From: jimruttshow8596
Alexander Bard is a Swedish author, lecturer, artist, songwriter, music producer, TV personality, and a religious and political activist, described as an “amazing polymath” [00:00:45]. Along with his co-author Jan Sjunnesson, Bard has developed a unique philosophical framework, primarily articulated in their book Process and Event [00:02:05]. This work redefines fundamental philosophical concepts and proposes new ways of understanding human beings and society [00:02:05].
Metaphysics and Narratology
Bard and Sjunnesson firmly believe that human beings are fundamentally storytellers [00:05:45]. Their philosophy, termed narratology, asserts that metaphysics is the ultimate form of storytelling about storytelling, or “meta storytelling” [00:06:02]. This approach examines the different types of stories humans tell and their purposes [00:06:22].
The Narratological Triad: Logos, Mythos, and Pathos
Inspired by Hegel’s dialectics, their framework identifies three fundamental approaches to storytelling, which align with the human brain’s structure [01:03:54]:
- Logos: The rational brain, focused on calculations and factual truth [01:04:23].
- Pathos: The emotional brain, concerned with feelings, purpose, and libidinal forces [01:04:36].
- Mythos: The mimetic (social) brain, which acts as the only way to temporarily unify Logos and Pathos [01:04:56]. This mimetic brain, often larger in women, is crucial for social relations and group cohesion [01:05:38].
Bard emphasizes that believing Mythos as literal truth leads to societal problems, as seen in historical conflicts driven by rigid religious dogmas [01:10:11]. While myths can serve as a social glue, they should remain at the level of fiction [01:13:57].
The Soion: Ontology of the Social
A central concept in Bard’s philosophy is the soion, described as the “ontology of the social” [01:19:19]. This term refers to an evolutionarily developed social form prevalent in any Homo sapiens population, identified through data anthropology [01:11:46]. The soion exists at different levels:
- Clan: Around 150-157 people, aligning with Dunbar’s number [00:10:22].
- Tribe: Up to 1200-1500 people, who socialize, share a narrative, and can get along without a police force [00:10:32].
Within a tribal size, societies can maintain loyalty and order without external control [00:10:51]. The fundamental philosophical question addressed in Process and Event is how to scale the soion to larger populations like nations, cities, and empires, which historically require police, law and order, and military forces [00:13:04].
Dividual vs. Individual
Drawing from French philosophers Deleuze and Guattari, Bard’s work rejects the Cartesian concept of the individual as limiting [01:19:34]. Instead, they advocate for the term dividual [01:15:28]. A dividual recognizes that humans are “many people in one body” and constantly changing, capable of moving in and out of different social spheres [01:16:16]. This concept counters the individualism prevalent in modern society and positions humans as fundamentally social animals [01:15:52].
Process and Event
The core theme of Process and Event delves into the historical divergence of Eastern and Western philosophies, tracing it back to the Bronze Age separation of Indian and Iranian cultures [00:20:42].
- Process (Nomadology): Indian culture largely adhered to the idea that “everything returns to the same” – a cyclical view of time and existence. This nomadological worldview reflects a nomadic society where life is characterized by repetition [00:22:01]. Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence is seen as a Western discovery of this Eastern concept [00:25:06].
- Event (Eventology): Zoroaster in ancient Iran introduced the idea of human agency and the ability to create change for its own sake [00:22:52]. This concept of the event represents a linear progression and the potential to create a different, better world [00:23:04]. The West, particularly through Christianity and Islam, became overly focused on the event, often leading to a repetitive reenactment of past events rather than true novelty [00:27:49].
Bard argues that a complete metaphysics must contain both process and event in a dialectical relationship, as the world consists of both repetitions and differences [00:26:31]. This is likened to the yin and yang, or the feminine (process/nomadology) and masculine (event/eventology) principles [00:27:05].
Transcendental Emergentism
Bard’s metaphysics is named transcendental emergentism [00:42:21]. It seeks to overcome the pitfalls of reductionism (atomism, panpsychism, or a singular “Creator God”) by focusing on “happenings” [00:43:10].
- Emergence Vectors: The world is seen as consisting of emergence vectors, representing the birth of something novel that never happened before [00:49:02]. These emergences establish patterns and “laws” (e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, human consciousness, language, culture) that can be studied as separate domains [00:48:11].
- Local vs. Global Teleology: While there’s no global teleology for the universe as a whole, local teleology is permitted; complexity tends to increase within constrained systems over time [00:30:08]. The universe is accidentally monistic, with everything connected [00:51:48].
- Uniqueness: Existence is constantly creating unique occasions [00:55:12].
Tribopoiesis
Bard introduces tribopoiesis as a refinement of autopoiesis (self-organization) [01:28:15]. While autopoiesis describes how systems self-organize, tribopoiesis specifically emphasizes the collective and social nature of organization, particularly within human groups (soions) [01:29:18]. It removes the “magical” aspect from self-organization by attributing it to the system itself, rather than an external “self” [01:29:30]. This concept is useful for understanding how communities create shared values and property [01:31:39].
Membranics
Membranics is the philosophical discipline dealing with how systems isolate themselves from the outside in an intelligent, interactive way [01:36:06]. A membrane is a “semi-permeable” boundary that defines an inside distinct from an outside, allowing for selective intake of “nutrition” and expulsion of “waste” [01:36:51]. This concept applies universally, from biological cells to nation-states and even AI [01:37:33]. Membranes, by establishing a memory and learning, enable dialectical processes and the dynamic modification of their permeability [01:41:09].
Coherent Pluralism
The concept of membranes allows for “coherent pluralism” [01:44:31]. Within a membrane, communities can establish strong, unique “sauce” or rules, fostering diverse ways of life, while still interacting with other membranes through agreed-upon protocols [01:43:00]. This vision contrasts with a “bland flat land” of uniform liberalism, promoting differentiated communities where individuals can find the right “membrane” for their well-being [01:44:57].
The Barred Absolute
Originating from Lacan’s “barred subject,” the barred absolute signifies a blind spot or an inaccessible truth to an individual [01:20:06]. It means that one’s own subjectivity is inherently opaque to oneself and can only be accessed through relationships with others [01:20:45]. This concept is useful for recognizing limitations and for setting necessary boundaries (e.g., protecting children from harmful content) [01:22:30]. It counters the idea that all information should be universally accessible without preparation, highlighting that some truths require effort or maturity to comprehend [01:22:56].
Challenging Tyranny
Bard and Sjunnesson are deeply concerned with avoiding tyranny [01:50:14]. They identify two problematic figures:
- The Boy Pharaoh: An “underdeveloped” leader driven by revenge and a lack of humor [01:53:57].
- The Pillar Saint: An ideological “big man” with grand ideas who seeks to conquer the world mimetically [01:55:07].
Both figures represent a “curse on humanity” and must be exposed through argumentation [01:55:17]. Their philosophy advocates for decentralization and the use of technology and social tools to resist the “surveillance police state” [01:49:04]. The ultimate mission is to prevent the priest (ideology) and the chief (power) from ever being the same person [01:50:32]. This aligns with the “Game B” project’s aim to develop social operating systems that disenfranchise emerging “big men” at all scales of organization [01:53:48].