Dialog 6: An Emergent Realm
The morning mist was beginning to clear as Synergos shuffled his way along the path toward the giant oak. He found Haplous at their usual spot, seated on one of the stone benches and gazing thoughtfully toward the wheat field beyond the wooden gate. Although his eyes were focused on the multitudes of tassels waving gently in the breeze, he seemed to be somehow perceiving patterns that stretched far beyond the visible horizon.
“You know,” Synergos said, settling onto the worn stone, “I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday – about questions of existence being beyond scientific scope.”
“Ah yes,” Haplous smiled, his hand near his wooden cross. “It reminds me of something quite remarkable that scholars have observed about human history.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, if you look at the period roughly between 800 and 200 BCE, something extraordinary seems to have happened across several major civilizations...”
“What do you mean?” Synergos asked.
“From Greece to India to China, we see the emergence of profound questions about the nature of reality, meaning, and particularly about how words relate to truth,” Haplous’s eyes took on that characteristic warmth. “Whether through Plato’s examination of forms, the Upanishads’ exploration of Brahman, or the early Chinese philosophers’ consideration of the Dao...”
“These all sound like they’re wrestling with similar questions,” Synergos remarked, straightening his papers thoughtfully.
“Yes, and what’s particularly fascinating is how these traditions, while using different concepts and metaphors, all seem to engage with fundamental questions about how language and meaning relate to ultimate reality.”
“Consider something fascinating about these traditions,” Haplous continued, his voice even. “Whether through Plato’s cave, Buddhist teachings, or Chinese concepts of the Dao, they all seem to reflect a remarkable moment of discovery...”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, think about what we discussed regarding looping. The brain at large had been using this capability all along, just as it uses vision or hearing...”
“But suddenly during this period,” Synergos leaned forward slightly, “it seems to have discovered the mechanism itself! Like our cat finding a strange new box in its familiar room?”
“Yes. And notice what happened when different traditions encountered this discovery...”
“They each responded in their own way!” Synergos’s eyes showed his dawning understanding. “Plato saw it as revealing a realm of pure forms, while the Buddhists recognized that ultimate reality must lie beyond what this mechanism could show us – like their saying about words being fingers pointing to the moon...”
“Rather remarkable convergence, wouldn’t you say? Though each tradition drew different conclusions...” Haplous mused.
“They were all grappling with the same discovery,” Synergos spoke carefully, his gaze fixed on Haplous. “The brain at large suddenly noticing this remarkable mechanism it had been using all along?”
“Yes, though perhaps we should look more carefully at exactly how they responded to this discovery...”
“Think about what these different traditions did with this discovery,” Haplous said, watching sunlight strengthen against the ancient stones of the granary. “Each tried to capture it through their own understanding...”
“Like how the Garden of Eden story shows humans suddenly gaining a godlike capability?” Synergos suggested.
“Yes! And notice how the Buddhist tradition describes it...”
“The Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi tree!” Synergos exclaimed. “When he suddenly became aware of...”
“Of what?” Haplous prompted gently.
“Of this mechanism itself,” Synergos spoke slowly, deliberately. “Like our cat discovering its own capability to loop?”
“And in Chinese thought,” Haplous offered with a gentle smile, “whether through Confucian emphasis on the rectification of names or the Daoist recognition that ‘the Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao’...”
“They were all wrestling with this same discovery!” Synergos nodded with excitement. “Each tradition capturing a different aspect of what they’d found?”
“Yes. Though perhaps most remarkable of all...”
“What’s that?”
“How they all recognized this wasn’t just another capability,” Haplous’s eyes held their familiar warmth. “But something that fundamentally transformed human existence.”
“You know what strikes me,” Synergos said thoughtfully, after a brief silence, “about how these different traditions developed?”
“Yes?”
“Well, once they discovered this capability – this power to loop about meaning itself...” Synergos adjusted his papers. “They began building these incredible frameworks of understanding.”
