Mythos vs Logos: On the 'Truths' of the Right vs. Left Brain Hemispheres

"Philosophy is the translation of Eros into Logos" - Byung-Chul Han : "...and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called, "Love"" - Plato "Symposium" (Aristophanes' Speech)

"Science is Apophatic" - Iain McGilchrist

On the Apophatic from Google AI:

Apophatic theology, or "negative theology," is the practice of describing God or the divine by negating all finite characteristics, defining what God is not rather than what God is. It emphasizes divine transcendence and the belief that human language and reason are too limited to grasp God's infinite, incomprehensible essence.

Key Principles and Purpose

• Transcendent Incomprehensibility: God is "wholly other" and beyond human comprehension, existence, and logic, which are only created things.
• The "Way of Negation": Rather than saying "God is good" (which limits God to human concepts of goodness), apophatic theology says "God is not not-good" or simply that God is beyond all human concepts.
• Intellectual Humility: It serves to prevent idolatry by stopping us from creating a mental image or "idol" of God based on human concepts.
• Theosis and Union: It focuses on the experience of God, encouraging a journey of "unknowing" and direct mystical experience over intellectual comprehension.

Relationship to Mysticism

Apophatic theology is inseparable from mysticism and contemplative prayer, sometimes called "apophatic prayer" (e.g., centering prayer), which involves emptying the mind of concepts and words to rest in the divine presence. It is described as entering a "luminous darkness" or "divine silence".

Notable Figures

• Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: Crucial in bringing "negative theology" to the forefront in the late 5th century.
• Gregory of Nyssa: An early 4th-century Cappadocian Father.
• Maximus the Confessor: Linked apophatic theology with hesychasm (stillness).
• Gregory Palamas: A major 14th-century proponent.

Criticisms and Contrast

• Contrast with Cataphatic Theology: While apophatic is negative theology, cataphatic is positive theology (e.g., "God is love"), which often acts as a necessary counterweight in Christian theology, balancing God's transcendence with his revealed, immanent nature.
• Criticisms: It can be accused of leading to an unreachable, impersonal God and sometimes results in a "both/and" approach, as the finite mind still relies on symbols and analogies to understand the infinite.

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On the 'Greater Truth' of (Quantum) Fiction (Mythos)

(Stochaisticaly Decentering an Independent Observer 

- ala Orpheus and Eurydice)

"If you look directly at her, you will shrink her into a Left hemisphere reality"

The Double Slit Experiment

Feynman's "Principle of Least Action" (aka Occam's Razor)

Science's Holy Trinity:

Reason - Intuition - Imagination