As in nature, it is not just the seed that matters in the germination and growth of a new sprout, but also the soil, the seed's environment. If the soil is not fertile and periodically saturated with water, the sprout will eventually wither and die. This too is the reality of how all great ideas are developed. We are all familiar with the life of Amadeus Mozart and the great supporting role his father played in the early flowering of Mozart's career. Were it not for the fertile environment that Amadeus's father provided perhaps the life of this gifted young composer would have taken a different turn and we would not today be enjoying the many sonatas and symphonies that Mozart produced.
Subquantum kinetics, today at least, certainly is not as widely known as Mozart's works. But what was true of Mozart's creative life was also true of mine. The fertile environment that both my parents provided, and in particular the early mentorship my father gave me, played an essential role in my ultimate development of subquantum kinetics. Below I will summarize how this unique family experience helped to facilitate the development of this important new approach to physics.
I grew up in a family of scientists. My father, Fred LaViolette, was a physicist and electrical engineer specializing in nuclear reactor engineering at the General Electric Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL). My mother, Irene, was a chemist who had formerly worked at duPont. Before I was born, both had worked in Richland, Washington on the Manhattan Project. During my preschool years I was picking up on the ins and outs of the workings of nuclear reactors, getting a rudimentary understanding of nuclear decay and transmutation, nuclear cross-sections, and so on. Around the dinner table I would absorb all that he had to say about his research and engineering tasks at work, and as a youngster I asked him many questions. During the first years of my life, he was working on the breeder reactor project, an attempt to design a nuclear reactor that would produce more nuclear fuel than it burned up. Under the dictates of Admiral Rickover, this later evolved into a program to build the world's first sodium cooled reactor for powering a nuclear submarine. This was eventually installed in the U.S.S. Seawolf which operated successfully for many years.
My father's mentorship was a great stimulation for me, as was the experience of seeing the KAPL facilities first hand during a weekend public "open house". By the age of eight I was doodling nuclear reactor systems complete with their cooling loop, turbine, and generator. At the age of 10, I accompanied my father on a long train ride to Chicago to attend the March 1958 Atom Fair. While he sat in on technical lectures conveying the latest developments in nuclear power engineering, I would wander through the immense exhibit hall visiting one exhibit booth after another with their interesting displays and models. There I learned about rare earth elements, fuel rods, reactor core design, and such things. A few times, even poked my head into the highly technical slide talks. Being the only young fellow on the floor, I was soon approached by newspaper photographers who were looking for a story angle and were eager to get shots of me viewing the booths. The following days I found my picture appearing in two Chicago newspapers, my first ever press coverage.
Subquantum Kinetics
Book Forword
by Fred G. LaViolette, December 2002
Midway through his undergraduate work in physics at Johns Hopkins, Paul became disenchanted with what he was being taught in class. He had expected that physics would lay the foundation for a grand plan of nature, that it would provide a fundamental framework which would accommodate all of the sciences, coordinating them into a coherent and intelligible whole. But to his dismay, he learned that physics was very insular and compartmentalized. Not only did it make no attempt to venture any kind of "big picture," its abstractions were often irrelevant to phenomena being studied in other fields. In his spare time, he attempted to intuit a more general, fundamental approach to science, one that could account for the formation and sustenance of systems at all levels of nature, living as well as non-living. He called this his theory of Existence.
Following his graduation, he turned to the study of business organization at the University of Chicago where he discovered that the theoretical approach he had been independently developing had already been elaborated in a relatively new discipline called general system theory. He also learned of breakthroughs that had been made in the fields of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and chemical kinetics which had profound implications in the life sciences for understanding the spontaneous genesis of ordered form. Pondering these ideas one night, he was struck with a flash of insight in which he saw an entirely new approach to physics, one that would allow it to be seamlessly encompassed within his general theory of existence.
