The Reality Ouroboros

“Among the roots of your classicism you must include your passions for the stars.”

—Cesare Pavese, This Business of Living

What is reality? And is there just one reality or many, perhaps infinitely many? And how should we describe these realities, with mathematics, natural language, music, or visual art? The answer might be all of the above, but if so, can we justify these decisions based on a larger conception of reality?

Scientists tend to think about reality in one of two ways. The first perspective involves physically emergent hierarchies (ontologies)—ranging from the most “fundamental” elementary particles, through nuclear and atomic physics, collective chemistry, adaptive organisms and ecosystems, brains, minds, and,