“Rather like scientists gradually mapping newly discovered territory?” Haplous suggested.
“Yes! The Greek philosophers developing their systems of logic and metaphysics...” Synergos gestured with an open hand, “Buddhist scholars analyzing the nature of mind, Chinese thinkers exploring the relationship between words and reality...”
“And notice something fascinating about this discovery’s influence through time,” Haplous said, his fingers touching his cross. “Later Islamic thinkers would continue exploring these same questions about language and ultimate truth, building on these earlier insights...”
“Though they used different concepts and metaphors,” Synergos reflected, “they were all exploring the same fundamental reality?”
“Yes,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “Like astronomers from different cultures gradually mapping the same celestial phenomena.”
“And now,” Synergos leaned forward, his tone earnest, “understanding the actual mechanics doesn’t diminish their discoveries...”
“Any more than understanding orbital mechanics diminishes the wonder of the stars?” Haplous offered.
“No – if anything, it shows how profound their insights really were!” Synergos’s eyes lit up with appreciation. “They were all glimpsing genuine aspects of this remarkable human capability!”
“You know,” Haplous said thoughtfully, his hand resting near his cross, “now that we understand the mechanics of this remarkable capability, we can consider some fascinating philosophical possibilities...”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, remember that we’re moving beyond the scientific aspects of the framework now,” Haplous reminded him with a gentle smile. “Into more speculative territory.”
“Like our questions about existence itself?”
“Yes. Consider something interesting about waves and resonance...” Haplous watched a bird trace circles high in the morning air. “When looping is sustained, it creates a kind of standing wave in the brain’s activity, doesn’t it?”
“Like how Brother James’s organ pipes resonate at specific frequencies?”
“Exactly. And notice something fascinating about waves in general...”
“What’s that?” Synergos asked.
“They’re one of the most fundamental patterns in existence,” Haplous’s eyes took on that distant, reflective look. “From quantum mechanics to cosmic structure...”
“Are you suggesting...” Synergos spoke carefully, a note of caution in his voice, “that existence itself might have something to do with sustained patterns of resonance?”
“Just a philosophical possibility,” Haplous replied with a smile. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at what sustained looping enables...”
“There’s something profound to consider,” he said then, his gaze drawn to the ripples spreading across the surface of his coffee cup. “About the very nature of existence itself.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the ancient Chinese concept of yin-yang suggests that existence requires balance – positive balanced by negative, like the peaks and troughs of a wave...”
“Yes?” Synergos encouraged, his expression attentive.
“Modern physics tells us something remarkable – all matter consists of wave functions. Even particles are really waves of probability...” Haplous touched his wooden cross. “Rather fascinating coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“That everything seems to involve waves?”
“Look around us,” Haplous gestured towards the light-filled fields. “The Earth circles the sun in a wave-like orbit. Galaxies spiral in vast cosmic waves. Light reaches us in waves, sound comes to us in waves...” He smiled faintly. “Even life itself passes in waves from generation to generation.”
“But what does this tell us about existence?” Synergos asked, his practical mind seeking the implication.
“Consider something interesting about waves,” Haplous suggested. “They seem to bootstrap themselves into existence by perfectly balancing positive and negative...”
“Like how electromagnetic waves propagate through space?”
“Yes. Almost as if...” Haplous paused, his expression deeply thoughtful, “existence itself requires this kind of wave-like balancing?”
“And you’re suggesting this might relate to our looping capability somehow?”
“Just a philosophical possibility,” Haplous reiterated with a gentle smile. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at exactly what sustained looping creates...”
“Consider something fascinating about this looping process,” he said, his voice taking on a more focused tone. “When it’s sustained for even a few seconds...”
“Yes?”
“It creates a kind of standing wave in the brain’s activity – a sustained pattern of resonance.” Haplous watched a leaf spiral down from the monastery’s ancient oak, its descent slow and deliberate. “Rather like how Brother James’s organ pipes create sustained tones...”
