A Mason's Work

Let's start this week's series of podcasts by talking about some core concepts in the

craft in Freemasonry and the way we think about things in the world in general.

And there's something we have to kind of get out of the way first.

And the first thing we have to get out of the way is the understanding that all of the

things we talk about in Freemasonry, all of the ways we view the world are fabrications.

They are all made up.

They're insufficient descriptors of the way the world actually is.

There are rough approximations that help us make sense of the world and help us interact

with the world, but they are by default every single one of them, not an accurate way

of describing the way the world works.

Even in places where we have a good vocabulary, a strong vocabulary for understanding the phenomenology

of the world like science, even those words are not the same thing as the truth behind

the words.

So when we start to talk about some of these sort of fundamental concepts in the craft,

it's important to remember that the concepts we discuss are not to be used in a way that

is deterministic.

So we're not going to suggest that by dividing the world into black and white squares that

you definitively fall in any of them or that those squares and then of themselves have

any sort of value beyond subjectively how you might navigate the way the world works.

So all that said, this week we're going to start talking about some common dualities in

the way the world can be viewed or experienced by an individual.

And this helps us hone our skills as a craftsman.

So today's the core of today's episode is going to be about objectivity and subjectivity.

So objectivity and subjectivity are two concepts about the way the world can be interpreted,

evaluated or experienced.

So when we talk about objectivity, we're talking about the world of objects.

We're thinking about concrete things in space and time as a way to kind of wrap your mind

around it.

So you and I could sit down and talk about a brick, but that is very, very different.

The discussion of a brick is very different than the brick itself.

And so when we are discussing objectivity, we're really talking about the actual object

as a concept.

We're also talking about provable, reliable realities about the way the world works process-wise.

The law of thermodynamics, for example, is an objective truth.

When we talk about objectivity, the requirements are that it must be provable to other people

or other subjects, if you want to put it in technical terms.

So objectivity is agreed upon by multiple subjects.

When we share information with each other, if I give you an understanding of the way

the world works, you need to be able to take that information and reliably repeat it

to prove that that's a truth.

When we talk about objectivity, we're talking about verifiable evidence as well.

So if I say, well, I've spent $30 and I still have $40, I need to be able to demonstrate

the transaction.

I can suggest to you that I have spent that money, it is now depleted from my account

and the remaining balance is $40.

Whatever that reality is, that can be a real thing.

It can be called an object of reality.

Now with the understanding, of course, that's all built on subjects, but we can get into

that later.

So the subject of experience is how does it feel?

It is what is your understanding of a given sort of knowledge of situation?

When we talk about experiencing things subjectively, you're really talking about what does it

feel like?

What is it's sort of experiential properties that you can internally understand?

How do you understand things internally?

So how do you experience things as a subject?

That subjective experience is something that is very personal, obviously.

It's very ephemeral in a lot of ways because the subjective experience is very much connected

to time.

So you are experiencing things moment by moment by moment and the person who experienced

something months or weeks ago is not the same person that's experiencing things right

now.

So when we talk about the subject of experience, it has some interesting qualities that

are pretty vital to its understanding.

And the reason why it's important to understand the subject of an objective experience is because

when we start talking about the evaluation of your behavior or we start talking about finding

your place in the world or we start talking about how do you make the social change that

you want to happen happen?

You have to understand these two perspectives that are interplays that you must work within

in order to move your objectives forward.

If you want to make change in the world, if you want to make change in your life, it's

not just changing the subject of experience, it's got to be changing the objective experience

and vice versa.

The subject of an objective perspectives are united.

They are both the sort of domains of experience that you must address in order to be successful

at creating change.

In future episodes this week, we'll get into some other of these kind of dualities.

Again, with the same caveat applying, even though we have words for these things and even

though we can kind of agree on what they mean, the words are insufficient.

And if you're looking for more detail here, check out the Dow Day, January 1.

It'll give you plenty of insight as to kind of the reality of the way that all works.

And with that, we'll see you next time.