In the first two posts, we examined Einstein and Haldane through two complementary lenses: ontological assumptions and rhetorical performances. Einstein marveled at the universe’s comprehensibility; Haldane celebrated its queerness. Both reveal different facets of scientific discourse, yet relational ontology shows that beneath their surface astonishment lies a deeper pattern: the co-actualisation of possibility within semiotic-material systems.
1. Beyond Metaphysical Miracles and Excess
Relational ontology reframes the central “mysteries” of these quotes:
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Einstein’s miracle of comprehensibility is not a surprise; it is a precondition. Only what is intelligible can appear as a universe at all.
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Haldane’s queerness beyond conception is not metaphysical surplus; it is relational overflow, emerging at the boundary of a particular system of construal.
In both cases, the universe is not a static entity to be discovered; it is a network of potentialities actualised through relational cuts. The astonishment lies not in the universe, but in the perspective we bring to it.
2. Authority as Relational Performance
The rhetorical power of Einstein and Haldane is inseparable from these relational dynamics:
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Einstein: reverent authority emerges through awe, positioning the speaker as aligned with intelligibility itself.
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Haldane: defiant authority emerges through recognition of systemic limits, positioning the speaker at the edge of conceptual possibility.
Authority, therefore, is not simply about what one knows, but about how one actualises a relational configuration that allows a universe to appear in a certain way. Intelligibility, queerness, and authority co-arise.
3. Science as the Becoming of Possibility
Relational ontology highlights a critical insight: what we call the “universe” is inseparable from the semiotic-material systems that enact it. Science does not merely describe reality—it performs it, stabilising certain phenomena while letting others overflow or remain latent.
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Comprehensibility and queerness are relational phenomena, shaped by the interplay of human conceptual systems, instruments, discourse, and historical context.
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Possibility itself becomes something we can track, see unfolding in the structured actualisations of knowledge and experimentation.
In other words, the “becoming of possibility” is literal: the universe as a network of relational potentials is continuously actualised, staged, and perceived within scientific practice.
4. Lessons for the Relational Lens
Reading Einstein and Haldane relationally teaches us to:
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See phenomena as co-actualisations, not intrinsic properties.
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Recognise rhetorical authority as a performative, relational act.
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Track the edge of possibility, rather than assuming the universe overflows it.
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Appreciate the interplay of cognition, discourse, and material systems in shaping what appears intelligible, strange, or authoritative.
Relational ontology thus transforms our view: the universe is neither a miraculous order waiting to be discovered, nor a chaotic excess beyond human grasp. It is a continually unfolding set of possibilities, enacted, constrained, and revealed by the systems that participate in its emergence.
5. Concluding Thoughts
Einstein’s reverence and Haldane’s defiance are not just memorable lines; they are invitations to reflect on how knowledge, authority, and reality itself are co-constituted. Relational ontology allows us to read these statements not as metaphysical proclamations, but as performances: staging, enacting, and exploring the ever-unfolding landscape of possibility.
In the end, what Einstein and Haldane give us is less a view of the universe than a mirror of our own relational entanglements with it—a reminder that the becoming of possibility is both our task and our inheritance.
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