"Reality cannot be found except in.
One single source, because of the interconnection of
all things with each other" (Leibniz).
"The first cause of all things is on the highest plane" (Paul Twitchell).
the highest plane" (Paul Twitchell).
"All is one but manifests differentiated" (Chinese proverb).
Main Concepts
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is a structure organized by levels that represent categories or powers, such that the higher a level is, the greater its category or power. Each level of the hierarchy dominates over the level immediately below it.
Nature has a hierarchical structure. Biology considers organisms, organs, tissues, cells and molecules. Physics considers atoms, electrons, protons, neutrons and quarks. In the universe there are superclusters, galaxy clusters, galaxies, stars, planets and moons. At the human level we have the (simplified) hierarchy of soul, mind and body.
Pythagorean Tetraktyis, a symbol of the Downward Causation Principle
The two modes of consciousness, those associated with the cerebral hemispheres, right hemisphere (HD) and left hemisphere (HI), are hierarchical, with HD being superior to HI, as HD synthesizes and HI analyzes.
The concept of hierarchy arose in the Middle Ages to refer to celestial levels or orders. Each hierarchical rank encompassed or included lower levels. The levels represented degrees of consciousness, knowledge and enlightenment. In fact, the word "hierarchy" comes from "hieros" (sacred) and "archo" (authority).
Upward Causation
In a hierarchical system, bottom-up (or bottom-up) causation is the emergence of properties at one level from lower levels. The parts determine the structure and function of the whole system.
An example of bottom-up causation is a physical illness, which may cause emotional or psychic disorders.
Downward Causation
In a hierarchical system, top-down Causation is that every property of one level is determined by the properties of higher levels. The whole determines or influences each of its parts.
An example of Downward Causation is the placebo effect, where the mind (or immaterial, subtle) acts on the body (material, dense).
The Downward Causation Principle necessarily implies the existence of a primordial source, origin and foundation of all that exists.
Reductionism
Reductionism is a philosophy that attempts to reduce a more or less complex phenomenon or system into its simplest components.
It uses an analytical type process, in search of the particular and the detail.
The whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts.
The components are independent of each other.
No consideration is given to how those components are structured or related to form a whole.
The properties of a system are completely determined by the properties of its components. That is, if we know the properties of the components of a system, it is possible to deduce its properties.
Reductionism reflects the tendency to assimilate a subject or problem to an already known conceptual scheme. Reductionism can be:
Ontological, which reduces everything real to atoms or subatomic particles. For example, for materialists (or physicalists) all scientific disciplines are reduced to physics: sociology is reduced to psychology, psychology to biology, and biology to physics.
Methodological, which tries to choose a few ideas to explain with them a complete system. Ideally, a few ideas would serve to explain or support the whole of reality. The great aspiration of science and philosophy would be fulfilled: to be able to deduce the whole of knowledge from a reduced number of principles or a single principle.
Semantic, which reduces a language to a few concepts. If lexical semantics equals structural semantics, then we have the maximum possible reduction. If the language can be applied to describe all of reality, we have a universal language.
Holism
Holism is a philosophy opposed to reductionism:
The approach it uses is synthetic, in search of the general and global.
The whole is more than the sum of its parts. That which is added is called an "emergent property", as opposed to the particular properties of its components.
The components are not isolated. They are interdependent. They relate to each other and to the whole.
Arthur Koestler coined the term "holon" to refer to that which is a totality in one context and which can be both part in another context. A hierarchy of holons is a "holoarchy".
Apparently, reductionism and holism are opposite principles (holism sees nothing but the whole, reductionism sees nothing but the parts), but both paradigms are two complementary ways of conceiving reality. They are two forms of consciousness that have their correspondence with the two modes associated with the cerebral hemispheres (left: reductionism, right: holism).
Emergentism
Emergentism is a phenomenon in which new properties appear in a system that the components of the system do not have. There is synergy: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For example, from the components hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O), water (H2O) appears, with properties that neither hydrogen nor oxygen have. Another example is that from chlorine (Cl) and sodium (Na), common salt (ClNa) is generated.
Systems theory (the science of Systemics) has always taken an emergentist stance. Systems have emergent properties that cannot be deduced from the properties of their components.
