3.4 RATIONALITY, INTUITION, CAUSE,

EFFECT & MEANING

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant,

We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the

gift"........Albert Einstein

In   the previous article a study was made of the contrast between the two

fundamental processes inherent in the functional operations of the thought

and consciousness in a being.   This article  details the development of the

main process :  the linear,  rational  process and its relation  to its  counter

process : the non - linear, and the development of both  as indispensable

for complimenting and completing each other's operation. Intelligence

is an exponential ( multiplex ) function of both these processes.

"Real progress in understanding nature is rarely incremental. All important
advances are sudden intuitions, new principles, new ways of seeing"
..................Marilyn Ferguson

3.4.1 REASON : THE BASE PROCESS

" That all our reasonings concerning causes and effects are derived

from nothing but custom ; and that belief is more properly an act of

the sensitive, than of the cognitive part of our natures"...David Hume

Reason is a linear processing of observed or learned relationships

based upon sequentially occurring events in linear time.

Rationality is a linear system of thought based upon generalisations

derived from cause-effect relationships and  properties, in the

phenomena or happenings that one observes or experiences in one's

environment or within oneself.

The rational process in particular and intelligence in general are given

importance in this work because the meaning, Will and purpose of one's

life is given shape, interpretation or form mostly by reason. Another

vital aspect of the linear process is that it is indispensable to the

cohesiveness of the order and inter-relationship in the inventory

of concepts ( mind ), whereas the intuitive process is indispensable

for the flexibility and fluidity of of the inventory of concepts.

" Language is a form of human reason and has its reasons which are
unknown to man."............Claude Lévi-Strauss

"All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning
or analysis, what they need to know.Intuition comes very close to
clairvoyance; it appears to be the extrasensory perception of reality"
.................. Alexis Carrel

Intuition is a non-linear system of thought, or to put it more correctly is a

non-linear operation rather than system, that is in complete contrast to

the rational process. It's operation cannot be understood or even initiated

by the linear, rational process because its operation is so contrary to the

linear process that these two invariably end up inhibiting each other,

that is, if one kind of operation is active, ( it means that the control of

the thought process is under its control) the other can not come into

active mode unless the first relinquishes control. The intuitive, creative

operation can only be understood in a limited manner through its

contrast to the linear mode of operation.

"Through our feelings ( senses ) we experience the known, but our

intuitions point to things that are unknown and hidden - that by 

their very nature are secret".....C. G. Jung

3.4.2 DOMINATION OF THE LINEAR

Since the rational, linear process is vital to the survivability of the being,

for most of the time it is in control,  it therefore dominates the proceedings

and relinquishes control only either by Will or in a crisis or by default in

certain states.  An example where the rational process is dormant by default

and not in charge is the dreaming state while a person is asleep.

The linear process is also dominant in engaging the sensory systems, again

because of survival requirements. Since most of our waking time activities

are directly or indirectly involved in ensuring survival, it is no surprise

that the rational process completely dominates over its counter process

to the extent that its operations are all but obliterated. It is only in

artistic, creative people that the non-linear process is active, and

even in those people it rarely dominates.

3.4.3 THE INITIATION OF THE NON-LINEAR

The non-linear process in its full depth operation is a highly sensitive and

subliminal process whose initiation requires a special kind of stimulus

that is different from the control stimuli generated by the survival

requirements. The tree of creativity needs a desire for excellence or

beauty as stimulus for it to bear fruit, a desire that is independent of

the desire to just live and survive or enjoy. A stimulus that comes from

the Heart or the Will. It only happens when there is a command from

deep within oneself for it to happen. When there is an unshakable

command that it has to happen and must happen.

Somehow he must be strung up afresh to the task  ;  emphatically 
some stimulus was required. But stimulus he felt was not to be had
for the asking ; one must proceed delicately to net that bird and
feign indifference to his approach"......G. L. Mallory

3.4.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE LINEAR

" Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

It is not enough that a thing be possible for it to be believed"........Voltaire

" Faith consists in making oneself believe,  through the power of reason

to undertake a worthy and challenging task that common sense

says is impossible" ........Updated May '04

  The linear system of thought is nothing more than the sequential or serial

operation of the programs ( pattern of operation or behavior) that are either

inbuilt or acquired and also metaprograms that have been generated internally.

