the highway (excerpt…)
TRANSCRIPT
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The Highway
A Metaphysical Exploration Of Life
Silvanus Sæ-gar Prince
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OutlineIntroduction
The Individual
Minds, Bodies & Souls
The Path
Choices & Constraints
Autrui & Lanes
On Ramps, Off Ramps & Paths Not Taken
Rest Stops
Towers
Communication
Inorganics, Vegetables & Animals
Rationals, Spirits & The Übermensche
The End Of The Road?
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The Highway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Minds, Bodies & Souls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Choices And Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Autrui & Lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
On Ramps, Off Ramps & Paths Not Taken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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The Highway
Introduction
Following the path as it leads toward
The darkness in the north
Weary strangers' faces show their sympathy
They've seen that hope before
And if you want to stay for a little bit
Rest your aching limbs for a little bit
Before you the night is beckoning
And you know you can't delay
You hear the night birds calling you
But you can't catch the words they sayClose your aching eyes, be on your way
Mist is swirling, creatures crawling
Hear the roar get louder in your ears
You know the folly was your own
But the force behind can't conquer all your fears
And if you want to stay for a little bit
Rest your aching limbs for a little bit
Before you the night is beckoning
And you know you can't delayYou hear the night birds calling you
But you can't catch the words they say
Close your aging eyes, be on your way
Throw your thoughts back many years
To the time when there was life with every morning
Perhaps a day will come when the light will be as clear as on that morning
And if you want to stay for a little bit
Rest your aching limbs for a little bit
Before you the night is beckoning
And you know you can't delay
You hear the night birds calling you
But you can't catch the words they say
Close your ancient eyes, be on your way
The Narrow Way, Part III
Pink Floyd
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Many years ago I tried to formulate my thoughts on Existence into the framework of a
metaphor which could help others understand my peculiar world view & the odd philosophy I
épouse. What I came up with, at the time, seemed simple & very illustrative. However the
more I think about it & the more I expand on the metaphor as my own personal philosophy& understanding of human existence grows - the more complex my “simple” metaphor
becomes. As such, the metaphor itself has expanded & I know feel the need to explain it
in writing (as vocalizing this metaphor has become somewhat tedious) in order to perhaps
clarify my thoughts - not only for others, but also for myself.
As some of you might know, I am an Individualist. I Believe that each & every
Creature within Creation is a separate & free entity with the ability to Choose their own
Fate. I also think that we are all here for some Purpose - Individually & Collectively. Each
Individual goes through life making Choices which help them progress closer to fulfilling
this Purpose, staying stagnant or possibly even regressing backwards away from this
Purpose. This ongoing progression, stagnation or regression is what I term an Individual’sLife Path. We all have a single Path to follow - one which is our very own - which will
ultimately lead us to fulfilling our Individual Purpose.
When you think about all the billions of Individuals - tho there are probably more -
that have existed, do exist & will exist within Creation, you begin to see that there are also
billions & billions of Life’s Paths all starting somewhere & leading to an ultimate Collective
Purpose. It is this collection of Life’s Paths that I call The Highway - because ultimately all
our Paths lead to the same goal: fulfilling the Purpose of Creation. Yet there necessarily are
billions & billions of different ways to get there because there are billions & billions of
Creatures who all have Individual Life Paths to follow.Years ago when I first began to talk about The Highway, I described it as the biggest
freeway you could conceive of. On this freeway were billions & billions of lanes with
billions & billions of Individuals traveling along at different speeds. Sometimes, travelers
travel forwards. Sometimes they travel backwards. And other times still they are stopped
& seem to be stuck, unable to move. Along the way there are rest stops accessed by on-
ramps & off-ramps where these innumerable travelers could “pull over” & refresh
themselves from time to time as was needed. These rest stops were meeting places where
travelers could exchange ideas with other travelers & maybe get directions or information
on the road ahead. Also on this highway one could look around & see other travelers in
their own lanes & if one wanted to, one could converse with them. Perhaps one mightspeak of what one had experienced on the road thus-far. Perhaps one could ask questions
about the road ahead (if these other travelers where farther along). It is by talking with
other travelers that one is able to help them move forward at a higher speed, get unstuck
or even turn around & resume going in the proper direction. Indeed, also through these
conversations, these same benefits are also available to us.
As you can plainly see, this rudimentary Highway metaphor is rather simplistic - tho
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interesting. Since first explaining myself in this way, I have learned a great deal about
myself, life & how things seem to work. I have since been forced to add to this simple
metaphor to encompass more of my own thoughts, address some issues that arise from this
metaphorical framework & help me explain some vagueness & inconsistency inherent
within the metaphor itself (& indeed - within my Metaphysic as a whole). What then
follows are the “complications” I alluded to above. I hope these additional thoughts help
make The Highway a more practical & a more universal metaphor that may perhaps aid
others in their own understanding of my odd world view. I also hope that I am able to
address some of the problems this metaphor raises. And perhaps, these thoughts & this
metaphor might instill some new thoughts in others to help them in their own journey
along their own Individual Path. (May 21, 2010)
The Individual
For me, the most fascinating thing about existence is that there are countless Beingswho have existed, who do exist & who will one day exist. This simple thought allows us
all to contemplate one very interesting thing - that there is limitless Possibility waiting to
be Actualized. Now what do I mean when I talk about Possibility & Actuality? Simply put,
anything that an Individual does experience or think at a given moment of time/space is
Actual. Anything that an Individual might experience or might think at any given moment
of time/space is a Possibility. The movement from Possibility to Actuality is what moves
everything in existence from one place to another. It is this Actualization that we all use as
Individuals to Progress or Regress along our Life’s Path. When we make thePossible Actual
we are moving ourselves & existence as a whole.But what is the mechanism we use to Actualize Possibility? How do we go from a
hope, a dream or an idea & make it real? Through Choice. Individual Choice is the most
powerful ability that Individuals possess. (May 22, 2010) It is the enactment of our
Authority in order to transform the Possible into the Actual. But I will go into greater detail
regarding Choice in a future chapter.
What concerns us right now is the Individual. What are we talking about when we
speak of Individuals? What is an Individual & how do you separate one Individual from
another? Simply put, an Individual is a singular Being that exists within the framework of
Existence. Most often, the Individual is the Subject of Enquiry in Philosophical meditations
- tho, Groups of Individuals may also be Subjects of Enquiry. But even in the instance ofGroup Enquiries, the fundamental unit that Philosophers are interested in are Individual
Beings.
By scrutinizing the Individual, the Philosopher searches for things that are
Particular to that Individual as well as things that may be Universal to all Individuals. The
Philosopher also searches for varying degrees of Particularity as may be applied to Groups
of Individuals. A very old Logical Syllogism demonstrates this concept nicely: All Men are
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Mortal. Socrates is a Man. Therefor, Socrates is Mortal. When we look at the first premise
of this Syllogism we get a Universal statement that all Beings who belong to the Group
“Men” are Mortal. The second premise is a particular statement in that we are told that
Socrates belongs to the Group “Man”. The synthesis is then obvious to all in that we bring
together the attribute of the Group (i.e. that all Men are Mortal) & then apply this attribute
to the Individual (i.e. Socrates). It is also Possible to induce Group attributes from
Individuals. For example, one could say that Jim is 6'0" tall; that Charles is 6'2" tall; that
Wayne is 6'1" tall; that Pat is 6'6" tall; & that Mike is 6'4" tall. All five of these men are
members of the Tigers hockey team. We can then induce the following from this
information: that members of the Tigers hockey team are all over six feet tall.
