Philosophy: Swedenborg & Tremulations Vibrations Waves

[haselhurst]

Philosophy: Swedenborg & Tremulations Vibrations Waves

Geoff,
When you have some time, could you check out Swedenborg article.
I'm finally getting some time to work on this. Let me know if you think it worthwhile, or relevant, to your efforts to get WSM Theory out there. I think my connections are forming in my mind, but I'm still somewhat tentative in actually writing them out. It is just the main body of information so far, I will edit and refine. I'm just getting on with it now.
Thanks, my friend, keep up the important work. It will be worthwhile. Truth always prevails. You are an honorable man, and up to the task. Take more breaks....you deserve them. And say hi to Karene for me. I send you both good thoughts daily, and admire your efforts to better our world. This world needs many more like you two. And while they might not realize it yet, the hundreds of students I teach each year appreciate the work you to do, as well.
Your friend in the Universe,
Glenn
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Hi Glenn,
Thanks for being such a kind friend. Having you 'out there' really helps.
I have added comments below where I feel I have something to say!
Geoff
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C. Sigstedt writes in The Swedenborg Epic. " The Life and Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (New York: Bookman Associates, 1952)

"Some of the ideas which Swedenborg brought out in his work The Principia are basic for his later works. One of these concepts he inherited from he ancient Greek philosophers; namely, the principle that "Nature is alike in her greatest as in her smallest productions." [[Ut Natural . . . "similis in maximis producendis fuerit, prout in minimis."]

This precious seed of thought grew and expanded in the mind of the earnest scholar for him to apply to all the universe as a theater displaying order and harmony. By the help of this principle he was enabled to make ingenious guesses at the construction of matter and later to offer anticipatory explanations of the interior architecture of the brain and nervous system. And even more, for the same idea provided Swedenborg with a basic concept for his later theological doctrine of "degrees."

"Another basic concept in Swedenborg's cosmological system is the law of the active and the passive. There is always something that acts and something that is acted upon, was an axiom with him. Later it became a basis for his doctrines of "influx and reception."

Again,

"Everyone from the light of reason may perceive that nature, conforming to principles of geometry, is ever pursuing a most simple course, a course proper to herself, and truly mechanical."[162]

"Except the Infinite, nothing can exist without a cause.

Geoff - Very true.

Swedenborg therefore supposes a simple, produced from the Infinite, out of which everything else was successively made. He calls this simple "the first natural point" and says that it is the means by which all else was formed and is, indeed, pure motion, for without motion nothing can exist.

Geoff - I agree. Simple = One thing. Then just add motion to this one infinite eternal continuous thing as wave motion and you have the basic foundations that abides by the rules of metaphysics (unity of reality for necessary connection of things we experience).

Of this simple only a single limit can be predicated, namely the boundary which looks to, or defines, the creation of the universe. The other side of it, as it were, looks toward the Infinite and is therefore unlimited."

Geoff - There is no boundary to Infinite. But in terms of Waves there effectively is - we only interact with a finite sphere of other matter (our finite spherical universe) within infinite space.

"The "first point" came about, not by chance but by an intelligent agency or will.

Geoff - Don't understand / agree with this.

As it is the medium between the finite and the Infinite something of infinity enters into it. It resembles two-faced Janus, the mythical door-keeper of the gods, who looked both ways at once. All finite things originate from this first cause. The point cannot be viewed geometrically because it is pure and total motion and existed prior to the world of mechanical things. But it can be viewed rationally, and indeed only thus.

Geoff - The point can be viewed both geometrically and rationally, as the Wave Center of spherical standing waves formed from Out waves of all other matter in our finite spherical universe within Infinite Space.

However, it is by no means, on that account, nothing. Essentially it is not motion but "a conatus" or endeavor to motion, to spiral motion, the most perfect of all motions. By this endeavor to spiral motion it tends to form perpetual surfaces. There is no way of proving this, Swedenborg adds, but it is in harmony with the flow and tendency of nature. Motion is the only medium by which anything can be produced. Swedenborg was the first to distinguish between actual and potential motion, giving them separate names.

GH - Yes, all things we experience are caused by wave motion of One thing existing Space. Spiral motion relates to fact that electrons in matter tends to move in repeating wave patterns, causing cyclic oscillations (spirals if you like) that explain light / resonant coupling and spin of electron i think.