This kind of linear operation accounts for the analytic process - the key

process that is also the basic underlying process that organises and brings

order and stability to the structure and hierarchy of all the operational

programs, metaprograms, beliefs and concepts.

So Reason or the linear process can said to be the organiser- the director that is

constantly at work :- arranging, organising, evaluating, analysing, establishing inter

relationships and hierarchies of concepts and beliefs, making generalisations,

finding and assimilating cause-effect relationships.

Formal logic is the scientific formulation of rationality, that is, rationality

( linear thinking) confined to generally agreed upon observations

Logic is therefore a systematic form of agreed upon reason.

Every culture then has developed its own logic depending upon the

set of derived beliefs about perceived cause-effect relationships that are

held to be generally true, and further upheld and taught as such to its

members, or those who have been brought up in that culture.

"I'll not listen to reason. . . Reason always means what someone else has
got to say."....Elizabeth Gaskell

It cannot be emphasised enough that what we call our reason has

already been programmed into us by society and culture. Now a typical

response to this is : 'Well, what is so wrong with that ?' and the simple

but devastating ( if realised) answer to this is : What is wrong is that

the acquired reasoning runs our life, and even worse, the covered up

wrongs of that culture are hidden in that logic, and if not uncovered,

stick on and become a crushing burden that cannot be rid of and

devours the individual's moral power as well as any

genuine individuality.

The problem with our reason is that it is captive to the

socio-cultural programming.

"We call the primitive man "pre-logical" because to us his explanations seem
absolutely illogical. But it only strikes us in this way because we start from
assumptions wholly different from those of primitive man. Until we come to
know of his presuppositions, he is a riddle hard to read, but when we know
them, all is relatively simple. We may equally well say that primitive man
ceases to be a riddle when we have come to know our own
presuppositions".......Jung

Reason has been "taught" to each one of us. The very limits of the usage of our

rational faculty have been defined and set by the process of education, and in

home and society. Once this has been set in order to ensure a compliance with

social norms of "sane" behavior, all our creations, abstractions and even exotic

experiences  become  subject to the logic that has been programmed,  whose

very base assumptions  have perhaps never been examined.  The significance

of even the most creative and genuine element of a novel experience is lost in

a maze of logic dictated by culture.

This  however  does not deter from the fact that a person can be creative, even

within the set parameters of  the cultural logic, and that is indeed the role of the

artist.  The  artist  senses   the  hidden faults of the cultural logic,  and although

rebels  against it,  but mostly indirectly,  in a way that does not overtly offend

the defenders and protagonists of that culture.

"A writer is congenitally unable to tell the truth and that is why we call
what he writes fiction."....William Faulkner

In a way, the defenders of an unjust and degenerate social, cultural

order, offers the rebel, the opportunity of a worthy opponent that the

rebel can use to reach for the complete realisation of his potential

through creative expression, even if he has to suffer censure or even

physical suffering and torture.

"The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible
ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in
business".....John Berryman

An artist of exceptional calibre produces a work that lays the foundation for

a change of attitude in society without violent disruption. But this again is

mostly an idealisation.  Dramatic positive changes usually imply a violent

attack on entrenched institutions that are strongly maintaining the status

quo and will resist any change with brutal violence of its own.

"The History of art is the history of revivals"....Samuel Butler

The toughest challenge is when a rebel directly attacks the social, political or

cultural logic in a way that does not harm him or the society, although the well

entrenched vested interests are bound to give a fight till death which

can result in a social upheaval or even a bloody mess.

