Richard Botelho's Blog - Posts Tagged "philosophy"
The Genre Bender
Perhaps it is indicative of society or something in the human condition, but people tend to be categorized or prefer the use of categories. With the tremendous amount of information in our society, categories certainly help sort and organize our world. In the publishing world, this tendency has resulted in strict categories for all kinds of books. This has been useful because it allows readers to more easily find what they are looking to read, but it also comes with a cost.
Unfortunately, categories encourage sameness. In fiction, for example, both new and established authors seek to emulate the category with tried and true styles and plots because that has worked in the past and readers expect more of the same. Soon, the works in the category become formulaic, representing the same old formula and the category becomes stale.
Often, writers try to introduce novelty into the category through deeper plots, different settings, unique writing styles, and more in depth characters and the competition becomes one where authors are judged on how creative they were within that sameness. This often works for most readers because they get improved versions within the category of their choice.
Still, over time, the category grows more formulaic and staleness creeps in. So what can be done to break through this sameness to produce works that are truly novel and inspiring?
The answer is called a genre bender. These are novels that combine many different genres such as fantasy, romance, spirituality, adventure, etc., into one work that is very different from other works in its primary genre. Now these works should be praised because they are fighting a strong uphill battle against traditionalism, inertia, the publishing industry preference for rigid categories, conditioned readerships, and history itself. In some sense, genre bending novels are pioneers trying to take fiction into new arenas and new markets.
Non-fiction works could also use a dose of answers outside their category. Most breakthrough scientific discoveries, management philosophies, social commentaries, technological advancements, and even political theories come from an interdisciplinary approach that uses different fields of knowledge. The future will be dominated by those writers and thinkers who give us new ways of looking at things and who help us break out of strict categories which tend to confine us and limit our possibilities for discovery.
My forthcoming novel Reason for Existence is a science fiction and philosophy novel with elements of romance and geopolitical thriller thrown in as well. It is definitely original and a genre bender. The publication date is 2/1/16 and the website is www.wpcbooks.com. Sample chapters and advance reviews are available on the website. There will also be a book giveaway in the future.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Unfortunately, categories encourage sameness. In fiction, for example, both new and established authors seek to emulate the category with tried and true styles and plots because that has worked in the past and readers expect more of the same. Soon, the works in the category become formulaic, representing the same old formula and the category becomes stale.
Often, writers try to introduce novelty into the category through deeper plots, different settings, unique writing styles, and more in depth characters and the competition becomes one where authors are judged on how creative they were within that sameness. This often works for most readers because they get improved versions within the category of their choice.
Still, over time, the category grows more formulaic and staleness creeps in. So what can be done to break through this sameness to produce works that are truly novel and inspiring?
The answer is called a genre bender. These are novels that combine many different genres such as fantasy, romance, spirituality, adventure, etc., into one work that is very different from other works in its primary genre. Now these works should be praised because they are fighting a strong uphill battle against traditionalism, inertia, the publishing industry preference for rigid categories, conditioned readerships, and history itself. In some sense, genre bending novels are pioneers trying to take fiction into new arenas and new markets.
Non-fiction works could also use a dose of answers outside their category. Most breakthrough scientific discoveries, management philosophies, social commentaries, technological advancements, and even political theories come from an interdisciplinary approach that uses different fields of knowledge. The future will be dominated by those writers and thinkers who give us new ways of looking at things and who help us break out of strict categories which tend to confine us and limit our possibilities for discovery.
My forthcoming novel Reason for Existence is a science fiction and philosophy novel with elements of romance and geopolitical thriller thrown in as well. It is definitely original and a genre bender. The publication date is 2/1/16 and the website is www.wpcbooks.com. Sample chapters and advance reviews are available on the website. There will also be a book giveaway in the future.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Novel Concepts
My forthcoming science fiction/philosophy novel Reason for Existence has some interesting concepts, even "novel" ones, no pun intended, discussed throughout the book. In future blog posts, I will discuss each in further detail. All are based either on scientific fact or a high probability of eventually being proven. The following list is not complete, but is a good starting point for discussion. The list is as follows:
1. Probability of extraterrestrial life. My earlier post on The Drake Equation is a foundation for the subject.
2. Consciousness is preeminent. Quantum Mechanics, recent animal and plant studies, religious traditions, and even communication methodologies all point to consciousness being separate from the brain and indeed a distinct, individual and indispensable part of nature.
3. The possibility of supra organizations existing as a potential ruling elite.
4. Emerging technologies that will be critical to building a lasting civilization that not only survives, but survives long enough to explore the galaxy.
