ON THE SOCRATIC COSMOS
By Jon Trevathan
The Socratic dialogues have inspired interpretive conjectures that reflect the philosophical and
scientific assumptions of Plato’s readers, and their times. While accepting the historical
importance of Plato’s writings, scholars have frequently found something that conflicts with their
cherished preconceptions and have dismissed his metaphysics as “nonsense.”1 The insights Plato
shared, however, were not “nonsense.2 I will, in this paper, show that the opposite is true.3
When a panpsychic-like4 cosmology is considered,5 a new mosaic6 that closely corresponds to the
Socratic Cosmos7 can be assembled, and for which significant scientific support will be shown.8
“Myth is not primitive proto-science. It is a qualitatively different phenomenon. Science might be considered
‘description of the world with regards to those aspects that are consensually apprehensible’ or ‘specification of the
most effective mode of reaching an end (given a defined end).’ Myth can be more accurately regarded as “description
of the world as it signifies (for action).’ The mythic universe is a place to act, not a place to perceive. Myth describes
things in terms of their unique or shared affective valence, their value, their motivational significance. ...
We do not understand pre-experimental thinking, so we try to explain it in terms that we do understand –which
means that we explain it away, define it as nonsense.” Jordan B. Peterson, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, Routledge
1
(1999), PDF Version with Figures, May 2002, Page 20.
“One strand of anti-metaphysics stems from the infamous verificationism of the logical positivists …, which asserts
that the meaning of a claim is, in one way or another, a function of its method of verification, so that if a claim cannot
be verified empirically, it is simply nonsense. But what counts as empirical verification?”
2
William Seager, Metaphysics, Role in Science, Chapter 42, A Companion to the Philosophy of Science, W H. Newton-Smith, Editor, Blackwell
Publishers Ltd, 2000, Page 284.
I have rejected the logical positivists’ verification standard and have, instead, employed the test of scientific
plausibility throughout this paper.
4
Panpsychism is the belief that mind-like states are ubiquitous and fundamental. Cosmopsychism is the belief that
the cosmos instantiates consciousness and human consciousness is derived from this cosmic consciousness.
3
See: Joachim Keppler and Itay Shani, Cosmopsychism and Consciousness Research: A Fresh View on the Causal Mechanisms Underlying
Phenomenal States, Front. Psychol. 11:371 (2020)
Itay Shani and Joachim Keppler, Beyond Combination: How Cosmic Consciousness Grounds Ordinary Experience, Journal of the American
Philosophical Association (2018)
Philip Goff, Cosmopsychism, Micropsychism and the Grounding Relation, Chapter 13, The Routledge Handbook of Panpsychism, William
Seager, Editor, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, 2020; and:
Godehard Brüntrup and Ludwig Jaskolla, Editors, Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives, Oxford University Press, 2016.
Also see generally: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy description of Priority Monism.
“Plato invented panpsychism as an alternative to the natural philosophies that he saw as corrosive to morality and
uninformative for cosmology, as they lacked any real explanation (meaning rational and teleological) of why there is
a beautiful order evident throughout “nature”, rather than mere chaos, or why the world was any better off being the
way that it is, rather than any other way. Their reliance on the material mechanisms of unintelligent elementary
bodies (auxiliary causes) left their accounts lacking in real causes, i.e. intelligent agents who could act purposefully,
having knowledge and a view towards the good, rather than mindlessly careening through space haphazardly.”
5
Rheins, Jason G., "The Intelligible Creator-God and The Intelligent Soul of the Cosmos in Plato’s Theology and Metaphysics" (2010). Publicly
accessible Penn Dissertations. Paper 184, Pages 138-9.
Note that the scientific basis for a top-down panpsychic (cosmopsychic) universe will also be explored in this paper.
6
Do not assume that this new mosaic will conform to the rules of Euclidean geometry. It does not.
7
These concepts have been the subject of preliminary explorations in the following draft papers:
Jon Trevathan, Meditations of Consciousness. Jon Trevathan, “Can Science and Religion Be Reconciled” and
Jon Trevathan “Ontology as Poem.” All of these papers are currently undergoing very substantial revisions.
8
The standard of “Scientific Plausibility,” which I have applied in this paper, requires that I identify underlying
hypotheses for which credible scientific sponsorship can be shown and from which the new hypotheses discussed in
this paper, can be reasonably derived. Part One of this paper will focus on the philosophical aspects of the Socratic
Cosmos. Part Two will go deeper into the science that supports my views.
1
Central to this mosaic is Socrates’9 “World Soul.”10 I will argue that the World Soul
represents a hierarchical continuum11 that begins outside our normal space and time.12 Within
this continuum, the World Soul defines the templets (Forms)13 of every possible “beable.” It is
also the “Receptacle” for those interactive probabilistic processes from which each “beable” (as a
temporal succession of “Nows”) can ultimately be resolved (become actualized).14 In this paper, I
9
I am attributing all of the philosophical concepts presented in the Socratic dialogues to Socrates in order to avoid
entering the debate over whether Socrates or Plato was the source of any specific concept that I am presenting.
10
“…the world-soul is described as of composite formation, a blend of all modes of existence and activity-Ideal or
archetypal (" undivided ") and phenomenal ("'divided ") alike (Tim., 34-35). By the " indivisible " elements of Being,
and of the Same and the Other, which enter into soul Plato would seem to indicate that, whether regarded from the
point of view of existence or of activity, of its nature or of its function, the soul shares in absolute reality…”
Eric J. Roberts, Plato's View of the Soul, Mind Association, New Series, Vol. 14, No. 55, Oxford University Press, July 1905, Page 381
Although Plato presented his “Dividing Line’ as distinct stages, I have interpreted these stages as descriptive
representations of a gradual continuum.
“Conceive . . . that there are these two powers I speak of, the Good reigning over the domain of all that is
intelligible, the Sun over the visible world. . . . [Y]ou have these two orders of things clearly before your mind: the
visible and the intelligible? . . . Now take a line divided into two unequal parts, one to represent the visible order,
the other the intelligible; and divide each part again in the same proportion, symbolizing degrees of comparative
clearness or obscurity. Then one of the two sections in the visible world will stand for images. By images I mean
first shadows, and then reflections in water or in close-grained, polished surfaces, and everything of that kind, if
you understand. . . . Let the second section stand for the actual things of which the first are likeness, the living
creatures about us and all the works of nature or of human hands. . . . Will you also take the proportion in which the
visible world has been divided as corresponding to degrees of reality and truth, so that the likeness shall stand to
the original in the same ratio as the sphere of appearances and belief to the sphere of knowledge? . . . Now consider
how we are to divide the part which stands for the intelligible world. There are two sections. In the first the mind
uses as images those actual things which themselves had images in the visible world; and it is compelled to pursue
its inquiry by starting from assumptions and travelling, not up to a principle, but down to a conclusion. In the
second the mind moves in the other direction, from an assumption up towards a principle which is not hypothetical;
and it makes no use of the images employed in the other section, but only of Forms, and conducts its inquiry solely
by their means.2 Plato, The Republic, trans. Francis MacDonald Cornford (Oxford University Press, 1945) Ibid., p. 224, 509d–511d.,
11
quoted by David Weissman, Lost Souls: The Philosophic Origins of a Cultural Dilemma, State University of New York Press, 2003, Pages 5-6.
“Normal Space and Time” should be understood to have three spatial dimensions and one time dimension.
Alternate origin narratives and cosmologies will also be introduced that include a potentially infinite number of
spatial dimensions and at least one additional time dimension. These additional dimensions of space and time will be
discussed at length in Part Two.
13
“By removing the condition of radical separation of Forms and objects that held sway throughout the middle
dialogues up through the Timaeus, Plato has finally provided an answer to the problem of participation. For changing
and inconstant sensible things to participate in Forms is for Forms to serve as fixed standards or measures with
reference to which these sensible things can be assigned determinate characteristics, despite their indefiniteness and
constant change.” Kenneth M. Sayre, Plato’s Late Ontology, Parmenides Publishing, 2005, Page 180
14
“The receptacle is that in which all becoming takes place. The fires that you see coming into being and being
extinguished are just appearances, in the receptacle, of the Fire Itself (the Form). At 52b ff, Plato describes the
receptacle as “space.” In the Islamic and Bahá'í ontologies, Plato’s receptacle was given the name “Malakút”
In answer to the following controversy, I will argue that the “Receptacle” is representative of a hierarchal stage
within the World Soul wherein the World Soul’s oscillations become “substance.”
“… there is controversy over the last metaphor that Timaeus gives for the Receptacle. He says that it shakes like
a winnowing basket that separates kernels of grain. More particularly, the Receptacle is said to be shaken by the
phenomena in it and, in turn, to shake them. Is this shaking to be read literally? Nearly all critics now, including all
the contributors to this collection who weigh in on the subject, take the claim that the Receptacle shakes at face
value, even though this seems to collide directly with the repeated claims that the Receptacle contributes no content
to its contents. Motions characterize, even define, many things in the Receptacle. In the Sophist, there is a Form of
motion. Its instances are in the Receptacle. How can all these claims be squared? Richard D. Mohr, Plato’s Cosmic
12
2
will show how (i) the “Form of the Good,”15 (ii) the “Good’s” subordinate “Forms,”16 (iii) the
Cosmic Intellect,17 and (iv) an infinitude of “beables” (e.g., anything and everything that could
possibly be) are, by emanation,18 emergent19 from the Socratic unitary principle (i.e., “One.” ). In
Manual: Introduction, Reader’s Guide, and Acknowledgments; One Book: The Whole Universe - Plato’s Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and
Barbara M. Sattler, Editors, Parmenides Publishing, 2010, Page 14.
“The Form of the Good is the supreme principle of metaphysics, by virtue of its superiority to other Forms, as well
as the supreme principle of epistemology, the entity that must be understood if one wants to know the complete
nature of the Forms. So the two functions of the Form of the Good, corresponding to the sun’s causation both of
visible things and of our sight of them, unite metaphysics with epistemology. At the same time, just because it is the
Form of the Good, it represents the goal of life, a principle to make sense of and justify all human behavior that is
governed by the pursuit of value.”
15
Nickolas Pappas, Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Plato and the Republic, Routledge, 1995, 2000 Reprint, Page 138.
Emanatively emergent from the “Good” the subordinate forms are, in their essence, fixed and unchanging.
However, analogous to “elemental sounds,” these fixed Forms anchor a superposition of oscillations that, in
communion with every other Form, propagate the oscillatory patterns that ultimately inform, animate, and guide
creation.
“Grammar as metaphor for philosophy and the elemental sounds and their various classes as metaphors for forms
appear … in the Sophist. …
According to the Philebus, each elemental sound, and thus each form, cannot be grasped in itself, independently
of all the rest and the classes into which they are grouped together and separated: all these make up a system, a
single bond of its parts which somehow turns them into a coherent unity, allowing all of its components to be
treated in a single discipline, grammar or philosophy (18c7–d2).11
16
Theokritos Kouremenos, Plato’s Forms, Mathematics and Astronomy, Volume 67, Trends in Classics – Supplementary Volumes, Franco
Montanari and Antonios Rengakos, Editors, Walter de Gruyter Inc. 2018, Pages 12-13.
“… Forms have a mode of existence distinct from that of sensible objects.”
Kenneth M. Sayre, Plato’s Late Ontology, Parmenides Publishing, 2005, Page 180
Borrowing from Process Physics and Whitehead’s process philosophy, I will later present the hypothesis that a
primordial information matrix emerged from the World Soul’s initial unity and that self-referential processes within
this information space caused neural net-like relationships to emerge prior to the Big Bang.
“The World Soul is initially created as a means of endowing the world with intellect (nous) – that is, with a
rational, harmonious structure grounded in intelligible principles…” Chad Jorgenson, The Embodied Soul In Plato’s Later
17
Thought, Cambridge University Press, 2018, page 77.
“World-soul is Plato’s solution to the problem of the implementation of nous.”
Jason G. Rhein, The Intelligible Creator-God and the Intelligent Soul of the Cosmos in Plato’s Theology and Metaphysics,. Publicly accessible
Penn Dissertations. Paper 184, 2010, Page 140
“Emanation is the mode by which all things are derived from the First Reality, or Principle.” … “Emanation is the
process by which all things are derived from the One. The infinite goodness and perfection "overflows", and, while
remaining within itself and losing nothing of its own perfection, it generates other beings, sending them forth from its
own superabundance. Or again, as brightness is produced by the rays of the sun so everything is a radiation
(perilampsis) from the Infinite Light. The various emanations form a series every successive step of which is an
image of the preceding one, though inferior to it. The first reality that emanates from the One is the Nous, a pure
intelligence, an immanent and changeless thought, putting forth no activity outside of itself. The Nous is an image of
the One, and, coming to recognize itself as an image, introduces the first duality, that of subject and object. The Nous
includes in itself the intellectual world, or world of ideas, the kosmos nontos of Plato. From the Nous emanates the
Soul of the world, which forms the transition between the world of ideas and the world of the senses. It is intelligent
and, in this respect, similar to the ideal world. But it also tends to realize the ideas in the material world. The WorldSoul generates particular souls, or rather plastic forces, which are the "forms" of all things. Finally, the soul and its
particular forces beget matter, which is of itself indetermined and becomes determined by its union with the form.”
18
Dubray, C. (1909). Emanationism, The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
I will, later in this paper, use the analogy of transmission holograms to illustrate this emanative process.
See also: Emanationism, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. and Emanation, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
19
In Hindu cosmologies, the “Akasha” is, as an aether, substance, or space, the first “element” of creation from
which all else is emergent. Among the western adaptations, Ervin László’s descriptions of the Akashic Field provides
a valuable introduction to some of the attributes that are discussed in this, and in a forthcoming papers. The
3
the mosaic I will be describing, the “World Soul” first evolves into an information space of
possibilities.20 These possibilities will include the templet (soul) for every human who presently
lives, once lived, or might live in the future.21 The emerging picture will also show how each
successive “Now” becomes actualized (physically instantiated) from these possibilities. I will
further suggest that Socrates subdivided the World Soul’s (and the human soul’s) continuums into
ontological stages.22 When these stages are considered separately, puzzling descriptive and
oscillatory expression of the Platonic Forms (Divine Names and Attributes) is central to the Virtues Theory this paper
briefly introduces and on which a future paper will focus.
See Ervin Laszlo, Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything, Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT, 2004 (see also 2nd Edition,
2007) and Shelli Joye, Ervin László's Holofield (The Akasha) and David Bohm's Implicate Order.
This information space is equivalent to the scientist’s infinite probability-defined phase space. However, because
my mosaic pictures the Receptacle as a descriptive stage within the World Soul and melds the relevant forms within
the Receptacle’s beables, my references to the World Soul’s information space or matrix should be understood to
include Socrates’ Receptacle within the World Soul’s continuum.
Note that from a religious frame of reference, the World Souls’ information space, as described in this paper,
provides a scientifically plausible means for a Divine omniscience and for human free will to exist simultaneously.
21
Although each individualized “soul” may be understood to exist, in potential, before the “Big Bang,” it is only at
the end of a temporal sequence of contingent occurrences (i.e., the moment of conception) that the life-long
possibilities that each soul delineates becomes actualizable. Once a human soul is actualized, the purpose/goal of
each individual’s life behooves choices that incrementally actualize the admixture of Divine Forms that, at the actor’s
inception, were instantiated in the actor’s soul. In this context, eudaimonia becomes a self-measurement standard and
goal which is incrementally realized as an actor’s individualized “Forms” are progressively made manifest in the
actor’s life.
According to Plato, the separate Forms "always are and never become," whereas the material forms are "always
becoming but never are."[193] The first are "intelligible and unchanging models" (the causes of that-whichchanges), the others "visible and changing copies of them."[194] Here we have the beginning of the idea that
physical beings progress toward a goal, which is such an important concept to the essentialists who opposed
Darwin (see sections 1.4 and 1.6). In other words, physical beings are always in a state of motion and naturally
inclined to fulfill the potentiality determined by their immaterial causes. Plato also proposed a third reality, akin to
Aristotle's matter, as necessary for changing things to come into actual existence. He called this "the receptacle"
and "the nurse of all becoming and change." It is a formless, receptive medium in which images of the models are
enabled to appear and disappear as continually recurrent, similar qualities (cf. Timaeus 49a - 51b).[195] Keven
20
Brown, Evolution and Bahá’í Belief, Published in Evolution and Bahá'í Belief, Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions vol. 12, pages 5-133,
out of 274 pages total, Kalimat Press, 2001.
22
In one sense, the allegory of the Dividing Line has an ontological significance. It is also significant in describing
how human beings may access information within that ontology. The hierarchy described in the Analogy of the
Dividing line begins with “Form of the Good. I have elsewhere argued that Form of the Good represents the
transcendent unity from which all else is an emanation and about which nothing more can be said. Next in the
hierarchy is “Noesis,” which describes the intellectual apprehension and knowledge of the eternal forms. It is the
highest kind of human knowledge and, in the context of this paper, is the realm from which paradigm-changing
theories would be generated. However, as even transcendent insights must be evaluated, “Dianoia”, the next
hierarchical level, describes the analytical and deductive processes which lead to the formulation of testable
hypotheses. “Pistis” represents the testing processes through which faith and trust in the hypothesis may
progressively be gleaned. “Eikasia” is associated with sense perceptions and the shadows at the back of the cave.
See: Andrew Payne, The Teleology of Action in Plato’s Republic, Oxford University Press, 2017 and David Weissman, Lost Souls: The
Philosophic Origins of a Cultural Dilemma, State University of New York Press, 2003; and generally Plato’s Analogy of the Divided Line.
Other ontological subdivisions include the allegory of the cave and Socrates’ subdivision of the human soul into
three elements: the rational, spirited and appetitive. I have, in this paper, given this subdivision ontological
importance as representative of the relative levels the human mind operates within the continuum of the World Soul
and human soul, the appetitive representing physical attachments and desires that are anchored within the unreality of
the cave’s images. Another ontological subdivision is Socrates’ distinction between the realms of being and
becoming
4
terminological inconsistencies occur.23 However, these apparent inconsistencies can be resolved if
these stages are considered within the context of the World Soul’s continuum.24
In this paper, I examine (i) the World Soul as a matrix of information,25 (ii) the Platonic
“Forms” as the source of vibration-based attractors,26 and (iii) each human soul as a unique
“Up to now [prior to Timaeus 48e], Plato has spoken of two realms, those of Being and of Becoming. Being is
the realm of the Forms, the intelligible models, which are real and unchanging. The world we live in is the realm of
Becoming, that which changes and is visible and tangible. In Timaeus 48e–49e, Plato finds it necessary to add a
third element to make sense of our world. He calls this third element the Receptacle, or the nurse of becoming,
something which “receives” the Forms, a site in which they can become. Diana Lobel, The Quest for God and the Good,
Columbia University Press, 2011, Page 26.
See also Footnote 11.
23
It is my contention that the properties descriptively associated with the word “soul” change as the soul’s
connective continuum draws closer to the physical body to which the soul is tethered. Note that that duality is not
required for this to occur.
24
The existence of this continuum can be shown to resolve a number of ontological issues scholars have found in the
Platonic writings, including the claimed inconsistency between the Phaedrus (which suggests that the human soul is
simple and undifferentiated) and the Timaeus (which suggests that the human soul is a composite.) It also resolves
Plato’s ontological hierarchy, the ontological relationship between the “Model”/“Paradigm” and the Copy” (Plat.
Tim. 29b-29c), and the Demiurge’s designation as both “Maker and Father of this Universe” (Plat. Tim. 28c), among
others. For example, I will suggest that the eternal Forms includes the Form of the “Perfect Man” and that individual
forms represent contingent derivative instantiations (or “beables”) within the emanative continuum the Form of the
“Perfect Man” originates.
25
“The new gospel is simple: Information is the essence of reality—the substrate of existence. It has an inner aspect
giving rise to subjective experience (consciousness) and an outer aspect from which the tapestry of reality is woven.
The implications and conclusions of this new paradigm are truly outlandish.” James B. Glattfelder, Introduction, Information–
Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature
Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 8.
As will be philosophically and scientifically elaborated later in this paper, I am claiming that the templet for
everything that could ever occur within our universe was emergent, if not resident, in an “information/phase space or
“matrix” that existed in superposition before our “Big Bang.
The example of a vibrating string can help provide an intuitive understanding of superposition. Normally, a
vibrating string does not oscillate in a single harmonic mode. The lowest possible frequency at which the string can
vibrate to form a standing wave is called the first harmonic. The next-lowest frequency is the second harmonic, with
the pattern containing until every frequency which can generate a standing wave in the string has been accounted for.
“Superposition” describes the simultaneous presence of these harmonics in the string’s motion. (See: Superposition
and Interference). Analogous to these classical examples, quantum systems can simultaneously exist in many
different quantum states where the different states can be superimposed to produce a new quantum state.
In string theory, matter is represented by multi-dimensional strings that are curled up in what are called a Calabi–
Yau manifolds. When curled up, each shape is understood to behave in a way that is roughly analogous to a crystal
such that each shape will manifest a unique vibratory pattern. If our initial state (which is variously called the
“One,” “Primal Thought,” and “Primal Point”) is, as some physicists believe, an infinite-dimensional hyper-point, the
number of potential Calabi-Yau shapes would also be infinite. Even when constrained to String Theory’s eleven
dimensions; there would be a minimum of 10500 unique Calabi-Yau configurations.
The beauty of superposition is that all of these harmonically compatible Calabi-Yau configurations could be
simultaneously present in each Planck volume of our universe as vibrational embodiments of the Platonic forms. As
noted above, this will be discussed in much greater detail later in this paper.
See also the “First Appendix” titled “Everything in Information.
26
I will, in this paper, be using the word “attractor” in two distinct senses: First, I will be using the word attractor in
the context of the physics model I will be presenting later in this paper where our eudaimonic potentials can
probabilistically influence our day-to-day circumstances. Second, in a cosmos where the ethereal, mental, and
material are all reducible to oscillations, I will be suggesting that human beings have an unconscious yearning to live
in harmony with the oscillations of their environment. As will be shown, the interplay of these vibratory influences
are situationally dependent. Presently, these oscillations are producing a cacophony that, for most, is wildly
5
participant (and emanative transmitter of individualized information) within the World Soul’s
continuum. In our mosaic, the human soul, 27 beginning as an information node (or “holon”)
within the World Soul28, will, like an individualized “form of the good,” be shown to propagate
the enormous range of possibilities that each human has the potential to actualize (manifest)
during their lives.29 Mirroring the World Soul’s creative pattern, each human soul begins in the
divine-like purity of those “souls” that exist “prior to the body”30 and emanatively extends to the
corporeal “self” 31 (and the physical body to which the soul is tethered).32 In other words, I will
argue that the soul of each human, analogous to the One’s unmanifested essence, begins outside
of space and time.33 Like the “One,” the human soul is philosophically simple34 in its initial
instantiation. It also becomes the repository of individualized “forms” that are fixed for each
human at conception. These forms delimit the individual's mix of affective dispositions and how
discordant with vibrational embodiments of the “Good.” In a future paper I will argue that these oscillatory
discordances have caused many humans to have a nagging dissatisfaction with the trajectory of their lives and has led
to societal discord, schisms, the drug crisis, and other self-medications.
27
“Yet above individual souls is the one soul of the world.”
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology], English translation by Michael J.B. Allen with John Warden; Latin text
edited by James Hankins with William Bowen, Books I-IV, Harvard University Press, 2001, Page 287.
28
The eternal Form which represents the emanative source of every individualized soul has been given the title
“Perfect Man” by later theologians and philosophers. As such the Perfect Man” must be distinguishes from the
Socrates “just man” and the exemplars described in Plat. Laws 2.653b, Plat. Laws 12.950c, and Plat. Hipp. Maj. 281b
29
“It does not follow that eudaimonia is the same for every person nor is that ruled out as a possibility.15 It does
follow that eudaimonia consists in some specific and determinate physical and or psychic activities and or
circumstances in each person’s case.” Naomi Reshotko, Socratic Eudaimonism, Chapter 7, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates,
John Bussanich, Nicholas D. Smith, Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, Page 165
30
Plato, Laws, [10.896b], perseus.tufts.edu
Note that souls in this state may be understood to have participated in the “Primordial Covenant” that will be
referenced later in this paper and the subject of separate paper that will be forthcoming.
31
In Plato’s Phaedo 81b, “the participle ἐρῶσα is used to describe a soul tethered to bodily pleasures.” Jill Gordon,
Plato’s Erotic World: From Cosmic Origins to Human Death, Cambridge University Press, 2012, Footnote 35, Page 197.
“The soul is not cleaved from the body in Phaedo by diairêsis, as the vocabulary in Sophist describes the division
of kinds, and as the common English translation would indicate. Nor does the soul separate from the body as the
opposites separate from Anaximander’s apeiron.18 The soul is set free from the body, loosened from its tether, and
Socrates consistently describes this release using cognates of λύω.” Jill Gordon, Plato’s Erotic World: From Cosmic Origins to
32
Human Death, Cambridge University Press, 2012, Page 189.
Consistent with these interpretations, the human soul does not leave the body at death. Instead, death represents a
break in the soul’s animating connection – the tether. During life, the soul animates the body through a relationship
that runs in both directions. It is within this connective continuum, that the choices we have made while alive are
registered as actualization events within the World Soul’s information matrix. Within the consciousness of the World
Soul, a human consciousness that has focused on the material world and ignored the soul’s attractors will, after death,
continue to have limited access and awareness. In contrast, a consciousness that chose to live a eudaemonic life may
still have left many of its soul’s potentials unactualized but, after the soul-body connection is severed, will have
enhanced awareness of the World Soul’s Divine-like attributes.
33
“One question which is likely to occur to any reader of the Phaedo is why, if the soul’s true place is outside the
body, it is ever incarnated in the first place, and especially if everything in the world is for the best. An answer, which
emerges from the Phaedrus and the Timaeus, is just that the scheme of things demands living things, and living
things require souls to animate them.25.” Christopher Rowe, Plato: aesthetics and psychology, Chapter 12, From the Beginning to Plato,
Routledge History of Philosophy, Volume 1, C.C.W. Taylor, Editor, 1997, Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005, Page 399
34
Comprised of a single substance, uncompounded, unanalyzable, undecomposable.
6
the “Good”35 might become manifest in their lives. Like the “World Soul,” the human soul
emanates its individualized “forms” as sets of possibilities and transitions into space and time as
the body’s animator.36 These individualized forms, and the process they engender, then
interactively conjoin with the World Soul as personalized attractors.37 The emerging mosaic will
place the human mind within each soul’s continuum as an emanative attribute of the individual’s
soul that serves as a bridge and intermediary between the soul’s transcendence and the soul’s
physical avatar.38 As such, the human mind is a contingent partaker in the World Soul’s
information matrix and transcendence.39 The degree to which the human mind gains access to the
35
“Nothing has been created without a special destiny, for every creature has an innate station of attainment.”
(Abdu'l-
Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 110)
“If being ‘alive’ or ‘animated’ means automatic or self-generated motion, then being the animator of the animate
means giving or causing self-motion. The Phaedrus puts this a little more precisely; the soul does not exactly make
the body a self-mover, it is a self-mover that makes the body appear to itself be a self-mover (Phdr. 246c4-6).” Jason
G. Rheins, The Intelligible Creator-God and The Intelligent Soul of The Cosmos In Plato’s Theology And Metaphysics, (2010). Publicly
36
accessible Penn Dissertations. Paper 184, Page 123
37
In the context of chaos theory, attractors provide the impetus for teleological-like outcomes. The Multiple Basins
of Attraction (MBAs) that will be discussed in this paper can be visualized as a topographic landscape with a
multitude of valleys (attractors) and peaks (repellers/protectors).
See: M. Henry H. Stevens, A Primer of Ecology with R., Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009, Page 228
“Basin of attractions of an attractor are typically defined “as a region of the phase space, with the property that, any
orbit which starts inside this region, ultimately converges to the attractor. Dhrubajyoti Mandal, Nondeterministic basin of
attraction, Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Volume 103, October 2017, Science Direct, Pages 532-535.
A nondeterministic basin of attractions defines that region in the phase space with the property that, “if any two
orbits start from a same point inside this region, then one of them may converge to a stable fixed point whereas the
other may diverge to infinity. Therefore each orbit has non-zero probabilities of convergence (to a stable fixed point)
as well as divergence (to infinity), even if they start from the same initial point. Dhrubajyoti Mandal, Nondeterministic basin of
attraction, Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Volume 103, October 2017, Science Direct, Pages 532-535.
Another important property of nonlinear dynamical systems is metastability, which means that, within the abstract
landscape of possible dynamical regimes accessible to the system, other attractors exist in the vicinity of the original
one. If a metastable system is pushed past the boundaries of its original attractor, it will not necessarily cease its
dynamical activity altogether.
Instead, it may be pulled onto a new attractor. James Barham, The Emergence of Biological Value, Chapter 11, Debating Design:
From Darwin to DNA, William A. Dembski and Michael Ruse, Editors, Cambridge University Press, 2004, 2006, Page 219
I will argue that the topography accessible to human actors will, itself, be continually subject to environmental
perturbations. See Part Two of this paper for a technical discussion.
38
David Chalmers and the neuroscientist, Justin Riddle have suggested that the mind serves as a map between the
physical world and the Platonic. Justin Riddle, The Entanglement Web, Metaphysics Part 3: the quest for universal truth, July 7, 2021,
6:07
“Bahá'ís believe” “…that we have three aspects of our humanness, so to speak, a body, a mind and an immortal
identity -- soul or spirit. We believe the mind forms a link between the soul and the body, and the two interact on
each other.” (Extract, letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, June 7th, 1946 from Arohanui: Letters to New Zealand, p. 89)
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) in his seminal work, “Theologia Platonica” [Platonic Theology] suggested that:
“Your mind is to your soul what your eye is to your body.” I will expand on this later in this paper.
39
“…soul, is not in its whole self-understanding. For it has other natural characteristics besides understanding and
these are without understanding. So, mind in the soul is part of the soul but also in some way part of the mind, of the
higher mind, which is totally and only mind. If soul from itself possessed mind, the rational principle for generating
mind would exist within the substance of soul, and all soul would thus be mind, mind perfect and complete; and
every soul would possess mind, because the rational principle of soul is in every soul. And just as the power to move
body, since it belongs to soul by nature, is present in individual souls, so the faculty of understanding would be
present in all souls, including those of beasts, if it belonged by nature to soul. If above the nature which is less
7
World Soul’s transcendent intellect is first tied to the soul’s innate capacities40 and second to the
choices made by the human actor.41
A consciousness concerned only with its physical desires will remain imprisoned42 within the
skull’s bony “cave,” unable to unloose its fetters. In contrast, the knowledge accessible to minds
drawn toward their soul’s divine-like potentials gives Socratic anamnesis43 a new meaning and
significance.44 Access to the World Soul’s information space45 is also a prerequisite for the true
meaning of “Eudaimonia”46 to be fully apprehended and for a flourishing life47 to be achieved.
effective there has to be a nature which is more effective, and if the mind which is in the soul can neither produce by
its own act alone any effect outside itself, nor rule over its soul's effecting power, then above the mind in the soul has
to be a mind which by its own act is the producer of a work, and is the mistress over the power it has to effect it. It is
reasonable to conclude then that just as the head of the soul is the mind, its most excellent part, so at the head of this
mind, which belongs not to itself but to the soul, and is not independent but tied to the capacity of the soul, and is not
clear but clouded and in a way irresolute-at the head of this mind, I repeat, is a mind which exists in itself, free and
translucent. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology], Volume I, Book 1 Chapter V, English translation by
Michael J.B. Allen with John Warden; Latin text edited by James Hankins with William Bowen, Harvard University Press, 2001, Pages 65 and 67.
40
Ibid (see prior footnote).
These innate capacities, as well as the relative potency of various “virtues,” are not the same for everyone.
41
“They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen
Kingdom.” Bahá’u’lláh, "Fountain of Wisdom"
42
“…we men are in a kind of prison” Plat. Phaedo 62b
“Timaeus explains that after the birth of human beings their rational souls get bombarded and overwhelmed by the
irregular motions stemming from perception and nutrition. The circles of the soul become deformed and their motions
irregular and sometimes even reversed, which results in severe cognitive deficiency.” Gábor Betegh, Cosmic And Human
Cognition In The Timaeus, J. Sisko (ed.), Philosophy of Mind in Antiquity, Rutledge, London, 2018.
“The ancient theologians and seers testify that the soul is conjoined to the body to suffer certain punishments, and
is, as it were, buried in this tomb.” Clement of Alexandria quoting Pythagorean Philolaus, Chapter IX. — The Gnostic Free of All
Perturbations of the Soul, Complete Works of Clement of Alexandria, Delphi Classics, 2016, page 264 (within pdf)
“Since all nature is akin (ή), and the soul has learnt all things, there is nothing to prevent her, by
recollecting one single thing…” Meno 81c-d)
“…if we are ever to know anything absolutely, we must be free from the body and must behold [66e] the actual
realities with the eye of the soul alone.” Plat. Phaedo 66d, 66e
“The early doctrine of learning as recollection (anamnesis), found most notably in the Meno and the Phaedo,
requires the soul to have at one time possessed knowledge of intelligible reality. This view is paralleled in the
account of the creation of human souls in the Timaeus (albeit without reference to recollection), where the basic
structure and function of the human soul is modeled on that of the World Soul, which has an unerring grasp of
intelligible reality.53 It is only through its entry into the body that the structure of the soul is distorted in such a way
that it loses its hold on the intelligible.54 Chad Jorgenson, The Embodied Soul In Plato’s Later Thought, Cambridge University Press,
43
2018, page 134.
44
I suggest that the human soul, as an emanation of the World Soul, has access to information that the veils of
corporeality have concealed from our consciousness, but can be intuitively glimpsed to increasing degrees as the
Platonic Virtues (and our soul’s potentials) become actualized through the choices we make in our lives.
45
“… what we see of the Receptacle is not the Receptacle itself, but the dream-like images in it… In our cognition,
the Receptacle is a product of hypothetical inference, not direct acquaintance. These dream-like images must be
somewhere, what that somewhere is is the Receptacle of space.” Richard D. Mohr, Plato’s Cosmic Manual: Introduction,
Reader’s Guide, and Acknowledgments; One Book: The Whole Universe - Plato’s Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and Barbara M. Sattler,
Editors, Parmenides Publishing, 2010, Page 14.
“Eudaimonia for Socrates is the natural and inevitable goal of all human activity and, thus, the good for all human
beings.” Naomi Reshotko, Socratic Eudaimonism, Chapter 7, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich, Nicholas D. Smith,
46
Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, Page 156.
The term, “flourishing life,” does not adequately communicate eudaimonia’s meaning, which references a whole
of well-being that necessarily includes the “Good.” A flourishing life postulates an understanding of the situationally
47
8
Here, I will argue that a eudaimonic life48 can only be realized when our “choices”49 harmonize
with the frequencies of our soul’s potentials.50 Consistent with this emergent ontology, I will
suggest that Socrates’ Daimonion is the personification of the eudaemonic-directed and
vibrationally-embodied51 guidance available to all humans, but especially to the spiritually
awakened.52 Only those freed from the chains of their materialistic beliefs can begin to fully
access the light described in Plato’s Republic. Having escaped their cave, their intuitive access to
World Soul’s “knowledge” will increase as they continue their accent.53 As they increasingly
specific information necessary for our appropriate responses. This paper describes how the necessary information
may be accessed. However, information must be translated into knowledge, and then into action. For Aristotle, the
moral virtues could slowly entrench dispositions to interpret information and to choose wisely under the proper
guidance of reason. I agree. However, it is frequently difficult to determine which virtue should be situationally
applied. I will, later in this paper, describe the processes where the situationally relevant virtues can become known.
A flourishing life is one lived in accordance with these virtues.
48
“…eudaimonism is … a framework that describes purposeful behaviour in the context of the assumption of this
goal. Eudaimonia is the ultimate and inevitable goal for all human activity, and the attainment of knowledge (human
aretē ) is crucial – in some manner or other – for the attainment of that goal Naomi Reshotko, Socratic Eudaimonism, Chapter
7, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich, Nicholas D. Smith, Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, Page 159
49
The rational and intuitive capacities of the human mind represent emanative attributes of the human soul that
must be developed. Additionally, the degree to which any human mind gains access to World Soul’s transcendent
intellect is first innately “tied to the capacity of the soul” and second to the choices made by the human actor
In contrast, the eudaimonia discussed in this paper is transcendent to modern psychology.
50
“At the earliest appearance of the argument that soul is harmony—more precisely, a harmony resulting from a
particular arrangement of bodily elements (hereafter the Harmony Thesis)—it is emphatically denied οὐκ ἄρα, ὦ
ἄριστε, ἡμῖν οὐδαμῇ καλῶς ἔχει ψυχὴν ἁρμονίαν τινὰ φάναι εἶναι (“in no way at all then, my friend, do we approve
of the thesis that soul is a kind of harmony”). In these words from Plato’s Phaedo (94e8–95a1), Socrates dismisses
the thesis first articulated by his interlocutor, Simmias.” Andrew Hicks, Composing the World: Harmony in the Medieval Platonic
Cosmos, Oxford University Press, 2017, Page 115.
I am not claiming that the soul is in harmony in the bottom-up sense that Plato refuted in the Phaedo nor is it
“crasis” or “temperantia” of the body. See: Andrew Hicks, Composing the World: Harmony in the Medieval Platonic Cosmos, Oxford
University Press, 2017, Page 131.
Instead, I will be arguing that humans have the capacity to apprehend, and to be attracted to, those choices that
harmonize with the vibrational frequencies cosmopsychism’s top-down consciousness generates. Unfortunately,
nearly everyone is mired in the cares of the physical world. For these individuals, I suggest that the vibrational
discord between their present existence and the more eudaemonic lives they might otherwise be living can attract
opportunities to make better choices and even catastrophic events to wake them from their slumbers and induce the
introspection spiritual enlightenment requires.
51
The human soul, as the emanative source of oscillations (against which corporeality may be harmonically
compared), avoids disputations over εἶναι ἁρμονίαν and ἔχειν ἁρμονίαν, between the soul’s being harmony and its
having harmony, (Plat. Phaedo 94e). It provides a plausible resolution of “… the most celebrated, and certainly the
most debated of arguments for a connection between music and soul…” Andrew James Hicks, Music, Myth, and Metaphysics:
Harmony in Twelfth-Century Cosmology and Natural Philosophy, Thesis, University of Toronto, 2012, page 142
See Also: Andrew Hicks, Composing the World: Harmony in The Medieval Platonic Cosmos, Oxford University Press 2017
Francesco Pelosi, Plato on Music, Soul and Body, Sophie Henderson, Translator, Cambridge University Press, 2010
The approach taken in the paper also resolves the seeming inconsistency between the Phaedrus, which suggests that
the soul is philosophically simple and the Timaeus, which seemingly suggests that the human soul is a composite.
52
“This inevitable striving for an objective eudaimonia is paired by Socrates with a notion of human psychology that
understands knowledge to be the determining factor in how successful one is at reaching that objective eudaimonic
state.” Naomi Reshotko, Socratic Eudaimonism, Chapter 7, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich, Nicholas D. Smith,
Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, Page 164
“What the divine sign gives to Socrates is not the kind of generalized true belief about moral concepts that
Socrates sought by reasoning with his interlocutors, but intuitive certainty concerning the nonrectitude of a quite
53
9
apprehend a “reality” that is transcendent to the physical, they will realize that virtues,54 in their
situational application, may appear relative but simultaneously remain absolute in their ends.55
To Socrates, wisdom was identified with virtue. However, it was also a skill or expertise and a
practical capacity to get things right. To Socrates, wisdom presupposed a situational
understanding (or knowledge) from which decisions could be made that would lead to an optimal
outcome. In this paper, I will describe how this knowledge is accessed and “wisdom” (as
actionable intuitions)56 may be attained. I will also explain why those who remain chained within
particular action he was contemplating. This intuitive certainty is something quite different from the full-blooded
moral knowledge that Socrates consistently disclaimed having.” A. A. Long, How Does Socrates’ Divine Sign Communicate with
Him?, Chapter 5, A Companion to Socrates, Sara Ahbel-Rappe and Rachana Kamtekar, Editors, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006, Page 67
“…virtue turns out to be the intellectual state underlying these different types of action and providing the
understanding displayed by the virtuous person. As such it is frequently characterized as a skill or expertise.
Intuitively, a problem arises: how can virtue be identified with something as intellectual as a skill? We are being
urged to redefine our idea of virtue, to direct attention away from the actions that we can see and think are
unproblematic, toward the underlying state which grasps the point of and explains them.” Julia Annas, Platonic Ethics, Old
54
and New, Cornell University Press, 1999, Page 68
“…[T]he monist idea [is] that ‘there is a final solution’, a single formula that will answer all moral – and by
extension political – questions correctly. A range of thinkers ‘from Plato to the last disciples of Hegel or Marx’ have
embraced this ideal ‘of a final harmony in which all riddles are solved, all contradictions reconciled’ (L 213).” George
55
Crowder, The Problem of Value Pluralism: Isaiah Berlin and Beyond, Routledge Innovations in Political Theory; Volume 75, Taylor & Francis,
2020, Page 16.
I agree. However, … “…this general approach to life makes certain assumptions: first, that every moral question
has a single correct answer; second, that ‘a dependable path’ to that answer can be discovered; third, that all correct
answers are compatible, fitting together like a ‘cosmic jigsaw puzzle’ ... In principle the goal is a ‘perfect life’.
Together these assumptions constitute the ‘Platonic ideal’ – or moral monism.” George Crowder, The Problem of Value
Pluralism: Isaiah Berlin and Beyond, Routledge Innovations in Political Theory; Volume 75, Taylor & Francis, 2020, Page 16.
In response to: “every moral question has a single correct answer,” I would add that, for each
situation/circumstance where the moral question arises, a “God’s eye” view that weighs the value added to the actor,
affected individual(s), and the progress of humanity toward its destiny is required – and may be intuitively accessible
to Plato’s “philosopher kings.”
In response to: “‘a dependable path’ to that answer can be discovered,” I agree with the caveat that the paths may
be specific to each time and place. In other words, even the paths blazed by the teachings of God’s Prophets and
Manifestations may seem vastly different based on the terrain that must be traverse.
In response to: “all correct answers are compatible, fitting together like a ‘cosmic jigsaw puzzle’,” I agree, with the
caveat that the puzzle has dimensions than only the spiritually adept can see.
See Jon Trevathan, In the Valley of Wonderment.
56
“Descartes [DAM 95] described ‘intuitive knowledge’ as a direct vision of the mind, whereas for Bergson [BER
69] intuition is ‘an immediate consciousness, a vision which is scarcely distinguishable from the object seen, a
knowledge which is contact’, and the principal function of intuition is ‘the direct vision of the mind by the mind’. …
Spinoza regard[ed] intuition as ‘divine’ or of otherworldly origin.”
Henri Samier, Intuition, Creativity, Innovation, Bruno Salgues, editor, ISTE Ltd. and John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2018, pages 6-7
In modernity, “It would be an interesting and eye-opening exercise to try to find even one instance of the
expression `moral imagination' in any of the standard works of moral theory. One is far more likely to find the term
either ignored or disparaged.” Mark Johnson, Moral imagination: implications of cognitive science for ethics, The University of Chicago
Press, 1993 (republished 2014), Page 271
The idea of moral intuitions and imagination was central to Dr. Johnson’s book, and also to this paper. However, I
will go further to argue that the ontological model presented in this paper provides human moral intuitions and
imagination with a scientifically plausible foundation for belief.
10
their caves will apprehend57 the gap between “what is” and “what might otherwise be” (i.e., the
captive’s more eudaemonic alternatives) as disquietudes.58
In summary, I will show how the Socratic “virtues” and “knowledge,” in their contemplation
and pursuit, are a means to begin humanity’s dimensional climb from corporeal limitation toward
our actualizable possibilities – that for each individual is “second only to the gods.”59 To
contextualize these claims, I have provided introductory materials (as Appendices) that discuss
the nature of “information,”60 “matter,”61 “time symmetry,”62 and “attractors.”63
Last, this paper will lay a philosophical foundation for several future works. These works will
include: (i) a paper that will focus on the model’s physics,64 (ii) an information-based theory of
consciousness,65 (iii) a theological-based ontology,66 (iv) an ethics67 model that focuses on the
oscillatory interactions between human beings and the desire of human beings to be in harmony
“…even in the wicked there resides a divine and correct intuition…” Plat. Laws 12.950b
“Wherever passion occupies the throne, the soul is essentially poor and enslaved: fear and sorrow and disquietude
run riot through it.” Dr. Eduard Zeller, Plato and the Older Academy, Translated by Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred Goodwin, Ballantyne,
57
58
Hanson and Co, 1888, page 445, (Referencing Rep. ix. 577 D)
In this context, I will suggest that humans have an intuitive sense of what their life might be like if it was
flourishing (eudaimonia). I will then argue that the gap between the life they are presently experiencing and their
more eudaimonic alternative will, for most people, generate an inchoate feelings of dissatisfaction and disquietude.
59
Plato, Laws, [5.728d] and footnote 3, perseus.tufts.edu
“…despite apparent evidence to the contrary, there is for Plato no god over and above the universe itself. And by
“god” here I mean an intelligent living being…” Gabriela Roxana Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions, Cambridge
University Press, 2005, Page 4.
See the “First Appendix” Titled “Everything is Information”
See the “Second Appendix” titled “What is Matter?”
62
See the “Third Appendix” titled “Introduction to Time Symmetric Quantum Mechanics (TSQM)”
63
See the “Fourth Appendix” titled “Introduction to The Retrocausality of Strange Attractors”
64
Introduced in Part Two of this paper.
See also: Jon Trevathan, Can Science and Religion be Reconciled. (A substantial revision is forthcoming.)
65
Introduced here and in my 2016 Meditations on Consciousness paper. (A substantial revision is forthcoming.)
66
Introduced here and in a paper titled “Ontology as Poem.” (A substantial revision is forthcoming.)
67
Where does our moral understanding come from? Socrates left this question open. “Is something good because
God wills it, or does God will it because it is good?” Restated, can the goodness of something be independent of
God’s Will, or is it God’s Will that makes it good – no matter how miserable that something may appear to a human
observer? Socrates failed to resolve Euthyphro's dilemma. I will in a forthcoming paper attempt an answer. Toward
this end, I will suggest that (i) because the entirety of the Socratic Cosmos is an emanation of God’s Will, nothing can
exist that is independent of it, (ii) no event or condition can ever occur that does not, in the fullness of time, attract the
Socratic Cosmos toward “goodness,” (iii) human free will participates in the degree of “goodness” that is present in
each actualized “Now,” and (iv) the experience of darkness facilitates humanity’s eventual appreciation of the light.
60
61
11
with the world around them68, and (v) how a Divine “righteousness”69 might be discovered in the
cataclysms and catastrophes that force us to reassess our cherished assumptions and unquestioned
premises70 (on which we have based our individual and collective lives).71
The World Soul.72
“There have only been very few ideas in the history of Western philosophy as influential as
that of the ensoulment of the world or the cosmos.” 73
Where all “beables” are simultaneously oscillatory resonators and emitters:
“If organisms are conceived of, not as machines made up of rigidly connected parts, but as a dense network of
loosely coupled, non-linear oscillators, each sensitive to a range of specific low-energy inputs from its surround, then
we begin to see how information in the semantic sense … is possible. On this “hemodynamic” view of the organism
(Yates 1994), information is anything that acts as a trigger for the action of such an oscillator (Barham 1996). The
role of such a trigger in the functional action of an organism is to coordinate the timing of actions in such a way that
they become correlated with favorable environmental conditions, where “favorable” means tending to support the
continued homeodynamic stability of the oscillator. On this view, then, the meaning of information consists in the
prediction of the success of functional action, where “success” likewise means the continued homeodynamic stability
of the oscillator. This dynamical interpretation of semantic information provides us with a new physical picture of
the cognitive component of adaptive functional action.”
68
James Barham, The Emergence of Biological Value, Chapter 11, Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA, William A. Dembski and Michael Ruse,
Editors, Cambridge University Press, 2004, 2006, Pages 219-220.
“Assuredly gold is purified by being submitted to the fire and if it contain any alloy or imperfection, it will
disappear. That is the reason why violent tests become the cause of the everlasting glory of the righteous and are
conducive to the destruction and disappearance of the unrighteous.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘Abbás vol. 1-3"
"...That the forces of a world catastrophe can alone precipitate such a new phase of human thought is, alas,
becoming increasingly apparent. That nothing short of the fire of a severe ordeal, unparalleled in its intensity, can
fuse and weld the discordant entities that constitute the elements of present-day civilization, into the integral
components of the world commonwealth of the future, is a truth which future events will increasingly demonstrate."
69
Shoghi Effendi: The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 190
70
"In the investigation of a subject the right method of approach is to carefully examine its premises."
(Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 228)
What are these premises/assumptions?
They are the things we don't tend to think about.
They are the lenses through which we see.
They are the filters for our thoughts.
They blind us.
They make us deaf.
71
“…Plato’s notion of cosmic teleology is complex enough to admit also of first bests and second bests. Plato’s
suggestion is that we should aim at attaining a first best cosmic teleology and that the only way to do so is to have
humans actively using their reason in harmony with the universe. He will even propose (at one point in the Laws) that
human greed is responsible for most, if not all, sublunary natural disorders. If this is the case, then Plato’s
cosmological dialogues will be presenting, in overall perspective, a strongly symbiotic picture of the relation between
humanity and the cosmos. This picture is one that encourages us to become aware of the large-scale effects of human
actions, and to know ourselves as parts of a broader universe, which is the common origin and home of all humans.”
Gabriela Roxana Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions, Cambridge University Press, 2005, Page 13.
“The first explicit mention of a World Soul or soul of the all (gr. tou pantos psuchê, lat. anima mundi) can be
found in Plato's Timaeus (41d) …” Christoph Helmig, The World Soul in Antiquity and beyond, Introduction to World Soul - Anima
72
Mundi, Christoph Helmig, Editor, Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2020, eBook
73
Christoph Helmig, The World Soul in Antiquity and beyond, Introduction to World Soul - Anima Mundi,
Christoph Helmig, Editor, Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2020, eBook
12
I will begin with the soul’s most divine-like appearance: the “World Soul,” and examine what
Socratic scholars have suggested the World Soul represents. For example, Jason Rheins’
described the “World Soul” as animating a cosmos that is “alive, intelligent, and divine.” 74
Anthony Long portrayed the World Soul as “intelligent divinity.”75 According to David Skrbina,
the “World Soul” was pantheistic.76 A. E. Taylor77 and Harold Cherniss78 essentially deified the
“World Soul” “to the effect that Plato’s God is uncreated soul endowed with nous (reason).”79
Christoph Helmig adopted a top-down cosmopsychic80 interpretation81 similar to my approach.
Although different in their interpretative details, these Scholars reasoned that the World Soul both
“Plato held that the cosmos as a whole was alive, intelligent, and divine. Plato claims that there is a single soul that
animates the entire sensible universe, gives it its flawless intelligence, and keeps it in harmonious motion for all time.
His standard formulation for this entity is ἡ τοῦ παντὸς ψυχή (hē tou pantos psuchē), literally “the soul of the all”,
where “the all”- τὸ πᾶν (to pān) – means ‘the whole’, as in: the whole sensible world of becoming, i.e., this universe.
In Latin, it comes to be known as the “anima mundī” Rheins, Jason G., “The Intelligible Creator-God And The Intelligent Soul Of
74
The Cosmos In Plato’s Theology And Metaphysics” (2010). Publicly accessible Penn Dissertations. Paper 184, Page 10.
Anthony A. Long, Cosmic Craftsmanship in Plato And Stoicism, One Book: The Whole Universe - Plato’s
Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and Barbara M. Sattler, Editors, Parmenides Publishing, 2010, page 44
76
“During the peak of Athenian philosophical development, Plato and Aristotle developed forms of panpsychism
that were subtler than their predecessors. For Plato, psyche was an explicitly widespread phenomenon in the cosmos.
In addition to humans and other animals he attributes it (soul) to the Earth (Timaeus 40c), the sun (Laws 898d), the
stars (Timaeus 41e), plants (Timaeus 77b), the Form of Being (Sophist 249a), and the cosmos as a whole (Philebus
30a). And in his last work, Laws, Plato makes a final declaration on the matter:
Now consider all the stars and the moon and the years and the months and all the seasons. . . A soul or souls. .
have been shown to be the cause of all these phenomena, and whether it is by their living presence in matter. . .or
by some other means, we shall insist that these souls are gods. Can anybody admit all this and still put up with
people who deny that “everything is full of gods”? (899b)
Plato thus confirms the famous panpsychist statement issued by Thales some 200 years earlier. Gods, souls, psyche
pervade the cosmos; they are the cause of all natural phenomena. These souls are perhaps not as complex or as
rational as our own, but they are psyche nonetheless.” David Skrbina, Panpsychism in history: An overview, Chapter 1, Mind that
75
Abides: Panpsychism in the new millennium, David Skrbina, Editor, John Benjamins B.V., 2009, Pages 6-7
A. E. Taylor, A Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1928), p. 82.
Harold Cherniss, Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato and the Academy, I (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1944), p. 607.
79
“I think Plato’s point is that the Laws’ World Soul, in virtue of its nous (reason), is the world’s first cause and thus
functions for that dialogue in the way that the Demiurge does in the Timaeus. The whole point of Laws X is to prove
that the world is governed by intelligent divinity. If the virtuous World Soul of this dialogue were not precisely that
being, the ensuing proof of its existence would completely miss the mark. I am therefore sympathetic to the positions
adopted by such scholars as A. E. Taylor, … and Harold Cherniss, … to the effect that Plato’s God is uncreated soul
endowed with nous (reason)...” Anthony A. Long, Cosmic Craftsmanship in Plato And Stoicism, One Book: The Whole Universe 77
78
Plato’s Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and Barbara M. Sattler, Editors, Parmenides Publishing, 2010, page 44.
80
See Footnote 4
“In simple terms, three ingredients enter into the World Soul’s mixture: Being, the Undivided, the Divided. The
latter two can be linked to the intelligible and sensible realm respectively. In a later passage (Tim. 37a), it becomes
clear that these ingredients enable the soul to recognise both realms, that of Being (i.e., true being or the Forms) and
that of Becoming. … It is interesting to note that Plato does not only consider the World Soul the moving cause of the
universe and the principle of life (i.e., the whole cosmos as a living being/a living organism), but also attributes
cognition to it.9 Depending on whether the object is changeable or not, true opinion or knowledge results. In contrast
to human cognition, the World Soul never errs….” Christoph Helmig, The World Soul in Antiquity and beyond, Introduction to
81
World Soul - Anima Mundi, Christoph Helmig, Editor, Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2020, eBook.
13
engenders82 and manifests83 a Divine-like consciousness that is both hierarchical84 and ubiquitous.
I agree. However, a few tangles in Socrates' descriptions of the World Soul must also be
unraveled.
According to Socrates, the (World) Soul represents the causal principle.85 It is the “first
principle of motion”86 and “is of all things, the first production.”87 It “controls and indwells in all
things.”88 It is “identical with the prime origin and motion of what is, has been, and shall be, and
of all.”89 Although the (World) Soul is, at its highest levels, atemporal, it “is of all things the
oldest.”90 However, not all of Socrates’ descriptions of the World Soul are consistent with this
emerging picture. For example, in the Phaedo and Phaedrus, Socrates claimed that the soul is
ungenerated. But, in the Laws, Socrates suggested that souls had an antecedent origin.91 The soul
[The World-soul] “is compounded of the indivisible and of the divisible essence; that is to say, it combines the sole
Idea with the sensible phenomenon, by uniting in itself the specific qualities of both.136 It is incorporeal, like the
Idea; but is at the same time, related to the corporeal; it stands over against the unlimited Multiplicity of phenomena
as its ideal Unity: against its lawless vicissitude as the permanent element which introduces into it fixed proportion
and law.” Dr. Eduard Zeller, Plato and the Older Academy, Translated by Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred Goodwin, Ballantyne, Hanson and
82
Co, 1888, page 346.
When understood as an infinitude of emanative stages, these apparent conflicts can be harmonized.
83
“Plato continues to speak of plural gods in his Timaeus and Laws, but also introduces a cosmic mind and maker
whose activities provide the structure and orderly motions of the cosmos. Some take this to show that his Olympians
have become mere legal fictions (Laws 889e); e.g., Morrow suggests that Plato’s plural gods are only “images” and
“sensuous personifications” of the divine principle “revealed to philosophical intelligence...they are objects of
worship, not forces in nature” (1933: 133–4). But although it is true that the relation between Plato’s omniscient,
omnipresent deity and the other gods is left entirely obscure, to make sense of what he actually says about plural gods
I think it more charitable to credit him with understanding the maker-god to be a supreme deity overseeing a
community of lesser deities in the manner of Xenophanes’ “greatest one god” (DK 21 B23). Plato might also have
elaborated on the not-uncommon view that understood the gods to be manifestations of a singular supreme spirit;
Guthrie 1971: 155–6; Zaidman and Pantel 1992: 176.” Mark L. McPherran, The Gods and Piety of Plato’s Republic, Chapter 5,
Endnote 37, The Blackwell Guide to Plato’s Republic, Gerasimos Santas, Editor, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, Page 101
“…if God's mind were structured by informationally encapsulated modules, then some parts of God's mental
activity would be opaque to other parts. Perhaps the highest level of divine consciousness, where all the information
streams converge, could take in all the modular activity. The modules themselves, however, would remain relatively
blinkered. Such opacity may be part of the human condition, but many theists would resist applying to God's mental
activity the imagery of corporate structure, with underlings functioning on a need-to-know basis.” William E. Mann,
84
Divine Sovereignty and Aseity, Chapter 2, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion, William J. Wainwright, Editor, Oxford University
Press, 2004, Page 50.
As opposed to “encapsulated modules, by imbuing consciousness with a hierarchy of vibratory energies that
separate into the individualized “information streams” associated with each actualized human being, William Mann’s
“opacity” will exist for those who lack the spiritual capacities to apprehend the unity of creation in its essence.
85
“…it is the mind that arranges and causes all things…” Plato, Phaedo 97c.
See: Eric J. Roberts, “Plato's View of the Soul,” Mind, Volume. 14, No. 55, Oxford University Press, July 1905, page
381.
86
Plato, Laws, [10.896b] …
87
Plato, Laws, [10.899c]
88
Plato, Laws, [10.896d]
89
Plato, Laws, [10.896a]
90
Plato, Laws, [10.896b]
91
“As regards the soul, my comrade, nearly all men appear to be ignorant of its real nature and its potency, and
ignorant not only of other facts about it, but of its origin especially, — how that it is one of the first existences, and
14
is described as a superlatively ‘natural’ existence in the Laws.”92 But, in the Timaeus, we are told
the Demiurge93 was the souls’ creator.94
Two Hypostases
We can begin to dissolve these apparent inconsistencies if, as Jason Rheins has argued, the
World Soul was not the “beginning.”
“All things that come to be must have a cause antecedent to them in time or at least in
existence and power, and for immortal souls and the immortal bodies of the gods to last
throughout all time, they would require an eternal, ungenerated kind of being, to sustain them.
Therefore, an account of Plato’s theology that ends with the World-soul, is an incomplete one.
Plato needed his immanent theology of panpsychism in order to solve the cosmological
“implementation problem” of nous. But in order to solve the metaphysical problem of
accounting for the uninterrupted persistence throughout all time of these generated
indestructibles, he would have to posit a metaphysically superior and prior hypostasis as their
eternal cause. In other words, he would need a transcendent theology.”95
“Plato had two hypostases constituting his basic conception of the natures of the gods. The
first and lower one is the World-soul in which cosmic intellect is instantiated and which is
immanent in the spatiotemporal world of appearances. The second and higher god is the
Demiurge, who exists eternally as a transcendent, intelligible Form; indeed ‘he’ is their
pinnacle, the highest Form: The Form of the Good.”96
prior to all bodies, and that it more than anything else is what governs all the changes and modifications of bodies.”
Plato, Laws, [10.892a]
92
Plato, Laws, [10.892c]
Plato, in the “Timaeus, tells us that the cosmos was created by a craftsman, a ‘demiurge’ (Greek, dēmiourgos),
who wanted to make the world as good and beautiful as possible (30a2–3).” Thomas Kjeller Johansen, Plato’s Natural
93
Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias, Cambridge University Press, 2004, Page 69
“Plato … believed in the temporal creation of the world not by God Himself but by a demiurge.” Ibn Rushd, "Tahafut
Al-Tahafut (The Incoherence of the Incoherence), “ page 12, 3.1.89
94
Timaeus 34c–37c
“Timaeus also contains some puzzling claims which are difficult to reconcile with other dialogues. Especially
problematic is the statement that souls were made by the Demiurge, which conflicts with the claim of the Phaedo and
Phaedrus that the soul is ungenerated. The Demiurge of the Timaeus fashions the World-Soul and other souls as a
mixture of divisible and indivisible Being, Sameness, and Difference (34c–37c).” Timaeus 34c–37c.Fred D. Miller, Jr., The
Platonic Soul, A Companion to Plato, Edited by Hugh H. Benson, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006, Pages 291-292
Jason G. Rheins, "The Intelligible Creator-God and The Intelligent Soul of the Cosmos In Plato’s Theology and
Metaphysics" (2010). Publicly accessible Penn Dissertations. Paper 184, Page 139
96
Ibid, Page 9
95
15
I agree with Jason Rheins that Plato had two hypostases. However, I disagree with where the
Demiurge should be placed within the hierarchical continuum. Consistent with Neoplatonic,97
Bahá'í, and Islamic-based interpretations,98 I have associated the first, higher hypostasis, not with
the Demiurge but with an unknowable Divine essence that transcends all attributes and
descriptions. The “Good,” as both an “attribute” and “description,” therefore denotes the highest
instantiation within the second hypostasis. “The Good,” like “the One,”99 in its essence, is also
undifferentiated.100 Nonetheless, the “Good” initiates the processes from which the World Soul’s
continuum is emergent, and all possible “beables” emanate.101 In this continuum, Socrates’
“Plotinus’s hierarchy of three “hypostases”—the One, the Divine Mind, and the World Soul (Wilmot 1979, 124—
33). Focusing on the relation between the first two aspects of these triads, Wilmot says that just as Whitehead
portrays creativity as an impersonal process without a character of its own, Plotinus describes the One as unknown to
itself and beyond being. And just as the Whiteheadian primordial nature contains the Platonic Forms, so does the
Plotinian Divine Mind. The question is how these two “hypostases” are related. In Plotinus, the second is an
emanation from the first.” David Ray Griffin, Reenchantment without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion, Cornell Studies
97
in the Philosophy of Religion, William P. Alston, Editor, Cornell University Press, 2001, page 266.
