EVOLUTION AND ATOMS
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J.D. VALENTINE
Brink, F. Excitation and conduction in the neurone. Handbook of Experimental Psychology
(ed. Stevens, S.S.), Wiley, New York, 1951.
Carr, B.J., Rees, M.J. The anthropic principle and the structure of the physical world.
Nature, 278, 605-612, 1979.
Cope, F.W. Electron-phonon (trapped photon) coupling and infrared coaxial transmission
line theory of energy transport in mitochondria and nerve. Bull. Math. Biol., 35,
627-644, 1973.
Einstein, A. The Meaning of Relativity, Methuen, London, 1922.
Everitt, H.H. The theory of the universal wave function. The Many-Worlds Interpretation
of Quantum Mechanics (eds. De Witt, B., Graham, N.), Princeton Univ. Press, 1973.
Freud, S. The Origins of Psychoanalysis; Letters to Wilhem Fliers, Drafts and Notes, Basic
Books, New York, 1954.
Haldane, J.B.S. Life and mind as physical realities. Penguin Science Survey B, 224-238,1963.
Hubel, D.H., Wiesel, T.N. Brain mechanisms of vision. The Brain, W.H. Freeman, New .York,
1979.
James, W. The Principles of Psychology, Holt, New York, 1890.
Kuffler, S.W., Nicholls, J.G. From Neuron to Brain, Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass., 1976.
Leighton, R.B. Principles of Modern Physics, McGraw Hill, New York, 1959.
Little, W.A. Superconductivity at room temperature. Sci. Am., 212, No. 2, 21-27, 1965.
Pearson, K. The Grammar of Science, Dent, London, 1937.
Rich, G.J. A preliminary study of tonal volume. J. Exp. Psychol., 1, 13-22, 1916.
Ruffner, J.A., Sperelakis, N., Mann, J.E. Application of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations to
an electrical model for interaction between excitable cells. J. Theor. Biol., 87, 129-
152, 1980.
Schneider, G.E. Two visual systems. Science, 163, 895-902, 1969.
Schrodinger, E. What is an elementary particle? Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst., 183-196,
1950.
Schrodinger, E. What is Life, Mind and Matter? Camb. Univ. Press, 1967.
Sherrington, C.S. Man on his Nature, Camb. Univ. Press, 1940.
Sotelo, C., Llinas, R., Baker, R. Structural study of inferior olivary nucleus of the cat:
morphological correlates of electronic coupling. J. Neurophysiol., 37, 541-559, 1974.
Szent-Gyorgyi, A. The study of energy levels in biochemistry. Nature, 148, 157-159, 1941.
Titchener, E.B. Lectures on the Experimental Psychology of the Thought Processes,
Macmillan, New York, 1909.
Thomas, G.T. Equal-volume judgements of tones. Amer. J. Psychol., 62, 182-201, 1949.
Unwin, P.N.T., Zampighi, G. Structure of the junction between communicating cells.
Nature, 283, 545-549, 1980.
Psychoenergetics, 1982, Vol. 4, pp. 275-278
0278-6060/82/0403-0275 $06.50/0
? Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, Inc., 1982
Printed in the United Kingdom
Evolution and Atoms
It is argued that the modern evolutionary conception of nature forces us to cor},cllide that
even simple atoms and molecules are psychophysical systems. It is suggested'That modern
physics has already, tacitly, begun to describe the psychic aspect of microphysical objects.
Quantum nonlocality is interpreted as a form of acausal perception and seen as the founda-
tion of both the paranormal and the more complex overlying phenomena of everyday
psychology.
We know ourselves both as centres of subjective experience and as objective
bodies. Not only are we made of flesh and blood but also of sensations, thoughts
and feelings. If we accept the modem theory of evolution, this fact - the co-
existence of these two complementary aspects of a human being - has impor-
tant implications for our conception of the simplest material objects, i.e. atoms
and their constituents.
Human beings have evolved from the higher mammals. These also experience
sensations and feelings. We know this from the fact that their sense organs
strongly resemble our own, and that they exhibit the gestures and reactions
which characteristically accompany our own various emotions. Who, in the
presence of a shrieking, injured animal, or seeing an animal cower away from
him, can seriously doubt that it is experiencing feelings of pain or fear similar to
our own? The more developed higher mammals, such as apes or dolphins, also
exhibit some degree of reflective intelligence.
