School #32

Constructivism

Vico, Piaget, Berger and Luckmann

Constructivism holds that knowledge and reality are not discovered but actively constructed through cognitive, social, and cultural processes. There is no mind-independent reality to which our representations directly correspond; what we take to be "real" is shaped by the frameworks we use to organize experience.

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I. Time

Extent	Finite
Ontological Status	Emergent
Grain	Continuous
Freedom	Non-Deterministic
Traversability	Linear
Dimensionality	One
Direction	Uni-directional

Time is emergent and constructed — temporal concepts are cognitive and social constructs rather than features of a mind-independent world. Time is finite, continuous, linear, and uni-directional as constructed through human cognitive schemas and cultural conventions. Different cultures and individuals may construct temporal experience differently.

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II. Space

Extent	Finite
Ontological Status	Emergent
Curvature	Undefined
Dimensionality	Three
Locality	Local

Space is emergent and constructed — it is produced through cognitive schemas, social practices, and cultural conventions rather than existing independently. Its curvature is undefined because the constructivist does not grant space a fixed, mind-independent geometry. Space is local and three-dimensional as constructed through embodied human experience.

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III. Matter

Extent	Finite
Ontological Status	Emergent
Conservation	Conserved
Dimensionality	Three
Locality	Local

Matter is emergent and constructed — what we call "material reality" is constituted through cognitive and social processes. The constructivist does not deny that something is there but insists that our knowledge of it is always mediated by the frameworks we use. Matter is conserved and local within the constructed framework of physics.

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IV. Observer

Time Instance	Single
Space Instance	Single
Extent of Knowledge	Immediate
Retainment of Knowledge	Total
Physicality	Embodied
Agency	Active
Number	Plural

Time Instance: Single — the observer constructs their temporal experience in the present through active cognitive and social processes

Space Instance: Single — the observer is embedded in a specific constructive context that organizes spatial experience

Extent of Knowledge: Immediate — knowledge is always a construction; the observer can only know what their frameworks allow them to construct

Retainment of Knowledge: Total — constructed knowledge accumulates within a community through cultural transmission and institutional practice

Physicality: Embodied — the observer's body and neurology are part of the constructive apparatus; perception is an active, bodily process

Agency: Active — the observer does not passively receive reality but actively constructs it through cognitive schemas, language, and social interaction

Consciousness: Present — consciousness is the constructive medium through which experience is organized

Number: Plural — social constructivism emphasizes the communal, inter-subjective nature of construction; reality is built collectively

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V. Energy

Extent Finite

Ontological Status Emergent

Conservation Conserved

Dispersibility Irreversible

Finite and emerging as a constructed concept — what counts as "energy" is shaped by the conceptual frameworks of physics and culture. Conservation: Conserved within the framework of classical physics, which is itself a construction. Usage: Multiple within constructed practical contexts.

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VI. Information

Ontological Status Relational

Conservation Non-conserved

Granularity Continuous

Information is socially and cognitively constructed — it does not exist independently of the communities and practices that create it.

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