I remember very clearly that night in the spring of 1973. It was 2 AM and the telephone beside my bed had begun ringing insistently. When I picked it up, I heard the frantic voice of my son. He was calling from his room at the University of Chicago and was saying, "Dad, this is something you have to know, in case something happens and I don't live until morning." I yelled back, "What's happened to you? What's the matter?" He said, "Oh, I'm fine, its just that I've made this great discovery and someone should know about it, just in case something should happen to me." His insight was that a physical subatomic particle might be conceived as an intricate concentration pattern which is continually sustained through the operation of some underlying subphysical reaction process. As I recall that night, at the time I did not greet his astounding news with any great enthusiasm.
During the times when Paul was home from graduate school for a visit, he would tell me about the new ideas he was coming up with in developing this theory. I was a good sounding board, being myself a physicist as well as an electrical and nuclear engineer. However, in the beginning I was rather skeptical. My usual response was, "Paul, don't you think you're trying to reinvent the wheel?" Then during one such visit, I proposed some "thought experiments," and to my surprise, his theories always held up. After that I began to take his concepts seriously. But it was only later, when he was working on his doctorate at Portland State University and had documented his ideas more clearly, that I began to see the far reaching scope of the subquantum kinetics methodology he was developing.
By 1979, Paul was ready to publish in a refereed journal. But, to his great disappointment, none of the physics journals would accept his papers. The reasons for rejection were varied and most always of a flimsy nature. However, it was clear that the message was always the same: "Sorry, your ideas don't conform to conventional physics." Finally, he decided that since his theory was founded on general systems theoretic concepts, it would be appropriate to submit his papers for publication in the International Journal of General Systems. The editor of that journal had them reviewed and decided that because of their importance, all three should be published in a single issue devoted exclusively to this work. It appeared in the November 1985 issue of IJGS [Vol. 11, No. 4] under the banner "Special Issue on Systems Thinking in Physics." These papers, along with other published papers and some additional material, were brought together in the form of a book which was published in 1994 under the title Subquantum Kinetics: The Alchemy of Creation. This second edition is an updated and enlarged version of that work.
No, this is not a simple remouthing of ideas from old textbooks. This is a bold adventure in scientific thinking. It resolves the difficulties and conflicts inherent in the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. It provides a unified theory of fields and particles. It also gives us alternatives to the black hole assumption and to the notion of a Big Bang creation event, both of which have encountered serious problems in recent years. Furthermore it predicts the existence of a hitherto unknown source of energy powering the universe. But, be forewarned; to fully appreciate what is presented here, the reader must be willing to put aside many familiar concepts and "conclusions" taught by current physics until he has had a chance to acquire a clear understanding of this new framework.
Subquantum kinetics presents a major advance in our fundamental understanding of nature. It takes concepts developed in the relatively new field of systems theory and uses them to forge a new approach to physics, one that leads to a description of the universe that is faithfully consistent with real world observation and that also conforms to good commonsense.
In 2010, Paul dedicated his book Subquantum Kinetics in memory of his father,
Fred LaViolette (1916 - 2008)
Nucleon Core Field - prevailing concept (1978): The electric field in the core of a nucleon is assumed to be aperiodic and to rise to a sharp cusp at the particle's center.
Verification (2002): Particle scattering form factor data for the proton and neutron is found to be best fit by a model in which the nucleon core electric charge density distribution has characteristics similar to those that subquantum kinetics had predicted. Energy boosting during collision, however, did cause the target nucleons to exhibit a wavelength slightly shorter than had been predicted.
Energy Conservation and Photon Redshifting - prevailing concept (1978): At the time of this prediction, physicists and astronomers generally assume that photon energy is perfectly conserved and that the cosmological redshift is an effect arising from an assumed expansion of space.
Verification (1979 - 1986): Dr. LaViolette checks this photon redshifting prediction by comparing the tired-light non-expanding universe model and the expanding universe model (standard Freidman cosmology) to observational data on four different cosmology tests. He demonstrates that the tired-light model consistently makes a closer fit to observational data on all tests. His findings, which were published in the Astrophysical Journal (1986), confirm the subquantum kinetics tired light prediction and the notion that the universe is cosmologically stationary. These findings undermine a key support of the big bang theory. An update of this evidence is presented in Chapter 7 of Subquantum Kinetics.
