Reality-Perception

Reality-Perception

Typically, we believe we grasp or touch external reality at the most fundamental or concrete level in the immediate and living moment which is the apperception of the now. The key feature of this reality-analog is the notion of "pushing up against something"; and the interesting consequence of pushing is that some things move. We apprehend a world around us, but this is not in any sense a disinterested observation or merely aesthetic appreciation. We apprehend now in order to continue to apprehend in the future, specifically, in such a way that there is an ongoing modification in the nature of our apperceptions; and, moreover, that this ongoing modification is not random (which would be meaningless or, worse, incomprehensible) but is, or at least strives to be, melioristic in nature. In other words, the immediate grasp of external reality always occurs from the standpoint of agency.

If we constantly perceive from the standpoint of agency, then our perceptions must be polarized around some repertoire of abilities. Physical agency naturally presents itself as the basic ability, but actions at the merely mechanical level can hardly be interpreted as melioristic. Value can only inhere in a state of affairs through the application of context. Context is any expansion of the field of perception in time or space which provides information additional to that of apperception. Then the actions of basic physical agency gain value by virtue of interpretation within a supervening context.

Whatever our presuppositions or assumptions about what constitutes "improvement" might be, our agency oriented perceptions must include some awareness of the abilities required to move from the now to some theoretically superior future state (of perception). Now, while our awareness of our basic physical abilities may be reasonably accurate and thorough, as valuational contextualization expands the degree to which we can accurately envision the overall effect of our actions must decrease. Still, as we live and act, the consequences of our choices do unfold fully around us. Thus, in order to gain the most accurate sense of our own abilities, we must learn to contextualize our perceptions of reality to most fully illuminate the consequences of conscious agency. This means that in order to most effectively postulate a superior future, it is necessary to "historicize" oneself.

Unfortunately, the uncertainty which adheres to valuational contextualization applies equally when context is expanded into the past. Personal memories are biased and twisted no less than historical events, until the entire historicity of consciousness sinks into the Jungian quagmire of Archetype and Mythos. Clearly, there are missing pieces yet to this puzzle....