The Quadrant Model of Reality-
How Patterns of Four in Existence Reveal the Fundamental Form of Being
by Ryan Merkle
edited by Robert Merkle
“A theory is more impressive the greater is the simplicity of its premise, the more different are the kinds of things it relates and the more extended its range of applicability…”
-Albert Einstein
"Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous"- Albert Einstein
Chapter 1: The Epiphanie of the Quadrant Model of Reality
My sophomore year of college my Grandpa told me that according to a popular and respected scientific model in psychology there are four types of people; thinkers, emoters, doers, and dreamers. This can be depicted in a quadrant of four connecting squares.
Square one, top left, Thinker; square two, bottom left, Emoter; square three, top right, Doer; square four, bottom right, Dreamer.
Thinking
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Doing
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Emoting
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Dreaming
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I understood the meaning of being a thinker, an emotional person, and a doer, but I was not sure what it meant to be a dreamer. When I first heard this personality theory I thought there should only be three types of people, because I thought dreaming did not seem to belong. I did not understood what it would mean to be a dreamer. I recognized thinkers would think a lot, emoters would be emotional, and doers would be into doing things. But dreaming did not seem to fit in the model and I thought it was unnecessary.But then I thought how thinking and emotion are a duality. Thoughts influence emotions and emotions thoughts. Next I thought how doing was intricately connected to emotion and thinking. Thoughts and emotions influence what you do and what you do affects your thoughts and emotions. So I realized that thinking and emotion was a duality and thinking and emotion and doing was a triad. Finally I remembered what my psychology professor has told me earlier that year about dreaming. She said when you dream you think, have emotions, and do things, but you are disconnected from your body and there is a different quality to your thoughts and emotions and what you do. So I thought that dreaming was separate yet encompassed the previous three. It was transcendent to them but also engulfed them. That pattern came to become the pattern of the quadrant model which I recognized to permeate reality.
Thinking and emotion appear to be polar opposites, but form a duality. Not really opposites, they are intricately connected and linked--thoughts affect emotions, and emotions affect thoughts. Thinking about things evokes certain emotions. With emotions affecting thoughts they form a duality. The first two squares are always a duality; while at first they appear as opposites, they really are different aspects of the same process.
Doing is the third square, and is not separate from thinking and emotion--thoughts affect emotions, and emotions affect thoughts. In addition emotions elicit doing. A root word in emotion is motor; emotion means, to bring to movement. So emotions bring about action, causing people to do things. Thinking, emoting, and doing are seen as separate, and are usually depicted in separate categories, but they are intricately interconnected. Thoughts bring about emotions; emotions lead to doing. Sometimes doing is followed by thinking. At other times doing evokes emotions. Thus these three categories form a triad, which are different components of the same processes; one does not exist without the other two.
Dreaming is separate from the previous three, but encompasses them; dreaming is different from thinking, emotion, and doing, but it envelops them.
The pattern I presented in this personality model is the pattern that represents the quadrant model pattern. There are four entities. The first three are very interlinked. The first two are a duality. The first three are a triad. The fourth is separate but encompasses the previous three.
The next day, after I discovered this quadrant, I drew another quadrant. In the first square, where I put thinking in the first model, I put contemplation. In the second square, where I had emotion, I wrote passion. In the third square, where I had doing, I put flowing. In the fourth square, where I had put dreaming, I put knowing.
Chapter 2: Examples of the Quadrant Model Pattern in Reality; The Fundamental Forces of Physics, The Blood Types, The Orbitals in Chemistry, The Domains of Life in Biology
Before I define thinking, emotion, doing, contemplation, passion, flowing, and knowing, I want to show how this quadrant model pattern that I demonstrated manifests in reality. The thesis of the quadrant model of reality is that the physical nature of reality is a shadow, or metaphor of a True Reality. This idea is not new. Plato hypothesized that there was a World of Forms, which was the True Reality, and the physical universe was just a reflection of this true reality. Plato proposed that there was one form, the form of the good, out of which all phenomena derives. But Plato never explicitly stated what that form was. My theory, the quadrant model of reality, suggests that Plato’s form of the good is the cross, or the quadrant. The quadrant model demonstrates that reality derives from the quadrant model pattern. I believe that the reason the image of Jesus on the cross is so powerful, is it represents man being at one with the form of existence. Let me give some examples of how the quadrant model pattern is reflected in physical reality.
The quadrant pattern is revealed in the four forces of nature in physics. The first square is the strong nuclear force. The second square is the weak nuclear force evidencing a duality; their names are even similar, both being nuclear forces. The first two are always similar. They are the duality. The third force is electromagnetism. The triad includes the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and electromagnetism. The fourth is gravity, which is different from the previous three forces, yet it envelops them.
The strong force, the weak force, and electromagnetism can be combined easily with quantum mechanics. But the fourth force, gravity, can be explained only through general relativity. The fourth always transcends yet contains the first three, and the first three are always extremely interconnected. Einstein advocated that gravity exists due to the bending of space and time. He also observed that space and time are bent by matter--space and time bend due to mass. Mass is brought about through the interactions among the strong force, the weak force, and electromagnetism. Gravity does not exist without the first three forces. Gravity is separate from the first three, transcends them, and contains them.
