The Structure of Reality

What is, is.
Ontology concerns the study of beings insofar as they exist, and not about their essence or nature. If you believe in ghosts then ghost are included in your ontology. Epistemology concerns our knowledge of things. We assume the world exist but what exactly exists is our mental construction or model of the world which may or may not correspond to an external reality. We respond to what we perceive of the world - not the world itself. "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are". Anais Nin

 

Cognitive and Affective Maps

The behaviour  of an individual is very much affected by his "cognitive" and affective" of the world. Human beings build models of the World. The models they build are most likely a function of their biological equipment and their accumulated experience in relating to the world around them including the chunked knowledge conveyed to them from others around them. The biological equipment they inherited is peculiar to the individual . The "knowledge" they acquire is partially a function of culture they inhabit as well as individualized learnings. Change can be brought about by new learning opportunities as well as by spontaneous reflection by the individual.

Man is not entirely determined and is continually evolving. He grows and develops - physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. As he grows and develops his cognitive and affective maps change and adapt.

 

 Jim
This is not a man. It is a digital representation
A map is not the territory, words are not the things they represent - Alfred Korzybskyi

 

The Cascading Umbrella Order of the Universe
What we see, hear, smell, taste and touch are not the reality but the map of that reality which we create - a reality. The reality we create is influenced by our past experience, our present environment and our expected, anticipated and/or desired future[1] Our brain creates a model, pattern or map of the universe . This is the universe in which we live. Such patterns of thoughts called beleifs, attituides derived from such beleifs, feelings or emotions and behaviours that flow fromm them are so much a part of our human existence that we fail to see them, much like the fish who doesn't see water. There may appear to be an order to such patterns in what I call the cascading unbrella order of the universe. The order, from top to bottom shows the order of inclusiveness and influence. Thus one's mind set is influential in including one world view over another; one world view may include a particular value and ideology which another worlview might exclude etc.

Mind-Set
World View
Values
Ideology
Meta-system
Conventional Wisdom
Paradigm
Principle
Theory
Institution
Norms
Routine
Model
Rule

 

 
[1]See Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on happiness for some expose on how the brain recreates the past and re-imagines thje future.
[2]B
[3]C