“And given what we just discussed about waves and existence...” Synergos prompted.
“Yes. Think carefully about what this sustained resonance might represent.”
“A kind of...” Synergos spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words, “bootstrapped existence? Meeting those same criteria we see throughout nature?”
“Like how electromagnetic waves propagate by balancing positive and negative,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “Each peak matched by a trough...”
“And when looping is sustained,” Synergos leaned forward, his understanding deepening, “it creates this same kind of balanced pattern?”
“A fascinating possibility, isn’t it?” Haplous said, his hand touching his cross. “Though remember, we’re exploring philosophical ideas now, not scientific certainties.”
“But it would explain why this capability seems so...” Synergos searched for the right descriptor, “so fundamentally different from ordinary brain processes?”
“Yes – it might represent an entirely different category of existence,” Haplous allowed with a gentle smile. “Though perhaps we should be careful about exactly what we mean by that...”
“You know,” he said thoughtfully after a moment, “Descartes’ famous statement ‘I think, therefore I am’ takes on new meaning through our framework.”
“How so?”
“Well, remember how we discussed his discovery – like our cat finding a strange new box, he suddenly became aware of his ability to examine meaning itself...”
“Yes, through the proxy transfer device,” Synergos confirmed. “But he interpreted it as proving his existence through a relationship with God?”
“Because he didn’t understand the mechanics,” Haplous said, his fingers near his cross. “But notice something fascinating about what he actually discovered...”
“The gateway to the realm of effation?” Synergos offered, sitting up straighter.
“Yes. Think carefully about what this gateway enables...”
“It lets us participate in something beyond individual existence,” Synergos articulated slowly. “This shared space of meaning...”
“Rather profound discovery, wouldn’t you say? Even if he explained it through the understanding available to him?”
“So when he recognized this capability as proof of his existence...” Synergos’s eyes showed the dawning of a new insight. “He was glimpsing something real about its nature, even though he didn’t understand the mechanism?”
“Yes,” Haplous affirmed with a gentle smile. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at exactly what this gateway opens into...”
“Consider what Descartes actually discovered,” he said, his gaze on the chapel wall as morning light strengthened against it. “This remarkable gateway...”
“To the realm of effation?”
“Yes. And notice something fascinating about this realm...” Haplous touched his wooden cross. “Others had glimpsed it too, hadn’t they?”
“Like John Donne? ‘No man is an island’?” Synergos suggested.
“Exactly! He recognized that humans exist in some kind of shared space of meaning...” Haplous’s smile was warm. “That we’re all, as he put it, ‘pieces of the continent, parts of the main.’”
“Through this gateway that Descartes discovered?”
“Yes. Though he saw it as connecting him directly to God,” Haplous nodded. “Donne recognized it connected us to each other through something larger.”
“The realm of effation itself?” Synergos leaned forward again. “This space of shared meaning that transcends individual minds?”
“Rather profound insight, wouldn’t you say?” Haplous mused. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at exactly how this sharing works...”
“You know,” he said thoughtfully, his gaze sweeping around their peaceful surroundings, “we often overlook something quite remarkable about human existence.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, consider how you’ve spent your morning so far,” Haplous suggested. “Before coming to meet me...”
“I wrote some emails, read the news online, responded to a few messages from friends...” Synergos paused, then a look of comprehension. “Oh! I was entirely engaged in the realm of effation, wasn’t I? All that sharing of meaning through words and ideas...”
“And notice something fascinating about modern life in general,” Haplous said, his hand resting near his cross. “Schools, books, television, social media, everyday conversations...”
“We spend most of our waking hours in this shared space of meaning!” Synergos exclaimed, his eyes wide with the realization. “Our physical bodies exist to eat and sleep and carry us forward, but our real existence as humans…”
“Is primarily within this realm,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “Rather remarkable how we take it for granted, isn’t it?”