5. Geopolitical instability and the prospects for nuclear and biological warfare.
Further information regarding the novel can be found at www.wpcbooks.com
1. Probability of extraterrestrial life. My earlier post on The Drake Equation is a foundation for the subject.
2. Consciousness is preeminent. Quantum Mechanics, recent animal and plant studies, religious traditions, and even communication methodologies all point to consciousness being separate from the brain and indeed a distinct, individual and indispensable part of nature.
3. The possibility of supra organizations existing as a potential ruling elite.
4. Emerging technologies that will be critical to building a lasting civilization that not only survives, but survives long enough to explore the galaxy.
5. Geopolitical instability and the prospects for nuclear and biological warfare.
Further information regarding the novel can be found at www.wpcbooks.com
The Full Extent
The following is the Introduction from my upcoming book The Full Extent: An Inquiry into Reality and Destiny.
"I remember being in my early thirties when I first discovered Quantum Mechanics, the study of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels. The article in my old Encyclopedia started with the words (paraphrasing) “you will not believe what follows, but it is proven without exception.” They had me there. Naturally a skeptic, I always required proof. The only thing I took on faith was God. So I began my inquiry with dubious curiosity.
What was written was incomprehensible. Matter and energy a product of Consciousness, particles behaving as waves and waves behaving as particles, nothing real until observed, the past, present, and future occurring at once, things connected regardless of the distance, everything behaving counterintuitively and illogically. Fascination? Sure, but a larger realization soon followed: since everything is made of atoms, the quantum is a gateway to truth. Little did I realize I had stumbled upon the greatest question of our age, how quantum bizarreness forms the physical world we witness with a foundation that is literally unreal.
So I read on.
What I learned is that reality is layered and often at odds with itself, an enigma beyond comparison, eluding definitive description and confident comprehension. Moreover, we are only beginning to understand the relationship between the micro (Quantum Mechanical) and the macro (Classical Physical) worlds. The former forms the latter, the small composing the large, but the quantum follows radically different laws, possessing nonsensical and even baffling properties, its nature incompatible with common sense experience. We see reality as independently actual, when experiment after experiment proves reality is a product of Mind.
Thus, Consciousness is the ground of all being. Mind preceded the universe. Consciousness existed prior to the Big Bang, before history even began, before anything else existed, including time. That is the truth. Believing otherwise is like believing the world is flat or the sun revolves around the Earth. False beliefs are an impediment to our advance, adherence to inaccurate foundations deleterious to society and causative of our current stagnation.
That last statement is controversial considering historical advances in science and more specifically information technology. After all, we have smartphones, computers, artificial intelligence, the internet, and advanced spacecraft. Nevertheless, the low hanging fruit has been plucked from the tree and true scientific breakthroughs are sorely lacking. For those who doubt this, consider just a few examples of our lack of progress: educational spending produces ever diminishing returns; few cures for diseases exist; ground and air transportation are antiquated; we have no colonies on the moon; time travel and teleportation are fantasies; academic disciplines show little improvement; wealth inequality is rampant; no protection exists against nuclear or biological weapons. In short, unresolved age old problems abound as science and technology fail to provide solutions.
As a result, this work contains much criticism of science and its consequent philosophy, scientific materialism. Criticism is not condemnation. Science has forwarded humanity in astounding ways, improving the lives of billions of people. Yet, as we will see, science has become ideological and obdurate, resistant to unconventional facts and obfuscatory of truth. Hence, our criticism is necessary and valid.
To extend ourselves we must decipher the true nature of existence. Prioritization of the physical realm has its limitations, whereas the immaterial realm is filled with endless opportunity. Intimations of truth surround us; many challenge the status quo, while others are so unbelievable they make us question our own cognitive processes. Yet, understand we must. For, as we will discover in this investigation, if Mind, and by extension Spirit, is truly the basis of reality then we must embrace both regardless of conventional interpretations or dogmatic objections. An understanding of reality is to be wonderstruck, certain to rearrange individual priorities and hopefully societal ones, as the truth enlightens us into an era of unparalleled opportunity.
The structure of this book will be to introduce one incredibly compelling experiment, investigate the primacy of Consciousness, consider the course of Spirit, review the management of destiny, position the human future, and demonstrate the progression of the universe to its teleological end. During our exploration, we will consider the opinions of various experts and integrate their findings into a synthetic whole; where appropriate, we will also apply some basic logic and mathematical formulations for further consideration of our concepts. We must note some of our references are intentionally exterior to traditional science since its dogma represents a single, exclusionary worldview. This study cites and appreciates many unconventional thinkers since their courage forwards our wisdom and advances our future.
