[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field]
Contents
1. Why the Form
2. Aspects of Jungian psychology
2.1 Duplication of cases
2.2 J.B.Rhine’s experiments
2.3 The I Ching
2.4 The scarab-beetle
2.5 The iceberg model
2.6 Jung-Pauli diagrams
2.7 A table of comparison
3. Aspects of astrology
3.1 Planets as symbols
3.2 An astrological experiment
3.3 Mythology of archetypes
3.4 Relativistic astrology
4. Aspects of modern physics
4.1 Kepler and archetypes
4.2 What is probability?
4.3 Bell’s inequalities
4.4 The wave-function Ψ
4.5 The uncertainty principle
4.6 Quantum entanglement
4.7 The participatory principle
4.8 A fish called ‘Quanta’
5. Aspects of morphogenesis
5.1 Unconscious inference
5.2 The problem of vision
5.3 Perceptual fields
5.4 Morphogenetic fields
5.5 Exo-biological memory
5.6 The vacuum and the collective unconscious
5.7 Formative causation
5.8 The spider archetype
5.9 Human aura
5.10 The ‘weight’ of the human soul
6. Aspects of the Form
6.1 Aspects of archetypes
6.2 Platonic solids
6.3 Aspects of analogy
6.4 Harmony of the world
6.5 Energetic forms
6.6 Planetary spheres
6.7 UFOs
7. Aspects of the soul
7.1 Wheel of emotions
7.2 The face of Medusa
7.3 The meaning of anticipation
7.4 Psychic vectors
7.5 The Vitruvian Man
7.6 The anthropic principle
7.7 The aspect of time
7.8 Synesthesia
8. Aspects of a unified theory
8.1 Infinite loops
8.2 Spontaneous generation
8.3 Psychic black holes
8.4 The fabric of space-time
8.5 The meaning of simultaneity
8.6 The holographic principle
8.7 The mirror
8.8 The human condition
8.9 Free association and psychic simultaneity
9. Aspects of consciousness
9.1 The problem of free will
9.2 Emergence of consciousness
9.3 Principle of analogy
9.4 Backward causality
9.5 Spontaneous symmetry breaking
9.6 Basic notions
9.7 Superception
10. The secret of the golden flower
1. Why the Form?
In modern physics it is assumed that the universe has evolved through purely random processes, from the simplest form of a singularity to the most complex current forms of matter, galaxies, and intelligent human beings. Therefore Descartes’ ‘threaded parts,’ shown in the previous picture, have evolved into electrons, the motions and spins of which is thought to produce the magnetic field. However these motions can be seen as the result of the magnetic field, not the cause. Furthermore it can also be shown that from complete randomness complex forms of high order cannot be derived. Simply put any system cannot sufficiently evolve without some initial conditions. In fact all modern physical and mathematical theories include such pre-conditions or axioms which by themselves disprove the assumption of complete chaos in the beginning of the universe.
- The Singularity is such an axiomatic notion.
The universe therefore is thought to have begun from a state of low entropy (high initial order) on the basis of a set of fundamental properties (mass, charge, temperature, etc.). These properties constitute the initial conditions and are related to field forces and particle interactions by which matter is thought to have become organized into complex forms. However it is this high- order organization which also demands a cause in nature. Behind the properties of matter are hidden mathematical ratios and numbers which imply harmonic relations and symmetries in nature without which the universe could not have come about and evolve. It is according to these ratios of mathematical nature that all things in the universe are generated and follow rules and paths of order and form. It is these standardized procedures which may be related or identified with the archetypes. It is the archetypes which draw the paths or Descartes’ ‘threads’ which form the shape of the magnetic lines.
- However, as we shall see, the Form or the archetype is not made out of proportion, it is made in proportion.
In classical physics elementary particles were considered point-like structures, dimensionless and indistinguishable one from another, without shape or form. This model has been changing, as protons and neutrons have been found to consist of quarks, electrons are regarded to be surrounded by ‘auras,’ or to form ‘electronic clouds’ and structures described by probability functions, while entangled particles are being observed to have the strange property of ‘interacting’ one with the other instantaneously. Such observations have led modern scientists to suspect that the ‘elementary particles’ are truly parts of indivisible and collective processes and entities. In the case of the magnetic field for example it seems that the body of the magnet together with the magnetic lines form an entity which can guide the iron fillings along the way. One might visualize a spider-like archetype corresponding to the picture of the process, with the spider’s limbs composing the magnetic lines, and the spider’s ‘toes’ leaving traces which are observed as ‘electrons’ or, perhaps, ‘magnetons.’ Consequently all the elementary particles may be considered parts of such entities or processes made of pure energy, which in fact can be identified with the archetypes.
- The Form does not consist of ‘atoms’ but it is the atom (=indivisible).
The archetypes may be imagined as extended energetic forms or animated structures made of pure energy, having some internal structure, thus form, and whose whereabouts leave behind traces which we observe as ‘fields’ or ‘particles.’ But how they look like is secondary since geometrical representations are nothing more than abstract visualizations of notions. Archetypes should be considered more like morphemes, ‘probabilistic clouds,’ which take up a given shape at a given time. Not only the shape but also the meaning of morphemes may vary from time to time in relation both to phenomenal physical interactions and background psychic processes. It suffices here to stress the fact that archetypes behave relativistically (also in a psychic sense). They are expressed in relation to an emotion and they operate on the soul affecting its emotional state. The occurring changes however may be manifested also physically, thus become sufficiently predictable.
- By the term ‘extended entity,’ I mean that the Form does have internal structure; therefore the Form is not ‘formless,’ no matter how we perceive it.
Whatever the nature of archetypes may be we will always have to find ways to give shape and names to ideas and notions, and relate such ides to the physical world. The archetypes correspond to such symbolic representations of ‘psychic hyper-structures,’ which may be used as a bridge connecting the ‘psyche’ and the ‘physis.’ The problem with the current physical theories, or even the methods of modern psychology, is that they are focused on the processes without paying any attention to the underlying causes. The true cause which makes things ‘move’ may not be the physical force or the instinctive drive but the underlying structure which makes things ‘feel’ the force. Thus the physical constants may express the proportions of the pattern along which things move. This way we may not only predict the course or the behavior of an object but also understand the notion which made the description possible.
- Initially the title of this essay was ‘Theory of archetypes,’ but I’ve changed it to ‘Theory of the Form,’ because in the process I realized that archetypes are causes related to the Form.
2. Aspects of Jungian psychology
What really distinguishes Carl Jung from perhaps all other psychiatrists is that additionally to studying the causes of behavior he also tried to find out the principles lying behind the causes. Being a successor of Freud’s psychanalytic method, he thought of the unconscious not just as a collection of repressed experiences but more as a pre-existing structure corresponding to arising experiences. Therefore he assumed the existence of the collective unconscious, common to all people, while the individual would pick up some traits from this ‘unconscious potential’ at the time of birth and during his lifetime. Jung regarded the archetypes as the basic structures of the collective unconscious. He went on a step further to assume that there was no fundamental distinction between the world of the psyche and the natural word. Psychic phenomena were somehow directly related to physical phenomena in such a way that psychic states could affect physical objects, and vice- versa, the archetypes being the mediators. He named such processes meaningful coincidences, coming about during a state of reduced consciousness, which helped the archetypes emerge.
2.1 Duplication of cases
Archetypes may have the strange property of duplicating themselves. One of the central axioms of scientific method is reproducibility. A physical phenomenon should be reproducible in nature or in the laboratory at any time under the same conditions. However because of this axiom unique events are excluded. But the problem is that many (if not most of) events are unique. The individual Ego is a unique phenomenon, and each individual is a unique and non-repeatable biological and psychological entity. The uniqueness of life can be extended to all living creatures from the most complex to the simplest ones. Ants for example are in fact individual entities even if we may not be able to distinguish one from another or because we consider them ‘not important.’
- The universe itself is a unique entity.
But if the assumption of reproducibility is extended into the microcosm then one of the pillars of the experimental method will collapse: Are all electrons the same? Pauli’s exclusive principle states that a pair of electrons on the same orbit of an atom must have opposite spins. By having at least one property different these electrons are in fact different. Perhaps it is impossible to find two electrons in the universe with exactly the same set of properties (they will have at least different space-time coordinates). However we may expect that they will behave exactly the same way under the same natural or experimental conditions. Therefore the axiom of reproducibility may refer not to the uniqueness of an entity but to our ability to predict its behavior. In other words reproducibility applies to the underlying principles according to which we may predict how systems transform and evolve. But this is exactly the same as with archetypes. Despite our difficulty in discovering their true nature we may regard them as the common principles which affect and guide human behavior or, more generally, the evolution of physical systems.
What follows is from Jung’s essay ‘On synchronicity,’ originally given as a lecture at the 1951 Eranos conference, in Switzerland, and published in Zurich, 1952. The essay can be found in Jung’s influential book ‘Synchronicity: An acausal connecting principle,’ also in the 8th volume of his ‘Collected works.’
[http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Connecting-Principle-Collected-Extracts/dp/0691150508]
Jung refers to the following example where an event seems to repeat itself in a strange irrelevant way:
“On April 1949, l made a note in the morning of an inscription containing a figure that was half man and half fish. There was fish for lunch. Somebody mentioned the custom of making an ‘April fish’ of someone. In the afternoon, a former patient of mine, whom 1 had not seen for months, showed me some impressive pictures of fish. In the evening, l was shown a pie of embroidery with sea monsters and fishes in it. The next morning, l saw a former patient, who was visiting me for the first time in ten years. She had dreamed of a large fish the night before. A few months later, when I was using this series for larger work and had just finished writing it down, I walked over to a spot by the lake in front of the house, where l had already been several times that morning. This time a fish a foot long lay on the sea-wall. Since no one else was present, I have no idea how the fish could have got there…
When coincidences pile up in this way one cannot help being impressed by them- for the greater the number of terms in such a series, or the more unusual their character, the more improbable they become. For reasons that I have mentioned elsewhere and will not discuss now, I assume that this was a chance grouping. It must be admitted, though, that it is more improbable than mere duplication…”
The strange thing here is not the behavior of a fish but the appearance of a fish either symbolically in dreams or physically. Jung mentions statistics as a way to determine the probability (or improbability) of the event, and he concludes that such events are highly improbable. Also the delayed occurrence of the physical event (the dead fish on the lake) in relation to the psychic content (the thought or the dream about a fish a few months earlier) opens the door to the possibility of foreknowledge:
“Now, the more the foreseen details of an event pile up, the more definite is the impression of an existing foreknowledge, and the more improbable chance becomes…
The sentiment du déjà vu is based, as I have found in a number of cases, on foreknowledge in dreams, but we saw that this foreknowledge can also occur in the waking state. In such cases mere chance becomes highly improbable because the coincidence is known in advance. It thus loses its chance character not only psychologically and subjectively, but objectively too, since the accumulation of details that coincide immeasurably increases the improbability of chance as a determining factor... So in these cases it would be incongruous to speak of ‘chance’ happenings. It is rather a question of meaningful coincidences.”
The phenomenon of déjà vu, despite the fact that it is considered false by modern science (perhaps because of its non- reproducibility), reminds me of the case of a short circuit. Short circuits can be imagined not only as in the case of electrical circuits but also as infinite loops and wormholes. We will talk later on about both of those structures. Here it may suffice to say that in the case of synchronistic phenomena there seems to be a non- local, ‘short-circuit,’ connection between the two states (the psychic content and the physical object) so that the subject may have knowledge of the event before anyone else ‘normally’ could (where ‘normally’ means that information travels not faster than the speed of light). It is not only the surprising non- local character of such phenomena but also the unexpectable relationship between two apparently different things (such as an emotion and an object). But if the ‘fish’ (in Jung’s example) is regarded as the symbolic representation of an archetype which is expressed and incarnated both in a dream feature and in a living being then a connection can be established. Again however it is difficult to find out any laws or ‘forces’ which may guide the process.
2.2 J.B.Rhine’s experiments
Paranormal phenomena such as telepathy and psychokinesis may be related to archetypes. In the case of throwing dice phenomena of telepathy can be considered coincidences between numbers and psychic ‘ratios’ or states. We may consider both the numbers and the psyche either ‘physical objects’ or ‘psychic contents.’ In the case of psychokinesis the power of the soul is activated to move objects. I am aware of the psychokinetic (or telekinetic) experiments involving the Russian medium Nina Kulagina, which can be found on YouTube and which were performed under sufficient scientific conditions. We may say that only a few individuals possess such powers or that all of us through exercise can reach a satisfactory level of psychic abilities. According to the meaning of synchronicity however it is not the psychic power of the individual which causes the phenomenon but the archetype which is activated by the psychic state of the individual. This is why in such cases the individual seems to be in a state of trance.
Jung refers to the famous experiments which were performed by the botanist Joseph Banks Rhine:
“Great credit is due to J. B. Rhine for having established reliable basis for work in the vast field of these phenomena by his experiments in extrasensory perception, or ESP. He used a pack of 25 cards divided into 5 groups of 5, each with its special sign (star, square, circle, cross, two wavy lines). The experiment was carried out as follows. In each series of experiments the pack is laid out 800 times, in such a way that the subject cannot see the cards. He is then asked to guess the cards as they are turned up. The probability of a correct answer is 1 in 5. The result, computed from very high figures, showed an average of 6.5 hits. The probability of a chance deviation of 1.5 amounts to only 1 in 200,000. Some individuals scored more than twice the probable number of hits. On one occasion all 25 cards were guessed correctly, which gives a probability of 1 in 298,023,223- 876,953,125. The spatial distance between experimenter and subject was increased from a few yards to about 4,000 miles, with no effect on the result. A second type of experiment consisted in asking the subject to guess a series of cards that was still to be laid out in the near or more distant future. The time factor was increased from a few minutes to two weeks. The result of these experiments showed a probability of 1 in 400,000.
In a third type of experiment, the subject had to try to influence the fall of mechanically thrown dice by wishing for a certain number. The results of this so called psychokinetic (PK) experiment were the more positive the more dice were used at a time.
The result of the spatial experiment proves with tolerable certainty that the psyche can, to some extent, eliminate the space factor. The time experiment proves that the time factor (at any rate, in the dimension of the future) can become psychically relative. The experiment with dice proves that moving bodies, too, can be influenced psychically- a result that could have been predicted from the psychic relativity of space and time.
The energy postulate shows itself to be inapplicable to the Rhine experiments, and thus rules out all ideas about the transmission of force. Equally, the law of causality does not hold- a fact that I pointed out thirty years ago. For we cannot conceive how a future event could bring about an event in the present. Since for the time being there is no possibility whatever of a causal explanation, we must assume provisionally that improbable accidents of an acausal nature- that is, meaningful coincidences- have entered the picture…”
Firstly we should note the non- local character of such events. The distance between the subject and the object is irrelevant. Also the power of predictability is not time dependent (but perhaps only if the subject gets tired). This is similar to quantum entanglement about which we will talk in more detail later on. Entangled objects seem to interact with each other instantaneously. But such interaction has not to do with information or energy transfer because this would imply speeds faster than light. Therefore it seems that the entangled objects form part of a uniform entity which lies beyond space and time.
Secondly the ability to predict numbers on dice or figures on cards reveals the universal nature of numbers and shapes (or of the entities which we describe by using mathematical ratios and geometrical representations). Therefore the reason why an observer may predict such results is because the corresponding ratios refer both to the observer and to the observed object. In fact both the subject and the object may be regarded as an entangled pair. Changes happening to subject could therefore be instantaneously transferred to the object. It seems that people with psychic abilities are able to predict what the changes will be. However nobody yet knows the laws and principles related to the process.
- In fact the form of the entanglement can be as simple as this: The observer (the subject) and the object (the dice for example) come together in a state of resonance. The psychic state of the subject, which may be related to some ‘vibrations of the soul’ or a certain feeling, becomes thus entangled with a physical state of the object (the dice), which state may be related to some ‘vibrations of the dice’ corresponding to a certain number on the dice. Presumably the corresponding frequencies will have to match. It is also important to note that during the state of entanglement, or ‘meaningful coincidence,’ both the subject and the object become part of the same entity or unity. Therefore they become part of the same ratio within the same structure.
2.3 The I Ching
The I Ching is considered one of the most powerful mantic methods and it is probably the most famous mantic book of Chinese philosophy. It is played with yard sticks or with coins. The results of each throw represent broken or unbroken lines. Each time the coins are thrown six times so that the lines pile up one on top of the other to form a hexagram. There are 64 hexagrams each one corresponding to a certain interpretation.
Tales have a value of 2 and heads a value of 3. Throwing 3 coins gives a total value between 6 and 9. If all coins are either heads or tails the line is considered changing and we pass from the unchanged to the changed hexagram. There is also an interpretation related to changing lines. For more details, see
[http://www.eclecticenergies.com/iching/introduction.php]
The previous site offers the opportunity to virtually throw the coins and offers the interpretation for free. To be honest I threw the coins three times, having three questions in mind each time: The first time, “Will I get rich?” The second time, “Wil I become wise?” And the third time, “Will I get married?” The results I got perfectly matched with what I expected: ‘fortune loss,’ ‘innovation,’ ‘loneliness,’ respectively… I don’t know if this is a coincidence but the random generator on the site certainly didn’t know who I am, and the answers I got were rather unambiguous. Perhaps the 64 possible answers which the hexagrams represent may be related to an equal number of different but basic psychic states (with the changing lines representing the passage from one state to another). The values of the coins could well be binary, 0 and 1, instead of 2 and 3. The number 64 can also be related to 64-bit computer architecture. In the case of computers there are 264 = 1.8*1019 possible configurations of information stored in a 64-bit string. In the case of the I Ching there are, I suppose, (n-1)n/2 possible configurations between the 64 hexagrams (the first with the rest 63, the second with the rest 62, the third with the rest 61, …, therefore 63+62+61+…+1= 2,016 transitions). The number 64 may be incidental as we might consider a different number of elementary psychic states (and the corresponding archetypes) constituting the psyche. But the I Ching does provide a powerful tool as it combines through numbers psychological states and physical events.
As Jung says,
“The I Ching presupposes that there is a synchronistic correspondence between the psychic state of the questioner and the answering hexagram… The result of this method is, incontestably very interesting, but so far as I can see it does not provide any tool for an objective determination of the facts, that is to say a statistical evaluation, since the psychic state in question is much too indefinite and indefinable.”
2.4 The scarab-beetle
A very straightforward example of synchronicity put forward by Jung is the ‘scarab-beetle paradigm:’
“My example concerns a young woman patient who, in spite of efforts made on both sides, proved to be psychologically inaccessible. The difficulty lay in the fact that she always knew better about everything. Her excellent education had provided her with a weapon ideally suited to this purpose, namely a highly polished Cartesian rationalism with an impeccably ''geometrical'' idea of reality. After several fruitless attempts to sweeten her rationalism with a somewhat more human understanding, I had to confine myself to the hope that something unexpected and irrational would turn up, something that would burst the intellectual retort into which she had sealed herself. Well, I was sitting opposite her one day, with my back to the window, listening to her flow of rhetoric. She had had an impressive dream the night before, in which someone had given her a golden scarab- a costly piece of jewelry. While she was still telling me the dream, I heard something behind me gently tapping on the window. I turned round and saw that it was a fairly large flying insect that was knocking against the window-pane from outside in the obvious effort to get into the dark room. This seemed to me very strange. I opened the window immediately and caught the insect in the air as it flew in. It was a scarab- beetle, or common rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), whose gold-green color most nearly resembles that of a golden scarab. I handed the beetle to my patient with the words, ‘Here is your scarab.’ This experience punctured the desired hole in her rationalism and broke the ice of her intellectual resistance. The treatment could now be continued with satisfactory results…”
Besides the therapeutical effect of such an experience, the question again is: Can we replicate the results of such an experiment? For example, can we observe in the laboratory a subject making a beetle appear on the window of the laboratory, while the subject was thinking or dreaming about a beetle? What ‘else’ might attract a beetle, except from light or sweet odors? Is there some kind of unknown ‘field’ which insects perceive and become attracted to? Does such a field take a special form in order to attract a beetle, for example, instead of a honey-bee? Can such a field be produced by the brain or felt by the psyche in a state of contemplation or trance? Can living creatures, belonging to different species, tune in with each other so that a human being and a beetle become mutually attracted?
There is no reason I suppose to rule out such a possibility before questioning the phenomenon which is also supposed to have therapeutical effects. Perhaps each thing or being has its own special ‘frequency,’ something like a psychic signature, so that things or beings can resonate with physical fields of the same frequency. The term ‘field’ may be broadly considered. Fields are vibrations in a medium or even in the vacuum. If the psyche is thought of as another form of medium then how possible is it that we are attracted by the phenomena of the soul in an analogous way that we are attracted by a physical force? We may be ‘attracted’ by a song we listen to as two bodies may feel the force of gravity. But in both cases the reality is the ‘feeling.’ Moreover there is a kind of effect which is imposed on us by something hypothetical, either an acoustic or a gravitational wave. In each case we could measure the intensity of the ‘force’ by measuring either the activity of the brain or the response of a dynamometer. But no matter how we perceive the consequences of an experience or how we interpret the results of an experiment, the resonance between the ‘object’ and the ‘force’ suggests some kind of order similar to that which makes a dog respond to our call. Consequently this kind of order was manifested in Jung’s case, including him, the patient, and the scarab-beetle.
- Instead of making a ‘magic beetle’ appear on a window, modern physics made a ‘Higgs boson’ appear on a screen.
The imperceptibility or improbability is equal in both cases.
2.5 The iceberg model
This is a nice picture representing the hierarchy of the processes of consciousness. The tip of the iceberg is what we realize of what is going on below. The personal unconscious (subconscious) is the individualization of the collective unconscious. The latter is common to everybody. There is a straightforward correspondence between the collective unconscious and the quantum vacuum. All particles can be entangled through the quantum vacuum. Following the same analogy all human souls can be entangled through the collective unconscious. We may say that we are nothing more than a collection (though very unique) of tiny fluctuations in the vacuum, occurring here and there. But this time the vacuum is not only ‘quantum’ but also ‘psychic.’ Its properties organize not only matter but also intelligence. Therefore apart from the physical properties such as mass, charge, temperature, etc., there can be ‘psychic’ properties to which we may give names such as strangeness, charm, curiosity, ambition, freedom, independence, etc. The first three of these names have already been given to quarks. Thus ‘quantum- mechanics’ is already transforming into ‘psycho- mechanics.’
2.6 Jung-Pauli diagrams
The previous picture is taken from the book ‘Atom and the Archetype,’ which contains letters of the correspondence between Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung.
[http://www.amazon.com/Atom-Archetype-Pauli-Letters-1932-1958/dp/069116147X]
The same book includes an unpublished essay written by Pauli, ‘Modern examples of background physics.’ Pauli compares the duplication effect which we previously mentioned (events having the tendency to reproduce themselves as soon as they appear) with what happens in optics.
The D- line in the previous picture is that of the sodium atom. The spectral lines are produced as the atoms absorb and reemit energy in the form of photons with certain frequencies. The spectral lines are a sort of identity for each chemical element. Double lines (doublets) are produced when two states of the atom are involved in a single excitation, and they are described by quantum mechanics. Isotope separation is similar although in this case the lines correspond to the different masses of the nucleus (isotopes have the same number of electrons but different number of neutrons).
Events or objects seem to behave like ‘units’ having the property to appear and split spontaneously or to travel in space and time instantaneously. In the case of Jung’s aforementioned example with the fish, it is some archetype behaving like an independent unit taking in this case the shape of a fish, causing ‘meaningful’ events, or making ‘images’ with similar content appear. In Pauli’s case atoms behave like units or parts of units which have the property of spontaneous fission. Radioactivity is another example which Pauli mentions. For more concerning archetypes as units, see:
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/283480762/The-Number-and-Its-Symbols]
Pauli wonders if the separation of the spectral lines is a physical or a psychic event. What is the role of observation or of consciousness in the whole procedure? Pauli gives the example of astral projection- the experience which many people have of themselves being projected out of the body in such a way that they feel like floating in space while in some cases and at the same time they are able to watch themselves lying on the bed. Pauli makes a hint that somehow the unconscious mind or the psyche makes the projection and that somehow this projection returns in the form of a conscious event. Therefore our natural body could be seen as the projection or ‘incarnation’ on the physical level of the ‘ethereal’ or spiritual body which lives on the psychic level.
Pauli concludes that,
“In summary, we can interpret the material given as follows: The unconscious spontaneously executes a projection of the one complementary pair of opposites onto the other, with the energy level or the mass number on the one side symbolically corresponding to the level of consciousness on the other.”
The problem however is that the projections are both virtual. The image created by the unconscious is virtual but the image perceived by the conscious is also virtual. The first one can be found in ‘hyperspace’ while the second one can be found in the mind. And the following question arises: Are ‘physical’ objects real? Is the chair really out there? The most convincing answer one might give is the following one- it is a matter of interpretation. The chair we sit on may not be found inside us but whatever we think or feel about the chair is in fact perceptions lying inside us. Therefore there is no absolute ‘chair’ or absolute ‘us’ but both we and the chair form a pair of things somehow related to each other. What truly exists is this Unity and the archetypes which form its basic structure.
- What Pauli implies here is a Projection: The Projection brings about the undifferentiated Form. Then the Form splits in half; one half becomes ‘real’ while the other half remains ‘virtual’ and becomes ‘repressed.’ The process is similar to virtual pairs of particles in modern physics.
Therefore archetypes are truly relativistic. They don’t exist per se (by themselves) but in relation to the observer. Another relativistic property of archetypes is that they defy space and time. Perhaps they could be considered responsible for the creation of space-time, according to the needs of the processes involved. For example an archetype related to patience could make time slow down while an archetype related to eagerness could make time move faster. No matter how we may measure psychological time, we already know that physical time is relative. Therefore it is really hard to find any absolute measure of time henceforth. Accordingly there seems to be no point defining an object in space without the action of observation or without the effects the object produces on space by its mere presence. The dividing line between causality and synchronicity is I guess the distinction between the processes which took place in the background (the pre-established structures of the phenomenon) and the processes in focus (receiving the information and making assumptions).
- Even if we regard observation as the causal agent in the universe, the Universe- at the same time- becomes the Form which presupposes the existence of the observer. Thus the relativity of simultaneity.
2.7 A table of comparison
Jung makes a final remark,
“All the phenomena I have mentioned can be grouped under three categories:
1) The coincidence of a psychic state in the observer with a simultaneous, objective, external event that corresponds to the psychic state or content (e.g., the scarab), where there is no evidence of a causal connection between the psychic state and the external event, and where, considering the psychic relativity of space and time, such a connection is not even conceivable.
2) The coincidence of a psychic state with a corresponding (more or less simultaneous) external event taking place outside the observer’s field of perception, i.e., at a distance, and only verifiable afterward (e.g., the Stockholm fire).
3) The coincidence of a psychic state with a corresponding, not yet existent future event that is distant in time and can likewise only be verified afterward.
In groups 2 and 3 the coinciding events are not yet present in the observer’s field of perception, but have been anticipated in time in so far as they can only be verified afterward. For this reason I call such events synchronistic, which is not to be confused with synchronous…
Synchronistic phenomena prove the simultaneous occurrence of meaningful equivalences in heterogeneous, causally unrelated processes; in other words, they prove that a content perceived by an observer can, at the same time, be represented by an outside event, without any causal connection. From this it follows either that the psyche cannot be localized in space, or that space is relative to the psyche. The same applies to the temporal determination of the psyche and the psychic relativity of time. I do not need to emphasize that the verification of these findings must have far-reaching consequences.”
We may draw a first conclusion here, that
- Archetypes are for the soul what atoms are for matter.
But morphogenesis may be considered a purely psychic process. Atoms constitute the building blocks of matter but the shape matter takes may be controlled by archetypes. (We will talk later on about the theory of morphogenetic fields).
- Archetypes are the building blocks of the psyche.
Their form and order are perceived by dreams and foresights, and archetypes are expressed through feelings.
- Properties of matter are also psychic properties.
Ideas, archetypes, and properties of matter are of the same essential nature as they differ mostly in definition. We may say that archetypes are perceived by the intellect, felt by the psyche, and tested in material processes.
- All natural phenomena are non-local.
They stem from spontaneous processes but they are retrospectively considered.
Finally I made the following table of comparison:
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Physics
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Psychics
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Physical properties
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Psychic contents
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Wave-functions of atoms
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Mandalas
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Mathematical operators
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Archetypes
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Mathematical proofs
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Intuition
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Quantification
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Qualification
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Logical deduction
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Free association
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Predictability
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Foresight
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Observation
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Psychanalysis
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Thought experiment
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Contemplation
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Natural forces
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Psychic powers
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Reproducibility
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Uniqueness
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Relativity
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Psychic relativity
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(Non-) locality
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Synchronicity
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The vacuum
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The collective unconscious
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Quantum entanglement
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(Meaningful) coincidence
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Quantum teleportation
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Telekinesis
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Quantum mechanics
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(Quantum) psychomechanics*
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*perhaps to be founded soon!
3. Aspects of astrology
For some astrology may be nothing more than a pseudoscience. However the history of astrology goes back to the beginning of civilization. Is astrology something more than ‘primitive astronomy?’ Although in modern physics planetary aspects are only related to physical forces such as gravity, in ancient cultures (e.g. Egyptians, Aztecs, Chinese, etc.) the influence of planets was considered both astronomically and astrologically. One may say that any coincidences with respect to planetary aspects can be attributed to the fact that all celestial bodies obey the same physical laws. But how could the physical laws be related to human psychology with respect to the planets? For example we still don’t know if and how the moon affects us and the earth apart from causing the tides. What could really be the cause of some mysterious and elusive influences of the moon other than those due to gravity? Is it the bright huge lunar disk of the full moon which lights up our faces and stimulates our bodies? Or is it just the effect of our own predispositions and superstitions? But how come such predispositions exist if there isn’t any underlying cause giving rise to them? How come myths about the planets and the stars exist without any piece of truth to the core? It is perhaps this piece of truth which astrology has to rediscover in a modern scientific context.
3.1 Planets as symbols
Since any possible psychic effect of the planets will not be due to physical forces, it is straightforward to suggest that,
- In astrology planets represent (or should represent) symbols instead of physical objects.
Therefore the power they exert is ‘metaphysical’ not physical. The astrological signs at the moment of birth, even if they correspond to the physical positions of the respective planets, need to be symbolically interpreted in astrology so that they may reveal the path of life one will follow. This does not mean that one’s life is absolutely determined by the planetary aspects at the time of birth, but that those aspects express some initial conditions which are relevant to one’s character and predispose events which will occur during one’s lifetime. In such a sense planets and astrological signs in general represent symbols which correspond to psychic activities (life, death, luck, accident, marriage, wealth, knowledge, etc.)
Some people may say that astrology has been surpassed by astronomy, but such a claim is certainly false. Modern physics may predict the orbits of celestial objects but has nothing to say about the path of life a person will follow. It may estimate the lifespan of stars but not that of human beings. It may describe the colors as frequencies of vibrating electromagnetic radiation but not as an experience of the human psyche.
Perhaps 500 years from now people of that time will look back and consider our ‘modern’ time as another Middle Age, having offered a great variety of scientific applications but nothing unique with respect to spirituality or to the true meaning and purpose of human beings living in harmony with themselves, with all other beings, and with the universe. On one hand, modern science has become too mechanistic, while, on the other hand, the sciences of the soul, such as astrology, have been ignored. - Before we find the great unified theory, we must first find the cause to unify us.
Such a unifying cause is what all ‘theories of everything’ are searching for. In that sense planets and generally celestial objects should be fundamentally treated as symbols corresponding to archetypes guiding from above the everyday processes. In other words planets and stars as physical gravitating bodies orbiting one another should be understood as one manifestation among many of the archetype. Planets as astrological symbols exerting forces on the human psyche is another manifestation. Planets and constellations corresponding to myths about gods and heroes is another way to express the meaning or to describe the paths of human destiny. Representations of celestial objects either as astrological signs, quantities of matter, or deities, all are different manifestations of the archetypes of the universal psyche, projected to the psyche of the individual, influencing our daily actions and prescribing our lives.
3.2 An astrological experiment
Jung made an experiment based on horoscopes in order to find out any possible correlation between marriages and certain astrological aspects,
“We are in a somewhat more favorable situation when we turn to the astrological method, as it presupposes a meaningful coincidence of planetary aspects and positions with the character or the existing psychic state of the questioner. In the light of the most recent astrophysical research, astrological correspondence is probably not a matter of synchronicity but, very largely of a causal relationship. As professor Max Knoll has demonstrated the solar proton radiation is influenced to such a degree by planetary conjunctions, oppositions, and quartile aspects that the appearance of magnetic storms can be predicted with a fair amount of probability. Relationships can be established between the curve of the earth's magnetic disturbances and the mortality rate that confirm the unfavorable influence of conjunctions, oppositions, and quartile aspects and the favorable influence of trine and sextile aspects. So it is probably a question here of a causal relationship, i.e., of a natural law that excludes synchronicity or restricts it. At the same time, the zodiacal qualification of the houses, which plays a large part in the horoscope, creates a complication in that the astrological zodiac, although agreeing with the calendar, does not coincide with the actual constellations themselves. These have shifted their positions by almost a whole platonic month as a result of the precession of the equinoxes since the time when the spring- point was in zero Aries, about the beginning of our era. Therefore, anyone born in Aries today (according to the calendar) is actually born in Pisces. It is simply that his birth took place at a time which, for approximately 2000 years, has been called ‘Aries’. Astrology presupposes that this time has a determining quality. It is possible that this quality, like the disturbances in the earth's magnetic field, is connected with the seasonal fluctuations to which solar proton radiation is subject. It is therefore not beyond the realm of possibility that the zodiacal positions may also represent a causal factor.
Although the psychological interpretation of horoscopes is still a very uncertain matter, there is nevertheless some prospect today of a causal explanation in conformity with natural law. Consequently, we are no longer justified in describing astrology as a mantic method. Astrology is in the process of becoming a science. But as there are still large areas of uncertainty, l decided some time ago to make a test and find out how far an accepted astrological tradition would stand up to statistical investigation. For this purpose it was necessary to select a definite and indisputable fact. My choice fell on marriage. Since antiquity, the traditional belief in regard to marriage has been that there is a conjunction of sun and moon in the horoscope of the marriage partners, that is, ☉ (sun) with an orbit of 8 degrees in the case of one partner, in ☌ (conjunction) with ☽ (moon) in the case of the other. A second, equally old, tradition takes ☽ ☌ ☽ as another marriage characteristic. Of like importance are the conjunctions of the ascendant (Asc.) with the large luminaries. Together with my co-worker, Mrs. Liliane Frey-Rohn, I first proceeded to collect 180 marriages, that is to say, 360 horoscopes, and compared the 50 most important aspects that might possibly be characteristic of marriage, namely the conjunctions and oppositions of ☉, ☽, ♂ (Mars), ♀ (Venus), Asc., and Descendant. This resulted in a maximum of 10 per cent for ☉ ☌ ☽. As Professor Markus Fierz, of Basel, who kindly went to the trouble of computing the probability of my result, informed me, my figure has a probability of 1: 10,000. The opinion of several mathematical physicists whom I consulted about the significance of this figure is divided: some find it considerable, others find it of questionable value. Our figure is inconclusive inasmuch as a total of 360 horoscopes is far too small from a statistical point of view.
While the aspects of these 180 marriages were being worked out statistically, our collection was enlarged, and when we had collected 220 more marriages this batch was subjected to separate investigation. As on the first occasion, the material was evaluated just as it came in. It was not selected from any special point of view and was drawn from the most varied sources. Evaluation of this second batch yielded a maximum figure of 10.9 per cent for ☽ ☌ ☽. The probability of this figure is also about 1: 10,000.
Finally, 83 more marriages arrived, and these in turn were investigated separately. The result was a maximum figure of 9.6 per cent for ☽ ☌ Asc. The probability of this figure is approximately 1: 3,000.
One is immediately struck by the fact that the conjunctions are all moon conjunctions, which is in accord with astrological expectations. But the strange thing is that what has turned up here is the three basic positions of the horoscope, ☉, ☽ and Asc. The probability of a concurrence of ☉ ☌ ☽ and ☽ ☌ ☽ amounts to 1: 100,000,000. The concurrence of the three moon conjunctions with ☉, ☽, Asc. has a probability of 1: 3x10^11; In other words, the improbability of its being due to mere chance is so enormous that we are forced to take into account the existence of some factor responsible for it. The three batches were so small that little or no theoretical significance can be attached to the individual probabilities of 1: 10,000 and 1: 3,000. Their concurrence, however, is so improbable that one cannot help assuming the existence of an impelling factor that produced this result.
The possibility of there being a scientifically valid connection between astrological data and proton radiation cannot be held responsible for this, since the individual probabilities of 1: 10,000 and 1: 3,000 are too great for us to be able, with any degree of certainty, to view our result as other than mere chance. Besides, the maxima cancel each other out as soon as one divides up the marriages into a larger number of batches. It would require hundreds of thousands of marriage horoscopes to establish the statistical regularity of occurrences like the ☉, ☽, and Asc. conjunctions, and even then the result would be questionable. That anything so improbable as the turning up of the three classical moon conjunctions should occur at all, however, can only be explained either as the result of an intentional or unintentional fraud, or else as precisely such a meaningful coincidence, that is, as synchronicity.
Although I was obliged to express doubt, earlier, about the mantic character of astrology, Ι am now forced as a result of my astrological experiment to recognize it again. The chance arrangement of the marriage horoscopes, which were simply piled on top of one another as they came in from the most diverse sources, and the equally fortuitous way they were divided into three unequal batches, suited the sanguine expectations of the research workers and produced an over-all picture that could scarcely have been improved upon from the standpoint of the astrological hypothesis. The success of the experiment is entirely in accord with Rhine’s ESP results, which were also favorably affected by expectation, hope, and faith. However, there was no definite expectation of any one result. Our selection of 50 aspects is proof of this. After we got the result of the first batch, a slight expectation did exist that the ☉ ☌ ☽ would be confirmed. But we were disappointed. The second time, we made up a larger batch from the newly added horoscopes in order to increase the element of certainty. But the result was ☽ ☌ ☽. With the third batch, there was only a faint expectation that ☽ ☌ ☽ would be confirmed, but again this was not the case.”
What is interesting in the previous experiment is the fact that the ☉ ☌ ☽, ☽ ☌ ☽, and ☽ ☌ Asc. combinations occurred in about 10% of the married couples (which is far beyond mere chance), but in three different experiments. In order words in each next experiment another combination was pronounced. It is as if in an experiment with flipping a coin, the first time we took 10% more heads, while the second time we took 10% more tails (in this case the probability is 1:2, either heads or tails, rather than 1:10,000 or 1:3,000 in Jung’s case). Was it just the small sample which Jung used or did his expectations somehow influenced the experiment? Certainly in order to have any satisfactory result we would need a much larger sample, from all around the world, analyzed objectively by a computer. I am not aware if such an experiment has ever been made, but marriage is highly biased by itself. People are getting married both because of physical attraction and social reasons. I am not sure how anyone could eliminate this causal factor in such an experiment.
I’ll now make an effort to delve a little deeper into the field of statistics, which is indeed a very strange science. For example nobody knows what probability really is. In the case of a weather forecast a storm with probability 40% means that it will rain 40 out of 100 days with similar weather conditions. In the case of physics the probability of finding a photon at some place is related to the intensity of the light. This is its expectation value (the average position), and let’s dare assuming that the value is determined not only by statistical expectation but also by the expectation of the observer. Perhaps this is what truly happened in Jung’s experiments, also what takes place in experiments where, for example, the result after tossing a coin is other than 50% (assuming that there is a fair coin and that there are many throws). Another possible explanation is that statistical sets are by nature inhomogeneous. By this I mean that, in the example of tossing a coin, the true probabilities are never 50-50. The reason for inhomogeneity could be the influence of the subject who tosses the coin, or simply the impossibility of having an objective flipping of an absolutely fair coin. As a matter of fact the ultimate determining factor of any sort of anomaly could be the fabric of space-time itself. Nevertheless I am not aware how such factors could be incorporated in the calculations. How for example could we add in a mathematical formula the observer as another independent variable, together with position, momentum, time, etc.?
Jung also refers to solar proton radiation influencing the atmosphere but this has nothing to do with the stars as signs. If there is any astrological influence of the sun, this certainly won’t be found in classical material fields. It would have to do with the (meaningful) coincidence between the sun being at a certain position in the zodiac and a person being born at the same position. But I really ignore the nature of the archetype involved, how the coincidence could take place, and what the effects could be.
- The point is that the magnetic storms caused by solar proton radiation, which Jung’s refers to, do not cause the increase in mortality rates (in the same sense that it is not the full moon which causes an increase in the number of accidents), but that both phenomena may be connected to a common factor (which causes both events), whose frequency of occurrence can be measured by changes in planetary aspects. The planetary aspects themselves are symbolic representations of the form of that factor (not what causes the magnetic storms and the deaths), which does not change with precession, even if the positions of the constellations change.
3.3 Mythology of archetypes
One of the best ways to approach archetypes is mythology. Myths are related to fictional stories which describe the human experience about the origins of the world, the meaning of life, and the functions of the human soul, as the experience is brought about through fantasies, dreams and visions. Thus, there are creation myths, divinization myths, and myths describing psychic complexes.
- It is interesting to note that primitive man lived in a world of fantasy, governed by instincts and superstition. The step forward was made when the fantasies began to be rationalized, as more and more wonders have been made possible by modern technology. Therefore we may say that myth describes the process by which the imaginary world becomes real.
An example of a creation myth is the story of the Greek Titan Cronus. According to Wikipedia, in an ancient myth recorded by Hesiod’s Theogony, Cronus envied the power of his father, the ruler of the universe, Uranus. Uranus drew the enmity of Cronus’ mother, Gaia, when he hid the gigantic youngest children of Gaia, the hundred-handed Hecatonchires and one-eyed Cyclopes in the Tartarus, so that they would not see the light. Gaia created a great stone sickle and persuaded Conus to castrate Uranus. When Uranus met with Gaia, Cronus attacked him with the sickle, castrating him and casting his testicles into the sea. From the blood that spilled out from Uranus and fell upon the earth, the Gigantes, Erinyes, and Meliae were produced. The testicles produced a white foam from which the goddess Aphrodite emerged.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronus]
This is certainly a creation myth (Theogony means birth of the Gods) and it is interesting to make the comparison between the Hecatonchires and galaxies, or between the Cyclops and black holes. But the point is that such a comparison presupposes the observation of galaxies and the discovery of black holes, therefore it is just one possible representation among many of the ‘creation archetype’ (through which the eternal celestial process is materialized). Cronus was later identified by the Romans with the god Saturn, who can be also identified with the homonymous planet (Cronos is still the name of the planet in Modern Greek). Therefore the myth reveals a possible connection between a celestial object (the planet) and an emotional state (the jealousy of Gaia). But, of course, it is not the planet which causes jealousy; instead both are descriptions or aspects of the same symbol.
An example of a divinization myth is the story of the Dioscouri (sons of Zeus), or Gemini. It is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux. According to Wikipedia, Pollux was divine (a son of Zeus), while Castor was mortal (the son of a king). When Castor died, because he was mortal, Pollux begged his father Zeus to give Castor immortality, and Zeus did so by uniting them together in the heavens.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_%28constellation%29#Mythology]
The story is interesting because it relates the two opposite aspects of human nature, the mortal and the divine. We may say that all of us have a divine counterpart, our own celestial brother, who we will join after death in the sky. The myth is analogous to the belief in reincarnation, according to which the soul leaves the mortal body after death and rejoins the ‘ethereal’ body. Therefore the myth reveals the corresponding ‘divinization’ archetype and the processes by which the soul seeks perfection.
Another familiar category of myths has to do with the everlasting aspects of human behavior in relation to our most loved ones. Such relationships have been immortalized in Greek tragedies and they have also been identified with basic patterns of behavior (complexes) by Jung and Freud. We may mention the complexes of Oedipus (between son and mother), of Electra (between daughter and father), of Jocasta (between mother and son), of Phaedra (between stepmother and stepson), of Antigone (the daughter’s devotion to her father), of Clytemnestra (between wife and husband), etc. Such stories include elements of the human character and behavior which are common to all people throughout the ages. These patterns of hidden sexual desire bring to my mind the physical property of charge, either electric, gravitational (mass) or color charge, which causes mutual attraction (or repulsion). Of course particles don’t fall in love. But the point is that there must be some hidden quality which is expressed either as a property of particles or as desire of the soul. Perhaps the notions of the anima and the animus, about which we will talk later on, are the closest we can get to an archetype which attributes the property of attraction to all physical objects, and to all living beings.
It is important to realize that what is found in the heavens or in the microscopic world can also be found inside us affecting the soul. The name we give to causes may differ, we may call the cause, for example, either ‘charge,’ ‘anima,’ or ‘Sympathy,’ but the point is that the quality is constant. Knowledge however in the form of wisdom comes about in successive layers of assumptions and deductions based on experience. An interesting example can be given by the two previous pictures concerning the famous Egyptian ‘helicopter hieroglyph.’ In fact the two pictures are the same but from two different periods. In the second picture some symbols were added over the earlier ones in the first picture, and the final outcome was further distorted by the effects of erosion. Therefore one may see a ‘bow’ instead of a ‘helicopter,’ a ‘hand’ instead of a ‘submarine,’ an ‘eye’ instead of an ‘airplane,’ and so on. It is the superposition of symbols in time which creates the final effect. But it is also interesting to note that if we break down such a superposition into its fundamental symbols or elements we may end up with some fundamental structures related to the form of archetypes. Therefore it is not a ‘helicopter’ what we see but a combination of some elementary symbols which may take many different shapes. If we are able to identify such basic symbols or archetypes it would be apparently easier to explain ‘sightings’ such as ghosts, visions of saints, flying saucers, and so forth.
I have drawn the previous diagram which shows a possible relationship between myths and archetypes. Myths reveal the universal patterns of behavior, from immortal heroes to mortal human beings, while the astrological interpretation offers an analogy between the aspects of the human character and the constellations which the heroes belong to. Therefore there can a simple straightforward correspondence between the structure of the heavens and the structure of the soul, and some myth to bridge the gap inbetween. I am still trying to grasp the idea that such correspondence is indirect, acausal, or non-local, as we may say. In other words it is not the celestial object what causes the effect on the human soul but the archetype or some principle which connects and affects both the stars and the soul. In fact the words ‘archetype’ and ‘principle’ are synonyms (archetype means ‘Principle Form’) so that archetypes are (or are related to) ‘the principal forms.’ But the true ‘Form’ of such ‘forms’ remains elusive. Perhaps the Forms (in the sense of Ideas) can be seen as collective entities including various ‘things,’ ‘faces,’ or ‘events,’ according to which tangible objects, living persons, and natural phenomena take shape and evolve. Therefore in order to find a complete theory including both the manifestations of matter and those of the soul we need a description which explains not only why planets ‘gravitate’ but also why souls ‘sympathize’ each other- what is the principle which connects or produces both gravity and love. Possibly this will be a theory of Consciousness.
3.4 Relativistic astrology
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_modern_constellations]
Ptolemy had identified 48 constellations. Today the number of constellations has reached 88, including previous uncharted territories of the sky. There has been some recent talk about the constellation of Ophiuchus and that perhaps it should be considered the 13th astrological sign. Furthermore I’ve heard astrologists saying or wishing that the planets should have been 12 so that each sign would correspond to one planet. Probably some of those astrologists will be still waiting for the discovery of some ‘hidden’ planets to fill the gap. But of course this is not the point. One could equally increase the number of signs by adding constellations above and below the ecliptic. For example we might use 24 constellations instead of 12, with each sign changing every 15 days instead of 30 days (in such a case there would have been 12 more constellations across the ecliptic); or we could add signs related to constellations away from the ecliptic, or related to the fixed stars. Therefore there is nothing magical about the number per se. What is more significant is the nature of identification we make between planets and behavior or the relative proportions we attribute to numbers and symbols. However the product of the ratio (the archetype) should be constant.
For the moment we may summarize some conclusions as follows:
- Planets exert only physical forces.
- Planets in astrology are signs.
- The signs have psychological powers.
- The psychological power can be related to the effect of archetypes.
- Archetypes may connect physical forces and psychological powers under the same principle.
- By studying such a connection we understand our own connection with the universe.
I was wondering what would happen if we were born in another solar system without a moon or with a different number of planets. We could have even been born on a space station or on a spaceship in deep space far away from any ‘planetary influences.’ What would then be the ‘influence of the heavens’ on our souls according to astrology? We could still divide the sky into 12 sectors (there would be no ecliptic in this case) naming them according to patterns which we would see in the sky; but if we were moving fast in space the constellations would change.
We see therefore that what matters is not the influence of the skies but the effects of the suggestions we make. We have chosen to arbitrarily divide the human character into 12 different (thought of as elementary) aspects, identifying these aspects with celestial objects and stories from mythology. By reduction we may attribute the different influences exerted on our souls to divisions of space-time itself. We may just split space-time in 12 parts giving each part a name (‘Aries,’ ‘Hera,’ ‘1st sector,’ ‘House of freedom,’ etc.) and end up with the same astrological results. However we would still have to face the following question:
- Even on the basis of a completely undifferentiated landscape of space-time, what is it that affects the suggestions we make?
What could be the deeper connection between the nature of space-time and the aspects of the human character? In relativity space-time can be bent by objects and fields. Gravity is the force we feel because the Earth curves space-time. But the cause of the action which produces the curvature of space-time is not of material nature. It is conceived as a property of things (mass) and its effects can be felt as a force- it can be measured as a field; it can be seen as a planet; it can be perceived as an archetype- but it is neither; or perhaps it is all the above. What is missing from the previous description is not what makes things perceivable but what creates the ability to be perceived. Thus in some sense we may say that
- The Face of the Form attracts us.
Presumably the outlook and probably the discovery of a ‘psychic coefficient’ to ‘physical gravity’ will bring about the unification of two different aspects of human experience; what is felt as ‘weight,’ and what is felt as ‘love.’ One may think that these two aspects are irrelevant to each other but the basic idea is more or less the same: we always move towards what attracts us. This basic ‘order’ is written in a universal language and fills the universe. This is why I believe that the deepest aspect behind and beyond both notions (that of attraction as gravity and that of attraction as ‘Sympathy’) has to do with Consciousness. By this I don’t mean the way we perceive things but why we perceive them. We may say that there is no meaning talking about ‘gravity’ if at the same time we have no feeling of ‘weight’ or if we have no idea about love. But Consciousness I believe is best understood as the unifying factor of all these aspects. By this again I mean not the collective unconscious but a form of Collective Consciousness of which we are all part. Perhaps Mach’s principle (‘mass there causes inertia here’) is one of the best proofs about the existence of such a Universal Consciousness. In such a sense we could say that,
- Sympathy there causes attraction here.’
4. Aspects of modern physics
Modern physics is no less non-deterministic than the realm of fantasies and of archetypes. Although modern physics seems to have broken away from astrology and alchemy, its basis can still be found in the realm of the fantastic entities which compose the world. Particles are described as probabilistic wave-functions which themselves may be considered real entities according to some interpretations of quantum mechanics. While probabilities are not treated as a physical field particles seem to know beforehand the paths they have to follow. Thus the distribution of physical entities becomes a uniform entity whose parts are operating in unison while they are instantaneously interacting at a distance. The result is that the distribution or entity cannot be localized at a particular point in space and time without losing the whole picture of the entity. But all these entities and processes which constitute the physical phenomena cannot be realized without the observer who considers the phenomena. Therefore it makes sense to say that thought or consciousness are aspects which emerge together with the phenomena and build up during the physical processes.
4.1 Kepler and archetypes
Another essay by Wolfgang Pauli, which was also given as a lecture in 1948 at the Psychological Club of Zurich, and which can also be found in the aforementioned book ‘Atom and the archetype,’ is titled ‘The influence of archetypal ideas in the scientific theories of Kepler.
In that essay Pauli wonders about the relationship between objects and the theories of physics which describe the same objects. Presumably the notions related to the objects should correspond to the properties of the same objects only if there are some common factors which bridge the gap between perception and the real world. These common factors are the archetypes:
“In contrast to the purely empirical conception according to which natural laws can, with virtual certainty, be derived from the material of experience alone, many physicists have recently emphasized anew the fact that intuition and the direction of attention play a considerable role in the development of the concepts and ideas, generally far transcending mere experience, that are necessary for the erection of a system of natural laws (that is, a scientific theory). From the standpoint of this not purely empirical conception, which we also accept, there arises the question, what is the nature of the bridge between the sense perceptions and the concepts? It seems most satisfactory to introduce at this point the postulate of a cosmic order independent of our choice and distinct from the world of phenomena. Whether one speaks of the ‘participation of natural things in ideas’ or of a behavior of metaphysical things-those, that is, which are in themselves real, the relation between sense perception and idea remains predicated upon the fact that both the soul of the perceiver and that which is recognized by perception are subject to an order thought to be objective. Every partial recognition of this order in nature leads to the formulation of statements that, on the one hand, concern the world of phenomena and, on the other transcend it by the ‘idealized’ use of general logical concepts. The process of understanding nature as well as the happiness that man feels in understanding- that is, in the conscious realization or new knowledge- seems thus to be based on a correspondence, a ‘matching’ of inner images pre-existent in the human psyche with external objects and their behavior.”
The point made here is that we are able to perceive and understand the world because both physical objects and human perception are built upon the same principles. This may seem self-evident but it has deep implications as it is opposed to the interpretation of modern physics about the meaning of chance. In optics for example visual perception of an object is a collection of ‘bright spots’ on the retina, created by a random bombardment of light particles, hitting the object and coming back to our eyes. But if our eyes weren’t somehow tuned in with the light frequencies we wouldn’t be able to perceive anything. Not only we are fine- tuned with the light frequencies but also with all other forces which make up matter and energy as we know it. This cannot be due to mere chance unless we are composed of the same material as any other object. But if the mechanical properties of objects correspond to some inherent physical principles then the psychic properties or contents (perception of objects) may correspond to some pre-established inner images or archetypes.
Kepler was perhaps the last of the ‘magicians- mathematicians,’ who lived during a period when the world was passing from alchemy to modern science. Although he deeply believed that planetary orbits were somehow guided by the shapes of the Platonic solids he finally stated his laws based on simple observation. We may say that the deepest aspects of universal harmony are so well- hidden that they even eluded Kepler’s genius. In the aforementioned essay Pauli says about Kepler:
“The next step in Kepler’s hierarchical arrangement of the cosmos involves the individual souls. What he understands by individual souls are not just human souls (anima hominis) but… the souls of the planets as well… Kepler feels bound to assign a soul to it (the Earth), the anima terrae (soul of the Earth). This anima terrae is also a formative power in the earth’s interior and in Kepler’s view is responsible for meteoric phenomena. For Kepler, the individual soul, as an image of God, is partly a point and partly a circle… Connected to this conception as both point and circle are Kepler’s special views on astrology. According to him, the justification for astrology lies in the ability of the individual soul to react to certain harmonious proportions that correspond to specific rational divisions of the circle. As with the perception of euphony in music, the soul is said to have a similar specific ability to react to the harmonious proportions of the angles that the rays of starlight, striking the earth, form with each other. Kepler seeks to link astrology to optical resonance effects, along the lines of scientific causal thinking. This resonance is based on the fact that, according to him, the soul knows about the harmonious proportions, because, by virtue of its circular form, it is an image of God. In Kepler’s view, astrological effects are caused not by the celestial bodies but rather by the individual souls with their specifically selective ability to react to certain proportions. Since this power of reacting, on the one hand, receives influences from the corporeal world and, on the other hand, is based on the image relation to God, these individual souls (the anima terrae, and the anima hominis) become for Kepler essential exponents of cosmic harmony (harmonia mundi)…
At the end of the essay an attempt is made to bring this seventeenth- century problem into association with the generally felt wish today for a greater unification of our worldview. There is an initial proposal to recognize the significance of the scientific stage of knowledge for the development of scientific ideas by supplementing the investigation of this scientific knowledge with an investigation directed inward. The former process is devoted to adapting our knowledge to external objects; the latter should bring to light the archetypal images used in the creation of our scientific concepts. Only by combining both these directions of research may complete understanding be obtained.”
This process could be something like ‘constructive contemplation;’ in other words a ‘thought experiment’ or process which combines rationalism and intuition. It has to do with a certain amount of balance between religious blind faith and scientific absolute opinion. An example is offered by Pauli in the previous essay where it is mentioned that Kepler believed that meteors were attracted towards the Earth by its soul (the anima terrae). According to such a belief someone might also deduce that rain falls when the human soul (the anima hominis) is sad. Although it literarily doesn’t rain no matter how hard we cry, and meteors do not hit the Earth when God is angry, premonitions are not to be excluded, at least not before their deepest nature has been explored. God- in the form of a universal spirit or consciousness- may warn us about things to come and creatures in nature are thought to be able to respond to phenomena which are about to take place. Some animals are believed to predict the weather (see, e.g., the groundhog day) and some people have claimed to have predicted major events (I am aware, e.g., of the story of Edgar Cayce). Even machines have been reported to be able to predict important events. An example of this may be offered by the Global Consciousness Project:
“The behavior of our network of random sources is correlated with interconnected human consciousness on a global scale. Coherent consciousness creates order in the world. Subtle interactions link us to each other and to the Earth. When human consciousness becomes coherent, the behavior of random systems may change. Random number generators (RNGs) based on quantum tunneling produce completely unpredictable sequences of zeroes and ones. But when a great event synchronizes the feelings of millions of people, our network of RNGs becomes subtly structured. We calculate one in a trillion odds that the effect is due to chance. The evidence suggests an emerging noosphere or the unifying field of consciousness described by sages in all cultures.”
[http://teilhard.global-mind.org/]
The previous site claims that random number generators (machines which generate numbers in random) started to produce meaningful sequences of numbers before the 9/11 attack. Even so nobody knew what the event would be. The machines can even make false predictions. But what is a meaningful sequence of numbers and how could we make a random generator produce such a sequence which could be interpreted as a physical event beyond any doubt? In what way could we decipher planetary motions so that we would be certain about our destinies? Perhaps there is a fundamentally wrong idea we have about the meaning of probability. This is what follows next.
4.2 What is probability?
I have already mentioned something about the notion of probability. In fact in modern physics phenomena and the behavior of objects are treated as a set of events which can be described by a probability distribution. Thus the distribution expresses the form of an entity in the context of which everything participates.
As far as groundhogs are concerned, as Wikipedia explains, according to Groundhog Day organizers, the rodents’ forecasts are accurate 75% to 90% of the time. However, a Canadian study for 13 cities in the past 30 to 40 years found that the weather patterns predicted on Groundhog Day were only 37% accurate over that time period. According to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887, Punxsutawney Phil’s weather predictions have been correct 39% of the time. The National Climatic Data Center has described the forecasts as ‘on average, inaccurate’ and stated that ‘[t]he groundhog has shown no talent for predicting the arrival of spring, especially in recent years.’
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day]
But why ‘especially in recent years?’ Has the predictive power of the animal changed? Have weather patterns changed? Or is it that the way we measure probability has changed? But what is probability? Basically if we say that an event has 10% probability to occur it means that the event will take place 10 out of 100 consecutive times under the same conditions. But if the event doesn’t happen today the probability doesn’t increase for tomorrow (as conditions never stay the same). In other words probabilities are assumed to have no memory. But for the wrong reason. Let’s take for example the toss of a coin. For a fair coin the probability of taking either heads or tails is 50%. In other words the events are independent from each other. However the fundamental law of statistics- that of large numbers- says that the result will be 50% for either heads or tails if we toss the coin a sufficient number of times. Therefore if we initially take a lot of ‘heads’ the result will have to ‘normalize’ to ‘tales’ at the end. But how does the set knows that it has to normalize if it has no memory of the past tosses? It is this aspect of wholeness, that the distribution somehow has the knowledge of its overall form, what normalizes the final outcome. So even if the separate results do not interact with each other they are all connected with the result of their sum. This is similar to falling objects. Although there’s no interaction between them they all fall to the ground at the same time because they are all connected with the force of gravity.
Therefore we may say that probabilities have memory which is related to the Form of the distribution as a Whole even if the separate events of the distribution have no knowledge of each other. Perhaps this is why in the case of the Groundhog Day the organizers of the event have different results than other independent investigators. Each one is part of the distribution ignoring the overall result. This also shows that all probability distributions are inhomogeneous. In other words some events should be expected to occur more often than others. For example it doesn’t rain with the same frequency in the Sahara desert compared to North America. Nor does everyone have the same chance to win money. People with more money are supposed to make even more in the same sense that an object which gains mass increases its attractive force. Therefore we may talk about an ‘acceleration factor’ which makes the field of probabilities non-uniform. This factor also explains why partial results ‘hurry’ or have ‘bias’ toward the overall result in the same way that droplets of water become organized to form a cloud.
Therefore probabilities not only have ‘memories’ but also ‘preferences.’ As with any ‘field’ they have certain aspects which control the way they ‘behave’ or propagate. This is the same as when we talk about ‘chance.’ In fact chance is not ‘random’ but meaningful. When we say that somebody is lucky we don’t mean that he has equal probabilities to win but that he usually wins. In other words we imply that there is a certain influence or predisposition which helps him win under certain conditions. When the conditions are met we have a ‘meaningful coincidence’ between the individual and the event, both of which are aspects of the same distribution or, to put it in the language of archetypes, they both express the same archetype. Therefore it is some archetype of ‘Destiny’ what acts upon the distribution, attributes relative weights, and shows the direction according to certain conditions. I would also say that presumably the whole distribution describes the Form. In other words the Form provides the overall shape of the distribution while the separate parts can be perceived as the archetypes which cause the events. These events are the manifestations of what we call ‘chance’ or ‘Destiny.’
- We may define probability as the meaningful coincidence of events which, despite the fact that can be independent, are still connected with each other by the overall form of the distribution.
Thus probability distributions in physics may describe not one particle but a collection of particles (or a collection of things which compose the ‘particle’). This is perhaps why during interactions the shape of the distribution or the wave-function does not change. While particles come and go the property (e.g. charge) is conserved. Accordingly we may say that the Form is conserved in a similar way that energy is. But while energy is a formless notion, the Form is accompanied by shape and content. By perceiving the overall shape we may predict what the separate parts may be. However in this case the parts will not be ‘particles’ (which are composed of properties) but properties (the actions of archetypes) which are spread across the whole distribution. This could explain, among other things, why particles have multiple roles (the electron, for example, causes both the electric and the magnetic field), or why some particles come in groups (particle-antiparticle pairs, or quark triplets). It may also explain quantum entanglement and non-locality, about which we will talk later on. In an analogous case it is as if we described the world not by acknowledging different species but by grouping together the aspects of species (different kinds of hands, of feet, of heads, of eyes, and so on). These aspects or actions could then be identified with the archetypes. Therefore we may say that,
- The Form is a collection of actions which are spread all along the distribution but which can be localized as archetypes.
This is similar to how our mind works. Different ‘basic objects’ are located at different parts of the brain while they recombine each time a memory emerges. For example a ‘tree,’ a ‘sea coast,’ a ‘friend,’ together perhaps with a sensation of ‘heat,’ may come together to remind us of some vacation. But the parts which constitute this event are not located at the same place in our brain. Similarly the aspects which make us ingenious are recollected from different parts of the brain or psyche so that our intelligence can be expressed. However these aspects existed in our mind in the first place. If we add to these aspects which compose our intelligence predictability then we may come even closer to the deepest nature of probabilities. For example how come that we are able to determine with extraordinary accuracy in some cases the possible outcome of events? Is it because events are predetermined independently of our own will or is it that somehow our mind is fine-tuned with our own destiny? The most plausible answer is that our own minds are also part of the events we try to describe or predict by the probability distribution. If we identify ‘predictability’ with another archetype as we did with ‘destiny,’ then we may say that these two archetypes combine in order to determine the shape of things to come- the overall Form.
4.3 Bell’s inequalities
The aforementioned probability distribution has indeed the form of a wave-function in such a sense that we may say that a system (or any physical entity) can be described, equivalently, with the help either of a wave-function or of a probability distribution. This comes as a consequence of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics (the basic rules of quantum mechanics, as they were set at Copenhagen, almost a century ago). Two of those basic assumptions are as follows:
- The wave-function (representing a physical system) is indivisible.
- The system is in a super-position of states before it is measured.
Thus we may say that the more we concentrate on some part of the system under observation, the more obscure the form of the whole system becomes. In other words the uncertainty of measurement is a consequence of the indivisibility of the wave-function. At the time we focus attention, thus make a measurement, the probability distribution or wave-function ‘collapses’ and the (part of the) object under observation becomes apparent. The importance of measurement in quantum mechanics is also related to the meaning of ‘free choice’ because the observer or experimenter may choose the time to make the measurement or choose what to measure.
However this assumption may create a problem, concerning the notion of locality, as was exposed by the so- called EPR (Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen) paradox. This was originally a thought experiment intended to demonstrate the contradiction in the standard (Copenhagen) interpretation of quantum theory. It is also a precursor of quantum entanglement. The paradox involves two particles which are entangled with each other according to quantum mechanics. Under the Copenhagen interpretation each particle exists in an uncertain state until it is measured, while both particles are instantaneously connected by the indivisibility of the wave-function which describes them. Thus at the moment of measurement, and within the context of energy and momentum conservation, if one particle has spin ‘up’ the other particle will instantaneously have spin ‘down.’ This presupposes an instantaneous action at a distance, which is assumed to be impossible. Thus the paradox. For more about the paradox you may also visit the following link:
[http://physics.about.com/od/physicsetoh/g/EPRparadox.htm]
It is interesting to note that in fact Einstein predicted the existence of quantum entanglement although he assumed it was impossible. The existence of quantum entanglement was demonstrated later on with experiments performed by Alain Aspect (as shown in the previous picture) among other physicists. The mathematical formulation related to quantum entanglement and the EPR paradox was put forward by John Bell, and his inequalities.
According to Wikipedia, in its simplest form, Bell’s theorem states:
No physical theory of local hidden variables can ever reproduce all of the predictions of quantum mechanics.
Bell summarized one of the least popular ways to address the theorem, superdeterminism, in a 1985 BBC Radio interview:
"There is a way to escape the inference of superluminal speeds and spooky action at a distance. But it involves absolute determinism in the universe, the complete absence of free will. Suppose the world is super-deterministic, with not just inanimate nature running on behind-the-scenes clockwork, but with our behavior, including our belief that we are free to choose to do one experiment rather than another, absolutely predetermined, including the ‘decision’ by the experimenter to carry out one set of measurements rather than another, the difficulty disappears. There is no need for a faster-than-light signal to tell particle A what measurement has been carried out on particle B, because the universe, including particle A, already ‘knows’ what that measurement, and its outcome, will be."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell's_theorem]
The previous comment by Bell refers to a possible non-local theory of hidden variables such as that developed by David Bohm. Bohm introduced the notion of the quantum potential as a possible (hidden variable) solution to the problem of non- locality. According to him the quantum potential could create beforehand the probabilistic paths which particles will follow later on. According to such an interpretation the probability distribution and the wave-function itself may be treated as real objects. But the problem is that no matter how many hidden variables we use the variables seem to interact instantaneously either they are ‘hidden’ or ‘apparent.’
Bell’s original proof is mathematical but the following article elucidates the problem by pointing to the right direction. In fact Bell’s theorem is a problem of logic and it can be stated as follows:
For any collection of objects with three different parameters, A, B and C:
The number of objects which have parameter A but not parameter B plus the number of objects which have parameter B but not parameter C is greater than or equal to the number of objects which have parameter A but not parameter C.
We can write this more compactly as:
Number(A, not B) + Number(B, not C) greater than or equal to Number(A, not C)
[http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/BellsTheorem/BellsTheorem.html] In the previous examples the parameters can be anything from people’s heights to electron spins. Therefore the original problem has nothing to do with quantum mechanics. Instead it is a problem of logic concerning how logic refers to itself. The site also notes that there have been two basic assumptions made. Firstly that logic is valid and, secondly, that the parameters exist whether they are measured or not. Is this a theory of hidden variables if we assume, for example, that spin already exists even before we measure it? But perhaps this is not the meaning of a hidden variable. On the other hand what would it mean that the spins of electrons or the heights of people are ‘entangled’ so that if we know the values of A and B we may predetermine the value of C?
Perhaps we have already answered this question before when we said that in a probability distribution even if the separate parts are independent of each other (even if they don’t interact locally) they are still connected (non- locally) with the overall form of the distribution. But this fact has nothing to do with ‘hidden’ or unknown parts of the distribution. Even with two parts, two entangled particles with opposite spins, or two entangled tosses of a coin, the two possible outcomes (spin ‘up’/spin ‘down,’ ‘heads’/‘tails,’ respectively) are already there (although yet undetermined). What is ‘hidden’ is not the value of the variables but the non-local aspect of the overall distribution. However locality is not violated because the separate parts can still interact with each other with subluminal speeds. So we may say that, - The Form distributes its parts at the same time.
