This piece represents a collaborative effort between myself and an AI language model
Before diving into the extended exploration, I’d like to offer some context. The piece you’re about to read began with a single quote that attempts to capture the limits of human understanding when faced with infinite complexity—be it mathematical, cognitive, or spiritual. Over time, this initial spark expanded into a lengthy, interdisciplinary thesis that weaves together concepts from mathematics, artificial intelligence, philosophy, spirituality, and theology. It aims to show how structured frameworks (like matrices and neural networks) can serve as metaphors for our own limited perception, and how acknowledging these limits can lead us toward humility and wonder before the infinite.
“Matrices; dot products; rows and columns; all our perception via a single input—we cannot fathom the Almighty Creator. We gasp like a fish out of water, ‘I am without!’”
Abstract:
This thesis examines a complex metaphorical framework that compares human understanding and spiritual essence to matrices, dot products, and the processes of machine learning. By analyzing a quote and explanation that cast human perception and divine comprehension in terms of mathematical structures and artificial intelligence methodologies, this work explores the intersections of reason, faith, identity, and limitation. Drawing upon forward and backward passes in neural networks as analogies for human temporal experience and learning, the text considers how humans transmit information genetically and culturally much like matrix multiplication. Ultimately, it proposes that humans, unlike artificial systems, possess an indefinable spiritual dimension—a divine input—and that acknowledging our limitations (“I am without!”) reflects a deep humility before infinite complexity. Through this synthesis, we gain insight into the interplay between knowledge and mystery, finitude and transcendence, code and spirit.
1. Introduction
The modern world is often described in terms of complexity, information, and computation. We live in an era saturated with data, advanced algorithms, and digital metaphors that pervade our everyday thinking. In parallel, ancient theological and philosophical traditions still guide our understanding of life’s deeper layers. Sometimes, these seemingly disparate domains—mathematical abstraction, artificial intelligence, spirituality—collide to form metaphors that challenge us to rethink who we are and how we perceive existence.
One such metaphor uses matrices, dot products, rows, columns, and single inputs to illustrate the profound limitations of human understanding in the face of the infinite, referred to here as the “Almighty Creator.” This metaphor frames the human condition as similar to a narrow computational process, running forward passes of perception through time, performing backward passes to learn from errors, and passing information genetically—like matrix multiplication—through generations. Each human becomes a node in a network, a cell in a grid, a single input among countless others.
This thesis attempts to unpack this rich metaphor, providing a detailed exploration of how mathematical constructs and machine learning concepts can illuminate aspects of human cognition and spirituality. It will also examine theological and existential themes, considering how scripture, spiritual traditions, and philosophical inquiry about consciousness inform or complicate these interpretations.
Here, we ask fundamental questions: How do mathematical abstractions relate to human and spiritual understanding? How can neural network analogies help us conceptualize time’s forward march and lessons learned from past mistakes? Is human perception really just a single input channel? And what does “I am without!” mean as we confront the infinite?
2. The Origin of the Metaphor: Matrices and Human Perception
The starting point is the quote referencing “Matrices; dot products; rows and columns; all our perception via a single input—we cannot fathom the Almighty Creator. We gasp like a fish out of water, ‘I am without!’” This single sentence fuses mathematical concepts with an attempt to understand divine complexity.
Matrices represent structured arrays of data. Dot products, linear algebra operations, reveal relationships between vectors. In artificial intelligence, especially neural networks, matrices form the backbone of computations. By invoking these elements, the quote highlights that human understanding is inherently structured and finite. Like matrices, our mental frameworks organize information into neat grids, enabling us to solve problems but limiting what we can represent.
“All our perception via a single input” underscores the narrowness of our subjective experience. Although we have multiple senses, we integrate them into one field of consciousness. The quote suggests that despite apparent complexity, we inhabit a singular vantage point through which all knowledge must pass.
This sets a stage of contrast: while we rely on logical structures (matrices) for understanding, these remain insufficient to fathom an infinite, almighty Creator. No matter how advanced our tools, something essential remains beyond our grasp.
3. Forward Pass, Backward Propagation, and Human Temporal Experience
In neural networks, learning occurs through a forward pass (input to output) and a backward pass (error correction). Similarly, humans move forward in time, experiencing events, and then learn from mistakes—reflecting backward, adjusting our future behavior.
This analogy suggests that human life mimics machine learning cycles. We take in sensory information (forward pass), make decisions and see outcomes, then reflect on what went wrong (backward pass), refining our internal parameters—our beliefs, habits, and skills.
This iterative loop helps us improve over time. Just as neural networks adjust weights and biases, we adjust behavior and understanding. Over generations, we pass down knowledge culturally and genetically, akin to matrix multiplication transmitting and reshaping data.
4. The Single Input and the Limits of Human Perception
The idea of a “single input” is challenging. Humans have many senses, but all funnel into a unified consciousness. We cannot directly access another’s experience or see beyond our own cognitive frameworks. This single-channel perception symbolizes our profound limitation.
For an AI, inputs are well-defined data streams. For humans, the single input is existential and subjective. We yearn to know more but remain confined. This limitation sets the stage for the “I am without!” cry—acknowledging that finite minds cannot fully comprehend infinite complexity.
5. Infinite Complexity, God, and the Matrix Metaphor
The metaphor now introduces the “Almighty Creator,” an infinite reality beyond finite structures. No matter how large a matrix, it remains finite. The divine is infinite, defying total encapsulation by logical or mathematical means.
