Orientation to Experience

Recognizing Experience

• Experience is a continuous inner process of human beings, and possibly all living systems. It is part of the natural world, but it may be differentiated from the material 'outer world' and called the 'inner world' or 'mind' or 'consciousness'.
• Experience is a concrete phenomenon, not an abstraction, and so its presence can be referred to directly just like entities in the physical world.
• Experience is massive and only a small part can be focused upon or given attention at any time. Only a small fraction of this small part is ever explicated: most experience remains implicit or hidden. Again, much like the physical world.
• Experience is generated by human interaction with the world i.e. by perception and action. Experience is self-generating and open to endless elaboration that may be heedless of perception or action.
• In the Taxonomy, Experience is the 4th Root Level in the Root Hierarchy of Endeavour. Its Primary Hierarchy elements are: sensation-L1, image-L2, emotion-L3, idea-L4, intuition-L5, identification-L6 and imagination-L7. All other conceptions (e.g. belief, thought, self &c.) are expected to be forms or derivatives of these.

Organisation of the Inquiry

The Topics in this Satellite intend to cover the following:

Introductory Conceptions

• Difficulties in studying experience using current science conventions. Link.
• What is required for progress in studies of experience. Link.
• The inherent fluidity of experience and its practical consequences. Link.
• The function of experience in the taxonomic-endeavour perspective. Link.
• Levels/elements of the Primary Hierarchy (PH4) of experience. Link.
• Relevant distinctions relating to mind, self, identity & existence. Link.

Typology to be Re-Developed

• How experience ensures mental stabilization. Link.
• The taxonomic path to the systems (PH'4) under investigation. Link.
• Detailed preview of the first section: PH'4 Types and TET. Link.
• Reorientation of the 1995 formulations for the PH'4-Typology. Link.
• Analysis of the dualities relevant to the PH'4-Typology. Link.
• How a stabilizer may be a stressor. Link.

Investigation of Frameworks

• The TET:  Comparison of the 7 Methods (PH'4L1-L7). Link.
• The Spiral-PH'4C (posted in the Frameworks Room).
• The Spiral-derived Tree-PH'4CK (not yet posted).
• The Spiral-derived Structural Hierarchy-PH'4CsH (not yet posted).
• The Spiral-derived Structural Hierarchy Tree-PH'4CsHK (not yet posted).

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• Start with issues in studying experience.

Originally posted: 24-Oct-2014. Last updated: 7-Dec-2014.