The concept of emergence has attained great relevance in the so-called "complexity sciences" (chaos theory and systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium). These sciences contemplate processes of self-organization, evolution, adaptation to the environment, cooperation and interaction between the elements that make up a system, where there are bidirectional relationships between the whole and the parts.
For materialists (or physicalists), the mind appears as an emergent property of the neuronal system (no neuron thinks). Life, mind and consciousness emerge from matter; they are epiphenomena of matter, and it makes no sense to refer to concepts, explanations or methods beyond physics. Materialists are both emergentists and reductionists.
Darwin is considered the first emergentist, because in his theory of evolution by natural selection new species "emerge". In "The Origin of Species" he states that "from the simplest, an endless array of forms, the most beautiful and wonderful, have arisen and are in emergence".
The philosopher Dadid Chalmers has proposed two forms of emergentism:
Weak It responds to the mechanical or deterministic evolution of physical systems that make apparently new properties emerge. But nothing new emerges, only greater complexity.
Strong New, non-reducible properties emerge that also affect the components that produced them.
The concept of emergentism is much discussed because of its possible importance in the foundation of the sciences. Emergentism is usually considered as Upward Causation. But it is really top-down or derivative causation, i.e., it is a manifestation at a more superficial level.
For example, John Conway's "the game of life." In this artificial game of life, surprising emergent properties such as cyclic behaviors, reproduction of a pattern, movements or displacements, etc. appear. But these behaviors are deterministic, they are derived from the initial situation and the rules, although they are difficult to foresee.
In fact, emergentism is nothing more than a term without content that explains nothing. All it does is to assert that we do not know the causes or mechanisms involved in the emergent phenomenon. Emergentism is reductionism as yet unexplained.
Darwinian evolution from the simple to the complex is not emergentism but Downward Causation, from the unity of the hypothetical common ancestor to the diversity of species, from the simple to the complex.
Upward vs. Downward Causation
Bottom-up Causation implies the existence of a conscious (non-mechanistic) agent that orders or structures the elements of the lower level. A higher level can never arise from a lower level without the intervention of a higher agent. For example, in Planiland − a hypothetical two-dimensional world− we have three equal and conscious line segments, but unable to perceive the third dimension. In order for these segments to form a triangle, they would need to perceive that third dimension, so they cannot. There has to be a higher agent that is able to organize and structure the lower level.
Therefore, there can be no upward Causation derived from the elements of a level. There can be combinatorics of those elements, but it is then Downward or derived Causation.
Bottom-up Causation has also received criticism because it is insufficient to explain and capture the processes of organization and evolution of complex systems. Conceptual models must contemplate both Upward and Downward directions that allow elements and systems to be related in both directions. Downward Causation, on the other hand, has its own relational mechanism.
Downward Causation is more creative than Upward Causation because it allows more elements to be related. Upward Causation is more limited, more restrictive.
The two causal models are insufficient. Ideally, the two types of Causation should be integrated to allow everything to be related to everything.
The best strategy is to start from the higher, from general principles to infer or derive Downward particular truths. For example, Einstein started from two principles −the invariance of the speed of light in a vacuum and the invariance of physical laws in all inertial systems− to derive his theory of special relativity. For David Bohm, we must take the totality as the primary, as the "place" to start.
East vs. West
In the West, the Downward Causation Principle reigns because it starts from the superficial. Western science has mainly cultivated the analytical, reductionist, mechanistic way.
In the East, the Principle of Downward Causation Principle prevails because it starts from the deep: from universal principles to particular phenomena. The East opted mainly for the synthetic, holistic way.
All spiritual traditions (Eastern and Western) have declared their belief in Downward Causation: first it was the Unity and its infinite possibilities, then diversity, the particular manifestations of the Unity. Causes proceed from the higher and their effects are manifested in the lower. The parts are determined by the whole, everything is derived from the higher, which manifests on the lower planes. Ancient traditions hold that the invisible world is even more real than the visible world.
In the East, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism postulate that the basis of existence is not matter but consciousness, and that matter is a manifestation of consciousness. In the Hindu tradition, material reality is maya, illusion, and everything that exists is considered a manifestation of Brahman (Sanskrit for "expansion"), the absolute deity. In Taoism, everything is a manifestation of the Tao.
