Last updated March 12, 2002. Edited by Andrius Kulikauskas of the Minciu Sodas virtual laboratory.  This material is in the public domain.

Wondering

Here are questions that I'm thinking about. I appreciate your input! Post your thoughts or write to me. Andrius, ms@ms.lt

Right now I'm working on THE BIG PICTURE (see far below).

A major new idea that I'm working on is that life is coexistence with God. Anything chooses simply because that is its way of coexisting with God. And the only way that anything can coexist with God is if God grows in concern, otherwise there is no room for anything to coexist. So anything chooses, and thereby gives itself up to God, gives up its space for his growth. But life is the unity of this choosing! Life is the fact that there can be coexistence with God, that we can respond to God in every way appropriate.

I'm considering the big picture, and trying to capture it structurally. I think that life is the unity of a family of six structures, and I want to find the clearest ways of thinking about this.

Questions

What is the relationship between Everything growing, and Anything choosing?

How do the structural families express how God grows in concern, and how we may allow this, or interfere with this?

How can life be thought of as a unity of representations? Which of the structures related to anything are the most basic, and why? 

How do the ways of doing wrong fake growth in concern?

How do the ways of rethinking have us grow in concern?

Consider slack as handling the difference between your neighbor and your self. Consider the ways of growing as the ways of "having slack", that is, "everything plus slack".

Look for intuitive ways of defining unity and representation. Is representation how one reaches out beyond oneself? How is unity related to self, and representation to neighbor?

Themes

Here are some themes that I'm considering:

Secondary structure allows God to grow in concern. This may be the key to understanding secondary structure. In particular, I think it is fruitful to consider what this means when God lives finitely, and multiply, through us. How do we wish each other to grow in concern?

Slack allows us to consider our neighbors as ourselves. I think of the six families as different ways of loving our neighbors as ourselves. Life is the unity of these different ways, and is the fact that God is good. Good is slack, and in particular, slack is what allows us to consider anything as everything. In this sense, slack allows us to consider anybody as God, only finite. This same slack allows us to consider our neighbors as ourselves. To show good will is to give slack in every way. But we need not show a lot of slack, in fact, it may be better to show less slack where this gives quicker feedback. But we must show slack in every way. Our neighbors are those who can fall within our slack.

Growing is having slack. Slack has two representations, but "having slack" has six representations. What are the ways of having slack?

Structural relationships

Everything Growing = Anything Choosing

God wishes for one concern, but then he grows by also wishing/not wishing for another concern.  To the extent that he wishes for the latter concern, he exists as God, but to the extent that he does not wish for the latter concern, he does not yet exist as God.  But Anything chooses the latter.  This is resolved by structure, which introduces various degrees of slack, interpolating between everything and slack via the qualities of signs.  So here God loves his neighbor as himself.  Slack is in the higher perspective.

• Anything chooses not to go along = Divisions = concern grows from nothing to something.  God wishes for nothing, now he wishes and not wishes for something.  The case where he not wishes for something is given by the Divisions.  Everything is malleable.  God who lacks nothing takes up the counterquestions.  Slack is that there can be several perspectives to choose from.  (Different icons for life, same thing is God).
• Anything chooses to resist = Criteria = concern grows from nothing to anything.  Everything is modifiable.  God who lacks nothing takes up the ways of getting things done.  Slack is that there is a will that is choosing.  That will is defined by its expression of what God is getting done, but it is an intermediary, none the less. (God allows for a will: Different indexes for life, same thing is God).
• Anything chooses to not choose = Topologies = concern grows from something to anything.  Everything is mobile.
• Anything chooses to go along = Argumentation = concern grows from anything to everything.  Everything is memorable.
• Anything chooses to not resist = Verbalization = concern grows from something to everything. Everything is meaningful.
• Anything chooses to choose = Narration = concern grows from nothing to everything.  Everything is motivated.

Ways of getting things done = criteria.  God who lacks nothing, applying to himself the ways of getting things done, should yield the criteria.

• not choosing = God responding when at peace
  
• choosing to not go along = God making himself heard when disgusted
• choosing to resist = God confronting when frightened
• choosing to not choose = God delegating when content
• choosing to go along = God initiating when excited
• choosing to not resist = God articulating when surprised
• choosing to choose = God renewing when sad
• choosing = God having sheer will when in suspense

The unity of the representations of anything

I want to consider different ways of looking at anything. There are many frameworks for anything, and each seems to give a different outlook.

