"Propaedia" means a topical organisation and outline of all knowledge, such as that embodied in the supplementary volume to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Propaedias are essentially a matter of epistemology meaning the theorisation of knowledge. Designed as a conceptual table of intents rather than a table of contents, propaedias constitute a preamble or antechamber to the universe of knowledge subject to contemplation. Traditionally, knowledge is understood as the result of sensation, memory, introspection and reason. The latter giving rise to inference (movement from old knowledge to new knowledge) or a priori truths (knowledge discoverable by activity of reason alone). Ultimately, propaedias may be considered to have the most practical use as a topical guide to whole-of-knowledge content and to supplement a structured approach to learning.
In order to understand knowledge, the prima facie premise must be one of knowns and unknowns, that is, because we are always alert to an omnipresent and insurmountable unknown, it becomes necessary to cede the incompletability of our knowledge. Underpinning any move from the state of unknowing toward conscious knowledge requires a substantial amount of belief preliminary to hypothesis, analysis and validation of new knowledge. This is both an intuitive and iterative process characterised by modalities of constructivism, fundamentalism and foundationalism which each involve notions predicated on pre-existing knowledge and beliefs (induction). Understanding the theory of knowledge also involves a 'veil of perception' inherently ascribed to the subjective consciousness (cognitive self-awareness) and which requires explicit validation routines to in order to surmount manifest barriers of 'semantic asymmetry' (inter-subjectivity) when relating to others.
Philosophical science recognise beliefs as constituted by both externalist and internalist knowledge. Externalist knowledge refers to causal, reliability and counterfactual theories which bear such unquestioned causal connection conditions as to verify knowledge even without the subject being aware that the conditions satisfy the criteria. Alternatively, internalist knowledge refers to those theories supporting the known, to which the subject is cognisant of the validating conditions. These externalist and internalist forms of knowledge may be consequential to mediated beliefs, those which derive from existing beliefs, or unmediated beliefs, those without direct casual association with an existing belief.
An assay of propedias is especially relevant to the Meta Existential Framework (MEF) (META) as a means to illustrate the three spheres of consciousness, given that each sphere of consciousness is itself imbued with a distinct and continuously fluid knowledge base (propaedia). For each sphere of consciousness (fundamental-germinal (F-G), socio-biogenic (S-B), and individual-experiential (I-E)), it is possible to identify pre-conditions of 'sentience' and 'emergence' associated with a prescribed 'neural substrate' and a qualitatively discernible knowledge reservoir.
Here, the interpolation of 'Existentiality' into each of the three spheres of consciousness establishes a compelling explication of the knowledge dynamics that materialise in three modes of 'Existentiality'. Thus, at any given point in time, the artificial intelligence (A-life) is profligate as multivariant forms of F-G Existentiality, the human society is apperceptive in multi-dimensional forms of S-B Existentiality, and the human individual is consanguine in a multiplicity of humanoid I-E Existentiality forms.
From the anthropocentric standpoint, it is apparent that the I-E propaedia, while embedded and construed in socio and ethno-cultural pre-determined motifs and values merely comprise private knowledge, until such time that the human individual thoughts, sentiments and knowledge are transcribed and communicated into broadcast public knowledge. In this sense, liberty to private thought infers a requisite and unique individual-experiential knowledge base (I-E propaedia). By the same token, the socio-biogenic knowledge base (S-B propaedia) refers to those products of human-socio-biogenic consciousness (collectivised and deliberative thought processes) that have been overtly expressed and transcribed (recorded) in the public dialogue/dialectic and to the public domain. Hence, the socio-biogenic knowledge base provides the pivotal syntactical terms of social engagement through local and much larger spatio-temporal scales of the human inter-relations. To a lesser extent, the fundamental-germinal knowledge base, which is increasingly programmed to replicate human neuronal informational processing embodies a measure of inter-connectedness between computational operating systems (knowledge algorithms). Implicit in the nature of systems programming and the relative permanence of the computer-based digital networks, the fundamental-germinal knowledge base (F-G propaedia) may be considered most categorically organised exhibiting high precision of information processing combined with exceptional memory and fidelity of the knowledge base (data).
Propedias are thus 'emergent', aggrandising, and continuously evolving. The three types of propedia are demarcated by 'agency' of the knowledge base: artificial intelligence (F-G type), human society (S-B type) and human individuals (I-E type).
3 Types of Propaedias
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