Humans are of both Nature and Ex-Nature
(excerpted from The Axxiad)
The Evolution of Human
There is Nature and there is “Ex-nature”. Human beings are on a long evolutionary road out of Nature to Ex-nature. Humans are by nature both of Nature and Ex-nature. These are notes toward the development of a thesis.
In the prior two sections of this Axxiad, there has been affirmation of the inner Human Diverse, an acceptance of it all. Though we have a progressive evolution to new historical stages, we bring all we can to those new stages, bringing our whole family along. We do not give up our inner diversity in exchange for a handful of issues that are beckoning us forward for the moment.
At the same time, while we are of Nature, we are also of Ex-nature, that is, we are different from Nature and moving beyond Nature [Though not completely, for Nature will always be within us and will serve as a foundation or ground for our leaps.]
What is meant by Ex-Nature? Here are some features of Human evolution and its path in brief for you to consider:
I
Nature Differentiates Continuously
-difference, variety, change, duality, range, the new, simultaneous evolution, chaos to kollects
II
The Human Differentiates from Nature
-the mind is a new level of the Diverse, it splits from the physical level, the mind is the Diverse perceiving the Diverse, the Diverse feeling the Diverse
III
The Human Differentiates Continuously
-a Human being is continually differentiating as an individual, as a creator. Humans are ceaselessly forming new social collections and wholes
-Civilizations are defined by these degrees and forms of differentiation. The further you go back in time the less differentiation you will find
IV
Human Individuality
-in what particular ways does a Human being differentiate? In experiences, attitudes, philosophies, emotions, biases, in self identity
V
Human Genio
-Genio is the creative force in all of us, and the force of our self re-creation
VI
Human Good and Evil
-some people say that good and evil are eternal, that they are a great circle, that things never get better, that you must accept this and disengage from the world and its struggles. But the Ahgenn say this is a cynical idea. We say that each struggle of good and evil drives Humanity to a higher level of development, that there is progress, that society and personal behavior do get better. Just look at our evolution over the last ten thousand years. Evil changes in degree and form as we progress, the battle, yes, is eternal but the duality transcends from higher level to higher level
VII
Human Value Dualities
-the duality of good and evil or right and wrong or true and false or beauty and ugliness is a value duality, it is always directional, they are “axial”, that is they proceed along an axis, we are always seeking more good, more right, more truth, more beauty. But other dualities are not directional, they are “pragmatic” -- the side of the opposite that is primary merely depends on concrete conditions and changes, these dualities include thousands of things like general/particular, theoretical/practical, emotional/logical. These are very basic categories we use to analyze and organize our lives. In the value duality the side of the opposite that is primary is always primary, it is directional, the value dualities guide, leading our lives, the pragmatic dualities are for managing, administrating our lives. Human beings are axial animals in the main, the pragmatic dualities give us our footing, the value dualities force us to stride forward.
(You can look at dualities in three forms: “high bias” which are value dualities; “mid bias” which are biased dualities that can have diversals to the nebias as in diff and undiff, and “no bias” dualities, these are the pragmatic dualities.)
VIII
The Human “Why” Animal
-the Human is the why animal, the animal in an insatiable quest for knowledge, this is an indisputable truth driving our evolution, it makes us very different
-at the same time, an old story tells us: “Humanity asks ‘why’, and the cosmos says ‘because’. Humanity asks ‘why’ again, and the cosmos answers ‘why not’. Humanity asks ‘why’, and the cosmos replies ‘why ask because there is no end to ‘why’s’. Humanity asks ‘why’ again, and the irritated cosmos retorts ‘why must you always ask ‘why’? Humanity pauses then answers “I don’t know why?” The cosmos relieved says “then you are, after all, a part of the cosmos!” This is the irony of the ‘why’ animal
IX
The Human Cultural Animal
-technology and science disconnect us with Nature, for what species does this other than us? At the same time, technology and science connect us with Nature too, for Nature is its focus of study. Sciences of Nature evolve and sciences of Ex-nature evolve.
