in case you hadn't already figured that out, which I'm sure you had.
Historically we've tended to think of Truth as a widely applicable idea, or else, as a fact. The actual fact is that fundamental Truths are patterns of both form and function that operate as a sort of blueprint for everything, and that includes us wacky humans and our choices. When we think and choose based upon these fundamental Truths, we are playing the game of Life by the established rules, and are always destined to succeed in that game, albeit in ways that we may not always recognize. In other words, when we pattern our lives on what works, instead of making up an imaginary set of rules that go contrary to what is, then we have a rich, creative experience instead of a horror show.
The Holons are all around you!
You can also think about the patterns in human life from the standpoint of cellular cycles. You start out as two composite cells, one from Mom and one from Dad. Those two have complex patterns within them that merge together resulting in the development of stem cells. These stem cells contain within them the patterns for the production of all other cells in your body. Nerve cells, muscle cells, bone cells, blood cells, the whole shebang. One super pattern that contains all the smaller patterns and processes. In short, a holonic structure.
In essence, the Universe is built on a holonic series of patterns, with one neatly nested into the next more complex one.
New concept alert! The word holon isn't quite integrated into daily language yet, so you may not have come across it. "Holism," as an intellectual or philosophical framework, simply means that there is an acceptance that each part of a system is an integral part of the whole system that it operates or exists within, and that you can't really understand or appreciate the part, without considering the whole. A holon (in the modern sense) is a part that is inherently integrated into a whole system. A holon includes those components or processes that made up what came before it, and is fully included in those components or processes that it is a part of. Stated super simply, an engine is part of a car, and is certainly a thing by itself, but is irrelevant without the rest of the car. No one says, "I'm going to go drive my engine to the store." The engine is part of the car, and the car really isn't a car without an engine. Both things exist as part of a whole, and the whole cannot exist without the parts.
"What in the heck are you doing churning out 200 words to explain this holon thing, Eric?"
Thank you for asking! This holon concept is so critical for understanding the nature of Truth, and yourself, that I thought it merited more than a few lines. I'll be using this concept quite regularly as we go forward too, so without some clarity about its definition, you are basically missing the boat. So, climb on sailor!
(Thanks go out to Ken Wilber for popularizing the term and concept of a "holon" as part of his integral theory.)
The Universe "grows" and creates in patterns. The Universe has its infrastructure built upon a relatively few number of rules, and you don't get to escape those patterns and rules. Here are some examples of holonic patterns you probably haven't even thought of as holonic:
- Nearly all biological entities on the planet have a little energy-creating machine in most of their cells known as mitochondria. This simple machine is fundamental to basic biological life because it works really well for physical energy production, and so, it's been used as a pattern for the rest of the more complex life forms. (I'm reminded of the cliche, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.") Mitochondria can generate energy because they follow some very basic physics and chemistry rules. Mitochondria don't buck the system, so they work well, thus allowing you to work well. Mitochondria function as a pattern for energy production in simple biological systems, and that pattern has been replicated in more complex systems, all the way up to the super complex systems that are you and I.
- Critters need to communicate in order to survive and thrive, especially humans. Human communication needs started to be fulfilled, once upon a very long time ago, through basic sounds and gestures. The basic sounds were then converted to complex sounds, which then became language. It's hard to remember everything you are told though, so humans started writing things down in basic symbols, which became more complex symbols over time, and eventually, written language. Simple written language (and mathematics too, of course) was developed into more complex structures that made it so we can communicate very complex ideas and equations, but the basic rules still apply. The complex includes the simple in sounds, in language, in writing, in mathematics. Ultimately, a really long time ago, a cave Mom's desire to tell the cave kids to be quiet and go to sleep, got us to slam poetry, manned trips to space, and musical theatre. Well, maybe we should have left that last development out. Just my opinion though.
- Speaking of music, the same rule applies in that, complex patterns are built on and include simple patterns. One note plucked on a guitar follows some very simple physics rules, and makes a sound. Simple rules, simple sound. However, expand the use of those physics rules to include a few more notes, and you get chords. Build on those chords a bit, and you get the Ramones. Add a few instruments to the scene, a plethora of note combinations, and a guy with a little stick standing in front of all the instrumentalists, and you get a symphony that can move us all to tears, and rapturous joy. Again, the complex patterns are built on and include the the simple patterns.
Photo by Radek Grzybowski
Knowing the Truth is "knowing thyself"
Truth is a pattern of energy and information, and it allows for more patterns that comply with the original. Once the patterns are learned and grasped, the Universe opens up and reveals its essence like a perfect blossom arising out of the seeming chaos of manure enriched soil, and the apparent simplicity of a tiny seed. The Truth is a pattern upon which everything in the Universe is patterned, and you are no exception to that reality. You are patterns upon patterns, upon patterns, upon patterns. You are a symphony of patterns of physics rules, chemistry rules, biological rules, and consciousness.
You can't really swim upstream in this lifetime, because there is no upstream, only even flow of energy and information in all directions simultaneously.
You can't lose the game, because there isn't any loss, just the incorrect perception that there's even a thing called "loss."
You can't beat out your competitors because your win is their win, and everyone's win, if you follow a few simple rules.
Ultimately, you will never have an advantage over anyone because we are all working in the same system, in the same Universe, and with the same set of Truths.
Sure, some people have more comforts, or more money, or more shiny things, but no one is superseding the basic rules of the Universe. No one should think they get to make up their own rules and also imagine they are going to have a great life. So, we might as well learn the rules, learn the Truth, and start learning we are all playing the same game, together.
Just a thought.
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