"Truth is my single end and aim," he says, in closing this chapter."

Geoff - Truth must be necessary, thus founded on necessary connection of One thing. Truth is a high ideal - unfortunately we tend to abuse this concept.

The points or simples, by flowing into a complex spiral motion, produce the "first finite" or first substantial entity, the least or smallest thing of nature, and out of this, in turn, is produced everything else in the world. It is geometrical and limited.

Geoff - True, geometry comes from spherical shape of waves and how they interact with other matter.

Its parts-unthinkably minute-are nevertheless disposed in a spiral figure and thus the first finite has an equator, poles, meridians and so forth, which gives it both axillary and progressive motion. When the finite has swung into its progressive motion it is called an active, but when it is not in this . motion it is a passive. (Swedenborg expresses apprehension lest, at the very outset, his readers should be discouraged by the use of new words such as "actives," "passives," "finites," etc.) (Appendix D). A second finite arises from the first finite by a motion similar to the preceding. From these two is formed the first of all composite things-an elemental particle which goes to -make up a universal element, the first atmosphere of the universe. In the little vortex-like units that compose this first element, the second finites occupy the surface while the first finites, active, occupy the center.

Geoff - His language makes it much harder to understand - needs to be re-written with WSM terminology.

This first element is the origin of all subsequent elements and is therefore the most universal of all auras, filling all space and connecting star to star.

Geoff - True. Electron (and opposite phase positrons) as Spherical Standing waves do cause all matter, and do interact with all matter in finite spherical universe.

When the units of this first atmosphere are compressed, so that their central "actives" escape, the second finites fill in that center. From this arises a new entity-the third finite, out of which, by further composition, is derived the second atmosphere which is the magnetic element of the world. The particles of the second or magnetic element, like those of the first, may be compressed or expanded. Around large active solar spaces they change, by compression, into new entities which Swedenborg calls the fourth finites. The second atmosphere constitutes the solar vortex and is the principal cause of magnetic phenomena. We now have a sun, the parent of all the planets in its system. Before going further in his speculations on the constitution of the universe Swedenborg, in the Second Part of his Principia, undertakes thorough-going discussion of the magnet and its forces. According to him, the second or magnetic element consists of effluvia moving in a vortical gyre around a central axis, the sun. These effluvia produce the lines of force which activate the magnet by arranging its particles into an orderly pole-to-pole arrangement. The magnetization of iron is such an alignment of the particles of iron that the magnetic aura or atmosphere can flow through them, as is proved by a wealth of experiments. Nature is always the same, in greatest things as in least, in the macrocosm as in the microcosm. The magnet is a picture of the universe! Each solar mass or vortex is a large magnet and, even more-the suns themselves are similarly arranged into a vast order whose axis is the galaxy or Milky Way!

Geoff - Very hard to follow this. Magnetic fields are caused when Wave-Center is accelerating - thus they are changes in the spherical ellipsoidal shape of matter's In and Out Waves.

But we must not suppose from this that Swedenborg thought there could be no diversity in the vast array of worlds. The laws of geometry are indeed the same everywhere but the laws of mechanics may operate differently in different solar systems.

"In other worlds the air and ether, if there be anything similar to them, do not vibrate in the same way."'

Geoff - True, the Wave Density of Space varies a bit, and this affects how matter vibrates.

The organs of sight and hearing would consequently be affected differently in different worlds. Archimedes, who boasted about theoretically being able to move the world out of its place by his mechanism, might have been less confident when he found his skill disappear in those worlds where mechanical factors are different.

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Introduction
[From Dadalus Hyperboreus, No. VI., October, 1718.] ARGUMENTS SHOWING THAT OUR VITAL FORCE CONSISTS MOSTLY OF LITTLE VIBRATIONS, THAT IS, TREMULATIONS. BY ASSESSOR EMAN. SWEDBORG.

Before what is unusual and unknown cap be made credible, it is necessary to establish some fixed and in dubitable rules, according to which the theory may be proved.