" I think of art, at its most significant, as....a distant early warning
system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what
is beginning to happen to it.".......Marshall McCluhan

3.4.5 ABUSE OF THE LINEAR

Being the primary and dominant  process for survival, the linear, rational process

is eventually far more abused than used, by the fact that it is eventually used as a

tool to justify not only gross wrong actions, but also to maintain an unjust social

order and hierarchy in which the privileged and vested interests are able to

retain and enhance without limits their power and control over resources, and

to keep the rest as subservient workers.  Intellectuals invent  philosophies

to keep the educated masses from questioning too much or from

rocking  the  boat.  The   basis  of the  social  order  is never to be

questioned.  "Reasoning"   is  taught  and  programmed  to  every

individual to never question and hinder the smoothly functioning

( at least for the beneficiaries ) social system.

  It is a sad reflection of the state of affairs of this world that even in this age of reason,

there is no agreement whatsoever on what is reason and therefore reasonable ; a

reflection of the truth that all that is left of reason is a blind set of doctrines that

serve only to perpetuate the vested interests of a few at the cost of the rest.

From one culture to another, from one nation to another, these sets are different but

their function is the same - a maintenance of a social status quo and/or hierarchy under

the garb of reason, or strangely, even - faith ( or what religions call faith), which though

condemns reason, is itself the work of reason.

The greatest enemy of reason is reason itself - the tendency to reason out everything only

in one sided or particular way, totally suppressing or ignoring its opposing way, without

which even the minimal comprehension of reality cannot take place.This is the state of

deception in which half-truths are held and taught as absolute truths, and has become

the hallmark of civilizations and religions.

If one nation propagates capitalism as the most virtuous of economic systems, where

any mention of ongoing reckless exploitation is branded as unpatriotic and insane, another

propagates communism as utopia and blindly opposes all kinds of free enterprise. And

once that totalitarian regime is dismantled then it becomes a free for all - every thug

and gangster makes hay in the chaos.

The point is that reason itself is not to blame, for reason itself is only a process, a

tool - a powerful tool that provides meaning, understanding and most important

of all, the efficient ordering mechanism for survival.

The most important aspect of this tool is that it itself is the only

effective means to deal with itself, that is, the linear process is

indispensable for application, understanding and analysing its

use, abuse, role and limitations.

Hence the emphasis given to Self-analysis in this work.

" Only reason can convince us of these three fundamental truths,

without a recognition of which there can be no effective liberty :

that what we believe is not necessarily true ; that what we like is

not necessarily good ; and that all questions are open"...Clive Bell

This article then tries to examine the role of reason in the development of man and

his eventual, enveloping and developing downfall.

For this state of affairs it is useful to examine the development, growth and dominance

of reason and its offshoots in philosophy, science and technology, and how these have

unleashed or created an automaton - a machine like gross behavior of all or most

of mankind that without the input of a regenerating cause ( Spirit ), invariably

leads to destruction. 

Since reason grounds itself in cause-effect relationships, the development of these

structures of cause-effect relationships and their manifest domains in religion, society,

cultures, philosophy, science and eventually - technology, is the focus of study in this

article.

3.4.6 CAUSE AND CAUSE-EFFECT

"It is a rational presupposition of ours that everything has a natural and
perceptible cause. We are convinced of this. Causality, so understood,
is one of our ( Western, scientific) most sacred dogmas. There is no
legitimate place in our world for invisible, arbitrary, and so called super
-natural forces - unless, indeed, we foollow the modern physicist  in his
scrutiny of the minute and secret world of the atom, wherein, as it appears,
curious things come to pass. But that is far from the beaten track.
We distinctly resent the idea of invisible and arbitrary forces, for it is not so
long ago that we made our escape from that frightening world of dreams
and superstitions and constructed for ourselves a cosmos worthy of rational
consciousness - that latest and greatest achievement of man.
We are now surrounded by a world that is obedient to rational laws.".....Jung

First of all lets see what cause-effect means : it means the relationship ( or so presumed)

between two observed sequential events in linear time. If we say that event A happens

before event B everytime in a linear sequence of time, then A is related to B by the

observed fact that A causes B, that if given an initial state A, then B must follow

as a consequence.

For such a relationship to be always true means 1) That a given initial state A must

be exactly the same in its totality with nothing hidden. 2) There must be no intervening

cause - hidden or observable that manifests or interferes from outside of the domain

of interest i.e the existing universe.