“Yes! Like fish not noticing the water they swim in...” Synergos spoke slowly, a sense of wonder in his voice. “We’re so immersed in this shared space of meaning that we hardly recognize how extraordinary it is.”
“Though perhaps,” Haplous offered with a gentle smile, “we should look more carefully at what this tells us about human nature...”
“Consider something remarkable about this shared space,” he continued, his tone deepening. “It’s not just a collection of messages passing back and forth...”
“No?”
“Think about what the proxy transfer device enables.” Haplous touched his wooden cross. “Through this simple mechanism, our brain at large can convert meaning into patterns that can be shared, preserved...”
“Like great literature, profound philosophical insights, mathematical theorems?” Synergos suggested.
“Yes. And notice something fascinating about these patterns – they seem to exist in some deeper way, don’t they?”
“Like Plato’s forms?” Synergos offered. “Truths that transcend individual minds?”
“Yes. When mathematicians discover a theorem, or poets capture a truth about human nature...” Haplous prompted.
“They’re not creating something temporary,” Synergos declared, sitting forward. “Through the PTD, they’re uncovering patterns that seem somehow... eternal?”
“Rather like what Shakespeare recognized in his eighteenth sonnet?”
“‘So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this...’” Synergos quoted slowly. “He saw that these patterns of meaning could persist beyond individual life?”
“Through this shared space we call the realm of effation,” Haplous confirmed with a nod. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at exactly what this persistence implies...”
“You know,” he said thoughtfully, his gaze on the patterns of sunlight on the ancient stones, “considering this realm of effation philosophically – and I emphasize philosophically, not scientifically...”
“Yes?”
“There’s something fascinating about how it maintains continuity.” He watched a wisp of mist dissipate in the warming air. “Consider what makes your own life feel continuous.”
“Well...” Synergos frowned slightly in thought. “My memories, I suppose? My ability to recall past experiences?”
“Through looping,” Haplous agreed. “Which exists within the realm of effation. And notice something interesting about this...”
“What’s that?”
“Just as this recollection gives continuity to individual existence,” Haplous said, his fingers touching his cross, “the realm of effation itself maintains patterns of meaning across time...”
“Like a vast web of shared understanding?” Synergos ventured, leaning forward. “That could potentially connect to... something more?”
“Though what that ‘something’ might be...” Haplous smiled gently, his eyes holding a distant look, “whether future or past, divine or cosmic...”
“There’s no way to know,” Synergos spoke softly. “But the realm of effation could provide the bridge?”
“An interesting philosophical possibility,” Haplous nodded. “Though remember, we’re far beyond scientific certainty here.”
“Like pondering what lies beyond the horizon,” Synergos suggested, “while acknowledging we can’t see that far?”
“Yes. Though perhaps we should look more carefully at what this possibility suggests about meaning itself...”
“Consider what really happened in that Axial Age,” Haplous said, his voice thoughtful. “Like our cat finding a strange new box in its familiar room...”
“What exactly did they find?” Synergos asked.
“The looping process itself,” Haplous stated, his hand resting near his cross. “Just as Plato discovered, just as Descartes discovered – they suddenly became aware of this remarkable capability.”
“And recognized it as something entirely different from ordinary existence?”
“Yes. Finding this mechanism that seemed to belong to another realm entirely...” Haplous offered a subtle smile. “Each tradition tried to make sense of it through whatever understanding they had available.”
“So the Axial Age...” Synergos leaned forward, his interest keen. “Could it have been sparked by this discovery?”
“An interesting possibility, wouldn’t you say? That this recognition of looping – this startling awareness of a seemingly transcendent capability – set off this extraordinary flowering of philosophical and religious thought?”
“With each tradition trying to explain what they’d found,” Synergos mused, “through their own metaphors and understanding?”
“Though perhaps,” Haplous suggested, his gaze thoughtful, “we should look more carefully at what this might mean for those traditions today...”
