the gap-hunter must known the country, the gatherer of gaps knits them into the world
the gap-hunter must known the country, the gatherer of gaps knits them into the world
New version written June 2023 at whyweshould.loofs-samorzewski.com
Below is a list of sorts, as an introduction to Mapping the… —gap. While asking why there is a gap is an important inquiry, this list is more a note or two than an attempt at taphonomy. I’ll add to it as I come across them, the list is not exhaustive. At all.
gap between subject & object:
number 1 because it drives many discourses in western traditions:-
it is the gap between how the world appears to us and how we ourselves appear… to —us.
possibly results from language users (self-conscious but language unconscious) mapping virtual non-subjectivities… —“out there”.
we dont seem able to bridge from either side, even thoguh it appears we have acess to both sides
Incompleteness/indetermincy/undecideable aporic “gaps” of systems developed in 1 (Gödel etc.)
various paradoxes go here
subjective gaps — constituted by bias but only percieved in others not the self subjected to them (the subject as an object to unconscious, subconscious or forgotten processes)
Pre-Homeric Greek notions of agency — all our actions are at the behest of gods’ interventions — is an interpretation of this reality.
compositional “gap”s -- invert of 3 where the bias is a preference and acknowledged, indulged and promoted normatively— constituted by being alive— this gap is a not-a-gap type of gap.
“Apparency” gaps: intuition and/or practice based awareness (mindfulness versus bias (3&4) or forced choice). Neologised here as “apparency” by the author trying to capture a neo-Pyrrhonian use of "apparent" and not apparent, when suspending judgement (versus choosing to believe dogmatic answer/s to unknowns) This gap is a state of mind in active suspension.
to repeat, this gap is held in mind, and not filled, see also below Mapping responses to the gap/s.
Gaps 3 & 4 are two side of the same coin. The second, number 4, is virtual/ potential… —a placeholding gap.
Post-apparency gaps are less ‘meta’ and recursive than paradoxes and aporia in a system or consciouness, and more practical, more useful. Practical in it that they assume, or ignore, the… —gap. These gaps are thus simply unknowns. Gaps can be seen as unknowns which we have given up on inquiring into, or feel is impossible.
unknowns without context (unknown unknowns)
unknown within a context
unknowns but in recognised gaps that have something that can be found out (I know I don't know. so let me try and figure it out. Evidence is missing but findable)
unavailable unknowns -- virtual -- (I know that "I don't know I don't know, but")
can I know this, can we know this?
what do I known? what have i fogotten?
Mapping responses to the gap/s
A gap is a emotional landfill, one you can thrown anything in it. Often the concept of “reason” is used to justify to throw stuff into the gap and maintain safe worldbuilding practices. Sometimes feeling or inclination is used instead (in romantic reaction).
Attempt to ignore the gap are usually unnecessary. We live successfully in ignorance a great deal of the time.
Despite this reality, each gap is often dogmatically filled with various hopes, desires, personalities, qualities and other answers, including various degrees of “nothingness”. For example:
(god/emperor) one empire of one truth and one leader (ratio of god to ruler to truth varies across cultures)
faith in faith (Fideism)
devotion (personal relationship with gap filler: family, tribe, god-ruler)
abstract qualities like love, hope, or abyssal nihilism
any random practice (this is both miscellaneous, all of the above, except each of the above have their own social and politcal contexts for being chosen or forced on others in worldbuidling)
Dogmatically here means rashly and strongly held views. Belief is a major part of this malpractice. Dogma can be inherited culturally, often enforced culturally and politically as tradition.
Choosing absolute skepticism -- believing that “we can know nothing” is a dogmatic practice.
Believing makes nothing true, even when it turns out to be true, belief had nothing to do with it.
Generally, one preferred filler is used dogmatically for all gaps, and regardless of whether the gaps are seen or felt to be One (gap), the solution here makes them all one (a monist practice).
Thus, gap-hunting is not really a process to find the gaps, and to stand and stare into the depths of a singularity, but to find what people prefer to throw into the gap when worldbuilding/living/becoming. To see what they throw into the gap one must know where the gap lies.
This is a question of psycho-sociological inquiry rather than the psychological practice of soteriology.
Why we should asks both why we should, and should we should?
We should things into the gap, and this is a part of our world-building practice, also known as living. We live on regardless of these gaps, and even when we die because of some unknown thing, cathcing us unawares, the world may go on.