This Downward philosophy is that of our primitive ancestors, who attributed unexplained natural phenomena to the higher powers, to the intervention of the gods.
This East-West duality is also a reflection of universal dualism.
The DCP and its Manifestations
DCP and Astronomy
There are several evidences in favor of DCP in astronomy:
The Big Bang An initial explosion was the origin of the unfolding or manifestation of the universe.
According to the latest theories, galaxies have originated as manifestations of their central black holes. Most galaxies have at their center a black hole, with a huge and compact mass, which causes an extraordinary force of attraction.
The planets of the solar system have formed from matter in the Sun. The currently accepted theory is the nebular model: the planets were formed by condensation disks arising from the solar nebula.
According to esoteric astrology, celestial bodies are physical manifestations of higher beings. For example, a star is the visible part of a deity.
DCP and biology
In biology there are two theories of the origin of life: Upward Causation and Downward Causation. The first is Darwin's theory of evolution. The second is creationism or its modern version, intelligent design. These are two opposing views: life as an epiphenomenon (or emergent phenomenon) of matter or life as a manifestation of something higher.
For official science, the theory of evolution is beyond doubt, and intelligent design is pseudoscience. However, there are multiple arguments in favor of Downward Causation:
Darwin postulated, from phylogeny, that all species have a universal common ancestor (UCA), from which, by small gradual changes, complexity was created. For Darwin, the theory of evolution does not need a creator at any time. The problem is: How did that common ancestor arise? Who created the UCA?
The process from unity to diversity or from the simple to the complex, is not Upward, but Downward.
In the second edition of Darwin's work, the last phrase was "life breathed by the Creator", instead of the phrase in the first edition "life breathed into few or perhaps only one form".
Alfred Russell Wallace −advocate along with Darwin of the theory of evolution− also defended the intervention of a higher power. In his book "On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism", he states that spirits exist and are part of human nature: the evolution of the human being, on a physical level, is understandable to a certain extent. But, at a certain point, a higher force endowed us with that special thing that distinguishes us from animals.
"Irreducible complexity" is an argument by proponents of intelligent design, that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler or less complete predecessors through natural selection.
Darwinism is an unguided, aimless process. It is governed only by random hereditary variations or mutations and natural selection based on adaptation to the environment.
In stem cells the process is top-down, as in the case of the universal common ancestor: from unity to diversity, from simple to complex. Stem cells are able to specialize into tissues and organs. The question is: where does the stem cell get the knowledge and intelligence to specialize?
According to Rupert Sheldrake's theory, there is a morphic field above biological groups that transmits to them vital and behavioral organic patterns.
Species can "specialize". Crosses of existing species are horizontal combinations of species. It is not possible to create a new higher or vertical (Upward) species.
Natural selection plays an important, but not exclusive, role in the generation of organic form. Downward Causation is the fundamental causal force underlying the creative capacity of natural selection.
Evolution is not only physical. It is also produced by the mechanism of meme transmission. The meme −a concept introduced by Richard Dawkins in his work "The Selfish Gene"− is the unit of sociocultural information that is transmitted (more or less consciously or unconsciously) from some organisms to others and that manifests itself externally as imitation. Memes replicate but undergo variations. There is also a process of memetic selection: some memes are remembered and replicated and others are forgotten because they are not useful.
It is often claimed that the mechanism by which memes are transmitted is unknown. Memes are actually psychological mechanisms of imitation based on imagination, since everything that is imagined tends to come true. In this case, we also have Downward Causation.
DCP and science
Western science is characterized by a division between the objective (physical) world and the subjective (mental) world, with the objective world dominating the subjective, to the point of considering mind and consciousness as mere epiphenomena of matter.
For science, matter is the foundation of everything, only matter is real. It is an Upward approach or Causation: from the lower to the higher, from matter to higher forms: from elementary particles to brain, mind, consciousness and life. Science is bottom-up, proceeding from the bottom-up, starting with concrete observations and then proceeding inductively toward abstract, general laws and principles.