• Representations of Everything, Representations of Slack The representations of Anything are given by the union of the representations of Everything and the representations of Slack. God is the coherence of Everything, and Good is the coherence of Slack. So Life, as the coherence of Anything, is the fact that God is good. Here the necessity of Everything, as the Ultimate Question, is slack represented as increasing, and the necessity of God, as the Ultimate Answer, is slack represented as decreasing. Everything is represented through the scope of its concerns (for nothing, something, anything or everything). Anything is representable by these six as the ways of "coming from beyond" this world. Coming from beyond reflects a unity that "necessity" and "scope of concern" can share.
• Growth of God's concern God's concern can grow broader from nothing to something to anything to everything. There are six kinds of growth. God's concern is that we grow, that we go beyond ourselves, with regard to each of his four concerns. Our six concerns are that God's concern grow broader. This is what relates God and us. God's growing reflects a unity.
• Ways of choosing The ways of choosing indicate the response of Life to the growth in God's concerns. They also indicate the ways that two people respond together when one reaches out to another. They allow us to embed the representations of everything and slack into the represenations of anything, as our choice may reflect the scope of our concern (Yes=everything, No=nothing, etc.) or the necessity of our choosing (not choose=decreasing slack, choose=increasing slack). Choosing reflects a unity.
• Pretexts for outreach Our pretexts for outreach are the lines of reasoning by which we reach out to our neighbor and "love our neighbor as our self". They express our own growth as children of God who do as he does, whose concerns grows broader in the ways that his do. Interestingly, here both we and our neighbors respond together with the same way of choosing. This suggests that here we play the role of the unbounded God, and our neighbors play the role of the bounded person, but we have met exactly half way, so that we may both respond, and coincide in our response. This is why there are many people, that we might coincide in this way, reaching out and being reached. Christ is the one who reaches out. Reaching out reflects a unity.
• Structural families Four primary structures are frameworks that express God's concerns by structuring what it would mean if they were unsatisfied, yielding needs, doubts, expectations and trials. Six secondary structures express the growth in God's concerns when he extends the scope of his concern from one that is already satisfied to one that might not yet be. In this way God goes beyond himself. He opens up space for us, a choice of perspectives. Each kind of secondary structure expresses a way in which we stay free.
• Organizing objects Each organizing object describes a structural way in which we stay free, a dimension which we share with our neighbor, and to which we respond in the same way, but within which we are free to differ from them. Staying free reflects a unity.
• The Ten Commandments Four of the commandments have us "Love God, with all your heart, mind, soul, body" and they are positive, they command us what to do. The other six commandments have us "Love your neighbor as yourself" and they are negative, they command us what not to do. These latter command us not to manipulate others as to the ways they are to choose. The commandments may perhaps be expressible as "Be malleable", "Be modifiable", etc.
• Qualities of signs The six qualities of signs allow the mind to hold any two levels from the following four: thing, icon, index, symbol. Here they are listed from least to most conscious. For each quality, the less concious level stays fixed, while the more conscious level has latitude to change. The qualities of signs offer six identifications of the form "everything is malleable, everything is modifiable, etc." that take us from "everything is everything" to "everything is slack". These are the qualities that I must have if I am to reach out to my neighbor. There is also a structural aspect amongst the pairs, so that "malleable" and "memorable" involve trees, "modifiable" and "meaningful" involve microattributes, and "mobile" and "motivated" involve tokens.
• Divisions of everything The six divisions of everything likewise offer an interpolation between everything, which the zeroth division defines, and slack, which is defined by the seventh division. They describe various degrees of structural sophistication. The qualities of signs characterize each division with respect to everything, for example, the onesome is the structure by which "everything is malleable". The organizing objects characterize each division with respect to slack, for example, "nonlinearity fills out the slack of the onesome". Putting this together, we get expressions of the form "nonlinearity fills out the slack by which everything is malleable". The slack is in the unity of the division.
• Ways of rethinking The ways of rethinking have us take up the perspective of our neighbor rather than our own self. We care about unity, and we can do so with various scopes: within us (our relationship with God), within our perspective (our relationship with others), extending beyond our perspective (others), beyond us (God). Each way of rethinking has us shift our outlook, and grow in what we care about. We do this by thinking about our own actions, thoughts, stands, or those of others.
• Requirements of living systems Livings systems require the freedom for selection within each dimension opened up by an organizing object.
• Requirements of the mind The mind requires the making of a choice within each dimension opened up by an organizing object.
• Visualizations Visualizations are restructurings that allow us to consider prospective choices as both thoughts and actions on thoughts. The primary structure gives the thoughts that are acted upon, and the secondary structure gives the thoughts that act. These structures are: sequences, hierarchies or networks. The secondary structure must differ from the primary structure. Restructuring reflects a unity.
• Logics of the heart/world The heart has us all accept total responsibility. The world has us each accept separate responsibility. The truth of the heart leads to the truth of the world, but not the other way around. The pretexts for outreach allow us to overcome this separation. The heart has us be one with our neighbor, the world has us distinguish ourselves from our neighbors. The heart has us apply the qualities of signs totally, the world has us apply them separately. The truth of the heart frees us to grow without bounds, the truth of the world bounds our growth. The heart increases slack, the world decreases slack. Accepting responsibility reflects a unity.
• Logic of Jesus Jesus considers the purpose of our activity in the world. He says that the purpose of our activity should come from beyond the world, rather than from the world itself. His logic has us reject the purpose of the truth of the world, and take up the purpose of the truth of the heart. We go beyond the world by having good will, or the good heart lives through us from beyond the world. And so slack increases. In each case, his logic expresses the complexity of giving and not giving the slack, with the simplest being to "get along", and the subtlest being to "satisfy". In each case, it seems there is an underlying division of everything, and a perspective within it that may either have slack from beyond, or not. Perhaps: 1some=>order, 2some=>fate, 3some=>take-a-stand, 4some=>whether, 5some=>present, 6some=>strive-for-the-best. The purpose of our activity reflects a unity.
• Issues Everything has concerns (for nothing, something, anything, everything), but we are distracted from these concerns (by needs, doubts, expectations, trials). These distractions are issues that reflect what we have to deal with (what we need, what is reasonable, what is problematic, what we like). Slack has necessity (decreasing or increasing), and we get focused on this necessity (by what has us not-choose or choose). These focuses are likewise issues that reflect what we have to deal with (what is real, what is wrong). Issues express what we focus on. What we focus on reflects a unity.
• Ways of modeling We analyze a system by specifying within it the kind of choice that we wish to allow. This yields a model of the system as having a free dimension.
• Representations of divisions The representations of divisions are, I think, applications of the four representations of everything (in the case of the nullsome, onesome, twosome, threesome) or of the two representations of slack (in the case of the sevensome, sixsome, fivesome, foursome).