We have therefor demonstrated that the Individual is usually at the heart of the
Philosophical Enquiry. But how do we separate one Individual from another - especially
when we are looking at Groups? What is it, then, that makes the Individual unique from
her peers? Some of the obvious signs of Individuality are physical. When you have two
Individuals next to one another it is often easy to separate them on account of their physicalcharacteristics. For example, Humans have a variety of physical attributes that differ from
Individual to Individual. Height, Weight, Hair Colour, Eye Colour, Gender & Body Shape
are some of the primary characteristics that we use to distinguish one Human from
another. But on a more technical level, finger prints & DNA are able to give us definitive
separations between Individuals.
Another area of Individuality is found within an Individual’s psyche. One’s
emotions, experiences (memories), academic learning & general mental condition helps
differentiate one Individual from another. Obviously this means of separation is far easier
to measure in Humans then it is in other Creatures, but the same principal applies to all
Beings - even those that are unable to express themselves to us. At the very least, amongst
Animals it is Possible to measure these sorts of Mental Characteristics to some degree. For
example, Domesticated Cats are generally playful, curious and somewhat egotistical.
Whereas Domesticated Dogs are loyal, protective, playful and often very social. Even
amongst Individual Animals of the same species it is Possible to note differences in
Personality & other Mental Characteristics.
However, ultimately every Individual is different on a Spiritual level. The ancient
Greek Philosophers & many after them often spoke of the composition of Creatures. That
Creatures within Creation are comprised of Material (a Body), an Intelligence (the Mind)
& a Form (the Soul). I will expand upon this idea in the next chapter, but for now let uslook at the final piece of this existential equation, namely the Soul. If indeed every
Creature has a Soul, then it follows that every Individual Soul is different as one’s Soul is
one’s Form. What I mean by this is that our Soul is the True Image of what we are & that
when it merges with Matter (a Body) it then exerts this Image upon that Body. Everything
that we are, that we have been & that one day we might Possibly become is present within
our Soul. As such, each and every Soul is fundamentally different from all the others as
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each & every Creature is fundamentally different from all the others. Therefor, it isPossible
to determine Individual separation from an Individual’s Spirit.
So why is this idea of Individuality so important? Why is there this need to
demonstrate that every Creature is indeed separate & unique? The answer is quite simple,
for if one is not able to demonstrate the basic unit one must measure within a formula, one
is then unable to demonstrate the Validity of the formula itself. Let me explain this in
another way, if one is attempting to describe an Apple to someone yet the only
characteristics one has Knowledge of are those general characteristics of Fruit, the person
one is attempting to describe an Apple to will Believe that all Fruits are Apples - when this
is clearly not the case. The importance of demonstrating the most Particular unit Possible
is necessary because of this. If we are to speak of Socrates then we must understand what
makes Socrates different from other Men.
Minds, Bodies & Souls
In the previous chapter regarding Individuals, I touched briefly upon the idea of the
composition of Creatures. It is my intention to develop this idea further within this current
chapter in order to demonstrate how this idea of Mind, Body & Soul effects the processes
in which the Individual attempts to progress along their Existential Path.
Throughout the millennia in which Mankind has contemplated himself & his
existence, the concept of the composition of Creatures has been raised in many forms.
Some have spoken on the unity of an Individual Creature - meaning that there is no specific
separation between our Minds, Bodies & Spirits. Others have dismissed the very idea of
the Spirit & insist that we exist solely as Minds within Bodies. However, I am one whoagrees with those who propose that we are indeed made up of Mind, Body & Soul. For me,
all three are existentially obvious & necessary on this plane.
I don’t Believe there are many who dismiss the existence of the Body for it is our
Physical manifestation which is so much a part of us that it is hard to contemplate not
having a Body (tho, many have pursued that very notion for various reasons). Besides
disproving the probability of Descartes’ “Evil Demon” scenario, there is little value in
discussing the Possibility that we do not have Bodies while on this Plane of Existence. As
such, I will move onward to the two areas which are far more controversial. (May 25, 2010)
The Mind, for me, is the repository of both our Intelligence & our Mortal Memory.
