I LOVE this concept . Not only is it an amazing concept in evolutionary psychology, but it works extremely well in criticizing and evaluating media, and more broadly, all forms of visual art.
"Middle World" was a concept first introduced by Richard Dawkins...Yes the one that has made it his life's goal to destroy religion.
Regardless of what you believe, the man is a genius. And as such it is understandable why he has taken on such an aggressive stance towards religion and supernatural thinking...He as well as a majority of the scientific community is overlooked and under appreciated in the public eye even though they are the ones with the greatest understanding of the physical universe.
Aggression, as unfavorable as it is, is the product of passion, and this is a man who is extremely passionate in his understanding and love of the complex workings of the natural world.
Now back to this concept. Richard Dawkins oddly enough, has a talent for metaphor. I find this to be a talent found in all of my favorite scientists dating back to Da Vinci. I believe this is because metaphor doesn't lie.
It, like aggression, is also a sign of passion...a sign of love and care.
In a number of talks, Dawkins uses this metaphor to discuss our place in the cosmos. Not physically, but subjectively.
All living creatures are designed to understand and cope with their surrounding environment.
This, like all evolutionary explanations, is simple in its concept, and complex in its makeup.
It doesn't make sense for an organism to think beyond its need. To do this would simply be a waste of energy...but that is where mutation comes in.
If reproduction and genetic replication are the inherited traits of order in the Universe, then mutation is the biological equivalent of chaos.
Mutations are often looked down upon in our species, but if it weren't for such incremental and unexpected changes over time, we would have never passed the moneran phase of our existence.
So what is the mutation that I am referring to?
The imagination.
The perchance to dream is not a uniquely human quality. It is a quality shared by many mammals that possess the ability to perform higher brain functions...specifically the ability to problem solve.
When an animal dreams, it is the brain exposing a need to solve problems for the sake of solving problems. In other words, "Psychological masturbation." This is also the case for the imagination. To imagine is to connect and relate things that are usually segregated and categorized.
Obviously there is more to it than that, but connection and relation is at the foundation of all complexity, especially the nervous system.
But back to Middle World. Why is it that society as we know it has such a strong phobia towards science and technology? Why do the religious and spiritual realms constantly bash heads against evolutionary biology and astronomy?
There is a explanation to ignorance. And when understood, it is not difficult to be empathetic.
The human mind has no need to understand concepts beyond its experience. That being said, what is the human experience?
The human experience is one of face value. What we see is what we get.
The sun revolves around the Earth. The Earth is flat. And all of existence only goes back as far as we can remember it. Completely understandable...and for the most part, its all we really need.
Thank god for mutations. Thanks to the imagination, we have learned that the Earth is 1 of 8 spherical worlds caught in a 5 billion year old gravitational dance around yellow dwarf star we call the sun.
We know this, not only because we've imagined it, but also because either the language of mathematics or the practice of science has proven it.
However even the imagination is still plagued with limits.
We know that the number 1 billion exists, but we cannot imagine it.
We know that matter is composed primarily of space, but we cannot imagine it.
And we know that all creatures on this earth are derivative of the same genetic molecule, and we cannot imagine it.
This is because we live in Middle-World. Not big enough to understand the macrocosm, not small enough to understand the microcosm. Smack-dab in the middle.
This evolutionary roadblock has hindered our progression on a number of occasions in the past...and that's where the arts come in.
True creativity involves the deconstruction of compartmentalism. Unify all topics. Connect all subjects. Let nothing be sacred.
Because when information is tethered and sacred,
it rots.
Let Physiology mix with music. Politics with myth. Astronomy with entertainment.
Enough with the "club" mentality of professional arts. Bring criticism to all facets of society, not just simply the academic ones.
Because when criticism is involved in all facets of society, information will not only be valued, it will be celebrated.
Otherwise what good is an information age without appreciation?
What good is a world of information gatherers without information seekers?
This is the struggle that comes with living in Middle-World.
But through imaging, literature, and most importantly myth, we can bring the large and the small into the middle.
This is the test of our time. Not how much information we can gather and distribute, but how much information we can understand and appreciate.
Technology has paved the way...we just have to follow.
- Adrian
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