The Ideology of the Goal of Infinite Survival

Preface

"Plan for Seven Generations" is an American Indian saying. Accordingly, this communication is intended for not just the current generation but, even more so, for the generations to come. Indeed, by the time these thoughts reach you (the reader), the author may have passed away long before.

I want to begin this discussion by citing the Six, Essential, Immutable Truths upon which this entire philosophical treatise is based. I will call them "Sutras" after the Hindu tradition for outlining the main points of system of though. These Six, Essential, Immutable Truths are axioms or precepts; and they have always been, are now, and forever will remain true and unchanging - that is the claim. They are fixed, universal, necessary, and certain; and they are the only principles which are essential to this doctrine. All else is elaboration and commentary, much of which will change over time.

Sutra 1 - Survival is the single, most fundamental purpose of life.

Sutra 2 - By extension in time, the ultimate purpose of life is, necessarily, Infinite Survival.

Sutra 3 - The Individual is the primary unit of existential meaning.

Sutra 4 - Scientific Empiricism is the epistemology upon which knowledge in this sytem is to be grounded.

Sutra 5 - The Individual exists concurrently in Five Realms of Existence: i.e., Biology, Psychology, Sociology, Ecology, and Cosmology.

Sutra 6 - Within the frame-of-reference of Sutras 1 - 5, the Individual, who uses this Ideology, constructs a Pragmatics or Practicum of personal objectives, linking to relevant people, places, and thing.

Although Socrates (circa 400 B.C.E) must have been literate, he never wrote and of his many thoughts. His reason (given in Plato's dialog called "Phaedrus") is that he believed that knowledge can only be passed by the spoken word in a dialog with the interaction of others. The written word is a narrow construction of knowledge, and it freezes thought in one form - thereby imposing a barrier to the natural evolution of ideas. Although advanced civilization could not have happened without the written word; there is considerable merit to this observation of Socrates. Thus, the only fixed ideas in this text are the Six, Essential, Immutable Truths, as above, which I would ask that you memorize the key terms that are high-lighted. If you remember these 6 Sutras, you will have the back-bone of the entire system of thought; and by your own inquiry and dialog with other could invent all (and more) of the information which is discussed in the following written words.

C. A. Everone

Philosophy can be about many things; but essentially, it is about the pursuit of "Wisdom" - as the roots of the word denote (philo = a lover of + sofia = wisdom). What then is Wisdom? Essentially, Wisdom is about "Right Ideas" with Ideas being cognitive constructions of the mind and Right being determined by those Ideas which are "Accurate" (in terms of the ideas mapping to reality) and/or "Useful" (in terms of the ideas benefiting the individual or society). It probably would not come as any great surprise to suggest that many of the Ideas which we have in our minds are neither Accurate nor Useful. In other words, our minds are filled with noise; and one of the tasks of philosophy is to sort out the Right Ideas and to build personal character and social institutions accordingly. Apart from the ideas which we derive from our personal experience, we have inherited a massive amount of what is held to be Wisdom from our cultural traditions; but our reality has changed so radically from even the recent past and will continue to change even more radically in the future, such that it is doubtful that traditional Wisdom is neither Accurate or Useful for our present situation and our future potential. Given that we now know that the stars are not fires of gods in the sky but rather an almost infinite array of Suns and Galaxies expanding outward, and given that we now know that all life on Earth is a variation on the DNA molecule, and given that there are now 7 billion people on the planet clamoring for resources, and we are able to fly through the atmosphere and space, are facing massive climate change, know that our mind is an expression of neuronal networks, etc., etc., one could ask that if the great sages and prophets of the past (Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao-tsu, etc.) were alive today, would they still espouse the same doctrines as they did in their own historical setting? It is doubtful that they could or would. So, those authorities must be discounted - not discarded but discounted. And that would also apply to all of the other, lesser, historical philosophers - they would not espouse today the same doctrines which they did in their own historical time. (The one exception, it must be noted, would be Socrates, because the only philosophy which he espoused was Skepticism; and Skepticism is the root force that drives true philosophy, as it always has done and will do so, forever.)

Why not put aside all of that traditional Wisdom, assume that everything will have to be re-evaluated, go down to generic philosophical principles, and ground our thinking there? Then, from that platform, decide where we want to be, look around at our circumstances and see where we are, devise strategies for getting from where we are to where we want to be, and move forward. In that process, we can re-evaluate the traditional knowledge and determine what continues to constitute Wisdom, keeping those elements which will work for us as we pursue our quest. However, in large measure, we will need to invent, anew, our own body of Wisdom - i.e., Right Ideas with "right" be determined by their Accuracy and Usefulness. This is the platform upon which the Ideology of the Goal of Infinite Survival was devised.