Energy Conservation and Energy Generation - prevailing concept (1978): At the time of this prediction, physicists and astronomers adhered to the idea that energy is perfectly conserved. Stars are assumed to generate their energy either through nuclear fusion or from heat released from gravitational accretion. Planets are instead thought to acquire their luminosity from stored heat. There is no reason to believe that planets should conform to the stellar mass-luminosity relation.
Verification (1979 - 1992): Dr. LaViolette tested this genic energy prediction by plotting the mass-luminosity coordinates of the jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus) to compare them with the mass-luminosity relation for red dwarf stars and found that both planets and stars conformed to the same relation. Other astronomers had not previously done this because doing so didn't make sense in the context of the conventional astrophysical paradigm. This conformance suggests that the heat coming from the interiors of planets is produced in the same way as that radiating from the interiors of red dwarf stars, just as subquantum kinetics predicts. He also showed that the genic energy hypothesis predicts a slope for the "planetary stellar M-L relation" similar to the observed slope. In addition, he showed that the upward extension of the M-L relation predicts that about 16% of the Sun's luminosity should be of genic energy origin, an amount consistent with recent SNO solar neutrino measurements. The required violation of energy conservation is 10 orders of magnitude smaller than what could be observed in laboratory experiments.
Verification (January 1995): Astronomers observing with the Hubble Space Telescope discovered that the star VB10 has a dynamic core, as indicated by the presence of explosive, magnetic-field-driven flares on its surface. VB10 has a mass of about 0.09 solar masses, which indicates that it borders between being a red dwarf and brown dwarf. Conventional theory predicts that this star should be on the border of being dead and hence should not have a strong magnetic field. Subquantum kinetics, which predicts that its interior should be dynamic and actively evolving genic energy, anticipates these results.
Brown Dwarf Stars - prevailing concept (1985): At the time of this prediction, astronomers do not expect that brown dwarf stars to have any particular mass-luminosity ratio. They are assumed to be stars that are not massive enough to ignite nuclear fusion and hence are merely dead stars that are cooling off.
Verification (November 1995, 1998): Astronomers determine the masses and luminosities of two brown dwarfs GL 229B and G 196-3B. Dr. LaViolette demonstrates that the M-L data points for these brown dwarfs lies along the planetary-stellar M-L relation as he predicted. This indicates that brown dwarfs are not dead stars as previously supposed, but stars that are actively producing genic energy in their interiors.
Interplanetary maser signals - prevailing concept (1985): Maser signals are believed to maintain constant frequencies over interplanetary distances since photon energy is assumed to be perfectly conserved.
Verification (October 1998): A group of scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) publish their discovery that maser signals transponded between the Earth and the Pioneer spacecraft blueshift at a rate of ~ 2.9 ± 0.4 X 10-18 per second. Their value reduces to 2.3 ± 0.4 X 10-18 per second when the propulsive effects of waste heat from the spacecraft power source is taken into account. The predicted blueshift rate is within 2 sigma of the observed rate. LaViolette had discussed his prediction with one member of the JPL group as early as 1980. Although, the JPL team had apparently forgotten about the conversation and chose their own a posteriori interpretation of the phenomenon, conceiving the blueshift to be produced by a mysterious force continually pushing the spacecraft toward the Sun. Their observations nevertheless provide close confirmation of the a priori subquantum kinetics prediction; see paper posted at pioneer.html. For a detailed discussion see the Pioneer effect press release. A chronology of events of the Pioneer effect prediction and subsequent JPL verification is graphically depicted at the end of the press release.
Galactic Evolution - prevailing concept (1979):At the time of this prediction, astronomers believed that galaxies form in various sizes as galactic-sized gas clouds gravitationally condense to form stars. They assume that the size of these galaxies does not change over time except through galaxy mergers. Galaxies in the immediate neighborhood of the Milky Way are assumed to have the same size ratio as young galaxies at cosmological distances.
Verification (July 1995): Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope show that younger, more distant galaxy clusters are dominated by fainter, more compact galaxies and have much fewer of the larger spiral galaxies, as compared with nearby older galaxy clusters.