In the ontology I am proposing, the iterative self-referential processes within the World Soul causes the “Divine
Mind” to be emergent.
98
See Jon Trevathan, Ontology as Poem (forthcoming). Although only an early draft of Ontology as Poem is
currently available, it provides a reasonably coherent description of this ontology and demonstrated the beginning of
my testing processes to determine whether the ontology conforms to any plausible scientific models.
99
“(C)onsider the dot (or point); how letters and words are folded up and hidden within the essence (huwiyyat,
ipseity) and reality of a dot with perfect effacement and annihilation so that no trace can be discerned of the existence
of these letters and words nor is there any differentiation between them. Rather they are completely obliterated and
utterly annihilated and have no existence except in the essence [dhat] of the point. In the same way the Names and
Attributes of God and the Essential Dispositions [shu'únát dhátiyya] [15] are completely and utterly annihilated in the
station of Primary Oneness so that not a whiff can be inhaled from them of substantial or intellectual existence [16].
This original point is the 'Hidden Treasure' of these letters and words and they were incorporated and immersed
within it and from it they appeared.” ('Abdu’l-Bahá’s Commentary on "I Was a Hidden Treasure..."). For a revised translation and
updated notes, see: ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Commentary on The Islamic Tradition: "I Was a Hidden Treasure ..." Provisional translation by Moojan
Momen Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 3:4 (Dec. 1995 – updated 2006)), 4-35; Makátíb 2:41)
Within the station of Primary Oneness “…there is no [existential] differentiation between the Name 'the AllKnowing' and the [Names] 'the All-Seeing', 'the All-Hearing' and the other Names; nor between these Essential
Attributes and the Essence itself; nor between the Realities and Forms [11], which are potential and passive, and
these names and attributes. Indeed the Forms and Realities and Quiddities [12] of [all] things are, in this mighty
station of Primary Oneness, but states in that Essence without a trace of deviation [ghayriyyat] from perfect oneness
and annihilation.” 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Commentary on The Islamic Tradition: "I Was a Hidden Treasure ..." Provisional translation by Moojan
100
Momen Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 3:4 (Dec. 1995 – updated 2006)), 4-35: Makátíb 2:41)
These processes will be revisited several times later in this paper. Note that the World Souls’ information space
provides a scientifically plausible means for a Divine omniscience and for human free will to exist simultaneously.
Within the Islamic and Bahá'í traditions, the “Primal Point” is analogous to the Socratic “Good.” The “Primal
Point” is the first instantiation of God’s unknowable essence. And, from which God’s undifferentiated “Will”
(“Mashíyyát”) and God’s “Purpose” or “Volition” (“Irádih”) are coeternal emergents. Although the words
“Mashíyyát” and “Irádih” are pregnant with meaning to those theologians, mystics, and philosophers who are familiar
with them, “Mashíyyát” (“Will”) can be thought of as having been produced by the eternal strike of a kettle drum,
and “Irádih” (“Purpose”) with the resultant oscillations. At this juncture, essential distinctions must be made. When
viewed from the highest hypostasis (called “Ahadiyyat), the “Primal Point” references the “undifferentiated,
unmanifested unity of the Unseen Essence of the Absolute.” When viewed from the next lower emanative station
(called “Wahidiyyat”), the “Primal Point” references a “Unity in Plurality.” Although Wahidiyyat in its initial
instantiation is also unknowable in its particulars, this “Unity in Plurality” predicates all that might ever “BE,” the
101
16
Demiurge may be seen as the personification of those processes102 through which “beables” find
corporal expression (i.e., becomes actualized).103
As an analogy for the World Soul’s processes: The “Good” may be likened to an eternal strike
of a kettle drum. The strike represents Socrates’ Divine “Will.” 104 The drum’s initial oscillations
(which are analogous to the divine “Purpose”) initiate the processes Socrates described in
connection with the “Receptacle.105 Iterative interactions within the Receptacle first transduce
“Will” and “Purpose” into the particulars of possibility (“beables).” When a beable is actualized,
it creates a strong boundary condition determining which of the remaining beables remain viable
possibilities. In other words, every actualization alters, within the cone of its influence, the
probability that future particulars of possibility (“beables”) within its cone may eventually be
actualized. As huge numbers of these cones of influence will overlap, their influences will
iteratively interact within the Receptacle.106 These interactions will eventually cause one
“beable” to condense into its corporeal embodiment (becoming actualized).107 This process may
be understood to occur for every Planck volume in the universe and to be continuously repeated
for each successive unit of Planck time.108 Like a pixelized television image, our threedimensional reality is built from these Planck-sized units, with Receptacle’s interactive
emanations controlling each level of the “picture’s” aggregation. The succession of these
“Divine Names and Attributes” being its first manifestations. Returning to the drum analogy, the Primal Point now
describes an oscillatory state from which the Divine Attributes are harmonically present, and creation is necessarily
emergent. This is the oscillatory state to which Buddhists have given the name: “Om.”
102
“…pretty much all commentators nowadays accept Proclus’ construal of the text (Timaeus 35A1-B3), according to
which the Demiurge started with six ingredients: two types of being, two types of same, and two types of different.
One of each pair is related to, or characteristic of, or belongs to, eternal, indivisible forms, whereas the other is
related to divisible, corporeal, physical, entities.3 According to this reading, in the first step, the Demiurge created an
intermediate mixture of the three pairs individually, and finally he combined these three intermediates into one
mixture.4 This is the mixture out of which the Demiurge then fashioned the soul of the cosmos and, as we learn a
little later, the immortal rational souls of human beings.” Gábor Betegh, The Ingredients of the Soul in Plato's Timaeus, in F. Leigh
(ed.), Themes in Plato, Aristotle, and Hellenistic Philosophy: Keeling Lectures 2011-18, BICS Supplement 141, London, 2021
I will in a future paper discuss the role of God’s Prophets/Manifestations in facilitating the progressive
actualization of humanity’s divine potentials consistent with humanity’s changing needs and challenges.
104
“[T]he divine will, as Plato says in the Tirnacus,45 is the beginning of all created things.46 Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499),
103
Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology], Volume 1, Book II, Chapter XI, English translation by Michael J.B. Allen with John Warden; Latin text
edited by James Hankins with William Bowen, Books I-IV, Harvard University Press, 2001, Page 179.
“Each phenomenon is necessarily in the Receptacle, but then it is necessarily not in them, since “in” is an
asymmetrical relation. The receptacle is all receiving, receives all characteristics, and so must itself be characterless.
It facilitates the presence of the phenomena, but is not part of that presence.”
105
Richard D. Mohr, Plato’s Cosmic Manual: Introduction, Reader’s Guide, and Acknowledgments; One Book: The Whole Universe - Plato’s
Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and Barbara M. Sattler, Editors, Parmenides Publishing, 2010, Page 10.
Renamed the ’alam al mithal” (Mundus Imaginalis) within the Islamic and Bahá'í traditions.
“...the One, … overflows, as it were, and its superabundance makes something other than itself. This, when it has
come into being, turns back upon the One and is filled, and becomes Intellect by looking towards it.” Plotinus, Enn.V.2.1
108
“The Planck time is the time it takes for a photon to travel a distance equal to the Planck length: = 1.62 × 10-35
m. and is the shortest possible time interval that can be measured.” Planck Time, COSMOS - The SAO Encyclopedia
of Astronomy, Swinburne University of Technology,
106
107
17
aggregated actualizations produces the “Nows” of our natural perception. In summary, something
analogous to an eternal strike-like impetus initiates interactive processes that transduce the World
Soul’s active and passive forces, first into the eternal Form, then into “beables,” and finally into
actualized “Nows.”
Continuing the drum analogy, should the dimensions of the Receptacle be infinite, the
wavelength of the initial impetus (producing the “Good”) would also be infinite, generating an
infinitude of harmonics. Any harmonic having a sufficiently large wavelength would be
unaffected by any possible “beable” or subsequent “Now” and might be deemed to represent
Socrates’ eternal and unchangeable Forms. In this context, the causal processes (which propagate
the Good’s subordinate forms and “beables”) might be likened to the continuing propagation of
these harmonics (e.g., harmonic oscillators) within the Receptacle.
As previously noted, the Neoplatonists described the Platonic process of creation as an
emanation, which Merriam-Webster has defined as “a series of hierarchically descending
radiations from the Godhead through intermediate stages to matter”109 and the Catholic
Encyclopedia as an “overflowing.”110 In this context, emanation might be likened to an artesianlike overflowing111of sublime “Light”112 that condenses into vibrationally113 represented
“beables” and, within time and space, into actualized “Nows.”114 In a time-symmetric cosmos, I
109
Emanation, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2022.
Emanationism, Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent LLC, 2021.
111
“...the One, … overflows, as it were, and its superabundance makes something other than itself. This, when it has
come into being, turns back upon the One and is filled, and becomes Intellect by looking towards it.” Plotinus, Enn.V.2.1
112
“Plato, following ancient theologists, considers truth multifariously. Hence, according to his doctrine, the highest
truth is characterized by unity, and is the light proceeding from the good, which imparts purity, as he says in the
Philebus, and union, as he says in the Republic, to intelligibles. The truth which is next to this in dignity is that which
proceeds from intelligibles, and illuminates the intellectual orders, and which an essence unfigured, uncolored, and
without contact, first receives, where also the plain of truth is situated, as it is written in the Phaedrus. The third kind
of truth is, that which is connascent with souls, and which through intelligence comes into contact with true being.
For the psychical light is the third, from the intelligible; intellectual deriving its plenitude from intelligible light, and
the psychical from the intellectual. And the last kind of truth is that which is full of error and inaccuracy through
sense, and the instability of its object. For a material nature is perpetually flowing, and is not naturally adapted to
abide even for a moment.” Thomas Taylor, Introduction to the Philosophy and Writings of Plato, Blackmask Online, 2003, Page 49.
110
Note: Thomas Taylor (15 May 1758 - 1 November 1835) was an English translator and Neoplatonist, the first to translate into English the complete
works of Aristotle and of Plato, as well as the Orphic fragments.
See the “Second Appendix,” which examines the question: “What is Matter?” and concludes that it can be
reduced to patterned oscillations.
114
“Plotinus regarded matter as the limit of emanation, the point at which the process exhausts itself and comes to an
end. Matter has no inner activity that could give rise to any further outer activity, any further emanation. It’s the end
of the line. It is merely passive. It is solid. It is the lowest level of reality. It is where intelligible reality undergoes a
phase transition to sensible reality. It is where the activity of Soul becomes phenomenal and perceptible. It is where
everything is temporal and contingent.
Matter has no activity and effects of its own. It has no emanatory power. Matter – non-being – is the lowest
activity of the life of the soul. It is where the activity of the higher realms of Being is fully depleted.”
113
Thomas Stark, God Is Mathematics: The Proofs of the Eternal Existence of Mathematics, 2018
18
will later describe in some detail those processes of “becoming” where each successive “Now”
probabilistically influences which “beables” will become the next “Now.” I will also show how
these processes teleologically carry the “Good’s” influences toward the present, rendering some
future instantiations of the Good more likely than others.115 Gail Fine distinguished these
processes from their resulting actualizations (Fine’s “beings”) as follows:
“Plato [believed] that the Form of the good is the formal and final cause of all knowable
objects, not just of the virtue Forms. We can best understand why if we turn for the moment to
Plato’s puzzling claim that the Form of the good is in some way greater or more important than
other knowable objects (504c9-e3, 509b6-10), even though, unlike other Forms, it is not an
ousia, a being (509b9-10). Usually, to call something an ousia is to accord it special
importance. One might then expect Plato to claim that the Form of the good is the most
important ousia of all; instead, he claims that it is not an ousia at all.
The best explanation of this puzzling claim is that the Form of the good, as Rheins’ higher
hypostasis, is the impetus for creation. In this context, it is not a distinct Form, but the
teleological structure of the creative process; individual Forms are its parts, and particular
sensible objects instantiate it.23”116
[903b] … “The supervisor of the universe has arranged everything with an eye to its preservation and excellence,
and its individual parts play appropriate active or passive roles according to their various capacities. These parts,
down to the smallest details of their active and passive functions, have each been put under the control of ruling
powers that have [903c] perfected the minutest constituents of the universe. Now then, you perverse fellow, one such
part—a mere speck that nevertheless constantly contributes to the good of the whole—is you, you who have forgotten
that nothing is created except to provide the entire universe with a life of prosperity. You forget that creation is not
for your benefit: you exist for the sake of the universe.”
115
Plato, Laws, 903b and 903c, Plato: Complete Works, John M. Cooper, Editor, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1997, Page 1560
116
Gail Fine, Knowledge and Belief in Republic 57, Chapter VIII, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail
Fine, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1999, Pages 228-229.
[Quoting from Footnote 23: “For this view, see esp. H. W. B. Joseph, Knowledge and the Good in Plato’s Republic
(Oxford, 1948), in particular ch. 3; J. C. B. Gosling, Plato (London, 1973), 5771; and T. H. Irwin, Plato’s Moral
Theory, 225.”]
19
The Demiurge as Creator.
Plato used many names in personifying the processes of creation.117 These names included:
“Constructor,”118 “Craftsman,”119 “Demiurge,” “God,” and confusingly, also “the Good.
According to Mark L. McPherran, Plato intended “the good to function as both a formal and a
final cause for all beings” with an “anthropomorphic creator-deity” serving “as an ultimate
efficient cause.”120 According to Anthony Arthur Long:
“We cannot say how Plato would have reacted to the reduction of this complex scheme to the
twin principles, god and matter, but as an exegetical exercise, it was a brilliant move. It allowed
the Demiurge to be identified with the Form of the Good, the World-Soul, and cosmic Mind or
Cause, while the Receptacle could be more tractably interpreted as the purely plastic matter that
divine causality acts upon. As for the Forms that the Demiurge takes as his model, some
Platonists interpreted them as the thoughts of god…”121
“The Laws, like the Timaeus, interprets divinity as a demiurge (902e5). This Demiurge is called a king (904a6,
as in the Philebus, 28c7) and is also called a guardian (907a2, 7). Unlike the Demiurge of the Timaeus, however, the
god of Laws X seems to be omnipotent … [but only with regards to] his materials as materials offer no resistance to
his demiurgic activities. This can be established by inference from 904a–b, as Taylor does by citing this passage and
claiming “clearly it is meant at least that there is nowhere in the universe any independent power which can cause this
divine purpose to fail of its intent4 …[and] by noticing that the question of whether god has the power to care for and
control all things is explicitly raised at 901c and is answered emphatically in the affirmative at 902e7–903a1.” Richard
117
D. Mohr, God & Forms In Plato: The Platonic Cosmology, Parmenides Publishing, 2005, Page 196
“Now if so be that this Cosmos is beautiful and its Constructor good, it is plain that he fixed his gaze on the
Eternal; but if otherwise (which is an impious supposition), his gaze was on that which has come into existence. But
it is clear to everyone that his gaze was on the Eternal; for the Cosmos is the fairest of all that has come into
existence, and He the best of all the Causes. So having in this wise come into existence, it has been constructed after
the pattern of that which is apprehensible by reason and thought and is self-identical.
118
Plato, Timaeus [29a]
“Now of the four elements the construction of the Cosmos had taken up the whole of every one. For its Constructor
had constructed it of all the fire and water and air and earth that existed, leaving over, outside it, no single particle or
potency of any one of these elements. And these were his intentions: [32d] first, that it might be, so far as possible, a
Living Creature, perfect and whole, with all its parts perfect; and next, that it might be One,
Plato, Timaeus [32c] and [32d]
"Unlike the God of the Hebrew Bible, Plato’s Demiurge is given no role in sustaining the cosmos; the Demiurge
simply shapes the chaotic elements into order. The divine craftsman is confronted, like the Biblical God, with
primeval realities. In the Platonic image, these include the eternal Forms, space, and particles of earth, air, fire, and
water, moving randomly in space. The work of the divine craftsman is to look to the Forms, to look to the random
motions, and as best he can, to mold the random particles into the image of divine perfection, through the persuasion
of reason.” Diana Lobel, The Quest for God and the Good, Columbia University Press, 2011, Page 33.
120
Plato intends for the good to function as both a formal and a final cause for all beings. Given that emphasis, he is
willing to talk as though the good might be a god that we could call Great Commander Zeus (e.g., at 596a–598c), but
without working out the problems of ascribing mental states to a being beyond being or explaining how the gods as
knowers of Forms are the efficient causes of good events and things. But when his later concerns turn to cosmology,
what he requires is the sort of anthropomorphic creator-deity that can serve as an ultimate efficient cause, and this is
what we find in the demiurge of the Timaeus (37c–90d), Philebus (28c–30b), Statesman (269c–274e), and Laws
(884d–889d) (cf. Sophist 265e–266e; Cratylus 389a; Laws 903c).37
119
Mark L. McPherran, The Gods and Piety of Plato’s Republic , Chapter 5, The Blackwell guide to Plato’s Republic, Gerasimos Santas, Editor,
Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006, Page 96.
121
A. A. Long, Plato and Hellenistic Philosophy, Chapter 28, A Companion to Plato, edited by Hugh H. Benson,
Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006, Pages 423-424.
20
Some scholars, like Francis Macdonald Cornford, have focused on the pantheistic nature of
these relationships. 122 Others have conjoined the processes of creation as products of a cosmic
Mind,123 thought, or “logos”124 However, in each case, the Demiurge is not associated with the
beginning stage of creation. Instead, it represents the processes through which the Good becomes
mirrored in creation.
“Plato’s Demiurge who shapes the world — but does not bring creation into being - in the
Timaeus is a craftsman, supreme artisan or architect, a god if we desire to call him such, but he
is not God the foundation of all being. Rather, the Demiurge uses pre-existing forms or Ideas
and pre-existing but formless matter to impose form on chaos and to create specific ‘things.’ In
“By identifying the Demiurge with the Form of the Good, the World-Soul, and the sovereign Reason, … Plato's
system is ‘a form of pantheism' and ‘an absolute idealism.' Matter is reduced to extension, and extension' exists only
subjectively in our minds' (p. 45). In this view, there is really nothing left but God, who must accordingly be the
author of Necessity; and Necessity is identified with natural law.”
122
Francis Macdonald Cornford, Plato's Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato, 1935 by Routledge, Reprinted, Hackett Publishing Company, 1997, Page
163 (Referencing the views of Archer-Hind.)
Although I will, in this paper, be arguing on behalf of Archer-Rind's views, Cornford goes on to argue (also on
page 163) that Archer-Rind's views reflected the ontological and philosophical assumptions of his times:
“In interpreting this passage some modern commentators are, perhaps unconsciously, influenced by the desire to
bring Plato into conformity with the Jewish-Christian doctrine of an omnipotent Creator. They are reluctant to
admit any factor in the visible world that does not owe its existence to God, who, having called all things into being
out of nothing, must himself be the author of Nature's inexorable laws, and responsible for every defect in his
handiwork. Archer-Rind's interpretation goes to the extreme in this direction, though he substitutes for the
Christian God an idealistic equivalent-an absolute Spirit evolving everything out of itself by a timeless process of
thought (whatever that may mean).” Francis Macdonald Cornford, Plato's Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato, 1935 by Routledge,
Reprinted, Hackett Publishing Company, 1997, Page 163
It will be my suggestion that the self-referential processes of Process Physics and Whitehead’s process philosophy
effectuated the emergence of a transcendent (“Divine-like”) consciousness (“a timeless process of thought”) within
the World Soul’s information matrix. These processes additionally are the “author of Nature's inexorable laws” that
have “called all things into being.” Quotes are from Francis Macdonald Cornford, Plato's Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato, Routledge,
1935, Reprinted by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1997, page 163
“…in his Timaeus and Laws, …[Plato] introduces a cosmic mind and maker whose activities provide the
structure and orderly motions of the cosmos. Mark L. McPherran, The Gods and Piety of Plato’s Republic, Chapter 5, Endnote 37, The
123
Blackwell Guide to Plato’s Republic, Gerasimos Santas, Editor, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, Page 101
“How then does it [the Good] generate Intellect? Because by its return to it sees: and this seeing is Intellect….
This Intellect of which we are speaking … should spring from nowhere else but the first principle, and when it has
come into existence should generate all realities along with itself…” Plotinus, Enn.V.1.
124
“Among the things which Plato somehow left unexplained about his theory of ideas is the question of how these
ideas are related to God. His statements on this point produce conflicting impressions. Some-times he uses language
which lends itself to the interpretation that the ideas have an existence external to God, either ungenerated and
coeternal with God2 or produced and made by God.3 They are thus extradeical. Sometimes, however, he uses
language which lends itself to the interpretation that the ideas are the thoughts of God.4 They are thus intradeical.”
Harry A. Wolfson, Extradeical and Intradeical Interpretations of Platonic Ideas, Journal of the History of Ideas, University of Pennsylvania Press,
Jan.-Mar., 1961, Vol. 22, No.1, Page 4
“… The Logos, in so far as it was really distinct from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, was extradeical: but,
in so far as it was an indivisible part of an indivisible triune God, it was intradeical.”
Harry A. Wolfson, Extradeical and Intradeical Interpretations of Platonic Ideas, Journal of the History of Ideas, University of Pennsylvania Press,
Jan.-Mar., 1961, Vol. 22, No.1, Page 14
I believe the controversy over Plato’s apparently conflicting descriptions can be resolved in the context of the
emanative continuum I have proposed in this paper.
21
other words, the Demiurge is not the ultimate foundation or ground of all being, as is the Good
or the One.”125
The Socratic Cosmos as Nature
Platonists, Neoplatonists, and Theologians have associated “The Good”126 and “the One”
(together with the “Primal Point,”127 “The First,” and “The Idea.”128) with the unitary principle
and various concepts of God. At this point, it would be easy to invoke one of the available Godconcepts to end the science-based aspects of this inquiry. However, in an Age when the scientific
method129 has been elevated to the status of a divine-like standard, this option should no longer be
philosophically, scientifically, or even religiously130 acceptable.
“If we view the divine demiurge not so much as an individual person with conscious desires
and intentions but as the [creative] art personified, that is, if we view the demiurge as working
simply in terms of the prescriptions of his art, then we are faced with a sort of teleology that is
Ian Kluge, "Bahá’í Ontology, Part Two: Further Explorations," Lights of Irfan, Volume 7, Irfan Colloquia, 2006,
pages 163-200.
126
“…the Form of the good is not a distinct Form, but the teleological structure of things; individual Forms are its
parts, and particular sensible objects instantiate it.23 Gail Fine, Knowledge and Belief in Republic 57, Chapter VIII, Plato 1:
125
Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1999, page 228.
“…the primal point (alnuqta al-awwaliyya) is the first singularity from which all has proceeded, that which
contains in itself all the potentialities of existence. It is the One who contains only Himself and from whom
furthermore all the numbers have been engendered. God, in that world, is an unmanifested essence, for the essence
manifests itself by attributes, but these are not yet distinct from the essence. The ancient philosophers made reference
to this world as the world of the “One”. Jean-Marc Lepain, Archéologie du royaume de Dieu: Ontologie des mondes divins dans les
127
écrits de Bahá'u'llah (The Archeology of the Kingdom of God), Peter Terry, translator, Page 37.
“In mathematical forms, the unity of the Idea does indeed separate into plurality; but these forms are not subject
to the vicissitude of sensible things.148 The Soul enters into the corporeal and its motion, but the soul itself is not
corporeal.149 While all that is corporeal is moved by another, the soul is the self -moved, and moves everything
else,150 and though distinct from the Idea, the soul is of all things most closely related to it.151 Strictly speaking, we
should go a step further, and declare both the World-soul and mathematical forms to be the Idea itself, as the formal
determination and motive principle of the material world. For as Matter as such is the Non-existent, the Real in the
soul can only be the Idea. But the same reasons which obliged Plato to separate the Idea from the phenomenon,
necessitated also the distinction of the soul from the Idea: the soul is derived, the Idea original; the soul is generated,
the Idea eternal; the Soul is a particular, the Idea a universal;152 the Idea is absolute reality, the soul only participates
in reality.153 Dr. Eduard Zeller, Plato and the Older Academy, Translated by Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred Goodwin, Ballantyne, Hanson
128
and Co, 1888, page 354.
There is also theological support for this position: Although only an early draft of Ontology as Poem is currently
available, it provides a reasonably coherent description of this revelation-based ontology.
129
The six steps of the scientific method are: (1) Make an observation. (2) Formulate a question. (3) Articulate a
hypothesis. (4) Make a prediction based on the hypothesis. (5) Test the prediction. (6) Use the results to make new
hypotheses or predictions.
130
“Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified
by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God's Will and is its
expression in and through the contingent world.” (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 142)
“By nature, is meant those inherent properties and necessary relations derived from the realities of things. And
these realities of things, though in the utmost diversity, are yet intimately connected one with the other. For these
diverse realities an all-unifying agency is needed that shall link them all one to the other.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World
Faith, p. 340)
22
not necessarily different in kind from the Aristotelian. The main difference between Plato’s and
Aristotle’s ordering principle remains that Plato’s craftsman works on nature from without,
whereas Aristotle’s works from within. However, our explanation of the ways in which order is
realised in nature need not make reference in either case to conscious desires or intentions.
Plato’s divine demiurge is in this respect at least not unlike Aristotle’s master craftsman,
nature.”131
Neither science nor philosophy can operate in a vacuum. Something must be assumed for any
science or philosophical exploration to begin. For science, it’s the laws of physics. Few ask
where did these laws come from? More frequently, the question is, what should be included
among these laws? When fundamental realities are sought within these laws, Quantum physics
adds fields. String theorists add strings. Some scientists have emphasized information.132 Others
have assumed the ubiquitousness of consciousness.133 Even scientists who construct our universe
and its laws of physics from first principles must make metaphysical-like assumptions governing
their models.134 As previously noted, I have assumed an emergent information space existed
before the Big Bang and will suggest new roles for time symmetry, reverse causality, and
dynamic attractors within the laws of physics. I will suggest that everything else, including
consciousness, is emergent.
Although I began this paper with cosmopsychism as my starting assumption, we can now
transition to the hypothesis that the Socratic Cosmos can be subsumed within “Nature,” but only
Thomas Kjeller Johansen, Plato’s Natural Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias, Cambridge University
Press, 2004, Page 86.
Although appearing to be supernatural within the Platonic Writings, I will show that “Nature” and the creative
processes the “Demiurge’ personified are essentially one and the same.
132
This is an assumption that I share. See the First Appendix” titled “EVERYTHING IS INFORMATION””
133
See: Why Is Science Growing Comfortable With Panpsychism (“Everything Is Conscious”)? Philip Goff, Does
Consciousness Pervade the Universe?
Instead of making the assumption that consciousness “just is,” I will introduce how consciousness might be
emergent through self referential processes within a concurrently emergent “information space.” As the emergence
of a primordial consciousness would be complete prior to our universe being formed, from the frame of reference of
our physical universe, cosmopanpsychism would be “true.”
134
For example, “Causal dynamical triangulation " (CDT), assumes an initial state that is a superposition of all
possible "paths" our universe could have followed. For loop quantum gravity (LQG),it is assumed that Planckiansized loops of gravitational force are woven into a quantized spacetime. For Super String Theory, compactified tendimensional Planckian-sized strings are assumed. For M-theory, eleven dimensions are required and for the “Creatio
Ex Nihilo” (CEN) model, there is an assumed symmetry.
131
23
if we permit a redefined concept of nature135 to transcend its usual physical connotations.136 If
so, it can be shown that Socrates’ metaphysics describes “natural processes” and that the
Demiurge’s conscious creativity is the personification of Nature’s creative processes.137 To
defend this hypothesis, the elements and creative processes associated with the Socratic Cosmos
will need to be translated into scientifically plausible concepts that can still be fairly described as
“Divine Reason”138 working for ends that are “Good.”139
In the following two sections, I will suggest how plurality might emerge from the Cosmos’
initial oneness. In the first of these two sections, I will continue to accept cosmopsychism as my
“Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified
by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God's Will and is its
expression in and through the contingent world.” (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 142)
“By nature is meant those inherent properties and necessary relations derived from the realities of things. And
these realities of things, though in the utmost diversity, are yet intimately connected one with the other. For these
diverse realities an all-unifying agency is needed that shall link them all one to the other.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá’í World
135
Faith - Abdu'l-Bahá Section, p. 340)
“The 'world of Images' ('alam al-mithál) is ontologically an intermediate domain of contact between the purely
sensible world and the purely spiritual, i.e., non-material world.” Toshihiko Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of
136
Key Philosophical Concepts. University of California Press, 1984. page 13.
“The ancient Sages were alluding to this world when they declared that besides the sensory world there is another
world with shape and dimensions also extending into space, but the shape, dimensions, and extent of this other world
are not identical with those we perceive in the world of, physical bodies, although what exists in the sensory world
has it analogue there; it is not a question of sensory dimensions, but of exemplary imaginative dimensions (maqadir
mithaliya)… So here we have a threefold universe: an intelligible universe, a sensory universe, and between the two a
universe for which it is difficult in our language to find a satisfactory term. … So this is a universe which symbolizes
both with corporeal substance, because it possesses shape, dimensions, and extent – and with separated or intelligible
substance, because it is essentially made of light (núraní). It is both immaterial matter and the incorporeal
corporealized. It is the limit which separates and at the same time unites them. That is why in the speculative
theosophy of Sufism this universe is usually called barzakh (screen, limit, interval, interworld). … [T]his world in the
subtle state, which includes many degrees, and which is impenetrable by the sensory organs, is the real place of all
psycho-spiritual events.…” Corbin, Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, pp. 78-79 quoted in Divine Philosophy p.434
I will argue that the processes of creation, differentiation, and actualization occurring in this intermediate domain
should be included in the definition of “Nature.”
137
The image of the Demiurge that emerges here (and from 272e–273e, to glance ahead) is that the Demiurge
operates somewhat like a mechanical clutch. When he is in contact with or engages the world, he imparts both his
rotation, i.e., his motion as circular, and the direction of his motion to the world; but he can disengage from the world
and still continue with his motion and direction, while the world, then, goes on its own way. [References are to
Plato’s Statesman] Richard D. Mohr, God & Forms in Plato: The Platonic Cosmology, Parmenides Publishing, 200, Pages 159-160
I will, in a future paper, humanize the Demiurge in the Divine personages of God’s Prophets and Manifestations
and explore it emergence as a beneficial alter ego or my dream experience in The Valley of Wonderment. .
138
“The model, as strictly eternal, is independent of the Demiurge, whose function is to be the cause, not of eternal
Being, but only of order' In the realm of Becoming. However we may interpret the divine Reason symbolised by the
Demiurge, this model is one among the objects of its thought. It is the ideal, whose perfection the visible universe, as
a living being, is to reproduce in its own structure, so far as is permitted by the conditions of temporal existence in
space.” Francis Macdonald Cornford, Plato's Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato, Routledge, 1935, Reprinted by Hackett Publishing Company,
Inc., 1997, Page 41.
Reason’s function continues to be that of unifying and ordering, and thus living our own lives in a rational way
comes to be seen as participating in the large-scale workings of reason in the cosmos, which is seen in different ways
in the later dialogues (as a causal element in the world in the Philebus, as the rational plan of a divine Craftsman in
the Timaeus, as the rationality of a cosmic soul in the Laws), but always as divine. The work of the divine reason is to
organize things for good…”
139
Julia Annas, Plato’s Ethics, Chapter 11, The Oxford Handbook of Plato, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2011, Pages 278-279
24
starting point. In the section that follows, I will begin to evaluate my hypothesis by describing
how emergence could occur when the principles of quantum mechanics are assumed. In Part
Two, with background independence as the goal, I will suggest how the Socratic Cosmos might
still emerge when only first principles are considered.
Metaphysics of Emergence
Consistent with both Plato and Cosmopsychism, we will begin this section by positing140 a
philosophically “simple” “Idea” or “Primal Thought” as our starting point.141 As discussed in the
preceding section, this assumption is identical to cosmopsychism’s claims; and is not overly
dissimilar to the metaphysical speculations made by physicists who must assume the initial
conditions governing their models. This “Primal Thought” can be apprehended as the
undifferentiated omnitude of all possible thoughts. In this context, certain proximate Thoughts
may be understood to be metaphysically necessary. Once thought, these “necessary” thoughts
must remain fixed, unchanging, and eternally existing. Platonists will want to associate these
“Eternal Thoughts”142 with the Platonic Forms;143 Theologians with God’s Names and
Later in this paper I will describe how neural-net-like interrelationships might emerge within the World Soul’s
information matrix.
141
Note also that the “Idea” and the “Primal Thought” can be thought of as equivalent to Plato’s Form of the Good
from which all other Forms are emanations.
See: Ralph McInerny, Plato, A History of Western Philosophy, Vol 1, University of Notre Dame Press, 1963, p. 180
142
“The doctrines that God is himself the supreme good, and that the Forms are his eternal thoughts, having their
being in the divine intellect, were not Plato's, but modifications of Plato's theory which naturally suggested
themselves to Neo-Platonic and mediæval thinkers.” William George De Burgh, The Legacy of The Ancient World, The Macmillan
140
Company, 1924, Pages 142-143.
“Forms are eternal, unchanging objects, each with a unique nature, which we grasp with our minds but not with
our senses.” Mary Louise Gill, Problems for Forms, Chapter 13, A Companion to Plato, edited by Hugh H. Benson, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.,
143
2006, page 184.
25
Attributes;144 and physicists, with certain field perturbations145 Next, in the event that one
thought – if it were to become physically/materially expressed (actualized) –, would conflict with
some other thought; all such thoughts must, nonetheless, contingently exist as relational
alternatives to each other. As will be expanded in Part Two of this paper, process physics,146 the
“In order for the Primal Will (as Dyad receiving act) to be resolved into the infinite intelligible forms of created
things, it needs the creative energies of the names and attributes of God. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá attests that God "hath ordained
these names and attributes to be the first principle of giving existence in the world of creation and the source of the
different grades of realities in the degrees of existence" (Makátíb, vol. 1, p.13). These names and attributes, therefore,
are the highest members of hierarchy of intelligible existence in the world of the Primal Will. They "are actually and
forever existing and not potential. Because they convey life, they are called Life-giving; because they provide, they
are called Bountiful, the Provider; because they create, they are called Creator; because they educate and govern, the
name Lord God is applied" (‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation, p. 219). The other intelligible realities are structures and
manifestations of these divine names.” Keven Brown, "Creation: The Nature of God and the Creation of the Universe in Bahá’í
144
Cosmology," 2003.
“…the Bahá’í Writings are clearly Platonic insofar as they present a variation of Plato’s forms or Ideas, called the
“Names of God”5 as residing as independent substances in a separate realm called “the Kingdom of Names”6 which is
itself identified with the First Mind.6 Ian Kluge, The Aristotelian Substratum of the Bahá’í Writings, Papers Presented at the 'Irfán
Colloquia and Seminars, Book 4, Lights of 'Irfán, Iraj Ayman, Editor, Haj Mehdi Armand Colloquium, 2003, page 21.
145
These field perturbations would be analogous to sets of offsetting stationary waves in superposition. A stationary
wave oscillates in “time,” but its peak amplitude profile does not move in “spacetime.” There is, however, a problem
with this simplified description. Because spacetime does not yet exist, how is it possible for the requisite oscillations
to occur?
One potential solution mirrors the information-based “Creatio Ex Nihilo” (CEN) theory of Maya Lincoln and Avi
Wasser. CEN assumes an infinitude of “Nullifying Information Elements.” The beginning condition for the CEN
model is essentially a static nothingness that is outside of space and time. This beginning state has no energy, no
matter, no entropy, nor any motive force for change. However, the initial state has an assumed symmetry. According
to the theory’s proponents, this symmetry involves an infinite number of information elements, where bits of
information either participate in (or contribute to) the existence of a something (the +Bit), or in the non-existence of
that something (the -Bit). This symmetry results in -Bits, individually and in combination with other -Bits,
probabilistically offsetting (or nullifying) the potential existents arising from the +Bits such that the net information
content of the system’s beginning state is zero. The model next assumes that the initial symmetry is spontaneously
broken. As the necessary result of this “Spontaneous Symmetry Break” (SSB), non-offset information is emergent,
producing a probability distribution of possible existents (or beables). An information matrix of all possible beables
would be the necessary product of this “release.” See: Maya Lincoln and Avi Wasser, Spontaneous Creation of the Universe Ex
Nihilo, Physics of the Dark Universe, ScienceDirect, Volume 2, Issue 4, Elsevier B.V., December 2013, Pages 195-198
My contribution to the CEN model hinges on time-symmetry to suggest that the +Bits form a universe evolving in
the “forward-in-time” direction and -Bits contribute to an entirely separate universe that evolves backward-in-time.
A second candidate solution builds on three quantum mechanical principles. The first principle is Superposition –if
multiple quantum states are possible, all of the possible states can simultaneously “exist” within a quantum system.
“Time symmetry” is the third principle.
If the conservation principles applicable to energy and information are applied, a phase space with temporally
offsetting (phase canceled) standing waves become conceivable. "Extending this principle to time's arrows, it
results that quantum systems evolving in one or the other temporal direction … can also find themselves evolving
simultaneously along both temporal directions.” Giulia Rubino,Gonzalo Manzano, & Časlav Brukner, Quantum superposition of
thermodynamic evolutions with opposing time’s arrows, Communications Physics, Nature, 26 November 2021.
A third candidate assumes that the initial “impetus” generated a waveform with a (nearly) infinite wavelength and
(nearly) zero amplitude. The Platonic Forms are the harmonics of this “primal” waveform existing in superposition
with every other waveform.
A fourth candidate requires an ethereal “substance,” which I would suggest is Socrates’ Receptacle, to be assumed.
These speculations will be expanded in forthcoming papers.
146
A striking outcome of process physics is the introduction of a neural network as a proto-consciousness. In
Process physics: “The fundamental assumption is that reality is to be modelled as self-organising semantic or
relational information using a self-referentially limited neural network model, where the information-theoretic
26
Wolfram Physics Project,147 and other derivatives of Whitehead’s process philosophy all describe
plausible processes from which a matrix of relational information might be projected. The
resulting information matrix (which I am arguing is equivalent to the Socratic World Soul) would
computationally represent the information for every possible contingency within every possible
universe. In the Timaeus, Socrates describes a “universe” that begins as a transcendent and
timeless “model.” This “model” then finds reflection in an “image of eternity” that preserves the
model’s “unity” while “moving according to number”(i.e., the laws of physics).
Although derived from the Primal Thought, World Soul’s information matrix would be
coeternal with the Primal Thought, and each constituent thought within this matrix should be
understood to eternally exist in quantum superposition with every other thought. From a
beginning that has no beginning to an endless eternity, I have posited an information matrix that
encompasses all possible “beables;” and defines the interactive processes through which these
“beables” may become actualized. Later in this paper, I will describe how Socrates’ “everlasting
image of eternity” would remain “in unity.”
But, first, we need to consider how differentiation and particularity might increasingly emerge
from the “model’s” initial unity.148 Toward this end, transmission holograms may help provide a
limitations are implemented via self-referential noise. This modelling was motivated by the discovery that such
stochastic neural networks are foundational to known quantum field theories. In Process Physics time is a distinct
nongeometric process while space and quantum physics are emergent and unified. Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics,
Process Studies Supplement 2003, Issue 5. P 11.
See Also: Reginald T. Cahill, “Process Physics: Self-referential Information and Experimental Reality,” in T. Eastman, M. Epperson, and D.
Griffin (eds.), Physics and Speculative Philosophy, New York: DeGruyter, 2016, 177–221
Reginald T. Cahill and Christopher M. Klinger, Bootstrap Universe from Self-Referential Noise, Progress in Physics, Vol. 2, July 2005
Christopher M. Klinger and Kirsty Kitto, Process Physics: Modelling Reality as Self-Organising Information, Preview of Process Physics: The
Limits of Logic and the Modelling of Reality; in preparation.
Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, Process Physics: Toward an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian Physics, Chapter 2, Process Cosmology: New Integrations
in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Editors, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
Stephen Wolfram’s aspirational Physics Project computationally starts a simple set of abstract program-like rules
to recursively generate a computational representation of what our universe is, and is doing. The interactive
application of these rules generates sub-Planckian-sized computational nodes (the atoms of space). The set of
computation nodes preceding the initial actualization event for our universe is reasonably analogous to the
information matrix posited in this paper. Wolfram has coined the word “Ruliad” to represent the entangled limit of
all possible computations as “the result of following all possible computational rules in all possible ways.” For a very
accessible description of Wolfram’s Ruliad, see Stephen Wolfram, The Concept of the Ruliad, November 10, 2021.
Within this context, there are persistent computational boundaries themselves both in physics and mathematics that
are “very deeply platonic” … in the sense that it really is that there is this you know this universe of ideal forms…”
147
Stephen Wolfram, What We've Learned from NKS Chapter 1: The Foundations of a New Kind of Science, Streamed live on Feb 7, 2022, 112:37
“The Wolfram model promises to generate “a discrete spacetime formalism in which space is represented by a
hypergraph whose dynamics are determined by abstract replacement operations on set systems, and in which the
conformal structure of spacetime is represented by a causal graph.” Jonathan Gorard, Some Quantum Mechanical Properties of
the Wolfram Model, April 21, 2020
For very simplified descriptions of Wolfram’s Physics, see: The Last Theory YouTube Channel and newsletter.
These resources include a description of how the information for every possible contingency within “Every Possible
Universe” would be propagated. My additions include a destiny state, time symmetry, reverse causality as system
constraints on the set of rules that would participate in the generating the World Soul’s matrix of information.
148
Some scientists might prefer to describe these processes in the context of a “multifractal system.”
27
conceptual representation. Transmission holograms can, for example, alter the amplitudes,
wavelengths, and phase of a laser’s undifferentiated light as its light passes from one holographic
layer to the next. Additionally, each layer begins with the interference patterns carried forward
from the preceding layers and introduces new interactions and complexity.149 In this analogy,
each new layer may be understood to differentiate those new “thoughts” that the prior “thoughts”
had predicated. Ultimately, no thought subsumed within the Primal Thought could remain
unthought.150 In this context, our Big Bang, and the universe it engenders, simply represents a
thought that finds physical expression (or manifestation).151 The human mind may then be
understood to operate within this continuum, with some minds having access to more sublime
thoughts than others.
Restated, the “World Soul” represents the set of all possible thoughts that are either eternally
manifest or are contingently emergent through relational laws that are expressed and become
manifested as light. In this context, there would be a continuum of thoughts where each
successive thought is derived from a more fundamental thought and, in turn, propagates other,
lesser but more detailed thoughts.152 As light, these thoughts might be understood to sequentially
progress from higher to lower frequencies (energies) and toward increasing differentiation and
particularity.153 In this emanative progression, the emergent thoughts increasingly reflect
149
These processes are roughly analogous to atoma that arises from the recursive application of Wolfram Physics
Project’s interactive substitution rules. See also Why hypergraphs might be a good model of the universe These
processes are further described in "BE" -- Káf, Nún and Kun: A Compilation with Comments).
150
Can a Divine thought, once thought, remain eternally unexpressed? Some philosophers and many theologians
would answer “No.” Therefore, to the extent we may assume any Divine thoughts which may not be expressed given
the laws of physics of our universe, other universes may be understood to, of necessity, arise. Further, to the extent
any thoughts applicable to any of these universes could find expression only if some other thoughts, within that
universe, remain unexpressed, the number of universes would, of necessity, multiply to the limit of infinity.
Although this description might appear to resemble Hugh Everett’s Many-worlds interpretation, the opposite is true.
In Everett’s model, each quantum event is understood to create a new universe. Here, an informational universe of
all possible beables comes first and each successive “Now” reduces the number of beables which may, in the future,
become actualized.
151
“…Timaeus says (29 c-d) that one cannot hope to give a completely consistent and precise account of such
subjects as gods and the origin of the universe, but must be content with a probable mythos. At 48d he speaks of
‘maintaining what we said at first, the force of a probable logos', and at 47c of ‘holding fast to what is probable’”.
William Keith Chambers (W. K. C.) Guthrie, The Later Plato And The Academy, Volume V, A History of Greek Philosophy Cambridge
University Press, 1978, Page 251.
In the context of Landauer's principle and time symmetry, the ontology described in this paper may help explain the
“Big Bang’s” enormous energies. See “Can the Landauer principle provide an explanation for the Big Bang's
enormous energies?”
152
Although it would be reasonable to assume that consciousness would be a necessary emergent from this process,
later in this paper I will discuss how the model’s information matrix might manifest the properties of a “neural net.”
153
This analogy finds confirmation in Einstein’s reference to matter as “frozen energy” and the physicist, David
Bohm’s reference to matter as “frozen light.” (This will be discussed in greater detail in the next section.) This
approach, however, is incomplete. In Part Two of this paper, I will explore a pixelated model of reality where the
28
individualized elements involved in complex interrelationships. Cumulatively, these emanations
may be understood to generate a matrix consisting of all possible thoughts. However, it is
essential to recognize that the resulting information set is constrained. First, the predicate chain
for each possible thought must emanate from the Primal Thought and are, therefore, definitionally
“Good.” Second, each actualized thought must itself predicate vibrationally embodied chains that
extend into the future to delimit those future contingencies that remain actualizable. Third,
assuming time-symmetry,154 these chains of potential futures must ultimately lead back to the
“Good” (i.e., the originating Primal Thought). Fourth, analogous to a subtle gravitational effect,
the relative probability that a future contingency (a “beable”) will eventually become actualized
(i.e., becomes physically “instantiated”) is influenced by the universe’s destiny state (the
“Good”), and sets of situationally weighted subordinate Forms. Fifth, cumulatively, these
teleological-like influences will, over time, necessarily cause images of “the Good” to be mirrored
in creation.155 Last, these relational processes represent a pattern that is repeated in the context of
the human soul. Until a human soul is actualized, it remains contingent within the information
matrix of the World-Soul. However, after physical conception, the associated soul will
vibrationally manifest a personalized admixture of “Forms” (e.g., God’s Names and
highest frequencies are associated with the model’s Planckian-sized and materiality arises through the harmonic
interactions of the top-down processes (which is the focus of Part One) and the bottom-up processes, which are
introduced in Part Two.
154
Time symmetry is one of the fundamental symmetries in physics and is one of the foundational principles on
which this paper has been based. Although there are several models that could provide this foundation, in 2007 I
attended the Quantum Paradox class that the Wolf Prize physicist, Yakir Aharonov, taught at George Mason
University. According, the Aharonov-Tollaksen formulation has been used unless otherwise specified. We will, later
in this paper, consider how an initial state would transmute into a destiny state through the agency of time symmetry.
We will further examine how this destiny state would, in the context of chaos theory, propagate attractors. To an
observer/actor, these attractors would appear as teleological influences, both within the time evolution of creation and
also in our individual lives. All of these issues will be covered later in this paper, but for those who wish to jump
ahead, see: (i) “Is retrocausality possible?” in Part Two of this paper; (ii) the Third Appendix, titled “Introduction to
Time Symmetric Quantum Mechanics (TSQM);” (iii) The Fourth Appendix titled “Introduction to the Retrocausality
of Strange Attractors;” and (iv) Endnote A: “Is Precognition Possible?”
See also: Matthew S. Leifer and Matthew F. Pusey, Is a time-symmetric interpretation of quantum theory possible
without retrocausality?, Royal Society, 21 June 2017.
For a very easy-to-follow video, see: Jeff Tollaksen - What Does Quantum Theory Mean?
For a more technical video, see: Yakir Aharonov: Time Symmetric Reformulation of Quantum Mechanics
155
This descriptive sequence creates an opportunity to reconcile a misunderstanding that is reflected in the following
quotation in that the processes the Demiurge represents involve two functions: (i) an ordering function while beables
remain as contingencies (“nonbeing”) and (ii) the creating function as beables become actualized (“being”):
“The Demiurge is usually regarded as ordering rather than creating. However at Sym. 205b8–c2, Plato blurs the
distinction between a Demiurge and a Creator: ‘You know that creation (ποίησις) is something multiple. For
whatever passes from non-being into being, the entire cause is creation, so that what is manufactured by the arts is a
kind of creation and their craftsmen (δημιουργοί) are all creators (ποιηταί).’18 Again at Soph. 219b4–6, ‘Whenever
someone brings something into being which did not have being previously, we say that the one bringing it into being
produces (ποιεῖν), and that brought into being is produced (ποιείσθαι).’”
Carl Séan O’Brien, The Demiurge In Ancient Thought: Secondary Gods and Divine Mediators, Cambridge University Press, 2015, Page 24.
29
Attributes).156 Applying the assumed principle that humans wish to live in harmony, these Forms
can be envisioned as vibrational attractors. Here, the individualized Forms will propagate
subordinate forms that harmonically connect the sublime frequencies of our Divine-like origin to
our avatar-like physical representation.
Physics of Emergence
I previously described how the “Good” might spontaneously propagate harmonic oscillators
(i.e., wave patterns that represent the “Good’s” subordinate forms). In this section, I will apply
the principles of quantum mechanics in resuming this discussion. We will also begin to explore
the physicist Erwin Schrödinger's suggestion that there is a “causal determination of matter by
mind.”157
Albert Einstein once suggested that “Matter is frozen energy,”158 The physicist David Bohm
claimed that “Matter is frozen light.”159 Louis de Broglie postulated that all particles with
156
As these Divine Names and Attributes are innate to every human, the moral and ethical values they signify, begin
as a variant of Divine command and moral universalism theories such that every human participates in an “objective
moral ontology.” I will later show that the interplay of these Divine Names and Attributes results in an ethical theory
that is similar to Isaiah Berlin’s “value pluralism” in that the values they represent are universal and plural but also
potentially conflicting, and situationally incommensurable with one another. Additionally, because these virtues
present to greater or lesser degrees within each human soul, the situational application of these virtues might appear
somewhat relativistic but will nonetheless participate in drawing each actualized present (or “Now”) toward the
ultimate “Good.”
Plato’s Republic 443 and the Statesman 306 provide examples of Isaiah Berlin’s value pluralism which contends that
“fundamental human values are universal, plural, conflicting, and incommensurable with one another.” George
Crowder, The Problem of Value Pluralism: Isaiah Berlin and Beyond, Routledge Innovations in Political Theory; Volume 75, Taylor & Francis,
2020, Page i.
In 1961 Erwin Schrödinger wrote: “… it comes naturally to the simple man of today to think of a dualistic
relationship between mind and matter as an extremely obvious idea. … But a more careful consideration should make
us less ready to admit this interaction of events in two spheres—if they really are different spheres; for the … causal
determination of matter by mind …would necessarily have to disrupt the autonomy of material events, while the
…causal influence on mind of bodies or their equivalent, for example light…is absolutely unintelligible to us; in
short, we simply cannot see how material events can be transformed into sensation or thought, however many textbooks, in defiance of Du Bois Raymond, go on talking nonsense on the subject.
These shortcomings can hardly be avoided except by abandoning dualism. This has been proposed often enough,
and it is odd that it has usually been done on a materialistic basis. ….But it strikes me that …surrender of the notion
of the real external world, alien as it seems to everyday thinking, is absolutely essential.
….If we decide to have only one world, it has got to be the psychic one, since that exists anyway (cogitate--est).
And to suppose that there is interaction between the two spheres involves something of a magical ghostly sort; or
rather the supposition itself makes them into a single thing. (Schrödinger, My View of the World, pp. 61–63)”
157
Quoted by Henry P. Stapp, The Fundamentally Mental Character of Reality, Chapter 11, Quantum Theory and Free Will: How Mental Intentions
Translate Into Bodily Actions, Springer International Publishing, 2017, page 72.
158
Nigel Calder, Einstein's Universe, British Broadcasting Corporation, London, 1979, Page, 8. (Also see pages 14,
16, and 146)
159
“So matter … is condensed or frozen light. Light is not merely electromagnetic waves but, in a sense, other kinds
of waves that go at that speed. Therefore, all matter is a condensation of light into patterns moving back and forth at
30
momentum would oscillate with a wavelength lambda λ. More recently, Rolf Landauer
established a physical connection between information and energy (as heat).160 From its
inception, quantum field theory161 has revealed that everything we associate with “matter” is
reducible to oscillations.162 In quantum mechanics, matter is computationally described as
waves.163 And, like the physical waves in classical physics, an unlimited number of these waves
(called quantum states) can (prior to the collapse of the wave function) be added together
("superposed"). Superposition results in a new quantum state (a wave in which all of the
contributing waves are represented).164 If we begin from a “bottom-up” perspective,
superposition allows all possible “beables” to be described at every possible level of accretion.
Here, matter’s tiniest constituents, the wave functions representing subatomic particles, become
aggregated into a wave function for atoms, molecules, cells, human beings, and the other physical
elements of our world, earth, ending in a single wave function for the entire universe.165 If we
start with the model’s “top-down” perspective, the Big Bang has not yet occurred. This means
average speeds which are less than the speed of light. Even Einstein had some hint of that idea. You could say that
when we come to light, we are coming to the fundamental activity in which existence has its ground, or at least
coming close to it.” Renee Weber, Dialogues with Scientists and Sages: The Search for Unity, [Renee Weber and David Bohm discuss the
implicate order and the super-implicate order] Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986, Page 45 Also: Renee Weber and David Bohm Discuss the
Concept of Light, General Science Journal, Physics Forum
See: The Landauer's principle and its experimental verifications: Experimental verification of Landauer’s principle
linking information and thermodynamics (2012) and Landauer Principle Stands up to Quantum Test
161
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_field_theory
See also: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/quantum-field-theory/
“Quantum field theory is, however, not without its problems. Among them are that a tricky game must be played
with infinite quantities before any predictions can be extracted. Moreover, quantum field theory inherits all the
conceptual problems of quantum theory and offers nothing new toward their resolution. These old problems of
quantum theory, together with the new issues of infinities, suggest that quantum field theory, too, is an approximation
to a deeper, more unified theory.” Lee Smolin, Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, Houghton Mifflin
160
Harcourt Publishing Company, 2013, Page 156.
Our assumptions regarding the nature of “matter” are evaluated in the paper’s “Second Appendix,” titled “What is
Matter?”
163
(e.g., Wave functions, which are complex-valued probability amplitudes.)
164
For an intuitive understanding of superposition, consider a vibrating string (an oscillator) where a superposition of
harmonic oscillators can be represented as a sum of differently weighted harmonics of the string. In string theory,
matter is represented by multi-dimensional strings that are curled up in what are called a Calabi–Yau manifolds.
When curled up, each shape is understood to behave in a way that is roughly analogous to a crystal such that each
shape will manifest a unique vibratory pattern. If our initial state (what the Islamic and Bahá’í Writings have called
the “Primal Point”) is an infinite-dimensional hyper-point as some physicists believe, the number of potential CalabiYau shapes would also be infinite and even constrained to String Theory’s eleven dimensions; there would be a
minimum of 10500 unique Calabi-Yau configurations. The beauty of superposition is that all of these harmonically
compatible Calabi-Yau configurations could be simultaneously present in each Planck volume of our universe as
vibrational embodiments of the philosopher’s Platonic forms, the theologian’s Divine Names and Attributes and what
is commonly referred to as “soul, “mind” and “spirit.”
165
The wave function associated each physical constituent (subatomic particle, molecule and all combinations
thereof) may be thought of as local excitations within wave function of our universe. The wave function for our
universe may be thought of as a local excitation within the Primal Thought’s transcendence.
162
31
the originating wave function166 need only serve as a carrier for oscillations that process
physicists have suggested may initially be derived from “noise.”
This single wave of origination (the carrier wave) provides a way to apprehend the World
Soul’s initial state, which all possible derivative states would ultimately modulate. In this topdown scenario, the iterative self-referential interactions of process physics would cause Plato’s
eternal Forms, and their derivative forms, to emerge as stable oscillations from this noise.
Accretions to the World Soul’s information would gradually occur as greater and greater
particularization stabilized. Ultimately, these derivative states would, alone and in combination,
be in superposition with every other possible derivative state. And eventually, the possibility of
our universe and its physics laws would stabilize within the World Soul’s superpositions.167
When the Big Bang finally occurred, a new boundary condition would be introduced, reflecting
our universe’s initial energy configuration and physics laws. In this context, Socrates’
“Receptacle” represents the extension of the World Soul’s iterative self-referential processes into
the space and time of our physical world.168
As an analogy for these processes of emergence, in quantum mechanics, the initial quantum
state of any system evolves into a probability distribution of all possible states consistent with the
system’s initial boundary conditions. Because an initial state has been posited (variously called
the “Primal Point” or the “Good”) in which all possible states and spacetime geometries are
subsumed, a probability distribution of possible states, including both observable (sensible) and
unobservable states, will necessarily arise. Because these potential states are superpositionally
emergent from the “Good,” our initial state and probability distribution of all contingent states
(the “Information Matrix”) may be understood to be present in this “point of origination.” If we
apply the physics of time symmetry169 to our information matrix, this information matrix would
simultaneously include the set of all futures and the set of all histories that could both arise from
166
Here, a knowledgeable reader may be inclined to ask how oscillations can occur when, at this earliest emanative
stage, the Big Bang has yet to happen, and spacetime does not yet exist. A candidate solutions to this problem was
noted in footnote 142. This and other candidates will be more fully introduced later in this paper and will be further
discussed in a forthcoming paper.
167
The wave function of the universe cannot be defined within spacetime but is instead assumed to be an infinite
dimensional manifold or superspace.
168
In the context of time-symmetry, retrocausality, and attractors, the Receptacle’s processes produce a centripetal
force toward the “Good” and, more prosaically, helps resolve the quantum indeterminacy problem.
169
There is a detailed discussion of Yakir Aharonov’s time-symmetric interpretation quantum mechanics in the Third
Appendix to this paper, to include links where additional information may be obtained.
32
and lead back to the “Primal Point (or the “Good”) of origination.170 Therefore, the “Good” is
both the system's “point of origination” and its “Destiny State.”171 As the Good defines creation’s
beginning and also its end (to include all possible states and outcomes within these boundary
conditions), all actualizations must occur within this contextuality.172
In this context, let’s assume Einstein’s and David Bohm’s claims that matter is frozen
energy/light.173 In that case, we can connect the World Soul’s “information” to “matter” along
the continuum described in this paper.174 Further, the gradual “condensation” of matter’s
oscillatory embodied information into domain-specific amplitudes/energies could resolve the
“Dualists’ dilemma.” If time symmetry,175 destiny states, and attractors176 are included in our
The dissertation paper of the physicist, Jeff Tollaksen, presents a “model of dynamical evolution” that “shows
how the state of a system evolves in time” and “how this evolution can be completely local in time: adjacent intervals
of time ‘hand-off’ or propagate the system's state. Although the evolution from one direction of time appears to be
local, a single particle ‘knows,’ in some sense, it's destiny state. This ‘knowing’ of the destiny state clearly is not
local in time.” Jeff Tollaksen, Quantum Reality and Nonlocal Aspects of Time, Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2002
The model I have been exploring in this and other papers is based on the generative implications of this concept.
171
“Philosophically or ideologically, one may or may not like the idea of a cosmic final state. The point is, however,
that quantum mechanics offers a place to specify both an initial state and an independent final state. What the final
state would be, if there is one, we don’t know. But if quantum mechanics says it can be done, it should be taken
seriously.” Yakir Aharonov, Sandu Popescu, and Jeff Tollaksen, “A time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics,” Physics Today,
170
November 2010, Page 32.
Assuming the presence of the posited destiny state, the resulting retrocausality and attractors resolve Leibniz’s
principle of sufficient reason, which compels us to seek a rational basis for every choice the universe has made to be
one way rather than another.
Although later in this paper the word “teleology” will be used in the context of “meaning” and “purpose,” for now,
the posited destiny state may be understood merely to explain intermediate phenomena as a contributor to their final
cause.
172
This concept is mirrored in the Islamic and Bahá'í “Arcs of Descent and Ascent.”
“… the Primal Point from which appear all things and to which they revert, from which they originate and to which
they return.” `Abdu'l-Bahá, `Abdu'l-Bahá’ís Commentary on the Qur'anic Verses concerning the Overthrow of the Byzantines: the Stages of
the Soul
173
Note that I will later upend this description and integrate a modification to the model where the ultrashort
oscillations energizing Planckian sized pixels lengthen as elementary particles, molecules and larger structures are
formed such that a three-dimensional “reality” is emergent analogous to how the pixels are aggregated and combined
to form the images on a TV screen.
174
Within the Sufi traditions, this continuum has been described as follows: “God is manifest through His Essence to
His essence, this is the Unity (wahdah) of God. His Essential Knowledge is His cognition, this is Universal
Knowledge, the first individuation (ta'ayyun al-awwal), this first individuation is known mystically as al-Qalam alA'la and is equated with the first faculty, that of speech and is the Word of God (kalimat Allah) and existence is based
on this general existence. There is also His inner Knowledge which are His individuation of His attributes, that is to
say I think on my self qualities, thus giving me ideas of the qualities of my self. This inner knowledge is knowledge
of Particulars ('ilm tafsili) and is the second individuation (ta'ayyun al-thani) which exist in the intermediary level (albarzakh) in something that has the mystical monicer of the World of Ideas and Forms ('alam al-ma'ani wa-al-suwar).