“As we discussed earlier,” he continued, his tone measured, “religious traditions have always found ways to embrace scientific discoveries, even when those discoveries seemed challenging at first.”
“Yes, you mentioned how they came to see certain scriptures as metaphorical rather than literal...”
“And notice something interesting about this process.” Haplous touched his cross. “Each time, the tradition emerged stronger, with a deeper understanding of its own wisdom.”
“Because they found the profound truth behind their metaphors?”
“Yes. Take the Buddhist scholars we mentioned – when they understood Mount Meru as a psychological rather than physical reality...” Haplous smiled gently. “They discovered even richer meaning in their ancient texts.”
“And this framework,” Synergos spoke carefully, his understanding clear, “by explaining the very mechanism they all discovered...”
“Could help reveal the profound insights hidden in their different metaphors and explanations,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “Though we must be particularly sensitive here...”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we’re touching something that lies at the very heart of human understanding,” Haplous’s eyes held their characteristic warmth. “This remarkable capability that transformed human existence.”
Synergos paused, absorbing the weight of this, then looked up. "You know, I've been thinking about our discussions of how different traditions recognized aspects of the framework..."
"Yes?" Haplous encouraged, his gaze steady as he picked up the small Yoruban statue from the bench beside him.
"Well, we've talked about Plato, Buddhism, the Upanishads, Chinese thought..." Synergos straightened his papers. "But I can't help noticing that we've taken a rather... Eurocentric view. Even when we include Indian and Chinese traditions, we're still focusing on what Western academics traditionally consider the 'major' world philosophies."
Haplous’s eyes crinkled with genuine interest. "An excellent observation. What prompted this?"
"I'm just thinking, there's a lot more to history than that one that has been so privileged in historiography. What about, for example, that statue that Brother Michael brought back from his mission work in West Africa, that Yoruban art statue. Certainly that represents a large area of thought that you haven't considered so far."
"Ah, Ori." Haplous touched his wooden cross, turning the statue in his hands. "The Yoruba concept of the inner head. Rather fascinating connection to our framework, wouldn't you say?"
Synergos looked surprised. "You're familiar with it?"
"During my comparative religion studies, yes." Haplous nodded. "The Yoruba distinguish between the physical head – ori-ode – and the inner head, or ori-inu. This inner head isn't just your brain or mind in the conventional sense. It's something deeper – what they would consider your consciousness or destiny."
"And how does this connect to our framework?" Synergos asked, leaning forward.
"Well, consider what happens when Yoruba practitioners 'consult their Ori,'" Haplous suggested, his gaze on the statue. "They're not just thinking in the ordinary sense. They're engaging in a specific practice that involves stepping back from direct experience to examine their own understanding."
"Like catching their brain at large in the act of using looping?" Synergos’s eyes widened.
"Exactly! They recognized that humans have both direct experience and this reflective capability that lets them examine meaning itself." Haplous smiled. "They just expressed it through their cultural understanding of inner and outer heads rather than neuronal proxies and looping."
Synergos nodded thoughtfully. "And what about indigenous American traditions? I imagine they must have discovered aspects of this mechanism too?"
"Indeed they did," Haplous said, his fingers brushing his cross. "Consider the Navajo concept of hózhó – often translated as 'walking in beauty' or 'being in harmony.'"
"I've heard the phrase, but I'm not familiar with the deeper meaning," Synergos admitted.
"It's quite profound," Haplous’s eyes took on that warm, distant look. "Hózhó isn't just about external beauty or balance. It involves a conscious reflection on one's relationship with the world – stepping back from direct experience to understand one's place in it."
"Again, recognizing that capability for looping!" Synergos affirmed. "The ability to examine meaning rather than just experiencing directly."
“Yes. And their healing ceremonies often involve practices where patients are guided to recognize this harmony – to use that reflective capability to restore balance.” Haplous smiled. “Without necessarily having a mechanical understanding of what they were doing.”