Galactic Core Energy Source - prevailing concept (1985): At the time of this prediction, the nuclei of active galaxies and quasars are known to contain central masses ranging from millions to billions of solar masses, and astronomers assume that these core masses exist in a collapsed state as black holes. They further assume that the prodigious energy output from these cores is powered from matter being swallowed by these hypothesized black holes. No other means of generating energy is known to explain the immense amount of energy observed to come from these locations.
Verification (January 1995): A group of astronomers led by John Bahcall, observing with the Hubble Space Telescope, discover that 11 out of 15 quasars are devoid of any surrounding material and hence have no matter available to power a black hole hypothetically located at their centers. This supports the subquantum kinetics prediction that such energetic sources are instead powered by energy spontaneously created in their interiors.
Verification (September 1997): Hubble Space Telescope observations of the heart of active galaxy NGC 6251 provide further confirmation of the earlier January 1995 verification. These observations show that this galaxy's core is swept clear and hence that there should be no matter available to be accreted by a hypothetical central black hole.
- We shall convey through words, symbols and actions openness and respect toward all people. All our aims and objectives shall be achieved through peaceful and non-political means.
- We shall recognize each race or nation, in thoughts, words and deeds, as an essential part of the whole of humanity.
- We dedicate ourselves to creating peace and harmony by seeking unity beyond political, religious and social bias.
- Our objectives shall be carried out in a manner which recognizes the essential equality and uniqueness of every human being. Loving kindness, friendship, practical cooperation and sharing shall prevail.
- The practical results of our research will be utilized for the furtherance of world peace and prosperity.
- In our work we shall abide by international law, and by the laws of all nations in which we operate.
- We are aligned to serve responsibly in meeting the needs of evolving humanity, living in harmony with all realms of nature as stewards of our planet.
Paul A. LaViolette, Ph.D., SUBQUANTIUM KINETICS, A Systems Approach to Physics and Cosmology, 318 pages, 412 refs, Starlane Publications, Schenectady, NY, c2003, ISBN 0-9642025-5-7. $24
The number of references cited and provided by the author is a strong indication of the enormous effort that Dr. LaViolette has provided in the development of this remarkable theory of Subquantum Kinetics. The author appropriately cites these many references throughout the development and application of his theory.
LaViolette takes chemical kinetics concepts (such as nonequilibrium thermodynamics) and for the first time introduces these concepts into microphysics. The result is a new theory that postulates subquantum reaction processes as the basis of physical existence. The results of this novel treatment are summarized in an extensive table (Table 10) in the Conclusions in Chapter 12. Table 10 cites 30 topics that are not explained by other theories but are explained by Subquantum Kinetics. This book is worth the price just for this table listing the physics problems faced and unexplained by current theories. Any college student (or a former college student) of physics MUST become aware of the gaps in our currently-taught theories of physics if we are to make appropriate progress in the understanding of the universe where we have our being. Therefore, this book should be in every college library.
The eleven chapters preceding the Conclusion, describe in detail the development of the subquantum kinetics theory (Chapters 1-3) and then continue to provide details in the discussion of the following topics:
Chapter 4, Emergence of Particles and Fields.
Chapter 5, Fields and Forces.
Chapter 6, Energy Wave Behavior.
Chapter 7, The Cosmological Redshift.
Chapter 8, Matter Creation.
Chapter 9, Genic Energy (Energy creation in massive bodies).
Chapter 10, Stellar Evolution.
Chapter 11, Electrogravitics.This last topic is of special importance to this reviewer. As editor of the Journal of New Energy, it has been a privilege to print conference proceedings and submitted papers that allude to this highly interesting topic.
Dr. LaViolette has done an excellent job in discussing and citing the scant literature reporting on the development of thrust by the use of high voltage. The work of T. Townsend Brown is better covered in Chapter 11 than in any other publication that this reviewer has read. The book is worth its price just for this excellent description (and list of references) of the mostly- secret development of Brown's work. According to some of the reports (and personal sightings) about "flying saucers" there is substantial evidence that the shape of these flying objects is important and that high voltage is apparently used. Of the several reports of crashes of such vehicles, it is often associated with lightning or thunderstorms. The author's chapter on electrogravitics is an important contribution to the understanding of this work (mostly accomplished with the highest secrecy by the U.S. and Soviet Union). Here again, this reviewer suggests that this information is worth the price of the book.
