This is a continuation of a series of blogs, in which I revisit the theory proposed by Arthur M. Young as described in his book, The Reflexive Universe, and reinterpret it in light of the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg. It is a different way of interpreting or approaching scientific knowledge. Most of our scientific knowledge is based on facts, and based on mathematics. But the main problem with science is that the knowledge is not structured or ordered: its a series of facts after facts, which must be memorized. This is a different way of approaching scientific knowledge, and it is based on substance and form, what is prior and posterior, and discrete degrees of order. Another concept is that the smallest thing in the universe is a microcosm of the largest thing in the universe, and vice versa: thus we are looking for patterns that repeat. The main pattern, is that there are seven planes of existence, and within each plane there are seven substages. And at times I have found if we look deeper, you can take a substage and find another series of seven states. The whole explains the part, and the part explains the whole. It reminds me of a book I once read, The Holographic Universe. Except here, we are applying it in a more useful and practical manner, where it has application to science and is not just an abstract philosophy. As William Blake once wrote,
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
THE ATOMIC WORLD
I want to revisit the atomic world, because I suspect there is a mistake in the way Young approached this plane of existence. The degrees of order within the atomic world are determined by the atomic number, and the electron shells. There happen to be seven electron shells. From wikipedia:
"The electron shells are labeled K, L, M, N, O, P, and Q; or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; going from innermost shell outwards. Electrons in outer shells have higher average energy and travel farther from the nucleus than those in inner shells. This makes them more important in determining how the atom reacts chemically and behaves as a conductor, because the pull of the atom's nucleus upon them is weaker and more easily broken. In this way, a given element's reactivity is highly dependent upon its electronic configuration."
Here is a diagram of the uranium atom with its seven orbitals:
Some have made comparisons between the atom and the structure of the solar system, how planets orbit around a sun. Electrons do not actually orbit the nucleus, a more accurate description is that they form standing waves at particular energy states. A more deeper truth, is that the atom is a microcosm of the universe: within the atomic orbitals, there are seven planes of existence. In fact, in the Ptolemaic system there was a strong tradition to associate the orbits of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter an Saturn with seven heavens, as shown in the following diagram:
This tradition is ancient. In the Jewish Talmud, and some apocryphal literature related to Enoch, there are seven heavens. From this, the Quran of Islam states that there are seven heavens:
See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in their midst, and made the Sun a Lamp? (Sura 71:15-16)
Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the dominion; and He is able to do all things. Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving; Who has created the seven heavens one above another; you can see no fault in the creation of the Most Gracious.(Sura 67:1-3)
Going even older, the seven heavens are found in Hinduism (the Puranas and Arthavaveda), and are as follows:
Hinduism differs a bit as below the seven heavens, there are seven hells. Are these ancient myths and traditions correct? Yes and no. These myths are distortions of the original truth, and probably began when in ancient times Babylonian astrologer-priests misled people to worship the Sun, Moon and stars. There is an element of truth in these myths, which got distorted when they looked for evidence of heaven in the skies above them. There is evidence in ancient Babylonian tablets that they may have known of Neptune and Uranus: but this knowledge was kept hidden in myths. Although scripture assigns a level of importance to the number seven, you will not find reference to these seven heavens in the Bible. I have found evidence that the chronology of the ten patriarchs before the flood (Adam to Noah) - is based on synodic periods of the planets, including Neptune and Uranus, but strangely not Pluto. See The Ancient Astronomy of the Bible. Pluto, discovered in 1931, was originally classified as a planet, but was "demoted" as recently as 2006.
What is a more accurate statement of the truth, is that the seven planes of the electron shells of the atom are a microcosm of the seven planes of existence, which are:
1. Space-time
2. Subatomic force and matter particles
3. Atoms
4. Molecules
5. Plants
6. Animals and Man
7. (an unknown state of existence)
The seventh is the spiritual world, which I will cover later. These are discrete degrees of order. Likewise, the electron shells of the atom are discrete. Electrons can jump from one shell to another, but can't lie in a state in between. Thus Planck discovered that energy came in discrete "packets" - this was called a quantum of action, and it is heavily used in quantum physics. As atoms emit energy, electrons drop to a lower state, but as they absorb energy, the electrons jump to a higher state. Arthur Young notes that the world of the atoms correspond with the plants, in that plant absorb light. Moreoever, as atoms have a north and south magnetic pole, so plants can only grow up and down along an axis. This symbolic correspondence between different planes of existence is an important concept.
Here is the periodic table again:
In his book The Reflexive Universe, Young divided the atoms into seven categories as follows:
1. Hydrogen (H).
2. Helium to Fluorine (He to F).
3. Neon to Chlorine (Ne to Cl).
4. Argon to Bromine (Ar to Br).
5. Krypton to Iodine (Kr to I).
6. Xenon to Astatine (Xe to At).
7. Radon to #118 (Rn to Uuo).
Well not quite true, the upper elements of the periodic table had not been discovered when Young published his book. But he makes a slight error. The rows or groups of the periodic table are according to the electron shells of the atom: each substate of the atomic world should be according to the electron shells. So let's correct it slightly, where we just simply follow the rows of the periodic table:
1. Hydrogen to Helium (H to He).
2. Lithium to Neon (Li to Ne).
3. Sodium to Argon (Na to Ar).
4. Potassium to Krypton (K to Kr).
5. Rubidium to Xenon (Rb to Xe).
6. Caesium to Radon (Xe to Rn).
7. Francium to #118 (Fr to Uuo).
There are only 2 atoms that have just one electron shell: Hydrogen and Helium. So...what thing in the universe is composed almost entirely of Hydrogen and Helium? Well, the suns and stars. Here is a breakdown of the elemental composition of the Sun:
So, remember how I said those myths which related the sun, moon and planets to the seven spheres of the heavens are obviously false? Well some of it is true. Because now we see that the first electron shell of the atom "corresponds" to the Sun. In a literal sense the myth is false. In a symbolic sense, the myth is true. Our solar system as seen from earth is an approximate symbolic representation of the seven electron shells of the atom.
