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Persona #168

Mani

216–274 CE
Persian prophet; founder of Manichaeism

Cosmic dualism — the eternal war of Light and Darkness, with redemption through gnosis and ascetic separation

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where personas disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid (32 attributes) is shown.

Attribute Mani
Time · Extent Finite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Revelation
Observer · Theological Method Confessional
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each persona's writings reveal about their stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Mani

Linear-eschatological time bracketed by the eternal kingdoms; the present age is the mixed war.

Space

Mani

The cosmos as the battlefield where Light is imprisoned in Darkness.

Matter

Mani

Mixed substantival matter — particles of Light trapped in dark substance.

Observer

Mani

Plural souls (sparks of Light). Personal metaphysical agency: the Father of Greatness, the Mother of Life, the Living Spirit.

Energy

Mani

Light-energy conserved; the goal is its complete liberation.

Information

Mani

Personal-soul Light-particles conserved across deaths and reincarnations.

Internal Tensions

Where each persona's working synthesis strains against itself.

Mani

Manichaean dualism was attacked by Christians (most powerfully by Augustine, a former adherent) as making evil eternal alongside God, and by Zoroastrians as a heretical recombination of their cosmology with foreign elements. The religion was systematically persecuted everywhere it spread and was extinct in the West by ~600 CE and in China by ~1400 CE. The Cathar and Bogomil movements may have been independent revivals.