Communication - The Fundamental Nature of Reality
How a simple idea changes everything
What is the fundamental nature of reality?
Some of us would say matter.
But it can’t be pure matter, as this would imply a rigid and lifeless cosmos. Not only is this idea dreadful, but in all honesty, we all know how reality is ever-changing and living.
If it isn’t matter, then which symbol would accurately describe the nature of reality? We have to have something to serve as our guide for inquiry. We need a guiding principle. A home from which we embark on our explorations and to which we return after a long day.
What about communication? Let us entertain the idea that our cosmos is a process of communication. Where would this lead us?
What is Communication?
By definition, communication is triadic, which contrasts sharply with the materialistic worldview that perceives everything as a linear (dyadic) chain of causes and effects.
Communication is triadic as it requires three components:
Message (Sign): The expression itself.
Utterer (Object): What is being expressed.
Effect (Interpretant): How the expression changes the interpreter.
It is important to note that conceptualizing everything as communication does not violate any laws of physics and aligns with empirical evidence.
For instance, a photon traveling from the Sun to Mars and warming a rock can be viewed as a triadic communicational process. The photon acts as the Message/Sign, mediating or expressing solar energy (Utterer/Object), which, upon hitting the rock, increases the rock's temperature (Effect/Interpretant).
If everything is communication, then nothing in this cosmos is merely a blind reaction of cause and effect. Instead, the causes are expressions and the effects are interpretations, providing a degree of freedom to every event.
Every actual effect, every moment of change, is an interpretation of an expression.
But doesn’t this lead to arbitrariness? Couldn’t signs be interpreted in any way?
While signs can be interpreted, they also refer to specific objects, which limits its possible interpretations. A sign can't be interpreted however one wishes.
Imagine you see dark, heavy clouds gathering in the sky. While you might humorously think that the clouds are a sign of an imminent invasion by giant penguins from another dimension, the dark clouds (the sign) indicate that rain is approaching (the object). The effect (the interpretant) is that you prepare for bad weather.
So, signs are not there to be just interpreted without limits. Rather, signs strive to represent their objects—stand in for their objects—in a truthful way. Therefore, the cosmos is not a mishmash of postmodern surrealism, but a creative communicational balancing act guided by the pursuit of Truth.
This triadic relationship between Sign, Object, and Interpretant both frees the cosmos from the chains of determinism and shields it from postmodern arbitrariness.
Exploring the Metaphor
The real implications of this worldview aren’t immediately clear. However, by contemplating the concept of communication, these implications gradually become apparent, much like an archaeologist revealing artifacts by carefully brushing away sand.
Communication means that reality is a process of expression. The universe, therefore, is like an art work. The world is not just a random series of colliding events — it's the unfolding of creative aesthetic process.
This leads into three questions:
What is the nature of this expression?
Who is uttering this expression we call the universe?
What is the intended effect of this utterance?
Cosmos as a Great Work of Art
The cosmos is an act of communication, an expression with a purpose. You might think of the universe as an unfolding work of art.
Even though the universe is a grand work of art, we are not just passive elements within it. We are active co-creators, engaging in a process similar to jazz improvisation.
While we contribute to this ongoing creation, we are nevertheless part of something much larger than ourselves. The “songs” we improvise on are not our own compositions but part of a greater work of art.
Moreover, there’s no perspective from which we could view the universe from the outside, like a critic. Neutrality and impartiality are illusions. There is no outside viewpoint—each of us is participating in the masterpiece, whether we like it or not.
This upsets the modern mind, which wants to take control of the creation of this work. However, there’s no way to escape the larger whole.
Consider the current meaning crisis. It is the inability to unite our materialistic worldview with our life.
The modern materialistic paradigm is a delusion. It mesmerizes us by claiming to explain the external world completely. It promises full control of the environment, and the ability to foresee the future. It’s like magic.
But it’s dead, as it can’t explain life. It can’t account for growth, novelty, communication or love. It can’t give us meaning or purpose. On the contrary, it sucks all life out of us. It is a deceiver.
One can disregard this and stubbornly pursue the mirage of total control, but at some point the emptiness hits you. The world seems solved, but your life feels empty. No direction, no purpose, no meaning.
So, it is inevitable…
…each of us is participating in the masterpiece, whether we like it or not.
For this reason, our worldview must be capable of explaining both the external reality and our inner life. Both must share the same form, be part of the same underlying process.
If we understand communication as that underlying process, we begin to build a bridge between the two. Both the universe and our lives are communication — our personal work of art inside a larger masterpiece. The cosmos becomes unified, and our lives find healing.
Who is uttering this expression?
If our universe is the embodiment of a message, then who is uttering this message Whose work of art is this?
A mystical, transcendent element comes into play. There is something beyond the cosmos creating an expression that we call the universe.
Is this idea crazy? Well, isn’t the Big Bang crazy too? Something out of nothing? That is not only a grand miracle but also a paradox.
The truth is that something is being conveyed by Someone. But that Someone remains shrouded in mystery. However, we can discover things about the Utterer by exploring the expression, because the universe itself is a vast symbol of the Utterer.
This is a call to adventure. However, since the Utterer is transcendent and beyond our visible universe, we should approach the adventure with humility and with an understanding of our fallibility. We are not the authors of this great work of art.
Moreover, we ought not to claim that we know the Truth. Still, we are blessed with glimpses of it. Our task is to lend our small efforts to its purposes, to align ourselves with its will, and to play our part in participating in the creation of this masterpiece.
Abandon your modern fantasies of total control. But do not fall into despair or feelings of insignificance. You get to participate in the creative life of the Creator of all things. Nothing could be more meaningful.
What is the intended effect of this utterance?
There are two kinds of effects: the intended effect and the actual effect. The intended effect is potential or virtual effect that the message or sign would like to cause. It is the telos of the semiotic process. The actual effect is what ends up happening.
There is a thus teleological pull in communication, that is, a pull towards that intended effect. In other words, communication always has a purpose.
The Sign aims to embody the Form of its Object as perfectly as possible. On a grander scale, the universe seeks to embody the Form of its Utterer.
We are very familiar with this dynamic. It is trying to find the right words to express our thoughts and feelings, or the struggle an artist faces when conveying complex feelings and impressions through a chosen medium.
Great art is the perfect welding of the three relata (sign, object, interpretant) in the triadic act of communication. A perfect sign becomes invisible and there is no fundamental difference between it and its object. It conveys its message perfectly. A great novel makes you experience what it’s characters experience.
Not only is the message conveyed clearly, but the sign also embodies the greater cosmic masterpiece in a fractal manner. Great art conveys deep eternal truths—truths we should conform to and participate with, truths we should be in communion with.
Communication can be thought as sharing of information. But information is not a fixed set of code. Information is mediation where the Form of the Object, by being expressed in the Sign, induces changes in the interpreter.
Therefore, communication leads to change, which is why our universe is always in motion. Profound conversations (dialogos) leads to mutual change and movement towards the transcendent. Information is in-formation.
Communication should bring us closer to these eternal verities by transforming us into their likeness. We ought to become icons of the Utterer. This not only guides us toward the Truth but also unites us with the cosmos, healing the fragmentation caused by the modern mind.
We all are part of a great artistic masterpiece in formation.
Thank you for reading! If you found this post interesting, please consider sharing it with your friends, and leave a comment below!
Sincerely,
Markus
You might be interested in this:
Being as Communion: A Metaphysics of Information https://a.co/d/6vIlRcL
Arrived very recently and so far I’m really digging it.
That was an excellent read. I like when you mention that the sign becomes invisible and sort of merges with its object. Very thought provoking, thank you