Synergos frowned slightly. "But if these traditions recognized the same mechanism, why haven't they become more central to discussions of consciousness?"
Haplous sighed, a brief shadow crossing his features. "Partly historical circumstance. The academic traditions that shaped our understanding of consciousness emerged in Europe during a time when non-Western philosophies were often dismissed as 'primitive' or 'mystical.'"
"Rather unfortunate narrowing of perspective, wouldn't you say?" Synergos offered.
"Indeed. But notice something fascinating about all these traditions," Haplous continued, his tone brightening. "Whether it's the Yoruba consulting their Ori, Navajo seeking hózhó, or Greeks contemplating forms..."
"They all recognized this same capability," Synergos completed the thought. "Just interpreted through their cultural lenses."
"Yes! And consider what this tells us about the framework..." Haplous touched his cross.
"That it explains something fundamental about human consciousness," Synergos nodded with enthusiasm. "Something so basic that people across completely different cultures and times all discovered it."
"Though none had the conceptual tools to understand it mechanically," Haplous added. "Until now."
"Are there other traditions we should consider?" Synergos asked, his curiosity clearly engaged.
"Many," Haplous affirmed with a smile. "For instance, among the Maya, the concept of 'k'ul' – consciousness or sacred awareness – involved recognition of this same reflective capability. Their understanding of time itself reflected an awareness of how humans can loop back to examine experience."
"And in Africa beyond the Yoruba?"
"The Dogon people have an extraordinarily sophisticated understanding of consciousness," Haplous replied, his voice carrying a note of respect. "Their cosmology includes recognition of how humans can step outside direct experience to examine meaning – what we would call looping."
Synergos absorbed this, his expression thoughtful and perhaps a little awed. "It's remarkable how universal this recognition seems to be. And yet the mechanical explanation remained elusive for so long."
"Like many profound truths," Haplous said, gently placing the bronze statue back on the bench. "Hiding in plain sight across countless traditions, waiting for someone to recognize the common pattern."
The monastery cat appeared silently between the lavender stalks, its gaze fixed on them with a characteristic independence – a living demonstration, perhaps, of direct experience without the constant need for looping.
"I wonder," Synergos said, watching the monastery cat’s perfect, unreflective presence, "how differently human history might have unfolded if we'd understood these mechanics sooner?"
Haplous smiled, his eyes following the cat's movements as it disappeared into the lavender. "Perhaps that's a question for another dialogue."
“Yes certainly, I'm sure we can't cover everything in world history in one sitting,” Synergos said thoughtfully, looking out at the fields. “So getting back to a more generic discussion about what we’ve discussed these past days, I see something remarkable...”
“What’s that?” Haplous inquired.
“This framework explains not just consciousness, but humanity’s whole spiritual and philosophical journey.” Synergos straightened his papers, a sense of order returning. “From that first discovery of looping in the Axial Age...”
“Yes, like cats in different places all finding that same strange box,” Haplous offered with a gentle smile. “Each trying to make sense of it through their own understanding.”
“And now science can explain what they found,” Synergos leaned forward, his voice earnest. “Without diminishing any of their profound insights...”
“Though perhaps,” Haplous touched his wooden cross, his expression becoming more serious, “we should be particularly humble here.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we’re offering just one more way of understanding,” Haplous’s eyes held that distant look again. “A scientific explanation, yes, but like all human understanding...”
“It too exists within the realm of effation?” Synergos suggested.
“Yes. Part of humanity’s continuing journey to understand itself,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at what that journey implies...”
“What I find most remarkable,” he said then, watching the morning light strengthen on the ancient stones, “is how this understanding emerged...”
“What do you mean?”
“Throughout history, great discoveries have often been proclaimed with certainty, haven’t they?” Haplous touched his wooden cross again. “But here, we must be particularly careful...”
“Because we’re offering a possibility, not a proclamation?” Synergos offered.
