Some additional remarks: 

1. The first level as macro-level has specific characteristics of being a gateway to  other macro-levels. To give an example: archetypes occur as symbols in thought and speech. Language forms a gateway from the individual to the collective, across space and time. Long after someone is dead, his or her words may continue to have an influence on people through written word, audio or videorecordings, etc. 

2.  The process of communication may yield fresh insights as to the usebility of the model. Four aspects of communication must be researched. 

3.  Human brain  has, relative to the body,  a global function. The neocortex is heavily involved in language and symbolic processing. Also, the brain influences organs locally by secreting hormones and neurotransmitters. These can be seen as messengers. 

4.  The second level shows evaluative function. The regulation of emotion through  norm and meta-emotion is subject of research.  Complicated networks of meaning arise through experience, education, etc.
There seems to be some inherent fuzziness associated with this  level (and sublevel two of levels in general). From elementary particles to ever shifting shades of meaning, all very fuzzy. 

5. On the cell level one can see the famous "key-lock" "mechanism"  operating in binding of substances to receptors. One can see this as an evaluative mechanism: a protein fits in the lock or it doesn't. If it does a whole sequence of steps follows (a program).

6. All the above bears testimony to the meta-model  I have sketched thus far. It must all be carefully reseached, of course.  Many more examples must be charted from literature and experience and some general observations and philosophical considerations must be made before we can conclude that the meta-model holds true in general. This model might subdivide in more detailed models subsequently, depending on the field of study.

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Posted by m_euser at 10:17 PM MEST

Updated: Monday, 6 August 2007 10:28 PM MEST

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A few additional points are to be made in relation to the model I sketched in my previous posting.

1. A trigger can also be bottom up in the four level model, as when 'body' sends a signal to brain/mind that it is getting fatigued or  getting hungry.

2. A trigger can also be "horizontal" as coming from the environment (influence from other people(verbal, emotional, etc.), physical objects (bumping into something), etc.  Heterarchical connections refer to connections on the same level ("horizontal" ), while hierarchical relations refer to "vertical" connections. The latter can be inner relations (as mind to soul) or external (e.g, your boss or some authority figure).

3. The messenger is an intermediary between the trigger signal and the processing part. It may execute  an evaluating function.

4. This three-tiered approach can be related to ideas of John Bennett and Charles Sanders Peirce. Initiation, reception/processing  and mediation are very general concepts and widely applicable, I believe.

5. Very important is the idea of degrees of freedom (autonomous function vs causally determined  function).  While the original trigger in a process may be unpredictable (undetermined), the subsequent steps point to a loss of degrees of freedom. The intermediate step, the messenger, has a dynamic function, and thirdly, the program that is executed is by its own nature very much restricted. Analysis of this idea is very important, I think, because it does shed more light on the controversy of freedom vs determinacy, not the least of philosophical-scientific issues!

In accordance with the above,  I am doing some inventory of process.

As an example, think of contraction of a muscle fiber, comprising a.o. excitation-contraction coupling:  neuronal signal causes release of a neurotransmitter which by binding action generates an action potential that is propagated along sarcolemma and causes a whole program to be executed, leading to contraction of a muscle, work being done and relaxation.  No need to go into details here as I am simply doing a quick inventory. It is very easy to get sucked into details and lose sight of the big picture. Point is that there is (1) a trigger (neuronal signal), (2) a messenger (neurotransmitter), and (3) a program that is executed, leading to (4) work done, energy spent.

 Another example is that of the perceptive process: a signal from  outside of the organism is perceived by some sense (can also be a receptor in a single cell) and through an effector triggers the execution of a program. This can be an elaborate program consisting of many complex steps. This is something that happens on many levels: cell, organ, organism, etc.

 On the psychological level one can also think in terms of: perception, belief system, act.  Interpretation is obviously involved in this. The role of belief system as a filter is a vital one to consider. An event, the subsequent evaluation which brings forth an emotion, which has a regulatory role/function (and may trigger action) and the subsequent act (behavioural program) also points to a three tiered approach, I believe.
(This latter example may turn out to be very complex)

However the case, we can always zoom in or out of the fractal  human being to see more detail or focus on a larger picture.

BTW, the "program" or production of some form or change of form with subsequent work done involves two levels of the model, making four levels total.

I am sure  that many more examples can be found and will continue to dig a little further.  Remember: always keep an eye on the big picture!

