On Identifying and Solving the Fundamental Problem of Being

This proposal identifies the fundamental problem of being as the non-understanding of how structures of matter operating at different scales contribute to an organism’s ability to act, and of how the brain uses interactions among these structures to maintain its own functioning and that of the organism as a whole. It presents a theoretical framework intended to establish a conceptual basis for understanding this problem and to demonstrate how it functions across different contexts. Its central concepts include products of thought, outcomes of products of thought, tartemins, personal actions, Activity, deflection of boredom, and the network of Activity. Through a set of theoretical and implicational postulates, the proposal examines the relationships among matter, mind, action, and human intellectual functioning. It applies this framework to problems concerning knowledge, logic, free will, personal identity, communication, education, language, psychological functioning, societal organization, the mind-body problem, and the historical development of culture. Its broader aim is to transform the problem of being from a primarily metaphysical question into a functional problem of action and to provide a basis for connecting philosophy, psychology, sociology, politics, history, science, literature, and art within a single conceptual approach.