“Yes. Like someone suggesting a way to read an ancient text,” Haplous smiled faintly. “Not insisting, just offering a perspective that might help make sense of what so many traditions have glimpsed.”
“And if it’s not the right solution?” Synergos asked.
“Then humanity continues its search,” Haplous nodded. “Though perhaps what matters most is how we approach these profound questions...”
“With humility?”
“Yes. After all, we’re examining something that transformed human existence,” Haplous’s eyes took on their characteristic warmth. “The very mechanism that lets us share this understanding...”
“Through the realm of effation itself,” Synergos spoke softly. “The space where all human wisdom meets.”
“There’s something quite extraordinary about this particular investigation,” Haplous said thoughtfully, his gaze turning inward. “Unlike any other scientific inquiry...”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, consider how we study chemistry or paleontology.” Haplous’s fingers brushed his cross. “We use the realm of effation to examine other things. But here...”
“We’re using the realm of effation to study itself?” Synergos leaned forward, the implication dawning.
“Yes. And notice the recursions involved...” Haplous offered a gentle smile. “We’re using the PTD to understand the PTD, using looping to examine looping...”
“Like trying to study a mirror while looking in it?”
“Even more complex,” Haplous agreed. “Because we’re using the brain at large to examine how the brain at large uses these mechanisms.”
“No wonder it took humanity so long to understand,” Synergos spoke slowly, a note of wonder in his voice. “These recursive patterns make it particularly challenging...”
“Like trying to see your own eyes seeing,” Haplous suggested. “Though perhaps we should look more carefully at what these recursions tell us about the nature of understanding itself...”
“There’s something else quite fascinating,” he said then, shifting the focus slightly, “about why this understanding has been so elusive...”
“What’s that?”
“Well, our natural subjective impressions often don’t align with the actual mechanics.” Haplous touched his wooden cross. “Consider what we discovered about dreams and pilots in near-collisions...”
“That what we recall doesn’t match what was happening in our brains at those moments?”
“Exactly. In dreams, our brain reconstructs experience upon waking. In near-collisions, pilots’ brains focus entirely on survival, yet later reconstruct rich experiences of time slowing down...” Haplous smiled faintly. “And that’s just the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” Synergos asked.
“Consider how we naturally assume our conscious visual experience is streaming in like input through a window,” Haplous offered. “When the framework shows us it’s actually potential output from our PTD.”
“These impressions seem almost impossible to see past,” Synergos reflected, his voice quiet. “Until you understand the mechanics...”
“Yes. And there are likely many more such mismatches we haven’t yet recognized,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “For millennia, these subjective impressions were accepted without question.”
“But through the framework...”
“We can understand the actual processes at work,” Haplous said, his hand near his cross. “Though notice something crucial about how we reached this understanding...”
“Through empirical observation and logic?” Synergos suggested.
“Yes. Only by setting aside subjective impressions and following the scientific method,” Haplous confirmed with a gentle smile. “No matter how compelling those immediate experiences might feel.”
“You know,” Synergos said thoughtfully, watching sunlight trace patterns across the ancient flagstones, his expression reflective, “something quite remarkable about our journey these past days...”
“Yes?”
“We’ve been using consciousness to study consciousness itself. Like trying to catch our own brain at large in the act of using its tools...”
“Rather fascinating process, isn’t it?” Haplous touched his wooden cross. “Using looping to understand looping, the PTD to examine the PTD...”
“And yet somehow,” Synergos straightened his papers, his administrator’s precision engaging, “through all these recursive patterns, we’ve managed to see something real?”
“Yes. Though notice something extraordinary about this achievement...” Haplous prompted.
“What’s that?”
“It required both scientific precision and philosophical insight,” Haplous smiled gently. “Like how a mirror needs both perfect flatness and proper positioning to show us our own eyes.”
“And perhaps that’s why it took humanity so long to understand?” Synergos mused aloud. “We needed both the scientific method and this philosophical perspective to catch our own brain at work?”