Now the important point to remember at this stage is that all this is a mental existence (wujud al-dhihni or wujud al'aql) and the Inner knowledge (particulars) is a mental entity (amr i'tabar). This helps to distinguish the Unity from
the Multiplicity (kathrat). The Multiplicity is the manifestation of the Inner or Mental Existence or Mental Entity in
the outer world, the very space/time continuum we live within, mystically known as variously: Nasut, 'alam al-hiss
wa-al-shuhud (the world of sense and visibility), kathrat (multiplicity). The Reality of this Existence is a substratum
of the mental entity (amr i'tabar).” Michael McCarron, Symbolic Cosmology in the Sufi and Bahá'í Traditions, 1997
175
See the Third Appendix (titled: Introduction to time Symmetric Quantum Mechanics)
176
See the Fourth Appendix (titled: Introduction to the Retrocausality of Strange Attractors)
33
model, teleological-like influences become possible in the universe and our lives. Later in this
paper, I will introduce theories that suggest the World Soul’s information is “fractal”177 and selfreferential; and that these processes would facilitate the emergence of, at least, a protoconsciousness.178 With the addition of destiny states and retrocausality, I will suggest this cosmic
consciousness is, at least, a sentient-like reflection of the “Good” where “meaning” would be
innate. Given that everything is reducible to information,179 we can begin to apprehend the
possibility of a seamless connection between the Socratic Cosmos and our experiences within the
physical world.180 In this context, Socrates’ “Receptacle” represents a realm of possibilities
within the World Soul’s continuum, which, I will argue, is consciously accessible181 and from
which knowledge may be extracted.182
177
Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. Fractals have been found in
mathematics, geometry, information theory, dimensions, processes in time, and virtually everywhere else naturalists
and scientists have looked. See also: Fractal cosmology, and Justin M. Riddle, Mind/Body/Spirit Complex in
Quantum Mechanics, Cosmos and History, The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, vol. 10, no. 1, 2014.
178
In Part Two, I will discusses the self-referential process through with consciousness could be emergent.
179
See the First Appendix (titled: “Everything Is Information”)
180
See: Justin Riddle, Fractal Cognitive Triad: The Theoretical Connection Between Subjective Experience And
Neural Oscillations, Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, vol. 11, no. 2, 2015.
181
I have suggested that the gradations of knowledge are infinite. However, Prophets and philosophers have found it
convenient to group this gradient continuum into stations, realms of Being, and stages. There are four such stages
described in Plato’s Republic, (vi. 509–11). At the bottom are the shadows of copies of things (eikasia). Objects of
or sense perceptions are known second. Mathematical and scientific objects which may be known through reason
(dianoia) are third. The fourth, and highest stage, is knowledge (noesis) of the forms.
“There is … a faculty in man which unfolds to his vision the secrets of existence. It gives him a power whereby
he may investigate the reality of every object. It leads man on and on to the luminous station of divine sublimity
and frees him from all the fetters of self, causing him to ascend to the pure heaven of sanctity. This is the power of
the mind, for the soul is not, of itself, capable of unrolling the mysteries of phenomena; but the mind can
accomplish this and therefore it is a power superior to the soul.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy, compiled by
Elizabeth Fraser Chamberlain, 1918, pages 121-122)
See also the Sixth Appendix.
182
“At any moment in time, a person’s state of consciousness and his level of awareness is predictable from his
mind-field frequency pattern (Exhibit 20). … “During the state of ordinary reality, focus is on the material
world. The energies are confined to the lower frequencies up to 250 Hz, coming from nerve and brain activity. …In
altered states, with a psychic, hypnotic or metaphysical reality, the frequencies are extended above 400 Hz. These are
the beginning frequencies of the mind-field. These people, who “channel” information about current life and who
make predictions about future material happenings, have powerful energies in this lower mind-field spectrum. Some
of these psychics display unusual skills to obtain hidden information.
“Persons in trace states show small ranges of even higher vibrations that seem to stand alone, unconnected with
other levels of reality or material thought. Here they obtain unbelievable information about distant happenings as
they give predictions about distant events. …
“There is another group of persons we describe as mystics, who display the broadest awareness with complete
range of uninterrupted frequencies. Mystics have available at all times the capacities of the psychics and the trance
mediums, but they additionally tap into lofty spiritual knowings. Their predictions are universal and transcending
and full of wisdom. We recorded their field frequencies to 200 KHz, as high as our instruments could record. In
their presence, one sees or senses powerful white light.” Valerie Hunt, “Infinite Mind – Science of the Human Vibrations of
Consciousness,” Malibu Publishing Co., 1996, Page 345
34
The Human Soul
As revealed in the Socratic dialogues, the human “soul is immortal.”183 It “never perishes.”184
The “soul is prior to body,”185 existing “before we were born”186 in the realm of the absolute.187
The soul is “akin to” “the pure, the everlasting, the immortal, and the changeless.”188 When the
soul departs “and it has rest from its wanderings, [it] remains always the same and unchanging
with the changeless.”189 The soul is second only to the gods190 and “is most like the divine and
immortal and intellectual and uniform and indissoluble and ever unchanging.”191
In jarring contrast to these descriptions, Socrates also describes our “indissoluble and ever
unchanging” soul as having been divided “into three parts—reason (νοῦς), passion (θυμός), and
183
Plato, Letters, [7.335a]; Plato, Republic, [10.608d]; Plato, Republic, [10.621c]; & Plato, Phaedo, [73a]
Plato, Republic, [10.608d]
185
Plato, Laws, [10.893a]; Plato, Phaedo, [87a]; Plato, Phaedo ,[88a]
186
Plato, Phaedo, [77a] & [77b] (See also: Plato, Republic, 617d - 618a)
[617d] …“Now when they arrived they were straight-way bidden to go before Lachesis, and then a certain prophet1
first marshalled them in orderly intervals, and thereupon took from the lap of Lachesis lots and patterns of lives and
went up to a lofty platform and spoke, ‘This is the word of Lachesis, the maiden daughter of Necessity, “Souls that
live for a day,2 now is the beginning of another cycle of mortal generation where birth is the beacon of death.
[617e] No divinity1 shall cast lots for you, but you shall choose your own deity. Let him to whom falls the first lot
first select a life to which he shall cleave of necessity. But virtue has no master over her,2 and each shall have more or
less of her as he honors her or does her despite. The blame is his who chooses: God is blameless.3“’ So saying, the
prophet flung the lots out among them all, and each took up the lot that fell by his side, except himself; him they did
not permit.4 And whoever took up a lot saw plainly what number he had drawn.
[618a] And after this again the prophet placed the patterns of lives before them on the ground, far more numerous
than the assembly. They were of every variety, for there were lives of all kinds…” Plato, Republic, 617d - 618a
187
Before the human soul: “entered into the body [it] existed just as the very essence which is called the absolute
exists.” Plato, Phaedo, [92d]
I will, in a future paper addressing the “Problem of Evil,” argue that the pre-existence of the human soul that Plato
referenced in this passage should be understood in the context of the Islamic “Primordial Covenant:”
“The Qur’an says God brought forth all of pre-existent humanity, every individual soul who will ever live, from
the loins of Adam and made them swear their faith in the oneness of God (tawhid) and pledge their exclusive
submission to his lordship (Islam). This covenant is referred to as the Primordial Covenant, and there are two
passages in the Qur’an where it is enacted, viz., the Verse of the Covenant (Q 7:172) and the Verse of the Trust (Q
33:72).50 According to Hylén (referencing R. Stephen Humphreys), the Primordial Covenant is defined as “God’s
promise of salvation in return for the human obligation to obey and worship Him only.”51
All people are born in this covenant relationship with God, and the mark of the covenant is stamped onto human
nature as a “primordial disposition” towards the true religion.52 All people are thus guided internally towards God,
and each will be held accountable to their primordial oath.53 Bradley Cook says, “There is almost universal
agreement in Islam that humanity will be held accountable at the Day of Judgment for this self-conscious but
premortal admission of God’s ultimate lordship.”54
184
Wesley M. Grubb, A Religion of the Covenant: The Centrality of Covenant Theology to the Islamic Faith, Pages 13-14.
See also: Jon Trevathan, The Valley of Wonderment
188
Plato, Phaedo, [79c] & [79d]
189
Plato, Phaedo, [79c] & [79d]
190
Plato, Laws, [5.728d] and footnote 3, perseus.tufts.edu
191
Plato, Phaedo, [80b], perseus.tufts.edu
35
desire (ἐπιθυμία).”192 How can a “changeless” soul also be a “contradiction in and with itself”193
and be “the kind of thing that teems with infinite diversity and unlikeness.”194 How could a soul
that is “most like the divine” 195 also be described as “the cause of things good and bad, fair and
foul, just and unjust, and all the opposites”?196
In describing the World Soul, I suggested that the word: “Soul”197 had been confusingly used
to describe a continuum of states. This continuum should be understood to continue in the
context of the human soul – a continuum that extends from the human soul’s divine-like origin to
the anchor-like corporeality of our physical body. If so, several perplexing issues can be
192
Plato, Laws, [3.689b] and footnote, perseus.tufts.edu
Also, in the Republic Plato argues that the soul has three parts: reason, spirit, and appetite.
193
Plato, Republic, [611b], perseus.tufts.edu
This dichotomy becomes reconcilable where the soul’s eudaimonic potentials are emanatively expressed as
contingencies. In this context, diversity and contradictions may simultaneously exist in superposition to each other.
194
Plato, Republic, [611b], perseus.tufts.edu
This dichotomy becomes reconcilable where the soul’s eudaimonic potentials are emanatively expressed as
contingencies. In this context, diversity and contradictions may simultaneously exist in superposition to each other.
195
Plato, Phaedo, [80b], perseus.tufts.edu
196
Plato, Laws, [10.896d] See references to the “World Soul”
197
Confirmations for the ideas I am presenting can also be found in “Revelation:”
“The world of Forms, or the world of the soul, of course, is invisible to the senses. It is the spiritual realm, the
world of the divine attributes, ‘which lieth hidden in the innermost reality of this world’ (Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets 188). It
is free from the contraries that mark the realm of becoming. In Bahá’í and Sufi terminology it is called the ‘world of
vision’ or the ‘world of similitudes or counterparts’ (‘álam-i-mithál), analogous to the Kingdom (malakút), which is
intermediate between this world (násút) and the realm of pure potentialities (Jabarút). (This is the same as affirming
that the soul is intermediate between body and spirit.) Bahá’u’lláh explains that a counterpart of everything in the
external universe exists in that plane (Má’idiy-i-Ásmání 1:18-19). By the statement that everything has its
‘counterpart’ in the spiritual realm, it should be understood that an entity’s spiritual counterpart is its essential self,
the ethereal form that is both spirit and soul. “In the world of vision,” testifies ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘where the soul
inhabited by the spirit has its being, and functions without the help of the material bodily senses. There, in the realm
of vision, the soul sees without the help of the physical eye, hears without the aid of the physical ear, and travels
without dependence upon physical motion’ (Paris Talks 86). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá points out in another text that ‘the world
of existence is a single world, although its stations are various and distinct’ (Selections 193). Therefore, we are now
present in the ‘hereafter’ despite our lack of awareness of it: ‘the Kingdom of God.... is within this world. The people
of this world, however, are unaware of that world, and are even as the mineral and the vegetable that know nothing of
the world of the animal and the world of man’ (Selections 194-95).” Keven Brown: “A Bahá’í Perspective on the Origin of
Matter”, The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 2.3.1990, pages34-35
“The believer whose life expresses fully the divine names lives in both the realms of Násút and Malakút, not only
as a physical creature living in the elemental world of the senses but also as an angelic being. J. A. McLean, Prolegomena
to a Bahá’í Theology, Prolegomena to a Bahá’í Theology, Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 5, number 1 (1992)
“…the rational soul is the substance (jawhar), and the body depends upon it. If the accident -- that is to say, the
body -- be destroyed, the substance, the spirit, remains. … The rational soul -- that is to say, the human spirit -- has
neither entered this body nor existed through it; so, after the disintegration of the composition of the body, how
should it be in need of a substance through which it may exist? On the contrary, the rational soul is the substance
through which the body exists.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 239-240)
Bahá’u’lláh quoting Imám Ali states: “…the soul … is divine (Láhútiyyih) and celestial (Malakútyyih). It is a
divine (Láhútiyyih) energy, a substance (jawhar), simple (basít), and self-subsistent (hayat bi-dhát)” Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle
(Reflect that the term “soul” in this one passage is associated with Láhút (the plane of Divinity, the
Heavenly Court, the Plane of the Everlasting, and the Ream of God’s Attributes and Names) and Malakút (the Kingdom of Angels,
realm of Spiritual Reality, Spirits and of the Unseen; the Imaginal Realm of similitudes, which exists between the Dominion on
high and the mortal realm [násút]); substance, and that which is indivisible and unchanging.)
to the Son of the Wolf, p. 111.
36
resolved. The human soul begins in simplicity and divine-like purity. However, as this spiritual
continuum extends into physicality, attachments to the things, peoples, and ideas of the physical
world can overwhelm the soul’s intuitive attractors.198 For most, these attachments are chain-like
bonds to a materialistic worldview. When these attractors lead toward “perversity,” their
attendant thoughts may be anthropomorphized as the Devil’s prompting.199 And, when these
perverse promptings become habitualised, it may be truly said that embodiments of evil are
present in the world.
As a more detailed restatement: Unlike the Primal Point, the human soul’s existence is
contingent. However, although contingent, every human “soul” should be understood to
simultaneously exist as a “beable” within the World Soul’s information matrix.200 In this sense,
every human soul may be said to exist (as a beable) within World Soul’s information matrix, even
before the Big Bang.201 However, it is only at the end of a temporal sequence of contingent
occurrences (i.e., the moment of conception) that the human soul finds expression within space
and time. Only then can the soul’s “life-potentials” become actualizable. Once the contingency
“…at the outset of the Affnity Argument Socrates distinguishes between these two kinds, and gives them the
following characterisation. Members of the first kind are ‘divine, immortal, intelligible, uniform, and incapable of
being disintegrated, and […] always stay in the same condition and state’ (80b). Moreover, being divine, they are
‘naturally the kind to rule and lead’ (80a). The clearest examples of this kind are the Forms (78d), even though it is
not explained in exactly what the ruling and leading function of the Forms consists. Members of the other kind are
‘mortal, resistant to intelligence, multiform, able to disintegrate, and never in the same state’ (80b). It is to this latter
kind that everything bodily, and consequently the human body itself, belongs. …
The soul shares certain key features with members of the first kind, whereas there are other features in respect of
which it is unlike them, and more like members of the second kind. … Socrates explains in the Affinity Argument
that whenever the soul uses sense perception through the body ‘it is dragged by the body into things that never stay in
the same state, and the soul itself wanders and is disturbed and giddy as if drunk, because the things it is grasping
have the same kind of instability’ (79c). Sense perception causes disorder, instability, and confusion in the soul. …
What is more, the souls of those who are constantly preoccupied with bodies and bodily de-sires and pleasures,
can even become tainted with the physical characteristics of the body such as heaviness and visibility (81c). Socrates
however adds that
on the other hand, when the soul focuses on the divine, immutable Forms, and considers them alone by itself, it
gets away into that which is pure, always in existence, and immortal, and which stays in the same condition; that
the soul because it is akin to this, always comes to be with it whenever alone by itself and able to do so; that the
soul is then in the same state and condition, because the things it is grasping have the same kind of stability; and
that this state of the soul is called ‘wisdom’ (79d).”
198
Gábor Betegh, Cosmic And Human Cognition In The Timaeus, J. Sisko (ed.), Philosophy of Mind in Antiquity, Rutledge, London, 2018.
199
1 John 2:16 Lust of the eyes—Inordinate desires after finery of every kind, gaudy dress, splendid houses, superb
furniture, expensive equipage, trappings, and decorations of all sorts. Pride of life—Hunting after honors, titles, and
pedigrees; boasting of ancestry, family connections, great offices, honorable acquaintance, and the like. Is not of the
Father—Nothing of these inordinate attachments either comes from or leads to God. They are of this world; here they
begin, flourish, and end. They deprave the mind, divert it from Divine pursuits, and render it utterly incapable of
spiritual enjoyments. Adam Clark’s Commentary on the New Testament.
200
“Yet above individual souls is the one soul of the world.”
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology], Volume I, Book IV, Chapter I, English translation by Michael J.B. Allen
with John Warden; Latin text edited by James Hankins with William Bowen, Harvard University Press, 2001, Page 287.
See, for example, The Primordial Covenant and Human History in the Qur’an and Mysteries of Alast: The Realm
of Subtle Entities and the Primordial Covenant in the Babi-Bahá'í Writings
201
37
of conception is satisfied, the human soul becomes the emanative source of a unique information
set comparable to World Soul’s information matrix -- but subsumed within that matrix. In other
words, upon conception, the human soul becomes actualized as an information node (or holon)
within the World Soul’s information matrix. Here, the human soul might be likened to a tiny
holographic sliver of undifferentiated information. In this context, the analogy (of transmission
holograms) used to illustrate the Primal Point’s emanative processes continues to apply. Also,
analogous to the Primal Point, each human soul begins outside our normal, sensible space and
time.
Again, the human soul begins as a contingent “beable” within the World Soul’s matrix and a
potential undifferentiated repository of Divine-like attributes. Then, at conception, the human
soul becomes the emanative origin of an individualized set of these potentials. Although each
individual will have distinctively different capacities to express their unique possibilities, the
frequencies of “light” (information) our minds can apprehend (and ultimately mirror into the
world) will largely depend on the choices that we individually and collectively make.202 Through
the Receptacle’s recursive self-referential processes, our individualized information set is
malleable in that it simultaneously is: (i) specific to the individual, (ii) subject to the situational
flux of the individual’s constantly changing environment, and (iii) yet is subject to the individual's
mental states, intentionality, and conscious “free will.” From this maelstrom, chains of possible
futures emerge through which the actor’s personalized potentials might be realized -- or
squandered. In other words, the human soul and its associated situationally dependent
information matrix combine to delimit the enormous range of contingent paths the individual
might take. Free will is present in that the human actor has the capacity to consciously choose
among the available path that might be taken203 from among those that are situationally available.
The soul’s potentials may be reflected in the actor’s life, but only if the actor chooses wisely.
202
[T]he Sun is not vision, but it is the cause of vision and also is seen by the vision it causes. . . . It was the Sun,
then, that I meant when I spoke of that offspring which the Good has created in the visible world, to stand there in the
same relation to vision and visible things as that which the Good itself bears in the intelligible world to intelligence
and to intelligible objects. . . . Apply this comparison, then, to the soul. When its gaze is fixed upon an object
irradiated by truth and reality, the soul gains understanding and knowledge and is manifestly in possession of
intelligence. But when it looks towards that twilight world of things that come into existence and pass away, its sight
is dim and it has only opinions and beliefs which shift to and fro, and now it seems like a thing that has no
intelligence.3 Plato, The Republic, trans. Francis MacDonald Cornford (Oxford University Press, 1945), p. 219, 508c–d., quoted by David
Weissman, Lost Souls: The Philosophic Origins of a Cultural Dilemma, State University of New York Press, 2003, Page 6.
“…the thinking soul is necessarily borne towards the good. But because God has to preserve the nature proper to
the thinking soul, He leaves its judgment free. Through this free judgment the soul can deliberate in its own manner
about what it should do, judge from the many options before it that one thing is better than another, and elect what it
203
38
Some decisions will open causal chains that incrementally increase an actor’s capacities and
abilities consistent with the soul’s potentials. Other choices, like those made by the prodigal son,
may result in the actor’s capabilities and aptitudes being squandered. In either event, as each
decision is made, vast causal chains of future possibilities will be pruned away. Essentially, the
gem-like potentials resident within our soul’s holographic snippet depends upon our “free will”
for the “how,” “when,” and “if ever” of their discovery, polishing, and for the eventual brilliance
of our reradiated light. The lesson is to choose wisely so that the “Good” manifests in our lives
and the world.
Given the alternatives we all face daily, how might anyone determine which choice is best?
For Socrates, it was teleology-guided knowledge. We will soon investigate how time symmetry,
destiny states, reverse causality, and attractors would produce teleology-like effects. However,
we must first explore the sources of Socratic knowledge.
Cosmic Intellect
Earlier, I referenced the diverse ways scholars had drawn connections between the Demiurge,
World Soul, and a “cosmic intellect.” I suggested that the Demiurge personified the “processes”
that applied the World Soul’s intellect-like properties (the Forms) to the physical world.204 In our
mosaic, the “Good,” through a cascading infinitude of hierarchal emergents, will ultimately
generate what may be best described as monad-like information nodes or holons.205 Panpsychists
might argue that these holons are imbued with inherent meaning and a proto-consciousness. I
judges to be particularly appropriate for attaining the good.”
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology],
Volume 1, Book II, Chapter XIII, English translation by Michael J.B. Allen with John Warden; Latin text edited by James Hankins with William
Bowen, Harvard University Press, 2001, Page 211. Note that Marsilio Ficino was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato.
“…Demiurge appears as a mediator between the immutable Forms (those stable paradigms that serve to direct his
purposive activity) and our sensible and changing realm. He is presented as the efficient cause, or principle of
becoming and order (… 29e4),12 that organises the sensible world by imposing on it regularity and structure
according to the model that it contemplates. This is how the Demiurge can give the universe a teleological
orientation, thus enabling the Forms to have an actual influence on, or connection with, the visible domain.”
Gabriela Roxana Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions, Cambridge University Press, 2005, Page 29 .
205
“…a form is a principle of structured wholeness, not merely of collective totality. The unity of instances under a
form is, in the language of the Theaetetus, that of a holon and not simply a pan. [from the Greek pan (πᾶν: "all, everything,
whole")] The instances of a form are, in turn, not fungible, that is, they are not identical with one another and therefore
not interchangeable. For they are equal only insofar as they are instances of that form; each of them is characterized
by many other predicates that make them different from one another. So the unity of a form is permeated by a
contrary and inescapable element of difference, a difference among individuals brought into harmony by the form
that marks their common being.” Aryeh Kosman, Justice and Virtue: The Republic’s Inquiry into Proper Difference, Chapter 5, The
204
Cambridge Companion to Plato’s Republic, Cambridge University Press, 2007, Page 134.
39
won’t disagree.206 However, scientific rigor suggests that we start by considering these
information nodes, in all their dimensions and instantiations, not as “information” but as
“data.”207
“Information is one of the least understood concepts, albeit widely used in its everyday,
technical and scholarly meaning. It is typically defined in terms of data, though the implicit
challenge is to understand and explain how data is transformed into information, and
information into knowledge.” (Rowley 2007).208
Process physics and Whitehead’s process philosophy suggest that this “data” can self-organize
into a neural-like network through recursive self-referential processes.209 However, this neurallike net still leaves the question: Is there a scientifically plausible process through which the
equivalent of “spelling” and “syntactic” rules might engender the World Soul’s information
“By postulating that consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe, rather than emerging out of simpler
elements, integrated information theory is an elaborate version of panpsychism. The hypothesis that all matter is
sentient to some degree is terribly appealing for its elegance, simplicity, and logical coherence. Once you assume that
consciousness is real and ontologically distinct from its physical substrate, then it is a simple step to conclude that the
entire cosmos is suffused with sentience. We are surrounded and immersed in consciousness; it is in the air we
breathe, the soil we tread on, the bacteria that colonize our intestines, and the brain that enables us to think.” Christof
206
Koch, A BIT of Consciousness, (MIT Press BIT is excerpted from the MIT Press publication Consciousness by Christof Koch) MIT Press, 2014,
electronic edition.
Christof Koch is essentially arguing “that Consciousness is a Fundamental Property of Complex Things.”
207
Data is an individual unit that contains raw materials which do not carry any specific meaning. Information is a
group of data that collectively carries a logical meaning. See generally: Difference Between Data and Information
208
Tibor Koltay, Information Overload in a Data-Intensive World, Handbook of Research on Information
Architecture and Management in Modern Organizations (Chapter 10), Understanding Information: From the Big
Bang to Big Data, Alfons Josef Schuster, Editor, Springer International Publishing, 2017, Page 197
209
“…because of the bootstrapping effect, the Process Physics model can simply start out with random selfreferential fluctuations (i.e., noisiness) that will naturally give rise to routine-driven network formation. Hence,
instead of being based on the problematic notions of “laws of nature” and “initial conditions,” Process Physics
revolves around “routine of nature” and “initial randomness.” This reflects the fact that the universe as a whole
should be thought of as one unique, undivided process that is algorithmically incompressible (Chaitin, 2007, p. 227;
Ulanowicz, 2009, pp. 121–122; Rosen, 2010, p. 72; Van Dijk, 2017, p. 148). Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, Process Physics: Toward
an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian Physics, Chapter 2, Process Cosmology: New Integrations in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis,
Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Editors, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, Page 38.
“This new physics is seen to be panexperientialist in character in which a primitive self-awareness or
`consciousness' is foundational to reality in the manner argued by Griffin and others [5], a consciousness that appears
to be intrinsic to the semantic nature of the information system that is process physics. Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics:
From Information Theory to Quantum Space and Matter, Nova Science Publishers, 2005, Page 14.
For Whitehead’s process philosophy, in contrast to process physics, “consciousness is not an obligatory
requirement neither as the primary topic of philosophy, nor as the privileged starting point of any theory. It is but an
emergent possibility in the larger metaphysical-physical fabric of the cosmos. Otávio S. R. D. Maciel, Outlines of a
Speculative Cosmology: Whitehead’s Philosophy of Organism Meets Descola’s Four Anthropological Dispositions Toward Nature, Chapter 4,
Process Cosmology: New Integrations in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Editors,
Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, Page 96.
However, “Whitehead’s description of a “dipolar” God— [is] one having a primordial nature envisioning and
valuing all pure potentiality and a consequent nature that consciously feels the entire universe in its unfolding and
that is in constant interaction with all other entities.” John Buchanan, A Thicker Process Cosmology, Chapter 18, Process Cosmology:
New Integrations in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Editors, Palgrave Macmillan,
2022, Page 418.
40
matrix with “meaning”? For many proponents of process physics, “Meaning”210 necessarily
arises through these interrelationships, and the results are mind-like.211 Dirk K. F. Meijer, quoting
the physicist David Deutsch (1997), has integrated these “self-referential” processes within
“Information’s” definition:
“Information is that which is encoded in the structure of discernible patterns, where the
discerner of the patterns is an experiential process. … A field of discernible difference is an
information medium that comprises an information space. Data exist encoded within an
information space, i.e., data are not things in themselves, they are just discernible features of the
information space. To the extent that it is capable, each system is resolving and refining an
internal mirror of itself and its world, thereby gaining in knowledge. As self-knowledge leads to
general knowledge of the nature of reality, this reality-model is a novel instance of the
computational process within the universe, which is a new level of creation and manifestation.
This self-realization creates a resonance, where the veil of virtual appearances is subtly
penetrated and the system apprehends the computational nature of reality and comes to know
itself as reality in action.”212
However, even if this were so, claims that consciousness can result from random selfreferential fluctuations (i.e., noisiness)213 must be greeted with skepticism. Later in this paper, I
will introduce how a cosmic intellect (‘Mind”) might emerge within the World Soul’s self-
“In process physics the fundamental assumption is that reality is to be modelled as self-organising semantic
information, that is, information that is `internally' meaningful, using a self-referentially limited neural network
model. Such a system has no a priori objects or laws, and is induced using a bootstrap system, so that it is the system
itself that `internally' creates patterns of relationships and their dominant modes of behaviour, and all (sub)systems
are fractal in character, that is, relationships within relationships, and so on ad infinitum. In this way all emergent
phenomena are united, and it is this key feature that has resulted in an understanding and linking, for the first time, of
various phenomena.” Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics: Self-Referential Information and Experiential Reality, Process Physics: From
210
Information Theory to Quantum Space and Matter, Nova Science Publishers, 2005, Page 16.
“This model of reality, which is profoundly different from the current model, is based on deep issues involving
the notion that reality is self-referential ‘information’. This leads us to the notion that reality is essentially mind-like,
and that from this arises a new account of space and the quantum, as well as new notions about the possible nature of
consciousness.” Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics: Self-Referential Information and Experiential Reality, Process Physics: From
211
Information Theory to Quantum Space and Matter, Nova Science Pub., NY, 2005, Page 2.
212
Dirk K. F. Meijer, Information: what do you mean? On the formative element of our universe, Syntropy 2013
(3): 1-49 ISSN 1825-7968, pages 42-43. Also Dirk K. F. Meijer, The Information Universe: On the Missing Link in
Concepts of the Architecture of Reality, Syntropy 2012 (1): 1-64, page 11
213
“In biology and neurobiology, such bootstrapping processes have also been put forward by others to explain the
beginning of life as an autocatalytic process and the coming into actuality of higher-order consciousness. As such,
early life and higher-order consciousness are thought to lift themselves into actuality from otherwise undifferentiated
backgrounds, like a primordial soup of low-grade chemical activity or the “primordial chaos of sensations.” Since
Process Physics works according to the same principle, it can essentially be seen as through and through biocentric.
See Kauffman, 1995, p. 288; Edelman & Tononi, 2000, 109, 173, 205; James (1890) 2007, pp. 288–289; Van Dijk,
2017, p. 177” Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, Process Physics: Toward an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian Physics, Chapter 2, Process
Cosmology: New Integrations in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Editors, Palgrave
Macmillan, 2022, Page 37; and generally Chapter 2.
41
referential interactions.214 We will also explore how time-symmetry, destiny states, reverse
causality, attractors, and protectorates might tease “meaning” from the World Soul’s data
interactions.215 However, for now, we will continue to accept cosmopsychism’s assumption: that
a Divine-like consciousness exists within the World Soul’s transcendence and push on.
Socrates’ Teleology
Recognizing the explanatory inadequacies of a cosmos solely reliant upon matter and
motion,216 Socrates believed the entire cosmos was arranged by divine reason (nous) for a
particular aim.217 Accordingly, Socrates’ views on cosmology,218 ethics,219 knowledge,220 and
214
These self-referential processes may have been anticipated by the Neoplatonist, Plotinus:
“...the One, … overflows, as it were, and its superabundance makes something other than itself. This, when it has
come into being, turns back upon the One and is filled, and becomes Intellect by looking towards it.” Plotinus, Enn.V.2.1
“How then does it [the Good] generate Intellect? Because by its return to it sees: and this seeing is Intellect….
This Intellect of which we are speaking … should spring from nowhere else but the first principle, and when it has
come into existence should generate all realities along with itself…” Plotinus, Enn.V.1.
… and apparent confirmations within the mystical writings of the Bahá'í faith. See: Tafsīr al-ḥurūfāt al-muqaṭṭa`āt
(Commentary on the Isolated Letters) or Lawḥ-i āyah-yi nūr (Tablet about the Light Verse) of Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nūrī Bahā'-Allāh (1817-1892).
Although these concepts will be introduced later in this paper, I am currently rewriting my “Meditations on
Consciousness” paper which will treat these issues in a more comprehensive manner than is possible here.
216
“Can one explain the apparent order of the cosmos solely in terms of matter and motion, or matter, motion, and
forces? … Plato’s answer to this is no.” Andrew Gregory, Plato’s Philosophy of Science, Bloomsbury Academic, First published by
215
Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., 2001, Page 17.
“Socrates says he found such purely mechanistic, non-teleological explanations completely unsatisfactory.”
Steven K. Strage, The Double Explanation in the Timaeus, Chapter XVI, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford
University Press, 1999, Page 398.
“…cosmology for Plato is centred on the representation of goodness and beauty. He sees it as the central task of
cosmology to articulate the way in which the cosmos manifests those values. Another word for this conception of
cosmology is ‘teleology’.” For Plato, goodness and beauty do not just happen to be found in the cosmos. They are
there because the cosmos is so designed.” Eduard Zeller, Plato and the Older Academy, Translation by Sarah Frances Alleyne and
217
Alfred Goodwin, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888, Page 2.
“Both cosmic order and deliberate action can, Socrates argues, only be adequately explained by an appeal to
teleological causes.” Deborah K. W. Modrak, “Plato: A Theory of Perception or a Nod to Sensation?”, A Companion to Plato, Hugh H.
218
Benson, Editor, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006, Page 135
“[904c]… All things that share in soul change, since they possess within themselves the cause of change, and in
changing they move according to the law and order of destiny …[904d] … And whenever the soul gets a specially
large share of either virtue or vice, owing to the force of its own will and the influence of its intercourse growing
strong, then, if it is in union with divine virtue, it becomes thereby eminently virtuous, and moves to an eminent
region, being transported by a holy road to another and a better region…” Plato, Laws 10.904
220
“Plato takes reality to be a teleological system, and the best sort of knowledge involves a grasp of the teleological
structure of things.” Gail Fine, Introduction, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1999, P. 23.
According to the principles of Plato’s teleology as applied in his Timaeus, to understand the function of something
you must start from the highest good that it helps bring about. David Sedley, Plato on Language, Chapter 15, A Companion to
219
Plato, Hugh H. Benson, Editor, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, Pages 214
“Plato’s philosophical project in the dialogues, is a persuasive defense of the value of teleological explanations…”
Douglas Roland Campbell, Circles and Rivets: Cosmology and Teleology in Plato’s Theory of the Soul, Thesis submitted in conformity with the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Page 2.
42
reason221 can be best understood when teleological principles are applied. According to Andrew
Gregory, Plato gave us “the first comprehensive and considered principles of a teleological
cosmogony, cosmology, and science.”222 However, a teleologically directed universe raises some
obvious issues. Why is evil and ugliness ubiquitous if the “Good” is destined to prevail?223 And,
how might a teleology within the Socratic cosmology be justified? Socrates had expected to find
justification for his teleology in Anaxagoras’ creative “reason.”224 However, the rationale for a
guided cosmos that Socrates sought wasn’t there.225 Plato’s “Theory of Forms”226 arose as a
“Reason has no higher law in its working than the Idea of the Good, that highest Idea from which all others arise,
and by which they are ruled: material things, as the work of Reason, must be explained from the Idea of the Good,
that is, teleologically.”
Eduard Zeller, Plato and the Older Academy, Translation by Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred Goodwin,
221
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888, Page 338.
“Plato’s teleological view of reason has been widely if tacitly shared by countless other writers who neither share
his metaphysical position nor provide any alternative, but who speak of certain ends as ‘reasonable’ without much by
way of explanation, and often with far less by way of defense than Plato offers”. Onora O’Neill, Practical reason and ethics,
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Version 1.0, London and New York: Routledge (1998), page 6777
Andrew Gregory, Plato’s Philosophy of Science, Bloomsbury Academic, First published by Gerald Duckworth &
Co. Ltd., 2001, Page 268
223
In a world where the “Good” is destined to triumph, Gabriela Roxana Carone asked the question: “Why should
our contribution matter?” To answer, Dr. Carone “introduced a distinction between first bests and second bests, and
what [she called] a system of “closed” teleology versus one of “open” teleology:
“A universe of closed teleology would be one where all or most things occur for the best independently of
humans, the results of whose actions are indifferent with regard to, and have no impact on, the overall state of
natural teleology. By contrast, a system of open teleology, as the one proposed by Plato, still grants that things in
the universe are arranged for the best, but crucially distinguishes between first bests and second bests. A first best
would be a universe in which nous prevails at all levels, including human. By contrast, a system of cosmic justice,
according to which the wicked are inevitably victims of their own wrongdoing, is only a second best, for it shows
that, even though some degree of rationality ends up prevailing, human nous does not always do so, and therefore
the overall cosmic result is not as good as it would be if it could count on the active cooperation of humans in
maintaining the universal order.” Gabriela Roxana Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions, Cambridge University
222
Press, 2005, Page 183.
As previously noted, the primordial covenant also called the Covenant of Alast (‘ahd-i-Alast’), will be the subject
of future paper in which the problem of evil and humanity’s current difficulties will be examined in the context of the
Islamic and Bahá'í Faiths and the current state of the world. (Additional information on this future undertaking is
provided later in this paper.)
224
“… as a young man he [Socrates] had become intrigued by Anaxagoras’ claim that Reason or νοῦς was
responsible for the natural world and its orderly arrangement. He had expected that Anaxagoras would go on to
explain why the world is the way it is by showing how this was better than other conceivable world-orders; for,
Socrates assumed, the rational principle of νοῦς would always order things for the best, so that showing why a
particular state of affairs is best … would ipso facto show why νοῦς had brought it about. The hypothesis of νοῦς as
sole cause thus amounted, for Socrates, to the assumption of a single teleological principle of explanation in natural
philosophy.” Steven K. Strage, The Double Explanation in the Timaeus, Chapter XVI, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine,
Editor, Oxford University Press, 1999, Page 398
“But Socrates was sorely disappointed in his expectations. When he got hold of Anaxagoras’ writings he did not
find this sort of explanation in them at all. The explanations that Anaxagoras actually offered for phenomena were
instead like those of most other Presocratic natural philosophers purely mechanistic ones in terms of the motions of
material principles such as air, water, and áither.3 There was no attempt on Anaxagoras’ part to link these motions
causally to the role of Reason in the cosmos or to show how all of them came about for the best, as his original claim
that Reason was the cause of everything had seemed to promise.” Steven K. Strage, The Double Explanation in the Timaeus,
225
Chapter XVI, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1999, Page 398.
“[Socrates had] “a clear and categorical preference for “teleological” explanations (the Aristotelian “final cause”)
in terms of goals, intentions, and so forth, over those that make reference only to “efficient” causes (Aristotle’s
226
43
plausible alternative.227 In modernity, the possibility that teleological influences might exist228
and Plato’s forms have both been rejected as being fatally incompatible with modern science.229
For example, Eduard Zeller writes:
“Plato connects his doctrine of the soul with his physiological theories by means of a
teleology, which, though sometimes graceful and ingenious, is poor in scientific results.”230
A few commentators have been sympathetic to Socrates’ teleology:
“Plato's employment of teleology is not based on a metaphysical fairy tale. It is an attempt to
answer real and perennial problems in the philosophy of science in a realist manner, with
extremely limited resources. Plato's answers have strong affinities with modern realist positions,
the more so as his conception of the good becomes more technically and mathematically
oriented in later works, and so his solution to underdetermination looks more modern. At the
strategic level, the project of using further explanatory principles for a unique universe is still
alive and well. It is less overtly teleological, but Plato's is the first attempt at a teleological
cosmos, and we can forgive him for not being possessed of two millennia of hindsight. The
question of what underpins regularities is helped by the modern conception of physical law,
though it might well be argued this only tells us how entities obey laws rather than why they do
so.
Teleology is an important issue as it is often thought to be the Achilles' heel of Plato's
conception of science, along with observation and experiment. If we can understand why Plato
felt the need for teleology in science, and why that might have been a reasonable move given
the context of fourth-century Greek science and his realist goals, this will go a long way toward
a more positive assessment of his views. Plato's teleology is a part of an attempt to answer some
“moving cause”). At this point, however, Socrates’ account takes a surprising turn. At 99c6–d1 he abruptly declares
that at some point he realized that his preferred teleological explanations were unavailable, and that it therefore
became necessary for him to commence what he calls a “second sailing” (deuteron ploun), a search for a “secondbest” mode of explanation that is at least within his reach. (Presumably Socrates is not here reversing his earlier
judgment about the “real causes” of his imprisonment. Perhaps Plato thinks that adequate teleological explanations of
physical phenomena would only be knowable to a divine mind.) In the course of his description of this “second
voyage” Socrates introduces the Platonic Forms for the first time into his survey of types of explanation. At 100b1–
9.” Michael Ferejohn, Knowledge and the Forms in Plato, Chapter 11, A Companion to Plato, Hugh H. Benson, Editor, Blackwell Publishing
Ltd., 2006, Page 155
“Failing to discover either a mechanical or a teleological philosophy of causation, he [Plato] fell back on the
simpler theory of ideas as the second-best thing.” Paul Shorey, What Plato Said, Abridged Edition, Phoenix Books, The University of
227
Chicago Press, 1965, Page 131
In his book “The God Delusion,” Richard Dawkins did not reject the God of Einstein, “who reveals himself in the
orderly harmony of what exists.” (Page 18) However, Richard Dawkins, like Einstein, found it impossible to imagine
how “nature” might manifest or embody a purpose. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, Bantam Press, 2006.
229
“A main area of criticism of Plato has been his use of teleology. Indeed, at times the Timaeus has been described
as a ‘teleologist's manifesto'. A standard view from the history of science would have it that only with the revival of
the views of the ancient atomists by such seventeenth-century thinkers as Descartes and Gassendi did science free
itself from the restrictive tentacles of the teleology of Plato and Aristotle. Since then science has progressed rapidly,
relying on a mechanistic conception of the world in which there is no place for teleology.” Andrew Gregory, Plato's
228
Philosophy of Science, Bloomsbury Academic (First published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd), 2001, page 5.
230
Dr. Eduard Zeller, Plato and the Older Academy, Translated by Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred Goodwin,
Ballantyne, Hanson and Co, 1888, Pages 426-7.
44
serious and interesting problems in the philosophy of science in an original and systematic
manner.”231
More than being sympathetic to Socrates' undertaking, I will argue that Plato was right. In the
next section, I will suggest how the teleology Socrates was seeking might be present in the
context of time symmetry, reverse causality, and dynamic attractors.232
Time Symmetry and Retrocausality.
Our experiences and the second law of thermodynamics traditionally limit classical
mechanics, including Maxwell’s, Schrödinger’s, and Heisenberg’s equations, to a “forward in
time” direction. Therefore, quantum systems usually are described in terms of the quantum
state(s) of the system’s initial state condition(s) and the subsequent evolution of the initial state(s)
in a “forward in time” direction. However, nearly all physical processes at the microscopic level
are time-symmetric, such that the theoretical statements that describe them remain valid when the
direction of time is reversed. When time-symmetry is applied to quantum mechanics, several
time-symmetric interpretations of quantum mechanics have been born. John Gleason Cramer’s
“Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” is one example. Another is the Wolf Prize
physicist Yakir Aharonov’s “time-symmetric quantum mechanics” (TSQM).233 Applying the
231
Andrew Gregory, Plato's Philosophy of Science, Bloomsbury Academic, First published by Gerald Duckworth &
Co. Ltd., 2001, Page 268
232
The Scientific basis for the arguments raised in the next section will be introduced throughout this paper.
However, technical details have been largely relegated to Part Two and to the paper’s Appendices and endnotes. See:
Third Appendix, titled “Introduction to Time Symmetric Quantum Mechanics (TSQM),”
The Fourth Appendix titled “Introduction to the Retrocausality of Strange Attractors;” and
Part Two of this paper “Is retrocausality possible?”
Endnote A: “Is Precognition Possible?”
See also: Matthew S. Leifer and Matthew F. Pusey, “Is a time-symmetric interpretation of quantum theory possible
without retrocausality?”, Royal Society, 21 June 2017.
For a technical video, see: Yakir Aharonov: Time Symmetric Reformulation of Quantum Mechanics
For a very easy-to-follow video, see: Jeff Tollaksen - What Does Quantum Theory Mean?
233
“For many years, the Two-State Vector Formalism (TSVF) [1–3] has been unearthing more and more hidden
aspects of quantum reality never conceived before. The basic premise is simple: quantum theory, like classical
physics, is time-symmetric, save for the “wavefunction collapse” introduced by measurement. This gives the notion
of quantum measurement a profound twist. The measurement’s effect goes not only forward in time but backward as
well. Consequently the particle’s physical properties between two measurements are affected by both past (preselection) and future (post-selection) effects. The resulting picture is fully consistent with standard quantum theory,
and yet reveals hitherto unnoticed aspects of the process, namely “weak values” [4–7]. The latter constitute a “weak
reality” which offers a deeper understanding of quantum reality and how it is related to the classical one.” Aharonov, Y.;
Cohen, E.; Waegell, M.; Elitzur, A.C. “The Weak Reality That Makes Quantum Phenomena More Natural: Novel Insights and Experiments”,
Entropy 2018, 20, 854.
45
TSQM formulation, quantum systems must be described both in terms of the forward-in-time
evolution of the systems’ initial-boundary states and some future-defined boundary conditions
that evolve backward in time. 234
“It is feasible and even suggestive to consider an extension of QM to include both a
wavefunction arriving from the past and a second ‘destiny’ wavefunction coming from the
future which is determined by 2 boundary conditions, rather than a measurement and selection.
This proposal could solve the issue of the ‘collapse’ of the wavefunction in a new and more
natural way: every time a measurement takes place and the possible measurement outcomes
decohere, then the future boundary condition simply selects one out of many possible outcomes
[12, 34]. It also implies a kind of “teleology” which might prove fruitful in addressing the
anthropic and fine-tuning issues [77].”235
In this context, is it reasonable to suggest that our universe has a final or “destiny state?”236
“Philosophically or ideologically, one may or may not like the idea of a cosmic final state.
The point is, however, that quantum mechanics offers a place to specify both an initial state and
an independent final state. What the final state would be, if there is one, we don’t know. But if
quantum mechanics says it can be done, it should be taken seriously.”237
See also the Third Appendix titled: Introduction to Time Symmetric Quantum Mechanics (TSQM) and my informal
paper titled: and Jon Trevathan, The Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) Paradox -- Explained
However, see also: Yakir Aharonov, Sandu Popescu, and Jeff Tollaksen, Each instant of time a new Universe,
arXiv:1305.1615v1 [quant-ph] 7 May 2013
234
The dissertation paper of the physicist, Jeff Tollaksen, presents a “model of dynamical evolution” that “shows how
the state of a system evolves in time” and “how this evolution can be completely local in time.”
“[A]djacent intervals of time ‘hand-off’ or propagate the system's state. Although the evolution from one
direction of time appears to be local, a single particle ‘knows,’ in some sense, it's destiny state. This ‘knowing’ of
the destiny state clearly is not local in time.” Jeff Tollaksen, Quantum Reality and Nonlocal Aspects of Time, Boston University
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2002
235
Jeff Tollaksen, New insights on emergence from the perspective of weak values and dynamical non-locality,
Emergent Quantum Mechanics 2013, Journal of Physics: Conference Series 504
See: Jon Trevathan, Can Quantum Mechanics Help Resolve the Origin of Life Mystery?
236
Specifying the initial conditions for a classical system or the initial quantum state is important, particularly when
the system in question is the whole universe. Thus, in the standard big bang (SBB) the universe expands, despite
gravity which tends to halt the expansion, due to ‘initial conditions’. In the present case [where all of physical reality
is assumed to be restricted to one connected net], the final state of the universe is dominated by the symmetric
translational invariant |net(vac)>.”
[However, a Destiny State that is identical to the Primal Point of origination can also be posited as I have done in this
paper.]
“Quantum mechanics allows for a time symmetric formulation [2] where both initial and final states are
specified. If, these two states are almost orthogonal to each other, then the ensemble of pre—and post-selected
systems exhibits unusual behavior at intermediate times. … These reflect the novel ‘potentials and forces of preand post-selection’ required in order to guide the system along its unusual path. We may have to resort to this
formulation in which the ‘destiny state’ of the universe is also prescribed [3].” Shmuel Nussinov, NET = T.O.E.?, Chapter 5
of Quantum Theory: A Two-Time Success Story, Edited by Daniele C. Struppa and Jeffrey M. Tollaksen, Springer-Verlag Italia, 2014, page 61
237
Yakir Aharonov, Sandu Popescu, and Jeff Tollaksen, "A time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics",
Physics Today, November 2010, Page 32
46
Experimental confirmations exist for retrocausality,238 including many that initially appear
unrelated to the underlying physics.239 Additionally, retrocausality helps resolve several
perplexing problems and introduces promising, previously unavailable possibilities.240 According
to the theoretical and quantum physicist Roderick I Sutherland, retrocausality can help resolve the
following issues:
1. It can restore locality in the case of entangled states (such as with Bell’s theorem);
2. It can preserve consistency with special relativity at the ontological level;
3. It can allow the replacement of many-particle, configuration space wavefunctions by
individual wavefunctions;
4. It can allow statistical descriptions to be replaced by definite, ontological values;
5. It can facilitate the development of a Lagrangian formulation in the case where a particle
ontology is assumed;
6. It can suggest significant improvements to existing ontological models.241
Some physicists remain convinced that retrocausality provides a more straightforward solution
to the delayed-choice quantum erasure paradox than the conditional probability-based theorem
that Phillippe Eberhard has proposed. It also provides a conceptual framework for Socrates’
teleology to be embraced as a plausible reality.
238
Experiments have confirmed predicted outcomes that were unique to the TSQM formulation of quantum
mechanics. As the traditional quantum mechanics’ formulations cannot explain these outcomes, I believe that
paradigm-shifting evidence of “Quantum Miracles” has emerged from independent research groups and is beginning
to be recognized in the popular media. See Zeeya Meral, From the Future, Discovery Magazine, August 26, 2010
239
York Dobyns, Empirical retrocausality: Testing physics hypotheses with parapsychological experiments, AIP
Conference Proceedings 1841, 030005 (2017).
Julia Mossbridge, Examining the nature of retrocausal effects in biology and psychology, AIP Conference
Proceedings 1841, 030004 (2017).
Dale E. Graff1, and Patricia S. Cyrus, Perceiving the future news: Evidence for Retrocausation, AIP Conference
Proceedings 1841, 030001 (2017).
Jacob Jolij and Dick J. Bierman, Testing the potential paradoxes in “retrocausal” phenomena, AIP Conference
Proceedings 1841, 030003 (2017).
240
See: Roderick Sutherland, “How Retrocausality Helps,” AIP Conference Proceedings 1841, 020001 (2017).
Hugh Price, Can retrocausality solve the puzzle of action-at-a-distance, Aeon, 14 September, 2016
Jon Trevathan, The Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) Paradox -- Explained, 2011
Jon Trevathan, Can Quantum Mechanics Help Resolve the Origin of Life Mystery?, 2011
See also: Yakir Aharonov and Daniel Rohrlich, Quantum Paradoxes: Quantum Theory for the Perplexed, WILEYVCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2005. (This was the textbook for the class I attended at George Mason University
that was taught by Yakir Aharonov and Jeff Tollaksen.)
241
Roderick Sutherland, “How Retrocausality Helps,” AIP Conference Proceedings 1841, 020001 (2017).
See also: Matthew Leifer’s interview with Roderick Sutherland, Back from the Future: Retrocausality in the
Foundations of Quantum Mechanics ()
47
Socrates’ Teleology (Reimagined).
In Figure 1, the “Primal Thought”
(representing the “Form” or “Idea of the
Good”) is depicted as a point at the top of the
cone. As previously noted, this point of
origination is simple and without
differentiation, indicative of the “unitary
concept.”242 The Platonic Forms are depicted
as a cone emanating243 from the Primal
Thought.244 The cone in Figure 1 should
additionally be understood to represent a
hierarchical progression of the eternal and
unchanging Forms, where the Forms closest to
the cone’s apex (the Primal Thought) are more
fundamental and vital than those more remotely situated. The condition “if A, then not B” and/or
“if B, then not A” is represented by the cone’s base (or opening).245. This signifies the
circumstance where one thought, if actualized, would conflict with the actualization of some other
thought. In each such case, all conflicting thoughts must necessarily emerge from the Primal
Thought. And, as alternate expressions of the “Good,” simultaneously existent as relational (or
computational) alternatives to each other. As previously discussed, the physics of quantum
“…consider the Unitary Concept [ahad]; how all the numbers appear from it, and it is in no number since it is the
point of origin of all numbers. And the first to be specified and to appear from it is the number 'one' [wahid] and from
'one' all other numbers come into being. So, all these numbers are contained in the unitary concept in the most perfect
simplicity and oneness. And so, it is the 'Hidden Treasure' of all numbers and from it do they appear.”
242
Abdu’l Bahá, I was a Hidden Treasure (Provisional Translation by Moojan Momen) published in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 3:4,1995, Page 11..
These emergent thoughts have been theologically described as “the Forms of the Divine Intellect, which have not
inhaled the breezes of existence … but have come into being as intellectual existences [within the Divine
Consciousness]” ‘Abdu’l Bahá, I was a Hidden Treasure (Provisional Translation by Moojan Momen) published in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin,
243
3:4,1995, Page 12.
“…the Essential Dispositions have, through the Divine Outpouring [18], manifested themselves out of the station
of Essence into the station of Divine Knowledge [hadrat-i 'ilm] [19]. This is the first manifestation of the Absolute
from the Hidden Treasure in the Divine Knowledge. And from this manifestation the Eternal Archetypes [20] came
into intellectual being [21]. And each one, according to its inherent capacity, is distinguished from the others in the
mirrors of the Divine Knowledge. [22] ‘Abdu’l Bahá, I was a Hidden Treasure (Provisional Translation by Moojan Momen) published in
244
Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 3:4,1995, Page 12..
245
Dialetheias are true contradictions such as if A then not B and If B then not A which, applying Boolean negation,
violate the law of non-contradiction but are nonetheless both true.
(See also The Law of Non-contradiction: New Philosophical Essays by Graham Priest, J. C. Beall, Bradley P.
Armour-Garb
48
superposition provides an explanatory framework for this concept. The area in Figure 1
designated “Contingency” represents those emergent alternatives that are dependent upon a
temporally preceding causal chain of actualizations having first occurred. These contingent
thoughts, together with the eternal and unchanging Forms, comprise the World Soul’s information
matrix.
Therefore, consistent with the philosophical and theological claims regarding Divine
omniscience,246 the World Soul encompasses every possible thought (and “beable”) from a
beginning that has no beginning to an endless eternity.247 In the ontology of our mosaic,
“Meaning” and “Consciousness” are, for now, assumed to be intrinsic and necessary emergents
finding expression within the World Soul’s (and the human soul’s) evolving continuum.
Consciousness, therefore, would be omnipresent. And, as I have previously noted, numerous
philosophers and scientists have embraced pantheism, panpsychicism, panprotopsychism, or, as I
believe, is abundantly present in the Socratic dialogues: “Cosmopsychism.”248 However, at this
stage, although the information matrix is coeternal with the originating Primal Thought, it remains
“Plato … extols the Divine completeness, wanting in nothing that is fair and excellent;11 the Divine power, all
embracing, and able to do whatever can be done at all;12 the wisdom, which has everywhere so perfectly adapted
means to ends;13 omniscience, which nothing escapes;14 the justice, which leaves no crime without its punishment,
and no virtue without its reward;15 the goodness, which cares for all in the best possible manner.16 He repudiates not
only the anthropomorphism of conceiving that God could have a body,17 but also those tales which ascribe passions,
quarrels, and crimes of all sorts to the gods.18” Eduard Zeller, Plato And The Older Academy, Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred
246
Goodwin, translators, New Edition, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888, Ballantyne Press, Ballantyne, Hanson and Co., page 497
247
Although there can be no limitation on these thoughts, there is a nuance with regards to the objects of these
thoughts that is captured in the following passage from the Bahá'í Writings:
"The prophets say the knowledge of God has no need of the existence of beings, but the knowledge of the
creature requires the existence of objects of knowledge. If the knowledge of God had need of any other thing, then
it would be the knowledge of the creature, and not the knowledge of God, for the preexistent is different from the
created... Inasmuch as the created knowledge requires the existence of objects of knowledge, the [essentially]
preexistent knowledge is independent of their existence. Therefore, the preexistence of the specifications and
individualizations of beings, which are the things known of God, does not exist. These divine and perfect attributes
[belonging to God's Essence] cannot be encompassed by rational perception in order to judge whether the
knowledge of God needs objects of knowledge or not." Abdul’ Bahá, Some Answered Questions, 114, pages 293-4 quoted by
Steven Phelps, in "Divine Philosophy"
“Cosmopsychism is the thesis that the cosmos as a whole displays psychological properties, cosmopsychological
properties as we might call them, and that the mental states of human beings, and indeed human beings themselves as
individual subjects of experience, are metaphysically grounded in the cosmopsychological properties of the cosmos.”
248
Jonardon Ganeri and Itay Shani, What Is Cosmopsychism?, The Monist, Oxford University Press, 2022, 105, Page 3.
Philip Goff, Cosmopsychism, Micropsychism and the Grounding Relation, Chapter 13, The Routledge Handbook
of Panpsychism, William Seager, Editor, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, 2020; and:
Godehard Brüntrup and Ludwig Jaskolla, Editors, Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives, Oxford University
Press, 2016.
Joachim Keppler and Itay Shani, Cosmopsychism and Consciousness Research: A Fresh View on the Causal
Mechanisms Underlying Phenomenal States, Front. Psychol., 05 March 2020.
See also, footnote 4.
49
preexistent to any of the Forms’ material existents (i.e., none of the Forms’ potential “beables”
have yet become actualized).
Because our physical universe had a beginning, in our mosaic, the “Big Bang”249 denotes an
actualization event within the World Soul’s preexistent contingency. In other words, the thought
of our specific universe was actualized out of an infinitude of other possible universes.
Additionally, once actualized, the future of our universe would be computationally determinable
within the World Soul’s information matrix from our universe’s inception to its heat death, big
crunch, big rip, or some other theorized end. This subset of the World Soul’s information matrix
is the information reservoir250 into which I have suggested human consciousness extends -- and
our memories reside. This information reservoir encompasses every possible thought, both
human and Divine. As to those thoughts that may become actualized (a “beable”), our thoughts
and intentionality can alter the density matrix of what will happen next in our individual and
collective lives.251 For those “beables” within the future light cone of our universe, there are
constraints that influence the probability of their eventual actualization. First, every beable must
be emergent within a causal chain that has our “Big Bang” as its origin. Second, as an emanation
of the “Good,” each “beable” must also participate in chains of dependent originations that will
“Although astronomers understand what the universe was like just a few seconds after the Big Bang, no one yet
knows what happened at the instant of the Big Bang - or what came before. What powered the Big Bang? Where did
all the stuff in the universe come from in the first place? What was the universe like just before the Big Bang?” What
249
Powered the Big Bang?, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Smithsonian Institution, 2004.
I have elsewhere argued that at the instant of this actualization event, our universe lost access to the World Soul’s
information for every universe other than our own. The Landauer principle holds that "any logically irreversible
manipulation of information, such as the erasure of a bit or the merging of two computation paths, must be
accompanied by a corresponding entropy increase in non-information-bearing degrees of freedom of the informationprocessing apparatus or its environment." “Another way of phrasing Landauer's principle is that if an observer loses
information about a physical system, heat is generated and the observer loses the ability to extract useful work from
that system.” In this speculation, our universe lost access to the information applicable to every other possible
universe. This, I contend, resulted in the Big Bang’s enormous energies. Additionally, based on weak measurement
experiments that associated negative mass particles with a time-reversed Hamiltonian, the energy requirements of the
Big Bang would be minimized if the Big Bang had engendered two universes, one evolving backward in time
(relative to us) and our universe with a forward in time evolution.
“The fundamental principles of physics do not distinguish between forward and backward time. Some rare
processes exhibit a small (0.1%) asymmetry in the probabilities for both time directions, but these do not forbid
events from happening in either time direction. The expansion of the universe would seem to single out a
particular time direction, thus defining what is called the cosmological arrow of time. But that direction is just the
direction of increasing entropy of the universe, and so is identical to the thermodynamic arrow. Cosmological
models can account for the low entropy at the beginning of the big bang, and an overall time symmetry is possible
if one considers the time before the big bang as containing a mirror universe expanding in the time direction
opposite to ours. While we cannot observe this universe, nothing in the known principles of physics or cosmology
rules it out and, indeed, they seem to suggest the possibility.” Victor J. Stenger, Time, arrow of, Encyclopedia of time: science,
philosophy, theology, and culture, H. James Birx, Editor, SAGE Publications, Inc., Page 1256.
250
251
Socrates’ Receptacle
See Jon Trevathan, Meditations on Consciousness. (Please note that this paper is being expanded and rewritten.)
50
lead creation back toward the “Good.” Third, although there may be innumerable alternate
pathways (perhaps situationally emphasizing some Platonic Forms over others), some paths will
be more circuitous (in directing creation return toward the “Good” than others.252 Fourth,
attractors within the system will generate circumstances that can reduce the gaps between
humanity’s (and each actor’s) more optimum pathways toward the “Good” and their more
torturous alternatives.253
Restated, we can now begin to apprehend that some thoughts, such as those reflecting our
laws of physics and certain fundamental relationships, will strongly limit the if and how other
thoughts might find expression. We can also begin to apprehend how some thoughts may be
contingent upon the sequential expression of temporally preceding thoughts or otherwise
contingent within a maelstrom of interacting thoughts, including the thoughts of human actors.
Because of these interactions, the probability that a thought will, in the future, find expression is
not fixed. Instead, this probability can change from one nanosecond to the next. As the World
Soul’s hierarchy of potentially manifest thoughts entails increasing particularity, teleological-like
relational rules will emerge.254 These relational rules govern the interplay of “what was” and
“what is” to establish interactive topographies255 of “what still could be” (to denote those
252
"Assuming the presence of the posited destiny state, the resulting retrocausality and attractors resolve Leibniz’s
principle of sufficient reason, which compels us to seek a rational reason for every choice the universe has made to be
one way rather than another.
253
[There is a] “widespread view, exemplified by Plato, that a rational account of right action requires a ‘science of
measurement’. Ethical choices tend to throw up a bewildering variety of considerations. On the ‘science of
measurement’ view, this apparent heterogeneity can and should be overcome by finding in it ‘some single standard of
value’ that commensurates all others, so that the choice ‘can be recast as a matter of maximizing our quantities of that
value’ (LK 56).” George Crowder, The Problem of Value Pluralism: Isaiah Berlin and Beyond, Routledge Innovations in Political Theory;
Volume 75, Taylor & Francis, 2020, Page 79.
The existence of multiple interacting attractors creates a non-linear topographical system that is inherently chaotic
but will nonetheless be shown to meet these criteria.
254
“Why metaphysics and why hierarchy? By linking the relational positioning of all individual substances to their
shared source in God, my argument is that only a theological metaphysic can position being in the intermediary realm
of `the between' (Plato's metaxu). In this realm, the original relation among the divine persons and the participatory
relation between creation and creator intersect without however collapsing into one another. As such, `the between'
reflects the double hierarchy in creation and the creator. The created order of being fuses `monarchic' with
`egalitarian' elements in such a way that the hierarchy of substances according to their degrees of being and goodness
is coextensive with the equality of all finite things - compared with the perfection of infinite, divine being. Adrian
Pabst, Metaphysics: The Creation of Hierarchy, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012, xxvii.