Intelligence itself is not a complex notion for many to understand. It simply is our capacityto reason & react to perceptual (experiential) & academic (intellectual) data. By reacting,
I also count our emotional response as this capacity does have its own influence within our
reasoning & may effect how our Intelligence interacts with the information it is given. On
the other hand, the term Mortal Memory is something I have devised & does require some
explanation. What I mean by Mortal Memory is our capacity to store experiential &
intellectual memories. I deem this capacity “Mortal” because our Memory, which is part
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of our Intelligence, is sometimes fallible. It is often demonstrated by Psychologists &
Epistemologists that the accuracy of our Memory seems to get worse as time passes from
the moment which is being remembered. Our Memories seem to decline over time in some
areas, yet in other areas they remain clear & exact. Science & Epistemology have not yet
been able to discover an exact reason for this or how this process of memorial deterioration
may be consistently slowed or reversed.
I contend that our Minds are a separate capacity from our Bodies in that our
Intelligence functions differently then our Bodies. Yes it is thought that our Intelligence
rests within our brains - which are a physical part of our Bodies - & that our brains interact
with our Body thru electric pulses. But deep down the workings of the Mind are inherently
different then the workings of the Body. The two act in conjunction, but they are separate
mechanisms. The act of Rational thought or Emotional response does not necessarily
depend on Physical stimuli. The very memory of an experience (not the experience itself)
or a purely abstract intellectual thought may be contemplated or reacted to with one’s
Intelligence. But do I Believe our Intelligence might be separated physically from our Body& still function? No. Body & Mind function only together - apart they cease to function
at all. And by “function” I mean being able to move along our Individual Existential
Pathway.
What does remain after the Body & Mind cease to function has been termed “Soul”
by various cultures. It is this capacity that holds the blueprints - so to speak - for
everything we are & everything we do. The ancient Greeks spoke of “Form” which gives
direction & meaning to Material. Without a Form, a statue is just stone. But once a stone
is given a Form by a sculptor, that stone then becomes a statue. The same is the case with
Creatures. Without our Souls - our Forms - our Bodies are just Matter which then slowly
deteriorates back into the earth - as evidenced by the way dead Bodies decay. It is the Soul
that gives us our Life, our Form & our Meaning. Our Souls, I Believe, interact with our
Bodies thru the medium of our Intelligence. But this communication is imperfect as it is
very difficult to translate Spiritual thoughts & experiences into Physical thoughts &
experiences. Our Minds do the best that they can - but we are always lacking in being
whole, it would seem.
It is this idea of a “Soul” that is so controversial yet so fascinating. (May 26, 2010)
Many have tried to explain the very nature of our Souls in order to help us understand the
innate Spirituality in all of us. From Prophets & Theologians to Philosophers & Biologists,
everyone seems to have some opinion on our Soul. My own opinion is this: that our Soulis what gives us life, gives us purpose & gives us the ability to experience the entire span
of Creation even beyond the limits of our Minds & Bodies. I Believe the Soul is immortal -
as many ancient Greeks & Christians do. My Justification for this is that I have Memories
of past lives, some of which I have begun to find Physical Evidence for to support my
Memories.
There are many Spiritual & Cultural Traditions where the Immortality of the Soul
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is one of the primary thoughts. My own cultural background does indeed have this
Immortality philosophy at its heart. But beyond the Justification & the Tradition, what
does having an Immortal Soul provide us with? Well, for the first part, we have a non-
Physical reservoir of experiences that we are able to tap into. We also have a non-
Intellectual Memory which gives us insight into our True Selves & Creation that surrounds
us. And ultimately, it allows us to carry these experiences & memories into all our Lives.
