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 also 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 cover the following:

ClosedIntroductory 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.
  • Terminology issues in talking about experience. Link.
  • The function of experience in the taxonomic-endeavour perspective. Link.
  • Relevant distinctions relating to mind, self, identity & existence. Link.
  • Levels/elements of the Primary Hierarchy (PH4) of experience. Link.

ClosedTypology 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 dealing with PH'4 Types. Link.
  • Reorientation of the 1995 formulations for the PH'4 Types. Link.
  • How a stabilizer may be a stressor. Link.
  • Analysis of the dualities relevant to the PH'4-Typology. Link.

ClosedInvestigation of Frameworks

  • The TET: Comparison of the 7 Methods (PH'4L1-L7). Link.
  • The Spiral-PH'4C deals with growth of the sense of self. Link.
  • The Spiral-derived Tree-PH'4CHK (not yet posted).
  • The Spiral-derived Structural Hierarchy-PH'4CsH (not yet posted).
  • The Spiral-derived Structural Hierarchy Tree-PH'4CsHK (not yet posted).

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