Science is a monistic philosophy. It studies only observable, external, perceptible, superficial phenomena. For science, matter is the foundation of everything. Science is a fundamentalism. It limits its investigations to the physical world, thus ignoring the investigation of the higher planes. Science is a dead end, for it is a limited and closed world.
But behind every phenomenon lies a deep cause. Therefore, to understand science one must go deep, to the causes, to the origin from which the phenomena arise.
The truth is hidden in the deep, where everything is connected. Science has proceeded in the opposite direction, exploring the outer world and ignoring the inner world.
Conventional science has always been concerned with upward Causation, but now it has been forced to admit that the arrow of Causation can also go downward.
The hitherto prevailing scientific paradigm based on upward Causation is no longer valid, since it is a superficial paradigm, based only on the observable and objective. "We are coming to the end of conventional science" (Ilya Prigogine). There is a crisis of the paradigm as a way of knowing. It is the crisis of the "epistemic matrix", according to Edgar Morin's terminology. We need a new paradigm of science, a new way of seeing the world.
DCP and philosophy
The Downward Causation Principle goes back to Plato with his famous allegory of the cave. We take shadows as if they were reality, when the true reality is hidden because it belongs to a higher level that we cannot see. We observe only projections of the true reality. Behind the appearances of outer reality there is a deeper and truer world, the world of ideal forms or patterns, of which physical reality is an imperfect copy.
This material world is the "shadow" of a higher reality unreachable by the senses but accessible by intuition. That higher reality is projected as a set of common, eternal and immutable truths, which are present in all cultures and religions.
According to Kant, the causes of the phenomenal world must be non-phenomenal. Kant distinguished between phenomenon (the superficial) and non-phenomenon (the deep, the thing in itself). He asserted that reality is not outside the one who observes it, but is in a certain sense constructed by his cognitive apparatus. Kant brought about a "Copernican revolution" (in his own words) in philosophy, based on mental categories, a central, essential and absolute reference for understanding the world.
DCP and consciousness
In recent decades, the deep field, which can be associated with the world of consciousness and even the spiritual world, has begun to be explored. It is the new monism of consciousness: consciousness as the origin and foundation of all things. Everything is the manifestation of consciousness. It is a Downward approach or Causation: from the higher (consciousness) to the lower (the manifestations of consciousness). Amit Goswami [2008] calls it "monistic idealism": consciousness is all that exists, the only foundation of all being, the unique and ultimate reality. The new paradigm of science is science within consciousness. "God is the agent of Downward Causation" (Amit Goswami). Consciousness transforms possibility into manifestation. Consciousness is decision, choice among existing possibilities. Consciousness creates reality.
DCP and consciousness as the foundation of everything constitute a universal paradigm that gives meaning to everything. Consciousness is a universal principle that manifests itself at all levels. All things are interconnected through consciousness.
DCP and spirituality
According to spiritual traditions, Spirit (or God) is the origin of all, the supreme power and creator of all things. Spirit from its original source becomes particularized, specialized as it manifests at lower levels.
"The first cause of all things is on the highest plane, known as the true heavenly home, which is where God dwells."(Paul Twitchell)
DCP is also associated with the so-called "perennial philosophy" −reflected in Aldous Huxley's famous book−, a common, universal and eternal metaphysics that underlies all religions, a metaphysics that recognizes that there is a higher or transcendental reality that underlies the lower material world. Huxley took the term "perennial philosophy" from Leibniz, who observed that in all religions the idea of the existence of a higher being recurs.
The Bible says: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all else will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). This translated to the DCP paradigm is: "Seek first the deep and everything superficial will be made known to you besides". Everything is understood from the deep.
It is often claimed that there is no conflict between science and spirituality because they are different realms. The separation between science and spirituality began in the West with Descartes, who divided reality between the outer world (the domain of science) and the inner world (the domain of religion). But DCP based on consciousness as the foundation of everything makes possible the integration between science and spirituality, a task that was considered impossible only a few years ago.
A spiritual ontology considers consciousness as the ultimate real and considers matter as a lower, denser manifestation of spirit or consciousness.
"Let there be light. And light was made" (Genesis 1:3). It indicates that light is the first manifestation of creation. Matter is condensed light.