Yes, indeed, I Believe in reincarnation - simply because I have Memories &
Experiences of my own Past Lives that I am beginning to find external evidence for. And
it is my Belief that all Creatures live multiple lives - in multiple forms. It is this ability to
keep coming back to the Physical & experiencing & learning more that is the foundation
of my Highway metaphor. (May 28, 2010) In fact, the Druids - the traditional philosophers
& priests from my own cultural background - have a teaching regarding the necessity for
reincarnation. It comes from the Welsh Triads and says:
“Three things that make re-birth necessary for man:
His failure to obtain wisdom
His failure to attain independence
His clinging to the lower self”
Let us take a moment and look deeper at what this Triad is saying and how it relates to the
Highway. What the Druids are saying, essentially, is that to overcome the endless cycle of
death & re-birth, a human needs to obtain wisdom, independence & a desire to progress
to a higher self. But what is meant by all of this? According to the Welsh Triads, wisdom
has three virtues:
“Three Virtues Of Wisdom:
To be aware of all things
To endure all things
To be removed from all things”
And the Welsh Triads also speak of three things that should be avoided by the Wise:
“Three things avoided by the Wise:
Expecting the impossible
Grieving over the irretrievable
Fearing the inevitable”
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So, just like many other philosophical and theological systems, we have a simple recipe for
wisdom which is often hard to attain - tho not impossible to attain. I often try to keep this
recipe in mind in my day to day living. I am by no means saying that I am Wise by any
stretch of the imagination - I am simply aspiring to Wisdom. At some moments, I am just
as much the fool as any one else.
Independence, tho easier to define, seems even harder to achieve. For me,
Independence is what one would call complete Social Freedom - where one is Free to
Choose any path without our Chosen Social Values & Responsibilities effecting our
decisions. I will get into defining these terms in a later chapter - but essentially what I am
saying is that Humans are Social Creatures & we make the majority of our decisions based
on Social Values & Responsibilities that are defined by what ever Social group we belong
to. My ideal Independence is achieved when the Individual makes Choices based on his
or her own set of Values & Needs - and not those of his or her Social Group. Again, I will
go into further detail regarding this idea in a later chapter.
In my mind, however, the final requirement is the hardest to possibly achieve. Andperhaps it is also the hardest to define. What is meant by “lower self”? How do we rise
ourselves above this level in order to keep moving forward & end the cycle of death & re-
birth? And once achieved, how do we maintain this state of being? These are very difficult
questions and I intend on addressing them in the chapters that follow. (June 8, 2010)
The Path
Every journey follows some course, some way of getting from one place to another.
The mechanism that allows Individuals to move from one point to another is called anIndividual’s Path - for every Individual is in movement, choosing to progress or to regress.
Yet even when an Individual is stagnant, the Individual still finds themselves on a Path. It
is this primary idea that forms the basis for my Highway Metaphor. As I explained earlier
in the introduction, there are countless Individuals traveling along countless Paths. It is
this collection of Paths which form the Highway.
But before we get into the details of exactly how all these Individuals interact whilst
traveling along their Individual Paths on this Highway - let us first explore the
characteristics of a Path. For without understanding the parts that make up the whole, it
is hard to understand the whole itself.
On the simplest level, a Path is simply the course to be taken between two points.However, as life is far from simple & Humanity (as a Particular example) is a very complex
creature - it is then obvious that this simple description will not suffice as the foundation
of this Metaphor. For indeed, ultimately an Individual does move between two points
when she is existing, namely the beginning of her existence & the end of her existence. But
along the way she will be forced to make Choices at other points between one’s ultimate
beginning & one’s ultimate destination. As such, an Individual’s Path will traverse a series
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of points, one for every Choice she will be forced to make whilst the Individual is existing.
Given the number of Choices we are faced with, it is immediately apparent how many
points one may find along an Individual’s Path. For every Choice made, there will always
be at least one “road not taken” which leads to a fate that will not actualize for that
Individual. But there is always the possibility that after a regression, an Individual may find
themselves facing a past Choice again and that they might Choose a different direction. As
such, an Individual’s Path does not always follow a linear direction. It may move forwards
for some distance, only to move backwards for a little while and then veer off into a new
direction all together.