The highest philosophical pursuit is not just the accumulation of bits and fragments of truths or Right Ideas but rather it is the construction of an Ideology, which is an integrated system of thought that is based on an Idea or set of Ideas. There are many specialized ideologies such as Science, Democracy, Free Enterprise, etc.; and then there are comprehensive ideologies such as the religions (Christianity, Buddhism, etc.). The comprehensive ideologies represent the highest degree of abstraction or inclusiveness; and in philosophy, they are called a world-view or "Weltanschauung", which was defined by Freud in the following terms:

".... By `Weltanschauung', then, I mean an intellectual construction, which gives a unified solution of all the problems of our existence in virtue of a comprehensive hypothesis, a construction, therefore, in which no question is left open and in which everything in which we are interested finds a place." Sigmund Freud (1932) Lecture XXXV A Philosophy of Life.

The Ideology of the Goal of Infinite is such a world view; and here is an outline of the formal Arguments on which this philosophy is based. This is a brief and highly compressed exposition, and a more complete discussion is given elsewhere.

Again, an Ideology is a system of thought that is based on an Idea or set of Ideas. Any Ideology, must defined 4 essential components: 1) the Purpose, 2) the Ontology, 3) the Epistemology, and 4) the Pragmatics or Practicum. Each component is necessary and together they are sufficient for the construction of the Ideology as a whole.

1) Purpose. Purpose dictates process; it is the goal that determines the means; and the definition of the Purpose of an Ideology is the principle construction which governs the orientation of the entire philosophical system. The first thing which needs to be resolve in the design of an Ideology is its Purpose. As a rule, Answers are generated and configured by the Questions; and intelligent Answers are derived from asking important Questions. In this pursuit, a wide variety of options are available; but the guiding principle is to discover the most fundamental truth - i.e., to discover what is the single condition upon which all other conditions depend? After a lengthy dialectical process, this inquiry will eventually lead to the single most essential question: what is the purpose of Life, itself? Your personal purpose cannot be different from the purpose of Life, itself; because you are just a variation on that common theme. In answering this question, one will be compelled by logic, reason, empirical evidence, and common sense to conclude that the single, most fundamental purpose of life is "Survival" - survival is the conditio sine qua non. Given Survival, all things are possible; without Survival nothing matters. Further, by extension in time, Survival would have to be the single, most fundamental purpose of Life in the near and more distant futures; and the ultimate purpose would have to be Infinite Survival - that is the "teleology" or ultimate expression of this most fundamental condition. In principle, this is exactly the same as what the traditional religions have resolved - they are particular approaches to Salvation or Infinite Survival. Although the ultimate purpose is the same, the religions have been constructed on the assumption that there are two realms of existence - 1) the material realm, which is transient and limited and entails suffering and ultimate death, and 2) the spiritual realm, which is permanent, unlimited, and blissful and eternal, with the spiritual realm being the actual cause of the material world; and, after death in the material realm, the individual can migrate into the spiritual realm and live forever. The ultimate Purpose of the different religious doctrines is to get the believer from the impermanent, material realm into the permanent, spiritual realm. Obviously, the merit and efficacy of the religions depends entirely on the existence of such a non-material, spiritual realm. As you will see by the Epistemology for this Ideology, we will not have much to say about the religious approach to Infinite Survival because their claims are not subject to validation by the Epistemology of this system - i.e., Scientific Empiricism. Besides, given that there are 21 major religions in the world among a total of some 4,000+, the existing religions do not need any improvement and are more than adequate to resolve the dualistic vision of existence. Their validity depends on belief, while Empiricism depends on objective proof. Keep in mind that Infinite Survival, as used here, is not a static condition. It is not a place or a thing but rather an unending pursuit that is consistent with the intrinsic nature of each individual being.

2) Ontology. The next essential element in an Ideology is its Ontology, which, as used here, is concerned with the Being or point-of-reference in which the Ideology has its meaning and application. In this system, the particular Individual, who uses the Ideology, is the central reference. Things count if they pertain to and benefit the Individual, and, while there are objective and universal criteria for determining what should be relevant and beneficial to all people, it is, ultimately, the Individual who determines that for oneself. At first, this may appear to be solipsistic and anti-social; but that is countered by understanding the functionality of cooperation and reciprocity with other people in accordance with one's Purpose.

3) Epistemology. Epistemology is how we determine the validity of our knowledge and establish Right Ideas; and in this system, it is Scientific Empiricism, which means that in pursuit of the goal of Infinite Survival, we build our knowledge on material facts that are scientifically valid and that are empirically relevant to our pursuit.

