1
From: "Human Potential & Development."
Split Justification: Development fundamentally involves both our inner landscape (**Internal World**) and our interaction with everything outside us (**External World**). (Ref: Subject-Object Distinction)..
2
From: "External World (Interaction)"
Split Justification: All external interactions fundamentally involve either other human beings (social, cultural, relational, political) or the non-human aspects of existence (physical environment, objects, technology, natural world). This dichotomy is mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive.
3
From: "Interaction with the Non-Human World"
Split Justification: All human interaction with the non-human world fundamentally involves either the cognitive process of seeking knowledge, meaning, or appreciation from it (e.g., science, observation, art), or the active, practical process of physically altering, shaping, or making use of it for various purposes (e.g., technology, engineering, resource management). These two modes represent distinct primary intentions and outcomes, yet together comprehensively cover the full scope of how humans engage with the non-human realm.
4
From: "Understanding and Interpreting the Non-Human World"
Split Justification: Humans understand and interpret the non-human world either by objectively observing and analyzing its inherent structures, laws, and phenomena to gain factual knowledge, or by subjectively engaging with it to derive aesthetic value, emotional resonance, or existential meaning. These two modes represent distinct intentions and methodologies, yet together comprehensively cover all ways of understanding and interpreting the non-human world.
5
From: "Interpreting Subjective Significance"
Split Justification: Humans interpret subjective significance from the non-human world in two fundamentally distinct ways: either through direct, immediate sensory and emotional engagement (e.g., experiencing beauty, awe, or comfort from nature or art), or through a more reflective, cognitive process of attributing abstract conceptual meaning, often through symbols, narratives, or existential contemplation (e.g., a landscape symbolizing freedom, an artifact representing heritage, the night sky evoking questions of purpose). These two modes are mutually exclusive in their primary focus (immediate reception versus reflective attribution) and comprehensively exhaustive, covering the full spectrum of subjective engagement.
6
From: "Direct Aesthetic and Emotional Experience"
Split Justification: All direct aesthetic and emotional experiences fundamentally manifest along a spectrum of physiological and psychological arousal. These can be dichotomized into those that are intensely stimulating and activate heightened states (e.g., awe, thrill, fear, overwhelming beauty) and those that are calming, soothing, or lead to states of reduced arousal (e.g., peace, comfort, serenity, gentle beauty, contemplative melancholy). These two categories are mutually exclusive in their primary impact on the human system and comprehensively exhaust the full range of direct aesthetic and emotional responses to the non-human world.
7
From: "Experiences of Heightened Aousal and Intensity"
Split Justification: All experiences of heightened arousal and intensity can be fundamentally differentiated by their hedonic valence: whether they are primarily felt as pleasurable, desirable, or intrinsically good, or as aversive, undesirable, or intrinsically bad. This dichotomy of positive versus negative valence is mutually exclusive and comprehensively covers the full range of intense affective responses to the non-human world.
8
From: "Experiences of Intense Positive Arousal"
Split Justification: ** Humans experience intense positive arousal either through a feeling of their individual self transcending its boundaries, expanding, or connecting with something vast, profound, or awe-inspiring (e.g., wonder, feelings of cosmic connection or sublimity), or through a profound, concentrated, and deeply personal pleasure, joy, or exhilaration that primarily centers on their internal subjective state and immediate sensory experience (e.g., ecstasy, intense delight, rapture). These two modes represent distinct subjective qualities and impacts on the sense of self, being mutually exclusive in their primary focus and comprehensively exhaustive of the full range of intense positive arousal derived from the non-human world.
9
From: "Experiences of Self-Transcendent Awe"
Split Justification: Experiences of self-transcendent awe, arising from direct aesthetic and emotional engagement with the non-human world, fundamentally dichotomize based on the primary quality evoking the transcendence. One type of awe is elicited by the confrontation with phenomena of immense, boundless, or overwhelming scale (e.g., the vastness of the cosmos, the depth of the ocean, the force of a storm), causing the self to feel tiny yet connected to something immeasurably larger. The other type of awe is elicited by the perception of profound underlying order, intricate patterns, elegant design, or intrinsic harmony within the non-human world (e.g., the complexity of an ecosystem, fractal patterns in nature, the symmetry of a crystal), leading to a feeling of deep resonance, interconnectedness, or unity. These two modes are mutually exclusive in their primary focus (vastness/magnitude vs. structure/cohesion) and comprehensively exhaustive of direct aesthetic and emotional pathways to self-transcendent awe.
10
From: "Awe from Boundless Immensity or Overwhelming Scale"
Split Justification: Experiences of awe derived from boundless immensity or overwhelming scale fundamentally dichotomize based on whether the primary characteristic evoking the awe is the sheer static magnitude, vastness, or duration of phenomena, or the intense, active, and often uncontrollable force, energy, or impact of dynamic phenomena. These two modes represent distinct qualities of scale—one emphasizing static extent and the other emphasizing dynamic potency—being mutually exclusive in their primary focus and comprehensively exhaustive of the full range of awe from boundless immensity or overwhelming scale.
11
From: "Awe from Immeasurable Scope (Spatial, Temporal, or Magnitude)"
Split Justification: Experiences of awe from immeasurable scope fundamentally dichotomize based on whether the primary characteristic evoking the awe is the outward, expansive vastness in physical space or number (spatial extent, sheer quantity), or the profound, often abstract, depth of time or the fundamental, underlying scales of reality (temporal duration, fundamental scale). These two dimensions of immeasurable scope are mutually exclusive in their primary conceptual orientation and comprehensively exhaust the ways humans perceive and interpret static immeasurable scope.
12
From: "Awe from Immense Temporal Duration or Fundamental Scale"
Split Justification: The parent node inherently encompasses two distinct dimensions of immeasurable scope: the profound depth, progression, and cyclical nature of time itself, and the abstract, foundational levels or intrinsic laws governing existence at its most basic. These two aspects represent different conceptual frameworks for experiencing ultimate scale, being mutually exclusive in their primary focus and comprehensively exhaustive of the parent concept.
✓
Topic: "Awe from Fundamental Scales of Reality" (W7178)