Therefore it is a problem not of finding hidden details or determining superluminal speeds but of realizing the completeness of the solution. Still if the parts instead of interacting directly with each other communicate indirectly with the ‘control center’ of the distribution (in the same way our two hands are entangled through the brain) one may wonder where that ‘center’ can be found or what could be the related speed. At this point I might give just a hint. The center can be treated as a Singularity, while the speed or the time of communication can be related to a possible quantum brachistochrone. About singularities (of the same nature as those concerning black holes) we will talk later on. About the quantum brachistochrone I don’t know much anyway except that in the case of the classical brachistochrone the time is fixed (so that the speed might be infinite). Another clue is that the system has to be locally prepared (the pair of entangled particles has to be created) even if non-local phenomena may occur afterwards. This is interesting because it shows that under laboratory conditions and by using the rules of logic we may reproduce the paradoxical and ‘irrational’ ways of nature at a fundamental level.
A final remark concerns the problem which Bell called ‘super-determinism.’ In fact the Form is absolute in the sense that it is ‘complete.’ But to say that the results in an experiment of quantum entanglement performed ‘now’ were predetermined at the beginning of the universe is not necessarily true. The conditions of any experiment could have been set at the beginning of the universe but not the causal aspects such as free- choices, the speed of light, or even more generally the parameters of space and time. At the moment we begin an experiment none of these (local) aspects may be present. What exists is the wave-function and the probabilities. This is also the meaning of ‘Destiny’ as was intended here. Chance is lawful but not predetermined. But lawful means that there is a certain amount of predisposition. We may choose some direction to take, but if we change the landscape then all possible directions will also change. But among all directions there are some which may suit us better. This is because we are all born different and because space- time is fundamentally non- isotropic. This is true if we acknowledge the presence of elementary entities, patterns in the quantum vacuum as we may say, which we call archetypes. In such a sense the vacuum becomes a Form undifferentiated in the beginning but which takes various shapes as it grows. As far as our own ‘destiny’ is concerned, the freedom of choice is just a condition which has to be met with the right choices.
- We may call this ‘freedom of choice’ property of preference.
4.4 The wave-function Ψ
According to Wikipedia, a wave function in quantum mechanics describes the quantum state of an isolated system of one or more particles. There is one wave function containing all the information about the entire system, not a separate wave function for each particle in the system. Its interpretation is that of a probability amplitude.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function]
The previous graph represents the simplest form of a wave-function. At the top we find the most probable position of the particle, therefore the whole distribution measures the probability of finding the particle somewhere in space. We may notice that the distribution expands to infinity, which implies that the particle can be anywhere in the universe (the probability reaches zero at plus or minus infinity). The distribution itself does not represent (the shape of) the particle. But we may say that it represents a Form at the ‘head’ of which a ‘particle’ can be localized. Therefore even if the wave-function is a mathematical tool we may say that it represents a true entity which we may visualize with the help of the wave-function.
While it is risky to try to compare the form of the wave-function to a true shape, the shape of physical objects can in fact be described by wave-functions. If the probability stands for the number of ‘dots’ of an object at a certain position then the collection of all the ‘dots’ will give us the shape of the object. However the shape is temporary as the distribution of ‘dots’ may change and give us another object. This is why the wave-function fundamentally expresses a condition. The interesting thing about conditions is that they are not subject to the limits of space-time. While material objects are subject to definite processes which make them rigid and hard to move, conditions freely move in a virtual space constantly changing shape or even identity. The wave-function approaches such virtual conditions or entities, offering a description about how the entities would look like if they became real.
Such a description becomes permanent when the wave-function ‘collapses.’ But the wave-function collapses everywhere at the same time. This should make us think of objects not as collections of properties at some definite point in space and time but as a certain arrangement of properties which are found all over space at all times. In such a sense the Form becomes a unifying entity which stretches all across space and time and whose constituents or properties are the archetypes. The difference from the common interpretation of the wave-function is that the Form is also a psychic entity. Its constituents, the archetypes, are responsible not only for physical actions but also for the psychological processes of experience. It really eludes me how exactly a physical motion can be linked to a psychic action, but perhaps the assumption of a fundamental field (such as that which could be produced by Bohm’s quantum potential) may offer the missing link in physics. But the whole point is what produces such a field at a phase before space-time comes into existence. If this is the quantum potential then such potential would remind us of a probability distribution at a period when all possible things are still imaginary, Ideas.
Whether the wave function really exists, and what it represents, are major questions in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Many famous physicists of a previous generation puzzled over this problem, such as Schrödinger, Einstein and Bohr. Some advocate formulations or variants of the Copenhagen interpretation (e.g. Bohr, Wigner and von Neumann) while others, such as Wheeler or Jaynes, take the more classical approach and regard the wave function as representing information in the mind of the observer, i.e. a measure of our knowledge of reality. Some, including Schrödinger, Bohm and Everett and others, argued that the wave function must have an objective, physical existence. Einstein thought that a complete description of physical reality should refer directly to physical space and time, as distinct from the wave function, which refers to an abstract mathematical space.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function#Ontology]
Among the previous interpretations I will choose that of Wheeler in the sense that, as far as the other views are concerned, the Copenhagen interpretation doesn’t really offer an explanation about non-locality; Bohm’s interpretation is ‘super-realistic’ (the wave-function may be as much ‘real’ as ‘imaginary’); Einstein’s view tries to explain relativistically (constant speed of light) a phenomenon which is produced by conditions beyond space-time. Therefore Wheeler’s approach gives the true dimension of the problem which may be grasped only if we understand our own role in the process.
The aspect of ‘the wave function representing information in the mind of the observer’ simply says that the observer is part of the wave-function. In other words,
- Both the observer and the observed object are aspects of the same Form.
Thus consciousness arises through this process of interaction between intelligence and the object, without which neither the object nor the observer may be defined. But intelligence is not a privilege of the observer but a property of the distribution which includes the observer. Therefore realization is obtained at the moment when the wave-function ‘collapses,’ in the same sense that we don’t realize our existence when we don’t observe ourselves. A consequence is that the object we observe is truly a psychic content; it is found in our mind, its identification with a ‘real’ object ‘out there’ always comes afterwards, while its true existence may stay hypothetical. In quantum mechanics this aspect is related to the notion of quantum decoherence. When the wave-function of the system collapses, the system comes in contact with the environment, it ‘decoheres.’ This interpretation opens the door to the possibility of parallel universes (the many-worlds interpretation) as the observer at the time of measurement may realize one of the infinite super- imposed states of the wave-function. Personally I believe there are no other ‘universes’ but an infinite number of different states of the same Universal Form. Thus I believe that the true meaning of quantum decoherence lies in Coincidence. This is the time when the mind of the observer and the material nature of the observed object ‘coincide.’ But such a connection presupposes some ‘common interests’ or preferences between what we are looking for and what finally comes about. Such an interpretation stands against complete randomness. However the main conclusion is that the universe was not made for us to learn. Instead the universe was made for knowledge to be attained. This is not to say that the purpose of knowledge was predetermined. Instead knowledge came as a consequence of some purpose in the universe. Such a purpose is related to causality. But again at the fundamental level the purpose was not ‘causal’ by itself. In a few words we may say that,
- The Form acquires knowledge of its own existence.
This includes everything. The Form is a ‘living’ universe full of material processes and psychic contents. Our own sentiments are a localization of these contents. Physical reality is built through the process of familiarization with the contents of our own soul. The more familiar a psychic content is, the more material it becomes. Objects as we know them are the tangible shapes of those psychic contents. We might call such contents properties of matter but they are not material by nature. We might say that an archetype of Purpose or Cause mediates in the process between the imaginary condition and what materializes in reality.
Thus we may have come closer to the meaning of the relationship between the ‘Observer’ (the Subject) and the ‘Observed’ (the Object). The Object plus the Subject give us the Form. The Form plus the Cause give us Consciousness. Consciousness is the Form which has become aware of its own Condition. All this process is a meaningful coincidence.
4.5 The uncertainty principle
If we tried to personify the wave-function, it might look like a primordial creature, made out of pure energy, stretching out into space, leaving behind its traces which we call particles. Even if we treated the wave-function as a mere mathematical tool then we would have to suppose some shape for that tool, thus offer some form of description. Therefore in both cases the problem would have to be brought forward in order to become apparent. This however involves a certain amount of mental effort. Our imagination has to be activated so that we bring the wave-function to mind, while the effort of attention will make the wave-function collapse and take a certain shape. But when the collapse of the wave-function takes place, at the same time our own thought is formed. This is an example of entanglement between the wave-function expressing a physical phenomenon, and our own mind.
In physics the uncertainty principle quantifies the degree of correlation between entangled systems or between entangled properties of a system. This is why the principle is also called complementary principle, as the uncertainty is due not to the failure of instruments or to our inadequacy to perceive reality, but to the fundamental nature of how things are connected with each other. Complementarity is an overall way to view physical processes. For example a positron-electron pair may be seen not as the division between the two opposite charges but as the unity of one Form with neutral charge.
Complementarity may be expanded to all the aspects of the Form, which can be seen as consisting of separate parts which ‘move’ in unison, composing therefore the complementary parts of the same system, just like our legs or arms. The uncertainty consequently has to do not only with the ‘fuzziness’ of things which are too small or moving too fast to be directly perceived, but also with the fact that perception is always involved in the action (and vice-versa). For example we cannot ‘measure’ the position of our moving hands when at the same time the brain which controls their motion also performs the observation.
The principle is closely related to wave-particle duality. The mathematical formula by which the principle is expressed, (Δx)(Δp) ≥ ћ/2, brings particle and wave properties together through de Broglie’s formula p = h/λ. The formula relates momentum p (a property of particles) to wave-length λ (a property of waves). Planck’s constant h (or ћ=h/2π) brings forward the quantum nature of the relationship (since h is a constant of quantum mechanics). Both parts of the ratio are synchronized so that the ‘pace’ of the wave-function which expresses the probability is steady. Therefore the principle does not express the ‘imbalance’ of some inherent error in calculations; instead it offers a measure about the comparisons we make.
In de Broglie’s original pilot-wave theory particles are accompanied by wave-like extensions which guide them through space. Bohm adopted de Broglie’s theory to assume the reality of the wave-function as the medium which unites the particles, and which may be the carrier of faster- than- light signals between the particles. Therefore we may have a good correspondence between realistic interpretations of quantum mechanics and a theory of the Form, according to which the Form is an entity which can be visualized with a wave-function, it has extensions which may be described as pilot-waves, and it leaves behind traces which we call particles. The difference however is that in the case of the Form both the ‘particle’ and the ‘wave’ belong to the Form, while the Form is described by the wave-function, in the same sense that both the head and the limbs are parts of the human body.
Therefore the uncertainty is found not in the ambiguity of the structure but in the behavior of the parts. We can imagine for example a rope whose length represents the ‘wave-length’ and whose curves represent the ‘momentum.’ If the length of the rope is contracted the curves expand and vice-versa. The same happens to wave-functions such as those shown in the previous picture. The addition of harmonics to the original oscillation helps the wave-function localize or become ‘real,’ as wave-lengths or amplitudes move back and forth or up and down, while the wave-function preserves its form. As any object can be abstracted to a wave-function, the meaning of the wave-function as a complete object which consists of internal structures and functions can only be perceived as a Form. By this it is meant that the wave-function is not just a mechanical object ‘full of probabilities’ but a vivid creature full of actions whom the probabilities express. Thus by identifying the wave-function with the Form properties such as wave-length and momentum become parts of physical perception, while contents which correspond to our psychic world can be identified.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle]
Heisenberg originally used the example of a photonic microscope to explain the principle. The photon we use in order to observe an electron, disturbs the electron which changes position. This creates the uncertainty about the position of the electron, while the more intense the photon is (the more the uncertainty of the electron’s momentum) the more uncertain the position of the electron will be. But this thought experiment has more serious implications concerning the nature of observation (the observer effect). The position of the electron was not certain even beforethe observation took place. Therefore the observation offers the opportunity for the electron to find a place in the universe, while at the same time gives rise to our own perception. We may call this phenomenon displacement of Consciousness. The difference in such a displacement infers where the object should be.
Therefore at the most fundamental level the uncertainty principle and the observer effect are related to the problem of Consciousness. Whether observation is active (disturbing things) or passive (interpreting their images in the brain) there is always the ‘uncertainty of attention.’ This can be shown by the previous picture. Instead of the phase-space of a particle we may imagine the phase-space of perception. The more we focus attention on the center the more localized the object of observation becomes in our mind but the darker the areas away from the focus become. About the problem of perception we will talk later on. Here it may suffice to say that the uncertainty or complementarity principle may bring together not only the two aspects of the physical world (the material or ‘particle-like’ and the immaterial or ‘wave-like’ aspect) but also the two parts of the process of Consciousness- what is projected (the Object) and what is projected upon (the Subject).
4.6 Quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement reminds me of Murphy’s law- whatever bad is going to happen will happen. The law is unambiguously ambiguous. Since the definition of good and evil is relative the law can be also stated as- whatever good is going to happen will happen. The only meaning I can find about this ‘law’ is that nature has preference for some results over others. This was somewhat explained in the previous discussion about probabilities; some outcomes may be considered more probable because of pre-existing trends in the ‘field’ of probabilities. But even if someone has a real destiny to fulfill, this should be related to some ‘initial conditions’ at the time of birth.
Murphy’s law may also apply to quantum entanglement in the sense that- whatever spin is going to happen will happen. In other words if one observer measures spin ‘up,’ the other observer must measure spin ‘down.’ But this is true not before the entanglement is set. Both the system and the observer have to be ‘prepared’ for the experiment. At least nobody knows if a system is entangled before it is entangled. However the difficult question to be answered is- what is the initial condition which makes the final results predetermined? I’d say that the determining factor is the assumption that the system must have been entangled. In other words, all conditions carry the aspect of entanglement by expressing events simultaneously. Therefore the true meaning is not found in the spontaneity of entanglement but in the ‘coincidence of the assumption.’
I’ll give an example to try to illustrate this. In all experiments concerning quantum entanglement, efforts are concentrated on the significance of causality. Taking for example two entangled particles A and B, at the moment we measure particle A, we also have to measure particle B before it takes the information (not faster than the speed of light) about what happened to particle A. We may even use a polarizer with random orientation so that the polarizer changes direction (previously unknown) while the entangled photons are in flight, and in such a way that the polarization of photon A changes at a time when photon B won’t have enough time to receive the message about the change. However if the polarizer is also entangled with the pair of photons its orientation will not be random but meaningful. The observers too will be entangled with the whole set up (otherwise they would have to be living in a different universe from that of the entangled photons). But the observers will have to wait to causally communicate their results (as in the case of an experiment with entangled particles being far apart). Therefore the conclusion of entanglement can be drawn only afterwards, with the speed of light. However the results taken always confirm the assumptions made. This is why we may say that,
- Quantum entanglement is an aspect of meaningful coincidence between assumption and observation.
The previous description has also to do with delayed- choice experiments and the aspect of time machines. Between a couple of entangled photons A and B the change which occurs in photon A seems to affect the past of photon B. In quantum eraser experiments it is also possible that a second change (e.g. a second polarizer) in photon A may restore the paradox. But what is really affected is not the ‘past’ but space-time all around the photons (in fact all across the universe of the experiment). Space (x) and time (t) are truly parameters entangled with light (c): x/t=c. Therefore the photons of the experiment, which are the carriers of light, can also be seen as the carriers of information related to space and time. Therefore they express a ‘preference of direction’ as soon as causality is manifested. But at the same time the photons are the carriers of the observer’s preferences manifested in the photons’ polarization. Consequently the ‘free-choice’ of the observer either ‘delayed’ or ‘advanced’ is a ‘quality of preference’ too which emerges together with all other causal properties. Therefore quantum entanglement also expresses the meaningful coincidence between consciousness and the aspect of space-time. The coincidence is certainly meaningful because it is not due to some physical force but it refers to a psychic content related to the perception of the observer. Thus we may say that,
- It is the Condition which is expressed by assumption and confirmed by observation.
We may note that according to some of the latest assumptions of quantum mechanics space-time may be seen as arising by quantum entanglement. But there is a ‘period’ before space-time occurs during which the entangled pair has already communicated. However this ‘period’ is not a ‘time period’ because time is supposed not to have yet existed. Also the ‘distance’ separating the two entangled objects is not a ‘spatial distance’ because neither space has yet existed. Therefore we may say that the ‘space’ within which entanglement occurs (at the first stage before the emergence of causality) is a ‘conditional space.’ I don’t know how exactly such a virtual space can be described but its representation might look like that of a wave-function connecting the two entangled objects. In that case if we assume coordinates of space and time then the wave-function will give us at its top the most probable point in of space-time generated at the moment the entanglement occurs and the wave-function collapses. But this ‘point’ will represent not only the two coordinates of space and time but also other properties, one which is related to the consciousness of the observer, and another one which will be related to the intensity of some kind of field at that point. This field therefore will be a function of a set of variables including space, time, a variable related to consciousness, and probably all kinds of variables related to physical and mental properties. Thus at the moment of quantum entanglement all causal aspects of the world as we know it may come into being.
4.7 The participatory principle
What I like about the previous picture is the aspect of a many- worlds interpretation, not because of the possibility of ‘parallel’ universes but because it may elucidate the polymorphism of the Form. In other words it may illustrate the aspect of a many- Forms interpretation. Each bubble therefore may equivalently stand for a universe, an observer’s mind, a droplet of water, or just a point in space-time. But whatever Form the bubble represents it cannot be perceived without the seed of intelligence within it. Therefore while we look at these bubbles we may also identify a representation of our own mind.
Concerning the implications of delayed- choice experiments, Wheeler said,
“The thing that causes people to argue about when and how the photon learns that the experimental apparatus is in a certain configuration and then changes from wave to particle to fit the demands of the experiment’s configuration is the assumption that a photon had some physical form before the astronomers observed it. Either it was a wave or a particle; either it went both ways around the galaxy or only one way. Actually, quantum phenomena are neither waves nor particles but are intrinsically undefined until the moment they are measured. In a sense, the British philosopher Bishop Berkeley was right when he asserted two centuries ago “to be is to be perceived.””
Perhaps the photon had no physical form prior to observation but there must have been something- if not the photon itself. In fact the photon together with other things was in a conditional state, while within this condition was included some property related to the observer or, more generally, to the aspect of consciousness. Thus both the photon and the observer were parts of the condition which was about to be expressed as a physical event. While during such a phase we may consider that all physical properties are still purely psychic contents, consciousness arises when the entanglement is expressed, through a process of causal preference intrinsically related to the other properties of matter, such as space and time. We may therefore say that a projection is performed between the mind on the one side and a ‘light particle’ on the other side, which will be perceived later on as a photon by an observer. However we may also say that it will be perceived as the same photon by the same observer (quality of preference).
Thus the certain particle, as a physical object, determines a certain state of consciousness- the mind of the observer-, a psychic content, so that the character and the knowledge of the observer will be determined by this event. This is similar to the process and the meaning of individualization as put forward by Jung. As personal consciousness arises from the localization of an infinite loop which took place in the collective unconscious so the awareness of the observer emerges from the results of his own experiment. But the objects which the observer experiments with are entangled with each other as much as the images of the objects are entangled with the observer’s mind. This is the meaningful coincidence between the Object (the ‘photon’) and the Subject (the ‘observer’) due to be expressed in real space and time.
- At that moment we may say that the Form Individualizes. While objects as physical entities (represented by tangible aspects of the body) interact through physical forces (such as gravity), objects as psychic entities (represented by images in the mind) are connected through meaning. This meaning is related to the structure of the Form. Such structure is composed of archetypes so that the connection between the archetypes refers to a ‘psychic action.’ This form of action although is not physical (it cannot be felt by the material body) can be perceived in relation to some emotion, establishing thus a correspondence between the emotional state and the psychic content. If we find a way to map those psychic contents and their related actions to physical actions then we will have managed to get closer to a theory of both the physical and the psychic world, able to describe the deeper connection between the actions and the behavior of things. Thus we will be able to better understand what drives our own thoughts. Even though a photon propagating in physical space may be treated as an insignificant event, a ‘phonon’ (as it is called) travelling within in our minds is part of some thought- and as such becomes significant. If we find some way to relate those two ‘aspects of light,’ the ‘real photon’ and the ‘virtual phonon,’ we may become aware that the entanglement may also- and most profoundly- occur between physical reality and our own psychic contents. Thus the world becomes a network of threads of interconnecting archetypes while consciousness participates and oversees the sea of archetypes choosing certain of all possible arrangements to comprise its own physical storehouse. All the objects belonging to our mind define our own individual. This way individualization comes about.
It is possible to conceive a theory according to which particles can be derived from different configurations of archetypes in a similar way that particles may derive from different vibrations of strings according to sting theory. However while string theory only attributes quantities to the related configurations, the theory of the Form may also give meaning to those quantities by relating their frequency to the vibrations (the psychic contents or qualities) of our soul. This is not impossible if we consider techniques such as Kirlian photography. The essence is that everything we know will be found within the Form which finally is the sphere of Consciousness either on the individual or on the collective level.
- Thus we may say that Consciousness Participates.
4.8 A fish called ‘Quanta’
The previous image gives an explanation of quantum entanglement according to David Bohm’s interpretation of quantum mechanics. The two images of the fish appearing on the television screens are taken by two different cameras. However the original fish is one. If we compare the two images of the fish with two ‘entangled particles’ it would seem as if the particles interacted instantaneously. However both particles would in fact be representations of the same underlying true entity. Here follows a description of the picture given by David Bohm from his own book ‘Wholeness and the implicate order,’
“We can obtain a helpful intuitive sense of what is meant by the notion of projection here, through the consideration of the following device. Let us begin with a rectangular tank full of water, with transparent walls. Suppose further that there are two television cameras, A and B, directed at what is going on in the water (e.g., fish swimming around) as seen through the two walls at right angles to each other. Now let the corresponding television images be made visible on screens A and B in another room. What we will see there is a certain relationship between the images appearing on the two screens. For example, on screen A we may see an image of a fish, and on screen B we will see another such image. At any given moment each image will generally look different from the other. Nevertheless the differences will be related, in the sense that when one image is seen to execute certain movements, the other will be seen to execute corresponding movements. Moreover, content that is mainly on one screen will pass into the other, and vice versa (e.g., when a fish initially facing camera A turns through a right angle, the image that was on A is now to be found on B). Thus at all times the image content on the other screen will correlate with and reflect that of the other.
Of course, we know that the two images do not refer to independently existent though interacting actualities (in which, for example, one image could be said to ‘cause’ related changes in the other). Rather, they refer to a single actuality, which is the common ground of both (and this explains the correlation of images without the assumption that they causally affect each other). This actuality is of higher dimensionality than are the separate images on the screens; or, to put it differently, the images on the screens are two-dimensional projections (or facets) of a three-dimensional reality. In some sense this three dimensional reality holds these two-dimensional projections within it. Yet, since these projections exist only as abstractions, the three-dimensional reality is neither of these, but rather it is something else, something of a nature beyond both.”
The previous example also reminds me of Jung’s paradigm about the symbol of the fish which appeared as a physical object in different psychic contents. It was not the ‘fish’ but the ‘symbol’ which took the form of a fish in different occasions. We may imagine an archetype lying behind the procedure or even a group of archetypes ‘swimming in the primordial ocean of the collective unconscious’ and whose products and interactions appear to us in the form of particles and fields composing the physical world. Perhaps it is not only the form of these creatures but also the energy content what gives living beings both physical appearance and a soul.
Another thing related to the way we perceive things is that while the projection takes place- the process through which the Form is created- and while Consciousness also rises within the procedure, we are able to perceive the process both during the initial phase (the virtual images of the fish) and at the moment when the process becomes a definite state (the true fish). This points out not only our freedom of choice (the causal factor in the process) but also our aspect of imagination (the acausal factor). Such a ‘freedom of imagination’ suggests that- although awake- we are always linked to the conditions preceding the manifested facts. But this would be impossible if we weren’t somehow connected to the properties or patterns according to which experience comes about. Such patterns which are related to archetypes express both the spontaneous aspect of the projection (the image of the object) and the perceived outcome (the true object). We might say that we would never conceive an object as a real thing if we weren’t able to recognize some patterns related to this object. Thus we may that,
- Perception is predisposed.
Such patterns, which Jung called psychic contents and Bohm the implicate order, are responsible both for drawing attention and for bringing about realization. This also suggests that objects are made of ‘patterns’ not of ‘atoms.’ This is true because structure may not be obtained without some patterns at a fundamental (sub-atomic) level. Not only atoms consist of other particles (protons, neutrons and electrons) but also protons and neutrons consist of more fundamental particles, the quarks. Quarks in turn come only in triplets within the nucleus of atoms. Thus quarks are localizations of some pattern which can be perceived as a triangle- on the vertices of which the ‘quarks’ appear. But the entity is not a quark but a whole structure which includes the quarks, the fields binding the quarks together, as well as the space inside the ‘triangle.’ In this context the action can be non-local because it refers not to the interaction between the particles but to the behavior of the whole structure (the pattern). But while a collection of particles constitutes an object, a collection of such patterns composes a Form, which in turn includes Consciousness as one of its integral parts- in some sense all the parts which the Form refers to. This is important because while the object cannot be perceived per se (without something in the universe being able to observe it) the Form can be perceived on its own because it includes the processes which give rise to such an ability (Consciousness). This way we may say that,
- Perception is established.
After perception is established while consciousness has participated, only then we are able to understand the whole picture- both the ‘fish’ and the ‘image of the fish.’
It is interesting to note that in modern physics the holistic aspect of the Form is introduced with the notion of the Quantum. A quantum, according to Wikipedia, is ‘the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction.’ However how may we define a ‘minimum amount’ of an entity without the entity losing its meaning? Probably it is not the ‘minimum amount’ but the ‘minimum intensity’ of an entity, after which level the shape and structure of the entity may not be discernible. Such a meaning is also related to holography. In holography the whole form of the object can be preserved on a film even if we cut the film in pieces. But the smaller the pieces the more obscure the picture becomes. Still we retain the overall form. This is similar to the meaning of the quantum. By reducing a quantum to pieces we take many quanta of the same form as the original one. Thus the quantum contains the notion of indivisibility and of irreducibility up to a limit. But the point is that the quantum does not contain some part of the object but the whole object whose form becomes more and more obvious by successive waves of interference. However the difference between a quantum and the Form is that while the quantum is considered ‘miniscule’ the Form is scale independent. Its microscopic or microscopic character depends not on space-time coordinates but on how much ‘intense’ Consciousness has grown.
Thus in the theory of the Form the ‘quantum’ is also a ‘quale.’ It may express a physical quantity but it is directly linked to experience. There is no easy way I am aware of to describe such a connection. But the point is that a photon which contains the image of a physical object must correspond to a quale which contains the image of the same object in our mind. Otherwise the coincidence of experience cannot occur. This would be a general form of entanglement not only between separate objects in the physical world but also between consciousness and reality. So that quantification is also qualification. Therefore the ‘fish called Quanta’ is both a ‘quantum’ and a ‘quale’ of fish. It may be as big as a ‘photon,’ as common as a ‘fish,’ or as big as a ‘universe.’ The Fish in such a case is an archetype which suggests an action instead of an object. However both the action (the psychic content) and the object (the real fish) will be projected one upon the other and become experienced. I’m not really sure what emotions or behaviors may a ‘fish’ evoke but probably the symbolism expresses a collection of archetypes (what Jung referred to as a complex) related, for example, to a ‘sliding property’ of things. Presumably the Form is a collection of all archetypes expressed however with different intensities in different arrangements of the Form. I won’t say ‘many Forms’ because we are all part of the One Form in the same sense that we are all part of the Same Universe. But each and every one of us expresses a slightly different configuration of the properties of matter- or arrangements of structure. If we attribute to these latter also some ‘emotional charge’ we will come closer to understanding why we are able to understand at all.
I will end this section with a summary;
- Archetypes can offer the link between the physical and the psychic world. Thus they will correspond to shapes with emotional content. - Probability measures the correlation between the conditions and the final outcome. Thus they contain both the ‘past’ and the ‘future’ at the most probable ‘present time.’ - The parts of a sum are connected to each other as much as they refer to the sum. - Wave-functions are not objects although they describe the behavior of objects. The behavior of an object is an archetype. - The uncertainty principle expresses the fact that observation is an object perceived. - Entanglement shows that physical properties (time) and mental aspects (perception) are born together. - Consciousness is the Form which becomes aware of its own existence. - The example of the ‘Fish’ tells us that archetypes have shape and that behaviors have structure.
5. Aspects of morphogenesis
The previous picture depicts an aspect or shape of morphogenesis. While the aspect is more elusive the shape is rather apparent as it may be identified with a common spider. We may say that spiders have a common aspect with the magnetic field or that,
- A spider and a magnetic field are expressed by the same archetype.
If we relate the whole picture to a Form then we may say that the ‘limbs’ of the Form comprise the lines of the magnetic field. Thus the ‘limbs’ will be the manifestation of an archetype or of its action, a part of the Form, experienced as a physical force. In this case the ‘field’ represented by the Form will not be just a physical field, created by the interaction of particles, but a ‘morphogenetic’ field, organized by some underlying structure. This similarity of structure brings about the connection between the archetypes- the function or action of things-, and physical things- the way the function is experienced in reality. This experience is possible because our mind is composed of the same functions. For example we may say that,
- (The limbs of) the spider and (the lines of) the magnetic field express an archetype of attraction.
Arthropods like insects and spiders are interesting because they express structures at a primordial level. It is also interesting to note that the micro-organisms in the previous picture have their back and front undifferentiated just like the form shaped by the lines of a magnetic field in the picture we mentioned earlier. Such a comparison may bring us closer to the common link between some fundamental abstract shapes and the first living organisms. However such a comparison is better to be understood not as a transition from some Platonic world of abstract shapes to the everyday material world but as a transition from the unconscious inference to the conscious realization of the same shapes.
Thus the ‘creatures’ in the previous picture are composed neither of ‘energy’ nor of ‘matter.’ In fact they are perceived as ‘shapes in color.’ If we identify the shape with ‘matter’ and the corresponding color with ‘energy’ then we will have an equivalent description about the fundamental building blocks of life. Thus according to a general description the shape will correspond to the outline of the Form while the color will correspond to the archetypal content. By attributing some pattern and some structure respectively to the fundamental building blocks of the world we can also define a morphogenetic field as the sum of all these patterns. But if we followed the common interpretation that the world consists of point-particles we would still have to assume some patterns according to which the point-particles gather to form distinct shapes. Thus the morphogenetic field becomes a process according to which the archetypal structure of the Form is expressed.
According to this interpretation the object is a ‘material shape with psychic content’ instead of a ‘point-like singularity’ in space and time. We might also correlate the psychic content to the shape as we would do with particles and modes of vibrations is string theory for example. But in this case the contents- or vibrations, or colors- will have some correspondence with the states of our soul. In such a sense the physical world would be unified under a common description according to which the Form is composed of such fundamental blocks while their contents express functions or actions ‘propagating in the phase-space of the Form’ as morphogenetic fields. Conscious perception and experience are integral parts and arise through this process so that what we see is not found in an ‘external world’ but within the process of what we see. In such a sense both the spider’s limbs and our own legs and arms perform the same function although the shape changes as the Form moves. When a limb moves the function is expressed but at the same time the action can be felt as a physical force.
Commonly we are able to perceive the object moving but not the action which caused the motion. But we can overcome this problem if we treat the various objects as shapes of different actions. Thus the object is the physical expression of the archetype. Although we perceive the world as a collection of things separated in space, the function related to these objects has no material existence. In such a sense space can also be treated as an object or as the outline inside which various actions take place. Time then may be related to the way the actions are distributed. While we move our hand we may define an amount of space and time according to the measure and the motion of our own hand. This would certainly be a purposeful action since we control the motion of our own hand. But we should also be aware that the ‘motion of our hand’ is a process which takes place in our own field of perception. While it seems that we are equipped with free will in this cosmic playground of Destiny, our mind does not generate the process- and certainly it does not create the object. The ‘colored objects’ which compose the space-time of the world as we know it also constitute our intellect. Then our own thought propagates through this ocean of ‘colors and shapes,’ of functions and limits, identifying the objects and their purposes in space and time. In such a sense we may say that, - The Field is generated.
5.1 Unconscious inference
In quantum entanglement the objects which are entangled seem to interact instantaneously before communication can be established between them with a light signal. If we take for granted that no causal action can be transmitted faster than light then space, time, also light as we know it do not exist before the connection takes place. Even if we suppose that there can be some signals propagating faster than light still the interaction of the entangled objects will be such that the objects cannot be perceived visually and no point in space or time can be attributed to them. This is similar to the way our own thought works. Often we have premonitions about things which occur afterwards. But the things to appear (the real objects) are somehow intrinsically connected with the images of those things (the images of premonition). Such premonitions are related to what is called unconscious inference.
According to Wikipedia, the term was coined by Hermann von Helmholtz to describe an involuntary, pre-rational and reflex-like mechanism which is part of the formation of visual impressions. While precursory notions have already been identified, Helmholtz’s theory was long ignored or even dismissed by philosophy and psychology. It has since received new attention from modern research, and the work of recent scholars, notably that of James Uleman.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscious_inference]
The ‘Hermann grid illusion:’ an optical illusion characterized by virtual grey blobs perceived to appear at the intersections of the white lines with the black squares. The blobs disappear when looking directly at an intersection.
Optical illusions is an illustrative way to describe unconscious inference. The grey blobs in the previous picture don’t really exist but they are unconsciously implied by the brain. This shows the need of the brain to have a complete picture of what it perceives. But the phenomenon may have further implications. The fact that these blobs are imaginary doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They exist as much as virtual particles do, from which the whole physical universe may be produced. Therefore we may say that,
- What is imaginary is as much existent as what is real.
Thus unconscious inference may reveal a whole imaginary universe pre-existent in our minds. This is a strong indication about the existence of archetypes. Archetypal patterns then may also help us think faster because we will not have to remember each time everything from the beginning. Most modern psychologists deny the existence of such patterns assuming that they are ‘prototypes’ instead of archetypes, that these prototypes are patterns which have formed during the evolution of the species. However by reduction we may assume that such patterns have to do with all primates; in turn with all mammals; all reptiles; all living creatures with a brain. Therefore we may reduce the ‘prototypes’ to ‘archetypes.’ The difference will be that while we may learn about prototypes we have already been born with archetypes. This would also explain talent- a property which can be improved but which cannot be taught. Behavior may also be predicted according to the archetypes. Under similar circumstances we behave in the same manner. But this could not occur if there weren’t some properties pre-established. In physics such properties are all material- mass, charge, color charge, etc. But material properties cannot explain psychological behavior. At least not if the material properties are not accompanied by some corresponding ‘psychic properties’ explaining emotional behavior. Thus the material aspects of the world cannot be understood without some accompanying physic aspects while the fundamental particles become archetypal shapes having both size and content. Such a realization is possible by ‘unconsciously inferring’ but not while we are in a state of trance or dreaming but while we use our own power of will to penetrate into the most hidden aspects of our own mind.
An interesting phenomenon is that of impossible objects (e.g. the Penrose triangle shown in the previous picture). In fact such objects are formed by unconscious inference. The brain tries to establish a unity of the shape depicted in the picture while the object may be incomplete (a side of the triangle missing for example). The object can be ‘incomplete’ in the first place, meaning by this that what we perceive as the real object is a collection of ‘lines’ and ‘shades’ which will finally make up a ‘triangle.’ On the other hand we may assume that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the object but that our conscious mind perceives the object incompletely. Are there more ‘dimensions’ hidden in the unconscious mind? How such dimensions can be perceived? A way to view this is by supposing that some multi-dimensional object is revealed by the light we shed on it. The light however reveals each time some of the aspects of the object depending on the angle. Thus by taking as many pictures of the object as we can we may have a picture of the whole object as clear as possible. However by doing this we also disturb the original patterns of which the object was composed (in the same sense that the observing photon disturbs the observed electron in Heisenberg’s thought experiment). While the impossible object may be found in real space, at the same time its ‘impossible image’ is projected on the viewer’s mind. But this time it is not physical light in the form of photons but the ‘light of perception’ which focuses on the image of the object. The more our attention tries to expose the object in detail the more the properties of the object are deformed or displaced. Thus we say that,
- The impossible objet exposes the limits which are own conscious mind sets on what is unconsciously inferred about the object.
5.2 The problem of vision
The previous image is taken from Rupert Sheldrake’s article, ‘The sense of being stared at.’
[http://www.sheldrake.org/files/pdfs/papers/JCSpaper2.pdf]
A formal definition of a mirror is given by Wikipedia:
A mirror is an object that reflects light in such a way that, for incident light in some range of wavelengths, the reflected light preserves many or most of the detailed physical characteristics of the original light. This is different from other light-reflecting objects that do not preserve much of the original wave signal other than color and diffuse reflected light. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror]
This is another picture which illustrates the mathematical description of the paths of light. But if the mirror is just a surface upon which light rays are reflected, even if these light rays stay concentrated and are not diffused, this does not explain how the information about the object is stored inside the mirror. If we assume that no image truly exists inside the mirror and that the mirror is just a reflecting surface then we have to face another problem- why our own perception sees the object inside the mirror? Even if the mirror in the previous picture didn’t exist, the image of the vase would still have to be reflected on our own eyes in order to be seen. Furthermore the image would have to be reflected on the ‘surface’ of our own mind in order to be perceived. Thus, while taking a look at the previous picture, we can imagine our own perception functioning as a mirror by reflecting or projecting the image of the object on our own mind. However in order to perceive the object we need both its physical representation and its image. Without the former the object does not exist in physical space while without the latter the object cannot be perceived. Therefore the mirror becomes the surface upon which both the object and its image are projected and reflected at the same time.
We may note that in fact all images are virtual. Thus it seems that the virtual rays projected from our mind towards the object coincide with the physical rays of light coming from the object towards our eyes. This process of projection is related to unconscious inference and it precedes conscious realization of the physical object. Therefore it seems that both the physical process (refection) and the mental process (projection) are necessary so that vision can be established. In fact there is no reason to suppose that the ‘real’ rays of physical light are more existent than the ‘virtual’ rays of our own perceptual field. Also such a coincidence is not random but meaningful because it refers to a pre-established structure. If it were random then some ‘dots’ of the object would be missing from the visual field or all objects would appear sometimes clear and other times fuzzy. A relative example is that of Young’s double slit experiment in physics and the way interference patterns form in general. If the paths of the probability distribution along which the photon moves were random then interference would never occur. On the other hand if we set the experiment in such a way that the photon will behave like a particle then interference breaks down instantaneously. This means that the probabilistic paths the photon will follow appear or disappear according to the conditions of the experiment in the whole of space-time. Thus we may say that interference is the pattern. The unconscious seems to operate in a similar way, having the pre-established knowledge of those paths of probability or of virtual rays, so that it also has some foreknowledge about the position and shape of the surrounding objects, while the actual perception of the same objects comes about later on as an aspect of causal confirmation.
The previous diagram is related to Wheeler- Feynman absorber theory. It was proposed in 1945 by the same scientists and the theory can be described as follows,
(1) The process of emission produces an electromagnetic wave consisting of a half¬ amplitude retarded wave and a half-amplitude advanced wave with opposite time directions. (2) The process of absorption is identical to that of emission and occurs in such a way that the wave produced by the absorber is 180° out of phase with the wave incident on it from the emitter. (3) An advanced wave may be reinterpreted as a retarded wave by reversing the signs of the energy and momentum (and therefore the time direction) of the wave, and likewise a retarded wave may be reinterpreted as an advanced wave.
[http://www.npl.washington.edu/npl/int_rep/gat_80/]
For more you may also see my article, ‘Retro-vision: A New Aspect of Vision?’
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/106782143/Retro-vision-A-New-Aspect-of-Vision]
If in our case the absorber is our mind and the emitter is the object which reflects the light then as soon as a retarded wave leaves the emitter towards our brain an advanced wave leaves our brain towards the emitter. It seems that advanced waves travel faster than light or perhaps backwards in time. Beyond the region of the two objects the waves cancel out so that no ‘anomaly’ or paradox can escape the interacting objects. However in between the objects a loop is formed by two reinforced waves, a retarded wave and an advanced wave, so that in the space between the two objects the past and the future coexist in the form of an extended present.
If we suppose that this interaction takes place between an object and the mind of an observer then we may say that as soon as the light (the retarded wave) reaches the observer the advanced wave emitted by the observer’s mind reaches the object. This also explains how vision and perception of things is possible. However I would say that initially both waves are advanced or virtual. Although this may also be the intention in the original thought experiment, the point is that the ‘retarded’ wave comes afterwards in the form of a causal signal of light. Thus the two objects may have already interacted through advanced or ‘virtual’ waves. For example the whole universe may have initially been produced in such a conditional state while afterwards all causal processes followed. This is not to say that everything is pre-determined but instead that each condition is pre-established. In some sense causal interactions may change the direction of the paths of probability retrospectively. The point is that visual perception and consciousness in general presuppose causality. Thus causality is yet another condition to be confirmed in due time. At that time the two aspects of nature, the physical and the psychic (or the retarded and the advanced parts of the wave-function), will have to coincide.
The true purpose here is not to wonder if objects really exist when we don’t observe them but how consciousness interacts with these objects so that the experience of reality is established. If it weren’t either for consciousness or for the object, neither the physical world nor experience may have existed. But since both exist we may realize that the psychic content (experience or consciousness) and the physical shape (the object) are formed at the same time. Both these aspects are equally important and equally possible. Thus we may say that,
- The Form is simultaneous.
However the relationship between the object and the mind although straightforward is not obvious. This is because the projection spontaneously displaces the created parts of the pair. At the same time the observer is found to stare at what he or she observes. This is the displacement of Consciousness. Such a separation is both virtual and physical. It is virtual because experience is a psychic content and it is physical because the pattern corresponding to the psychic content can be identified. Thus we may say that psychic contents can be perceived both physically (as rigid objects) and mentally (as images).
Therefore while a pattern or archetype corresponding to our eyes is triggered so that we can visually perceive things, another pattern or archetype arises corresponding to the function of our hands so that we may have the experience of touching things. In such a sense natural selection becomes a mental state while experience becomes a set of preferences. This realization is what makes archetypes even more necessary. Instead of being lost into a virtual reality of personal preferences or epistemological theories about the world and our own existence, the archetypes can serve as patterns on the basis of which we will be able to rebuild the world in a way as objective as possible. The enduring need to do so also serves as an indirect way to prove the existence of archetypes. Therefore we may assume, besides an archetype of change, a standard procedure which leads from subjectivity to objectivity (or from the Ego to the Self in terms of psychology), also a pair of archetypes or some archetypal procedure from individuality to universality.
5.3 Perceptual fields
In his aforementioned article ‘The sense of being stared at’ Sheldrake refers to the two main theories of vision- intromission and extramission. Intromission refers to the standard model of visual perception according to which the light rays reflected by the object enter the eye and the object becomes visible. Extramission theories are perhaps older and refer to light rays produced by the eye making the object visible. This is similar to how bats perceive the world by emitting sound waves. However humans are not supposed to emit such waves. Euclid devised a model of vision similar to that of modern optics but he believed that the light rays were produced by the human eye. Plato and Aristotle believed that somehow both were true and that the light rays coming from the object and those produced by the human eye converged somewhere in the middle. This middle may be thought of as the center of Projection.
Aristotle also gave emphasis to the medium. On first thought the medium is light. But I guess that Aristotle had the ether (quintessence) in mind. In modern terms this is the vacuum. Therefore, on second thought, we may say that the vacuum connects the object with the viewer. In this sense light comes as a secondary aspect to causally confirm the connection, and which also establishes visual experience. If we identify the experience with a perceptual field we might say that,
- The perceptual field constitutes the medium which connects perception (of the object) with the object.
This would be similar to Wheeler- Feynman absorber theory we saw before. We may say that as soon as the (retarded) light wave emitted from an object hits our eyes, an (advanced) wave emitted from us hits the object. The symmetry of the problem is apparent. However the nature of the advanced wave is elusive. Nevertheless we may say that,
- The absorber (in this case the observer) and the emitter (the object) are part of the same Projection.
Concerning the notion of Projection hopefully it will be gradually elucidated. For the moment we may describe the perceptual process as follows,
The Projection is an infinite loop in the vacuum. It simultaneously creates a complementary pair of ‘opposite’ objects. We may call these objects the ‘conditional’ and the ‘manifested.’ As soon as the Projection takes place, both objects emit signals to each other. As soon as the retarded waves from the manifested object reach the conditional object, the advanced waves from the conditional object reach the manifested.
This is similar to looking our own selves in a mirror. If the mirror lies at the center of the Projection then what we realize is the ‘Image’ of an object in the mirror and the ‘Object’ in ourselves. In this case the advanced wave has left the ‘Image’ in the mirror to produce the ‘Object’ (ourselves), while the retarded wave has left ourselves to produce the Image in the mirror. We may therefore say that,
- Consciousness, as the Object, perceives its own Image.
But both objects are equally imaginary. The Image (of ourselves) which we perceive in the mirror becomes the Object which is reflected back on Consciousness. Therefore our own perception lies neither in ‘outer space’ nor ‘in our mind’ but at the center of the Projection, which is the Mirror. In fact we don’t need two Objects to begin with. We just need one Object referring to itself. This Object, as we have already concluded, must be Consciousness- the Form which becomes aware of its own existence.
Sheldrake puts forward the notion of the perceptual field as follows:
“My own hypothesis is that projection takes place through perceptual fields, extending out beyond the brain, connecting the seeing animal with that which is seen. Vision is rooted in the activity of the brain, but is not confined to the inside of the head. Like Velmans, I suggest that the formation of these fields depends on the changes occurring in various regions of the brain as vision takes place, influenced by expectations, intentions and memories. Velmans suggests that this projection takes place in a way that is analogous to a field phenomenon, as in a hologram. I suggest that the perceptual projection is not just analogous to but actually is a field phenomenon… I suggest that minds likewise extend beyond brains through fields.”
About holograms we will talk later on. As far as perceptual fields are concerned I believe that Sheldrake does the same mistake as Euclid did. He supposes that perceptual fields are real in the same sense as physical fields. But perception is not established by particles ‘running in space.’ This is perhaps why ‘visual’ or ‘perceptual’ fields have never been detected by physical means (devices detecting electromagnetic radiation for example). What is measured is the effect which brings about perception but not the cause. Such an effect is light itself. However light reveals the final product not the process which created the field. Such a field consists of the object, light and our own mind. Thus it is a perceptual field. Therefore the perceptual field should be understood not as a causal agent but as a medium which includes the causal processes. So we may say that,
- Perception covers all the fields.
I was wondering if it would be possible to perceive things in complete darkness. This would be an aspect of some extra-sensory perception preceding physical vision and related to an unknown sense. Some believe that animals have in fact such an ability. However animals may not realize what they have foreseen. This is why the perceptual field presupposes in some sense the intervention of consciousness so that we are able to explore the cause which brought about the phenomenon. This is a sort of an infinite loop. But besides the willful analysis of the phenomenon which takes place retrospectively, the conditions under which the phenomenon was brought about are also inferred, so that a form of symmetry can be defined. Thus we may say that,
- The Form exists even in the dark.
The perceptual field connects objects both as images in our mind and as interacting physical entities. The physical part of the field can be compared to gravity. Objects bend space-time while the curvature of space time is manifested in the form of gravitational waves. Such waves have been recently detected. But even the smallest objects attract gravitationally each other although in this case the force is very weak. It would be interesting to wonder if there may exist some kind of elementary or rudimentary force in the vacuum even if gravity and all other known forces are excluded. Such a force could bring us closer to the notion of a field as the medium which binds all things together. Physical properties may then occur as the result of such a field. But if such a field is also related to perception then the physical properties will have to be integrated with experience in a common theory of Consciousness.
For example although we commonly distinguish between psychological time and physical time both of these two aspects of time may have the same origin. Perhaps this is why time can be delayed in the context of relativity theory. But together with time also experience is ‘delayed’ (the moving observer does not perceive the effect of time dilation). This could not happen if the mind of the observer was not integrated into the phenomenon. But the observer may also decide the speed with which he or she moves. Thus he or she may cause time dilation. Therefore the mind of the observer is as much a causal agent as any other physical force. But the point is not to face the dilemma whether the mind affects space time or the opposite but to try to understand how the causal factor gives rise both to the mind and to the physical properties at the same time. This is the Form of the overall problem- how Consciousness rises in the Universe through all the underlying processes.
It seems that Consciousness has this power of ‘space-time attribution’ to objects and events- we refer here not to personal consciousness but to the phenomenon of Consciousness. Together with shape (space) and motion (time), content (what we have also called ‘color’) is attributed to objects. Although this sort of ‘color’ is not to be confused with ‘light frequencies’ as described in physics, it is somehow related. In the same sense physical light make things appear, the psychic ‘color’ or content of things makes them visible to the mind. If it weren’t for these pre-established patterns of shapes and colors, of which we have already talked about and which we have identified with the archetypes, our physical eyes would see but our minds would not perceive. Thus we may that,
- Light is an aspect of the perceptual field.
About qualia we have talked before. As the previous picture suggests, qualia are patterns related to consciousness and somehow become entangled with physical space and time. While quantity can be related to the notion of the quantum, quality may be related to the notion of the quale. But such a division can be eliminated if we imagine that the patterns of Consciousness which give rise to emotional experience are also responsible for the recognition of space and time. Thus qualia themselves can be the quanta of Consciousness. But instead of imagining a world of qualia in our minds and a world of quanta in the environment around us, we may just assume that there just exist patterns or archetypes in the ‘phase-space of Consciousness’ which are responsible both for emotional and for physical experience.
Wikipedia gives examples of qualia, such as the pain of a headache, the taste of wine, or the perceived redness of an evening sky. Therefore we may say that qualia are ‘quanta of experience.’ A significant aspect of qualia is that they are subjective. ‘Redness’ for example may represent a very different aspect of ‘color’ for different people. But the subjectivity may have to do with the way the quale is expressed, not with the nature of the quale. This is similar to quanta. Let’s take light for example. The quality (quale) of light may correspond to the quantity (quantum) so that color may correspond to frequency. Frequency is the physical aspect while color is the psychic aspect. If we are to accept the existence of quanta we have also to accept the existence of qualia. Otherwise we are unable to explain the perception of color. Therefore we may say that qualia compose the discrete units of the psyche in the same sense that quanta constitute the material world. But while quanta are all the same, qualia may represent different kinds of experience. This is why Erwin Schrödinger said,
“The sensation of color cannot be accounted for by the physicist’s objective picture of light-waves. Could the physiologist account for it, if he had fuller knowledge than he has of the processes in the retina and the nervous processes set up by them in the optical nerve bundles and in the brain? I do not think so.”
The objective nature of qualia as qualitative properties organizing subjective experience was suggested by the originator of the notion, Clarence Irving Lewis:
“There are recognizable qualitative characters of the given, which may be repeated in different experiences, and are thus a sort of universals; I call these ‘qualia.’ But although such qualia are universals, in the sense of being recognized from one to another experience, they must be distinguished from the properties of objects. Confusion of these two is characteristic of many historical conceptions, as well as of current essence-theories. The quale is directly intuited, given, and is not the subject of any possible error because it is purely subjective.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia]
This is another interpretation about the qualia given on the site of the previous picture,
“‘Qui’ (who?) would be the hypothetical ‘other half’ of the quantum wave-function, and can be represented by the sideways letter psi. This signifies that aesthetic presence and qualitative appreciation (being and feeling) is orthogonal to the doing and knowing of quantum mechanics. Qui is not the measurement but the context of orientation from which measurement is experienced. It is explicitly neither wave, particle, form, or function, but neither is it non-wavelike, non-particle-like, formless, or unrelated to function. Qui is exactly what being alive is to us as human beings, except on a much more primitive level. It is the capacity to participate as an oscillating source of both animistic and mechanistic qualities.”
My own sense is that the world we see is not a ‘collection of dots,’ created by photons hitting the eye, but it is reconstructed like a puzzle, consisting of images (in this case qualia) which could probably be reduced to a handful of fundamental archetypes. While each archetype performs a different function, a collection of archetypes or complex may give rise to different behaviors. But while the world according to physics consists of shapeless particles, archetypes are objects with shape and content. Thus the archetype becomes an integrated unit of experience if we also assume a mechanism by which Consciousness arises during the interaction between archetypes. Such a mechanism becomes more apparent if we think that the archetypes or qualia are parts of Consciousness. In such a sense all the objects we perceive are expressions of archetypes which ‘vibrate’ and ‘move,’ composing the perceptual field which our personal consciousness partially realizes.
Perhaps such a realization of the Whole, of which each time we assume to be part, is the best description of Consciousness. According to such a description the Form can contain both quantity (shape) and quality (function). In fact the shape may imply the function in the same sense that ‘archetype’ means both the ‘mold’ (shape) and the ‘pattern’ (behavior). While we may acknowledge similar shapes with different functions or different shapes with similar functions, each combination of shape and function may give a different object or archetype. Such an identification between objects and archetypes is important because it tells us that all things which compose our own perceptual field can be united through their functions. It also tells us that everyday objects are part of functions, collections of archetypes (instead of collections of particles), although we perceive them as separate things. Are own conscious intervention may be responsible for this separation. When we stop thinking all things are the same. When we begin to think we may say that,
- The perceptual field appears.
5.4 Morphogenetic fields
Although in biology the term refers to a collection of cells, the term itself implies some field which generates form (morphe). In general a field is a collection of things, electrons, books, rivers and valleys, images, etc. The Form in this discussion has a very certain meaning. It is a collection of archetypes, and rises spontaneously from the vacuum. According to this the Form is also a Field because it is composed of objects (archetypes). However the Form is not generated by the field. It is composed by fields, different arrangements of archetypes, and it covers all space. Thus we may say that,
- The Form generates the fields.
The aspect of spontaneous generation (how something may arise out of nothing) will be discussed later on. We will now focus attention on the notion of the physical field as a collection of particles. It is impossible that form (morphe) derives from particles randomly interacting with each other. We have previously encountered the case of the magnetic field. The iron particles or charged particles in general arrange themselves along the lines of the magnetic field. Could we say that the particles can also produce the field along which they will be arranged? From this ambiguous argument we may realize that both the magnetic lines and the particles are aspects of the Field. There is no point arguing whether the particles or the field come first because both are aspects of the same phenomenon. We may say that the field lines are the extensions while the particles are the joints of a collective entity which in this discussion we have called the Form. Morphogenesis therefore refers to the birth of the Form. Not our own form but a universal entity which includes all fields. Since these fields are collections of archetypes, form as we know it comes about according to the shapes and contents of the archetypes.
Another problem with modern physics has to do with the assumption that particles are point-like. This makes them incapable of hosting the information about their future arrangement or any other kind of content including their own physical properties. But as soon as we start treating particles as extended entities we have also to acknowledge the presence of some interior part. However while we try to focus our attention on what may be found inside the particles, at the same time a part of our mind settles there. It is remarkable then to ask ourselves if the particle is located anywhere else but in our minds, even if the particle is perceived as a ‘dark point’ on the surface of our own consciousness. But the connection between Consciousness and the action upon a field of particles is even harder to be realized.
A third problem in physics is that form (morphe) may come about by random processes. But form is not just a heap of particles but a certain shape which particles may compose. But the shape is not composed of particles. Even harder is to imagine the content of things as a simple amount of energy. Energy has a quantity but does not include the meaning of the content. For example heat is a form of energy but the content of feeling hot cannot be explained by the standard notion of energy. We see therefore that a third aspect has to be added to those of matter (the particle) and energy (the physical content) so that the realm of the soul can be integrated. In a broader sense the ‘particle’ becomes an object with some shape and content which refer at the same time both to the physical properties (the physical object) and the psychic aspects (the psychic object). Thus the object or the particle becomes a symbol which expresses a function or action both in the physical world and in our minds. In such a sense the perceptual field of images can be integrated with the morphogenetic or morphic field of physical shapes. Apparently the perceptual field is the way our mind perceives the morphic field. Since perception is a specialized function of the overall content of thought we may say that the perceptual field is part of the morphic field. But the function of things (the archetypes which are perceived as true objects) is not random but meaningful (archetypes include both the aspect of heat and the aspect of feeling hot). Thus the morphogenetic field, which consists of archetypes, generates both the physical form and the emotional content of the whole experience.
Rupert Sheldrake introduces the notion of morphogenetic fields as follows,
“Perceptual fields are related to a broader class of biological fields involved in the organization of developing organisms and in the activity of the nervous system. The idea of biological fields has been an important aspect of developmental biology since the 1920s, when the hypothesis of morphogenetic fields was first proposed (Gurwitsch, 1922). These fields underlie processes of biological morphogenesis. Morphogenetic fields are part of a larger class of fields called morphic fields, which includes behavioral, social and perceptual fields.
According to this hypothesis, it is in the nature of morphic fields to bind together and coordinate patterns of activity into a larger whole. Morphic fields guide systems under their influence towards attractors, and they stabilize systems through time by means of self-resonance. They are also influenced by a resonance across time and space from previous similar systems, by a process called morphic resonance. Thus they contain an inherent memory, both of system’s own past, and a kind of collective or pooled memory from previous similar systems elsewhere. Through repetition a morphic field becomes increasingly habitual. To understand the sense of being stared at, we need a further postulate, namely that these perceptual fields interact with the fields of the person or animal on which attention is focused. Ex hypothesi, all people and animals have their own morphic fields, so this interaction would require an action of like upon like, a field-field interaction.”
According to Wikipedia, in modern biology a morphogenetic field is a group of cells able to respond to discrete, localized biochemical signals leading to the development of specific morphological structures or organs. The spatial and temporal extent of the embryonic fields are dynamic, and within the field is a collection of interacting cells out of which a particular organ is formed. As a group, the cells within a given morphogenetic field are constrained- i.e. cells in a limb field will become a limb tissue, those in a cardiac field will become heart tissue. Importantly, however, the specific cellular programming of individual cells in a field is flexible: an individual cell in a cardiac field can be redirected via cell-to-cell signaling to replace specific damaged or missing cells. Imaginal discs in insect larvae are examples of morphogenetic fields.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphogenetic_field]
After the discovery of DNA the hypothesis of morphogenetic fields lost ground in favor of genes. However genes on their own do not describe how come they are expressed differently in different parts of the organism, or how come they seem to know their position with respect to the whole organism. The assumption that we had better treat the organism as a whole is also supported by the fact that each cell contains the whole genome. This aspect is also related to the notion of a hologram, which contains in each part the information about the whole. Perhaps this is a property of all fields. As far as cells are concerned one might say that the cells communicate with electrochemical forces (such as those shown in the previous picture) so that they are informed about their relative positions and what they have to do. Therefore the expression of individual genes is decided by the overall order. But this instruction is not found inside the cells but it is contained on the outlines of the field which ‘floats’ in the vicinity of the cells. We may call this field ‘cloud’ or ‘aura’ borrowing the respective term either from computer science or from (para)psychology, and we may also suppose that this field is active throughout the life of the organism.
What other kind of information may such a field contain as the biological entity grows up? Sheldrake supposes that it also contains information about the interaction with the morphic fields of other people (or animals in general) through a process which he calls morphic resonance. Furthermore the morphic field may contain information of any kind (social, environmental, etc.). However by separating the ‘field’ from the ‘cells’ we make a false division. The field has to include the cells because it is composed of them. But the point is that the cells are localizations of larger structures which, together with the cells, include the information of the cells’ arrangement, places where information can be stored, as well as aspects by which our own mind is integrated with the whole process (morphic resonance) so that we are able to perceive the field as we do. Perhaps biological cells are nothing more than the way we physically perceive the storehouses of our own experience during our earthly lives. In such a sense information as a psychic content finds a perceptible shelter with the shape of a cell in the same way our soul (the set of all psychic contents) inhabits the body (the whole of cells). Thus we may say that,
- The Form is generated.
The point is that it is impossible to perceive the world either as an object or as an image alone. The object on its own is unconscious therefore imperceivable, while the image is intangible thus equally imperceptible. The correspondence or coincidence between the image and the object gives things both the physical ‘touchable’ shape and the psychic ‘felt’ content. It is also worth noting that again such a division may be false because ‘touching’ is just another sense. Therefore there is nothing fundamental to separate images and notions (the qualia) in our minds from the corresponding physical objects, other than some degree of manifestation or materialization. This is what we also call Awareness.
5.5 Exo-biological memory
With respect to one of the previous examples about reflection on a mirror, one may wonder if the virtual image of the object is really located inside the mirror, or if the mirror just reflects the light coming from the object so that our own mind infers the position of the object inside the mirror. But in both cases the problem is the same. If light was just reflected on objects we would only see the light and not the object. This is why we say that the light is absorbed by the object and re-emitted so that when the light reaches our eyes it also carries the information about the object. Such a process of absorption and re-emission is fundamental and refers to all phenomena where light is involved. So we may suppose a similar process which goes on inside our own minds. The picture of the object which is stored on the surface of consciousness somewhere in memory has somehow to be reflected or re-emitted so that it becomes visible to perception. Where exactly the image of the object is reflected upon is difficult to say but we may suppose that such a surface can be identified with what is commonly called the aura of the soul.
Thus we may describe a basic scheme of how perception works: The image of the object which is stored inside our memory is projected upon the surface of our soul where it becomes visible. Such a surface, which is reminiscent of holograms and which can also be identified with the outset of our own consciousness, can be perceived as projected outside the body, surrounding it in the form of an ‘ethereal’ field. Such a field of course is virtual but no less real than all fields, which are in fact collections of objects perceived by consciousness as collections of images of the corresponding objects.
Thus our biological memory, as a certain location somewhere in the brain, can be represented by a collection of the same content distributed across the ethereal field which surrounds our body. In such a sense memory may also be described as ‘exo-biological,’ referring to a collection of images constituting personal experience, lying outside the material brain. Although the sharp distinction between the ‘material’ and the ‘ethereal,’ as has been repeatedly noted in this discussion, is misleading, as it fundamentally refers to different or successive levels or layers of perceiving the world, the acknowledgement of an exo-biological component of memory makes much easier the justification and description of our own emotional world. For example if it is true that our brain is not able to perceive colors on its own, as it is interesting to note that our dreams are black and white, then the perception of colors has to be brought about by some sort of fine-tuning or resonance between the natural frequencies of light and the vibrations of the ethereal field or aura which covers our body. Then the identification of those vibrations and their correlation to the natural frequencies may offer us a pattern or scheme which would also correspond to certain emotions. This is why some believe that the aura reflects our emotional state at a given time, as well as the general health condition of our body.
An interesting question which arises now is whether such an exo-biological mirage of our own memories can survive even if the corresponding biological part is lost. Experiments have shown that basic functions of the brain are not lost even when the parts of the brain corresponding to those functions are damaged. According to the following site,
In the 1920’s Wilder Penfield presented convincing evidence that memories were stored in specific locations in the brain. Penfield performed surgery on epileptic patients and found that when he stimulated the temporal lobes, the patients relived experiences from the past. He found that whenever he stimulated a specific region of the brain, it evoked the same memory. In his book The Mystery of the Mind (1975), Penfield described the patients experience as a ‘flashback,’ where the patient actually re-lived the experience. Penfield concluded that this meant that all experiences were stored in specific locations of the brain in memory engrams.
In an effort to verify Penfield’s experiments, biologist Karl Lashley (1950) began searching for the elusive engrams. He had trained rats in maze-running abilities and then attempted to surgically remove the portion of the rat's brains that contained the maze-running knowledge. Lashley found that no matter what portion of the brain he removed, the rats retained their maze-running knowledge. Even when massive portions of the brain were removed, the rats were still able to navigate through the maze.
Karl Pribram (1969), a student of Penfield, was astonished by Lashley’s research. Pribram noticed that when brain-injured patients had large sections of their brain removed, they did not suffer a loss of any specific memories. Instead, the patient’s memory became increasingly hazy as greater portions of the brain were removed. Further research indicated that Penfield’s experiments could be only duplicated on epileptic patients. Pribram (1977) came to the conclusion that memories are not localized in any specific brain cells, but rather, memory seemed to be distribution throughout the whole brain. The problem was that there was simply no known mechanism that would explain how this was possible.
[http://www.statpac.org/walonick/reality.htm]
A related theory is the holonomic brain theory. According to Wikipedia, the holonomic brain theory, developed by neuroscientist Karl Pribram initially in collaboration with physicist David Bohm, is a model of human cognition that describes the brain as a holographic storage network. Pribram suggests these processes involve electric oscillations in the brain’s fine-fibered dendritic webs, which are different from the more commonly known action potentials involving axons and synapses. These oscillations are waves and create wave interference patterns in which memory is encoded naturally, and the waves may be analyzed by a Fourier transform. Gabor, Pribram and others noted the similarities between these brain processes and the storage of information in a hologram, which can also be analyzed with a Fourier transform. In a hologram, any part of the hologram with sufficient size contains the whole of the stored information. In this theory, a piece of a long-term memory is similarly distributed over a dendritic arbor so that each part of the dendritic network contains all the information stored over the entire network. This model allows for important aspects of human consciousness, including the fast associative memory that allows for connections between different pieces of stored information and the non-locality of memory storage (a specific memory is not stored in a specific location, i.e. a certain neuron).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holonomic_brain_theory]
Pribram explains as follows,
“What the data suggest is that there exists in the cortex, a multidimensional holographic-like process serving as an attractor or set point toward which muscular contractions operate to achieve a specified environmental result. The specification has to be based on prior experience (of the species or the individual) and stored in holographic-like form. Activation of the store involves patterns of muscular contractions (guided by basal ganglia, cerebellar, brain stem and spinal cord) whose sequential operations need only to satisfy the ‘target’ encoded in the image of achievement much as the patterns of sequential operations of heating and cooling must meet the set- point of the thermostat.”
[http://gestalttheory.net/conv/prib.html]
Here we may say that,
- Neurons are physical representations of archetypal functions.
Another interesting aspect is that according to Pribram the length of the delay of an input signal in the dendritic arbor before it travels down the axon is related to mental awareness. The shorter the delay the more unconscious the action, while a longer delay indicates a longer period of awareness. This is related to the quantum Zeno effect according to which attention seems to delay events on which it focuses. Quantum mechanically this would be the moment when awareness makes the decision about which choice will be made (when the coincidence occurs between the event and the individual so that awareness arises). At the moment the choice is made the wave-function of all probabilities collapses and the event is realized. Holographically this would be the moment when the hologram (the wave-pattern of events) breaks down into the action which represents the conscious decision.
This property of consciousness in the form of mental awareness to suspend time at the point where attention is focused is related to the notion of psychic relativity as described by Jung. Although the individual mind may not be able to make clocks run slower, there may be instances when the individual mind is fine-tuned with natural processes which can make time run slower. But if our mind may reproduce such effect in the laboratory then we may say that our mind finds the means to cause time dilation and thus it is coordinated with the process. But all the means are archetypal functions which are perceived as physical objects. Thus we may say that consciousness may cause time dilation as much as consciousness can be delayed by time.
Pribram apart from the necessity of coordination between nerve- muscles and wave- patterns (as an indication of the meaningful coincidence which takes place) also mentions the need of prior experience (of the species or of the individual). Such experience is instinctual or unconscious and can be therefore related to archetypes. Perhaps our memories are nothing more than certain interference patterns which last at least as long as a person’s lifespan. The idea of exo- biological memory may also be related to the notion of morphic fields as put forward by Sheldrake,
“The morphic fields of mental activity are not confined to the insides of our heads. They extend far beyond our brain though intention and attention. We are already familiar with the idea of fields extending beyond the material objects in which they are rooted: for example magnetic fields extend beyond the surfaces of magnets; the earth’s gravitational field extends far beyond the surface of the earth, keeping the moon in its orbit; and the fields of a cell phone stretch out far beyond the phone itself. Likewise the fields of our minds extend far beyond our brains…
The fields organizing the activity of the nervous system are likewise inherited through morphic resonance, conveying a collective, instinctive memory. Each individual both draws upon and contributes to the collective memory of the species. This means that new patterns of behavior can spread more rapidly than would otherwise be possible. For example, if rats of a particular breed learn a new trick in Harvard, then rats of that breed should be able to learn the same trick faster all over the world, say in Edinburgh and Melbourne. There is already evidence from laboratory experiments that this actually happens.
The resonance of a brain with its own past states also helps to explain the memories of individual animals and humans. There is no need for all memories to be ‘stored’ inside the brain. Social groups are likewise organized by fields, as in schools of fish and flocks of birds. Human societies have memories that are transmitted through the culture of the group, and are most explicitly communicated through the ritual re-enactment of a founding story or myth…”
[http://www.sheldrake.org/Articles&Papers/papers/morphic/morphic_intro.html]
It would be interesting to ask ourselves what people who were born blind see. About this subject I found the following article:
Paul Gabias has never seen a table. He was born prematurely and went blind shortly thereafter, most likely because of overexposure to oxygen in his incubator. And yet, Gabias, 60, has no trouble perceiving the table next to him. “My image of the table is exactly the same as a table,” he said. “It has height, depth, width, texture; I can picture the whole thing all at once. It just has no color.”
As well as being blind himself, Gabias is an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia who conducts research on perceptual and cognitive aspects of blindness. His personal and professional experience leads him to believe that the brains of blind people work around the lack of visual information, and find other ways to achieve the same, vitally important result: a detailed 3D map of space.