A Universal Model of Downward Causation
Traditional models of consciousness are of the bottom-up type, that is, they start at the physical, surface level. They have the problem that they start from something very complex, the brain, a real labyrinth, so it is a very difficult or impossible task to ascend from the details to the general and universal.
The model we propose here is the opposite, it is of the up-down type. It goes from the universal to the particular. It has the advantage that it is much simpler. And so it has to be because we know that consciousness is linked to simplicity and unification. And because complexity is a superficial manifestation of a deep underlying simplicity. From the higher level it is easier to descend to understand the particular. The particular must always be contemplated from the general or universal.
The Principle of Downward Causation is a universal principle or paradigm based on the following ideas:
There is a deep reality from which all surface manifestations emanate. Unity and simplicity resides in the deep. Diversity and complexity resides in the superficial.
Deep reality can be identified with consciousness, without further qualification.
There are different degrees of manifestation between the deep level and each of the surface manifestations. These degrees are of manifestation of consciousness, not degrees of consciousness, because consciousness has no degrees. At the deep level the degree of manifestation of consciousness is maximum, and at the superficial level it is minimum.
The deep and the superficial have the same characteristics as the HD and HI modes of consciousness, respectively. Therefore, the deep reality is simple, ordered, and of infinite possibilities. Degrees of manifestation correspond to degrees of lesser simplicity, lesser order and lesser possibilities.
At the deep level reality appears abstract, as mathematical-like abstractions. The current superstring theory of quantum physics is a purely abstract theory, suggesting that ontology is abstraction and epistemology is also abstraction. At the deep level, ontology and epistemology are the same thing, there is no duality.
Deep reality is only accessible by intuition. Superficial reality is only accessible by reason. This deep-superficial duality is a reflection of universal duality.
From the particular one cannot infer the general or universal. That is why induction is falsifiable: a particular fact can overthrow a general conclusion.
At the deep level there is no duality, everything is the same thing; it is the domain of the absolute and universal. At the superficial level there is duality, everything is differentiated; it is the domain of the relative and particular.
From the superficial level you cannot access the deep level, but you can access the primary archetypes, which are intermediary between these two levels. The primary archetypes are dual and are the foundation of our understanding of reality. They can be used to model systems with Upward and Downward Causation (vertical level) and also to relate all manifestations to each other (horizontal level). The primary archetypes are structured as pairs of opposites and constitute a universal language.
The primary archetypes constitute a radical reductionist and at the same time holistic system of all reality, which includes Upward and Downward Causation. In this model, one element or component of the system can affect the system as a whole. And the whole can affect its components. Everything can interrelate with everything and at all levels.
The deep-surface duality is equivalent to the upper-lower duality. Therefore, we will use as equivalents superior and deep, as well as inferior and superficial.
The structure of reality
Reality is configured hierarchically, in levels, from the deepest to the most superficial level:
Each level is sustained or supported by higher levels.
The deepest level is the source and origin of all others.
The deeper a level is, the more fundamental it is.
The deeper a level is, the more fundamental it is.
All levels exist simultaneously.
Every physical (surface) phenomenon is a manifestation of something deep. Therefore, every phenomenon detected at the surface level, must also exist in the deep. No surface phenomenon can exist without its deep support.
The same laws or patterns act at all levels, i.e., reality is fractal. This corresponds to the axiom of the Hermetic philosophy of the Kybalion (principle of correspondence): "As above so below, as without so within".
Consciousness is the foundation of all that exists.
The deepest of all levels is pure consciousness and is the source of all others. It is an unmanifest level and the source of all possibilities.
Truth resides in the deep. All else is appearance, maya, illusion.
Everything is connected from the deep level.
The surface and deep levels correspond in human consciousness to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, respectively.
In the deep level there is no time, no space and no matter. It can be identified as emptiness, nothingness and, paradoxically, with everything.
The levels are degrees of manifestation of consciousness.
The meaning of everything is found in the deep.
Primary archetypes are the intermediaries between the superficial and deep levels.
Everything tends to return to the source from whence it came. And therefore, everything tends to synchronize, because at the deep level everything is synchronized.
