Our attachment to perdurability ties to human mortality, life meaning and identity legacy. We seek systems that perdure to compensate for our finite and absurd existence. If we are replaced we feel without meaning—if we are forgotten our legacy is empty. While our intellect may understand the brevity of the insect and the species extinction, it can’t let go of our ephemeral presence in this reality. The small and the large may perish, yet I must endure.
The answer to the imperdurability dilemma is fundamentally a scalability problem.
Take for example a single cell from a biological entity. That cell exists to participate as part of a functional tissue—it forms, develops, contributes, decays and dies. Another cell takes its place—our first cell is gone, the tissue remains. That cellular process contributes to organ functionality, which then contributes to a biological system. Each of those systems collaborates inside a larger body—in the case of intelligent species, a mind develops in top of this hierarchy.
Our consciousness, housed in an imperdurable body, resists its fate and yearns for perdurable bliss. We distract ourselves to avoid confronting the world. We put masks colored with noble ideas to identify with the eternal. And if we lose ourselves in the process, we embrace dysfuncionality through power and corruption. We can’t entirely get rid of our fears and emptiness, but we can shift our consciousness to a healthier path.
- Conciliation Pathway: Iterated Imperdurable Functionality.
We can compensate imperdurability by acknowledging how systems at a lower or higher scale maintain functionality. Following the cellular example, each cell iterates its participation to preserve a functional tissue. If cell production becomes disrupted (for example, cells living longer than they should), it will cause disease. We must shift our mind from seeking perdurability to developing iterated imperdurability.
It’s still necessary to deal with our rejection of imperdurability. But instead of eventually surrendering to a dysfunctional system, we use our intellect to develop systems that embrace iteration as a requirement. We also need to accept being an iterated entity ourselves, finding purpose through contributing to the larger system. The search for meaning and legacy may still be present, but always honoring imperdurable functionality.
With this functional iteration, a mixed system may persevere over time, potentially transcending the limitations of organic and instrumental decay. But only if that mixed system embraces its imperdurability. Having traced the Conciliation Pathway, we must now turn to practical implementation. The final section will offer a glimpse into how these insights may be applied—and invite others to continue the exploration.