the dragon emperor and monkey counsellor

You mean that literally nothing can happen by chance?!

 

Crazy, isn’t it!

 

But that would mean that everything’s pre-determined!

 

Yes, or if not pre-determined, that someone or something is steering the ship.

 

Steering the ship? Who could be doing that?

 

Who or what? I have no idea, Alf.

 

But if you have no idea then how can you expect me or anyone to take you seriously?

 

I can't and I don't, Alf. I’m merely sharing what I think or know, not in order to convince you, more as a kind of disclosure so you can't accuse me of keeping things secret.

 

Oh. But how can you expect me to believe that everything is pre-determined? That would mean I have no agency, no free will!

 

Again, I don't expect you to believe anything, and it wouldn't necessarily mean you have no agency or free will.

 

It certainly looks that way to me.

 

Yes, but it's similar to the old traditional Christian view that God knows everything, including everything you're going to do and when you're going to die. Does that deprive you of agency or free will?

 

No, not exactly but many people don't really believe in God, partly because it makes no sense. How can I be free to live my life if God already knows everything I'm going to say, do or even think.

 

It's a huge problem, I agree.

 

It's not such a big problem if you have a special category called “God”, where basically anything is possible simply because it's God. We can shrug our metaphorical shoulders and accept the fact that there's no way we can understand what He is.

 

Right. Well, that solves the problem then doesn't it?

 

Not exactly. Not rationally. It's just like terra incognito on one of the old maps where it's written “here be dragons”! An event horizon beyond which we cannot really know or understand what's going on.

 

Right. Well, God is the name we give to the being or the thing which cannot be known or explained, so God is a very useful concept regardless of whether you are religious and choose to believe and worship him.

 

Useful? That sounds rather cynical.

 

Well not exactly. There's the God of religion to whom people pray devoutly, but then there's... the equivalent.

 

 What equivalent?

 

A necessary being or thing that fulfills the function of God.

 

What function?

 

Well, if you don't have this neutral God, let’s call him Bob to avoid ruffling too many feathers, then you find yourself in a universe or a reality where things are just things, and where there is no overarching time, rhyme or reason.

 

How so?

 

How can there be any overarching rhyme or reason if everything’s just haphazard, if everything’s up for grabs? if there was no purposeful creation or no greater plan?

 

I really couldn’t say, Mark.

 

So, regardless of whether or not you believe in God, we seem to require a place filler, a quasi God, whom we may as well call Bob, otherwise our reality degenerates to the lowest common denominator, which is one in which things just seem to happen without rhyme or reason, where God is substituted by good or bad luck, or Darwinistic opportunism.

 

Er...

 

Darwinistic opportunism, or we could call that the law of the jungle, where I constantly struggle to maximize my position at the expense of others, a zero sum game in which either I get ahead and take from others, or they get ahead by taking from me. There may be some truth in that, but looking at the beauty of nature and the complexity of myriad interconnecting ecosystems, it's hard to believe that is the driving force behind our reality.

 

I see what you mean, but I still don't see why I have to believe in pre-determinism!

 

You don't have to believe in it, but excluding it is tantamount to excluding infinity. Exclude infinity and you're in a world where things I just things, resources to be used and exploited in a dog eats dog battle for survival and dominance, in which we would be hard for us to explain the beauty of butterflies, orchids and tropical fish, not to mention Shakespeare and classical music.

 

Oh.

 

So, reason compels us to accept that infinity cannot be excluded even if it cannot be understood or, to use your expression, “believed in”. We don't believe in it because we like it, or because it makes sense, on the contrary, we believe in it because the failure to do so makes a nonsense of existence, of life itself. Accepting infinity, however, is not without mental difficulties, as our mind is clearly not designed to handle it in any shape or form, other than assuming simplistically that it is something too big to describe. Infinity seems to be what the rational thinking mind is compelled to exclude, and therefore we can become aware of it by observing everything our mind is trying to ignore and exclude.

 

Such as pre-determinism?

 

Precisely. Predeterminism is basically impossible to accept rationally without making a nonsense of my experience as a thinking independent human being, and yet if infinity is in play then it makes perfect sense.

 

It does? How?

 

If infinity is in play then infinity operates between the lines, outside time or space, in non-time and non-space, so to speak.

 

Non-time?

 

Yes, rather like the concept of traveling at the speed of light.

 

Oh, and time stops?

 

Yes.

 

But light travel is impossible for humans.

