I believe David Eagleman's philosophy of Possibilianism, is the most honest post-Enlightenment attitude. Simply, it states that mankind knows too little about existence (especially with respect to physics, origin of the universe, neuroscience, perception and DNA) to support a position of atheism, and far too much about existence to believe in an organized religion. It is Voltairean ("Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position, but certainty is an absurd position.") and Heisenbergian in origin. It is a philosophy of anything goes... at first, and then rests upon the light of reason and science to either eliminate an assertion from the set of possibilities describing one or many aspects of reality, or to reject it as not having any explanatory power. To support this philosophy, we need an ethics and a political-economic structure to nurture it.
A Possibilian Ethics would be comprised of the following values:
- Humility - To account for the vastness of our ignorance, especialy with respect to fields of knowledge most pertinent to our ontology (physics, philosophy, neuroscience/perception and DNA).
- Wonder - In light of this ontological ignorance, the body knowledge is divided into roughly 1 part things we know and 99 parts we do not know. The issue of dark matter is explicative in that it comprises 99% of the universe, and we've only just discovered it exists. Thus, to stay seated in this situation, we must both humbly accept our unfortunate self-awareness and continue to wonder and hypothesize about the nature of the remaining 99%.
- Creativity - This wonder is not merely an attitude towards earnest exploration, but the assertion of our creative faculties to continue to hypothesize, to generate new theories, art, expressions, questions and syntheses. In addition to engaging in the arts - storytelling, drama, creative arts, etc., we must hone our creative capacities through the cultivation of metaphorical intelligence - the capability to see and create agency/story amongst artifacts and other agencies.
- Knowledge - We must thus orient towards understanding, towards refining, organizing and networking our existing knowledge base, as well as continue to question, examine and expand our methods of knowing beyond the cognitive, and into experimental and experiential (prayer, meditation, love, hallucinogens, relationships, service, adventure/travel). The expression and transmition of this knowledge is unfortunately still quite static and analog (text, video, audio, etc.), so we must not only be oriented to knowledge we can create, but to consume and expand upon the knowledge created by previous generations, through schooling, reading and writing. As most humans have only 7 decades (+/- 3) to develop and learn, it is nearly impossible for any one human to consume all the existent knowledge (and yet this is still only 1% of all knowledge), so we must document and network knowledge so that the aggregate of our accomplishment may do and express that which any single human cannot.
- Survival -As such, the march of the 1% we know upon the 99% do not know is dependent on our survival as a human species. Each generation benefits from the knowledge of the past, and relies on the whole of humanity to both survive, as well as to thrive and add to the experience and understanding of existence.
- Sustainability -To support the survival of the species, we must optimize the physical cycles of the economy and planet towards stasis, whereupon we neither irreparably take down nor injure the generative capacity of biosphere. It is a focus on interspecies dependence, affinity and wonder.
- Systems - Core to ethics 2-6 is a focus on systems, or means of relatedness and interdependence. Our education should continue to tease out the relationships of the physical world and the meaning ascribed to them, such that ever more complex systems may be understood and made to function within the confines of sustainability/harmony.
What do you do with these values?
If Possibilianism calls to you, inscribe them in your heart. When making decisions, choose the decision that most optimizes these values.
How do you live with these values?
Political Economy
We need a political economy that supports this type of thinking and this way of being. A Possibilian political economy would be one that enabled man to live his values, while doing the bare minimum, within the confines of sustainability, to meet his physical needs. Minimize the have-tos and maximize the want-tos (Possibilian values).
Clean Water, Air and Soil
To survive, mankind depends on harmony with the biosphere, such that he can meet his physical needs (food, water, waste treatment, shelter), without decreasing the ability of his brothers and sisters to do so. As such a Possibilian Political Economy, would make criminal the pollution of waterways, bodies of water, water tables, the air and soil, as well as the unsustainable draw down of water, top soil and air elements (e.g. nitrogren fixing, carbon dioxide).
Food
Fukuoka and others have begun to pioneer biodynamic farming, whereby through the subtle management of natural forces, agriculture can thrive with minimal human effort (Fukuoka's system required on average 1 day/week of maintenance).
Economic Surpluses
To continue to educate, explore (especially space) and create, man must do more than feed himself, but create economic surpluses that can be centralized for the use of doing amazing things, such as space travel, higher education, research, the arts, etc. Herein lies the most complex peice of a Possibilian Political-Economy - creating the incentives and structures such that humans are free to make use of their surpluses in the manner they choose, while supporting basic civic functions (P&W, police, fire, military, healthcare, etc.) and have a generative or neutral socio-environmental impact.
Education
To enable a populace capable of expressing Possibilian values, our youth must be allowed to play, create and self-express, while being nurtured on a student-directed, systems-centric educational curriculum, ala Steiner, Montessori, Waldorf. They must be exposed the multitudinous ways of knowing (cognitive, experiential, etc.), develop a personal relationship to their own consciousness (meditation, art, psychology) and learn to decipher meaning through the cultivation of metaphorical intelligence.
Civil Rights
To allow every human to achieve their potential, we must transcend the quite human tendency to oppress and discriminate. It shall be codified and made illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, sexuality and gender.
By nature, this discussion is perpetually immature and open, please let me know your thoughts. For example, I know the specifics of managing economic surpluses require much more attention, especially with respect to the competing values of humility, autonomy, sustainability and justice.
