Relational ontology

The possibility of an emerging paradigm shift

Out of the data and concepts that have been discussed here, a pattern emerges that science is beginning to consider seriously. Our civilization and scientific fields rest on a foundation called Reductionism. This is a philosophical doctrine which holds that the associates between phenomena can be described in terms of simpler or more essential parts. For the sciences specifically, systems are explained in terms of individual, constituent parts and their interactions. This has been incredibly useful in the human evolution of thought for its explanatory power at certain scales, however it has met limits in others. Challenges from quantum physics, systems science, complexity theory, medicine, and biology are emerging that have led to gaps. Moreover, the resultant materialist, extraction based civilization is meeting its limits as demonstrated elsewhere on this site, and on review of the scientific literature. I propose an alternative ontology, one that has been echoed across fields and ideologies worldwide. It has been met with intense stigma in Western countries, labeled often as fringe science, and leading to a response that is emotionally disproportionate to the expected response to hypotheses. I will argue that the stigma of these ideas or fields is magnified due to the degree of ontological change it produces when taken to its logical conclusions. The conclusion is that universe is fundamentally relational rather than disparate (Substance ontology). I will call this the Coherent Universe hypothesis though it has many names, and has been echoed across philosophical and religious traditions for as long as we have records.

  1. Reductionism and the history of civilization

    1. History of philosophy of reductionism and its products

    2. How reductionist assumptions shape our thought models through language (language as information)

      1. Introduce machine metaphors vs living system metaphors

    3. How reductionist assumptions shape our technology (linear, hierarchical, extractive)

    4. Information as fundamental (anti-entropy process), vs information as data processing

    5. AI/computation as mechanistic vs organic intelligence models

    6. Digital vs analog paradigms

    7. Economic reductionism (homo economicus, infinite growth, externalities)

  2. The gaps emerging in modern science

    1. Quantum physics

    2. Microbiomes

  3. The consequences of reductionism in ecosystems, biological and human systems (societies)

    1. Ecosystems (collapse patterns)

    2. Medical systems (chronic disease epidemic, treatment failures, iatrogenic harm)

    3. Social systems (fragmentation, alienation)

      1. Gift economies vs market economies (competition vs cooperative evolutionary paradigms)

  4. Fringe science hypotheses and the thread that ties them

    1. Relational quantum mechanics

    2. EMF/bioelectromagnetics

    3. Morphic fields

    4. Plasma cosmology

    5. Cold fusion/LENR

    6. Parapsychology

    7. Electric universe theory

    8. Modified gravity theories, relational gravity

  5. Medicine as Paradigm Microcosm

    1. Terrain vs. germ theory

    2. Why chronic illness resists reductionist treatment

    3. EMF biology and bioelectric medicine, acupuncture/pressure, Chinese medicine

    4. What coherent medicine might look like

  6. Ancient systems of interconnectedness - Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese medicine, indigenous belief systems, monism or interconnectedness in western philosophical traditions

    1. Indigenous languages encode relational worldviews

    2. Challenge of articulating coherent concepts in reductionist language

  7. Consciousness as emergent/foundational

  8. Entropy and Negentropy (Informational theory)

  9. The Coherent Universe/fractal universe

    1. Linear vs. cyclical time concepts

    2. Evolution as mechanical selection vs. creative emergence

    3. Historical cycles and civilizational transitions

    4. The role of crisis in paradigm shifts

    5. What coherent institutions might look like

    6. How to navigate the transition period

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