As the form of the atoms progress and become more complicated, another pattern emerges. Although categories are debated for some of the atoms, we can classify the atoms into seven main categories according to their groups (columns in the periodic table):
For the third category, Transition Metals, it includes three types: Transition metals, Lanthanides and Actinides. It reminds me a bit of the weak nuclear force - the third subtype of the subatomic plane - which has 3 subatomic particles: two W bosons an one Z boson. Note that the elements of brass, silver and gold reside in this category, and all belong to the same column or group (#11). As these metals are mentioned in scripture, we know of their symbolic significance from Swedenborg. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:
"Most scientists describe a "transition metal" as any element in the d-block of the periodic table, which includes groups 3 to 12 on the periodic table. All elements in the d-block are metals. In actual practice, the f-block is also included in the form of the lanthanide and actinide series."
There is a lot of debate about the fourth group: it is hard to define. Why? For Metalloids, here is a statement from Wikipedia:
"A metalloid is a chemical element with properties that are in-between or a mixture of those of metals and nonmetals, and which is considered to be difficult to classify unambiguously as either a metal or a nonmetal. There is no standard definition of a metalloid nor is there agreement as to which elements are appropriately classified as such. Despite this lack of specificity the term continues to be used in the chemistry literature."
Note how they belong to the fourth stage: which corresponds to the turn at the bottom of the arc in Young's diagram, representing the transition from minerals to life forms.
The Nonmetals belong to the fifth group. Now, if we look at the fifth plane of existence, it is the realm of plants: it is where life begins. Now here is the elemental composition of the human body:
Oxygen (O), Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Sulfur or Sulphur (S), all belong to the Nonmetal group. They are the elements of life. Calcium is used to make the bones, which tends to survive the longest after death.
The seventh and last category are the Noble gases - all in gaseous form. Since their outer shell is full, they tend to not chemically react with other elements, and they are invisible and odorless. From symbolic correspondence, we can presume that this corresponds to the seventh plane of existence which is the spiritual world. In Hebrew, the words "spirit" and "breath" are one and the same. The general pattern we see is thus from base minerals or metals, transiting to elements needed for life forms, transiting to gases which represents the spirit.
This is the third blog of a series where I am trying to sum up and correct the theory of process as described by Arthur M. Young in his book, The Reflexive Universe. See the previous two blogs:
What is the topic? It is actually a theory that seeks to organize all of reality into discrete degrees or levels. In the universe, there are seven planes of existence, which Young proposed was as follows:
Each plane is a discrete degree of order. Within each plane, there are seven substates, in which the pattern repeats. Its as if each plane or kingdom is representing a microcosm of the whole. And the smaller we go, the pattern repeats: always there are seven discrete degrees of order. The previous degree of order must exist prior to the subsequent degree of order. So they build upon each other. Another principle is that in the first four planes, matter progressively loses degrees of freedom, until reality becomes deterministic. This determinism is broken when life forms break free, and progressively regain their freedom.
The theory, as described by Arthur M. Young, is incomplete. When he comes to the higher stages, he struggles with terminology, and seeks answers in ancient myths to understand what is going on. So I am not going to cover the rest of his lectures. The second plane, the subatomic world, he left alone, and described it as a "work in progress." Moreover, he makes what I consider an error: he assigns light to the first plane of existence, when light in fact is a subatomic particle. So, as described previously, I would like to correct the the theory and describe the seven planes as follows:
1. Space-time. Scalar fields and 0 spin particles (Higgs-Boson goes here)
2. Subatomic particles. Force mediating particles (single or double spin) and matter particles (half spin). Light belongs in this plane of reality.
3. Atoms
4. Molecules
5. Plants
6. Animals and Man
7. The Spiritual World - for the most part, an unknown state of existence.
Young was able to find the seven substages of Atoms, Molecules, Plants, and Animals. The seventh was unknown to him, except that he knew it was a higher stage of development for man. For the subatomic plane, after a bit of trial and error, I came up with the following seven substates:
1. Graviton (gravitational force). A theoretical 2 spin particle.
2. Photon (electromagnetic force). 1 spin particle.
3. W and Z bosons (weak nuclear force). 1 spin particle.
4. Gluons (strong nuclear force). 1 spin particle.
5. Quarks. Half spin particle. Used to build the higher level fermions.
6. Baryons (protons, neutrons...). Half spin particles.
7. Leptons (electrons, neutrinos...). Half spin particles.
What was pleasing - and surprising - about Young's theory is how well the seven substages of the subatomic world is a "microcosm" of the higher seven planes. Again, we see how the first four substages of the subatomic world correspond to one of the guage bosons, a force carrier which keeps retricting the freedom of particles. These are the only four forces of the universe - no more, no less. The next three are covered by the fermion matter particles. For the fifth I struggled a bit, until I realized that quarks are smaller half spin fermions. The pattern was predicting a half spin fermion. As you can see, I am blogging while I research this, as I have been meaning to do this research on this neglected theory for several years...there were several gaps, luckily when I discovered Emanuel Swedenborg he covered a big huge gap, which I will get to later.