“I just picture tables. We have no idea what our brain is doing. We just perceive- that’s the wonderful thing about it. This is all ‘psychologization’ that has made it complicated to explain, but simple to do. You don’t know how you perceive. You just do it,” he said.
[http://www.livescience.com/23709-blind-people-picture-reality.html]
I believe that it is fair enough to say that although there are people who cannot see or who have suffered some damage to the visual cortex, still these people are not mentally blind. I would imagine that blind people have dreams and imagine things in the same way people who can see do. However blind people may lie closer to the archetypal images of things, since their perception is not ‘spoiled’ by the external appearance of things. It is even possible to assume that some gifted people, either blind or not, may perceive the archetypes as objects on their own. Thus it would interesting to ask such people to describe us what the objects they perceive look like. How does the shape (the ‘rigidness’) and the content (the ‘color’) of objects differ from what we perceive? For example the statement that blind people perceive the world in black and white is equivalent to saying that we remember a colorless dream. But by saying this we do not refer to the physical frequency of light reflected from the objects of our dream but to the ‘vibrations’ of the dream content. Thus the ‘color’ of a dream or of what we imagine is existent and vivid as much as we are able to describe the perceivable experience to ourselves and to others.
We may say that experience is a recollection of memory, while memory is a recollection of the individualization process. Of all aspects of the cosmic flow, we retain those which we regard that they belong to us. This process also defines our own being as opposed to all other living beings. But everything we know about ourselves is true as long as ‘time has collapsed’ before the Form rearranges itself.
Thus we may end this section with the following realization,
Imagine there is a place in the universe, a singularity, where the archetypes are stored. And each person has representations of these archetypes inside his/her mind. A certain combination of these archetypes gives rise to a certain memory, while the collection of all memories constitutes the person’s experience. However there is a direct correspondence between the representations of the archetypes in the person’s mind and the representations of the same archetypes in the singularity where they are stored. Thus the experiences of one person are at the same time part of the experiences of the singularity, and the experiences of all people become the collective experience of the one singularity. In other words personal experience, thus our own selves, is just a different arrangement of the memory of that singularity, which we have called Consciousness. Furthermore the actions of the archetypes, whose arrangements constitute all the perceptible world, are not located at one place but they are distributed all across the Universe. Thus while the archetypes are stored inside the singularity their representation or expression is distributed across the whole volume of the Form, and they are perceived to be projected upon the outlines of the Form, the Aura of the Universal Soul, or what in physics is called the Event Horizon of the observable universe. Therefore the Universe becomes an expression of the Singularity and its archetypes, a playground for the actions of the archetypes, while we become the personification or personalization as a certain mode or arrangement of the whole distribution.
Therefore we may say that,
- Consciousness remembers.
5.6 The vacuum and the collective unconscious
Finally Sheldrake makes a connection between morphogenetic fields and the collective unconscious,
“The approach I am putting forward is very similar to Jung's idea of the collective unconscious. The main difference is that Jung's idea was applied primarily to human experience and human collective memory. What I am suggesting is that a very similar principle operates throughout the entire universe, not just in human beings. If the kind of radical paradigm shift I am talking about goes on within biology-if the hypothesis of morphic resonance is even approximately correct-then Jung’s idea of the collective unconscious would become a mainstream idea: Morphogenic fields and the concept of the collective unconscious would completely change the context of modern psychology.”
[http://www.sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance/part-i-mind-memory-and-archetype-morphic-resonance-and-the-collective-unconscious]
[http://www.lactamme.polytechnique.fr/Mosaic/images/VIDE.21.0128.D/display.html]
A direct response to the quantum vacuum- collective unconscious dilemma would be to say that the collective unconscious is a vacuum which includes the potential for the emergence of consciousness. But for this to happen we need something more than virtual point-particles, because point particles are deprived of content. Thus it would be better to search for some fundamental structures, whose edges may stand for what we commonly refer to as particles, with shape and content. The shape would represent the material aspects while the content would represent the psychic aspects of the world. Then Consciousness could arise as the set of such fundamental structure at a large scale.
Tessellation refers to the process of filling space with shapes leaving no gaps between the shapes while the shapes do not overlap with each other. Usually in tessellation color is not important but the previous picture offers an exception. Aperiodic sets of tiles fill the plane in a non-repeatable way. The notion of non-periodicity is closely related to the notion of undecidability. If the set is periodic then it cannot be decided if the set can fill space with a finite amount of tiles or dominoes. This can be done if the set is aperiodic. Beginning with a large number of aperiodic tiles to fill a plane, the number can be reduced to as few as a couple of fundamental shapes. This is another example of colorful tessellation:
A P1 tiling using Penrose’s original set of six prototiles
Although tessellation may seem a puzzle which only mathematicians enjoy many practical applications can be found. According to Wikipedia,
Winfree et al. have demonstrated the feasibility of creating molecular ‘tiles’ made from DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that can act as Wang tiles. Mittal et al. have shown that these tiles can also be composed of peptide nucleic acid (PNA), a stable artificial mimic of DNA.
In 1996, German mathematician Petra Gummelt demonstrated that a covering equivalent to the Penrose tiling can be constructed using a single decagonal tile. Such coverings have been considered as a realistic model for the growth of quasicrystals: the overlapping decagons are 'quasi-unit cells' analogous to the unit cells from which crystals are constructed, and the matching rules maximize the density of certain atomic clusters.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessellation]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_tile]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_tiling]
We may now say that the Form has a fragmented structure similar to that produced by tiles during a tessellation of space. But in this case the tiles are archetypes. While the basic patterns are repeated again and again, the overall structure is unique. Even if we focus attention on a certain location, the structure will be different since the replication of the basic patterns is non-periodical. But this is not a mathematical problem, and I am not an expert on tessellation in any case. However the basic question is how such patterns give rise to space and time as we know it, and by extension to living intelligent beings.
It is interesting to recall here the zodiac with the twelve signs. We saw that those signs can be more in number or less. But the symbols which represent the signs or ‘asterisms’ may well be substituted by shapes whose outline and color represent human characters as well as material processes. Thus a certain shape, a ‘kite’ or a ‘pentagon’ for example, having some planets on its edges, may express the manifestation of a certain structure of the Form or an archetype, influencing both the physical motion of those heavenly bodies as well as psychological processes. One day science may be able to predict and calculate changes in the gravitational field because of such phases of the planets, as well as to expect corresponding manifestations or synchronicities on the human scale. The fact that modern science has not yet reached such a level does not exclude the possibility of such phenomena.
An important implication of such a fragmentation or tessellation is that the vacuum as conceived by modern quantum science is not homogeneous. It looks more like a broken piece of glass. We may say thus that the symmetry is ‘broken’ but this doesn’t mean that the symmetry is lost. It is just that we may not find two different spots on the glass places where the glass is broken in the same way. But the lines of this broken glass may still represent fields while the intersections between the lines may represent particles. Thus it is not the particle or the field responsible for the fragmentation. Instead both are manifestations of such a division. Perhaps our unconscious is just the property of consciousness which restores the fragmented structure in order to offer a coherent and complete picture of the everyday ‘continuous’ reality. Thus our unconscious mind infers by moving backwards in space and time to restore the order. At the same time causality rises. At the point where the imaginary route of the unconscious meets the underlying structure a spark of Consciousness is generated. Then this spark propagates in the phase-space of Consciousness to give physical meaning to things.
This way the vacuum becomes the content of the Form, the playground of archetypes whose extensions and actions are described as virtual particles and fields by modern physics. However the description of the vacuum as a non-localized structure also offers the opportunity to better understand observed phenomena such as quantum entanglement. Instead of imagining a signal-particle propagating with the speed of light to cover the distance between the two entangled particles so that communication may be established, we may assume that the two particles are already connected as parts of the same structure. Each time we perform an experiment of quantum entanglement we don’t just intervene locally on one particle but we change the whole structure. Thus we simultaneously change the configuration of the whole Form. At the same time realization also comes about. Therefore there is no meaning saying that the two particles interacted or will interact before we realize, thus attribute, the time of interaction.
This is similar to the processes which take place in the unconscious. All conditions which compose the unconscious are expressed in space and time as local events at the moment free will intervenes and makes the ‘wave-function’ of all probabilities collapse. Such conditions also include the most definite aspects of our selves- such as memories. There is no memory living in the past but all memories are recovered in the present. Thus memories and all mental aspects which we identify with our own identity and existence are parts of a structure which manifests itself at the instant by causal selection.
If we would like to make a step forward we may also assume the existence of the collective unconscious. We may even say that the unconscious is collective always. Its structure refers to the content of the whole Form, thus it includes all possible shapes and colors as combinations of what we commonly experience as living entities. It would be interesting to imagine how a super-computer (the most advance which could have ever been built) would process information about the whole of the universe- as well as a piece of information about the meaning of its own existence. How such a machine would give space and time ‘coordinates’ to events with respect to its own position in space and time? How could it understand the meaning of existence or the feeling of experience in relation to its own responses to the same events? But let’s suppose that such a machine already exists. We may call it God, or the Universe, or the Form. But while God is defined as a separate entity, most powerful and at the longest distance, or while the Universe is described as a huge mechanical entity incapable of feeling any remorse or having any second thought about its own emptiness, the Form includes us and also sympathizes (or attracts) us. Thus while the unconscious becomes a notion ready to be conceived, the vacuum becomes a feeling ready to be explored. At the moment of Completion we may that,
- The Emptiness is filled.
5.7 Formative causation
This is a term that Sheldrake introduced to describe I guess the way morphic fields work. This is a related article written by Sheldrake:
The hypothesis of formative causation, which I first proposed in 1981 postulates that organisms are subject to an influence from previous similar organisms by a process called morphic resonance. Through morphic resonance, each member of a species draws upon, and in turn contributes to, a pooled or collective memory. Thus, for example, if animals learn a new skill in one place, similar animals raised under similar conditions should subsequently tend to learn the same thing more readily all over the world. Likewise, people should tend to learn more readily what others have already learnt, even in the absence of any known means of connection or communication. In the human realm, this hypothesis resembles C.G. Jung’s postulate of the collective unconscious. The hypothesis also applies in the chemical and physical realms, and predicts, for example, that crystals of new compounds should become easier to crystallize all over the world the more often they are made. There is already circumstantial evidence that this actually happens.
[http://www.sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance/an-experimental-test-of-the-hypothesis-of-formative-causation]
Sheldrake then goes on and describes an experiment with chicks which learn how to avoid things by aversion. For example if the chicks are offered some colorful beads and the yellow beads are coated with a bitter substance then the next time the chicks will avoid the yellow beads. Sheldrake supposes that not only these chicks but also the rest of the chicks all around the world will also avoid yellow beads, if such bids are offered to them, because the information will have passed to the other chicks unconsciously by morphic resonance. Sheldrake also supposes a time of hesitation for the chicks which will gradually increase. The experiment was performed at Steven Rose’s laboratory. While Sheldrake was convinced that the effect did take place Rose said that he didn’t see any effect.
This reminds me of the recent detection of gravitational waves. But is it gravitational waves what truly exists or is it some form of disturbance which we perceive and interpret as a gravitational wave? In the case of Sheldrake’s experiment this disturbance was perceived as time dilation with respect to the chicks which avoided the coated bead. But did such time dilation occur for the chicks, or was it something which occurred from the point of view of the observer? It is interesting to note in this case that the effect may have existed even before some of the beads were coated. In this sense the chicks already knew how to recognize shapes and colors. Thus we may wonder if the chicks have preferences with respect to different shapes and colors since the moment they are born. This would have to do with the rise or constellation of some archetypes related to the shapes and colors, which in turn correspond to certain aspects of the character of any living being.
Such an aspect of pre-established structures constituting the world, with certain arrangements of those structures expressed in the psyche of living beings, is closely related to the notions of irreducible complexity and intelligent design. According to Wikipedia, intelligent design is the pseudoscientific view that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design]
While natural selection is not an ‘undirected’ but a purposeful process we may wonder where the laws of nature come from. For example if we assume that the universe, or according to our discussion the Form, was created spontaneously then we have also to deduce that spontaneity is an expression of some purpose in the world. Thus the meaning of non-guidance or non-intervention does not mean lawlessness and chaos in as much as even the most dynamic processes in the universe also include the information which tells those processes how to evolve and where to settle down. Thus we may say that natural selection constitutes a set of rules which represent Nature’s free- choices.
A straightforward definition of natural selection is the following one:
If you have variation, differential reproduction, and heredity, you will have evolution by natural selection as an outcome.
[http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_25]
The article also mentions that the more advantageous trait, brown coloration which allows a beetle for example to have more offspring, becomes more common in a population. If this process continues, eventually, all individuals in the population will be brown. However this process does not make beetles intelligent. We might argue that intelligence could arise in a similar way by selecting for example a mental trait which makes people more pleasant to others, but this cannot explain why our favorite pets, which always try to be pleasant, have never become geniuses. Thus there may be a property inherent to people which distinguishes them from all other beings. Such a property is a trait which is not inherited neither is learned, but it is manifested at the time a human being is born. This is a quality of preference, a psychic kind of selection, which is determined at the time of birth of the organism, and which is expressed with the unfoldment of certain traits or archetypes which describe the process.
The existence of a pre-established structure in nature which unfolds and individualizes at the birth and during the lifespan of a lifeform is also related to the notion of irreducible complexity. The definition was put forward by Michael Behe in the following words:
“By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. An irreducibly complex system cannot be produced directly (that is, by continuously improving the initial function, which continues to work by the same mechanism) by slight, successive modifications of a precursor system, because any precursor to an irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional. An irreducibly complex biological system, if there is such a thing, would be a powerful challenge to Darwinian evolution.”
[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/behe.html]
It would be helpful to point out that in fact all systems- at least in theory- are irreducibly complex one way or the other. For example,
- In biology all living beings stem from ‘protists:’ bacteria, archaea and eycariotes (the three- domain system). - In physics all matter consists of a countable number of elementary, considered indivisible, particles. - In Christianity it is the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). - In logic there is a basic set of axioms or rules on which deduction is based. - In the theory of the Form all experience is based on the manifestation of certain structures, the archetypes.
Therefore by the term ‘irreducibly complex’ it is implied that the system is ‘structured’ so that the Form can be expressed through the structure. Thus the Form condenses from a collection of vapors, exhaled by the underlying structure of archetypes, as a probabilistic cloud, which in turn will condense according to certain procedures into one manifested object or another. Incidentally the notion of a hologram is relevant in the sense that such an entity if not irreducibly complex is at least structured so that the projected image is maintained even if we remove some pieces from the storing material. A related notion is that of specified complexity. The term was originally coined by Leslie Orgel to denote what distinguishes living things from non-living things:
“In brief, living organisms are distinguished by their specified complexity. Crystals are usually taken as the prototypes of simple well-specified structures, because they consist of a very large number of identical molecules packed together in a uniform way. Lumps of granite or random mixtures of polymers are examples of structures that are complex but not specified. The crystals fail to qualify as living because they lack complexity; the mixtures of polymers fail to qualify because they lack specificity.”
The term was later employed by physicist Paul Davies in a similar manner:
“Living organisms are mysterious not for their complexity per se, but for their tightly specified complexity.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specified_complexity]
According to such a definition we may say that the Form is complex but not (pre-)specified. It is complex because it consists of the underlying structure, while it is not specified before the archetypes are expressed. But the specification is ultimately related to the causal process of Consciousness. In fact we may say that Consciousness is the only process or agent which can make the ‘cloud of probabilities’ collapse or condense into a certain material object. But causality or the Cause which represents the catalyst in the process cannot appear by chance but already exists in the structure. Some people have identified such a Cause with God. However, according to our discussion, the Cause did not create the Form but it is a property of the whole structure. Someone might say that the Cause is the Light of Consciousness. This Light makes things appear. Thus Consciousness makes things perceivable by inferring all the procedures located in the underlying structure. In such a sense we may say that complexity is specified.
This brings me to the notion of tangled hierarchy. Formally, as stated by Wikipedia, a tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical consciousness system in which a strange loop appears.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_loop]
A strange loop is a term coined by Douglas Hofstadter to illustrate a process during which one moves in successive steps or levels of hierarchy (upwards or downwards) only to find oneself back to the point where one started. This process may be identified with logic itself and what is called a self-referring argument- a fact that is proved by its own existence. We will return to ‘strange’ or infinite loops later on. You may also see my own article, ‘Human evolution- the process of humanization.’
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/118580808/Human-Evolution-The-process-of-humanization]
The notion of self- reference is also fundamental in the context of our discussion. But self- reference is a process which predates logic by far. The Projection is a self- referential process by which the Object and the Image (or the Subject) are split so that the evolving Consciousness may travel backwards from the Image to the Object, and by doing so Consciousness manifests its own existence. This process did not occur just once in the beginning of the universe but it takes place repeatedly on the personal level within our own thoughts. If thought does not exist the object cannot be deduced or reduced. If the object does not exist thought cannot be specified. But the tangle between the object and thought is hierarchical in the sense that causality is a one way road.
The reason why the Cause is unidirectional perhaps just refers to one reference point or another. For example what is considered an established fact according to one system of reference or some point of view, may be just a hypothesis or a condition according to another system of reference or interpretation. But I suspect, if we want to have some absolute point of reference where all separate opinions converge, that the Cause in the universe can be seen as a force or current which comes towards us from the Future, thus from the realm of the Condition, while we perceive such a flow like motion from the present toward the future. This may be how our own mind perceives the expression of the Condition while at the same time Universal Consciousness materializes. In such a sense we may say that,
- The Cause is Formed.
As far as the debate between intelligent design and evolution is concerned, both are irreducibly complex systems. The former because it considers ‘divine intervention’ a necessary aspect in the process of evolution, and the latter because it recognizes heredity as a pre- existing pattern. I believe that the key to combine both theories (evolution and intelligent design) is what we have already said about ‘free will’ and free- choices. In fact we may say that,
- Free- choices are the natural expression of the Cause.
But again the free- choices of intelligent beings should not be perceived as ‘moral actions’- although a philosophical aspect of ethics may be defined this way. Nevertheless they imply both some tendency of the psyche and some preference of direction in physical space and time. But the ultimate purpose or result of the causal process is mere experience. Thus we may say that,
- The Cause is the experiential process by which random structure is transformed into awareness.
I strongly believe that intelligence is a property fully integrated with all other ‘physical’ properties since the beginning of the universe. Darwin may have mechanistically called such intelligence ‘heredity,’ while creationists may have vaguely called it ‘God.’ But this kind of intelligence had initially been found in the form of instincts, or patterns of behavior, or initial functions, or propensities, or just archetypes. The Cause in nature is closely related to Free Will. I choose capital initials here to distinguish the ability of personal judgement from the corresponding causally formative property of Consciousness to discover, describe and define the underlying patterns as physical objects, also to identify those objects with its own Experience. Such an aspect of Wholeness is what both the evolutionists and the creationists seem to ignore.
Conclusively we may say that,
- Structure, Cause and Meaning is the ‘Holy Trinity’ in the theory of the Form.
The shape and the content is related to the Structure, the expression of the Structure represents the Cause, while the Meaning refers to the understanding of the Cause. In such a case we may say that,
- Awareness is close.
5.8 The spider archetype
[http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbolic-spider-wove-its-way-through-history-002215]
We may take a mirror, put it on the ground, and then mark on the mirror the position of the stars. Thus we will have a projection of the sky down on Earth. We could do the same on a piece of paper although the mirror is better because it reflects the exact position of stars. It preserves the perspective with respect to the angle and the brightness of the objects it reflects. Is it possible that the mirror also preserves the picture by somehow storing the information inside its surface? Perhaps the images which appear inside the mirror are not just virtual images inferred by our own perception but true images projected inwards by the mirror, and which images we are consequently able to perceive. Correspondingly the same process may take place each time we watch the night sky. The bright spots of the stars hit our eyes, are imprinted in the brain, and are projected on a surface somewhere inside the mind. Thus the mirror is a sufficient condition for a singular surface which contains the information about the stars or anything else, and projects the information about these objects both outwards, towards the real world, and inwards, towards consciousness.
Instead of images of stars we can imagine images of fantastic creatures, such as that depicted in the previous picture. Although spiders are real physical beings the previous picture depicts not a real spider but a virtual entity which is living not on the ground but in the heavens, even if such a fantastic creature can be drawn on the ground. Thus such a spider represents a projection of a symbol which is manifested in the everyday world through the mind of the artist who drew the picture. In such a sense the image of the spider in the figure does not depict the common physical creature but a pattern which is related to a certain emotion or belief of the artist. But this pattern or archetype may express an emotion, thus a psychic state, which was not only felt by the artist but which is also common to all people in the same sense that a physical spider appears more or less the same to all of us. Thus the ‘spider archetype’ does not depict a spider but a pattern, emotion or behavior which may be common to various objects, creatures or people.
According to Wikipedia, the ‘Spider Grandmother’ is an important creation figure in the mythology, oral traditions and folklore of many Native American cultures.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Grandmother]
According to Crystalinks, Spider Woman is a metaphor for she who creates from a central source. One day it is- She who will pull all of her creation back to her source. Her web represents the grids or matrix of our reality. Woman’s web links you to everything and everybody in our reality. It is how we learn to be psychic and to connect telepathically.
[http://www.crystalinks.com/spiderwoman.html]
Wikipedia also says that the most notable ancient legend that explains the origin of the spider comes from the Greek story of the weaving competition between Athena the goddess, and Arachne (which means Spider), sometimes described as a princess. This myth tells of Arachne, the daughter of a famous Tyrian purple wool dyer in Hypaepa of Lydia. Due to her father’s skill with cloth dyeing, Arachne became adept in the art of weaving. Eventually, she began to consider herself to be a greater weaver than the goddess Athena herself, and challenged the goddess to a weaving contest to prove her superior skill. Athena wove the scene of her victory over Poseidon that had earned her the patronage of Athens, while Arachne wove a tapestry featuring many episodes of infidelity among the Gods of Olympus, which angered Athena. The goddess conceded that Arachne’s weaving was flawless, but she was infuriated by the mortal’s pride. In a final moment of anger, Athena destroyed Arachne’s tapestry and loom with her shuttle and cursed Arachne to live with extreme guilt. Out of sadness, Arachne soon hanged herself. Taking pity on her, Athena brought her back to life transformed as a spider, using the poison aconite- and ever since, Arachne, as a spider, weaves her web.
In Ancient Egypt, the spider was associated with the goddess Neith in her aspect as spinner and weaver of destiny, this link continuing later through the Babylonian Ishtar and the Greek Athena, who was later equated as the Roman goddess Minerva.
Throughout history, there have been many cultural depictions of spiders in popular culture, mythology and in symbolism. From Greek mythology to African folklore, the spider has been used in human culture to represent many varied things, and endures into the present day with characters such as Shelob from The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man from the eponymous comic series. The spider has symbolized patience and persistence due to its hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for its prey to become ensnared. It is also a symbol of mischief and malice for its toxic venom and the slow death it causes, which is often seen as a curse.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_spiders]
What is common in all this traditions is the connection between the symbol of the spider and a sense of destiny. As the iron filings take the shape of the magnetic lines, so living creatures follow the paths of their own destiny. Thus the archetype of Destiny can be visualized as a web-like pattern which spreads across the universe joining all objects together. But while the iron filings follow the magnetic lines because of some physical property (the electric charge) which ‘magnetizes’ them, the interaction between things and their own destiny corresponds to some property which is found in the soul. In such a sense we may be able to describe all natural forces as an expression of psychic drives or propensities according to some repeatable patterns which we can call archetypes. This is not to say that there is a pre-established purpose in the universe. But in order to find out where things are heading to we have to learn how the physic drives combine with the natural forces towards the final outcome. Thus physical forces can be nothing more than the way we physically perceive actions which take place at the psychic or unconscious level. Such actions, which are mediated by the archetypes, give us the general outlook of the interconnected web-like network of the word. Thus what we visualize is not just a spider-like archetype but a spider-like overall Form.
While the physical spider may not be considered a direct depiction or manifestation of the Form, its resemblance to the meaning of ‘one been trapped into the web of one’s own destiny’ could render the insect’s shape recognizable throughout the entire universe in the same sense that the shape of the magnetic field will be common in all worlds were iron is present. If we generalize the previous assumption we may also say that the meaning of the Form will be common throughout the entire universe even if such a shape is vague and difficult to describe. This is similar to saying that our own thought does exist even if we have difficulty in expressing what we are thinking about. However it may also be significant to suggest that the degree or quantity of experience directly corresponds to the level of awareness. Without awareness the brain cannot be perceived as a living thought in the same sense that a mechanical feeling would not be perceivable without being related to an emotion. Such an underlying symmetry is what truly brings about Consciousness in the universe. Therefore both the physical spider and the archetypal spider may correspond to the same implicate symmetry or pattern.
The previous picture was taken from an article which may support the assumption of a relationship between archetypes and physical things or beings:
“No, it’s not science fiction- it’s real. Spider webs use electricity to snare prey, and researchers recently discovered an added environmental benefit from these arachnids’ masterful constructions. Electrical properties within the glue-like coating on a spider web alter the magnetic field around it. When potential prey flies nearby, the web snaps out and tags its target like a tiny magnet. The web is negatively or neutrally charged, while insect bodies often carry a positive charge. Researchers found that spider webs snare positively charged insects with greater efficiency than insects with a neutral charge.”
[http://www.icr.org/article/spider-webs-attract-scientists-attention/]
The article mentions that the spider webbing also attracts pollen, which spiders intentionally consume, as well as certain pollutants, keeping the air clear. But here we may pose the following question: How do spiders know that a charged web captures insects more often than a neutral web? An evolutionist may say that the spider doesn’t know it but that spiders which weave magnetic webs prevailed over those which didn’t, by means of natural selection. However according to the same syllogism insects would have also been naturally selected not to carry electric charge, which is not the case. Thus the most plausible explanation is that both spiders and insects stem from the same symmetry which produces those creatures, the spider’s web, as well as the magnetic field. This way we may say that the spider and the insects it catches are meaningfully entangled in the sense that this form of entanglement not only concerns the physical properties of the system (the spider and the insect) but also controls its behavior. Therefore we may also say that the insect follows its own path of Destiny towards the Spider’s Web, either consciously or unconsciously.
In fact we may say that the spider’s web is the physical medium through which the magnetic field manifests itself. However what is truly manifested is an action which we call ‘the magnetic field’ and which, in this case, we may visually perceive as the web of the spider. Such an action is not only mechanical but also meaningful because it includes a predefined purpose- that the insect will be eventually caught on the spider’s web. Accordingly the ‘charge’ may express the degree or amount of ‘force’ related to the symmetry. But since this kind of charge concerns not only the physical body but also the whole entity which follows the path of a purposeful action, we may say that the ‘charge’ may also quantify the intensity of such an urge.
Thus, although it may sound peculiar, the Spider’s web traps emotionally charged propensities. I use the term ‘propensity’ as an expansion of the notion of a ‘property.’ While electrons are considered charged for mechanical reasons, emotions can also be regarded charged with respect to the intensity of the archetypes. In fact the physical notion of energy may be related to how strongly, or intensively, archetypes manifest themselves. Therefore while string theory for example explains the emergence of matter as the result of vibrations of strings, in the theory of the Form the ‘strings’ are transformed into threads of archetypes which live in the world of the psyche, and whose manifestations are the animate objects of the everyday world. This world is the sum of things which become tangible by perception. But perception is a psychic property. Therefore it is the psychic property which results into a material- i.e. attached to perception- object. This same entanglement of the psychic property with a physical representation of the same property- the process of the Form which perceives its own presence, thus giving rise to Consciousness- is what makes all ‘objects’ fundamentally animate or to ‘vibrate
This is not so strange if we keep in mind the deepest aspect of the symmetry, i.e. the complementarity, or correspondence, between the physical and the psychic. In such a sense we may say that,
- The Form is equivalent to the Spider.
[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HUzIAkrVxxE/UqkRbiFhqVI/AAAAAAAAGII/ZGeaHshHBUQ/s1600/Sun's+magnetic+field+surrounding+Earth.jpg]
This is a nice picture which extends the equivalence of representation into the natural world. The energetic creature which surrounds the Earth stands for a transformation of Energy or, to put it equivalently, a manifestation of the Form. However while transformations of energy are mechanical the Earth is an animate entity full of living creatures. Such an aspect of life could have never arisen without some property of liveliness within the system, while the fact that we are able to perceive all this would not have been possible without a property of intelligence. But such properties are, as have already been called, propensities of the psyche. Thus the Form, which in this picture surrounds the Earth and also includes the Sun, is alive in the sense that it vibrates, it moves, and it gives rise to all the processes which materialize into the ‘colorful shapes’ of perceptible things and living beings. Therefore while we say that a material process preserves the energy, we may also say that the Form preserves the archetype.
[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMmGjh8-C38/UqkQ6vEDHJI/AAAAAAAAGIA/t81TO3TJhcA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-09-26+at+7.12.32+AM.png]
The description of the previous picture given by the author is what follows,
“I created a diagram which shows a vertical cross section of a 3D model showing how our aura is constructed. Each layer contains a conscious being. Only the conscious being in our physical body can be seen. That being has come to think of their self, as being who they are. They have become consciously separated from the other non- physical beings caught in the layers of their aura. At first this was the only way ‘spirit’ could come in. I believe that their consciousness is what forms our subconscious.
I think of these beings as our soul mates. Our aura is the energetic capsule that contains our soul. Each of these beings surrounding us is capable of influencing us. They form aspects of our personality, and their archetypal energies shape and influence us, how we express our self, what we do and experience. The voices we hear and feelings we have, are often communication with our soul mates.”
[http://downloadingspirit.blogspot.gr/2013/12/amphibian-humans-and-their-soul-mates.html]
The aforementioned ‘beings’ or ‘soul mates’ are manifestations of our own consciousness. But we perceive these successive layers of our own existence as alien because we are able to perceive only the layer which comprises our physical body. If we want to build on this notion, these successive layers, or ‘energy levels,’ may be seen as corresponding to successive layers of experience. The more energy a level has, the more subtle the layer will be. Thus the levels of consciousness can be manifested as layers surrounding our physical body and can be quantified by an expanded notion of energy. Presumably more advanced beings will be able to physically perceive things which we consider invisible or immaterial. But such things, I would guess, are not ‘fields’ or ‘particles’ as we know them, but uniform arrangements, ‘lively shapes’ and ‘colorful flows,’ which comprise the world continuously and entirely. Thus allegedly we could be nothing more than different arrangements or personalizations of such lively things and animate entities which ‘float’ along the web- like perceptual fields of Consciousness. In such a sense we may say that,
- The Spider Knows.
5.9 The human aura
Imagine that we take a thin film representing our soul, and that we shed light on this film so that its contents are projected on some surface. If this contents are perceived as shapes then there will be a one-to-one correspondence between these shapes and the contents of our soul, our own instincts. If we use the shapes to take any kind of physical object around us then all the real world will become a manifestation of the corresponding collections of instincts or emotions, while all kinds of physical forces and fields will be nothing more than the actions along the paths of our psychic drives.
We may wonder where physical properties, such as mass, are located within an object. If we are unable to trace a single point where the mass can be concentrated then we realize that mass, as well as any other property, is not localized but it spreads all across an object. In fact we may imagine that the properties of matter are spread all across the universe, or all across the Form, composing threads of ‘fields’ on the intersections of which the properties gather and materialize into the object. Those threads may be perceived as the actions of archetypes which we can imagine that they appear as shapes inbetween the threads. Perhaps we could assume that while the threads, thus the outlines of the emerging shapes, are responsible for the physical, thus the mechanical, properties of matter, the contents of the shapes inbetween the threads express the psychic properties, such as those related to emotions, sensations, intelligence, and so on.
However a complete description of both matter and the psyche demands that all properties are unified. For example the previously assumed threads may have density and temperature as well as color, odor, and all properties corresponding to the senses. Thus what we consider material properties can be nothing more than the way we perceive reality at a very crude and low level in contrast to all possible levels of awareness. After we teach ourselves how to view the world as a unified totality of properties corresponding to all possible qualities and quantities of perception and the senses, we may also wonder what is intelligence or awareness, if such mental aspects are also properties or whether they arise during the process of perception. To arise as processes is not impossible according to the previous description. Since the properties of matter, which are the properties of the Cause, are not localized but they permeate all objects across the universe, all the objects are meaningfully and instantaneously connected. Thus Consciousness may arise within such simultaneous processes. But we can also imagine that together with colors, sounds, densities, or temperatures, there are also properties such as mentality, intuition, liberty, compassion, and so on. Then all we would have to do is to add such properties to the ‘equations’ describing the correspondences of nature. However in this case the equations will describe not only the mechanical state of things, such as position and displacement, but also the meaning of their relative motions.
According to Wikipedia, Kirlian photography is a technique for creating contact print photographs using high voltage. It is named after Semyon Kirlian, who in 1939 accidentally discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a high-voltage source, an image is produced on the photographic plate. Kirlian believed that images created by Kirlian photography might depict a conjectural energy field, or aura, thought, by some, to surround living things. Kirlian and his wife were convinced that their images showed a life force or energy field that reflected the physical and emotional states of their living subjects. They thought that these images could be used to diagnose illnesses.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography]
Kirlian imagery is closely related to the aura. In 1911 Kilner published one of the first western medical studies of the ‘human atmosphere’ or aura, proposing its existence, nature and possible use in medical diagnosis and prognosis. Kilner hypothesized that the aura was probably ultraviolet radiation, stating that the phenomena he saw were not affected by electromagnets.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_John_Kilner]
The L-field is a name proposed by Harold Burr for the electromagnetic field of any organism. Burr held that the study of this field offered great promise for medicine since it exhibited measurable qualities that might be used in prognosis of disease, mood and viability. Those having produced notable research along the same lines include Becker, Marino and Selden Lund and Athenstaedt. Progress has also been made in the use of electromagnets to aid the healing of broken bones.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-Field]
It may be noted here that the correspondence between the different parts of the aura around the hands and certain emotions or properties as depicted in the previous picture is symptomatic while the color of the aura is undifferentiated (everywhere blue). Perhaps this is due to the fact that, as suggested in the previous article, the aura appears mostly in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thus our eyes may perceive the aura everywhere blue. But this doesn’t mean that the aura cannot be colorful. But these colors would have to be perceived as ‘esoteric colors’ corresponding to ‘other kinds’ of frequencies. For example vibrations in the air are perceived as sounds. These sounds or music have no ‘color’ in the common sense, but music is ‘colorful’ in the sense that it evokes emotions and psychic contents in general. It would be difficult to describe music to someone unable to hear, as much as it is difficult to describe visible colors to someone unable to see. But what if there are some extra- senses which some people can perceive while the rest of us can’t? Should we say that the ‘music’ and ‘color’ of such extra-senses are impossible, or that perhaps they exist but we are unable to perceive? At least if we don’t dismiss the possibility of their existence then we still have a chance to learn something about those senses and the corresponding feelings.
But perhaps whether the aura appears as electromagnetic radiation or as another form of ‘radiation’ is secondary. The ‘L-field,’ which in fact can be identified with the morphogenetic or perceptual field of Consciousness, the ‘body of the Form,’ consists of all sorts of vibrations attached to one of the senses or another. Thus if we approximate the content of the Form with the notion of a field then we can imagine a kind of unified field stretching in space, and whose vibrations correspond not only to sounds and colors but also to other senses or ‘colorful shapes’ inaccessible to human perception at its current level. Thus the depiction of the human aura in the visible spectrum would be just an approximation to an experience corresponding to more senses, or to more ‘dimensions’ as a physicist would say. However while mathematical dimensions are reproducible, the dimensions of experience (the senses) are unique.
If we weren’t able to see as a species then all the things we perceive as objects would not have existed. For example a sound or song is a very different kind of ‘object’ with no definite shape and without ‘rigidness.’ Still the sound or song is tangible to the sense of hearing in the same sense that everyday objects are attached to visual perception. This is why we may say that all everyday objects are psychic contents attached to the senses. Where do these contents come from? We have already said that they come from the world of the archetypes. Archetypes are in fact the psychic contents, the vibrating ‘colorful shapes’ which we perceive as composing the everyday objects of our experience. How many different senses are there? Actually there could be as many as the corresponding psychic contents. But we may equally say that the total experience arises as a combination of those contents, which could be therefore reduced to some fundamental patterns, limited by the number of senses that a living being may have utilized. But the point is that the object has to be understood as a psychic content which has been materialized by the senses, and has thus become part of the perceptual field of Consciousness.
While it is difficult to follow the process by which the physical world is integrated with perception (the process by which the psychic content materializes), it is even harder to account for all the notions which go with. For example it is quite simple to understand the notion of ‘color,’ or the notion of the ‘mass’ of an object (even if the object is a ‘light color’ or a ‘thick sound’). On the other hand it is harder to find a natural place or context for notions such as freedom, patience, courage, creativity, affection, and so on. How such notions as psychic phenomena may be related to the senses and to everyday objects in the unified context of Consciousness? An intriguing aspect is that such notions had existed, together with those of colors and shapes, even before humans appeared. A more appropriate approach is to say that those notions had already existed together with some notion corresponding to the human form. Thus the human being becomes a collection of properties, a combination of functions different from those which give rise to other kinds of animals, but which collection incidentally includes not only the physical properties, such as mass and charge, but also properties such as intelligence, purpose, meaningfulness, progress, belief and doubt, personalization and divination. All these are unique properties and may be considered fundamental, thus indivisible.
An example of such a possible integration between the material aspects of the body and the immaterial properties of the psyche is what follows,
I’ve selected the previous two images related to the chakras. According to Wikipedia, in some Indian religions, a chakra (‘wheel’ or ‘circle’) is thought to be an energy point or node in the body. Chakras are believed to be part of the subtle body, not the physical body, and as such, are the meeting points of the subtle (non-physical) energy channels. Various scriptural texts and teachings present a different number of chakras. It’s believed that there are many chakras in the subtle human body, according to the tantric texts, but there are seven chakras that are considered to be the most important ones.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra]
It is straightforward to assume that the chakras, as energy nodes, are the intersections of the actions of the unified perceptual field of everything. It is interesting to note that there is a direct correspondence, according to this oriental description of the world, between visible colors, parts of the material body, parts of the landscape (e.g. precious stones) and physical states (e.g. solids, and liquids), psychic aspects (emotions) and mental aspects (notions). All such properties or actions combine at the intersections, which accordingly are called chakras, in order to form the Object. Such an object, as a collection of all these properties, is a living entity who is able to touch, feel, sense, and think about all these functions which are perceived as parts of the entity’s environment. Thus all possible aspects of the ‘subtle’ or ‘ethereal’ body of the Form and of Consciousness coalesce and condense into the perceivable body of everyday experience.
As far as the number of the chakras is concerned, it is also stated that the total number of them can be more than the fundamental seven chakras depicted in one of the previous pictures. We may even assume some basic geometric shape which goes with each chakra so that we may start a mathematical process of describing the overall human experience. But the main point is that there has already existed a unified description of nature in the Orient which have been largely ignored by Western culture. If we say that the Oriental approach represents intuition while the Western approach represents logic then we may identify a unified civilization which already exists on this planet even though the two opposite parts of this civilization avoid or just ignore their mutual relationship. Apparently the merge of these two cultures may bring the balance between such opposite but also complementary properties, logic and intuition, merging at the ‘correct’ amounts. This would be a great step forward as far as our collective Earthly entity and existence are concerned.
To conclude with we may say that the aura is a projection into space of all basic components of existence. Such components are perceived to compose the individual entity. They include not only the mass, charge or heat of the entity and of the objects in the entity’s surroundings, but also the entity’s thoughts and feelings. But all such components or properties are perceived by the senses. The senses therefore can be conceived as receptors vibrating at the same frequencies and amplitudes as those of the actions which mediate the psychic contents. I say that the contents are psychic because they lie in the unconscious and they are progressively manifested and realized.
While intuition helps as grasp the notions corresponding to these contents, logic and positivistic thought helps as understand the causes of nature. Although classical physics was concentrated on a purely mechanistic description of nature in which the observer did not participate, quantum mechanics has incorporated part of the ‘magical’ or psychic part of the world by assuming phenomena such as instantaneous action at a distance (quantum entanglement) as well the observer participating in the phenomena (thus acknowledging the aspect of consciousness in the process).
It is interesting to note in this context for example that projection operators in quantum mechanics can be seen as mathematical representations of archetypes. They take objects and perform actions on them. For example momentum is an operator which acts on objects and makes them move. Although the mathematical operator is inanimate the archetype is helpful, not only because it can be seen as an operator in the mathematical sense, but also because it can be related to the mental world of the person who thinks about the possible operation. For example our own hands are operators which act on objects to move them. How different are our own hands from mathematical operators? Have we ever thought that our hands draw and describe with formulas the ‘mathematical’ operators? That perhaps our hands describe in this way their own function? But the function or action which our hands perform is the same action which propagates itself all across the universe expressing the corresponding archetype. The order of magnitude does not influence the ratio of the analogy. But if one ignores the analogy then the magnitude of the relationship may not be understood.
Therefore I am tempted here to put forward the following analogy,
While the origins of the previous formula might seem familiar (E/m=c^2) the consequences are not self-evident. They imply not only the physical symmetry between the Psyche or the soul (the ‘energy’) and the Physis or the body (the ‘mass’ or ‘matter’), but also the meaningful coincidence which gives rise to Consciousness (‘Pneuma’ which means Spirit). No matter if our thought may travel faster than light or not, while light in Einstein’s equation is a physical constant (c), the Pneuma becomes identical to the light of Consciousness which makes everything perceptible, thus visible. Allow me to say that this is not just a ‘New Age’ matter of speaking. As our hands are the function which makes ‘mass’ tangible, so our eyes are the function which makes ‘light’ visible. If it weren’t for such functions, and if it weren’t for the meaning of such a coincidence, there wouldn’t be any experience at all. The Pneuma (Consciousness) which arises from the unison of the Psyche (the intangible or unexpressed content) and the Physis (the material or perceptible nature), not only makes the Field of the Form perceptible (becoming thus a perceptual field), but also decides what and how to be perceived in the process of individualization ((becoming thus also a morphic field)). Thus while in Einstein’s theory of relativity or in the previous equation the determining factor is a physical constant c, according to the example put forward here the corresponding factor is C (Consciousness, or the Pneuma). While I ignore how the previous equation may be transformed to include the mind of the observer, the significance of the problem has already shifted from the absolute nature of a material quantity (the light ‘c’) to the overall consideration of a meaningful entity (the ‘light’ C perceived as a property of one’s own intelligence).
5.10 The ‘weight’ of the human soul
As Wikipedia explains, the ‘21 grams’ logo as the weight of the soul is due to the research of Duncan MacDougall, who sought to measure the mass lost by a human when the soul departed the body at death. MacDougall attempted to measure the mass change of six patients at the moment of death. His first subject, the results from which MacDougall felt were most accurate, lost “three-fourths of an ounce,” which has since been popularized as ‘21 grams.’
However, researchers have revealed that MacDougall’s experimental results were flawed, due to the limitations of the available equipment at the time (the beginning of the previous century), a lack of sufficient control over the experimental conditions, and the small sample size. Also, Karl Kruszelnicki has noted that out of MacDougall’s six patients only one had lost weight at the moment of death. Two of the patients were excluded from the results due to ‘technical difficulties,’ a patient lost weight but then put the weight back on and two of the other patients registered a loss of weight at death but a few minutes later lost even more weight.
According to the psychologist Richard Wiseman:
“When MacDougall’s findings were published in the New York Times in 1907 fellow physician Augustus P. Clarke had a field day. Clarke noted that at the time of death there is a sudden rise in body temperature due to the lungs no longer cooling the blood, and the subsequent rise in sweating could easily account for MacDougall’s missing 21 grams. Clarke also pointed out that dogs do not have sweat glands (thus the endless panting) and so it is not surprising that their weight did not undergo a rapid change when they died.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_MacDougall_%28doctor%29]
So let’s do a calculation. From Einstein’s formula E=mc^2 we have,
E = mc^2= (2.1*10^-2kg) . (3*10^8m/s)^2 = (2.1*10^-2kg) * (9*10^16m/s) = 1.89*10^15J.
From the formula of Planck energy we have,
E = hf ⇔ f = E/h = (1.89*10^15J)/(6.626*10^-34m^2kg/s) = 2.85*10^48Hz.
If we assume that the previous calculation has any physical meaning then the frequency f corresponding to the psyche leaving the body at the time of death (assuming 21 grams as the weight) is of the order of 1048Hz. By comparison the highest energy ever detected is 1027Hz [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markarian_501], while Planck frequency is 1043 Hz. Thus the frequency associated with the ‘waves of the psyche’ is 105 times more energetic even than Planck frequency, beyond the limits of quantum mechanics. It is not impossible that someday someone measures or even captures an image of (something related to) the soul, but probably the measurement will have to do with one or more properties other than weight.
But let’s suppose that we put the soul on a weighing scale. Because the soul is not a tangible object, and since we cannot compare an abstract object (the soul) with a scale (a tangible object), the whole experiment must be performed in our thoughts (thus we perform a thought experiment). But our thought is also an object which we use in order to measure the weight of our own soul. We may say that our own thought influences the experiment so that we have also to take into account the ‘weight of an average consciousness.’ To simplify the problem, since both the soul and the scale are objects of consciousness (which performs this thought experiment), we may identify the ‘immaterial soul’ and the ‘weighing soul’ with two equivalent representations of consciousness- ‘consciousness on its own,’ and ‘realized consciousness,’ while the scale in this case represents the limit inbetween.
Having in mind this thought experiment, if we now try to measure the ‘weight of the soul’ on a ‘real scale’ then the value which we will take on the measuring device will represent the ‘weight of thought’ (or the energy difference between the ‘unrealized’ and ‘realized’ aspects of consciousness, or perhaps the energy of the effort of attention), with respect to the object in mind (the ‘soul’). Therefore, to recall the equation concerning the ‘Pneuma,’ by putting on a scale (or comparing by using a ratio) the ‘Psyche’ versus the ‘Physis,’ we take as a result an ‘amount of awareness’ (the materialized ‘Pneuma’).
The ‘amount of awareness’ is perhaps what constitutes the ‘weight’ (and it may also equivalently represent the energy difference between the unconscious and the conscious contents) we measure when the soul leaves the body, while the ‘total amount of the soul,’ or the psychic contents which constitute an entity, is what we measure while we are alive. We may view this in another equivalent way: when we die and our physical body dissolves, giving its elements back to the earth, there is a certain amount of ‘information’ which we leave behind, and which travels from mind to mind constituting the attained knowledge of our civilization. The contents of such information are not material but cultural and spiritual. While such information travels from mind to mind, in the meanwhile it is not located in any particular mind, but instead it ‘floats’ in space. If we attribute some mass corresponding to the information then this would be the non- material ‘weight’ that we leave behind. Furthermore since such information may freely float in space before it is captured by an individual mind, we may suppose that it constitutes the collective knowledge of the human kind. But the total amount of information composing and describing a living entity is both conscious and unconscious. In such a way we come closer to the notion of the collective unconscious as put forward by Jung so that we may discover the process by which such a collective unconscious may become conscious and common knowledge.
Here we may summarize the section as follows,
- Physical reality is projected by the unconscious and inferred, thus realized, by consciousness.
- What our eyes see our mind perceives. The Eye is an archetype which transmits the sense of vision.
- The perceptual field is composed of all the things which can be perceived by the senses.
- Consciousness may transform its contents. Thus the perceptual field is also a morphic field.
- Memories are the individualized aspects of collective experience.
- Collective experience arises from the patterns, or archetypes, which are found at the most fundamental level.
- The action of archetypes is localized and individualized into tangible things and living beings.
- This action is also formative in the sense that it can be purposeful.
- The archetypes are projected out of the body onto the aura. The aura can be seen as our physical body beyond the five senses.
- The Spider is the Form which weaves Destiny.
- The significance of our existence is a measure of what we are aware of.
6. Aspects of the Form
My main concern still remains not to present all the details of a theory of the Form, while not even Plato bothered to do so (or perhaps his texts have not survived). Although we are all part of the Form, the notion of this entity, as well as the entity of the Form itself, is difficult to perceive. This is similar to saying that although we use our thoughts to understand the world, we seldom realize what the content of our own thought is. Another way to put this is to say that although light makes everything visible, light itself is not visible. If our thought or light is an object, and what we think or see is another object, these two objects cannot be found in the same place at the same time. An equivalent expression is that,
- The world and what we think or perceive about the word are two different things.
While Plato seemed to have regressed into an infinite number of Forms, we may have solved this problem by supposing the existence of archetypes. While the number of archetypes may be infinite, the Form is One- a collection of those archetypes. When archetypes recombine, the Form transforms itself. Thus it may become another Form but still there will be One Form. Furthermore the number of archetypes needs not be infinite. We may recognize some fundamental archetypes, a definite number of basic ‘colored shapes’ corresponding to those archetypes, and an infinite number of combinations of those shapes. (In fact the word ‘archetype’ means fundamental shape or structure). But the difference between archetypes and atoms, as has already been noted, is that archetypes (the ‘colored shapes’) express both geometry (the shape) and the psyche (the color, or emotion, or corresponding psychological aspect). The exact correspondence which could be described between geometry and the human character is not yet known. But this is what we should be looking for.
The notion of the Form is analogous to that of the Universe, or God. While the universe in physics is treated as a mechanical entity (making thus intelligent life a logical paradox), god in religion is treated as a supreme entity separated from the human being (depriving thus humans of the prospect of divinization). But the Form is both mechanical (physical) and instinctual (psychic). Furthermore the Form is not separated from us but we exist within the Form. Thus the aspect of Oneness also becomes an aspect of Wholeness.
If we identify the property of the One with the number 1, and the property of Wholeness with the number 0, then we can imagine a symbol Φ to represent the union of 1 and 0. What could be the mathematical value of such a symbol I don’t know, but the point is that according to such a definition the formula 1 + 0 = 1 is meaningless, since it treats 0 as ‘nothing’ while it is at least something if not everything. This is an example of how inappropriate our mathematics may be in order to describe the difference between unity and uniqueness, and the corresponding analogies.
If we identify the property of the One with the number 1, and the property of Wholeness with the number 0, then we can imagine a symbol Φ to represent the union of 1 and 0. What could be the mathematical value of such a symbol I don’t know, but the point is that according to such a definition the formula 1 + 0 = 1 is meaningless, since it treats 0 as ‘nothing’ while it is at least something if not everything. This is an example of how inappropriate our mathematics may be in order to describe the difference between unity and uniqueness, and the corresponding analogies.
We may also call the previous process by which the number 1 merges with the number 0 ‘attachment.’ This would be the attachment of consciousness to the object. In other words it is the process by which the uniqueness of the mind realizes the completeness of its own thought. This is very different from, in fact opposite to, the common function of attachment. Most people become attached to the object by forgetting their own consciousness which realized the object in the first place. But by forgetting the symmetry of the problem one becomes as unconscious as the object one begins to adore. This is a common misinterpretation of the meaning of religion for those who treat God (or the Form) as an object of their own interests.
Another problem related to that between oneness, or uniqueness, and wholeness, or completeness, is that between infinity and indefiniteness. Commonly the problem can be illustrated with the use of a circle. We may say that the circle is infinite but bounded. It is infinite because if one travels along the circumference one will pass from the same point again and again without reaching any end. It is also bounded because we may define the circumference as the limit between an ‘interior’ and an ‘exterior’ region. In fact the circle is defined by that limit. But if we stretch the circumference of a circle to form a straight line then the length of such a line will be equal to the diameter of another circle π times bigger than the previous circle. Thus we may define a process to cover all successive ‘exteriors’ indefinitely. But in such a case, although the number π is infinite, infinity can be well described. Thus the diameter Δ of the circle becomes the aspect of Uniqueness, or Oneness, while the circumference Π expresses the aspect of Wholeness, or Completeness. But if again we identify uniqueness with the number Δ=1 and wholeness with the number Π=0, then we may also define a mathematical operation such that 0/1= Π/Δ = π. Although the syllogism is just indicative, it makes more sense than the common assumption that 0/1 = 0, or the reciprocal 1/0 = ∞.
The latter symbol is that of infinity. But according to the previous example infinity could be no more than the perimeter of the defining circle, thus no more than π times the diameter. Thus no matter how ‘far away’ infinity may be located, it has to be bounded by our own approach. In such a sense infinity always lies within the limits of the symbol which is used to express the meaning of the notion. For example since the number π is infinite then we may assume that infinity has not to do with the difficulty in reaching the limit but with the indefiniteness of the process. Thus the difficulty in solving a problem in general may not have to do with the exhaustion of our mental powers when we are close to the solution but with the difficulty in finding a method to make the problem unfold. Such a method is related to the uniqueness of the problem, which is also a process of thought, while the solution to the problem is related to the understanding of the conditions under which the problem was created, thus also to the properties of the mind which tries to solve the problem. In such a sense we may say that it may take an infinite number of steps to solve the problem even if the problem is well- defined and understood. However the infinity of all possible steps has not to do with how ‘big’ the problem is but with the uniqueness of its properties. Thus we may say that the problem of infinity lies in uniqueness.
Concerning Plato’s theory of Forms, according to Wikipedia, the pre-Socratic philosophers, starting with Thales, noted that appearances change quite a bit and began to ask what the thing changing ‘really’ is. The answer was substance, which stands under the changes and is the actually existing thing being seen. Form answers the question, “What is that?” Plato was going a step further and asking what Form itself is. He supposed that the object was essentially or ‘really’ the Form and that the phenomena were mere shadows mimicking the Form; that is, momentary portrayals of the Form under different circumstances.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Forms]
The problem of the Form as put forward by Plato is further explored in his dialogue ‘Parmenides.’ This dialogue approaches the problem in relation to the notions of wholeness and oneness, infinity and finiteness, knowledgeability and existence. The dialogue unfolds between Socrates and Parmenides. Here I will mention a couple of abstracts. The full dialogue can be found in Perseus Digital Library.
[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0174%3Atext%3DParm.]
Parmenides argues that,
- If the Form exists on its own, then it cannot be perceived by us. Therefore the Form must be relativistic:
““(Parmenides) Well then,” “if the one exists, the one cannot be many, can it?” “(Socrates) No, of course not.” “Then there can be no parts of it, nor can it be a whole.” “How is that?” “The part surely is part of a whole.” “Yes.” “And what is the whole? Is not a whole that of which no part is wanting?” “Certainly.” “Then in both cases the one would consist of parts, being a whole and having parts.” “Inevitably.” “Then in both cases the one would be many, not one.” “True.” “Yet it must be not many, but one.” “Yes.” “Then the one, if it is to be one, will not be a whole and will not have parts.” “No.” “And if it has no parts, it can have no beginning, or middle, or end, for those would be parts of it?” “Quite right.” “Beginning and end are, however, the limits of everything.” “Of course.” “Then the one, if it has neither beginning nor end, is unlimited.” “Yes, it is unlimited.” “And it is without form, for it partakes neither of the round nor of the straight.” “How so?” “The round, of course, is that of which the extremes are everywhere equally distant from the center.” “Yes.” “And the straight, again, is that of which the middle is in the nearest line between the two extremes.” “It is.” “Then the one would have parts and would be many, whether it partook of straight or of round form.” “Certainly.” “Then it is neither straight nor round, since it has no parts.” “Moreover, being of such a nature, it cannot be anywhere, for it could not be either in anything else or in itself.” “How is that?” “If it were in something else, it would be encircled by that in which it would be and would be touched in many places by many parts of it; but that which is one and without parts and does not partake of the circular nature cannot be touched by a circle in many places.” “No, it cannot.” “But, furthermore, being in itself it would also be surrounding with itself naught other than itself, if it were in itself; for nothing can be in anything which does not surround it.” “No, it cannot.” “Then that which surrounds would be other than that which is surrounded; for a whole cannot be both active and passive in the same action; and thus one would be no longer one, but two.” “True.” “Then the one is not anywhere, neither in itself nor in something else.” “No, it is not.””
The point Parmenides makes is that if the Form (the ‘One’) is absolute then there will be nothing to be compared with. It cannot be the Whole because the Whole has parts. But if the Form has no parts (at least a part to be compared with) it cannot have shape (because there will be nothing else so that the Form be contained in). Thus the Form may not have even its own Self. Therefore the absolute Form may not exist, either within its Self or within the Whole. Parmenides further argues that the absolute Form is also unknowledgeable since there will be nothing else to know about. Thus Parmenides concludes that the Form must be relative (it must partake of essence as he says), so that it has contents, while at the same time it is the whole and includes the part.
Parmenides also mentions the aspect that the Form is born and destroyed ‘at the instant.’ He defines the notion as a state between ‘motion’ and ‘stillness,’ between ‘existence’ and ‘non-existence.’ The fact that Parmenides ignored at his time the notion of instantaneous velocity and the meaning of infinitesimals, as put forward by Newton and Leibnitz, does not play down his argument. Still, in our times, nobody understands how quantum entanglement works (how action may be transported instantaneously), or even how attention may produce the quantum Zeno effect (attention delaying the time of events it focuses on). Perhaps there is some connection between these mysteries and what Parmenides calls ‘the sudden,’ or ‘the instant’ at which systems change state,
““Does this strange thing, then, exist, in which it would be at the moment when it changes?” “What sort of thing is that?” “The instant. For the instant seems to indicate a something from which there is a change in one direction or the other. For it does not change from rest while it is still at rest, nor from motion while it is still moving; but there is this strange instantaneous nature, something interposed between motion and rest, not existing in any time, and into this and out from this that which is in motion changes into rest and that which is at rest changes into motion.” “Yes, that must be so.” “Then the one, if it is at rest and in motion, must change in each direction; for that is the only way in which it can do both. But in changing, it changes instantaneously, and when it changes it can be in no time, and at that instant it will be neither in motion nor at rest.” “No.” “And will the case not be the same in relation to other changes?” “When it changes from being to destruction or from not being to becoming, does it not pass into an intermediate stage between certain forms of motion and rest, so that it neither is nor is not, neither comes into being nor is destroyed?” “Yes, so it appears.” “And on the same principle, when it passes from one to many or from many to one, it is neither one nor many, is neither in a process of separation nor in one of combination. And in passing from like to unlike or from unlike to like, it is neither like nor unlike, neither in a process of assimilation nor in one of dissimilation; and in passing from small to great and to equal and vice versa, it is neither small nor great nor equal, neither in a process of increase, nor of diminution, nor of equality.” “Apparently not.” “All this, then, would happen to the one, if the one exists.” “Yes, certainly.””
Parmenides defines the ‘instant’ as an intermediate or indeterminate state in which the Form or any system is found when it passes from stillness to motion (or vice versa), from existence to non- existence. This reminds me of the notion of superposition in quantum mechanics- that the system is found in an eternally indeterminate state before it is measured and thus transformed. The notion of the instant is also related to the meaning of simultaneity. What is simultaneous is also instantaneous. But even if the instant (the thing that is instantaneous) is found beyond space and time, it is something which must be found somewhere, thus it is expressed with dimensions in space and time- even if space and time had not yet existed at the moment the instant appeared. Thus it is something like a pre-condition of space and time. This is similar to the notion of Projection we have put forward. Two ‘things’ are simultaneously projected out of nowhere (out of the eternal Nothingness). One thing is the ‘real’ Form while the other thing is the ‘image’ of the Form. As soon as the Form ‘looks’ at its own image, its real part also materializes. While we don’t perceive an object, the object may or may not exist. But as soon as we acquire knowledge of the object then we can be certain that the object is there. However at the same time we can also be sure that our mind is there. Therefore the object can be our own thought which realizes its own existence. Such a syllogism or process, although self- referential, is as much fundamental as it can be. Thus, to come back to Parmenides’ instant, this is the condition which pre-determines all possible actions which will take place later on.
In such a sense we may conceive the Form as an eternal condition which is manifested at the moment it transforms. This is an instant or snapshot at a certain point in space and time of all possible configurations of the Form. However the snapshot or image which we take depicts the whole Form, not just a part of it. We may say that at the instant all possible motions in a landscape freeze for a while before things begin to move again. This is similar to the notion of the ‘collapse’ of the wave-function in quantum mechanics. But the wave-function may depict the whole universe. In such a case the ‘instant’ becomes a snapshot of the whole universe in a certain configuration. Such a snapshot could have been taken at the moment when the universe was born. But, as we may now imagine, at that instant the whole universe was born.
Where does space-time as well motion fit into this picture? The theory of the Big Bang in cosmology expresses a similar notion. The universe is thought to have been created from a singularity, and then it began to expand together with space-time. But we can also imagine a halo of ‘dark matter’ surrounding the singularity since the beginning. In such a sense the singularity is expanding outwards in order to cover all the area occupied by the dark matter. This kind of process is depicted in the previous image. But instead of the universe the picture depicts the evolution of the Form. The expansion of the singularity is at the same time the expansion of consciousness into the unconscious. While we may find some equivalence between the unconscious and dark matter, the unconscious consists of structures (archetypes) not particles. If we treat the universe just like a hot balloon which is expanding and cooling down, we will never understand how we are able to conceive such a notion (if consciousness did not simultaneously arise within such a ‘hot balloon’). Thus we will have to find a model to describe the evolution of the universe not just from a ‘Big Bang’ towards a ‘Big Freeze,’ but also from unconsciousness to awareness, even if oblivion will be the final stage. Thus we may say that,
- The Form evolves.
Three key aspects of the Form can be summarized as follows:
- Structure: This is Parmenides’ ‘partaking of substance.’ This substance is the psychic content of the Form (the archetypes).
- Cause: This is Parmenides’ ‘knowledgeability.’ If we are able to understand then there must be some ‘property of understanding’ in the universe.
- Meaning: This is Parmenides’ ‘existentiality.’ While personality is located at a very certain point is space and time, existence is found in all places and at all times.
6.1 Aspects of archetypes
1. The surface of consciousness.
2. The sphere of internal ‘order.’
3. The routes through which contents are submerged into the unconscious.
4. Archetypes and their corresponding magnetic fields, which make the contents deviate from their initial course by their attractive force.
ΑΑ. The area where pure archetypal processes become invisible and where the ‘primordial pattern’ is accumulated.
The previous picture belongs to a document I once found on the net but whose link no longer exists. I am not even sure if the picture was drawn by Jung or by the author of the aforementioned document. However it is illustrative. Archetypes are represented as internal spheres, while the routes connecting them to consciousness is what we may call ‘actions,’ or ‘causes.’ The process can also be reversed, running from the archetypes towards consciousness, in which case the attribution of space and time to events takes place in the intermediate zone (2). At this stage we may also say that objects take shape in the mind. The parallelism between archetypal attraction and magnetism should be considered ‘indicative,’ not literary. It is also interesting to note that the events are ‘deformed’ or ‘aberrated’ by the archetypal influence, suggesting the relativistic aspect of the process.
One of the ways Jung described archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the process of individualization, can be found in the 9th volume of his collective Works,
“In addition to the purely personal unconscious hypothesized by Freud, a deeper unconscious level is felt to exist. This deeper level manifests itself in universal archaic images expressed in dreams, religious beliefs, myths, and fairytales. The archetypes, as unfiltered psychic experience, appear sometimes in their most primitive and naive forms (in dreams), sometimes in a considerably more complex form due to the operation of conscious elaboration (in myths).
Archetypal images expressed in religious dogma in particular are thoroughly elaborated into formalized structures which, while by expressing the unconscious in a circuitous manner, prevent direct confrontation with it... The search into the unconscious involves confronting the shadow, man’s hidden nature; the anima/animus, a hidden opposite gender in each individual; and beyond, the archetype of meaning. These are archetypes susceptible to personification; the archetypes of transformation, which express the process of individuation itself, are manifested in situations…
Archetypes are likened to instinctual behavior patterns. Examples of ideas such as the concept of rebirth, which occur independently in various cultures and ages, are advanced as evidence for the collective unconscious. It is felt that there are as many archetypes as there are recurring situations in life, that when a situation occurs that corresponds to a particular archetype, the archetype presses for completion like an instinctual drive...
In a discussion of the concept of archetypes, Plato’s concept of the Idea, a primordial disposition that preforms and influences thoughts, is found to be an early formulation of the archetype hypothesis. Other investigators such as Hermann Usener are also noted to have recognized the existence of universal forms of thought. Jung’s contribution is considered to be the demonstration that archetypes are disseminated not only through tradition, language, or migration, but that they can act spontaneously without outside influence. It is emphasized that an archetype is not predetermined in content; rather it is a possibility of representation which may be actualized in various ways. In this aspect the archetype is likened to the instincts; both are predetermined in form only, and both are only demonstrable through their manifestations…
A definition of the word ‘spirit’ is proposed and a description of the historical and mythical characteristics of the spirit is presented… It is contended that while spirit and matter may eventually be revealed as identical, at present the reality of psychic contents and processes in themselves cannot be denied. The spirit is conceived as originally external to man; now, although it has been internalized in the consciousness, it is still creative rather than created, binding man and influencing him just as the external physical world does. It is seen as autonomous and therefore capable of manifesting itself spontaneously in the conscious.
Descriptions of the workings of the conscious, the unconscious and the individuation process, and their relationships to one another are discussed. Individuation denotes the process by which a person becomes a psychological unity or whole through conflict between the two fundamental psychic aspects, the conscious and the unconscious. This process is described as corresponding to alchemical symbols, especially the unity symbol. It is explained that many persons regard consciousness as the whole psychological individual, but that investigation of multiple personality has proved the existence of an unconscious area of personality in addition to the conscious area.
The importance of the archetypes in man’s relationship to the world is emphasized; they are seen to express man’s highest values, which would be lost in the unconscious if not for their projection onto the external environment. An example is the mother archetype, which expresses the ideal mother love. Although the projection of this archetype on the actual mother- an imperfect human being- may lead to psychological complications, the alternative of rejecting the ideal is seen as even more dangerous; the destruction of this ideal and all other irrational expression is seen as a serious impoverishment of human experience. Further, archetypes relegated exclusively to the unconscious may intensify to the point of distorting perceptive and reasoning powers. The equilibrium of rational and irrational psychic forces is thus considered essential…
As archetypes penetrate consciousness, they influence the perceived experience of normal and neurotic people; a too powerful archetype may totally possess the individual and cause psychosis… The therapeutic process takes the unconscious archetypes into account in two ways: they are made as fully conscious as possible, then synthesized with the conscious by recognition and acceptance. It is observed that since modern man has a highly developed ability to dissociate, simple recognition may not be followed by appropriate action; it is thus felt that moral judgment and counsel is often required in the course of treatment… The therapeutic function of archetypes is described in terms of the patient’s gradual confrontation with the self through the understanding and demystification of fantasy. The differentiation of conscious and unconscious processes through objective observation leads ideally to the synthesis of the two and to a shift in the center of the personality from the ego to the self…”
[http://iaap.org/frontpage/50th-anniversary-jung/]
With respect to the collective unconscious, Jung, in his book ‘Synchronicity: An acausal connecting principle,’ telegraphically says:
“Here I will only point out that it is the decisive factors in the conscious psyche, the archetypes, which constitute the structure of the collective unconscious. The latter represents a psyche that is identical in all individuals. It cannot be directly perceived or ‘represented,’ in contrast to the perceptible psychic phenomena, and on account of its ‘irrepresentable’ nature I have called it ‘psychoid.’”
According to Jung, archetypes are related to the following basic aspects:
- Archetypes are the constituents of the collective unconscious.
- They cause effects both to the soul and to the physical world through a process which Jung calls ‘meaningful coincidence.’
- The way archetypes act is non-local, as they don’t seem to have any physical constraints in space-time (what Jung calls psychic relativity).
- Archetypes can be represented by objects (e.g. the Shadow), notions (e.g. the Anima or the Animus), and subjects (e.g. the Wise Old Man).
About the representations of archetypes we will talk later on. According to the ideas presented in this discussion, we may say that,
- Archetypes are the constituents of the Form.
- Their manifested aspects or combinations are perceived as the objects composing the physical world.
- The Form is indivisible (in the same sense that the wave-function in quantum mechanics is) so that all the actions are non-local.
- All objects express the symbolic actions of archetypes.
As I have already noted, the procedure which is illustrated in the previous picture can also be seen unfolding in the opposite direction. Instead of viewing archetypes as patterns of behavior accumulated throughout the evolution of the species and consequently been submerged into the unconscious, archetypes can be seen as pre-existing patterns which emerge from the unconscious and consequently guide the evolution of the species, either the unconscious drives have been perceived or not. The whole scheme, which includes both the unconscious and the conscious, composes what we may call Consciousness (thus Consciousness can be both conscious and unconscious of its own actions). In such a context it is easier to understand and believe in synchronistic phenomena, because the action of the archetypes is extended throughout the whole universe, even if the realization of the corresponding event (what is called propagation of information at the speed of light in physics) has not yet occurred. In such a sense causality may be derived from synchronicity- instead of supposing two different kinds of events or actions in the universe (local and non-local)- although nobody yet knows how such a superluminal action could be included in a physical description of the world without violating the principle of causality.