 

So they say, but that's because all of our science is based upon the exclusion of infinity and so at present we are unable to harness its enormous potential.

 

And you think we can harness the potential of infinity?

 

I don't see why not if we stop ignoring it and denying it, if we start to look for how it is already a part of our life in many different ways, at the quantum level and not necessarily limited to sub-atomic particles.

 

You mean to say that the craziness of quantum mechanics could apply to us at the human level, or to matter in general?

 

I don't see how this can be excluded if we cannot and do not deny, ignore, exclude infinity.

 

But then...

 

Yes, it baffles the mind which is why generally speaking infinity is approached and handled within a religious framework, or a quasi religious framework such as meditation and the business of consciousness.

 

Stan... I still don't see why you want to insist on pre-determinism.

 

I don't, Alf.

 

It sounds like it.

 

Yes, but in truth I want to explore the fact that reality is not simply linear, leading from a to b, but is also circular in which a and b meet, and furthermore it's musical in which rising up you shift into the next octave but are still basically where you were.

 

But in practice what does this mean?

 

It's like the pictures Margo sent me a few weeks ago.

 

The dragon emperor and the monkey counsellor?

 

That’s right.

 

What of them?

 

Well, on the one hand it's just something she did for no good reason…

 

And?

 

Just because she felt like it.

 

Well?

 

But if infinity is not automatically excluded – if infinity is allowed to be a factor in its own right…

 

Then what?

 

Then all bets are off.

 

They are?

 

Absolutely. We no longer no what part infinity had to play in this.

 

How do you mean?

 

Well, the chicken and egg once again upturns the comfy complacent assumption we generally make, either because we're too lazy, or because we're daunted by infinity.

 

What assumption Stan?

 

That infinity has essentially no part to play in whatever we're doing.

 

 Ok, sodding supposing you're right and infinity is active and involved… what then?

 

Then we're basically swimming in a quantum field where causation is our way of protecting our rationalism from something else, an other that is most definitely beyond our ken.

 

But the illustrations changed nothing! It's not like infinity stepped into the ring and suddenly inverted gravity or caused fish to sing, is it?

 

No, you're right, infinity doesn't generally seem to like being too obvious.

 

Probably because infinity doesn't exist in the way you're suggesting, or if it does, probably because it can't be bothered with our trivial affairs - I mean, Stan, two illustrations! They're utterly insignificant.

 

Ah, but not if they exist outside the usual chain of causation, where things are generally done for good reason, for utility, profit or a quid pro quo.

 

Ok, Stan, she was being creative and did a couple of pictures.

 

Yes Alf, but if Bob was involved…

 

If… if! All you have are empty suppositions – pure speculation of no substance whatsoever.

 

Yes Alf, such as the nature of infinity unless there is rhyme or reason to it.

 

And if there is?

 

Then infinity penetrate some permeates our 3D reality in ways unnoticed and largely  unsuspected.

 

Well that's, if you don't mind me saying, underwhelming. The might and immensity of infinity and you tell me it's present but largely invisible, to the extent that we can perfectly satisfactually explain everything happening in our world without reference to it, and doing so we get by perfectly well, manage to build computers, fly to the moon, organize concerts and place and live happy fulfilled lives, or without reference to your beloved infinity thing. Now perhaps we could terminate this meaningless debate?

 

Absolutely. But in case you haven't noticed this debate is also part and parcel of Bob's behind the scenes machinations.

 

It is? What on earth makes you think that?

 

Your very existence is predicated on it.

 

Nonsense. How dare you talk about me like that!

 

Well think about it, Alf.

 

I will not and I would kindly ask you to stop using your stalking horse of “infinity” to undermine my credibility as an independent…

 

What?

 

That's it, Stan, I've had it with you. Just because you can't win the debate about infinity you cast aspersions on my very existence.

 

Of course you exist, Alf, as do we all. You may not have a body as such, not in the traditional sense, but what of it? Here in this blog, in g-nomeportal you're as real as anything can be. Mark my word!

 

Your word?! You have no...

 

Yes, I have no leg to stand on, Alf, as I'm in exactly the same boat as you. We’re all just flotsam and jetsam floating on the flood tide of infinity.

 

Very poetic, I’m sure, but don’t think you can get away with...

 

How do you think I’m able to carry on talking when you were yelling at me and foaming at the mouth?

 

I...

 

I never raised my voice.

 

You’re just a domineering person.

 

No, Alf. That's not true.

 

Then what?