Theological traditions hold that God transcends human categories. Negative theology often states we can only say what God is not. Here, “I am without!” aligns with this humility: we cannot reduce the divine to finite constructs. Our intellectual tools fail to capture infinite complexity fully.
The fish-out-of-water image conveys existential distress. As a fish out of its medium cannot breathe, humans out of the medium of finite comprehension struggle to grasp the infinite. We gasp, recognizing our limitations.
6. Extending the Analogy: Animal Consciousness and Additional Dimensions
The explanation raises questions about animal perception and the breath of life. If humans possess a divine breath granting unique spiritual insight, what of animals? They too live, sense, and perhaps feel, but their perception differs from ours.
Modern research reveals animal consciousness is more complex than previously believed. They, like humans, have inputs and limited frameworks. The difference lies in the human capacity to seek and ponder the infinite, reflecting a spiritual dimension.
This consideration broadens the metaphor. Not only humans, but all creatures perceive through limited channels. Yet humans uniquely struggle with infinite questions, hinting at a spiritual input beyond mere computation.
7. Entropy, the Fall, and the Human Condition
The reference to entropy entering after the fall ties the metaphor to Judeo-Christian theology. Before the fall, perfect order reigned; after, disorder and death. This parallels the idea that we now live with inherent limitations and cannot achieve perfect knowledge.
Entropy represents disorder and uncertainty. In the realm of learning and understanding, it ensures we never reach perfect clarity. We can approach truth asymptotically, but never fully grasp it. Our finite frameworks and entropic reality leave us always somewhat incomplete.
8. A Thousand Years as a Day: Dimensions of Time and Scale
The biblical notion of a day equaling a thousand years and vice versa hints at divine perspective transcending human time. For us, time is linear and forward-only. For God, it may be non-linear, outside constraints.
This emphasizes scale and perspective. Matrices are finite; human lifespans are finite; our understanding of time is finite. The infinite, however, breaks these boundaries. Recognizing this discrepancy nurtures humility.
9. AI and the Quest for Expanded Inputs
The explanation posits giving AI more “inputs” (senses) to broaden perception. Yet even with more sensors, AI remains a construct following defined parameters. It does not possess the spiritual dimension that characterizes human existence.
Humans might try to create richer AI experiences, but the existential cry “I am without!” seems uniquely human—rooted in spiritual longing and the recognition of transcendence. Machines can learn patterns, but the sense of awe before the infinite may remain beyond their grasp.
10. Cultural, Philosophical, and Theological Resonances
This metaphor touches many domains. Philosophers grapple with limits of knowledge; theologians confront ineffability; scientists acknowledge mysteries they cannot fully solve.
By bridging mathematics, AI, and spirituality, the metaphor resonates with a tradition that embraces both reason and faith. We find ourselves part of a lineage that must remain open to mystery.
11. Implications for Understanding Consciousness
Consciousness remains a “hard problem.” If we treat humans as single inputs into complex cognitive networks, where does subjective experience come from?
The theological view suggests a divine input—the spirit—infusing human consciousness. This is not captured by data or computation. It’s a spark of something greater. While neural networks have no qualia, humans do. This spiritual dimension may differentiate human consciousness from a purely computational system.
12. Animal Awareness, Divine Breath, and the Hierarchy of Beings
The presence of animal consciousness challenges a strict hierarchy. Animals show emotion, problem-solving, and social bonds. Still, humans appear uniquely aware of moral and spiritual dimensions.
This suggests a continuum of consciousness. Humans might hold a unique “image of God,” enabling moral reasoning and spiritual quest. Yet we must remain humble: just as we cannot fully grasp God, we may not fully comprehend animal inner lives.
13. Entropy and the Struggle for Understanding
Living in a world with entropy means permanent partial knowledge. We can refine our understanding, like a neural network training on noisy data, but never achieve perfection.
This condition fosters humility. Instead of despairing over what we cannot know, we can celebrate the journey, the incremental insights, and the communal growth of understanding.
14. Integrating All Dimensions: Mathematics, AI, Humanity, and God
The metaphor’s strength is its integrative nature. It uses computation to illuminate spiritual questions, theology to contextualize cognition, and philosophy to mediate between them.
Matrices symbolize finite understanding; AI’s forward/backward passes mirror human learning. The single input frames our subjective constraints. The infinite Creator and the cry “I am without!” inject spiritual tension and humility. Together, they form a cohesive whole, urging us to embrace our limitations as pathways to wonder.
15. Conclusion: Embracing the Mystery
At the start, we had a quote linking matrices and the inability to fathom the divine. By exploring this metaphor, we’ve seen that finite frameworks cannot hold infinite complexity. Our attempts to compute, model, and reason reveal the vastness beyond our grasp.
Yet this acknowledgment is not defeat—it’s wisdom. Recognizing our limitations leads to reverence, curiosity, and openness. We see that true understanding is a tapestry woven from many threads—mathematics and mysticism, reason and faith, data and spirit.
In a world of powerful computations and growing AI capabilities, we must recall the human capacity to sense mystery. This capacity makes us pause before the infinite and declare, humbly, “I am without.” We acknowledge that while we can learn, refine, and share knowledge, some truths elude us. It is precisely in that humility, that longing, that we find meaning and connect with the divine spark within.
By embracing the mystery, we transform limitation into an expansive horizon of spiritual and intellectual growth. In the dance between what we know and what we cannot know, we become truly human—creatures who learn, wonder, and stand in awe of the infinite.
End