Authur Young - The Theory of Process

AUTHUR YOUNG - THE THEORY OF PROCESS

Mathematics and philosophy have always been twins. The attraction of the "Queen of Sciences" for philosophers is fairly obvious. From Pythagoras to Leibnitz and Descartes to Russell the two disciplines are frequently, and for good reason, exemplified in the same individual. Arthur Young was a mathematician and an engineer, a practical man who knew how, in the Yankee tradition of know-how, and as such was the most significant single figure in the development of the Bell helicopter. He was also a top-flight astrologer, a delver into myths and dreams, a long-term investigator of PSI phenomena but, more importantly, the elaborator of what may be the first theory that unifies consciousness, physics and the life sciences: the Theory of Process, described in his two volume work, The Reflexive Universe and The Geometry of Meaning.

THE THEORY OF EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS AS A UNIFYING PARADIGM

Why? How? What's the purpose? How does one know? Questions relating to the cosmic dilemma have been considered in various ways at different times throughout human history. The cosmic dilemma, of course, concerns "ultimates"--absolutes or invariants. Do ultimates pertain to "objective" domains or to "projective" (non-objective) domains? In other words, which domain has ultimate priority: 1) the projective domain of intuitive insight, revelation, inner experience, faith, belief, emotional charge, motivational drive, intention, and volition; or, 2) the objective domain of physical sense data, observable behavior, measurement, relationship, pattern, form, formulation, concept, and hypothesis? Should ultimate questions center on projective purpose and value or objective fact and theory? Put another way, are ultimate questions to be relegated to the realm of religion or to the realm of science? Can mystical revelation and intuitive insight "project" a teleological pattern which is ultimately accessible to "objective" study, as many ancient mystic-philosophers believed? Is the objective search for the origin or cause of the laws of nature ultimately a projective religious quest, as many leading contemporary physicists now claim? How can the following "apparent" paradoxes and/or dichotomies be ultimately reconciled:

1) random chance/uncertainty vs. control/certainty
2) free will/freedom vs. determinism/constraint
3) mystical insight vs. empirical fact
4) mind vs. matter
5) creationism vs. natural evolution
6) teleology vs. reductionism
7) religion vs. science
8) God vs. Nature?

The philosopher/cosmologist Arthur M. Young (1974) maintains that:

Both religion and science have a common origin in the search for truth, but have approached this goal differently. Religion depends on revelation or inspired teachers, science on experiments and theories. It would appear that religion has declined in dignity and importance from those early times when all art was dedicated to it and architecture created its temples and cathedrals. Science. on the contrary, began humbly and piece by piece constructed an edifice which is yet to be completed.

The investigations I have made into these subjects indicate that these two quite different endeavors tell the same story, reach the same conclusions. The agreement to which I refer is to be found between the ancient myths and the most recent findings of quantum physics . . . .

It is because science became the Scientific Method and ceased to be the search for truth that it lost relevance and, like a time bomb ticking in an airliner, is dangerous because it is cut off from our control, following its own dictates. It is because the institutionalized churches have taken little cognizance of scientific discoveries and have insisted on a literal reading of all sacred writings that they have become irrelevant and have had their traditional teaching dismissed as superstition. Nor do the presumably humanistic types of social reform fare better, for despite daily trips to the psychologist, himself floundering in uncertain doctrines. social reform has no notion of man's true nature and has created more discontent than it relieves.

Video list:

* Arthur M. Young Casual Discussion with with Arthur Bloch
* Arthur M. Young The Reflexive Universe (1981) - Documentary video by Arthur Bloch
* Theory of Process Seminar, Day 1
* Theory of Process Seminar, Day 2
* Yoga of Thinking