Ashish Dalela

The idea that everything in our experience can be explained based on physical properties is a thesis whose time has passed. There are now problems in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computing, neuroscience and artificial intelligence, where physical properties are known to be inadequate. But are these problems separate, individual concerns for their respective fields, or are they somehow interlinked in ways we don’t yet fully see or appreciate?

I believe that in every field of science forward movement can happen only by incorporating meaning as a foundational principle. Through my writing I explore the connection between meaning and science.

The problem of meaning has historically been equated with the study of the mind, which is quite unnecessary because meanings can also be seen in books, pictures, music and art. The latter are material objects too, although they cannot be described in current science. In what way are symbolic objects different from meaningless objects? What changes to science must be made in order to describe symbolic objects scientifically?

The need to incorporate meaning into nature requires a conceptual overhaul in science. Unlike modern science which treats meaning as an epiphenomenon of matter, the new view would require matter to be treated as an epiphenomenon of meanings. Meanings can exist independent of matter, but matter cannot exist independent of meaning. To create material objects, some meaning must exist prior.

The foundational principles of this semantic view are found in Vedic philosophy, which describes matter as symbols of information. Mind in this view, is prior to matter and creates material objects by objectifying meanings. Upon objectification, the material objects become symbols of meaning. If these symbols are described as objects, the description of nature would be incomplete. To complete science, nature has to be described as symbols rather than objects.

I write about two broad themes: (1) the problems of indeterminism, incompleteness, uncertainty and inconsistency in different fields of science (mathematics, physics, computing, linguistics and biology) and their relation to meaning, and (2) the manner in which meaning and matter are integrated in Vedic philosophy entailing a different view of matter.

My books sometimes overtly illustrate the application of Vedic philosophical ideas to modern science (e.g. in Is the Apple Really Red?, Sāńkhya and Science, Six Causes, Uncommon Wisdom, Mystic Universe, and Emotion) and at other times they are using these ideas to develop theories and arguments for change in science without explicitly referring to Vedic philosophy (e.g. in Quantum Meaning, Gödel’s Mistake, Moral Materialism, Signs of Life).

I welcome your comments and suggestions, in case you find these ideas interesting.