Natures and Values

In my last post "The Crests and Troughs of Belief" I mentioned E-Value and HP-Value. The following is a description of the "Natures" and "Values" that reality can be subdivided into. These are ideas that came to me many years back. Recently I have refined these ideas a bit (in my head). So, I think they will provide fodder for future posts. Enjoy.

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NATURES AND VALUES

The mind perceives reality by gathering information in three basic ways, (1) interacting externally (i.e., outside the human body) with physical things through the five senses, (2) the feeling of emotions internally (i.e., within the human body) and (3) the thinking of thoughts also internally. The mind then differentiates all that exists within reality into three categories: (I) that which he understands, (II) that which he does not understand but has the capability of understanding, and (III) that which he does not understand and has not the capability of understanding. Within this context, the object of understanding can be described with the two terms (A) Natures and (B) Values described below.

A. NATURES

All things within reality can be assigned one of two natures. Each nature in turn subdivides into two sub-natures each. Natures are divided between that which is known called the “Physical Nature” and that which is not known called the “Spiritual Nature”. The Physical Nature consists of things that man knows such as objects and ideas. Objects and sensations belong to the lowest and least abstract sub-nature called the Material Sub-Nature. Ideas which man understands are contained within the second and relatively more abstract Intellectual Sub-Nature. The second, more abstract nature called the Spiritual Nature consists of things that man does not know. The Spiritual Nature consists of two sub-natures called the Mystical Sub-Nature, that which man does not know but can know and the Divine Sub-Nature, that which man does not know and cannot know outside of transcendence or revelation.

Man is perceives direct evidence substantiating the Material Sub-Nature through the five senses. Man is conscious of the Intellectual Sub-Nature by thinking. Man becomes aware of the Mystical Sub-Nature through the process of discovery and invention. Once something which was previously unknown becomes known it is “demystified” and moves from the Mystical Sub-Nature to one of the two Physical Sub-Natures. Man has no evidence of the Divine Sub-Nature and can only appreciate it through faith.
Natures

B. VALUES

Value is the attribute which increases a thing’s desirability. Value can exist in one of two forms, Entertainment ("E-value") and Higher Purpose ("HP-value"). E-value is value which increases a thing’s desirability because it makes the passage of existence more enjoyable. E-value manifests itself through both the material and intellectual sub-natures and is therefore known. Examples of E-valuable things are amassing wealth for its own sake (material) or a the experience of a pleasurable thought for its own sake (intellectual). HP-value is value which increases a thing’s desirability because it elicits the impression that the experience of existence serves a higher purpose. HP-value manifests itself through all sub-natures and therefore can be known of unknown. Examples of HP-valuable things are amassing wealth so that one is not distracted by the anxiety of being in debt (material), studying philosophy to address the questions of existence (intellectual), meditating as a means of self-exploration or liberation (mystical or divine).

Day Forty One - Crests and Troughs of Belief

I posted a blog entry entitled "Hope" a while back. In it I talked about how I have been purchasing lottery tickets (specifically Powerball tickets) as an exercise in hope. The idea was that I was not so much interested in winning the lottery (although I certainly would not mind that outcome) but rather I derived some comfort in the knowledge that the lottery ticket sat in my wallet. The ownership of the ticket was the ownership of hope. This is actually true. Having the ticket in my wallet does for some reason act as an anxiety release valve and presumably that is because hope existed where it did not exist previously. However, checking the numbers the day after the drawing does produce mildly negative emotions in the form of feeling let down. The question is, does the positive emotion of owning hope outweigh the negative emotion of being let down? The answer is, I'm not sure. So, I have found myself in a belief trough in terms of this lottery ticket / hope experience. This however, is enlightening in itself in that by participating in one exercise I have opened my eyes to a larger pattern. So where does that now leave me? I have no illusions that insights such as these carry me one inch closer to my goal (or even knowing exactly what that goal is). It is E-Value rather than HP-Value. (E-Value being "that which makes the passage of existence more pleasurable" i.e., Entertainment and HP-Value being "that which serves a higher purpose than E-Value" i.e., Higher Purpose Value). These are terms I have carried with me for some time and perhaps will be further elaborated on in another post. So in conclusion, I suppose the lesson learned is that one should not confuse E-Value for HP-Value as I did by rationalizing my purchase of a lottery ticket as serving some lofty philosphical purpose when in actuality I really just wanted to win the money. Then again, perhaps there is no moral to this story and in the words of Homer Simpson "it's just a bunch of stuff that happened" (in my head mostly). But then again, perhaps I a merely in a belief trough and will think differently about this when the wave crests again.