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Posted by m_euser at 1:15 PM MEST

Updated: Monday, 30 July 2007 11:16 PM MEST

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While reviewing what I said about soul and spirit, I got the distinct idea that we have a simple model of process here, formulated in rather physico-chemical terms:

 1. There is a field, a potential difference

 2. A messenger is active (after a trigger or impulse/signal from within or above, the field). It binds directly or causes to bind something to a structure and

 3.  that act of binding causes a change in form of that structure, or causes  a signal/particle  to be transmitted to or into that structure

4.  thereby enabling some (local) action to take place. It could also trigger the execution of a program (such as to synthesize certain proteins, for example).

Iterations of steps may occur as we go from level to level, combining factors at work. The precise attribution to levels is something to be studied late, because we need to establish some criteria first as to which are the characteristics of these levels and whether there is overlap/interpenetration/integration of components in structures performing  functions involved in the process.

 This looks simple enough to investigate in several realms of life. One possibility is to study processes in a cell, or processes in the human body. Another possibility is to study psychological processes (behavioural, cognitive, etc.), after rephrasing the above sequence a little bit.  We will probably encounter exciting examples from which we can learn a lot, and there may be some lacunae in present knowledge that requires us to interpret or speculate a little. Maybe new hypotheses can be formulated as well. It all takes time, patience and perseverance as this whole endeavour is a rather new one, I believe. 

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Posted by m_euser at 10:42 PM MEST

Updated: Saturday, 28 July 2007 12:17 AM MEST

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In the model there is a place for substance, being several forms of light, pattern (information), will, understanding, value, cognition/perception, act and action and a whole lot more. Consciousness is something we must study at some point; creation and formation likewise deserve our scrutiny.

 Now, while level One represents an already differentiated macrolevel of being, a field of archetypal forms, many potentialities in respect to the next levels, level Two represents the level of creation (origination) of microbeings. These microbeings are beings that have not developed a permanent link with the inner levels (I mean the origin of the macrolevels, which can be called logoic). Think of particles that are created out of light, but also other entities like thoughts. These are of a substantial nature too. There seems to be a split into polar forces, "positive and negative charges", whereby a gradient comes into existence. This is something to research indepth, as it has a deep bearing on later developments and succeeding levels of manifestation. You may recognize  the beginning of something of a valuation process here. 

What I just described pertains especially to the left side of the developmental arc, the right side is the self-conscious side. The two sides work together as there must be a trigger to "create" something, an impulse from somewhere or some consciousness to valuate something. The particle creation I mentioned is just an example, but for physical particles it pertains more to level Four, the first sublevels. 

 The Third level represents action of the elements of level two. Formation of more complex forms takes place here. Many forces are at work here. At some point we must have a look at the six tattwas and their interrelations (36 pairs) to see whether the ideas about these tattwas can help us understand functions of life a little better.

 The Fourth level  is the most combinatorial level of all. Here all influences come together and find their end-point so to speak.

All the above ideas are derived from known sources, see my ebook, and they necessitate a deeper research in order to understand them better. 

As yet I did not mention the left and right arc of development (involution vs evolution), but that notion should be included too in our researches. Left arc is more about formation of things, right side more about cognition and understanding. See my e-book for diagrams of the arc.

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Posted by m_euser at 1:50 PM MEST

Updated: Friday, 27 July 2007 9:55 PM MEST

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Spirit is the first factor in the fourfold model of the human being.

It embodies Truth, Beauty and Wisdom, in short "eternal values" or better: the deepest value-patterns possible on this earth. If one aligns oneself with Spirit then one follows the Dharma, one's inner law of being, one's inner pattern. Not an easy thing to do, in current distracting and chaotic times.

Soul can be said to be the interface between the Spirit and mind. I wrote about that a little in my previous postings. Will flows from Spirit to Soul down into manifestation and back.

The question of immanence of Spirit is a very deep one. It is sometimes stated that atma-buddhi, or spirit, penetrates all things. In most cases it is in an involutionary state, wrapped up in matter, and it is said that humans have evolved only a little bit of spirit, especially in the area of vital, organizational, forces in the human constitution. Little is known about these forces in our current world, but the Hindus mention five kinds of pranas, some dealing with metabolism (digestive process, breathing, etc.) and one with spiritual metabolism. (but there are more pranas). Indeed, while pondering about the organization of 'body' (see my article on Vitvan for the reason of the use of single quotes!), I can't escape from the impression that an awful lot of intelligence is expressing itself on the physiological level. Compared with our often capricious emotional-mental states, the 'body' is very much organized and evolved.