Physical levels are not additive, but multiplicative, that is, to move from one level to another, one does not add a fixed amount, but multiplies by a fixed amount. Reality does not have a linear structure, but a logarithmic one,
Law of cause and effect. It is the law of universal compensation or law of equilibrium. On the physical plane, it is the law of action and reaction. On the spiritual level, it is the law of karma.
All that is particular is grounded and resonates in the universal.
Every phenomenon has various levels of expression: from the folded, compressed or unified, to the unfolded, expanded and diversified or differentiated.
Properties
As we approach from the surface level to the deeper level, we have the following properties:
Highest order.
At the center, the order is maximal.
More simplicity.
At the center, simplicity is maximum. At the most superficial level, complexity is maximum, although this complexity is only apparent, since it is generated from the primordial simplicity, by combinatorics, recursively.
More connectivity.
In the center, connectivity is at its highest; it is the point where everything is connected. The more superficial levels are connected through the deeper levels that support them, which in the end refer back to the center, which is the universal connector.
More freedom, greater possibilities.
At the center is the source of all possibilities. At this source all possibilities already exist. Only part of those possibilities manifest at the surface levels. The more superficial the level, the lesser the degree of freedom of creation or expression of the next higher level.
More power.
The center is the ultimate source of power. As we move up in level, the power decreases.
More creativity.
When the primary archetypes are combined, the maximum possible creativity is produced. As we ascend in level, creativity decreases.
More reality and truth.
This aspect is paradoxical, as we are used to the fact that what is "real" is what we can perceive through the senses. The deeper levels are less visible or invisible and yet they are more real, more true. The real and true world is the deep level, where the true nature and essence of things resides.
Higher frequency of vibration.
The levels, the deeper, are more subtle, of higher frequency of vibration.
Higher degree of unification.
In the center everything is unified and undifferentiated. At the superficial levels there is greater differentiation or separation. The deeper, the greater the unification.
Less memory and less information.
In the center no memory is necessary because everything is unified. At the superficial levels we need memory to record the differentiated characteristics of everything existing at that level.
More knowledge, awareness and meaning.
At the deepest level, we have the highest knowledge and where everything acquires true meaning.
More control.
From the power of the center, all things manifested are controlled.
Characteristics of the DCP as a universal paradigm
The characteristics of this universal paradigm are:
It is a universal Copernican approach. The new center is the deep reality from which everything emanates. The Copernican system replaced the Ptolemaic system as being a simpler model for describing the motion of the planets, although both systems are equally valid. But truth is linked to simplicity.
It allows to connect all things not directly (superficially) but through the intermediary level of the primary archetypes.
It facilitates the understanding of reality, because simplicity is the key to the understanding of all that exists. Everything is best understood from the deep. Contemplating things or problems from a higher point of view, of greater abstraction and generality allows us to simplify, unify and relate all things. "Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better" (Einstein).
Everything is connected from the deep. Nothing is separate. DCP unifies and grounds everything, sciences and the humanities, and even the spiritual.
Power comes from the deep, from the possibilities. The deeper, the more power.
The superficial is grounded in the deep. The deep "sustains" the superficial, for the superficial expressions cannot exist in isolation, they need a support. Everything has its explanation and foundation in the profound.
"The meaning of the world must reside outside of it" (Wittgenstein, Tractatus 6.41).
"No science is qualified to demonstrate scientifically its own basis" (Descartes).
"The question what is science has no scientific answer" (Edgar Morin).
"No physical theory that deals only with physics will ever explain physics" (John Wheeler).
"To understand this reality more fully, we must take into account other dimensions of a larger reality" (John Archibald Wheeler).
"To give the essence of description means to give the essence of all description, hence the essence of the world" (Wittgenstein, Tractatus 4.711).
"One must describe, rather than explain. Every explanation is a hypothesis" (Wittgenstein).
"A proposition can only say what a thing is like, not what it is" (Wittgenstein, Tractatus 3.221).¨
"No consistent language can contain the means necessary to define its own semantics" (Tarski).
The profound does not change, it is the absolute, the real, the true. In the deep there is no time. There is only eternity, no-time. We mentally create time as a consequence of our perception of change. There is only the profound, that which does not change. The superficial, the changing, the relative, is not real, it is an illusion.
All science cannot be grounded in itself, but in terms of something deeper. Therefore, all science must be grounded in concepts that go beyond itself.
