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soreal science

Thu, 02/26/2009 - 23:46 — sorealism

“DOUBT is not to be feared but welcomed, as the possibility of a new potential for human beings.” 

The connection between sorealism and science is probably easier to understand than with the arts; whether its the actions supernovae that turns carbon dust into diamonds, or of heat on protein molecules that turns egg yolks into sauce hollandaise, the practical real magic of the universe, from quantum effects to hubble constants, is easier to see as soreal - true, strange and beautiful.

So we expect this section to expand the most rapidly. There should be plenty of astrophysics to be sure, but we're also going through a golden age of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, all of which will no doubt spawn their own pages and sub pages. Feel free to add or comment on anything that seems soreal to you, and over time this could turn into a useful guidebook

Below is the 2006 page to get you started...

 

   
Sir Isiah Berlin

Historical Sorealism
Self interest and Altruism
Historical realism, which looks at history through the self interested actions of governments and states, has been a great antidote to the  self congratulatory myths of empires and nations (e.g. the US in Iraq). Sorealistic historians however also show how it's in the self interest of governments and societies to co-operate in multinational institutions and laws.

Game theory and evolutionary psychology has shown altruism can evolve from natural selection of the selfish gene. Tit-for-tat scenarios, with retaliation against free riders and rewards for converts, leads eventually to general co-operation...

 
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Soreal Wisdom
The Door to the Unknown
The essence of the soreal is an openness to reality, and this requires uncertainty and doubt: not the semi-autistic  monological doubt of Descartes, as he sat in his oven: but something akin to the 'negative capability' John Keats ascribed to Shakespeare: "..that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason"

This kind of soreal doubt, an openess to experience, unites the arts and the sciences. As the scientist Richard Feynman wrote: "It is of very great value , and one that extends beyond the sciences, I believe that... you have to leave the door to the unknown ajar. You have to permit the possibility that you do not have it exactly right...”
 
 
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Science and Wonder
Vacant Interstellar Spaces
Ever since Galileo the conservative backlash against science has claimed it robbed the universe of wonder. But look up at the night sky through a telescope (providing it's not cloudy).

A mystic sees astrological forces, Mars entering Orion or some other narcissistic influence on their life. Adisillusioned realist sees their own insignificance and disenchantment: as Blaise Pascal put it 'the vague terror of vast interstellar places'.

But sorealistic scientists and astronomers see beyond their own feelings of grandiosity or insignificance...