Here we shall consider a schematic of the Temporal Cycle, the fundamental process of the mind from which all else derives. As intimated in the Primer, Interpretation of Entities is the fundamental function of Dasein, represented here in the Schematic by the flow of red arrows. The circles represent both the source and product of these Interpretations, or rather stages in the continuous flow of Interpretation that we may identify as having certain relative properties. In all that is to follow, as is central to the philosophy of Heidegger, this last point is perhaps the most important to bear in mind; nothing has meaning because it has been labelled, all meaning is defined relative to function and context. The top loop as shown below is the basic function of Dasein, the continued Anticipation of the Now and Now-that-was to produce the Potentiality-for-Being, and the Making-present of that Potentiality with the senses to produce the Now. Don't worry if these terms are unintelligible at the moment, they are introduced in more detail below and on their definition pages. The bottom right loop is the derivative (weak) Interpretative cycle, allowing Dasein to present itself with a Potentiality beyond the proximate future. The bottom left loop is how Dasein interacts with the World in which it lives, and the other instances of Dasein, the They. These loops are vital for sentience to emerge, they are discussed later in the sections regarding the brain directly.  Now + Now-that-wasThe Now is the current state of the Entities of Dasein in the present. Its Being is one of the Entities at hand, the senses and Entities of the present as they relate to the Entity of Dasein and as the Function of Dasein determines the present to be. At any one moment in time, the Now is the collection of Entities that the Function of Dasein is "experiencing" at that time, the focus of Dasein's ken, the region of Dasein that is the present. The Now-that-was is the remnant of Entities of a just-passed Now, the Being of Dasein as it was a moment before. This short, immediate "history" of Dasein is in one sense vital to provide a vector, so to speak, for the extrapolatory Interpretation called Anticipation. To perform a strong temporal Interpretation, a comparison of two things is required. The Now-that-was then serves to produce, on Interpretation with the Now, a differential, the change in Being of Dasein, which change can be identified with changes in the memory of Dasein, it's Entities. AnticipationAs said, by Interpreting the Now and the Now-that-was, Anticipation produces an Interpretive product that is a status of the Being of Dasein, in the future, based on the Entities held within Dasein (its past experiences, thus Anticipation is "with respect to the past"). This Interpretive product is called the Potentiality-for-Being; the "potential" here denotes both the predictive quality of the Interpretation, since it may or may not actually happen, and also the potential to act, itself, by which purposeful motor action and choice emerge within Dasein. Potentiality-for-BeingJust as the Now is the state of Being of Dasein in the present, the Potentiality-for-Being is the state of Being of Dasein in a possible future. The nature of that future, the quality of the prediction so the speak, is clearly dependent on the range and depth of experiences Dasein has stored as Entities that are Interpretistically relevant to the Now at hand. If it has encountered a similar situation before, then the Anticipation Interpretation is more likely to be accurate. An important feature of the system to note at this point is the temporality created by this predictive Interpretation. By taking Dasein into a possible future, the Being of Dasein is not only in the past through its Entities, nor also in the present through its senses, but reaching into a future it has created of its own accord. This point will be very important for the emergent properties of Dasein as discussed in later sections, and directly relates to the conception of time possessed by Dasein. One should envisage the loop of the three main states of the Now-that-was, the Now and the Potentiality-for-Being not as a cycle to be followed round and around, for if one did then at any moment one's focus would be away from some part of the loop, but as a continuous and parallel flow of information. SensesThe senses obviously take physical interactions in-the-World and translate these to signal patterns "readable" by Dasein. There may be some degree of "pre-processing" whereby the sense "organ" in question encodes or optimises the signal for Interpretation, but this is not strictly necessary and is rather a way to help subsequent functions focus on what has been determined important in the sense, by evolution or the creator. The nature of this translation of data as it is performed by Interpretation is discussed in sections on the brain and with regard to building a sentient machine. Making-presentThe Making-present is the second major Interpretation performed by Dasein, it compares the Anticipation Interpretation (future) with the senses (present) and in doing so creates the Now, completing the cycle. For the Potentiality-for-Being to be assessed and productive, it must be brought back to the present, and in Interpreting it thus with the senses, the predicted state of Being of the World can be reckoned with what the senses record. The degree to which the Making-Present influences the Now may vary, and in a practical sense may be negligible, but the cycle is maintained, regulated and guided by a function of the Making-Present not shown here; Shock. This shall be explored in more detail on subsequent pages. Again, there are emergent properties of this system that are discussed on other pages. But even now one should be able to simply imagine the effect this would have on the casual execution of Dasein. Consider dropping a ball in front of yourself. At any one "moment" in time, Dasein has the current position of the ball as the Now, and traces from its immediate knowledge of where the ball was an instant before to Anticipate where it shall be next (with respect to prior experience, Interpretation is of Dasein's Entities); and this Potentiality-for-Being is appreciated whilst the ball is falling. The senses will then corroborate this in a normal situation, the Making present brings this synthesis of the future and the present back to the Now, and Dasein's expectations have been realised. They didn't have to be realised, but this is a matter for other sections. Motor actionFor the instance of Dasein to interact with the World and the They it must partake of motor action to effect a change in the World. In humans this takes one of three forms; speech, skeletal muscle movement or functional alteration of Interpretive pathways (Attention control, below). The Potentiality-for-Being provides, in the possible future of what Dasein may become, the goal for said action. In the process of execution to reach this goal, other parts of the instance, the cerebellum in humans for example, are dedicated to achieving the plan through translation to coordinated skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation. The function of Anticipating, weighting and selecting a Potentiality-for-Being for Action, and the perception of doing so, is what amounts to our sensation of "choice". The basic function of which is Emotion, which shall be discussed later. Attention controlThe process as described thus far has two intrinsic problems which have a common solution. First is the continuous increase in the amount of information being introduced into the cycle; the derivative Potentiality-for-Being and the senses mean that there is potentially more data to arrive back at the Now than departed. Secondly, not all this data is of import to the instance at any one time, to Be concerned with inconsequentialities at a time of danger could be fatal for Dasein. Therefore, Dasein has control over the weighting of its own Interpretations in the form of a "gating" signal system (in green) that may promote or inhibit certain Interpretive pathways. Like all possibilities of action this originates in the Potentiality-for-Being, sending regulatory signals to major sites in the process; this is akin to motor action since Dasein is Becoming its Potentiality through self action, but here in the most direct manner and at a level undetectable to its senses and Entities, thus it is "sub-conscious" (though still possible to control). As a consequence, rather than Being "everywhere at once" within its own Being, Dasein can emphasise Being within the Now by inhibiting Anticipation, or focus upon the sense of hearing; always by acting upon a Potentiality-for-Being. The problem of lost information is sidestepped by selecting what is relevent-to-hand and the problem of Being "in the wrong place" is directly confronted by allowing Dasein to Be where it deems to be important. On this page we have covered the main bases of the Temporal Cycle and seen how Interpretation, given different inputs and arranged in the way shown, may generate its own temporality, thus completing the Being of Entities. This is the kernel of Dasein, the most fundamental process that, when enacted within a proper context, enables the emergence of all else that one associates with sentient life. The following pages shall look at this emergence and how to apply the model in construction. |