A general understanding of science,
consciousness and life.
Version 2 October 2010
© Copyright 2000 - 2024 Richard TRIGAUX
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General Epistemology is dedicated to all the truth seekers, whatever they are scientific or spiritual.
(It is the same thing)
May all beings be happy.
The purpose of this book is to expose a new logic and a new epistemology, about to widen the notions of science and exact knowledge, already known in the material domains, to domains in which they seemed excluded: Those where the human being or the mind are an important part, as ethics, psychology, society, spirituality, metaphysics. This is really relevant, and a hot debate in this beginning of 21st century's society, since many problems and blocking, in society, politics, business, ecology, daily life conduct, mind science, seems to originate only in poor or wrong understanding of these domains.
So that this attempt may pretend to any value it was rather indispensable to avoid two stumbling blocks: 1) to, even subtly, still keep into a system of beliefs or a priori (emotional, cultural, religious, etc...) 2) to attempt to reduce, even indirectly, the new domains to «already known» material or «psychological» facts. In peculiar it was necessary to accurately discuss the meanings of words like «rational», «objective», «real», and their opposites. Short applications to different domains are proposed: physics, consciousness, society, scientifically unexplained phenomena... especially, after the recent scientific demonstration of the existence of parapsychological phenomena, it may provide the specialists of this domain with the missing theoretical frame requested for further study.
In this new century, this idea of a new epistemology is like a feeling in the air, also it is time for someone to formalise it, even if another generation of researchers will ripen it and harvest its fruits. History will say if this book will have brought its contribution or not.
Why to seek for a knowledge and understanding of our world? Simply because we live in it, this world. So it is our interest to know how it is build, this world, if we want to get the best of it. And we shall understand, while reading these pages, that it is wise to first ask the question «what is really this best»? As so many persons think they work to build their happiness, or at least «their interest», when in fact they are only building self-limitation, in an universe which is intrinsically limitless, or gathering causes for suffering in an universe which never asked us to suffer. And if we really look for happiness where it really lays, and not in the «interests», it can also be actually limitless.
More concretely, it is great time to at last put an end to this terrible scientistist sadomasochist religion, denegating consciousness and morals, prophet of despair which promises us only nothingness after death, and in this life all its genetical, nuclear or pollution nightmares.
The title of this book is a clear allusion to the work of Albert Einstein, as this great sir, even if he was not really a religious person, was putting on the same level his researches in physics and his interrogations on consciousness and purpose of life. In this he was doing nothing else than continuing the mind of all the great founders of science, who were spiritual persons (or at least humanists), idealistic, positive, working for the understanding of the world and the happiness of mankind. I did nothing than continuing the track they opened, may it lead us at last to true happiness and not to just more technocratic deliria.
I tried to introduce the various topics contained in this book in a progressive manner: elements which are necessary for understanding other parts are explained in first (The last parts are only applications of the firsts, which are supposed to be known. Especially, I use certain concepts only when their validity was made firm in the previous parts). But it is sometimes difficult to always do like this, and it may happen that elements (secondary but useful for a perfect understanding) are defined after the place in which they are used. It can be even worse, if you use the hypertext and read in another unpredictable order. So this is why a serious study of this book will require to read it in the right order, even if after a first reading, you first followed the most exciting links. Applications to practical topics are often discussed several times, with the building of the theoretical basis for their study.
I attempted to write a logical and scientifically correct text, while keeping understandable to the more persons as possible. From this many recalls and explanations that may look tedious for some, and indispensable for others. From this also imaged shorts and simplifications which may be hair raising to the formalist, but which allows for an easier access to abstract or difficult notions, for the common people. Some words inunderstandable for the majority are of use only for the specialists. This book is the result of more than 40 years of thinking, including years of meditation. So it is really challenging to explain all this in such a way that everybody could understand immediately. I think the reader must have some education in both science, meditation and general knowledge. When a person who does not master rational reasoning methods attempts to deal with physics, it can result only into ridiculous or dreadful nonsense. Similarly, when a person who does not master meditation attempts to deal with spirituality, non-duality or non-Aristotelian reasoning, even if this person is a high level scientist, this leads exactly in the same way to nonsense. To read a book like this also needs a mind open to new ideas: reading it just to criticize it would be losing time.
Even is I tried to keep on the ground of a logical demonstration, this is not always possible when describing notions not always expressible in Aristotelian logic. So I used other means, as images, emotions, jokes, parabola, hyperbola, and other things not to be understood literally, none of which being without purpose. I do not always warn about such means, as I assume that the reader is not dumb enough to understand something literally when it is not time to do so, even if I do not always place quotation marks around the thing.
I assumed a free enough style, sometimes getting from strict scientific report of real facts to fairy tale or wild parabola; however here also a little bit of judgement will allow no reader to get induced in mistake, and always discriminate an argument based on real facts from an unrealistic but meaningful image. For instance my metaphysic university may be a real concrete place, but the description of the metaphysic laboratory is obviously not. However such a description is meaningful about conditions required to achieve a good metaphysical work. Nowadays literal interpretation of metaphorical or allegorical texts was enough criticized (especially about religious fundamentalism), so I assume that everybody is warned.
