The Emergence of Value – Paperback

I wrote this book over twenty years ago, which explains why the references are at least twenty years old. But then some are twenty five hundred years old and are still helpful. I spent the next twenty years writing the Story of the Universe, intending to rewrite this book when I was finished, to make it simpler. But when I reread it, I realized that I can’t. I was sharper and could work much harder then, and the ideas in the book are as clear and well argued as I can make them. I hope you will find them interesting. The primary ideas are that:

The value of being is being. The value of life is life.
For each being, an increase in being is an increase in value;
A decrease in being is a decrease in value;
Preservation, growth and perpetuation of being lead to maximum increase in value;
Destruction is the maximum decrease in value.
The basic form of being is energy.
Mass consists of energy.
Beings are energy forms.
Space and time are dimensions of being, and cannot exist without it.
Space is a measure of distance between and within beings.
Time is a measure of movement between and within beings.
A standard measure of distance is used as a measure of space.
A standard measure of movement Is used as a measure of time.
There is no space outside of being.
There is no time outside of being.
Energy forms gain energy from one another, thereby gaining value at each other’s expense.
If the Universe is a closed energy system, it’s total energy does not change.
Therefore its total value does not change.
Energy exchanges are value exchanges.
Energy forms can be simple or complex.
Complex energy forms ultimately consist of simple energy forms.
Simpler energy forms may gain energy from one another
Within complex energy forms,
Thereby gaining value at each other’s expense.
Complex energy forms are rarely closed energy systems.
Total energy may be gained or lost by value exchanges of the simpler energy forms
Within the complex forms, thereby either increasing or decreasing
The total value of the complex form.
In life, the complex forms may be either living beings or communities of living beings.
The study of the energy exchanges within and between living beings
Is the study of the value of life.