The work accomplished by A. Einstein on Special Relativity and General Relativity was done mainly during the 1905 to 1920 period. It should not come as any surprise to any reader to find that Einstein's work is subject to improvement. This book cites some specific examples where it is necessary to move beyond (or make some corrections in Einstein contributions) to resolve some of the challenges of Physics. [It is well known to this reviewer that two of the basic postulates accepted by Einstein are false - that space is empty and that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.] As the author states, we must move beyond the dogmatic acceptance of relativity and make some changes in our theories if we are to better explain some of the "unexplainable" topics in physics.
The author does an outstanding elaboration of the concepts that lie (pun intended) with the Big Bang hypothesis. One of this reviewer's favorite quotes from this book is the following: (page 186) "Yet according to the big bang cosmology, a galaxy at a 3.4 redshift would have an age of just over one billion years. Big bang cosmologies, then, must explain how a galaxy that is about one billion years old could contain stars that are over 12 billion years old."
As an eighty-year old student of physics, this reviewer strongly welcomes Dr. LaViolette's contribution to a much better understanding of the many unexplained problems in physics and a theory that can be used to unravel these long-standing mysteries. This book is highly recommended. However, don't expect that this presentation will be the last and final explanation of the universe in which we live. There will still be some surprises to come and some additions and modifications to the best theories (of which this must be one).
Short review of the book "Subquantum Kinetics"
by Paul LaViolette
The book by Paul LaViolette is a serious scientific study which examines the problem of the interaction of solid bodies and electromagnetic fields with the physical vacuum, taking into consideration an extremely large portion of the theoretical and experimental knowledge of modern physics. The need for this book has existed for a long time because an enormous volume of experimental data accumulated during the last half of the century in physics, chemistry, cosmology and material science does not fit the concepts of the more familiar theories of quantum mechanics, plasma physics, superconductivity, light as well asEinstein's general and special relativity theories.
The scientific world in the 21st century continues to develop in accordance with the laws of dialectics, the general volume of data in the field of physics eliciting a transformation wherein quantitative changes evoke qualitative ones to result in new theories. One of these overwhelming theories is the theory of the "physical vacuum" or ether, in other words the theory proposing that sub-atomic particles fill all the space around us and actively interact with material objects and fields, changing their properties, energy, and speed, and directly influencing physical and chemical reactions. The appearance of such terms as physical vacuum, vacuum polarization and vacuum energy fluctuations was met by many scientists as a challenge to existing theories and for many years these terms were not accepted by official science. Many aspects of the statements about the physical vacuum were considered to contradict the "logical statements" of quantum mechanics, Einstein's theory and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. At the same time physicists preferred not to discuss the well known and extremely great contradictions that exist between quantum mechanics and Einstein's theories. As all modern electronic science is based on quantum mechanics and as nuclear energy is based on Einstein's formulas, both of these approaches were considered flawless and attempts to explain the mechanism of physical phenomena in terms that have used new approaches, have been punished severely.
Nevertheless, a large volume articles in serious magazines in the USA, in Europe, and in Russia have concluded that the question of understanding the physical vacuum is the greatest problem of modern physics and deserves careful consideration. Besides, practically all of the physicists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Einstein, accepted the existence of an ether.
The investigation of the physical vacuum is important for several reasons: it allows us to eliminate the various contradictions of modern physics because it describes the interaction of elementary particles, formulates the main concepts and the laws of the world of sub-atomic particles, describes the processes of energy exchange, explains the mechanism of generation and propagation of electromagnetic, nuclear and gravity fields, and the initial creation of matter. Therefore it introduces the possibility of using the energy of the vacuum for the elaboration of new, unique technologies in physics and chemistry and allows us to operate directly with the structure of a solid body and, based on entirely new principles, to extract energy with an efficiency several orders of magnitude higher than that achieved at present.
The detailed understanding of the mechanism of gravity will allow us to use this knowledge for the creation of a fast communication network as well as for the creation of new flying vehicles, and the elaboration of new methods of building technology and cargo transportation. The main questions of the energy of the physical vacuum have been addressed in articles by American scientists, such as Bernard Haisch, Harald Puthoff and Alfonso Rueda. Their works in the field of zero point energy fluctuations of the vacuum can be regarded as a classical approach to this field of knowledge. The extremely serious work of Dr. Dyatlov from Russia concerning the polarization of the physical vacuum can be considered as a practical continuation of these theories.
The book on subquantum kinetics by Paul LaViolette is one of the first profound works in this field. Usually the analysis of the corresponding material requires complex mathematical equations, and many articles typically contain an abundance of integrals, which doesn't always help to reveal the essence of the physical phenomena. A great merit of Paul LaViolette is his ability to discuss the main features of the subatomic world without using complex mathematics and while preserving a rigorous logic in his arguments and conclusions. That doesn't mean that the book is primitive. On the contrary, in order to understand the full scope of the discussed phenomena, it is helpful to have a profound knowledge of solid state physics, electricity, optics, chemistry, and elementary particle physics.
This book should be of value to various physicists ranging from professors to students of technical universities and is an important manual for engineers and researchers as it contains the information and background for inspiring new experimental works. There are grounds to recommend this monograph as a compulsory textbook for students of the physical sciences because without knowledge of the main aspects of subquantum kinetics, modern physics will not adequately develop as a science and also because the detailed understanding of physical phenomena and their complex interrelations is a basic requirement for every expert in the field of physics.
On the other hand, if we analyze this book taking into consideration only well-known scientific facts, it may seem that the problem of subquantum physics doesn't exist. Up to the present, vacuum has widely been regarded as an absolutely empty space or nothing. Students were taught using this approach, many Ph. D. degrees were earned, and everything seemed to be fine, but frankly speaking, there has been little progress in the field of physics during the past 40 years. Meanwhile, the communication with spacecraft on the surface of Mars is based on electromagnetic waves. The wave, by conventional definition, is a distortion of space; if there is no space, there is nothing to distort. According to Einstein, gravitation is a geometrical bending of space-time, and we accept it. But if space is absolute emptiness, it is impossible to bend it. This is pure logic. But if we refer to the handbook for physics, we will find that an empty vacuum has more than 10 different characteristics, including a dielectric constant, modulus of elasticity, magnetic permeability coefficient, magnetic susceptibility, modulus of conductance, a characteristic electromagnetic wave impedance of 377 Ohms, and other values. Isn't that much for an absolutely empty space?
From my discussions with nuclear physics experts at accelerators in Dubna, also from CERN and Fermi National Labs, I understood that all of them accept the idea of a physical vacuum not as a theory, but as an experimental fact. This approach is shared by many NASA experts and by a large fraction of the researchers from American, Russian and European universities.
In autumn of 2002, there appeared a book by Dr. Bearden "Energy from vacuum" having a length of 977 pages and it has become a bestseller in the scientific media, despite its price of over 100$. Thomas Bearden, retired colonel, who has diplomas in nuclear physics, mathematics, and engineering, presents an analysis of 30 years of his studies in the field of new technologies and energy production. The impact of this work is great and it's influence on modern readers can't be denied, but with all its good qualities, this book is more a popular than a scientific one, and the author didn't have the intention of giving a profound scientific approach. Although the book by Paul LaViolette, , doesn't contain nice color illustrations, it nevertheless concentrates on the scientific analysis and comparison of mechanisms and interactions between sub-atomic particles and ordinary matter and is therefore an extremely important and useful tool. This book teaches us how to think about and understand the physics and the nature around us, and more importantly - this is just a beginning, one that provides the basis for further development, further study, and new experiments, following a systematic and scientific approach. There is no doubt that this book is an outstanding contribution to modern physics and that it will receive the attention and appreciation of many thankful readers.
Evgeny Podkletnov, Ph.D.,Tech.D., Professor of chemistry
Tampere, Finland
The Foundation is pursuing the following projects:
The article below appeared in the newsletter On the Beam
Teaching with Feeling in Mind
(Reprinted from On the Beam, Volume 6(2) (1986))
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Our approach to teaching is strongly influenced by your understanding of how the human mind functions to form thoughts. Modes of classroom instruction currently in widespread use are based upon the outdated "robot model," which views the brain as an input-output information storage and processing unit. Computer analogies, however, are unable to account for a key feature of intelligence, one that is central to the learning process, the phenomenon of creative thought formation.
Recently, however, a novel theory has been developed which sheds some light on the creative process. This theory conceives creative thoughts as emerging spontaneously from a fabric of sensation and emotion composed of experiential units called "feeling tones." According to Bill Gray,(1) basic feeling tones, like the primary colors of the rainbow, combine in a nearly infinite number of ways to form a whole spectrum of shades and these represent all aspects of our internal and external experience. Just as Mozart's 41st symphony and Beethoven's 9th may both be played from the same set of musical notes, so too the rich variety of mental experience that bombards our consciousness may be represented by means of the same fundamental set of feeling tones.
Like people and cars in a city, these complex feeling tone structures , or "compositions," are always on the move through our brain. Just as a well-designed city allows people to meet one another and form rich sets of associations and relationships, so too the brain provides an environment within which feeling tones are able to link up with one another and spontaneously form more complex combinations of a meaningful nature. These syntheses are what we call thoughts.
Robot model theorists conceive thoughts to be neuroelectric impulses which, like the binary coded electrical impulses in a computer circuit, derive their various meanings by travelling along specific "wires" or nerve fiber pathways. However, this hard-wired mechanistic conception unfortunately leads to a physicalistic view of the mind, conscious experience being conceived as inextricably bound to the physical architecture of the brain. The feeling tone model, on the other hand, conceives the meaning of thoughts to be intrinsic to the thoughts themselves, the information content of a thought being embodied in its specific feeling tone code or neuroelectric waveform shape. Like their feeling tone relatives, thoughts are on the move too. Thus mental information is portable and free to move throughout the brain.
According to this new view, the brain may be conceived as a kind of sophisticated loom, one which is suited to the weaving of mental fabrics.(2, 3) However, this is a very unusual loom. For, these feeling tone tapestries have the unique ability of themselves being able to run the controls of the loom. Thus the fabric is able to weave itself in a self-determining fashion! Because of this self-referential process, the mind is capable of independent evolution to states of complexity far exceeding that of its biological matrix, the brain.
The brain/mind relation in many ways resembles the mother/child, womb/embryo relation. The brain provides a unique environment within which that living entity the mind is spawned. Unlike embryonic development, however, there are no pre-existent chromosome blueprints. Rather, the "genes which shape the mental personality are continuously created on-the-spot, these spontaneous birth events being our creative insights and ideas.
It goes without saying that such a model of mental phenomena suggests an approach to education quite different from that currently practiced in schools. According to this approach, understanding is best accomplished through a process of facilitation, rather than through rote instruction. Teaching is not a programming process, the feeding of information into computer-like brains. Rather, it is an agrarian process -- the acquisition of knowledge being likened to the raising of crops. The teacher's purpose is to provide sunlight, fertilizer, and water, and an environment free of predators in which sensitivity, caring, and curiosity are free to develop. The learning which ensues must be viewed as a birth process, one which must not be rushed. Confusion results if material is delivered at a pace faster than the student can assimilate, since the evoked thoughts require sufficient time to take full root in the student's personal feeling tone fabric that he is perpetually weaving.
1) Gray, William "Understanding creative thought processes: An early formulation of the emotional-cognitive structure theory." Man-Environment Systems 9 (1979):314.
2) LaViolette, Paul A. "Thoughts about thoughts about thoughts: The emotional-perceptive cycle theory." Man-Environment Systems 9 (1979):1547.
3) LaViolette, Paul. A. "The thermodynamics of the aha experience." Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Society for General Systems Research, San Francisco, Jan. 1980; Reprinted in: (1982) W. Gray, et al. (eds.) General Systems Theory and the Psychological Sciences (Vol. I). Intersystems Press, CA.