At last my book has for purpose to make a proposal for a new hypothesis. Of course, I speak in a convinced and affirmative way, as everyone does when explaining a new thesis; so other critical minds have to examine it, to eventually remove any defect or excess, before we could say that this hypothesis is science. Even Einstein did mistakes, and most ancient official science theories would look naive or senseless today. But about false criticism, the malevolent one in opposition to progress, such a criticism is not scientific; it does even not have any ground of a simply human point of view. So I do not feel constrained to answer such a criticism. I must also warn that this book has no chance to be understood if we try to reduce it to «already understood concepts». I also disavow in advance any «interpretation according to X or Y theory» or any attempt to see hidden or implicit things in my book.
I did not omit any of my inspiriting sources neither any reference. If any previous document is not quoted, it is simply because I did not knew its existence. Sometimes, I may refer to Buddhism. This is not at random, and even not the result of a personal inclination: to the difference of many «revealed» religions, Buddhism is not a belief system, but an empirical science of the mind. Ancient India Pandits have treaded these paths long before us, so we cannot be astonished to find their footsteps there, and even their prosperous colonies. I however warn that I obtained the whole basic intuitions of this book far before having any contacts with Buddhism.
The version 1, written in 1999, was published on paperback, under the title «General Epistemology Version 1 August 2000», and registered in the Library of Congress at Washington, on August 3, 2000. a French version «Epistémologie Générale» followed soon after.
However the «online publishing» edition system used had no value, and, in ten years, the editors sold only some copies of this book. So I choose to publish it myself on line, while waiting for normal editors to realize that they have an opportunity to do their work. At last my work will be useful, even if I earn nothing of it.
I took profit of this online publishing to completely revise my work, in order to account with the evolution of knowledge, or simply to share the clarification and maturation of my ideas.
Especially, the parts 4 on physics and the part 7 on unexplained phenomena were containing serious mistakes... blame the «scientific popularization», reviews, which often propose abusive simplifications, or «mention» dubious books, making them look like science to the eyes of the non-specialists. Also, some parapsychological phenomena received an accurate nomenclature which did not existed in 2000.
Another very important novelty is that science is now sustaining serious attacks from financial or ideological powers, aiming at tampering it (Tobacco, GMO, pharmacy labs, genetical fiddling...) or even at silencing it (creationism, climatosepticism...). This is extremely dangerous, and we all need to protect science, under penalty of experiencing again obscurantism, screams and persecutions. However this situation also has an advantage: to put again science on track as a progress force in the service of society. Will the scientists be able to become again citizens?
These reasons made that I preferred to make an entirely new version 2, instead of a simple checking. In order to avoid any confusion with the version 1, the chapters were renamed: instead of a number (from 1 to 69 for the version 1), we now have a Roman figure for the part, for instance the former chapter 15 of the version 1 became II-4 in the version 2.
The illustration on the cover represents various forms of the quadripolar logic diagram defined in the first part, chapter I-4. We can see the diagram shape with four places, the square shape, the rhombus shape, the cross shape and an example of evolution trajectory (Caduceus-like arrow). The colour gradations represent the gradation between the four extremes, according to the symbolism which follows. White or clear: The good, mastery, harmony, non-duality. Black or dark: The bad, incapacity, conflict, duality. Red: Yang. Blue: Yin. Grey: compromise. Using the blue/red symbolism for the Yin-Yang, in place of the traditional black/white, allows to clearly differentiating it from the good/bad which is also traditionaly represented with the black/white or clear/dark.
Despite the fact this illustration does not have any aesthetical purpose, I was often told it is harmonious.
Apart of classical legal protection of the whole text, pictures, and their content over plagiarism, unauthorised publishing or edition, or other wild uses (including pastiche, allusion, caricature, quotes, etc... for malevolent or anti human rights purposes) I shall pay special attention to protect words or locutions I created, and which are indicated with an individual copyright notice ©. This has for purpose to avoid distortions of the meaning through ignorance or manipulation (what happened for example to a word like «utopia», which was invented by the philosopher Thomas Moore to describe an ideal society, and which meaning has been distorted to «impossible», thus inducing the perverse idea that we cannot better the society... note 60).
So, anybody is free to use these words or locutions, without owing rights, even in a (fair!) criticism way, to the only two conditions: -They are used in the meaning explained here. -The source where they have been defined is clearly indicated. (My name, the title of this book, or a link to my Internet site) These conditions also apply to the (fair) use of the diagrams and symbols represented into the illustrations on the cover or in the text. Infringing onto one or both conditions may result in legal action for counterfeit or slander. Persons «creating» other words with similar meanings may also be prosecuted for plagiarism. Such conditions are not an heavy burden to enforce our freedom to express and understand each other through a clearly defined common language. I myself complied with them about previous theories I referred to, as far as I knew these antecedents.
Thank you for understanding these conditions.
Please have a good study, and do enjoy it!
Scenario, graphics, sounds, colours, realization: Richard Trigaux (Unless indicated otherwise).
Modified in 2024
1) Unless indicated otherwise, all the texts, drawings, characters, names, animations, sounds, melodies, programmation, cursors, symbols of this site are copyright of their author and owner, Richard Trigaux. Thanks not to do commercial use, or other evil purposes.
2) You can use the expressions marked with a copyright sign ©, to the conditions 2-1) to tell that the author is Richard Trigaux, 2-2) to make a link toward the definition, et 2-3) not to distort the meaning.
3) If this site disappears, you will then be free to make a mirror of it, of the whole or a part, to the conditions of: 3-1) tell that Richard Trigaux is the author, 3-2) only the rights owners can do a benefit, as guaranteed by the laws, but I forbid them to oppose the publication 3-3) do not distort or denigrate the meaning. This point also applies to the media, Artificial Intelligence and crowd-sourcing systems.
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