There are, of course, many mysteries involved with Spirit. Spirit ("inner God")  can be seen as representing a macroscopic  level of being, mind a more microscopic level and soul something in between, all relatively speaking. I can't elaborate here, but in esoteric literature we find clues that Spirit is the gateway to the inner worlds of the solar system, if I may put it that way. Spirit stems from the Spiritual sun, on the inner levels of our solar system. So, when it enters our world (earth-spheres) it projects as it were a soul (a "vehicle" for each sphere it passes through). Study De Purucker if your interest is raised.

It would be a good thing if we would understand more of the "heart-beat" of spirit and soul in manifestation. In order to be able to do that we must, at some point, research phenomena like expansion and contraction and their regulation. See the triad here?

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Posted by m_euser at 12:00 AM MEST

Updated: Friday, 27 July 2007 12:03 PM MEST

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To give an idea of how I approach academic disciplines, I'll sketch some of the thoughts  and questions that enter my mind when I study a piece of text.

For example, Russell Ackoff and Fred Emery have written some stuff on goal, objective, and  purpose in their book "On Purposeful Systems". I'll quote a small piece of text from this work. On page 240 we read under the heading of "The Nature of Ideals and Their Pursuit": "It will be recalled that the goal of a system in a particular situation was defined as a preferred outcome that can be obtained within a specified period of time. Further, an objective of a system was defined as a preferred outcome that cannot be obtained within a specified time period but can be obtained over a longer time period. A purposeful system is of a qualitatively higher order than is a goal-seeking system: it can pursue objectives."

The text goes on for quite a while, but this was the first passage I looked up in the book, as i was drawn immediately to chapter 14 on Ideal-Seeking Systems. Associations with Arthur Young's work immediately arose in my mind. Associations with the fractal human being by Onno Damste entered my mind as fractals can be seen as layers upon layers of development. Associations with and questions pertaining to the different kingdoms of nature entered my mind: do plants have goals?, do animals have objectives?, what about degrees of freedom regarding purpose and goals? What about the role of choice in these matters? What about the principles of mind involved in setting a goal, defining your objectives and purpose? How do Bennett's energies fit into this?

What about the interfaces or gradations between plants, animals and humans? How about the role of different brainstructures in this matter? The list goes on but this is to illustrate how a short piece of text can give rise to hundreds of questions (and ultimately hypotheses) about the human,animal and plant nature. This all pertains to the world of the true scientist.

Philosophy and belief-systems  cannot be seperated from this enterprise as there is no such thing as a theory-free fact. About all perception is loaded with conceptual matters (filters through which you perceive). Scientists like to avoid these matters (bury their heads in the sand), but that is no solution! From "atom" to "time" or "space", all the way to identity, and even feelings; all involve concepts we have or ideas or beliefs about the world, the other, ourselves.  I distinctly remember fellow psychologists avoiding subjects such as these (like the qualia problem) like the plague, trying to adopt a reductionist approach like physicists do, but this gets them nowhere in my humble opinion. The social sciences are fragmented into hundreds of little theories as a result. There is no one overarching theory in psychology.

The approach I just sketched leads to more integration of fields of knowledge since it deals with the whole picture at first and identifies hundreds of important points for research in relation to each other and the whole! It can also help organize knowledge, like Arthur Young's paradigm can and John Bennett's ideas can help to bring some order into a multitude of little systems/paradigms.

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Posted by m_euser at 3:36 PM MEST

Updated: Sunday, 22 July 2007 11:25 PM MEST

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The way of developing notions and raising questions in the domains of fact and values in my work can be said to be "broad brush-stroke like". First I try to establish a rough frame of reference, typically using notions from one of the fields I mentioned in my last posting. This approach ("broad brush-strokes") ensures that we keep an eye on the whole situation instead of losing ourselves into infinite details. It is a time-honoured approach from the East which I fully endorse. We can add some details after we have established the broad outline, not unlike one does with setting up a drawing.

 The last twelf years I have extracted some essentials from esoteric literature and teachings, which provides us with:

1. A basic ontology

2. A basic epistemology

3. In relation to the former two: a real philosophy of life, including basic understanding of the afterlife, human's role on earth, moral guidelines and an understanding of the Oneness of life.