I Believe you are beginning to see how this once “simple” metaphor grew very
complex very quickly.
Up until this point we have only discussed an Individual Path. Now imagine how
this complex idea of a Path built from all the points in which an Individual is faced with a
Choice gets added to the idea of the Highway - an all encompassing metaphor of every
Individual Path that has existed, does exist & will exist. Now, I ask you to imagine,countless Individual Paths which travel in a multitude of different directions - forward &
backward; down one possible Choice or another; turning back on themselves & Choosing
a direction once passed by.
Now imagine that multiple Individuals may find themselves at these same Points
Of Choice at the same time, facing similar Choices which might have different outcomes
dependant upon where their Path is supposed to be leading them. And perhaps these
different Individuals do not come to these same Points Of Choice at the same time. It is
possible to conceive of different Individuals in similar situations (facing a certain Particular
Choice) at different times - not only in their own Individual Path, but also in the entire spanof Time.
Essentially what The Highway boils down to, as a metaphor, is this: countless Points
Of Choice intersected by countless Individual Paths traveling in different directions,
different speeds and different times.
The complexity of this Metaphor as it now stands is almost mind boggling… It
seems to be a great thought experiment, but how is this metaphor still helpful to those of
us who are interested in finding out who we Truly are, why we are here doing what we do
& where is this all heading? Well, for me at least, it has given us a framework that
explicitly shows us how important and powerful our Choices Truly are and allows us to
begin to understand our place in existence. (July 26, 2010)
Choices And Constraints
Jean Paul Sartre once pointed out that the only constraint an Individual must adhere
to is her own Choices. That every moment of every day we are constantly making Choices.
Choosing to wake up; Choosing to go about our daily routine; Choosing to talk to certain
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people and not others; Choosing to go certain places and not others; &c… We are
completely Free to Choose anything and everything we could desire at every moment of
our existence. But there is only one thing we can not Choose - not to Choose. Now, some
might think this sounds odd or absurd, but if we stop for a moment and think about this
we will see that this is not only the case - but necessary and obvious.
Let us say that John is standing at the cross roads of two paths in a park. One path
leads to the east and down into a valley whereas the other path leads west and up into
some hills. John is faced with five Choices in this situation. He can take the road to the east
and into the valley. He can take the road to the west and into the hills. He can return the
way he has come. He can forge his own path. Or he could not Choose any of these
possibilities and stand there not moving. Now look at this situation and see what has
happened. John is faced with four possible paths to follow (east, west, back the way he
came or his own path) and a final possibility of not Choosing any of these options. But if
he goes with no Choosing a path - he has still made a Choice! He Chooses to stay where
he is not moving. The act of not Choosing an option still is a Choice in and of itself.Alright, so what is so remarkable about this? After all, at some point John is going
to have to go somewhere. He simply can’t stand in one place not Choosing for the rest of
his life. Well, that is the funny thing about Choices. Even when we don’t make a Choice -
say that our abstention is simply to avoid something unpleasant we do not want to face -
we still have to Choose other things as well. In John’s case, he’s going to have to Choose
how he is going to feed himself & stay warm if he is now refusing to walk anywhere. Even
when we don’t Choose we still have to continue Choosing.
Sartre said “Our only constraint is our Freedom” and this is exactly what he was
getting at. But why is this seemingly obvious mechanism so important? What makes us
want to sit down and contemplate how this effects Individuals moving along their Life’s
Paths? When Individuals begin to look at every moment of their existence and every
Choice they make as existentially important, the tendency to passively follow along as life
leads us becomes harder to accept. It forces the Individual to take stock and pay attention
to what is happening to her and where she Truly should be going in life.