-but culture disconnects us to pursue who we are, as separate beings and phenomenon, and to pursue who we want to be. In culture is our essence and our choice
-the Home we build is purely our own invention coming from our unique natures, original, like no other species
-the mental Diverse splits off from the real Diverse and a new cultural realm evolves of art, myths, feelings, morality, abstractions, ideas, knowledge, creativity, play and more. This cultural level is in nonstop evolution
X
Human, The Directional Animal
-a “Human” is a directional being, we set courses, aim for goals, follow values, seek more knowledge, attain greater truth, achieve more joy and so on. We hold the world against our axes of orientation and point in the direction of our spirit. We are axial beings, we cannot exist with our axes, we were born to go higher and farther. This psychology inhabits everyday of our lives, a Human that is content and inactive who does not strive or dream or hope will ultimately be unhappy, going against our genes, and wallowing in the primary misery of our race
-the axial within us is our ideals, our higher selves, our dreams. The axial is the divine within us. The divine is never actually achieved, it is a process, a force, an action, a verb. We have the divine inside and yet we strive forever for the divine. The divine is relative and the divine is absolute.
XI
Human Differentiation Meets Limits
-our evolution, creativity, individuality and etc. is not boundless
-what are these particular limits? We must think about this
XII
Human and the Absolutes
-the mind quickly produces the absolute, it leaps from the everyday changing, evolving world and finds the ideas of the eternal, and realizes that these have existed for all time, before us and after us, forever
-for example, morality existed before the Human race, moral principles are absolute, they never change, they always have existed, they were even present at the origin, it is conditions that change, that press us to apply them anew. So history evolves, morality does not
-absolutes go back to the beginning of time. These eternal principles seem to have been at the origin long before us or any thinking being, why? How did physical Nature know these truths before we even appeared? This we will ponder and never really understand
-consciousness quickly finds the absolute truths, for true consciousness is the grasping of the absolute itself, that is its very definition, its definitive act, which is its nature. In a flash, the mind compresses eternity and finds essential truth. The mind is an infinity device that leaps past an infinity of ages and details
-we have genuine consciousness when we comprehend the absolute truths of morality, art, philosophy, the spirit, mathematics and more. What we have before this understanding is a level of pre-consciousness. And once we have seen the absolute future, evolution is in the specifics for that concept
(Some philosophers have tried to live here in this absolute place, but an Ahgenn would say that the absolutes once realized must be brought down to the level of the evolving material world, so that we can guide evolution, so that the absolute can give random change a direction. In this way the changing world always has an absolute compass to the higher.)
XIII
Human Meets the Mystery
-with science we chase the mystery but we never catch it, it always recedes to more distant reaches; the ultimate truths and causes retreat
-the Diverse shines down and shows us its wondrous facts, then it rains mystery showers and washes them away
XIV
Human Culture Needs Science
-the cultural plane is in non stop evolution. But this mental plane must stay connected with the real Diverse through science and technology. These give our culture a foundation, and these aid us in advancing our creativity and self creativity
-Science and technology ultimately serve the mental realm of culture and not vice versa as we have today in our outmoded “civilizations”. Culture limits and directs science.
Summary
Let us summarize the many features of Humans that separate them Nature:
-Humans have mind, Nature does not.
-Humans are consciously creative, Nature is not
-Human Genio is different from Natural Genio
-Humans have Good and Evil, Nature is ambiguous on this
-Humans also have Value Dualities, Nature has its Objective Dualities
-Humans seek to unravel the Mystery, Nature has no care about that
-Humans have culture, Nature has its Ecology
-Humans have science but it connects to nature, while culture disconnects us
-Humans seek the abstract Absolute, Nature IS the Absolute
-Humans ask “Why”, Nature knows why but doesn’t need to communicate it
-Humans are Directional, Nature has no direction and many directions
And More
Humans have culture and art while Nature has life and its own drama. Humans have science while Nature has pure and infinite technology.
There are other things we can say about Humanity -- about our spirituality, our concept of a soul, our abstraction and generalization, our intangible inner world, our understanding of a whole, our grasp of individuality and diversity and so on. The ancients recognized many of these things.
All these things above we can call “Ex-nature”, as opposed to “Nature”. They separate us from the natural world. And today Ex-nature continues to evolve, and in this age, it takes on a new technological aspect:
-Our machines and devices
-Our need for power and resources
-Our consequent rape and pollution of the planet is Ex-nature too
-Our computers and communication are a leap in our Ex-nature, we leap out of physical time and space to communicate. We process information and analyze beyond our old natures.
-Virtual reality and new modes of sensation and manipulation will allow us to be in a reality yet be remote, not be there, yet know and manage the world.
-Our quest for longer life and better health is Ex-nature too, breaking out the confinement of natural lives and seeking immortality through science.
Our Ex-nature evolves to a new stage, the old mode of our natures is surpassed. The relation of Nature and Ex-nature comes to a new stage.
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