Although the number of basic archetypes can be limited, the number of possible paths representing the actions of those archetypes may be infinite. Such paths are also related to the ways by which we perceive the archetypes. Since archetypes are both objects and functions, the parts of everyday objects and the aspects of everyday processes reveal the corresponding parts of archetypes. Thus while the number of archetypes can be finite, the ‘size’ of archetypes can be infinite because they extend throughout the universe. For example a way to reduce the number of archetypes by half would be to suppose that they operate in pairs of ‘opposite functions,’ like entangled particles. This aspect may remind us of the ‘effect of the double’ we have seen before. But again this shouldn’t imply the fundamental existence of a principle (or archetype) of duality. It has more to do with an aspect of symmetry.
But is symmetry an archetype? It would be better to suggest that symmetry, together with duality, or the aspects of uniqueness and wholeness we met earlier, are properties of archetypes. Thus archetypes can be seen as collections of properties, like the particles in physics. But while archetypes may also have mass, temperature, or charge (always in relation to the senses), particles haven’t got uniqueness, wholeness, purpose, intelligence, freedom, initiative, or even color, sound, smell, touch, and so on. It is then straightforward to realize that ‘particles’ are notions we use in order to express the senses and perceptions of our own consciousness. Such an aspect of symmetry, between the physical world and the contents of our own mind, is not an archetype but it is an aspect of the Form.
Jung also mentions the possible therapeutical aspect of archetypes, when they are expressed. A characteristic example is that of the scarab- beetle, which we have mentioned earlier. In this example, Jung’s patient who had a dream about a scarab- beetle sees a real beetle knocking on Jung’s window. In fact the whole incident can be treated as a Dream, including both Jung and his patient, as well as everyone else who wants to accept the incident as real. Whatever the beetle may stand for as a symbol, different people desire different things. But it is as if at the certain instant the desire of the patient had taken the shape of a scarab- beetle, so that, in some sense, a real insect had been attracted ‘by its own desire.’ All insects are attracted by light, so that they may also be attracted by other fields. However in the case of the scarab- beetle, the insect was attracted by a similar shape, or as we might say by a perceptual field. This shape or field may be related to an archetype (which may be also expressed as one desire or another) which operated in consciousness.
Now someone might ask: If I think right now of a bee, will a bee appear flying in my room? The answer is no because the conditions for the coincidence to occur are not met. But if a bee truly appeared then at the same time the corresponding thought would have occurred. It is not us who create a bee at the instant, but it is the process which creates both us and the bee at that given time. Now one may ask: Had I existed before the bee appeared? The question can also be reversed: Had the bee existed before we appeared? The truth is that before we made the observation our mind had been in an indeterminate state. We don’t even know if we had existed before we made the observation (thus we didn’t know if we had been thinking before we had some thought). Thus neither the bee nor we may have existed before any kind of object was accompanied by the perception of the same object. Here lies the true nature of the perceptual field. The physical object can appear only if it is perceived. Such a coincidence therefore takes place all the time.
In such a sense we may also say that,
- The archetype is constellated (thus perceived).
6.2 Platonic solids
While a geometric solid is a visual representation of symmetry, symmetry has to do with the relationship between perception (thus also the senses) and everyday objects. Thus all objects we perceive around us as can be seen as physical manifestations of our own psyche. But the psyche, as a collection of perceptual contents, if it is the bridge between our mind and the external world then it must be located at the ‘center’ between what is perceived as the physical world and what is imagined of the same world. These two worlds may then join on the surface of the psyche. Thus our own psyche becomes the ‘membrane’ which oscillates or projects all the perceivable aspects of the actions of archetypes (which are the constituents of the psyche), all these colorful shapes of symmetry, both outwards (towards perception) and inwards (towards conception). Thus we may have now come closer to realizing that at the most basic level all reality lies on the holographic surface of the Psyche of the universe, although the ‘split’ (the Projection) is necessary so that Consciousness can be separated from the Object.
Such a geometric conception of the psychic contents, corresponding to their perception by the sense of vision, can be described by the Platonic solids. According to Wikipedia, in three-dimensional space, a Platonic solid is a regular, convex polyhedron. It is constructed by congruent regular polygonal faces with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex. Five solids meet those criteria, and each is named after its number of faces.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid]
The previous picture was taken from the following site, which also includes a description of the solids: Plato the mathematician is perhaps best known for his identification of 5 regular symmetrical 3-dimensional shapes, which he maintained were the basis for the whole universe, and which have become known as the Platonic Solids: the tetrahedron (constructed of 4 regular triangles, and which for Plato represented fire), the octahedron (composed of 8 triangles, representing air), the icosahedron (composed of 20 triangles, and representing water), the cube (composed of 6 squares, and representing earth), and the dodecahedron (made up of 12 pentagons, which Plato obscurely described as “the one that god used for arranging the constellations on the whole heaven”).
[http://www.storyofmathematics.com/greek_plato.html]
We have already given some hints concerning the possible relationship between the ‘shape’ and the ‘color’ of archetypes, which can be perceived as the ‘material’ and ‘emotional’ parts of all everyday objects. It would be even possible to relate shape and color to space and time, respectively, as we physically perceive the notions. For example if both the ‘shape’ and ‘color’ of archetypes are seen as aspects related to some notion of physical frequency or vibration then the vibrating archetypes may produce any kind of dimension and direction in space and time respectively. But while in particle physics all that is seen is ‘particles’ appearing at the edges of the vibration, the oscillators themselves are extended entities with behavioral contents. Those ‘behaviors’ may explain how come that we humans, and generally living beings, are composed not only of ‘matter’ but also of actions. On the other hand, while string theory treats ‘particles’ as extended entities (multi-dimensional strings) it misses the opportunity of finding the connection between such entities and the emotional world of the psyche, thus perception. Nevertheless we may say that,
- Archetypes are oscillators whose different modes of vibration express both physical shapes and patterns of behavior.
In fact there are three possible directions an oscillator can move: back and forth, up and down, in and out. We may choose the latter, ‘in and out,’ mode to represent the aspects of the emotional world. Another mode, let’s say ‘back and forth,’ may stand for the properties of the material world. Then the last mode, ‘up and down,’ will express the conceptual world of the mind. No matter how we may describe such ‘directions’ on a piece of paper, all three modes will have to operate simultaneously in order to account for their final product- Consciousness. According to this interpretation the oscillator will have to be not only a ‘quantum oscillator’ but also a ‘psychic oscillator,’ what Jung had called a ‘psychoid.’
6.3 Aspects of analogy
[http://www.space.com/15722-constellations.html]
We have already said that the physical world would have been practically invisible and imperceptible if our mind weren’t part of the world. Although this may seem obvious it isn’t, since there are also things which elude our thoughts and our senses. But although such elusive aspects of the world are hidden to our thoughts, we still perceive them as ‘shadows’ lying in the darkest areas of our mind. Such aspects constitute our unconscious mind. Still, while they are difficult to be understood, the same aspects are somehow hinted by our mind as if they were by-products of our own thought. In some sense we may say that while our thought makes the world perceptible, at the same time it ‘covers’ parts of the things our thought elucidates. This also gives us the indication that our thought is formed together with the events it perceives. Even if we have acquired memories which directly connect our thought to well-known facts, there must also be pre-established ‘recollections,’ presumably unconscious, which imply or inform us about events of reality yet unknown. Such recollections emerge as the actions of the archetypes. Thus the archetypes constitute all parts of our unconscious mind, while the parts which have been expressed in each of us compose our memories and our individualized understanding of reality.
Such a correspondence between our mind and the physical phenomena can be formally stated by a principle which I call ‘principle of analogy.’ We will refer to this principle later on. For the moment we may say that the principle guaranties us that although what we perceive about the world and what the world truly is can be two different things, those two things are connected in the sense that the more aware we become about the world, the closer the imaginary and the real aspects of the world come together. In such a sense the archetypes, constituting the patterns which are transformed into the tangible objects of reality, become more and more expressed. The physical experience of such an expression can be described as separation in space and time. Thus while the Form is a unitary entity which includes the archetypes and their actions, it may also be seen as ‘splitting’ in two parts, one of which is composed of the unexpressed elements of archetypes, while the other one is composed of their perceived physical elements which constitute reality.
A mathematical approach to the relationship between the mind and physical reality was that of George Boole as stated in his book ‘The laws of thought,’
[http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~agrawvd/COURSE/READING/DIGITAL/15114-pdf.pdf]
In the last chapter of this book, called ‘Constitution of the intellect,’ Boole says the following,
“What I mean by the constitution of a system is the aggregate of those causes and tendencies which produce its observed character, when operating, without interference, under those conditions to which the system is conceived to be adapted. Our judgment of such adaptation must be founded upon a study of the circumstances in which the system attains its freest action, produces its most harmonious results, or fulfills in some other way the apparent design of its construction. There are cases in which we know distinctly the causes upon which the operation of a system depends, as well as its conditions and its end. This is the most perfect kind of knowledge relatively to the subject under consideration…
There are also cases in which we know only imperfectly or partially the causes which are at work, but are able, nevertheless, to determine to some extent the laws of their action, and, beyond this, to discover general tendencies, and to infer ulterior purpose. It has thus, I think rightly, been concluded that there is a moral faculty in our nature, not because we can understand the special instruments by which it works,… but because while, in some form or other, the sentiment of moral approbation or disapprobation manifests itself in all, it tends, wherever human progress is observable, wherever society is not either stationary or hastening to decay, to attach itself to certain classes of actions, consentaneously, and after a manner indicative both of permanency and of law. Always and everywhere the manifestation of Order affords a presumption, not measurable indeed, but real, of the fulfillment of an end or purpose, and the existence of a ground of orderly causation.”
For a general approach to the subject you may also see my own essay, ‘The origins of thought: A journey of thought into thought,’
[https://www.scribd.com/document/168411043/The-Origins-of-Thought]
According to Boole, although the processes by which our mind is connected to the laws of nature, while he explores the possible mathematical ratios of such a connection, can be either known or unknown, thought is possible because there is an ‘orderly causation’ in the world, which underlines the direction from instinctual tendencies to logical understanding. Although Boole gives a specific ethical meaning to the world (in the form of Order), it would be helpful to remind that according to the purpose of this discussion Order is also part of the system which represents the world (another aspect of the Form), so that the Cause fundamentally is as much instinctual as any other psychic drive (therefore not a product of logic per se).
The relationship between our own mind and physical reality can be mathematically expressed by the notion of a function. The previous picture was taken from Wikipedia. According to the related article,
In mathematics, a function is a relation between a set of inputs and a set of permissible outputs with the property that each input is related to exactly one output. An example is the function that relates each real number x to its square x^2. The output of a function f corresponding to an input x is denoted by f(x) (read ‘f of x’). In this example, if the input is −3, then the output is 9, and we may write f(−3) = 9. Likewise, if the input is 3, then the output is also 9, and we may write f(3) = 9. (The same output may be produced by more than one input, but each input gives only one output.) The input variable(s) are sometimes referred to as the argument(s) of the function.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(mathematics)]
The previous picture, taken from the same article of Wikipedia, is very interesting because it illustrates the notion of a function not only numerically but also psychologically. Instead of describing two sets of numbers, corresponding to the different arithmetic values of a function, it shows a relationship between shapes and colors, thus, also according to the context of our discussion, between physical objects and psychological actions (a color is such an action corresponding to a certain sense).
We may now state the following two principles:
- For every element of the physical world there will be a process or function connecting this element to a corresponding representation in the human mind.
- The two sets constituting the physical world and the human mind are connected in such a way that thought is produced by the juxtaposition of the two sets.
Thus archetypes may also be seen as functions relating physical reality to our own minds. If one set is composed of all the physical objects which constitute reality, and the other set is composed of the representations of those objects in our mind, then the actions of archetypes connect these two sets in a unique way. Assuming a function y(x), if x represents an object of the physical world, and y the representation of this object in thought, if the function is y = x^2 then there will always be a pair of opposite or complementary objects corresponding or composing the same thought. However the function needs not always be the same. In fact there can be an infinite number of different ways to relate an object x to its image y in the mind, while the opposite is also true if we assume the inverse function x(y) = √y. Thus what is always unique is the function itself. If we now decompose the image of a function, with two sets of objects and lines connecting these objects, and instead perceive one set, with lines connecting objects within the same set, we will return to the original description of archetypes as operators projecting both the values of x (the physical objects) and y (the images of those objects in the mind), thus as objects which include the function.
To come back now to the original image of this paragraph (that with the constellations), we may say that that for each constellation there is a corresponding ‘constellated,’ or manifested, archetype. However the connection between the stars of the constellations and the archetypes is not a physical connection but a symbolic one. But could there be another path, other than that of gravity, to express the symbolic, archetypal, connection? Here we may recall the notion of a ‘wormhole’ in physics. Such an object, although related to gravity, offers a way to travel in space inbetween the stars different than what gravity implies and faster than the speed of light, thus also implying a process beyond the realm of causality and physical reality. Therefore the connection between two distant regions of space in this case is established by another form of ‘attraction,’ while ‘wormholes’ are the perceived paths of such attraction or ‘action at a distance.’ How this connection is made possible, concerning either wormholes or quantum entanglement, is unknown. Yet if we assume that such a process also includes the experience of the observer (not only how the observer measures space and time according to his/her frame of reference, but also how he/she mentally and emotionally perceives such a journey), we may search for a cause which makes such a process possible, and which cause should also include the mental state of the traveler or observer.
Archetypes may represent such causes. In this case it would be interesting to compare myths related to the constellations with possible physical routes connecting those constellations. For example, in the distant future, when our civilization will hopefully be much more advanced both mentally and in space technology, people may talk about the imaginary ‘Perseus- Andromeda connection, or tunnel,’ referring both to a physical route, or ‘wormhole,’ which may connect some of Perseus’ stars with regions of the Andromeda Galaxy instantaneously, and to the meaning of the corresponding myth. In such a sense we may say that the information of such connections in the physical universe is already present in the collective unconscious of our species in the form of ‘hidden knowledge,’ while aspects of such knowledge are occasionally being revealed and described in myths. Therefore we may regard the theories of people such as Plato or Kepler as approaches to the problem of a unified theory of the natural world, as close as the human mind has ever gotten before.
However the point is that, according to the principle of analogy, if such phenomena (e.g. ‘wormholes’) didn’t exist in any form at all, there wouldn’t have been any associated myth or hinted thought either. In such a sense we may say that,
- The stars are constellated.
The previous pictures are relevant to the night- sky picture we mentioned earlier, with the lines describing the shape of different constellations. Since these lines don’t represent the orbits of the stars, they are symbolic paths. However a symbolic path can be as existent as a gravitational path. The problem is how we may derive the familiar local paths of physical actions at the limit of non- local actions. The mathematical description and conceptual implications of quantum entanglement is such a possible solution to the problem. Besides quantum entanglement we may offer the following example: We perceive all the stars in the sky to be located at the same level, or height, of the celestial globe. This is because some stars are brighter than others, so that the more bright the star, the closer it appears to be. The impression that all the stars lie at the same height is due perhaps to their very great distance, so that our eyes cannot resolve their relative perspective. The point here is that two stars which appear distant from each other can be much closer than two other stars which appear close to each other. This is because we are unable to resolve with our eyes the third dimension in the night sky. But let’s imagine that there is an extra- dimension so that two stars which appear far apart in three dimensions are in fact much closer if we take into account the extra-dimension. If now we were able to perceive the extra dimension with the help of a geometrical shape (in the same sense ellipses help us describe the physical paths of planetary orbits) then we would be able to describe the relative distance and motion of these two stars. But this ‘new’ shape or path we may draw represents an extra dimension, thus an ‘unknown’ or non-local connection between the stars.
Therefore we may say that,
- All local paths which connect different events in the same region of space can be analyzed as projections of non-local paths which connect the same events in different regions of space.
Even more, instead of treating the regions, in which two stars are connected non- locally by an extra dimension, as belonging to the same universe, we may equally suppose that these two regions in fact belong to different universes, in the sense that a path which we might draw connecting locally those regions could be longer than the path along the extra dimension.
Thus we also say that,
- Distant regions of the sky which are locally perceived as belonging to the same universe may represent adjacent regions of the multiverse non-locally connected to each other through an extra dimension.
If we now tried to draw a path connecting stars in different regions of the sky through the extra dimension, we would have a representation of such a dimension, which we physically cannot perceive, in the same sense that we may draw dotted lines to connect stars at different heights, since we are also unable to perceive height in the perspective of the night sky. But by this process of drawing ‘dots’ and ‘lines,’ we will end up with shapes which may remind us of the familiar shapes we use to describe not only the physical courses of the heavenly objects but also their whereabouts as described in myths. The shapes which we may take by such a process may not be the same as those described in the myths (‘Orion’s belt’ or ‘Berenice’s coma’ for example), but they may indicate routes which although in our three dimensional world appear as ‘lines connecting points,’ in some extra- dimensional description may appear as complete objects. Such objects, although they are not stars themselves, but they are instead patterns of archetypes, may connect the stars in a unique way. Such ways, or ‘non-local’ connections, may have been lying in the collective unconscious of our species, while their possible paths have been unfolding in the related myths and fantasies.
6.4 Harmony of the world
Perhaps the mistake Kepler did was that he tried to fit planetary orbits into the shapes of regular polyhedra without also taking into account that both the planets and the solids are aspects expressing the archetypes, that the ‘planets’ can be as much ‘solid’ as the geometric shapes which may express their motion. Finally it was the relationship between those aspects, thus the archetypes, which the planets fitted into. Still the action of archetypes can be seen as a repeatable phenomenon in the same sense that human behavior comes in circles. Such circles within circles are the motions of planets (the ellipse for example is a special case of the hypotrohoid), while the relative position of the planets within these circles expresses certain combinations of archetypes which rise and set. Therefore it may not be the planets which produce the action, or the ‘universal music’ as one might say, but the planets are physical manifestations of such actions and of the universal harmony.
Still these actions or ratios, as defined by Kepler’s laws, can be expressed in geometrical shapes. For example Kepler’s 3rd law states that the square of the period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the planet’s distance from the Sun. Thus the square and the cube are shapes which express ratios of motion and distance. Later on Newton formulated a mathematical proof of planetary motion based on calculus and on his assumptions concerning the gravitational force. Such a force obeys an inverse- square law. Thus the action was identified as a physical force while the shape of the square expressed the relationship between the gravitating body and the distance from it. Lastly Einstein reviewed gravity as a pseudo- force, explaining planetary orbits with the notion of space-time curvature. According to this interpretation gravity has been proven to be a ghost as much as astrological planetary influences or as much as space-time itself. But the action is still present in any case (the stress-energy tensor for example causes the curvature in the theory of general relativity). Thus behind any natural phenomenon or object and its behavior there is something which acts on the phenomenon or the object, making it move. This thing which causes the action is an archetype whose appearance may be finally reduced into a purely abstract symbolical form or notion. Thus numbers themselves can be seen as archetypal mathematical entities which, although express quantities, they are unitary themselves. For more on this subject you may see my own article ‘The number and its symbols:’
[https://www.scribd.com/document/283480762/The-Number-and-Its-Symbols]
The four regular non-convex polyhedra that exist in addition to the five regular convex polyhedra known as the Platonic solids. As with the Platonic solids, the Kepler-Poinsot solids have identical regular polygons for all their faces, and the same number of faces meet at each vertex. What is new is that we allow for a notion of ‘going around twice,’ which results in faces that intersect each other.
[http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/K/Kepler-Poinsot_solids.html]
Kepler’s Platonic solid model of the solar system from his ‘Mysterium Cosmographicum’ (1596)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid]
We have previously hinted on the notion of ‘music in the Universe,’ as a form of symmetry or harmony referring to our own ears. As Wikipedia says,
The notion of ‘Universal music’ (Musica universalis) or ‘Harmony of the Spheres’ is an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies as a form of music. This ‘music’ is not usually thought to be literally audible, but a harmonic, mathematical or religious concept. This ‘Music of the spheres’ incorporates the metaphysical principle that mathematical relationships express qualities or ‘tones’ of energy which manifest in numbers, visual angles, shapes and sounds- all connected within a pattern of proportion. Pythagoras first identified that the pitch of a musical note is in proportion to the length of the string that produces it, and that intervals between harmonious sound frequencies form simple numerical ratios. In a theory known as the Harmony of the Spheres, Pythagoras proposed that the Sun, Moon and planets all emit their own unique hum (orbital resonance) based on their orbital revolution, and that the quality of life on Earth reflects the tenor of celestial sounds which are physically imperceptible to the human ear. Subsequently, Plato described astronomy and music as ‘twinned’ studies of sensual recognition: astronomy for the eyes, music for the ears, and both requiring knowledge of numerical proportions.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musica_universalis]
Kepler’s book ‘Harmonices mundi’ (Harmony of the world) expresses such notions. An interesting treatise on Kepler’s book was written by Bruce Stephenson, in his own book ‘The music of the heavens, Kepler’s harmonic astronomy.’ Stephenson says,
“The principal theses of the Harmonices mundi (which builds on Ptolemy’s Harmonics), were that certain ratios, arising from the eternal geometry of regular polygons, were particularly noble; that the influence of music on the human soul depended upon these ratios, as did the influence of astrological aspects on mundane matters such as the weather and the human soul; and that these same ratios had been systematically embodied in the creation of the solar system.
To understand the musical harmonies that Kepler discovered in the heavens one must know something of music theory... The intervals recognized as harmonic are the octave, corresponding to the proportion 1:2; the fifth, corresponding to 2:3; and the fourth, corresponding to 3:4, which is the difference between the octave and the fifth. In the more recent system of just intonation, major and minor thirds and sixths are accepted as consonances and assigned proportions that please the ear. Kepler developed a geometric explanation for why there should be precisely seven basic consonances, but it is clear that he accepts the thirds and sixths on grounds that are empirical and aesthetic.”
[https://arcaneknowledgeofthedeep.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/keplersharmonicheavens.pdf]
Another interesting and instructive example of the possible relationship between shape and sound is the music and architectural design of Iannis Xenakis, who also used computer programs to write stochastic music. According to Wikipedia, Xenakis was influenced in the design of Philips Pavilion, shown in the previous picture, by his composition Metastaseis.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Pavilion]
This is an excerpt from Xenakis’ book ‘Formalized Music,’
“Music is but a path among others for man, for his species, first to imagine and then, after many, many generations, to entail this existing universe into another one, one fully created by man. Indeed, if man, his species, is the image of his universe, then man, by virtue of the principle of creation from nothingness and disappearance into nothingness (which we are forced to set), could redefine his universe in harmony with his creative essence, such as an environment he could bestow upon himself.”
[http://monoskop.org/images/7/74/Xenakis_Iannis_Formalized_Music_Thought_and_Mathematics_in_Composition.pdf]
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/100240317/Concerning-Time-Space-and-Music]
Here we may say that,
- Harmony is an expression of the Structure of the Form.
By Structure we mean all the patterns which constitute the Form, that Universal Entity which includes all individualizations, while the patterns are fundamentally archetypes which ‘vibrate’ and ‘resonate.’ To imagine how we may derive from these elementary vibrations the macrocosm which we perceive and live in, is as much difficult as to perceive how we may derive the physical world from atoms. I mean by this that although atoms are considered elementary building elements, atoms themselves do not include ‘shape.’ Therefore what we perceive as the shape of things has to be something from which atoms derive. But if such ‘shape’ is more fundamental than atoms, or even archetypes, if we also include ‘color,’ which throughout this conversation has been perceived as a property related to the senses and to the behavior of things in general, then we have arrived at a couple of properties at the most fundamental level. This couple of properties can be now compared with what we commonly refer to as ‘frequency’ and ‘amplitude’ related to vibrations. While amplitude may generate the shape, frequency may create the special tone. Thus if we have a ‘shape’ (a ‘form’), and a ‘tone,’ or ‘color’ (a ‘content’), we may reproduce any kind of physical object as perceived to be real. Then the Form represents the unified ‘field’ in which all such vibrations take place.
However the natural world as we know it is not composed of any individual shape or unique color. Rather it consists of combinations of shapes and colors, thus of harmonic compositions of different ratios. To give a helpful example, we may recall how our own memory works, which in fact operates similarly to computer memory. The information about the different objects is not stored at a specific place in memory. Instead it is spread all across the brain (or the computer’s hard disk in analogy). Perhaps there is a special reason for this. For example in such a way memories may be retrieved faster. However it is astonishing how the mind each time reconstructs a specific memory out of bits of information spread all across the brain. Such a process also underlines the holographic nature of the brain, since the object which is projected from our mind is a product of different relocated and recollected pieces (what in holography and optics is called interference). It is intriguing to think for example that ‘leaves,’ ‘a tree trunk,’ ‘blue,’ ‘waves,’ ‘sand,’ ‘a date,’ ‘Mary’ and ‘us’ are gathered from different locations of the brain to remind us of a certain holiday. Even deeper such images or ‘properties’ can be further reduced to ‘color,’ ‘wood,’ ‘salt,’ ‘water,’ ‘grain,’ a ‘number,’ a ‘face,’ ‘legs,’ and ‘arms,’ ‘sweetness,’ ‘letters,’ and so on. But such properties or fundamental objects of shape and color are each time recruited to reconstruct different memories or fantasies. ‘Planets’ (or ‘round objects’), ‘orbits’ (thus circles), ‘black’ (the empty space), ‘music,’ together with a ‘number’ or ‘a letter,’ even a ‘feeling,’ may also represent another collection of such properties which correspond to the way we perceive the sky, the things it comprises of, and their motions. Thus we are impelled to suggest that at the deepest level,
- The objects of the physical world are arranged not by shape but by similarity.
Perhaps this is also why the world is not as much ‘rigid’ as ‘harmonious.’
6.5 Energetic forms
What is the difference if we are hit by a lightning, and if we are attacked by a living animal for example? Although the inflicted damage can be equally serious, we consider that the animal attacked us with purpose while the lightning hit us by accident. This way a purposeful action makes the difference between a living creature and a natural phenomenon. However we may also consider that animals are driven by instincts, thus their actions are not so purposeful after all. A swarm of bees for example, although truly magnificent creatures, could be no more intelligent than a ‘swarm’ or cloud of electrons. Furthermore the event of a striking lightning or a stinging bee is not felt or understood by the electrons, which compose the lightning, or by the bees. Thus any kind of purpose may not be defined before the event happens to us (in the sense that we can perceive what happened). Also our response to the event is an indication that we are alive. But it is not enough to respond to different stimuli in order to know that we are alive, in the sense that a bee which stung us may not have been aware of its own action. Thus the action which makes us breathe and move, and which also offers us the experience of been alive, is something made of purpose, or it consists of energy, while it may take many different shapes and forms. Such collections of action is therefore what truly composes us, and the fact that other entities are not as much aware as we may be with respect to the causes of nature, doesn’t make such entities less alive than we are.
According to Wikipedia, a plasmoid is considered a coherent structure of plasma and magnetic fields. Plasmoids have been proposed to explain natural phenomena such as ball lightning, magnetic bubbles in the magnetosphere, and objects in cometary tails, in the solar wind, in the solar atmosphere, and in the heliospheric current sheet. Plasmoids produced in the laboratory include field-reversed configurations, spheromaks, and in dense plasma focuses.
The word plasmoid was coined in 1956 by Winston Bostick to mean a ‘plasma-magnetic entity:’
“The plasma is emitted not as an amorphous blob, but in the form of a torus. We shall take the liberty of calling this toroidal structure a plasmoid, a word which means plasma-magnetic entity. The word plasmoid will be employed as a generic term for all plasma-magnetic entities.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmoid]
Here is a thought that occurred to me right now,
- Virtual things come into existence when they become entangled with the real world.
Ghosts for example although they are imaginary they can be as real as the effect they may cause. If a person has had an accident because he/she was running to escape from a ghost he/she saw, the accident which took place is certainly real. Therefore virtual things may exist as much as they bring about effects into the physical world. But the ‘materialization’ of such entities in reality goes together with our own realization about the possible existence of such entities. This is not to say that we cause such events to take place or that we create such creatures with the help of our imagination. But somehow our mind and the ‘patterns of energy’ which float around in space may come into resonance according to some process yet unknown. We may also note that our own mind consists of the same patterns. Perhaps if we were fully aware of what these patterns consist of and how they unfold themselves in relation to our own experience, then such energetic phenomena would not surprise us at all.
Even more intriguing is the previous picture, in which the plasmoids materialize in the form of biological cells. The point is that all biology may derive from such energetic expressions of fundamental patterns. While spiders may ‘follow’ the lines of a magnetic field, the previous creatures may appear in the form of ‘energy bubbles.’ According to the article of Wikia, from which the previous picture was taken,
Atmospheric beasts are wing-less, lighter than air lifeforms rumored to inhabit the atmosphere of Earth and possibly other planets. Sighted by people all around the world, they have gained interest in ufology, cryptozoology and astrobiology. Cryptozoology author Ivan T. Sanderson devoted a book to the theory that UFOs are not alien aircrafts, but low density organisms native to the clouds (the idea is supported by the recent discovery of microorganisms that spend their whole life floating high in the air, and microscopic algae that live in the clouds); while astronomer Carl Sagan proposed that this kind of creature could inhabit the atmosphere of gas giants like Jupiter.
Atmospheric beasts are often described as large, balloon-like organisms, whose bodies are filled with lighter than air gases. On Jupiter, where the atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen, the beast would need to have hot hydrogen inside, since there is no other lighter substance. Not all atmospheric beasts are built like living balloons. Some are described as having tentacles or flipper-like organs. In some reports, they are actually cloud-like, being not completely solid, and able to change their density and their size.
A mysterious substance called star jelly, is often linked to atmospheric beasts. A famous idea is that when an atmospheric beast dies, it falls from the sky as star jelly, a smelly gelatinous mass that usually evaporates in less than a few hours.
[http://aliens.wikia.com/wiki/Atmospheric_Beast]
The dividing line I want to draw here is that whether such creatures are biological or energetic is secondary. As has already been pointed out in this discussion, the difference between what we perceive as something made of energy and what we perceive as a material entity may just have to do with the way we perceive the world, or with how much our senses are sensitive or trained to perceive structures of entities which may live in a world of ‘higher frequencies.’ Even if most- if not all- of us don’t possess such abilities, we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of such a possibility. But apparently there is nothing paranormal about such indications. We have never seen atoms although we believe they exist. But what finally is out there is our own imagination (about how microscopic things could look like), ‘fishing’ here and there tastes, smells, sounds, and colors about things. Occasionally we may also touch some things or other human beings, confirming thus their existence, but the images of the same things or beings is what finally stays in our minds.
A final suggestion we can make is about the possible role of faith as an aspect of ‘psychic proof.’ We may say that we have faith in our logical assumptions although the same assumptions cannot prove why we believe in them. This is not to say that what we believe in is wrong or that logic is useless. But it somehow implies that since logic arises from the world of superstition we have to search for the origin of logic at the same predispositions from which our faith stems too. Perhaps logic represents the most rigid part of our reality while faith may be related to how strongly we defend our fantasies. In such a sense we may say that Faith fills the paths of our own Destiny. By this I mean a special case of action, different but related to the Purpose in the universe, which we may follow as we glide on the slopes of those actions. Perhaps what is logic for the mind is faith for the soul. But while without logic we may never understand our fantasies, without faith we may never succeed in evoking them. Thus we may also say that fantasies are the plasmoids yet to become true.
6.6 Planetary spheres
According to quantum mechanics there is no true death. We can always be reborn in a parallel universe. According to the same theory we may already exist in a state of super- position. Therefore each moment of personal experience is just one among an infinity of possibilities of Experience. According to this interpretation death is the moment when the personal wave- function decoheres with the environment and changes state. The consequences of such a description are yet to be found but I would like to call the process something like ‘consciousness state transition.’ This is not the same with the displacement of consciousness. Now consciousness is not displaced by observation but it fully detaches from the everyday world and passes to another state of existence. Thus we may say that we keep on living but in an altered state of consciousness. Such a condition may not include personal consciousness (the set of all our memories) but our soul becomes one with the cosmic soul in the same sense that energy or information is conserved. Thus we may say that as soon as we die our own lifelong experience becomes part of the Universal Experience. But this has a significant implication. As soon as new life is born it will consist not only of all the organic materials, which other deceased lifeforms have left behind, but also of the experiences of the earlier lifeforms. But the existence of such collective memories cannot be explained by supposing some kind of information stored in genes, because genes die together with the biological entity. Thus there has to be some other form of ‘store-house’ where collective experience is preserved.
Such a ‘store-house’ can be the morphic or morphogenetic field itself, which we have already talked about. The aspect that life may appear and evolve in other physical places in the universe is another indication for the existence of such a field. Otherwise we would have to suppose the presence of a biological agent even before the biological processes have started. For example we may always assume an early bombardment of comets at the stages when a solar system is formed, so that the comets may stand for the agents which transport water as well as the first microorganisms to planets. However this does not explain how the microorganisms were transported on the comets, or how they appeared in the cosmic dust from which comets are formed, in the first place. Ultimately if we suppose some natural laws according to which matter is organized to give rise to biological lifeforms, such laws have to be preserved somewhere in the universe, while the fields which exert forces obeying these laws must also contain some properties expressing the same laws. Thus all the information necessary to initiate the processes of life can be related to and described by the properties and the structure of such a field. However, if we also attribute structure to those fields, then we immediately enter the world of archetypes. Furthermore instead of talking about many fields we may consider just one field which all other fields stem from. But if such a field may give rise not only to biology but also to intelligence then it will not be just a ‘mechanical’ field but also a ‘psychic’ field. Thus the term morphic field. As soon as the morphic field is attached to the senses of a living entity it becomes a perceptual field.
Where exactly such information about the collective experience of existence can be stored is unknown, but we may recall the Akashik fields of the Eastern tradition or the black holes of modern Western science. I would say that both such ‘store- houses’ have been insufficiently explored. But instead of travelling in ‘deep- space’ to search for the possible locations of such places we may well delve into our minds to locate the origin of our own existence and how the process of experience unfolds. By such a process we may also find out how our own thought is related to the Universal Thought. Thus, by following such a link or ‘chord,’ we reach a point of ‘no-return,’ the moment when our own life will potentially end. But, according to the processes and the paths the previous narration leads us to, can we say that after death we are totally lost? Or is it that the parts of ourselves become parts of the Universe, of the total Experience of Consciousness, and of the Meaning of Existence?
To come back now to the previous picture, this is how the painter himself describes it in his book ‘Daydreaming: ’
“After death frozen bodies of Baby Boomers float suspended in the upper atmosphere of their planet. It is the most fashionable burial style there.”
[https://books.google.gr/books?id=RWoxiHj1WroC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=Slawek+Wojtowicz+Baby+Boomers&source=bl&ots=IOpMJ_RrfF&sig=jJtOuWnJHMQKr9zIngDrAhMTmls&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGvPHxjNvPAhWBuRoKHYo9D0sQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Slawek%20Wojtowicz%20Baby%20Boomers&f=false]
This painting depicts some state of suspended animation. But the planets which the dead people are hanging above can be the ‘spheres’ of their own consciousness, projecting them, either dead or alive, in space. Perhaps in our own minds we are neither dead nor alive (looking thus similar to Schrodinger’s cat, or to the ‘Baby Boomers’ of the painting) because our mind on its own cannot determine our true state, without a point or object of reference in the real, external, world. Thus, apart from the Projection, the Comparison or Identification is also necessary. Such a Comparison is similar to the attachment of consciousness to the object, about which aspect we have talked before. It is not sufficient to perceive an object to be sure about its existence. It is also necessary that we ‘touch it,’ or that we are certain that the object is accessible. Otherwise it will eternally stay part of our imagination. The Comparison or Identification is also related to Individualization, if the object which we identify with is our own mind. Thus the ‘bubbles’ or planets of the painting represent the ‘energy spheres’ of our minds, contemplating about the status of our own existence. But at the same time we may perceive that all such spheres are Projections in a row of the Universal Consciousness, which contemplates about all the possible representations of its own Form. Thus it is also possible that,
- Consciousness is Dreaming.
Our modern civilization is based on technology. Artificial intelligence and robotics may produce bionic humans in the future. Whatever the definition of their nature, these creatures will still be material. What is more elevating is to suppose that someday our civilization will progress so much that it will produce truly ‘spiritual beings,’ made of pure energy. For example we could make ‘bubbles’ in space-time (instead of microchips), made of pure energy, and implant there all the information concerning an individual human being. Then we would have succeeded in engineering ‘energy spheres’ such as the ‘planets’ in Slawek Wojtowicz’s previous painting. However, besides the logical paradoxes which might arise from the fact that such ‘energy spheres’ will probably have properties similar to those of black holes, perhaps this is already our true form- a multi-dimensional bubble- like consciousness, condensed in some region of the Collective Consciousness, projecting our own image into space.
6.7 UFOs
Lenticular clouds
[http://www.crystalinks.com/lenticular.html]
[http://www.crystalinks.com/lenticular.html]
By the term ‘UFO’ (Unidentified Flying Object) it is meant a solid object, flying in the sky, and presumably belonging to some visitors of an extra-terrestrial civilization. However UFOs need not be solid. They could be in the form of ‘lights,’ or ‘spheres of energy’ as those described before. Thus the term may neither refer to any ‘material technology,’ nor to any ‘civilization of a species,’ while the term ‘extra-terrestrial’ may be translated as ‘extra-dimensional.’ All such semantic discrepancies point towards the particularities, or even peculiarities, of human perception, rather than to an independent, objective event. However most fantasies, if not all of them, related to UFOs seem to be based on some common elements described by those who had the experience of a ‘close encounter.’ Such common features or patterns are of archetypal origin, while their expression can help us visualize and realize the projections of our own collective unconscious. In such a sense UFOs may be treated as purely psychic phenomena.
In the book which I have already mentioned, ‘Atom and the archetype,’ Jung wrote a letter to Pauli, concerning UFOs,
“Your letter is terribly important and interesting. For several years now, I have been preoccupied with a problem that might strike some people as crazy; namely, UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) = flying saucers. I have read most of the relevant literature and have come to the conclusion that the UFO myth represents the projected- that is, concretized- symbolism of the individuation process. This spring, I embarked on a paper on the subject, and I have just completed it. Today, as a consequence of the general prevailing disorientation, the political division in the world, and the ensuing individual separation of the conscious and the unconscious, the Self is generally constellated in archetypal form (i.e., in the unconscious), something I had come across repeatedly in my patients. Now as I know from experience that a constellated- i.e., activated- archetype may not be the cause but is certainly a condition of synchronistic phenomena, I have come to the conclusion that nowadays occurrences might be expected that correspond to the archetype as a sort of mirror image. I then went on to investigate UFOs (reports, rumors, dreams, pictures, etc.). This produced a clear result that might be satisfactorily explained by causality if the UFOs were not unfortunately real (simultaneous visual and radar sightings!). As yet there is no reliable evidence that they are actually machines. They could just as easily be animals. The sightings seem rather to indicate something of dubious substantiality. I have therefore asked myself whether it would be possible that archetypal imaginings had their correspondence not only in an independent material causal chain, as in the synchronistic phenomenon, but also in something akin to bogus occurrences or illusions, which, despite their subjective nature, were identical with a similar physical arrangement. In other words, the archetype forms an image that is both psychological and physical. This, of course, is the formula for synchronicity, albeit with the difference that in the case of the latter, the psychological causal chain is accompanied by a physical chain of events with a similar meaning. The UFOs, however, seem to be occurrences that appear and disappear for no apparent reason, the only legitimation for their existence being their relationship in meaning to the psychic process. So I would be happy, and it would be a load off my mind, if I could convincingly deny their objective existence. But for various reasons, I find that impossible. There is more to this than just an interesting and conventionally explicable myth.”
Jung expresses the need of human beings to believe in the super- natural. But, in the context of the collective unconscious, the super- natural is composed of archetypes (so that the super- natural becomes the natural landscape of the collective unconscious). During periods of social unrest or personal misfortune someone may withdraw into this primordial world of fantasies, in order to find a kind of shelter against his/her own problems and preoccupations. At this point archetypes may emerge in dreams and visions with therapeutical effects.
However extreme experiences, either as dreams or visions, may also arise during periods of great expectation, or ‘excitation.’ Many of UFO sightings for example occurred during or after the Second World War (the Roswell incident for example), as people expected their governments to be the first to produce advanced machines in order to surpass their enemy. Many of such sightings could be real experimental flying machines made by humans, which have evolved into modern aircrafts. The individualization process which Jung mentions is the identification of a person with such visions or machines, so that one may rest assured that one’s government or divine providence will intervene to solve one’s problems.
However beyond individualization lies ‘collectivization,’ or ‘structuralization.’ If we define individualization as the process by which the individual is formed out of the collective unconscious, structuralization will be the process by which a society is similarly formed. But in the latter case to the social processes we will have to add the instinctual collective processes, pre-established structures which emerge and coalesce to form large groups of people and societies. Such patterns can be revealed either in myths of common origin or in fashions and social trends which join nations and groups of people together. Most of those trends are in fact unconscious since they are often expressed in concerted acts of irrational behavior (riots, wars, pilgrimage, etc.) It is also apparent that in such cases ‘consciousness’ refers to the collective properties of the group, not to the individual consciousness of each member of the group. But even if personal free will gives its place to the ‘collective intelligence’ for the sake of a society or of a social group, even in the case of a specific person his/her own free will often surrenders to instincts, while his/her own intelligence has been made out of instinctual drives in the first place.
Here we have come back to the original meaning of this discussion, that archetypes are not just ‘prototypes’ (patterns of behavior formed during the evolution of a species), but truly primordial patterns independent of nurture and free will (while even nurture and free will may also be described as products of archetypal structures). Thus, to leave aside individualization, collectivization or structuralization may define and describe the process by which the morphic field of the collective unconscious unfolds upon a group of people or of any species in order to independently guide the group’s behavior. But during the process of structuralization not only the person learns how to behave in relation to the group he/she belongs to, but also the group learns how to deal with larger groups and entities which the group may come in contact with in the future. Visions or depictions on the large scale of UFOs, or of Gods and Saints, are such manifestations of the structuralization process, which we may also call Preparation.
We may define Preparation as follows,
- Preparation is the psychic process by which, through visions, the collective unconscious ‘prepares’ individual consciousness about the emerging contents of the soul.
These contents gradually become the tangible objects of the real world. Take for example airplanes. Before the real craft was constructed the possibility of such machines had already been perceived in the minds of people such as the Wright brothers. Moreover the idea had been perceived even earlier, although more obscure, in myths (the story of Icarus for example), and possibly on wall paintings, such as the Egyptian ‘helicopter hieroglyph’ mentioned earlier. Thus when UFOs instead of mere hallucinations become real alien machines flying in the Earth’s sky then we may suppose that the human race will be psychologically ready for such ‘close encounters.’
[http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html]
An interesting related subject is the so- called Fermi’s paradox. This has to do with the apparent contradiction between estimates about the number of extra- terrestrial civilizations which may be out there (such as the number predicted by Drake’s equation), and the fact that no one of those civilizations has ever been discovered or visited us. Although such a paradox may be based on a rather pre-mature deduction (as our technology is still incapable of tracing such advanced civilizations), a more elucidating argument could be that even if they had come, we wouldn’t notice them. We wouldn’t pay attention to their presence not just because they could be so advanced as to be practically invisible to us, but also because, even if they appeared in front of us, our own mental state would deny their presence, by either misinterpreting what we really saw or by just repressing the experience.
Therefore we may say that even if they had come we wouldn’t know it. However the probability, or improbability, for the existence of alien civilizations should not be seen just as a statistical estimation or approximation, but has to be regarded also in relation to our own level of advancement. We may say that the more advanced a species is, the more probable a contact with another species (from another planet) becomes. But what could be the corresponding process or property in nature which tunes up the probability of such an encounter?
In physics there is Pauli’s exclusive principle which, according to Wikipedia, says that two particles with half-integer spin cannot occupy the same quantum state simultaneously. In the case of electrons in atom, it can be stated as follows: it is impossible for two electrons of a poly-electron atom to have the same values of the four quantum numbers: n, the principal quantum number, ℓ, the angular momentum quantum number, mℓ, the magnetic quantum number, and ms, the spin quantum number. For example, if two electrons reside in the same orbital, and if their n, ℓ, and mℓ values are the same, then their ms must be different, and thus the electrons must have opposite half-integer spins of 1/2 and -1/2.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_exclusion_principle]
While this is a rule which can be expanded to all particles and objects in the universe (two things cannot be similar because they will at least have their space and time coordinates different), I would like here to make an expansion of the principle, and call it the cosmological exclusion principle. In analogy to Pauli’s exclusion principle, it can be stated as follows:
- It is impossible for two civilizations in the universe to meet if all the corresponding properties or necessary conditions are not expressed.
Some of such properties or conditions are quite obvious, such as the level of technology to trace a civilization living on another planet, or even visit that planet, parameters which have to do with the habitability of other planets, the type of star which hosts potentially habitable planets, the probability of a close encounter by mere chance, and so on. However there are also parameters which are not so obvious. For example what if there were some parameters or properties connecting different alien civilizations according to ‘similarity?’ But this ‘similarity’ will not have to do with mass, or perhaps with another ‘quantum number,’ but with another form of attraction, different from what mass and gravity imply, but analogous to the properties of quantum entanglement. Accordingly we may define some property which expresses the degree of similarity or correlation between two alien civilizations. We may still refer to another, yet unknown, ‘quantum number.’ However in this context such a number does not correspond to some mechanical property but to an aspect which is related to the mental advancement of the civilization.
Such an aspect or property concerns the ‘constellated archetype,’ an action which binds two alien civilizations in space and time. The two civilizations may not have come in contact yet, but the meaningful coincidence which has already occurred will finally bring them together. Perhaps all relative apparitions of objects which come and go in our skies are the manifestations of such constellated archetypes which gradually ‘prepare’ us for the real contact in the future. Such an assumption is not far-fetched. Our own unconscious prepares us for situations in the future through dreams. This is not to say that all dreams are prophetic, but dreams may also express a true situation which we will have to deal with.
Some of the objects which we may have seen flying in the sky may also belong to real, ‘material,’ alien civilizations, who come and go to acquaint us with our broader solar neighborhood. However such a process of ‘materialization,’ which we may also call ‘familiarization,’ collectivization,’ ‘structuralization,’ or preparation, can also be seen under the broader scope of Consciousness. Here’s how: The Form- which is the Universe as we know it- gradually gives birth to more and more new civilizations on different planets. More and more civilizations become advanced. But at the same time the Form, i.e. the Universe, becomes more and more aware of its own existence. Thus Consciousness is been gradually built in the universe. Everything we know are the contents of that Consciousness (although we may be too primitive or arrogant to perceive it). Thus ‘materialization’ refers to the process through which the unexpressed contents or structures (the archetypes), what in physics is called ‘vacuum energy,’ are gradually manifested and experienced as real, ‘rigid’ things. In such a sense, and according to such a realization, it is not so important whether UFOs are real or virtual. More important is that we already perceive their images.
Therefore the true problem is not the ‘distance in space and time,’ but the ‘level of understanding.’ Perhaps the ‘parallel universes’ which presumably compose the multiverse are nothing more than different layers of the same perceptual or morphic field. Thus the true dimensions of ‘space-time’ may be much different than what we perceive at present. Some alien civilization may exist right ‘above our heads’ without us noticing it. These are interesting ways of thinking. But wherever or whenever we may discover another civilization in the universe, the more prepared we are, the less traumatic the experience will be.
Here is a summary of this section:
- The Form is an entity whose contents are ‘ideas.’
- Those ‘ideas’ are the structures of archetypes.
- Archetypes are the primordial patterns the world is composed of.
- We may view such patterns as shapes or contents attached to the senses.
- In other words, the actions of archetypes are also functions of our minds.
- Thus existence is also experience.
- We may say that the images of the past are the objects of the future.
- In such a sense, we can predict only the things we are prepared for.
7. Aspects of the soul
We have already identified the soul with the aura. The aura can be perceived as a field surrounding the human body. The properties of such a field are unknown, but attempts have already been made in order to visualize it, as in the case of Kirlian photography. Presumably the frequencies of such a field will be higher than the naked eye can perceive, although there are people who have claimed to be able to see the aura. It is also unknown the medium which such a field consists of. Kirlian photography is based on electromagnetism, but the aura per se may correspond to a field of different origin.
A perceptual field has already been defined in this discussion as a field which consists of all images which can be attached to the senses. Those images stem from the archetypes, while the senses are susceptible to the images produced by the archetypes as they vibrate. The physical location of the archetypes is elusive in the sense that there is no special place in the universe where the archetypes are concentrated. On the contrary we may say that the archetypes are everywhere in the sense that their actions permeate all space and time. In fact we may treat space and time as a couple of properties which arise together with all other physical properties at the moment the archetypes are expressed. Thus we may say that space-time reaches as far as the extent of the vibrating archetypes.
While archetypes can be found everywhere, the surface of the human aura is a limit on which the archetypes may be located. If we imagine the aura as composed of compartments then each of those compartments will represent a different archetype. In such a sense each part of the aura will correspond to a different state of the psyche. But such states should not be considered purely emotional but also physical. Behind each part of the aura there is also a part of the physical body. Thus different parts of the physical body correspond to functions of different archetypes, or different ‘colors,’ with the help of which we may identify those functions. Therefore a change in the colors of the aura may indicate at the same time a change both in the physical and the emotional state of the human being. On the other hand, on the other side of such a projection, the external world is found. Thus the aura becomes the membrane upon which not only the internal world can be mapped but also the external world is represented.
The images of all the things composing the environment enter our senses through the field of the aura. In fact we may say that without the assumption of such a field (the aura) the existence of perception is impossible. A parallelism with the language of physics is to say that the light waves which come towards us, and which carry the information about the objects, are superposed to the vibrations of the aura, this kind of bio-field, so that the perception of objects is made possible. However the ‘waves’ which carry the information need not be just electromagnetic waves. They can be ‘waves’ in general, while electromagnetism is just a component among many. Thus what enters our psychic body (the aura) is information carried by a multitude of actions representing the various objects. Thus the physical objects are the product of the superposition of the action of archetypes. We say archetypes and not ‘physical fields’ because archetypes also express emotions (psychic contents). Thus the physical field becomes a perceptual field, or morphic field, which is composed of all possible information which can be perceived by a human being (or any other living being), of all kinds of objects which can be realized by consciousness. This is also why we have already mentioned that the human aura can be seen as a surface, or mirror, which projects, or vibrates, the archetypes both inwards, towards the mind, and outwards, towards the environment. But in the latter case the aura becomes the horizon of the observable universe, the outline of the universal Form, the contents of which become specialized, or individualized, into you and me.
7.1 Wheel of emotions
According to the following site, Six Basic Emotions is a term that refers to the theory of American psychologists Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen. They identified six basic emotions based on studying the isolated culture of people from the Fori tribe in Papua New Guinea in 1972. The tribe members were able to identify these six emotions on the pictures: Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise.
After that, Ekman and Friesen took pictures of facial expressions of people from the Fori tribe with the same emotions and they presented these pictures to people of other races and cultures all over the world. They also interpreted the emotions on the pictures correctly.
[https://managementmania.com/en/six-basic-emotions]
It is interesting to note here the possible comparison between the six basic emotions, according to the previous article, and the six basic colors, as one may derive: In fact, there are three basic colors, red, yellow, and blue, from which three more colors stem: red and yellow give orange, red and blue give violet, while yellow and blue give green. Thus there are 6 basic colors in total to be related to the 6 basic emotions. It would be tempting to relate the 6 colors to the 6 emotions but the problem is that from those 6 emotions only one is ‘positive’ (happiness), four of them are ‘negative,’ while one of them is ‘neutral’ (surprise, which can be either positive or negative). This makes me think that the distinction between those 6 ‘basic’ emotions hides some more fundamental division. For example, if we now attempt to relate colors to some emotional condition, I would identify blue with ‘calmness,’ red with ‘excitement,’ and yellow with ‘surprise.’ Thus what we commonly refer to as ‘happiness’ could just be a ‘neutral’ state inbetween the lowest and highest degree of ‘excitement.’ In such a sense, no matter what meaning we may give to them, our emotions could be fundamentally reduced to ‘amplitudes,’ of lower or greater numerical value, in two directions, positive and negative.
According to Wikipedia, the previous picture depicts Newton’s color circle, from Opticks of 1704, showing the colors correlated with musical notes. The spectral colors from red to violet are divided by the notes of the musical scale, starting at D. The circle completes a full octave, from D to D. Newton’s circle places red, at one end of the spectrum, next to violet, at the other. This reflects the fact that non-spectral purple colors are observed when red and violet light are mixed.
While the combination either of emotions or of colors can be infinite, here is another attempt to relate colors with musical notes, which was made by Newton. As Wikipedia explains, Newton divided the spectrum into seven named colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. He chose seven colors out of a belief, derived from the ancient Greek sophists, of there being a connection between the colors, the musical notes, the known objects in the solar system, and the days of the week. The human eye is relatively insensitive to indigo’s frequencies, and some people who have otherwise-good vision cannot distinguish indigo from blue and violet. For this reason, some later commentators, including Isaac Asimov, have suggested that indigo should not be regarded as a color in its own right but merely as a shade of blue or violet. However, the evidence indicates that what Newton meant by ‘indigo’ and ‘blue’ does not correspond to the modern meanings of those color words. Comparing Newton’s observation of prismatic colors to a color image of the visible light spectrum shows that ‘indigo’ corresponds to what is today called blue, whereas ‘blue’ corresponds to cyan.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_spectrum]
Another observation which can be made is that cyan, the last mentioned color in the previous article, is a combination of blue and white, thus a combination of blue with the whole of colors, since all colors together give us white. While natural colors are nothing more than frequencies, it is intriguing the way the human senses perceive them. This is because the perception of color as we know it is a purely psychic content, while the physical frequency is just a colorless ‘beat.’ This is why we mentioned earlier that modern physics may explain colors as electromagnetic frequencies but cannot communicate their intrinsic properties with respect to the senses of the physicist (or any other person) who observes the colors. Thus for physics everything is black and white. But ‘white’ in this case is not a combination of colors, but just a neutral state.
How the wholeness of the vibrations of archetypes in the universe ‘splits’ into the objects of the known senses is still a mystery, and unfortunately modern humans are getting further away from solving this mystery instead of approaching it. But it seems that a small number of fundamental modes of vibrations relates the human psyche (the senses) to the external world (the perceived objects). In fact, as we have already said, objects can be nothing more than perceivable collections of colors, sounds, tastes, smells, and touches, thus ‘shapes with color,’ thus parts of the perceptive field of the universe. In such a sense the vibrations produce both the patterns and a process by which the patterns are perceived. Therefore we have either to rely on self-reference (the mind which observes the mind) or attribute new properties to nature, such as ‘intelligence,’ ‘wisdom,’ ‘attention,’ etc., so that at as soon as an object (a ‘vibratory mode’) appears, having some color, shape, weight, etc., it also has ‘mentality.’ In such a sense it is not strange that there can be a correspondence between perception and what is perceived, since the whole arrangement, the Form, is a perceptible object.
Another way to perceive our emotional world is with the help of the previous picture, or wheel of emotions. Robert Plutchik created this ‘wheel’ in order to illustrate the various relationships between the emotions. The intensity of an emotion decreases as we move outward and increases as we move toward the wheel’s center. The intensity of the emotion is indicated by the color. The darker the shade, the more intense the emotion. For example anger at its least level of intensity is annoyance. At its highest level anger becomes rage.
The previous description as well as the picture of Plutchik’s wheel was taken from the following article, which also says that, Plutchik identified eight basic emotions, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, anticipation, anger, and disgust. Each primary emotion also has a polar opposite, so that joy is the opposite of sadness, fear is the opposite of anger, anticipation is the opposite of surprise, and disgust is the opposite of trust. He also developed 10 postulates on which his evolutionary theory of emotions is based:
1. Animals and Humans: Animals and humans both experience the same basic emotions in similar ways.
2. Evolutionary History: Emotions appeared as a result of evolution. Emotions were present in animals even before apes evolved.
3. Survival Issues: Emotions have evolved over time in order to increase the chances of survival in the environment. For example, trust results in collaboration and sharing between humans.
4. Prototype Patterns: Although there are several types of emotions that are present in different species, there are prototype patterns, or common elements, that are identifiable.
5. Basic Emotions: A relatively small number of prototype, primary emotions, or basic emotions exist and can be identified.
6. Combinations: All other emotions occur as a result of a mixture, or combination, of the basic emotions. For example, love is a combination of joy (primary emotion) and trust (primary emotion).
7. Hypothetical Constructs: It is recognized that primary emotions are hypothetical constructs or idealized states, which we describe in terms of their particular properties and characteristics. These descriptions can only be inferred based on several kinds of evidence.
8. Opposites: The primary emotions are categorized into pairs of polar opposites.
9. Similarity: All emotions have different degrees of similarity to one another.
10. Intensity: Each emotion can vary in its level of intensity.
[http://study.com/academy/lesson/robert-plutchiks-wheel-of-emotions-lesson-quiz.html]
[http://inkwellideas.com/2013/11/wheel-of-emotions/]
This is another way to perceive how our emptions can be categorized. The previous picture refers to an emotional wheel for writers. Emotions intensify moving outwards, while in Plutchik’s scheme the intensity grows inwards. According to the previous model, the basic emotions are 6. Here’s a comparison between the two aforementioned models,
(Plutchik) 8 basic emotions: Joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, trust, anticipation.
(Wheel for writers) 6 basic emotions: Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise.
No matter what the number of fundamental emotions may be, it is interesting to note that Plutchik recognizes the universality of the basic emotions as patterns of behavior corresponding to our psychic state. Thus our emotions can be related to the archetypes, which Plutchik calls ‘hypothetical constructs.’ However Plutchik makes the same mistake with standard modern science, by assuming that the archetypal patterns are products of evolution. But in fact evolution is the product of archetypal patterns. For example the ‘polarity’ of emotions (that emotions may be categorized into opposite pairs) is also a fundamental pattern. The degrees of similarity which Plutchik recognizes between emotions can be identified with different levels of intensity. This may lead us to the following scheme:
Rage
…
Anger
…
Happiness
…
---------------Anticipation---------------
…
Sadness
…
Annoyance
…
Disgust
…
According to the previous scheme, each emotion stems from a fundamental ‘energy’ state, which we can identify with anticipation. Then emotions follow two directions, ‘upwards’ the ‘positive’ emotions, and ‘downwards’ the negative emotions. We may also imagine concentric circles centered on anticipation, and each one of them passing through an emotion upwards and downwards. Thus a concentric circle will join sadness and happiness, another one will pass through annoyance and anger, and so on. What is innovative in this scheme is that anger, for example, is considered a ‘positive’ emotion. Therefore anger is a form of overintense happiness or joy. At the other side, symmetrically, annoyance is an overstated variation of sadness. This way our emotions can be stripped of their ‘colors’ and analyzed as different ‘energy’ states of our ‘vibrating’ soul. In fact there is no reason to perceive anger or rage as ‘negative’ emotions. When a predator attacks its victim and catches it, the predator does not feel ‘sad,’ but an extreme kind of joy.
We may even assume that there are no ‘negative’ emotions, but that instead emotional states rise from the fundamental, the lowest, energy level towards the highest. At the lowest levels we will find emotions such as fear, distrust, and contempt, while at the highest levels we will find emotions like courageousness, trust, and admiration. Thus the kind of emotion is related to its intensity, while, in this case, the frequency will be related to how often an emotion occurs. Frequency is inverse period. Thus the more intense, or energetic (the bigger the ‘amplitude’) an emotion is, the more often it occurs, and the sorter the time (the period) it lasts. Therefore intense emotions, such as anger, last for a little while, whereas low energy emotions, such as melancholy, last longer.
The three states of human existence: The mental state, which corresponds to anticipation, the psychic or emotional state, which corresponds to fear, and the physical state, which corresponds to physical or mechanical pain.
Another thing we should mention is that not all the aforementioned notions are emotions. For example, while disgust is a feeling (thus presumably an emotion), distrust or contempt is a mental state or attitude. Although we say that we ‘feel’ contempt for somebody, this ‘feeling’ does not express an ‘emotion,’ such as joy or sadness, or disgust, but our mental disposition towards this person, even if our mental state may trigger a process of physical and emotional responses. We see here how poor or ambiguous our vocabulary is with respect to our own human condition. Thus we can make the following distinction: We may use the word ‘feeling’ referring to our body (the physical state), the word ‘emotion’ referring to our soul (the emotional state), and the word ‘notion’ (or perhaps ‘enotion’) for our mind (the mental state). But the problem is that we use the same verb (to feel) for all three states. Thus disgust is truly a physical state (it refers to a mechanical ‘feeling’ within our body or stomach), distrust may be related to a psychic state (thus an ‘emotion’) which could be equally mechanical (instinctual), while contempt may refer to a mental state (thus a ‘notion’). (Thus the three states could also be called ‘mechanical,’ ‘instinctual,’ and ‘virtual,’ corresponding to ‘physical,’ ‘emotional,’ and ‘mental.’ The first three terms will also illustrate the fact that all aspects of human experience are originally unconscious.)
In such a way we may define a ‘triptych’ according to which the notions can be arranged in three ‘directions;’ one ‘physical’ (referring to the processes of the body), another one ‘emotional,’ or ‘psychic’ (referring to the processes of the soul), and a third one ‘mental’ (referring to the processes of thought). But the point is that all three ‘directions’ represent three distinct levels of how we perceive the world. Thus such ‘directions’ may equivalently stand for three distinct categories of ‘energy levels,’ or ‘states of existence’ as we move from the lowest vibrations of the body to the highest vibrations of the spirit. To give an example, a common worm does not feel emotions, nor has any thoughts. However a worm mechanically feels pain, as it begins to convulse when it is squeezed. Similar ‘convulsions’ or oscillations are produced by the psyche when we feel ‘pressure’ upon our soul. Thus what is felt as pain of the body by a worm, is felt as ‘pain’ of the soul by a human being. Such a form of ‘psychic pain’ may be identified with fear. We may also try to find a similar expression corresponding to the ‘pain’ of the mind. The corresponding notion which comes to my mind is anticipation. In this case it will be the anticipation of some bad event, but anticipation can be as much instinctual as any other drive. (We generally have a predisposition that bad things are going to happen.)
The point here is that the three different categories of ‘feelings’ that can be perceived by a living creature cause ‘pain’ to the senses as they exert some ‘force’ or ‘pressure’ upon them. We use the word ‘senses’ here in the broader meaning, as ‘attachments’ to the corresponding level of perception. In other words while a worm can feel or sense physical pain, thus also ‘disgust,’ a living animal can also feel or sense emotional pain, thus also fear and distrust, emotions which a worm cannot feel. Furthermore a human being can also feel contempt and can also sense the contempt of others. Presumably while humans can feel disgust and distrust, animals cannot feel and sense contempt or admiration. Thus we may say that ‘feelings,’ as responses or ‘convulsions’ to some stimulus, correspond to the sum of all vibrations which ‘descend’ and permeate the whole of our existence, while the more advanced or evolved a species is, the more susceptible the species becomes to the higher vibrations or energy levels.
Such vibrations are perceived by the living entity as ‘feelings,’ or ‘emotions,’ or ‘notions.’ But while our different ‘bodies’ (the physical, the emotional, and the mental component of our existence) vibrate and tune in with the external or internal stimuli, the vibrations themselves are not produced by us. The vibrators are the archetypes, and those vibrators compose us. Their different energy levels produce our feelings, emotions, and notions, depending on how high or low the corresponding frequency (i.e. the energy level) is. Thus our own senses, the receptors of those vibrations, perceive not only colors, smells, sounds, tastes, how soft or how cold the things may be, but also how we feel or think.
The connection between our own existence and all other things and beings in the universe remains a mystery. How are our own feelings related to those of another human being for example? Still it is not so difficult to imagine that each and every one of us represents a different collection of physical, emotional, and mental aspects- thus mechanical feelings, instinctual drives or emotions, and virtual preoccupations, respectively. But in this case such collections of vibrations explain not only why we may feel ‘heavy’ or ‘cold’ (mechanical feelings) but also why we can feel ‘happy’ (an emotion) or ‘inspired’ (a mental aspect). I guess that we will never understand our true connection with the universe if we don’t learn how to relate, or better how to unify, the ‘object’ which is cold or hot, with the ‘object’ which is sad or happy. But ‘coldness’ or ‘hotness,’ and ‘sadness’ or ‘happiness,’ according to the findings of this analysis, are ‘frequencies’ vibrating at different levels, thus corresponding to different feelings or ‘senses,’ or levels of experience. But the sum of all such experiences refer to the same existence of ours. Furthermore we may share our own experience with that of all other living beings, since the composing elements of those experiences are common in the universe, and as long as those who share the experience with us have reached the same level of understanding.
[https://inspirehep.net/record/1308554/plots]
This is a final approach to the problem of perception. The previous image describes perturbations on a circle. In our case the circle would be the outline of the psyche, while the perturbations can be seen as fluctuations of the various archetypes. Whatever we perceive about the world is composed of these fluctuations upon the surface of the psyche. There tangible objects and feelings join, and can be equally described. Thus all the objects of the physical world become ‘psychic’ contents, with some shape which can be ‘touched,’ and some color which can be felt. Inside this ‘pulsating circle’ our own personality lies. Between the external perimeter and the singularity at the center of the circle lie all the actions which transport the stimuli from the environment to the ‘center’ of our consciousness. Reversely we can imagine that at the center lies the core of the Universal Consciousness, which Projects its contents, through the action of archetypes, outwards, towards the limits of everything which can be observable. Within this circle separate circles are formed, representing individual entities like you and me. Thus the greater Circle becomes a field which includes not only the physical properties (the things which can be touched) but also the psychic contents (the things which can be felt) and the mental aspects (the things which can be understood) of everything which can be experienced and of everything which may exist. In such a sense the ‘wheel of emotions’ expands its definition to become the ‘Wheel of the Form.’
7.2 The face of Medusa
Gorgon, carved marble mask of the early 6th century BCE; Acropolis Museum, Athens
[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gorgon]
Perhaps the face of Medusa summarizes all human emotions. Although the previous picture looks like a deterrent, at the same time it allures attention by its vivid expression. The hanging tongue together with the protruding teeth is apparently nothing more than an expression of lust, this very deep sentiment of greed mixed with joy. Fear, envy, disgust, together with the joy of satisfying our primordial instincts, are emotions present on this mask; everything except sadness and melancholy. It seems that there’s no sadness or melancholy if we are able to express our psychic drives, even if by doing so we may end up destroying ourselves. Thus the purpose of our lives may have always been the satisfaction and expression of the primordial instinct, no matter what the cost may be. This is similar to saying that the purpose of life is to satisfy and fulfill the purpose itself- the call of the archetypes.
According to Wikipedia, in Ancient Greece a Gorgoneion (a stone head, engraving, or drawing of a Gorgon face, often with snakes protruding wildly and the tongue sticking out between her fangs) frequently was used as an apotropaic symbol and placed on doors, walls, floors, coins, shields, breastplates, and tombstones in the hopes of warding off evil.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon]
This is an interesting article related to the story of Medusa:
Medusa’s head, an apparently simple motif linked to the myth of Perseus, was freed through being severed and cut loose from its ‘moorings’ by the hero in the remote depths of the world. There is something paradoxical about the story since the monster was all the more indestructible because it had been killed. Indeed, the figure of Medusa is characterized by paradox, both in terms of the actual mythical stare, which turned men to stone, and in the interpretations that have been given to it. The fascination that she exerts arises from a combination of beauty and horror. Her head was used, in Ancient times, as an apotropaic mask- a sort of talisman which both killed and redeemed.
For the Greeks, Medusa represented the face of the warrior possessed by battle frenzy. In ‘The Shield of Heracles,’ Hesiod describes the wide-open mouth, the fearsome hair and the Gorgons’ shrill cries which conjure up her terrifying aspect. Thus Medusa’s mask frequently appears within the context of battle.
Many elements of the myth suggest, through its basic ambiguity, the tragic nature of Medusa. One of the most revealing of these is the gift from Athena to Asclepius of two drops of the Gorgon’s blood, one of which has the power to cure and even resurrect, while the other is a deadly poison.
According to Ovid, the reason for the dispute lay in Poseidon’s rape of Medusa inside the temple of the virgin goddess. The goddess is supposed to have punished Medusa by transforming her face, which therefore made Medusa an innocent victim for the second time. However, another tradition stressed a more personal rivalry: Medusa had boasted that she was more beautiful than Athena. Everything points to the fact that the goddess found it necessary to set herself apart from her negative double in order to assert her ‘own’ identity. A similar claim could be made in respect of Perseus, who retains traces of his association with his monstrous double, Medusa. Using her decapitated head to turn his enemies to stone, he spreads death around him. In this interplay of doubles, the theme of reflection is fundamental. It explains the process of victimization to which Medusa was subjected, and which falls within the province of the superstition of the ‘evil eye.’
As well as being the very symbol of ambiguity, everything implies that Medusa’s head is a ‘representation’ of the most meaningful aspect of the sacred. If ambiguity is the hallmark of the sacred, the role of myths is to generate differences and contrasts, to distinguish between the two faces of the sacred. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the oldest texts which are true to the spirit of the myth, Medusa is a representation of the Other by virtue of her absolute and terrifying difference. At first sight, her monstrous ugliness and her petrifying stare certainly bear this out.
