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Ch Hi's avatar

To me is seems as if the mistake is to presume that the English expression defines the primitive rather than "is an attempt to express". That there are exceptions to the English definition does not imply a problem with the primitive concept, but rather with the definition. It's as if they were centrifugal force. The momentum is there, and the force away from the center of rotation is there, but the centrifugal force is not a primitive. Consider the problems quantum physicists have when they attempt to express their theories in English rather than in math.

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Bert Bennett's avatar

I can’t comment on whether all human concepts can be reduced to simple primitives.

But it appears to me that all of human conscious experience can be reduced to a very few simple primitives.

There are a set of immutable facets of the present moment that every human is constantly immersed within:

• Gravity (compression)

• Balance (mobility)

• Relationship (connection)

• Precision (alignment)

• Effortlessness (ease)

• Flow (transformation)

• Love

• Sacred

In the present moment, there is nothing outside of these facets that human consciousness is ever experiencing/interacting with. (And we are only ever interacting with the present moment.)

Then, there are only three ways in which we interact with these facets. Human consciousness can turn against or away from the experience of these facets - two halves of one coin, that generate stress in our experience. Against and Away (aggression and avoidance) are the mind experiencing reactivity, reacting to thought, and we experience this as the endless complication of our intellect.

The third option for human consciousness is turning towards the experiences of these facets. Turning towards (resting into, savoring this living moment, embracing, participating with) is the experience often explored through meditation. Resting into is the state of flow, where we experience maximum creativity (music and arts), athletic achievement, connection, etc.

When the mind is authentically turning towards experience, this is when profound spiritual insight unfolds, where insightful creativity unfolds - where our innate genius expresses.

The interaction of the three possibilities for conscious experience (against/away/towards), with the immutable facets of the present moment, are the absolute reduction to the primitives of human experience.

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