For both these conditions to be met means that one's observational or perceptual

faculties have to be infinite to ensure that condition A is exactly the same and

that there is no interfering cause. So to guarantee that condition B to always

follow condition A is an impossibility from an observers limited perception.

Since all that we know, and will ever know in terms of cause-effect comes

from perceptual observation or interpretation, it therefore means that we

can never be sure about the fallibility and infallibility of ANY cause-effect

generalisation, however and from where ever it is derived. (Either sensory

observation, creative observation or experience, or from unknown source)

What then is meant by cause-effect ? Pure cause-effect means that observed and

generalised  relationships between linear events that can be verified for consistency

of recurrence  under controlled conditions or parameters, and all other influences

can be curtailed or eliminated ( like personal feelings, experiences, imagination etc)

Which is the exact function of Science. It is the vast area of fixed knowledge that is

based upon these observed cause-effect relations of physical events and entities

( or objects), the only changes that do take place in this body of knowledge are

additions, modifications, exceptional or limiting  conditions etc.

The fact that  F = M X A as a definite relationship continues as it is, only limiting

conditions, additions, modifications keep taking place as more and more intricate

relationships are discovered. The physical is the domain where from the logos are

derived and the physical sciences emerge.

Apart from those recorded by physical sciences, there is another domain of

cause-effect generalised relationships - and those are that which are presumed

to be of the non-physical domain, where from the mythos are derived and from

these emerges religion ( for example, in all monotheistic religions or monist

philosophies, the central mythos is that a mono entity, God or Dao or Brahman

or Soul is the "cause" of all "effects" or happenings in the universe ). There is only

one Cause-Effect relationship in a strict monoism, but in non-strict monoism, all

other cause-effect relationships are admitted, but taken as the myriad

manifestations or secondary offshoots of the primal cause.

So we can see here ( if at all we want to see) that cause-effect generalised

relationships take two divergent paths - towards the extreme of science

or the other extreme of religion - in one the ultimate central operating

belief becomes that the universe consists of nothing but matter and

energy from which man has emerged and evolving, and in the other,

the ultimate operating central belief becomes that God is the creator,

doer, cause and willer of everything that happens or is

experienced.

In either case the bottom line of the operating beliefs is that Reality is pre-

deterministic or definitive, that is, bound to follow the inherent chain of

cause-effect without at any time any individual entity having choice to

alter the ongoing cause-effect chain. In science, all happenings are simply

related in mathematical cause-effect relationships, discovered or yet to

be discovered. In Religion, every happening is caused by the first cause

or creator.

Thus for there to be anything like all of reality following a certain or definitive

cause-effect sequence, starting with a singular cause, and no intervening cause

in-between, would mean that all of reality is deterministic from beginning

to end of the universe. Further, what that means is that there is no such thing as

individual choices (rather, no such thing as individuals and no such thing as

choice), right or wrong.

As a corollary,then, all conceptions become meaningless, and even the word

"meaning" has no meaning. The only conclusion that can come, and does come,

from this, is that Reality is a meaningless cosmic drama of dancing puppets or

effects, pushed and pulled from an external, singular, initial or eternal cause.

Most people who get involved in religion eventually get stuck in this belief and

become incapable of any further examination of their rigid beliefs. And so do

Scientists who get mired in the belief that everything is a material, objectively

verifiable fact that can be repeatedly tested for its consistent cause-effect

behavior, and anything that does not fit into these parameters of rigorous

scientific testing, then automatically falls in the domain of hyperactive or

even deceptive imagination.

Both these extremes project, propagate and teach their core beliefs and

way of thinking as ultimately valid.

For the sake of a deeper analysis then, let us assume then that Reality is

cause-effect determinate.

Is the universe purely cause-effect with no intervening cause in-between from the

start of time till the end of time ? If it is so then every event is certain to follow in

a deterministic manner from the first state at time t=0. No individual   being or entity

has any choice at all because every event is predetermined, no new cause can intervene

to change the course of events , that will then automatically follow one after the other

till the end of time.

When we use this tool of Rationality to answer this question we can come up with only

one answer : Either the universe is cause-effect deterministic or it is not .( if someone says

it can be both it automatically means the latter that the universe is not deterministic )

In the first case then any analysis is futile since nothing can make a difference to any

outcome, come what may. In the second case an infinite number of possibilities and questions

can come up, and thus reason runs into trouble for it is not at all comfortable with uncertainty

and unknown causes that may intervene, for then it becomes impossible to be sure of any

cause-effect relationship and the whole structure of generalisations built so laboriously by

reason is threatened with collapse. Firstly it is this threat that the process of reason has to

deal with, and secondly pure reason by itself is inadequate to comprehend what is "cause"

as the counterpart of cause-effect . Reason therefore needs to combine, correlate,

compliment and allow a space for balancing its domain with its counter

process - intuition, to give it the necessary artistic handle for this.

3.4.7 THE MEANINGLESSNESS OF PURE REASONING

"It is our assumption, amounting to a positive conviction that everything has
causes which we call natural and which we at least suppose to be perceptible.
Primitive man, on the other hand, assumes that everything is brought about by
invisible, arbitrary powers - in other words, that everything is chance. Only, he
does not call it chance, but intention. Natural causation is to him a mere
semblance and not worthy of mention."...Jung

Purely rational thinking operates on a finite and more importantly consistent set of beliefs

wherein a belief held to be true is presumed to hold good, come what may. It (the process)

therefore by its very nature denies or opposes a counterbelief of the held belief in order

to maintain its consistent operation. ( This inherent tendency for consistency also has a

functional use - that of stable operation, which no doubt is what is required for those

who have no motivation for critical self-analysis and development. But for those with

a predilection for exploration, an adherence or sticking to needless consistency only

puts a severe handicap to potential flexibility of thought and experience.)

So if we take pure rational thought to its extreme starting from the assumption that

Reality is only cause-effect then at the very limits of this exercise, the conclusions

that are inescapable are :

1. Every event, experience, etc follow one after another in a determinate,

and mechanical, linear fashion according to the cause-effect laws inherent

in the universe.

2. No entity has any volition, freedom, choice, options, and all these terms

become meaningless.

3. Since these terms have no meaning in a pure cause-effect universe, all

other concepts related or connected to these also become redundant.

4. There being no choices possible, it follows then that there is no right or

wrong, no morals, no meaning, everything just exists, finally decays,

and dies out.

Now for a religious person or a mystic, this is just what reality is. A first cause

and the chain of cause-effect following that till the end of time. But outside the

domain of this fixed religious belief, in a rational inquiry, this belief ( and the

trappings of the word faith attached to it ) is worthless as it leads to a dead

end.

The point of this exercise is to demonstrate that Reality cannot be just a deterministic

cause-effect sequence of events and yet have any kind of consistency, or even complete in

any aspect except one : and that is the monist aspect, even through this simple deductive

process one can realise that ( if one wants to ).

But then comes the question of all questions in a rational inquiry of reality :

3.4.8 What then is "Cause" ?

"Whoever dares to tamper with myths is moving in a realm
beyond the reach of reason.".......................Audrey Salkeld

He who dares to challenge the myths must have the power
of his own reason as the ultimate tool - the accurately
realised reason of his very existence.........Updated April '04

Again the rational tool's deductive aspect comes to aid here:

cause is : what is not cause-effect (i.e., the counterpart of cause-effect)

and since cause-effect is a linear relationship between two events of observation

or experience, that means that "cause" is that element of reality that "forces effect"

or changes the cause-effect course of reality, independent of preceding events,

i.e., independent of the chain of linear cause-effect sequence.

This implies that cause is not a continuous element of existential reality

but manifests from nothing at the spur of the moment and subsequent

to its manifestation effects the cause-effect chain of Reality by becoming

the INTENT of the world.

3.4.9   SPIRIT - WILL - CAUSE - INTENT

This further implies that "cause" is that which is "created"

by a being from nothing, and the motivating, initiating

or catalysing force is - Will and/or Spirit which combine