Let us move on to the atomic plane. All atoms are described in the periodic table of the elements:
Note that in the periodic table of the elements, there are 7 rows. These are the seven Periods of the Periodic table. This row defines the seven substages of the atomic world. Similar attributes among the elements tends to be defined by where in the column it resides, which is known as its group. An atom's properties is completely defined by its number of protons and electrons. Thus the seven substages of the atomic plane are:
1. Hydrogen (H).
2. Helium to Fluorine (He to F).
3. Neon to Chlorine (Ne to Cl).
4. Argon to Bromine (Ar to Br).
5. Krypton to Iodine (Kr to I).
6. Xenon to Astatine (Xe to At).
7. Radon to #118 (Rn to Uuo).
Note that element #118 - the last in the row of the seventh period, was discovered very recently: it was discovered in 2002. So in many ways, we are dealing with the edges of science here.
Oddly, the first substage has one element - Hydrogen. I can't remember what Young said about that in his book the Reflexive Universe (someone borrowed it many years ago), but Hydrogen has seven known isotopes (where the number of neutrons differs from the number of protons). Now lets move on to the seven substages of the molecular world. The following classifications were obtained by Arthur M. Young from Charles Price, head of the American Chemical Society:
Just as the seventh stage of the subatomic world - the electrons - largely becomes the basis of the atom's properties, so the seventh stage of the molecular world - DNA - is the basis for all life forms. Here are the seven substages of the vegetable kingdom:
1. Phytoplankton (? not sure on this one, could not see it on the grid)
2. Algae (Colonies)
3. Embryophytes (Embryos)
4. Psylophytes (Vascular stem)
5. Pteridophyes (Segments)
6. Gymnosperm (Seeds)
7. Angiosperm (Flowers)
Here at the seven substages of the animal kingdom:
1. Paramecea (one-celled animals).
2. Metazoa (many-celled animals) - Sponges
3. Coelenterates (one organ animals) - having identity, or a center, or inside and out
4. Mollusks (many organ animals). Many filae were put together for this one.
5. Annelids (segmentation)
6. Arthropods (side segments, or legs) - all insects, crabs, lobsters, shrimp. Increased legs, until finally down to six. Highly developed instincts. Exoskeleton.
7. Chordata, or vertebrates. Nerve cord.
At the highest order of the animal kingdom, we have man. Thus this "theory of everything" supports evolution. But why are we seeing simple things becoming more and more complex? What is the driving factor for increased complexity, and increasing levels of organization?
THE FIRST PLANE OF EXISTENCE: SPACE-TIME
Now I want to backtrack to the first plane of existence - space-time, without which of course we can have no particles. In this realm I put the Higgs-Boson - something different than anything we have seen before: its a 0 spin scalar particle, the manifestation of a scalar field that exists everywhere in the universe. Without the discovery of the Higgs-Boson I would have never heard of the branch of knowledge which deals with scalar fields and particles. This discovery is months old --- and scientists are wondering where it fits in the Standard Model. So I have seen this diagram:
This Higgs field gives all particles their mass, so it is a fundamental field required for existence. Scalars were used by physicists to help describe the quantum world. The Higgs-Boson is the first observation of a scalar particle. For a deeper explanation, see the blog, Higgs boson, scalar fields, and a victory for string theory. Some of the mathematical language is beyond my level: thus the public is largely unaware of the potential significance of the Higgs boson.
Space-time is not "nothing" its a field - one or more of them. Our mind understands 3 space dimensions and 1 time dimension - so my assessment of this plane earlier was probably too simplistic. I think, we have a problem. According to the theory, and the pattern we have seen in all known planes of existence, space-time should have seven dimensions. This, of course, is impossible to visualize. So I was curious, is there any theory that specifies seven dimensions for space-time? If we turn to pure mathematics, this is what is known of a seven dimensional world:
"Abstract seven-dimensional space occurs frequently in mathematics, and is a perfectly legitimate construct. Whether or not the real universe in which we live is somehow seven-dimensional (or indeed higher) is a topic that is debated and explored in several branches of physics, including astrophysics and particle physics, but it does not matter for mathematics."
What is interesting, a cross product between 2 vectors can only occur in 3 dimensional space, or 7 dimensional space. Mathematically, the full set of vector operations can be performed in 7 dimensions. But is this just a pure mathematical construct, or does it exist in reality? In physics, we now get into an area known as "String Theory", which seeks to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It proposes that elementary particles are not 0 dimensional objects, but rather 1 dimensional vibrating strings. So I was quite surprised to find this statement from Wikipedia:
"A key feature of string theory is that, though it is an attempt to model our physical universe, it takes place in a space with more dimensions than the four of spacetime that we are familiar with. In particular a number of string theories take place in a ten dimensional space, adding an extra six dimensions. These extra dimensions are required by the theory, but as they cannot be observed are thought to be quite different, perhaps compactified so they form a six dimensional space with a particular geometry too small to be observable. In M-theory, which unifies the five types of string theory, there is a seventh dimension involved."
So as I read it, there are 3 ordinary spacial dimensions, the time dimension, plus 7 non-observable "compactified" extra spacial dimensions. I found another article entitled Physicists say universe evolution favored three and seven dimensions. I will quote from it in full:
Physicists who work with a concept called string theory envision our universe as an eerie place with at least nine spatial dimensions, six of them hidden from us, perhaps curled up in some way so they are undetectable. The big question is why we experience the universe in only three spatial dimensions instead of four, or six, or nine.
Two theoretical researchers from the University of Washington and Harvard University think they might have found the answer. They believe the way our universe started and then diluted as it expanded – what they call the relaxation principle – favored formation of three- and seven-dimensional realities. The one we happen to experience has three dimensions.
"That's what comes out when you do the math," said Andreas Karch, a University of Washington assistant professor of physics and lead author of a new paper that details the theory.
Karch and his collaborator, Lisa Randall, a physics professor at Harvard, set out to model how the universe was arranged right after it began in the big bang, and then watch how the cosmos evolved as it expanded and diluted. The only assumptions were that it started with a generally smooth configuration, with numerous structures – called membranes, or "branes" – that existed in various spatial dimensions from one to nine, all of them large and none curled up.
The researchers allowed the cosmos to evolve naturally, without making any additional assumptions. They found that as the branes diluted, the ones that survived displayed three dimensions or seven dimensions. In our universe, everything we see and experience is stuck to one of those branes, and for it to result in a three-dimensional universe the brane must be three-dimensional. Other realities, either three- or seven-dimensional, could be hidden from our perception in the universe, Karch said.
"There are regions that feel 3D. There are regions that feel 5D. There are regions that feel 9D. These extra dimensions are infinitely large. We just happen to be in a place that feels 3D to us," he said. In our world, forces such as electromagnetism only recognize three dimensions and behave according to our laws of physics, their strength diminishing with distance. Gravity, however, cuts across all dimensions, even those not recognized in our world, Karch and Randall say. But they theorize that the force of gravity is localized and, with seven branes, gravity would diminish far more quickly with distance than it does in our three-dimensional world.
"We know there are people in our three-brane existence. In this case we will assume there are people somewhere nearby in a seven-brane existence. The people in the three-brane would have a far more interesting world, with more complex structures," Karch said. With gravity diminishing rapidly with distance, a seven-dimensional existence would not have planets with stable orbits around their sun, Karch said.
"I am not precisely sure what a universe with such a short-range gravity would look like, mostly because it is always difficult to imagine how life would develop under completely different circumstances," he said. "But in any case, planetary systems as we know them wouldn't form. The possibility of stable orbits is what makes the three-dimensional world more interesting."
Karch and Randall detail their work in the October edition of Physical Review Letters, published by the American Physical Society. The research was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
Karch said they hope the work will spark extensive scientific exploration of many other questions involving string theory, extra dimensions and the evolution of the cosmos.
So what is pleasing about this theory of Arthur M. Young, which he called a theory of "process", is that it can help explain and organize everything we know. I had no idea that some mathematicians and physicists were exploring the idea of a seven dimensional space. But the theory, or pattern, was stating that a "seven dimensional space" should exist. This is the process Young went through: for him it was a giant crossword puzzle, where we need to fill in the blank. Before all the elements of the atomic were known, once the periodic table was discovered scientist could predict the behaviours of elements before they were discovered. Once we recognize a pattern of order in one plane of existence, we can extend that to obtain knowledge of other planes of existence. They "correspond" to each other, and it is what Swedenborg called the doctrine of Correspondences. And everything that has been stated so far is based on factual, observed science, or theories that have a strong mathematical foundation. From the known discrete orders of existence, I placed the graviton as a first order subatomic particle, and the photon (light) as a second order subatomic particle. This is because the graviton at the secondary subatomic plane "corresponds" with the entire plane of space-time. And look at the above article: gravity cuts across all seven dimenions, light does not. I did not know that, If we recognize the symbolism of the discrete orders of existence, we can now begin to obtain knowledge of a higher degree of existence: the spiritual world, or the seventh plane of existence.
And one last point: how does one represent 7 dimensions in a 2 or 3 dimensional world? This is done by projections and manifolds, used in a field of study called topology. A "projection" or "manifold" shows how a lower dimension "corresponds" with a higher dimension. Take a look at the following example:
The video is based on the work of Heinz Hopf, a German mathematician, who discovered the Hopf fibration. So from what I understand from the above video, if we want to represent 7 dimensions in a 3 dimensional world, we end up with a torus, or make use of one or more tori to represent that:
Here is another representation of the Hopf fibration:
We see in the manifold the vesica piscis, two intersecting circles which is used to form the fish symbol of Christianity:
In map theory, whereas on a 2 dimensional plane or a sphere we need at least 4 colors to color it, so that no color touches another of the same color, it takes 7 colors to color the surface of a torus. Arthur M. Young mentions the torus in his book The Reflexive Universe, but does not explain well enough of how it is related to the theory, perhaps because he missed the realization that the first plane of existence is space-time, and space is beginning to look like it has seven dimensions. If we look at string-theory, they make use of the torus to describe the 7 dimensions. Here is a quote:
"We consider compactifying M theory on a 4-torus down to 7 dimensions. The theory
has 32 supersymmetries and is unique: the only possible multiplet is the gravity multiplet." (From Matrix Theory and U-duality in Seven Dimensions)
So where does the torus appear in reality? Take a look at the shape of the electromagnetic field:
The field, with the north and south pole of magnetism, is in the shape of a torus. The torus is a fundamental form of the universe. Current scientific theory is beginning to point to a reality of seven dimensions.
THE DOCTRINE OF CORRESPONDENCES
We see that at each plane of existence, each state or substate corresponds with each other. A prior state or plane is the cause of the subsequent plane. A subsequent plane is a more complex pattern than the previous plane. We see how correspondence is fundamental to mathematics: projections and manifolds are required to understand higher dimensions. This can be seen, once it is realized that order in the universe manifests itself in discrete degrees. And this is the concept that was revealed to Emanuel Swedenborg in his visions: the Doctrine of Correspondences. And knowing it is quite useful for understanding the spiritual world which exists beyond our natural world:
"What representations and correspondences are, few know, nor can any one know unless he knows that there is a spiritual world, and this distinct from the natural world; for between spiritual things and natural things there is correspondence, and the things that exist from spiritual things in natural are representations. They are called correspondences because they correspond, and representations because they represent.
"That some idea may be had of representations and correspondences, let one reflect only on the things of the mind, that is, of the thought and will. These things so beam forth from the face that they are manifest in its look, especially the affections, and the more interior ones from and in the eyes. When the things of the face act as one with those of the mind, they are said to correspond and are correspondences; and the very looks of the face represent and are representations. It is similar with what is manifested by gestures of the body, and also with all the movements produced by the muscles. These are all according to what man thinks and wills, as is well known. The gestures and actions themselves, which are of the body, represent the things of the mind and are representations; and to be in agreement, they are correspondences." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2987-2988).
The spiritual world has a correspondence with the natural world:
"It is also known, or may be known, that there is a spiritual world, and also a natural world. The spiritual world in the universal sense, is where spirits and angels dwell, and the natural world where men dwell. In particular, there is a spiritual world and a natural world with every man; his internal man being to him a spiritual world, and his external being to him a natural world. The things that flow in from the spiritual world and are presented in the natural, are in general representations; and so far as they agree they are correspondences." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2987-2988).
Remember how each prior plane must preexist as the cause of the subsequent plane, and the posterior plane corresponds with the the prior plane? There is correspondence, because the spiritual world is the cause for the existence of the natural world:
"That natural things represent spiritual and correspond, may also be known from this, that what is natural cannot at all exist, except from a cause prior to itself. Its cause is from the spiritual; and there is nothing natural which does not thence derive its cause. Natural forms are effects; nor can they appear as causes, still less as causes of causes, or principles, but they receive their forms according to use in the place where they are; still however the forms of the effects represent the things which are of the causes; and indeed these latter things represent those which are of principles." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2991).
So if we assume this is true, we can form only one conclusion: the seventh plane of existence is the spiritual world, and the seventh plane is the cause or prior plane to the first plane of existence, space-time, and all subsequent planes. We thus go not in an arc, as Arthur M. Young presents it, but in a full circle. If we know correspondence and symbolism well enough, we can derive some conclusions about the seven substates of the spiritual world. And what are the seven substates of the seventh plane? The seventh and final plane is the most complex of all the seven planes of existence. I keep wanting to get to that, but I wanted to make sure I corrected a few statements I made about the first plane, space-time. So I will hopefully get to that in a subsequent blog.
This is a continuation of the previous blog entry, discussing the theory of Arthur M. Young which he described in his book, The Reflexive Universe. In that blog, I have made a few corrections to the theory based upon modern findings in science, plus I started to fill in some of the gaps based upon the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg. What is this, and how is it related to Swedenborg? Well, it is a theory of everything. It is a theory that properly describes the universe around us. And if there is a gap in our knowledge, it exposes the gap, and it will tell you, "something is missing here." And it will tell you how that something should behave. All of the universe can be divided into seven states of existence, and each state corresponds to the other. Thus it is strongly related to Swedenborg's system or theory of Correspondences.
Before diving deeper into this, see the previous blog, The Seven States of Creation. And just to sum up the conclusion in that blog, here are the seven states of existence, as I see it, as it is slightly different than what Young is saying:
1. Space-time. Scalar fields and 0-spin "particles". The Higgs-Boson belongs here.
2. Subatomic particles. Force mediating particles, and matter particles. (Light belongs here)
3. Atoms.
4. Molecules.
5. Plants.
6. Animals and Man.
7. (an unknown, higher state of existence). This is where Emanuel Swedenborg comes in. It is an area of knowledge that can only be revealed and experienced, as science cannot measure it.
Each of level or plane of existence has seven substates of existence. And the order of each substate corresponds to the substates of the lower or higher orders of existence. And this ties in with Swedenborg's doctrine of Correspondences - how all things are symbolic of internal spiritual states. "As above, so below." A pattern that emerges is that in the first four planes of existence, matter is constrained further and further, losing degrees of freedom. After the fourth plane, life forms start to regain their freedom, breaking free of their material constraints. Each of these states have seven substates. Young, unfortunately, left the subatomic level blank. For that, I proposed the following seven substates:
1. Gravitons (gravitational force).
2. Photons (electromagnetic force).
3. W and Z Bosons (weak nuclear force).
4. Gluons (strong nuclear force).
5. (?? - other stuff)
6. Baryons (protons, neutrons...)
7. Leptons (electrons...).
We see how the substates of the subatomic world correspond with the higher planes of existence: in the first four states, matter is being constrained into a smaller and smaller space, until it gets bound in a nucleus by the strong nuclear force. And then in the subsequent states, instead of force carrier particles, we now have fermions - the particles that compose matter. I mention this again, because I had a lot of problems with the fifth substate - where I put "other stuff". From the pattern, I expected a fermion particle with a half spin. I looked around, and found something called a "skyrmion" - a hypothetical state for bosons where they behave like a fermion. But, I think I was wrong on that point.
So what goes there? Well it turns out, I found another fermion with a half spin - a thing called a "quark." Quarks are the building blocks for the higher level fermions. For example, three quarks make a proton:
And quarks are essential to understanding the Standard Model, as can be seen from this diagram:
Moreover, under certain extreme conditions, quarks can exist as free standing particles:
Under sufficiently extreme conditions, quarks may become deconfined and exist as free particles. In the course of asymptotic freedom, the strong interaction becomes weaker at higher temperatures. Eventually, color confinement would be lost and an extremely hot plasma of freely moving quarks and gluons would be formed. This theoretical phase of matter is called quark–gluon plasma.
CERN announced in 2000 that there was indirect evidence for this quark-gluon plasma which they called a "new state of matter." Here is another quote which talks about this quark-gluon plasma:
A millionth of a second after the Big Bang, the universe was an incredibly dense plasma, so hot that no nuclei nor even nuclear particles could exist. The plasma consisted of quarks, the particles that compose nucleons and some other elementary particles, and gluons, the massless particles that “carry” the force between quarks (See Nuclei Knockdown). Gluons are the particles that quarks exchange as they interact, or, in the language of modern physics, gluons “mediate” the strong force between quarks. Since quarks make up protons and neutrons, this leads to the force that holds protons and neutrons together in a nucleus.
(See the article, Quark Gluon Plasma on Physics Central). So, the quark particle is a bit more satisfying to the theory: quarks are a preexisting state needed to compose higher level fermions. And now, everything on the right side of the diagram has half-spin, which is what the pattern of the theory was indicating. I had trouble with it because I never heard of this quark gluon plasma before. What I am also seeing is how prior states influence posterior states: the prior plane to the quark is a gluon. The prior state to the W/Z bosons (weak nuclear force) is the photon (electromagnetic force): these forces are 2 aspects of the electroweak force. The theory helps us model and organize the jumbled knowledge of science.
In the previous blog, I covered the first 2 DVDs of Arthur Young's explanation of the theory of the Reflexive Universe. Now lets go through the third DVD:
PART 3 OF 4 (1/6)
Young talks about how for any area of knowledge, we do not fully learn from that knowledge until we put it into action. And this is what Swedenborg says: knowledge and understanding do not become "living" until it is put into action or applied to one's life. Understanding of how to live, that is a higher state we generally call wisdom. Which is interesting - as far as I can tell, Arthur M. Young never knew of Emanuel Swedenborg.
Young relates the third level (Atoms) to "Concept". This is something I hope to correct or realign later, based on what we know from Swedenborg. But Young is on the right track. Swedenborg was better able to see how physical reality corresponds with our internal spiritual states. Ironically, Young moves on to discuss "archetypes" - a concept of Carl Jung - which Jung happened to borrow from Swedenborg. When Young tries to map the various levels to different states of human experience, he is forced to not describe the first level.
PART 3 OF 4 (2/6)
Young associates substance, or matter, with "value." Why? what we value is what "matters" to us. Again he hits on a truth, for Swedenborg associates all substance and matter with love. The form of that matter is the truth.
Of the seven levels of existence, Young's favorite is the molecular kingdom - because in science, that is what we know most about, its the most deterministic state of reality. For understanding this better he consulted with Charles Price, a well known chemist who was head of the American Chemical Society. Molecules have seven states of order, as follows:
1. Metals
2. Simple Compounds
3. Nonfunctional Compounds (Covalent Bond)
4. Functional Compounds
5. Nonfunctional Polymers
6. Functional Polymers (Proteins)
7. DNA. From this seventh, life forms can now be built.
This is the order that Charles Price came up with, after Young approached him with his problem. For Young it was invaluable, as it helped him understand the other planes of existence.
PART 3 OF 4 (3/6)
Here Young describes as he was developing the theory, it became much bigger than what he originally expected. He begins to describe what makes animals different from plants: animals are attracted to things, and need food. Animals are "animated" - they have more freedom of movement to plants, as plants are for the most part stuck where they are and can only move up and down. Young struggles with some of the terminology, but the way Swedenborg would describe it is that plants tend to be symbolic manifestations of truth, whereas animals are symbolic manifestations of love and affection. For Young, the goal of the animal world is to establish the soul, and the goal of the soul is to reach immortality.
It is here Young tries to explain his belief in the immortality of the soul, as no substance in the world is ever destroyed - it is only transformed. On this topic, Swedenborg is more clear: while man is indeed endowed with an immortal soul, animals are not. This is why man becomes the foundation for the seventh plane of existence: in the seventh plane are the states of eternal life. When Swedenborg's vision was opened, he was indeed surprised by what he saw: souls, which become angels, retain their human form. And there are many levels of existence in the spiritual world, complete with their own substances and forms. This he describes in his works, Heavenly Arcana, and Heaven and Hell. But the strange thing that was shown to Swedenborg is that there is a substance that exists beyond the world of atoms - and he called this a more pure substance. Swedenborg states while the simple believe in life after death, most scientists will deny that the soul exists, because they cannot see or measure it:
"One who is sensual or believes only in his senses denies that there is a spirit, because he does not see it, saying, — "It is nothing, for I do not perceive it with my senses. What I see and touch, that I know exists." The scientific man, or one who draws conclusions from the sciences, says — "What is the spirit but perhaps a breath, or heat" — or some other thing recognized by his science — "which being extinguished it vanishes? Have not animals also a body, senses, and something analogous to reason? And these they say will die, while the spirit of man will live." Thus they deny that there is a spirit. Philosophers, who would be more discerning than other men, talk of the spirit by terms which they themselves do not understand; for they dispute about them, contending that not a single word is applicable which takes anything from what is material, or organic, or that has extension. Thus they so abstract it from their conceptions that it vanishes from them.
"And those who are somewhat more sane say that it is thought; but when they reason about thought, because they disconnect it from anything substantial they at length conclude that it will vanish when the body expires. Thus do all who reason from sensual, scientific, and philosophical considerations deny that there is a spirit; and as they deny that it exists, they believe nothing at all that is said about the spirit and about spiritual things." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 196.2-3).
Swedenborg states that the soul is not just simply thought, but resides throughout the entire body, and after death retains its human form:
"It was said above (n. 4652) that man is a spirit, and that his body serves him for uses in the world; and it has been said occasionally elsewhere that the spirit is the man's internal, and the body his external. They who do not apprehend how it is with man's spirit and with his body, may suppose from this, that the spirit thus dwells within the body; and that the body as it were encompasses and invests it. But it is to be known that the spirit of man is in his body, in the whole and in every part of it; and that it is its purer substance, both in its organs of motion and in those of sense, and everywhere else; and that the body is the material part that is everywhere annexed to it, adapted to the world in which it then is. This is what is meant by man's being a spirit, and by his body serving him for uses in the world; and by the spirit's being his internal, and the body his external. From this also it is manifest, that man after death is in an active and sensitive life, and also in the human form, in like manner as in the world, but in greater perfection." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 4659).
And Swedenborg speaks of "degrees" and "planes" of development so that man may become a spiritual being:
"Thence it is that man as to his interiors, if he lives in good, is a heaven in least form, or, that his interiors correspond to the three heavens; and thence it is that man after death can, if he has lived a life of charity and love, be transferred even into the third heaven. But that he may be such, it is necessary that all the degrees in him should be well terminated, and thus by means of terminations be distinct from one another; and when they are terminated, or by means of terminations are made distinct from one another, every degree is then a plane, in which the good which flows in from the Lord rests, and where it is received. Without those degrees as planes, good is not received, but flows through, as through a sieve or a perforated basket, even to the sensual; and then, not being directed to anything on its way, it is changed into what is filthy, which appears to those who are in it as good, namely, into the enjoyment of the love of self and of the world, consequently into the enjoyment of hatred, revenge, cruelty, adultery, and avarice, or into mere voluptuousness and luxuriousness" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 5145.3).
PART 3 OF 4 (4/6)
Young here talks about how why one cannot remember one's past lives. Thus from the theory, he probably saw a similarity with the ancient Greek view of how the soul makes a descent into matter in order to acquire experience. This is incorrect - and it is an easy mistake to make, for under certain conditions (hypnosis), one can have memories of things that one did not experience. This is caused by a spiritual influx of like-minded souls into one's memory. Swedenborg is clear: there is no such thing as metempsychosis or reincarnation. The soul is created at conception, from the seed of the father. But this is another topic, and it is not central to the theory.
What is more interesting, is that Young feels that animals have a "group soul." It explains why animals of a species behave in the same manner: this is what we call "instinct." It is an innate knowledge that animals are born with. Humans do not have instinct: instead, humans must go through a longer learning period, and then learn how to apply their knowledge. And humans can decide what to learn, what to focus on. This is not true of the animals. Swedenborg describes different animals as representations or different aspects of the human personality. The human psyche is diverse, and one can choose to adopt or follow a way that corresponds to the behaviour of a particular animal.
PART 3 OF 4 (5/6)
How is man different from animals? Whereas animals have a "group soul", each human has an individual soul. And from what Swedenborg said, I would take this further: an individual human soul is the group, or the collective, of all the behaviours of the different animals. One can be as clever as a fox, or dumb as a donkey. Evil like a snake, or innocent as a dove. These figures of speech are not just figures of speech: there is a hidden truth in them. The human soul is still a higher state of organization, and our behaviours can change and grow and correspond to different animals at different times. Whereas one "group soul" rules over many individual animals, one individual human soul contains within him/her all the different personality types that correspond to different animals. And this concept is key to understanding what is the seventh plane of existence.
PART 3 OF 4 (6/6)
Throughout these lectures, Young is trying to describe the different states of human action. I will summarize it in a different way: most people are familiar with the principle of cause and effect. Swedenborg extended this concept to end, cause and effect. The "end" is one's intent. Everything begins with intent or purpose. Then there is the thought of how to execute one's intent. The effect is the action of one's thought of how to execute one's intent. The three states are intent, thought, action. And when one puts something into action, one sees the effect, and there is a feedback to one as to the result. We learn from that, and begin the process all over again. So, if a religion places all of religion in just belief or meditation, it is false: it is ignoring the principle of action. Until thought is put into action, it has no effect on our eternal life. Every action we do, will be judged from our intent.
Young moves on to discuss the importance of symbolism - symbolism is the language of dreams. The first four stages of descent is a symbol of how God became the Word, and the Word became flesh through the virgin birth.
THE PLANE OF SPACE AND TIME
Now I would like to stop and take another look at the seven states or planes of existence again:
1. Space-time. Scalar fields and 0-spin "particles". The Higgs-Boson belongs here.
2. Subatomic particles. Force mediating particles, and matter particles. (Light belongs here)
3. Atoms.
4. Molecules.
5. Plants.
6. Animals and Man.
7. (an unknown, higher state of existence).
Of these planes of existence, the one we know the least about is the seventh. The next one that is hard to grasp is the first plane of existence - the plane of space and time. Young did not recognize it, and incorrectly placed the subatomic photon at that level of existence. This is because most people, due to Newtonian physics, think that space is nothing. Space is not nothing: the theory of relativity states that it is a field that could be warped by gravity. And this is why in the second plane I considered the graviton as a first order particle higher than the photon: for the first order of the subatomic world (the graviton) corresponds to the first plane of existence (space-time). Moreover, if we look at the sequence of subatomic particles in the second plane of existence, they have spins of 2, 1, 1, 1, half, half, half. The graviton has a spin of 2 (according to theory), the force mediating particles have a spin on 1, and matter particles have a spin of a half.
There is another reason why I placed space-time in the first plane of existence. One observation Young made is that the level of the planes of existence in the arc show similarities to each other. Here is his diagram again (which in IMO incorrectly places light in the first plane):
Higher planes of existence have greater degrees of freedom than lower planes of existence. So, this would mean that the first plane of existence, space-time (which is everywhere), corresponds to the seventh plane. So what is the seventh plane of existence? The seventh plane of existence is the spiritual world, the after-life, which is beyond space and time. And this is a critical point in understanding the realms of heaven and hell: they exist beyond space and time, and yet they influence things that are in the world of space and time. How do we know this? This is something that was explained to Swedenborg when he became aware of the spiritual world in his visions. Here is what he says about space:
"All things in heaven appear in place and in space, just as in the world, and yet angels have no notion or idea of place and space. Because this cannot but appear as a paradox, I wish to present the matter in clear light, as it is one of great importance.
"All going from place to place in the spiritual world is effected by change of state of the interiors, so that change of place is nothing else than change of state. In this way also I have been conducted by the Lord into the heavens, and likewise to the earths in the universe, and this as to my spirit, while the body remained in the same place. In this way all the movements of angels take place; hence they have no distances, and if not distances, neither have they spaces, but instead of them states and their changes.
"As changes of place are made in this way, it is evident that approximations are similarities as to state of interiors, and that removals are dissimilarities. From this it follows that those are near to each other who are in similar state, and those at a distance who are in dissimilar state; and that spaces in heaven are nothing else than external states corresponding to internal. It is from this cause that the heavens are distinct from each other, and also the societies of each heaven, and the individuals in each society. From this likewise it is, that the hells are entirely separated from the heavens; for they are in a contrary state" (Heaven and Hell, n. 191-193).
In the spiritual world, space is determined by how much you love another person. When one says, "I feel close to you", that happens to be true in the spiritual world: that soul will become closer to you. The spiritual world corresponds to our internal states of thought, feelings and emotions. Spirits and angels will group together according to their similarity in love and truth. But what about time? In the spiritual world, angels exist beyond the idea of time:
"That angels know nothing about time, though all things move onward with them as in the world, without any difference at all, is because in heaven there are not years and days, but changes of state; and where there are years and days there are times, but where there are changes of state there are states.
"That there are times in the world, is because its sun to appearance advances successively from one degree to another and makes times that are called times of year, and at the same time revolves about the earth and makes times which are called times of day, and both by stated alternations. Not so with the Sun of heaven. This does not by successive progressions and revolutions make years and days, but to appearance changes of state, and these, as shown in the preceding chapter, not by stated alternations. Hence it is that angels cannot have any idea of time, but in its place an idea of state.
"Since angels have no idea from time, like men in the world, neither have they any idea about time and matters of time. They know nothing of the terms of time, such as year, month, week, day, hour, today, tomorrow, yesterday. When they hear them from man — for angels are always associated with man by the Lord — in place of them they perceive states and what belong to states. Thus man's natural idea is turned into a spiritual idea with angels. For this reason times in the Word signify states, and the terms of time, as named above, signify spiritual things corresponding to them." (Heaven and Hell, n. 163-165).
THE SEVENTH PLANE AND THE ONE DIVINE BEING
When we understand that the seventh plane of existence is beyond space and times, and that events in the spiritual world correspond to events we feel inside of us, we come to a closer understanding of God: for God it outside of space, and outside of time. I will again quote from Swedenborg:
"There are two things proper to nature, space and time. From these man in the natural world forms the ideas of his thought, and thence his understanding. If he remains in these ideas, and does not elevate his mind above them, he can never perceive anything spiritual and Divine; for he involves the spiritual and Divine in ideas which come from space and time; and so far as he does this, the light of his understanding becomes merely natural. To think from this light in reasoning about spiritual and Divine things, is like thinking from the thick darkness of night concerning those things which appear only in the light of day. From this comes naturalism" (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 69).
Not only does God exist outside of space, but He exists outside of time. And yet He can be found in all things, for God is Order:
"As the Divine is in all space without space, so It is in all time without time. For nothing which is proper to nature can be predicated of the Divine, and space and time are proper to nature. Space in nature is measurable, and so is time." (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 73)
"He who does not know and cannot from some perception think of God apart from time, is utterly unable to perceive eternity otherwise than as eternity of time; and then he cannot help falling into error in thinking of God from eternity; for he thinks from a beginning, and a beginning is only of time. His error in this case is that God has existed from Himself, from which he falls readily into the origin of nature from itself. From this idea he cannot be set free excepting by the spiritual or angelic idea of eternity, which idea is apart from time; and when it is apart from time, the Eternal and the Divine are the same; the Divine is Divine in itself, and not from itself. The angels say that they can indeed perceive God from eternity, but by no means nature from eternity, and still less nature from itself, and not at all nature as nature in itself." (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 76)
So, we now have a better understanding of the seventh plane...thus I said when Young states that the seventh corresponds to higher levels of consciousness, he was close to the truth: for our internal states are governed by our alignment with the spiritual world. But what, specifically are the seven substates of the seventh plane? That I will consider in a future blog, if I have time.
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