In the Science of Science: Humanity is Chasing its Own Shadow

CHAPTER PROLOGUE

Why are consciousness separated into compartmented layers, symbolised by the iceberg metaphor? What was the reason for separating scientific branches into compartmented fields of study? Is humanity chasing its own shadow? While doing so, are unknowingly projecting the shadow back into scientific fields, and onto physical objects?

Sensitive Compartmented Information

Ancient Greek philosophy isn’t a science, but to observe science? That would explain why Greek thinkers weren’t scientists in a modern sense. The term science is defined as “knowledge” and “awareness”, derived through Latin scientia meaning “knowledge” from the Greek word skia, meaning “shadow”. The Latin suffix -ence indicates a state, quality, or condition. This means that science means “the state of shadow”, “the quality of shadow”, or “shadow condition”. Philosophy is to, through observation, become consciously aware of shadows of our own and of the human collective through mindfulness, for witness consciousness.

Plato, the Greek thinker wrote about the shadow phenomenon in “the Allegory of the cave”, explaining that humans that aren’t conscious of that they project their own shadows, wouldn’t recognise they are doing so, but instead believe that Plato were crazy for such suggestion: the shadow meaning of the word science is “shadow condition”. Science then, is its own antonym, such as illusion and unreason, representing a lack of knowledge or awareness, which contrast with the systematic study of the physical world that modern science embodies.

Is humanity chasing its own shadow? While doing so, are unknowingly projecting the shadow back into scientific fields, and onto physical objects. The idiom “chasing shadows” refers to pursuing something that are non-existent. In this sense, is science non-existent? Sci in science, in a playful way, stand for “Sensitive Compartmented Information”, which is information that require special handling.

A Specialist is Always an Expert

What was the reason for separating scientific branches into compartmented fields of study? Perhaps the question, at least partly, could be answered through: why is the mental mind compartmentalised; why are consciousness symbolically layered fields of view, and; why are intelligence reports ‘secret’, requiring special handling.

Altogether, in a playful sense, suggesting this may be subtle nods towards an explanation of why specialists separated (compartmentalised) scientific branches, for experts to study a specific compartmentalised branch as their field of work. The phrase “a specialist is always an expert, but an expert is not always a specialist” applies here. In other words, specialists have a broad understanding and gain in-depth understanding which are dependent on the depth of the field of view of the experts. This means that the specialist piece together the fragments, found by the experts in the compartments for a broader and deeper understanding.

What is the reason behind wanting to know the source of something? The scientific tradition is based on philosophic inheritance from the Enlightenment period, where ideas are supposed to be challenged, authority can be questioned, and claims are ideally falsifiable. Then, is the source a specialist or an expert? How broad is the specialist’s view and how deep does the expert go who provide the specialist with fragments?

In philosophic context, compartmentalisation refer to the processes and “outputs” of the compartmentalised mind, where one mental field or layer dominates, casting others into shadow, concealing parts of the cognitive processes beneath layers of thought, such as biased assumptions, believes, denial, opinion, and identity.

Philosophy is a process of learning and discovery that evolves over time, and it is not a fixed set of absolute truths. The role of philosophy in science addresses how philosophic to think contribute to a broader field and therefore deeper understanding of the world of both light and dark shadows. Philosophy isn’t a science, instead, it is to, figuratively, study shadows through observation, aimed at understanding science projections, layers, compartmentalisation, and behaviour.

Secret Intelligence: “Always Secret”

Secret intelligence refers to information that is restricted and lies hidden through compartmentalisation. The term “secret intelligence” has been used in English from the 20th century and carries associations with intelligence agencies and the strategic use of classified information.

In contemporary culture, MI6, the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence service, is popularly associated with the fictional figure James Bond, a British secret agent. Less known, perhaps, is that James Bond’s designation 007 [double oh seven], in a quiet wordplay, brings to mind the international calling code +007 to Russia: a secret line from agent to contact, and from Russia, “with love”, back to the foreign agent. Perhaps the motto was: ‘Semper Occultus’ (“Always Secret”).

What They Know, Not What They See

Science fiction stories often explore the impact of actual or imagined science, often depicting narratives about light fighting darkness, and darkness fighting light. It isn’t uncommon for children to have a period when they are afraid of the dark, of what lay hidden in the world of shadows.

As children begin to pull themselves up to a standing position, they also begin to search for hidden objects, indicating they recognise the continued existence of something even when it isn’t visible. The knowing that an object can cover another object shows an awareness of that the other ‘object’ exists. This reflects the concept of object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they aren’t visible, for example, a symbolical monster lying under the bed.

Children in their early stages draw what they know, not what they see. They draw floating objects, multiple dimensions and include what lays hidden so that it can be seen. With time, children often begin to draw more of what they see with the physical eyes, rather than what they see from their inner knowing. At the same time, children may develop fear of the dark. In darkness, things lay hidden. In children’s creative and mental development in stages of drawing, there is a stage when hidden things may no longer be included in their drawings.

“Go To Sleep” is a Convenient Concept

The modern culture is in general built on knowledge based on what are seen with the physical eyes, combined with what can be physically proven rather than from inner knowing. The definition of “seeing” and “knowing” may have changed with time: “seeing is believing”, thus also the phrase “do you see what I see?” indicate an awareness of that we may not see the same things.

What is the cause of need to have “proof” of something, for example that there is or aren’t a symbolic monster under the bed? What can be physically proven might be a convenient concept to sleep on: what does it mean “to sleep on something”? When children point out that there is a monster under the bed where they are supposed to sleep, adults may not understand the metaphoric logic, nor the deeper symbolism of the phrases: “Look, there is no monster”, and “Go to sleep”. This raise the question: what does it mean “to sleep”?

“Sleeping together” For the Survival of the Modern Human Race

Different cultures interpret the definition and concept of sleeping, wakening, and awakening in various ways. Metaphorical, the modern culture is built on the motto “together”, where “sleeping together” is for the survival of the Modern human race. When sleeping, there are limited awareness of a monster under the bed, where ‘citizens’ are sleeping. Sleeping may be understood as limited awareness and a loss of conscious awareness.

FOR DIALOGUE:

• What could the phrase “believe in science” mean?
• What could the phrase “don’t believe in science” mean?
• Why is the mental mind compartmentalised?