The further back down the evolutionary tree we go, the harder it becomes to
imagine the kind of subjective experience the creatures possess. Their sensory
apparatus and forms of behaviour are quite unlike ours. Indeed, at a low level,
such as that of the insects, for example, we may be inclined to believe that they
have no inward experience at all, but are mere mechanical automata. In that
case, where should we draw the line? Which were the first organisms to emerge
capable not only of acting and reacting but also of experiencing the world
around them?
This question assumes that it is possible for a transition from inert material
objects to living centres of experience to have occurred in the process of evolution.
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C.N. VILLARS
EVOLUTION AND ATOMS 27
However, it is conceivable that organisms capable of sensation, thought and
feeling could have evolved from ancestors completely devoid of any form of
subjective experience?
Evolution is conceived as an essentially continuous process, in the sense that
no essential transformations occur during it. Indeed, it was precisely in opposi-
tion to a theory of essential transformations, i.e. the theory of spontaneous
generation, that the theory of evolution was proposed. It was at one time widely
believed that living organisms could be generated spontaneously from non-living
matter, for example, that maggots could be generated spontaneously from
rotting meat or mice from sacks of grain. According to this theory, the emer-
gence of life involved an essential transformation whereby matter, in itselfinert
and insensitive, suddenly acquired the properties of activeness and sensitivity
characteristic of life.
By contrast, the modern theory of evolution asserts that nothing can emerge
that was not, in some manner and degree, already present in pre-existing forms.
Each new form to emerge is no more than a novel organisation, involving novel
arrangement and emphasis, of properties already present in previous forms.
Evolution means `unfolding'; nothing is added to the evolving organisms from
outside; no essentially new characteristics can emerge.
Sensations and feelings are essentially subjective phenomena. It is inconceiv-
able that they could have originated as a structure of exclusively objective
properties. A feeling is something felt by a subject, and cannot be interpreted as
a form of external relationship between objects. Hence, if the simplest living
organisms were mere mechanical automata devoid of all subjectivity, the
complex forms of subjective experience of the higher mammals could never have
evolved. No essential transformations can occur in the process of evolution,
objectivity cannot be transformed into subjectivity. Thus, if we accept the
theory of evolution, even the most primitive living organisms, such as viruses and
bacteria, must be supposed to possess a rudimentary form of subjective experi-
ence from which, ultimately, that of the higher organisms has evolved.
But what of these primitive organisms themselves, how did they originate?
According to our modern understanding, they are the product of a long period
of chemical evolution, in which they were gradually built up by processes of
polymerisation and condensation from simpler organic substances ultimately
having, their origin in simple molecules and atoms. This chemical evolution is
again a continuous process, in that each new form to emerge is no more than a
novel organisation of pre-existing forms, and consequently, again precludes any
essential transformations. Our conclusion must be that even the rudimentary
subjectivity of the most primitive living organisms must have its origin in some
still more rudimentary form of subjective experience in the simple molecules and
atoms from which they have evolved. Even simple molecules and atoms must be
psychophysical systems, living centres of experience, more like the monads
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described by Leibniz (1714) than the tiny solid spheres in terms of which the,
are traditionally pictured.
It is possible that the subjective aspect of atoms is so attenuated and rudi
mentary as to have no significant effect on their objective behaviour. In tha
case, notwithstanding our argument that they must, in fact, possess some kind o
inward experience, physics would still be able to treat them successfully a
purely material objects. However, there are indications that modern physics ha
already begun to describe features of the inward aspect of atoms and thei
constituents.
Firstly, as is well known, modern physics has been unable to provide
unitary conception of microphysical objects in terms of classical physical con
cepts. This has led to the adoption of makeshift concepts such-as the Wave
Particle Duality and Complementarity. This failure may be dife to the fact tha
microphysical objects share more of the characteristics of psychophysica
systems than of the inert material objects with which physics has traditionall'
been concerned. Perhaps we '`?may eventually obtain a unitary conception o
microphysical objects if we try to picture them as very rudimentary centres o
experience, instead of as some kind of material object.