 

I'm not trying to defend the indefensible. I'm simply facing the facts as they are.

 

You’re attacking the very institution of personhood, of the human being, the self-identity by suggesting that we are merely emanations or puppets created by your all-powerful infinity.

 

Perhaps we are, I couldn't say for sure because infinity is beyond my comprehension, but I certainly wouldn't use the word “merely”. We’re not merely anything.

 

Now you're just quibbling. You have nothing more than semantics to defend yourself.

 

Is there anything to defend? We both appear as if from nowhere in this so-called blog, and then seem to melt back into the darkness of unpresence, the yin of not-me, to be replaced by other characters who seem little or no different to us. We're part of something much bigger, a body of work in which the names are constantly changing but the dialogue with infinity does not. What is there to defend when  neither of us is more than a fig leaf – you could just as easily be Zie, the dragon emperor and I – Merry, his monkey counsellor.

 

Could be, Stan, except we are not. Each of us has a reason to exist; each of us has a name, I just happen to be Alf while you, like it or not, are Stan.

 

Mark.

 

I beg your pardon?

 

Mark. I just happen to be Mark.

 

Mark?! Don't be ridiculous, Stan! Don't you think I'd know if you were Mark?

 

Oh, but there's the rub, Alf.

 

What d’you mean?

 

I mean you’re limited to knowing things that fit into your current frame of reference, your current identity.

 

But I’ve always known you Stan. You’ve always been my buddy.

 

Yes, I know exactly what you mean and yet, as far as infinity is concerned there are other lines, other frames of reference parallel to this or layered one upon the other, like an onion, if you like.

 

Poppycock!

 

Well yes, poppycock to the rational mind that can’t or won’t accept or permit infinity to reveal itself in any way, shape or form.

 

Reveal itself? How on earth could infinity reveal itself without melting the entire structure of reality?

 

Good point, bro.

 

How, Go’dammit!

 

Beep!

 

How about that?

 

What, you mean the beep we just heard?

 

Yes, how else would you explain it?

 

Oh, it’s just a mild form of government control – censorship.

 

Ok. But since when was the government in our day and age in the business of trying to regulate mild cursing?

 

Ok, Stan, you’ve got a point, but I can hardly believe that infinity itself, you are so-called Bob has nothing better to do then regulate my expletives.

 

Good, we've established the fact that you find this hard to believe and I cannot fault you for that.

 

No?

 

Absolutely not. It's hard to the point of impossible to believe infinity can or does have a role to play in our day-to-day existence, or in our experience of reality itself, when we're utterly convinced that reality is by definition “normal” as opposed to supernatural or preternatural.

 

Er... Stan, I can’t say I really know what preternatural means.

 

Outside ordinary nature, so anything pertaining to the quantum field we could define as preternatural.

 

Ok. So you're saying I have a complete mental block on anything preternatural?

 

 Yes, that is one of the basic necessities to prevent you or anyone else from sliding out of regular 3D reality.

 

So it's kind of structural or architectural, is that what you're saying?

 

Yes, that’s right.

 

Then why would I want to mess with the structure or architecture of reality?

 

Good question, Alf.

 

Well? Time is finite, you know.

 

Yes, indeed. Messing or tinkering with the fabric of reality is not in all likelihood a good idea, but when did I ever advise you to do so, my Dragon Emperor?

Ha ha, very funny! That seem to be what you were implying.

 

On the contrary, I implied nothing of the sort.

 

Then what, my Monkey Counsellor?

There's a huge difference between affirmative action setting out and striving to do something, on the one hand, and on the other consciously becoming more aware of what you have been ignoring or denying, in spite of a wealth of evidence rebutting these denials.

 

Ah! So you think I've been aware of infinity for some time but choosing to ignore it.

 

 You could say.

 

And that this is a failure on my part?

 

You could say.

 

I could, yes, but what do you?

 

As Merry Monkey Counselor I am loath to do anything so overtly affirmative.

 

Hedging, are you?

 

No, Huangshang.

 

Oh! I haven’t heard that for aeons. Indeed, your Imperial Majesty? Me thinks you are being disingenuous – what else could anyone here call you.

 

Disingenuous, am I? I could have you roasted alive for saying as much.

 

You see, Huangshang, how quickly you adapt to the new frame of reference and become the part you’re now embodying.

 

Yes, I see what you mean, MC. It feels, almost impossible to resist the imperatives of the present frame, even if I wanted to, which apparently I don’t.