4) Practicum. The Practicum or Pragmatics of the Ideology is the assemblage of practical applications which serve the Individual as validated by the Epistemology in pursuit of the Purpose. Each Individual exists as a unique entity, in unique circumstances; and therefore, each person's Practicum will be different. However, we all have many things in common, one of which is over-coming disease and death - i.e., Life-Extension Science and Technology. And that enterprise is, a fortiori, the main objective of the Foundation for Infinite Survival because it is relevant to everyone's survival.

Another important concept is to see that each person exists in Five Realms, which are inter-related and inter-dependent. They are the following: Biology, Psychology, Sociology, Ecology, and Cosmology. Think of your personal existence as concentric spheres, expanding outward from your physical being, as below.

Most fundamentally, you exist in the World as a physical, biological being. Through your mind or Psychology, you interact with and navigate through the world, the first order of which would be the societies of other humans or Sociology. Then, you and society exist within and depend on the Earth's Ecology, and finally the existence of the entire world depends on many aspects of the extra-planetary realm, Cosmology. Adaptive strategies in each realm need to be devised within the frame-work of the Ideology. Biologically, the main objective is Life-Extension Science & Technology. Psychologically, one of the objectives is to create an identity and personal character which is effective in the pursuit of the Goal; and the Aphorism or Mantra of the Ideology, which follows, will help do that. In the realm of Sociology, some of the issues are: family, career, building communities, and making connections with the social networks that are relevant to the goal and to your pursuit of it. In the realm of Ecology, think about positioning yourself in a sustainable environment with access to resources, something which will become increasingly important and a challenge as we navigate through the probable collapse of vulnerable eco-systems and societies. And many adventures await us in the realm of Cosmology with off-planetary exploration and development.

The following is an aphorism or mantra, which compresses the Ideology into one statement. In the left-hand column are the components of the statement or affirmation, and the explanation of the function of each segment is provided in the right column.

Aphorism or Mantra of the Ideology	< = >	Elements of Philosophical Construction
	|
"I am the goal of Infinite Survival,	| |	This defines (1) the Goal of the Ideology and establishes (2) the Ontology, affirming that goal as one's personal identity.
applying myself through ( your name ),	| |	This embeds that identity within one's Persona (3).
according the principles of Scientific Empiricism,	| |	This establishes the Epistemology (4) or how truths are defined for the system.
linking to relevant aspects of people, places, and things in all realms of existence - biology, psychology, sociology, ecology, and cosmology."	| | |	This embeds the Goal, Ontology, Persona, and Epistemology, supra, into the Five Realms of Existence (5) and is the framework for establishing the Pragmatics (6) of the Ideology - i.e., a personal and social Practicum for the application of the Ideology.
This is the Symbol, Logo, or Mandala for the Ideology. "IS" represents the idea of Infinite Survival as the goal; the 6 concentric infinity signs represent the Ideology, itself, as applied in the 5 realms of existence; and the circle represents the system of thought, as a whole.
Another graphic representation is the schematic below.
Here, the fundamental principle of life, Survival, is expressed in the 5 Realms of Existence with the ultimate goal or pursuit being Infinite Survival.

It is said that Civilization is constructed by two elements: 1) a Great Analysis and 2) a Great Story. And the two elements upon which Western civilization is structured are represented by culture of Athens (i.e., Reason, as the Great Analysis), and Jerusalem (i.e., Christianity, as the Great Story). Here, the Great Analysis is the Goal of Infinite Survival as defined in the preceding discussion and the Great Story is you and the life which you conduct in pursuit of that Goal. You are the hero of your own Story.

The discussion about philosophy may seem too abstract and unnecessary; however, I feel quite certain that thinking about philosophy will become one of your most important assets as we move into a rapidly evolving future, and it will be necessary for you to take advantage of the changes. The history of the last century has been driven by progress in the scientific understanding of nature (mostly physics) and by the technological inventions which that science has enabled. Now, as we move into the scientific understanding of biology, the technologies which emerge therefrom will radically change the entire paradigm of human existence. And Life-Extension Science, more than any technology, will force everyone adapt to long-range survival, whether or not they are actively engaged and desirous and willing. Of course taking advantage of the opportunities is enhances by active engagement. Keep in mind, that this technology also entails expanded challenges and responsibilities. Your philosophy is the substrate of your consciousness, which frames both your conscious and unconscious minds; and in so doing, it filters and focuses your inter-action with the world about you. What and how you think determines how you act. And the way you act, modifies your circumstances which in turn feeds back in a dynamic oscillation that eventually shapes your destiny. We tend to make happen our expectations.

This constitutes a summary of the main principles of the entire philosophy or Ideology. To understand more fully will take a fair amount of consideration and discussion. In the pursuit of Life-Extension Science, the meaning and purpose of the philosophy will become clearer. See that discussion.

C.A. Everone