THE FIRST RULE OF TREMULATION. Anything of a firm end hard nature, such as wood, stone, rock, metal, etc., is subjected to great tremulations even by a slight touch. This is evident from buildings and cities: houses and streets are known to tremble and reverberate from a wagon passing by; a whole rock trembles at the knock of a hammer; a bell vibrates and even produces sound from the touch of a small needle; a person at one end of a long pole or mast may know what another person is writing or drawing on the other end; if poles were joined one with the other to the length of a mile, or in the tube of a draught-engine, a blow would be noticed from one end to the other; nay, even if only one end should touch a stringed instrument, the vibration would at once be communicated to the other end; a cannon-shot, a mountain-slide, a subterranean cave-in may be heard twenty to thirty miles round about, causing houses and cities to tremble and shake. From this it may be concluded that a small cause is able to effect a great vibration.

Geoff - True, all matter resonates / vibrates - there are no true 'solid bodies'

THE SECOND RULE. An expanded membrane is the best medium of tremulation. It is known that a membranous string is the best medium of sound, that is, of tremulation. By a membrane is meant anything most external or the surface of a solid substance, which surface receives the tremulation before it is received in the body itself, which consists of continuous membranes and surfaces; and this in the same ratio as that of the square to the cube.

Geoff - Why make it hard - Space exists as a wave medium is much simpler!!

THE THIRD RULE. Next to membranes, the best media of tremulation are such bodies as are hard and elastic; softer bodies, are less suitable. The most brittle and hard metals, such as iron and steel, or copper and tin together, are the ones that give a ringing sound; the more plastic metals, such as gold and lead, give less sound; softer substances, such as sand, clay, or feathers, give no sound whatever.

Geoff - Yes, space is very very 'rigid' wave medium to explain high wave velocity.

THE FOURTH RULE. The tremulation of a string will cause a synthetic vibration in another string; a membrane similarly affects another membrane; that is, if both are tuned in the same key. If the string of a lute is touched, it will cause a vibration in the other strings which are tuned in the same key. An outside sound will often cause a vibration in a whole musical instrument, as also a whole gallery will vibrate from the sound in the pipe of an organ, that is, if they are in the same key or tune. A glass may break from its own sound.

Geoff - Correct and important. Foundation of light as resonant coupling between bound electrons in atoms / molecules. Thank Milo Wolff for that knowledge (well worth a Nobel Prize!)

THE FIFTH RULE. Tremulations in the air make rings and circles, and are heard on all sides round the center of the motion; that is, if the whole mass is not being moved. If a stone is thrown into the water, it will make rings round about. So also, in the air, a cry or sound is heard on all sides round about.

Geoff - Waves in space propagate out as a sphere.

THE SIXTH RULE. The heavier the atmosphere, the slower is the tremulation, but the lighter the air, the swifter is the motion. The tremulatory circle moves slowly in the water; in the air it moves more quickly; in the finer air, which, is called the ether, it is still swifter; in the solar substance it moves from the sun to us in an instant; in the very finest atmosphere there is probably no time which can correspond to the undulation. non-Einsteinian

Geoff - Not correct - waves actually travel faster in denser mediums usually. Sound waves travel faster in water than air!

THE SEVENTH RULE. One tremulation does not interfere with another, simultaneous one. This may be best tried in water, where ten or twenty circles may oscillate the one within the other, without interfering with one another, but each one proceeds on its way without obstruction. Similarly in the air: the sound of one string of an instrument does not interfere with the sound of another string, nor one word with another. The reason of this will be shown separately.

Geoff - Not correct. Waves change velocity as they travel through other waves. This is the cause of all forces / matter interactions (as i see the WSM).

THE EIGHTH RULE. In all tremulations the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. The oscillating circles in the water are reflected according to the angles of incidence. In a round vessel full of water they return to the center; in an oblong channel they go forward and backward; a rope, hanging in a mining-shaft, moves itself up and down in serpentine coils; the same takes place in a musical chord; an echo propels the sound forward and backward; thus also does the substance of the sun move the particles of our sight. non-Newtonian, non-Helmholthian

THE NINTH RULE. In tremulations there are millions of variations. How many different sounds are not produced by a well-tuned piano? how many are not still lacking within an octave ? One sound is different from the other, is more flowing, broader, duller, or harsher. The sound and pronunciation of men differ like their faces. Every vowel has its own separate sound. If these variations are duplicated, it will be seen that there are millions of different kinds of tremulations.

