We need a new worldview more consistent with life

Christopher Alexander presented propositions about living structure throughout his four books on The Nature of Order.¹ They are, most importantly, results of observation. Many are based on felt sense.²

Unless our worldview is changed to one which is more consistent with the felt reality of life, the idea of life, aliveness, or livingness, will not be enought to accomplish change.³

We treat entities in nature as if they are machines, or parts in a larger machine. We define the mechanical elements, the rules of interaction, and everything then follows mechanically.⁴

Yet, we experience the world. We are conscious. We are aware of ourselves. We have felt experiences. These experiences are deeply connected with the existence of life.⁵

We cannot help — at least partially — thinking of ourselves as machines unless we change our worldview.⁶

Notes:
1. Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book 4 – The Luminous Ground, p. 10.
2. Felt sense, as defined by Eugene Gendling. See Gendlin, Focusing and Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning.
3. Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order: Book 4, p. 10.
4. Ibid., p. 13.
5. Ibid..
6. Ibid..