Secondly, though it is well known that modern quantum physics incorporate
an element of indeterminacy quite foreign to classical physics, another feature
which has only recently become widely recognised by physicists, may eventuall,
prove more revolutionary to our view of the physical world than indeterminac'
has been. This feature is nonlocality. Whereas a classical particle is completel,
contained in a particular region of space, instantaneously isolated from all othe
particles spatially separated from it, modern microphysical objects, such a.
atoms and their constituents, may be in immediate contact with one anothe
even though widely separated in space at the time. Thus, an atom, centred in;
particular small region of space, may be instantaneously affected by events ii
distant regions. (Good, detailed accounts of nonlocality are given in D. Bohn
and B. Hiley (1975), B. d'Espagnat (1979) and B. Hiley (1980).)
Nonlocality can be interpreted as a kind of perception. A microphysica
object, centred in a particular region, can be thought of as having an immediate
acausal perception of distant events. These perceptions influence its behaviour
as is shown, for example, by the well-known experiments with correlate(
photons (S.J. Freedman and J.F. Clauser (1972)) or kaons (R. Lestienne (1973))
Nonlocality is paradoxical from the point of view of classical physics, but cal
be understood if microphysical objects are conceived as rudimentary centres o
perception. Thus, it seems that, with the recognition of the property of non
locality, modern physics has tacitly begun to describe the inward aspect o
atoms and their constituents. ,
The argument outlined above leads us to conceive microphysical objects a.
rudimentary psychophysical systems. All the phenomena of our complex humaj
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psychology must have their possibility grounded in the rudimentary psychic
aspect of microphysical objects. This applies both to the phenomena of main-
stream psychology and to the paranormal. The fact that the perceptions of
microphysical objects have the character of immediate contact seems to support
the view that the paranormal capabilities of the mind are remnants of a more
primitive state, now almost completely overlaid by more complex, causal and
reflective processes. Certainly, in its most primitive form, i.e. in simple molecules
and atoms, acausal perception seems to have been the normal form of percep-
tion.
Psychoenergetics, 1982, Vol. 4, pp. 279-281
0278-6060/82/0403-0279 $06.50/0
? Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, Inc., 1982
Printed in the United Kingdom
RESEARCH NOTES AND COMMENTS
Non-figurative Images in Ghost
Photography
Bohm, D., Hiley, B. On the intuitive understanding of non-locality as implied by quantum
theory. Foundations of Physics, 5, 93-109, 1975.
d'Espagnat, B. The quantum theory and reality. Sci. Amer., 241, 128-140, 1979.
Freedman, S.J., Clauser, J.F. Experimental test of local hidden variable theories. Phys.
Rev. Lett., 28, 938-941, 1972.
Hiley, B. Ghostly interactions in physics. New Scientist, 85, 746-749, 1980.
Leibniz, G.W. Monadology, 1714.
Lestienne, R. Do we need to reformulate physics? Scienria, 108, 87-101, 1973.
Chairman, Occult Studies SIG of Mid-America Mensa, Mensa Education and Research
Foundation
Dr. Hans Bender, the world's foremost authority on poltergeists, once caller
poltergeists the "via regia or royal road to an extended understanding of man
of his position in nature and of nature herself." One of his associates, Elma.
Gruber, observed that it is really more like a path through a jungle since circum
stances often do not permit accurate and analytical observation.
Gruber (1980) cites difficulties in documenting the spontaneous rotation o
a painting around its hook. It was videotaped for hours and nothing happened
Then, while changing videotape cassettes, it rotated again with no obviou
physical cause. The same problem was noted in a sealed room in which puddle
of water suddenly formed. They could never observe it happening. He calls thi
"the structure of the unexpected". He even bravely offers to deal with th
meaning of such phenomena by interpreting them as dream symbols. Perhap
as much, or as little, can be done with the non-figurative representations some
times found in ghost photography.
We recently investigated a house where very little else would be possible. Th
house is quite famous but the present owner denies all access. It is referred t
as "Sauer Castle". It is located in 935 Shawnee Road in Kansas City, Kansa:
It was built in 1871 by one Anton Sauer, who was born at Essen on the Rhine i
1826. He was in the freight business. He built a "Rhine Castle on the Ka'
River".
It is no wonder that the two-storey brick structure complete with tower an
"widow's walk" has always aroused curiosity and spawned legends. It was bui
at a time when all other residents of the area were living in tents or shanties.
even has millwork and sculptures which were transported up the river from S
Louis. The land on which it stands is said to have been cursed by the Indian,
It is a part of a tract given by the Federal Government to the Shawnee Indian
But the records show a sale approved by the Indian Commission in 1859.
has never been contested. Some say the land is troubled because Anton Saue
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