Anything Goes metaphysics
About
“Anything Goes” metaphysics is best understood using the following 3-step method
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Step 1: Understand that "All the World is Models"
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Step 2: Recognise that "The Map is the Territory"
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Step 3: and that therefore "Anything Goes"
The 3-step method
Step 1: All the World is Models
Pythagoras is renowned for saying “All the World is Numbers”, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say “All the World is Models” Neuroscientists tell us that the world we experience is a model of reality, created by our brains to make sense of information we receive from our senses – a theme explored in films such as The Matrix. Physicists give us scientific models like Einstein's theory of relativity, or the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which tell us how the universe behaves. Everywhere we look, it is models. How can we get beyond the models, to understand what the universe is really like? The answer is that we can't. Any of these models could turn out to be wrong in the future. The palm tree might turn out to be a mirage. And the scientific theory might be wrong. Finally, and here's the kicker, even if we did manage to find the right model of reality, we could never know that it was correct.
Step 2: The Map is the Territory
What does this mean for the true nature of the universe? Most people might think that behind the model created by our brains, lie the real objects – behind the image of the spoon, lies the real spoon. But what makes this object a spoon? It is hard, bowl-shaped and has a handle – these are all aspects of how the brain constructs this object for us. Without the brain to give it a form that we can understand, there is no spoon. It is not even clear that there are specific discrete objects that lie behind the things that we see. This concept of a 'real world' of ‘real objects’ is itself a model. What we realise is that the world in the absence of how the brain models it, is devoid of all the properties that make it meaningful. It becomes a shadowy mysterious thing that lies forever out of sight. And so when it comes to deciding what is real, what can be said to exist, we can only be talking about the objects of our model. When it is not possible to see past the map, the map is the only territory that can ever make sense.
Step 3: Anything Goes
We have shifted the focus of what can be said to exist, away from this speculative notion of a ‘real world,’ that stands independently of our perception of it. Instead, real things are the objects of our models. These are the things that we live by, that make sense to us, and give our lives meaning. But how can we know if our models are right? With no knowable reality to assess our models against, the only standard of correctness is a consideration of whether they produce sensible results. Are they consistent with our experiences, and do they allow us to live a harmonious life? Ultimately, each of us needs to find a way of making sense of our experiences in a way that works for us. In that sense, Anything Goes.
Congratulations! Having worked through the 3-step method, you are now in a position to answer some of the most intractable questions that humanity has ever wrestled with!