I argue that Plato’s metaxu (Greek: μεταξύ) is best described as a seamless hierarchal continuum that hierarchically
manifests increasing fine-grained interactive processes with the potential for corporeal expression. For a survey and
theological update on the hierarchy of divine realms/worlds, see: Jean-Marc Lepain, Archéologie du royaume de
Dieu: Ontologie des mondes divins dans les écrits de Bahá'u'llah (The Archeology of the Kingdom of God), Peter
Terry, translator
255
In the context of chaos theory, the probability that any potential outcome will occur is subject to our choices and
an interactive set of attractors that are propagated from the emanative light of the Primal Thought, the Divine Names
and Attributes and the templet of potentials our individual souls have defined. These Multiple Basins of Attraction
51
remaining “beables” that may still become actualized). These interactive topographies will
change over time due to the choices we and others make. Each choice we make will reduce the
number of “beables” that remain accessible to our current timeline (i.e., available for eventual
actualization). Eventually, from among the vast possibilities that were once within an actor’s
possible alternate futures, only one will remain. (Applying the analogy of a three-dimensional
television, the aggregations consistent with one Planckian256 set will find physical expression in
what the human observer apprehends as a “Now” within an endless temporal succession of
“Nows.”257) In this context, the information of our lives probabilistically preexists our choices
among the available alternatives. However, once a choice is made, the Planckian particulars of
that choice will be ontologically frozen within the World Soul’s information matrix. And
additionally, those options that might otherwise have been taken will also remain within the
World Souls’ matrix.258 Access to this information is the basis of “memory” and “regret.”259
The biochemist Rupert Sheldrake has argued that "memory is inherent in nature, "that every
organism has its own information field, and that there are fields nested within these fields, which
include information derived from the organism’s predecessors. At this point, it is appropriate that
we stop to see if these computational-like interactive processes information reservoirs have
adequate support in the Socratic dialogues.
(MBAs) may be visualized in terms of a topographic landscape containing a multitude of valleys (attractors) and
peaks (repellers). As every thought we emanate and decision we reach will affect the topography of our future
possibilities, and may affect the topography of many others, a maelstrom of potentially conflicting interactions can
occur. I will explore these individual and collective interactions in terms of their oscillatory harmonics and discords
later in this paper and in a future paper on that will present a vibration-based ethics theory.
256
This description assumes that our 3-D reality, in a way analogous to how a television picture is composed from
colored pixels, is fashioned from Planckian-sized oscillators.
257
This is an analogy that I will return to several times in this paper. Note that each “Now,” defined as an actualized
set of Planckian particulars, become the boundary condition for the next “Now,” and for all future “Nows” -- exerting
a weakening probabilistic influence on future “Nows” as they become increasing temporally remote to the most
recent actualization.
258
Consider the possibility that the “life reviews” associated with “near death experiences” represents a mind that
briefly sees beyond its corporeal veils to access actualizations within the World Souls’ vast ocean of contingencies.
259
“The life review occurs in 20% to 30% of (“Near Death Experiences”) NDEs and includes a rapid review of one’s
past life events and an understanding or direct experience of how these various events impacted the experiencer or
those around them (Zingrone & Alvarado, 2009).” Marieta Pehlivanova, Ashley Carroll & Bruce Greyson, “Which neardeath experience features are associated with reduced fear of death?”, Mortality, 27 Jan 2022, page 12.
According to “filter theory” or “transmission theory,” advanced by philosophers and psychologists such as
Ferdinand Schiller, William James, Henri Bergson, or Frederic W. Myers, “the human brain is a transmission device
only, a device that usually serves as a filter that constrains what may appear in the individual consciousness. Once
consciousness is disconnected from its bodily constraints, adherents of this theory generally hold, it may potentially
perceive without eliminative boundaries.” Jens Schlieter, What Is It Like to Be Dead? Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the
Occult, Oxford University Press, 2018, Page 15.
See: Jon Trevathan, The Valley of Wonderment
52
The Secret Doctrines260
In the Theaetetus, Plato appears to obliquely introduce his ontology with Socrates’ discussion
of the “secret doctrines.”
“… But others are more clever, whose secret doctrines I am going to disclose to you. For them
the beginning, upon which all the things we were just now speaking of depend, is the
assumption that everything is real motion and that there is nothing besides this, but that there
are two kinds of motion, each infinite in the number of its manifestations, and of these kinds
one has an active, the other a passive force. From the union and friction of these two are born
offspring, infinite in number, but always twins, the object of sense [156b] and the sense which
is always born and brought forth together with the object of sense.” Plato, Theaetetus, [156a] & [156b]261
Many scholars have ignored or dismissed this passage. According to Lesley Brow, Socrates’
“secret doctrines” was little more than an invention “to give a metaphysical underpinning to
Protagorean relativism,”262 and Francis Macdonald Cornford chose to bury the passage in
materialism:
“The two kinds of motion here meant are: (1) physical objects considered as agents with the
power of acting upon or affecting our senses; (2) sense organs, as patients with the capacity of
being affected in the way peculiar to sensation or perception.”263
In reflecting on these interpretations, it would be challenging to treat Plato seriously if the
“secret doctrine” was nothing more than an “invention” or the banality that Dr. Cornford
260
For background information, see: Plato's unwritten doctrines
Plato, Theaetetus, [156a], perseus.tufts.edu
For an alternate translation:
“The others, into whose secrets I am going to initiate you, are much more redefined and subtle Their first
principle, on which all that we said just now depends, is that the universe really is motion and nothing else. And
there are two kinds of motion. Of each kind there are any number of instances, but they differ in that the one kind
has the power of acting, the other of being acted upon.3 From the intercourse and friction of these with one another
arise offsprings, endless in number, but in pairs of twins. One of each pair is something perceived, the other a
perception, whose birth always coincides with that of the thing perceived.” Francis Macdonald Cornford, Plato's Theory of
261
Knowledge, Butler & Tanner Ltd, London, 1935, page 46.
Consider also:
“SOCRATES: Now weren’t we saying, at an earlier stage, that there is a number—indeed an infinite number—of
both active and passive factors? THEAETETUS: Yes. SOCRATES: Also this, that when a thing mixes now with
one thing and now with another, it will not generate the same things each time but different things?
THEAETETUS: Yes, certainly.” Plato, Theaetetus, Plato: Complete Works, John M. Cooper, Editor, Hackett Publishing Company,
Inc., 1997, Page 177.
John Mc Dowell with an Introduction and Notes by Lesley Brown, Plato, Theaetetus, Oxford World’s Classics,
Oxford University Press, 2014, Notes to pages 24–25, Page 119
263
Francis Macdonald Cornford, Plato's Theory of Knowledge, Butler & Tanner Ltd, London, 1935, footnote 3, p.46
As an additional refutation of Cornford views, consider: Plato’s “critique of crudely materialistic theories of nature,
which Plato seems to maintain through the mouths of different main speakers, such as Timaeus in the Timaeus,
Socrates in the Philebus, the Eleatic Stranger in the Sophist, and the Athenian Stranger in the Laws. Gabriela Roxana
262
Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions, Cambridge University Press, 2005, Page 17.
53
described. However, a few scholars, like Myles Burnyeat, have discovered the interactive
ontological processes that I see in these passages:
“The story teaches that there are no things, only processes –the world is a vast array of
motions, some with active power and others passive. There are no properties of things either,
but again only motions, produced in pairs by the pairing of an active and a passive member of
the first group of motions, and distinguished from the latter inasmuch as the twin offspring are
always swift motions while the parental pair are slow.”264
It must be emphasized that my reformulation of the Socratic processes is central to this paper.
It should also be noted that the iterative interactions of Socrates’ active and passive forces265
received confirmation in the Islamic and Baha’i origin ontologies.266 As examples, Socrates’
references to active and passive elements267 are mirrored in Islamic and Bahá'í descriptions of Káf
(representing the active force or element), Nún (representing the passive force or element), and
Kun (representing the joining of Káf and Nún).268 Káf, Nún, and Kun collectively represent the
repeating hierarchal processes of becoming where the “flux” represented by Kun at one level
within the World Soul’s continuum becomes the input (Káf) at the next. This repeating pattern of
264
Myles Burnyeat, The Theaetetus of Plato, Hackett Publishing Company, Cambridge, 1990, page 16.
“…the interpretation that glosses the active and passive motions as physical objects and organs of perception,
respectively, is entirely without foundation.” Kenneth M. Sayre, Plato’s late ontology: a riddle resolved, Parmenides Publishing,
265
(Originally published in 1983 by Princeton University Press), 2005, Page 209.
266
Although only an early draft of Ontology as Poem is currently available, it provides a reasonably coherent
description of this ontology.
“The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force
and that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different. Thus doth the Great Announcement
inform thee about this glorious structure. Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its
impact are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God, which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all
else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof.” Bahá’u’lláh, LAWḤ-I-HIKMAT (Tablet of Wisdom),
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988 page 140.
[The active force is understood to be the Primal Will (Mashíyyát)] and that which is its recipient is understood to be Divine Purpose (irádih)].
“…157a we said before, that nothing exists in itself, but all things of all sorts arise out of motion by intercourse
with each other; for it is, as they say, impossible to form a firm conception of the active or the passive element as
being anything separately; for there is no active element until there is a union with the passive element, nor is there a
passive element until there is a union with the active; and that which unites with one thing is active and appears again
as passive when it comes in contact with something else. And so it results from all this, as we said in the beginning,
that nothing exists as invariably one, itself by itself, but everything is always becoming in relation to something, and
“being” should be altogether abolished, 157b though we have often—and even just now—been compelled by custom
and ignorance to use the word. But we ought not, the wise men say, to permit the use of “something” or
“somebody's” or “mine” or “this” or “that” or any other word that implies making things stand still, but in accordance
with nature we should speak of things as “becoming” and “being made” and “being destroyed” and “changing”; for
anyone who by his mode of speech makes things stand still is easily refuted.” Plato, Theaetetus, 157a and 157b (Plato
267
in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 12 translated by Harold N. Fowler. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.)
Then just examine this point of their doctrine. Did we not find that they say that heat or whiteness or anything you
please arises in some such way as this, namely that each of these moves simultaneously with perception between the
active and the passive element, and the passive becomes percipient, but not perception, and the active becomes, not a
quality, but endowed with a quality?” Plato, Theaetetus, 182a (Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 12 translated by Harold N. Fowler.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.)
268
See Jon Trevathan, "BE" -- Káf, Nún and Kun, A Compilation with Comments)
54
becoming through an infinitude of incremental degrees connects the eternal and unchanging
“Forms” to the Heraclitean “flux” of their physical representations. As discussed, Socrates called
the locus269 of these connective processes the “Receptacle.”270 Most scholars believe Plato
hypothesized the receptacle to “explain the status of phenomena as (insubstantial) images of the
Forms.”271 However, I believe Socrates also had intimations of reality consistent with the model I
am presenting; and that has also been mirrored in Revelation.272
As a metaphor, the Timaeus suggests the receptacle “shakes like a winnowing basket.”273
Here, we are called to imagine a process of becoming where the chaff (possibilities that are
remote relative to the “Good”) is discarded, and denser substances (those possibilities where the
“Good” might be more strongly expressed) are retained until they solidify into an actualized
“Now.” Later in this paper, I will suggest how the Good might influence a topography of future
possibilities that would probabilistically render some futures more likely than others. In a similar
analogy, the Receptacle is “said to be shaken by the phenomena in it and, in turn, to shake
them.”274
Is this shaking to be read literally? Nearly all critics now… take the claim that the Receptacle
shakes at face value, even though this seems to collide directly with the repeated claims that the
Receptacle contributes no content to its contents. Motions characterize, even define, many
things in the Receptacle. In the Sophist, there is a Form of motion. Its instances are in the
Receptacle. How can all these claims be squared? To address these sorts of worries, God
invented scholars.275
Plato used the Greek word chôra (a “place” or “space”) in describing the Receptacle. Richard D. Mohr, Plato’s Cosmic
Manual: Introduction, Reader’s Guide, and Acknowledgments; One Book: The Whole Universe - Plato’s Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and
Barbara M. Sattler, Editors, Parmenides Publishing, 2010, Pages 9-10.
269
“Sayre (2003: 62) counts ten different expressions used to describe the Receptacle, six of which possess strong
connotations of materiality: “recipient” (… 53a3), “mold” or “imprint-bearer” (… 50c2), “container” (… 50d3),
“winnowing basket” (… 52e6), “container” or “receptacle” (… 49a6; 51a5), and “universal recipient” (… 51a7)”
270
Matthew M. Gorey, Atomism and the Receptacle In Plato's Timaeus, Source: Phoenix , Vol. 72, Nos. 1/2 (Spring-printemps/Summer-été 2018),
Classical Association of Canada, pp. 105-118, footnote 4 page 106.
Richard D. Mohr, Plato’s Cosmic Manual: Introduction, Reader’s Guide, and Acknowledgments; One Book: The
Whole Universe - Plato’s Timaeus Today, Richard D. Mohr and Barbara M. Sattler, Editors, Parmenides Publishing,
2010, Page 10.
272
" Know thou that the Kingdom is the real world, and this nether place is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow
hath no life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but images reflected in water, and
seeming as pictures to the eye." ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, 150, (77 SWA 178) quoted by Steven
271
Phelps in "Divine Philosophy"
273
Ibid, page 11. This is one of the metaphors that appears to have been mirrored in later revelation:
"[T]he realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited,
disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom ('álamu'l-Mulk wa al-Malakút), entities of a new
creation, and revealing, in the unseen realms ('álamu'l-Jabarút ... wa 'álamu'l-Láhút), the signs and tokens of Thy
unity and oneness (Wahidiyih ... wa Ahadiyih)." Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, CLXXVIII, 295-6 Quoted by Steven
Phelps, "Divine Philosophy.”
274
275
Ibid, page 11.
Ibid, page 11.
55
As will become more evident as we continue, the World Soul, as a realm of oscillatory
interactions, gives a new meaning to Socrates’ “winnowing” and “shaking” analogies. Many
additional Socratic references to the Receptacle can also be subsumed within the model we are
exploring. For example:
Each phenomenon is necessarily in the Receptacle, but then it is necessarily not in them, since
“in” is an asymmetrical relation. The receptacle is all receiving, receives all characteristics, and
so must itself be characterless. It facilitates the presence of the phenomena, but is not part of
that presence.276
The Receptacle is “perfectly characterless, lest it impose its properties onto the things it
receives.” The Receptacle is also “like gold out of which geometrical shapes can be ceaselessly
remolded.”277 Later in this paper, the mosaic we are assembling will be shown to manifest these
seemingly inconsistent characteristics through the analogy of a pixelated television screen.278 As
to our access to the World Soul’s information, “[w]hat we see of the Receptacle is not the
Receptacle itself, but the dream-like images in it....”279 And the iterative and interactive processes
Socrates associated with the “Receptacle” appear to be fully compatible with process physics.
These processes also correspond with Islamic and Bahá'í descriptions of the Alam al Mithal,280
276
Ibid, page 10.
Ibid, page 11.
278
“In the [Timaeus’] passage dealing with the three kinds (48a–53b) relationship between bodies and the third kind
has three prominent facets. First, bodies are “in” the third kind as in a receptacle or container. Second, bodies are
modifications of the third kind and therefore parts of the third kind are bodies themselves. Third, bodies are
modifications of the third kind that do not prevent other modifications from taking place. At the end of the section
48a–53b, the third kind is identified with space, and starting from line 53b bodies are shown to have a geometrical
nature. From this perspective, we can see how the first two facets of the relationship of bodies to the third kind are
materialized: a geometrical figure is both in space and it is a modification of space. However, Timaeus’ third
characterization of this relationship cannot be explained from this perspective. This inconsistency is due to the
different connotations of bodies in both passages. In the passage dealing with the three kinds, bodies are shown to be
an utterly dependent image of the eternal paradigm in the receptacle. In the passage dealing with geometrical nature
of bodies, body is shown to be an independent and self-sufficient geometrical structure. Neither of these connotations
should be rejected, and it is clear that Plato wants us to think about body as an image of eternal being, whose specific
independence has a geometrical nature.” Ondřej Krása, Bodies and Space in the Timaeus, Plato’s Timaeus, Proceedings of the Tenth
277
Symposium Platonicum Pragense, Chad Jorgenson, Filip Karfík, and Štěpán Špinka, Editors, Brill, 2021, page 131.
“So we shall put ninth the kind which always imparts motion to something else and is itself changed by another
thing. Then3 there’s the motion that moves both itself and other things, suitable for all active and passive processes
and accurately termed the source of change and motion in all things that exist. I suppose we’ll call that the tenth.”
Plato, Laws X, 894c, Plato: Complete Works, John M. Cooper, Editor, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1997, Page 1551.
279
Ibid, page 11.
“How often it happens that the spirit has a dream in the realm of sleep whose purport comes to be exactly
materialized two years hence! Likewise, how often it happens that in the world of dreams the spirit solves a
problem that it could not solve in the realm of wakefulness.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Some Answered Questions" 61.2
280
“'Alam al-Mithal: "The imaginal realm, which is also known as the realm of souls, is higher than the realm of the
visible ('alam al-shahadat) and lower than the realm of spirits. The realm of the visible is the shadow of the imaginal
56
which, in turn, is, associated with a “realm of being” called, Malakút.281 Much more could be
said about the concepts I have introduced in this section. As to Socrates’ “active and passive
forces,” these forces and their interactions are discussed in numerous philosophical and religious
writings.282 Additionally, research into Myles Burnyeat's reference to the “twin offspring [that]
are always swift motions while the parental pair are slow” has already catalyzed an alternative
conceptual approach to the model’s underlying physics283 -- which I intend to explore in a future
paper.284
“… Even a casual reader of Plato will observe that the argument of the Theaetetus only
touches on part of the basic cosmological outline discussed above. Relegated strictly to the
world of sensible becoming, no combination of the elements derived therein can effectively
realm which, in turn, is the shadow of the realm of spirits. Everything that exists in this world exists also in the
imaginal realm, that which is seen in dreams being a form of the imaginal realm. In the Kashf al-Lughat it states that
the absolute imaginal realm is the realm of spirits, while the relative imaginal realm is the realm of imagination
(khayal)." (Tahanawi [Nurbakhsh tr.], Kashshaf Istilahat al-Funun, 1342)” Quoted in Symbolic Cosmology in the Sufi and
Bahá’í Traditions by Michael McCarron http://bahai-library.com/?file=mccarron_symbolic_cosmology_sufism
“A significant development for Islámic philosophy and Sufism issuing from Suhrawardi's ontological schema, is
the notion of the `alam al-mithal (the World of Image Exemplars, what Corbin has dubbed the Mundus Imaginalis or
the Imaginal [not imaginary] World). The Mundus Imaginalis is analogous to Plato's "World of Forms" and is
situated as intermediary realm between the world of pure angelic intelligences (jabarút) and our sensible cosmos. It is
an isthmus (barzakh), world of the Kingdom (malakút) and the plane where all visionary, mystical, eschatological and
initial after-death experiences occur. As such, on this level "bodies are spiritualized and spirits corporealized."
Suhrawardi's theosophy gave rise to a current of Islámic spiritual philosophy quite distinct from kalam (dogmatic
theology), falsafa (peripatetic philosophy) and Sufism. In the Muslim East ishraqi thought was to exert a tremendous
influence upon all subsequent developments, especially since it was absorbed by Shi'ism and came to exert a
pronounced influence upon both the sixteenth century "School of Isfahan" and Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai." Nima Hazini,
Neoplatonism: Framework for a Bahá'í Metaphysics
281
"The meaning of the Kingdom (Malakút) in its primary sense and degree is the scene of His transcendent glory.
In another sense it is the world of similitudes ('Álám-i-mithál) which existeth between the Dominion on high
(Jabarút) and this mortal realm (Násút [i.e., in Malakút]; whatever is in the heavens or on the earth hath its
counterpart in that world. Whilst a thing remaineth hidden and concealed within the power of utterance it is said to be
of the Dominion (jabarút) and this is the first stage of its substantiation (taqyid). Whenever it becometh manifest it is
said to be of the Kingdom (malakút). The power and potency it deriveth from the first stage, it bestoweth upon
whatever lieth below."
(Nuri [Momen tr.], REL, pg. N/a ) ) Quoted in Symbolic Cosmology in the Sufi and Bahá’í Traditions by Michael McCarron
“… what … do the active and passive forces signify? In looking for the answers in the Bahá’í writings, we find an
abundance of codes employed. These codes use symbols drawn from the Qur’án and traditions of Islamic thought,
from Greek philosophy, even from the esoteric science of alchemy. Vahid Brown, "The beginning that hath no beginning:
282
Bahá’í Cosmogony," Lights of ‘Irfán, page 29.
I have repeatedly referenced Einstein’s and the physicist, David Bohm’s analogy of waves becoming condensed,
or frozen, into their ultimate physical expressions. However, although introduced here, a future paper will explore an
entirely different hypothesis – that the creative impetus generated a wave-length greater than any future dimension of
any possible universe might achieve. In this formulation, the Platonic Forms would represent the initial harmonics of
the originating oscillation but, because of their wavelength, would appear eternal and unchanging to any observing
universe. In this context, additional harmonic oscillations would naturally emerge and remain in superposition, with
the longer wavelengths serving as carrier waves. This process would continue to produce oscillations with shorterand-shorter wavelengths until they were sufficiently tiny as to activate the Planckian-sized pixels. At this point, the
models would reunite where everything that we have come to believe is our only reality becomes analogous the
flickering images of a three-dimensional TV.
284
Although some relevant information is provided in Part Two of this paper, a more thorough treatment of these
topics is on my list for the future.
283
57
communicate any objective nature. …Plato does not intend to reject outright the positions of
Protagoras and Heraclitus, but rather to incorporate these positions in an overall understanding
of the universe. In moving beyond these positions and the realm of becoming he is taking the
reader outside of the Cave in order to get a glimpse of true reality.
In the Sophist, then, the discussion turns to the ontological principles of formal and material
causation of the realm of the forms, and the corresponding human epistemology which can
interpret their effects. Formally, the divine real in this case thus corresponds to a principle
which governs the unity of all intelligible being, and materially, it must then correspond to a
principle which governs an infinite continuum of intellectual perception, the given flux between
active and passive being. In turn, the union of these principles unfolds the plurality of the
elements of pure being, and so it is out of this flux any object attains its true, objective existence
(what a thing is said to be, rather than what it is becoming, or what it is only for someone) as the
elements of being are combined to identify an object's objective, necessary essence.
In this way, the divine real ought to contain the answers to some of the questions posed
earlier. At this level, we should find what the Stranger calls divine ’επιστήμη, a perfect
knowledge and operation of the necessary, essential nature of the universe. It encompasses and
unites both the being and otherness of the invisible world of the forms in a singular entity,
which is then reflected in its physical instantiation as the ontological and teleological principle
of φσιϛ which governs the realm of sensible becoming. It follows, then, that the divine images
of these principles similarly arise spontaneously as the natural effects of what is given at this
level….”285
In the next section, I will argue that the human mind, through meditation, mindfulness, and
self-reflection,286 has the potential to gain conscious access to subsets of the World Soul’s
information matrix.287 However, where the flux of “Nows” and “intentionalities” change the
topographies of future possibilities from one Planck instant to the next, “knowledge” and
“wisdom” will be shown to assume a special meaning.288
285
Christopher Gibson, Logos in Plato's Theaetetus and Sophist, Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University, 2011, Pages 85-86.
286
“No research and nor any science could become deeply insightful and have a significant explanatory power
without reaching the level of self-reflexivity. The modern sciences, literary overpass the prejudice of positivist theory
and advance at the same point of questioning: the requirement of self-reflexivity within the theory. The act of
research is made by consciousness and consciousness should discover inevitable traces in the inquiry, otherwise the
research’s rigorousness is doubtful. Any science wide-ranging enough to reflect towards itself should begin with its
very condition of possibility, i.e. the conscious experience. But any other scientific inquiry should fulfill the minimal
condition to include reflections on its possible reflexive outcome of its theories, methods, and practices.” Bogdan
Popoveniuc, Self Reflexivity. The Ultimate End of Knowledge, Elsevier Ltd., Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 163 (2014) 204 – 213
287
See: Dean Radin, Testing Nonlocal Observation as a Source of Intuitive Knowledge, Explore, Volume 4, Issue 1,
January 2008, Pages 25-35
288
“The recollection theory is Plato’s explanation of our ability to think of and acquire knowledge of general notions
and general truths, where general notions are understood as Forms and general truths the facts about Forms.50 The
theory claims that in this life we can think of and know the Forms only because we experienced them before birth and
thereby acquired knowledge of them. This ‘active’ knowledge is lost at birth but remains latent in the soul, and
58
Wisdom, Virtue, and Knowledge
Socrates claimed that he was “not wise either much or little,” 289 to “have no wisdom in
me,”290 and generally to “know nothing” of virtue, among other things.291 Yet, the Pythia of
Delphi had “infallibly”292 asserted “that there was no one wiser.”293 A paradox, as both could not
be true. This paradox catalyzed Socrates’ reluctant quest,294 first to prove the Oracle wrong.295
perception of sensibles that resemble the Forms, or teaching by another, or enquiry into the Forms by a dialectical
conversation which (ideally) operates independently of the senses, may lead to full recovery of the latent, innate
knowledge.” Robert Heinaman, Plato: metaphysics and epistemology, Chapter 10, From the Beginning to Plato, C.C.W.Taylor, Editor,
Volume I, Routledge History of Philosophy, Routledge, 2005, Page 345
If we return now to the topic of recollection, its absence from the Republic and later dialogues is quite striking. As
we have seen, the analysis of knowledge and opinion, which began in the Meno in the context of recollection,
proceeds without this context in the rest of the corpus. What has happened?
One suggestion would be that recollection has been replaced in the Republic by the notion of noetic vision. It
might even be thought that Plato, after relying on the notion of recollection to explain our ability to acquire
knowledge that transcends ordinary experience, had decided that there was a better way to account for this cognitive
capacity. Hence (on this view) he abandoned the semi-mythical notion of innate knowledge acquired in some
previous existence, and adopted instead the more rational concept of noetic intuition or Wesenschau, an intellectual
“seeing” of the Forms accessible to those whose minds have been properly prepared by dialectic. We could then
interpret the epistemology of the Republic, centered on the imagery of light and the climactic vision of the Forms, as
successor and replacement for the innatist theory of the Meno and the Phado. Charles Kahn, Plato on Recollection, Chapter 9,
A Companion to Plato, Hugh H. Benson. Editor, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, Page 129.
289
Plato, Apology, [21b]
“Socrates’ disavowal of wisdom in (AP5) is very general. In Grube’s translation of the passage, Socrates says: ‘I
am very conscious (sunoida) that I am not wise at all.’ An alternative translation of this sentence would be: ‘I know
(sunoida) myself to be wise (sophos) concerning neither great nor small things.’2
Socratic Ignorance and Types of Knowledge, Chapter 5, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich and Nicholas D. Smith,
Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, Page 99
“…we should be careful about taking this passage to commit Socrates to the paradoxical claim that he knows that
he knows that he knows nothing. While Socrates takes the possession of episteme to imply wisdom, we need not
think that knowing (suneidenai) something is sufficient for having epistēmē of that thing.” Keith McPartland, Socratic
Ignorance and Types of Knowledge, Chapter 5, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich and Nicholas D. Smith, Editors,
Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, Note 2 on Page 338.
290
291
Plato, Theaetetus, [150c], perseus.tufts.edu
“…I myself know nothing about such things, and claim none of them as mine…” Plato, Theaetetus, [157c],
perseus.tufts.edu
“… I have to reproach myself with an utter ignorance about virtue; and if I do not know what a thing is, how can I
know what its nature may be?” Plato, Meno [71b], perseus.tufts.edu
“I have no idea what virtue is” Plato, Meno, [80d], perseus.tufts.edu
292
“Pythia, the oracle at Delphi, was said to be infallible.” Oracle, World Heritage Encyclopedia
See also Meno’s Paradox of Inquiry: A puzzle about gaining knowledge
Note that the Oracle’s infallibility should be understood in the context of the World Soul’s information matrix.
293
Plato, Apology, [21a]
294
“Some have argued that even here Socrates betrays a kind of impious skeptical disrespect for the god. So Burnet
claims that Socrates "tries to prove the god a liar" (1924, note on 2ib8), and Nehamas speaks of "Socrates' effort to
prove the oracle wrong" (1986, 306) and says that Socrates "tests the oracle's wisdom as rigorously as he tests the
wisdom of those by means of whom he tests the oracle itself" (1986, 305). What such scholars miss is that Socrates
begins his inquiry into the meaning of the oracle with the conviction that although the god can speak in riddles (Ap.
2^3-7), it is not within the god's nature to lie (Ap. 2ib6-y).”
Thomas C. Brickhouse & Nicholas D. Smith, Socrates' Gods and the Daimonion, Chapter 5, Reason and Religion in Socratic Philosophy, Edited
by Nicholas D. Smith and Paul B. Woodruff, Oxford University Press, 2000, page 77 and footnote 10 on page 87.
“I went to one of those who had a reputation for wisdom, thinking that there, if anywhere, I should prove the
utterance wrong and should show the oracle “This man is wiser than I, but you said I was wisest.” Plato, Apology, [21b]
295
and [21c]
59
Then later, at “god’s behest,”296 Socrates’ sought to demonstrate the opposite -- “that the oracle
might be proved to be irrefutable.”297 Eventually, Socrates resolved this paradox, declaring:
“…although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good
[agathos], I am better off than he is—for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I neither
know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to be slightly more sophos than
him.” 298 Plato, Apology, [21d]
According to Gareth Matthews, Socrates’ disclaimer “seems to fall short of being a claim not
to know anything at all.”299 Nonetheless, in the Meno, Socrates asserts that, at least as to the
question “what is virtue,” his ignorance is total and absolute.300 The word Socrates used to
express his ignorance was “to parapan.”301 This disclaimer, conjoined with Socrates’ suggestion
that he and his interlocutor, “Meno,” continue their inquiry into virtue,302 provoked Meno to
challenge Socrates with what is now alternatively called the “Paradox of Inquiry” and “Meno’s
Paradox.”303 Although philosophers, in their treatment of this second paradox, have seemingly
added a layer of unnecessary complexity, I have retained their use of the term: “F-ness” as a
“…I investigated at the god's behest…” Plato, Apology [22a]
Plato, Apology [22a]
298
Plato, Apology [21d], Translated by Benjamin Jowett
Mark L. McPherran has referred to this as the “Ignorance Principle” as follows:
“I am aware of being wise in nothing, great or small … (Ap. 21b4–5) . . . . [except that] … I am wiser in that
what I do not know, I do not even suppose that I know. . . .” (21d6–8) The Cambridge Companion to SOCRATES, Donald R.
296
297
Morrison, editor, Cambridge University Press. New York, Page 114
299
Ibid, page 116
“Meno begins the dialogue by asking whether virtue is teachable (70a1-7). Socrates replies that he doesn’t know
the answer to Meno’s question; nor does he at all (to parapan, 71a.7) know what virtue is. The latter failure of
knowledge explains the former; for “if I do not know what a thing is, how could I know what it is like? (… 71b3-4).
300
Gail Fine, Inquiry in the Meno, Chapter 6, The Cambridge Companion to Plato, Cambridge Companions Online, Cambridge University Press,
2006, Page 200.
“The Greek here is “to parapan, a very strong way of saying ‘absolutely nothing at all.’ This hints at the question
that Meno will raise at 80d: whether ‘knowing’ is an all or nothing proposition. Meno asks, “How will you look for
something if you do not know at all (to parapan) what it is. The question is raised whether we can truly know
something without knowing it completely. A similar question is raised at 79c about whether we can know what a part
of something is if we do not know the whole of which it is a part.” Lee Perlman, MENO By Plato,
302
“…So now, for my part, I have no idea what virtue is [at all], whilst you, though perhaps you may have known
before you came in touch with me, are now as good as ignorant of it also. But none the less I am willing to join you in
examining it and inquiring into its nature.” Plato, Meno [80d]
303
Commentators on the Meno and reformulated “Meno’s Paradox,” also called the “Paradox of Inquiry,” in a
variety of ways. See: S. Marc Cohen, Meno’s Paradox, 2006.
As to Socrates’ “Theory of Recollection:”
“While it is tempting to dismiss it as far-fetched or antiquated, Plato’s argument from the poverty of the stimulus
is one of the most powerful philosophical arguments of all time. With only minor modifications, the argument
remains a dominant paradigm in the contemporary cognitive sciences, whose central problem is essentially a
restatement of Plato’s question: ‘How does the human mind get so much from so little?’ (Tenenbaum et al. 2011).
Plato’s answer— recollection from another life—has long since been abandoned and replaced with more credible
alternatives, rooted in evolution, genetics, and complex organism–environment interactions. Nonetheless, at the
most general level, scientists have not progressed much farther in their basic grasp of how learning and
development occurs in each individual.” John Mikhail, Moral Intuitions and Moral Nativism, Chapter 21, The Oxford Handbook of
301
Moral Psychology, Manuel Vargas and John M. Doris, Editors, Oxford University Press, 2022, Page 379.
60
placeholder for something susceptible to multiple instantiations.304 With this definition of “Fness” in mind, the paradox can be paraphrased as follows:
“Either “F-ness” is known, or it is not. If you know “F-ness,” why would you bother to
inquire into it since you already know it? On the other hand, if you don’t know “F-ness” (“to
parapan”), how can you inquire into it? Inquiry is impossible when you don’t know what you
are seeking, and you would be incapable of recognizing “F-ness” should you ever find it.”305
The paradox assumes either (i) that “F-ness” is so well known that there is no need to know
anything more about it or (ii) that you know absolutely nothing at all. The paradox would appear
easily avoided if some partial knowledge of “F-ness” (or information related to “F-ness”) is
assumed.306 However, when “F-ness” is a “virtue,” this piece of our mosaic demands a more
thoughtful examination.”307
Gail Fine, in her paper, Inquiry in the Meno, noted the following:
“... Meno’s paradox does not question one’s ability to come to know things quite unlike virtue
(e.g., the road to Larissa); nor does it question one’s ability to come to know things in some way
other than through inquiry (e.g., through perception, or by being told). Correspondingly, Plato’s
reply does not address the question of whether it is possible to know things unlike virtue; nor
does it say whether it is possible to know things in some way other than through inquiry. It does
“F-ness” is a term Hugh H. Benson coined that has been picked up and used by other scholars:
“The question at issue is the ‘What is F-ness?’ question, where ‘F-ness’ is a placeholder for something like a
property or nature susceptible in principle to multiple instantiations. For example, in the Laches, Socrates searches
for an answer to the ‘What is courage?’ question, in the Euthyphro; ‘What is piety?’ in the Charmides; ‘What is
temperance?’ in the Meno; ‘What is virtue?’ and in the Protagoras, ‘What is a sophist?’ … To describe this
concern as a concern for definition is to understand the ‘What is F-ness?’ question in a particular way – a way,
indeed, that is potentially misleading.” Hugh H. Benson, Socratic Method, Chapter 8, The Cambridge Companion to Socrates,
304
Donald R. Morrison, Editor, Cambridge University Press, 2011, Page 194
305
See: Plato, Meno, [80d] The following is an alternate translation of this passage:
“And in what way, Socrates, will you look for that thing which you don’t know at all (to parapan) what it is? For
what sort of thing among the things you don’t know will you put forward and look for? And on the other hand,
however true it might be that you happen on it, how will you know that this is the thing that you didn’t know?
(80d5-8)” Terence Irwin’s translation of Meno [80d] Terence Irwin, Plato's Ethics, Oxford University Press, 1995, Page 130 (“to parapan”
inserted into translation by author)
It can be argued that Socrates was open to the possibility of partial knowledge in that the word “Parapan” appears
to have been selectively omitted from Socrates’ restatements of the paradox.
“If Socrates is not as paralyzed by this paradox as Meno appears to be, the reason should be apparent to the
reader. What Plato's Socrates has done is drop the qualifier "parapan," rendered "know nothing at all about." This
immediately destroys the thrust of the original puzzle for, lacking "parapan," the crucial premise reads "if a man
does not have [some] knowledge" rather than "if a man has no knowledge whatsoever." The reformulated dilemma
is consistent with the possession of some knowledge…” John E. Thomas, Musings on the Meno, A New Translation with
306
Commentary, Martinus Nijhoff Classical Philosophy Library Volume 1, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, 1980, Page 123
“The fact that Socrates here (making reference to Meno 71b-c) claims not to know at all what virtue is, and
repeats the ‘‘at all’’ [to parapan], should not be taken lightly. This is, in fact, the only dialogue in which Socrates
claims not to know at all what F-ness is.” Gareth B. Matthews, The Epistemology and Metaphysics of Socrates, Chapter 5, The Oxford
307
Handbook of Plato, Edited by Gail Fine, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2011, page 117
61
not follow that Plato restricts knowledge to things like virtue, or restricts the method of
achieving knowledge to inquiry…”308
Also, Gail Fine, in her introduction to The Oxford Handbook of Plato, goes on to observe:
“…according to Socrates, knowledge is necessary for virtue: in particular, if one does not
know what virtue is, one cannot be a virtuous person.35 Hence failure to answer the ‘‘What is
F?’’ question indicates not just an epistemological but also a moral failing. Socrates is
generally thought to hold that knowledge is also sufficient for virtue.36 If knowledge is both
necessary and sufficient for virtue, then, in some sense, virtue is knowledge.309
In answer to the question: “What is Piety?” Euthyphro suggested “ piety” is that which is
pleasing to the gods. However, a problem arose because what is pleasing to one god might be
displeasing to another. The proposition that piety is that which pleases all the gods could not
solve the problem -- but led to Socrates’ suggestion that piety (a human’s relationship with
god(s)) be subsumed under conceptions of “justice” (a relationship among men). And justice, in
its application, is situationally specific. This is analogous to my assertion that the weight to be
given to each virtue is, first, individually determined. In other words, the mix of virtue-related
potentials will differ from one individual to the next. And second, a behavior that is optimally
virtuous in one situation may not be virtuous should the surrounding circumstances change. For
example, the virtue of charity may be appropriate one day but would need to be replaced by the
virtue of tough love the next.
Therefore, consistent with the model, because the will of god(s) is to actualize “good,” “piety”
is to be an agent of god’s will. Piety, thus, “becomes a disposition of mind accompanying welldoing, with a reference towards the Source of all good.”310 As to the requisite disposition of
mind, in his paper “Does Piety Pay?,” Mark McPherran has suggested:
“For Socrates, virtue is knowledge or wisdom, but possession of this for Socrates means more
than just possessing a complete definition of a virtue; rather, it also has to do with possessing a
state of soul that aims at a good end and possesses the skill to discover useful means for
producing or obtaining it.”311
308
Gail Fine, Inquiry in the Meno, Chapter 6, The Cambridge Companion to Plato, Cambridge Companions Online,
Cambridge University Press, 2006, Note 21, Page 220
309
Gail Fine, Introduction, The Oxford Handbook of Plato, Edited by Gail Fine, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2011,
Page 20.
310
Theodor Gomperz, Greek Thinkers: A History of Ancient Philosophy Volume II, Translated by G. G. Berry,
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913, Pages 363-4..
311
Mark McPherran, Does Piety Pay? Socrates and Plato on Prayer and Sacrifice, Chapter 6, Reason and Religion in
Socratic Philosophy, Nicholas D. Smith and Paul B. Woodruff, Editors, Oxford University Press, 2000, Page 111,
Note 67 (Referencing Mark McPherran, The Religion of Socrates, 1996 and Commentary on Woodruff, 1987).
62
“Know thyself” and “Nothing overmuch” was inscribed on Apollo’s Delphic temple:312
Andrea Tschemplik,313 in her book, “Knowledge and Self-Knowledge in Plato’s Theaetetus,”
summarized this piece of our mosaic as follows:
“Socrates clearly indicates that both self-examination and examination by the midwife314 are
required to determine whether or not someone is virtuous. The notion that one’s inner state is
perceivable is puzzling, unless we can understand Socrates’ instruction as a kind of invitation to
something like Leibniz’s version of “apperception,” an inducement to become self-conscious.
Socrates’ formulation suggests that we do have access to ourselves and should be capable of
coming to know ourselves.”315
However, is this capacity for “access to ourselves” and our intuitions enough? For most, the
answer is no. “Apperception,” in its conventional sense, necessitates our intuitions and
intimations be assimilated with the body of ideas and experiences we already possess.316 Socrates
believed the “ideas” promoting our experiential growth and advancement would come from
“philosopher kings.” Adding God’s “Prophets” and “Manifestations” to the list, I agree.317 In
seeking a destination, religious principles and laws mark the paths that are good to take.318
312
Plato, Protagoras, [343b]
Remembering Professor Tschemplik
314
“…the first rule of philosophical midwifery is not to hand the right answer to one's interlocutors, but to enable
them themselves to give birth to it from their own inner resources…” David Sedley, The Midwife of Platonism: Text and
313
Subtext in Plato's Theaetetus, Oxford University Press, 2004, Page 11.
Andrea Tschemplik, Knowledge and Self-Knowledge in Plato’s Theaetetus, Lexington Books, Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Lanham, MD, 2008, page 130.
316
“The truly great advances in our understanding of nature originated in a way almost diametrically opposed to
induction. The intuitive grasp of the essentials of a large complex of facts leads the scientist to the postulation of a
hypothetical basic law or laws. From these laws, he derives his conclusions ”29 (as completely as possible in a purely
logical-deductive manner) Einstein, “Induction and Deduction in Physics,”Berliner Tageblatt , Dec. 25, 1919, CPAE 7: 28, Quoted in:
315
Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life And Universe, Simon & Schuster, 2007, ebook. (2008 edition, page 118) (Italitized addition from Hans
Ohanian, Gravitation and Space-time: Einstein ́s contribution, Proceedings of the International Conference on Two Cosmological Models, John A.
Auping, Coordinator, Universidad Iberoamaericana, 2012, Page 16
“Let us sum up the principal points contained in these passages: (1) the Manifestations of God are endowed with
an essential infallibility which is unique to them; (2) essential infallibility is based on divinely endowed omniscience
and on perfect virtue (sinlessness); (3) the pronouncements of the Manifestations are true in the generic sense (that
we have defined above) of accurately reflecting the structure of reality. (The important point here is that there is no
specially religious form of truth distinct from scientific truth or truth in general.)” William S. Hatcher, "Reflections on
317
Infallibility," Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 17:1-4, 2007, pages 85-100.
“The divine prophets have revealed and founded religion. They have laid down certain laws and heavenly
principles for the guidance of mankind. They have taught and promulgated the knowledge of God, established
praiseworthy ethical ideals and inculcated the highest standards of virtues in the human world. Gradually these
heavenly teachings and foundations of reality have been beclouded by human interpretations and dogmatic imitations
of ancestral beliefs. The essential realities which the prophets labored so hard to establish in human hearts and minds
while undergoing ordeals and suffering tortures of persecution, have now well nigh vanished.:”
318
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Bahá’í World Faith (‘Abdu’l-Bahá section)", 4.2
63
However, this guidance, without more,319 lacks the situational specificity that I believe, Socratic
knowledge requires.
I have already suggested that all possible “beables,” as emanations of the “Good,” must in
themselves be “good.” I have also indicated that some “beables” may situationally be more
“good” than other beables. Last, I have suggested that humans have some capacity (“Wisdom”)
to apprehend which “beable” is best.320 However, this “wisdom” is largely hidden from our
conscious minds by the veils of our corporeality. How might we gain cognitive access to the
knowledge, virtue, and wisdom that Socrates suggested we need for our choices to be “wise?”
How can we acquire access to this wisdom when most of us believe there is no reality beyond the
shadows flickering on the wall of our cave?321
In the Allegory of the Cave, it's important to remember that the prisoners do not free
themselves322. And, once released, they had to be compelled to arise and turn. They were made
to lift their eyes to the light. They were forced to endure the pain that reality’s light
occasioned.323 And, when given knowledge, they respond with disbelief.324 Instead of seeking
enlightenment, they had to be forced to ascend from the cave and be dragged into the light of the
sun.325 Their resistance was not quieted until they became acclimated to the brightness. Only
then was “reality” revealed to their sight.326 Intuitions might catalyze our awareness and guide
our climb through inchoate intimations. However, the question remains: What is it that can break
our chains and force us from our cave? Sadly, for most, catastrophes and suffering seem to be
required.327 In the context of time symmetry and destiny states, I will show how attractors can
319
See Consultation from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and Universal House of Justice,
published in Compilation of Compilations, Volume 1, 1991, Pages 93-110.
320
“[Plato’s] midwifery is a god-given mission, which has helped him to his understanding of god's essential
goodness, and this in the Digression has enabled him to uphold the absoluteness of values against any form of moral
relativism.” David Sedley, The Midwife of Platonism: Text and Subtext in Plato's Theaetetus, Oxford University Press, 2004, Page 117.
321
In the context of Itzhak Bars’ model (discussed in Part Two of this Paper) one aspect of Plato’s Parable of the
Cave has the potential of becoming amazingly prescient. Dr. Bars argues that our world of three spatial dimensions
and one time dimension is, in reality, the holographic projection of a six-dimensional universe comprised of four
spatial dimensions (4D) and two-time (2-T) dimensions. See: Itzhak Bars, “Extra Dimensions in Space and Time
322
Plat. Rep. 7.515c
323
Plat. Rep. 7.515c and 7.515d
324
Plat. Rep. 7.515d
325
Plat. Rep. 7.515e
326
Plat. Rep. 7.516a
327
“The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by suffering. The more the ground is ploughed the better
the seed will grow, the better the harvest will be. Just as the plough furrows the earth deeply, purifying it of weeds
and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the petty affairs of this worldly life until he arrives at a state of
complete detachment. His attitude in this world will be that of divine happiness. Man is, so to speak, unripe: the heat
of the fire of suffering will mature him. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Paris Talks Part Three, 57,
64
deliver the requisite compulsion and how synchronicity can confirm that the appropriate response
was made.
What is the destination that we should all be seeking? Where the fulfillment of human
potentials is the essence of morality and virtue, the following section will explore eudaimonia's
role as both destination and guide.
Eudaimonia
Plato described “Eudaimonia” as ‘The good composed of all goods; an ability which suffices
for living well; perfection in respect of virtue; resources sufficient for a living creature.”328 It
remains the Western standard of living well and the condition of human flourishing.329
“Eudaimonia for Socrates is the natural and inevitable goal of all human activity and, thus, the
good for all human beings. The English word ‘happiness’ is often used to translate the Greek
Alain Stephen, Philosophy for Busy People, Michael O’Mara Books Limited, 2019, Introduction, page 2.
In the Gorgias, Socrates “distinguishes two parts of the soul with two different types of desires.34 The part with
appetites is unruly and insatiable (493bl-3); if we simply cultivate the satisfaction of desire, we strengthen this nonrational and insatiable part and make ourselves incapable of rational planning. If desires differ in this way, any
concern for ourselves as continuing agents with long-term plans requires us to recognize the value of order in the soul
and to restrain the desires that should not be satisfied (503d5-504e5). To have this sort of order is to have one's
appetites (epithumiai) controlled (505B1-5).”
328
Terence Irwin, Plato's Ethics, Oxford University Press, 1995, Page 109.
“Hence if someone has devoted all his interest and energy to his appetites or to competition, all his beliefs must
necessarily be mortal ones, and altogether, so far as it is possible to become par excellence mortal, he will not fall the
least bit short of this, because it is the mortal part of himself that he has developed. But if someone has committed
himself entirely to learning and to true thoughts, and it is these among the things at his disposal that he has most
practiced, he must necessarily think immortal and divine thoughts, provided that he gets a grasp on truth. And so far
as it is possible for human nature to have a share in immortality, he will not in any degree lack this. And because he
always cultivates that which is divine, and has the divinity (daimōn) that lives with him well ordered (eu
kekosmēmenon), he will be preeminently happy (eudaimōn). (Plato, Timaeus, [90b] and [90c])
This is a vital Platonic passage on the nature of supreme happiness (eudaimonia). Every human being, indeed every
animal, possesses an immortal component, the divine rational soul, but that is not enough to make every human being
immortal. Godlikeness is a goal for a complex being, consisting of a body and three soul parts, to aspire to during an
incarnate existence. That is when each of us has to decide which of the soul parts to make the core of our being.
Those who pursue self-indulgent bodily pleasures have identified with the appetitive soul; and competitive types have
identified with the spirited part of the soul. In doing so, both types are locating their identity in something mortal and
transient. In complete contrast, those who have chosen an intellectual path are both fusing their real self with their
one divine and immortal component, and sharing the eternal thoughts that god himself thinks, thereby attaining as
great a degree of immortality as is available to the human race.”
David Sedley, Divinization, Chapter 5, Plato’s Symposium: A Critical Guide, Pierre Destrée and Zina Giannopoulou, Editors, Cambridge
University Press, 2017, Pages 100-101.
“The phrase ‘human flourishing’ is a creative translation of the ancient Greek word eudaimonia, which literally
means ‘having a good indwelling spirit.’” (Page 11) “Eudaimonia refers to both having a deep abiding sense of inner
well-being and living an objectively good life.” (Page 11) It reflects “Westerners’ implicit understanding of what it
means to live the best possible kind of life a human being can aspire to.” (Page 6)
329
Seth Zuihō Segall, Buddhism and Human Flourishing: A Modern Western Perspective, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2020, Pages 6 & 11
65
word eudaimonia. However, the simple statement that eudaimonia is happiness raises the
difficult question, ‘But what is happiness?’” 330
And how might “knowledge,” wisdom, “virtue,”331 and happiness (eudaimonia) be related to
each other? Predictably, there have been significant interpretative differences among the scholars
who have examined these questions:
“Understanding that Socrates takes virtue to be knowledge, and that there is an important
connection between knowledge and eudaimonia allows us to begin to sort out the different
possible relationships that have been proposed as Socrates’ delineation of the connection
between virtue and (for want of a better term) happiness. Some authors have argued that the
relationship between virtue and happiness is one of identity (Annas 2002; Kraut 1984: 211 n.
41; Rudebusch 1999: 123–8;). They claim that Socrates must think that virtue and happiness are
simply two different names for the same thing. This is known as the identity thesis. Others have
argued that, while virtue and happiness are not identical, virtue is sufficient for happiness (Irwin
1995: 58–60; Reeve 1989: 137; Vlastos 1991: 224–31). That is, they think that Socrates held the
view that whoever is virtuous is happy. 5 This is known as the sufficiency thesis.”332
“…For Plato, one has the best sort of knowledge only when one understands how things are
related to the form of the good. Relating things to the form of the good, Plato believes, involves
seeing what they are good for. This, in turn, suggests that Plato takes reality to be a teleological
system, and the best sort of knowledge involves a grasp of the teleological structure of
things.”333
“Eudaimonia for Socrates is the natural and inevitable goal of all human activity and, thus, the good for all human
beings. The English word ‘happiness’ is often used to translate the Greek word eudaimonia. However, the simple
statement that eudaimonia is happiness raises the difficult question ‘But what is happiness?’”
“Eudaimonisms of all stripes take eudaimonia to be the central value and supreme goal of a human life.
Philosophers other than Socrates have been described as eudaimonists and the term is probably most
uncontroversially associated with Aristotle, who begins his Nicomachean Ethics thus:
Every sort of expert knowledge and every inquiry, and similarly, every action and undertaking, seems to seek
some good. Because of that, people are right to affirm that the good is ‘that which all things seek’. (1094a1–3,
trans. Rowe)
And goes on to separate good ends into those of subordinate or controlling practices, ultimately identifying the
chief good that is the end of this hierarchy of goods with eudaimonia (1095a17–26).” Naomi Reshotko, Socratic
330
Eudaimonism, Chapter 7, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich and Nicholas D. Smith, Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013,
page 158
“Socrates famously believed that all virtue is knowledge (as argued in the Laches, 194d ff, especially199c, and in
the Protagoras, 332a-360d and 361b), and Plato never really disassociated himself from his master’s stance on the
issue. An echo of this understanding in the Theaetetus Digression is found in Plato’s exhortation to become as
similar to god as possible. That aim is achieved by becoming just and pious, through wisdom.” Viktor Ilievski, Traces of
331
the Platonic Theory of Evil in the Theaetetus, Journal of Ancient Philosophy, 11 (1):66-98 (2017), Footnote 35, page 77.
332
Naomi Reshotko, Socratic Eudaimonism, Chapter 7, The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, John Bussanich
and Nicholas D. Smith, Editors, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013, page 158
333
Gail Fine, Introduction, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford University Press,
1999, Page 23
“Plato also believes that the Form of the good is the formal and final cause of all knowable objects, not just of
the virtue Forms. We can best understand why if we turn for the moment to Plato’s puzzling claim that the Form of
the good is in some way greater or more important than other knowable objects (504c9-e3, 509b6-10), even
66
I have already introduced arguments and evidence that theological influences are scientifically
plausible.334 I have also suggested that information may be gleaned from the World Soul’s
information space. One question is: “how?” Another is: “what information?” And the third
question is: “How might this relate to living a fulfilling life?” Here, the transformational effects
of a personal experience will hopefully be illuminating. In a paper titled, The Valley of
Wonderment, I describe a series of vivid dreams which inspired and shaped the direction of my
spiritual and academic journeys. My first dream, and the one most relevant to this phase of our
discussion, went as follows:
In this dream, “…I was aware of myself as dead, looking back on my life, which appeared as
a time-lapse, stop-motion continuum captured on a life-long strip of holographic film. All of
the choices I had made, and I had not made, and the consequence of my actions, and my
though, unlike other Forms, it is not an ousia, a being (509b9-10). Usually, to call something an ousia is to accord
it special importance. One might then expect Plato to claim that the Form of the good is the most important ousia
of all; instead he claims that it is not an ousia at all.
The best explanation of this puzzling claim is that the Form of the good is not a distinct Form, but the
teleological structure of things; individual Forms are its parts, and particular sensible objects instantiate it.23 Just as
Aristotle insists that the form of a house, for example, is not another element alongside the bricks and mortar, but
the organization of the matter, so Plato views the Form of the good as the teleological organization of things. If we
so view the Form of the good, we can explain why Plato claims both that the Form of the good is more important
than other knowable objects, and also that it is not an ousia.
This view also helps to explain why Plato believes that full knowledge of a thing requires knowing its relation to
the Form of the good. Consider Forms first. To know a Form’s relation to the Form of the good is to know its place
in the teleological system of which it is a part. Each Form is good in that it has the function of playing a certain role
in that system; its goodness consists in its contribution to that structure, to the richness and harmonious ordering of
the structure, and its having that place in the system is part of what it is. Plato believes, then, that each Form is
essentially a good thing not morally good, but, simply, good in that it is part of what (page 229) each Form is that it
should have a certain place in the teleological structure of the world.
A similar account explains why knowledge of the Form of the good is also necessary for fully knowing sensible
objects. In the later Timaeus Plato explains that the sensible world was created by the demiurge (27dff.). Since the
demiurge is good, he wanted the world to be as good as possible; hence he tried to instantiate the Form of the good
(and so the teleological structure of Forms generally) as widely as possible. Fully to understand his creations, then,
we need to refer to the Form of the good which they instantiate.24”
Footnote 23 “For this view, see esp. H. W. B. Joseph, Knowledge and the Good in Plato’s Republic (Oxford,
1948), in particular ch. 3; J. C. B. Gosling, Plato (London, 1973), 5771; and T. H. Irwin, Plato’s Moral Theory,
225.”
Gail Fine, Knowledge and Belief in Republic 57, Chapter VIII, Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Gail Fine, Editor, Oxford University
Press, 1999, Pages 228-229.
Even so, please note that most of technical details have been largely relegated to Part Two and to the paper’s
Appendices and endnotes. See:
Third Appendix, titled “Introduction to Time Symmetric Quantum Mechanics (TSQM),”
The Fourth Appendix titled “Introduction to the Retrocausality of Strange Attractors;” and
Part Two of this paper “Is retrocausality possible?”
Endnote A: “Is Precognition Possible?”
See also: Matthew S. Leifer and Matthew F. Pusey, “Is a time-symmetric interpretation of quantum theory possible
without retrocausality?”, Royal Society, 21 June 2017.
For a technical video, see: Yakir Aharonov: Time Symmetric Reformulation of Quantum Mechanics
For a very easy-to-follow video, see: Jeff Tollaksen - What Does Quantum Theory Mean?
334
67
inactions, seemed both visually and experientially present. I was aware of individuals with
whom I had consciously and unconsciously interacted and the impact of these interactions on
our respective lives. The resulting joy and pain, both mine, and theirs, seemed palpable. I
understood at that moment that God need not judge me at death. I would judge myself. I
further knew that if my life had then ended, I could have spent eternity regretting, as in the
biblical parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the unbridgeable gulf between the choices I had
made and all which could have been.
Then, I turned. Before me were the lives I might yet lead; all of my choices
simultaneously existing as contingent potentials. Each choice was marked by new paths that
branched and branched again into great chains of alternate possibilities. And, at each juncture,
one of my options appeared different from the others -- it shimmered. With a certainty that
surpassed any I had ever known; I knew these shimmering paths represented God’s guidance.
They were the choices God would have me make -- the paths God would have me take. I also
knew that if, in submission to God’s will, I consistently chose these shimmering paths from the
multitude God had contingently ordained, I would, as a prodigal son, attain my inheritance, or at
least that portion I had not already squandered. Then I awoke.
… my journey has been joyous.
This dream suggests that there is an energy associated with the multitude of choices that we
face daily. Those options leading to a more flourishing (eudaimonic) life have an apprehendable
quality that choices mired in materialism lack. In this context, knowledgeable access to our
individualized “shimmering paths” is the “best sort of knowledge” that Socrates sought. In this
context, the essence of virtue (and “Eudaimonia”) is choosing wisely.
Socrates’ Spiritual Monitor
Socrates personified his access to this “best sort of knowledge” as a Spiritual335 or Prophetic
Monitor. During the first period of Plato’s writings, in the Apology, Socrates described his
“prophetic monitor” as an instructor of what he should not do or say. 336 In the second period,
Socrates describes his “great spirit” as follows:
[202e] “Interpreting and transporting human things to the gods and divine things to men;
entreaties and sacrifices from below, and ordinances and requitals from above: being midway
between, it makes each to supplement the other, so that the whole is combined in one. Through
it are conveyed all divination and priestcraft concerning sacrifice and ritual [203a] and
incantations, and all soothsaying and sorcery. God with man does not mingle: but the spiritual is
335
Plato, Theaetetus, [151a], perseus.tufts.edu
[40a] For hitherto the customary prophetic monitor always spoke to me very frequently and opposed me even in
very small matters, if I was going to do anything I should not. Plato, Apology, [40a], perseus.tufts.edu
336
68
the means of all society and converse of men with gods and of gods with men, whether waking
or asleep. Whosoever has skill in these affairs is a spiritual man…”337. Plato, Symposium
A footnote to this passage338 finally awakened me to another very personal connection.
Many, many years ago, I volunteered as a hospital chaplain. When I began, I knew very little of
what my chaplaincy might entail, but that was not what triggered my new awareness. As a
chaplain, I had prayed to be “as a hollow reed” through which the holy spirit might flow in
ministry to the patients I visited.339 When freed of self, the right words, unbidden, seem to come.
Had some daimonion helped me know what to say?
According to Xenophon, in the “Memorabilia,” it was “…notorious that Socrates claimed to
be guided by ‘the deity’…” and “…that the deity gave him a sign.” 340 Xenophon further
observed that many of Socrates’ “companions were counselled by him to do this or not to do that
in accordance with the warnings of the deity: and those who followed his advice prospered, and
those who rejected it had cause for regret.” 341 It seems clear that Socrates’ Daimonion was
associated with the “spiritual” and “supernatural.”342 So, what might a Daimonion be? Socrates’
Daimonion was, for him a ubiquitous “spiritual sign”343 -- a “divine sign.”344 It was a spiritual
337
Plato, Symposium, [202e] & [203a]
I will, in a future paper, attempt to draw a connection between Plato’s “Great Spirit” and the Islamic “’alam al
mithal” (Mundus Imaginalis).
338
The Daemon of Classical Greek Mythology personified the “mysterious agencies and influences by which the
gods communicate with mortals.” Plato, Symposium, [202e], footnote 1.
See also: Equanimous Rex, Socrates’ Daemon and Ancient Oracles, The Mysterious Byways of Reason, Modern
Mythology, July 1, 2017 and Socrates and the Daimonion, Plato's Myths, January 10, 2019
339
"One should remember it is not the individual who confirms another, but the Holy Spirit which confirms. Thus the
individual must become as a reed, through which the spirit may descend, and quicken souls.” (From a letter written
on behalf of the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, to an individual believer, November 24, 1956) )
340
Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 4. E. C. Marchant. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William
Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1923. 1.1.4
341
ibid 1.1.4. However, “…the unreliability of his inner voice led Socrates to claim that moral wisdom necessitated
admitting our moral ignorance and imperfection.” Patricia S. Churchland, Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition, W. W. Norton
& Company, 2019, eBook.
“Socrates often refers to ‘the supernatural sign’, his daimonion, as preventing him from taking a course of action
he was proposing (see Apology 40a, 40c).” John Mc Dowell with an Introduction and Notes by Lesley Brown, Plato, Theaetetus,
342
Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 2014, Notes to pages 14–17, Page 115
Socrates claimed to possess a daimonion, or spiritual monitor, which guided his actions. He did not, so far as we
know, attribute a distinct personality to this inner voice, but his belief in it caused him to be accused of introducing
"new spiritual beings" or divinities and of disbelieving in the gods of the state, although he was apparently
punctilious in religious observances. Harold North Fowler, with an introduction by W. R. M. Lamb, Plato: Euthyphro Apology Crito
Phaedo Phaedrus, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2005, page 66
[40a] “For hitherto the customary prophetic monitor always spoke to me very frequently and opposed me even in
very small matters, if I was going to do anything I should not.” Plato, Apology, [40a], perseus.tufts.edu
343
“my wonted spiritual sign” Plato, Euthydemus [272e]; “accustomed spiritual sign” Plato, Theages [129b]
344
“For hitherto the customary prophetic monitor always spoke to me very frequently and opposed me even in very
small matters, if I was going to do anything I should not; but now, as you yourselves see, this thing which might be
69
voice which, “by a divine dispensation,” accompanied Socrates from his childhood,”345 and which
served as Socrates “divine346 and “prophetic monitor.”347 Socrates referred to it as a “divine and
spiritual” … “voice that comes to me,”348 the seeing and prophetic logos of the soul,349 and the
cause of a sweet and blessed possession.350 It was “nothing human,”351 but instead the “voice of
God” … “made manifest,”352 divining beneficial outcomes353 as a guide to living a eudaimonic
life.354 This guidance came to Socrates while he was awake and in his dreams.355 His guidance
also came through his insights into beauty, the good, and other absolutes.356 Socrates appears to
have associated his spiritual guide with a “state” of mind and the human soul. For example, in the
Timaeus, Plato writes:
[90a] And as regards the most lordly kind of our soul, we must conceive of it in this wise: we
declare that God has given to each of us, as his daemon,1 that kind of soul which is housed in
the top of our body and which raises us—seeing that we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant
up from earth towards our kindred in the heaven. And herein we speak most truly; for it is by
thought, and is generally considered, the greatest of evils has come upon me; but the divine sign did not oppose me.”