Geoff - Probably an infinite variety of wave patterns possible

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS THAT MUCH OF OUR VITAL FORCE CONSISTS IN TREMULATIONS. From the above rules it can be shown that our mobile life sensation, or our nature, consists in little vibrations, that is, tremulations. From the first rule it may be seen that a most minute particle is able to communicate its motion to all other things in the whole body, is able to bring a certain membrane and sinew, the blood the life, and the/spirit into the same motion with itself, and thereby: all contiguous membranes, fibres, and nerves. Speech is nothing but tremulation, like the sound in a string

Hearing is only a concentrated collection of such tremulations, flowing in through turbinated membranes, and propelling themselves over hammers and anvils up to the dura and pia mater, which are similarly vibrating; so that all fibres, nerves, animal spirits, and the blood, thus touched, will come into a motion according to the preceding rules. If the same tremulation is caught by the membrane by means of the sympathetic vibration of the teeth or the bones of the head, the sensation of hearing may be effected independently of the mechanism of the ear.

Smelling and taste are similarly produced by contact with various kinds of particles round, angular, or sharp by which the fibres and nerves are pulled or drawn, carrying the tremulations to the aura and pia mater.

Similarly with the Sight, which is the most delicate of our senses; the least of color or light strikes against the minute fibres, and the distended optic nerves communicate it to the coats of the brain, effecting sensation and tremulation round about.

It is the same with the motions of the temper, which are derived from a stinging or biting of the bile in the internal organ; similarly in the case of all external feelings or sensations, because all things are so connected by threads and sinews, that what is touched in one place is felt in another, and especially in the membrane of the brain, for all the threads and nerves terminate there, and into it is collected whatever belongs to the whole body; if, therefore, the tremulation is first felt in that membrane, it will at once find space and matter by means of which to communicate itself over the whole body.

Geoff - Yes, all matter interacts with other matter around it by In and Out waves.

If now this membrane becomes slack, or is deprived of its heat, its blood, or its animal spirits, then the whole man becomes dull, heavy, and dead. Further) when a relaxation takes place in the nerves of the five senses, after having been in a state of tension during the entire day, then sleep sets in; and yet, during the sleep, we have something similar to sight and hearing, etc., which things go to prove that all the external senses are still kept in internal tremulations.

It also frequently happens that a person falls into the thought of another person, that he perceives what another is doing and thinking, that is, that his membrane trembles from the tremulation of the other person's cerebral membranes, just as one string is affected by another, if they are tuned in the same key.

Geoff - Quite likely i think that we pick up on the thoughts and feelings of those around us directly by waves.

It may not be presumptuous to conclude that the thoughts of the unreasoning animals are tremulations, proceeding from the internal and external sensations of the body and its senses; so that experience has' taught them what is meant by one kind of tremulation and what by another, just as we recognize the words, and their meanings by the different kind of tremulation in each sound. That no part of the body can be touched without communicating the touch to the dura and pia mater, that is, the membrane of the brain, and that nothing can be touched in this membrane, without communicating it to the whole body may be seen from all those threads which are joined to the sinews, outwardly; as also from those twenty to thirty nerves which terminate in the cerebral membrane, and which all are clothed by it. If said membrane is injured, a person is at once deprived of a sensation; he fails, swoons, loses his thought and his reason. If the fibres or nerves become slack, a person is similarly deprived of sensation, as takes place in colds, congestion of the blood, or in sleep. lf the animal spirits are overflowing, as in intoxication or in anger. then the membrane becomes too much heated and distended, so that it makes a manifold and wild tremulation instead of the proper and usual one. From all this it follows, that, by means of so many contacts or impressions, there is in us a continually moving, tremulatory, and living force, in the feasts as in the greatest, according to the preceding rules.

Geoff - My general comment. His language is imprecise and very dated. I think this will put most people off. Yet he is clearly very close to the truth. But there are lots of people who were close to the truth, say a lot that is right. So yes it is worth writing him up - but at the moment it will not achieve much as no one will read it (maybe your students will!)

Hope I am not being too pragmatic or negative. He just frustrates me a bit by making things harder through vague use of language. Though i realise that in his time this would have been very profound and important work - but now it is not - we have come much further than his thoughts - though his basic idea of the importance of motion is correct. Aristotle knew this several thousand years ago - and he is much more famous and credible person to write up!

Hope this helps anyway, Glad you are thinking and working on it.

Geoff