“Rather remarkable that we can do it at all,” Haplous acknowledged with a nod. “Though perhaps most fascinating of all...”
“Yes?”
“Even this understanding exists within the very realm we’re studying,” Haplous’s eyes held that familiar warmth. “Part of the endless human journey to comprehend itself.”
“Something else strikes me,” Synergos said, his attention drawn to Brother Michael adjusting the morning candles on the altar with practiced care. “About how this framework relates to everything humanity has discovered before...”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, when after Copernicus the idea that the Earth moves around the sun became more widespread,” Synergos gestured thoughtfully, “but most people even today tend to see the sun moving toward the horizon as it sets. I must say though, that sometimes I can see it the other way, by concentrating on what is really happening."
"Ha ha ha," Haplous’s eyes were brimming with mirth. "So the Beatles sang about you, '...But the fool on the hill sees the Sun going down, and the eyes in his head see the world spinning 'round!"
"They could only have been using the word fool ironically, as it is not foolish, it is the truth." Synergos shifted his weight a bit uncomfortably on the bench.
“Yes, of course” Haplous said, his hand touching his wooden cross. “But note how profound that line is. Even when truths are known, it is not always automatic to see things in the right way, if a mistaken impression is powerful. And in the case of the framework, the truth could come to humankind intermittently, in spurts."
Synergos leaned forward slightly. “Like Plato seeing the semantic patterns behind the shadows on the wall of his cave, or Descartes discovering his gateway to what he called existence?”
“And the mystics finding this transcendent capability,” Haplous affirmed with a nod. “Each capturing some aspect of this remarkable mechanism through whatever understanding they had available.”
“Though now we can see how it actually works,” Synergos spoke carefully, his voice sure, “without diminishing any of their profound insights?”
“Rather like understanding the physics of light,” Haplous offered with a gentle smile, “doesn’t diminish the beauty of a sunset?”
“No,” Synergos looked around at the fields, a thoughtful expression on his face. “If anything, it makes it all even more remarkable.”
The morning bells began to ring for prayer, their clear tones filling the ancient courtyard. Synergos gathered his papers, a faint smile on his lips at the memory of that first morning when a skeptical administrator had agreed to hear about “a new theory of consciousness.”
“You know,” he said, as they began to rise, “when we started these conversations, I warned you that everyone seems to have a theory about consciousness these days.”
“Yes,” Haplous’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “Though as it turned out, this wasn’t exactly a theory about consciousness, was it?”
“No,” Synergos acknowledged with a nod. “It was something much more fundamental – about how brains work, how meaning gets created and shared...”
“And what did your practical administrator’s mind make of it all?” Haplous inquired.
“Well,” Synergos straightened his papers one last time, a look of settled conviction on his face, “like any good administrator, I look for systems that actually work – that explain what we observe while making complex things simpler to understand.”
“And this framework?”
“Shows us something remarkably elegant,” Synergos spoke with deliberation. “The brain at large operating through purely mechanical processes, using looping as one tool among many...” He paused, watching the last morning mist lift from the rows of wheat beyond the oak. “While opening doors to questions that go far beyond mechanics.”
“Rather like how understanding the physics of bell metal...” Haplous gestured toward the chapel tower, its bell now silent.
“Doesn’t diminish the mystery of why their sound moves us so deeply,” Synergos finished. “Though I suppose that takes us beyond what science can explain?”
“Yes,” Haplous smiled, his hand resting on his cross. “Though perhaps that’s exactly where science should leave us – not with fewer mysteries, but with deeper ones.”
The bells finished their morning song, and both men stood, the day's work and prayer ahead. Around them, the monastery was awakening.
“Same time tomorrow?” Synergos asked, a familiar routine now established.
“Always,” Haplous replied simply, his gaze on the distant horizon. “There’s always more to understand.”
— End of Dialog 6 —