Plato, Apology 40a; “…that occurs to you with prayers and sacrifices and anything else that the seers may indicate.”
Plato, Theages [131a]; “the sweetness and blessedness of this possession” Republic [6.496c].
345
Plato, Theages [128d]
346
Plato, Euthyphro [3b] Euthyphro of Prospalta was an ancient Athenian religious prophet.
347
“spoke to me very frequently and opposed me even in very small matters” Plato, Apology [40a]
348
Plato, Apology [31d]
349
“…it always holds me back from something I am about to do—and I thought I heard a voice from it which
forbade my going away before clearing my conscience, as if I had committed some sin against deity. Now I am a
seer, not a very good one, but, as the bad writers say, good enough for my own purposes; so now I understand my
error. How prophetic the soul is, my friend! For all along, while I was speaking my discourse, something troubled
me…” Plato, Phaedrus [242c]
Note that Socrates’ reference to prophesy requires access to information that is transcendental to the human sensory
experience. “…logos expresses the outcome of the soul’s deliberation with itself.” Zina Giannopoulou, Plato’s Theaetetus as
a Second Apology, Oxford University Press, 201, Page 167
350
Plato, Republic [6.496c]
Plato, Alcibiades 1 [103a]
352
Xenophon, Apology [12], Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 4. Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1979.
353
“Truly, Socrates, it does appear that the gods devote much care to man.”
“Yet again, in so far as we are powerless of ourselves to foresee what is expedient for the future,1 the gods lend us
their aid, revealing the issues by divination to inquirers, and teaching them how to obtain the best results.”
Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.3.12,
“…what is hidden from mortals we should try to find out from the gods by divination: for to him that is in their grace
the gods grant a sign.” Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.1.9,
Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 4. E. C. Marchant. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William
Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1923.
354
“Do you not know that I would refuse to concede that any man has lived a better life than I have up to now?”
Xenophon, Apology [4] and [5]; Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 4. Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1979.
355
Plato, Crito [44a] & [44b]; Plato, Phaedo [60e], [61a] & [61b]
See also: Jon Trevathan, In the Valley of Wonderment — Dreams
356
Plato, Cratylus [439c]
351
70
suspending our head and root from that region whence the substance of our soul first came that
the Divine Power [90b] keeps upright our whole body.357
This passage signifies that there is some attribute of “soul” that every human being possesses,
and that is capable of speaking to us “most truly. Let’s see how Socratic scholars have interpreted
Socrates’ remarkable claim.
In 1989, four Socratic scholars: Gregory Vlastos, Thomas C. Brickhouse, Mark L. McPherran,
and Nicholas D. Smith, debated “whether or not Socrates considered his daimonion (his negative
sign) was a source of knowledge.” Although McPherran, Brickhouse, and Smith affirmed the
proposition that “[t]here are moral truths to which Socrates has direct and certain access through
the daimonion,” Brickhouse, Smith, and Vlastos concluded that Socrates’ “daimonion was not a
source of the knowledge Socrates seeks.”358 Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith
confirmed that Socrates’ daimonion intervened when Socrates was “about to do something
wrong” and surmised that Socrates’ daimonion was “able to trump reason.”359 Still, they all
dismissed the daimonion’s predictive “knowledge.” I would argue that these objections to the
daimonion’s apparent precognition were rooted in their materialist assumptions.360 To the
philosopher C. D. C. Reeve, Socrates' daimonion was human reason; but unbound by physical
357
Plato, Timaeus, [90a] & [90b], perseus.tufts.edu. (1, i.e., “genius” or “guardian-angel”; Cf. Laws732 C, 877 A.)
"The daemons or divine spirits had their existence and activity “betwixt mortal and immortal,” and they served as
interpreters and conveyors of men's prayers and offerings to the gods, and of the god's behests and requitals to men
(Plato, Sympos. 202 D). Good mortals might become daemons after death (Eurip.Alc. 1003; Plato, Cratyl. 398 B;
Lucian, De morte Peregr. 36), and such as they were charged with the guidance and care of mankind
(Plato, Laws 713 D; Plutarch, De genio Socr. 588 C) Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by W.R.M. Lamb, Footnote
1, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 192.
358
Gregory Vlastos, Thomas C. Brickhouse, Mark L. McPherran, and Nicholas D. Smith; Socrates and His
Daimonion: Correspondence among the Authors, Chapter 10, Reason and Religion in Socratic Philosophy, Nicholas
D. Smith and Paul B. Woodruff, Editors, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000, Page 177.
359
“Socrates says his daimonion always operates in such a way as to oppose him when he is about to do something
wrong, never in such a way as to guide him forward.
So the daimonion does not oppose Socrates when he merely considers courses of action; rather, it opposes him
when he is about to take action. This certainly suggests that the opposition of the daimonion comes when Socrates'
own deliberations are complete (if he did deliberate), and have aimed him at a course of action that turns out to be in
some way or ways wrong or misguided. When Socrates, upon receiving his daimonion's opposition, desists from the
action in question — and not once do we find Socrates failing to desist after such opposition—he does so in spite of
whatever reasons he may have had for taking the action in the first place, reasons which led him to be on the verge of
taking the action, if only his daimonion had not intervened. This can be explained only if Socrates' daimonion is able
to trump reason after all.” Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith, Socrates' Gods and the Daimonion, Chapter 5, Reason and
Religion in Socratic Philosophy, Nicholas D. Smith and Paul B. Woodruff, Editors, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000, Pages 82-83
“The last thing I would want to impute to Socrates is the belief that the prognosticating rigmaroles by which these
gentlemen foretell the future include "divinely certified truths." This is my own understanding of the matter: When
they proceed by craft they could only be working with empirical predictive formulae. When they proceed by
enthousiasmos then "they may be saying many admirable and true things, but have no knowledge of what they are
saying." The question of their possessing divinely certified truths would not arise in either case.” Gregory Vlastos,
360
Thomas C. Brickhouse, Mark L. McPherran, and Nicholas D. Smith; Socrates and His Daimonion: Correspondence among the Authors, Chapter
10, Reason and Religion in Socratic Philosophy, Nicholas D. Smith and Paul B. Woodruff, Editors, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000, Page 180.
71
limitations. Reeve explained Socrates’ supernatural references to his daimonion by calling human
reason “a divine thing” and an intermediary “between the animal that we are and the god that we
might be.”361 Human reason, however, cannot explain the daimonion’s accurate predictive
warnings.362 If not “reason,” what?
According to Peter Kondrla and Roman Králik, Socrates’ daimonion was a personification of
the human conscience.
“Socrates’ conception of daimonion is closest to our understanding of conscience. In this case,
we can no longer speak only about consequent, but also antecedent conscience. It appears as an
inner voice, which in its nature is logical and judgemental. It works not only after, but also
before performing an act. For this reason, man is able to anticipate and comprehend
consequences. One is, therefore, able to cease his action before committing any evil. Socrates’
concept of conscience thus integrates all three theological-ethical components of conscience:
antecedent conscience, concomitant, and consequent conscience.”363
This view, however, seems to reduce Socrates’ daimonion to a Jimmy Cricket-like
personification. As noted by John Uebersax:
“It’s sometimes said that Socrates’ daimonion was ‘merely’ human conscience. But that only
defines one perplexing term with another. For, in truth, we have little scientific understanding
of what conscience is; and ordinary experience alone is enough to suggest that it encompasses
different psychological processes and experiences.”364
Note that Vlastos, Brickhouse, McPherran, and Smith were unanimous in rejecting a “Dual
Epistemology” where “Socrates has two independent ways of grounding such knowledge as he
has—fallibly, by elenchus (his method of question and answer), and with certainty, by divine
authority.”365 The assessment of these scholars, and many others, variously reflect the
materialistic worldview that precognition is impossible.366 However, given a cosmology where
According to C. D. C. Reeve: “The daimonion is called daimonion, a divine thing, because human reason is a
divine thing, a thing intermediary (as a daimon is intermediary) between the animal that we are and the god that we
might be.” C. D. C. Reeve, Socrates the Apollonian?, Chapter 2, Reason and Religion in Socratic Philosophy, Nicholas D. Smith and Paul B.
361
Woodruff, Editors, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000, Page 33
“Socrates as we know him both lived and went to his death in the conviction that the moral problem: `What am I
to do?' cannot be adequately answered without an antecedent knowledge of objective standards of value. In this he
has not only his contemporaries the Sophists but the whole tradition of British empiricism against him.”
362
W. K. C. Guthrie, Socrates, Cambridge University Press, 1971, Page 8
”Peter Kondrla and Roman Králik, Authentic Being and Moral Conscience, European Journal of Science and
Theology, August 2016, Vol.12, No.4, page 15
364
“John Uebersax, Plato's Myths, Socrates and the Daimonion, 2006
365
Gregory Vlastos, Thomas C. Brickhouse, Mark L. McPherran, and Nicholas D. Smith; Socrates and His
Daimonion: Correspondence among the Authors, Chapter 10, Reason and Religion in Socratic Philosophy, Nicholas
D. Smith and Paul B. Woodruff, Editors, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000, Page 177.
366
For evidence that precognition is “Real”, see Endnote A.
363
72
future outcomes can propagate retrocausal attractors,367 “knowledge” that is “antecedent” and
“dualistic” can no longer be ridiculed or ignored. Only then can Socrates’ descriptions of his
Daimonion be given the serious consideration his dialogues deserve.
Noēsis as Aisthēsis368
Greek has only one word, “aisthēsis,”369 for both “sensation” and “perception.” It is my belief
that Socrates’ “aisthēsis” transcends the physical senses370 to include access to the World Soul’s
information and the emanative logos of the soul.371 I am not alone in making this suggestion.
Jason G. Rheins, in his book, The Intelligible Creator-God and the Intelligent Soul of the
Cosmos…” suggests:
“[F]or Plato, like most Greek philosophers, aisthēsis is said to occur ‘in’ souls, even though
perceivable bodies are not souls (though they might possess them) and souls definitely are not
perceptible. Souls, the loci of perception, are invisible, imperishable, self-moved, etc. Bodies,
the objects of perception, are visible, perishable, moved from without, etc. In other words, the
367
See the Fourth Appendix.
For Plato, noēsis was “the highest type of knowledge, beyond even mathematical knowledge. The wisdom
obtained only by those who understand the nature, or forms, of knowledge, justice, or goodness.” “Plato’s
otherworldly, formal, and a priori conception of true knowledge.” “Apprehension of the forms is knowledge
(*noēsis).” “At the bottom is the world of images, known only by *eikasia. (The shadows of copies of things.)
Objects of sense are known by pistis or opinion; mathematical and scientific objects by *dianoia or reasoning; and at
the summit the *forms are known by *noēsis.” Simon Blackburn, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, 3rd Edition, 2016, Oxford
368
University Press epub
(e.g., “percipiendum (aisthēton)” and especially the “cogenerated perception (aisthēsis).”
“Just as we cannot deny the evidence of our senses –cannot make ourselves believe that something is blue when
our eyes tell us that it is red – so the Platonic philosopher cannot make himself doubt what he sees when he reaches
the top of Plato’s divided line. But for the poets’ logical argumentation – conformity to the rules of deductive validity
– is just one rhetorical technique among others. Nietzsche and Wittgenstein both suggest substituting Emerson’s
metaphor of endlessly expanding circles for Plato’s metaphor of ascent to the indubitable.
When he used the figure of the divided line to symbolize the ascent from opinion to knowledge, and when he used
the allegory of the cave for the same purpose, Plato was implicitly recognizing that the only way to escape from
redescription was to attain a kind of knowledge that was not discursive – a kind that did not rely on choice of a
particular linguistic formulation. To reach truth that one cannot be argued out of is to escape from the linguistically
expressible to the ineffable. Only the ineffable – what is not describable at all – cannot be described differently.”
369
370
Richard Rorty, Philosophy as Cultural Politics, Philosophical Papers, Volume 4, Cambridge University Press, 2007, Page 118.
“…at 157d7–9, Socrates and Theaetetus speak in a way which takes it for granted that ‘good’ and ‘beautiful’ are
by now among the predicates that the Protagorean theory caters for. The idea is that our ‘perceptions’ of the world are
not limited to the registering of colours, sounds, etc., but include all the affective and evaluative states that
accompany our sensory interaction with the world, and along with the evaluative predicates that we attach to things.”
371
David Sedley, The Midwife of Platonism: Text and Subtext in Plato's Theaetetus, Oxford University Press, 2004, Page 53
“The logos of the soul is the true, rational account of the soul, but it can also be understood as the account given by
the soul. This points up the paradox that the soul is here talking about itself. The regresses of reflexivity now intrude.
The soul must talk about itself and therefore about its own talk about itself, and so on. The story of the soul is an
unlimitedly self-increasing one.” Edward Hussey, Heraclitus, Chapter 5, The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy, A. A.
Long, Editor, Cambridge Companions Online, Cambridge University Press, 2006, Page 105.
73
process and organ of representing an object of cognition need not be and, in fact, are not
metaphysically of a kind with those objects that they represent.” 372
Andrea Tschemplik, in her book, “Knowledge and Self-Knowledge in Plato’s Theaetetus,”
goes further to link this perception to the substance of our being.”373 In this context, the
perception that is “always of my being” 374 would be the aisthēsis375 of sōphrosynē.376
Sophrosyne was central to Plato’s ethical theory defining the choices required to experience a
eudemonic life. In other words, humans have access to knowledge that can serve as an objective
guide to the best way to live. According to Dr. Tschemplik:
“…because Socrates devises the conditions for a type of knowledge that cannot be achieved
by experience—namely, the “most perfect and complete knowledge” (teleōtaton epistēmēn,
206c4). The criterion of completeness, which is presumably characteristic of the whole, is now
laid at the feet of logos. With this view of the whole and its relation to logos in mind, Socrates
steers the discussion to an examination of the different meanings (sēmainein, 206c7) of logos to
see if any one of them could fulfill the requirements of complete knowledge.”377
Although Socrates’ dialogue ended without a satisfactory resolution (in aporia),378 I have
suggested the "World Soul’s information matrix contains the “complete knowledge” that Socrates
was seeking. I have also indicated that the human soul participates in the logos of the World Soul
and is, itself, the emanative source of an individualized logos. In this context, the aisthēsis of
sophrosyne required for true knowledge requires access to our individualized logos (i.e., “Know
Thyself”). Socrates described this knowledge as being above the “dividing line,” accessible for
Jason G. Rheins, The Intelligible Creator-God and the Intelligent Soul of the Cosmos in Plato’s Theology and
Metaphysics, (2010). Publicly accessible Penn Dissertations. Paper 184. Page 212
373
“The Greek tēs gar emēs ousias aei estin (of the substance we are) contains neither “for” nor “part,” but literally
says that “for it (perception) is always of my being.”
372
Andrea Tschemplik, Knowledge and Self-Knowledge in Plato’s Theaetetus, Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Lanham,
MD, 2008, page 83.
This reference to “being” further supports my contention that the Socratic Daimonion represents perceptible
promptings of the “soul” to provide guidance for our lives. Jason G. Rheins, The Intelligible Creator-God and the Intelligent Soul
374
of the Cosmos in Plato’s Theology and Metaphysics, University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons, 8-13-2010, page 212.
I am using the term “aisthēsis” to describe a supra-cognitive capacity of the soul (and mind as the soul’s
emanative agent).
376
Here I am using the term “sophrosyne” in the context of a harmonious moderation. Although the discussion of
knowledge (as Sophrosyne) in Plato’s Charmides failed to produce a satisfactory answer (ended in aporia), I believe
Plato's references to music and harmonics in the Republic (430e−432a, 442c) and in the Phaedrus (237c−238e) are
suggestive of the vibratory ethics model I am proposing (and will be the subject of a future paper.)
377
Plato, quoted and translated by Andrea Tschemplik, Knowledge and Self-Knowledge in Plato’s Theaetetus,
Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Lanham, MD, 2008, page 45
378
"So it would seem, Theaetetus, that knowledge is neither perception, nor true belief, nor an account added to true
belief' (Theaetetus 201 b).
375
74
some through directed inquiry.379 However, for nearly everyone else, access to their
individualized logos would appear to be through their intuitions. At this juncture, we may be able
to accept the claim that Socrates had “…a fine intuition….”380 But what about the rest of us?
According to Socrates, nearly everyone has access to an intuitive moral compass” 381 I agree.
However, many neuroscientists and moral philosophers would vehemently reject this position.
Therefore, before discussing “Moral Intuitions,” I will need to introduce how the human “Mind”
might gain access to this intuitive information.
Mind
I previously suggested that the human “mind” is an attribute of the human “soul.” I also
proposed that the human mind could increasingly access the World Soul’s conscious-like
transcendence as the actor's spiritual, meditative, and reflective capacities were nurtured and
matured.382 However, these descriptions failed to adequately describe the interrelationships
“The propaedeutic sciences have the important benefit of turning the mind from visible things to intelligibles.
They bring us this benefit in part by employing hypotheses, including definitions, which serve to define on a
provisional basis the objects of these sciences. Such hypotheses provide the starting points for the activity of the
dialectician, who is capable of reviewing these hypotheses and drawing out for further study the concepts employed
in these hypotheses.
The activities of seeing and knowing thus have their highest purpose in the understanding of a single reality, the
unhypothetical first principle. This provides a fuller explanation of the sense in which the Divided Line is an image of
the Form of the Good. All the contents of the Line are oriented toward a single end, the unhypothetical first principle.
All the contents of the Line, both the individual entities distributed into the different sections and the states associated
with these entities, are tightly organized in relation to each other. In each of the lower sections, the objects associated
with that section are used as images for the sake of gaining insight into the objects associated with the higher
sections. The different perceptual and cognitive powers described in the line are fulfilled ultimately by the
contributions they make to understanding the unhypothetical first principle. The pervasive organization of the Line
into sections oriented toward a single end provides an image of the influence of the Good Itself on our world.
379
Andrew Payne, The Teleology of Action in Plato’s Republic, Oxford University Press, 2017, Page 194.
The foregoing notwithstanding, it is my belief that the spiritually adept will have direct “supernatural” access to
information that is both above and below Socrates’ dividing line.
380
Plat. Crat. 411b
381
“For the majority of men, even though they be far removed from real goodness themselves, are not equally
lacking in the power of judging whether others are bad or good; and even in the wicked there resides a divine and
correct intuition,2 whereby a vast number even of the extremely wicked distinguish aright, in their speech and
opinions, between the better men and the worse.” Plat. Laws 12.950b - 12.950c
382
“Apperception,” requires that our intuitions be assimilated with the body of ideas and experiences we already
possess. In the Theaetetus, Socrates described the individual’s maturing interactions within “Receptacle” as follows:
Socrates : We must say that when we’re children this receptacle is empty, and in place of the birds, we must
think of pieces of knowledge. * Whatever piece of knowledge someone comes to possess and shuts up in his
enclosure, we must say he has come to know or discovered the thing of which that’s the knowledge; and that that’s
what knowing is. Plato, Theaetetus 197e.
One interpretation is that the receptacle in relation to a child is empty and presumably would become filled as the
individual matured. Scholars have questioned how this passage can be reconciled with Plato’s “Theory of
75
between the human mind and the soul to which the mind is connected.383 Here, I would like to
start with an analogy that Marsilio Ficino384 (1433-1499) included in his seminal work,
“Theologia Platonica” [Platonic Theology]:
“Your mind is to your soul what your eye is to your body. Your mind is the eye of your soul
Similarly, the light of truth bears the same relationship to the eye of your soul as the light of the
Sun to your bodily eye. Your bodily eye is not itself light but has the power to perceive light; so
too your mind, the soul's eye, is not itself the truth though it can perceive the truth. Your mind
seeks the truth; but the truth does not seek itself, nor does the truth admit the false by which
your mind is often deceived.
Imagine your eye growing so that it fills your whole body, and, when every species of limb
has disappeared, that the universal body is a single eye. If this ampler eye sees something, it will
still see nothing other than the same light of the Sun, which it saw when it was confined [to the
eye-socket]. But it will receive the same light in greater abundance. In the light everywhere it
will see the colors of bodies and see them all together at a single gaze. It will not glance from
side to side in order to see, but remaining motionless it will regard everything equally. The
light, however, will still be one thing, the eye another. If vision was put in us in order to
comprehend light, then vision is one thing, light another. Light has no need of vision, as light
itself has no more light to receive. Now imagine that your mind has such power over your soul
that with the rest of the parts of the soul effaced, those concerned with imagination, sense and
generation, your whole soul is one mind alone. This remaining sole, uncontaminated mind will
be angel. This mind, I say, in all its amplitude will look upon the same truth as the mind did
when it was confined, but it will receive truth in greater abundance, and in truth will observe all
true things at a single gaze (to put it Platonically), and not hunt now for one thing, now for
another.”385
“The proper characteristic of mind is a certain striving for understanding. …[M]ind is trying
to improve itself. It follows then that it is not itself the good. For the good cannot improve. In
understanding, the mind drinks deep of goodness, but it drinks from a source other than itself.
For were it to have this source within, it would not need to strive for it in order to accomplish its
activity. The source from which it quaffs goodness is the good itself, which exists above it,
since it can pour down the liquor of its perfection into the mind. We seek wisdom and mind
only through the impulse of reason, but we seek the good even before any incitement of the
Recollections.” (Meno 80–6 and Phaedo 73–7 I believe that both passages are references to the World Soul’s
information space. In this context, the processes of “remembering” would refer to every human's intuitive access to
this information. In other words, the translation of inchoate intuitions into knowledge requires a maturation and
growth of experiences that children do not yet have.
383
“…we have three aspects of our humanness, so to speak, a body, a mind and an immortal identity— soul or
spirit. We believe the mind forms a link between the soul and the body, and the two interact on each other.” Shoghi
Effendi, "Uncompiled Published Letters"
384
Marsilio Ficino was largely responsible for the revival of Plato during the Renaissance.
385
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology], Volume I, Book 1 Chapter VI, English
translation by Michael J.B. Allen with John Warden; Latin text edited by James Hankins with William Bowen,
Harvard University Press, 2001, Pages 83.
76
reason. Our every appetite is always for the good, not always for mind. We desire
understanding for the sake of the good and not vice versa. Nature then values the good more
highly than mind, since it draws us towards the good earlier, more frequently and more
strongly.”386
As Marsilio Ficino suggested,387 the mosaic we are assembling requires the “Good” to “pour
down the liquor of its perfection into the mind”?388 The obvious next question is, “How?”
I have repeatedly described the World Soul as an “information matrix” and suggested that this
information is vibrationally expressed. The recursive self-referential processes described by
Process Physics389 demonstrates how this “information” could self-organize into a neural-like
network that is mind-like.390 From these foundations, I hypothesized that, at least, a protoconsciousness was emergent within the Socratic “World Soul” (before the “Big Bang” occasioned
our universe into being). And that human consciousness is drawn from and participates in this
cosmic consciousness.391 We can now introduce an answer to the question: “How might the
World Soul’s (and human soul’s) oscillatory embodied information connect to the human brain?”
First, consistent with physicist David Bohm’s claim that matter is frozen light,392 it could be
argued that the “Mind” – “Body” connection is intrinsic. For example, as transcendent oscillatory
386
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Theologia Platonica [Platonic theology], Volume I, Book 1 Chapter VI, English
translation by Michael J.B. Allen with John Warden; Latin text edited by James Hankins with William Bowen,
Harvard University Press, 2001, Page 89.
387
“It must be admitted that when we press the analogy between symbol and symbolized, difficulties appear.
Knowledge and truth apparently correspond with sight and light; but truth can hardly mediate between knowledge
and reality as light is conceived to mediate between sight and colour. Nor does Plato's conception of the function of
light as an intermediary bear investigation. But the analogy serves very well, nevertheless, to indicate to us the part
which the Good plays in the universe and in our knowledge of it.” H. W. B. Joseph, Knowledge And The Good In Plato's
Republic, (Reprint of the 1948 Oxford University Press edition), Greenwood Press, Publishers, 1981, Page 16.
388
Ibid (from preceding quotation).
Although previously mentioned, see Part Two of this paper for a more thorough introduction to process physics
and Whitehead’s process philosophy.
390
“…the successes of process physics imply that we should give consideration to its foundational assumptions, and
one is that reality is a non-local experiential information system. One way to interpret this is that reality has a
primitive form of self-awareness. In increasingly more complex systems such as biological systems this selfawareness may manifest as consciousness.” Reginald T. Cahill, PROCESS PHYSICS, Process Studies Supplement, 2003, Issue 5, Page
389
114.
See Part Two for a more thorough introduction to Process physics and Whitehead’s process philosophy.
391
In my forthcoming Meditations on Consciousness update, I will explore how humanity might be continuing
participants in process physics’ recursive self-referential processes contributing to human consciousness’
development and maturation. Here, I will argue that the progressive revelations of “God’s” Prophets/Manifestations
transduce the world soul’s centripetal forces into oscillatory forms which the generality of humanity may, at least,
intuitively apprehend.
392
According to the Physicist, David Bohm:
“…matter … is condensed or frozen light. Light is not merely electromagnetic waves but in a sense other kinds
of waves that go at that speed. Therefore, all matter is a condensation of light into patterns moving back and forth
at average speeds which are less than the speed of light. Even Einstein had some hint of that idea. You could say
that when we come to light, we are coming to the fundamental activity in which existence has its ground, or at least
77
patterns (both mental and Divine) condense, we should expect to discover numerous neuronal
structures and functions are probabilistically influenced. The forthcoming update to my 2016
Meditations on Consciousness” paper will detail the current evidence for these connections.
However, for now, the following will need to suffice:
Again, consistent with David Bohm’s claim that matter is “frozen light,” a few neuroscientists
believe “light” can provide the mind-body connection that cosmopsychism requires.393 Others
seek to identify quantum effects within biological systems394 and are working to relate these
discoveries to consciousness’ “hard problem.”395 Because the seat of consciousness transcends
the physical brain, the computational limitations of microtubules and other candidate brain
processes and structures would not be fatal to the model my forthcoming paper will explore.
Instead, I will argue that there is a multitude of candidate pathways. Additionally, “It has long
been appreciated that the brain is oscillatory.”396 In this context, “cross-frequency coupling”397
coming close to it.”
Renee Weber, Dialogues with Scientists and Sages: The Search for Unity, [Renee Weber and David Bohm discuss
the implicate order and the super-implicate order] Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986, Page 45 Also: Renee Weber and David Bohm
Discuss the Concept of Light, General Science Journal, Physics Forum
“The novel cosmopsychist paradigm elegantly circumvents the hard problem that arises in prevailing materialist
approaches because there are ‘principled reasons to doubt that phenomenal facts are necessitated by purely structural
(or functional or organizational) facts’ (Shani and Keppler, 2018, 406). The crucial difference is that in our approach
‘the relevant structural facts … are tasked not with the generation of experience per se but, rather, with its modulation
and restricted expression’ (Shani and Keppler, 2018, 406), leading to well-defined distinctive features between
conscious and non-conscious systems as well as conscious and unconscious brain processes. In this context, it should
be highlighted that the proposed causal mechanism underlying phenomenal states is predicted to be accompanied by a
concomitant phenomenon, namely the emission of characteristic photon pulses (Keppler, 2016, 2018b), paving the
way for a new research strategy that aims at corroborating the hypotheses formulated in this paper and eventually
ends in the systematic “derivation of psychophysical mapping rules between particular qualia and particular sets of
phase-locked ZPF modes” (Shani and Keppler, 2018, 407).”
393
Joachim Keppler and Itay Shani, Cosmopsychism and Consciousness Research: A Fresh View on the Causal Mechanisms Underlying
Phenomenal States, Frontiers in Psychology, 05 March 2020.
394
Graham R. Fleming, Gregory D. Scholes, Yuan-Chung Cheng, Quantum effects in biology, 22nd Solvay
Conference on Chemistry, Procedia Chemistry 3 (2011) 38–57, Elsevier Ltd., 2011.
395
“…Quantum effects provide the basis for the structure and chemical properties of molecules and they are
ubiquitous…” Peter Jedlicka, Revisiting the Quantum Brain Hypothesis: Toward Quantum (Neuro)biology?, Frontiers in Molecular
Neuroscience, Volume 10, 07 November 2017.
Most neuroscientists, however, see these effects within the brain as relatively “trivial.” However, because of the
top-down influences on these processes in the model I have proposed, I will argue that the cumulative effect is
entirely adequate for the human brain to serve as a semi-autonomous receiver/transmitter which links the brain to the
actor’s immaterial mind. Additionally, it has been argued that computations in cellular structures known as microtubules have an effect on the firing of neurons and, by extension, consciousness.
See Generally: Betony Adams and Francesco Petruccion “The light of the mind,” 2021 Phys. World 34 (1) 24
Also: Do quantum effects play a role in consciousness?
396
Justin Riddle, Fractal Cognitive Triad: The Theoretical Connection Between Subjective Experience And Neural
Oscillations, Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, vol. 11, no. 2, 2015
397
“Cross-frequency coupling is the coordination of multiple oscillations at different frequencies. One application of
cross-frequency coupling is the ability for low-frequency oscillations in prefrontal cortex to couple to higher
frequency oscillations in perceptual or motor systems in cognitive control (Canolty and Knight, 2010; Helfrich, 2017;
Riddle, 2020; Riddle et al., 2021). High-frequency oscillations are observed to originate in local circuits whereas lowfrequency oscillations have been found to coordinate neural populations at the larger scale of brain networks (Von
78
could selectively cause synchronicity and frequency modulation398 between the components and
processes within the physical brain399 and the soul’s oscillations. Once the “Mind” has been freed
from its boney cave, I will then explore how Justin Riddle’s and Jonathan Schooler’s “Nested
Observer Windows (NOW) Model”400 plausibly provides a frequency-based hierarchy of
opportunities for the human mind to access the Soul’s transcendence. Unfortunately, for most of
Stein and Sarnthein, 2000). The relationship between scale and frequency is thought to arise from anatomical
constraints such as increased conduction delay between distal regions and by hierarchical organization where circuit
activity is summated over time as coherent regional activity (Nunez, 2000). Thus, coupling between low and high
frequencies may provide a mechanism whereby different spatiotemporal scales are orchestrated.”
Justin Riddle and Flavio Frohlich, Targeting neural oscillations with transcranial alternating current stimulation, Brain Research, 1765 (2021)
147491, Elsevier B.V., 20 April 2021
“Brain areas need to constantly transfer information among themselves to put in place complex behavioral
responses to the environment (Bressler, 1995). Functional connectivity is defined as the presence of statistical
dependencies between the time-series representing the activity of brain regions (Friston, 1994; Buzsáki and
Draguhn, 2004). A variety of mechanisms through which this communication occurs are summarized in Jensen and
Colgin (2007), involving only the phase (Tass et al., 1998) or also amplitude (Canolty et al., 2006). Each of these
phenomena would underlie a specific neuro-physiological mechanism (for a review, see Engel et al., 2013). In the
literature, a wide number of metrics have been proposed to detect each of these kinds of communication (Le Van
Quyen and Bragin, 2007; Tort et al., 2010). … Cross-frequency coupling (CFC) is the interaction occurring between
neuronal populations operating at different frequencies. It has been postulated that this form of synchronization could
represent a suitable option to allow large-scale synchronizations across distant areas in the brain (Varela et al., 2001;
Canolty and Knight, 2010), yielding the integration of distributed information (Jirsa and Müller, 2013). Moreover,
definite (both frequency and spatial) patterns of CFC have been shown to be the neuro-physiological substrate
underlying the recruitment of areas needed for the execution of tasks such as specific kinds of learning (Schack and
Weiss, 2005; Tort et al., 2009; Kendrick et al., 2011), segregation of interfering inputs (Colgin et al., 2009),
perception (Doesburg et al., 2009; Siebenhühner et al., 2016), encoding of reward (Cohen et al., 2009) or sensory
processing (Seymour et al., 2017). In human brain activity, two main forms of cross-frequency coupling have been
described so far. Firstly, the phase of slow oscillations can modulate the amplitude of faster activity (Vanhatalo et
al., 2004; Palva et al., 2005). Furthermore, phase-phase synchronization has also been described, whereby the phases
of “n” cycles of a signal are locked to “m” phase cycles of another signal (Tass et al., 1998). This kind of crossfrequency communication, classically defined as n:m synchronization, has been observed previously in human brain
data (Nikulin and Brismar, 2006) and is the only mechanism capable of supporting CFC at high temporal resolution
(Fell and Axmacher, 2011).”
398
Pierpaolo Sorrentino, Michele Ambrosanio, Rosaria Rucco, Joana Cabral, Leonardo L. Gollo, Michael Breakspear, and Fabio Baselice, Detection
of Cross-Frequency Coupling Between Brain Areas: An Extension of Phase Linearity Measurement, Front Neurosci. 16: 846623, April 25, 2022.
399
Brain rhythms - as recorded in the local field potential (LFP) or scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) - are believed
to play a critical role in coordinating brain networks. By modulating neural excitability, these rhythmic fluctuations
provide an effective means to control the timing of neuronal firing (Engel et al., 2001; Buzsáki and Draguhn, 2004).
Oscillatory rhythms have been categorized into different frequency bands (e.g., theta [4–10 Hz], gamma [30–80 Hz])
and associated with many functions: the theta band with memory, plasticity, and navigation (Engel et al., 2001); the
gamma band with local coupling and competition (Kopell et al., 2000; Börgers et al., 2008). In addition, gamma and
high-gamma (80–200 Hz) activity have been identified as surrogate markers of neuronal firing (Rasch et al., 2008;
Mukamel et al., 2005; Fries et al., 2001; Pesaran et al., 2002; Whittingstall and Logothetis, 2009; Ray and Maunsell,
2011), observable in the EEG and LFP.
Jessica K Nadalin, Louis-Emmanuel Martinet, Ethan B Blackwood, Meng-Chen Lo, Alik S Widge, Sydney S Cash, Uri T Eden, Mark A Kramer,
A statistical framework to assess cross-frequency coupling while accounting for confounding analysis effects, Oct 16, 2019,
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44287
“In the Nested Observer Windows (NOW) Model, information integration units are created at multiple spatial
temporal scales (brain region level, neuron level, protein level, etc) via SYNCHRONY. Synchrony sets your
perception of time. Information is shared between observer windows at the same level via COHERENCE. Coherence
is a dynamic conversation between semi-autonomous observer windows. Information is shared up and down the
hierarchy via CROSS-FREQUENCY COUPLING. Cross-frequency coupling explains our rich experience and how
simple decisions lead to complex behavior.”
400
Justin Riddle, Nested Hierarchical Consciousness: viewing your mind as composed of minds, Dec 28, 2022.
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us, the mind’s escapes from its boney cave are fleeting, and our ascensions vanishingly small.401
Nonetheless, we will soon see how “nature” can shake us awake – and, in another forthcoming
paper, how the problem of evil might be resolved.402
Moral Intuition
This paper is based on the premises that: (i) everyone has some capacity to differentiate
between right and wrong (a moral compass), (ii) the strength and accuracy of this compass can be
developed, and (iii) if appropriately cultivated,403 humans can attain intuitive access to highly
accurate guidance. Most ethicists would agree that intuitions are vital participants in ethical
determinations.404 However, there is vigorous disagreement over their reliability,405 causing some
even to question what intuitions are.406 Joshua Greene and other ethicists believe our moral
401
The experiences of Saint Augustine are illustrative:
“And thus by degrees I was led upward from bodies to the soul which perceives them by means of the bodily
senses, and from there on to the soul's inward faculty, to which the bodily senses report outward things—and this
belongs even to the capacities of the beasts—and thence on up to the reasoning power, to whose judgment is
referred the experience received from the bodily sense. And when this power of reason within me also found that it
was changeable, it raised itself up to its own intellectual principle,38 and withdrew its thoughts from experience,
abstracting itself from the contradictory throng of fantasms in order to seek for that light in which it was bathed.
Then, without any doubting, it cried out that the unchangeable was better than the changeable. From this it follows
that the mind somehow knew the unchangeable, for, unless it had known it in some fashion, it could have had no
sure ground for preferring it to the changeable. And thus with the flash of a trembling glance, it arrived at that
which is.39 And I saw thy invisibility [invisibilia tua] understood by means of the things that are made. But I was
not able to sustain my gaze. My weakness was dashed back, and I lapsed again into my accustomed ways, carrying
along with me nothing but a loving memory of my vision, and an appetite for what I had, as it were, smelled the
odor of, but was not yet able to eat.” Augustine, Confessions and Enchiridion, Edited and translated by Albert Cook Outler, The
Westminster Press, 1955, Westminster John Knox Press, 2006, Pages 151-152.
The primordial covenant also called the Covenant of Alast (‘ahd-i-Alast’), will be the subject of a forthcoming
paper in which the problem of evil and humanity’s current difficulties will be examined in the context of the Islamic
and Bahá'í Faiths and the current state of the world. (More information on this future undertaking is provided later in
this paper.)
403
Socrates' midwifery was not to give birth to his own ideas or induce others to adopt them, instead helped other
impart them to others, but to induce labor in others and help them give birth to their own thoughts and once born,
help them distinguish between their real children and mere phantoms.
404
“In making moral judgments, we rely on moral intuitions.” Hanno Sauer, Between Facts and Norms: Ethics and Empirical
402
Moral Psychology, Moral Psychology: A Multidisciplinary Guide, Benjamin G. Voyer and Tor Tarantola, Editors, Springer International
Publishing AG, 2017, Page 20.
“It has demonstrated how deeply wrong our intuitions are, even about such fundamental categories as space and
time and causality “ Rebecca Goldstein, The Nature of Spirituality: A Dialogue on Science and Religion, Great minds don’t think alike:
405
debates on consciousness, reality, intelligence, faith, time, AI, immortality, and the human, Marcelo Gleiser, Editor, Columbia University Press,
2022, ebook.
“Given how unreliable our moral intuitions are proving to be, a moral theory that always gets things “right” is
surely on the wrong track.” Joshua D. Greene, Reply to Driver and Darwal, Moral Brains: The Neuroscience of Morality, S. Matthew Liao,
Editor, Oxford University Press, 2016. Page 180.
Timothy Williamson, for example, rhetorically asks, ‘What are intuitions supposed to be, anyway?’ (2007: 215),
and he concludes that there is no plausible candidate for a psychological kind answering to that term. Philosophers
406
80
intuitions are heuristics involving fast, automatic, and largely unconscious mental processes.
They contend that these quick and efficient judgments are frequently biased and flawed.407
Heuristics are analogous to a toolbox of rules of thumb and approximation techniques that we use
to get answers without having to think everything through. For many moral and ethical
determinations, humanity's “shared values” are the “tools” in the box. Robert Audi, in his book,
The Good in The Right: A Theory of Intuition and Intrinsic Value, proffered a list of those
“values” he believed were (or should be) universal.408
1. Prohibition of injury and harm. We should not injure or harm people. (Page 188)
2. Veracity. We should not lie. (Page 189)
3. Promissory fidelity. We should keep our promises. (Page 190)
4. Justice. We should not treat people unjustly and should contribute to rectifying injustice
and to preventing future injustice. (Page 199)
5. Reparation. We should make amends for our wrongdoing. (Page 191)
6. Beneficence. We should contribute to the good (roughly, the well-being) of other people.
(Page 191)
should not, he says, talk about intuition, because doing so functions “not to answer questions about the nature of the
evidence on offer but to fudge them, by appearing to provide answers without really doing so” (Williamson 2007: 220).
We shouldn’t refer to intuitions, Williamson thinks, because, in effect, there are none: there is no class of mental
states for such talk to refer to. The things we call intuitions belong to a motley class of phenomena whose members
have nothing significant in common. Williamson is far from alone in thinking this ( Ayer 1956/1964 : 33; Cappelen
2012 ; Deutsch 2015 ; Fumerton 1990 : 6; Pollock 1974 : 305). Here, for example, is Tara Smith:
[What] exactly is an intuition? One rarely encounters clear statements of their nature. If an intuition is a thought,
why employ a term suggesting it is anything less than that? If intuition is a particular type of thought, what type?
If an intuition is an emotion or feeling, what distinguishes intuition from ill-founded feelings? . . . Are intuitions
desires? Hunches? Stubborn convictions that a person refuses to surrender? The point is, we cannot be sure
whether we have such things, let alone what role they play in providing moral guidance, until we know precisely
what intuitions are. One suspects that the absence of definition, keeping intuition afloat as a hazy “something”
between a thought and a feeling, may hide the fact that there are no such things. (Smith 2000: 23–4).”
Ole Koksvik, Intuition as Conscious Experience, Routledge, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2021, Pages 14-15.
“…a number of philosophers and neuroscientists have argued that moral intuitions are moral heuristics and
therefore moral intuitions as moral heuristics tend to be inaccurate (Baron 1994; Sinnott- Armstrong et al. 2010;
Sunstein 2005).” S. Matthew Liao, Are Intuitions Heuristics?, Chapter 13, Moral Brains: The Neuroscience of Morality, S. Matthew Liao,
407
Editor, Oxford University Press, 2016, Page 312.
“Kahneman and Tversky— pioneers of the program on heuristics and biases— famously argue that intuitions are
heuristics and that heuristics can lead even the experts astray (Kahneman and Frederick 2005; Kahneman et al. 1982).
Likewise, inspired by the heuristics and biases program, Cass Sunstein too proclaims that “moral heuristics exist and
indeed are omnipresent. We should not treat the underlying moral intuitions as fixed points for analysis, rather than as
unreliable and potentially erroneous” (2005, 531). S. Matthew Liao, Morality and Neuroscience: Past and Future Moral Brains: The
Neuroscience of Morality, S. Matthew Liao, Editor, Oxford University Press, 2016, Page 31.
“Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), (Joshua) Greene finds that when people make
“characteristically deontological judgments,” the emotional, “intuitive” regions of the brain are activated.1 In
contrast, when people make “characteristically consequentialist judgments,” the cognitive, reasoning regions of the
brain are activated.2 Greene then makes the normative claim that “characteristically deontological judgments” tend
to be distorting and that we should give them up and rely instead on “characteristically consequentialist judgments,”
which are, in his view, more accurate.” S. Matthew Liao, Are Intuitions Heuristics?, Moral Brains: The Neuroscience of Morality, S.
Matthew Liao, Editor, Oxford University Press, 2016. Page 313.
408
Robert Audi, The Good In The Right: A Theory of Intuition and Intrinsic Value, Princeton University Press,
2004, Pages 188-195.
81
7. Gratitude. We should express gratitude, in deed or at least in words of thanks, in a way that
befits good things done for us by other people, where other things equal, our obligation is
stronger if what was done for us was not owed to us. (Page 192)
8. Self-improvement. We should develop or at least sustain our distinctively human capacities.
(Page 193)
9. Enhancement and preservation of freedom. We should contribute to increasing or at least
preserving the freedom of persons, giving priority to removing restraints over enhancing
opportunities. (Page 194)
10. Respectfulness. We should, in the manner of our relations with other people, treat them
respectfully. (Page 195)
If our moral heuristics involved little more than attribute substitutions,409 Audi’s list (and the
lists of virtues others have proffered)410 might be adequate.411 However, this is frequently not the
case.412 First, nearly all of the virtues on Audi’s list have commonly recognized practical,
cultural, and circumstantially specific exceptions. Second, when unexpected elements or
complexities are introduced,413 numerous studies have shown that heuristic-based moral
Kahneman, Frederic, Sunstein, Sinnott- Armstrong, Young, and Cushman believe “moral intuitions are moral
heuristics that involve attribute substitutions.” S. Matthew Liao, Are Intuitions Heuristics?, Moral Brains: The Neuroscience of
409
Morality, S. Matthew Liao, Editor, Oxford University Press, 2016. Page 316 & 317.
Plato had four “cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.” Aristotle had twelve, and some very
long lists have been made (e.g., Barrie Davenport, The Definitive List Of 100 Virtues To Live By)
411
“If we lived in a possible world where we never faced any ‘unfamiliar’ problems, then, naturally, our intuitions
would be unproblematic.” Felix Langley, Should We Distrust Our Moral Intuitions? A Critical Comparison Of Two Accounts, Journal of
410
Cognition and Neuroethics, Volume 5, Issue 2, February, 2018, Page 66.
412
Since the earliest days of philosophical enquiries into the mind, many researchers have entertained the idea that
two different systems of thought co-exist; a quick, automatic, associative, and affective-based form of reasoning and
a slow, thoughtful, deliberative process (Sloman, 1996, 2014; Epstein and Pacini, 1999; Lieberman, 2003; Stanovich,
2004; Kahneman and Frederick, 2005; Evans, 2006). Today, the psychology of thinking calls this idea “the dual
process theory of thought” (Evans, 2003, 2008; Osman, 2004; Evans and Stanovich, 2013) …
According to Evans (2007) there are two ways in which the two processes might interact. Parallel models (DenesRaj and Epstein, 1994; Sloman, 1996) suggest that fast and slow thinking occur simultaneously (and thus there is a
continuous monitoring and feelings of conflict). In contrast, Default-Interventionist (DI) models (De Neys and
Glumicic, 2008; Evans and Stanovich, 2013) claim that fast thinking generates intuitive default responses in which
subsequent slow thinking processing may or may not serially intervene (provided that adequate resources are
available). However, recent and deeper analysis of the two models' assumptions sustains an “hybrid two-stage model”
(De Neys and Glumicic, 2008; Thompson, 2013; Newell et al., 2015) in which a “shallow analytic monitoring
process” is always active to detect potential conflicts between the two systems, and an “optional deeper processing
stage” is activated once an actual conflict between fast and slow thinking is found.
Giorgio Gronchi and Fabio Giovannelli, Dual Process Theory of Thought and Default Mode Network: A Possible Neural Foundation of Fast
Thinking, Frontiers in Psychology, 17 July 2018.
“Some ethicists … have been critical of the use of intuitions as evidence for moral claims (e.g., Greene, 2007;
Rachels, 1979 ). ... Recently, these criticisms have been buttressed by research in social psychology and experimental
philosophy, which has shown that ordinary people’s moral intuitions are influenced by a variety of factors including
order effects (e.g., Liao, Wiegmann, Alexander, & Vong, … Lombrozo, 2009), framing effects (e.g., Petrinovich &
O’Neill, 1996), and environmental variables (e.g., Helzer & Pizarro, 2011). Since it is widely agreed that those
factors are irrelevant to the truth or falsity of the intuition, these empirical results cast doubt on the use of intuition as
evidence for moral claims.”
413
Kevin Tobia , Wesley Buckwalter & Stephen Stich, Moral intuitions: Are philosophers experts?, Philosophical Psychology, 26:5, 629-638, DOI:
10.1080/09515089.2012.696327, 14 Jun 2012, pages 629-630.
82
determinations break down.414 These views, however, are far from unanimous. Some ethicists
directly dispute these findings.415 Others have found predictable moral inclinations in the answers
respondents provide to a multitude of moral/ethical dilemmas.416 Additionally, studies support
the contention that our foundational moral predispositions may be innate.417 These moral
inclinations evolve into moral judgments during early childhood418 and are reinforced through the
“Arguably, nearly all of our moral beliefs are based on intuitions about concrete cases. We believe that killing is
wrong, in general, because particular instances of killing feel intuitively wrong. Walter Sinnott- Armstrong (2008)
argues, however, that moral intuitions are distorted by cognitive biases. Sinnott- Armstrong cites evidence on framing
effects: People who are presented with a moral dilemma make different judgments based on how the dilemma is
framed. For example, intuitions are biased by the order in which dilemmas are presented, or by whether the dilemma
highlights either lives lost or lives saved (e.g., Petrinovich and O’Neill, 1996). …[I]f moral intuitions are based on
framing effects, we have reason to abandon any moral beliefs nourished by intuition— which might include all of
them.” Victor Kumar, The Ethical Significance of Cognitive Science, Chapter 9, Current Controversies in Philosophy of Cognitive Science,
414
Adam J. Lerner, Simon Cullen, and Sarah- Jane Leslie, Editors, Routledge Imprint, Taylor & Francis, 2020, Page 162.
“How unreliable do framing effects make moral judgments? According to one very reasonable measure of
reliability, the mean probability that a subject will not change her moral judgment depending on framing or order is
80%—not so bad (Demaree-Cotton 2016; cf. Andow 2016). Moreover, as in the case of emotion manipulation studies
more generally, effect sizes tend to be small, and framing effects rarely alter the polarity of people’s judgments. That
is to say, subjects’ judgments are somewhat affected by being in one frame or another, but people do not, strictly
speaking, change their minds. Moreover, debunking arguments aiming to show that moral intuitions are unreliable
face one crucial limitation: they rely on moral intuitions themselves, in particular regarding which factors count as
morally irrelevant and which do not (Rini 2015). In order for such arguments to get off the ground, then, at least some
moral judgments must be considered reliable.”
415
Hanno Sauer, Between Facts and Norms: Ethics and Empirical Moral Psychology, Moral Psychology: A Multidisciplinary Guide, Benjamin G.
Voyer and Tor Tarantola, Editors, Springer International Publishing, 2017, Page 20.
416
Harm caused by action is morally worse than equivalent harm caused by omission. Harm intended as the means
to a goal is morally worse than equivalent harm foreseen as the side effect of a goal. Using physical contact to cause
harm to a victim is morally worse than causing equivalent harm to a victim without using physical contact.
Amene Saghazadeh, Reza Khaksar, and Nima Rezaei, The Manager’s Sixth Sense: An Art in Organizational, Educational, Moral, and Expert
Thinking, Chapter 32, Biophysics and Neurophysiology of the Sixth Sense, Nima Rezaei and Amene Saghazadeh, Editors, Springer Nature
Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 349
“A growing body of research suggests that people have an innate sense of right and wrong. Some of the strongest
evidence for this claim comes, perhaps oddly, from nonhumans. Capuchin monkeys will reject rewards for tasks
when their rewards seem inequitable in comparison with the rewards received by other capuchins (Brosnan & de
Waal, 2003). Thus species sharing a common ancestry with humans further share a sense of fairness. Human babies
as young as 15 months can also detect unfairness when it occurs, as evidenced by the longer gaze they give to
experimenters when those experimenters administer unequal portions of food to people than when those
experimenters administer equal portions (Schmidt & Sommerville, 2011). Infants as young as 6 months show
preferences for prosocial individuals over antisocial individuals (Hamlin, Wynn, & Boom, 2007). Moreover, crosscultural research has demonstrated that some moral precepts, such as “do not harm others,” are common across
cultures.
The strong evidence that people possess innate moral compasses suggests that some level of moral clarity is
probably innate.”
417
Scott S. Wiltermuth and David T. Newman, Moral Clarity, Chapter 50, Atlas Of Moral Psychology, Kurt Gray and Jesse Graham, Editors, The
Guilford Press, 2018, Pages 497-498
“…researchers have found that even infants discriminate and prefer a puppet that help other characters achieve, as
opposed to hinder, their goals (Hamlin 2015; Cowell & Decety 2015). Children as young as four begin making moral
judgments focused on outcomes, such as whether an action harmed or saved more people (Pellizzoni et al. 2010),
regardless of whether it was accidental or intentional. The intent of the actor appears to grow increasingly relevant in
the next few years of development (Cushman et al. 2013).”
418
Joshua May, Clifford I. Workman, Julia Haas, & Hyemin Han, The Neuroscience of Mor-al Judgment: Empirical and Philosophical Developments,
Forthcoming in Neuroscience and Phi-losophy, eds. Felipe de Brigard & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (MIT Press) 2020, Page 13.
83
child’s earliest and most intimate dyadic relationships.419 Eventually, these foundational moral
inclinations can become deeply embedded420 within our unconscious and intuitive processes.421
Still, some issues need to be addressed. If all virtues emanate from the “Good” (or “God),
why do the virtues in Audi’s list have commonly recognized practical, cultural, and
circumstantially specific exceptions? And how can situational differences in responses be
explained?
I have suggested that the human soul is the repository for an individualized share of the
“Good’s” derivative “forms.” If so, the weight given to each virtue, including those inducing
loyalty to family, friends, and community norms,422 will necessarily vary. Additionally, the
“…that the patterns of people’s moral decisions actually follow fairly straightforwardly from internally
represented principles or rules acquired in infancy. My assumption is that moral judgment is a complex cognitive
achievement that may depend on a set of building block systems that appear early on in human ontogeny and
phylogeny. This claim comes in the wake of 20 years of infant research showing that the knowledge accumulated
during the first year of life is the foundation on which later learning, including language acquisition, numeracy, object
categorization, social relations, and other complex cognitive skills, rests (Ensink & Mayes, 2010; Mandler &
McDonough, 1998; Spelke, 2000; Starkey & Cooper, 1980; Wynn, 1990).” Aner Govrin, The Attachment Approach to Moral
419
Judgment, Chapter 45, Atlas Of Moral Psychology, Kurt Gray and Jesse Graham, Editors, The Guilford Press, 2018, Pages 440-441.
420
Experimental evidence suggests that people are more likely to behave according to their moral judgments if they
regard moral values as both central to themselves and more important than non-moral values (Reed et al. 2007;
Winterich et al. 2013). Qualitative studies corroborate the idea that strong moral identity is required for sustained
commitment to moral behavior (Colby & Damon 1992). Joshua May, Clifford I. Workman, Julia Haas, & Hyemin Han, The
Neuroscience of Moral Judgment: Empirical and Philosophical Developments, Forthcoming in Neuroscience and Philosophy, eds. Felipe de
Brigard & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (MIT Press) 2020, Page 15.
421
The neuroscience of moral development also suggests an interesting overlap between regions that support moral
cognition and regions that support thinking about the self. Meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies reveal that several
moral circuits—e.g., the vmPFC (ventral medial prefrontal cortex) and PCC (posterior cingulate cortex) —overlap
with the default mode network (Bzdok et al. 2012; Eres et al. 2017; Sevinc & Spreng 2014; Han 2017). In many
studies, participants are asked to evaluate other people and their actions, so it’s striking to find such extensive overlap
with self-related regions. Joshua May, Clifford I. Workman, Julia Haas, & Hyemin Han, The Neuroscience of Moral Judgment: Empirical
and Philosophical Developments, Forthcoming in Neuroscience and Philosophy, Felipe de Brigard & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Editors, MIT
Press, 2020, Page 14.
“Moscovitch and Gilboa and colleagues, … have described the function of the vmPFC as determining a quick
intuitive “feeling of rightness” [42], [43].” Ingrid L.C.Nieuwenhuis and AtsukoTakashima, “The role of the ventromedial prefrontal
cortex in memory consolidation,” Behavioural Brain Research, Volume 218, Issue 2, 15 April 2011, Pages 325-334.
“…[I]n the specific context of prosociality, the vmPFC seems to encode decision values for highly internalized
forms of altruistic behaviors (i.e., internalized prosocial valuation) as in harm-aversion in social dilemma and moral
emotions (Moll et al., 2006; Hare et al., 2010; Shenhav and Greene, 2010; Tricomi et al., 2010; Zaki and Mitchell,
2011; Buckholtz and Marois, 2012; Crockett, 2013; Sul et al., 2015). For example, a more recent study showed that
selfish people used the vmPFC only when calculating the value of the choices for themselves but not those for
strangers, unlike altruistic people who used the vmPFC for both self and other (Sul et al., 2015). Besides, more
prosocial people showed higher vmPFC activity during prosocial choice, whether they are observed by others or not,
and higher vmPFC activity was associated with faster response time for prosocial choices (Jung et al., 2018). Taken
together, these findings suggest that prosocial valuation encoded by vmPFC may be intuitively engaged and immune
to social context. Hackjin Kim, Stability or Plasticity? – A Hierarchical Allostatic Regulation Model of Medial Prefrontal Cortex Function for
Social Valuation, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 31 March 2020.
I have used the word “community” to denote an array of identities and attachments, each manifesting unique
vibratory patterns that reflect the shared identities and attachments of the community’s members. Given that human
beings wish to live in harmony with their environment, I will in a future paper discuss the tensions that result when
there is discord between the soul’s oscillatory attractors and our human attachments. For a discussion of the role our
perceptions of “justice” plays in the establishment of these identities and attachments, see Jon Trevathan, Can
Prejudice be “Cured?”
422
84
model suggests that our access to moral and informational insights will vary according to our
spiritual capacities and attainments.423 Therefore, consistent with the experimentalists’ findings,
choice-dependent inconsistencies would be expected as each individual’s access to the World
Soul’s information and the “Forms” underlying their moral intuitions would be different.424
“…I am left with the problem of saying how my alternative view is going to give us moral
guidance for our lives. The kind of `guidance' my view gives is not the kind that will tell us `the
right thing to do.' Rather, it explains why it may be harmful to think that there is one right thing
to do. It gives the kind of guidance that comes from moral understanding, insight, and empathy.
It helps us develop the kind of knowledge and awareness that is necessary if we hope to be
morally sensitive.”425
A moral compass requires three things: (i) that which attracts, (ii) the means of attraction, and
(iii) a means for the guidance provided by our moral compass to be apprehended. As to “that
which attracts,” I have suggested that the “Good,” through its subordinate “Forms,” generates
universal and individualized attractors and protectorates. As to “the means of attraction,” I have
suggested that these ` Here, attractors should be understood to create environments rendering
some future outcomes more likely, and others less. Protectorates are roughly equivalent to the
negative guidance Socrates’ Daimon provided. Although I have introduced how the “guidance
provided by our moral compass” might be apprehended, this aspect of our inquiry is far from
complete.
The question then becomes: “How does the agent become aware of God's will?” In his book:
“Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong’ J.L. Mackie writes:
“Plato’s Forms give a dramatic picture of what objective values would have to be. The Form
of the Good is such that knowledge of it provides the knower with both a direction and an
overriding motive; something's being good both tells the person who knows this to pursue it and
makes him pursue it. An objective good would be sought by anyone who was acquainted with
A common conception of intuitionism is echoed by J. L. Mackie when he says, “if we were aware of them
[objective values], it would have to be by some special faculty of moral perception or intuition, utterly different from
our ordinary ways of knowing anything else in the universe . . .” Robert Audi, The Good In The Right: A Theory of Intuition and
423
Intrinsic Value, Princeton University Press, 2004, Page 208 (Note 36 to Chapter One).
I agree.
“The passage on the conversion of the soul in the Allegory of the Cave has often been recognized as close in spirit
to the doctrine of recollection. There Socrates denies that one can put knowledge into a soul that lacks it, “as if one
were putting sight into a blind eye.” On the contrary, ‘this capacity [to see the truth], and this instrument by which
everyone learns, is present in everyone’s soul.’ But the whole soul needs to be turned around in order for the eye of
the soul to be directed towards reality, towards the clarity of true being (VI.518c). Plato here is clearly a kind of
innatist: the turning of the eye of the soul towards the light is a close analogue to the process of recollection.”
424
Charles Kahn, Plato on Recollection, Chapter 9, A Companion to Plato, Hugh H. Benson, Editor, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, Page 130.
425
Mark Johnson, Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science For Ethics, The University of Chicago
Press, 1993, Pages ix – xii.
85
it, not because of any contingent fact that this person, or every person, is so constituted that he
desires this end, but just because the end has to-be-pursuedness somehow built into it. Similarly,
if there were objective principles of right and wrong, any wrong (possible) course of action
would have not-to-be-doneness somehow built into it.”426
In the next section, we will explore how J.L. Mackie’s “has to-be-pursuedness;” and his “notto-be-doneness” might find expression in the “meaningful coincidences” that seem to naturally
occur in our lives.427
Synchronicity
The term “Synchronicity” was first introduced by the analytical psychologist Carl G. Jung to
describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack any apparent causal
connections.428 In describing the phenomenon, Carl Jung wrote:
“The problem of synchronicity has puzzled me for a long time, ever since the middle
twenties,38 when I was investigating the phenomena of the collective unconscious and kept on
coming across connections, which I simply could not explain as chance groupings or “runs.”
What I found were “coincidences” which were connected so meaningfully that their “chance”
concurrence would represent a degree of improbability that would have to be expressed by an
astronomical figure.” (par. 834)429
Even so, Jung asserted that:
“Synchronicity is no more baffling or mysterious than the discontinuities of physics. It is only
the ingrained belief in the sovereign power of causality that creates intellectual difficulties and
makes it appear unthinkable that causeless events exist or could ever occur. But if they do, then
426
J.L. Mackie, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, Pelican Books, 1977, Reprinted 1990: Penguin Books, Page 40.
In summary, intuitions arise in the context of the “mind’s” oscillatory environment and the actor’s various
attachments. Assuming that human actors wish to live in harmony with their environment, a mind tuned to the
sublime and relatively detached from its more worldly connections would be expected to make better choices that one
attached to the base (lower frequency) elements within its environment.
428
See Roderick Main, The Rupture of Time: Synchronicity and Jung's Critique of Modern Western Culture,
Brunner-Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2004.
429
By way of example, Carl Jung famously wrote:
“…I shall mention an incident from my own observation. A young woman I was treating had, at a critical
moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back
to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying
insect knocking against the window-pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it
flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the
common rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark
room at this particular moment. I must admit that nothing like it ever happened to me before or since, and that the
dream of the patient has remained unique in my experience.38a” (Carl Gustav Jung, “The Collected Works of C. G. Jung,
427
Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle (1952), Volume 8, “Structure and dynamics of the psyche,” Translated from “Über
Synchronizität,” Eranos-Jahrbuch 1951 (Zurich: Rhein-Verlag, 1952) (New York [Bollingen Series xx] and London, 1957, Reprinted by
Princeton University Press (1978), Paragraph 834 (page 4521 in the Collected Works).
86
we must regard them as creative acts, as the continuous creation17 of a pattern that exists from
all eternity, repeats itself sporadically, and is not derivable from any known antecedents. We
must, of course, guard against thinking of every event whose cause is unknown as “causeless.
This, as I have already stressed, is admissible only when a cause is not even thinkable. But
thinkability is itself an idea that needs the most rigorous criticism. Had the atom18 corresponded
to the original philosophical conception of it, its fissionability would be unthinkable. But once
it proves to be a measurable quantity, its non-fissionability becomes unthinkable. Meaningful
coincidences are thinkable as pure chance. But the more they multiply and the greater and more
exact the correspondence is, the more their probability sinks and their unthinkability increases,
until they can no longer be regarded as pure chance but, for lack of a causal explanation, have to
be thought of as meaningful arrangements.” (par. 967)430
Carl Jung wrote that Synchronicity “cannot be called either materialism or metaphysics” (par.
960). He claimed synchronicity was “based not on philosophical assumptions but on empirical
experience and experimentation” (par 995). Jung also believed synchronicity was “an empirical
concept which postulates an intellectually necessary principle” (par. 960). Although Jung could
“derive no other hypothesis that would adequately explain the facts” (par. 947), he acknowledged
that “[n]o serious investigator would assert that the nature of what is observed to exist…” (par.
960)431
I contend that the synchronicity Jung observed not only exists – it also has a scientifically
plausible explanation. Accordingly, when time symmetry, reverse causality, and the influence of
“attractors” are considered, the “unthinkable” becomes a natural occurrence, which, upon
reflection, many might say is not even rare.432
“Complex systems present us with an immense challenge as we try to explain their behavior.
One key element in their description is how synchronization and self-organization emerge from
systems that did not have these properties when isolated and, particularly, if the systems exhibit
Carl Gustav Jung, “The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle (1952),
Volume 8, “Structure and dynamics of the psyche,” Translated from “Über Synchronizität,” Eranos-Jahrbuch 1951
(Zurich: Rhein-Verlag, 1952) (New York [Bollingen Series XX] and London, 1957, Reprinted by Princeton
University Press (1978), Paragraph 967 (pages 5335-6 in the Collected Works).
431
IBID, Paragraphs as noted in text.
In the context of Plato’s dialogues: “Jung theorized that archetypes, as ‘forms without content’, work by
‘activating’ in the presence of appropriate stimuli: ‘When a situation occurs which corresponds to a given archetype,
that archetype becomes activated’…” Erik Goodwyn, Recurrent motifs as resonant attractor states in the narrative field: a testable model
430
of archetype, Journal of Analytical Psychology, 58, 387–408, 2013, Page 389.
432
“About half of the U.S. public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience.”
Russell Heimlich, Mystical Experiences, Pew Research Center, December 29, 2009.
…and when ‘[a]n online survey link was emailed to a random sample of counsellors, psychologists and
psychotherapists drawn from membership lists of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
(BACP), … [o]ne hundred respondents (44%) reported that they had experienced synchronicity in the therapeutic
setting.” Elizabeth C. Roxburgh,Sophie Ridgway,Chris A. Roe, Synchronicity in the therapeutic setting: A survey of practitioners, Counselling
and Psychotherapy Research, Volume 16, Issue 1, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Wiley Online Library, 15 December
2015.
87
chaotic behavior. Synchronization underlies numerous collective phenomena observed in
nature1,2,3,4, providing a scaffold for emergent behaviors, ranging from the acoustic unison of
cricket choruses and the coordinated choreography of starling flocks5,6 to human cognition,
perception, memory, and consciousness phenomena7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Surprisingly, although chaotic
systems have high sensitivity to initial conditions and thus defy synchrony, in the 1980’s it has
been shown that even chaotic systems can be synchronized14,15,16,17. Understanding how such a
process can happen and characterizing the transition from completely different activities to
synchrony in chaotic systems is fundamental to understanding the emergence of
synchronization and self-organization in nature.
Chaotic dynamics present two fundamental and unique emergence phenomena, strange
attractors which, in most cases, will have multifractal structure18,19,20 and Chaotic
synchronization. Understanding how these two phenomena occur and relate to each other is
essential to shedding more light on the process of emergence in nature.”433
It is finally time to explore the scientific foundations where Jung’s “meaningful coincidences” can
naturally occur.
The Process
In this section, we will examine how events become actualized out of the sets (timelines) of
alternate possibilities (the accessible beables).
Figure 2
As background, please visualize the light waves
associated with an event radiating outward in all
directions. Because the speed of the radiating light
cannot exceed the “speed of light,” the potential location
of each photon, when grafted as a function of time, will
appear within a cone.434 In Figure 2, time is represented
by the vertical axes. The cone’s expanding radius
represents the passage of time. In this context, any past
event or future outcome located outside these past and
future light cones would require superluminal causality
and, for now, are assumed to be impossible. Therefore, a
433
Nir Lahav, Irene Sendiña-Nadal, Chittaranjan Hens, Baruch Ksherim, Baruch Barzel, Reuven Cohen, and Stefano
Boccaletti, Topological synchronization of chaotic systems, Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 2508, 15
February 2022.
434
For additional information, see What is a light cone?
88
future event (an actualizable outcome) can only be probabilistically resolved from the set of
alternatives or potential outcomes (existing within the future light cone). Future events that
appear proximate to the cone’s central (time) line will have a higher probability of occurrence
than contingencies positioned closer to the cone’s forty-five-degree boundary. In this depiction,
each choice made by human actors (here identified as the “Observer”) exists at the intersection of
the past and future light cones (the “Event”). The expanding “future” cone defines the
“dependent originations” that remain possible once the Event has occurred. The tip of time’s
arrow represents the Form of the Good.435 If we next apply concepts originating in chaos theory,
the “Good,” its derivative Forms, and each human logos may be understood to each generate
centripetal attractions (collectively the “Transcendent Attractors”).436 These “Attractors” can
create "basins of attraction" and protectorates437 in which everything within every associated past
light cone participates. Accordingly, the forces generated by these Transcendent Attractors
collectively and interactively cause the probability of future events to become more or less likely
to occur for each Planckian volume, particle, organism, individual, community, society, country,
culture, and our world, and even for our entire universe.
“I submit, is that the logos envisaged, far from being one which ascends to the generic components of the
definiendum, on the contrary descends into its material components.”
435
David Sedley The Midwife of Platonism: Text and Subtext in Plato's Theaetetus, Oxford University Press, 2004, Page 157.
Basin of attractions of an attractor are typically defined “as a region of the phase space, with the property that, any
orbit which starts inside this region, ultimately converges to the attractor. Moreover if an orbit starts from any point
lying outside this basin of attraction, then it certainly does not converge to that attractor, it either converges to some
other attractor or it simply diverges”. A nondeterministic basin of attractions defines that region in the phase space
with the property that, “if any two orbits start from a same point inside this region, then one of them may converge to
a stable fixed point whereas the other may diverge to infinity. Therefore each orbit has non-zero probabilities of
convergence (to a stable fixed point) as well as divergence (to infinity), even if they start from the same initial point.
436
Dhrubajyoti Mandal, Nondeterministic basin of attraction, Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Volume 103, October 2017, Science Direct, Pages 532-535
437
I will be explaining how these Attractors operate in Part Two of this paper. For now, attractors require the system
in which they operate to be both nonlinear and chaotic. Although most systems are nonlinear, the sets of the system’s
future states do not necessarily exhibit high sensitivity to the system’s initial conditions. Additionally, there are
systems where a perturbation at a smaller scale will have little to no effect at a larger scale.
“Higher level phenomena with this sort of insulation from quantum effects are what Nobel physicist Robert
Laughlin refers to as ‘protectorates.” …
A protectorate is a domain of physics whose behavior is independent of the microdetails found at smaller scales.”
Jeffrey Koperski, Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2020, Pages 43-43 (A free eBook
version is available at.www.taylorfrancis.com)
The state of a system within a protectorate is largely independent of the state of its micro-scale constituents. As
Laughlin and Pines put it, these “emergent physical phenomena regulated by higher organizing principles have a
property, namely their insensitively to microscopics.” Jeffrey Koperski, Divine Action and the Quantum Amplification Problem,
Theology and Science, 13:4, 379-394, DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2015.1082872 12 Oct 2015, Page 382) .
See also the Fourth Appendix
89
Figure 3
Representing the array of possible future
events (beables), the area of the cone’s conic
section at time =2 is greater than at time =1. At
time=0, there is only one remaining event, which
is actualized (Event P). In other words, with the
passage of time, the number of potential
outcomes (beables) will decrease as the cone’s
radius becomes smaller. Now, imagine the
progression of events through time. The cone
can be visualized to be in motion up the central
timeline such that the tip of the cone (Event P) is
first positioned at Time = 0, then at Time =1,
and then at Time = 2. Possible future events located near the cone’s boundary (depicted as event
* at time = 2) will, over time, most likely fall outside the Observer’s future light cone (the event’s
probability of occurrence having fallen to zero). However, this outcome is not inevitable, as a
convergence of situationally specific circumstances can generate potent attractive forces and
ultimately cause an otherwise remote possibility to become actualized. (In this model,
manifesting438 is common, and miracles can happen.) In Figures 2 and 3, we assumed that the
trajectory of the Actor’s future reasonably conformed to those attractors most closely associated
with the “Good” (leading toward an eudaimonic life). However, for most, this is likely not so.
438
See: Claudia Canavan, Manifesting is rising in popularity. Women's Health, 12 Jan 2023.
Philine S. Harris, Peter R. Harris, Eleanor Miles, Self-affirmation improves performance on tasks related to executive
functioning, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 70, May 2017, Pages 281-285
“Look thou not upon thine own capability, the Invisible Divine Confirmations are great, and the Protection and
Providence of the Beauty of Abhá is the helper and assistant. Shoghi Rabbani, "Japan Will Turn Ablaze!"
Those souls who have attained to faith, if they be protected and preserved from tests and keep firm and steadfast,
the divine confirmations will surround them from all directions.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘Abbás vol. 1-3"
This is the Magnet of divine confirmations. This is the mighty Force which will surely attract heavenly assistance.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "A Tablet of the Greatest Name"
90
Figure 4
Consider the situation where the trajectory of an
Actor’s life has departed from the optimum. Absent
some corrective force, the timeline shown in Figure 4
suggests that the gap between what “is” and the Actor’s
more eudaimonic alternatives would continue to
increase indefinitely. This, of course, is a possibility.
However, according to Socrates, “…even in the wicked,
there resides a divine and correct intuition…”.439
Suppose that an experience (Event P) has activated an
Actor’s latent intuitions in conformity with the
individual’s eudaemonic attractors. As depicted in
Figure 4, we might reasonably imagine that the central
timeline of the Actor’s future cone would begin to curve toward the optimum. As the Actor’s
future cone gradually tilts back toward the attractors, the probability that the Actor’s life would
flourish presumably would increase. However, our probabilistic futures do not operate in
isolation.
Figure 5
The point of each cone in Figure 5 represents
the choices made by different “Actors.” To the
extent these cones overlap, the decisions made
by one Actor can, within the duration of any
arbitrary period of time, probabilistically
influence the future contingencies available to
other actors. Note that any intersecting cones
that remain distant from an observer/actor’s
central timeline represent remote possibilities
that may require too many intermediate
contingencies to be satisfied. However, even
temporally remote contingencies can exert a meaningful retrocausal influence by triggering a
subtle shift or tilt to the initial observer/actor’s future cone. Again, in chaos theory, the future
contingency should be understood to participate in a maelstrom of potential “attractors” that
439
Plat. Laws 12.950b
91
renders certain intermediate events (including events over which the observer/actor has no
control) more likely than would otherwise have been the case.
Reflections for Today
Our mosaic, for now, is done. It was constructed from aporia. The image of a new ontology
has emerged. Quantum mechanics, time symmetry, dimensionality, reverse causality, attractors,
protectorates, and resonance provided structure and cement. The plausibility of these sciences
was the winnowing test. One more test is available – a test that is unique to our current Age.
However, a lengthy quote from the Republic must first be provided:
[617d] … “Now when they arrived they were straight-way bidden to go before Lachesis, and
then a certain prophet1 first marshalled them in orderly intervals, and thereupon took from the
lap of Lachesis lots and patterns of lives and went up to a lofty platform and spoke, ‘This is the
word of Lachesis, the maiden daughter of Necessity, “Souls that live for a day,2 now is the
beginning of another cycle of mortal generation where birth is the beacon of death.
[617e] No divinity1 shall cast lots for you, but you shall choose your own deity. Let him to
whom falls the first lot first select a life to which he shall cleave of necessity. But virtue has no
master over her,2 and each shall have more or less of her as he honors her or does her despite.
The blame is his who chooses: God is blameless.3“’ So saying, the prophet flung the lots out
among them all, and each took up the lot that fell by his side, except himself; him they did not
permit.4 And whoever took up a lot saw plainly what number he had drawn.
[618a] And after this again the prophet placed the patterns of lives before them on the ground,
far more numerous than the assembly. They were of every variety, for there were lives of all
kinds of animals and all sorts of human lives, for there were tyrannies among them, some
uninterrupted till the end1 and others destroyed midway and issuing in penuries and exiles and
beggaries; and there were lives of men of repute for their forms and beauty and bodily strength
otherwise
[618b] and prowess and the high birth and the virtues of their ancestors, and others of ill
repute in the same things, and similarly of women. But there was no determination of the
quality of soul, because the choice of a different life inevitably1 determined a different
character. But all other things were commingled with one another and with wealth and poverty
and sickness and health and the intermediate2 conditions. —And there, dear Glaucon, it appears,
is the supreme hazard3 for a man.
[618c] And this is the chief reason why it should be our main concern that each of us,
neglecting all other studies, should seek after and study this thing1—if in any way he may be
able to learn of and discover the man who will give him the ability and the knowledge to
distinguish the life that is good from that which is bad, and always and everywhere to choose
the best that the conditions allow, and, taking into account all the things of which we have
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spoken and estimating the effect on the goodness of his life of their conjunction or their
severance, to know how beauty commingled with poverty or wealth and combined with
[618d] what habit of soul operates for good or for evil, and what are the effects of high and
low birth and private station and office and strength and weakness and quickness of
apprehension and dullness and all similar natural and acquired habits of the soul, when blended
and combined with one another,1 so that with consideration of all these things he will be able to
make a reasoned choice between the better and the worse life,
[618e] with his eyes fixed on the nature of his soul, naming the worse life that which will tend
to make it more unjust and the better that which will make it more just. But all other
considerations he will dismiss, for we have seen that this is the best choice,
[619a] both for life and death. And a man must take with him to the house of death an
adamantine1 faith in this, that even there he may be undazzled2 by riches and similar trumpery,
and may not precipitate himself into tyrannies and similar doings and so work many evils past
cure and suffer still greater himself, but may know how always to choose in such things the life
that is seated in the mean3 and shun the excess in either direction, both in this world so far as
may be and in all the life to come;
[619b] for this is the greatest happiness for man.
“And at that time also the messenger from that other world reported that the prophet spoke
thus: ‘Even for him who comes forward last, if he make his choice wisely and live strenuously,
there is reserved an acceptable life, no evil one. Let not the foremost in the choice be heedless
nor the last be discouraged.’ When the prophet had thus spoken he said that the drawer of the
first lot at once sprang to seize the greatest tyranny,1 and that in his folly and greed he chose
it…”.440
This passage underscores many of the concepts presented in this paper. It endorsed my dream
interpretation441 and will again attain relevance when the problem of evil is addressed. But that is
now why the passage was presented here. The Republic is unique among the Socratic dialogues
in its description of the Prophet's role. And, if the principles of “Progressive Revelation” are
accepted, the man Socrates said we should seek and discover “who will give [us] the ability and
the knowledge to distinguish the life that is good from that which is bad” would be the designated
Prophet for each Age. Earlier in this paper, I used the analogy of transmission holograms to
illustrate how the information content of light might be modified as it emanates from the sublime
to the corporeal within the World Soul’s continuum. Prophets, I will elsewhere argue, can alter
the amplitudes, wavelengths, and phase of this light at, or near, its inception. The result: New
teachings and human capabilities become accessible during each successive age. The Prophet
440
441
Plato, Republic, 617d - 619b.
See: Jon Trevathan, The Valley of Wonderment.
93
Muhammad prophesied442 that there would be a time when humanity would gain access to vast
new knowledge:
“Knowledge is twenty and seven letters. All that the Prophets443 have revealed are two letters
thereof. No man thus far hath known more than these two letters. But when the Qá’im shall
arise, He will cause the remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest.” Bahá’u’lláh444
In accordance with this prophecy, humanity attained vast new access to the World Souls’
information matrix beginning in the middle of the 19th Century. If so, the exponential explosion
of knowledge we are presently experiencing would be both expected and explained. And, if the
Socratic Cosmos this paper describes has merit, we should find that it is also mirrored in the
progression of humanity’s spiritual beliefs. It has. Although the interactions associated with
nondeterministic attractors are computationally impenetrable, we now have an explanatory
The Ḥadiths containing this prediction were recorded in three reliable Islamic books, including "Biḥáru'l-Anvár",
the "Aválím" and the "Yanbú".
“The first book, “Biḥáru'l-Anvár”, is the encyclopaedia of Shi'ih theology written by `Allámeh Majlisí in
twenty—six volumes. The Aválím is a book by Shaykh `Abdu'lláh-ibn Shaykh Núru’lláh-i Baḥrání and consists of
one hundred volumes, covering various traditions as well as Islamic history.2 The "Yanbú’” is a book by Ṣádiq, son
of Muhammad, a Shi'ih Muslim scholar who lived in the third century of the Islamic era.” Fazel Naghdy, “A Tutorial
442
On The Dispensation Of Baha'u'llah: Exploring The Fundamental Verities Of The Baha'i Faith,” Fazel Naghdy, 2012, Page 163.
The tradition is further confirmed in the Writings of the Shi’ite Imamate:
Abu Ja’far (the fifth lmam) has said. "When our ’support’ (qa’im) rises, Allah will place his hand upon the heads
of His servants. Then through him their minds will come together and through him their intellect will become
perfected." (Bihar al-anwar, vol. LII. pp.328 and 336.) And Abu ’Abdallah (the sixth Imam) said, "Knowledge is
comprised of twenty-seven letters, and all that has been brought by the prophets is comprised of two letters; and
men have not gained knowledge of anything but these two letters. When our ’support’ (qa’im) comes forth, he will
make manifest the other twenty-five letters and will spread them among the people. He will add the two letters to
them so that they become propagated in the form of twenty-seven letters." (Bihar al-anwar, vol. LII, p.336.) Allamah
Sayyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai, Shi’ite Islam, Translated and Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Note 1, State University of New York
Press, 1975, page 197
Among the oral reports from the Imams with a similar significance is another saying … by 'Abdu'lláh ibn
Núru'lláh al-Bahrayní.[2] The Imam said, "Every piece of knowledge has seventy aspects, but the people possess
only one. When the Promised One arises he will disseminate the other aspects among the people." Mirza Abu'l-Fadl
Gulpaygani, A Commentary on the Saying "Knowledge is Twenty-Seven Letters," translated by Juan Cole, Letters & Essays 1886-1913, Chapter
4, Kalimat Press, 1985, page 183
It can also be argued that Christ made the same prediction:
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His
own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” John 16:13, New King James
Version
The term “Prophet” refers to all the Manifestations of God who have appeared during the prophetic cycle, i.e.
from Adam up to the Bab. If all knowledge is assumed to be equivalent to twenty—seven letters, the Prophets before
the Qa’im revealed knowledge equivalent to only two letters. The promised Qa’im would reveal the remaining
knowledge and mysteries of the universe, equivalent to twenty—five letters. This demonstrates the intensity of the
Revelation of the Qa’im (the Bab) and consequently its significance as well as its impact on the world of creation.
443
Fazel Naghdy, “A Tutorial On The Dispensation Of Baha’u’llah: Exploring The Fundamental Verities Of The Baha’i Faith,” page 39
Quoted in Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude, translated by Shoghi Effendi, first published in
English in 1931.
444
94
framework where Carl Jung’s “synchronicity,”445 religious prophecy,446 miracle-like events,447
and the insights of “New Age” writers, like Tara Cuthbertson,448 Edgar Mitchell Robert Staretz,449
As for Shaykh Ahmad’s theory of time, it represents a relatively recent development. The concepts of subtle
(latíf) and dense (kathíf) time and space have been a subject in Islamic philosophy since at least the 13th century.
Later, Qádí Sa’íd Qummí (1049/1639-1103/1691), a student of Muhsin Fayz Káshání, was particularly attracted to
the subject and developed a theory which Corbin has referred to as the “Enfoldment of time and space”. According to
this, everything which exists concretely, that is to say everything which is compact and dense, is at the same time
material (compact and dense) and spiritual (subtle) and forms a unity, a unique individuality. Just as there is a
quantum (miqdár) of matter and a quantum of space imparted to each individuality, there is also for each individuality
a quantum of personal time which is his alone. The quantity of this time varies according to the individual…. The
more subtle (spiritual) the body, the more subtle the quantum of time and the more it is capable of being enlarged.
There is therefore the dense (kathíf) time of the sensible world, and there is the subtle time of the malakút (imaginal,
not to be confused with zamán mawhúm “imaginary time”). There is finally the time which is absolutely subtle (altaf)
in the world of jabarút (intelligible and intellective). Subtle time is spoken of sometimes in terms of enfoldment, and
sometimes dilation, according to the circumstances. The quantum of time given to a spiritual individual can
encompass an immensity of being; it can also have present to itself a multitude, namely the totality of moments of
being in a perfect synchronicity. Succession becomes simultaneity; time becomes space. Speaking of the time and
space of prophets, he says: Their subtlety is such that the time and movements in our experience are enfolded in
[their] malakúti time and movements. Todd Lawson, "The Qur’an Commentary of Sayyid ‘Alí Muhammad, the Báb: Doctoral
445
Dissertation"
“…in the realm of truth, past, present, and future are the same, and future events are even as past and present
occurrences. From the perspective of that realm, all events and incidents take place in the present and are witnessed
by the Prophets and the chosen ones. And so it is that the Prophets herald events that will transpire two or three
thousand years hence, for they abide in the realm of truth, wherein the mysteries of the universe are revealed and laid
bare. Infer from this statement the truth of the spiritual discoveries of the Holy Ones and reflect and ponder thereon—
the matter is indeed clear and manifest. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks"
“…the hidden mysteries of the days to come were revealed to the Prophets, who thus became acquainted with
future events and who proclaimed them in turn. This knowledge and proclamation were not the cause of the
occurrence of these events.” Abdu’l-Bahá, "Some Answered Questions"
447
“Among other principles of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings was the harmony of science and religion. Religion must stand
the analysis of reason. It must agree with scientific fact and proof so that science will sanction religion and religion
fortify science. Both are indissolubly welded and joined in reality. If statements and teachings of religion are found to
be unreasonable and contrary to science, they are outcomes of superstition and imagination. Innumerable doctrines
and beliefs of this character have arisen in the past ages. Consider the superstitions and mythology of the Romans,
Greeks and Egyptians; all were contrary to religion and science. It is now evident that the beliefs of these nations
were superstitions, but in those times they held to them most tenaciously. For example, one of the many Egyptian
idols was to those people an authenticated miracle, whereas in reality it was a piece of stone. As science could not
sanction the miraculous origin and nature of a piece of rock, the belief in it must have been superstition. It is now
evident that it was superstition. Therefore, we must cast aside such beliefs and investigate reality. That which is found
to be real and conformable to reason must be accepted, and whatever science and reason cannot support must be
rejected as imitation and not reality. Then differences of belief will disappear. All will become as one family, one
people, and the same susceptibility to the divine bounty and education will be witnessed among mankind.” ‘Abdu’l446
Bahá, "The Promulgation of Universal Peace"
448
According to Tara Cuthbertson, US Army Lieutenant Colonel and Intelligence Officer Wayne McDonnell has
claimed: “…quantum holographic information is stored and interpreted as “a frequency and amplitude [via] the
energy carrier wave pattern,” so too [former astronaut Edgar] Mitchell [Sc.D] and [Robert] Staretz [M.S.] explain that
“Quantum Holography information is contained in the amplitude, frequencies and the phase relationships of the
underlying interference patterns from the emitted quanta” (2011, p. 199). When we apply the trans-dimensional,
quantum wave dynamics of the holonomic mind and universal hologram to dualistic philosophies of realism and
idealism, immanent and transcendent, signifier and signified, a new philosophy emerges …” Tara Cuthbertson, "Quantum
Holography, Hermeneutics, and Contemplative Living." Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 18.1 (2022): page 545.
For theological references, see: Rodney H Clarken (“Developing Human Potential: Selected Bahá’í Writings”) and
Jon Trevathan: A Compilation of the Baha'i Writings on Soul, Spirit and Mind. Keywords may be searched using
Chad Jones’ app ( Ocean - Bahá’í Library Online) and the Bahá'í Library Online
95
and Catherine Wilkins, can be rationally accepted as, at least, possible. In the following
paragraph, I have taken a “New Age” description that Dr. Catherine Wilkins provided and added
footnotes that clarify and map correspondences to the mosaic this paper has assembled:
“The quantum resonance450 of your current moment matches one of your futures.451 It forms a
resonant feedback loop452 that draws that future towards your present and your present towards
that particular future.453 This is exactly the same mechanism that spiritual tradition refers to
when speaking of you manifesting your future.454 So, you can either create your future the hard
449
The Quantum Hologram Theory of Consciousness (QHTC) (Mitchell, 2000; Mitchell & Staretz, 2011;
Hernandez, 2013; Hernandez, R., Davis, R., Scalpone, R., & Schild, R., 2017)… states that our universe, instead of
being a 3-dimensional spatial construct, is actually a 4-dimensional construct which includes time (past, present, and
future) and is more like a holographic image built up by interacting vibratory waves. According to Mitchell, the
quantum hologram is
“a model that describes the basis for consciousness. It explains how living organisms know and use whatever
information they know and utilize. It elevates the role of information in nature to the same fundamental status as
that of matter and energy” (Mitchell, 2001).
Consequently, the QHTC serves as a basis for explaining how the whole of creation learns, self-corrects and
evolves as a self-organizing, interconnected holistic system (Mitchell, 2001). The QHTC postulates that at the
subatomic scale of matter, all objects in the universe retain evidence of each event that has occurred to them, which is
stored in a holographic form that can be retrieved by the mind when it "attends” to an object. Even though our
physical senses and our brain might perceive the world as solid, we may actually live within a vibrating energy
matrix composed of fluctuating particle-waves. It is described as a hologram, since it allows for the description of
higher dimensional reality in terms of its physical dimensional properties (Marcer and Mitchell, 2001). This concept
is represented in the spectrum of quantum hologram resonance in Figure 4. According to Mitchell, the simplest form
of resonance is shown on the far-left side of this Figure. Moving to the right, various phenomena are represented with
increasing degrees of resonance.
Spectrum of QH Resonance
Cultural
Remote
Universal
Memory
Empathy
Conditioning
Telepathy
Healing
OBE
Knowledge
Simple=====l=====l=====l=====l=====l=====l=====l=====l=====l=====l===== l===== l===== l=====l
Increasing Resonance =======➔==============➔
(Mitchell and Staretz, 2011 – Edited and Revised)
Rey Hernandez, Jon Klimo, Rudy Schild, A Report on Phase I and II of FREE's ExperiencerResearch Study: The Results of a Quantitative Study,
Chapter 1, Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness and Contact with Non-Human Intelligence, Volume 1, The Dr. Edgar Mitchell
Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences, FREE, Inc., 2018, Page 91-92
“… the primary means for accessing transcendent information is via the process of resonance.” Edgar D. Mitchell
and Robert Staretz, The Quantum Hologram and the Nature of Consciousness, Chapter 4, Consciousness and the Universe: Quantum Physics,
Evolution, Brain & Mind, Sir Roger Penrose, Stuart Hameroff, and Subhash Kak, Editors, Cosmology Science Publishers, 2017.
According to Dirk K. F. Meijer, “…each system is resolving and refining an internal mirror of itself and its world,
thereby gaining in knowledge. … This self-realization creates a resonance, where the veil of virtual appearances is
subtly penetrated and the system apprehends the computational nature of reality and comes to know itself as reality in
action. ” Dirk K. F. Meijer, Information: what do you mean? On the formative element of our universe, Syntropy 2013 (3): 1-49 ISSN 1825450
7968, pages 42-43. Also Dirk K. F. Meijer, The Information Universe: On the Missing Link in Concepts of the Architecture of Reality, Syntropy
2012 (1): 1-64, page 11
I have suggested each successive “Now” produces a probability distribution of possible futures.
See What is a light cone?
452
These are process physics’ iterative and recursive processes that I have associated with Socrates’ Receptacle.
453
The “particular future” represents an actor’s progress toward the actualization of one or more of the actor’s
potentials as defined by the actor’s soul (e.g., a manifestation of the actor’s individualized forms). The “resonant
feedback loop” is a “New Age” restatement of how attractors and protectorates operate within the actor’s cone of
potential futures such that the eventual manifestation of optimum outcomes becomes more probable.
454
In the religious context, this sentence is likely a reference to answered prayer. Note that the tagline to my
Meditations on Consciousness paper was: “The Physics of Intentionality and Prayer.” The capacity of thoughts and
intentionality to impact the probability of future events remains integral to this paper.
451
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way (from the present) or the easy way (from the future).455 Tuning yourself into the future
you’re ‘dialing up’ from the hologram is definitely the best way to navigate through all your
possible futures to the one you want.456
Both you and the hologram of creation have a fractal structure.457 Your timeline is not one
straight line but a fractal.458 Linear time flows straight, from past to present to future. Nonlinear, fractal time resembles a net more than a line. You experience it as a timeline because you
experience only one strand of the net at a time, but that strand splits from and joins into others.
The time-net looks like a road map, with ways splitting and converging. There are lots of
different ways to get from the present to the future, as well as different versions of the past.
When you’re going to take a trip along a well-worn path, you plan your route from your point of
departure to your destination. … However, when you don’t know the path, you plan it in the
opposite way. You go straight to your destination on the map, then work backward to your
departure point.”
Your left brain likes known details. It’ll plan your route when you know it from departure to
destination. Your right brain or intuition navigates the unknown. It’ll connect directly to the
resonance of your future and use that as your ‘compass’ to guide you there. Just as when you’re
driving, you’ll come to crossroads in the time-net, and each crossroad is a point where you have
to make a choice.”459
I have in this, and my other papers, repeatedly suggested that human intentionality can influence the probability,
for both good and ill, that future outcomes will become manifest in an actor’s life. Humans are not pawns to an
unalterably predetermined destiny as the ”Block Universe” model and many physicists suggests. Instead, as
suggested in Plato’s Republic, we participate in choosing our own destiny:
“Your destiny shall not be allotted to you, but you shall choose it for yourselves. Let him who draws the first lot
be the first to choose a life, which shall be his irrevocably. Virtue owns no master: he who honours her shall have
more of her, and he who slights her, less.” Plato, The Republic of Plato, Book X, 617, translated into English, with an introduction,
analysis, and notes. By J. Ll. Davies and D. J. Vaughan, Third Edition, Macmillan & Company, 1866, page 366
“…there are three factors involved in most situations: the Will of God in which His Beneficence, Omnipotence
and the destiny He has ordained for man are all involved— and which ultimately rights all wrongs; the element of
accident, which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says is inherent in nature; and the element of individual free will and responsibility.”
Rúhíyyih Rabbani, "The Priceless Pearl"
When an actor’s mind is closely tethered to physical and temporal present, the actor’s cone of future potentials
may be directed toward ends that are wildly divergent from their soul’s optimum. Within the mosaic’s depictions, the
gap between the life an actor may be living and the individual’s more optimum alternatives (alternatives that would
have otherwise lead to the actualization of individual’s potentials) will create tensions in the structure of reality
surrounding their lives. This, the model predicts, would result in the occurrence of situational and circumstantial
opportunities for the individual to make wiser choices (i.e., attractors and protectorates will thrust into the actor’s
path.) Some of these circumstantial changes will be interpreted as serendipitous opportunities, and others as
manifesting God’s scourge and punishments. In contrast, an actor who stays on paths demarcated by the
Prophet/Manifestation for their Age and is accepting of their soul’s intuitive guidance would more likely be afforded
new opportunities to actualize their potentials. An actor that is choosing “wisely” may never experience the sting of
those events that tend to force us to wake up and reconsider the premises and priorities of our lives. Even so, some of
these growth opportunities may appear to most observers to be Job-like.
456
This sentence requires clarification as what is “dialed up” and “wanted” has unfortunately been reduced to the
actor’s materialistic desires. For example, the Tick Toc “#manifesting” craze too often reflects the actor’s
materialistic world view and misses the mark as to what would be in the actor’s best interest and conducive the a
flourishing life (eudaimonia).
457
Fractals are ubiquitous in nature and integral to some of the model’s components.
458
The branching structure of potential futures described in this paper, as indicated by several of the philosophers
and physicists I have quoted, is likely fractal, but this is not required for the model’s success.
459
Catherine Wilkins, The Soul's Brain: The Neurology and Logic of Your Intuition, Hay House, Inc., 2018.
455
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Many of these ideas find confirmations when the religious teachings for our current Age are
considered:
“It is an axiomatic fact that while you meditate, you are speaking with your own spirit. In that
state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers: the light breaks
forth and the reality is revealed.” …
The spirit of man is itself informed and strengthened during meditation; through it affairs
of which man knew nothing are unfolded before his view. Through it he receives Divine
inspiration, through it he receives heavenly food.
Meditation is the key for opening the doors of mysteries. In that state man abstracts himself:
in that state man withdraws himself from all outside objects; in that subjective mood he is
immersed in the ocean of spiritual life and can unfold the secrets of things-in-themselves. To
illustrate this, think of man as endowed with two kinds of sight; when the power of insight is
being used the outward power of vision does not see. …
This faculty brings forth from the invisible plane the sciences and arts. Through the
meditative faculty inventions are made possible, colossal undertakings are carried out; through
it governments can run smoothly. Through this faculty man enters into the very Kingdom of
God. …
The meditative faculty is akin to the mirror; if you put it before earthly objects it will
reflect them. Therefore if the spirit of man is contemplating earthly subjects he will be informed
of these.
But if you turn the mirror of your spirits heavenwards, the heavenly constellations and the
rays of the Sun of Reality will be reflected in your hearts, and the virtues of the Kingdom will
be obtained.
Therefore let us keep this faculty rightly directed-- turning it to the heavenly Sun and not
to earthly objects--so that we may discover the secrets of the Kingdom, and comprehend the
allegories of the Bible and the mysteries of the spirit.460
Although the “Good’s” centripetal force remains an eternal influence, this passage underlines
a problem. The processes I described in the preceding section are, at least in part, subject to the
actor’s will461 and potential manipulation. “New Age” practices that focus on individual desires
Address by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá at the Friends’ Meeting House, St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C., Sunday, January
12th, 1913, Paris Talks Part Three, 54,
461
According to the Writings of the Bahá'í Faith: “Man exists on the interface between the realms of násút (the
physical realm) and malakút (the next higher spiritual realm). If he chooses, he can live entirely in the world of násút,
in which case he behaves like an animal. He is in fact lower than the animals in that he has failed to achieve his full
station.[21] His entire life is centered on material possessions and worldly ambition. But if he chooses, he can detach
himself from the physical world and live in the realm of malakút. This is the realm which is man's true plane of
existence. This is the plane on which man's full potential (in manifesting the names and attributes of God) is realized.
Man then becomes the equivalent of the angels that inhabit this realm.” Moojan Momen, "Relativism: A Basis for Bahá’í
460
Metaphysics," published in Studies in Honor of the Late Husayn M. Balyuzi, Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, vol. 5, ed. Moojan Momen,
Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1988
98
further illustrate this problem. One example is the growing internet craze called “manifesting.”462
Although “manifesting” has some credible proponents, it is usually for its psychophysiological463
and self-help benefits.464 In opposition, some researchers have suggested that “manifesting” can
be counterproductive465 or even occasion harm in the actor’s life and community.466 With few
exceptions,467 scientists have condemned manifesting as ontologically impossible. However, for
the reasons identified in this paper, I must disagree. And, for millions of people, including me,
“manifesting” for spiritually positive ends, especially in prayer, works.
I previously described the vivid dream I experienced where, among the many choices I had for
future actions (or inaction), at each juncture, the better choice appeared imbued with a
As of February, 2023 “manifesting” has had 19.9 billion Tic Tok views.
See: Stuart McGurk, TikTok's ‘Manifesting’ craze, explained, GQ, Condé Nast, June, 15 2021
Josephine Franks, What is 'lucky girl syndrome'? The newest TikTok manifestation trend explained, Sky News,
January, 18 2023
“The latest internet wellness craze is thinking your way to a better life. Whether it works or not isn’t really the
point.” Rebecca Jennings, Shut up, I’m manifesting!, Vox Media, LLC., Oct 23, 2020
Note that roughly six-in-ten American adults accept at least one New Age belief. Claire Gecewicz, ‘New Age’ beliefs
462
common among both religious and nonreligious Americans, Pew Research Center, October 1, 2018
463
"Manifestation is about activating the frontal lobe of your brain, where curiosity and possibility exist either
through meditation or action … Manifesting is the practice of training your brain to stay in a positive space so that
good things can happen." Leigh Weingus, Can You Really Attract the Things You Want via Manifestation? Here's What to Know About the
Technique People Are Obsessing Over, February 6, 2023
You can “feasibly achieve what you want by rewiring your brain through a series of consistent exercises that will
make you behave like the kind of confident, self-assured person to whom opportunities are typically afforded..”
Rose Truesdale, The Manifestation Business Moves Past Positive Thinking and Into Science, April 20, 2021.
Emotions, as the chemical consequences of our environmental experiences, can change the immune function and
trigger epigenetic effects. Studies showed that meditation techniques can lead to changes in cell biophoton
emissions, gene expression, reduced cholesterol, fewer cancer markers, and many other physical and
psychophysiological results.
464
“‘This or something better.’” This way you stay open to the creative guidance from the Universe and don’t limit
your manifesting power. Often the Universe has a plan that’s better than your own! The more you believe in the
support of the Universe, the more you will receive. You can accept that manifesting is a collaborative process and
that spirit will lead the way when you’re inspired. Gabrielle Bernstein, Super attractor: manifest the life you want, Hay House, Inc.,
2019.
“Manifesting is also known as co-creating because it’s a collaboration between you and the universe.”
Kimberly
Zapata, How to Manifest Anything You Desire, July 22, 2022
Research conducted by Gabriele Oettingen and others suggests that “positive fantasies hinders us in handling hard
tasks” (situations where manifesting would also require concerted effort) unless combined with "mental contrasting,"
(the visualization of personal barriers or impediments and development of “if” – “then” plans to forge “powerful,
nonconscious associations between the obstacles we perceive and the instrumental behavior we need to take to
overcome the obstacles.” Gabriele Oettingen, Rethinking Positive Thinking: inside the new science of motivation, Penguin Group (USA)
465
LLC, 2014.
466
See: Is Manifestation Bad for Mental Health?, Newport Institute, January 27, 2023.
Anna Katharina Schaffner, The Problem With Believing in Manifesting, Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, LLC,
May 17, 2022,
467
See: Joe Dispenza, Becoming supernatural: how common people are doing the uncommon, Hay House, Inc.,
2017.
See also: Alex Chen, How to Manifest Using Quantum Physics, July 5, 2022.
99
shimmering energy.468 This dream, and the other dreams described in my “The Valley of
Wonderment” paper,469 catalyzed my initial spiritual and intellectual explorations. I also
mentioned having served as a hospital chaplain. During this service, I devised a prayer that
essentially asked for synchronicities that would benefit the patient. When personally challenged
with prostate cancer, my prayer was answered with one synchronous event after another.470
Similar experiences of intuitive guidance and synchronicity have continued in my life unabated.
Although I have endeavored to present third-party authorities to support each of the ideas I have
proffered in this paper, these life experiences have, to me, provided the most convincing
testament to their validity.
“The 'world of Images' ('alam al-mithál) is ontologically an intermediate domain of contact between the purely
sensible world and the purely spiritual, i.e., non-material world. It is, as Affifi defines it, 'a really existent world in
which are found the forms of the things in a manner that stands between "fineness" and" coarseness", that is, between
pure spirituality and pure materiality' .21 All things that exist on this level of Being have, on the one hand, something
in common with things existing in the sensible world, and resemble, on the other, the abstract intelligibles existing in
the world of pure intellect. They are special things half-sensible and half-intelligible. They are sensible, but of an
extremely fine and rarefied sensible-ness. They are intelligible, too, but not of such a pure intelligibility as that of the
Platonic Ideas. …
Sometimes, however, the ‘world of Images’ [‘alam-i-mithál] appears as it really is, without deformation, in the
consciousness even of an ordinary man. The most conspicuous case of this is seen in the veridical dream. The
‘world of Images’ is eternally existent and it is at every moment acting upon human consciousness. But man, on his
part, is not usually aware of it while he is awake, because his mind in that state is impeded and distracted by the
material forces of the external world. Only when he is asleep, the physical faculties of his mind being in abeyance,
can the faculty of imagination operate in the proper way. And veridical dreams are produced.” Toshihiko Izutsu, SUFISM
468
AND TAOISM: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts, University of California Press, 1983, Page 13.
469
See: Jon Trevathan, The Valley of Wonderment.
(See A Chaplain’s Prayer for the text of this prayer. My description of the synchronous events that followed is
copied below:.
“After I said this prayer, the serendipitous convergences that have occurred seem worthy of mention. Hours after
a client and friend told me he had friends at Johns Hopkins, my primary care physician recommended a doctor at the
hospital. Within a day after discovering the recommended doctor did not take my insurance, there was a convergence
of recommendations through my friend that Dr. Mohammad Allaf be selected. And, later that day a cancellation
afforded me an opportunity to see Dr. Allaf, one week to the day after I first leaned my biopsy results. After my
primary care physician faxed the last of the required test results to Johns Hopkins, I called the hospital to let then
know my file was complete. My call, I was told, came in minutes after another cancellation made an optimum date
available. My surgery on Monday will occur less than six weeks after the biopsy was first taken and earlier that my
initial appointment with Dr. Allaf would have occurred if the prayer had not been answered.”
470
100
Conclusion
I have, in this paper, reconsidered many of the interpretive orthodoxies scholars have applied
to the Socratic Cosmos in the light of a promising scientific model of reality.471 This model was
premised on the following: (i) the emergence of an information space prior to the “Big Bang,” (ii)
time symmetry, (iii) destiny states, (iv) reverse causality, and (v) the interactive operation of
attractors and protectorates. The evaluative standard I adopted was “Scientific Plausibility” -seeking credible scientific sponsorship and rational argument for each mosaic piece I assembled.
I believe Socrates’ dialogues gave voice to intuitive visions of “reality” that were essentially
correct. Socrates utilized the elenctic method to draw these intuitions into sensible apperceptions.
In applying the beliefs and language of his times, Socrates’ dialectic examinations frequently
generated inconclusive outcomes or were otherwise ambiguous and varied. Often conflicting
scholarly interpretations resulted. The philosophical interpretations included in this mosaic, like
the science, each required credible defenders. Abundant footnotes were proffered in the hope that
skeptical readers might recognize the requisite due diligence was performed. And, as a meld of
science and philosophy, the “systematic scheme of thought” I have proffered would hopefully
overcome Whitehead’s doubts. 472
One goal has been to reconstruct the “reality” underlying Socrates’ “intuitive visions” by
conjoining defendable interpretations of Socrates’ dialectic explorations with physics models I
have, in some cases, been investigating for decades. If, after considering the multitude of
explanatory footnotes I have already provided, you do not believe the standard of scientific
plausibility was met, please read on to Part Two of my paper. Otherwise, please turn the paper’s
interpretive light on the vast array of fundamental philosophical and religious questions that
Socrates addressed in his dialogues (and in their millennia of Plato’s ensuing footnotes).473
471
"In the investigation of a subject the right method of approach is to carefully examine its premises."
(Abdu'l-Bahá,
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 228)
472
The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead famously claimed:
“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of
footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from
his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them.”
Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology, (Gifford Lectures Delivered in The University of Edinburgh During the
Session 1927-28), Corrected Edition, David Ray Griffin and Donald W. Sherburne, Editors, The Free Press (A Division of Macmillan Publishing
Co., Inc.), 1978, Page 39.
473
Ibid.
101
Afterword
One goal of this paper has been to lay a foundation for several future works. Additional
papers are currently being developed reflecting the belief that there are four frames of reference
from which “Reality” must be evaluated474 – namely reason, intuition, traditional and scriptural
“Every subject presented to a thoughtful audience must be supported by rational proofs and logical arguments.
Proofs are of four kinds: first, through sense perception; second, through the reasoning faculty; third, from traditional
or scriptural authority; fourth, through the medium of inspiration. That is to say, there are four criterions or standards
of judgment by which the human mind reaches its conclusions. We will first consider the criterion of the senses. This
is a standard still held to by the materialistic philosophers of the world. They believe that whatever is perceptible to
the senses is a verity, a certainty and without doubt existent. For example, they say, "Here is a lamp which you see,
and because it is perceptible to the sense of sight you cannot doubt its existence. There is a tree; your sense of vision
assures you of its reality which is beyond question. This is a man; you see that he is a man; therefore he exists." In a
word, everything confirmed by the senses is assumed to be as undoubted and unquestioned as the product of five
multiplied by five; it cannot be twenty-six nor less than twenty-five. Consequently, the materialistic philosophers
consider the criterion of the senses to be first and foremost.
But in the estimation of the divine philosophers this proof and assurance is not reliable; nay, rather, they deem the
standard of the senses to be false because it is imperfect. Sight, for instance, is one of the most important of the
senses, yet it is subject to many aberrations and inaccuracies. The eye sees the mirage as a body of water, regards
images in the mirror as realities when they are but reflections. A man sailing upon the river imagines that objects
upon the shore are moving whereas he is in motion and they are stationary. To the eye the earth appears fixed while
the sun and stars revolve about it. As a matter of fact, the heavenly orbs are stationary and the earth turning upon its
axis. The colossal suns, planets and constellations which shine in the heavens appear small, nay, infinitesimal to
human vision whereas in reality they are vastly greater than the earth in dimension and volume. A whirling spark
appears to the sight as a circle of fire. There are numberless instances of this kind which show the error and
inaccuracy of the senses. Therefore, the divine philosophers have considered this standard of judgment to be
defective and unreliable.
The second criterion is that of the intellect. The ancient philosophers in particular considered the intellect to be the
most important agency of judgment. Among the wise men of Greece, Rome, Persia and Egypt the criterion of true
proof was reason. They held that every matter submitted to the reasoning faculty could be proved true or false and
must be accepted or rejected accordingly. But in the estimation of the people of insight this criterion is likewise
defective and unreliable, for these same philosophers who held to reason or intellect as the standard of human
judgment have differed widely among themselves upon every subject of investigation. The statements of the Greek
philosophers are contradictory to the conclusions of the Persian sages. Even among the Greek philosophers
themselves there is continual variance and lack of agreement upon any given subject. Great difference of thought also
prevailed between the wise men of Greece and Rome. Therefore, if the criterion of reason or intellect constituted a
correct and infallible standard of judgment, those who tested and applied it should have arrived at the same
conclusions. As they differ and are contradictory in conclusions it is an evidence that the method and standard of test
must have been faulty and insufficient.
The third criterion or standard of proof is traditional or scriptural, namely, that every statement of conclusion
should be supported by traditions recorded in certain religious books. When we come to consider even the holy books
-- the books of God -- we are led to ask, "Who understands these books? By what authority of explanation may these
books be understood?" It must be the authority of human reason, and if reason or intellect finds itself incapable of
explaining certain questions, or if the possessors of intellect contradict each other in the interpretation of traditions,
how can such a criterion be relied upon for accurate conclusions?
The fourth standard is that of inspiration. In past centuries, many philosophers have claimed illumination or
revelation, prefacing their statements by the announcement that "this subject has been revealed through me" or "thus
do I speak by inspiration." Of this class were the philosophers of the Illuminati. Inspirations are the promptings or
susceptibilities of the human heart. The promptings of the heart are sometimes satanic. How are we to differentiate
them? How are we to tell whether a given statement is an inspiration and prompting of the heart through the merciful
assistance or through the satanic agency?
474
102
authority, and the senses, including the sciences. You will note that On The Socratic Cosmos,
which began from the reference frame of traditional philosophical authority, was additionally
examined from these additional perspectives.
“… a statement presented to the mind accompanied by proofs which the senses can perceive
to be correct, which the faculty of reason can accept, which is in accord with traditional
authority and sanctioned by the promptings of the heart, can be adjudged and relied upon as
perfectly correct, for it has been proved and tested by all the standards of judgment and found to
be complete.”475
However, the treatment given in this paper to each of these additional perspectives was of
necessity limited. Therefore, as future companions to “On the Socratic Cosmos,” I am preparing
papers that are foundationed in revelation, neuroscience, and physics. These future papers will:
(i) explore the Bahá'í and Islamic ontological narratives. This paper will be a continuation,
comprehensive update, and expansion to a paper titled “Ontology as Poem.”
(ii) endeavor to reconcile science and religion. This paper will be a continuation, and
dramatic expansion of a paper titled “Can Science and Religion Be Reconciled.”
(iii) an update and comprehensive revision to my “Meditations of Consciousness” paper;
(iv) show how morality and ethics are emergent from the oscillatory model of “nature.”476
Consequently, it has become evident that the four criterions or standards of judgment by which the human mind
reaches its conclusions are faulty and inaccurate. All of them are liable to mistake and error in conclusions. But a
statement presented to the mind accompanied by proofs which the senses can perceive to be correct, which the faculty
of reason can accept, which is in accord with traditional authority and sanctioned by the promptings of the heart, can
be adjudged and relied upon as perfectly correct, for it has been proved and tested by all the standards of judgment
and found to be complete. When we apply but one test there are possibilities of mistake. This is self-evident and
manifest."
(Abdu'l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p. 85-88) Also:
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "The Promulgation of Universal Peace," 89, Talk at Green Acre, Notes by Edna McKinney, 16 August 1912, 89.1-89.6.
See also: Jon Trevathan, A Parable of the TREE
475
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "The Promulgation of Universal Peace"
476
“The thought that to know oneself one should know the larger universe of which one is a part goes back at least as
far as the Presocratics; and Heraclitus’ contention that “all human laws are fed on a single, divine Law” is well
known.8 The relation between law (nomos) and nature (phusis) was indeed a hotly debated issue at the time of the
sophistic movement, and Plato’s dialogues contain invaluable responses to that debate mainly by way of trying to
supersede what had become in his eyes a largely unjustified divorce between these two notions. In this regard, it can
be said that his cosmology is the best example of an attempt to reconcile them, by showing us how normativity is to
be grounded on the workings of nature.9
For some, the appeal to ethical naturalism that is so common in philosophers of antiquity may appear ill advised,
particularly given modern critiques that have denounced this procedure in terms of what has become known as the
naturalistic fallacy, the supposed fallacy of inferring values from facts.10 At the same time, however, the issue is still
a matter of dispute,11 and Virtue Ethics, a movement that has its roots in the ancient philosophers (particularly
Aristotle) and is making a significant comeback in contemporary ethical theory, is often sympathetic to the idea that
ethics is very much about realising one’s human nature to the fullest – and, as late Plato and many after him would
add, one’s human nature cannot be understood without in turn understanding the way it is part of nature.” Gabriela
Roxana Carone, Plato’s Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions, Cambridge University Press, 2005, Page 4.
103
(iv) I will examine the “problem of evil,” arguing that there is Divine righteousness in
individual and collective catastrophes.
As an introduction,477 this examination will be built on two overlapping Islamic traditions:
First is the tradition of the Hidden Treasure. This ḥadīth is ubiquitous within Islamic
speculative mysticism. In the voice of God, it states: “I was a Hidden Treasure; I loved to be
known, so I created the creation in order to be known.”478 “God’s “desire” to be known is
fulfilled when human beings fulfill their purpose for being: to know and worship God.
Second is the primordial covenant between God and humanity. Called the Covenant of
Alast,479 it places two duties upon every human being: They must first recognize the prophet of
God for the age in which they live as their true educator. And next, they must strive to apply all
that the Prophet had revealed in their lives and the society in which they live.480
I will, in this paper, argue that, as the world changes over time, the religious guidance we need
to stay on the right path will also necessarily change. (“Progressive Revelation” explains how
and why these changes occur.) As a continuation of my arguments in “On The Socratic Cosmos,”
I will then suggest that the societal gap between what is and, if the Prophet’s teachings were
observed, what could otherwise have been, will propagate circumstances that will force humanity
to make course corrections.
This introduction actually began with the lengthy quote I previously provided to Plato’s Republic, 617d - 619b
my earlier references to Jon Trevathan, The Valley of Wonderment.
478
See: Moeen Afnani, Unraveling the Mystery of The Hidden Treasure: The Origin and Development of a Ḥadīth
Qudsī and its Application in Sūfī Doctrine. ('Abdu’l-Bahá’s Commentary on "I Was a Hidden Treasure..."). For a
revised translation and updated notes, see: ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Commentary on The Islamic Tradition: "I Was a Hidden
Treasure ..." Provisional translation by Moojan Momen Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 3:4 (Dec. 1995 – updated 2006)), 4-35; Makátíb 2:41)
479
This treatment will begin with one of the most enigmatic but thought-provoking passages in the Qur’ān, which
reads:
‘And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made
them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! We bear witness. Lest you should
say on the day of resurrection: Surely, we were heedless of this.31’
This verse is referred to by Muslims as the Verse of the Covenant (al-Mīthāq), where God enters into compact
with Adam and all future humankind.32 There are widely differing interpretations surrounding this verse, ranging
from the figurative to the literal, but there is almost universal agreement in Islam that humanity will be held
accountable at the Day of Judgment for this self-conscious but premortal admission of God’s ultimate lordship. …
‘Abd Allāh Yūsuf Alī says of this verse, ‘According to the dominant opinion of commentators each individual in the
posterity of Adam had a separate existence from the time of Adam, and a Covenant was taken from all of them.’”33
477
Bradley J. Cook, Pre-Mortality in Mystical Islam and the Cosmic Journey of the Soul, Dialogue, University of Illinois Press, Spring 2017, pages
42-43.
See, Wadad al-Qad, The Primordial Covenant and Human History in the Qur’an
Farshid Kazemi, Mysteries of Alast: The Realm of Subtle Entities (‘Ālam-i dharr) and the Primordial Covenant in the
Babi–Bahá’í Writings Bahá’í Studies Review, Volume 15, 2009 First presented at the Irfan Colloquia Session #88,
May 28 – June 1, 2009. The paper describing my vivid dreams will also be integrated into this examination. See: Jon
Trevathan, The Valley of Wonderment.
480
Keven Brown, "A Bahá’í Perspective on the Origin of Matter"
104
Part Two
Cosmopsychism
Cosmopsychism maintains that the cosmos instantiates consciousness, and human
consciousness is derived from this cosmic consciousness. Further, with the inability of reductive
“materialism”/“physicalism” to explain consciousness, several panpsychic and cosmopsychic
variants are gaining both popular and philosophical acceptance. In a converging development, an
increasing number of scientists have embraced information’s centrality – arguing that
“information sits at the core of physics”481 and that “information is fundamental” to everything482.
Applying processes that are rough equivalencies to “Process Physics” 483 and Whitehead’s
“Process Philosophy,”484 we can now discuss this convergence.
481
Hector Zenil, Introducing the Computable Universe, Chapter 1, A Computable Universe: Understanding and
Exploring Nature as Computation, Hector Zenil, Editor, World Scienti c Review Volume, 2012, Page 15 (quoting
J.A. Wheeler).
482
Ovidiu Cristinel Stoica, “ The Tao of It and Bit"; Chapter 5 of "It From Bit or Bit From It?: On Physics and
Information"; edited by Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster, Zeeya Merali; Springer International Publishing
Switzerland 2015; page 56 Physicists increasingly accept that the universe has a “mental” aspect. (“The Mental
Universe;” Nature 436:29,2005)
The physicist Sir James Jeans has written: “the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great
machine.” The MIT physicist, Max Tegmark, has stated that “consciousness can be understood as yet another state of
matter” and the physicist, Niels Bohr has suggested that “Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be
regarded as real”
See also the “First Appendix” titled “EVERYTHING IS INFORMATION”
483
In Process physics: “The fundamental assumption is that reality is to be modelled as self-organising semantic or
relational information using a self-referentially limited neural network model, where the information-theoretic
limitations are implemented via self-referential noise. This modelling was motivated by the discovery that such
stochastic neural networks are foundational to known quantum field theories. In Process Physics time is a distinct
nongeometric process while space and quantum physics are emergent and unified. Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics,
Process Studies Supplement 2003, Issue 5. P 11.
See Also: Reginald T. Cahill, “Process Physics: Self-referential Information and Experimental Reality,” in T. Eastman, M. Epperson, and D.
Griffin (eds.), Physics and Speculative Philosophy, New York: DeGruyter, 2016, 177–221
Reginald T. Cahill and Christopher M. Klinger, Bootstrap Universe from Self-Referential Noise, Progress in Physics, Vol. 2, July 2005
Christopher M. Klinger and Kirsty Kitto, Process Physics: Modelling Reality as Self-Organising Information, Preview of Process Physics: The
Limits of Logic and the Modelling of Reality; in preparation.
Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, Process Physics: Toward an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian Physics, Chapter 2, Process Cosmology: New Integrations
in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz, Editors, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
“One striking outcome of process physics is an explanation for the phenomenon of gravity.” Reginald T. Cahill, process
Physics: From Information Theory to Quantum Space and Matter, Valerie V. Dvoeglazov,,Editor, Nova Science Publishers, 2005, Page 48.
My contribution has been to suggest how a “meaningful teleology” might be introduced through the application of
time-symmetric attractors.
484
“A. E. Taylor has pointed out the analogy between Whitehead’s view of the ultimate substantial activity of nature,
" passage" (or "creativity " as he calls it in Science and the Modern World, and in Process and Reality) and the
doctrine of the Timaeus of the υποδοχή γενέσεως the " matrix of becoming," which is purely indetermined
potentiality, able to become determinate through the "ingression" of the forms.” Dorothy M. Emmet, Whiteheads Philosophy
of Organism, MacMillan and Co, Limited, 1932, Page 223.
105
What is an information matrix?
The physicist John Archibald Wheeler claimed that “Information gives rise to “every it—
every particle, every field of force, even the spacetime continuum itself.”485 Further, there is a
growing number of physicists who contend that “information” is the fundamental reality
underlying everything.486 I have explicitly asserted that everything that could ever occur within
our universe was emergent, if not resident, in an “information space” or “matrix” that existed
before our “Big Bang.” This information space is very different from the spacetime models based
on Einstein’s special theory of relativity (Minkowski spacetime) and Einstein’s general theory of
relativity. Physicists and philosophers frequently describe our universe as a four-dimensional
“block universe” comprised of three spatial dimensions, with a single vector of time as the fourth
dimension. In the context of Einstein’s theories, this block universe is an information matrix in
which every event which occurred in the past or would happen in the future is eternally fixed and
frozen. It is a universe where human beings are like insects forever trapped in amber – where
your future and mine are deterministically fixed down to the smallest Planckian detail, and “free
will” is an illusion. 487 In sharp contrast, the “information matrix” on which in this paper has been
foundationed permits contingency to exist along the time dimension and may additionally be
described as a block comprised of four (or more) spatial dimensions and two (or more)
dimensions of time.488
“Whitehead would not agree with St. Thomas that creation proceeds by emanation from the primordial cause, God,
but would only claim that God provides the final causation for the self-creation of actual entities, and also the initial
limitation upon mere creativity in virtue of which there can be any order, or process of creative advance whatsoever.”
Dorothy M. Emmet, Whiteheads Philosophy of Organism, MacMillan and Co, Limited, 1932, Page 121
“… It from bit symbolizes the idea that every item of the physical world has at bottom—at a very deep bottom,
in most instances—an immaterial source and explanation; … that all things physical are information-theoretic in
origin and this is a participatory universe." Wheeler, At Home in the Universe, ,1995, Page 296. Quoted in:
485
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_information; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_information;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy (information_theory) and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropyin_thermodynamics_and_information_theory
“The notion of bit-based information at the core of the Universe evolvement is not new. This trend suggests that
the physical world is “made of information, with energy and matter as incidentals” Maya Lincoln and Avi Wasser,
486
Spontaneous creation of the Universe Ex Nihilo, Elsevier B.V., Physics of the Dark Universe 2 (2013) 195–199
See also: It From Bit or Bit From It? On Physics and Information, Anthony Aguirre• Brendan Foster Zeeya Merali, Editors, The
Frontiers Collection, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
This is an excellent resource to those with a strong interest in this topic.
487
See Special Relativity, Relativity of simultaneity, Frame of reference, Minkowski space, Causal structure, and
the Rietdijk–Putnam argument.
See also my Relativity of Simultaneity paper which provides a speculative means to preserve our “free will”
within a Minkowski 4-D spacetime.
488
The existence of additional space and time dimensions is controversial. Additional spatial dimensions are
necessary for String theory and M-Theory, for Causal Dynamical Triangulation’s pentachorons, for some Loop
Quantum Gravity variants, and for a new “two time physics,” among many other. Although extra space and time
106
How might it all begin?
With background-independence 489 as our goal, I have elsewhere examined several possible
answers to this question: First, “Causal Dynamical Triangulation” (CDT) was used to illustrate a
possible initial state in my 2016 Meditations on Consciousness paper. CDT is background
independent, which means that CDT does not need to posit any pre-existing dimensional space
but instead attempts to show how the fabric of spacetime could self-referentially evolve. 490 CDT
does this by constructing spacetime from Planckian-sized four-dimensional simplex (called a 4simplex). In sequence, a 2-simplex is equivalent to a triangle. A 3-simplex is the threedimensional tetrahedron. The 4-simplex (called a pentachoron) adds one additional spatial
dimension and is the basic building block of the CDT theory. Although each pentachoron is
geometrically flat, when pentachorons are pieced together in conformity with CDT’s rules, the
spacetime curvatures of Einstein’s and Minkowski’s theories are emergent and causality
preserved. For example, CDT preserves causality by requiring the timelines of all joined edges of
simplices to agree. With this constraint, the path integral of all permitted pentachoron
configurations allows all possible spatial geometries to be generated, consistent with the
spacetime we experience at larger scales. In the context of the Socratic Cosmos, CDT’s
pentachoron, as a four-dimensional tetrahedron, is equivalent to the Platonic solid for fire.491
Therefore, it might be argued that Plato had apprehended the pentachoron in describing his
platonic solids. However, although CDT’s geometric approach has intriguing implications and
dimensions have explanatory value in the model I will be constructing, there is, to date, no experimental evidence that
extra dimension exist. Conversely, there is some, inconclusive, theoretical and experimental findings that suggest
they don’t.
489
Trevor Teitel, Background independence: Lessons for further decades of dispute, February 2019, Pages 41-54
See also: Astrid Eichhorn, et al, Towards background independent quantum gravity with tensor models
490
“The most attractive aspect of CDT is that it offers an approach to deriving the nature of spacetime from a
minimal set of assumptions: the entire model arises from only an initial triangulation of spacetime (this puts it in the
non-perturbative family of approaches to quantum gravity). In general, the idea of deriving what is observed from
first principles (without having to postulate too much about the fundamental nature and structure of space and time) is
an attractive one, and makes any model such as CDT that has shown initial promising results worth studying.” Alex.
