From: RobertArvay@msn.com   
      
   .   
   Can reality be diagrammed?    
      
   Most of us are familiar with the diagram of the atom.  It consists of a large,   
   central dot, around which are drawn ovals or circles.  Simple.  The large   
   central dot represents the nucleus.  The outer circles also have one small dot   
   each, representing the    
   electrons.   
      
   The diagram is simple, easy to understand, and gives the novice a beginning   
   idea how to think of the atom.  Of course, as we learn more about the atom, we   
   learn that the diagram is too simple.  The nucleus is not a dot, but a   
   complicated structure of    
   quarks and forces.  Nor are the electrons dots, but rather, clouds, which are   
   not separate from their orbits.  Even so, the diagram of the atom is a useful   
   starting point toward understanding—only toward understanding, because we   
   may never arrive at a    
   full understanding.   
      
   Likewise, a diagram of reality is not to be taken literally as a full   
   understanding.  It is not.  Even so, it provides a useful starting point, an   
   anchor to which one can always refer, when his understanding begins to drift   
   into a maze of complications.     
   Like a map of a large city, or of a continent, it helps to orient us, even   
   though the map is but a symbol.   
      
   The diagram of reality is simply two circles, one inside the other, with a dot   
   at the center.  How simple can it get?   
      
   Of course, that is too simple, even for the novice, so we have to point out   
   some landmarks.  The two circles form a doughnut shape, an outer band which we   
   can color in for clarity.  That outer band represents the material world that   
   we experience through    
   our senses.  It is the part of reality that we can see, touch, hear and so   
   forth.  It is where we find atoms, rocks, cars and trees, and even our   
   physical bodies.   
      
   Inside the doughnut shape is a circular disc, like a dinner plate.  This   
   represents the part of reality that we cannot see or touch.  It is the   
   abstract reality of mathematics, of the properties of physical things, and of   
   even greater realities, such as    
   life and consciousness.  This inner disc of abstractions is what governs the   
   physical world.  Without it, there would be only chaos in the physical world.   
      
   Finally, our diagram of reality contains a central dot, but this dot is   
   nothing like the nucleus of the atom.  The central dot of reality, if we can   
   call it that for now, is the unknowable essence.  Really?  What good can come   
   of discussing the    
   unknowable?  Let’s see.   
      
   Just as the inner disc of abstract reality governs the outer physical reality,   
   so also does the unknowable essence govern the entire diagram.  It not only   
   governs it, but gives rise to it.  It provides plan, purpose and meaning to   
   all of existence.   
      
   While we can never know the unknowable—of course—we can learn some things   
   about it.     
      
   In the diagram, the dot cannot be drawn small enough, because the center of a   
   circle is an infinitely small point.  Its size is zero.  As we can quickly   
   see, zero is not, “nothing.”  The center is unquestionably there.  It is   
   unquestionably real.  We    
   cannot, however, fully comprehend it.  Never.  It is unknowable.   
      
   If we wish to think of this in terms of the Trinity of Christian faith, we   
   could say that the central dot represents (and we must tread very carefully   
   here,) the Holy Spirit of God.  We could also say that the inner disc   
   represents the Creator.  Finally,    
   we could say that the outer band of the diagram represents Jesus, the physical   
   incarnation of God.   
      
   We must hasten to clarify that God cannot be diagrammed.  The diagram does,   
   however, give us a reference point on several challenges to God.  First, there   
   are not three Gods, but only one, with three aspects (persons).  Also, God has   
   no beginning, no    
   more so than the center has a center.   
      
   Just as a map of a continent is not the continent itself, but only a tool for   
   navigation, so also, the diagram of reality is only a symbol, one which helps   
   us navigate through life.   
      
   The diagram also helps us to address the question of monism versus dualism.    
   The monist side of the question is answered by the fact that the diagram is   
   one, a unified whole.  The dualist side is that while the physical is part of   
   the hierarchy, it does    
   exist.  Then there is the hierarchical argument, that reality can be   
   understood in terms of Creator, Creation, Creature:  God, the Universe, Us.   
      
   The foregoing commentary with further links is at   
      
   https://thegodparadigmdiscussion.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-diagram-of-reality.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)