Philosophy Magazine

Addendum to Commentary on Novelty Theory, the Timewave, a...

By Tantrawave @planetbuddha
Addendum to commentary on Novelty Theory, the Timewave, a singular Eschaton Event, et al..
I should point out that McKenna often used the language and current understanding of the concepts of non-linear dynamical and chaotic fractal systems to conceptualize and explain his ideas concerning Novelty Theory and the Timewave.   Yet he interpreted the Eschaton as a well defined event (singularity) defined only on midday 12/21/2012.   If one uses the very same features of non-linear dynamics that he often used to shed light on his ideas concerning specific features of Novelty Theory and the Timewave, one can then interpret, characterize and  express the Eschaton as a particular 'transitional state' or 'phase transition state' in our current spatial-temporal reality.
As an example, when Novelty is described as 'the creation and conservation of increasingly higher order states of complex form', that description is more properly aligned with the concept of non-linear systems theory and chaos, than it is aligned with other disciplines that use the concept of 'singularity'.  Even he indirectly grappled with these ideas when he described a universe that is ever complexifying, and that extreme increasing and expanding complexity is what leads to a 'singularity' at the end of time..  Yet it is that very extreme state of 'complexification' that in fact leads to a breakdown and dissolution of the system into a chaotic phase, on its way to a transforming reconfiguration into some 'emergent' state and trajectory, with possible multiple emergent states and trajectories (paths).
So instead of attempting to redefine the 'Eschaton' as a very specific event spread over time, or an extremely uncertain and/or unknown event occurring exactly on 12/21/2012, I think it is more appropriate and meaningful to describe the 'Eschaton' as a chaotic phase transition of our current system and its trajectory..   Using this concept as the logical extension of Novelty Theory and the Timewave eliminates the need to have any information about the details of this chaotic phase, nor the need to pin down such a phase to one particular and very well defined date..  
 Of course this also begs the question of how one could re-express the Timewave in a form that now transitions through a chaotic phase into an emergent state or states, one or more of which are likely transitions to higher ordered states and trajectories.  Of course Novelty Theory itself has no terminal singular event and therefore needs no modifications or revision in order to be described in terms of non-linear systems theory and chaos.
John Sheliak
Santa Fe, NM

Back to Featured Articles on Logo Paperblog