Scariest prediction of Indian philosophy

 

The scariest prediction of Indian philosophy

The first thinkers to realize this great and disruptive truth was Indian idealists- almost 2000 years ago. The earliest example I have located is found in a Mahayana text-

"Space is devoid of numbers and the characteristics of numbers. It is only due to projection that we speak of 'one space'. The Skandhas are devoid of numbers and their characteristics. The wise do not speak of it in such terms" -Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra

To summarize- ''The Laws and characteristics of the universe are NOT encoded in the fabric of Reality. They are projections/Representations/Superimpositions on consciousness/Neural tissue of creatures on Earth. Reality has no quality of its own. The true nature of Reality is unknowable and NIRGUNA/SUNYA ''

-Buddha, Adi Shankara and Asanga,

Indian Idealists

To explain it in simpler terms- ''The version of the world *as you know it*-Colors, shapes, smells, touch and sounds- exist entirely in your minds. The *world out there* is NOT what you think it is''

-Asanga, Founder of Transcendental Idealism

Vivekananda compresses it further into one controversial sentence- ''All knowledge is inside you. Learning, then, is an act of remembrance''

Immanuel Kant, Father of German Idealism, might say, there are A priori conceptual limitations on the nature of the external world that we can connect and construct with our representations. Or we can only experience what we have been allowed to experience by the design of our brains. And to be certain, we can NEVER experience Reality directly- only with indirect, partial and misleading sensory data.

It is only in recent centuries that this deep

Bertrand Russels explains this problem of 'Mathematical Reality' in the following terms-

“Take, for instance, numbers: when you count, you count “things,” but “things” have been invented by human beings for their own convenience. This is not obvious on the earth's surface because, owing to the low temperature, there is a certain degree of apparent stability. But it would be obvious if one could live on the sun where there is nothing but perpetually changing whirlwinds of gas. If you lived on the sun, you would never have formed the idea of “things,” and you would never have thought of counting because there would be nothing to count. In such an environment, even Hegel's philosophy would seem to be common sense, and what we consider common sense would appear as fantastic metaphysical speculation.

The world of mathematics and logic remains, in its own domain delightful; but it is the domain of imagination. Mathematics must live, with music and poetry, in the region of man-made beauty, not amid the dust and grime of the world below.”

— Bertrand Russell, Portraits From Memory And Other Essays (1950), Essay: V. Beliefs: Discarded and Retained, pp. 40-1

It is regrettable that Indian mathematicians did not give their philosophical opinions on such ontological matters, despite being the creators of Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus.