a. The living organism
What is life? Answering this question may not be as difficult as one might think. It rests in defining the
difference between an inanimate and animate entity. Contraction theory provides a basis for defining all
inanimate entities in terms of the manner in which they change in size relative to the size of the Universe with the
passage of time. Though an inanimate object can be considered to have existence in a variety of time reference
frames, including past, future, present, dilated, and accelerated, it is still locked into the reality of the present,
since, in regards to inanimate objects, these other frames must be considered to be simply aspects of the
present, as they affect the object only in terms of the present frame's parameters. This means that inanimate
objects interact in a physical way only within the present, this defined by a particular rate of contraction. A living
organism, on the other hand, has the ability to differentiate between different points in time; the past, the present
and the future. This enables it to sense the passage of time. It has a perception of time, and it's actions reflect
this. This is revealed in the fact that living organisms have some capacity to store past perceptions, with memory,
and to prepare themselves for the future in a variety of ways, an obvious one being the act of reproduction. The
question of whether or not an entity is living, I believe, rests on this capacity to perceive time. I propose that it is
the ability of an organism to sense the passage of time and to concurrently interact with multiple points in time
that makes an entity a living organism. This existence in multiple levels of time creates a unique contraction rate
for living entities that can be mathematically defined, and this defines an energy field that is unique to living
entities. I'll refer to this energy field as the life force of the entity.
Some may argue that a machine such as a computer has the capabilities that I claim are exclusively those of
a living organism. However, if it is understood what I mean by concurrently perceiving the past, present, and
future, thus perceiving reality as a whole and not just in terms of representations of the past and of the possible
future within the present, then it can be seen that a computer does not fit the criteria required to be defined as a
living organism. The "whole perception of reality" itself, which can exist only for an entity that has the capaclty to
interact with multiple time frames simultaneously, becomes a unique entity, the life force, and this, in combination
with the physical aspects of the entity, define it as living.
It is possible to describe this concept of a whole perception of reality, or life force, in the terms of
contraction. According to contraction physics, each time level's reality has a unique size and position relative to
the overall size and position of the Universe. A living organism senses time by perceiving a sequence of
progressively smaller time levels, each mathematically defined relative to each other and relative to the Universe,
and also, by perceiving all the levels simultaneously, something that an inanimate object cannot do. The life force
then can be defined in terms of the sum of the time levels that an organism interacts with, and the sum of time
levels can be described in terms of a rate of contraction. This life force then has unique type of effect on physical
reality, an effect that an inanimate object is incapable of producing.
b. The human mind
Before using contraction concepts to form a definition of the human mind, let's first look at some of the
characteristics of a mind. As with any living organism, an organism with a mind has the ability to differentiate
between different points in time. This enables it to sense the passage of time. This does not mean that all living
organisms can be considered to have a mind. There are other criteria, such as self awareness (this a degree of
perception) that must be met in order for an organism to be considered to have a mind. I propose, however, that
the main difference between a minded and non-minded organism is that an organism with a mind has a unique
capability, it's self-will, which gives it an independence from physical reality, and in fact, an ability to create it's own
reality, a reality that can stand alone, outside of normal physical reality. This ability results from it's greater
capacity to perceive the fuller nature of time. A non-minded organism would have a life force dependent upon and
controlled by the physical reality in which it exists. This, in essence, is what would define the difference between
a human being, which possesses a mind, and an animal, which does not. On the following pages I will examine
some of the characteristics of a mind in the context of this definition.
A mind interprets reality. It gives a person a perception of reality. This perception may or may not be
accurate. There can be different perceptions of the same reality by different minds. Whether one mind's
perception of reality is more accurate than an other's only has meaning if there is an objective truth to reality. This
objective truth may or may not be able to exist independently of a person's perception of it. There are many
philosophical views regarding the existence and nature of an objective physical reality and the subjective nature of
the perception of reality. I propose that the differences between, or the equality of, a subjective perception of
reality and objective reality can be defined with precision. First, all subjective realities, or, in other words, the
realities that are perceived by beings that have a mind, can be considered to be a component of a total objective
reality, thus they can be considered to be an objective reality in themselves, as well as part of a whole. This
concept can be seen as a parallel to quantum theory's concept of a wavepacket comprised of a composition of
individual waves. However, in contrast to the quantum concept of reality, each subjective reality that comprises
the whole can have a different weight within reality, this weight determined by the degree of truth within the
subjective element considered, and the degree of truth determined by the reality's degree of extension through
time, with actual truth the only reality that has existence extended through all time. This then means that only
objective truth can be permanent, while untruth is always temporary. Consequently, the measure of the truth of an
element of reality is it's extension and persistence in time, and thus, the measure of the truth of a being's
subjective reality is determined by the number of elements of truth that a being has in it's subjective reality.
The capacity of a mind to perceive objective truth partly determines it's ability to understand the objective truth
of reality. If a person perceives reality as reality is, then that person's subjective perception of reality is the same
as the objective truth of reality. If there are falsehoods in a person's perception of reality, then that person's
subjective reality is different from objectively true reality. Most people have both truths and falsehoods in there
perceptions of reality. If someone is perceiving reality in a false way, that person's capacity to perceive the truths
of reality is diminished. So let's consider the mind as an entity that can perceive at least some truth, and the
greater it's capacity to perceive truth, the greater it's capacity to "hold" objective reality.
To relate this concept of the mind as a "holder of reality" to time, we can say that as a mind experiences time
it perceives and attains a certain amount of truths from each period of time. This can be seen in the fact that a
mind has the ability to store past perceptions, this being the function of memory. A mind also has the ability to
anticipate future occurrences through the process of logical reasoning. These abilities enhance the ability of a
mind to concurrently experience some aspects of the past, present, and future, and thus to hold more reality.
One might contend that the mind is more than just the physical reality that it perceives, and it is. Ideas,
feelings, reasoning, etc., are aspects of the mind that have no apparent physical existence. Here the unique
characteristics of contraction physics make it possible to give these aspects of the mind physical attributes. With
contraction physics it is possible to define a unique energy field that is related to both the life force and to physical
reality. Just as the life force and physical entities have characteristic rates of contraction that determine their
properties, so does this energy field. I propose that this energy field is the substance that comprises the living
mind. It would be within this structure that thoughts and feelings exist in substantive form, creating what I'll call
"mental reality". On the following pages I will relate various functions of the mind to this physical structure.
c. Mental reality
One of the most important consequences of defining the mind in terms of contraction is that the mental
reality of the mind of each person can be considered to have an independently defined physical existence, a type
of mind-wave field. This mental reality co-exists and interacts with conventional physical reality. It is expanded
outward to the expanded past and inward to the contracted future. It is here where psychological experiences,
including thoughts and dreams, have a physical existence.
Hypothetically, the mental reality of a person can exist independently of physical reality. The human body is
the structure that unites physical and mental reality. A person's mental reality is tied to physical reality at
conception, since it is at this point that matter begins to grow itself into a physical structure that enables the mind
to interact with physical reality. It's also possible that mental reality, along with the physical body, is created at
conception. In either case, just as the physical entities that comprise the Universe must be structured in specific
forms to attain their properties, in order for a being's mental reality to interact with physical reality, matter, in the
form of chromosomes, must be placed in a suitable environment, such as the womb. Once this occurs, the
matter seeks out positions which eventually lead to the development of a human body. In other words, when the
appropriate matter and energy is placed in the appropriate environment, an entity capable of perceiving multiple
points in time develops.
This process of development continues after birth. The physical development of a child can be seen as a
parallel development and physical reflection of the growth of the child's mind.
As the physical body experiences time, it etches out mental reality in the substance of the mind. With age,
these etchings become more formed as they overlap and interrelate. This structuring of mental reality parallels a
being's developing understanding of physical reality. As mental reality forms in a way that is true to physical
reality a person's ability to understand and coordinate actions within physical reality increases. Mental and
physical reality become one.
The unification of mental reality and physical reality is a goal that a being instinctively seeks to achieve. A
person's physical perceptions through the five senses helps to give form to their mental reality. Constructs of
mental reality then direct the person to work within physical reality in order to express mental reality in the physical
world. Another way to say this is; physical reality inspires ideas, or new mental realities, which are then converted
into physical reality through action. Also, new mental realities are formed by perceptions of physical realities, and
new physical realities are formed from perceptions of mental realities.
The medium that makes this possible is the human body. The construction of the body enables a being to
concurrently perceive mental and physical reality, and to function within each realm. Thus, a being can coordinate
the two realities, converting physical reality into mental reality, and mental reality into physical reality. The total
reality that a person perceives is actually a combination of that person's perception of mental and physical
realities. That a person can convert mental perceptions into physical reality is an example of the mind's influence
on physical reality. Since mental perceptions are built upon physical perceptions, a person requires accurate
perceptions of physical reality for their well-being.
It is also conceivable that the mental realties of individuals directly interact with each other within the
mind-wave field. This would mean that our thoughts themselves would affect and be affected by other beings
thoughts. While in general this would occur in a very subtle way, it might be possible that some type of telepathic
communication between individuals can be developed.
This concept of a mind-wave field can also be used to describe how the mind attempts to perceive and
understand reality by creating possible realities within itself, in it's imagination. It then perceives a number of
different possible realities, and from this sum of realities trys to determine the actual nature of the reality that it is
attemptimg to perceive. Thus, our perceptions of objective reality are always extrapolated from the images of
reality that our minds inevidably construct, and it is very important for our mind to have the capacity to properly sort
information from these images in order to have an accurate perception of reality. This concept can also apply to
humankind as a whole. The images that we all construct within our own minds can and do find their way to
others, through all the mediums of communication that we have available to us, so humankind?s perception of
reality then is a summation of many images created and sorted by many minds.
d. Human will
The main focus in the physics section of this dissertation is that all entities within the Universe contract, and
this contraction determines an entity's characteristics. The point toward which an entity contracts is determined
by the nature of the entity and the conditions of the environment around it. For example, an atom contracts toward
it's center, which is contracting toward a point determined by the gravitational field around it. When one considers
the human being as an entity that is contracting through space with the passage of time, the factors that
determine the path that it contracts along can be divided into three categories. Since the body of a human being
is comprised of matter and energy, the physics laws that apply to matter and energy also apply to human beings,
so this is one category of contraction affecting human beings. Another category of contraction which influences a
human beings condition is the result of the matter and energy being formed in such a way as to create a living
organism, the life force. A living organism has the ability to interact with multiple points in time simultaneously,
and this affects it's contraction. The most complex living organism, a human being, has the ability to interact with
multiple points in time to the greatest degree of any organism, because of it's mind. As stated earlier, the mind
itself can be considered to have substance, and, because of this, has it's own unique effect on the contraction of
an entity that possesses it. This is the third type of contraction affecting a human being.
The effect that the mind has on the contraction of a human being manifests itself in the actions of a person.
The mind is drawn toward different aspects of reality. The best descriptive name for the points toward which a
mind contracts would be "focus of attention". When babies are born, their new found consciousness of the world
attracts their attention. The perceptions that their minds experience influence where they focus their attention, and
using the information that they take in they determine where they wish to position their bodies. When they learn
that their mother is a source of food, they will seek to get close to her when they become hungry. A baby's ability
to position themselves where they wish to be is limited, but as they grow older they develop their ability to position
themselves more as they please. A baby's will to be at a location becomes a greater factor in determining where
they will be. Their positioning of their body comes to reflect their will to a greater degree.
A person's will is reflected in the path that they follow as they move through time. As a person develops
greater abilities with age, their will is reflected to a greater and greater extent by the positions that they put
themselves into. Thus, their will becomes a larger factor in their minds influence on their contraction through time.
The ability to overcome physical obstacles, thus freeing oneself to more fully express one's will, is not only
relevant to individual persons, but also to groups of people and to societies. Before people in Europe could freely
choose to position themselves in North America, they first had to devise a method of overcoming the obstacle of
water separating them. Before earthlings could choose to position themselves on the moon, they first had to
learn how to overcome the gravity that holds them to the earth. These obstacles were overcome by increasing the
human mind's ability to perceive and understand the events that occur in each passing time frame. The mind's
ability to logically connect the events of one time frame to another as it experiences time enables it to position
itself at points in space-time (reality) that were previously unavailable to it, and the work of a group of minds can
enhance these capabilities.
We can now consider the will of a human mind to be a force that becomes effective whenever matter and
energy are arranged in a particular way to form a human being, and which affects the position of the body of that
human being as it experiences time and space. This force is as real as any physical force, though it is
undoubtedly one of the most intricate and complex forces in existence.
If we accept the human will as a force, we should then determine the nature and characteristics of this
force. One characteristic defining a force is direction. In the context of contraction physics, all entities within the
Universe have directions of motion that are best described as expanding outward and contracting inward, their
ex-con motion. However, this is true for even inanimate objects. One direction of motion that living entities can be
considered to have, but inanimate objects don't have, is toward the past. This is reflected in memory.
e. Memory and logical anticipation
In contraction physics the past is something that can be measured in terms of size, position, and
contraction rate relative to the present. In fact, in a particular form, the past still exists, thus coexists with the
present. This has major implications on the concept of memory. According to most psychological schools of
thought, memory is a result of the ordering of brain matter in such a way that enables the brain to store and recall
past perceptions. These past perceptions are recalled in the form of replications of the past created by the brain.
With the contraction interpretation of memory, though, the creation of the replication, and the replication itself, are
influenced by the continuing existence of the past, making memory more than just a result of reordered brain
matter. With this view, the reordering of brain matter, in fact, can make an actual perception of the past, not just a
replication of the past, available to a person. A person's memory then, is a combination of the replication of the
past and an actual perception of the past.
The above conception of memory is consistent with and reflects a well accepted aspect of human memory,
which is, a person's memory of a particular event is enhanced by simply increasing the person's awareness of
certain key details of that event or the logic of the sequence of events surrounding that particular event. This can
trigger a recall, sometimes producing a "flood" of memory. With the contraction interpretation, however, this effect
is the result of a perception, to at least some degree, of the actual event.
According to this view, a person's memory is physically tied to the existence of past events, so the mind of a
person is intrinsically tied to the past in a physical way. This is consistent with the concept that the mind is partly
comprised of the sum of it's past experiences. Also, since each point in time can be described in terms of a size
and rate of contraction relative to the present, this aspect of the mind can be described quantitatively.
The will and need to know and understand the past events of one's life is an aspect of a person's psyche
that many consider to be essential to the well being of a person. With the contraction description of the mind,
knowing and understanding the past truly "expands" one's mind, in both a psychological and a physical sense.
This expansion enables the mind to function more completely as a unit, and to more fully interact with physical
reality. The mind, then, has a will to know the past, thus, one direction of the force of the will is toward the past.
It is also possible to relate the expanding consequences of human memory to the history, or "collective
memory " of mankind. If it is true that the past always exists, then man's inability to perceive the past rests in the
past's inaccessibility and not in the past's lack of substance. Historical recording does make the past slightly
more accessible. This is an accessibility that is dependent not upon one human mind, but upon many. With the
contraction conception of the mind and time, it is not inconceivable that when the barriers that separate
individuals minds are overcome, the perceptions of people who lived in the past can become available to people
in the present. This would be an example of the mind-waves of different individuals interacting, giving mankind a
more complete view of history and reality.
Another direction of time, opposite to the past, is the future. As with the past, the future can be described in
terms of size, position, and rate of contraction. Since all entities are, on one level of reality, contracting with the
passage of time, an aspect of the future is smaller than the present. (Though, as described in the physics
application, another aspect of physical reality spreads, or expands, with time.) As an entity contracts into the
future, it moves toward specific points in reality, these determined by the nature of the entity and the conditions of
the environment around it. In regards to a human mind, it's direction is influenced by it's unique capabilities as a
mind. With it's ability to logically anticipate future occurrences the mind can and will correlate present actions with
possible future events. Thus, through the process of logical reasoning, the future influences the present. It is
even more obviously true that actions in the present influence actions in the future. Many future actions only
become possible after actions in the present.
When the mind is considered in terms of the past, present and future, it is clear that there is an interaction
between the three that can only take place because of the mind's ability to concurrently perceive some aspects of
all three. It is in the present that the will of the mind, influenced by the past, present and future, is manifested in a
physical way, through physical action (even brain activity is "physical action"). It is in the present, and only the
present, that the force of human will affects physical reality. Events that have occurred in the past cannot be
changed by human will, and possible future events don't occur until the future becomes the present. It is also in
the present where one mind actively interacts with others. Whereas the past can be considered to lay in the
opposite direction of the future, and there is a direction of the will toward each, there is also a direction of the will
within the present, and this could be described as being perpendicular to the directions of the past and future.
Also, if we assign time a vertical direction, we can then say the present has a horizontal direction.