KS-001.a — Two Domains: the Temporal & the Causal
About Technical Posts
This Technical Post, as many others, has as its primary intention the introduction of certain language, which, in my experience, will prove quite useful for the purposes of our Inquiry. Technical Posts will seem abstract or complex for some readers; to those readers I would like to say: don’t worry or fret about it, we are only acquiring language. In the initial stages of our Inquiry, the Language introduced in the Technical Posts will be used in explicit contexts and with ample explanations. In these initial stages, the important takeaways are the words, the expressions, and some sense for what they mean.
Introduction to the Domains
What is a ‘Domain’? The word ‘Domain’ refers to a framework from within which we view the World and consider certain ideas about it. There are other definitions of the word, but this is the sense in which I use it here. There are various domains used in multiple fields of knowledge: The Spatial Domain which views the world from the perspective of place, distance, and relative positions between objects or events; the Temporal Domain which views the world from the perspective of Time, and the elapsed time between events; the Causal Domain which views the world from the perspective of Causality and the Cause-Effect Relationship; the Frequency Domain which views the world from the perspective of the Frequency of waves and energy, etc. In our Intelligence Inquiry, we are initially interested in the Temporal Domain and the Causal Domain; later on, we will also refer to the Spatial Domain, when we identify the influence that certain places have had in our intelligence.
The Temporal Domain
The first domain we will consider is the Temporal Domain. ‘Temporal Domain’ refers to a way of observing the world which is referenced with respect to Time. In the Temporal Domain, what happens in the world is viewed in its relationship to Time, and therefore, Time is a fundamental component of our view of the world within that framework; everything is observed with respect to time, and we can establish a measure of distance between timed observations.
Suppose we observe something happening; we’ll call it Observation A. We record the time at which A occurs. Then we make a second observation, call it B, and we record its time of occurrence. Suppose that we make five more observations and record their time of occurrence; we’ll label them C thru G. These seven observations, A thru G, make up what we call a Temporal Sequence. That Temporal Sequence is constituted by the seven Temporal Moments and their corresponding Timestamps.
We are very familiar with Temporal Sequences. Calendars and Agendas are daily examples of temporal sequences. Every kind on time-based records, such as industrial process logbooks or laboratory records, are typical examples also. Diaries and Journals are good examples as well.
We also know that in a Temporal Sequence, say A thru G, A occurs before B; and F occurs after E. This before-after relationship is known as the Temporal Relation. The Temporal Relation governs the entire Temporal Domain in a particular way: the Temporal Relation orders the Temporal Domain; that is to say, before-after is an order of the Temporal Domain.
The important takeaway about the Temporal Domain is the language that has been introduced: the terms in italics, and the expressions in which those terms are used.
The Causal Domain
The second domain of interest to us is the Causal Domain. The Causal Domain provides a fundamentally different framework from within which we observe the world. We will begin our discussion with a simple example.
Suppose we are at a billiards table and there are a few balls spread across the table. I place the white cue ball anywhere on the table and strike it towards some other ball. The cue ball then hits the #5 ball, which in turn, strikes the #3 ball, the #3 strikes the #7, and then the #4, and finally the #2.
In the Causal Domain, instead of being interested in the timestamp of a moment, we are interested in causes and effects, and therefore, we will label our observations in the following way. When I hit the cue ball, I am the cause, and the cue ball being hit is the effect; we will label me P and the cue ball being hit Q. In turn, the cue ball (Q) hits the #5 ball; we label the #5 ball being hit as R. The #3 ball being hit will be labeled S, the #7 being hit will be labeled T, the #4 being hit U, and finally the #2 ball being hit will be labeled V.
The events P thru V form a Causal Sequence, and the events themselves are known as Causal Events. In this Causal Sequence, as with every causal sequence, one causal event causes the next causal event, and the next causal event is its effect. Hence, P causes Q and Q causes R. U is the effect of T, and T is the effect of S.
We are very familiar with Causal Sequences. If we watch a game of futbol, what we will observe is a sequence of cause-effect events, in which one action taken by one player causes something in the game. Anytime we work on a project, we are producing causal sequences: I do one thing (P), and then do another thing (Q), then another (R), etc., etc.
The relation cause-effect is know as the Causal Relationship. The Causal Relationship imposes a certain kind of order upon the Causal Domain, known as the Causal Order.
As with the Temporal Domain, the important takeaway is the language we have introduced about the Causal Domain, its terms marked in italics.
Fundamental Differences
There are some fundamental differences between the two Domains.
The most apparent difference is that the Causal Domain does not contain timestamps; in the example of the billiard balls, we recorded which ball hits which other ball, but we did not record the time at which that event happened. In fact, the Causal Domain does not contain Time at all.
The second fundamental difference is that the Temporal Domain does not contain Causal Information. If we make a number of observations in the Temporal Domain, we do not necessarily know if some of those observations are causally related. We only know the timestamps at which the observations take place.
The third fundamental difference is this: while the Causal Relationship implies a Temporal Relationship, the other way around does not hold true. What do these two statements mean?
What does it mean that the Causal Relationship imply a Temporal Relationship? Simply this: we know that the Cause always occurs before the Effect, and that the Effect always comes after its Cause. So, if there is a Causal Relationship, then there is a Temporal Relationship.
But the other way around does not work. This means that if there is a Temporal Relationship, if something happens before something else, it does not mean that one is cause of the other. We know that, and we have known that ever since we figured out some things about life in our early youth. We are formalizing the Language a little bit so that we can speak with a bit more rigor as we do our Intelligence Work.
Summary
The Temporal Domain gives us a framework to view the world with respect to Time. Observations made in the Temporal Domain have Timestamps associated with them; they are called Temporal Moments and constitute Temporal Sequences. Before-After constitutes the Temporal Relationship, which orders the Temporal Domain according to Time. The Temporal Relationship does not imply a Causal Relationship. The Temporal Domain does not contain Causal Information about Temporal Moments.
The Causal Domain gives us a framework to view the world with respect to Causality. Observations made in the Causal Domain are known as Causal Events; they are related to each other by the Cause-Effect relation, known as the Causal Relationship. The Causal Relationship imposes an order upon the Causal Domain known as the Causal Order. The Causal Relationship implies a Temporal Relationship. The Causal Domain does not contain Time Information about the Causal Events.