Gravity does not seem to belong, like dreaming does not seem to belong with thinking, emoting, and doing. But gravity does not exist without the other three, as dreaming does not exist without thinking, emoting, and doing. Gravity is separate from the first three forces, yet it does not exist without them. Thus it simultaneously envelopes and emerges from them. The fourth square is intimately connected with the first three squares, yet it always has a different nature--the nature of the fourth square is transcendent.
The four forces of Nature are:
Square one: Strong nuclear force; Square two: Weak nuclear force; Square three: Electromagnetism; Square four: Gravity.
Strong nuclear force
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Electromagnetism
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Weak nuclear force
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Gravity
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Another example of the quadrant model manifest in physical nature is the four blood types of humans. The Bible states that man is made in the image of God. All aspects of the human being reflect the image of the quadrant model pattern. Many rabbis and theologians say that God is Being itself. The quadrant, as described earlier, is the form of being. Therefore, it makes sense, from a biblical perspective, that if God is Being, and man is made in the image of God, the qualities of man reflect the Quadrant Model of Reality.
There are the four human blood types: type A, which is square one; type B which is square two; type AB which is square three; and type O, which is square four. Type A and B express the duality. The first two are always very similar. Type AB is the third, thereby creating the triad. Blood type O is the fourth, which is separate and different from the previous three, yet it includes them. Type O is considered to be the universal donor, compatible with anybody having type A, type B, or Type AB blood. The fourth is always different from the previous three, but encompasses them.
The four blood types are:
Square one: type A; Square two: type B; Square three: type AB; Square four: type O
Type A
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Type AB
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Type B
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Type O
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The quadrant pattern in physical nature also occurs in the orbitals in chemistry. There are probability densities where electrons can be found, namely the orbital shells. The first orbital shell is the S orbital, which occupies the first square. The second is the P orbital, and occupies the second square. The appearance is essentially of two spheres. The S and P orbitals are the duality. The third square is occupied by the D orbital. Think of the quadrant model as a holistic model with each orbital building upon the preceding orbital, as each square builds upon the previous squares. Each square has all elements of the last square, but contains new elements. The D orbital is the third square; the fourth is the F orbital.
The fourth builds upon the previous three. Yet it is very different. The fourth always seems not to belong with the other three, expressing a quality transcendence. In the periodic table of elements seen in every chemistry classroom, the S, P, and D orbital sections are together, but the F section is placed to the side, by itself. The nature of the Quadrant Model of Reality is revealed in the graphic representation of the periodic table. The fourth square is always quite different from the first three. But the F orbital does not exist without the other three. The fourth square is separate from, yet builds upon the first three squares.
The four orbitals in chemistry are:
Square one: S orbital; Square two: P orbital; Square three: D orbital; Square four: F orbital.
S orbital
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D orbital
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P orbital
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F orbital
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One further example of this pattern of four in physical nature is displayed by biology in the domains of life. The first two domains are archaea and bacteria. Archaea is square one, bacteria is square two, forming the duality. Often they are called archaebacteria, and are, in effect, clumped together. The first two squares are always very similar and interconnected. But biologists point out the differences are greater than the differences between a cow and a blade of grass. The first two squares are very interlinked, but are also vastly different.
The differences reflect the variations in cell structure. Archaea and bacteria are both prokaryotes, meaning they both have no cell nucleus and no other membrane-bound organelles. Archaea and bacteria are the duality; they are similar in that both are prokaryotes, but are very different in structure.
Later chapters will allow you to see further why archaea are placed in the first square, with the bacteria in the second square. The first square is always weird, with a loner quality to it, a sort of “weirdo” quality that wants to fit in, but cannot. Archaea are weird, living in extreme environments like thermal vents in the oceans. Archaea is the first square. Archaea corresponds to the thinking square of the personality model. Bacteria is the second square, expressing a property of homeostasis. Its function is in maintaining order, structure, and protection. The second square has a quality of being normal and fitting in, making sure things are clean and organized. Bacteria in the gut break down food, maintaining a state of homeostasis by transforming left-over food into disposable trash. Bacteria correspond to the emotion square in the personality model. They are homeostasis which is characteristic of the second square.
Eukaryotes are the third square. They are not prokaryotes like archaea and bacteria. The third is always different from the first two, and is always the most solid. Eukaryotes have cell nuclei and membrane-bound organelles. Therefore eukaryotes have a quality of being solid, and are different from the previous two domains of life, archaea and bacteria. Yet they possess elements of them. Eukaryotes include things like plants, fungi, animals, and protists; they are the doers, corresponding to the doing square in the personality model. Eukaryotes include animals, and Eukaryotes are associated with action. The third square is the most associated with action.
The fourth square is the virus. The fourth is always different while encompassing the previous three. Many biologists say that the virus is not a domain of life because viruses they claim are not living. Some biologists describe viruses as both living and dead, noting that if one were to ask if a virus is alive or dead, the answer would be, “yes”, because the nature of the virus is that it demands the questioning of whether it is alive or dead. The reason the virus is seen as dead is because it needs a host cell to survive; it cannot live without a host cell. Host cells include eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. So the virus is separate but transcends and encapsulates the previous three domains. This is the quality characteristic of the quadrant model.
To reiterate, the pattern of the quadrant model includes initially a duality in which the two items are very similar, but also clearly distinct. The third is the most physical, followed by the fourth, which is very different, transcending and including the other three. The fourth square never seems to belong. The domains of life in biology are:
Square one: archaea; Square two: bacteria; Square three: eukaryotes; Square four: virus.
archaea
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eukaryotes
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bacteria
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virus
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