Now, indeed, this entire concept of “Absolute Freedom Of Choice” is rather
idealistic. After all there are many constraints placed upon our Choices and action which
we must adhere to in every day practical matters. Some of the most obvious ones are the
Laws of Physics as well as Social Norms and Morals. We simply cannot Choose that we
are able to fly and then go jump off a cliff and expect to not plummet to our death.Conversely, we cannot Choose to assault some other person and not expect to be charged
under the law of the land.
The idea expressed by Sartre helps us see the importance of Individual Choice in the
larger scheme of our existence. But as a practical system to describe the world it falls short
because of the external constraints we must abide by. Now in response, Sartre says that
Individuals Choose to be constrained by external factors. This is valid to some extent with
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Social Norms and Morals. We can Choose to disregard them at any time and simply suffer
the consequences. But he fails to explain away how we are physically constrained at the
very least by the Laws of Physics.
Liebniz was one to say that we have a freedom of will and that we reflect every
possibility within creation. He also said that we can only be influenced by the force of our
own will and by the force of God. We can translate “will” to mean “Choice” in Sartrian
Terms. Now when Liebniz spoke of God, the creator, he was quick to point out that God
worked within the framework of the Laws of Nature. His argument to support this was
that God, as the Perfect Being, Chooses the most Perfect way to do things. And because
God is Perfect, the divine is necessarily omniscient. This omniscience allows the Creator to
Know exactly what outcome would develop from each Choice/Action the divine performs
and as such the most Perfect Choice is always made. Because the Laws of Nature were set
by God’s Will and that the Creator deems them to be the most Perfect way for the Physical
Plane to operate, all beings (including God) must conform to their statutes. So when
Liebniz says Individuals may only be influenced by the force of their own will and by theforce of God - he is saying that (in Sartrian terms) we Individuals are constrained by our
own Choices and by the Laws of Physics. Therefor, we simply cannot Choose to have
Gravity and other Physical forces not effect us. We are constrained by their Forces as long
as our Bodies are active within the confines of the Physical Plane.
But how does this understanding of Choices and Constraints help us in our
everyday lives? After all, the entire point of this Highway Metaphor is to be of practical
use to Individuals. To answer this, we must first look at how the Individual fits into the
entire framework of existence. We must dig deeper into the metaphor of the Highway by
exploring the concept of Lanes. (March 11, 2011)
Autrui & Lanes
It is now evident that to further explore the idea we are developing, we must now
call upon external forces and Beings and observe how the Individual relates and reacts to
these. We have already touched upon the idea of the Creator - the Perfect and Necessary
Being and how its Laws of Nature constrain the Individual. But we are going to move
away from Perfection for a while and concentrate on other externals that may or may not
have an effect on the Individual traveling along her Path. In this regard, we can speak of
other Individuals of various types and classes. But for the moment - to keep things simpleand somewhat focused - we will concentrate on other Human Individuals and how the
Individual might fit into the wider Society of Humanity within the Highway Framework.
To distinguish between the prime query of our investigation (the Individual) and
the other Human Individuals who share Time and Space with her, we are forced to
introduce some terminology. We will continue to refer to the subject of our investigation
as the Individual whilst referring to all other Individuals as Autrui. The term Autrui is
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borrowed from Sartre and is a French word meaning quite simply: “others.” In this way,
I hope that there will be no confusion in the following discussion between the Individual
in question and other Individuals that she will meet & interact with.
Earlier in this metaphorical description, we spoke of the basic idea of the Highway -
an assembly of multiple Life Paths moving from the moment of Creation to the ultimate
fulfillment of the Existential Purpose of the Universe. We use the image of a Highway to
visualize every Life Path as a separate Lane moving between these two points. As
previously discussed, this simplistic model quickly becomes more complex when we begin
to think about how Individuals actually move & live their lives. We find that there are
multiple points along every single Path and that these points may be arrived at and
departed from in different way, dependant upon the Individual in question. It becomes
quickly evident that the linear depiction of a multi-lane Highway is no longer a satisfactory
metaphor for what we are attempting to describe.