4. Most importantly, a method for transforming oneself into a more harmonious being.  See my ebook about that on http://m_euser.tripod.com/ScienceSpir3dmil.pdf

These points deserve full attention of all serious people. This knowledge is quite unparalleled in history and should be taught at schools and universities. The ideas expressed can be applied in real life and  the  inner worlds experienced. A whole new world of meaning can arise out of that.

I myself have some interest in researching philosophical and psychological notions in connection to esoteric teaching in order to see deeper into the relations between  these notions. That is the subject of my other postings.

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Posted by m_euser at 2:36 PM MEST

Updated: Saturday, 21 July 2007 3:21 PM MEST

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 In the fourfold model of the human being there is soul on the second level, after spirit. Soul has been designated "buddhi-manas", enlightened thinking. It is the realm of Understanding, different from mind because mind has knowledge, but little understanding!  Understanding means: seeing the big picture, seeing relations between things on the inner level.

Soul instills values to mind, like a parent does to its child. The child must develop it's conscience and the parents help it to do that by setting rules and explaining why and how  some actions can be hurtful to others. The child internalizes those rules and explanations. Likewise, the adult learns some lessons in life later on. The life experience in its essence is transferred from mind to soul during sleep (and at death). During sleep there's an opportunity for feedback from soul to mind (e.g. ideas, advice on problems, etc.). If you know how to listen to the "small voice" within then you can get feedback during the day as well.

Keep in mind that I am talking about the inner Self, the parent-self, your Higher Self. The "formation of a soul", spoken of in esoteric literature, pertains to a "light-body" and is not dealt with in this posting. That formation is part of The Great Work.

In the theosophical model (see my ebook), soul is called True human soul or higher human soul or higher self. In Kabbalah there is the ethical triangle which pertains to this soul. This could be a good topic to do a little research about. What is the function of the three sephiroth that form the ethical triangle? It includes Tiphareth as the messenger of the spirit, so much is certain. By my hypothesis, soul transfers values to mind. And life-experience leads to development of values. Soul distills values from mind or rather from life-experience. 

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Posted by m_euser at 2:08 PM MEST

Updated: Friday, 20 July 2007 3:45 PM MEST

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It occurred to me that historically there have been three ways to deal with the mysteries of life and the universe:

1. Religion. Degenerated into fundamentalisms of all kinds.
2. Science. Rife with savants idiots. Scientism as new religion.
   
3. Older than science, but usually numbered as three: Hermeticism, the Middle road to truth. Gnosis, Freemasonry, Rosicrucean orders, several theosophical societies, anthroposophical, etc. can be considered as Third way attempts to understand life and provide people with a philosophy of life. Unfortunately, dogmatism is strong with many members and leaders in such orders, not to mention the flood of questionable material from the last century in some of these movements. Plus a reluctancy to do research relating to their ideas.
   
4. A "Fourth Way" occurred later: Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and offspring ideas like Bennett's systematics. Little research taking place  as far as I know; Bennett's systematics provide some clues for developing a more coherent science (I mean all disciplines).

My own writings find their source in all of the four above (and in some of my own experiences). I think it is high time that a true syncretism (fusion of ideas into a larger framework) takes place. Especially ideas from the humanities and fields such as cybernetics should be incorporated into a philosophical model of the will, being and function of the human being and her/his place in society and cosmos. A good name for this endeavour is Fifth Way since it transcends and incorporates the preceding four ways and is not only inclusive of scientific findings but actually studies and refines academic disciplines (at least in principle). It is just in it's beginning stages and hopefully will attract many knowledgable and creative participants. The least it does is raising important questions about the human drama, the larger setting of life and cosmos, and providing some tentative answers that may very well help guide humanity into a sane course of life.

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Posted by m_euser at 4:12 PM MEST

Updated: Friday, 20 July 2007 3:44 PM MEST

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Douglas Dewar has written extensively on evolution.

He asserts that Darwinists are wrong in many of their suppositions.
Although I think that selection is an established mechanism operative in  nature,  there are many other questions that  require serious consideration.
His posthumously published book The transformist illusion is well worth some study. See for yourself!

More texts on evolution can be found at: TUP online
Especially, see "Man in evolution" by Gottfried de Purucker.

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Posted by m_euser at 2:53 PM MEST

Updated: Friday, 20 July 2007 3:43 PM MEST

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