The Definition of Reality

We now get to the accumulation of all significant realities, which is unified reality. It's everything.

When realities have relationships between them, they get connected into a unit. There can only be one unit of any size for interrelated realities, because there is not more than one alternative for most realities or relationships. For example, one and one can only equal two and nothing else.

Therefore, there is only one truth. Everyone has a somewhat different version of what it might be, but the source is invariable.

So what is truth? It is the communicated representation of unified reality. Now why didn't Christ tell Pilot something that simple? Because Pilot wouldn't have known what to do with it if he knew. He would have scoffed.

This analysis explains why truth sets people free. It connects them to unified reality. But to really understand the significance, the characteristics of unified reality must be studied in much more detail.

The characteristics of unified reality include the important fact that it is objective. This means it has origins outside of minds. Some philosophers can waste a lifetime arguing that point, but we have more important things to do. If a molecule exists outside of minds, then a large amount of unified reality exists outside of minds, because the elements are all interrelated.

The material universe is a molecular representation of unified reality, which is of course why it is called a universe. It means one verse. So the characteristics of unified reality can be determined by studying the molecular universe. But in actuality, unified reality exists, even if there is no molecular universe.

How can this be? Because spiritual beings are made up of realities, which can be unified, even if there is no molecular existence.

However, one of the purposes of molecular existence is to make it easier for spiritual beings (or persons) to unify their realities. How do I know? Because that's what happens and needs to happen, and it is taught in the Bible. The interpretation of tongues will unfold as these explanations progress.

A very important point to consider is that only unified reality allows a high degree of ordered complexity to exist. Knowing that fact is life; not knowing it is death. In other words, this point is the basis of morality.

Defining Life

Let's compare two types of complexity: ordered complexity and disordered complexity. Life is ordered complexity; and death is disordered complexity.

But I don't define life as ordered complexity; I define it as unified reality. Unified reality is the complete and total order of complex realities, while no order can exist without it. So why define life in terms of a small fragment of something which can never exist in itself.

This definition of life includes spiritual beings and the environments which they depend upon. In the biological sciences, life is generally defined in terms of molecular forms apart from their environments; but since the environments are essential to it, the concept is too narrow for philosophical purposes.
 
Defining Morality

We now have a basis for defining morality. I prefer to define morality as that which sustains life. Sin, of course, is that which destroys life. Christ described morality in this manner.
 

Morality is that which sustains life. Sin is that which destroys life. Morality is the standard of human relations. Conceptualize morality as constructivity; sin as destructivity. Morality is solving problems; sin is creating problems.

 
What then sustains life? More than anything, it is a proper relationship to unified reality. It is more common to describe morality in terms of the interactions of persons, which is certainly where the significance is at; but it cannot be adequately achieved without including all of unified reality in the equation.

To look at the equation properly, another concept must be added. It is understanding. Understanding is unified reality in the mind. A person must have a representation of unified reality in the mind before he can relate significantly to unified reality outside the mind. Getting one's mind together is getting it unified. This subject relates to all elements of intelligence and the proper handling of reality.

Christ's purpose was to increase understanding of morality, and he referred to understanding often (Mat 15:10)(Mark 8:21)(Luke 24:45)(John 8:43).

God and morality are defined by objective reality. Without objective reality, the difference between God and satan cannot be determined.

There is a tendency in religion to subjectivize God and morality. Persons who do that do not know the difference between God and satan, and they assume that a lot of satan's work is God's work.

Subjectivizing religion involves looking for it in the Bible apart from the rest of life. Without the objective realities of life, they find whatever they want to find in the Bible, and the result is a rationalization of their corruptions rather then an improved standard.

Hypothetically, defining morality as obedience to God would not change what morality is, because he would not put morality in conflict with objective reality. People have to use a reasoning process to determine what morality is regardless.

Therefore, the only significance in defining morality as obedience to God is that the persons who do that use it as a pretext for contradicting reason on the subject, as if reason must be avoided in determining obedience to God. In other words, their opinions cannot be questioned, as occurs with the infallibility game, the absolutism game or the inerrancy game. Notice that there are a lot of different mechanisms for preventing the opinions of corrupters from being questioned.
 

The most critical element of morality, and the most overlooked part, is that the result must be tolerable and acceptable. Life cannot be sustained without tolerable results. To force something onto someone for a noble purpose destroys life no matter what analysis is used. Since force is the basis of sin, the correct analysis is never in conflict with the result. But the critical point here is that false do-gooders always have a noble scheme which they force down peoples' throats and which they call morality, as if morality had to be something unacceptable. See Making Friends. If morality really needs to be forced onto corrupters, only the power of truth will do it. The power of truth is universal, the size of the universe, always constructive, always sustaining life and always prevailing eventually.

 
Rationality

An area which requires much focus of attention is rationality. It is where human responsibilities lie. Humans are supposed to be overcoming sin through rationality. That's not a diversion from making a living, as further analysis will show.

So let's define rationality. Reason is making relationships between realities. Logic is the strictest application of reason.

When relationships are made between realities, the realities must be unified. Significant relationships cannot be made between false realities (those which conflict with unified reality).

The process of making relationships between realities causes unified reality to increase and false realities to decrease. No other outcome can occur, because only unified reality has complex relationships within it. So reason unifies realities.

This process is not limited to philosophy. Whenever realities interact, the same thing occurs. It is automatic, and no one can prevent it, when realities interact.

The reason why it is automatic is because consistent relationships are strengthened, and inconsistent relationships are weakened, whenever realities interact. Strengthening the consistent relationships unifies the realities, atleast partially.

So all interactions of realities do the same thing as rationality does—they increase truth or unified reality—but not necessarily as precisely as controlled rationality might.

Do you suppose God knows that? One of the first stories in Genesis says that because of man's arrogance in building the tower of Babel, God dispersed man into many languages and groups. Of course, the timing did not quite coincide with the literal events, but it was a moral allegory. It says that diversity copes with sin. It does so by creating an interaction of realities. Where reason leaves off, diversity does something similar. Genesis was written by a prophet a couple of centuries BC, who also knew that philosophical point.

Therefore, rationality is a basic human responsibility, not something to be replaced by authority.

Glossary
Understanding Morality by Comparison
Subconscious Forces
Making Friends
Christ