In consideration of the unified nature of reality,
I have had a contemplation.
We like to split the world in three:
the physical,
the mental,
the spiritual.
The physical
being that which we may "observe"
(whatever that means)
in some real repeatable way.
The mental
being that which we may consider,
contemplate, and
think
about.
The spiritual
being that which we perceive
with our "souls"
or "feelings"
beyond "mere"
physical
or mental
being.
But that distinction
being arbitrary
implies a fourth class:
that which we cannot
observe
contemplate
or feel.
There is the temptation
to deny the fourth class as being, effectively, nonexistent.
For if it existed and could have an effect on us then we would have to be able to
feel it,
consider it, or
"observe" it
in the scientific sense,
Yet this class is created by
our artificially imposed
division of the world by
our method of perceiving
it
So we sever
the Gal
we like from
the thoughts
she raises and
the feelings
she causes.
None of those things--
the body
we perceive,
the mind
we contemplate,
the soul
we feel
None is the Gal.
By severing,
classifying,
we destroy her.
And what of the fourth class? The not-perceivable?
By considering the Gal we
know it must
exist.
For we know, in all
our human interactions, that there
are aspects of one another
beyond our powers
to observe
beyond our capacity
to contemplate
beyond our souls
to commune
So we return to the
fact: this classification
by mode of perception is
arbitrary,
enforced
by us on the
things of the world.
Why
do we do this? For the
Reason
we do
Science
Philosophy
Politics
and
Art: to
Grasp at the
Vaguest fleeting hints of
Knowing. This
why--it tells us
the nature of the world.
The sole, unified nature
of creation.
It is the unknowable fourth class. A vast
unknowable whole which we may only
comprehend by chop
ping off bi
ts and shov
ing th
em in
to fram
ework
s an
d theo
ries.
These frameworks and theories take us far. They give us
Medicine
Computers
Airplanes
Stories
Films
Music.
But none are
"Real". They are
Glimpses of creation as
Distinct from
it and from each other as
we are from it and one another.
Not at all
Yet infinitely so.