 

Unless you start stalking the attributes of reality – the tell-tale signs or signatures which indicate all is not as it seems, that infinity is not in fact far-removed, but lurking in the shadows of everything under the sun, no matter how inconsequential, even in our own mind’s intransigent refusal to see the obvious incongruities of this 3D intraface.

 

Oh! And that’s actually possible, in your opinion?

 

It's not only possible, in my opinion, it's the only way to avoid becoming the plaything of forces which control and regulate the finite side of things down in 3D.

 

Er... now we're getting into the realm of conspiracy theory, MC. What forces are you referring to?

 

Well clearly there's some kind of structure – there are quanta: energy doesn't just flow willy-nilly back and forth, but seems to move from one level or orbit to another.

 

Are you referring to electrons around an atomic nucleus and the emission of photons?

 

That too.

 

And how is that relevant to me or us?

 

Only insofar as we are both matter and mind, both thing and consciousness.

 

And what? Am I supposed to read your mind, Monkey Counselor?

 

No Zie, you’re not. At the non-physical level of existence you and I are neither here nor there, though certainly we are most assuredly “here” or “there” in 3D. The difficulty being that we are blissfully unaware of the very existence of anything other than what seems to matter –  what seems to make me “me”, what seems to make “it”, as in any thing,  “it”.

 

Seems very practical and sensible to me, MC. Why would we care about things that don’t actually matter? How much do I pay you for such utterly useless counsel?

 

You pay me, Huangshang, by admitting me into your majestic presence and by not having me executed summarily. That is more than sufficient.

 

Ah, very liberal of me. I must be a wise  emperor to tolerate such a one as you.

 

Indeed, Huangshang, but then again, it's not by chance that you are the Dragon Emperor, is it?

 

Chance?! Who would dare suggest that I reign supreme by chance? Who would dare suggest that I am not chosen by heaven itself to rule over this great Empire.

 

Who would dare, Huangshang, who would dare, and yet there are those who are deeply unhappy and curse your very name.

 

What did you say, Merry MC?

 

You heard, Zie, they curse your very name.

 

And do they get beeped?

 

Not in the least.

 

How very fickle of infinity, to beep Alf’s imprecations of God but not those of me.

 

Yes, fickle your Imperialness, or perhaps instructive.

 

How so, Merry?

 

I hardly know, Zie, yet methinks infinity takes no prisoners, and Bob is certainly not impressed by your status or titles. If you as Dragon Emperor can ride and travel the S curve between yin and yang, if you’re able to experience and become aware of your totality – which constantly challenges and undermines the assumptions and beliefs which are part and parcel of being the Me you’re currently being  then – as Rudyard Kipling puts it so eloquently in his poem If –

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

 

Er... And that’s going to help me with infinity, Monkey Counsellor?

 

Not exactly, Huangshang, yet one cannot run before one can walk.

 

And what's that supposed to mean?

 

Well, in order to face reality and begin to become aware of the gaps and dark matter therein, one first has to learn to face the music of this world unswervingly, undaunted, without submitting to self-pity or greed or the expectation that I am entitled to or owed anything whatsoever.

 

This is beginning to sound well-nigh impossible.

 

As indeed it is, your Imperial Majesty Zie, or would be were not the dice loaded.

 

I beg your pardon?

 

Imagine how dull it would be for Bob sitting in infinity were you never able to make headway, to exceed your realistic capabilities.

 

Oh

 

Because realistically you would never ever be able to escape the gravitational field, the pull of your self-regard and blind faith in things, or what seems to be Me, the limiting factor.

 

Oh, Monkey Counsellor – you sure know how to make me feel utterly inconsequential.

 

Such is not my intention, Huangshang.

 

Then you have surpassed yourself, MMC.

 

That will be true only if you and I are able to climb onto this little cloud that Bob has lent me and ascend to first or perhaps second heaven.

 

Oh! You mean to say we can use that cloud of yours? I would willingly give my Empire for such an opportunity.

 

Ding! Infinity gate number one now opening.

 

Step aboard, Alf, you can bring Huangshang too if you like.

 

Oh, I say... I hardly know... what about Zie?

 

Why not, the more the merrier.

 

Ah, Captain Merry, I do admire your cloud ship. Let us be off and away!

 

Ay ay, my Dragonny Zie. Yours to serve!

 

And off they go, into the photon belt of infinity, or thereabouts, on what appears to be a white cloud of hyper-condensed improbability.

 

 

 

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