Forcier, Introductory Causal Dynamical Triangulation, arXiv:1109.3879v1, 18 Sep 2011
491
See John Baez. Platonic Solids in All Dimensions, June 11, 2020
“Because triangles are constructed from lines, and lines can be expressed in numbers, the basis of structure is
mathematics. By a regrouping of the geometrical surfaces, Plato proposes that each of the elements can be
transformed into one of the others. What we perceive at the macroscopic level is not the geometrical shapes but the
qualities associated with particular patterns of structure. In light of the remarkable parallels of Plato’s geometrical
model to modern theory, as has been pointed out by Popper, it is not surprising that W. K. C. Guthrie also remarks of
the Timaeus: The Timaeus’ “geometrical theory of the world has come into its own again as evidence of a brilliant
natural insight into the structure of matter.... [It was] Heisenberg’s opinion that the tendency of modern physics
brings it closer to the Timaeus than to Democritus” (A History of Greek Philosophy 5:242).” Keven Brown, A Bahá’í
Perspective on the Origin of Matter, The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 2.3.1990, page 37 (25).
107
potentials,492 CDT is incomplete -- other theories must be spliced onto CDT for contingency,
meaning, and consciousness to become emergent. Nonetheless, CDT remains very much in the
running and will be reexamined in my future “Meditations On Consciousness” revision.
There are also several plausible alternatives. For example, “Creatio Ex Nihilo” (CEN) models
how information, dimensions, forces, and dynamicity might evolve from a ‘null’ information
state.493 In an alternate approach, the Wolfram model’s multiway hypergraph representation of
spacetime describes an information space comprised of all possible evolutionary paths. As a
fourth candidate, “information” becomes a necessary emergent once additional dimensions are
assumed.494 This dimensional-based approach notably includes Itzhak Bars’ model495 that argues
that we live in a 3D+1T holographic projection of a 6-D universe comprised of four spatial
dimensions (4D) and two-time (2T) dimensions. In Bars’ model, his extra (the 4th) spatial
dimension is normal-sized (i.e., not curled up in a Planckian-sized Calabi-Yau configuration).
However, Bars’ additional dimensions are only observable through the holographic shadows they
project into our normal 3D+1T spacetime. Dr. Bars’ model and, more generally, the scientific
plausibility of extra dimensions have been of particular interest and will be revisited later in this
492
Consistent with how CDT pieces together the gemometry of spacetime, some scientists are attempting to identify
connections between the geometry underlying the cosmos with the physical brain and, more generally, with
consciousness.
Mapping brain imaging data to networks, where nodes indicate anatomical regions of the brain and edges
represent the occurrence of fiber tracts between them, has been able to perform a graph-theoretic analysis of the
human connectome. It has been revealed that the connectome has a hyperbolic geometry and a complicated
structure on the scale between edges and mesoscopic anatomical communities within cerebral hemispheres. This
structure with simplicial complexes of various sizes and cycles describes the higher-order connectivity among
various regions of the brain [18]. Lidong Wang and Cheryl Ann Alexander, Brain Science and Brain-inspired Artificial Intelligence:
Advances and Trends, Journal of Computer Sciences and Applications, 2019, Vol. 7, No. 1, 56-61, Page 58.
See generally: M Pitkänen, “Could brain be represented as a hyperbolic geometry?,” Journal of Consciousness
Exploration & Research, Vol 11, No 4 (2020).
493
“…information, in contrast to matter and energy, is the only concept that we currently have that can explain its
own origin.” Vlatko Vedra. Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information, Oxford University Press, 2010, page 10.
See: Maya Lincoln and Avi Wasser, Spontaneous Creation of the Universe Ex Nihilo, Elsevier, Physics of the Dark
Universe 2 (2013) 195–199
See also: Cláudio Nassif Cruz and Fernando Antônio da Silva, Cosmology of the Symmetrical Relativity versus
Spontaneous Creation of the Universe Ex Nihilo, Physics of the Dark Universe, Volume 28, May 2020, 100525
494
Matt Williams, A Universe of 10 Dimensions, Universe Today: Space and Astronomy News, Dec. 10, 2014
See also: Margaret Wertheim, Radical Dimensions, Aeon Magazine, 10 January 2018
Philip Perry, Physicists Outline 10 Different Dimensions and How You’d Experience Them, the Big Think, 12 May,
2017
The concepts associated with extra dimensions have been a popular topic for explanatory videos. For examples, see:
WE theorists, Understanding The 11 Dimensions of Existence! 11 Dimensions Explained!,
Giovanni B, Ten Dimensions Explained,
Rob Bryanton, Imagining Ten Dimensions in Two Minutes
Lalit Vashishtha, 11 Dimensions Explained (Eleven Dimensions), Engineering Made Easy, Nov 24, 2019.
495
See: Itzhak Bars, John Terning, and Farzad Nekoogar, Extra Dimensions in Space and Time, Springer
Science+Business Media, LLC, 2010.
Note that Dr. Bars’ model does not exclude the possibility of additional dimensions, provided that they are curled up.
108
paper. Although these approaches, and others mentioned in the following sections, provide
alternate pathways for a pre-Big Bang” information matrix to arise, it must be acknowledged that
most physicists would view them as speculative.
How might Consciousness emerge within the World Soul?
It would be easy to assume that consciousness is necessarily emergent within the World Soul.
Theologians and some scientists have suggested that “God” is the answer. And many religious
writings presume a Divine consciousness that is coeternal with the “First Intellect” or is a
“necessary emergent from the “Primal Will”496 and “Primal Oneness.”497
As noted, cosmopsychism does not look beyond this assumption to question how
consciousness arises. Cosmopsychism and panpsychism merely remove the “problem of
consciousness” from the time and space of our universe. They cannot explain why consciousness
“is” within the frame of reference of time and space and, therefore, must assume its existence as
ubiquitous to our universe. However, if the model on which this paper is based is “true,” a
496
The first thing which emanated (sádir) from God is that universal reality, which the ancient philosophers termed
the ‘First Mind’ (‘aql-i-avval), and which the people of Bahá call the ‘First Will’ (mashíyyat-i-avvaliyyih). This
emanation, in that which concerns its action in the world of God, is not limited by time or place; it is without
beginning or end – beginning and end in relation to God are one. The preexistence of God is the preexistence of
essence, and also preexistence of time, and the phenomenality of contingency is essential and not temporal, as we
have already explained one day at table. [1 Cf. "Real Preexistence," p. 280.]
Though the "First Mind" is without beginning, it does not become a sharer in the preexistence of God, for the
existence of the universal reality in relation to the existence of God is nothingness, and it has not the power to
become an associate of God and like unto Him in preexistence. (Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p203; ‫اصلی‬
Zoroastrians say that God created the First Intellect as an intermediary in the form of a man known as Mahabad,
and we are his descendant. (Provisional Translations, Tablet on Hinduism and Zoroastrianism - Cole)
497
“The creative movement, or, to use the technical terminology of wahdat al-wujud philosophy, the selfmanifestation (tajalli) of the Absolute, which is activated by the principle of love, emerges for the first time at the
stage of ahadiyah and is called the ‘most sacred Emanation’ (Fayd-i-Aqdas). As the result of this Emanation, the
stage of wahidiyah becomes established. The wahidiyah, is the ontological state at which the original absolute
Oneness of the reality of existence appears with inner articulations. These inner articulations are called, in
accordance with the traditional terminology of theology, divine Names and Attributes. In this sense the stage of
wahidiyah is called the stage of the Names and Attributes (asma’ wa-sifat). Another name of this stage is the stage of
knowledge (`ilm), i.e., divine Consciousness. This appellation comes from the idea that the wahidiyah is the stage at
which God becomes conscious of Himself in the form of His own essential Perfections (kamalat dhatiyah). The
essential Perfections of God that are thus established in divine Consciousness with clear demarcations are called the
‘eternal Archetypes’ (a`yan thabitah). Structurally, each eternal Archetype is considered to be the zahir or exterior of
[a] particular divine Name which is the batin or interior of the Archetype. The eternal Archetypes are to be regarded
as ontological models which are eternally established in divine Consciousness and upon which the phenomenal things
are produced in the empirical dimension of time and space…. The eternal Archetypes become actualized as
individual phenomenal things only at the next stage, that of the concrete existent, or the world of creaturely things.
And the creative or self-manifesting activity of the absolute reality of existence by which this ontological ‘descent’ is
actualized is called the ‘sacred emanation’ (fayd muqaddas) in distinction from the ‘most sacred emanation’ by which
the ahadiyah develops into wahidiyah.” (Izutsu, "An Analysis of Wahdat al-Wujud", in Creation and the Timeless Order of Things, p.
92: See also Sufism and Taoism, pp. 159-192 and The Concept and Reality of Existence, p.82)
109
consciousness that existed before the “Big Bang” would be ubiquitous, just as cosmopsychism
claims. Even so, the problem remains: how might a cosmic consciousness emerge?
When time symmetry, destiny states, and attractors are added to our mosaic, an emergent
consciousness might seem more plausible, perhaps through constructive and destructive
interference patterns that an infinitude of super-positioned waves might be deemed to create.
However, Jaegwon Kim, in his book “Philosophy of Mind,” describes the continuing problem as
follows:
“Is it any easier to understand how thoughts and consciousness can arise in an immaterial
substance, especially if, as Leibniz and many other dualists urge, such a substance is an absolute
“simple” with no constituent parts? How could immaterial minds, without structure and outside
physical space, possess beliefs and desires directed at things in the physical world? How could
our rich and complex mental life inhere in something that has no parts and hence no structure?
Isn’t the proposal recommended by Leibniz, and by Plantinga and Foster, merely a solution by
stipulation? What do we know about mental substances that can help us understand how they
could be the bearers of consciousness and perception and thought? Understanding how
mentality can arise in something immaterial may be no easier than understanding how it could
arise in a material system; in fact, it might turn out to be more difficult.”498
Is there a scientifically plausible resolution to this problem?
Possibly!
Although I believe I have already introduced the best alternatives, here are some additional
options:
Digital Physics
Some computational scientists claim “that the entire universe is, at the very bottom, made out
of bits; [and]; as a result, all physical processes are intrinsically computational.”499 Many of these
scientists additionally believe digital physics can provide scientifically plausible pathways to an
emergent consciousness and panpsychism500. However, digital physics does not explain
Jaegwon Kim, “Philosophy of Mind, Westview Press, 2011 (Ebook version)
Abstract to The Ontology of Digital Physics, Springer, (2016)
500
“We analyse the logical form of the two models of computation traditionally adopted in digital physics, namely,
cellular automata and Turing machines. These models are computationally equivalent, but we show that they support
different ontological commitments about the fundamental properties of the universe. In fact, cellular automata are
compatible with a rather traditional form of physicalism, whereas Turing machines support a dualistic ontology,
which could be understood as a realism about the laws of nature or, alternatively, as a kind of panpsychism.”
Beraldo-de-Araújo, A. & Baravalle, L. Erkenn Abstract to The Ontology of Digital Physics, in PhilPapers, December
2016.
See generally Beraldo-de-Araújo, A. & Baravalle, L. Erkenn Abstract to The Ontology of Digital Physics, Springer,
(2016)
498
499
110
information’s origin. It just is. Also, those scientists pursuing the cellular automata approach
have simply pushed panpsychism into the automata. In essence, they have assumed that
consciousness (or proto-consciousness) is innate within the theory’s computational “cells” 501
Therefore, Dr. Kim’s critique continues to apply:
“Understanding how mentality can arise in something immaterial may be no easier than
understanding how it could arise in a material system; in fact, it might turn out to be more
difficult.”502
Process Physics
Process Physics503 is my preferred candidate. Although it has already been introduced, it is
worthy of additional consideration. Unlike other “process-like” approaches, the system proposed
“If our world is a cellular automaton, how does the phenomenal mind emerge? The answer is straightforward for
the constitutive panpsychist: The individual cells have intrinsic natures that are mental or at least analogous to
mentality (that is, proto-mental). It is the composition of these intrinsic natures that explains the emergence of
phenomenal minds. The emergence is thus neither brute nor inexplicable. The composition of the cells alone accounts
for the weak emergence of higher-level structures and higher-level mentality. There is logical synchronic
supervenience between the lower and the higher levels. A perfect copy of all of the cells, including their intrinsic
natures, will necessitate higher-level structure and higher-level phenomenal properties. The microdeterministic
layered ontological framework of physicalism can be fully retained. The physical level determines all the facts, if
‘physical’ is taken in the broad sense such that quiddities, that is, intrinsic natures, are included. The beauty of
constitutive panpsychism lies precisely in its ability to leave the overall framework of traditional physicalism intact.
The macrofacts are synchronically microdetermined. Reductive explanations in the sciences are metaphysically
vindicated. Constitutive panpsychism just adds nonobservable intrinsic natures to the scientific image. These natures
do much (p.60) of the metaphysical heavy lifting in the philosophy of mind, without getting in the way elsewhere by
interfering with the physical laws governing observable physical processes. For all pragmatic or instrumental
scientific purposes it is perfectly acceptable to abstract away from those intrinsic natures. From the point of science,
the quiddities are mere metaphysical postulates. Thus even if constitutive panpsychism is true, science can work
under the presumption of traditional methodological physicalism. Most significantly, constitutive panpsychism can
hold on to the causal closure of the physical. David Chalmers sees this as a distinct advantage of constitutive
panpsychism over its cousin, nonconstitutive panpsychism. The latter position requires strong emergence and
(possibly) downward-causation and seems therefore prima facie incapable of providing a clear theoretical advantage
over (emergent) dualism. But how, exactly, does constitutive panpsychism preserve the causal efficacy of the mental,
especially in cases where beliefs or desires cause the movement of bodies?”
501
Godehard Brüntrup, Emergent Panpsychism, Chapter 3 in Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives, Godehard Bruntrup and Ludwig Jaskolla
editors, Oxford University Press, 2016, pages 59-60
See Generally, Godehard Bruntrup and Ludwig Jaskolla, Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives, Godehard
Bruntrup and Ludwig Jaskolla editors, Oxford University Press, 2016
502
Jaegwon Kim, “Philosophy of Mind, Westview Press, 2011 (Ebook version)
The process where this might be possible are introduced in the next section. However, in the forthcoming update to
my “Meditations on Consciousness” Paper, these processes will be discussed in detail.
503
As previously noted, it will be my suggestion that the processes described by Process Physics and Whitehead’s
process philosophy effectuated the emergence of a transcendent (“Divine-like”) consciousness within the World
Soul’s information matrix.
" , self-replicating, and constantly evolving. Rather than the static 4-dimensional modelling of present-day (nonprocess) physics, Process Physics attempts to construct a dynamic model where space and matter are seen to emerge
from a fundamentally random but self-organising system. The key insight is that to adequately model reality we must
move on from the traditional non-process syntactical information modelling to a process semantic information
modelling; such information is ‘internally meaningful’.” Kirsty Kitto, Process Physics.
111
by Reginald Cahill, Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, and others does not require assumptions about the
“geometrical background structure” of reality and our universe.
“Process Physics doesn’t draw any hypothetical boundaries between target world, subject
world and their ambient environment. Instead, Process Physics starts out with a network of
initially undifferentiated, orderless background patterns—a “void-like pre-space” or
“pregeometric vacuum-like expanse”—in which newly developing foreground patterns will
start to emerge through a process of self-organization. That is, from early patternlessness, this
network of initially negligible background processuality manages to give rise to gradually
actualizing foreground patterns through ubiquitous, system-intrinsic reciprocity. All this is
achieved by way of a self-organizing relational network that (1) has no need for any a priori
separation between subject and target side and (2) works on the basis of including, not
excluding, all environmental aspects (Cahill & Klinger, 1996, 2005; Cahill et al., 2000).”504
“In process physics, the fundamental assumption is that reality is to be modeled as selforganizing semantic information, that is, information that is ‘internally’ meaningful, using a
self-referentially limited neural network model. Such a system has no a priori objects or laws,
and is evolved using a bootstrap system, so that it is the system itself that ‘internally’ creates
patterns of relationships and their dominant modes of behaviour, and all (sub)systems are fractal
in character, that is, relationships within relationships, and so on ad infinitum. In this way, all
emergent phenomena are unified, and it is this key feature that has resulted in an understanding
and linking, for the first time, of various phenomena. A key feature of this process-physics is
that this fracticality is associated with self-organizing criticality.”505.
“The “emergent 3-space is entirely relational; it does not arise within any a priori geometrical
background structure. By construction, it is the most robust structure, - however other softer
“Such a system has no a priori objects or laws, and is induced using a bootstrap system, so that it is the system
itself that internally' creates patterns of relationships and their dominant modes of behaviour, and all (sub)systems are
fractal in character, that is, relationships within relationships, and so on ad infinitum. In this way all emergent
phenomena are united...” Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics: From Information Theory to Quantum Space and Matter, Nova Science
Publishers, 2012, page 16.
Process Physics was built on the “bootstrap model” of the theoretical physicist, Geoffrey Chew. (and) “…
circumvents many of the problems that contemporary mainstream physics has to face—problems like the explanatory
gap between mind and brain (Velmans, 2009, pp. 306–313), the systematic neglect of lived subjectivity in the
physical sciences, the bifurcation of nature (Whitehead, 1938, 173–232), the cosmological fallacy (Smolin, 2013, p.
97; Rosen, 2010, p. 72), the troublesome origination story behind the laws of nature (Smolin, 2013, pp. 97–98; Van
Dijk, 2017, p. 8), the physicist’s fallacy (Van Dijk, 2017, p. 175), and so on.” Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, Process Physics:
Toward an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian Physics, Chapter 2, Process Cosmology: New Integrations in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M.
Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew Schwartz. Editors, Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, Switzerland AG, 2022, Page 51.
“The bootstrap philosophy abandons not only the idea of fundamental constituents of matter but accepts no
fundamental entities whatsoever — no fundamental laws or equations, and not even a fundamental structure of space
and time. The universe is seen as a dynamic web of interrelated events. None of the properties of any part of this web
are fundamental; they all follow from the properties of the other parts, and the overall consistency of their mutual
interrelations determines the structure of the entire web.” Fritjof Capra, The Unification of Physics, May 14, 2014.
504
Jeroen B. J. Van Dijk, Process Physics: Toward an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian Physics, Chapter 2, Process
Cosmology: New Integrations in Science and Philosophy, Andrew M. Davis, Maria-Teresa Teixeira, Wm. Andrew
Schwartz, Editors, Palgrave Macmillan, Page 29. Also: Process Physics: Toward an Organismic, Neo-Whiteheadian
... - SpringerLink, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-81396-3_2.
505
Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics, Process Studies Supplement 2003 Issue 5, page 11.
112
emergent modes of behaviour will be seen as attached to or embedded in this flickering 3space.”506
“The described processes are “generative of a three-dimensional process space with embedded
topological defects. In this way, the stochastic neural-network creates stable strange attractors
and as well determines their interaction properties.”507
Essentially, something that is very much like a neural net is spontaneously emergent from the
self-referential system that “Process Physics” describes. The work of Drs. Cahill, Van Dijk, and
others would seem to provide a more than adequate explanatory fit for consciousness to be emergent
from the model’s information matrix.
Self-Simulation Hypothesis:
In a paper titled “The Self-Simulation Hypothesis Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics,”
Klee Irwin, Marcelo Amaral, and David Chester present their “non-materialist” “Self-Simulation
Hypothesis.” Their hypothesis, like mine, is information-centric. They also describe their
hypothesis, like I have, as ‘thought.”
“The salient idea is “timeless emergentism,” wherein the total simulation run can be viewed as
one grand thought. Herein, the presumption of time does not exist, and, instead, a nested
hierarchical order in the total self-simulation thought as an ordered set exists. Emergentism in
this context is where the self-simulation grand thought has various sub-thoughts in a nested
hierarchy that synergistically composite to higher-order sub-thoughts and eventually composite
to become the grand thought of the self-simulation run itself. An early sub-thought in the
ordered set is the base mathematics of the self-simulation code. Another important early subthought is the principle of efficient language, which is the idea of economizing sub-thoughts,
called code-steps or actions, for the purpose of economically expressing the meaning that
emergent sub-thoughts, such as humans, choose to experience, such as a measurement. One
important sub-thought early in the ordering of the nested hierarchy is a fundamental particle.”508
This description is virtually identical to one of the illustrative descriptions I provided in Part
One of this paper. However, the Self-Simulation Hypothesis would appear to require a preexisting information space and, at least, an assumed proto-consciousness.
506
Reginald T. Cahill and Christopher M. Klinger, Bootstrap Universe from Self-Referential Noise, arXiv:grqc/9708013 v1 07 Aug 97, page 6
507
Reginald T. Cahill, Process Physics, Process Studies Supplement 2003 Issue 5, page 25
508
Klee Irwin, Marcelo Amaral, and David Chester, “The Self-Simulation Hypothesis Interpretation of Quantum
Mechanics,” Entropy, Volume 22, Issue 2, MDPI, 2020, page 1.
“In principle, all spacetime and energy in the universe can self-organize to form an uber emergent consciousness.”
Ibid, page 9.
113
Amplituhedron
Researchers into a geometric structure called the “amplituhedron” believe it can redefine our
understanding of spacetime — and provide a quantum theory of gravity in the process. The
principal advantage of amplituhedrons is in simplifying quantum field theory’s calculations of
particle interactions.509 The amplituhedron is not a physical object but an abstraction that allows
scientists to model how the details of particle interactions play out. The approach is complicated
because there are as many amplituhedrons as there are possible ways for particles to interact.
Although this approach would be unwieldy in the context of the information matrix we have been
exploring, it is worthy of mention because a few of its advocates have aspirationally claimed that
a theory of consciousness is a potential byproduct.510
Quasicrystals
A highly intriguing quasicrystalline-based model of reality that Klee Irwin and a Quantum
Gravity Research team of scientists are aspirationally developing is also worthy of mention. If
successful, quasicrystals could introduce syntactical rules (or “syntaxial” rules – pun intended)
and “meaning” into the information matrix we have been exploring. And, again, aspirationally,
these researchers believe their work could lead to an understanding of how consciousness would
be emergent.
“Reality is experimentally observed to be geometric at all scales, from the Planck level to the
largest structures.” Furthermore, these researchers go on to hypothesize “that an entirely
geometric language or code, using geometric symbolism, is the fundamental way in which
meaning, in the form of our physical reality, is expressed.”511
509
This is accomplished through the use of a multi-dimensional, interconnected series of polyhedrons: the
amplituhedron. See https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-discover-geometry-underlying-particle-physics20130917/
510
The Geometric Structure That Is Changing Notions of Reality, https://futurism.com/the-geometric-structure-thatis-changing-notions-of-reality. Emergence Theory Overview - Quantum Gravity Research,
https://quantumgravityresearch.org/lay-person-overview/.
https://www.cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/553
http://www.unariunwisdom.com/fundamental-geometry-and-consciousness/
511
“A central feature of reality behaving geometrically is that all fundamental particles and forces in nature, including
gravity, can transform into one another, through a process called gauge symmetry transformation, in a manner that
corresponds precisely to the vertices of the 8-dimensional polytope of a crystal called the E8 lattice. However, we do
not appear to live in an 8-dimensional universe. Experimental evidence indicates that we live in a universe comprised
of only three spatial dimensions.
What kind of geometric language or code, then, would express a geometric, 3-dimensional reality that is deeply
linked to the 8-dimensional, E8 lattice?
114
Quantum Information
Last is a remarkable book by Danko D. Georgiev, titled: “Quantum Information and
Consciousness-a gentle introduction,”512 which constructs a quantum information theory of
consciousness. Much more will be said about Georgiev’s book in the forthcoming update to my
Meditations on Consciousness paper.
Summary
At this point, it remains reasonable to hypothesize that the information matrix would be a selfreferential system in which neural net-like relationships could be emergent. At present, I am
unaware whether any physicists investigating the various approaches I have mentioned in this
paper have considered the applicability of reverse causality and a destiny state to their models.
However, I believe that the role of attractors within their systems could generate new insights and
add explanatory value to their activities. I cannot predict which, if any, of the many candidate
approaches will ultimately be successful. I nonetheless believe the winner will need to find its
origins in the “immaterial” due to the philosophical, quantum mechanical513, and experimental
studies that have rendered the physicalists’ explanations untenable.514 There are also paradigm-
We believe the answer is in the language and mathematics of quasicrystals. A quasicrystal is an aperiodic, but not
random, pattern. A quasicrystal in any given dimension is created by projecting a crystal - a periodic pattern - from a
higher dimension to a lower one. For example, imagine projecting a 3-dimensional checkerboard - or cubic lattice
made of equally spaced and sized cubes - onto a 2-dimensional plane at a certain angle. This 3D cubic lattice is a
periodic pattern that may stretch out infinitely in all directions. The 2D, projected object is not a periodic pattern.
Rather, it is distorted due to the angle of projection, and instead of containing only one shape that repeats infinitely
like the 3D crystal does, it contains a finite number of different shapes (called proto-tiles) that are oriented relative
to one another in specific ways, governed by a set of mathematical/geometrical rules, to fill the 2D plane in all
directions. By analyzing the 2D projection it is possible, with the correct mathematical and trigonometric toolkit, to
actually recover the "mother" object in 3D (the cubic lattice crystal in this example.) A famous example of a 2D
quasicrystal is the Penrose tiling conceived by Roger Penrose in the 1970’s, in which a 2D quasicrystal is created by
projecting a 5-dimensional cubic lattice to a 2D plane.”
Emergence theory focuses on projecting the 8-dimensional E8 crystal to 4D and 3D. When the fundamental 8D cell
of the E8 lattice (a shape with 240 vertices known as the “Gosset polytope”) is projected to 4D, two identical, 4D
shapes of different sizes are created. The ratio of their sizes is the golden ratio. Each of these shapes are constructed
of 600 3-dimensional tetrahedra rotated from one another by a golden-ratio based angle. We refer to this 4D shape as
the “600-Cell.” The 600-Cells interact in specific ways (they intersect in 7 golden-ratio related ways and “kiss” in one
particular way) to form a 4D quasicrystal. By taking 3D subspaces of this 4D quasicrystal and rotating them from one
another at a certain angle, we form a 3D quasicrystal that has one type of proto-tile: a 3D tetrahedron.
See: Emergence Theory Overview | Quantum Gravity Research
512
Danko D. Georgiev, “Quantum Information and Consciousness-a gentle introduction”, Taylor & Francis Group,
Boca Raton, FL, 2018,
513
See Danko D. Georgiev, “Quantum Information and Consciousness-a gentle introduction”, Taylor & Francis
Group, Boca Raton, FL, 2018, page 143
514
Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science.
Philosophical arguments that physicalism is fatally flawed:
115
changing experiments surveyed in the first endnote, titled: “Is Precognition Possible.” (See
Endnote A.) Based on the foregoing, I believe the gaps that Ervin Laszlo left unexplained in his
descriptions of the Akashic Field515 will eventually be filled.
All of these themes will be revisited in my forthcoming “Meditations on Consciousness”
revision.
Is it reasonable to believe in extra dimensions?
Symmetries concern those properties of a physical system that stay the same (are invariant)
even when something is done to them (a transformation). As simple examples, a cube looks the
same no matter which face is viewed (called a spatial “rotational symmetry”), and a movie of
most subatomic interactions looks the same if run forward or in reverse (“time-reversal
symmetry”). Some systems are invariant to your physical location (spatial “translational
symmetry”) or at what relative time the system is observed (“time-translational symmetry”) or the
non-accelerating reference frame of the observer (Lorentz symmetry). In essence, symmetries
identify changes that may appear to make a real difference (to include exhibiting very different
laws of physics with entirely different mathematical descriptions) -- but don’t.516
Why Physicalism is Wrong
Multiple Realizability Argument (Putnam 1967)
The Knowledge Argument “What Mary Didn't Know” (Jackson, 1986)
The idea of Zombies (Chalmers 1996),)
Inverted Qualia, (Shoemaker 1982 and Block 1990)
List of arguments against physicalism about consciousness (including comments)
(i) arguments from the conceivability/possibility of disembodiment (Descartes, Kripke),
(ii) the property dualism argument (max black, Stephen White),
(iii) the argument from intentionalism (Adam Pautz),
(iv) arguments from personal identity (Martine Nida-Rumelin, Richard Swinburne,
(v) arguments from the unity or simplicity of consciousness (Barnett, Hasker,
(vi) arguments from mental causation (Tim O’Connor).
515
As example, by showing how a teleology may be introduced into the time evolution of creation, the following
Akashic “mystery” can be resolved: “We now apply the concept of initial-condition dependence to the Metaverse
itself. The Metaverse's development also must have been critically influenced by its initial conditions. But prior
universes could not have set these conditions, for the Metaverse was there before all universes. How, then, were the
initial conditions of the Metaverse determined - By what... or is the question By whom? This is the deepest and
greatest mystery of all - the mystery of the origins of the universe-generating process itself.
This greatest of all mysteries is "transempirical"; it is not amenable to resolution by reasoning based on observation
and experiment. Yet one thing is clear: If it is unlikely that our fine-tuned universe would have originated in a series
of random fluctuations, the mother universe that gave rise to a series of progressively evolving local universes is even
more unlikely to have originated in that way. The Metaverse's pre-space was not only such that one universe could
arise in it, but also such that an entire series of universes could. This could hardly have been a lucky fluke. We must
admit that there must have been an original creative act, an act of "metaversal Design." Ervin Laszlo, Science and the
Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything, Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT, 2004 (see also 2nd Edition, 2007)
page 125
See also: Shelli Joye, Ervin László's Holofield (The Akasha) and David Bohm's Implicate Order.
516
Here is a good video in which symmetries are explained in very understandable terms.
116
The fundamental connection between symmetries and physics was first recognized by the
German mathematician Emmy Noether, who identified the relationship between symmetries and
the conservation laws of physics (called Noether’s Theorem). For example, an examination of
“time translational symmetry” led to the conservation of energy law - that energy cannot be
created or destroyed but is instead transformed from one form into another. Both general
relativity and the standard model of particle physics are based on symmetries that hold
independently at every point of space and time, called “gauge symmetries.”517
Physicists believe that during the first Planck Epoch (10 -44 seconds) following the Big Bang,
all of the forces of nature were subsumed within a single unified force. Then, within a few
picoseconds, the symmetries fused by the Big Bang’s initial energies began to be sequentially
broken. Physicists have used the symmetries hidden in our four-dimensional (3D + 1T) world to
mathematically reconstruct these origins. With few exceptions, their reconstructions have seemed
to work best if additional dimensions were assumed.518 The first physical theory that incorporated
an extra dimension was developed in 1913 by the Finnish physicist Gunnar Nordström.519 In
1921, the German mathematician, Theodor Kaluza, introduced the idea of extra dimensions into
517
The use of Gauge symmetries to gain insights into the forces of Nature is ubiquitous. For example, the symmetry
implicit in Maxwell’s equations and the recognition that physical laws are covariant under Lorentz coordinate
transformations inspired the geometry of Special Relativity. Ten years later, the symmetry under general coordinate
transformations helped inspire Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. More recently, the Yang-Mills gauge
symmetry let to the unification of the electromagnetic force and weak forces. The symmetries in quantum mechanics,
together with their attendant forces and conservation laws, were central in the development of quantum
chromodynamics and the theory of the strong force. These discoveries then collectively led to the Standard Model of
particle physics.
518
In order to avoid confusion, it should be remembered that not all references to extra “dimensions” will necessarily
involve spatial dimensions. They may, instead, be a reference to a system’s available degrees of freedom. For
example, according to the theoretical physicist, Sean Carroll” “… the world isn't actually made of "objects" with
"locations" in three-dimensional "space." Those are simply convenient ways of talking about features of an abstract
and more fundamental description of the universe: the wave function. It evolves in a mathematical realm with more
than 10^(10^100) dimensions.” Sean Carroll, Space is overrated, Axios Media, July 3, 2017
However, these are not physical dimensions, which Sean Carroll makes clear in his book, “From Eternity To Here,
The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time”:
“The space of states can have a huge number of dimensions, even when ordinary space is just three dimensional.
In this abstract context, a ‘dimension’ is just ‘a number you need to specify a point in the space.’ The space of
states has one dimension for each component of position, and one dimension for each component of momentum,
for every particle in the system.” Sean Carroll, “From Eternity To Here The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time”, Dutton imprint of
Penguin Random House, LLC, 2010, page 132:
“Gunnar Nordström unified electromagnetism and Newtonian gravity by embedding a symmetric energymomentum tensor in five-dimensional Minkowski space.” Jonah Miller, A Brief Summary of Kaluza-Klein Theory,
519
semanticscholar.org, May 3, 2013.
This theory of gravitation was based on a single scalar field which, with Albert Einstein’s and Adriaan Fokker’s 1914
additions, became a theory of “spacetime.” Although Nordström’s approach was abandoned when Einstein’s General
Theory of Relativity became widely known, there has been some recent revival of interest.
117
mainstream physics.520 In response to the criticism that extra dimensions should be perceived,
Oskar Klein, working separately, suggested that a fifth spatial dimension existed but was curled
up and invisibly small.521 Eventually called the Kaluza-Klein theory, electromagnetism, gravity,
and a scalar field were reproduced in four dimensions by making the photon field a part of a fivedimensional gravitational field. In 1983, Valerii A. Rubakov and Mikhail E. Shaposhnikov
proposed an extra-dimensional theory called the domain wall theory that introduced an infinite
extra dimension.522 In 2000, Carlos Castro, Alex Granik, and Mohamed El Naschie, in a paper
titled “Why We Live in 3+1 Dimensions,” suggested that our universe arose from a Planck-sized
infinite-dimensional “hyperpoint.” The authors “coined the word hyperpoint to represent the
infinite-dimensional analog of a point, where infinite Dimensions, infinite Energy and infinite
Information merge and become ONE. 523 And they imbued this “mathematical ‘point’ with a true
physical meaning.”524
Currently, Physicists are working to mathematically unify the enigmatic shadows cast by
quantum mechanics and general relativity. String Theory, utilizing ten-dimensional Calabi-Yau
shapes (called manifolds), is the best-known of these approaches. Superstring Theory
incorporates supersymmetry to model gravity and unify bosons and fermions within the theory's
ten (9 Spatial +1 Time) dimensions. M-Theory subsumes and unifies the five competing
superstring theories and a supergravity theory within its eleven (10S + 1T) dimensions. Should
any of these multiple-dimensional theories emerge as an accurate description of reality, it could
be argued that the “information matrix” intrinsically “exists” as “possible worlds”:
“…Theodor Kaluza discovered that the metric tensor of five-dimensional curved spacetime can be viewed as the
metric of four-dimensional spacetime coupled to the electromagnetic vector potential and a scalar field.” Jonah Miller,
520
A Brief Summary of Kaluza-Klein Theory, semanticscholar.org, May 3, 2013.
See generally: Daniela Wuensch, The fifth dimension: Theodor Kaluza’s ground-breaking idea, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig)
12, No. 9, 519 – 542 (2003) 16 October 2003
521
There are physicists who argue that the laws of physics which govern our universe must have three, and only
three, large spatial dimensions – no more and no less.
See: Nancy Atkinsonm, A New Theory Explains Why the Universe Is Three Dimensional, October 19, 2017
Lisa Zyga, Why is space three-dimensional?, Phys.org, May 3, 2016
Why is Space Three-Dimensional? Based on W. Biichel:"Warum hat der Raum drei Dimensionen?,"Physikalische
Blotter 19, 12, pp. 547-549 Translated and adapted by Ira M. Freeman, (December 1963)
522
In Rubakov’s and Shaposhnikov’s “theory, an infinite extra dimension together with a bulk scalar field are
introduced. The authors found that an effective potential well along the extra dimension could localize the energy
density of the scalar field in the well. Therefore, the energy density of the scalar field constructs a three-dimensional
hypersurface, dubbed domain wall, embedded in the five-dimensional space-time.”
Hao Yu, Zi-Chao Lin, and Yu-Xiao Liu, Gravitational waves and extra dimensions: a short review, Commun. Theor. Phys. 71 (2019) 991–1006,
page 994
523
524
Castro, Granik, & El Naschie, "Why We Live in 3+1 Dimensions , arXiv:hep-th/0004152v2 22 Apr 2000
ibid
118
“… the fifth and sixth dimensions are where the notion of possible worlds arises. If we
could see on through to the fifth dimension, we would see a world slightly different from our
own that would give us a means of measuring the similarity and differences between our
world and other possible ones.
In the sixth [dimension], we would see a plane of possible worlds, where we could compare
and position all the possible universes that start with the same initial conditions as this one
(i.e., the Big Bang). …
In the seventh dimension, you have access to the possible worlds that start with different
initial conditions. Whereas in the fifth and sixth, the initial conditions were the same, and
subsequent actions were different, here, everything is different from the very beginning of
time. The eighth dimension again gives us a plane of such possible universe histories, each of
which begins with different initial conditions and branches out infinitely (hence why they are
called infinities). In the ninth dimension, we can compare all the possible universe histories,
starting with all the different possible laws of physics and initial conditions. In the tenth and
final dimension, we arrive at the point in which everything possible and imaginable is
covered.” 525
Additionally, if the eleventh dimension required for M-Theory is also assumed, the many
mansions of John 14:2 and the metaphysical realms described in the Bahá’í Writings and the
Islamic philosophic traditions could also be readily accommodated.526
However, there can be a problem if we simplistically fuse string theory’s extra dimensions
with the “yes”/”no” questions from John Archibald Wheeler’s “it from bit” information theory.527
525
Matt Williams, A Universe of 10 Dimensions, Universe Today: Space and Astronomy News, December 10, 2014
See also: Margaret Wertheim, Radical Dimensions, Aeon Magazine, 10 January 2018. And: Philip Perry, Physicists
Outline 10 Different Dimensions and How You’d Experience Them, the Big Think, 12 May, 2017.
The concepts associated with extra dimensions have been a popular topic for explanatory videos.
For examples, see: WE theorists, Understanding The 11 Dimensions of Existence! 11 Dimensions Explained!;
Giovanni B, Ten Dimensions Explained; Rob Bryanton, Imagining Ten Dimensions in Two Minutes; and Lalit
Vashishtha, 11 Dimensions Explained (Eleven Dimensions), Engineering Made Easy, Nov 24, 2019.
526
“Realms of Being” is a philosophical/religious term that in the context of this paper would be analogous to the
scientists’ and mathematicians’’ “configuration space,” “state space,” or “phase space.” In the Socratic Cosmos, the
“realm” that connects the forms with the physical world is represented by Socrates’ “Receptacle.” In the Islamic and
Bahá'í cosmologies, this realm have been variously given the names: Malakút, Alam al Mithal, and Alam-i Dharr.
These “realms” together with the higher realms of Háhút and Jabarút and the lower realm of Násút, will be addressed
in a future paper.
“The realm of subtle entities (‘alam-i dharr) then becomes the mystical and metatemporal topography of the
covenant wherein the dialectic of predestination and free will, and of divine questioning and the freedom to
respond, combine to existentiate and realize the essences of beings. This response to the divine call may change
within the individual’s life and their essence may be changed according to that response; therefore in line with a
metaphysic of process it demonstrates that the life of the soul is not static but in a process of constant motion or
flux and at any moment in this world the soul may respond differently to the call of ‘am I not?’ and thereby
existentiate itself accordingly in a processual creation.” Farshid Kazemi, Mysteries of Alast: The Realm of Subtle Entities
(‘Ālam-i dharr) and the Primordial Covenant in the Babi–Bahá’í Writings Bahá’í Studies Review, Volume 15, 2009 First presented at the Irfan
Colloquia Session #88, May 28 – June 1, 2009
“It from bit” popularizes the view that from an information-theoretic bedrock our reality emerges. Such views are
shared by contemporary scholars of quantum information and computing. Indeed, the bizarre nature of quantum
527
119
As only three of string theory's spatial dimensions are normal-sized, how does the picture in
which we live – change? If Makowski’s Block Universe model were also assumed, the
sequential pictures of these aggregated “events” would be fixed -- with “free will” reduced to an
illusion. This problem, however, is potentially resolved if we visualize the “block universe” as a
matrix of Planckian-sized pixelations. Analogous to the RGB pixels on a television screen, each
pixel is individually too small to be noticed but collectively, they form the recognized image. In a
TV, Wheeler’s “yes”/”no” question is answered when a pixel is turned “on” or “off.” Accepting
Jacob Bekenstein’s estimate that the maximum information content of a one-centimeter sphere of
accessible space can approach 1066 bits, it could be argued that the number of alternative pictures
would not be fatally restrictive for our model.528 And, even be true even if the “color” of each
Planck unit was fixed and unchanging.529 However, the model I have been exploring in this paper
should not be subject to these limitations. In string theory, in addition to the three spatial
dimensions of our everyday experience, there are six extra spatial dimensions. These extra spatial
dimensions are understood to be curled into tiny, Planckian-sized configurations called CalabiYau manifolds. There is an enormous number of possible Calabi-Yau manifolds, thought to
approximate 10500.530 I previously described the World Soul’s information matrix as
superpositional information states. Therefore, when the quantum mechanical principle of
superposition is assumed, each Planck volume could take any of these 10500 configurations. In
this context, each Calabi-Yau manifold could represent a different “color” and, as the
mechanics can be overcome by framing it in an informational context. At the core is the qubit, a quantum
representation of a classical bit utilizing the multilayered nature of the quantum realm.” James B. Glattfelder, Content Map,
Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer
Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 37.
This because each Planck unit is vanishingly small, “The Planck length is equal to 1.616255(18)×10−35 m” (the
number 16 preceded by 34 zeroes and a decimal point) or about 10–33 centimeter. Planck units. (2022, November 18). In
528
Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units
In the context of string theory, each pixel’s color would be defined based on its Calabi-Yau configuration, which
would suggest that there are at least six, and could be as many as 10500 color options. Read on for more.
530
The literature is replete with references to 10500 as the number of alternate Calabi-Yau configurations that may
superpositionally exist at each Planckian-sized point in the universe. It is also a number that I have used in this and in
other paper I have written. However, the number may not be as accurate as many authors believe.
“… the number of possible [Calabi-Yau] configurations appear to be preposterously large, upwards of 10500.
That figure, far from being exact, is meant to provide a rough indication of the number of arrangements (or
shapes) you can get in a Calabi-Yau with many, many holes. … ‘The number ten to the five hundredth [10500] was
obtained by taking from mathematicians the maximum number of holes a manifold could have—on the order of
five hundred—and assuming that through each hole, you could place fields or fluxes that have any of ten possible
states,’ explains Polchinski, one of the people to whom this number is ascribed. ‘The counting here is really crude.
The number could be much larger or much smaller, but it’s probably not infinite.’” Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis, The
529
Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions, (quoting Joe Polchinski, University of California,
Santa Barbara, interview with author, February 6, 2006, Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2010, Pages 233-234
120
superpositional state for each Planckian-sized pixel becomes actualized, contribute to the
emergent picture for a virtually unlimited number of successive “Now.”
Additionally, the destiny states, time symmetry, and attractors I have previously described
would be analogous to the functional components of an interactive controller. This controller
would not be subject to Makowski’s space-time limitations, and consistent with our model, it
operates on a top-down basis.
Last, the physicists Itzhak Bars, John Terning, and Farzad Nekoogar have provided one more
variant to the model where human free will is preserved.
Can there be additional dimensions of time?531
Reminiscent of Plato’s allegory of the cave, the true nature of a 3D object is easily missed if
each of its shadowy two-dimensional (2D) projections is considered independently of each other.
From the familiar frame of reference of our 3+1 dimensional
world, each of these projections would seemingly require a
different formula to describe. As previously discussed,
symmetries hint at how these many shadows, and their
seemingly incompatible mathematical descriptions, might be
combined.
From Itzhak Bars, John Terning, and Farzad Nekoogar, Extra Dimensions in Space and
Time, page 57
There have been explorations into how the time dimension might be eliminated.532 There
have also been explorations into the possibility of additional time dimensions, but, unless the
extra time dimension could, in some way, be constrained to replicate the 1T of our spacetime,533
“You might wonder about whether there might not only be extra space dimensions, but also extra time
dimensions. Researchers (such as Itzhak Bars at the University of Southern California) have investigated this
possibility, and shown that it is at least possible to formulate theories with a second time dimension that seem to be
physically reasonable. ….”
531
Brian R. Greene, The Fabric Of The Cosmos: space, time, and the texture of reality, Note 19 to pages 369-86, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of
Random House, Inc., 2004, page 529.
532
James M. Chappell, John G. Hartnett, Nicolangelo Iannella, Azhar Iqbal and Derek Abbott, Time As a Geometric
Property of Space, Front. Phys., 17, November 2016
533
“The basic idea behind the two–time physics … is that the “evolution parameter” which will be interpreted as the
physical time in lower dimensional one–time theory is either a gauge choice in the higher dimensional two–time
theory (in the case of particle and tensionless brane theories), or it is obtained by imposing some kinematical
constraints (in the case of field theory). That is, we do not interpret any of the time–like coordinates in space–time
with two times as evolution parameters. The true evolution parameter, therefore the physical time, is the coordinate
one obtains as a gauge choice in the subspace of two time and one extra space dimensions. Time is also a gauge
121
catastrophic causality problems and ghosts534 were produced. Drs. Bars, Terning, and Nekoogar
used gauge symmetries to demonstrate how an action within their 2T model translates into
potentially many gauge equivalent actions within a single time dimension. Their approach
resulted in the apparent “dualities” within these 1T dynamical systems becoming subsumed as
modal expressions of their unifying 2T model. In quantum mechanics, conjugate variables are
pairs of observables that cannot be simultaneously measured without a tradeoff in the
measurements’ accuracy. The commutation relations for momentum, position, energy, and time
constitute one foundation of quantum mechanics.535 These physicists, in their book, “Extra
Dimensions in Space and Time,” described their new gauge symmetry as follows:
“In 1T-physics we have become accustomed to symmetries of fundamental laws under
transformations of [time ↔ space (position)] among themselves, or [energy ↔ momentum] among
themselves, as championed by Einstein. The new feature discovered in 2T-physics … is that the
fundamental laws of motion have a larger set of symmetries when space-time is transformed into
momentum–energy, and vice versa. …” Page 54-55
From Extra Dimensions in Space and Time, page 55
“2T-physics emerges from requiring a new fundamental symmetry in the equations of motion in
classical or quantum mechanics. This is a symmetry between covariant position (XM = time & space)
and contravariant momentum (PM = energy & momentum).536 Such a symmetry is hinted in parts of
1T-physics, as in canonical transformations in the commutation rules537 that define quantum
mechanics. Requiring that an appropriate extension of this symmetry must be obeyed at every instant
choice in general relativity and in that sense the treatment of time in two–time physics is similar. In the case of
particle theories, the gauge symmetry that one uses to reduce a two–time theory to a one–time theory is the Sp(2, R)
symmetry of the phase space, promoted to a local symmetry. In the case of field theories defined on space–times with
two times, the kinematical constraints, that one needs to impose in order to obtain a physical field theory with one
time, obey the same Sp(2, R) algebra. The two–time physics is the only rigorous way to make sense of a theory
defined on a space–time with two time–like coordinates. The problems with causality and unitarity do not exist in
two–time physics, because the final theory has only one time as the evolution parameter with a well defined
Hamiltonian.” Cemsinan Deliduman, Noncommutative Gravity in Six Dimensions, arXiv:hep-th/0607096v2 17 Dec 2006
534
Ghosts are those states of a quantum mechanical system that are predicted to occur with a negative probability.
A ghost is impossible and fatal to a theory unless it can be removed by some mathematically consistent mechanism.
535
The Heisenberg commutation relations, which are fundamental to quantum mechanics, are the Hermitian
representation of the algebra for the unitary representations of the Weyl-Heisenberg group.
536
Where Xm = (Position & Time) and Pm = (Momentum & Energy), Bars’ new symmetry requires Xm and Pm to be
indistinguishable at any instant
Itzhak Bars, John Terning, Farzad Nekoogar, and Lawrence Kraus, Extra Dimensions in Space and Time https://epdf.tips/extra-dimensions-in-space-and-time.html.
537
By definition, two operators  and Ô commute if the effect of applying  then Ô is the same as applying Ô then
Â, (i.e., ... ÂÔ=ÔÂ). For example, the operations brushing-your-teeth and combing-your-hair commute, while the
operations getting-dressed and taking-a-shower do not.
See Operations and operators, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, California Institute of Technology
122
in all equations that describe all motion is the most important new ingredient that uniquely leads to the
equations of 2T-physics.” Page 2
“The new symmetry is possible only if space-time has exactly two times (2T dimensions). … It is
fundamentally a new type of gauge symmetry acting in phase space. That is, it mixes the generalized
coordinates of space-time–momentum–energy, not only space-time, and puts them all on an equal
basis.” Page 72
Bars et al., therefore, argue that we are living in a 3D+1T holographic projection of a 6-D
universe comprised of four spatial dimensions (4D)538 and two time (2-T) dimensions. In the
Bars’ model, the extra spatial dimension is normal-sized but is observable only through the
“shadows” these dimensions holographically project into our normal 3D+1T spacetime. In his
book, “The Far Horizons of Time: Time and Mind in the Universe,” H. Chris Ransford reported
on one advantage of the Bars model as follows:
“The two-time dimensions hypothesis also seems to neatly resolve an issue for which there is,
as yet, no known solution. In a nutshell, the so-called strong force - which binds neutrons and
protons within an atom nucleus, and quarks within hadrons - should, according to calculations
in QCD (quantum chromodynamics), favor certain reactions over others; a bias that has
however never been observed experimentally. This lopsidedness disappears when a second
dimension of time is introduced in the QCD equations.”539
FIRST APPENDIX
EVERYTHING IS INFORMATION
John A. Wheeler “divided his own life into three parts. The first part he called ‘Everything is Particles.’ The
second part was ‘Everything is Fields.’ And the third part, which Wheeler considered the bedrock of his physical
theory, he called ‘Everything is Information.’”540
[John Wheeler’s] “It from bit” popularizes the view that from an information-theoretic bedrock our reality
emerges. Such views are shared by contemporary scholars of quantum information and computing. Indeed, the
bizarre nature of quantum mechanics can be overcome by framing it in an informational context. At the core is the
qubit, a quantum representation of a classical bit utilizing the multilayered nature of the quantum realm.”541
538
539
Note that Bars’ model does not exclude the possibility of additional dimensions, provided that they are curled up.
H. Chris Ransford, The Far Horizons of Time: Time and Mind in the Universe, De Gruyter Open Ltd., 2014, Page
45.
Marina Jones, John Wheeler’s Participatory Universe, Futurism, 2. 13. 14
Also: History of Physics at Princeton, John Archibald Wheeler, 1911-2008.
541
James B. Glattfelder, Content Map, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding of the
Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 37.
540
123
“The new gospel is simple: Information is the essence of reality—the substrate of existence. It has an inner
aspect giving rise to subjective experience (consciousness) and an outer aspect from which the tapestry of reality is
woven. The implications and conclusions of this new paradigm are truly outlandish.”542
Rolf Landauer wrote: “Information is not a disembodied abstract entity, it is always tied to a physical
representation.” The erasure of memory/information increases the entropy of the universe, and according to the
Landauer Principle, the loss of access to information (entropy) results in a heat penalty.543 It also “represents the
fundamental physical limit of irreversible computation.” According to a March 8, 2012, article in “Nature,”
Landauer’s Principle has been experimentally verified”.544
“Landauer’s principle states that only the erasure of information—an irreversible operation—increases entropy
(Landauer 1961, 1996). Information is physical: by deleting its physical manifestation as strings of bits, the universe
reacts. Experiments have confirmed the validity of this principle (Bérut et al. 2012; Jun et al. 2014; Hong et al.
2016). In essence, the process of erasing a bit in one place transfers information to another place, in the form of heat.
In other words: Information cannot be destroyed.”545
“Information is physical. In other words, the seemingly intangible notion of information has clear physical
consequences. For instance, information cannot be erased without the universe taking note (by registering an increase
in entropy). Information theory, giving birth to the bit and our current digital computational revolution, is the first
theory quantizing information.”546
“Information is hard to grasp. It appears ethereal and intangible, somehow detached from the physical. Its
definition is a challenge in the philosophy of information. However, information is remarkably physical. Claude
Shannon’s information theory introduces the notion of quantized information: the bit. This unit is the building block
for our modern digital computational world, established by Alan Turing. It was discovered that irreversible
computational steps, for instance, erasing information, increases the entropy of the universe. Information cannot be
destroyed—it is physical.”547
“Current attempts to unify modern physics, such as string theory and quantum gravity, depend on information
encodings and on how much information is needed to describe something. In these models, it is information that
imparts sense to the forces in the universe and to matter itself. In quantum gravity space and time are not
fundamental; it is information that constitutes the most basic level of physical reality. That is, everything arises out of
information. Relativity had already relegated space and time to this status, because there is nothing special about
either dimension; it is just what happens in each that distinguishes space from time. Events taking place in them have
only a subjective meaning, with information playing a fundamental role. In quantum gravity too, the exchange of
information is fundamental. These theories are believed to introduce a compatibility between quantum mechanics and
general relativity through the concept of information (in particular, maximum information), connecting energy from
quantum theory and energy from relativity theory, and finally bridging the two.”548
542
James B. Glattfelder, Introduction, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding of the
Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 8.
543
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landauer%27s_Principle)
544
See: Antoine Bérut, et al., “Experimental verification of Landauer’s principle linking information and
thermodynamics”
See also: Nature 483, 187–189 (08 March 2012) and http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-landauer-dissipatedmemory-erased.html
545
James B. Glattfelder, A Universe Built of Information, Chapter 13, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a
New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature
Switzerland AG, 2019, Pages 478-479.
546
James B. Glattfelder, Introduction, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding of the
Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 11.
547
James B. Glattfelder, Content Map, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding of the
Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 37.
548
Hector Zenil, Introducing the Computable Universe, A COMPUTABLE UNIVERSE: Understanding and
Exploring Nature as Computation, World Scientific Review, May 28, 2012, Page 17. (With backgrounds in math,
computer science and philosophy, Hector Zenil considers himself a kind of experimental philosopher or
a computational natural scientist.)
124
“Energy is still an important ingredient of our understanding of the universe, of course, but information has
attained a conceptual and practical status equal to — and frequently surpassing — that of energy. Our new
understanding of the universe is not in terms of the driving power of force and mass. Rather, the world we see around
us arises from a dance between equal partners, information, and energy, where first one takes the lead and then the
other. The bit meets the erg, and the result is the universe.
At bottom, the information that makes up the universe is not just ordinary classical information (bits). Rather, it
is quantum information (qubits). Consequently, the computational model that applies the universe at its smallest and
most fundamental level is not conventional digital computation, but quantum computation [1]. The strange and weird
aspects of quantum mechanics infect the universe at its very beginning, and — as will be seen — provide the
mechanism by which the universe generates its peculiar mix of randomness, order, and complexity.”549
“Is the universe a quantum cellular automaton?’ While we cannot unequivocally answer this question in the
affirmative, we note that the proofs that show that a quantum computer can simulate any local quantum system
efficiently immediately imply that any homogeneous, local quantum dynamics, such as that given by the standard
model and (presumably) by quantum gravity, can be directly reproduced by a quantum cellular automaton. Indeed,
lattice gauge theories, in Hamiltonian form, map directly onto quantum cellular automata. Accordingly, all current
physical observations are consistent with the theory that the universe is indeed a quantum cellular automaton.”550
“If quantum physics is best understood as a theory of information, can general relativity also be brought closer to
information theory? That might help us bridge the gap between the quantum and relativistic aspects of reality. The
relationship between information and general relativity has also had a rich and exciting history. The first inkling came
from the black hole entropy and Bekenstein bound [8]. If a bit of information is written into an area of the size of
Planck length squared, then the Black hole entropy is equal to the number of bits that can be written into its area [3].
This led to the development of black hole thermodynamics. But, if a black hole has entropy and temperature, then it
must radiate, a process that could only be explained quantum mechanically and this was done by Hawking [9].
A real breakthrough, however, came from Jacobson [10]. In 1995, he published a letter in the Physical Review,
where he argued that one can derive Einstein’s field equations for gravity from thermodynamics itself. The key to
Jacobson’s logic was the Bekenstein relationship between entropy and area, which, as we mentioned, has a strong
information-theoretic foundation.”551
“If both quantum physics and general theory of relativity have information theoretic underpinnings, perhaps this
offers us a way to bring them closer to each other. Of course, this logic would seem to be contrary to that of my own
field of quantum computation. This is because quantum computing follows Landauer’s dictum [16] that “information
is physical”. According to this, the laws of physics dictate the laws of information processing (which is why quantum
information processing is different to classical). But the above way of arguing that information underlies both
quantum physics and relativity goes in the exact opposite direction and puts information before physics (“it from bit”
as Wheeler suggested [3]). And putting information before physics is difficult to do, simply because information
would have to obey some rules, some axioms that would come prior to the laws of physics. It is hard to imagine
where such axioms for information would come from, if not a deeper law of physics.
I do not think that this is a problem, however.”552
“…[I] information is the underlying thread that connects all phenomena we see around us as well as explaining
their origin. Our reality is ultimately made up of information.”553
“…[I]nformation is the only appropriate entity on which to base the ultimate theory of everything.”554
“If we choose to believe in the information-theoretic scientific paradigm, then information is truly the substrate
of existence. In other words:
• Information tells consciousness how it “feels to be something.”
Seth Lloyd, “The Universe as Quantum Computer”, A COMPUTABLE UNIVERSE: Understanding and
Exploring Nature as Computation, World Scientific Review, May 28, 2012, page 570.
550
Seth Lloyd, “The Universe as Quantum Computer”, A COMPUTABLE UNIVERSE: Understanding and
Exploring Nature as Computation, World Scientific Review, May 28, 2012, page 580.
551
Vlatko Vedral, “Information and Physics”, Information 2012, 3, Page 221. doi:10.3390/info3020219
552
Vlatko Vedral, “Information and Physics,” Information, 2012, 3, Page 222 doi:10.3390/info3020219
553
Vlatko Vedral, “Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information,” Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 13.
554
Vlatko Vedral, “Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information,” Oxford University Press, 2010, p.22.
549
125
•
Information tells reality how to structure.”555
“There is no prior information required in order for information to exist. Information can be created from
emptiness. In presenting a solution to the sticky question of ‘law without law’ we find that information breaks the
infinite chain of regression in which we always seem to need a more fundamental law to explain the current one. This
feature of information, ultimately coming from our understanding of quantum theory, is what distinguishes
information from any other concept that could potentially unify our view of reality, such as matter or energy.
Information is, in fact, unique in this respect.
Viewing reality as information leads us to recognize two competing trends in its evolution. These trends, or let’s
call them arrows, work hand in hand, but point in opposite directions. The first arrow orders the world against the
Second Law of thermodynamics and compresses all the spontaneously generated information in the Universe into a
set of well-defined principles. The second arrow then generates our view of reality from these principles.”556
“Information theory is so powerful because information is physical. Information is not just an abstract concept,
and it is not just facts or figures, dates or names. It is a concrete property of matter and energy that is quantifiable and
measurable. It is every bit as real as the weight of a chunk of lead or the energy stored in an atomic warhead, and just
like mass and energy, information is subject to a set of physical laws that dictate how it can behave—how
information can be manipulated, transferred, duplicated, erased, or destroyed. And everything in the universe must
obey the laws of information, because everything in the universe is shaped by the information it contains.”557
“…information is as real and concrete as mass, energy, or temperature. You cannot see any of these properties
directly, but you accept them as real. Information is just as real.558
“This idea that something as seemingly abstract as information is actually measurable—and tangible—is one of
the central tenets of information theory.”559
“The laws of information had already solved the paradoxes of thermodynamics; in fact, information theory
consumed thermodynamics. The problems in thermodynamics can be solved by recognizing that thermodynamics is,
in truth, a special case of information theory. Now that we see that information is physical, by studying the laws of
information we can figure out the laws of the universe. And just as all matter and energy is subject to the laws of
thermodynamics, all matter and energy is subject to the laws of information. Including us.”560
Information Conservation
“In both classical and quantum worlds, information cannot appear or disappear.”561
“…[W]e regard the conservation of information in black hole evaporation as a fundamental law of nature.”562
555
James B. Glattfelder, Consilience, Chapter 15, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a New Understanding
of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, P. 600.
556
Vlatko Vedral “Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information,” Oxford University Press, 2010, pages
215-6
557
Charles Seife, Decoding The Universe: How the New Science of Information is Explaining Everything in the
Cosmos, From Our Brains to Black Holes, page 2.
558
Charles Seife, Decoding The Universe: How the New Science of Information is Explaining Everything in the
Cosmos, From Our Brains to Black Holes, page 9.
559
Charles Seife, Decoding The Universe: How the New Science of Information is Explaining Everything in the
Cosmos, From Our Brains to Black Holes, page 10.
560
Charles Seife, Decoding The Universe: How the New Science of Information is Explaining Everything in the
Cosmos, From Our Brains to Black Holes, page 87.
561
Zhang, Baocheng, et al. Information conservation is fundamental: recovering the lost information in Hawking
radiation.” International Journal of Modern Physics D 22.12 (2013)
For brief summary: https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2015/04/006.html
562
Leonard Susskind and James Lindesay, An Introduction to Black Holes, Information and the String Theory
Revolution, World Scientific Publishing Co,2005, page 77.
http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~wzhao7/c_index_files/main.files/blackhole.pdf
126
“… conservation of information is predicted by a long list of … approaches to Hawking’s information loss
paradox”563
“It was found in [B. Zhang, Q.y. Cai, L. You, M.S. Zhan, Phys. Lett. B 675 (2009) 98] that information is
conserved in the process of black hole evaporation, by using the tunneling formalism and considering the correlations
between emitted particles.” … In this letter [w]e conclude that, in the case of quantum gravity corrections, the
information loss paradox can also be explained, and unitarity of black hole evaporation process can be preserved.”564
“Our formalism gives us an explicit form of the wave function of the emitted radiation, which contains complete
information.”565
“Since Hawking radiation can carry information through this correlation between the radiated particles, the
conservation of total information can be restored by taking this correlation into account. (Page 3) and “it can be
concluded that the conservation of information will not be broken if Hawking radiation is treated as tunneling
process, as has been proved in many references [4, 11, 12] (page 2).”566
“The proof of information conservation in Hawking radiation in [14, 15] is based on the nonthermal spectrum
derived in [13] where back-reactions of emitted particles are included.” (Page 2982) Additionally, because “entropy
is conserved in Hawking radiation”, the authors “conclude that information conservation holds in Hawking radiation
from dynamical horizons.” (Page 2985)”567
“The conservation of information is derived from quantum field theory via the quantum Liouville theorem.