At the deep level, problems are solved, simplified, clarified or transcended. Problems arise from lack of connection with the deep. From the higher it is easier (or less difficult) to explain the lower. Only from the higher point of view can the unity of knowledge be reached.
Addenda
The term "downward causation"
The concept of downward causation (downward causation) was developed by philosopher and social scientist Donald Thomas Campbell in 1974 to refer to hierarchically organized biological systems.
According to Campbell, nature is hierarchically organized at different levels: molecules, cells, tissues, organs, organisms, populations, species, and ecosystems, each of which organizes the units existing at the level below.
Campbell's [2013] original definition of top-down Causation was as follows: 'All processes at a lower level of a hierarchy are conditioned by and act in conformity with the laws of the higher levels'. For this author, bottom-up Causation is not sufficient to explain biological phenomena. Downward Causation is also needed, and both causal arrows operating simultaneously and interactively. Biological evolution cannot be explained by physico-chemical laws alone. Evolution needs a bidirectional causal model.
Campbell also coined the term "evolutionary epistemology" (evolutionary epistemology) to refer to the evolution of knowledge, in this case, bottom-up. Popper also contributed to this concept by pointing out that the process of selection of theories in science is similar to Darwinian selection processes.
Opposite evolutionary (bottom-up) epistemology is derivative or top-down epistemology based on universal principles.
The metaphor of squaring the circle
The paradigm of the impossibility of capturing the profound from the superficial is the problem of "squaring the circle": there is no geometric method that allows us to construct a square with the same area as a circle using only ruler and compass. The circle symbolizes the deep and also the totality. The square symbolizes the manifested, the superficial. Therefore, the metaphor indicates that one cannot capture the irrational with the rational nor the deep with the superficial.
DCP and the spiral model
Downward Causation is a spiral model, an evolution from the simple to the complex, from the generic to the specific. The spiral is the symbol of consciousness manifesting from a point of maximum simplicity (the center) towards the superficial levels. The superficial complexity is only apparent, for the deep essence is simple. It is a universal system, as it is used by nature and also by the human mind for the development of anything, and God is supposed to have used this model to create everything, including life [see Appendix - Spiral Development].
In the spiral method first a small core is created, the essence of the subject or problem, and then it is progressively expanded and detailed. This spiral is not Archimedean, but logarithmic. At first we advance slowly, but as we advance, we advance faster and faster. It is like the law of gravity or like internal time as we age. It is a universal law.
Descartes and the DCP
Descartes' phrase "I think, therefore I am" is an Upward leap from mind to being. Descartes applies, more or less consciously, the Downward Causation Principle: thought is grounded in something higher, which is being.
To think (cogitare) is to create, to suppose, to doubt, to feel. And there is a subject that performs the action (res cogitans). Thoughts (cogitations) change, the being that produces them does not.
Descartes identifies the res cogitans with the spirit. endowed with reason, intellect or understanding; as something substantiated and objectified. Descartes was looking for a foundation of knowledge and found it in the res cogitans, in the thinking subject.
Descartes also claimed that knowing the nature of the spirit is easier than knowing the nature of the body (res extensa). This is so because in the universal model of the DCP, the higher something is in the hierarchy, the simpler it is.
God theory
"The God Theory" by Bernard Haisch [2007] is a universal theory of DCP with God as the supreme principle and connecting to the human:
Creation was not made from nothing. It was made from the whole by a process of subtraction or filtering of God's infinite potential in order to manifest on the lower planes.
We are manifestations of God. Our souls and our consciousness are part of the creator. We are his incarnations on the physical plane.
God created us in his image and likeness, with the same patterns.
God manifests through us to experience himself, to experience his potential. We are the manifested creative intelligence.
We are all one Being (God) under many individual forms.
God "lives" in the universe through us. Our experience is His experience because we are Him.
If we inflict harm on another human being, we are harming ourselves because we are part of the same Being.
The law of karma is a law like the law of gravity, which works automatically, always seeking a new equilibrium.
God supports and sustains the universe at every moment, in an act of continuous creation. Creation did not happen; it is.
If we understand the rules, it is because we invented them ourselves, when God decided to temporarily become us.
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