Although Nietzsche had embarked upon the destruction of all idols, he too recognized the desire for death inherent in the desire for truth at any cost. The philosopher who wants to examine all things ‘in depth,’ discovers the petrifying abyss. The destiny of the man will be paralyzed as if by Medusa, and will himself be ‘changed into a guest of stone.’ This is also the destiny of the ‘lover of truth’ who appears to be ‘changed into a statue/ into a sacred column.’ Nietzsche, who was aware of the necessity for the philosopher to live within the ‘closed circuit of representation,’ to seek the truth even if he no longer believes in it, without ever being able to attain it, devised his own version of the ‘truth,’ his Medusa’s head, the Eternal Return: ‘Great thought is like Medusa’s head: all the world’s features harden, a deadly, ice-cold battle.’
All thinkers who reflect upon the nature of representation, as well as on thought which pursues the ‘eidos,’ are in danger of confronting Medusa’s head. Thus, Aristotle refers to the myth of Athena. When she played the flute, her face became so distorted that she abandoned the instrument. It was in fact she who had invented the flute to imitate an unknown sound, virtually unrepresentable, i.e. the hissing of the snakes on Medusa’s head as she was decapitated. As she played, she noticed in a spring that her features were becoming distorted and assuming the appearance of the Gorgon’s mask. This once more introduces the Narcissistic theme and the blurring of the difference between Athena and her rival, which here arises from tragic art. Therefore, in terms of philosophy, art should remain in the service of the ‘eidos’ by continuing to represent the image that arouses desire for the Object.
But it is also condemned if it presents the object in such an obvious manner that the remoteness of desire degenerates into dangerous enjoyment. It would seem that the fear experienced at the sight of Medusa’s head is the terror of discovering the secret behind the representation of the image. However, when considered in terms of archetypal structures, Medusa’s mask still retains its secret.
[http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bogan/medusamyth.htm]
[http://www.internationalcrimeauthors.com/?p=6393]
It is possible that behind the myth of Medusa lies a true story of a war-like tribe of women in ancient times, like the Amazons. While there has been given a feministic context to the myth or to the historical aspect (the repression of the feminine sex in the face of Medusa by the masculine sex in the face of Perseus), I believe that behind the myth there is no hint about male superiority. In fact Perseus decapitated Medusa on equal terms, as he would have done with any of his enemies, either male or female. In such a sense the beheading of Medusa made her a female heroine ‘equal to man.’ Freud also related the myth of Medusa to the complex of castration. But this would be relevant if Medusa’s genitals had been removed by Perseus instead of her head. These are two examples of what we have called in this discussion ‘attachment to the object.’ Instead of concentrating our effort on understanding the object and its functions, we become so much attracted by the object that we finally become paralyzed or ‘petrified.’ In such a sense the meaning of petrification has to do with the excessive adherence to the object of interest.
On the other hand there is the danger the philosopher faces, as Nietzsche suggests, to be lost into the world of representation. The corresponding term which we have used in this discussion is ‘detachment from the object,’ but with a different meaning. The detachment of consciousness from the object refers to the process through which awareness comes about. It is the moment when we realize that the object we are looking at represents our own self. But the reference to the object cannot and, presumably, should not be lost. Such a departure from everything belonging to the physical environment and to the everyday world would be described in psychology as paranoia. But paranoia, perhaps, is not to ‘see’ or to believe in things that may correspond to everyday real objects, but to suggest the existence of such things without any reference point. Thus the meaning of the ‘representation of the object’ should refer both to the object and its image.
With respect to the face of Medusa as the object, an interesting question which arises is what would happen if we removed Medusa’s mask, if this Mask represented a collection of all human emotions? In the previous article it was mentioned that the Mask of Medusa acts like a Mirror. Although in the article it was given to the Mirror the meaning of the double (the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ sides of reality), the Mirror can also be seen, instead of the means of reflection, as the ‘Projector.’ Each time we look at Medusa’s face it is as if we see our own emotions projected on a Mask which previously was empty. Therefore by removing the Mask it is as if we stripped off our own Face, together with everything we feel or think about. This is why we have said in this conversation that mind and matter (the ‘eidos’ or image, and the manifested object respectively) must have appeared together in the universe. If the object is not represented then it cannot be perceived, whereas if the representation does not correspond to an object then perception cannot exist. As this may seem a fundamental expression of the ‘Double,’ at the same time, and most significantly, it is the manifestation of Unity. Correspondingly Medusa cannot be defined without her Mask, as we may not be able to define our emotions without their representation upon our own face. In such a sense we may also say that,
- The Face is looking at us.
Consequently Medusa is a primordial representation of the Psyche. When we look at the Face of Medusa, we look at our own self. We look at what is hidden behind our gentle looks. Sexual drives, unfulfilled desires, the fear of the unknown, the ambiguous aspect of love being always accompanied by hate, the pretentious nature of sadness in order to allure, the dual nature of joy which is always accompanied with destructive satisfaction. The Face of Medusa expresses the basic complex of our own soul, in a fundamental state where all emotions lay lurking, before they are untangled and expressed. Removing the Mask leaves us Faceless and Formless.
7.3 The meaning of anticipation
Anticipation is the process of imaginative speculation about the future.
The previous image is from Wikipedia’s article about anticipation, which is defined in the following way: Anticipation, or being enthusiastic, is an emotion involving pleasure, excitement, and sometimes anxiety in considering some expected or longed-for good event.
Robin Skynner considered anticipation as one of ‘the mature ways of dealing with real stress... You reduce the stress of some difficult challenge by anticipating what it will be like and preparing for how you are going to deal with it.’ There is evidence that ‘the use of mature defenses (sublimation, anticipation) tended to increase with age.’
Anticipation is also related to the sexual drive:
Anticipation is the central ingredient in sexual desire. As sex has a major cognitive component, the most important element for desire is positive anticipation.
More generally, anticipation is a central motivating force in everyday life- the normal process of imaginative anticipation of, or speculation about, the future. To enjoy one’s life, one needs a belief in Time as a promising medium to do things in; one needs to be able to suffer the pains and pleasures of anticipation and deferral.
According to the same article of Wikipedia, a more intriguing aspect of anticipation is related to music:
There are a number of theories explaining anticipation in music. Two prominent theories are the Neurological theories of Chase that attribute expectation building and anticipation both to inherent neurological pitch evolution.
A second well accepted theory is Huron’s module theory of expectation, where previous imaginative tension hits the event onset/horizon, with prediction and reaction oscillating (alternating) in the response system, and resulting in appraisal feedback.
From a global perspective, even given thousands of varying scale types worldwide, there is a universal human sense of satisfaction in the return to that scale’s tonic (for example, C, in the major scale, key, and tonic of C major).
According to the previous notations concerning anticipation in music, one may say that the human brain has learned to respond to certain musical scales. Anticipation is also used by humans to confront unpleasant situations or ominous events which are going to happen, or even to give us the satisfaction of a future, fantastic or real, sexual encounter. While such notations imply the aspect of expectation rather than of anticipation, anticipation in music may reveal the deeper symmetrical aspect of the phenomenon. Husserl came closer to that aspect:
For phenomenological philosopher Edmund Husserl, anticipation is an essential feature of human action. “In every action we know the goal in advance in the form of an anticipation that is ‘empty,’ in the sense of vague...and [we] seek by our action to bring it step by step to concrete realization.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticipation]
Before we can delve deeper into the problem of anticipation, it is relevant to make the distinction between anticipation and expectation. While expectation has more to do with personal wishes or claims, anticipation is related to something which is going to happen but which we have no knowledge about. We may expect for example that the weather will be fine tomorrow when we leave for a holiday trip, but we may anticipate, thus have a ‘strange’ feeling, that something bad is going to happen during that trip. This strange feeling is related to some sort of premonition, which is more or less unconscious, but of which we have some kind of foreknowledge. Thus while expectation builds on our own pre-established experience, anticipation grows on unknown conditions.
A question which we may pose is, how come we know that a thing is going to happen before this thing happens? But when it happens we say, “I knew this was going to happen.” This situation is similar to ‘déjà vu.’ We have encountered this sentiment before in the section about Jungian psychology. The example of déjà vu reveals the aspect of synchronicity, the coincidence between the event which takes place and some condition related to that event. One might say that causality is violated in such events if the action travels to the mind of the subject (so that foreknowledge is established) faster than what it takes the event to manifest itself in the physical world. However it is true that we always assume the aspect of foreknowledge (or the sentiment of déjà vu) retrospectively. In other words the perception of the event does not occur before the event takes place, but simultaneously with the event. Thus the action which links the event to perception is instantaneous, although it takes time afterwards to rationally interpret what took place.
In such a sense anticipation includes both the event which takes place and the condition from which the event originates. In Wikipedia’s example about anticipation it is the force of gravity what makes us anticipate that the object will fall at a certain place, or that the object is going to fall in the future. In physics such a form of anticipation is related to the notion of a potential. Such a potential, which in the particular case is the gravitational potential, expresses the condition that the object is going to fall at some time in the future, while the object may eventually fall or remain in a state of ‘anticipated free fall’ forever. More generally the potential expresses the possibility or aspect that all things will eventually move or do something. Thus the action which is going to take place and which will eventually change the object’s state stems from a condition which is not undetermined, or ‘vague’ in Husserl’s terms, but which can be traced if we follow ‘backwards’ the action to its origins. This form of ‘backward causation’ meets the trail of ‘forward inference’ somewhere ‘in the middle.’
This way it is perhaps more proper to say that the action does not link the condition to the expressed event, but instead that the condition includes actions which can be perceived as expressed events, linked one to another. If the ‘middle,’ where perception meets the event, is found somewhere between our own mind and the real world then what is anticipated and what is expressed are parts of the same set or entity. Thus the notion, and at the same time the existence, of the Form representing that entity is helpful and also significant in order to define and to determine such a set of actions between the archetypal conditions and the expressed events as they are manifested to perception. In such a sense anticipation becomes a central feeling or emotion, and at the same time the field or psychic content of all actions which are going to take place.
Therefore we may say that,
- The Form is Anticipated.
7.4 Psychic vectors
In physics a vector is a collection of properties by which a system can be defined. Four-vectors are common in modern physics, expressing the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time, but vectors can be generalized to be composed of any kind of properties or objects. Thus a vector may show us as a direction towards a point with properties such as space-time coordinates, as well as mass, charge, joy, pleasure, liberty, etc. Such properties are also related to quantities expressed by the measure of the vector. While a vector per se may not be regarded as a real object, it helps us quantify the properties which are related to all physical objects, and also offers a direction towards which the objects are found.
Vectors are perceived to live in a virtual vector space, which includes all vectors which may possibly exist. We have talked about archetypes, representing them as ‘strings’ which vibrate, and whose vibrations and intensities may give us both the physical and the psychic (emotional) properties of real things and living beings. An analogous approach could be with the help of vectors. Each archetype could be represented by a vector composed of a certain combination of properties. Then the direction of such a vector would give us the point at which the action of the archetype is manifested. For example, if all emotions can be represented in a virtual vector space, different vectors will point toward the direction of a certain emotion, and also give us a measure of its intensity. Thus, having in mind the emotional wheel for writers, the specific vector which is shown in red will give us an emotion of suspicion mixed with skepticism.
Another example concerning the quantification of emotions is multidimensional scaling. As Wikipedia explains, through it, psychologists can map out similar emotional experiences, which allows a visual depiction of the ‘emotional distance’ between experiences. A further step can be taken by looking at the map’s dimensions of the emotional experiences. The emotional experiences are divided into two dimensions known as valence (how negative or positive the experience feels) and arousal (how energized or enervated the experience feels). These two dimensions can be depicted on a 2D coordinate map.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion]
The previous map was theorized to capture one important component of emotion called core affect. According to Wikipedia, core affect is a neurophysiological state characterized along two dimensions:
- Pleasure vs. displeasure, measured along a continuous scale from positive to negative.
- High arousal vs. low arousal, measured along a continuous scale between these endpoints.
According to the conceptual act model, emotion is generated when a person categorizes his/her core affective state using knowledge about emotion.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_act_model_of_emotion#Core_affect]
Another way of categorization of emotion is Lövheim Cube. It is a model relating neurotransmitters to emotions. According to Wikipedia, it was proposed by Hugo Lövheim. The three basic neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline form the axes of a coordinate system, and eight basic emotions are placed in the eight corners. The origin of the coordinate system corresponds to a situation where all three signal substances are low. The eight corners of the cube correspond to the eight possible combinations of low or high level of the three neurotransmitters as shown in the table above. Anger is for example, according to the model, produced by the combination of low serotonin, high dopamine and high noradrenaline. The model hence proposes a direct relation between specific combinations of the levels of the signal substances and certain basic emotions, and merges a categorical and a dimensional view of emotions.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6vheim_cube_of_emotion]
In the RYB (or subtractive) color model, the primary colors are red, yellow and blue. The three secondary colors (green, orange and purple) are created by mixing two primary colors. Another six tertiary colors are created by mixing primary and secondary colors.
[http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm]
While the problem how experience is linked to emotion remains unsolved, to say that the brain is wired to emotions, so that knowledge about emotion occurs in a natural way, is not enough to explain why we understand what we feel, or simply why we feel. For example, is it that hormones which create our emotions, or is it that hormones are triggered in relation to how we feel? The set of the three basic neurotransmitters, according to Lövheim Cube, reminds me of the three basic colors. For this reason I found the previous picture. According to the RYB color model, the three basic colors (blue, red, and yellow) give a ‘color wheel’ of 12 color combinations. This is similar to the 12 semitones in music, or the 12 signs of the zodiac, or even the 12 months of the year, as we may always divide a circle into 12 parts of 30 degrees each. But the point is that if there are three basic colors which correspond to three basic emotions (for example blue/calmness, red/excitement, yellow/surprise), then there could also be three basic hormones corresponding to the three basic emotions. Thus both hormones and emotions may be expressions of the same underlying cause, the vibrating archetypes, which perhaps by three basic modes of vibration offer us the kaleidoscope of the senses we perceive around us. But it is neither the brain which perceives emotions (since the senses are purely psychic properties), nor emotions which build up experience (since the soul does not ‘understand’). Therefore the deepest explanation of how emotions are linked to knowledge, and more generally how experience is linked to existence, can be found in the meaningful coincidence between the underlying causes and the manifested effects. The reason why such a coincidence is meaningful is because the cause refers both to the mind and to matter. Thus the action of archetypes, through which the cause is expressed, intertwines all existence. Furthermore if we accept the tripartite division of the Form, which we have also mentioned earlier, then Structure may refer to the body, Cause to the psyche and Meaning to the mind. This is another way to perceive the three directions or dimensions in the virtual as well as the perceptible space of the Form.
7.5 The Vitruvian Man
Here we will raise a question of presumably fundamental importance: Is the human form preferred in the universe? This question is a bit tricky because it may sound self-evident: This will always be true with respect to us who make the observation about human proportions. However the question has its deeper roots in the anthropic principle, about which we will talk in the next section. For the moment we may say that the anthropic principle is something more than a self-referring argument, in the sense that it expresses not only the human point of view about the world but also proportions or ratios which are found not only in the human being but also all across the universe. Such proportions or analogies ‘fine-tune’ the human being with the universe, so that the universe (as well as ourselves) is not only existent but also perceivable. Such a correspondence between perception and the world, thus between experience and existence, is not self-evident at all. In fact if we assume such correspondence self-evident or ‘natural’ then we may as well ignore it, thus overlook the relationship between the observer and what is observed.
As has been pointed out in this discussion, the correspondence between what we perceive and our own perception is made possible with the intervention of the archetypes. We may say that the archetypes are objects which also include a function making them perceptible. Such a function or action is projected or vibrated outwards so that a connection or thread is created between the representation or image of the object or archetype and what is perceived by the senses as a real object. Fundamentally however it is the function which measures the significance of the object as well as its relationship with all other objects. Therefore we may say that the basic elements a living entity may have are the following:
- The physical representation for the functions of the senses (some kind of eyes, ears, nose, etc.), and for the functions of motion (some form of legs and arms). Thus a physical representation for the whole biological body.
- The archetypal correspondence between the shape of the body, the functions of the soul, and the expression of the mind. Thus there will be a uniform perception of physical appearance.
In such a sense any living entity will consist of elements universally recognizable, so that even if the entity is not a human being it should be ‘human-like,’ or ‘anthropomorphic.’
An example of this is the Vitruvian Man, shown in the previous picture. According to Wikipedia, it is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490, accompanied by notes based on the work of the architect Vitruvius. The drawing and text are sometimes called the ‘Canon of Proportions’ or ‘Proportions of Man.’ It is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. He described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the Classical orders of architecture. Vitruvius determined that the ideal body should be eight heads high. Leonardo’s drawing is traditionally named in honor of the architect.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man]
This is a description of da Vinci’s drawing given on the site of Stanford University:
Leonardo’s famous drawings of the Vitruvian proportions of a man’s body first standing inscribed in a square and then with feet and arms outspread inscribed in a circle provides an excellent early example of the way in which his studies of proportion fuse artistic and scientific objectives. It is Leonardo, not Vitruvius, who points out that ‘If you open the legs so as to reduce the stature by one-fourteenth and open and raise your arms so that your middle fingers touch the line through the top of the head, know that the center of the extremities of the outspread limbs will be the umbilicus, and the space between the legs will make and equilateral triangle.’ Here he provides one of his simplest illustrations of a shifting ‘center of magnitude’ without a corresponding change of ‘center of normal gravity’. This remains passing through the central line from the pit of the throat through the umbilicus and pubis between the legs. Leonardo repeatedly distinguishes these two different ‘centers’ of a body, i.e., the centers of ‘magnitude’ and ‘gravity’.
This image provides the perfect example of Leonardo’s keen interest in proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo’s attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopedia Britannica online states that Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a ‘cosmografia del minor mondo’ (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe.
[http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/clabaugh/history/leonardo.html]
Golden proportions in the human body found by Zeising.
The harmony of the human body has often been compared to the golden ratio φ. According to an interesting analysis I have found on the net, the psychologist Adolf Zeising studied proportions based on number φ, from plants and skeletons to chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals. He also compared human and artistic proportions. The title of his first publication in 1854 declares his program: ‘New theory of the proportions of the human body, developed from a basic morphological law which stayed hitherto unknown, and which permeates the whole nature and art, accompanied by a complete summary of the prevailing systems.’
Golden proportions in the human body proposed in Le Corbusier’s Modulor II.
Detail of the red and blue progressions (in mm) in Modulor II. The ones in italic slightly deviate (1mm) from an exact Fibonacci sequence.
In the twentieth century the architects Erns Neufert and Le Corbusier propagated the Golden Ratio as the architectural principle of proportion in the human body. Le Corbusier devised the system of body proportions known as the Modulor (previous picture). In his manifesto ‘Vers une architecture,’ he presents the Golden Ratio as a natural rhythm, inborn to every human organism. In his final version, the Modulor system proposes two Golden progressions of measures for the human body. Returning to the style of Zeising, these progressions are actually two Fibonacci sequences of measures. That is to say, each measure is obtained by the sum of the two preceding ones. Therefore, the ratio of any pair of consecutive values in these progressions closely approximates the Golden Ratio.
The article also mentions a field study, made by T. Antony Davis and Rudolf Altevogt, where they measured 207 German students and 252 young men from Calcutta. In their results (previous pictures), they were able to confirm that the total height of the body and the height from the toes to the navel are in Golden Ratio (ratios D/C and E/D). They obtained the almost perfect value of 1.618 in the German sample (this value held for both girls and boys of similar ages) and the slightly different average value 1.615 in the Indian sample.
[http://www.sacred-geometry.es/?q=en/content/phi-human-body]
It is interesting to note that all Fibonacci sequences converge to the golden ratio. We may then expect to find the golden ratio in all natural phenomena if they are based on Fibonacci sequences. We may also note some other things about number φ. Firstly, it is not found in the ‘middle,’ therefore it is not a ‘common’ average but instead it represents a ‘golden’ average. Secondly, the proportion involves not only the ratio but also the sum of the two quantities. For example if two quantities α and β are in the golden ratio then α/β= (α+β)/α= φ. Thirdly, number φ is an irrational number (φ= 1.618…), such as π for example. It can only be expressed as a ratio of two other quantities.
However we should also mention that φ is not the only possible measure of proportion. For example, according to Wikipedia, the ancient Greek sculptor Polycleitus, known for his ideally proportioned bronze Doryphorus, also wrote an influential Canon describing the proportions to be followed in sculpture. He uses the distal phalanx of the little finger as the basic module for determining the proportions of the human body, scaling this length up repeatedly by √2 to obtain the ideal size of the other phalanges, the hand, forearm, and upper arm in turn.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_proportions]
Therefore Polycleitus used the number √2 (=1.414…) instead of φ (=1.618…). But one way or another there has to be some proportionality and symmetry in the human body. If this weren’t the case then one arm or leg could be bigger than the other, or one eye could be placed higher than the other eye, and so on. On the other hand, there are examples of ‘symmetry breaking.’ For example our heart is not in the middle of the chest, nor is it is found in the ‘golden ratio’ with respect to any other part of the body. But is it the quantities which create the ratio, or is it the ratio which produces the quantities? If two quantities gathered up in random then the ratio expressed by these quantities would not be constant (the same number either rational or not). On the other hand, the ratio expresses a number but does not relate any quantities on its own. Thus the ratio or proportion can be seen as a function which relates the same things always in the same way. While the function is an archetypal procedure which repeats itself since the beginning of the universe, the quantities are arranged as a complete structure. Therefore although the shape which things finally take may vary, we may predict the shape if we know the procedure or function which is involved. But such a prediction cannot occur if we are not aware of the overall aspect of the processes and the quantities involved. Therefore while we may describe the whole as a collection of its parts, we cannot define the part without some notion about the whole. Equivalently we may say that,
- The Form is in Proportion.
Perhaps the best shape to describe the human form is an ellipse. We may imagine an ellipse encircling the human body, like that in the previous picture, with foci f1 and f2, and with the semi-major axis α running twice from the head to the feet. For an average person this height is about ΑΒ= 175cm. Half that length, at the center of the ellipse, at ΑΒ/2= α= 87.5cm, will be the pubis. It is interesting to note that the navel, at a height of BO΄≈ 108cm is in the golden ratio with the distance ΑO΄ from the navel to the head (I made these measurements on my own body), so that BO΄/AO΄= (BO΄+AO΄)/BO΄= φ → BO΄= (BO΄+AO΄)/φ= 175cm/1.614= 108.4cm. We may draw the arms stretching to the two edges of the semi-minor axis β. The length of each arm from the middle of the chest or the throat for a person of the previous height is about P1f1= α= 87.5. (For an ellipse, if P is an arbitrary point on the ellipse, then Pf1+Pf2= 2α. In our example Pf1+Pf2= 2P1f1= 2α→ P1f1= α). Thus the length of both arms (including the chest) is equal to the height of a person. Also the focus f1 of the ellipse is found at the basis of the throat. The length of the head (including the neck down to the throat) is about Af1=35cm (about 25cm is the length of the head without the neck). The distance from the center O of the ellipse to the focus f1 will be f= Of1= OA-Af1= α-Af1= 87.5cm-35cm= 52.5 cm. From the right triangle P1Of1 we have that the length of the semi-minor axis will be β=P1O= √(Pf1)^2-(Of1)^2= √α^2-f^2= √(87.5cm)^2-(52.5cm)^2= 70cm. The eccentricity of the ellipse by definition will be e= f/α= 52.5cm/87.5cm= 0.6. Perhaps this is a second case of the golden ratio if e= f/α= 1/φ= 0.62. If this is true then not only the navel but also the basis of the throat (somewhere at the thyroid or the jugular notch) will be in the golden ratio. Symmetrically to the throat are the ankles at the second focus f2.
Concluding the last analysis we may say that,
- The human form can be described by an ellipse whose eccentricity is equal to the (inverse) golden ratio (e= f/α≈ 1/φ= 0.62).
7.6 The anthropic principle
[http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2003.web.dir/Brian_Herold/golden.html]
If we say that the Form is ‘anthropomorphic’ this means that it includes some ‘human-like’ features which are universally recognizable. Even if some other beings on another planet will be different from us in appearance, they will presumably share common aspects with us, so that they will be treated as something more than wild animals. These aspects refer mostly to intelligent behavior but we may also say that intelligence is reflected on the proportions of the body. For example humans have proportionally long legs in contrast to chimpanzees and other quadrupedal animals, an aspect which also reflects the evolutionary advantage. Therefore we may say that the general human appearance and behavior is the result of the ‘correct combination’ of proportions.
While such combinations may vary, the proportions or ratios are constant. Such an axiom of ‘universality of proportion’ was taken into account in the Pioneer and Voyager missions into outer space and in the messages the probes were carrying. An example of such a message is shown in the previous picture (the Pioneer plaque). While the message can be understood after someone is informed about the details, the overall meaning may be obvious at first glance. Even if an extra-terrestrial civilization has developed a scientific theory very different from the atomic theory, so that for example the image of the hydrogen atom and its phase transition on the upper part of the previous picture may not be obvious, that civilization will have at least developed some analogous notions of ratios and symmetries, which presumably are the same all over the universe. Therefore the general context of the message will be understood even if that civilization perceives a ‘hydrogen atom’ differently.
A related term which applies to the universal character of symmetry is the anthropic principle. According to Wikipedia, it is the philosophical consideration that observations of the universe must be compatible with the conscious and sapient life that observes it. Some proponents of the anthropic principle reason that it explains why the universe has the age and the fundamental physical constants necessary to accommodate conscious life. As a result, they believe it is unremarkable that the universe’s fundamental constants happen to fall within the narrow range thought to be compatible with life.
The principle was formulated as a response to a series of observations that the laws of nature and parameters of the universe take on values that are consistent with conditions for life as we know it rather than a set of values that would not be consistent with life on Earth. The anthropic principle states that this is a necessity, because if life were impossible, no living entity would be there to observe it, and thus would not be known. That is, it must be possible to observe some universe, and hence, the laws and constants of any such universe must accommodate that possibility.
Roger Penrose explained the principle as follows:
The argument can be used to explain why the conditions happen to be just right for the existence of (intelligent) life on the Earth at the present time. For if they were not just right, then we should not have found ourselves to be here now, but somewhere else, at some other appropriate time. This principle was used very effectively by Brandon Carter and Robert Dicke to resolve an issue that had puzzled physicists for a good many years. The issue concerned various striking numerical relations that are observed to hold between the physical constants (the gravitational constant, the mass of the proton, the age of the universe, etc.). A puzzling aspect of this was that some of the relations hold only at the present epoch in the Earth’s history, so we appear, coincidentally, to be living at a very special time (give or take a few million years!). This was later explained, by Carter and Dicke, by the fact that this epoch coincided with the lifetime of what are called main-sequence stars, such as the Sun. At any other epoch, so the argument ran, there would be no intelligent life around in order to measure the physical constants in question- so the coincidence had to hold, simply because there would be intelligent life around only at the particular time that the coincidence did hold!
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle]
Such a coincidence between the values of certain physical constants and the appearance of galaxies, stars, and intelligent living beings is also called anthropic coincidence, and a related term is the ‘fine-tuned’ universe. Some scientists, like Dirac for example, have even imagined that the constants of nature may gradually change so that life may be possible at all times. Therefore the same constants may express ratios within ratios corresponding to more general constants of nature, and so on. But the point which can be made here is that if the universe had started at a single point in space and time, and had begun to expand ever since, it would be impossible for the universe to be fine-tuned as we know it right now. This is because the distant parts of the universe would not have the opportunity to communicate with each other, thus to be coordinated. Even if the initial conditions of the universe were the same in the beginning, right now the most distant parts will not be able to stay fine-tuned with each other. But the observations (such as the cosmic microwave background radiation) show that the universe has been in a homogenous state for a long time. Thus the universe seems to be simultaneously operating as a uniform entity rather than a collection of unrelated parts which interact ‘slowly.’
But the coincidence refers not just to the fine-tuning between the physical constants and the appearance or behavior of physical systems and biological beings, but mostly to the coordination between the physical constants and consciousness, thus between matter and mind. In other words, the strangest thing of all is not that intelligent life exists in the universe but that intelligent life knows it exists. This coincidence between existence and experience is perhaps the greatest mystery of all with respect to consciousness. This is why we have already said that the existence of the object cannot be separated from the intelligence which observes the object, thus from Consciousness. Therefore, finally, Consciousness becomes an object which includes the perception of its own existence. Certainly such a coincidence, or fine-tuning in the universe, is a meaningful coincidence, because it relates the phenomenon or the Object (the Universe) to Consciousness. If we bring together the Universe and Consciousness then we have the Form which realizes itself. This is a self-referential argument beyond mere tautology, as it connects not only the separate parts of a whole to each other, but also the whole to all its parts at the same time.
This is a diagram I have figured out based on ‘first principles.’ We may connect such lines in a unique way in order to depict the basic categories of different living creatures. Such fundamental shapes will presumably be recognizable everywhere in the universe. The configurations remind me of Feynman diagrams representing interactions of elementary particles. But perhaps what such diagrams may really illustrate is actions permeating the universe, generating ‘knot-like’ particles as they intersect, and various shapes as they move along.
There is a rule in physics, called the principle of least action. The least action also represents the most probable path, thus also the most likely shape which may come about by the combination of actions. This is another way to depict vector-like archetypes, if the actions have measure and direction, and if they are also related to some archetypal causes. Such causes may finally lead us to the appearance and formation of intelligent life. But fundamentally the difference between, let’s say, a human being and an animal, according to the previous picture, is just a different direction in space of the lines which describe the respective entity.
Thus, to return to the meaning of the anthropic principle, this principle may finally refer to any kind of entity composed of the same ratios and rules of proportion. In such a sense the principle is not only ‘anthropic’ but also ‘morphic-’ thus anthropomorphic, while the cause which lies behind the principle is not only ‘morphogenetic’ but also ‘anthropogenetic.’ But this cause, as it unfolds its actions in the universe, does not partially refer to human beings but to all creatures which may have some form. Therefore the anthropic principle can be expanded to be understood not as the privilege of human beings but as a frame of reference for all intelligent entities in the universe.
7.7 The aspect of time
Time Transfixed, Rene Magritte
-In the previous painting of Rene Magritte a locomotive appears out of a fire place. This is a surrealistic depiction of the possibility of suspending time. The clock in the painting has stopped. In fact all paintings are ‘still lifes,’ since objects in paintings don’t move. Instead we have to reconstruct the motion in our imagination. The same is true with respect to the ‘paintings’ in our mind, representing the images of the external world, purely psychic contents composing whatever we consider real.-
In physics and in relativity theory time may run differently in different frames of reference. This could be attributed to the finite, although constant, speed of light, so that two clocks separated by some distance would need time to synchronize. But finally the phenomenon of time dilation can be seen as a phenomenon or property of light itself. As the observer uses an electromagnetic signal, thus light, to communicate with another observer or to trace another object, somehow light bends so that the time or space difference between the observers or between the observer and the object will be found to be different if the observer is moving with respect to the other observer or to the object, or if the observer is standing still. In other words we may say that the means of communication is affected by the act of observation. Related terms are those of light aberration and of Doppler shift. In the latter cases the moving source affects the beam of light by changing either its direction or its frequency respectively. There is no way to escape this relativistic reality. We may also assume that the other observer we communicate with or the object which we observe are affected by our observation. In simple terms of action and reaction we may say that the object is displaced by our act of observation while at the same time we are also displaced by the object towards the ‘opposite’ direction. From the point of view of the means we use to establish communication or to make possible the observation, i.e. with respect to the reference frame of light, we may say that the wave of light is displaced both forward, towards the observed object, and backwards towards the observer.
While light is thought to be able to propagate without a medium, light can be seen as a medium itself. But light according to our discussion can be seen as a means referring to the whole sphere of perception, as the essence of a perceptual field pervading the universe, thus as the Light of Consciousness. In such a sense all human senses can be ‘dematerialized’ and perceived as the experience of the different vibrations of this ethereal field of Consciousness which propagates all across the universe. We may then attribute values to this field in its phase space. For each point in such a space there will be values related both to physical properties (mass, charge, temperature, etc.) and to the senses (color, odor, tone, etc.). Quantum mechanics has already made the first step towards such a direction by naming quarks (thus fundamental shapes or quantities) with names such as ‘strange’ and ‘charm.’ It would be intriguing then to suppose that those names are not mere analogies but straightforward identifications with the corresponding notions, which are psychic properties.
While the human brain is still far away from being able to perceive such a unified view of the universe, by bringing together all the properties of the perceptual field of Consciousness under a common description, both physical and psychic, another mystery yet to be solved is that of space-time itself. While space is commonly perceived as distance or even as a shape, time is usually understood as motion. Thus we may say that space-time is an object which moves. We may even give some basic definition of space and time if we relate these notions to the vibrations of the constituent parts of this unified field, which are the archetypes. Thus while we may relate time to some fundamental frequency of those archetypal vibrators, space (as distance) may be understood as the extent which the vibrations reach. Perhaps the whole world as we perceive it is nothing more than a collection of such fundamental ‘shapes in motion’ giving rise to all the properties we can be aware of, such as heaviness, thickness, warmth, colors, sounds, a sense of strangeness, a sense of charm, a notion of liberty, and so on.
As far as time is concerned it may be related not only to some fundamental frequency (for example vacuum energy is a relevant term although the term does not explain what it is that vibrates in the vacuum) but also to the actions of the archetypes which are transmitted all across the perceptual field of the universe. I would like to think of Consciousness like the needle of a record player, which sits here and there on this cosmic record of archetypes, listening to one or another song, absorbing thus all possible information which may be attached to the senses. Thus we may say that somehow all perceptual properties (both physical and psychic) are attributed by Consciousness. The exact way by which Consciousness attributes time to events is far beyond my power of understanding, but in some sense a coordination takes place between the action of the archetypes and the decision Consciousness makes.
For example as I type right now there is a coordination between the times at which I type a letter and the shape of the letter I will type. Thus this is a sort of space-time creation at the instant on the computer screen. But at the same time the meaning of the things I write about is not random but guided by my own needs and drives. Those needs or drives arise by the action of archetypes. If I suppose that the actions of archetypes are universal then I may also hope that those who will read this text will also be able to understand the meaning, as they will be compelled by the same needs. Such a form of coordination between our needs and our thoughts, and more generally between what is needed in the universe (thus the Cause) and what is expected or what is left behind in the cosmic memory (thus Consciousness), is a good indication of some fundamental relationship between space-time and the mind. The point is that space or time is not created by Consciousness but instead it is attributed by Consciousness. Thus in some way Consciousness is coordinated by the action of the archetypes so that it always appears in the ‘same’ place at the ‘same’ time. At that same moment we also acquire knowledge of the event.
According to the previous syllogisms another way to perceive motion is as an action which takes place not in physical space (as a real object which is moving out there) but in our own mind (as the image of the moving object). In that sense motion is impossible, or we had better say that motion is fundamentally virtual. It is also plausible to assume that the two times (the time it takes the object to move in real space, and the time it takes the object to move in our mind) are not necessarily the same. While physical time has been explored by modern physics to the degree that we may describe motion with the help of a coordinate system, to define velocity, and to predict the future path of the object, psychic time is poorly understood. In order to realize the significance of the problem we may stress the fact that physical time is a notion too. Thus although we are used to attributing physical time to external events, even physical time refers to a process which is found in the realm of perception. Therefore physical time and psychological time may not be so much different after all. But if I had to choose between those two, supposedly different, kinds of time, I would choose psychic time as the prevalent form of time. To bring the problem in the context of relativity, even if there is a formula which calculates the difference in time between a moving and a standing still observer, it is supposed that the moving observer treats himself/herself as being still. Thus the problem who observer moves and who is not is a matter of reference or preference. Consequently in order to grasp the complete aspect of motion and of time we have to understand the cause or action which results in motion both in physical space and in our mind. To give a hint, we may say that,
- Motion, thus time, is the physical result (what we perceive) of the action of archetypes.
More generally all physical properties as we perceive them may be treated as products of actions of archetypes. But as far as time is concerned we may feel the ‘passing of time’ as a motion which takes place within us, as if something were sliding inside us. Such an action takes place in the psyche and it can be perceived as psychological time. While someone might say that psychological time is subjective, while physical time is objective, the relativistic nature of physical time has shattered such an argument of ‘physical objectiveness.’ Without having any intention to dive deeper into the subject at the moment, we may recall Jung right now and the term he introduced, that of psychic relativity, as the context within which synchronistic phenomena take place. Perhaps the idea of synchronicity is a forerunner of quantum entanglement. While any connection between these two notions remains unknown, both phenomena are based on an instantaneous cancellation of space and time. But perhaps what is more proper to say is that the synchronistic phenomenon, or quantum entanglement, occurs together with space and time. This is why some physicists have argued that quantum entanglement, one way or another, is responsible for the creation of space and time as we know it. But even more interesting is how consciousness arises together with space and time, as part of the phenomenon.
Whatever the form or ‘fabric’ of time in our mind may be, perhaps it would be possible to trace a ‘physical’ counterpart of psychological time, a ‘quantity of time,’ within the material brain. For example physical time could be related to the rate at which some substance is released in neurons, or to frequencies and intensities of electrochemical potentials in neurons. This would be something like finding a real biological ‘particle of time.’ Then it would be interesting to compare the physical aspect of time (how long an object was moving in space) with how long the excitation of the brain lasted (while the subject was watching the moving object). To give a hint, if Δt was the time interval during which the object moved with some velocity v, and T was the time the excitation lasted in the brain (of the subject who was watching the moving object), then there may be some definite relationship between the intervals vΔt and cΔΤ, assuming that the excitations of the brain propagate with the speed of light. The problem becomes more coherent if we also assume an interval cΔt, referring to the time it would take a light signal to cover the distance from the moving object to the experimenter’s instrument. Thus we don’t really need both an experimenter and a subject (together with the moving object) but just ourselves while we are measuring the time it took a moving object to complete its trajectory, the time it took the light signal to cover the distance between the object and the instrument we used to measure its velocity, and the time registered on another instrument which measured our brain activity while we were watching the moving object.
Such a formula gives us the relativistic expression (cΔt)^2 = (vΔt)^2 + (cΔΤ)^2, which gives the relationship between the times of two different reference frames. However in the previous example one frame refers to the external world (the object moving in physical space), while the other frame refers to our own mind (the image of the object ‘propagating’ in our mind). Such a description is related to what has been called in this discussion displacement of consciousness, and we will have the opportunity to say more later on. Right now we may stress the importance of the simultaneity which binds the phenomenon together. Before the object moved the mind had not been excited, therefore neither ‘physical’ nor ‘psychic’ time could have been measured without both the ‘real’ and the ‘imaginary’ part of the projection. Thus it becomes quite apparent that time could not have existed before the sum of actions took place. Both physical time and psychic time (which incidentally can also be measured by real instruments) become definable at the exact moment of observation.
In another section of this essay we mentioned that Physis/Psyche = Pneuma. Comparing this to the formula above, we may relate space to the Physis and time to the Psyche, while the Pneuma will be identified with Consciousness. Thus time could be a purely psychic process, a property which is not found inside a moving object but inside the soul of the observer who watches the moving object. On the other hand the object gives the observer a shape by which motion can be defined, thus the ‘shape of time.’ The observer’s consciousness binds together the aspect of space-time, while simultaneously it defines the material which (consciousness) is composed of. Such a coordination ‘of shapes-in-motion’ expresses the archetypal world of synchronicity. Perhaps light is nothing else than the manifestation of Consciousness in the universe, while the passage from Darkness to Light is the passage form the Unconscious to the Conscious.
In the previous equation the initials S for Space and T for Time are the same as those used in physics. Is it a coincidence that the symbol of light (c) is the first letter of Consciousness? However,
“As for c, that is the speed of light in vacuum, and if you ask why c, the answer is that it is the initial letter of celeritas, the Latin word meaning speed.” Isaac Asimov in ‘C for Celeritas (1959)’
[http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/c.html0]
But ‘C for Celeritas’ may also be ‘C for Consciousness.’ In fact we never perceive light as travelling fast, but instead we perceive light as a medium standing still and which covers all space. But what is it that moves? Perhaps it is nothing more than a suggestion we make that something has to be moving. Furthermore we never perceive light as an object, but instead we imply its existence from the objects we see. Thus we imply that there must be a medium between us and the objects, which medium also makes the objects visible. Such a ‘definition by implication’ may have to do not only with light but also with the whole of existence. But it would be interesting to think that the reason why we never perceive light moving is because our own thoughts travel with the same speed. Another reason why light seems to be always standing still is because we always perceive its existence at the moment an object becomes visible and not before. This is the same as saying that we never perceive our thought running because we cannot see an object running before we perceive it with our own thought. Such simultaneity demands stillness, everything to take place ‘at the instant.’
Interestingly enough Eastern scripts refer to the notion of ‘circulation of light.’ This notion can be found in the Taoist text ‘The secret of the Golden Flower,’ which was translated into English both by Thomas Cleary and Richard Wilhelm, while the translation by the latter author also includes a commentary by Jung. The circulation of light is related to meditation and breathing exercises, which help the chi (breath energy) to be released:
“If, when there is quiet, the spirit has continuously and uninterruptedly a sense of great joy as if intoxicated or freshly bathed, it is a sign that the light-principle is harmonious in the whole body, then, the Golden Flower begins to bud. When, furthermore, all openings are quiet, and the silver moon stands in the middle of heaven, and one has the feeling that this great earth is a world of light and brightness, that is a sign that the body of the heart opens itself to clarity. It is a sign that the Golden Flower is opening.”
And again,
“The ancients said, when occupations come to us, we must accept them; when things come to us, we must understand them from the ground up. If the occupations are properly handled by correct thoughts, the light is not scattered by outside things, but circulates according to its own law. Even the still invisible circulation of the light gets started this way; how much more, then, is it the case with the true circulation of the light which has already manifested itself clearly.
When in ordinary life one has the ability always to react to things by reflexes only, without any admixture of a thought of others or of oneself, that is a circulation of the light arising out of circumstances. This is the first secret.”
[http://www.bahaistudies.net/asma/the_secret_of_the_golden_flower2.pdf]
I would humbly add that presumably the ‘circulation of light’ is the movement of Consciousness. By being aware of our own pre-occupations, or of the roots of the phenomena, we may interpret correctly the physical world. But the mistakes we tend to make during the circulation of light have probably to do with our clumsiness to synchronize our soul with the natural frequencies of the world. Apparently breathing techniques and meditation may help. Thus if through breathing techniques we may fine-tune the vibrations of our soul with the physical world, through meditation we may bring together the object we think about with the causes of our own thought. It would be interesting to imagine in this context that light is not a medium which brings together objects by reflection, but that light is a property of all things. Therefore we may perceive the world to be composed of ‘things by reflexes only,’ thus of things reflected on our own thoughts, in space, time, and color.
7.8 Synesthesia
If there really is a unified aspect of the senses, so that fundamentally the senses are nothing more than the way we perceive the different vibrating modes of our own psyche, one may expect that, under some circumstances, different senses can be ‘mixed up,’ in the same way the wave patterns of oscillations can be superposed, so that, for example, a smell may correspond to a certain color, a sound to a certain emotion, a color to a certain shape, a certain emotion to a certain notion, and so on.
In fact such phenomena have already been registered under the name synesthesia. According to Wikipedia, synesthesia is the phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. In one common form of synesthesia, known as color- graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored. In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be ‘farther away’ than 1990), or may appear as a three-dimensional map (clockwise or counterclockwise).
Although synesthesia was the topic of intensive scientific investigation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was largely abandoned by scientific research in the mid-20th century. Psychological research has demonstrated that synesthetic experiences can have measurable behavioral consequences, and functional neuroimaging studies have identified differences in patterns of brain activation. Many find that synesthesia aids the creative process.
Difficulties have been recognized in adequately defining synesthesia: Many different phenomena have been included in the term synesthesia (‘union of the senses’), and in many cases the terminology seems to be inaccurate. A more accurate term may be ideasthesia. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia]
Here’s another related picture:
According to this site, Sean Day did research on synesthetically colored letters, which he reported here. What he found was that although there were a few letters where there was a larger group favoring a particular color, this was the exception rather than the rule, and most letters had a fairly even distribution of colors.
Day’s results are a little hard to get a sense of from his description; here are the results of another, smaller test (25 subjects), with results that parallel Day’s, presented graphically (picture above). In this chart, the colors have been arranged by similarity so that it’s easier to see the patterns- or, perhaps more accurately, absence of patterns. For just about every letter, nearly the entire spectrum of colors is represented.
There are some exceptions, though. The letters I, O and X (and also the numerals 0 and 1) were categorized by a majority of synesthetes as uncolored (n/c), white, grey, or black- that is, as colorless. The only letter (or numeral) where there’s a striking agreement is the letter A, which (as in Day’s study), nearly half the subjects associated with red. Red is the first color that infants can perceive and A is often the first letter that children are taught, which suggests that this correspondence is learned rather than innate.
[http://www.musanim.com/synesthesia/]
This is another article referring to synesthesia:
With the help of sophisticated behavioral brain-imaging and molecular genetic methods, researchers are coming closer to understanding what drives the extraordinary sensory condition called synesthesia.
Guitar music doesn’t just tickle Carol Crane’s fancy- it also brushes softly against her ankles. When she hears violins, she also feels them on her face. Trumpets make themselves known on the back of her neck. In addition to feeling the sounds of musical instruments on her body, Crane sees letters and numbers in brilliant hues. And for her, units of time each have their own shape: She sees the months of the year as the cars on Ferris wheel, with July at the top, December at the bottom.
“The taste of beef, such as a steak, produces a rich blue,” says Day, a linguistics professor at National Central University in Taiwan. “Mango sherbet appears as a wall of lime green with thin wavy strips of cherry red. Steamed gingered squid produces a large glob of bright orange foam, about four feet away, directly in front of me.”
Crane and Day share an extraordinary sensory condition called synesthesia. The condition is not well known, in part because many synesthetes fear ridicule for their unusual ability. Often, people with synesthesia describe having been driven to silence after being derided in childhood for describing sensory connections that they had not realized were atypical. For scientists, synesthesia presents an intriguing problem. Studies have confirmed that the phenomenon is biological, automatic and apparently unlearned, distinct from both hallucination and metaphor. The condition runs in families and is more common among women than men, researchers now know. But until recently, researchers could only speculate about the causes of synesthesia.
Now, however, modern behavioral, brain-imaging and molecular genetic tools hold exciting promise for uncovering the mechanisms that drive synesthesia and, researchers hope, for better understanding how the brain normally organizes perception and cognition. Research suggests that about one in 2,000 people are synesthetes, and some experts suspect that as many as one in 300 people have some variation of the condition. The writer Vladimir Nabokov was reputedly a synesthete, as were the composer Olivier Messiaen and the physicist Richard Feynman.
The most common form of synesthesia, researchers believe, is colored hearing: sounds, music or voices seen as colors. Most synesthetes report that they see such sounds internally, in ‘the mind’s eye.’ Only a minority, like Day, see visions as if projected outside the body, usually within arm’s reach. Some synesthetes report experiencing sensory overload, becoming exhausted from so much stimulation. But usually the condition is not a problem- indeed, most synesthetes treasure what they consider a bonus sense.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, synesthesia enjoyed a flurry of scientific study, mostly descriptive. By the mid-20th century, however, synesthesia had fallen off scientists’ radar, a casualty of the behaviorism movement. The phenomenon began to resurface as a subject of psychological inquiry beginning in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, neurologist Richard E. Cytowic, published several case reports of synesthesia. He proposed, provocatively, that the condition’s cause rests in the limbic system, a more emotional and ‘primitive’ part of the brain than the neocortex, where higher order thinking occurs. Although that theory has not received widespread support, Cytowic’s case studies and his popular 1993 book, ‘The Man Who Tasted Shapes,’ heightened synesthesia’s prominence and prompted psychologists and neuroscientists to examine the condition experimentally.
In 1987, a team led by Baron-Cohen found the first hard evidence that synesthetes’ experiences are not only consistent across time but also concretely measurable in the brain. Using positron-emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers have found that for synesthetes who report colored hearing, visual areas of the brain show increased activation in response to sound.
Other studies have demonstrated that synesthetic perception occurs involuntarily and interferes with ordinary perception. In 2000 Mike Dixon and his team, showed that, for one synesthete, the color experiences associated with digits could be induced even if the digits themselves were never presented. These researchers presented a synesthete with simple arithmetic problems such as ‘5 + 2.’ Their experiment showed that solving this arithmetic problem activated the concept of 7, leading their synesthete to perceive the color associated with 7. This finding was, according to Dixon, the first objective evidence that synesthetic experiences could be elicited by activating only the concepts of digits. As such, these results suggest that, at least for this synesthete, the color experiences were associated with the digit’s meaning, not just its form.
Together, the evidence shows that ‘something is going on in the sensory areas of the brain.’ A century ago, researchers ascribed synesthesia, somewhat vaguely, to ‘crossed wires’ in the brain. Today, despite neuroscientists’ more complex understanding of brain anatomy and their sophisticated tools for tracking brain function, synesthesia’s roots continue to elude understanding.
Baron-Cohen and his colleagues propose that synesthesia results from a genetically driven overabundance of neural connections in the brain. Ordinarily, Baron-Cohen explains, different sensory functions are assigned to separate modules in the brain, with limited communication between them. In synesthesia, Baron-Cohen and his colleagues posit, the brain’s architecture is different. Synesthetes’ brains, they believe, are equipped with more connections between neurons, causing the usual modularity to break down and giving rise to synesthesia. Daphne Maurer has further speculated that all humans may be born with the neural connections that allow synesthesia, but that most of us lose those connections as we grow.
Peter Grossenbacher agrees that there’s likely a genetic root to synesthesia but suspects a different brain mechanism. “We don’t need to posit some abnormal architecture of connections in order to account for synesthesia,” Grossenbacher argues. Instead, he proposes that in the brains of synesthetes, ‘feed-backward’ connections that carry information from high-level multisensory areas of the brain back to single-sense areas are not properly inhibited. Ordinarily, information processed in such multisensory areas is allowed to return only to its appropriate single-sense area. But in synesthetes’ brains, Grossenbacher argues, that inhibition is disrupted somehow, allowing the different senses to become jumbled.
For psychologists, interest in synesthesia extends far beyond just the study of the few individuals who experience the phenomenon. “Synesthesia taps into a lot of other domains that are more familiar to many psychologists,” says Larry Marks. “It tells us something about the nature of perception and what makes things perceptually similar to one another. Synesthesia may help us to understand how the concept of similarity is embedded within the nervous system.”
In addition, Dixon suggests, the fact that synesthetic perception interferes with the perception of physical stimuli highlights an important aspect of cognition.
“We tend to think of our experiences, and especially the visual system, as being bottom-up,” he remarks. “But there are many instances where meaning goes back down and influences our lower-order perception of the world. Synesthesia is just one very rare and exceptional example of that.”
[http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar01/synesthesia.aspx]
The holonomic brain theory we have encountered earlier is perhaps the best candidate in order to explain synesthesia, as well as many other things about how the brain works. What is important about the previous article is in summary that synesthesia is concept-related and not form-related. In the example of adding the numbers 5+2 the subject brought in mind the color of 7. I am not aware if the ‘color’ of 7 was a combination of the ‘colors’ of 5 and 2. However this example shows that synesthesia is part of a broader notion, that of ideasthesia. In the article about synesthesia, Wikipedia mentions that,
A very different theoretical approach to synesthesia is that based on ideasthesia. According to this account, synesthesia is a phenomenon mediated by the extraction of the meaning of the inducing stimulus. Thus, synesthesia may be fundamentally a semantic phenomenon. Therefore, to understand neural mechanisms of synesthesia the mechanisms of semantics and the extraction of meaning need to be understood better. This is a non-trivial issue because it is not only a question of a location in the brain at which meaning is ‘processed’ but pertains also to the question of understanding.
In the article about ideasthesia, Wikipedia explains the notion as follows: Ideasthesia is defined as a phenomenon in which activations of concepts (inducers) evoke perception-like experiences (concurrents). The main reason for introducing the notion of ideasthesia was the empirical evidence indicating that the related term synesthesia (i.e. union of senses) suggests incorrect explanation of a set of phenomena traditionally covered by this heading. Syn-aesthesis denoting ‘co-perceiving,’ implies the association of two sensory elements with little connection to the cognitive level. However, according to others, most phenomena that have inadvertently been linked to synesthesia in fact are induced by the semantic representations i.e., the meaning of the stimulus rather than by its sensory properties, as would be implied by the term synesthesia. In other words, while synesthesia presumes that both inducer and concurrent are of sensory nature, ideasthesia presumes that only the concurrent is of sensory nature while inducer is semantic. Research on ideasthesia bears important implications for solving the mystery of human conscious experience, which according to ideasthesia, is grounded in how we activate concepts.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideasthesia]
Perhaps what is even more interesting is not how we activate concepts but how the brain is linked to the activation of concepts. This is to say that the brain is not the ‘inducer’ but the ‘receiver’ of information which is mostly extra-sensory. By the term ‘extra-sensory’ it is implied that experience is not evoked by the senses although the senses mediate so that experience can be established. The ‘concepts’ in this context are nothing else than the archetypes, the primordial and eternal inducers of human experience. Thus the basic problem is not why synesthetes (or synesthetics) perceive the world ‘in the unison of the senses’ but why the rest of us perceive the world in ‘black and white.’ I would suggest therefore that this is a matter of training. We have learned to think in ‘black and white’ and to describe the world with the use of colorless equations. However ideasthesia does not exclude a truly colorless world, in which all perceptions have just to do with shapes, changing their form, but having no distinctive color, sound, smell, taste, or concreteness.
The El Castillo Cave has numerous red discs on its walls. One was dated to 40,800 years ago.
[http://www.newrafael.com/abstract-cave-art/]
It has been suggested that many Paleolithic cave- paintings do not depict scenes of the everyday world but scenes of the supernatural. Thus the previous picture may not be a description of a real wild animal but an image of the animal as conceived by the artist who tried to give a certain meaning and purpose to the painting. The red dots on the body of the animal reinforce such a view.
Max Knoll’s 15 basic ‘phosphenes’
With respect to such abstract representations, according to the following article, J. D. Lewis-Williams and T. A. Dowson introduced a theory which they used to explain the non-figurative images of Upper Palaeolithic parietal and mobile art. The symbols found in Upper Palaeolithic art forms, among others, are in fact entoptics (or phosphenes). These are shapes that are believed to be brought to mind while under a trance or after ingesting a hallucinogen. (These types of shapes are the kind that sometimes are ‘seen’ when a person presses on their own eyelids with eyes closed.)
Max Knoll used electrical nodes to stimulate the vision of phosphenes, and by varying the frequency of the pulses, the patterns changed, resulting in the identification of 15 classes of figures and a number of variations within each class. For each person tested the kind of pattern at each frequency was repeatable, even after six months.
[http://myweb.usf.edu/~dlroger4/Cosquerweb/art.htm]
The following article explains in depth the aspect of entoptics, or phosphenes:
The earliest account of phosphenes is that of psychologist Johannes Purkinje in 1819. He was the first to publish a detailed account of phosphenes. In 1845, Jacques Moreau used hashish to induce a hallucinatory condition, but was still able to report his experiences. Eight years later, in 1853, Brierre de Boismont stated that hallucinations were all characterized by excitation and the production of images from memory and their imagination whilst in states of insanity, delirium tremens, drug intoxication, nervous disorders, nightmares, dreams, ecstasies and fevers. In 1926, Heinrich Klüver began a series of investigations. These were not dissimilar to those methods employed by Moreau eighty years earlier. Hashish had been replaced by mescaline, and remarkable for the visual hallucinations it produced. In 1928, the neurosurgeon Otfrid Foerster noticed that when he electrically stimulated the surface of the occipital lobe at the back of the brain, the patient experienced the sensation of light. However, it was Max Knoll and his colleagues who carried out the most extensive investigation of electrically induced phosphenes.
The occurrence of phosphenes can be spontaneous, and they can be provoked in a number of ways. They appear spontaneously only when visual stimuli are lacking and especially when the viewer is subjected to prolonged visual deprivation. According to Oster, phosphenes may account for the ‘illuminations,’ the visions or the experience of ‘seeing the light’ reported by religious mystics meditating in the dark; they are the ‘prisoner’s cinema’ experienced by people in dark dungeons; they may well occasion reports of phantoms and ghosts. Darkness is not a requirement; only the absence of external visual stimuli is needed.
Children have an ability, which diminishes with adolescence, to evoke phosphenes quite easily. Phosphenes may indeed be an important part of the child’s real environment, since he/she may not readily distinguish this internal phenomenon from those of the external world. The developmental significance of phosphenes is suggested by a study, conducted by Rhoda Kellogg, of some 300,000 scribblings made by young children of different ethnic origins. Children between the ages of two and four, capable of manipulating a pencil but not of making naturalistic pictures, draw figures that have a distinct phosphene character.
According to Oster ‘Seeing Stars’ is seeing phosphenes, an experience that can be induced by a blow on the head or by other mechanical means. A less violent procedure is to apply pressure to the eyeballs with the fingers. If, with the eyes closed, one gently touches the lid with the tip of a finger, a phosphene appears: a glowing circle or part of a circle, apparently about a quarter of an inch in diameter. The phosphene’s location in the visual field is opposite the point the finger touches: at the outer edge of the field when the eyelid is touched near the nose, low in the field when the center of the upper lid is touched.
One way of producing phosphenes for experimental purposes is to induce them electrically. In an early account, Johannes Purkinje applied one electrode to his forehead and the other to his mouth, and by rapidly making and breaking the current with a string of metal beads he was able to induce stabilized phosphene images. However, it was Max Knoll and his colleagues who carried out the most extensive investigation of electrically induced phosphenes. He found that pulses in the same frequency range as brain waves (from 5 cycles per second to about 40) were most effective in producing phosphenes. He tested more than 1000 people and found that all of them, after becoming dark-adapted, saw at least a flickering light; by concentrating carefully about half of the subjects also a saw geometric figures.
The technique of electrical stimulation of the surface of the brain (the cerebral cortex) has been highly developed in recent years by Wilder Penfield and his. They apply an alternating current to two closely spaced electrodes in contact with various areas on the surface of the brain. Stimulating the visual cortex at the extreme rear of the brain interrupts the patient’s normal vision and causes him to see specks of light. When electrodes are moved to the adjacent region, the visual associative area, the patient reports seeing phosphenes of geometric design. When the electrodes are moved father forward, the patient frequently reports a visual scene of some past experience that is so vivid as to be current.
Because these form constants and phosphenes are derived from the human nervous system, all people who entertain altered states of consciousness, no matter what their cultural background, are liable to perceive them. As Siegal states, to perceive things which are not actually there is termed a hallucination: ‘A false sensory perception in the absence of an actual external stimulus. May be induced by emotional and other factors such as drugs, alcohol and stress. May occur in any of the senses.’ Siegal set out to answer the question, ‘Do the hallucinations of one person have anything in common with those of another?’ On the whole, Siegal and his colleagues found that hallucinations did have a great deal in common, and that the experiments point to underlying mechanisms in the central nervous system as the source of a universal phenomenology of hallucinations. The remarkable consistencies between the images reported by the subjects led Siegal to wonder how universal these effects were. He notes that some of them are strikingly similar to the primordial or archetypal forms (such as the mandala, the mystic symbol of the universe employed in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation) that the psychoanalyst C.G. Jung described as part of man’s collective unconscious. He also notes that anthropologists have stated that the hallucinogen-inspired art of many primitive peoples often contains constants in form, color and movement.
It is not only the human element which is susceptible to hallucinations, but the whole mammalian population. ‘Non real’ visual percepts would have been experienced long before the Upper Palaeolithic. It has been widely accepted that the human nervous system is universal and that it is much the same now as it was in the Upper Palaeolithic.
[http://www.oubliette.org.uk/Three.html]
Here are in summary the results of Heinrich Klüver according to the previous article:
(1) Adequate descriptive terms are hard to find. Most investigators emphasize the point that the phenomena defy all description. This is due partly to the fact that forms and colors show certain characteristics not experienced previously in such a way, and partly to the transitoriness of the phenomena.
(2) The phenomena are frequently but not always localized at reading distance. Sometimes they are nearer or father away. Movements may occur in all directions, but movements of approach and recession do not occur so often.
(3) The center of the visual field if often distinguished from the remainder of the field; there may be greater brightness, a different color or rotation while the remainder of the field is motionless (or vice versa). In the case of designs the center is often aesthetically the dominating part. Frequently, the field of vision is similar to the interior of a cone the vertex of which is lying in the center of the field directly before the eyes (or vice versa). (4) The visions cannot be influenced by ‘thinking’ and ‘will.’
(5) Visual memory-images and visionary phenomena exist independently.
(6) All spectral colors can be observed. There is no indication that certain colors occur more frequently than others. Sometimes approximately complementary colors appear simultaneously or successively.
(7) In the majority of cases the arrangement of objects in the optical field is symmetrical.
(8) The observation of the phenomena is accompanied by pleasant feeling tones.
In the previous article it has been mentioned that phosphenes are not seen by people born blind. This is true if the optical nerve is destroyed, so that applying mechanical pressure to induce phosphenes is useless. But presumably electrical stimulation applied directly to the nervous system will induce phosphenes. But what is the relationship between phosphenes and archetypes? According to the previous summary of Klüver phosphenes exist independently of visual experience. Furthermore the entoptics are difficult to be described by common language. But this is no reason to deny their existence. Still phosphenes, or entoptics, can be seen as a special case of ‘form constants,’ or archetypes. While phosphenes are mechanically induced either by external pressure on the eyeball or by electrical currents applied to the nervous system, ‘form constants’ may refer to all sorts of shapes which can be implied by human imagination. In fact such ‘shapes’ may refer to all the senses, and, as Kruger mentions, can be accompanied by pleasant feeling tones. Thus those entoptics, or ‘internal shapes,’ are simultaneously found inside the brain and inside the psyche.
A relevant term which we have used earlier is that of qualia or quales. They have been defined as independent units of subjective experience, and they have also been compared to quanta. However, as we have already said, the distinction between these two notions may be redundant. On the one hand, quanta are material quantities deprived of any content other than some mechanical properties (e.g. mass, energy, temperature, etc.) On the other hand, qualia have been treated as shapes (thus material entities) with content both mechanical and emotional. If the ultimate reality of the Universe is that of Consciousness, then there cannot be anything in the universe without a soul. Most people may think that this is another statement of animism. But if we recall that there isn’t any object which can exist without, simultaneously, being experienced (perceived) then the statement does not refer to animism but to the whole sphere of existence. Such a sphere is a spectrum or kaleidoscope of the senses, and if we include to the meaning of the senses also the mechanical properties as well as the mental notions (and the psychic emotions) then we realize there is nothing else left but the qualia, the discrete units of consciousness, which we perceive around us as real material objects, in shape and color, in motion and emotion, in touch and in thought. In fact the process of such a coordination or coincidence between the material and the mental aspects of reality is so much automated that we can’t even make the difference.
Picture: The semi-circles on the left represent the fragmented view of reality. The ‘Object’ is perceived to be found in the ‘external world,’ separated by its ‘Image,’ which is considered to be found ‘inside the head.’ In synesthesia instead of perceiving the ‘Object’ and the ‘Image’ as separate parts of reality, they become parts of the same reality. Thus experience is unified, as all things and their representations are perceived as parts of the same mind.
This is a picture I have figured out in order to bridge the gap between what is perceived and what is understood to be perceived. It is believed that most of our experience is unconscious. But to be truly conscious is not just to perceive the images that enter our mind, but also to understand their meaning. As I type these words, for example, I may find it very hard to perceive the meaning of what I am writing about. But there has to be a correspondence between the form of the words or letters and the meaning which is implied by my mind and evoked by my emotions. While it is not certain how conscious I am of the whole process, what may become clear is the fact that nothing concerning this discussion would have come about without the coexistence of words, notions, and emotions. If we identify the words with some fundamental structures, the emotions with some causes or actions produced by the structures, and the notions with some meaning evoked by the purpose of the actions, then we will have come closer to a better understanding of the whole discussion. Thus in some sense the words are qualia, or ‘morphemes,’ thus archetypes, which express the whole meaning of the object they identify. If we include Consciousness into the meaning then the word and the object become one and the same. Therefore instead of talking about a multitude of ‘form constants,’ we may equivalently say that,
- The Form is constant.
We may now summarize this section as follows:
- We may perceive the psyche as an ethereal shield or field which surrounds our physical body, and which is composed of archetypes.
- The vibrations of such a field produce our emotions.
- At the limits of that field, which is also called aura, the internal and external aspects of the world meet.
- Thus the aura reflects the information about both the neighboring environment and our esoteric condition.
- Our emotions can be seen as variations of different frequencies and intensities of our vibrating psyche.
- Anticipation can be regarded as the fundamental ‘emotional potential’ from which all other emotions stem.
- No matter how many emotions we may count, or how many the basic emotions are, their nature is no different than the experience of sensory perception, concerning space, time, color, sound or shape.
- The perception of shape and of changing shape corresponds to the experience of space and time, in the same sense that light or sound frequencies are experienced as color and music tones respectively.
- Such a correspondence or coincidence is possible because both the objects we perceive as real and the images of the objects inside our mind are symmetrical parts of the same projecting archetypes.
- The rhythms, ratios, or proportions which express such a symmetry presuppose the appearance of intelligent forms with certain shapes, preferred over other shapes.
- Thus the anthropic principle can also be called ‘anthropomorphic principle.’
- In the same sense that time is what we feel of the flowing action of archetypes, light is what we perceive of the motion of Consciousness.
- Although we perceive the physical world as separated from us, all objects are indivisibly saturated by the senses.
- Thus the physical world is in reality composed of qualia, ‘units of consciousness,’ constituting the experience of existence.
8. Aspects of a unified theory
The aspect of a unified theory in physics is explained by Wikipedia as follows:
A theory of everything (ToE), final theory, ultimate theory, or master theory is a hypothetical single, all-encompassing, coherent theoretical framework of physics that fully explains and links together all physical aspects of the universe. Finding a ToE is one of the major unsolved problems in physics. Over the past few centuries, two theoretical frameworks have been developed that, as a whole, most closely resemble a ToE. These two theories upon which all modern physics rests are general relativity (GR) and quantum field theory (QFT). GR is a theoretical framework that only focuses on gravity for understanding the universe in regions of both large-scale and high-mass: stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, etc. On the other hand, QFT is a theoretical framework that only focuses on three non-gravitational forces for understanding the universe in regions of both small scale and low mass: sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, etc. QFT successfully implemented the Standard Model and unified the interactions (so-called Grand Unified Theory) between the three non-gravitational forces: weak, strong, and electromagnetic force.
Through years of research, physicists have experimentally confirmed with tremendous accuracy virtually every prediction made by these two theories when in their appropriate domains of applicability. In accordance with their findings, scientists also learned that GR and QFT, as they are currently formulated, are mutually incompatible- they cannot both be right. Since the usual domains of applicability of GR and QFT are so different, most situations require that only one of the two theories be used. As it turns out, this incompatibility between GR and QFT is apparently only an issue in regions of extremely small-scale and high-mass, such as those that exist within a black hole or during the beginning stages of the universe (i.e., the moment immediately following the Big Bang). To resolve this conflict, a theoretical framework revealing a deeper underlying reality, unifying gravity with the other three interactions, must be discovered to harmoniously integrate the realms of GR and QFT into a seamless whole: a single theory that, in principle, is capable of describing all phenomena. In pursuit of this goal, quantum gravity has become an area of active research.
Eventually a single explanatory framework, called ‘string theory,’ has emerged that intends to be the ultimate theory of the universe. String theory posits that at the beginning of the universe (up to 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang), the four fundamental forces were once a single fundamental force. According to string theory, every particle in the universe, at its most microscopic level (Planck length), consists of varying combinations of vibrating strings (or strands) with preferred patterns of vibration. String theory further claims that it is through these specific oscillatory patterns of strings that a particle of unique mass and force charge is created (that is to say, the electron is a type of string that vibrates one way, while the up-quark is a type of string vibrating another way, and so forth).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_everything]
Firstly, it is straightforward to note that,
- No theory in physics is able to explain human experience (why humans are able to perceive the physics of the world).
By being able to perceive the physical world, two things are implied. Firstly, a description which can lead from elementary material particles and physical forces to biological intelligent beings. Secondly, the meaning of why knowledge is part of the physical world. Thus a theory of everything has to explain in a common framework not only the interactions of physical forces but also the relationship between those forces or actions and the rise of Consciousness in the universe.
Quantum gravity may bring together quantum mechanics and general relativity in the future. On the other hand string theory seems to be more compatible with what has been suggested in this discussion. But while in string theory the different modes of vibrating strings give us different elementary particles, according to our discussion, if the vibrators are archetypes then the archetypes may give rise both to physical and to psychic properties. The exact way by which this could be done is elusive for the moment. But if we grasp the basic notions then it is not so hard to find analogies between the physical properties and the psychological or mental aspects after all. For example a certain mode of vibration could give at the same time a physical property related to the mechanical attraction of things (i.e. mass) and a psychic property related to attraction on an emotional level (i.e. love). Such a unified property could be called for example ‘sympathy.’