Quantum field theory works both forward and backward in time, so the conservation of entropy (or information)
works both ways. If quantum field theory is correct (as it so far seems to be) then information, in the abstract, is
neither created nor destroyed. Pure states remain pure states. A probabilistic combination of pure states keeps the
same set of probabilities”568
The axiom that “[e]very physical process can be simulated in an essentially unique way as a reversible evolution
of the system interacting with a pure environment” (the “purification principle”), “…expresses a strengthened form of
the principle of Conservation of Information [and] guarantees that one can always account for irreversibility by
formulating a model where, at the fundamental level, information is preserved.”569
“Thou shall not erase the information” (Page 118) “When the physicists found they could save the conservation of
information tenet and data must be retrievable, it also provided the idea that this information must be recorded
somewhere.”570
The Information Capacity of the Universe
In his paper “The Finite Information Capacity of The Universe,” Paul Davies has described this limitation as
follows:
Stoica, Ovidiu Cristinel. “The Geometry of Black Hole Singularities.” Advances in High Energy Physics 2014
(2014), page 10.
564
Chen, Yi-Xin, and Kai-Nan Shao. “Information loss and entropy conservation in quantum corrected Hawking
radiation.” Physics Letters B 678.1 (2009): 131-134.
565
Anshul Saini & Dejan Stojkovic. 2015. Radiation from a Collapsing Object is Manifestly Unitary. Phys. Rev. Lett.
114, 111301; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.111301
566
Hui, Dong, et al. “One hair postulate for hawking radiation as tunneling process.” Communications in Theoretical
Physics 61.3 (2014): 289. http://arxiv.org/pdf/0907.2085
563
Guo, Xiao-Kan, and Qing-yu Cai. “Information Recovery with Hawking Radiation from Dynamical Horizons.”
International Journal of Theoretical Physics 53.9 (2014): 2980-2987.
568
Mike W., Quantum Information Conservation, Physics Van, University of Illinois, 09/01/2013
569
Chiribella, Giulio, and Carlo Maria Scandolo. “Conservation of information and the foundations of quantum
mechanics.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1411.2723 (2014).
570
Mathew, Santhosh. “Holographic Universe: The Ultimate Illusion.” Essays on the Frontiers of Modern
Astrophysics and Cosmology. Springer International Publishing, 2014. 117-131, (Page 119).
567
127
“… The total number of bits available within the universe at this epoch is calculated to be ~ 10120 if gravitational
degrees of freedom are included in addition to all particles of matter. One may also readily calculate the maximum
total number of information processing operations that can possibly have taken place since the origin of the universe
within an expanding horizon volume. Note that the cosmological scale factor grows like t 1/2 initially, whereas the
horizon radius grows like t. Therefore a horizon volume will have encompassed less particles in the past. Taking this
into account, one arrives at an upper bound for the total number of bits of information that have been processed by all
the matter in the universe that is also ~ 10120 [22].
In accordance with the Landauer-Wheeler principle, the enormous but nevertheless finite number 10120 sets a
limit to the fidelity of any in-principle prediction based on deterministic physical law and hence sets a limit to any
constraint of over-determinism that “bottom level” laws of physics might exercise over higher-level, emergent laws.
Expressed informally, the existence of an emergent law in a system of sufficient complexity that its behavior could
not be described or predicted by processing ~ 10120 bits of information will not come into conflict with any causal
closure at the micro-level.”571
Gerard't Hooft in a December 2005 article in Physics World, while arguing that the classical laws of physics may
[from necessity] emerge from complexity, cites sources in confirmation of Paul Davies’ 10 to the 120th power
information capacity limitation as follows:
“There is, however, a natural measure of complexity that derives from the very nature of the universe.
This is defined by the maximum amount of information that the universe can possibly have processed since its
origin in a Big Bang. Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has computed this to be about 10120
bits. (2000 Nature 406 1047 and 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 237901). A system that requires more than this quantity of
information to describe it in detail is so complex that the normal mathematical laws of physics cannot be applied to
arbitrary precision without exceeding the information capacity of the universe. Cosmology thus imposes a small but
irreducible uncertainty, or fuzziness, in the operation of physical laws.”572
Paul Davies, in his “Emergent Biological Principles” paper, however, goes on to consider the entropy potential
of a second causal horizon—a de Sitter event horizon associated with the discovery of dark energy and calculates the
associated information capacity of the universe at ~10122 bits.573
Paul Davies then observes the following:
“The fact that this number, ~ 10122 bits, is close to the current information content of the universe is basically the
same as the coincidence that, to within a factor of order unity, we find ourselves living at the epoch at which dark
energy starts to dominate over matter.
There is strong evidence (e.g., Bousso [24]; Davies and Davies [25]) that the de Sitter horizon entropy … constitutes
an absolute upper bound to the information content of a universe dominated by dark energy of constant energy
density (i.e., a cosmological constant). This property has been formally enshrined in the so-called holographic
principle ([26–28]), according to which the total information content of a simply connected region of space is
captured by the two-dimensional surface that bounds it, after the fashion of a hologram. The maximum information
content of a region is given by this surface area divided by the Planck area, which is considered to provide a
fundamental finite cell size for space. The de Sitter horizon, which is the end state of cosmological evolution in those
models for which dark energy (of constant energy density) eventually dominates, saturates the holographic bound,
and so sets an upper limit on the information capacity of the universe throughout its entire evolutionary history. Thus,
taking the astronomical observations at face value, it would appear that the universe never contained, and never will
contain, more than about 10122 bits of information, although the number of bits processed up to a given epoch will
571
P. C. W. Davies, Emergent Biological Principles and the Computational Properties of the Universe, Complexity
10 (2), 1 (2004) (See also: P. C. W. Davies; The Implications of a Cosmological Information Bound for
Complexity, Quantum Information and the Nature of Physical Law - http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0703041)
However, see Keith Buhler, No Good Arguments for Causal Closure, From the journal Metaphysica, Published by De
Gruyter, September 21, 2020.
Gerard ‘t Hooft, Does God play dice?, 01 Dec 2005 (Reprinted in Physics Web
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/12/2)
2000 Nature 406 1047 and 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 237901.
573
P.C. W. Davies, Emergent Biological Principles and the Computational Properties of the Universe, Complexity
10 (2), 1 (2004) (See also: P. C. W. Davies; The Implications of a Cosmological Information Bound for
Complexity, Quantum Information and the Nature of Physical Law - http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0703041)
572
128
continue to rise with time. Such a rise will not continue indefinitely, however. The holographic bound implies that the
universe is a finite state system, and so it will visit and re-visit all possible states (so-called Poincare´s cycles) over a
stupendous length of time [29].574
While Paul Davies seems to be arguing that the present condition of our Universe is close to equaling its
information capacity, Gerard't Hooft in the December 2005 article I previously cited seems to argue that this capacity
has already been exceeded:
“For most systems, the Lloyd limit ~ 10120 is irrelevantly large. But quantum systems are described by vectors in
a so-called Hilbert space, which may have a great - indeed infinite - number of dimensions. According to my
maximum-complexity criterion, quantum mechanics will break down when the dimensionality of the Hilbert space
exceeds about 10120.
A simple example is an entangled state of many electrons. This is a special form of superposition in which up
and down spin orientations co-exist in all possible combinations. Once there are about 400 electrons in such a state,
the Lloyd limit is exceeded, suggesting that it is at this level of complexity that classicality emerges.”575
Having established the above information capacity dilemma, one solution may be derived from Raphael
Bousso’s papers titled: The Holographic Principle for General Backgrounds and The Holographic Principle. In the
context of Bousso’s paper, the “destiny states” discussed above do not appear to be subject to the Bekenstein bound
limitation. Further, if each Planck volume constitutes a “caustic” of a new open light sheet, information from the 4brane boundary would also seem accessible without the limitations described in the papers.
A second potential solution begins with the information space, which my model has assumed was preexistent to
the Big Bang, and utilized Bousso’s “caustic” as a means for information to continually enter our universe as our
universe has expanded.
The physicists, Carlos Castro, Alex Granik, and Mohamed El Naschie provide a third potential solution to the
problem. Dr. Castro, et.al. argued that the initial state of our universe was an "infinite-dimensional analog of a point,
where infinite Dimensions, infinite Energy and infinite Information merge and become ONE”. They describe this
hyperpoint as “an infinite dimensional hyper-sphere of unit Planck radius and zero volume/measure” and, although it
is further described as a “hypersphere of finite radius but zero size” they imbue this “mathematical 'point' with a true
physical meaning."576
If such a point is assumed for the initial state, the information content of our universe would be unlimited.
Although all of these solutions remain viable, the issue has not gone away. In his book, “Decoding Reality”
Vlatko Vedral has written as follows:
"…[I]nformation is proportional to area, and how exactly it is proportional has been estimated by the Israeli
physicist Jacob Bekenstein. His relationship, known as the Bekenstein bound, is simply stated as follows: the number
of bits that can be packed into any system is at most 1044 bits of information times the system’s mass in kilograms
and its maximum length in metres (the square of this length is the system’s area). …
"Astronomers have already given us a rough estimate of the Universe’s size and weight, say 15 billion lightyears in diameter and a mass of about 10 to the power of 42 kilograms (ironically, this coincides with the ‘forty-two’
from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). When you plug this information into the Bekenstein formula, the capacity of
the Universe ends up being on the order of 10100 bits of information. This is a stupendously large number, but
ultimately it is not infinite".577
574
P.C. W. Davies, Emergent Biological Principles and the Computational Properties of the Universe, Complexity
10 (2), 1 (2004) (See also: P. C. W. Davies; The Implications of a Cosmological Information Bound for
Complexity, Quantum Information and the Nature of Physical Law - http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0703041)
575
Gerard ‘t Hooft, Does God play dice?, 01 Dec 2005 (Reprinted in Physics Web
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/12/2) (See also: P. C. W. Davies; The Implications of a Cosmological
Information Bound for Complexity, Quantum Information and the Nature of Physical Law http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0703041) (See also P.C.W. Davies’ paper titled: “The problem of what exists”
576
577
Castro, Granik, & El Naschie, "Why We Live in 3+1 Dimensions"
Vlatko Vedrall, "Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information," 2010, pages 185-6
129
The last potential solution which I will present in this Appendix requires that we must differentiate between the
number of irreducible quantum states, which is the “information” that would be subject to the holographic limitation,
and the ordering of these states, which would not.
The word “information” has taken on different meanings as a function of the context in which the word is used
and even the scientists quoted in the First Appendix have made their claims for information’s primacy based on
different conceptions. The first distinction that we need to make is between classical and quantum information, and
even here the proffered definitions can be different. For example, if we are interested in the quantum “information”
which is innate to a system, we might use the definition suggested by Dr. Georgiev that: “Quantum information is
information stored in quantum physical states; it is unobservable, non-local, non-cloneable, non-broadcastable, and
non-erasable” or its variant that information be defined in terms of a system’s (to include the universe’s) irreducible
quantum mechanical states.578
In contrast, most scientists are interested in the Quantum Information we obtain, or can obtain, about a system.
As examples, the information accessible from a system is typically described in the context of Information Entropy;
the information which can be accurately transmitted from one location to another location is typically described in the
context of Data Transmission theory and research, and the maximum information which is theoretically existent
within an area of space is typically described in the context of the Holographic Principle. Although many of these
conceptual frameworks have found expression at various points in this paper, the information contained in the
information matrix we have been exploring may be understood to exist in superposition as waveform harmonics and
modulations and, as such, are potentially infinite. As an illustration of this, please consider the following: The King
James version of the bible has 3,566,480 letters. This limitation on the number of available letters may be seen as
analogous to the limits a “Holographic Universe” would impose on the “information capacity” of our universe (i.e.,
on the potential number of irreducible quantum mechanical states our Universe could contain). Because information
conservation applies to these irreducible quantum states, no new “letters” could be added nor existing “letters”
destroyed. Because the earliest embodiment of the Big Bang is understood to have originated from more than a few
Planck volumes, the irreducible qubits of quantum information available at the time of the Big Bang would be
inadequate to explain the observable qubits exhibited today. The section of my 2016 Meditations on Consciousness
paper titled: An argument based on Black Hole cosmology was based on this conceptualization and suggested that
“information” came “first” with our Big Bang arising as a quantum fluctuation within a matrix of preexistent
contingency.
In this paper, the information limitation imposed by the holographic principle is decoupled from the
“information” that may exist in superpositional contingencies. This approach can be illustrated by returning to the
Bible analogy. Classical information entropy is analogous to the Bible’s letters being scrambled into their
12,719,779,590,400 possible sequential configurations. While the original 3,566,480 letters would be subject to the
holographic principle, the sequential combinations of these letters would not. Additionally, the superposition of these
potential combinations would not, from a “God’s eye” view, violate classical concepts of information entropy as all
of these sequential combinations would be “known to God” in superposition (contingent alternatives) to each other.
However, the emergence of “information” from the model’s posited initial state would, in this scrambled form, be
devoid of signification and meaning. My forthcoming “On Consciousness” paper will go well beyond the
introduction provided in this paper to show how meaning would be emergent.
Information and Consciousness
“…many different and unrelated theoretical frameworks are converging on one key idea: information is the basis
of reality. Moreover, the seemingly intangible notion of information has strikingly physical properties. From this
bedrock, the physical universe emerges as a computational entity. Space and time are emergent phenomena. In
essence, all of reality is fundamentally finite and infinities are only found in the human mind. Crucially, this picture is
currently being reconfirmed at the interface of theoretical computer science and theoretical physics. A new paradigm
is emerging, replacing the old materialistic and reductionistic scientific worldview.579
Danko D. Georgiev, “Quantum Information and Consciousness a gentle introduction,” Taylor & Francis Group,
LLC, 2018, page 334.
579
James B. Glattfelder, A Universe Built of Information, Chapter 13, Information–Consciousness–Reality: How a
New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions, of Existence, Springer Nature
Switzerland AG, 2019, Page 507
578
130
SECOND APPENDIX
WHAT IS MATTER?
Often, our assumptions limit the questions that we ask and the answers that we obtain. Therefore, we must think
about the assumptions we are bringing to our discussions. Please spend a moment to reflect on your assumptions
regarding a simple question: What is Matter? Most people will define matter as atoms and molecules. Others will
consider the constituents of atoms and mention the atom’s electrons, protons, neutrons, and their constituent quarks.
A few may define matter as “things” “which have mass and occupy space. In any event, the assumptions that most of
us have about “matter” is very similar to Newton’s. Should it be? This paper will address that question.
1.0 Mass Energy Equivalence:
Let’s first consider the “matter” in the context of Einstein’s famous equation E=mc^2.
“According to the theory of relativity, mass, and energy as commonly understood, are two names for the same thing.”
(See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass-energy_equivalence)
Louis de Broglie then connected energy, mass, and momentum through the relativistic relation E2 = (mc^2)^2 + (pc)^2
Where E=Energy; m=mass; c=the speed of light; and p=momentum
Which he reduced to its nonrelativistic limit: E = mc2 + p2/2m
Louis de Broglie went on to postulate that all particles with momentum would have a wavelength lambda
λ = h/p
where h is Planck’s constant, and p is the magnitude of the particle’s linear momentum.
This became one of the bases of quantum mechanics and experiments have since shown that elementary particles,
atomic nuclei, atoms, and even molecules exhibit wave properties.
(See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_wave) and
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_packet)
2.0 Wave-Particle Duality:
Wave-particle duality “postulates that all matter exhibits both wave and particle properties.”
In the following, I will suggest that the wave state is the default state of matter.
My purpose is to open the door to a possible reality that redefines corporeality within the context of quantum field
interactions.
2.1 Philosophical Overview:
The following is quoted from the Preface (pages ix-x) of Michael Epperson’s book titled “Quantum Mechanics and
the Philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead:”
“Quantum mechanics describes nature in two competing and seemingly incompatible ways.
(i)Are the fundamental constituents of nature particular and its apparent wave-like properties an abstraction?
(ii) Is nature fundamentally wave-like, wherein particulate properties become the abstraction?
(iii) Is the dichotomy to pass through these two horns and deny that nature is capable of fundamental characterization
at all?
“To each of these three viewpoints, we can associate various theorists—Einstein, for example, to the first,
Schrodinger to the second, Bohr to the third, and so forth—and we can trace the many various subsequent mediations
of these three viewpoints back to a commitment to one against the others.”
As you will observe in what follows, I do not fully accept any of the three alternatives as outlined above. Instead,
although I, like Schrödinger, recognize nature to be fundamentally wave-like, I believe that corporeality is emergent
through interactions and is thus more than a mere abstraction.
In the following Sections, I will outline the wave and corpuscular theories of light and provide a conceptual basis to
distinguish these two competing “natures.
2.2 Arguments Supporting the Wave and Corpuscular Theories of Light:
In Henry Margenau's book titled “The Nature of Physical Reality--A Philosophy of Modern Physics”, Dr. Margenau
(on page 152) presents the arguments supporting the wave and corpuscular theories of light wave as follows:
a. Evidence for assuming that Light Is a Wave
1. The propagation of light
131
2. Interference of light
3. Diffraction
4. Light may be polarized
5. No evidence of intrinsic mass. (Only waves that have no intrinsic mass can move at the speed of light.)
b. Evidence for Assuming that Light Is Corpuscular
1. Planck’s discovery of quantized energies
2. The photoelectric effect
3. The propagation X rays through the high-speed bombardment of elections on a metal plate.
2.3 Is there anything that distinguishes the two lists that Margenau has provided?
I believe the answer to this question is “Yes”
First, it should be observed that the corpuscular nature of light is commonly referred to as a “collapse of the wave
function,” and contrary to a persistent fiction - the presence of a conscious observer need not be involved. Second, it
should be noted that each of the phenomena that Dr. Margenau has associated with the corpuscular nature of light
involves acute perturbations. It must be further noted that each of the arguments favoring the wave nature of light
involves minimal, if any, environmental interactions.
I contend that the corpuscular attributes of light (and matter) arise from self and environmental interactions. In
support of this contention, please consider the following “matter wave” experiment involving buckyballs fullerenes
(comprised of 70 carbon atoms). The experiments were conducted by Lucia Hackermüller, Klaus Hornberger, Björn
Brezger, Anton Zeilinger, and Markus Arndt and were reported in a paper titled “Decoherence of matter waves by thermal
emission of radiation”. [http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/0402/0402146v1.pdf]
The paper reports on the authors’ matter wave interferometer experiments in which C70 molecules appear to
gradually lose their quantum attributes (wave-like properties) as a function of temperature through the thermal
emission of radiation. The authors specifically found that around 3,000 K the C70 molecules had a high probability
of emitting several visible photons which, when emitted, yielded “…sufficient which-path information to effect a
complete loss of fringe visibility…”. The authors concluded that they “have presented conclusive empirical and
numerical evidence for the observation of the quantum-to-classical transition of a material object caused by its own
emission of thermal radiation.”
I believe that most physicists would interpret this study as strong support for the proposition that the interaction of
quantum systems with their environment can “entangle” the two and distribute the original quantum coherence of the
system over additional degrees of freedom such that the original coherence, as manifested in the original interference
pattern, gradually becomes unobservable.
In his December 2006 paper “Introduction to Decoherence Theory” [http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0612118v1], Klaus
Hornberger wrote as follows:
“It is important to note that this loss of coherence occurs in a special basis, which is determined only by the
scattering operator, i.e., by the type of environmental interaction, and that it occurs to a degree that is determined by
both the environmental state and the interaction. This loss of the ability to show quantum behavior due to the
interaction with an environmental quantum degree of freedom is the basic effect of decoherence. One may view it as
due to the arising correlation between the system with the environment. After the interaction, the joint quantum state
of system and environment is no longer separable, and part of the coherence initially located in the system now
resides in the non-local correlation between system and the environmental particle; it is lost once the environment is
disregarded. A complementary point of view argues that the interaction constitutes an information transfer from the
system to the environment. The more the overlap in (7) differs in magnitude from unity, the more an observer could
in principle learn about the system state by measuring the environmental particle. Even though this measurement is
never made, the complementarity principle then explains that the wave-like interference phenomenon characterized
by the coherences vanishes as more information discriminating the distinct, “particle-like” system states is revealed.”
See, for example, weak measurements.
2.4 Matter Waves:
Now let’s look at each of the arguments in Margenau’s lists, introduce matter waves and see if the above distinction
will continue to apply.
1. The propagation of light (and matter waves):
132
Both light waves and matter waves are understood to “propagate.”. However, it is understood that the propagation of
matter waves is profoundly affected by interactions between atoms which, as actualization events, would collapse the
wave function.
2. Interference of light (and matter waves):
Interference patterns have been experimentally observed for elementary particles, atomic nuclei, atoms, and
molecules, including the c70 experiments cited above.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_%28wave_propagation%29
http://absimage.aps.org/image/MWS_MAR11-2010-006241.pdf
3. Diffraction of light (and matter waves):
Detraction has also been experimentally observed for elementary particles, atomic nuclei, atoms, and small
molecules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction
4. Light (and matter waves) may be polarized:
A number of papers have referenced polarized matter waves, including one where a beam-split wave was used as a
“tool” in the search for quantum gravity http://www.springerlink.com.mutex.gmu.edu/content/36498vxkkj632358/
5. Matter, unlike light, has an intrinsic rest mass, which is present in the momentum term (p) in De Broglie’s
wavelength equation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality#De_Broglie.27s_wavelength
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rest_mass .
3.0 What about Mass?
We have found a one-to-one correspondence between the light waves and matter waves, with one distinction -- mass,
which is understood to be a necessary attribute of matter. Applying the conventional definitions, all matter would be
understood to exhibit mass, but not all mass corresponded to any identifiable matter. For example, a “something” that
is hot exhibits a greater mass than the very same “something” when cold (this is called trapped electromagnetic
radiation). Also, a “something” that has potential energy or kinetic energy will exhibit a greater mass than the same
“something” that does not possess these energies. “Each proton (or neutron) is made of three quarks - but the
individual masses of these quarks only add up to about 1% of the proton’s mass. So, what accounts for the rest of it?”
It’s confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations As noted, “The rest masses of the quarks contribute only about
1% of the proton’s mass….[2] The remainder of the proton mass is due to the kinetic energy of the quarks and to the
energy of the gluon fields that bind the quarks together.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton
4.0 Conclusion:
“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a
result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by
virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom
together. …” Das Wesen der Materie [The Nature of Matter], speech at Florence, Italy (1944) (from Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-PlanckGesellschaft, Abt. Va, Rep. 11 Planck, Nr. 1797)
In a presentation titled, “The Universe is a Strange Place,” Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek observed (based on the
equation v= mc2/; where v=frequency) that “every mass is associated with a corresponding frequency” and concluded
that “the masses of particles are, not are like, not are similar to, not are metaphorically suggested by; they are the
tones, the frequencies, of these vibration-patterns in the dynamically void.”
What I have suggested in this appendix first carries us beyond these conventional understandings to note the
equivalence between mass and energy (e.g., E=mc2) and then to suggest that both mass and energy are manifestations
of one common underlying reality--a reality that may be best described as a wave. The further reduction of waves
into vibrations/oscillations is very nearly a tautology. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave)
As vibrations/oscillations of a single oscillator may exist in superposition to each other, we have a vehicle for the
information referenced in the first appendix and the information matrix described in this paper. However, this need
not be the end of our analysis. As previously discussed, when the analogy of string theory is applied, there are
approximately 10500 alternate Calabi–Yau configurations of the multidimensional strings that string theorists have
identified. As we have speculated, each of these configurations can exist in superposition to each other as vibratory
information reservoirs. It can be further speculated that these Calabi–Yau manifolds may additionally oscillate in
sympathy with adjacent manifolds to create the oscillatory equivalent of the Qur’an’s disconnected and conjoined
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letters, each of Plato’s forms and God’s Names and Attributes, and cumulatively vibratorily define the eternal and
unchanging “Word of God.”
THIRD APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION TO TIME-SYMMETRIC QUANTUM MECHANICS (TSQM)
Nearly all physical processes at the microscopic level are time-symmetric, such that the theoretical statements that
describe them remain true if the direction of time is reversed. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_of_time) It is
the second law of thermodynamics and our experience that conventionally limits classical mechanics and the
equations of Maxwell, Schrödinger, and Heisenberg to a “forward-in-time” direction. Accordingly, any quantum
system is normally described in terms of the quantum state(s) of the system’s initial condition(s) and the subsequent
evolution of the initial state(s) in a “forward-in-time” direction. However, in time-symmetric quantum mechanics
(TSQM), quantum systems must be described both in terms of the system’s forward-in-time evolution from its initial
boundary states, but also in terms of some future-defined boundary condition(s) that evolve backward-in-time.
1.1 A more detailed description of TSQM
(For readers seeking an in-depth introduction to TSQM, a multitude of relevant papers can be found on Google
Scholar. Also, Jeff Tollaksen (who previously taught at George Mason) in a paper titled “Novel Relationships
Between Superoscillations, Weak Values, and Modular Variables”, wrote the following:
“The ‘time-asymmetry’ attributed to the standard formulation of Quantum Mechanics (QM) was inherited from a
reasonable tendency learned from Classical Mechanics (CM) to predict the future based on initial conditions: once
the equations of motion are fixed in CM, then the initial and final conditions are not independent, only one can be
fixed arbitrarily. In contrast, as a result of the uncertainty principle, the relationship between initial and final
conditions within QM can be one-to-many: two ‘identical’ particles with identical environments can subsequently
exhibit different properties under identical measurements. These subsequent identical measurements provide
fundamentally new information about the system which could not in principle be obtained from the initial conditions.
QM’s ‘time-asymmetry’ is the assumption that measurements only have consequences after they are performed, i.e.,
towards the future. Nevertheless, a positive spin was placed on QM’s non-trivial relationship between initial and final
conditions by ABL [named after the physicists Yakir Aharonov, Peter Bergmann, and Joel Lebowitz] who showed
that the new information obtained from measurements was also relevant for the past of every quantum-system and not
just the future. This inspired ABL to re-formulate QM in terms of Pre-and-Post-Selected-ensembles. The traditional
paradigm for ensembles is to simply prepare systems in a particular state and thereafter subject them to a variety of
experiments. These are ‘pre-selected-only-ensembles.’ For pre-and-post-selected-ensembles, we add one more step, a
subsequent measurement or post-selection. By collecting only a subset of the outcomes for this later measurement,
we see that the “pre-selected-only-ensemble” can be divided into sub-ensembles according to the results of this
subsequent ‘post-selection-measurement.’ Because pre-and-post-selected-ensembles are the most refined quantum
ensemble, they are of fundamental importance and subsequently led to the two-vector or Time-Symmetric
reformulation of Quantum Mechanics (TSQM) [4, 5]. TSQM provides a complete description of a quantum-system at
a given moment by using two-wavefunctions, one evolving from the past toward the future (the one utilized in the
standard paradigm) and a second one, evolving from the future toward the past. While TSQM is a new conceptual
point-of-view that has predicted novel, verified effects, which seem impossible according to standard QM, TSQM is
in fact a re-formulation of QM. Therefore, experiments cannot prove TSQM over QM (or vice-versa). The motivation
to pursue such re-formulations, then, depends on their usefulness.”580
1.2 Experimental Verifications
There is now third-party research that quantitatively confirmed predicted outcomes that were unique to the TSQM
formulation of quantum mechanics. As these outcomes cannot be explained by the traditional formulations of
quantum mechanics, I believe that paradigm-shifting evidence of “Quantum Miracles” is both beginning to emerge
from independent research groups and is beginning to be recognized in the popular media. (See Discovery Magazine
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/apr/01-back-from-the-future/article_view?b_start%3Aint=0&-C
It must be emphasized that unique predictions of TSQM have been experimentally confirmed. These experimental
verifications of TSQM are occurring in the context of “weak measurement” theory and research that itself involves
both intriguing explanatory and ontological implications. As examples, please consider the following:
580
Jeff Tollaksen, Novel relationships between superoscillations, weak values, and modular variables, Journal of
Physics: Conference Series, (Jeff Tollaksen 2007 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 70 012016)
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“Experimental joint weak measurement on a photon pair as a probe of Hardy’s Paradox” http://arxiv.org/pdf/0810.4229
“Direct observation of Hardy’s paradox by joint weak measurement with an entangled photon pair” http://arxiv.org/pdf/0811.1625
“Quantum interference experiments, modular variables and weak measurements” http://arxiv.org/pdf/0910.4227
“Postselected weak measurement beyond the weak value” http://arxiv.org/pdf/0909.2206
“Complete characterization of post-selected quantum statistics using weak measurement tomography” http://arxiv.org/pdf/0907.0533
and dozens more.
2. THE QUANTUM BOX EXPERIMENT:
At this point, you are probably wondering if TSQM is real or merely a mathematical construct of dubious relevance
to reality. Although numerous proofs are proffered in the above-cited papers, the following was presented in the
Quantum Paradox class I attended and, to me, was particularly convincing
The following Quantum Box experiment provides one “proof” (there are many others) that TSQM is “real”. Before I
go on to describe the experiment, you may wish to review an early description of the
experiment. (See: http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0310091v1)
Now, please visualize a set of six boxes arranged in a three-by-three matrix with the columns labeled from left to
right: Box A, B, and C; and rows labeled from bottom to top: time t, t+1, and t+2. A particle entering the system at
the bottom (e.g., at time t) is understood to have a one-third probability of being in Box A, B, or C at all levels, t, t+1,
and t+2. I understand that these probabilities were confirmed through ideal (or von Neumann) measurements taken at
each level. (We will defer the question: “what causes the wave function to “collapse” into one box and not in
another” to my discussion of the Anthropic Principle.) In any event, these confirming measurements were not part of
the experiment that I am about to describe.
In the experiment that was reported in the lecture I attended, a very large ensemble of particles was introduced into
the experiment, and, although ideal measurements were taken at time t+2 for Boxes A, B, and C, only the
experimental data for those particles found Box A (the post-selection sub-ensemble) were retained for further
consideration. The theory behind the experiment is, to my understanding, that the ideal measurement of the subensemble of particles found in Box A at t+2 constitutes a boundary condition, which through the propagation of a
time-reversed wave, constrains the potential locations and states of the particle to that subset of positions and states
that remain possible given both the t (starting) boundary condition and t+2 (ending) boundary
condition. Mathematically, the theory generates for the selected sub-ensemble a probability of “1” that the particle at
time t+1 will be found in Box A and also generates a probability of “1” that the particle at time t+1 will be found in
Box B. This means that if an “ideal measurement” had been conducted at time t+1 and Box A or Box B were,
metaphorically speaking, opened, the particle would always be found inside the selected “Box” with absolute
certainty. While this verification cannot be actually performed using ideal measurements, the prediction can be
experimentally confirmed using weak measurements where the selected sub-ensemble includes a large number of
particles. (Information on weak measurements may be found in the papers listed above.) The resulting interference
pattern that Dr. Tollaksen presented arose from these weak measurements and was proffered as proof that TSQM is
not just a mathematical model (with explanatory value) but also reflects an underlying reality (that I hope to further
explore in this paper).
Noting that the probability of finding the particle in Box A and Box B at t+1 was both “1”, you may be wondering
about Box C. Here, the mathematics predicts something that seemed astounding. Where the subject particles are
electrons, TSQM predicts a particle with all of the attributes of a positron – but with a fundamental difference. The
particle predicted for Box C must have a negative mass. (Although not discussed by Drs. Aharonov or Tollaksen, it
appears that this finding would be necessary under a reasonable extension of the conservation of lepton law.) In any
event, this outcome was mathematically demonstrated by Dr. Tollaksen and implicitly confirmed in the Physics
Applications class that I later attended where it was shown that the time-reversed evolution of a matter-wave was
impossible where a positive mass was involved. Additionally, Dr. Tollaksen indicated that experimental verifications
of these negative mass particles had been obtained. **
** It has been a long wait, but Dr. Aharonov and his coauthors have finally embraced, in print, the implications of the
lecture I attended at George Mason University in 2007:
“… a negative weak value of the projection operator onto some location would lead to an effective interaction
term with an inverse sign between the particle there and the weak probe. In particular, this implies the possibility of
gravitational repulsion rather than attraction within the weak reality. Moreover, not only the gravitational mass, but
also the inertial mass will be shown to admit a negative sign.” …
“The weak reality leads to a top-down [23] model of the physical reality during the time interval between a preand post-selection. For an individual quantum particle, the model introduces additional positive-negative pairs (real
or imaginary) of copies called counterparticles which are generated by the quantum particle during pre-selection
and absorbed during post-selection. Each positive-negative pair has exactly opposite values for all physical
135
properties, and thus their emergence from the vacuum obeys all conservation laws. The counterparticles of a given
system can interact with the counterparticles of other systems, but not with each other.” Mordecai Waegell, Eliahu
Cohen, Avshalom Elitzur, Jeff Tollaksen, Yakir Aharonov, Quantum reality with negative-mass particles, 24 Jan 2022. ( )
3 TSQM AND THE EPR PARADOX
Another motivation to consider TSQM is its explanatory value relative to several paradoxes confronting quantum
mechanics. Let’s begin.
3.1 EPR Paradox (Introduction)
For readers who are very familiar with the EPR paradox, you may skip to 3.3.2, or to 3.3.3.
EPR was a “thought experiment” devised by the physicists Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen
“which challenged long-held ideas about the relation between the observed values of physical quantities and the
values that can be accounted for by a physical theory.” (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_paradox and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incompleteness_of_quantum_physics) Although the original EPR thought experiment involved
position and momentum measurements, David Bohm reformulated the EPR paradox into a more practical experiment
utilizing spin or polarization measurements. Bohm’s variant of the EPR paradox is described in the Wikipedia article
cited above.
Visualize if you will two particles that are quantum entangled moving apart in opposite directions. (See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_entanglement) At
some distance from their common origin, Alice measures the spin of one of the particles and finds that the spin is in
the up direction.
If Bob were to then measure the spin of the second particle, he would find that its spin is in the down direction. As
often as Alice and Bob wish to repeat this experiment, Bob will find that the spin of his particle is always opposite to
that found by Alice.
Stranger still, it does not matter how far apart Alice and Bob may be from each other or how brief the time lag
between Alice’s experiment and Bob’s – the results of Alice’s experiment always appear to affect Bob’s particle
instantaneously. How can this be?
As noted in Wikipedia: “The EPR paradox is a paradox in the following sense: if one takes quantum mechanics and
adds some seemingly reasonable conditions (referred to as locality, realism, counterfactual definiteness, and
completeness), then one obtains a contradiction.”… “Either
(1) The result of a measurement performed on one part A (by Alice) of a quantum system has a non-local effect on
the physical reality of another distant part B, in the sense that quantum mechanics can predict outcomes of some
measurements carried out at B (by Bob); or...
2) Quantum mechanics is incomplete in the sense that some element of physical reality corresponding to B cannot be
accounted for by quantum mechanics (that is, some extra variable is needed to account for it.)”
“The principle of locality states that physical processes occurring at one place should have no immediate effect on the
elements of reality at another location. At first sight, this appears to be a reasonable assumption to make, as it seems
to be a consequence of special relativity, which states that information can never be transmitted faster than the speed
of light without violating causality. It is generally believed that any theory which violates causality would also be
internally inconsistent, and thus deeply unsatisfactory.”…
“In 1964, John Bell showed that the predictions of quantum mechanics in the EPR thought experiment are slightly
different from the predictions of a very broad class of hidden variable theories. (See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_variable_theory)
Roughly speaking, quantum mechanics predicts much stronger statistical correlations between the measurement
results performed on different axes than the hidden variable theories. These differences, expressed using inequality
relations known as “Bell’s inequalities”, are, in principle, experimentally detectable.” In essence, Bell’s inequality
follows from the assumption that local results exist, whether or not anyone measures them.
“The EPR paradox arises generically for any entangled state - any state of macroscopically separated systems that is
not a product of states of each system. Any entangled state yields quantum correlations that violate a generalization of
Bell’s inequality. The EPR claim assumes that Bob and Alice would measure independent physical variables.
Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen never anticipated that this reasonable assumption would prove inconsistent with
experiment and that we cannot in this context isolate systems in an entangled state from each other.”
3.2 Experimental confirmations and interpretations
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Experiments have now confirmed that “measurements performed on spatially separated parts of a quantum system
have an instantaneous influence on one another. This effect is now known as “nonlocal behavior” (or colloquially as
“quantum weirdness” or “spooky action at a distance”).”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlocality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement)
In a paper titled “Space-like Separation in a Bell Test assuming Gravitationally Induced Collapses”, D. Salart et.
al describes a Franson-type test of the Bell inequalities is described where “pairs of entangled photons traveling
through optical fibers are sent to two receiving stations physically separated by 18 km with the source at the
center.” According to the paper’s authors, 18km established a new distance record for this type of experiment. The
paper concludes that “under the assumption that a quantum measurement is finished only once a gravity-induced state
reduction has occurred, none of the many former Bell experiments involved space-like separation, which is space-like
separation from the time the particle (here photons) enter their measuring apparatuses (here interferometers) until the
time the measurement is finished. In this sense, our experiment is the first one with true space-like separation. The
results confirm the nonlocal nature of quantum correlations.” (See: http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0803/0803.2425v1.pdf)
“Most physicists today believe that quantum mechanics is correct, and that the EPR paradox is only a ‘paradox’”
because classical intuitions do not correspond to physical reality. How EPR is interpreted regarding locality depends
on the interpretation of quantum mechanics one uses. … (For those readers who may not already familiar with this
material, I would recommend that the Wikipedia article on the interpretation of quantum mechanics be reviewed
before you continue.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretation_of_quantum_mechanics
You will note that none of these interpretations provides an intuitively satisfactory explanation of how the results of
Alice’s experiment instantaneously determines the state of Bob’s particle. Ironically, according to Yakir Aharonov
and Daniel Rohrlich in their book: Quantum Paradoxes: Quantum Theory for the Perplexed; “the claim that quantum
theory is incomplete may well be correct, though not in the EPR sense. Quantum theory does not explain how we go
from probability to observation, from possibility to actuality, as a complete theory would.”
According to Aharonov and Rohrlich “unitary evolution cannot turn possible results into actual results. Aware of this
paradox, von Neumann postulated collapse. But von Neumann’s collapse is at best an effective model; it does not
resolve the paradox. Attempts to resolve the paradox fall into three classes, corresponding to three statements:
i) Quantum mechanics is incomplete and there is collapse.
ii) Quantum mechanics is incomplete and there is no collapse.
iii) Quantum mechanics is complete.”
The von Neumann collapse theory may be seen as consistent with statement i). However, according to Aharonov and
Rohrlich, “so far there is no evidence for collapse. To falsify collapse, on the other hand, we must verify that no
superposition ever collapses. For example, we must show that Schrödinger’s cat remains in an entangled state - and in
practice, we have no hope of showing that the state remains entangled.”
Bohm’s and other hidden variable theories may be seen to be consistent with statement ii).
In one sense, time-symmetric quantum mechanics (TSQM) may be seen as a hidden variable theory where the hidden
variable is non-local in time, but in another sense (which I prefer) time symmetry is already integral with QM, and
with TSQM, QM is complete.
3.3 TSQM’S EXPLANATION OF THE EPR PARADOX
Again please visualize two particles that are quantum entangled and are moving apart in opposite directions. At some
distance from their common origin, Alice measures the spin of one of the particles and finds that the spin is in the up
direction. In traveling from the point of origin to Alice, we may understand the particle’s wave function to have, in a
probabilistic sense, taken all of the possible paths and to possess every possible state consistent with the system’s
initial boundary condition at the origin. With TSQM we must now visualize a time-reversed wave function that
proceeds backward in time from the occurrence of Alice’s experiment to the time and point of origin for Alice’s
particle. This backward-in-time wave function would also, in a probabilistic sense, take all of the possible paths and
possess every possible state as are consistent with three constraints: (i) the time evolution of the wave function is
backward in time; (ii) the time-reversed wave function is bounded by the initial state of the system at the origin and
(iii) the time-reversed wave function is also bounded by the particle location and spin information arising from
Alice’s experiment. It should be noted at this point that, due to conservation of momentum, the direction of spin
manifest in Alice’s time-reversed wave function will be opposite to the spin direction that Alice measured; and
identical to the spin Bob will find when his measurement occurs. In any event, Alice’s time-reversed wave function
may be understood to carry the spin information arising from Alice’s experiment to the time and location of origin for
the entangled particles. Here, the information contained in Alice’s time-reversed wave function may be understood
to “bounce” forward in time in a state that is entangled with Bob’s particle. Please note that weak measurements of
Bob’s and Alice’s particles immediately prior to the occurrence of their respective ideal measurements will show that
each particle has remained entangled with the other.
137
My conclusion from the foregoing is that TSQM reintroduces a classic-like causality, and locality, to quantum
mechanics that I believe has very broad implications. This interpretation based on time reversal is far from being
original. As early as 1983 Costa de Beauregard gave a formulation of the EPR setting that allowed a time-reversed
EPR. J. W. Moffat in his paper “Quantum Measurements, Nonlocality and the Arrow of Time”, proposes an absorber
wave function reduction process to resolve the EPR paradox that is based on the retarded (forward-in-time) and
advanced (backward-in-time) waves that John Cramer proposed in his transactional interpretation of
QM. (See: http://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/9710019)
The TSQM approach, which I favor, is presented in a paper by Yakir Aharonov and Jeff Tollaksen titled New
Insights on Time-Symmetry in Quantum Mechanics (see http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0706/0706.1232v1.pdf
Additionally, Dr. Henry Stapp in a private communication I catalyzed has stated:
“If one considers an EPR-Bohm-Bell correlation experiment, then during some interval in Process Time the initial
(singlet) state of the two particles will be created. Over an interval in Process Time, this singlet state will grow out in
an expanding V-shaped region of spacetime, toward the two far-apart detection regions. At some Process Time, a
detection will occur. At that moment in Process Time, the state of the universe in the space-time past of the
associated space-like surface will suddenly change, relative to what it was at the earlier moments in Process Time. In
the V-shaped region of spacetime, the state will suddenly jump from a singlet state of the two diverging particles to a
state in which, for example, one particle is polarized in one specific direction, specified by the orientation of the
device in one of the two regions, and the particle traveling along the other wing of the V is polarized in the opposite
direction. The correlation between the parts in the two wings will be fixed instantly (in Process Time) over the entire
V-shaped region in spacetime. The effective transfer of information about the choice of polarization direction, which
choice was seemingly made by the agent/observer in one region, is made via the V-shaped region that extends
backward in time: the [apparent] faster-than-light transfer of information is made by an effective transfer first
backward in time to the region where the two-particle interacted (or originated), and then forward along the other
wing of the V.”
138
FOURTH APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION TO THE RETROCAUSALITY OF STRANGE ATTRACTORS
The ultimate question addressed in this Fourth Appendix is: “Can a destiny state introduce
“attractors” that, through the generation of attracting and repulsive forces influence the time
evolution of creation and the situationally specific choices and lives of human beings?”
Attractors have been variously described as follows:
“In dynamical systems, an attractor is a value or set of values for the variables of a system to
which they will tend towards over enough time, or enough iterations. Examples include fixedpoint attractors, periodic attractors (also called limit cycles), and chaotic (also called "strange")
attractors.
Limit points are points in the phase space or state space of a system. There are three kinds of
limit points: attractors, repellers, and saddle points. A system will tend toward an attractor, and
away from a repeller, similar to the way in which a ball rolling across a smooth landscape will
roll toward a basin and away from a hill. A saddle point is so-named because it resembles an
equestrian saddle. It, therefore, functions as an attractor to systems originating in "higher"
regions, and as a repeller to systems originating from "lower" regions.”581
“The concept of phase space is a simple tool that helps to understand the chaotic behavior of
the system. To understand phase space, it is first necessary to understand the concept of
attractors. In chaos theory, an attractor is a pattern that forms when the behavior of the system is
plotted in phase space [16]. When the line joins the points in chronological order, a pattern
develops that can resemble a point, orbit, or some unusual pattern. The unusual pattern is
referred as a strange attractor. The strange attractors have non-integer dimensions. Signals
corresponding to strange attractors exhibit random structures. The two basic properties of the
strange attractors are its sensitive dependence to initial conditions and unpredictability in the
long run. The highly complex and dynamical nature of the neuronal interactions in the brain,
calls for nonlinear methods to analyze the EEG signals.
Attractors range from being simple to greatly complex. Four types of attractors have been
identified [6]: a point, a pendulum (limit cycle), a torus (a type of orbit), and a strange attractor.
In phase space, a point attractor is a fixed point on a graph, there is no variation in the position
and the dimension is zero. The point attractor occurs because the system behavior remains
consistent over time. The pendulum (limit cycle) attractor varies along a curve and resembles a
narrow back-and-forth pattern when graphed in phase space; the dimension is one. The Torus
attractor is a more complex pattern that forms an orbit, but also contains sub-orbits within the
orbit, thus resembling a donut when graphed in phase space. Finally, the strange attractor,
sometimes referred to as a fractal, is a complicated pattern that exists when the system is in
581
“Attractors,” Complexity Explorer, Santa Fe Institute,
139
chaos. The attractor is called strange because its shape may or may not resemble any known
pattern. 582
“Basins of attraction of an attractor are typically defined “as a region of the phase space,
with the property that, any orbit which starts inside this region, ultimately converges to the
attractor. Moreover, if an orbit starts from any point lying outside this basin of attraction, then it
certainly does not converge to that attractor, it either converges to some other attractor or it
simply diverges”. A nondeterministic basin of attractions defines that region in the phase space
with the property that, “if any two orbits start from a same point inside this region, then one of
them may converge to a stable fixed point whereas the other may diverge to infinity. Therefore
each orbit has non-zero probabilities of convergence (to a stable fixed point) as well as
divergence (to infinity), even if they start from the same initial point.583
Examples of convergent attractors include “Stable Fixed Points” and “Stable Limit Cycles.
Neighboring trajectories will tend to diverge from “Saddle Points” However, for the purposes of
my model, these points need not be fixed, permanent, or deterministic.
“…one of the most important aspects of modern mathematical physics appears in the
action of ‘strange’ or chaotic attractors”, where “…neighboring trajectories in a determinate
system of coordinates do not remain so and diverge [the homoclinic bifurcation] in an
exponential manner before coming together through operations of stretching and folding that
are repeated and intersect with chaos. 584
“Neighboring trajectories separate by spiraling out
(‘stretching’), then cross without intersecting by going
into the third dimension (‘folding’) and then circulate
back near their starting places (‘re-injection’).” 585
These processes of “folding” and “reinjection”
are important as I have argued that the posited “Point of
Origination” can and will diverge into the chaos of
infinite possibilities, but, as time approaches infinity,
nonetheless return to its initial state (the “Destiny State”) through an infinitude of “foldings
582
Kusuma Mohanchandra, Snehanshu Saha, and K. Srikanta Murthy, Evidence of Chaos in EEG Signals: An
Application to BCI Advances in Chaos Theory and Intelligent Control, Ahmad Taher Azar and Sundarapandian
Vaidyanathan, Editors Springer International Publishing, 2016, Page 612.
583
Dhrubajyoti Mandal, Nondeterministic basin of attraction, Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Volume 103, October
2017, Science Direct, Pages 532-535
584
Gilles Deletrze and Felix Guattari, “Qu'est-ce que la philosophic?” (What is philosophy?) translated by Hugh
Tomlinson and Graham Burchell, Columbia University Press books, 1994, Page 206 (explanatory reference and link
added)
585
Steven H. Strogatz, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and
Engineering, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018, pages 441-2
140
through higher spatial and time dimensions that generate a, potentially infinite, series of
situationally dependent “basins of attractions” and “saddle points.
“Basins of Attraction” can be defined as follows:
“Given an attracting fixed-point x* we define its basin
of attraction to be the set of initial conditions x0 such
that x(t) → x* as t → ∞. For instance, the basin of
attraction for the node at (3, 0) consists of all the points
lying below the stable manifold of the saddle [the
saddle point]. This basin is shown as the shaded
region” in the adjacent Figure. 586
“Because the stable manifold [the ‘saddle’]
separates the basins for the two nodes, it is called the
basin boundary. For the same reason, the two
trajectories that comprise the stable manifold are
traditionally called separatrices. Basins and their
boundaries are important because they partition the
phase space into regions of different long-term
behavior.”587
In this context, I have argued that as potential states
resident in the information matrix are actualized, emergent basins of attraction will spontaneously
arise, causing time-delimited subsets of the information matrix to compress toward the destiny
state while divergences along the attractor will periodically be realigned toward the destiny state
(x*) through the higher dimensional “folding” process.
Does the model I have outlined “stay true to Jung’s definition of the archetype? I contend that
the approach I have taken is much closer to Jung’s intent than the interpretations proffered by
other commentators.588 And, consistent with the picture of the Socratic Cosmos my mosaic has
586
Steven H. Strogatz, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and
Engineering, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018, Page 159 (explanatory reference and link added)
587
Steven H. Strogatz, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and
Engineering, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018, Page 159 (explanatory link added)
588
“This is a hard question to answer partly because of Jung’s elusive definition of the archetype (Hogenson 2004),
which varied considerably through his writings and has defied any easy existence proof. Previously scholars
attempted to fix this by redefining the archetype in the theoretical terminology of other disciplines. Knox (2003) used
the framework of developmental psychology to define it as the image schema. Hogenson (2001, 2009) used the
framework of artificial intelligence theory to define it as an ‘action pattern’ in organism-environment dynamics.
McDowell (2001) used the framework of dynamic systems to define it as a ‘mathematical principle of organization’
in a non—linear system. Stevens (2003) used the framework of evolutionary psychology to define it in terms of
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depicted, John Van Eenwyk, in his book “Archetypes & Strange Attractors,” has suggested that:
where “the archetype is purely potential” (page 23), “[t]he patterns of organization that inform the
processes by which attractors are generated resemble the archetypes in their self-organized selfsimilarity across scale.” 589
ENDNOTE A
IS PRECOGNITION POSSIBLE?
What is that way by which you teach things to come, you to whom nothing is future?
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, John K. Ryan translation, Doubleday Religion, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a
division of Random House, Inc., 1960
The studies reported below, by demonstrating that psychophysiological effects can precede their
cause, at once underline Augustine's question and also demand a paradigm shift in what
neuroscientists, physicists, and the philosophers must account for in future theories of
consciousness.
The anomalous evidence demanding this paradigm shift has been building gradually and the
literature is replete with easy to read descriptions of these findings: For example: Precognition:
Science Shows How Our Body Reacts To Events Up To 10 Seconds Before They Happen
According to a very strong critic of these studies:
"...the seismic nature of these claims cannot be overstated: future events influencing the past
breaks the second law of thermodynamics. If one accepts these claims to be true, one should also
be prepared to accept the existence of perpetual motion and time travel. It also completely
undermines over a century of experimental research based on the assumption that causes precede
effects. Differences in pre-stimulus activity would invalidate baseline correction procedures
fundamental to many different types of data analysis. While the meta-analysis briefly discusses
this implication (Mossbridge et al., 2012), the authors are seemingly unaware of the far-reaching
consequences of their claims: they effectively invalidate most of the neuroscience and psychology
literature, from electrophysiology and neuroimaging to temporal effects found in psychophysical
research.” (Schwarzkopf, 2014) a
domain specific algorithms. Haule (2012) used the framework of evolutionary theory to define it in terms of nested
hierarchies of species-specific behaviour patterns.1
These definitions may establish the plausibility of the archetype as an explanatory construct, since they define it in
terms of established theories from other fields (i.e., image schemata exist, therefore archetypes exist), but they do not
generate testable predictions or explicitly propose how archetypes generate recurrent motifs. They, therefore, remain
theoretically derived definitions rather than empirically derived ones. They also lack detail and predictive ability.
Erik Goodwyn, Recurrent motifs as resonant attractor states in the narrative field: a testable model of archetype, Journal of Analytical Psychology,
58, 387–408, 2013, Page 388.
589
John R. Van Eenwyk, Archetypes & Strange Attractors: The Chaotic World of Symbols Studies in Jungian
Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Inner City Books, 199. Page 67
142
In order to understand the scope of this debate, some background is required. As noted in a 2012
meta-analysis of 26 reports titled "Predictive Physiological Anticipation Preceding Seemingly
Unpredictable", there were three broad categories of predictive effects where plausible scientific
explanations were available and an unexplained "fourth category", which the Mossbridge study
had identified. (Mossbridge, 2012) b. The authors went on to describe these four categories of
predictive effects as follows:
"The first category includes physiological anticipation of intentional motor activity, e.g.,
physiological anticipation of a willed movement begins at least 500 ms before the conscious
report of the intention to move (Libet et al., 1983; Haggard and Eimer, 1999; Soon et al., 2008).
The explanation for these effects is that human conscious experience is preceded by subconscious
initiation of that experience (Libet et al., 1983).
The second category consists of experiments for which the EEG signals during the prestimulus period from trials on which stimuli will later be detected differ significantly from the
pre-stimulus signals from trials on which stimuli will later be undetected. The general explanation
for these effects is that specific phases and/or amplitudes of neural oscillatory firing (Ergenoglu et
al., 2004; Mathewson et al., 2009; Panzeri et al., 2010) facilitate detection (or non-detection) of an
upcoming stimulus.
Recently, a third category of anticipatory effect, dubbed “preplay,” was discovered when
the pre-maze activity of mouse hippocampal neurons was shown to mimic the activity recorded
during and after being in the maze, even in mice for whom a maze was novel (Dragoi and
Tonegawa, 2011). The authors also found that the firing patterns typically recorded in one maze
are predictably different from those recorded in another maze. They offer the explanation that
preplay patterns may reflect a sort of recycling phenomenon in which the hippocampus uses
generalizable firing pattern templates from its recent history to code for an animal’s current
spatial exploration experience.
For all three categories of anticipatory effects described above, the usual cause-precedingeffect assumption is sufficient to construct reasonable explanations for the observed phenomena.
The seemingly anomalous anticipatory effects investigated in this meta-analysis could have some
influence on the each of these three types of phenomena, but these unexplained anticipatory
effects are not necessary to explain these three types of established anticipatory effects.
Conversely, the three types of established predictive effects cannot explain the unexplained
anticipatory activity examined here. Thus, we suggest that unexplained predictive anticipatory
effects belong in a category independent from, but potentially overlapping with, the three other
categories of anticipatory effects already described." (Mossbridge, 2012)
In a 2013 study titled "Does Psychophysiological Predictive Anticipatory Activity Predict Real or
Future Probable Events?", the authors discovered that the text subjects could "predict not only
real future random events, but probable ones too" and speculated that "our psychophysiological
system can anticipate random future events by a sort of biological entanglement in time."
(Tressoldi, 2013) c
In a January 2014 paper titled "Feeling the Future Again: Retroactive Avoidance of Negative
Stimuli" the authors report on seven experiments and observe that "[d]uring the past decades,
several theories have been proposed that relate quantum mechanics to information processing in
the human mind. These theories predict that the arrow of time has no direction during
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unconscious processing states." Finding [i]n the majority of the studies, the predicted retroactive
influence was found." (Maier, 2014) d
In another January 2014 study titled "Stock Market Prediction Using Associative Remote Viewing
by Inexperienced Remote Viewers", the study's participants successfully predicted the outcome of
the DJIA in seven out of seven attempts and the Authors went on to report that stock option
investments that "were made based on these predictions, resulting in a significant financial gain."
(Smith, 2014) e
In March 2014 meta-analysis of experiments from seven independent laboratories titled
"Predicting the unpredictable: critical analysis and practical implications of predictive
anticipatory activity", the authors observed that: "The key observation in these studies is that
human physiology appears to be able to distinguish between unpredictable dichotomous future
stimuli, such as emotional vs. neutral images or sound vs. silence. This phenomenon has been
called presentiment (as in "feeling the future"). … The phenomenon is 'predictive' because it can
distinguish between upcoming stimuli; it is 'anticipatory' because the physiological changes occur
before a future event; and it is an 'activity' because it involves changes in the cardiopulmonary,
skin, and/or nervous systems. PAA (predictive anticipatory activity) is an unconscious
phenomenon that seems to be a time-reversed reflection of the usual physiological response to a
stimulus. It appears to resemble precognition (consciously knowing something is going to happen
before it does), but PAA specifically refers to unconscious physiological reactions as opposed to
conscious premonitions." (Mossbridgee, 2014) f.
Also, in March 2014, in a paper titled "Electrophysiology of Intuition: Pre-stimulus Responses in
Group and Individual Participants Using a Roulette Paradigm", the authors reported finding "a
significant pre-stimulus response starting around 18 seconds prior to participants knowing the
future outcome". [without] "a strong overall relationship between the pre-stimulus responses and
the amount of money the participants won or lost." (McCraty and Zayas, 2014) g
In another March 2014 paper titled "Nonlocal Intuition: Replication and Paired-subjects
Enhancement Effects", the authors reported that "electrophysiological measures, especially
changes in the heart rhythm, can detect intuitive foreknowledge" in a cross-cultural, non-Western
context and offered new evidence on the amplification of the nonlocal intuition signals by coparticipant pairs.” (Rezaei, 2014) h
In April 2014, a study titled "Feeling the Future: A Meta-analysis of 90 Experiments on the
Anomalous Anticipation of Random Future Events"(Bem, 2014) i asked whether a database of
ninety experiments provided "evidence for the anomalous anticipation of random future events."
The answer was yes and the evidence for this conclusion was deemed "decisive". The study next
asked whether 69 exact and modified replicants of an earlier study (Bem, 2011) j had successfully
replicated the earlier (Bem, 2011) experiment. Again, the answer was yes and, again, the
evidence for this conclusion was deemed "decisive" (Bem, 2014).
However, before the papers cited above, and the many additional studies on which these papers
reported, should be accepted, the criticisms raised by Schwarzkopf (Schwarzkopf, 2014) and an
August, 2014, an article titled: "Future directions in precognition research: more research can
144
bridge the gap between skeptics and proponents", (Franklin, 2014) k must be given careful
consideration. The large number of confirming studies from independent research teams gives
some confidence that the methodological issues raised by Schwarzkopf and other will be
satisfactorily resolved. Additionally, some future directions in precognition research that could
"bridge the gap" have been suggested. (Franklin, 2014) However, underlying these criticisms is
an inherent incredulity that a future event can cause a present change (Schwarzkopf, 2014). In the
Franklin paper, the authors briefly discuss the possibility of retrocausality, concluding that "there
is no physical law which precludes retrocausal information transfer." (Franklin, 2014).
In 2007 I attended a class at GMU that Drs. Yakir Aharonov and Jeff Tollaksen taught based on
Yakir Aharonov's and Daniel Rohrlich's book “Quantum Paradoxes: Quantum Theory for the
Perplexed”. This class, as an explanation for several of the "paradoxes" which were presented,
provided an introduction into the time symmetric interpretation to quantum mechanics (TSQM).
During the intervening years I have continue to explore TSQM's implications in the context of a
fully entangled, information-based universe. It is my contention in that retrocausality is "real",
that our unconscious mind and that the paradigm shift I previously mentioned is inevitable.
a.
Schwarzkopf D. S. (2014). We should have seen this coming. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8:332
10.3389/fnhum.2014.00332 [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034337/]
b
Mossbridge J, Tressoldi P and Utts J (2012) Predictive physiological anticipation preceding
seemingly
unpredictable stimuli: a meta-analysis. Frontiers of Psychology 3:390.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00390.
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00390/full
c
Tressoldi, Patrizio E. and Martinelli, Massimiliano and Semenzato, Luca, Does
Psychophysiological Predictive Anticipatory Activity Predict Real or Future Probable Events?
(December 24, 2013). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2371577 or
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2371577
d
Maier, Markus and Buechner, Vanessa L and Kuhbandner, Christof and Pflitsch, Markus and
Fernandez-Capo, Maria and Gamiz-Sanfeliu, Maria, Feeling the Future Again: Retroactive
Avoidance of Negative Stimuli (January 30, 2014). http://ssrn.com/abstract=2388097
e
Smith, C. C., Laham, D., and Moddel, J. (2014). Stock market prediction using associative
remote viewing
by inexperienced remote viewers. Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 7–16,
2014.
f
Mossbridge J., Tressoldi P. E., Utts J., Ives J., Radin D., Jonas W, Predicting the unpredictable:
critical analysis and practical implications of predictive anticipatory activity, Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience, 2014. 8:146 P 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00146
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3971164/]
145
g
Rollin McCraty, Maria Zayas, (2014) Intuitive Intelligence, Self-regulation, and Lifting
Consciousness. Global Advances in Health and Medicine 2014;3(2):16-27.
http://www.gahmj.com/doi/abs/10.7453/gahmj.2014.014
h
Saeed Rezaei; Maryam Mirzaei; Mohammad Reza Zali. (2014) Nonlocal Intuition: Replication
and Paired-subjects Enhancement Effects. Global Advances in Health and Medicine 3:2, 5-15.
http://www.gahmj.com/doi/abs/10.7453/gahmj.2014.013,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24808977
i
Bem, D., Tressoldi, P. E., Rabeyron, T. & Duggan, M. Feeling the Future: A Meta-Analysis of
90 Experiments on the Anomalous Anticipation of Random Future Events. (Social Science
Research Network, 2014). at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2423692>
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2423692&download=yes
j
Bem, D. J. (2011). Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive
influences on cognition and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 407–425.
doi:10.1037/a002152 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21280961
NOTE: The 2011 article reported nine experiments that purported to demonstrate that an
individual’s cognitive and affective responses can be influenced by randomly selected stimulus
events that do not occur until after his or her responses have already been made and recorded. To
encourage exact replications of the experiments, all materials needed to conduct them were made
available on request.
k
Franklin, M. S., Baumgart, S. L. & Schooler, J. W. Future directions in precognition research:
more research can bridge the gap between skeptics and proponents. Percept. Sci. 5, 907 (2014).&
Frontiers in Psychology 2014;5:907. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00907
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00907/full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4141237/
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