Again, we begin to see how this entire metaphor has become a complex metaphysic
in itself. But before we address how we will resolve the issue of these seemingly non-linearPaths, let us first look at the concept of Lanes and how they seem to work within the
metaphorical framework. By keeping with the simple multi-lane Highway metaphor for
the time being, we will begin to see how the whole idea can become coherent and maybe
even a practical tool to use by Individuals.
As has previously been explained, each Individual has a Life Path and when we
view all of the Life Paths of every Individual together in their entirety, we visualize them
as many Lanes on a massive multi-lane Highway. The Highway itself flows ultimately
between two points - namely: the moment of Creation (where the Highway begins) to the
moment where the Purpose of Creation is fulfilled (where the Highway ends). In simplistic
terms, we can visualize all the Lanes on the Highway running in a linear fashion between
these two points - in essence spanning the entire length of Creation. On each of these Lanes
we picture Individuals moving at different speeds trying to get from their conception to
their ultimate end. But not every Individual is moving the same way. Some are moving
forward towards the ultimate end; others are moving backwards away from their ultimate
end; and finally others are not moving at all having stagnated or stalled in some fashion
or another. Also as previously discussed, it is the Choices each Individual makes which is
the motor of these movements (or stagnation). When an Individual Chooses to act in a way
that will help them reach their Existential Purpose, that Individual will move forward
along her Path. This forward movement I call Progression. When an Individual Chooses toact in a way that will hinder them, she will move away from her Existential Purpose. This
backwards movement I call Regression. Finally, when an Individual Chooses something
that stalls their progress altogether, I call this Stagnation.
Individuals, however, are not closed systems unable to communicate or perceive
beyond themselves. Humans, as a general rule, are Social Creatures and we revel (if not
crave) social interaction and peer-acceptance. We share ideas and experiences in the hopes
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of learning from each other. Some of us write out our thoughts and observations. Others
freely teach what they have learned to other Individuals. And in this day and age of mass
communication, the old constraint of geography has been erased and we are able to have
meaningful and not so meaningful discussions with just about anyone around the world.
But how does this fit into the metaphor?
Picture rush hour traffic in a big city. Perhaps there is some gridlock built up on a
certain street and traffic is not moving at all. People in vehicles further away from the
course of the gridlock will want to know what is causing the hold up. And so, word is
slowly passed along, from vehicle to vehicle and soon the information is disseminated to
everyone. Now this, of course, is an extreme example in relation to our Highway
metaphor. Perhaps a more usual way to describe communication on the Highway would
be a controlled intersection where Individual drivers might talk out their car windows to
other drivers. Picture even having a radio station playing which is giving weather and
traffic reports. Perhaps even the drivers have access to maps and other travel information
sources which help them decide the best route to follow or places to see.Essentially the process we are describing within our metaphor is communication
between Individuals. The medium is not important here - what is important is that
communication happens between Individuals and groups of Individuals. The Individual
shares her experiences and Knowledge with Autrui and in return Autrui exchanges their
own experiences and Knowledge. When this exchange is productive and beneficial to all
concerned, everyone is able to Progress. But this is the ideal. Often, communication is one
sided or not Progressive at all. Sometimes we are lead off on wild goose chases or we
Stagnate due to confusion or fear fed to us by Autrui. But when communication is effected
properly, every Individual involved is able to rise up and move forward.
In this way we can picture good communication helping Individuals move forward
(as we have already discussed). We can also picture it helping Individuals who have
Stagnated to start moving Progressively again. And we can also picture it helping
Regressing Individuals turn around and start heading in the right direction. Bad
communication, obviously, can have the opposite effects.
So it is conceivable, within the metaphor framework, to say that even though
Individuals travel along separate Life Paths, the fact that all these Paths are organized
together as Lanes on the Highway, we are able to communicate and hopefully learn from
one another in order to help every Creature Progress as far as Possible along their
Individual Path. (March 11, 2011)
On Ramps, Off Ramps & Paths Not Taken