• Mental movements
• Motivational drives
• Andrius' daily routine.
• Names for the quality without a name
• Representations/Criteria

The Big Picture

Here is my attempt to present the big picture regarding life. Some questions that I care to answer are: What is God up to? What is our role? I should write up all of the material from the separate descriptions of the structures, and make a whole out of it. Andrius Kulikauskas, ms@ms.lt

A lot of it has to do with the relationship between God and everything. Here is a picture:

In the Beginning

What can we know of God? In the beginning, there is only God, he is indistinguishable from Everything.

The Challenge

Is God necessary? God takes up this challenge. The possibilities are: Yes, Not No, Not Yes, No. These are representations of God. In order to take up this challenge, there is the question, and the answer. These are representations of good. Note that here life encompasses God. Coming from beyond. Issues: What we focus on.

The Playing Field

These are the ways that the answer becomes more favorable to God. Note that here life is derivative of God. Structural families open up space for us. Choosing is a response of the playing field to the challenge. We enter as those who respond, we are partial to God's growth. Pretexts for outreach. Reaching out.

The Progression

The answers become interpolations between "God is God" and "God is good". This is a progression of structural sophistication, each allowing for a free dimension. The free dimension is given by "God is God" and "God is good" and is given by the fact that we ourselves grow in these ways, by living outside of our frameworks through God or others. The free dimension is how we differ from others. We no longer respond to God, we coincide with others halfway in such response. Qualities of signs. Ways of modeling. Organizing objects. Divisions of everything. Requirements of living systems. Requirements of the mind. Staying free.

Destructuralization

Slack is not within the system, where it is bounded and decreasing. Slack is from beyond the system, where it is unbounded. In a perspective, not in the division. Following God's will is taking his perspective. There is an equivalence of perspectives in the case of the threesome, an equivalence of the ways of following God. This establishes a point of interpolation.

If I have to choose, then I need to prefer to be disconnected from everything, than to be disconnected from God. To be connected to X is to have a representation of X, and to be disconnected is to not have a representation. Consider the pretexts for outreach, there are three where I live parallel to others, disconnected from everything, and there are three where I am reaching out to them, but disconnected from the God who lives through me. He is the one who should reach out to others through me, this is to happen automatically, if they are to receive slack, more than what is in this world. We should prefer to consider all of us in parallel, in symmetry, accepting total responsibility, it is for God to break this symmetry. We should willfully allow us to be shaped by him, rather than be the givers of the purpose. The purpose should come from beyond this world, not from within it.

God is disconnected from everything. Good is disconnected from God.

God lives through me. He loves me more than I love myself. He comes from deeper than my depths, and reaches out far beyond me. I need to be open to him. Am I open? I am a child of God. Do I take up the challenge that he does? Logic of Jesus. Logic of the heart and the world. Visualization. Restructuring. Accepting responsibility. Purpose of our activity.

I can choose God over myself (when I'm connected with God). Or I can ask God to look over me (when I'm not). The latter introduces an equivalence of perspectives. But my life is where I choose the former over the latter. Otherwise God comes to live through me. We live in that we choose to live through God, not in that he lives through us. This is something that I and others misunderstand. By choosing God over myself, I am altering the landscape in which I'm not connected to God, so that it is richer. Otherwise, God has to prod me to choose him over myself. It is a richer life.

Conclusion?

Notes

How can something be outside of God? Can't be outside of everything, but can be outside of the coherence of everything. What are the kinds of incoherence? The world is where God does not exist. The 10 commandments should cut across all of the domains.