Alternative Models of Reality

Lorraine Ford
I am providng a vocabulary to enable differentiation betweem things and emergent products that are different in type but called by the same word 'realiy'. In using this terminology we avoid cofusion between what is absolute,observer independent material existence and what is emergent from information processing, relative and limited , Thought based on learning is not observer independent existence no matter how much we agree or disagree with the though i.e. .A thought is a though whether valid, in our opinion, or not.

Georgina Woodward
Furthermore,

1. We should not be surprised that the quasi reality produced by synthesis, usually assumed to be reality, is consistent with the model and narratives used in its production.
2. The formative models and narratives are foundational to the believed quasi reality but not the Basement level foundational Object reality.
3. Quasi reality is individually generated, using the individuals experience and learning including models and narratives.
4. Similarity of personal quasi realities relies upon similarity of experiences and learning, as well as similarity of models and narratives.
5. Similarity of experience can derive from living within a group exposed to the prevail
6. Models and narratives can be scientific dogma, be religious, be other secular models including pseudo science and popular conjecture. A cohesive social group is likely to have shared models and narratives whether believed to be true or not by individuals.
7. AI and Social media algorithms endanger social cohesion; by taking up a lot of attention that might be expended otherwise in shared social and cultural pursuits, Lessening their influence, and over individualizing experience. Giving quasi realities that are less similar to each other because of deprivation of shared experience and shared models and narratives. Making it less likely the individuals will agree, as they are not starting from ‘common ground’.
8. Different cultural groups will also have different quasi realities (‘how the world is’, as I see it). Knowledge about the models, narratives, and experiences used in synthesis of their world view can give insight into attitude and behaviour
9. We can not assume all ‘not mentally ill’ people by virtue of being people, or because there is a belief in one true reality, will have similar quasi realities/world view. This is a problem for globalization. Local conditions and cultures vary and so does quasi reality. ‘One size does not fit all’ though we might wish it was not so.
10. This model may be helpful in addressing; ideological differences or differing moral stances, religious differences, differing scientific views, differing background both social and environmental, different education, in order to enable constructive conversation between the parties, and form suitable responses to fit the circumstances.

Georgina Woodward
Vision woks by processing detectable fequencies and intenensitiesof so called electromagnetic radiation ( due to specificities of individual photoreceptors) ,into a semblance of thr external source but can not be identical with the sousce. Emergent, relative thought can not be identical to existing absolute material reality.They are categorically different. Also note the limitation of information actallty processed into awareness, perception and subjective, quasi reality compared to the totality of information released by the source.
A reference frame is not a slice of the space-time continuum,giving the observer's present It is actually a sample of unitemporal (one time) space containing potenttial sensory data of dfferent temporal origins.
Natural selection works by selction of traits actually aid survival so that reproduction is possible. Traits decreasing survival are selected againt and do not increase in the population.
Sensory processig is an energetic cost that has to be compensated by survival advatage. Higher fidelity of sesory perceptio, does not necessarly confir advantage from an evolutionary perspective.

Georgina Woodward
It is not a matter of defining words like “reality” or detailing the physics or detailing the mechanisms. It is a matter of looking at the actual world:

Contrary to your blind man and elephant model, the survival of life, from the most primitive life onwards, depends on their being able to correctly perceive and analyse and respond to the current situation in their immediate surroundings.

But in order for the most primitive life to have correct perception, this correct perception can only develop and be built out of low-level matter like particles, atoms and molecules also “correctly perceiving” aspects of the other low-level matter they interact with.

This necessary-for survival knowledge must be built from the ground up, on rock-solid real foundations. Necessary-for survival knowledge can’t be built on imaginary unreal foundations.

Georgina Woodward
Knowledge/ perception involves all the senses, not just sight, and not just the 5 (or whatever number) senses that human beings have.

But necessary-for-survival knowledge/ perception must be built from the ground up, on rock-solid real foundations, going all the way down to, and built out of, what physicists would symbolically represent as variables and numbers, and the relationships between these variables.

The point is that necessary-for-survival knowledge/ perception can’t be built on imaginary unreal foundations.

Lorraine Ford
imgine a simple lifeform with simple eyes, that hides when a moving shadow passes.But only half the time the shadow is associated with a materially real, potetially hostile presence. Reacting as if in danger has a survival advantage over a creature without simple eyes , even though the assumption of danger is fase half the time

Georgina Woodward
All of the senses work by processinglimited sensory input, not absolute objects, no matter which stimulus is used. Because environment than hearing and smell. Travel time of (pre)light exceeds travel time of sound and smells, and touch and taste are limited by only being able to sence what is in contact with the material body of the experiecing one, or very close to it . ii does not work for remote objects.

Lorraine Ford
Your latest post reminds me of the large number of videos online, showing cats startled by cucumbers. Utilizing.for amusemwent their instinctive reflex behaviour that has helped avoid snake bites and is thus a survival advantage. Better to have some false positiove fruit avoidance than be snake food. Truth is irrelevant to the cat, all that matters is avoiding a potential threat.

Georgina Woodward
You have missed the point of what I’m saying.

A cat might mistakenly, fleetingly, perceive a brown leaf blown by the wind to be a scuttling tiny mouse. But that just goes to show that the cat is analysing, interpreting, and acting on, the rock-solid, but low-level, information the cat acquired when light waves interacted with it’s eyes.

It seems obvious that, with more advanced living things, this analysis and interpretation of the incoming information coming from the enormous number of individual low-level interactions continually taking place in the senses, would need to be backgrounded, and not in executive-level consciousness.

The point is that necessary-for-survival knowledge/ perception can’t be built on imaginary unreal foundations. Necessary-for-survival knowledge/ perception must be built from the ground up, on rock-solid real foundations, going all the way down to, and built out of, what physicists would symbolically represent as variables and numbers, and the relationships between these variables.

Georgina Woodward
To be clear, the type of reality or category of reality in this framework is not dependent on scale. An atom that is a constituent of a cat is ObJect reality and so is the arrangement of atoms that makes the material cat.

Georgina Woodward
There is an enormous amount of information continually coming in from interactions in the senses (e.g. light interacting with the eyes). But the individual items of this information are necessarily very low-level. This low-level information needs to be analysed, collated, and identified before it can become “tiger”, “tree” or “apple”.

Even very low-level life needs to do a bit of analysis, collation, and identification, because the incoming individual items of low-level information are clearly often not much more than the very basic aspects of the world that physicists would represent with variables and numbers. Without further analysis, collation, and identification, this low-level incoming information can say nothing about whether there is currently food or a foe in the surrounding environment.

With more advanced living things, a lot of this analysis, collation and identification would need to be backgrounded (unconscious), and not allowed to clog up executive-level consciousness.

But it is mainly only human beings that go further and use symbols (with human beings, this involves writing, reading, speaking and listening) to communicate the high-level information that they have obtained (via analysis, collation and identification) to others. E.g., “tiger”, “tree” and “apple” are examples of high-level information.

This analysis, collation and identification can only be represented via the use of logical connective symbols. These logical connective symbols represent basic, logical, aspects of the world. These basic, logical, aspects are necessary if you want to have any sort of moving system or moving world.

Georgina Woodward
There is no “Image reality on the retina”. Only very low-level information can be acquired from interactions that occur in the senses of living things. There are masses of photons continually interacting with the eyes, and the individual photons that interact with the eyes are completely anonymous, they are not apple-photons or tree-photons, or tiger-photons. These photons can convey not much more than wavelength/ frequency information, i.e. a category of information with an associated number that relates to the category: very simple, basic, anonymous information. In order to perceive an apple, a tree, or a tiger, this very basic information, together with information coming from the other senses, has to be analysed, collated, and identified.

It is not just human beings: ALL living things need to be intelligent enough to analyse, collate, and identify aspects of their immediate surrounding world, and be able to act on the results of this analysis.