Another problem related to finding of unified theory is the, apparently wrong, assumption that the universe began from a point of infinite density and expanded rapidly during the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang.
More precisely, according to Wikipedia, it is supposed that the inflationary epoch lasted from 10^−36 seconds after the conjectured Big Bang singularity to sometime between 10^−33 and 10^−32 seconds after the singularity. Following the inflationary period, the Universe continues to expand, but at a less rapid rate.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_(cosmology)]
The time span between 10^−36 and 10^−32 seconds, is about 10^−32 seconds, thus a fraction of a second during which the universe is supposed to have expanded into tremendous size. While inflation theory seems to explain the observed aspect of homogeneity on the large scale, it assumes that the universe during a fraction of a second expanded with a speed much faster than light, almost infinite. The problem with this theory is that it tries to explain why the universe is uniform on the large scale in a wrong way. It is much simpler to assume that the universe did not begin from a ‘point’ in space of infinite density, but that it accreted by interstellar clouds of dust on a large scale, just as galaxies form. Dark matter can explain the presence of such primordial dust clouds. Dark energy can also explain the origin of dark matter from the energy of the vacuum. Thus the universe may have appeared simultaneously on the large scale as a whole entity. This can also explain homogeneity in a much more plausible way.
But what truly matters is not the expansion of the universe in space and time, before space and time had even existed. The true problem is how space and time came about in the first place, and in relation to our own perception of these notions on a physical level. In fact the universe could have the size of a microchip implanted in our brains, and we could live in that virtual reality without ever knowing the difference. Furthermore that microchip could be of a very advanced origin, not even material, but of a purely energetic nature, ‘implanted’ inside our own soul. Such a virtual reality could genuinely be the true state of existence of the universe and of our own selves. Why instead of thinking in such a ‘spiritual’ way, compatible with our own beliefs about God as a supreme immaterial entity, we would rather suppose a universe composed of ‘hard matter’ existing separately from our own senses? The true reason can only be that the way we perceive the universe is analogous to our own level of advancement.
Thus the universe could really be not just an image projected from a microchip within our mind, but an image projected within the Mind of the growing universal Consciousness. Incidentally the expanding element in this case would not be space and time but knowledge. Is this possible? Well if we really think about it then we will realize that perhaps there is no other way. It may be that knowledge advances so that the world originated from a state of apparently complete unconsciousness. But the presence of knowledge and intelligence in the universe show that its origin cannot be material- otherwise not even unconsciousness could exist. More precisely, spontaneity presupposes an element of ingenuity and creativity, while those latter are aspects of consciousness, and cannot be found in masses or charges.
Any kind of unified theory, if it will also be a theory of everything, will be based on a conceptual context of first principles (=archetypes) according to which the descriptive model may be coherent and will begin to unfold. In the turn of the previous century, before quantum physics appeared, many physicists believed that their theories had already explained everything which might have existed in the physical world. Accordingly it is possible that many or most of contemporary scientists believe that a materialist theory will ultimately explain all physical phenomena including the psyche and the mind. But this is far from true. No physical model (belonging either to physics or to psychology) has yet explained behavior or intelligence in the form of prediction and creativity.
This is not to say that we should turn to religion and ‘blind faith’ in order to explain the manifestation of consciousness in the universe. In fact it was the same blindness or single-minded attitude which led scientists to believe that they had explained everything. But the point is that the contemporary model of physical reality has to be expanded in order to include all possible aspects of both nature and the psyche. Therefore the main problem is not if the ‘physis’ generates the ‘psyche’ or the opposite, but how we can formulate a theory which will include both the ‘physis’ and the ‘psyche’ within the same context.
To return to the previous picture, the first model (cosmic inflation) is based on strong causality- a point in space-time (as well as a ‘point’ in our minds to begin with) appeared out of nowhere and began to expand in all directions. Not only this, but also the universe is supposed to expand nowadays with an accelerating rate. This latter aspect, which comes about as a result of observation (Doppler redshift), although it is not directly related to cosmic inflation it is rooted on the same principle- a central cause from which everything else stems as a result. In the same sense all events in the universe must be aligned in a series of causal chains. However this train of thought leads to a dead-end. While cosmic inflation cannot explain what instantaneously stopped the universe from infinite inflation, accelerating expansion leads to a universe which will be finally blown apart, or that will mostly become empty space due to the tremendous separation of the individual regions.
The main difference between the Standard Model of cosmology and the second one (the Extended Model) is that in the latter model the aspect of non-locality is included (which aspect also offers a new dimension to the meaning of ‘creation out of nowhere,’ or spontaneous generation). In the beginning there was an incident of ‘multiple explosions’ in the ‘Multiverse.’ This is also the beginning of the universal Form with its multitude of simultaneous appearances. Although we may give to the actions which have occurred ever since a certain ‘quantity’ and ‘direction’ in space and time, in the sense that cause is restricted by locality and purpose is biased by preference, the same actions are evenly distributed in a topographical sense. Thus what is expanding in the universe is not matter (thus also the fields of physical forces), but the action and information (thus also knowledge about the action which had taken place).
This is similar to the nature of propagating waves. As we stand on the beach we perceive the waves coming towards us, so that we have the impression that the waves are moving. If this were true then the opposite shores would have been drained of water, while our own shore would have been flooded. But this never occurs. Instead what the sea-waves transfer is not water (mass) but energy. Therefore the wave motion we perceive is the result of an action which propagates in the sea water. However our ability to perceive the phenomenon which takes place means that the action is also related to us. Consequently, as a matter of speech, the action passes from the waves of the sea to the waves of our own brain.
Keeping in mind Zeno’s paradoxes, if what propagates in the universe is the action (which we perceive as motion) this would explain why we observe the universe expanding (while the universe is standing still). It is not that the masses of distant galaxies move away faster and faster from each other, but it is the light we receive from these distant celestial objects which is ‘shifted,’ in the same sense that the sea-waves moving away from us become less and less ‘noisy.’ If we relate such a phenomenon to space-time curvature then we may say that the further away we move (the closer we get to the edges of the universe) the greater the space-time curvature becomes. In general relativity space-time curvature is related to the stress- energy tensor. While this tensor may take different values in different places of space-time, we may assume that collectively the tensor grows larger as we move towards the limits of the universe, thus space-time curvature also grows larger. While it is unconventional, we may even assume some macroscopic strings stretching outwards, from the singularity towards the event horizon of the universe. If we now recall Wheeler- Feynman absorber theory, for every advanced wave of action moving outwards, from the singularity towards the event horizon of the universe, there will be a corresponding retarded wave of action, moving from the limits of the event horizon of the universe inwards, towards us. In the context of our discussion the singularity can be identified with the center of Projection, while we may call the event horizon of the universe the surface of Reflection. Those retarded waves of action which are ‘red-shifted’ inwards towards us, may give us the impression that the universe is accelerating outwards, while in fact outwards will be accelerating the action of the advanced waves.
While the retarded waves can be electromagnetic waves, such as light, the advanced waves may be of a completely different origin and possibly propagate faster than light. Such waves, according to our discussion, will be related to the Condition, the basic principles (archetypes) according to which the universe is unfolding as a physical reality. Dark energy may be a candidate for the material which such ‘strings’ of advanced action are composed of. In that sense dark energy will be related to the unconscious ‘tensions’ or drives of the psyche. Thus the constituents of dark energy will also be psychic contents. We may further build on this analogy, identifying the retarded waves with all the causally expressed phenomena, of ‘ordinary matter,’ we physically perceive around us. But the inference of advanced waves will have also made us acknowledge the presence of a uniform, collective, and fundamentally indivisible, thus non-local, structure in the universe. Perhaps all my previous syllogisms will be fully justified when strings will be discovered on the large scale. This may also be the time when the illusion of the ‘accelerating universe’ will be explained in the context of a unified theory of Consciousness. This is true because a true unified theory may never come about if the existence of physical phenomena is not fully integrated with the experience of perception. Such integration brings about, and at the same time presupposes, Consciousness. Thus we may say that,
- Consciousness is expanding.
8.1 Infinite loops
Formally an infinite loop refers to computer programs and it is described by Wikipedia as follows: An infinite loop (or endless loop) is a sequence of instructions in a computer program which loops endlessly, either due to the loop having no terminating condition, having one that can never be met, or one that causes the loop to start over. In older operating systems with cooperative multitasking, infinite loops normally caused the entire system to become unresponsive. With the now-prevalent preemptive multitasking model, infinite loops usually cause the program to consume all available processor time, but can usually be terminated by the user. Busy wait loops are also sometimes called ‘infinite loops.’ One possible cause of a computer ‘freezing’ is an infinite loop; others include thrashing, deadlock, and access violations.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_loop]
More generally infinite loops are problems of logic (on which computer algorithms are also based), and are related to self-reference. A mathematical formulation exploring the notion of infinite loops is Gödel’s incompleteness theorem. The syllogism illustrating this theorem goes as follows:
Suppose you build a computing machine, and you give the order: ‘You will never say if this sentence is true.’ If the sentence is true, then the machine should say that the sentence is false. If it is false, the machine cannot tell the truth that the sentence is false. So we will never know the correct answer. This is a problem Gödel introduced, showing that logic is not immune to inconsistencies. Logic is not a ‘perfect machine of truth.’ Gödel even quantified his theorem, which simply says that for each theory Τ there is a sentence G which states that ‘G cannot be answered by theory Τ.’ If G could be proved by the axioms of Τ, then Τ would have a theorem G, which is contradictory, so Τ would be inconsistent. But if Τ is consistent, then G cannot be proved by T, thus T is incomplete. For more you may also see my own article, ‘The origins of thought:’
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/168411043/The-Origins-of-Thought]
In fact Gödel’s incompleteness theorem consists of two theorems. According to Wikipedia, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that demonstrate the inherent limitations of every formal axiomatic system containing basic arithmetic. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics. The theorems are widely, but not universally, interpreted as showing that Hilbert’s program to find a complete and consistent set of axioms for all mathematics is impossible.
The first incompleteness theorem states that no consistent system of axioms whose theorems can be listed by an effective procedure (i.e., an algorithm) is capable of proving all truths about the arithmetic of the natural numbers. For any such formal system, there will always be statements about the natural numbers that are true, but that are unprovable within the system. The second incompleteness theorem, an extension of the first, shows that the system cannot demonstrate its own consistency.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems]
An article explaining the significance of Gödel’s theorem is what follows:
Among those who know what the incompleteness theorems actually do tell us, there are some interesting views about their wider significance for both mind and matter. In his 1960 Gibbs Lecture, Gödel himself drew the conclusion that ‘either mind infinitely surpasses any finite machine or there are absolutely unsolvable number theoretic problems.’ He evidently believed that mind can’t be explained mechanically, but since he couldn’t give an unassailable argument for that- in his typical style he formulated this in a more cautious way as a dichotomy. One of the most prominent proponents of the claim that Gödel’s theorem proves that mind is not mechanical is Roger Penrose: ‘there must be more to human thinking than can ever be achieved by a computer.’ However, he thinks that there must be a scientific explanation of how the mind works, albeit in its non-mechanical way, and that ultimately must be given in physical terms, but that current physics is inadequate to do the job. Penrose does not say that Gödel’s theorem puts any limits on what one may hope to arrive at in the search for those needed new laws of physics. But Stephen Hawking and Freeman Dyson, among others, have come to the conclusion that Gödel’s theorem implies that there can’t be a Theory of Everything.
[http://math.stanford.edu/~feferman/papers/Godel-IAS.pdf]
Perhaps there cannot be a Theory of Everything but there can be a Theory of the Form. But what is the relation to Gödel’s incompleteness theorem? There are two interpretations of this theorem, seemingly opposite but in fact complementary to each other. The first statement is that a computer program cannot surpass human thought. The second statement is that human thought is by nature infinite. Thus either an algorithm referring to a computer program or logic referring to our own mind may not fully describe the properties of their own structure. In other words it is the process of thought itself which, although already occurring, seems unable to tell us where the same thought came from. No matter how hard we try to realize what originally triggered any of our thoughts, as we follow our own syllogism backwards towards its origin, we infinitely regress back to the same problem. This process is also an infinite loop. However this loop is not created because of some defect of logical thinking, but because of the mere fact that the loop itself is spontaneous.
About the aspect of spontaneity we will talk again in the next paragraph. About a ‘strange loop’ we have already talked in the paragraph about formative causation. Hofstadter, in ‘I Am a Strange Loop,’ defines a strange loop as follows:
“And yet when I say ‘strange loop,’ I have something else in mind- a less concrete, more elusive notion. What I mean by ‘strange loop’ is- here goes a first stab, anyway- not a physical circuit but an abstract loop in which, in the series of stages that constitute the cycling-around, there is a shift from one level of abstraction (or structure) to another, which feels like an upwards movement in a hierarchy, and yet somehow the successive ‘upward’ shifts turn out to give rise to a closed cycle. That is, despite one’s sense of departing ever further from one’s origin, one winds up, to one’s shock, exactly where one had started out. In short, a strange loop is a paradoxical level-crossing feedback loop.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_loop]
This description of ‘motion’ is similar to that occurring on a spiral. But the shape of a simple circle may be relevant as well. In fact the circle may depict the simplest kind of an infinite loop. A circle is ‘bounded but infinite.’ It is bounded because it can be described by its perimeter, while, at the same time, it is infinite because we need an infinite number of decimal points to describe (to measure) the perimeter (which is the radius multiplied by the infinite (irrational) number π). Therefore, it comes as a consequence that all loops are bounded but infinite.
[https://universe-review.ca/F15-particle10.htm]
Although the notion of an infinite loop can only be understood in an abstract manner, infinite loops may be represented by real physical objects, such as those described in the previous picture. Such loops are superstrings which compose the atomic particles. Thus there are already descriptions in modern physics which surpass the notion of a ‘point-particle.’ The importance of such an extension of the notion of an elementary particle is that it permits the particle to be a whole entity which controls its own parts simultaneously. Thus superstrings, or branes as they are also called, may represent collections of particles which behave in unison and simultaneously, coordinated by the superstring or brane itself. In order to include such a physical aspect into the notion of an infinite loop, we may say that,
- An infinite loop is a structure of self-reference, either this structure refers to a logical argument or to a physical shape.
The ‘behavior’ of the previously mentioned particles or more generally of the things which are included in an infinite loop may be the result not just of some mechanical action (e.g. physical force) but also of some psychic action if we imagine that superstrings are archetypes. The identification of such elementary vibrators with archetypes may help us not only to relate psychic contents to physical (mechanical) actions but also to perceive the broader context within which all things manifest themselves. Thus infinite loops may relate the particles to each other as well as particles or any other real object to perception. While superstrings ‘project’ particles, archetypes may project the ‘full circle’ which links physical objects to experience. Thus what we have is the archetype which by vibrating splits in two parts, with one part manifesting as a physical object, and the other part appearing as the ‘shadow’ or image of the object. But the whole circle of this projection is necessary so that awareness and consciousness come about. Thus it may not be redundant to say that, in fact,
- The Form is an infinite loop.
This way Gödel’s incompleteness theorem transforms into a statement about infinity. In some sense incompleteness is at the same time completeness. It is completeness because one may realize the whole aspect of the problem. It is also incompleteness not because the realization is imperfect but because perception presupposes some distance from what is perceived. In other words thought is the result of an infinite loop which occurs spontaneously but it is described retrospectively.
This is a triplet of notions closely related to that of ‘completeness’ (or ‘incompleteness?’):
- The Cause is spontaneous.
- The Structure is infinite.
- The Meaning is simultaneous.
The first statement has implications with respect to the aspect of free will which we will explore in the next section. If the action of archetypes is spontaneous and the Cause is related to that action then causality as we commonly refer to may have a very different meaning. For example if the localization of the action is the same as the individualization of perception, thus the same as the rise of personal consciousness, then causality, which is the same as locality, may refer to some particular event as was perceived by us, no matter what else may have occurred in the universe at the same time.
The second statement is related to Gödel’s incompleteness theorem. If the structure of human thought is infinite in the sense that an infinite amount of logical deductions can be produced then an infinite amount of time will be required for any of those deductions to come back to the point from which the same deduction originated. This is true even if the number of axioms on which we may assume the deductions are based is finite. Similarly if we include to the structure all manifestations of consciousness, either mental or physical, then the processes which link the mental with the physical aspects may be infinite both in space and time, although we may locate our own thought in a certain place at a certain time, and also relate the thought to a specific cause or problem which the thought tries to approach.
The third statement engulfs the previous two in a common framework. While spontaneity may refer to a certain point in space and time, and infinity may describe a process which involves some amount of time, either finite or infinite (thus a process which may finally be terminated), simultaneity refers both to spontaneity and infinity. Even if two events occur at different times (in the same place) or in different places (at the same time) there will always be a frame of reference from which an observer will perceive the events taking place simultaneously. In fact all events occur everywhere in the universe right now, although any analysis of such events will take place retrospectively. Our inability to perceive all events which may occur in the universe in every place and at any time does not mean that the events don’t occur. Thus such an inability has to do with the infinite time of deduction not with the instantaneous nature of inference. This is the meaning.
8.2 Spontaneous generation
The problem of spontaneous generation has been considered since the ancient times. According to Wikipedia, Aristotle, who laid the foundations of Western natural philosophy, in his book ‘The history of animals’ states,
“Now there is one property that animals are found to have in common with plants. For some plants are generated from the seed of plants, whilst other plants are self-generated through the formation of some elemental principle similar to a seed; and of these latter plants some derive their nutriment from the ground, whilst others grow inside other plants, as is mentioned, by the way, in my treatise on Botany. So with animals, some spring from parent animals according to their kind, whilst others grow spontaneously and not from kindred stock; and of these instances of spontaneous generation some come from putrefying earth or vegetable matter, as is the case with a number of insects, while others are spontaneously generated in the inside of animals out of the secretions of their several organs.”
According to this theory, living things came forth from nonliving things because the nonliving material contained pneuma, or ‘vital heat.’ The creature generated was dependent on the proportions of this pneuma and the five elements Aristotle believed comprised all matter. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation#Aristotle]
Therefore Aristotle identified a morphogenetic factor with the ‘spirit’ (pneuma), or ‘vital heat.’ The five classical elements (earth, water, air, fire and ether) may be related to the five states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, plasma and Bose-Einstein condensate). The last one is achieved at very low temperatures (close to absolute zero). According to a theory (superfluid vacuum theory) the vacuum (what used to be called ether or akasha) can be thought of as a Bose-Einstein condensate, but in such a case Aristotle’s pneuma, or ‘vital heat,’ will be a very ‘cold’ substance.
The reality of spontaneous generation has been experimentally demonstrated by the Miller- Urey experiment. According to Wikipedia, it was a chemical experiment that simulated the conditions thought at the time to be present on the early Earth. Considered to be the classic experiment investigating abiogenesis (life arising from non-living matter), it was conducted in 1952. Miller identified the generation of 11 different amino acids. More recent experiments have identified more than 20 that naturally occur in life.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%E2%80%93Urey_experiment]
This is certainly a repeatable experiment which can always reproduce the same unique event- life. The ‘vital heat’ in this case is offered in the form of electric energy, while the chemical compounds are water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen (H2); therefore 4 basic chemical elements (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect]
An example of spontaneous generation in modern physics is the appearance in the vacuum of virtual particles. Such particles can be represented by wave-forms which appear as vacuum fluctuations inside and outside the Casimir plates, as shown in the previous picture. The difference of the wave-forms inside and outside the plates creates a force which makes the plates attract each other. This force may be considered as real as any other force. It is interesting to note that the attractive force which is created inside the plates can also be seen as a negative (repulsive) force of equal measure exerted from the outside, thus from the rest of the universe. The non-local nature of the Casimir force reinforces the aspect of spontaneity and simultaneity in the universe because the wave-form of the quantum fluctuations which produce the Casimir effect is spread to infinity.
According to Nature, the Casimir effect has been observed on a large scale between ships lying close together. This notion stems from an article published in 1996 by Dutch scientist Sipko Boersma. He pointed out that the French nautical writer P. C. Caussée stated in his 1836 book ‘The Album of the Mariner’ that two ships should not be moored too close together because they are attracted one towards the other by a certain force of attraction. Boersma suggested that if ships moor in a large swell, waves with wavelengths longer than the distance between the ships would be suppressed in the space separating them. This could perhaps pull the ships together.
However, physicist Fabrizio Pinto found that Caussée never claimed that two ships attract in a heavy swell. Rather, this happens when the sea is completely calm. But Pinto says he hasn’t found any real evidence for the effect, in either sailing or scientific literature. Also, naval architect Jason Smithwick says he has never heard of such an effect. ‘I could imagine how it might possibly happen, but it would take a very specific set of circumstances,’ he said. ‘It’s nothing that naval architects have ever worried about.’
Pinto thinks that the whole tale is symptomatic of physicists’ approach to the history of their subject. ‘Physicists love lore about their own science,’ he says. ‘There are other stories that are unfounded historically.’ Once established, Pinto says, these myths are accorded such reverence that questioning them seems almost an act of heresy, and ‘whistleblowers’ get a very hostile reception. The best plan, then, is to squash the myths before they take root. Here, he suggests, ‘we have caught physicists in the very act of creating a myth.’
[http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060501/full/news060501-7.html]
But the myth has already been created by the phenomenon itself. The whole problem is similar to Mach’s principle, that the inertia of objects is created by the participation of all masses in the universe. Perhaps in the case of the Casimir effect the process is reversed- it is the inertia of the universe what makes the plates attract each other. Again however the key notion is non-locality or simultaneity. It seems that the whole universe ‘feels’ the presence of the plates inside its totality. In this example instead of having a projection directed outwards we have two surfaces (the plates) on which the projection acts backwards (inwards), like an ‘inverted mirror.’ A mirror, although spontaneously divides an object from its image, at the same time makes possible the connection between those two projected items. Perhaps this is why we feel some kind of ‘attraction’ when we look at our own image in a mirror. The question if such ‘attraction’ represents a ‘real’ or ‘virtual’ force may be answered in the same context as that of the Casimir effect. The important thing however is that, in the case of our image in the mirror, it is the connection we establish with our own image what makes us perceive the reality of ourselves.
Generally the axiom of spontaneous generation, although has been abolished by modern science for the shake of the theory of evolution, turns out to be an inescapable conclusion in order to account for the creation of the universe and the origins of our own thought at the same time. The assumption that the universe was created from a point of infinite density out of nowhere leads to spontaneous generation. If we assume that the universe was the product of a pre-existing multiverse or of God again we will have to explain where the multiverse or God originally came from. Even if we say that either the universe, or the multiverse, or God have always existed then again we will have to suppose the spontaneous birth of the property of infinity.
The aspect of the Form helps us perceive such a problem of creation out of nothing in a coherent and uniform context. According to this context the universe came into existence as an implicit Condition which was later on manifested as a real physical Object. In such a sense the archetypal structure of the Universe was infinite since the beginning, yet to be expressed by causal actions, such as the propagation of light carrying information as we know it. Still since the beginning the universe was projected outwards so that psychic contents, thus all the hidden properties, psychic drives, or unconscious images (what in modern physics may be called ‘dark matter’) would be later on manifested or materialized as the everyday tangible objects. Thus in this sense the universe can be perceived as a complete entity since the beginning, although the manifestation of archetypes in the form of ‘ordinary matter’ occurred later on.
Such a consideration as the previous one also makes the presence of Consciousness in the universe necessary since the beginning, if we include in Consciousness both the conscious and the unconscious. The process by which the universe was spontaneously generated and began to expand by expressing physically its implicate contents is not different from the way our own mind operates. Any of our thoughts is spontaneously generated and instantaneously covers the whole ‘distance’ between our mind and the object which evoked the thought. The evolution of our thought then takes place retrospectively in order to cover the implied distance in an opposite manner from our own mind back to the object which will be analyzed so that some conclusion will be reached. The object in fact can be nothing else than an image inside our mind, thus a psychic content, projected outwards in order to be perceived as a real object tangible in space and time corresponding to the original image. Thus the originally projected psychic content is finally reflected backwards into the virtual world of perception. When the full circle occurs then we may say that the aware consciousness has also arisen.
Whether the returning image is a renewed content, different from the original one, is a question on the basis of which lies the problem of randomness, of evolution, and of free will itself. The aspect of individualization of the universal Consciousness as psychic contents ‘condensed’ in some place and at some time, and expressing a certain combination of archetypal properties characterizing a specific intelligent living being, makes us believe that such a being is capable of manipulating and changing its surrounding environment thereafter, if we also include in the fundamental properties that of free will. Thus free will becomes the personalized aspect of the universal Fate or Destiny, in the sense of freedom, creativity, intuition, ingenuity, foresight, etc. All such properties therefore may be considered ‘talents’ inherent to the universe and not inherited, although they may be improvised and renewed.
In order to logically, rationally, or physically perceive the aspect of spontaneous generation of everything in the universe, we may now recall an aforementioned quality of the Cause- that Cause is spontaneous. If we try to retrospectively consider the problem of spontaneous generation in space and time then we will have to make a journey backwards both in space and time to the origins of some condition from which the universe appeared. This process, which in physics is similar to a journey back in time, doesn’t necessarily violate causality, since, in some sense, we are already here to prove that the universe was not destroyed by the paradoxical loop we managed to perform back in time. We have already suspected elsewhere that Cause in the universe is by nature ‘acausal’ and that it is also meaningful because of its instantaneous connection to an infinite structure which composes the world as we know it. Thus Cause, in the form of a spontaneous action which propagates in space and time in order to have its own nature manifested, can be defined more like a condition of synchronism between the initial reason and the end result, rather than a process in which the cause-and-effect communication is delayed by some factor other than the time it takes for the whole process to be realized.
‘A time machine’
Such an aspect of synchronism or simultaneity between the cause and the effect on a fundamental level, together with the inescapable conclusion that, one way or another, the universe was spontaneously generated, makes us think that the universe is a true time machine of tremendous proportions. The shape of an infinite loop is in this case suitable to describe the implied simultaneity. As shown in the previous diagram, if O is the origin of the initial condition (the cause) and A is the point of the manifested event (the effect), then path OA represents the road of ordinary causality (restricted by the speed of light), while the curved line BA represents the road of synchronicity (related to some unknown speed). If we suppose that two objects (the two actions) travelling on the different routes OA and BA end up at point A at the same time then this will be a condition of synchronism. In the theory of relativity time dilation prevents an object from running faster than light, but perhaps speeds faster than light will be discovered in the future, so that the object on route BA may in fact run faster than light in order to coincide with the photon of causal action on route OA at the final point A. In such a sense the actions between the cause and the effect will always coincide, even if it will take some time for the physical perception of the event to occur. If we now run the whole process backwards, making the same syllogisms for paths OA΄ and BA΄ as we did before for paths OA and BA respectively, assuming thus that we make a journey back in time, then when we reach point A΄ the cause (the psychic agent travelling on route BA΄), which by the way also refers to our own intentions, will coincide with our physical appearance (as we travel in physical space on route OA΄) at the same point A΄. Thus a journey back time will bring us back to the conditions suitable for our existence at the point of space and time where we came from.
8.3 Psychic black holes
Physically, or formally, a black hole is a singularity surrounded by an event horizon. Equivalently a black hole can be perceived as a whirlpool in spacetime created by a fast rotating or strongly gravitating body, in which case the singularity is represented by the object which causes the anomaly, while the event horizon describes the limits of the object’s influence on the surrounding environment. Thus the black hole is what we perceive of an object which is hidden behind its own ‘shell’ of action.
Since the size of the object which causes the anomaly is not important, in the sense that it could be as small as a point of infinite density, if we shrink all the mass in the universe down to a single point, at some hypothetical center, then the whole universe will become a gigantic black hole with its event horizon represented by the cosmological horizon of the observable universe. In this case we will all live inside this black hole without ever feeling the side-effects, while viewing the distant galaxies projected on the cosmological horizon inside-out. In such a sense the universe would be an ‘Object of Singularity.’
The mechanism of Hawking radiation
[http://www.physics.hmc.edu/student_projects/astro62/hawking_radiation/radiation.html]
Once it was believed that black holes would have been invisible due to the property to trap anything which might pass their event horizon, including light. Such an assumption is related to the black hole information paradox, because if black holes were able to make things vanish from the universe then, since any object consists of an amount of information, and since information is equivalent to energy, the law of energy conservation would have been violated. Steven Hawking however showed that black holes evaporate, thus giving the information they had stolen back to the universe in the form of thermal energy.
Instead of imagining a particle vanishing inside a black hole, we can imagine a particle appearing from a black hole, as shown in the previous picture. This process can be seen as a mechanism by which particle-antiparticle pairs can be produced in the vacuum, close to a black hole. The particle which finally escapes from the black hole becomes a real particle, while the antiparticle which is swallowed back into the black hole stays a virtual particle. Here the aspect of the black hole information paradox is reversed in the sense that the lost particle is not a real particle which was swallowed by the black hole (leaving behind a virtual antiparticle in the universe) but a virtual particle (whose disappearance inside the black hole makes the appearance of a real particle in the universe possible). Another interesting aspect is that the two particles (the real particle and the virtual antiparticle) are assumed to stay forever entangled unless something happens to the ‘real’ particle. The conditions and implications of generating or breaking the entanglement are yet to be understood.
An interesting notion related to black holes is that of a Planck particle. According to Wikipedia, a Planck particle, named after physicist Max Planck, is a hypothetical particle defined as a tiny black hole whose Compton wavelength is equal to its Schwarzschild radius. Its mass is thus approximately the Planck mass, and its Compton wavelength and Schwarzschild radius are about the Planck length. Compared to a proton, for example, the Planck particle would be extremely small (its radius being equal to the Planck length, which is about 10−20 times the proton’s radius) and massive (the Planck mass being 1019 times the proton’s mass).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_particle]
The condition for an object to become a black hole is given by the Schwarzschild radius, R = 2GM/c^2, where R is the radius of the object, M its mass, G the gravitational constant, and c the light constant. An object with the mass of the Earth would have to be compressed to a size of about one centimeter in order to become a black hole. However the mass of an object can be thought to be concentrated at the center of mass of the object. This point can also be identified with the singularity of the object. Thus for any given object we may define a Schwarzschild radius corresponding to the radius of the object’s event horizon. Therefore we may say that,
- Any object can be represented by a black hole, of mass equal to the object’s mass, and size equal to Schwarzschild’s radius.
While the objects which are swallowed by the black hole are forever hidden, so that they can only be implied in relation to what lies outside, there is a method of extracting the hidden information from the black hole according to the holographic principle. This principle will be mentioned again later on. For the moment it is interesting to note that the model of a black hole is reminiscent of the model of the psyche according to this discussion. The hidden contents, the information swallowed by the black hole, become psychic contents, either as virtual particles or as used-to-be objects of the real world (which are lost). An important aspect is that the hidden contents stay connected to the real world (outside the black hole) through a form of quantum entanglement. Thus the actions which connect those hidden contents with their corresponding representations (some material particle or physical object) in the real world are non-local and act instantaneously.
Although such ‘spooky’ action at a distance was considered illegal and improbable by Einstein, there is nothing to stop us from imagining actions which may travel faster than light. Another analogous consideration is to suppose that time is somehow suspended or delayed during the period in which the action takes place, so that finally the cause and the effect (the hidden content and the manifested object) always coincide in space and time. Such a process would be in accordance with Einstein’s theory of relativity, although nobody yet knows how such a mechanism may be mathematically described. Jung himself had mentioned the term psychic relativity to describe such phenomena, when physical events and seemingly unrelated causes meaningfully coincide through the mediation of archetypes, but neither did he explain how such a mechanism may operate.
Perhaps if we reverse the process according to which a black hole operates we would have a better look at what is going on behind the event horizon. Instead of imaging a particle swallowed by the black hole we can think of a particle or any kind of object created by the black hole in the form of a content or condition residing in the singularity and which was projected out of the singularity through some action as a real particle or generally as a manifested object. There is nothing to prevent us from assuming that such hidden contents may refer not only to the properties of matter but also to any other kind of property which may be conceived or correspond to a living intelligent entity. Thus such hidden contents, apart from virtual particles, can be archetypes expressing not only, what we commonly refer to as, the physical properties but also all kinds of properties referring to the senses in general. If this is so then the singularity will be not just a mathematical point of infinite density and of no dimensions but the main core of our own psyche, structured and ‘weighted’ by the archetypes of which it is composed.
Those psychic contents are spewed out or projected from the singularity into the real world in the form of everyday tangible objects. We may also suppose that the actions which are responsible for the mediation between the two states of existence (the hidden or implicate, and the manifested or explicate) are also responsible for the attribution of space and time to the physical universe in relation to the manifested objects. However, whatever such a transformation process may be, there is no reason to suppose that those projected manifested objects can be found anywhere else but on the event horizon of the singularity. In fact this assumption would be the easiest way to trace these objects (and also describe the related processes according to the holographic principle). Since all these objects which constitute the physical universe have been assumed to be the expressed archetypal contents of the singularity, if we do suppose that all the information about the physical world lies on the event horizon of the same world (this is the meaning of the holographic principle) then such an event horizon can be identified with the aura of the universal psyche. Thus the existence of the whole universe can be confined within its own event horizon, while any kind of living experience can be expressed on the same event horizon. Therefore the universe must be a gigantic psychic black hole.
Such a description of the universe according to the theory of the Form (in which case the universe is not only physical but also psychic) is also relevant to the meaning of an infinite loop which we have already mentioned. The key notion here is spontaneity, thus simultaneity. Without even realizing it, each time we do something spontaneously, at the same time we have been tuned with some action which made us move (or similarly if we make an object move then the motion of the object will be coordinated with our own action reaching the object). This is an example of a ‘meaningful coincidence’ between the cause or condition, and the effect or manifested event. Although it may take us some time to fulfill our intention, so that it will take the action some time to make the object move, the condition has already been set at the same time the intention spontaneously appeared. Thus the psychic content (the intention) predated the manifested event (the effect upon the physical object) and had already established a connection between the cause and the effect. This is the concept of a meaningful coincidence. The infinite loop encircles the whole process. Thus we may say that,
- A black hole is an infinite loop which projects or ‘divides’ the effects (realized events) from the causes (conditions).
As we have said any object can be treated as a black hole, with an event horizon describing the limits of the object’s surface upon which the object’s explicit aspects can be seen, and a singularity at the center of mass of the object hiding the object’s implicit contents. While the universe itself may be simulated as such an object, perceived thus by us reversely from the inside, our own existence (what we call ‘our self’) may be described in the same way. We are all composed of some explicit, thus physical, aspects which we reveal to others, while at the same time we hide our secrets deep inside us. At the greatest depth of our own existence lies a point infinitely dense, our own singularity or identity, while at the limit of our existence our own event horizon contains all the expressed aspects which come in contact with those of other people. Thus the other people perceive us by what is implied by the effects we cause upon them, and vice versa.
Similarly in order to perceive our own selves, our deepest nature, we have to focus our attention to a point at which our own singularity is located. Thus our singularity can be identified with the focus of our own attention. While in this area lie the deepest aspects of us, which aspects we try to explore, it seems that our action of attention creates a blind spot exactly at the point of interest. The more we focus attention on the object of interest (which in this case is our own identity), the more obscure the object becomes. In some sense whatever we ‘illuminate’ with the light of our thought so that we are able to perceive, is also obscured by the same light. Thus our thought creates an event horizon between our own perception and what we try to perceive. Such an event horizon separates any kind of real object from its corresponding image, and also defines the limits between the same object and any other object. It also sets the limits of our own understanding. Therefore this must be the event horizon of Consciousness.
8.4 The fabric of space-time
[https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150424-wormholes-entanglement-firewalls-er-epr/]
The previous creature represents a scientific version about the face of Medusa. It was drawn on a paper written by physicists Leonard Susskind and Juan Martin Maldacena. In this case Medusa’s head is a black hole, and her curly hair represents wormholes with entangled photons at the end. We might also call this monster ‘space jelly- fish.’ But is this monster alive? If yes then this could be the psychic analogue of gravity. It is psychic because it relates not only entangled particles but also the observer with what he/she sees. But at the same time Medusa’s face represents an event horizon. As with the event horizons of physical objects, where we have to guess what lies in the interior by analyzing the processes on the surface of the event horizon, so the face of Medusa summons up all the characteristics which correspond to the hidden aspects of human understanding.
Here’s the heart of the argument, according to Quanta Magazine: If a black hole’s event horizon is a smooth, seemingly ordinary place, as relativity predicts, the particles coming out of the black hole must be entangled with particles falling into the black hole. Yet for information not to be lost, the particles coming out of the black hole must also be entangled with particles that left long ago and are now scattered about in a fog of Hawking radiation. Susskind and Maldacena argued for a kind of entanglement that ‘hooks space together.’ They suggest that, in fact, particles on either side of the border could be connected by a wormhole. The paper contained a graphic that some refer to half-jokingly as the ‘octopus picture’ with multiple wormholes leading from the inside of a black hole to Hawking radiation on the outside.
The model overpasses the black hole information paradox, according to which if the black hole swallows one part of a virtual pair of particles information will be lost from the universe. According to this model, the expressed particle (in the form of Hawking radiation) stays entangled with its hidden partner through a wormhole. But if the expressed particle is swallowed by another black hole then the two black holes will become entangled to conserve information. Thus we can imagine a network of black holes or event horizons entangled to each other exchanging hidden information through secret pathways or wormholes.
[https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150428-how-quantum-pairs-stitch-space-time/]
The point of this article and the meaning behind its reasoning is that spacetime is woven through quantum entanglement and wormholes which describe the path through which the action of the entanglement is transferred. Probably such action travels faster than light. However if information travels with photons then any kind of information related to the event of the entanglement will be received and perceived by observers not before the photons have covered the distance between the two entangled particles (even if these two particles are always instantaneously connected though the ‘underground corridor of the wormhole). Thus even if the infrastructure of spacetime has already been established by the action of the entanglement, spacetime as a perceivable and experienced reality comes about later on, when the light of the perceptual field will have reached our own minds.
Picture: The straight line represents the local action, mediated by photons with the speed of light. The curved path represents the non-local action, mediated by some unknown particle presumably travelling with a speed faster than light.
Still if any kind of object, as we have already argued, can be treated as a black hole then all objects may be entangled through ‘wormholes’ or secret pathways in a way which defies ordinary causality (propagation of information no faster than the speed of light). If our own mind is also perceived as a kind of object then each individual mind will be connected to any other mind of a living being in the universe in a similar way. But perhaps such a connection does not exist per se or a priori. The conditions according to which the connection is established as a real event and living experience are yet to be found. For example if the secret connection between any kind of object and the mind of the perceiver cannot be realized before the causal perception of the event has been established then the nature of this secret relationship is always inferred retrospectively. Thus what is left behind as the true meaning of the phenomenon is the aspect of simultaneity.
Quanta Magazine also mentions that one way to describe the relationship between quantum entanglement and spacetime is by using geometry and tensor analysis. Tensors are collections of vectors. In this view, as the article describes, space-time arises out of a series of interlinked nodes (described by tensors) in a complex network, with individual morsels of quantum information fitted together like Legos. Entanglement is the glue that holds the network together. If we want to understand space-time, we must first think geometrically about entanglement, since that is how information is encoded between the immense number of interacting nodes in the system.
Another problem to understand is how the encoded information translates into 3D space as we know it. Physicist Mark Van Raamsdonk proposed a thought experiment to demonstrate the critical role of entanglement in the formation of space-time, pondering what would happen if one cut the memory chip in two and then removed the entanglement between qubits in opposite halves. He found that space-time begins to tear itself apart, in much the same way that stretching a wad of gum by both ends yields a pinched-looking point in the center as the two halves move farther apart. Continuing to split that memory chip into smaller and smaller pieces unravels space-time until only tiny individual fragments remain that have no connection to one another. “If you take away the entanglement, your space-time just falls apart,” he said. Similarly, “if you wanted to build up a space-time, you’d want to start entangling [qubits] together in particular ways… Space-time is a geometrical representation of quantum information.”
Circle Limit IV, M.C. Escher
The previous site then imagines what the geometry produced by the process would look like: negatively curved spaces represented in two dimensions as a distorted disk, much the way flattening a globe into a two-dimensional map of the Earth distorts the continents. For instance, Escher’s Circle Limit IV (Heaven and Hell) features many repeating figures of angels and demons. In a true hyperbolic space, all the figures would be the same size, but in Escher’s two-dimensional representation, those near the edge appear smaller and more pinched than the figures in the center.
We have already mentioned the aspect of describing all physical phenomena arising from a unified field represented by a grid whose nodes are localized, thus specific, combinations of all possible properties, therefore points at which complete objects appear. But we have included in those properties not only physical but also psychic properties, thus aspects by which the physical properties can be directly related to the senses and perception. In such a sense this unified field will be a perceptual field. If we also include some property related to Consciousness then the field will also be a morphogenetic field.
While the process by which the morphogenetic unified field exactly produces Consciousness and links perception (the qualia) to physical properties (the quanta) is unknown and elusive for the modern materialistic human mind, we might take a glimpse at the process by keeping in mind that such a process in some sense replicates itself. While in Escher’s previous painting the images of angels and devils decrease in size as we move outwards, we can imagine the same process reversed, so that if the whole universe is composed of two fundamental shapes, those two shapes will be found miniaturized at the center, and they will replicate themselves as we move outwards. While the fundamental shapes can be more than two (thus there may be more than a couple of archetypes representing good and evil), the whole structure will unfold outwards recreating the world as we know it.
Therefore an approach to the problem how the mind can be integrated into the fabric of space time may become easier if we assume that the Mind, or Consciousness in general, is entangled with the Object. Such an entanglement refers to the indivisible unity between all things and our own perception of the same things: it is impossible that we know about the existence of anything if we don’t have perception of the same thing. On the other hand, symmetrically, we wouldn’t be able to perceive anything if there was not a thing. This is a form of entanglement between existence and experience.
But such a coincidence between perception and the perceived objects also illustrates the uniform and simultaneous nature of Consciousness. Consciousness may not arise if ultimately is not treated as an object which has knowledge of its own existence. Still if objects can be entangled so that spacetime may arise out of the entanglement, and if Consciousness is entangled with any object, then spacetime will be the product of such a connection between Consciousness and its images, and the everyday objects. Thus spacetime in some sense can be attributed by Consciousness to Consciousness, by a process of causal and intelligent intervention upon the undifferentiated landscape of all possible archetypal actions. Or, to put it differently, spacetime arises at the same time in the whole process, together with the perception of the object, in size and motion. Such an aspect of simultaneity also explains why locality and non-locality always come together.
8.5 The meaning of simultaneity
Picture: A diagram describing non-locality; in the first picture points A and B are locally (directly) connected by some physical action (force). In the second picture the connection between points A and B is indirect (non-local) through point O, without any immediate interaction occurring between them.
An interesting aspect which arises as an implication of the theory of relativity is that, no matter if time is relative for different reference frames, with respect to the reference frame of light itself time is absolute because from light’s reference frame all events are simultaneous. A way to view this is a follows: Since the observer who is moving (with respect to some other reference frame at rest) experiences the phenomenon of time dilation, the faster he/she moves, the slower time will pass for him/her, so that if that observer reaches the speed of light then time will become zero according to his/her clocks. Thus at the limit of the speed of light that observer will cover instantaneously any distance and all events will be according to him/her simultaneous.
Such an aspect is interesting because it invokes the problem of Consciousness. If light is part of the perceptual field of Consciousness, thus in a sense it resembles or can be identified with a part of the action of Consciousness in the universe, then for Consciousness all events will also be simultaneous. This is also elucidating in the sense that light is supposed to represent local actions (thus actions which are not instantaneous). But, as the previous assumption reveals, ‘locality’ does not refer to the time needed for the connection between two events to be established (the connection between the event and Consciousness) but to the time which will pass afterwards until the event is conceived and some reaction to the event will take place. We see therefore that the Cause (causality or locality) in the universe does not exclude spontaneity and simultaneity. On the contrary it seems that Cause demands and presupposes the meaningful coincidence (the ‘psychic entanglement’) between perception and events.
What is true for Consciousness in general will also be true for our own mind in particular. Suppose for example that, as shown in the previous picture, points A and B represent two observers moving with some velocity relative to each other, while point O stands for our frame of reference. But what is our frame of reference? In fact when we previously talked about the simultaneous aspect of someone travelling with the speed of light with respect to a stationary observer, both these observers were referring simultaneously to us who had the overall view of the problem, standing on a preferred reference frame (thus in some sense absolute) from which the relative motions of the two observers could be regarded and coordinated. Thus while the two observers (at points A and B) may have no direct knowledge of their relative positions and may not have any communication at all, we, standing on point O, have simultaneous knowledge of their whereabouts. In such a sense the two observers, although they may not be able to locally communicate, they are instantaneously connected to each other by us, and by our own perception of them.
Light cone in 2D space plus a time dimension
The notion of a light cone in physics is explained by Wikipedia as follows:
In special and general relativity, a light cone is the path that a flash of light, emanating from a single event (localized to a single point in space and a single moment in time) and traveling in all directions, would take through spacetime. If one imagines the light confined to a two-dimensional plane, the light from the flash spreads out in a circle after the event E occurs, and if we graph the growing circle with the vertical axis of the graph representing time, the result is a cone, known as the future light cone. The past light cone behaves like the future light cone in reverse, a circle which contracts in radius at the speed of light until it converges to a point at the exact position and time of the event E.
Because signals and other causal influences cannot travel faster than light, the light cone plays an essential role in defining the concept of causality: for a given event E, the set of events that lie on or inside the past light cone of E would also be the set of all events that could send a signal that would have time to reach E and influence it in some way. Likewise, the set of events that lie on or inside the future light cone of E would also be the set of events that could receive a signal sent out from the position and time of E, so the future light cone contains all the events that could potentially be causally influenced by E. Events which lie neither in the past or future light cone of E cannot influence or be influenced by E in relativity.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_cone]
The area found outside the light cone is out of reach for the observer and it is called elsewhere. The hypersurface of the present shown in the previous picture represents all events which occur at a given point of time for the observer and occur simultaneously at that given point in time. It is interesting to note, as we have previously hinted about a ‘preferred’ frame of reference, that the ‘hypersurface of the present,’ although unreachable for the observer in a causal sense, it is perceivable by the same observer as a hypothetical reality as much true as all the events which eventually will take place. Thus although the observer is directly connected to the events within the light cone, he/she is at the same time indirectly related to all the events which take place ‘elsewhere.’ But if local actions are established by photons (thus propagate within the light cone) then non-local actions (taking place ‘elsewhere’) must also be related to some other particle or group of particles which travel faster than light. Otherwise we cannot explain how we are able to perceive the existence of ‘elsewhere,’ even if such perception is ‘unconscious.’
Another even more interesting aspect to note is the similarity between the light cone and Consciousness. If light is nothing else than the manifested action of Consciousness in the universe then the events which take place within the light cone will stand for all the actions which will be manifested at a given point in time, with respect to the contents, related to those actions, residing in the region of elsewhere. In such a sense the light cone becomes the area of our conscious mind while ‘elsewhere’ will be the region of the unconscious. But the point is that the events within the light cone and those outside the light cone, found ‘elsewhere,’ are not unrelated but are connected in such a way that the unconscious actions which take place ‘elsewhere’ trigger the manifested experiences which occur at present. Such a correspondence cannot be implied or revealed if we don’t imagine and search for the inescapable relationship between phenomena and perception as a phenomenon itself.
A light-cone
Another description of a light cone, according to the previous picture, is given by the following site:
The common-sense definition tells us that ‘future’ is any event at t>0, and past is any event at t<0. Special relativity shows us a different view of these two terms. Let us consider the four marked events which could be star explosions (novae), for instance. Event A is below the x-axis and within the light cone. It is possible for the resting observer O to see or to learn about the event in the past, since a -45° light beam would reach the t-axis at about one and a half years prior to t=0. Therefore this event belongs to O’s past. Event B is also below the x-axis, but outside the light cone. The event has no effect on O in the present, since the light would need almost another year to reach him. Strictly speaking, B is not in O’s past. Similar considerations are possible for the term ‘future.’ Since his signal wouldn’t be able to reach the event C, outside the light cone, in time, O is not able to influence it. It’s not in his future. Event D, on the other hand, is inside the light cone and may therefore be caused or influenced by the observer.
[http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/treknology/warp1.htm]
While the events A and D are within the light cone in the previous picture, events C and B are outside the event horizon of the observer. Faster than light processes should be assumed for the observer to communicate with these events. However we may say that all these events take place here and now (as we simultaneously perceive all the events in the picture from our frame of reference). Thus although events B and C will never be realized for a hypothetical observer resting at point O (‘here and now’ in the previous picture), we may treat them as conditions potentially to be expressed with respect to our own frame of reference. In such a sense events B and C can be called ‘past-like’ and ‘future-like,’ respectively, because their manifestation as real events either in the past or in the future depends not just on the relative frame of reference from which they are observed, but also on a preferred frame of reference from which we may treat all events in the universe as conditional yet to be expressed. Thus ‘here and now,’ depicted in the previous picture by a single point O, may be expanded or extended in order to include not only events A and D, but also events B and C, even if the probability for the realization of the latter events is smaller than that for the former.
This brings us to the notion of the extended present which is one of my own conceptions. In fact the notion already existed although I was not aware of this. In any case the way I have perceived the notion is similar but with a different meaning and implications than the original one. For more about the notion you may take a look at my own article, ‘The extended present:’
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/111723217/The-Extended-Present]
The aspect that things in the universe exist in a conditional state before causality is communicated, makes us think that we all live in an extended present. It is not only mass, for example, which is attributed to objects after a causal relationship is established (in this case with the Higgs field), but also position and time may be given to things, in the form of a causal arrangement of the same things. But the ‘probabilistic distribution’ of all the objects may be supposed to have simultaneously existed ‘in all space’ and ‘at all times.’ Therefore all events in the universe may be considered future-like and past-like, before any ‘amount’ of time or space is given to them. Since the limit light can reach can be seen at the same time as the limit our own ‘light’ of consciousness can reach into the ‘elsewhere’ territory of the unconscious, we may come closer to the deepest meaning of causality- all events in the universe cannot be more distant in space and time than our own perception about the same events. Thus there’s no sense of an ‘elsewhere’ territory in space-time before we have defined a ‘light cone’ for events, thus before we have arranged the observed events in some spatial and temporal order, according to our own observation and perception.
Another way to conceive this is with the help of the previous diagram. The extended present is not a point-like ‘here and now,’ but it has dimensionality. So the observer’s present extends into the ‘forbidden’ area which includes the parts of ‘elsewhere’ in which, apart from events A and D which are directly manifested and perceived, events B and C take place. The shape of a circle was arbitrarily chosen for simplicity, while the circle itself may be disproportionally small in comparison to the light- cone. Nevertheless events B and C are now connected to events A and D respectively, even if the event horizon of the light cone causally separates the respective pair of events. Event B can be called past- like, while event C call be called future- like. Thus even if the observer has not any direct access to them, he/she may have some indirect knowledge of them. The non-local action between the observer and the events which are found ‘elsewhere’ may be manifested in the form of events A and D, within the ‘permitted area’ of the light cone, afterwards.
Picture: A retrograde loop of two events A and B. Event B predisposes event A, so that A be the cause of B. Causality seems to be temporarily violated, but in fact both events occur before space-time has taken physical shape. The two events are connected by the infinite loop itself.
This is another picture related to the problem of causality, thus also to the meaning of simultaneity. A rather intriguing aspect is the symmetry of the problem. If we consider events A and D we previously saw in the pictures of a light cone, while event A is found within the light cone’s past and event D is found within the light cone’s future, their related actions (the conditional events B and C respectively) may act simultaneously on the events A and D. Thus both the latter events are equally conditional before they are expressed. By this it is meant that we will attribute some temporal aspect to those events after we perceive them. Thus in some sense the future and the past are equivalent conditions which are expressed at the instant, ‘here and now,’ within the context of the extended present. Therefore there may not be any fundamental difference between the past and the future in the universe, although we make the difference for some personal reasons, related to our own memories and wishes.
But it is also probable that the conditional event related to the spontaneous action of the psychic content always plays the role of the past, while the expressed event which is manifested as the result of the psychic action always assumes the role of the future. In such a case the resulting ‘here and now’ will be somewhere in between those two events, while none of them will be found ‘here and now,’ except perhaps another event which appears as our own consciousness. Such an aspect of symmetry may explain in the simplest way both why events in the universe seem to come in pairs of virtual and real partners, and why we are able to perceive the same events. In such a sense our own consciousness will be found in between the two past-like and future-like events, standing on its imposing frame of reference at present, while projecting its own contents as images and real objects in its extended present.
But while all events which may take place within our own extended sphere of consciousness exist as images or conditions, we never seem to mistaken a certain manifested ‘memory’ of our past for a corresponding ‘hope’ of our future. If we assume that all our wishes are personalized aspects of archetypal actions which take place in the universe on the large scale then our memories will also be the manifested effects of the same global actions on a personal level. The fact that our own memories do not get ‘mixed up’ with those of another person may not be as self-evident as it may seem, and occasionally our own thoughts in general may interfere with those of other people in a similar way interference patterns are produced in wave theory and holography. The hint is that we never know about such collective patterns which interfere with our personality before they are expressed within our own thoughts. Thus we always take our memories, wishes, and the whole set of aspects which constitute our own self for granted.
Perhaps while the conditions are universal, the manifestations are unique. Still how the universe keeps the same order of events so that we never grow younger, or rivers never flow upwards, refers to a mechanism whose exact processes remain a mystery. Entropy may explain the problem from a physicist’s point of view. But the loss of organization (which is entropy) should lead to self-repairing mistakes in the universe more and more often. It is also probable that entropy, if we would like to keep the term, refers not the loss of information but to misplacements of information during its recombination. Therefore an aspect which may be directly opposed to entropy is intelligence as a property of temporal and spatial attribution and reorganization. Thus Consciousness on a universal scale may be recognized as the agent which decides the place and time each event fits into, in the same sense we may deal with some event which doesn’t fit into our own memories or wishes. But while according to standard causality the event is treated as separated in space and time from our own perception, according to an extended meaning of causality the same event takes some place and time at the moment it is perceived, ‘here and now,’ even though all considerations about the event are retrospective. Thus while the Cause can be understood as the spontaneous action which takes place in the universe, and which is directed from the archetypal conditions towards the manifested events, simultaneity refers to the process by which Consciousness organizes the place and time of the events, and also considers the purpose of the actions.
8.6 The holographic principle
The previous picture illustrates in a comprehensive way the fundamentals of the holographic principle:
Is this picture worth a thousand words? According to the Holographic Principle, the most information you can get from this image is about 3 x 10^65 bits for a normal sized computer monitor. The Holographic Principle, yet unproven, states that there is a maximum amount of information content held by regions adjacent to any surface. Therefore, counter-intuitively, the information content inside a room depends not on the volume of the room but on the area of the bounding walls. The principle derives from the idea that the Planck length, the length scale where quantum mechanics begins to dominate classical gravity, is one side of an area that can hold only about one bit of information. The limit was first postulated by physicist Gerard ’t Hooft. It can arise from generalizations from seemingly distant speculation that the information held by a black hole is determined not by its enclosed volume but by the surface area of its event horizon. The term ‘holographic’ arises from a hologram analogy where three-dimension images are created by projecting light though a flat screen. Beware, other people looking at the above image may not claim to see 3 x 10^65 bits- they might claim to see a teapot.
[http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090913.html]
If there is a fundamental length in nature, at least at the quantum level, and each such length squared contains a bit or qubit of information then any object can be represented by the amount of bits it contains. While two objects may have exactly the same number of bits, I guess that the combination of such bits makes the object unique. If the bits are binary, 0 and 1, a unique binary combination of bits will be the object. Information is measured in bits, and information is also related to energy and mass through the notion of entropy. Thus the energy content of an object is nothing else than the information it contains, and that information characterizes the identity of the object. Then the entropy may be related to the energy content of the object which has been ‘organized’ or expressed. In such a sense we might expect the entropy level to decrease from highly chaotic phenomena such as psychic contents or drives towards the expressed objects or events. Black holes for example may be considered as highly entropic objects since most if not all of their contents are hidden, thus not manifested and randomly distributed.
A short and coherent definition of the holographic principle is as follows:
The holographic principle is a mathematical principle that the total information contained in a volume of space corresponds to an equal amount of information contained on the boundary of that space. This dependence of information on surface area, rather than volume, is one of the key principles of black hole thermodynamics.
[http://physics.about.com/od/physicsetoh/g/holoprinciple.htm]
The holographic principle solves the black hole information paradox by assuming that the information which is lost behind the event horizon of the black hole can be represented by an equal amount of information which lies on the event horizon of the black hole, and which can be retrieved by measuring the fluctuations of the event horizon, according to string theory.
We have previously mentioned the equivalence between two different or opposite descriptions- we may either consider the black hole’s singularity projecting its manifested contents upon the event horizon, or the event horizon as the only existent object which projects both the images of objects and the real objects on either side. However a holographic projection should include both the hologram and the projector. While we have argued in this discussion that the projector is the archetype (each archetype vibrates or projects its own contents), the process by which such a projection is materialized into the everyday world, as well as the nature of the archetypes themselves, is yet unknown. If the ‘real object’ is nothing else than the ‘entanglement’ of consciousness with the psychic content (so that the mind perceives the image of the content as a real object) then perhaps the whole process in nothing more than an infinite feedback loop, a process of projection and reflection, between the manifested object and the condition which created the object. In such a sense the physical concept of a hologram is closely related to the context of the mind and consciousness, even if we are not as advanced as a species (or it is objectively impossible) to perceive the contents of our own consciousness per se.
[http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v306/n2/box/scientificamerican0212-30_BX2.html]
This is a nice picture concerning the holographic principle. The light cone which contains the information about the falling apple expands from a single point on the apple until it reaches the walls of the room, where the information about the falling apple is encoded. Inversely we may say that each point on the walls of the room can be seen as containing the information about the ‘falling apple’ so that a ‘real apple’ will appear or be projected as falling in the 3-D space of the room.
Perhaps both processes are necessary for the phenomenon to manifest itself and be perceived. If this is true then if the camera in the picture with the falling apple stands for our own eyes or for a region in our brain where the falling apple is perceived, it seems that as soon as the light from the falling apple reaches our eyes, the virtual rays from our own eyes reach the apple. Thus the image of the falling apple inside our mind would have been implied and created at the same moment the falling apple appeared as a true object in physical space. Therefore, as the last picture depicts, the original projection which includes the object (the falling apple) and its image is inverted, or reflected, and perceived upon the holographic surface of our own brain.
The idea that the whole universe may be a hologram was put forward by David Bohm in his book ‘Wholeness and the implicate order:’ “There is the germ of a new notion of order here. This order is not to be understood solely in terms of a regular arrangement of objects or as a regular arrangement of events. Rather, a total order is contained, in some implicit sense, in each region of space and time.” He also asked us to consider the possibility that “physical law should refer primarily to an order of undivided wholeness in a content of description similar to that indicated by the hologram rather than to an order of analysis of such content into separate parts.”
Here’s another example from Bohm’s book, described in his own words:
‘‘A more striking example of implicate order can be demonstrated in the laboratory, with a transparent container full of a very viscous fluid, such as treacle, and equipped with a mechanical rotator that can ‘stir’ the fluid very slowly but very thoroughly. If an insoluble droplet of ink is placed in the fluid and the stirring device is set in motion, the ink drop is gradually transformed into a thread that extends over the whole fluid. The latter now appears to be distributed more or less at ‘random’ so that it is seen as some shade of grey. But if the mechanical stirring device is now turned in the opposite direction, the transformation is reversed, and the droplet of dye suddenly appears, reconstituted.
When the dye was distributed in what appeared to be a random way, it nevertheless had some kind of order which is different, for example, from that arising from another droplet originally placed in a different position. But this order is enfolded or implicated in the ‘grey mass’ that is visible in the fluid. Indeed, one could thus ‘enfold’ a whole picture. Different pictures would look indistinguishable and yet have different implicate orders, which differences would be revealed when they were explicated, as the stirring device was turned in a reverse direction…
Suppose, then, that after thus ‘enfolding’ a large number of droplets, we turn the stirring device in a reverse direction, but so rapidly that the individual droplets are not resolved in perception. Then we will see what appears to be a ‘solid’ object (e.g. a particle) moving continuously through space. This form of a moving object appears in immediate perception primarily because the eye is not sensitive to concentrations of dye lower than a certain minimum, so that one does not directly see the ‘whole movement’ of the dye. Rather, such perception relevates a certain aspect. That is to say, it makes this aspect stand out ‘in relief’ while the rest of the fluid is seen only as a ‘grey background’ within which the related ‘object’ seems to be moving.’’
We have mentioned earlier the fish symbol according to Jung’s narration. Here the fish is represented by a wave interference pattern according to Bohm’s description. Thus the question arises, ‘what is a fish,’ and ‘where is the fish to be found.’ The answer may seem unintuitive but the explanation can be based on the function of our brain as our own thought may conceive. If the ‘fish’ appears as a specific combination of interference patterns, those patterns are presumably produced by the vibrations of archetypes. Each archetype stands for a certain action, which can be perceived by the senses with a corresponding shape, and can also be linked with an aspect of our emotional sphere. Thus any ‘fish’ will stand for both a certain shape perceived by the senses as physical, and a content felt by our psyche as an emotion. In fact any physical object triggers at the same time an emotional response. But such a coincidence cannot be understood if we are not aware that the physical and the emotional (thus psychic) world are two aspects of the same underlying principle, the archetypes. If we get used to such an idea then apparently our mentality as a species will remarkably change, while any mathematical description of the unified phenomenon will follow as a natural consequence.
According to Wikipedia, an average human brain has a mass of 1.5 kg and a volume of 1260 cm³. If the brain is approximated by a sphere then the radius will be 6.7 cm. The informational Bekenstein bound will be ≈ 2.6 x 10^42 bit and represents the maximum information needed to perfectly recreate an average human brain down to the quantum level.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bekenstein_bound]
In his 2003 article published in Scientific American magazine, Jacob Bekenstein speculatively summarized a current trend started by John Archibald Wheeler, which suggests scientists may ‘regard the physical world as made of information, with energy and matter as incidentals.’ Bekenstein asks, could we, as William Blake memorably penned, ‘see a world in a grain of sand,’ or is that idea no more than ‘poetic license,’ referring to the holographic principle.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_principle]
Brian Greene in his 2011 book, ‘The Hidden Reality,’ suggests a tightly-interlocked Holographic Multiverse:
“The holographic principle envisions that all we experience may be fully and equivalently described as the comings and goings that take place at a thin and remote locus. It says that if we could understand the laws that govern physics on that distant surface, and the way phenomena there link to experience here, we would grasp all there is to know about reality.”
[https://yetemonamonew.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/the-hidden-reality2.pdf]
We may therefore say that,
- All the experience we have about the physical world can be seen as the result of a projection of the archetypal contents upon a holographic surface in space.
On the personal level this surface represents the boundary of the human psyche, while on a universal scale it can be identified with the cosmological event horizon. In a more general sense we may suppose that the whole universe is filled with the actions of archetypes, and that those actions interfere in the form of wave patterns. The points or nodes of interference are the places where the physical objects are manifested, while the objects are simultaneously integrated with the senses. We may say that the senses are the same as the vibrations of the archetypes which come both in shape (physical perception) and in content or ‘color’ (psychic perception or emotion). This way mentality or intelligence cannot be treated as separated from either the physical object or the emotional aspect. Let us remember that a ‘fish’ (or any other ‘object’) may not exist if it is not experienced at the same time. Thus, without even realizing it, the ‘fish’ has always existed as a psychic content ‘dressed’ with some tangible shape to be perceived.
Therefore if we treat reality and the whole universe as a gigantic hologram, while each point of this hologram may contain the information about the whole, each point may express a certain arrangement of all possible combinations, objectified or personified as an object or a life form. While each individual object may be a miniscule universe on its own, at the limits of its own ‘sphere of influence,’ where the object’s event horizon lies, the object comes in contact with any other object in the universe, through the wave packets of information which break upon the event horizon of the object. If such an object is a living entity then the event horizon is the limit of the entity’s own psyche, and this is the area where the personal psychic contents interact with any other content in the environment reaching the entity. Consequently while our own psyche reflects on its event horizon all the information we carry as individual living beings, at the same time it absorbs all the information which reaches us from the environment and the extremities of the universe. What we truly are is apparently the summary of our own personal traits and the demands of the actions which take place all across the universe.
8.7 The mirror
A gravitational lens refers to a distribution of matter (such as a cluster of galaxies) between a distant source and an observer, which is capable of bending the light from the source, as it travels towards the observer.
[http://www.cfhtlens.org/public/what-gravitational-lensing]
A phenomenon closely related to the meaning of event horizons and the holographic principle is gravitational lensing. The distortion of interstellar images helps scientists discover the presence and properties of what is called dark matter. This perhaps could be an excellent representative of the psychic contents on the cosmic scale, with dark energy representing the corresponding instinctual ‘dark’ drives. But the problem of the psyche does not consist of what isn’t yet explained by standard physical theories. Whatever dark matter is, the problem is still the same: we don’t yet know what common matter is. Basically matter consists of those properties which can turn things from abstract notions to tangible objects. Energy is what ‘moves’ during this process. But we see that there is nothing concrete in the whole definition. Even the most tangible aspect of all, the sense of touch, is a feeling, therefore it is a psychic content, expressed after a nerve signal is given, processed by the brain, but experienced by the soul. I may therefore imagine that in the future scientists will be able to reproduce all sensory experiences (even pain) by causing changes on the aura of the human body.
As far as gravitational lensing is concerned, there is a close relationship to vision. The way matter or black holes in the universe may distort the images of other celestial objects is similar to the way vision works, even without the interference of cosmological event horizons. A key notion here is localization. Even if an event horizon has infinite curvature it may be perceived locally as a line, if the horizon stretches to infinity. Furthermore lenses have the same effect as gravity in the sense that they distort images but because of properties other than mass. Telescopes bring images of distant celestial objects closer not by attracting them but by being able to concentrate all the information related to the objects, concealed in the light. However it is remarkable that the image is reproduced not distorted or blurred in some sense but in perfect detail. Somehow lenses perform both operations- distorting and restoring the images, while gravity only distorts. Therefore it would be interesting to wonder if gravity is just a side- effect of gravitational lensing (thus a purely optical phenomenon). We may therefore equivalently say that light bends space-time.
Thus we may suspect that there exists some principle of equivalence between moving light and curvature of space-time. We may also imagine some highly energetic laser beam concentrated on some region of space creating locally a black hole. In some sense we may say that information is intrinsically related to gravity, since the event horizon both gravitates and contains the information. This is similar to what has been implied in this conversation- that, after all, light not only ‘illuminates’ but also creates the ‘shadows.’ But what we have also inferred in this discussion is that light is somehow related to the expression of Consciousness. Thus if light per se is the Light of Consciousness, it will finally be Consciousness which bends space-time.
Such a deduction is not far- fetched if we consider the fact that all information about actions in the universe is transmitted to us in the form of light. Such information may be either visible (in the form of light frequencies we can see), or more generally ‘knowledgeable’ (in the form of nerve pulses we perceive with our brain). Thus in some sense everything we know is found within the event horizon of our own consciousness, or that the event horizon which represents the surface of Consciousness projects the images which we perceive as objects, full of light, in space and time. Thus the model of a circular or spherical event horizon is equivalent to the infinite surface model, where the event horizon is like a line extending to infinity. In such a case the event horizon is also the singularity. The previous picture depicts this notion in relation to the extended present, which we have already mentioned. Here events A and B are produced symmetrically (simultaneously) on both sides of the horizontal line which represents the ‘hypersurface’ or the horizon of the extended present. Therefore the extended present is an infinite loop at the horizon of which all events may be holographically represented at present. But in this picture event A is not the projection of event B. Instead both events are holographic projections of the event horizon.
Nobody really knows why images are reversed on the retina, only to be reversed again inside the brain. But if we consider the holographic principle this aspect of ‘double reversal’ can be made clearer. Another way to perceive the process of vision is by the ‘mirror paradigm,’ shown in the previous diagram. The horizontal line represents a mirror (which in fact is an event horizon). Point O represents a ‘real image’ (us), while point I represents a ‘virtual image’ (our own image in the mirror). On the personal level, O is a true object, representing whatever we regard as ‘ourselves.’ On the cosmic level, both O and I are projections, on the opposite sides of the holographic surface of the mirror.
The mirror therefore represents a singularity, an infinite loop, which produces a pair of events: an ‘upside- down’ condition, which is then reversed to the ‘right position’ to become actuality. This is similar to entangled virtual pairs with opposite spins. Of course the spins (as all virtual states) are mutually (and at the same time) opposite to each other, but perhaps there’s also some condition in the universe of symmetry breaking so that the ‘correct position’ can be decided afterwards. Such a condition would be compatible with the notion of some ‘preference of quality,’ which has been put forward in this conversation, related to the notion of the Cause, which gives some preferred direction to all actions in the universe. Such an aspect of a fundamentally anisotropic space may also help us explain why we perceive our image in the Mirror as the ‘reflection,’ while, at the same time, we perceive our own inferred presence as the ‘real object.’ However, from the point of view of the Mirror both events are equally ‘things by reflection only.’