Therefore, we can think of this work as an architecture for subsequent explorations since it relies on many contradistinct opinions while incorporating established scientific truths. We must expand our perspectives to breakthrough societal stagnation. This is the great directive of our time. From our investigations, we will develop a megatheory of reality, no doubt highly speculative in nature, but nevertheless grounded in empirical observations and confirmable facts. We also will see a new paradigm emerging, one challenging the past and forwarding our species into a spiritualistic reality full of purpose and creativity.
So let us begin."
"I remember being in my early thirties when I first discovered Quantum Mechanics, the study of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels. The article in my old Encyclopedia started with the words (paraphrasing) “you will not believe what follows, but it is proven without exception.” They had me there. Naturally a skeptic, I always required proof. The only thing I took on faith was God. So I began my inquiry with dubious curiosity.
What was written was incomprehensible. Matter and energy a product of Consciousness, particles behaving as waves and waves behaving as particles, nothing real until observed, the past, present, and future occurring at once, things connected regardless of the distance, everything behaving counterintuitively and illogically. Fascination? Sure, but a larger realization soon followed: since everything is made of atoms, the quantum is a gateway to truth. Little did I realize I had stumbled upon the greatest question of our age, how quantum bizarreness forms the physical world we witness with a foundation that is literally unreal.
So I read on.
What I learned is that reality is layered and often at odds with itself, an enigma beyond comparison, eluding definitive description and confident comprehension. Moreover, we are only beginning to understand the relationship between the micro (Quantum Mechanical) and the macro (Classical Physical) worlds. The former forms the latter, the small composing the large, but the quantum follows radically different laws, possessing nonsensical and even baffling properties, its nature incompatible with common sense experience. We see reality as independently actual, when experiment after experiment proves reality is a product of Mind.
Thus, Consciousness is the ground of all being. Mind preceded the universe. Consciousness existed prior to the Big Bang, before history even began, before anything else existed, including time. That is the truth. Believing otherwise is like believing the world is flat or the sun revolves around the Earth. False beliefs are an impediment to our advance, adherence to inaccurate foundations deleterious to society and causative of our current stagnation.
That last statement is controversial considering historical advances in science and more specifically information technology. After all, we have smartphones, computers, artificial intelligence, the internet, and advanced spacecraft. Nevertheless, the low hanging fruit has been plucked from the tree and true scientific breakthroughs are sorely lacking. For those who doubt this, consider just a few examples of our lack of progress: educational spending produces ever diminishing returns; few cures for diseases exist; ground and air transportation are antiquated; we have no colonies on the moon; time travel and teleportation are fantasies; academic disciplines show little improvement; wealth inequality is rampant; no protection exists against nuclear or biological weapons. In short, unresolved age old problems abound as science and technology fail to provide solutions.
As a result, this work contains much criticism of science and its consequent philosophy, scientific materialism. Criticism is not condemnation. Science has forwarded humanity in astounding ways, improving the lives of billions of people. Yet, as we will see, science has become ideological and obdurate, resistant to unconventional facts and obfuscatory of truth. Hence, our criticism is necessary and valid.
To extend ourselves we must decipher the true nature of existence. Prioritization of the physical realm has its limitations, whereas the immaterial realm is filled with endless opportunity. Intimations of truth surround us; many challenge the status quo, while others are so unbelievable they make us question our own cognitive processes. Yet, understand we must. For, as we will discover in this investigation, if Mind, and by extension Spirit, is truly the basis of reality then we must embrace both regardless of conventional interpretations or dogmatic objections. An understanding of reality is to be wonderstruck, certain to rearrange individual priorities and hopefully societal ones, as the truth enlightens us into an era of unparalleled opportunity.
The structure of this book will be to introduce one incredibly compelling experiment, investigate the primacy of Consciousness, consider the course of Spirit, review the management of destiny, position the human future, and demonstrate the progression of the universe to its teleological end. During our exploration, we will consider the opinions of various experts and integrate their findings into a synthetic whole; where appropriate, we will also apply some basic logic and mathematical formulations for further consideration of our concepts. We must note some of our references are intentionally exterior to traditional science since its dogma represents a single, exclusionary worldview. This study cites and appreciates many unconventional thinkers since their courage forwards our wisdom and advances our future.
Therefore, we can think of this work as an architecture for subsequent explorations since it relies on many contradistinct opinions while incorporating established scientific truths. We must expand our perspectives to breakthrough societal stagnation. This is the great directive of our time. From our investigations, we will develop a megatheory of reality, no doubt highly speculative in nature, but nevertheless grounded in empirical observations and confirmable facts. We also will see a new paradigm emerging, one challenging the past and forwarding our species into a spiritualistic reality full of purpose and creativity.
So let us begin."