So, we may say that,
- The Mirror is the archetype of Projection.
Therefore cosmological phenomena such as gravitational lensing on the large scale may correspond to the way vision and perception operate on the ordinary and personal scale. Perhaps black holes and generally event horizons, instead of hiding contents or distorting objects, give us an opportunity to imply the contents and observe the objects, although ‘shaded’ and distorted. But the effects acted upon the objects we perceive is not due to some defect of our eyes or of the lenses of our instruments, but to the nature of the process. All objects may appear distorted because of the presence of their own event horizon, and are also shaded because of observation. Thus all interactions between things in the universe, as well as the fact that we always perceive things through ‘lenses,’ can be regarded as aspects of processes occurring between mirrors. When we watch ourselves in the mirror, we seldom realize the presence of the mirror. What we may perceive is the reflection, or projection, performed by a fantastic creature (the mirror) upon us. But we may still perceive ourselves with eyes closed. Still we need an ‘internal mirror’ by which the projection of our own selves can be made. Each time the projected image is returned or reflected back to us as our ‘real selves,’ while the answer to the question which of the two versions is the ‘original’ becomes an obsession fluctuating in the comparison.
8.8 The human condition
The human condition I, 1933, Rene Magritte
According to Wikipedia, the human condition involves all aspects which define human existence. The notion is also related to that of human self-reflection, as the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_condition]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_self-reflection]
The human condition can be seen as the generalization of the anthropic principle, including not only the fine- tuning of biological life with the physical constants of nature, but also the coincidence between human intelligence and natural cause. It is not just the mechanical process of ‘placing ourselves in the position of others.’ More essentially it has to do with the knowledge of finding our place in the universe, and, at the same time, being aware of our own presence. This process is similar to a self- referring mechanism during which knowledge is gathered about the process itself in each successive loop. To find our place and realize our own selves may seem impossible, because we should repeatedly ‘twist around’ in a spiral orbit until we reach a point of infinite density at the center, thus turning ourselves into a singularity. But perhaps this is what we truly are- impossible objects in the form of a ‘psychic singularity,’ radiating outwards our own image, which, by retrospection, or introspection, returns to us in the form of real experience. Thus we may say that,
- What lies between physical phenomena and our perception about the same phenomena is our own existence.
This is implied in Magritte’s previous painting. The canvas of the painting fills in the missing part of the landscape which is hidden behind the canvas. The canvas represents an object which interferes with the environment but at the same time becomes part of it. In fact we may treat all objects in a similar way. They hide inside them the part of the universe which we assume after we leave all other things aside. Probably this is the best definition of emptiness. However such a definition refers to the object which is missing, not to some empty space left behind. Even if we remove the object from the scene, its absence will remain at the same place where the object used to be as a point of reference. Therefore the true place of the object has always been our own memories, while at the same time its ‘absence’ defines our existence (as we are what is left if we omit all other things). Thus while existence is inferred with respect to the object, experience is equally implicate with respect to our memories which recreate the same object by retrospection. The object in Magritte’s painting is the canvas itself. But instead of an object which is found ‘outside,’ separated from us, it becomes a mirror which reflects our own perspective both inwards and outwards. Such an object can be identified with Consciousness. If we remove the canvas there will be no painting. Still we will be left with the latest impression of the picture.
The human condition II, Rene Magritte, 1935
In another version of the ‘Human condition,’ which is shown in the previous painting, the implied image is the castle which is revealed through the transparent canvas of the painter. However we may become aware of the ‘real castle’ only after we have perceived the implied representation (the ‘painted castle’). While the cave may represent the cavity of our own soul, the fire which is burning inside the cave may stand for all the vibrant psychic contents yet to be expressed. One may say that the canvas is redundant in this painting in the sense that if we remove the canvas then the castle will still be there. But if we remove the canvas the painting will also disappear, thus also the castle. We may therefore say that ‘the fire is burning in the castle of our soul.’ But in the previous phrase the fire is unexpressed while the castle is yet to manifest itself. If the ‘fire’ stands for all unexpressed psychic contents, and the ‘castle’ stands for all corresponding tangible objects, the canvas will be found inbetween the unexpressed condition and the manifested reality of our own existence. Thus the human condition refers to this inseparable aspect or correspondence between the ‘paintings’ of our inner world and those of the outside world. The unique surface which may include both these pictures is the ‘canvas’ of Consciousness.
[http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/plato/caveframes.htm]
In the last version of Magritte’s ‘Human condition’ the fire in the cave reminds of Plato’s ‘Allegory of the cave,’ which is presented by the philosopher in his ‘Republic’ to compare ‘...the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature.’
As Wikipedia narrates, Plato has Socrates describe a gathering of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to designate names to these shadows. The shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall do not make up reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.
The allegory may be related to Plato’s theory of Forms, according to which the ‘Forms’ (or ‘Ideas’/ ‘Archetypes’), and not the material world of change known to us through the senses, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. Only knowledge of the Forms constitutes real knowledge. Socrates informs Glaucon that the most excellent must learn the greatest of all studies, which is to behold the Good. Those who have ascended to this highest level, however, must not remain there but must return to the cave and dwell with the prisoners, sharing in their labors and honors.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave]
It is interesting to note here Magritte’s own view about the ‘Allegory’ of his paintings,
“Questions such as ‘What does this picture mean, what does it represent?’ are possible only if one is incapable of seeing a picture in all its truth, only if one automatically understands that a very precise image does not show precisely what it is. It’s like believing that the implied meaning (if there is one?) is worth more than the overt meaning. There is no implied meaning in my paintings, despite the confusion that attributes symbolic meaning to my painting.
How can anyone enjoy interpreting symbols? They are ‘substitutes’ that are only useful to a mind that is incapable of knowing the things themselves. A devotee of interpretation cannot see a bird; he only sees it as a symbol. Although this manner of knowing the ‘world’ may be useful in treating mental illness, it would be silly to confuse it with a mind that can be applied to any kind of thinking at all.”
[http://www.mattesonart.com/1931-1942-brussels--pre-war-years.aspx]
Perhaps this is one of the best ways to describe the Unity of the Form- that what we think about the world and what the world truly is can be one and the same. This is the ultimate goal when we have grasped the meaning of the human condition. But such a Unity, although pre-existing in each and every one of us, is not ‘self- evident’ if we are not able to describe the ‘Allegory’ of its meaning. This is why Plato stressed the importance of education- to be able not just to rely on instinctive intuition, but also to express and justify knowledge, to be able to acknowledge the implications and the significance of ‘being aware of.’ For Plato this can be done only by recognizing the ‘true object behind the shadows,’ the Idea, or the Form. Thus the Form becomes not just an imaginary symbol which we may play with in our spare time just for fun, but a personalized and objective, fundamental and universal entity, which encompasses our own existence, and which expresses the ‘universal condition.’
So that we may redesign the process as follows,
Homo Sapiens → Sapient Being,
where ‘Sapiens’ (the one who knows) refers not just to ‘Homo’ (the human being) but generally to the ‘Being’ (the ‘On’ in ‘Ontology’). This is why the anthropic principle does not especially refer to ‘anthropos’ (human) but to intelligent life in general.
[https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Embryonic_Development]
We have previously explored the human-like perspective of the anthropic principle, that any intelligent being in the universe will be more or less humanoid, or anthropoid, having a head, legs and arms, eyes and ears, some communication skills, etc. Even if such features are common to many different kinds of animals, there will be certain aspects universally recognizable as human-like. For example, as shown in the previous picture, until the 16th stage (37-42 days) the human embryo seems to have a tail instead of feet. While the cause which transforms the embryo from a ‘salamander’s embryo’ to a human embryo is remarkable on its own, we shouldn’t expect the human embryo to reach an anthropic status without the bipedal adaptation. By making similar assumptions for other features we may finally come up with a human-like being instead of a ‘reptile’ or an ‘aquatic mammal.’ Thus the final form of an intelligent being wherever in the universe will be similar to that of a human being no matter what the intermediate evolutionary stages may be.
[http://bird.cac.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index_e.html]
We have also mentioned other possibilities for the ‘shape’ of intelligent life, or, in general, intelligent existence in the universe, such as that of energetic spheres. Even if we imagine the most abstract shape which intelligence may possibly occupy, still such a lifeform will not be ‘Formless.’ If we try to imagine the structure of such a lifeform based on the expression of archetypes instead of genes then the different parts which constitute the lifeform will be identified with the functions of the archetypes expressing the corresponding parts. Thus the ‘hands,’ ‘feet,’ ‘eyes,’ or ‘brain’ can be seen as properties of a living entity as much abstract or concrete as the ideas or functions which come together. Even our own genes or neurons could be the perceivable manifestations of purely energetic processes, the archetypal actions, which make up our own body and thought. Perhaps the ‘neurons’ we visualize are just the ‘shadows’ of our own pure thoughts, while our biological form is what we can ‘touch’ of our overall Form (the true Human Condition). Thus we may never have overcome the ‘stage of the embryo,’ such as that depicted in the previous picture, so that we may still live in the Mother’s Womb, somewhere inside the maze-like Structure of the Form, folding in our own dreams, wondering about the world outside, someday to be born as true ‘Sapient Beings.’
8.9 Free association and psychic simultaneity
One of the basic assumptions of modern science is that of reproducibility. According to Wikipedia, reproducibility is the ability of an entire experiment or study to be duplicated, either by the same researcher or by someone else working independently. Reproducing an experiment is called replicating it. The basic idea can be seen in Aristotle’s dictum that there is no scientific knowledge of the individual. Thus all knowledge, all science, necessarily involves the formation of general concepts and the invocation of their corresponding symbols.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproducibility]
Aristotle refers to the individual as a Unit, therefore subjective experience cannot be replicated if not communicated beforehand. Thus we necessarily need a common ground on which different opinions may converge, in order to form a common aspect about reality. This is the meaning of the necessity of some general concepts to which we may all refer, as well as some common symbols to express such concepts faster. However the aspect of unanimity in communication does not exclude the existence of the uniqueness of individual views. This makes me think that reproducibility refers to an average, to a final result, which is always the same no matter if the individual parts differ. This is similar to the overall form of the wave-function, about which we have talked before in the paragraph about probabilities. Such a distribution may describe, for example, the intensity of an electric field (such as that in Young’s double-slit experiment). But we have already mentioned the aspect that the electric (or electromagnetic) field of an ‘electron’ (or that corresponding to the common wave-function of an entangled pair of charged particles) does not represent a single ‘point-like electron’ but a collection of objects which we perceive as an ‘electron,’ or as the electric field of an electron. Thus, either the study refers to the behavior of elementary particles or to human individuals, what we reproduce is the overall form of the phenomenon, not its ever-changing structure.
Still this is a general aspect which refers to wholeness. Equivalently we may say that the essence of the world always stays the same, or that the properties of matter, or the archetypes which constitute the Form, remain unchanged. However the axiom of reproducibility may refer not to the uniqueness of an entity but to our ability to predict its behavior. Even if two people behave exactly the same way under certain conditions, these people are not the same. Thus reproducibility may refer to the laws, the underlying principles, according to which different systems behave. Therefore we may say that what we reproduce in experiments is the common patterns of behavior (the archetypes), not the uniqueness of things.
While there may be a set of rules which define reproducibility, here we will do the same for some basic aspects of uniqueness instead,
- All things can be represented by their properties.
- Two (or more) things are different if at least one of their corresponding properties differs.
- Two different things cannot occupy the same position at the same time.
- Thus all things are unique and unrepeatable (since they always occur or they are reproduced in different places and/or at different times).
In the previous article about reproducibility Wikipedia also mentions that the philosopher of science Karl Popper noted briefly in his book ‘The Logic of Scientific Discovery’ that ‘non-reproducible single occurrences are of no significance to science.’
But the problem with the latter statement is that it is unique (thus non-reproducible on its own). In fact the basic aspects of logical deduction are unique themselves. Intuition, creativity, ingenuity, foresight, imagination, all elements which constitute the human intellect are unique, even if we may assume some logical process which unfolds from the logical premises towards the physical world afterhand.
- Deduction is knowledge beforehand; induction is knowledge afterhand.-
[https://www.google.gr/search?q=afterhand&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-ab&gfe_rd=cr&ei=gr08WPPvJ9Cs8we1-5_YDw]
Whatever the direction of a process of thought- either backward or forward- if thought is treated as much as a physical phenomenon or object as any other phenomenon or object, if thought’s basic properties are inferred, instead of being logically deduced (or induced), then intelligence is a non-reproducible phenomenon. This is not to say that intelligence happened once in the history of the universe, or that intelligence cannot be reproduced in the laboratory, but that the behavior of such an object or system cannot be predicted. Thus intelligence is self-evident and non-reproducible. But the problem which arises now is that if intelligence is such, and if intelligence again is the means by which we infer the physical world, then there is no meaning saying that a physical phenomenon is reproducible, since any phenomenon is realized with the help of another phenomenon which is spontaneous and stochastic by nature (intelligence). This way we may begin to suspect that either all phenomena are of the same nature (fundamentally unique and repeatable only under very specific circumstances) or that all phenomena are coupled with a certainly intelligent and highly unpredictable factor (intelligence). Therefore what should really be the point of argument is not if all phenomena may become unpredictable, thus non-repeatable, but why we have assumed the dogma of reproducibility in the first place.
We may also suppose that,
- The same phenomenon under similar conditions may have different behavior.
This raises the question how we might construct an experiment in which, instead of reproducing the same behavior, we ‘encouraged’ the experimented object to manifest a different behavior under similar conditions (thus perhaps revealing a different aspect of the same physical law). For example levitating effects have been reported in experiments with super-conductors. Wikipedia also mentions with respect to irreproducible results the production of excess heat in an electrolysis experiment that could only be explained by a nuclear process (‘cold fusion’). Nobody has been able to replicate the effect ever since. But a century ago flying (with airplanes) was another non-reproducible effect. Probably a hundred years in the future cold fusion will be an everyday reality. Thus the problem is not if an effect is reproducible but if we can replicate the conditions under which the effect can be manifested.
This brings us back to the problem of Consciousness. We have already said that Consciousness is an aspect which emerges during the observing or experimenting process, so that the observer truly interacts with what he/she observes, while neither the object exists before it is observed, nor the observer is conscious before he/she makes the observation. Prior to the experiment both the object (the observed) and the subject (the observer) are ‘fused’ within the Initial Condition, before this entangled psychic pair is split by causality. Therefore, without knowing it, the observer or experimenter predetermines and defines the reproducibility of the event he/she is going to attend to. For example the claim of psychic mediums in experiments that they couldn’t reproduce ‘para-normal’ results due to the negative predisposition of the supervising observers may not be unjustified at all. The psychic medium and the scientific observer become during the experiment parts of the same mind which is going to determine and define the effect. If one half is ‘positive,’ while the other half is ‘negative,’ the final result will be ‘zero.’
Thus we may generalize the meaning of reproducibility, to include the human mind, as follows,
- All phenomena are reproducible if no intelligence is evolved.
- Intelligence is by nature a non-reproducible phenomenon.
- If we replicate intelligence then the product cannot replicate us.
- Reproducibility always refers to the coincidence between the phenomenon and the mind who studies the phenomenon.
- If we include our mind then all phenomena become unique.
[http://www.bioteams.com/2008/06/09/the_networked_enterprise.html]
The significance of the observer in what he/she observes may also be defined in relation to the consistent, thus repeatable, choices which he/she makes during the experiments. In such a sense the reproducibility of physical phenomena is related to or defined by the observer’s ‘qualities of preference.’ A relevant notion is that of observation, or selection, bias. Nick Bostrom explains the notion:
“How big is the smallest fish in the pond? You catch one hundred fishes, all of which are greater than six inches. Does this evidence support the hypothesis that no fish in the pond is much less than six inches long? Not if your net can’t catch smaller fish.
Knowledge about limitations of your data collection process affects what inferences you can draw from the data. In the case of the fish-size-estimation problem, a selection effect- the net’s sampling only the big fish- vitiates any attempt to extrapolate from the catch to the population remaining in the water. Had your net instead sampled randomly from all the fish, then finding a hundred fishes all greater than a foot would have been good evidence that few if any of the fish remaining are much smaller.”
[http://www.anthropic-principle.com/]
Bostrom refers to the human factor which affects in a decisive and irreversible way what we observe. Not only we may filter the size of the ‘fish’ we want to ‘measure,’ but also the fish we catch are insufficiently interpreted. In other words it is not only the size of the nets but also their quality. This brings back to my mind Young’s double-slit experiment, where an electron behaves either as particle or as wave, depending on the experimental set up. Here we have not to do with the size but with the form of the ‘fish.’ How many different forms an electron may take, one may wonder, of which one recognizes only two?
But here we reach the problem not of the equipment but of the observer him/her self. He/she may have some free choices concerning the size of his/her nets, but does this leave any choice concerning the interpretation he/she gives about the fish of any size? Reality consists not only of all the fish of the ocean, but also of what we make of any separate set of fish. In order words, is our knowledge unlimited if we use all sizes of nets, or are we doomed to come to incomplete conclusions no matter how big our collection is?
Love song, 1914, Giorgio de Chirico
The importance of the mind in the final outcome of an experiment may also make us think if what is reproduced in experiments is the phenomenon itself or the interpretation we give about the phenomenon. The subjective nature of the way we perceive and give meaning to things is vividly illustrated in de Chirico’s previous painting. In this painting, which by the way can also be seen as a thought experiment, a coincidence is established between apparently irrelevant things, a ball, a glove, the head of a statue, a locomotive on the background, and so on. Even if we might find it hard to reach a common principle which binds these objects together, we must admit that there has to be an element which unifies the picture, otherwise the picture would not have existed. While there isn’t any kind of ‘physical force’ which may bind the objects in the picture together (not even gravity), the objects seem to be connected to each other through meaning, either the meaning refers to some common function of the objects (thus the meaning is of archetypal origin) or to the memories and preferences of the painter. Still in the latter case the common function of the objects, thus their meaning, serves as the common principle which makes the painting perceivable to us, and which also joins the objects of the painting together in our own mind. Therefore we may say that finally Consciousness connects all the objects together, either in the particular painting or in the physical landscape in general.
Slave market with disappearing bust of Voltaire, 1940, Salvador Dali
But the connection which Consciousness establishes between the various objects may often seem strange or contradictory to the physical order of things. A technique which the surrealists used to depict the contradictory or irrelevant element in the processes of our own thought is the ‘double- image’ effect. In Dali’s previous painting Voltaire’s head appears to be composed both of the wall and of parts of other people. We may say that Voltaire’s face represents the manifestation of a super- consciousness which is composed of the minds of different people and of parts of the environment. It has certainly been composed in Dali’s mind as a manifestation of his own image. The effect also brings into mind Jung’s duplication of cases we have already encountered. It is also similar to Pauli’s split of the spectral lines we have also mentioned. But what ‘splits’ in any case is not an ‘atom’ but a ‘psychoid’ factor.
Dali was also the inventor of another method which he called ‘paranoiac- critical method,’ and which he described as a ‘spontaneous method of irrational knowledge based on the critical and systematic objectivity of the associations and interpretations of delirious phenomena.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoiac-critical_method
Perhaps paranoia is nothing else but the result of the contact of the ordinary or untrained mind with the supernatural. But the ‘supernatural’ is nothing else than another aspect or an ‘extra- dimension’ of our own mind. Thus by finding methods to come into gradual contact with the ‘dark’ contents of our unconscious, and manage to extract information from those contents, phenomena which are thought of as ‘delusional’ may prove to be as ordinary as any other phenomenon which is considered ‘physical.’
Perhaps the true problem in instances of psychosis is not the logical inconsistencies or the associative irrelevancies, but the problem of the paranoid person to express such trends. Apparently there are mental disorders which are related to brain damage, not to traumatic experiences. But the malfunction of the brain does not constitute mental illness. In order to be in position to talk about mental problems, we presuppose the aspect of thought, thus of mentality per se, either our own mental attitude agrees or disagrees with that of another person. But again paranoia is not just a social phenomenon. The personality ‘split’ which occurs in cases of mental disorder is a general aspect of nature (see the duplication of cases in psychology, the double image effect in paintings, the split of spectral lines in physics, and so on). Ultimately it is the result of the Projection, as has been defined and described in this conversation, by which thought is produced. Free association in psychanalysis helps us find the deeper causes through dreams and hypnosis, while Jung realized that behind mental problems there are archetypal complexes. It is the coincidence between archetypes and experiences what triggers the expression of the complex and what gives meaning to the experience. The expression also seems able to offer the Cure.
We may now summarize this section as follows:
- All physical phenomena are realized as psychic experiences. Thus any unified theory must find the connecting principle between phenomena and perception. In the theory of the Form a unified theory is also a theory of Consciousness.
- The creation of the universe can only be described as a time machine with the help of which the effect can travel back in time to meet the cause. This way we may say that Consciousness is spontaneously created but retrospectively inspected.
- Equivalently we may say that light travels instantaneously while space and time are given to events ‘afterwards.’ If we relate physical light to the action of Consciousness then it is the ‘entanglement’ of Consciousness with the physical world what gives things space and time, among all other perceivable properties.
- The notion of the extended present helps us perceive the ‘elsewhere’ in relativity as the territory in which all conditions lie, and which are instantaneously entangled with the observer’s (extended) present, even if they will be manifested as real events separated in space and time.
- All objects hide singularities, and all objects are confined by event horizons. The more light we shed to observe an object, the thicker its shadow grows. The blind spot of attention is the black hole of observation.
- The holographic principle resolves the black hole information paradox by assuming that the lost information can be retrieved on the surface of the event horizon of the black hole. If Consciousness is treated as an object with its own event horizon then on the surface of that horizon we may holographically retrieve the hidden contents of our own thought.
- The whole universe can be seen as a gigantic black hole, with all the contents hidden in the singularity projected on the event horizon. Inversely the event horizon can be the only existent object in the universe, projecting its contents on both sides. When we look at the Mirror, the Mirror reflects us.
- The human condition is a generalization of the anthropic principle in the sense that not only intelligent life is fine-tuned with the rhythms of the universe as we know it, but also that we are able to know it. This is the fine-tuning of existence with experience.
- All things are unique and non-repeatable. While logical reasoning deduces the same conclusion, free association infers the same condition.
9. Aspects of consciousness
Here we are going to deal with the following problems,
What is Consciousness?
How does Consciousness arise?
Why Consciousness is important?
What is free will?
and attempt to offer some answers whose consequences we will try to explore,
- Consciousness is the phenomenon which arises ‘by reflection.’
We have already talked about the ‘entanglement’ between the observer and the observed object, so that both the object acquires physical presence and significance, and the observer realizes his/her own ability of perception. Each part of the pair represents one half of the projection-reflection mechanism. The perception of our own existence comes about by reflection, although the outward projection of our thoughts is also necessary so that awareness can be achieved. Thus by ‘reflecting’ we mean both ‘thinking’ and understanding that we are thinking.
The previous syllogism offers both a central definition and a basic description of Consciousness, and also points out the intrinsic importance of the observer (as the one who knows what he/she knows). The problem of free will is going to be the subject of the next paragraph.
An aspect which reveals the secrets lying behind the problem of Consciousness, and may also help us follow the mechanism of the Projection, is that of inertia. A question which can be asked is why we don’t feel the motion when we move on inertial frames of reference. The apparent answer is because we move at the same speed with the frame of reference. In some sense constant speed is equivalent to stillness (inertial frames are those which move with constant speed). Einstein expanded or improved the definition so that, according to general relativity, inertial frames of reference are those in free fall. Thus inertial frames in the universe are those which follow geodesic paths. Perhaps this is why we don’t realize the motion of the Earth, because we are in constant free fall towards the center of the planet.
However during this discussion we have followed the path of Consciousness in the universe, instead of that of ‘gravity.’ We have said that, somehow, Consciousness in the physical universe is manifested in the form of light, and that light may bend space-time in the same way light is bended by space-time curvature. Thus it seems that both space-time and light are aspects of the same wider phenomenon, in the same way the river bed and the water flowing in the river are aspects or ‘properties’ of the same event (the river). It is very likely that in the future both properties (light and space-time) will be explained in the context of the holographic principle, because the event horizon represents both space-time curvature and a natural limit for light. Thus a yet unknown force may unify space-time and light in the same way the law of gravity unifies space-time and mass.
Representation of a spinning black hole: The inner surface is the spherical event horizon, whereas the outer surface is an oblate spheroid. The ergosphere lies between these two surfaces; particles within this ergosphere must co-rotate with the inner mass.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergosphere]
Another interesting phenomenon is the Lense-Thirring effect (or frame-dragging effect). As explained by Wikipedia, frame-dragging is an effect on space-time, predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which is due to rotating distributions of mass-energy. Josef Lense and Hans Thirring predicted that the rotation of a massive object would distort the space-time metric, making the orbit of a nearby test particle precess.
Gravitomagnetic forces produced by the Lense- Thirring effect within the ergosphere of rotating black holes have been used to explain the observed properties of relativistic jets (emitted by the black holes).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame-dragging]
It is interesting to note that the frame- dragging effect may also take place inside rotating (empty) shells. In such a case the gravito-magnetic effect is equivalent to a Coriolis force (the same as the force which affects the direction of water spin down a drain). However in the case of the rotating shell we don’t have to suppose the existence of any mass, because the ‘mass’ can be equivalent to the rotational energy of the (otherwise ‘massless’) shell. Thus what truly causes the displacement (i.e. precession) is an imaginary sphere, or ring (i.e. rotating), which may also be approximated with an event horizon. Such a shell, according to our conversation, can be identified with the outline of the Form, or of Consciousness as the equivalent of the Intelligent Form. Therefore what really causes the precession or displacement is the motion of the Form, whose outlines can be perceived as an event horizon, as the ‘shell’ of our own soul. Thus ‘inertia’ means ‘that which goes together.’ The point here is that, whatever the mechanism which turns the displacement of Consciousness into the motion of physical things, no matter where the observer is found (even if he/she is stationed outside the event horizon), both the observer and the object (the black hole or the shell which causes the precession) are parts of the effect. Thus the event horizon always includes the observer, and always describes the limits of Consciousness.
9.1 The problem of free will
Free will is a tricky subject. While in ancient times people believed that all their actions and all physical events were guided by gods and supernatural forces, nowadays it is believed that, more or less, we are free to do whatever we want, and that we also have the liberty to interpret the physical laws according to our own preferences, or even suppose that we may change these laws. But one may equally say that all previous aspects are simple manifestations of the universal Destiny. No one has ever excluded the possibility that free will on the personal level is an aspect of freedom of Destiny on the global level. The law of probabilities tells us there is always a chance that something may happen (or may not). This is similar to Murphy’s law. But moving away from eternally repeating a mere tautology (‘whatever can happen will happen’) we had better concentrate our efforts on things which may or may not happen. Comparing free will (as personal will) and Destiny (as universal Will), we should consider which aspects of the former may coincide, thus become expressed, with the aspects of the latter. No matter how strongly we may desire something to happen, it won’t happen if some conditions are not met. Thus it is good to know what such conditions may be, as well as being aware of the limits of our own powers.
Such a coincidence between free will on the personal level and the Free Will of the universe (which is personalized as our own destiny) presupposes two different ‘pools’ of information, one of which consists of archetypes, while the other one is composed of memories which define our existence (memories as real events which took place in the past and which constitute the information about our own physical existence). More generally the two pools constitute the two worlds, the physical and the psychic world. The actions flow from the pool of archetypes towards the pool of physical events, so that conditional existence is merged with manifested experience. This process and the final outcome would be impossible without the perquisite of Consciousness, or at least a property of intelligence in the universe, so that the objects which constitute the physical world can fuse with the senses which compose the perception of the same world. Perhaps there is a physical property for each sense.
It is also probable that the best definition of Consciousness ever imagined by a human mind is Einstein’s formula C^2=E/M. Energy (E) may stand for all psychic contents, while mass (M) may represent all physical objects. Then Consciousness may be identified with the speed of light C (here with a capital letter). We have also mentioned the formula Psyche/Physis = Pneuma. The former equation is more quantified, while the latter is, perhaps, more generalized. The former one may calculate how much energy we take by splitting an atom, while the latter gives a hint that the final product is in fact Consciousness.
The previous is an example of ‘qualification,’ instead of ‘quantification.’ Perhaps we need nothing else than to acknowledge such a role of Consciousness in the universal processes. For example one may not need fancy mathematics to be a good driver, even if one drives a spaceship with speeds faster than light. Although mathematics may offer a coherent and rigorous way to communicate and understand the symmetries of the physical world, it seems that they are not able to replicate or reproduce the talent necessary for one to be a good driver, or even for one to break the light barrier, whether one says ‘I have travelled with a speed faster than 3*10^8m/s (the speed of light),’ or ‘I have surpassed my own thoughts.’ Thus the closer the description of some experience gets to the same experience, the more aware we become of what took place.
In the same sense, the more aware we become about our own ability to describe the physical world, the closer we get to the secrets of the senses. The more accurate the description is, the closer we get to the connection between the event which took place and our own perception of the same event. If we consider that the occurrence of events is unrelated to our senses and our own psychic contents then we may never find the link between the expression of physical phenomena and the desires which lie underneath. But if we acknowledge the existence of such a relationship and also suppose that the expression of the archetypal drives is directly manifested to the senses in the form of physical phenomena then we will have reached closer than ever to the meaning of free will. If the Free Will of the archetypal drives is expressed as the independent variables, thus the free choices, of a universal experiment concentrated on the human senses then we may consider our personal experience as a unique event of Chance, which is consistently retrieved in memory, even if it doesn’t turn out to be as expected. Therefore we may say that the actions of Destiny on the universal scale are the manifestations of free will on the personal scale.
We have previously mentioned the role which the focus of attention (the concentration of Consciousness) may play in the appearance and behavior of physical phenomena. We have mentioned for example that when we focus attention on some part of an object, we create a ‘dark hole,’ or a ‘blind spot,’ at the point of focus. This is perhaps something more than poetic license, if we truly consider the aspect that Consciousness in the universe in some form of energy may act as a singularity, given that a sufficient amount of it (which is equivalent to mass) is concentrated on a small region of space. The notion of Energy is no less hypothetical than the notion of Consciousness, although the latter notion may also include the answer why we know about this. (Thus Consciousness becomes a form of energy which has also the property of self- awareness.)
The effort of attention may be considered a good example of free will, which can be also measurable. When we concentrate perception on what we see or on what we think about, this is a purposeful process, even if attention may have been involuntarily driven by a circumstantial stimulus. Furthermore the ability to concentrate on our own thoughts reveals the aspect of self-awareness, by changing the course of the action, well beyond the world of instincts or of mechanical responses.
The question whether attention is a truly purposeful action or mostly a reaction to external stimuli, is posed by Elizabeth Styles in her book ‘The psychology of attention,’
“Is attention a causal agent or an emergent property? From the way I have been talking about attention, it might sound as if it is a ‘thing’ or a causal agent that ‘does something…’ Of course it might well be that attention is an emergent property; that is it appears to be there, but plays no causal role in information processing. William James pointed out this distinction when he asked “Is attention a resultant or a force?”
[http://www.icarus-counseling.com/information/books/THE%20PSYCHOLOGY%20OF%20ATTENTION%20-%20Elizabeth%20%2855%29/THE%20PSYCHOLOGY%20OF%20ATTENTION%20-%20Elizabeth%20-%20Unknown.pdf]
William James put forward a basic model regarding attention, the spotlight model,
According to this model, attention has a focus, a margin, and a fringe. The focus is an area that extracts information from the visual scene with a high-resolution, the geometric center of which being where visual attention is directed. Surrounding the focus is the fringe of attention, which extracts information in a much more crude fashion (i.e., low-resolution). This fringe extends out to a specified area, and the cut-off is called the margin.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention]
It is interesting to note the similarity of the previous model, concerning attention, with the shape of a wave-function, representing a particle. The particle can be traced at the point where the probability is highest, while its wave-function spreads out ‘on the fringe.’ In a similar sense the object we observe becomes clear at the point where attention focuses, while all other objects in the background are less visible. We may say that the focus of attention can be identified with a particle (or perhaps a Planck particle in the form of a miniscule black hole).
Such an aspect may solve the dilemma whether attention causes or it is caused by the event. From the point of view of Consciousness, since Consciousness is an emergent property, Attention can in fact be what creates the particle at the point of focus. Thus the whole mechanism composes a cause-and-effect infinite loop. This may sound less strange if we consider Attention not just a property of conscious beings but of nature in general. The creation of particles in the vacuum is made by concentrations of energy. Therefore we may ask ourselves what makes the energy concentrate. Thus, what could be the analogue of attention in a psychic context?
The false mirror, Rene Magritte
A closely related notion to that of the attentional spotlight is the blind spot. According to Wikipedia, this is the place in the visual field that corresponds to the lack of light-detecting photoreceptor cells on the optic disc of the retina where the optic nerve passes through the optic disc. Because there are no cells to detect light on the optic disc, the corresponding part of the field of vision is invisible. Some process in our brains interpolates the blind spot based on surrounding detail and information from the other eye, so we do not normally perceive the blind spot.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_spot_%28vision%29]
Attention is certainly an active process. No matter if the object which draws attention is external, we have to focus attention on the object to perceive it. Therefore, to answer the previous question if attention is a resultant or a force, attention is a response to some ‘force,’ but it is also intention to understand the meaning of the event. If we try to make a comparison between the blind spot of vision and black holes in cosmology, in the case of black holes the process of attention is indirect- the object does not ‘draw attention’ but instead it swallows information. But the human eye does exactly the same thing. It mechanically receives information about the surrounding objects, while it may not get the picture of its own form. Therefore, as Magritte’s previous painting suggests, the eye is like a black hole in the sky of its own visual field. Consequently it may not be so far- fetched to make the comparison that the blind spot of attention represents a black hole.
Thus the Eye becomes an object with a singularity at the center and some shape described at the fringes of its event horizon. Such an object could be seen as the ‘Eye of God,’ or simply Consciousness. The aspect that attention has a singularity (blind spot, or focus) at the center, an event horizon (margin), and a fringe (the area between the event horizon and the singularity) also reminds us of the holographic principle and the basic idea of Projection. It seems that each object has a hidden part as a consequence of its own manifestation, in the same sense that a black hole becomes visible by its own implication. In fact what we perceive as (the essence of) an object is not found at the focus of attention (the blind spot) but in the fringe, in the same way that the meaning of a word is revealed by other words in a sentence. Probably this is why it is impossible to apprehend an object if, at the same time, we don’t have some idea about the background, or perhaps about the rest of the universe.
This is apparently why Consciousness rises both by focused attention and by unconscious inference. But if we consider attention as the causal agent then unconscious inference will set up all conditions. This is also why causality is always inferred backwards. But while our own effort of attention seems to offer us a measure of how deliberate our actions may be, the action which originally made the connection with the object of our own attention seems to have come about spontaneously and effortlessly. Thus it may not be possible to define free will independently of such spontaneous unconscious action.
In quantum mechanics the aspect of free will is related to the free choices made by the observer. This aspect is analyzed in a study written by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Henry P. Stapp and Mario Beauregard, with the title, ‘Quantum physics in neuroscience and psychology: a neurophysical model of mind-brain interaction,’
“Neuropsychological research on the neural basis of behavior generally posits that brain mechanisms will ultimately suffice to explain all psychologically described phenomena. This assumption stems from the idea that the brain is made up entirely of material particles and fields, and that all causal mechanisms relevant to neuroscience can therefore be formulated solely in terms of properties of these elements. Thus, terms having intrinsic mentalistic and/or experiential content (e.g. ‘feeling’, ‘knowing’ and ‘effort’) are not included as primary causal factors. This theoretical restriction is motivated primarily by ideas about the natural world that have been known to be fundamentally incorrect for more than three-quarters of a century. Contemporary basic physical theory differs profoundly from classic physics on the important matter of how the consciousness of human agents enters into the structure of empirical phenomena. The new principles contradict the older idea that local mechanical processes alone can account for the structure of all observed empirical data. Contemporary physical theory brings directly and irreducibly into the overall causal structure certain psychologically described choices made by human agents about how they will act. This key development in basic physical theory is applicable to neuroscience, and it provides neuroscientists and psychologists with an alternative conceptual framework for describing neural processes. Indeed, owing to certain structural features of ion channels critical to synaptic function, contemporary physical theory must in principle be used when analyzing human brain dynamics. The new framework, unlike its classic-physics-based predecessor, is erected directly upon, and is compatible with, the prevailing principles of physics. It is able to represent more adequately than classic concepts the neuroplastic mechanisms relevant to the growing number of empirical studies of the capacity of directed attention and mental effort to systematically alter brain function.”
As this study explains, there are three basic quantum-like processes related to the effort of attention; von Neumann’s process 1 selects from all possible sources the one which attention will pick out; then there is the purely mechanical process, called process 2, by which parts of the brain are activated. The third process is nature’s choice between ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ Nature’s choice conforms to a statistical rule, but the agent’s choice is, within contemporary quantum theory, a ‘free choice.’
The study also refers to modern experiments which show changes in the brain caused by the mental effort of the subject. This is related to the neural activity on the ion channels of the brain,
“At their narrowest points, calcium ion channels are less than a nanometer in diameter. This extreme smallness of the opening in the calcium ion channels has profound quantum mechanical implications. The narrowness of the channel restricts the lateral spatial dimension. Consequently, the lateral velocity is forced by the quantum uncertainty principle to become large. This causes the quantum cloud of possibilities associated with the calcium ion to fan out over an increasing area as it moves away from the tiny channel to the target region where the ion will be absorbed as a whole, or not absorbed at all, on some small triggering site.
This spreading of this ion wave packet means that the ion may or may not be absorbed on the small triggering site. Accordingly, the contents of the vesicle may or may not be released. Consequently, the quantum state of the brain has a part in which the neurotransmitter is released and a part in which the neurotransmitter is not released. This quantum splitting occurs at every one of the trillions of nerve terminals. This means that the quantum state of the brain splits into a vast host of classically conceived possibilities, one for each possible combination of the release-or-no-release options at each of the nerve terminals. In fact, because of uncertainties on timings and locations, what is generated by the physical processes in the brain will be not a single discrete set of non-overlapping physical possibilities but rather a huge smear of classically conceived possibilities.”
The manifestation of attention in the physical brain can be also shown by the quantum Zeno effect, according to which attention seems to delay the evolution of messages at neuronal synapses,
“This effect gives a name to the fact that repeated and closely spaced observational acts can effectively hold the ‘Yes’ feedback in place for an extended time-interval that depends upon the rapidity at which the process 1 actions are happening. According to our model, this rapidity is controlled by the amount of effort being applied. In our notation, the effect is to keep the ‘Yes’ condition in place longer than would be the case if no effort were being made. This ‘holding’ effect can override very strong mechanical forces arising from process 2. The ‘Yes’ states are assumed to be conditioned by training and learning to contain the template for action which if held in place for an extended period will tend to produce the intended experiential feedback. Thus, the model allows intentional mental efforts to tend to bring intended experiences into being.”
The study also mentions passages from William James’ ‘Psychology: the briefer course.’ In the final section of the chapter on attention, James writes:
“I have spoken as if our attention were wholly determined by neural conditions. I believe that the array of things we can attend to is so determined. No object can catch our attention except by the neural machinery. But the amount of the attention which an object receives after it has caught our attention is another question. It often takes effort to keep the mind upon it. We feel that we can make more or less of the effort as we choose. If this feeling be not deceptive, if our effort be a spiritual force, and an indeterminate one, then of course it contributes coequally with the cerebral conditions to the result. Though it introduces no new idea, it will deepen and prolong the stay in consciousness of innumerable ideas which else would fade more quickly away.”
[http://www-physics.lbl.gov/~stapp/PTRS.pdf]
Perhaps the previous study gives clues about how the mind interacts with the brain, and even alters the brain functions, but again the problem how emotional experience arises in the brain remains unsolved. This has more generally to do with the mind- body problem. According to Wikipedia,
The mind- body problem is the problem of explaining how mental states, events and processes like beliefs, actions and thinking- are related to the physical states, events and processes, given that the human body is a physical entity and the mind is non-physical.
The problem was addressed by Rene Descartes in the 17th century, resulting in Cartesian dualism, and by pre-Aristotelian philosophers, in Avicennian philosophy, and in earlier Asian traditions. A variety of approaches have been proposed. Most are either dualist or monist. Dualism maintains a rigid distinction between the realms of mind and matter. Monism maintains that there is only one unifying reality, substance or essence in terms of which everything can be explained.
Each of these categories contain numerous variants. The two main forms of dualism are substance dualism, which holds that the mind is formed of a distinct type of substance not governed by the laws of physics, and property dualism, which holds that mental properties involving conscious experience are fundamental properties, alongside the fundamental properties identified by a completed physics. The three main forms of monism are physicalism, which holds that the mind consists of matter organized in a particular way; idealism, which holds that only thought truly exists and matter is merely an illusion; and neutral monism, which holds that both mind and matter are aspects of a distinct essence that is itself identical to neither of them.
The absence of an empirically identifiable meeting point between the non-physical mind and its physical extension has proven problematic to dualism and many modern philosophers of mind maintain that the mind is not something separate from the body. These approaches have been particularly influential in the sciences, particularly in the fields of sociobiology, computer science, evolutionary psychology, and the neurosciences.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_problem]
I believe that the mind- body problem has already been addressed in this study by suggesting a one- to- one correspondence between psychic aspects and physical properties. I would say that the theory of the Form is neither ‘dualistic’ nor ‘monistic,’ but ‘holistic.’ The key point is to understand that the material world (what we can grasp with our own hands) and the abstract world (what we can ‘grasp’ with the mind) correspond to different levels of frequencies which our soul can tune in with. For beings with more subtle souls (tuned in higher frequencies), colors for example might be as tangible as the colored objects. The aura of the soul, the event horizon of our own existence, hiding our own singularity, describes the outline of our true Form, while all objects and events we experience are the expressions of archetypes, the basic structures of the Form. This may be all that exists.
As far as attention is concerned, it is interesting to note the possible connection between the effort of attention and the creation of space- time as it is physically perceived. Matter as we know it can be nothing else than concentrations of energy created by the effort of attention, while the latter can be perceived as a causal agent of Consciousness. The difference between the ‘materialized’ object and the ‘concentrated’ energy perhaps is fundamentally that Consciousness is an Object of its own effort of attention. Thus a glass of water for example, as a product of condensed matter, is no different than a ‘glass of water,’ as a product of focused attention in our mind. The spatial distance we perceive is equal to the difference between the ‘object per se’ and ‘the object observed.’ Thus the true distance is found in the Space- Time of Consciousness. So that free choices, as the physical variables the observer uses to measure the position of the object in external space, are directly related to the rates of activity inside his/her brain, while he/she makes the observation. But both the collection of neurons activated in the observer’s mind, and the conglomeration of particles which participate in the manifestation of the observed object, are functions of the same projected archetype.
The distinction between free will and free choice can be further illustrated with the prisoner’s paradigm, or prisoner’s paradox, which is one of my own conceptions, and it is quite different (although there are some analogies) from the prisoner’s dilemma in game theory. As far as the latter is concerned, Wikipedia describes it as follows,
Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary confinement with no means of communicating with the other. The prosecutors lack sufficient evidence to convict the pair on the principal charge. They hope to get both sentenced to a year in prison on a lesser charge. Simultaneously, the prosecutors offer each prisoner a bargain. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to: betray the other by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. The offer is:
If A and B each betray the other, each of them serves 2 years in prison.
If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve 3 years in prison (and vice versa).
If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve 1 year in prison (on the lesser charge).
It is implied that the prisoners will have no opportunity to reward or punish their partner other than the prison sentences they get, and that their decision will not affect their reputation in the future. Because betraying a partner offers a greater reward than cooperating with him, all purely rational self-interested prisoners would betray the other, and so the only possible outcome for two purely rational prisoners is for them to betray each other. The interesting part of this result is that pursuing individual reward logically leads both of the prisoners to betray, when they would get a better reward if they both kept silent. In reality, humans display a systematic bias towards cooperative behavior in this and similar games, much more so than predicted by simple models of ‘rational’ self-interested action.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma]
The prisoner’s dilemma stresses the difference between logic (in the form of game theory) and common experience (in the form of social behavior). We always tend to form alliances against a common enemy. But this is also logical. In the case of the prisoners, if they betray each other then they will serve more sentence than if they remain silent. Therefore the third possibility (that of a single betrayer) tends to fade away in the overall distribution of probabilities. Thus the original dilemma is based on wrong assumptions (that humans are fundamentally immoral).
As far as my own prisoner’s paradigm, or prisoner’s paradox, the dilemma is rather different. We may describe it as follows,
A single individual (the ‘prisoner’) is offered two possibilities,
Either he/she will accept a life in a prison (which by the way can be sufficiently big and full of all kinds of luxury);
Or he/she will be given a completely free life, without the obligation of obeying any rules, but with the consequence of having to take care for his/her own survival.
The paradox is that although the aspect of living completely free sounds more alluring or logical, most people choose the ‘prison’ as the most reasonable or desirable alternative. We may simply say that most people choose conformity instead of insecurity, a choice which may also seem reasonable. This is also related to the ‘free choices’ of the observer, in which case he/she is the prisoner making the choices concerning the experiment of his/her own life. In what degree free choices may alter our lives and change the path of Destiny? I would say that we may be able to choose from a set of alternatives, but the meaning of life and the truth of destiny, within the confinement of our own soul, describe the shape of the Prison, and the limits of Freedom. In other words, a totally free- life is impossible if we don’t have a measure of freedom. But the measure describes the properties and the limits. This does not mean that the limits cannot expand. If we identify Will with the Cause of the Form, we may also say that the aforementioned Von Neumann’s connection between the subject and nature is always mutual. Similarly to Newton’s third law of action- reaction, we may say that,
- Changes which take place in our mind correspond to changes which take place in the Universal Consciousness.
The previous sentence assumes a Causal Factor; the changes on the personal level have to be conscious, while the effects of Consciousness (in the form of the collective unconscious) upon us are to be regarded as probabilistic, or conditional (thus involuntary). This is the meaning of the ‘quality of preference’ which has been put forward in this discussion, which may also be represented by some physical variable in experiments related to the observer, and which also guaranties that the process (which we name causality) is unidirectional so that the established facts may never turn into conditions again. However if we include both voluntary and involuntary actions into the same framework (that of the Complete Form, or Consciousness), we may say that the established facts, or the manifested objects, also reflect themselves back onto the conditional level, as ideas. Thus the whole process is truly bicausal, establishing the connection, or coincidence, between our own free choices and the answers of nature’s Will.
9.2 Emergence of consciousness
We may say that,
- From our frame of reference, we perceive our image reflected by the mirror.
- From the point of view of the mirror, the mirror projects our own reflection.
Thus, both ways,
- The image we project on the Mirror is reflected back on us.
The Mirror represents the surface of Consciousness. Thus,
- The Mirror is the Projector.
But the Projection has its own limits. These are the limits of the infinite loop which was spontaneously produced by the Projection. On these limits, which may also be seen as an event horizon, the Reflection takes place. Thus,
- Consciousness emerges at the point where the Projection and the Reflection meet each other.
At this point we may say that,
- Consciousness is observing its Self.
The previous schemes are ways to describe the elusive processes of thought, thus of Consciousness, and how it can be possible that ‘we know what we know.’ Such a double process can only be understood by ‘thinking what we are thinking,’ thus by self-observation. Therefore our own thought should not be considered strange to us, or separate from us, when we place our own thought at some distance from us so that we are able to observe it. However if at the same time we have no awareness that both our thought ‘inside us’ and the thought ‘out there,’ which we perceive as an eternal object, are one and the same then knowledge is impossible. Such a process repeatedly takes place each time we watch something but at the same time we know we are watching. It is truly fantastic a process, but its unreal character is not due to its remarkable nature, since one way or the other this is how nature fundamentally works, but to the elusiveness of its double character. Each time we think about this process again and again, for a moment we may realize what is going on, but a moment afterwards the realization evaporates.
Pauli made a preliminary remark about how Consciousness emerges (in the discussion about spectral lines we mentioned earlier). The ‘mass (or energy) number’ which, according to him, corresponds to the ‘level of consciousness,’ is a measure of how much Consciousness perceives its own materialized manifestation, while such mass or energy numbers directly refer to the emerging psychic contents.
Therefore we may say that the products of the Projection are the aspects we perceive by the Reflection. Our own thoughts are Reflections projected by the Universal Consciousness. When we move along the street, we perceive the objects coming towards us as if we stood still. In a similar way the future comes to us, as Conditions are expressed, while we think ourselves moving towards the future. At the same time the everyday objects which we touch, together with our own thoughts we grasp, are manifested. The things we certainly know about belong to the past, as they are left behind in the ‘Shadows.’ Reversing the process, we become aware that the ‘Dark Side’ of our own self is manifested as we move forward towards the future we build. Merging the two processes, the unknown future and the forgotten past meet at a singularity in the present.
Another way to perceive the infinite loop within which Consciousness rises is by the symbol of the Ouroboros. According to Crystalinks, the Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; (oura) meaning ‘tail’ and (boros) meaning ‘eating,’ thus ‘he who eats the tail.’
The Ouroboros represents the perpetual cyclic renewal of life and infinity, the concept of eternity and the eternal return, and represents the cycle of life, death and rebirth, leading to immortality. The current mathematical symbol for infinity may be derived from a variant on the classic Ouroboros with the snake looped once before eating its own tail, and such depictions of the double loop as a snake eating its own tail are common today in fantasy art and fantasy literature, though other conjectures also exist. It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting before any beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished. [http://www.crystalinks.com/ouroboros.html]
According to Wikipedia, Plato at his work Timaeus described the ouroboros as the first living thing created in the universe which became the earth itself:
“The living being had no need of eyes because there was nothing outside of him to be seen; nor of ears because there was nothing to be heard; and there was no surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of design he created thus; his own waste providing his own food, and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the movement suited to his spherical form which was designed by him, being of all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and without feet.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros]
The inscription inside the previous figure reads ‘εν το παν’ (en to pan), meaning ‘one is everything.’ ‘En’ in Greek also means ‘inside.’ We should note, with respect to Plato’s previous narration, that the Creator (who created the Ouroboros) is placed outside the Ouroboros, thus there is something found outside the Ouroboros. This way the Ouroboros is not perfect (as absolutely self-sufficient), therefore nor the Creator can be perfect unless He is the Ouroboros. This is a repeated mistake we seem to make as we tend to place what we see or think outside our own thought. In the case of the Ouroboros, it would be as if we perceived the creature separate from us, thus perceiving ourselves outside the Ouroboros. But if we imagine that both us and the Ouroboros, or the ‘Creator’ and the ‘Ouroboros,’ thus both our perception or thought and the object we perceive with our own thought, are included in the same infinite loop, which is the Ouroboros itself, then we come ‘full circle.’ While, on the personal level, this way we become fully aware of the process of our own thought, on a cosmic or collective scale this is how Consciousness emerges, within the unity of the Form.
[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/192599321538994733/]
Another way to describe the infinite loop of the Form and of Consciousness is with the previous U-shaped figure. John Wheeler devised such a figure (a variation of which is shown here), and explained it as follows,
“Symbolic representation of the Universe as a self-excited system brought into being by ‘self-reference.’ The universe gives birth to communicating participators. Communicating participators give meaning to the universe … With such a concept goes the endless series of receding reflections one sees in a pair of facing mirrors.”
[http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/BellsTheorem/BellsTheorem.html]
We have already mentioned the previous link in the paragraph about Bell’s theorem. Perhaps it is noteworthy here to say that the ‘head’ and the ‘tail’ of the previous figure may correspond to the two edges of the universe. If we assume that both these processes, either from the ‘eye’ to the ‘tail,’ or from the ‘tail’ to the ‘eye,’ are actions propagating with the speed of light then it is possible that the universe has not yet acquired knowledge of its own existence. However the whole event as an infinite loop has already taken place. While we may perceive the whole picture, we have no knowledge of all its contents at present. But if the unknown contents, which have been implied to exist, are yet to be expressed then they do not belong either to the past or to the future, nor are they located at a certain distance from us, as both their temporal and spatial aspects will be causally attributed by Consciousness, at the moment when they will be realized.
[http://critical-path.itgo.com/Articlesanscover.html]
According to a theory proposed by Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose, cognition takes place inside the microtubules of neurons, instead on the neurons themselves. As Wikipedia says, Orchestrated objective reduction (Orch-OR) is a hypothesis that consciousness in the brain originates from processes inside neurons, rather than from connections between neurons (the conventional view). The mechanism is held to be a quantum physics process called objective reduction that is orchestrated by molecular structures called microtubules. Objective reduction is proposed to be influenced by non-computable factors imbedded in spacetime geometry which thus may account for the Hard Problem of Consciousness.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestrated_objective_reduction]
A couple of key points of the theory are described by Hammeroff as follows:
The proposed quantum superposition/computation phase in neural microtubules corresponds to preconscious (implicit) processing, which continues until the threshold for Penrose’s objective reduction is reached. Objective reduction (OR)- a discrete event- then occurs, and post-OR tubulin states (chosen non-computably) proceed by classical microtubule automata to regulate synapses and other neural membrane activities. The events are suggested to be conscious (to have qualia, experience) for reasons that relate to a merger of modern physics and philosophical pan-experientialism.
A sequence of such events gives rise to a stream of consciousness. Microtubule quantum states link to those in other neurons and glia by tunneling through gap junctions (or quantum coherent photons traversing membranes). This spread enables macroscopic quantum states in networks of gap junction-connected cells (neurons and glia) throughout large brain volumes.
[http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/sites/default/files/1998%20Hameroff%20Quantum%20Computation%20in%20Brain%20Microtubules%20The%20Penrose%20Hameroff%20Orch%20OR%20model%20of%20consciousness%20-%20Royal%20Society_0.pdf]
This theory relates conditional events which may occur at any time and in every place in the universe (or simultaneously right now within the extended present) to cognition of such events. Quantum decoherence refers to the moment when a certain state (a conditional event) collapses so that it becomes a real event. All such conditional events exist in a state of superposition inside the microtubules of neurons (according to Hamerroff and Penrose), thus all such events are equally possible to become a true experience at a given time. It is interesting to note that all such events are ‘preconscious,’ as Hameroff says, thus unconscious. Consciousness arises at the moment when one such conditional event collapses and becomes real experience.
Still the theory does not explain why the collapsed event is perceived as real by Consciousness. For example if the conditional events are in a state of pure energy (or information) somewhere in the brain, or in the environment of the brain, while the brain is a biological entity, composed of neurons and microtubules, how does the entanglement between matter (the brain) and the mind (not described by Orch-OR) comes about? A possible answer to this question is that the microtubules or the neurons are equally virtual as the rest of the states (the conditional events). Even better we may suggest that the neurons or microtubules are actions (thus conditional events themselves). At the moment decoherence occurs, which in this discussion has been called projection, the neuron and the physical object are manifested simultaneously. Thus each neuron (as a psychic content) can be related to a different experience (as a physical object). In such a sense neurons can be seen as archetypes which project or express themselves both as images or psychic contents (the image or unconscious content of the neuron) and as physical events (the content which is perceived or the biological neuron itself). Still the emergence of Consciousness presupposes the coincidence (simultaneous appearance) of both parts of the Projection.
Keeping the previous process in mind we may find it easier to grasp the hard problem of Consciousness. According to Wikipedia, it is the problem of explaining how and why we have qualia or phenomenal experiences- how sensations acquire characteristics, such as colors and tastes. David Chalmers, who introduced the term ‘hard problem’ of consciousness, contrasts this with the ‘easy problems’ of explaining the ability to discriminate, integrate information, report mental states, focus attention, etc. Easy problems are easy because all that is required for their solution is to specify a mechanism that can perform the function. That is, their proposed solutions, regardless of how complex or poorly understood they may be, can be entirely consistent with the modern materialistic conception of natural phenomena. Chalmers claims that the problem of experience is distinct from this set, and he argues that the problem of experience will persist even when the performance of all the relevant functions is explained.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness]
My personal view is that the problem of unifying existence (the physical world) with experience (the mental world) will be solved when we stop treating the two worlds as separated. Archetypes may serve as the common principle which unifies the two worlds, since the archetypes oscillate or project both aspects simultaneously (thus archetypes make the two worlds meaningfully coincide). For example color as a quale always corresponds to a physical frequency as a quantum. Thus the ‘colored object’ exists and it is experienced at the same time both in physical space and in our mind, while the separation is just conditional, necessary for the awareness of the event to occur through such a juxtaposition. Thus what truly exists (and at the same time also experiences) is the projected archetypes, replicating and combining themselves within the Form.
9.3 Principle of analogy
While there isn’t any formal definition of such a principle (principle of analogy), there is a related term, the correspondence principle. Formally the latter principle can be stated as follows, according to Wikipedia:
In physics, the correspondence principle states that the behavior of systems described by the theory of quantum mechanics (or by the old quantum theory) reproduces classical physics in the limit of large quantum numbers.
The term is used in a more general sense to mean the reduction of a new scientific theory to an earlier scientific theory in appropriate circumstances. This requires that the new theory explain all the phenomena under circumstances for which the preceding theory was known to be valid, the ‘correspondence limit.’
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondence_principle]
In an even more general sense the correspondence principle may have the ambition to unify all physical phenomena with human experience under the principle of analogy. Thus the ultimate goal is the reduction of everyday experience to the first principles of existence. We may represent such a process with a function which takes values from the aspects of everyday life and gives as an output the fundamentals of existence, leading backwards to the world of the archetypal contents. We may represent such a function in the following simple form: Existence =F(Experience). The function (F) is also an action which ‘transforms’ the essentials of existence (the psychic contents seen as the free variables) into the everyday objects (the manifested physical properties). Thus this process is also a logical process which gives us a ‘reduction to the archetype.’ At the limit the new theory will have to give the same results as the old theory. Thus, at the limit, all the expressions of the psychic contents will have to be reduced and match the aspects of everyday objects. For example a property related to the psychic content (e.g. the sense of touch) will have to be reduced to a property corresponding to the rigidness of a physical object (e.g. mass or density) at the everyday limit. While I am not aware of the exact nature of such a process, I may say that finally all psychic contents will be directly attributed to the senses, so that each psychic property will have the name of a sense. This is not absurd if we take into account that all everyday physical objects are in fact the result of combinations of senses (texture related to touch, color and shape related to vision, motion or a ‘ticking’ related to hearing, even more advanced properties related to notions, etc.). Thus we may also attribute aspects to the everyday objects other than color or smell, such as strangeness, curiosity, independence, etc.
For the sake of argument: Comparison of an inverse square function (the first from the top) with the Gaussian (first from the bottom) and the sum of a geometric progression (in the middle). As we can see, at values higher than 2.5 the inverse square function and the geometric progression converge. In this way of analogy, someone could say that Newton’s force (which is an inverse square function) is an approximation in a range of values greater than ‘2.5’ of a ‘unified force’ which is expressed in terms of a geometric progression.
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/58327646/Principle-of-Analogy]
Whether the force of gravity reduces to the values of a geometric progression at small distances or not is a matter of experimental verification. The point is that while the force of gravity (or any force) is an action (thus has its origin in the realm of archetypal causes), the geometric progression is a process related to logic and causal reasoning, thus it belongs to the properties of the human mind which rationally tries to understand the causes of nature (the spontaneous actions or forces), thus also the origin of thought itself. This is an illustration of the principle of analogy. If the principle did not exist then the correspondence or analogy between thought and physical phenomena would be impossible. Not only would we be unable to perceive the physical world ‘per se,’ but also thought itself would be impossible in the universe. Furthermore if thought was impossible then objects would be impossible too, since their existence could not be proved by an intelligent observer. Thus Consciousness in general would be impossible. But this is not just a reduction to the physical causes, but a reduction to the absurd as well- we have just proved that intelligence has to be included into the causes, even as an emergent property (limited by space and time).
Thus we may state the principle of analogy in a simple way as follows:
- For every physical phenomenon there will be a corresponding element of human experience.
Such a principle guaranties us the equivalence, correspondence, or coincidence between the external world (the tangible objects) and the internal world (the immaterial contents of the same objects). Thus the principle of analogy gives us the direction from the unexpressed to the expressed archetype. Such a progression of the archetype can be both perceived by analytical reasoning and felt in the form of attraction.
Rutherford’s model of the atom (modified by Niels Bohr) made an analogy between the atom and the solar system.
A definition of analogy is given by Wikipedia as follows:
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another (the target), or a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. In a narrower sense, analogy is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as opposed to deduction, induction, and abduction, where at least one of the premises or the conclusion is general. The word analogy can also refer to the relation between the source and the target themselves, which is often, though not necessarily, a similarity, as in the biological notion of analogy.
Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle actually used a wider notion of analogy. They saw analogy as a shared abstraction. Analogous objects did not share necessarily a relation, but also an idea, a pattern, a regularity, an attribute, an effect or a philosophy. These authors also accepted that comparisons, metaphors and ‘images’ (allegories) could be used as arguments, and sometimes they called them analogies. Analogies should also make those abstractions easier to understand and give confidence to the ones using them.
On the contrary, Ibn Taymiyya, Francis Bacon and later John Stuart Mill argued that analogy is simply a special case of induction. In their view analogy is an inductive inference from common known attributes to another probable common attribute, which is known only about the source of the analogy, in the following form:
Premises
a is C, D, E, F, G
b is C, D, E, F
Conclusion
b is probably G.
This view does not accept analogy as an autonomous mode of thought or inference, reducing it to induction. However, autonomous analogical arguments are still useful in science, philosophy and the humanities, which makes this reduction philosophically uninteresting. Moreover, induction tries to achieve general conclusions, while analogy looks for particular ones.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy]
However the latter argument does not explain how come we are able to predict b= G if there isn’t some pre-established structure which includes G as the next step in the series. In other words the existence of G is not self-evident if it does not exist (if it cannot be inferred to exist) in the first place. Thus the proposition b= G is inferred by the mind, so that it is not only induced but also predicted.
The ability to predict the outcome out of a series of premises can be further formalized by Ray Solomonoff’s theory of universal inductive inference. According to Wikipedia, this is a theory of prediction based on logical observations, such as predicting the next symbol based upon a given series of symbols. The only assumption that the theory makes is that the environment follows some unknown but computable probability distribution.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomonoff's_theory_of_inductive_inference]
Solomonoff’s theory is based on general philosophical considerations with respect to the nature of thought, and it is centered on artificial intelligence, i.e. how to create a computer program which renders a computer capable of making predictions according to already existing information in the program, thus making inferences about the future.
To return to Rutherford’s- Bohr’s model of the atom depicted in the previous picture, it represents a special case of the planetary model. However the analogy is not a tautology or identity because in the case of atoms the orbits are quantized. Electrons emit certain amounts of energy (multiples of the ground state energy) in order to change orbit, while planets may lose or gain any amount of energy on their orbits. But if we change the scale, so that we move far enough from our solar system, and the planets orbiting the sun in our solar system would look as tiny as electrons orbiting the nucleus of the atom, then the planets would be described by ‘clouds’ of probability distributions, in the same way the orbits of electrons are calculated in quantum mechanics. Thus, in the general case, we have always to define the limits of analogy and the scales of proportion.
Now let’s take for example the propositions A= ‘the world,’ and B= ‘what we think about the world.’ In this case, proposition A is the Object, and proposition B is the Image. We also need a function B=F(A), so that B (our own image of the world) takes values from A (the world as an object per se). We may simply say that B=cA, where c is a constant of proportionality. In this case, c=A/B= a constant, so that the more we learn about the world (the larger is B) the more the world matches our own perception (the smaller is A). We may also treat the function F as an operator, which acts on A and projects the contents of A (the world per se) on B (our perception of the world). Inversely, if B= FA→ A=F-1B, so that the inverse of the projection operator will be a reflection operator which reflects our own thoughts back into the world. However this does not necessarily mean that the two processes are equally symmetrical. While the Projection (the operation FA=B) reflects or produces our thoughts, the Reflection (the inverse operation F-1B= A) does not project or create the world. Thus the two operations are not the same. Thus AB≠BA, because F (Projection Operator) ≠ F-1 (Reflection Operator). Therefore the analogy between A= ‘the world,’ and B= ‘what we think about the world’ is a relationship of proportionality, not an identity.
In quantum mechanics non- commutative operators (of which the commutative property AB=BA is not true) are common and also fundamental. For example the position q and momentum p operators are such that qp≠pq. Here we may cite another interesting example of quantum logic where the distributive law also fails. As Wikipedia explains, quantum logic has some properties which clearly distinguish it from classical logic, most notably, the failure of the distributive law of propositional logic:
p and (q or r) = (p and q) or (p and r),
where the symbols p, q and r, are propositional variables. To illustrate why the distributive law fails, consider a particle moving on a line and let
p = ‘the particle has momentum in the interval [0, +1/6]’
q = ‘the particle is in the interval [−1, 1]’
r = ‘the particle is in the interval [1, 3]’
Then we might observe that,
p and (q or r) = true
in other words, that the particle’s momentum is between 0 and +1/6, and its position is between −1 and +3. On the other hand, the propositions ‘p and q’ and ‘p and r’ are both false, since they assert tighter restrictions on simultaneous values of position and momentum than is allowed by the uncertainty principle (they have combined uncertainty 1/3 < 1/2). So,
(p and q) or (p and r) = false
Thus the distributive law fails.
The explanation of the previous is as follows. According to the uncertainty principle we cannot know both the momentum p and the position q (or r in the previous example) of a particle simultaneously. The uncertainty is quantified by the expression ΔpΔq > 1/2 (Planck’s constant being equal to one). (ΔpΔq) is equivalent to (Δp and Δq), while (Δq or Δr) is equivalent to (Δq+Δr). So, leaving aside the symbol Δ, p and (q or r) = p(q+r)=1/6(2+2)=(1/6)4=2/3˃1/2. Therefore, according to the uncertainty principle, p(q+r)= true. But each of (p and q) or (p and r) have a value of (1/6)2=1/3<< 1/2 violating the uncertainty principle. So the distributive law fails.
Wikipedia also says that, quantum logic has been proposed as the correct logic for propositional inference generally, most notably by the philosopher Hilary Putnam, at least at one point in his career. This thesis was an important ingredient in Putnam’s paper ‘Is Logic Empirical?,’ in which he analyzed the epistemological status of the rules of propositional logic.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_logic]
In particular, Putnam claimed that what physicists have learned about quantum mechanics provides a compelling case for abandoning certain familiar principles of classical logic for this reason: realism about the physical world, which Putnam generally maintains, demands that we square up to the anomalies associated with quantum phenomena. Putnam understands realism about physical objects to entail the existence of the properties of momentum and position for quanta. Since the uncertainty principle says that either of them can be determined, but both cannot be determined at the same time, he faces a paradox. He sees the only possible resolution of the paradox as lying in the embrace of quantum logic, which he believes is not inconsistent.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_logic_empirical%3F]
In other words logic is theoretical while knowledge is empirical. At the moment we experimentally measure the momentum of an object, we have to deduce its position in space an instant of time before. On the other hand, at the moment we measure its position, its momentum may have changed. Both p and q act on each other as operators representing physical quantities. Our thought works the same way. It transforms the things it encounters so that an object cannot be the same as its representation. But this relationship is even more fundamental. At a more theoretical or abstract level things change when we observe them, but the observed object will also change the way we observe things. And this sort of entanglement is something that we always ‘knew,’ despite the fact that we have often found it easier to ignore. For more about the paradoxes of analogy, you may also see my aforementioned article ‘Principle of analogy.’
The operators p and q, or p and r, may also be related to the processes of Consciousness, according to our discussion. If P stands for the Projection Operator, and R stands for the Reflection Operator, we may recognize the following processes,
P(O) → I
R(I) → O.
Here the operation P(O) projects the Object (O) (as a psychic content) to the Image (I). Then the Image, in the second process, is reflected backwards onto the object O (as a physical object). The whole process is an infinite loop by which Consciousness emerges. This way psychic contents become tangible objects. If we put ourselves within this process then, at the final stage, we will be ‘objects of Consciousness,’ the manifested and partial aspects of the whole process. In the frame of reference of Consciousness we may also say that Consciousness displaces (projects) the Object which in turn displaces (reflects) Consciousness. However the process, although symmetrical, is not an equality. Rather it is a proportionality. The reflected virtual image (I) which becomes an object of reality (O) by the process R(I), does not return to the origin as the same object. Instead, if the reflection operator R always gives as an output real objects, then R(O)→ O΄. Thus, if symmetrically the projection operator always gives virtual objects (images), the next step is P(O΄)→ (I΄), and so on.
Consequently we may say that Consciousness progresses in steps of higher order. Such order is certainly related to causality and the aspect of time. The mechanism by which time as a real parameter causally intervenes in the process, so that the process cannot change course in the opposite direction, is difficult to grasp. But as we have already realized in this discussion the meaning of Cause (thus also of causality) includes a quality of preference, thus a certain direction, so that the actions move forward from the archetypes towards the physical world. In other words perception of a content is impossible if the content has not been already expressed. If then we run the process backwards in order to realize what the content might have been, what we will finally perceive will not be the original content, but a new object saturated by our own understanding. In such a sense we may say that, after being constellated,
- The archetype is saturated.
In addition knowledge comes about not just in the form of repetition, but also as an aspect of recreation.
9.4 Backward causality
Experiment that shows delayed determination of photon path
The displacement of Consciousness ‘backwards,’ while, at the same time, the object perceived by Consciousness is displaced ‘forward,’ leaves us ashtray, wondering about what really has happened, where is the object to be found, or how does our own thoughts come about. A related notion in quantum theory is the delayed choice quantum eraser. Wikipedia describes the process according to the previous picture:
Photons are emitted one at a time from a laser symbolized by a yellow star. They pass through a 50% beam splitter (green block) that reflects or transmits 1/2 of the photons. The reflected or transmitted photons travel along two possible paths depicted by the red or blue lines.
In the top diagram, the trajectories of the photons are clearly known: If a photon emerges from the top of the apparatus, it had to have come by way of the blue path, and if it emerges from the side of the apparatus, it had to have come by way of the red path.
In the bottom diagram, a second beam splitter is introduced at the top right. It can direct either beam toward either exit port. Thus, photons emerging from each exit port may have come by way of either path. By introducing the second beam splitter, the path information has been ‘erased.’ Erasing the path information results in interference phenomena at detection screens positioned just beyond each exit port. What issues to the right side displays reinforcement, and what issues toward the top displays cancellation.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_choice_quantum_eraser]
Wikipedia also says that Wheeler’s delayed choice experiments are attempts to decide whether light somehow ‘senses’ the experimental apparatus in the double-slit experiment it will travel through and adjusts its behavior to fit by assuming the appropriate determinate state for it, or whether light remains in an indeterminate state, neither wave nor particle. Wheeler explains that,
“The thing that causes people to argue about when and how the photon learns that the experimental apparatus is in a certain configuration and then changes from wave to particle to fit the demands of the experiment’s configuration is the assumption that a photon had some physical form before the astronomers observed it. Either it was a wave or a particle; either it went both ways around the galaxy or only one way. Actually, quantum phenomena are neither waves nor particles but are intrinsically undefined until the moment they are measured. In a sense, the British philosopher Bishop Berkeley was right when he asserted two centuries ago ‘to be is to be perceived.’”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler's_delayed_choice_experiment]
The last comment, ‘to be is to be perceived,’ reminds us of the general rule, Existence= Experience, or perhaps Existence-Experience= Consciousness. Someone might also think what could be the expansion of the principle of analogy in the case of mass-energy equivalence, E= mc^2, so that for example if Existence≡ E, Experience≡ mc^2, and Consciousness≡ C, then E-mc^2= C. This, supposedly, would be a preliminary way to include Consciousness in physics as another form of energy.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrocausality]
It is possible that all decisions we make are products of ‘delayed choices,’ in the sense that our own thought is the product, or the difference, between what happens and what is perceived to have happened, while at the same time we perceive ourselves, thus our own thought, having been displaced, or running, backwards, in order to understand what have happened. Such a process is related to backward causation. According to Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, the principle underlying backward causation, which is sometimes also called retro-causation, or retrocausality, is quite simple: Let A and B be two events in the sense that A causes B. If we have no direct knowledge of A, then we must deduce it by going backwards from B to A. This is the road of backward causation.
Backward causation is related to the bootstrap paradoxes which arise in cases where you have a causal chain consisting of particular events in which A causes B, B causes C, and C causes A. The problem here is that the occurrence of A presupposes the occurrence of C. In other words, the cause presupposes its effect. But how can something be required of what itself requires? Indeed this seems paradoxical. Some philosophers therefore think that this makes the idea of causal loops incoherent. Hugh Mellor even believes that,
“The possibility of causal loops can be excluded a priori, and so therefore can the closed time-like paths entailed by closed time, backward time-travel and all kinds of backward causation.
[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-backwards/]
Other paradoxes related to backward causation are the grand-father paradox (one going back in time to kill one’s own grand-father), and the Newcomb paradox (related to decision theory). Stanford Encyclopedia also mentions that the idea of backward causation should not be confused with that of time travel. These two notions are related to the extent that both agree that it is possible to causally affect the past. The difference, however, is that time travel involves a causal loop whereas backward causation does not. Causal loops for their part can only occur in a universe in which one has closed time-like curves. In contrast backward causation may take place in a world where there are no such closed time-like curves. In other words an ordinary system S taking part in time travel would preserve the temporal order of its proper time during its travel, it would keep the same time sense during its entire flight (a watch measuring S’s proper time would keep moving clockwise); but if the same system S were to become involved in a process of backward causation, the order of its proper time would have to reverse in the sense that the time flow of the system would become opposite of what it was before its back-in-time travel (the watch will start to move counter-clockwise). So neither backward causation nor time travel logically entail each other and time travel is distinct from back-in-time travel.
Here we may mention the following things. Firstly, as far as a causal pair of events A and B is concerned, a causal chain is not the only way to explain the appearance of the events. In other words the procedure neither necessitates the creation of B by A, nor a journey back in time. It helps us instead reconstruct the whole process in a concrete manner. But causality is an aspect of our own assumptions in the beginning. Secondly, in a causal chain of events A, B, and C, the event which is caused by C is not the original event A but a new event because it happens in a different place and/or at a different time with respect to A. Thirdly, as far as causal loops are concerned, they don’t consist of ‘causal chains’ of events. They are unique events themselves. In fact the events A, B and C in the previous example can be infinite loops (thus acausal loops) connected to each other causally or not. But if these three events are included in the same infinite loop then they occur simultaneously, only to be retrospectively (or causally) regarded. This is the key point. Therefore, we may say that,
- All events are regarded retrospectively: As soon as they take place (here and now), we consider their cause back in the past.
Whatever time travel may be in a physical context, throughout our discussion we have used the notion of infinite loops. We may say that infinite loops are acausal (in the sense that they appear spontaneously), and in fact Hugh Mellor’s theory does not prohibit the existence of acausal loops. We may also say that,
- Non-locality always comes about as a logical (thus local, or causal) assumption.
We always consider the existence of spontaneity or simultaneity after an event takes place. For example we assume the existence of infinite loops in order to explain the manifestation of physical phenomena (even that of the birth of the universe) in a way that finally cancels out our own logical assumptions (about what physical phenomena are or about what is correct logic). But what is left behind by the previous process is something which defines and describes our own understanding about what took place. This way what is ‘causal’ (logic or time) and what is ‘acausal’ (inference or timelessness) are brought together within the same Form.
Whatever the true perspective of time travel in physical space, or the direction of backward causation (as a purely logical process), might be, the point is that the ‘past’ is always considered from the present (thus the notion of the extended present). In fact all events are considered in the present (we don’t travel back in time to consider them, but we do so from where we stand ‘right here and now’). Thus while we use backward causation from an event which takes place in the present towards the cause of the event in the past, we also use forward causation from the same past event towards its effects in the present.
We have already mentioned backward causation with respect to vision (intromission) or Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory. Perhaps in the future some sort of particle will be discovered which leaves our eyes and reaches the object at the same time a photon from the object is reflected and reaches our eyes. Such a projection-reflection process supposedly takes place in unison, while the separation between our eyes and the object will be determined at the ‘same time.’ This way photons may be identified with the ‘particles of Consciousness’ (instead of assuming that ‘photons know’). Therefore Consciousness becomes itself the means of transporting information in space and time. And this may also be the most fundamental reason why travelling faster than light is impossible: Even if an object travels faster than light, it has to wait until Consciousness (or our own thought) determines the position and time related to the object. If Consciousness is the Object then space, time, phenomena, and thoughts are one and the same.
[http://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/science/physics-optics/vision/normal-vision.php]
This is a scheme which has just come to mind, following the previous picture:
The Object is upright.
The Object is reversed (reflected) on the retina (downright)
The Object is projected (reversed again) by our mind (upright).
We infer that initially the Object was a content (downright) (backward causation).
The Object was projected by Consciousness (upright) (forward causation).
And so on…
Second scheme:
Projection: A condition is expressed in the future (forward causation).
Reflection: An event is manifested in the past (backward causation).
Realization: All things occur at an extended point in the present (simultaneous causation).
At a point in the extended present…
- This is the Eye of Consciousness.
That ‘Eye’ is an archetype which describes how the experience of vision (or perhaps perception in general) is established. In this case the analogy is inversely proportional with respect to our own eyes. While we are faced with a pre-established external reality of objects which stand ‘upright,’ we unconsciously perform a ‘double loop,’ two processes- one on the retina, and one in the brain- opposite to each other, which are reminiscent of how perception, and experience in general, come about in the universe. While we hope for things by projecting our own wishes into the future, what we have wished for is a content, or a condition, which comes from the future to us. If there isn’t any sort of convergence between the two processes (the archetypal content and our own wish) then we shouldn’t expect any wish to come true, or any miracle to come about in the universe. But the miracle is already here, which in fact we have wished for- our own existence, and our own ability to perceive that we exist.
Perhaps it is more logical to assume that the causes of events, which take place right here and now, are not found in the past (because the past has already gone), but in the future (which is always coming). Presumably the past is nothing more than the territory of memories (which we always recover in the present). Thus the conditions may always lie in the future, while the physical world may be an image of the past (of something which has already gone away). The only way to join these two opposite aspects is to use our own mind, and extend our imagination both backwards and forward in ‘space and time,’ in order to recover the whole territory of the Extended Present.
It is interesting to note that according to these remarks the unconscious does not really represent past and/or repressed events, but aspects which lie ahead in the future. Thus the collective unconscious may not be identified with the field of our collective memories but with a pool, a potential, which includes all the possibilities of our own future. Therefore archetypes, which compose the collective unconscious, are transcendental not only in the sense that their manifested aspects represent all physical properties, but also because they seem to possess an extra dimension of time, in the sense that they are always found a step ahead. Thus we may briefly say that,
- The cause of things lies in the future, it is reconstructed in the present, and it is preserved in the past.
Still we are able to be aware of the whole process of Consciousness. Either assuming the Projection as forward causation, and the Reflection as backward causation, or vice versa, we realize that in both cases the Cause is conditional (or simultaneous). We always infer the causes based on the established effects, although the cause about which we are going to find out becomes the effect of our own interpretation. This is why causality and simultaneity should be treated as the two parts of the same process. But while the causal and retro-causal processes always operate in unison, there is always a certain direction of time related to them, so that the mind always progresses. The secret for this may lie in spontaneity itself, and this is the subject of what follows.
9.5 Spontaneous symmetry breaking
The patterns on the wings of butterflies are an example of bilateral symmetry
[http://www.theanimalfiles.com/glossary/bilateral_symmetry.html]
A definition of symmetry is given by Wikipedia as follows:
Symmetry, from Greek ‘symmetria’ (agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement), in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry]
This leaves us with an objective and universal sense and definition of beauty, an archetype of Beauty, we may say. However symmetry can be anything ‘with measure.’ Therefore anything which obeys some rules of proportion can be ‘symmetric,’ either it is ‘beautiful’ or ‘ugly.’ But if we assume that symmetry presupposes an underlying structure whose properties are constant, and the rules by which the structure is manifested in the real world are always the same, then symmetry and the underlying structure become identical.
In mathematics and physics symmetry refers to ‘invariance to transformations.’ As Sean Carroll narrates in his own article ‘hidden symmetries,’
“Symmetries play a crucial role in modern physics. But one of the things that makes them so interesting is that they can be hidden- the symmetry is secretly there, even though you don’t easily notice. And sometimes you may be interested in the converse situation- it looks like there is an obvious symmetry of nature, but in fact there are tiny violations of it, which we haven’t yet detected.
To physicists, a ‘symmetry’ is a situation where you can rearrange things a bit (values of quantum fields, positions in space, any of the characteristics of some physical state) and get the same answer to any physical question you may want to ask. An obvious example is, in fact, position in space: it doesn’t matter where in the world you set up your experiment to measure the charge of the electron, you should get the same answer. Of course, if your experiment is to measure the Earth’s gravitational field, you might think that you do get a different answer by moving somewhere else in space. But the rules of the game are that everything has to move- you, the experiment, and even the Earth! If you do that, the gravitational field should indeed be the same.
How do such symmetries get hidden? The classic example here is in the weak interactions of particle physics: the interactions by which, for example, a neutron decays into a proton, an electron, and an anti-neutrino. It turns out that a very elegant understanding of the weak interactions emerges if we imagine that there is actually a symmetry (labeled SU(2)) between certain particles; examples include the up and down quarks, as well as the electron and the electron neutrino. If this electroweak symmetry were manifest, it would be impossible to tell the difference between ups and downs, or between electrons and their neutrinos.
Of course, in reality it’s not so hard to tell. The reason is that the SU(2) symmetry of the weak interactions is spontaneously broken. The symmetry is firmly embedded in the laws of physics, but is hidden from our view because the particular state in which we find the universe is not invariant under this symmetry. There is something about the vacuum- empty space itself- which knows the difference between an up quark and a down quark, and it’s the influence of the vacuum on these particles that makes them look different to us.”
[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/24/hidden-symmetries/#.VuwOIdArRs8]
[http://home.fnal.gov/~dhooper/supersymmetry.html]
The basic consequence of SU(2) symmetry breaking, as Sean Carroll implies in the previous article, or generally of symmetry breaking, would be that space-time is fundamentally anisotropic. In fact time is already anisotropic, as ‘forward’ motion towards the future is not the same as moving to the opposite direction, ‘backwards,’ towards the past. In physics the violation of a T-symmetry (a symmetry related to time as a physical property) does not necessarily imply ‘time travel,’ while, in general, the current cosmological model of the universe accepts the isotropy and homogeneity of the universe on the large scale. Such a conclusion is based on the observation that the cosmic microwave background radiation is uniform. But again such an aspect is due to the uniform shape of the Gaussian distribution, representing the various frequencies of the radiation, while any anomalies or significant divergences will be obscured by the ‘mediocrity of the mean.’ Such anomalies, for example, are galaxies and clusters of galaxies, as well as quasars and black holes, lying against the imposing empty space inbetween. Ultimately the uniformity of the distribution may hide its own origin- a supposedly infinitely dense point in space and time which gave rise to the Big Bang. Therefore the origin of the universe itself may lie on anisotropy and inhomogeneity, and on spontaneous symmetry breaking.
A scalar field φ in a false vacuum. Note that the energy E is higher than that in the true vacuum or ground state, but there is a barrier preventing the field from classically rolling down to the true vacuum. Therefore, the transition to the true vacuum must be stimulated by the creation of high-energy particles or through quantum-mechanical tunneling.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_symmetry_breaking]
We may say that all symmetries are hidden in the sense that they always refer to the underlying structure through which they are expressed and become perceived. Thus all forms of symmetry (and of symmetry breaking) are spontaneous, as projections of infinite loops which expose the structure of the Form. While we have already suggested that the underlying structure is archetypal in origin, thus ‘structured’ and ‘full of content’ since the beginning, in quantum mechanics the ultimate background on which symmetry breaking occurs is the vacuum. The vacuum ‘moves’ or is displaced through a process which is called ‘vacuum metastability event.’ In the previous picture the transition runs from right to left, from the ‘false’ vacuum to the ‘true’ vacuum. The meaning of the false vacuum is that it is ‘metastable,’ that it can change phase from ‘nothing’ to ‘something.’ The aspects which make the vacuum change state, or phase, are hidden, in the sense that we don’t know anything about them before they manifest themselves. Thus again an explanation is needed to bridge the gap between the ‘absolute vacuum’ and ‘something’ in the form of the material world. But in order to do so we have to realize that finally it is not the symmetry between those two aspects what is hiding, but that both the hidden and the obvious parts of the problem belong to the same symmetry.
Smaller and Smaller, Escher, 1956
Therefore we may also suspect that at a fundamental level spacetime is anisotropic, although on a cosmological scale spacetime may seem homogeneous. But instead of fractal-like ‘lizards,’ as Escher’s painting depicts, space-time may be filled or tessellated by archetypes of various shapes. Thus not only spacetime may ‘bend’ by the presence of fields acting ‘at a distance,’ but it may also be affected by actions related to spontaneous operations performed on the vacuum by archetypes. Therefore instead of an undifferentiated, empty, primordial vacuum, the vacuum becomes a field of quantum fluctuations, but which in our case are meaningful because they correspond to the function or behavior of the archetypes.
So symmetry may be understood not just as ‘invariance to transformations,’ but also as ‘correspondence to manifestations.’ While behavior may change, the archetype stays the same. While the Form consists of different cooperating archetypes, the Form is ‘conserved,’ in the sense that the meaning doesn’t change. But ‘conservation’ does not mean the obliteration of the underlying structure. Basically the inhomogeneity of Structure (that the Form is composed of different fundamental ‘shapes,’ the archetypes, not of identical ‘blocks’ of spacetime) implies irreversibility. Perhaps in the future a particle will be discovered to give time to objects. But fundamentally time will remain relative, emerging from the relationship between the frame of reference of the observed object and the frame of reference of the observer, or by the spontaneous break of symmetry between the projected Object and the displaced Consciousness.
Some individuals see a vase because they attend to the black part of the image, while some others see two faces because they attend to the white parts of the image. Most people can see both, but only one at a time. All stages of the perception process often happen unconsciously and in less than a second.
According to the same article from which the previous picture was taken,
Perception refers to the set of processes we use to make sense of the different stimuli we're presented with. Our perceptions are based on how we interpret different sensations. The perceptual process begins with receiving stimuli from the environment and ends with our interpretation of those stimuli. This process is typically unconscious and happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. When we attend to or select one specific thing in our environment, it becomes the attended stimulus. Organization of stimuli happens by way of neural processes; this starts with our sensory receptors (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing), and is transmitted to our brains, where we organize the information we receive. After we receive and organize stimuli, we can interpret those stimuli, which simply means that we take the information and turn it into something that we can categorize.
[https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/sensation-and-perception-5/introduction-to-perception-39/introducing-the-perception-process-167-12702/]
However we may also note that no matter how unconscious the original stimulus may have been, the final interpretation of the stimulus will be consciously decided. Thus at this point we may incorporate the indispensable role of the observer in the break of symmetry. Neither the ‘vase’ nor the ‘face’ have any meaning if there is no observer to break the symmetry of the original content (that which contains both the ‘vase’ and the ‘face,’ bound together in a primordial state). Thus the mind of the viewer, or Consciousness in general, exhibits the same property of spontaneous symmetry breaking as the original cause and process by and through which the mind emerges. This is why we may never find a definite way to separate causality and simultaneity, or matter and the mind, as they both seem to appear spontaneously, indivisibly related to each other.
Therefore we may say that,
- The separation between the two shapes and their functions (the ‘vase’ and the ‘faces’) in the previous picture cannot occur without the meaningful intervention of the mind of the observer.
This is a crude description of the process:
1 vase → 2 faces (conscious realization of the whole picture)
1 face → 2 vases (backward causation towards the original cause of our own realization)
2 vases2 ↔ 2 faces2 (the two previous steps are combined by cross-multiplication)
1 vase ↔ 1 face (the previous expression simplified).
Conclusion:
- The Vase reflects our Face.
Representation of spontaneous symmetry breaking and the emergence of space, time, and Consciousness in the universe. In the first figure the process is symmetrical. The Projection produces two actions, one manifested as a real object moving ‘forward,’ and another one corresponding to the ‘image’ of the object, or the psychic content related to the same object, moving ‘backward.’ The two ‘forces’ are equal and cancel out. In the second figure the process is a-symmetrical. The two forces are not equal so that there is a net difference representing the displacement or emergence of Consciousness, directed towards the ‘real’ or manifested world. Although the whole process is simultaneous, thus acausal, we perceive it in a causal manner because the mind always emerges in the manifested (the physical) world, thus it moves in the same direction with space and time.
The term ‘a-symmetrical’ (in contrast to ‘non-symmetrical’) refers to a process which preserves the symmetry by transposing it to a higher level a.
This is another related scheme:
The ‘head’ and the ‘tail’ in the previous picture are similar to the ‘vase’ and the ‘face’ we mentioned earlier. In the last picture the ‘arrow of time’ (causative appearance of Consciousness) divides the undifferentiated Form in two a-symmetrical parts, equivalent but not equal, so that direction in time coincides with biological orientation. Spontaneous symmetry breaking gives the Form two specialized ends, a ‘head’ and a ‘tail.’ The Form can be seen as the pattern on which evolution is based. It is interesting to note that in primordial creatures (e.g. worms) it is hard to distinguish between the back and the front. It seems that such creatures are living remnants of the original process. Still if we look at a worm carefully we might notice some differentiation between the two ends of its body. Sooner or later I believe the same will be found to be true for elementary particles. Take for example the triplet of quarks. The orientation of the triangle representing the triplet of quarks may define the emerging particle. In a positron-electron pair the orientation of the couple may decide whether the electron or the positron will disappear. The fact that in most cases the positron disappears (so that there is a surplus of matter in the universe versus antimatter) is an indication of some symmetry violation (thus spontaneous symmetry breaking) on a fundamental level. As far as the current discussion is concerned, the ‘head’ and the ‘tail’ in the previous figure may also refer to the Subject- Object dichotomy (that the process is most, if not all, of the times directed from the Object to the Subject). If this weren’t true awareness in the universe would have never arisen. Thus, without even noticing, while we (the ‘head’) become entangled with what we observe (the ‘tail’), both parts of the process are necessary on a fundamental level, so that by studying the ‘tail’ we become aware of the ‘head,’ thus our own intelligence.
In this sense we may say that symmetry breaking is equivalent to formative causation. Possibly quantum entanglement is a characteristic expression of such a kind of ‘formative symmetry,’ as experienced by the observer. The symmetry between the two entangled particles is theoretically implied by momentum conservation and perceptually manifested by experimental verification. What is not apparent, thus hidden, is the deepest aspect of the symmetry at the level of Consciousness. Somehow, as soon as the infinite loop of the two entangled particles is produced, the particles and the mind of the observer are found in the same context, as in the case of Rubin’s vase we mentioned earlier. While the observer does not perform any experiment, the two particles cannot be entangled (as no proof of entanglement can be verified). As soon as the experiment begins the observer instantaneously comes in contact with his/her own mind, thus intervenes with the experiment, while simultaneously spacetime appears and is quantified by the separation of the two entangled particles. Thus the two particles may be nothing more than a representation of spacetime having been split in half. However the two parts are not equal because the mind of the observer can be focused only on one particle each time. Thus the mind of the observer in the form of causal intervention plays a unique role in deciding the outcome of the experiment.
The previous example can also be seen as proof, or at least a hint, for the existence of free will. During our lifetime we make all those free choices which will determine our own destiny. There are limits about the things we can change and those we cannot, but it is also reasonable to say that the more aware we become, the more freedom of choice is offered to us. Even if we suppose that all our thoughts and actions are just the result of a Universal Intelligence, to which we all refer and by which we are unconsciously guided, it will be such a Consciousness which will carry the aspect of Freedom and Free Choice in the universe, and which will also include the aspect of Individualization, or even Divinization, so that free will again emerges on the personal level as a consequence of universal causal processes. However if, additionally, the process between (the Universal) Consciousness and our own mind is a bilateral process then each of our personal choices, up to the extent that such a choice was the pure result of our action, will return to the common origin, the Universal Mind, or Consciousness, and play its own part (significant or not), in deciding the Fate of the Universe.
A final remark I would like to make with respect to free will is our ability to ‘withdraw attention’ from the object (instead of focusing attention on the object). Although such an aspect may seem insignificant, or even ‘spontaneous,’ it is exactly this property of spontaneity which makes the aspect of withdrawing attention significant, keeping in mind the meaning of spontaneity as we have previously explored. While at the first level spontaneous symmetry breaking initiates the projection operation which brings about ‘objects’ and ‘images’ in the universe, an equally spontaneous and significant symmetry at the second level brings about the reflection operation which makes consciousness an object aware of its own contents. While at the first step consciousness is ‘attached to the object,’ at the second step consciousness becomes ‘detached from the object,’ thus it discovers the aspect of independence. No matter how much conscious or unconscious the whole process is, we may realize that such an aspect of attention withdrawal or detachment is perhaps the most vital function of Consciousness with respect to decision making and changing state.
While attention may be ‘dragged’ unintentionally towards something (because of some noise, for example), it often sticks to things without being able to get away. A characteristic example of this is called in psychology a ‘fixed idea.’ While one hand fixed ideas may be seen as the precursors of ingenuity- if the archetypal drive is identified and expressed-, on the other hand they may also result in psychosis. While fixed ideas may be related to ‘fixed objects’ which comprise the immediate environment of a person’s mind, as intelligence and awareness rise through a self- referential process of comparison between the person and the object of interest, the detachment of the mind from the fixed object may be regarded as the turning point at which personal consciousness sets itself free from the collective unconscious and becomes consciousness on its own.
We may thus recognize the following couple of processes:
- The focusing of attention results in the attachment of consciousness to the object.
On the other hand,
- The displacement of consciousness results in the withdrawal of attention, and consequently in the detachment of consciousness from the object.
Therefore, equivalently, we may describe the progress of Consciousness on the global level by such a twofold aspect, in the context of spontaneous symmetry breaking. The initial loop, the Projection, generates the first split between the ‘Image’ and the ‘Object.’ Through this process, and by comparison, Consciousness arises. Then, a second split, or Reflection, gives Consciousness the necessary ‘boost’ to detach itself from the feedback loop of Comparison, thus becoming truly aware and unique. Now, Consciousness may be seen as attached to its own Free- Image. Therefore through these successive loops of spontaneous symmetry breaking Consciousness evolves.
9.6 Basic notions
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia]
This is another example of synesthesia. We may say that synesthesia is a special case of ideasthesia if we include all possible ‘ideas,’ or notions, into perception. By extension, additionally, we may say that the mind includes the psyche if we confine the psyche into the emotional sphere. Thus ‘perception’ is the outline of a sphere which includes the whole human entity, and upon such a surface all experience takes place. In such a sense we may say that,
- Ideas or notions are kinds of higher senses, experienced mentally instead of emotionally.
More generally we may say that the ideas are produced by the vibrations of archetypes (or that the ideas are the vibrating archetypes), and they ‘ascend’ the stairway of existence, beginning from the lower vibrations, corresponding to the sensations of the body, going on to the level of emotions, up to the higher vibrations, experienced by the semantic sphere of the mind, and, presumably, they keep on ascending.
The following is a series of arguments which may help us understand the connection between the physical world and our senses:
Each idea corresponds to an archetype.
Each archetype performs a function.
For each function there is a corresponding shape.
For each function there is a corresponding sense.
All physical objects are collections of shapes.
The physical world is composed of the senses.
Thus a ‘book’ for example is nothing else than a collection of psychic properties (the sum of all physical properties plus qualia), such as color, the smell of paper, other ideas expressed in words, and so on. Instead of saying that all previous aspects are ‘physical properties,’ we say that they are ‘psychic properties’ because ‘meanings’ cannot be materialistically defined. Furthermore we may simply say that the psychic properties are ‘senses’ (not just ‘qualia’) because the senses are the building blocks of perception- but perception covers everything. This is true certainly in the general context of Consciousness.
The relationship between perception and the object (thus between a sense and its own shape) is fundamental. Such a connection is manifested in the case of synesthesia (or ideasthesia). But it is impossible for the synesthetic to perceive, for example, colored numbers or letters if he/she doesn’t visualize some shape related to the numbers or letters in the first place. If, to use another example, we identify the color ‘brown’ with ‘chocolate’ (no matter if we are able to taste the color or not), it is the image of a chocolate, or (the shape of) the letters in the corresponding word which makes us identify the color or the taste. Thus we may generalize the conclusion (regarding synesthesia not as an ‘anomaly’ but as reference to a primordial psychic operation) by saying that,
- Consciousness is Object- oriented and Subject- biased.
The first part has to do with the attachment of Consciousness to the Object, as we have previously discussed. Such an attachment or identification also brings about Consciousness. Thus the Sense cannot be perceived without any related Object. The second part, as the detachment of Consciousness from the Object, equivalently can be seen as the attachment of Consciousness to the Subject. But the latter process is ‘biased’ because it is unidirectionally accompanied by Free Will. Still both processes occur simultaneously while the symmetry is broken. This is why we cannot exclude the presence of Cause in the Form since the beginning.
While we may ‘quantize’ the archetypes by multiples of a fundamental vibration (no matter what the name of the primary archetype may be), and then write down a ‘notion,’ or ‘emotion,’ or ‘shape’ corresponding to each energy level of vibration (thus directly relating the physical properties which may arise by each vibration to a psychic state), Jung preferred to personify the archetypes by identifying five primary functions of the psyche that are themselves archetypes, or universal patterns of experience. According to the site from which the previous picture was taken,
The Persona is an identity we hold and which we present to the outside world. We may hold several of such: our career role; our role as mother father, son, etc.; our political identity, and so on.
The Ego is our center of consciousness, our conscious sense of self. Therefore it excludes (although remains influenced by) all of our make-up that is unconscious. Jung says: “So far as we know, consciousness is always Ego-consciousness. In order to be conscious of myself, I must be able to distinguish myself from others. Relationship can only take place where this distinction exists.”
The Shadow is an unconscious part of the Ego, and receptacle for that which we have for one reason or another disowned or wish to remain out of sight and those qualities that one would rather not see in oneself, as well as unrealized potentials. The Shadow is intimately connected to the Id and its structures, Thanatos and Eros that contain the animal instincts. It’s the part of the personality that’s forced out of mental awareness by the Ego’s defense mechanisms.
The Anima is a node of unconscious beliefs and feelings in a man’s psyche relating to the opposite gender, the Animus is the corresponding complex in a woman’s psyche. As part of the Ego unconscious, these complexes can rise into consciousness when activated by appropriate circumstances.
The Self is simply the totality of the entire psyche. It is the function which contains all the other functions and around which they orbit. It may be difficult for the conscious Ego to accept that there may be more to the psyche than that of which it is currently aware.
[http://www.mind-development.eu/jung.html]
The previous picture incorporates the Freudian concepts of the Id and Superego, which the writer of the previous article felt they should be included. According to this scheme, consciousnesses (the conscious) begins to appear at the level of the Persona. Thus all previous aspects, such as the Shadow or the Ego, belong to the collective unconscious. Perhaps there is an intermediate stage between the collective unconscious and the ‘personal unconscious,’ where the Ego might belong to. Therefore if the totality of the psyche is expressed by the Self, such a Self refers to a collective entity. The Persona can be related to the personification process, the transition from the undifferentiated collective unconscious towards a unique person, a conscious human being. The Anima and Animus create an opposition between a ‘positive-masculine’ and a ‘negative-feminine’ aspect of the psyche, which may be helpful in order to distinguish between positive and negative emotions.
Strictly speaking, according to Wikipedia, Jungian archetypes refer to unclear underlying forms or the archetypes-as-such from which emerge images and motifs such as the mother, the child, the trickster, and the flood among others. It is history, culture and personal context that shape these manifest representations thereby giving them their specific content. These images and motifs are more precisely called archetypal images. However it is common for the term archetype to be used interchangeably to refer to both archetypes-as-such and archetypal images.
Jung described archetypal events: birth, death, separation from parents, initiation, marriage, the union of opposites; archetypal figures: great mother, father, child, devil, god, wise old man, wise old woman, the trickster, the hero; and archetypal motifs: the apocalypse, the deluge, the creation. Although the number of archetypes is limitless, there are a few particularly notable, recurring archetypal images, “the chief among them being” (according to Jung) “the shadow, the wise old man, the child, the mother ... and her counterpart, the maiden, and lastly the anima in man and the animus in woman.” Alternatively he would speak of “the emergence of certain definite archetypes ...the shadow, the animal, the wise old man, the anima, the animus, the mother, the child.”
But there is an even more intriguing aspect of archetypes, according to the same article of Wikipedia:
Ernest Rossi suggests that the function and characteristic between left and right cerebral hemispheres may enable us to locate the archetypes in the right cerebral hemisphere. He cites research indicating that left hemispherical functioning is primarily verbal and associational, and that of the right primarily visuospatial and apperceptive. Thus the left hemisphere is equipped as a critical, analytical, information processor while the right hemisphere operates in a ‘gestalt’ (holistic) mode. This means that the right hemisphere is better at getting a picture of a whole from a fragment, is better at working with confused material, is more irrational than the left, and more closely connected to bodily processes. Once expressed in the form of words, concepts and language of the ego’s left hemispheric realm, however, they become only representations that ‘take their color’ from the individual consciousness. Inner figures such as shadow, anima and animus would be archetypal processes having source in the right hemisphere.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungian_archetypes]
As far as the last suggestion is concerned, to say that archetypes are located at one half of the brain is similar to saying that the other half of the brain is not structured, thus that it doesn’t exist. What we might say is that only some part of an archetype may be expressed, but again this would give us a picture of activated and latent regions all over the brain. Additionally we have mentioned that neurons can in fact be seen as visualizations of archetypal functions, in which case the brain is an accurate map, or exact copy, of the archetypal structure.
While the Form and its constituents, the archetypes, represent abstract structures and processes linked to the concrete and tangible everyday world, if I had to personify the archetypes I would regard them as ‘living creatures,’ although immaterial, looking perhaps like a sort of ‘transparent insects’ (by the way the word ‘insect’ means something with inner structure). For example we may consider the ‘Spider,’ which we mentioned earlier, much more functional than the Jungian ‘Trickster,’ while the Spider’s Web is much more meaningful than the ‘Shadow.’ While the Trickster implies a manifestation or personification of deceit, the ‘Spider’ describes a structure which may ‘capture’ things with its functions, beyond any reference to ‘good’ or ‘evil.’ Furthermore the Shadow has no inner structure, while the ‘Spider’s Web’ has a certain architecture which can be compared with a physical field, that of electromagnetism. Consequently a possible connection might be established between the properties of physical fields and the aspects of the soul, as it has already been attempted in this discussion.
No matter how many archetypes are there- if there is an archetype of Projection, an archetype of Cause, of Free Will, another one of Reflection, and if the Mirror is the fundamental archetype which projects others, or if the Mirror is an operator which performs on archetypes, and if we need both archetypes and operators, if we need both archetypes and properties of archetypes, or if we simply need archetypes as ‘functional structures’ of everything- all such questions are no more important than the need we have to give meaning and significance to things. Furthermore one might say that we don’t even need to do so. Still someone will have implied the existence of such Need by simply objecting it. Thus we realize that, whatever we do, we always go back to the basic aspects of our own thoughts and actions, as they manifest themselves and as we testify them. At this place the archetypes live, whatever the names we might give to them.
It may also be interesting to compare the previous picture of the Jungian psyche with that representing a spinning black hole, depicted in the beginning of this section. As the spinning black hole can be divided in three regions, the singularity at the center, the ergosphere at the limits, and the event horizon inbetween, if we try to identify each of these three aspects with a region of the psyche, then I would say that the singularity at the center represents the Ego, the event horizon the Shadow, and the ergosphere the Persona, while the Anima or Animus may represent some direction of rotation of the spinning black hole. The Persona or ergosphere extends outwards and intermingles with the Personas of other people, while the event horizon or Shadow keeps inside all our hidden aspects. At the center lies the singularity, the Ego, the innermost and untouchable essence of our own existence. But while a black hole ‘shrinks’ as it evaporates until it vanishes, our psyche expands its ‘ergosphere,’ while, at the same time, the hidden contents behind its ‘event horizon’ are gradually expressed and realized. Thus, hopefully, at the end all the ‘Shadows’ will turn into ‘Light.’
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXwdXL9qWqc]
The previous picture can be seen either as a broken glass or as a spider’s web, also reminding of a kind of fundamental symmetry breaking in non-uniform spacetime. Archetypes then would arise from within the broken symmetry, representing unequal parts of this a-symmetric lattice. However the archetype could alternatively be the entity which creates the break of symmetry. Such different archetypal entities may cooperate in order to produce the final result of a complex spacetime looking similar to the picture produced by wave interference patterns. Thus the Form, the collection of all archetypes, could be similar to a spacetime-like spider’s web, projecting and reflecting its basic functions, perceived by the senses as physical shapes.
According to Wikipedia, crystal structure describes a highly ordered structure, occurring due to the intrinsic nature of its constituents to form symmetric patterns. Patterns are located upon the points of a lattice, which is an array of points repeating periodically in three dimensions. A crystal’s structure and symmetry play a role in determining many of its physical properties, such as cleavage, electronic band structure, and optical transparency.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_structure]
Crystals can be either solid or liquid. The vacuum can be thought of as a quantum fluid with crystal structure, represented by the regularity of ‘knots’ on the space-time grid. I found on the net an interesting article with respect to the notion of a ‘vacuum crystal.’ According to this view, quarks can be the ‘nodes’ of this vacuum, connected by gluon ‘threads.’ In such a ‘vacuum crystal’ there can be various types of excitation, one of which may be the electronic field. The hypothesis of ‘vacuum, or world, crystal’ opens various possibilities: for example, a simple explanation of gravitation. The cluster of ‘crystal defects’ (as in any material substance) could lead to distortions of the vacuum lattice which is equivalent to the ‘curvature of space’ or the occurrence of gravitational forces. Also it is possible that the concept of a ‘world crystal’ will demonstrate its heuristic value for an explanation of such phenomena as ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy.’
[http://www.apocalyptism.ru/Structure-of-Vacuum.htm]
As we have already said, the vacuum should be considered inherently asymmetrical, because the structure of the Form is composed of various archetypes. This also corresponds to a complex manifested order, as soon as the underlying structure is expressed. Thus qualia are naturally different one from another, consequently the tangible objects related to those qualia will be different too. Therefore quantity is defined by the underlying quality, even if quality has to be measured or quantified in order to be understood. If we follow backwards the pattern of our own arisen experiences, we may bring ourselves back to the point where everything started, at the center of the Projection. This is the moment when we haven’t yet looked at the Mirror for the first time, in order to perceive the existence of our own selves. But as soon as we realize the existence of the Mirror, and at the same time we give meaning to our own presence, the original pattern will have already disappeared, because of the broken symmetry. Therefore we may say that the ‘glass’ is always broken when we look at it, even though we have to reconstruct it by implying the whole picture.
Perhaps the Mirror is the fundamental archetype, related both to Projection and Reflection. Thus this archetype can perform a double operation. The Comparison is also important, and it may be considered another operation of the Mirror. Such a triad of functions or operations may symmetrically give rise to Consciousness by self-reference. However, in order that the ‘object of reflection’ does not become again the same ‘image of projection,’ a certain direction is needed for the corresponding process. Such direction is offered by Cause and causality. Cause in turn can be seen as an archetype per se, or as another function of the Mirror. In such a sense the Mirror, instead of a one-dimensional surface, becomes a whole sphere which includes the Form. Thus the Form becomes a Face which is able to perceive its own Image. But in order to perceive the whole structure another property or function is needed, related to the meaning of Wholeness. Perhaps the double Projection- Reflection operation, together with some notion of causality (the Cause) which gives meaning to the distance (i.e. the spacetime) inbetween, is sufficient to explain the aspect of Wholeness. In such a sense Wholeness, thus also Meaning, is inherent to the whole process, even though it seems that Wholeness always implies a next step ahead.
Now we may have in hand the basic landscape in which the different archetypes function, so that the Mirror is the Face which is the Form, while the basic operations (projection/reflection, or direction/dimension) are properties of all archetypes. All relative notions which we consider important, such as treachery, abandonment, fulfillment, perfection, affection, etc., may derive from this kind of basic symmetry. Here is a narrative example:
Treachery is a side- effect of Abandonment. It represents our ultimate Fear of being left alone. Alone is the Wonderer. At the same time the Fear of Loss creates the Greed of Possession. As Desire makes us move along the Road, Fulfillment comes together with all the Stones we collect, the objects which keep us attached to the material world, while the Shadows under the Stones are the dark aspects of our own Ego. But at the same time we discover the Truth of the world, which is the Cause hidden in the Shadows. By this process of learning, the Explorer becomes aware both of the Light and of the Darkness, and he/she becomes aware of his/her own Self.
Thus the Jungian Trickster meets the Explorer and the Wonderer. But we are not truly Alone in the world. What does not belong to One may belong to the Other One. It is true that without our own Image there’s no way of Comparison. But by comparing ourselves with the perfect Stranger we may find aspects which will improve us, and widen our understanding of our own Self. This Sympathy between different archetypal forms reconnects the Universe, and brings us closer to Perfection. Throughout the Journey we may meet different characters, such as the Robber, the Care-Giver, the Wise Man, or the Ideal Partner as the outward expression of our own Anima/Animus.
All these characters are in fact personifications of different aspects of our own psyche, even if we have to choose one of the characters in order to play our own role in the cosmic drama. For any personified character or objectified property of archetypal origin, there has to be a fundamental psychic content which points to the same origin. Treachery for example can be personified by the Trickster or it can be identified with a property of the Spider’s Web, but deep inside it may be related to a certain psychic aspect or emotion which is common to all of us. Therefore all these notions can be reduced to basic patterns of symmetry, sums of proportion, sets of properties, modes of vibration, or complexes of the Form.
We might also identify the Mirror with the Self, at least on the personal level, the Anima/Animus with Reflection/Projection, Consciousness with Wholeness, the Ego and the Shadow with the effect of the Double, (Free) Will with Cause, the Persona with Comparison (between the Self and the Other). We may also suggest archetypal notions such as Abandonment and Fulfillment; Annihilation and Construction, as basic functions of Structure; Perfection as Fulfillment plus Cause; Free Will as the expression of Cause; Sympathy, in the form of universal psychic coincidence, as the meaning of Chance; etc. In any sense we may say that perhaps the (mechanical) Feeling best describes the Structure, the Emotion best expresses the Cause, while the Notion best explains the Meaning of the Form.
All the previous assumptions are indicative. We might equivalently use a mathematical language to incorporate the psychic aspects and the relevant notions into a set of physical properties. An interpretation in the form of frequencies of some fundamental entities, if such ‘modes of vibration’ would refer both to material and psychic aspects, is an example. What is the relationship between Love and Gravity, one might ask? Is there some equation or form of analogy which might compare the two notions and give some significant and meaningful result? Do we need such a formula to understand the universe better? Do we need mathematics to send our consciousness to outer space? How long will it take us to reach the other end of our galaxy if spacetime is a purely psychic phenomenon? How could the fundamental aspects of the psyche (in the form of vibrations for example) be related to the fluctuations of space-time? Or, if we consider strings whose vibrations and motions comprise the world as we know it, why don’t we assume archetypes as the elementary vibrators or operators whose motions and functions may describe both human experience and physical existence in a unified way?
Let’s show some figures illustrating the basic notions furthermore,
We have seen that in astrology planets can be treated as symbols which exert influences both on the physical and the psychological, or social, level.
Instead of ‘planets’ we may recognize the archetypes as the motivating factors. But if planets may not produce ‘psychic influences’ it is equally probable that they don’t produce physical forces either. Instead we may say that planets arrange themselves in certain orbits according to some pattern of symmetry. In general relativity gravity has been already reduced to an ‘effect,’ or a ‘pseudoforce,’ ‘the way we feel about, or sense, space-time curvature.’ Thus gravity may be transformed into a process which unifies nature and the human senses.
This is another way to perceive the interaction, or coincidence. Instead of a division between the physical and the psychic world, the Form represents a Unity in which both physical objects and human experience are included.
An alternative description of such a Unity is to assume some successive layers on which perception is established. The physical sphere represents the world of tangible objects, the emotional sphere comprises the world of representations, an additional sphere may incorporate the world of abstract notions, while the outer layer describes the horizon of Consciousness.
We may realize by such examples that the division between the external world and the world of Consciousness loses any meaning. Physical objects cannot be perceived outside the sphere of human experience, in the same sense that perception of the object by the mind gives rise to awareness. Perhaps the primordial creatures which we may call ‘strings’ or ‘archetypes,’ and which seem to spontaneously pop up from the darkness of the vacuum, are nothing more than some excited structures of Consciousness, some ‘quantum states’ of a Super-Intelligence, which are subsequently perceived as real events. Accordingly personal experience may come about in some region of that Universal Mind, as a localized and individualized event. Thus the only difference between dream- like fantasies and the expressed reality could be the same as that between the ‘superposed’ and the ‘collapsed’ states of the ‘wave-function’ of Consciousness, according to some Causal rule which always keeps the process coherent.
9.7 Superception
This is a series of quick thoughts:
Perception is a result of the senses.
The world is composed of the senses.
The fundamental properties are senses.
The archetypes produce the senses.
All notions correspond to higher senses.
Thus understanding is also a sense (an archetypal property).
Each sense has three ‘dimensions:’
Physical- Emotional- Mental
Perhaps modern science is still at the stage of the ‘4-dimensional’ physical spacetime. But if we abandon the mechanistic model of the universe (even quantum mechanics is ‘mechanistic’), dimensions in the form of physical direction will lose any meaning. It is very hard, almost inconceivable, what the ‘physics’ of the future would look like, whether human beings at this stage would have been transformed into ‘energy spheres,’ moving across the universe with no barriers in spacetime. Still what is now intangible would have been rendered tangible, thus physical reality would still exist. But the limits of perception and awareness would have been significantly widened. And of course there will still be some sense of ‘darkness’ to compare ‘light’ with.
The previous picture reminds of Pauli’s-Jung’s diagram, illustrated elsewhere in this document, in which causality spreads on the horizontal axis, while synchronicity runs on the vertical axis. In such a sense Consciousness (the conscious in the picture) unites all phenomena by bridging at the same time the gap between the unconscious (sub-conscious in the picture) and the ‘super-conscious.’
Perhaps there are two fundamental ways to describe both the Physis and the Psyche in a unified way:
- One way is to treat Consciousness as another variable in equations.
- The other way is to consider Consciousness as the main function, whose variables are the physical properties.
The advantage of the second alternative is probably that we don’t need to make any fundamental distinction between what is natural and what belongs to the psyche. Still the variables of a function are causal in the sense that they express local aspects of the overall function. On the other hand the function, as a distribution of probabilities, is inherently acausal. Another aspect is that all variables may be treated as time dependent. For example a function of space f(x) includes a function of time x(t). In such a sense time gives rise to space, which in turn makes the function perform (and be realized).
Thus time becomes a measure of Order and the major causal Agent in the universe. However we will always ignore ‘at present’ the Condition which had existed before time began. It is even hard to define the term ‘pre-existing.’ It is not enough to move backwards in time to imagine what the Condition might have been, because such a process is a causal process. Perhaps we are eternally doomed to define the ‘acausal’ by causal assumptions. But even before we consider the process of Order, we may infer some notion of Structure, without having to make any reference to time or space at all (except that we would have to regard the ‘dots’ and ‘lines’ of the structure as something different than ‘space- time coordinates’ or ‘motion’).
In such a sense Jung referred to Synchronicity as an acausal connecting principle of some kind of Symmetry or Structure. Pauli together with Jung invented the diagram mentioned earlier. What could be the coordinates of such a grid? Perhaps the coordinates will be the functions of archetypes, or the ‘lines’ and ‘vertices’ of some elementary objects, or shapes, constituting the Structure. Therefore our ‘grid’ stands for an elementary ‘field’ of frequencies and intensities of archetypes which are expressed as physical properties, including space and time. Such a construction would look more like Kepler’s aforementioned ‘Platonic solid model of the solar system,’ which, although may seem magical or outdated, magnificently represents the ultimate effort of the human mind to perfectly match its archetypal structure. If it took about 2,000 years, from the dawn of science in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt to the time of Plato, to figure out which could be the fundamental Solids, and another 2,000 years from the ideas of Plato to the thought of Kepler, perhaps it will take another 2,000 years, beginning from the time of Kepler and the Renaissance, till we reach a theory of Consciousness, and we unify geometry with the process of thought.
Although I have the feeling that causality must derive from a stronger non- local principle, thus arise as a consequence of a broader aspect of structure or symmetry (instead of treating locality and non-locality as equivalent), by the previous diagram I imply a ‘quaternary’ principle. The whole figure may represent the Perfect Form, or Consciousness. The innovation may be that there is a symmetry between the unconscious (named sub-conscious in the diagram) and its counterpart (the ‘super-conscious’). Therefore the Projection is performed not between the conscious and the unconscious, but between ‘past conditions’ and ‘things to be,’ on both sides of the Mirror-like Ego, the ‘center’ of our own extended present. But Consciousness extends beyond the conscious sphere to include all possible physical and psychic phenomena. We might also extend the notion of ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ images in optics, to consider ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ objects. For example the right lower quadrant may include the real images of our subconscious psychic sphere, while the left lower quadrant may include the real objects of our subconscious material sphere, while virtual images and objects may be found on the upper quadrants accordingly. No matter if it makes any sense to talk about ‘real images’ or ‘virtual objects,’ the interesting point is that our conscious world of reality could be nothing more than the coalescence of two equally imaginary objects, one belonging to the ‘sub-conscious’ world of instincts, and another one belonging to the ‘super-conscious’ world of intuitions, thus the whole diagram may represent a ‘super-symmetric’ depiction of individualized consciousness.
Therefore the projection may have 4 instead of 2 ‘peaks.’ We may also add more ‘peaks’ to form a hexagon or dodecahedron, relating additionally each peak to some psychic aspect. We might also relate 12 ‘elementary Characters’ to the 12 signs of the zodiac, and correspondingly define 12 basic psychic functions. The existence of super-consciousness itself may also be based on a Super- Hero archetype, as philosophically described by Nietzsche, or as classically depicted in the myth of Prometheus, or even as it is nowadays expressed by the caricature of Superman or Spiderman. Therefore the projection may have 4 instead of 2 ‘peaks.’ We may also add more ‘peaks’ to form a hexagon or dodecahedron, relating additionally each peak to some psychic aspect. We might also relate 12 ‘elementary Characters’ to the 12 signs of the zodiac, and correspondingly define 12 basic psychic functions. The existence of super-consciousness itself may also be based on a Super- Hero archetype, as philosophically described by Nietzsche, or as classically depicted in the myth of Prometheus, or even as it is nowadays expressed by the caricature of Superman or Spiderman. Whatever ‘Superman’ may stand for us, the Super-Hero archetype always expresses the projection of the ideal image of Man in various versions throughout the ages.
Aristotle believed that emotions were an essential component of virtue. Perhaps Virtue is an expression of the ultimate Destiny or Cause. We may say that we live by Virtue of the Perfect Form, even if Perfection is to be realized as Completion or Fulfillment, without any reference to Divinity. Perhaps ‘virtue’ simply means living in harmony with ourselves and with the rest of the world. By turning Passion into Virtue we may bring together the ideas and the senses, giving thus the ‘perfect shape’ to our own existence. In fact ‘synesthesia’ could be interpreted as ‘thought together with the senses.’ We may also call such a mental state ‘superception,’ and define or initiate a process similar to that of a thought experiment or meditation in order to reach such a mental state where thoughts and feelings merge. We may use the following diagrams to depict such processes:
Archetype + Projection = Psychic content (unconscious)
Psychic content + Reflection = Physical object (conscious)
Archetype + Projection + Reflection = Physical object
Thus the vibrating archetype (projecting and reflecting) produces the physical world.
Physical object - Psychic content = Cause
Experience + Cause = Existence
By examining physical phenomena we go backwards to the causes. At the same time we transform our own psychic contents into reality.
Projection + Reflection = Physical object + Psychic content
Physical object + Psychic content + Cause = Consciousness
If we subtract everything we know about the world from all the things (both physical and psychic) which truly compose the world, what is left is the Cause of the same things.
Collective Consciousness = Individualized consciousness + Cause
Free Will + Cause = Destiny
Our own awareness is the result of the individualization process. Our free choices fulfill our own destiny.
Structure (Symmetry) + Cause = Meaning (the Form)
Meaning + Cause = Virtue (Harmony)
We may say that living in Harmony is a deliberate action of realizing the underlying beauty (symmetry) of the world.
The previous schemes lead me to say that,
Archetype = Cause
Perhaps the Archetype is a Cause without Awareness. Or probably the Cause is an Archetype without Awareness. Nevertheless,
Archetype + Cause = Consciousness
This leaves us with the impression that an External Force is necessary for the whole process to begin, that we need a pre-existing Cause (existing even before the archetypes). But we had better not repeat the infinite loop which once spontaneously created everything we know, in our own mind and in the universe. We are all the products of the Projection, which may have been as pompous and violent as the Big Bang or as modest and silent as an Unfolding Dream. No matter how we define the primordial singularity which included all the necessary conditions in the beginning, causality made the original structure unfold and become meaningful. Meaningful is everything which exists but at the same time is known to exist. Such a universal coincidence or Sympathy is possible because our own mind is part of the process. Thus ‘individualizing’ means at the same time ‘materializing,’ or simply ‘realizing.’ By looking at the mirror to see ourselves, simultaneously the Mirror projects the image of ours to be perceived. In the general case we may say that the Form is like the Moon which has a Face. But we are unable to look at both sides at the same time. Thus we are finally left with the truth of our own reflection.
We may now summarize some of the basic aspects of this section as follows,
- We perceive the world by projecting our own mind towards the natural phenomena, while, at the same time, the true causes of the same phenomena are reflected onto us.
- The principle of analogy gives us the confidence that the way we perceive the true causes is symmetrical to the way the same causes created us.
- All aspects of the universe come about spontaneously and simultaneously, even though the same aspects will be afterwards considered. Space and time are such aspects.
- The emergence of Consciousness is related to such a retrospective consideration. It gives us knowledge of the process, but also leaves us with the impression of something having existed before. On the other hand the aftermath of the illusion is a sense of meaning and cause.
- Meaning and Cause are among the most important notions. Besides the 5 known senses, or the feelings related to the body, all notions which are perceived by the mind can equivalently be treated as properties of higher senses.
- The sense of Harmony and Free Will brings us closer to the Meaning of the universe and to the Cause of our own existence.
10. The secret of the golden flower
The ‘Golden Flower’ as a mandala drawn by a patient of C. G. Jung
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala]
According to the site Spiritual Awakening, the word Mandala means ‘circle’ (in Sanskrit). A Mandala represents wholeness, a cosmic diagram reminding us of our relation to infinity, extending beyond and within our bodies and minds. The mandala appears to us in all aspects of life, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and more obviously the circles of life encompassing friends, family and communities. Mandalas are circular designs symbolizing the notion that life is never ending. Many mandalas have spiritual significance to an individual or group of individuals. The Hindus were one of the first people to use a mandala as a spiritual tool, but the mandalas most individuals are familiar with, are ones made by Buddhists.
Mandalas are used for meditation purposes allowing the individual meditating to become one with the universe. The design of the mandala is supposed to be visually appealing so as to absorb the mind in such a way that irritating thoughts are unable to get through and a spiritual essence surrounds the individual observing the mandala, which in turn allows the individual a higher consciousness or awareness, almost as though being hypnotized. This allows the busy mind to take a break while the creative mind is allowed to run free.
[http://spiritualawakening.weebly.com/mandalas-what-are-they.html]
We may say that the mandala is a self-replicating form, commonly represented by a lotus flower. The lotus itself is a symbol of rebirth. Thus the mandala as a whole represents the aspect of creation, unfolding from the origins to the end of times.
Kali yantra
More generally the symbolism of mandalas is expressed by yantras. According to Wikipedia, Yantra is the Sanskrit word for a mystical diagram, especially diagrams from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. They are used for worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; used for the benefits given by their supposed occult powers based on Hindu astrology and tantric texts. Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially ‘thought forms’ representing divinities or cosmic powers, which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations.
Various geometric shapes and images, along with written mantras, form the yantra. Triangles and hexagrams are common, along with circles and lotuses of 4 to 1,000 petals. Saiva and Shakta yantras often include prongs of a trident. Yantra designs in modern times have deviated from the traditional patterns given in ancient texts and traditions. Shops in India and Nepal will often copy designs from Western imitations of yantras or artistic representations that may have originated from the traditional designs.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala]
Thus we return to the more general and purely abstract geometric representation of archetypes. While in ancient religions and traditions the mystical or mythical powers of archetypes were related to deities, in a modern context we may relate the same powers, or influences, or simply actions and functions, to natural or physical forces. Even more generally the effect of archetypes is purely psychic in the sense that it directly influences the mind, which visualizes such effects in the form of abstract shapes. Thus the physical force is the effect of the psychic influence, and the physical everyday world, as we naturally perceive it, is the manifestation or projection of the underlying archetypes.
Still someone may say that we don’t need to know everything about the world and its underlying causes. That it is sufficient to learn about the perceivable results manifested in the physical world, whatever the causes might be. Or even that it suffices to live a decent and simple life, taking care of our children and family, minding our own business and only looking after our personal belongings. However such an attitude is self-falsified by the same reality and purpose of life. To ‘take care’ means to have purpose, either we care for others or we care for ourselves. We may also believe in God, pray, and regularly go to the church. In fact there may be an inversely proportional relationship between religious faith and scientific truth. The more we believe in God, the less we might tend to search for the Truth of Nature. But if the notion of God is identical to the Truth of Nature then the division is false, while those who make such a division just avoid their own responsibilities with respect to the meanings and purposes of life.
Additionally we may say that God can be found in all of us, but perhaps this archetype, expressed as the urge towards Perfection, is found with a different degree of intensity in each of us. We may also say that such different ‘intensities’ or ‘frequencies of appearance’ by which archetypes are manifested makes us different one from another, so that one may tend to ‘believe,’ while another one may tend to ‘explore.’ But, even in different quantities, all archetypes are present and cooperate in order to compose ourselves, our own individualized version of the Form. The Completeness of the Form- the aspect that the Form is universal and indivisible at the same time-is true even if someone doesn’t perceive such a holistic aspect, so that he/she behaves selfishly to others. Apparently the ignorance of Wholeness in preference to the Ego makes us subjective and wrongdoing in the first place. Thus the notion of the Form allows us to perceive the world and ourselves in a unified manner.
This is also related to the archetype of Love. We may say that Wholeness is related to the expression of Sympathy in the universe. To be loved is equivalent to feeling complete. It is impossible to imagine someone committing a crime if he/she has been loved and has felt love in his/her life. But by Love in this context we mean not the selfish and possessive primordial feeling (thus Hate) but a promoted and cultivated sentiment covering all levels of experience and existence.
The notion of universal Sympathy may bring together the psychic aspect of Love and the physical aspect of Gravity. In fact the term ‘sympathy’ has already been used in a scientific context by Christian Huygens. According to the following paper, the phrase ‘odd kind of sympathy’ was used by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens in a letter to the Royal Society of London pertaining to the tendency of two pendulums to synchronize, or anti-synchronize, when mounted together on the same beam. Huygens, the inventor of the pendulum clock, noticed the effect while lying in bed. Two pendulum clocks, mounted together, will always end up swinging in exactly opposite directions, regardless of their respective individual motion. This was one of the first observations of the phenomenon of coupled harmonic oscillators, which have many applications in physics. Huygens originally believed the synchronization occurs due to air currents shared between the two pendulums, but later after performing several simple tests he dismissed this idea and attributed sympathetic motion of pendulums to imperceptible movement in the beam from which both pendulums are suspended.
[http://www.perlikowski.kdm.p.lodz.pl/papers/Czolczynski_preprint.pdf]
Whatever the means (either the beam or the air, or even the vacuum) which transports the action between the two pendulums might be, there will always have to be some form of separation between the two pendulums, or between any couple of objects in general, thus some medium, either we call the medium the ether, the vacuum, or spacetime. According to our discussion such a medium could be formed by the projecting archetype, thus it would be the space between the maxima of the archetype’s vibration. At the point of maximum (e.g. ‘positive’) amplitude a physical object will appear, while at the other (e.g. ‘negative’) end of the vibration a corresponding psychic content will be found. Perhaps all forces of nature are ‘true causes,’ therefore psychic actions by definition, expressing the relevant contents of the projecting or vibrating archetypes. Thus what is felt as ‘gravity’ by the body is felt as ‘love’ by the psyche, while the mind tries to grasp the corresponding notion (the true cause) in order to find a satisfactory explanation. Such an explanation may be reached if we become aware that gravity and love are just expressions of the same cause, corresponding to different levels of the senses and perception. In turn such a realization may lead us to a ‘theory of everything,’ which will include both the mind and the body, or both the physical phenomena and their psychological aspects.
According to Plato for every physical object there would have been a corresponding Form in the world of Ideas. Thus there should be a Form for a chair or a table, a Form for a notion or a feeling, a Form for the Idea, and so on. For us every physical shape corresponds to some psychic action. But the same action of the archetype may correspond to parts of different objects. Thus for example the legs of a chair, of a table, as well as our own legs constitute parts of the same ‘imaginary object,’ the ‘Idea,’ or archetype. But the Form is not that of a chair or a table. It is the whole environment in which the chair belongs and expresses some function.
Therefore we may say that the world is not composed of separate objects as we perceive them but of separate functions which operate between the objects. Whatever has ‘legs’ expresses the same function related to the meaning of ‘having legs’ (ability to move or to stand for example). Whatever catches fire or can be lit expresses another function. Thus the world, and consequently the objects which constitute the world, is composed of collections of functions, complexes of archetypes, which we perceive as rigid objects. In the language of modern physics a relevant term would be ‘interference patterns’ of the corresponding physical properties. But according to our discussion those properties can be physical and psychic at the same time. For example while ‘charge’ as a physical property cannot explain ‘fire’ as a psychic element, the notion of ‘fire’ may also explain the appearance of ‘charge’ as a physical consequence. Furthermore while physical properties are subject to causality, psychic properties act instantaneously. The reason for this is that space and time emerge together with Consciousness (or the mind of the observer), which inspects and analyzes, thus attributes causality, to physical events after they have been manifested.
In such a sense we may say that Consciousness becomes the Causal Factor in the universe or that, equivalently, Cause in the universe implies and presupposes the existence of Consciousness as a property or aspect of intelligence which was present in the beginning of the universe. We may say that Consciousness is the process by which the Form becomes aware of its own Form. This has to do with the fundamental Projection- Reflection operation, as has been exposed in this discussion. The final outcome, that the mind is capable of perceiving the external reality, is due to the fact that the projected Images always coincide with the reflected Objects. Thus the material world is nothing else than the manifested archetypes, the psychic contents which have been, on one hand, spontaneously or unconsciously projected, and, on the other hand, consciously or causally reflected or perceived.
In fact we may define observation, in the context of our discussion, as the process by and during which the (observed) object becomes intelligent and the (‘objectified’) observer becomes real. Thus intelligence is manifested as a function or action which defines the properties or parameters of observation or of the experiment. Such parameters, or observables (thus the manifested psychic contents), are also the free choices of the observer. Therefore Free Will as a universal property is inherent to the process of observation or experimentation (the transformation of the content into the object), as Consciousness emerges. In such a sense the outcome of observation or experiment is predictable as much as the behavior of the observer or experimenter is repeatable.
But although the process which makes perception and decision coincide is symmetrical, the direction of the process is always biased from the past towards the future. Even if all physical phenomena, before they appear, exist as conditions in a ‘pre-spacetime’ context, which we have called extended present, as soon as the symmetry is broken the action is directed from the conditional state to the physical state of things. Such a process is certainly related to the aspect of time. If we consider time as a property which determines some special arrangement of things, thus as an aspect of archetypal preference, then we may say that, even if ‘what is going to happen will happen,’ things have not equal probability to happen. But a fundamentally inhomogeneous field of probabilities also suggests that spacetime is inherently inhomogeneous. Such an aspect can be explained if we suppose that the basic psychic substratum or structure from within which physical reality emerges is composed of archetypes, thus of different elementary shapes instead of identical ‘little squares’ of an indistinctive grid. Such a form of a-symmetry makes possible the emergence of Consciousness from an otherwise eternally unconscious and undifferentiated state into the conscious state of realization and awareness. We may say that the net difference between what is conditioned and what is manifested is equal to the ‘displacement of consciousness,’ i.e. the amount of knowledge acquired. This way the Form in general not only spontaneously appears but also purposefully evolves in successive orderly levels.
Such a Purpose or Cause in the universe can be therefore directly related to the deepest meaning of time without any moral or religious implications, as we commonly refer to. This is not to say that the Cause is meaningless, but that the Cause of the universe, consequently the purpose of our own existence, refers to and originates from the deepest aspect and meaning of Symmetry on the basis of which the Form is structured. In the beginning of this essay we proposed that the Form is in proportion. A relative notion from the world of physics is that of ‘fine structure.’ There is also a corresponding physical constant (the fine- structure constant). Still some physicists have argued that the constants of nature may change. As Wikipedia says, beginning with Paul Dirac, some scientists have speculated that physical constants may actually decrease in proportion to the age of the Universe. Scientific experiments have not yet pinpointed any definite evidence that this is the case, although they have placed upper bounds on the maximum possible relative change per year at very small amounts.
However the true dimensions of the problem have been put forward by John Barrow:
“[An] important lesson we learn from the way that pure numbers define the world is what it really means for worlds to be different. The pure number we call the fine structure constant and denote by α is a combination of the electron charge, e, the speed of light, c, and Planck’s constant, h. At first we might be tempted to think that a world in which the speed of light was slower would be a different world. But this would be a mistake. If c, h, and e were all changed so that the values were different when we looked them up in our tables of physical constants, but the value of α remained the same, this new world would be observationally indistinguishable from our world. The only thing that counts in the definition of worlds are the values of the dimensionless constants of Nature. If all masses were doubled in value you cannot tell, because all the pure numbers defined by the ratios of any pair of masses are unchanged.”
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_constant]
We might also say that even if the fine-structure constant, or all other constants accordingly, changed, then the aspects related to perception, thus to the manifestation of the constants in physical reality, would also be different. In other words the Physical Universe and Consciousness will always be entangled, or will coincide, whatever the version of the ‘Multiverse’ we live in might be. Therefore the assumption of the multiverse as a useful tool to explain the appearance of intelligence life in our own universe (versus many other unsuccessful and ‘dead’ universes) is fundamentally wrong. If the Form is One then intelligent life will be found anywhere within the Form. Thus the Form is a ‘multiverse’ which includes our own mind.
Such a realization concerning the Meaning of the Form, the meaningful and total coincidence between experience and existence, brings us closer to the notion of Harmony. But Harmony has to be understood not as ‘making beauty Purposeful,’ but instead as ‘making purpose Beautiful.’ Purposeful Beauty can be nothing but the Whore. But the Beautiful Purpose can transform the Whore into the Heroine. But the transcendence beyond the word of the instinct, thus of our own psychic drives, is not possible if we exclude Consciousness from the same world. This is why it is also imperative that we find as a species a uniform conceptual framework, a ‘theory of everything,’ which will include both the ‘Matter’ and the ‘Mind.’
- Harmony is the Meaning.
- Virtue is living our lives in Harmony.
What is true about the meaning of the fine-structure constant, is also true with respect to the golden ratio, some aspects of which we have already mentioned. It is even more significant and meaningful to consider the invariant aspect of the golden ratio. Whatever the measure or length of any quantities might be, their successive progression (in the form of a Fibonacci series) will be such that the quantities will be in the golden ratio, assuming that the role of the golden ratio in nature is fundamental. Therefore there is no meaning to say that the golden ratio will be different in another universe, or in some different region of our own universe. Even if it is possible that the golden ratio φ depends on time t, then we may write φ(t)=φ΄t, so that φ΄ will become the new golden ratio, and so on. Therefore the following two sentences will always be true:
- The whole is to the longer part as the longer part is to the shorter.
- The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
The second sentence does not directly refers to the golden mean, but to a more general statement concerning the meaning of Wholeness. In physics a relative term is the binding energy of systems. The energy which is stored in the nucleus of an atom (thus the mass of the nucleus) is less than the energy stored in the separate components of the nucleus (the mass of protons and neutrons). The difference is the binding energy of the system. This is the energy released in nuclear fusion, or, inversely, the work needed to bind the system in the first place. Thus the total energy of the system, if we include the binding energy, is bigger than the energy of the constituent parts. Such an excess of energy refers to the system as a whole, and implies the presence of some external cause which acts upon the system. Such an external or retrospective cause may be nothing else than Consciousness. If C is the total energy of the system, E is the energy of the constituent parts and mc2 is the binding energy of the system, then we may write down the formula C= E+mc^2. Whether or not the latter formula may quantify the presence of Consciousness in physical phenomena, sooner or later we will have to find a way to integrate the physical phenomena with our own observations and considerations about them. Therefore, we may say that,
- Consciousness is Wholeness.
- The purpose of life is to make the Object of Consciousness tangible to us.
I will end this discussion with an excerpt from the ‘Secret of the Golden Flower,’
“Without beginning, without end,
Without past, without future.
A halo of light surrounds the world of the law.
We forget one another, quiet and pure, altogether powerful and empty.
The emptiness is irradiated by the light of the heart and of heaven.
The water of the sea is smooth and mirrors the moon in its surface.
The clouds disappear in blue space; the mountains shine clear.
Consciousness reverts to contemplation; the moon disk rests alone.”
[http://www.bahaistudies.net/asma/the_secret_of_the_golden_flower2.pdf]
- Consciousness reverts to Consciousness.
- The Form reflects the Form.-
Last revised: Thursday, March 2, 2017.
Mailto: christselentis@gmail.com
Downloadable version on archive.org:
Theory of the Form
Theory of the Form
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