PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How does mind work?
TINNY: At the human level mind is most associated with symbolic thought. It is the particular configuration of dynamic energy patterns occurring in the material structures of the brain which constitute what we perceive as thought.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could you be a bit more specific?
TINNY: The brain is made up of different groupings of cell structures; the individual cells are called neurons. Each neuron, or nerve cell, consists of molecules in certain relationships with other molecules. Every molecule is made up of a number of different atoms in certain relationships with other atoms. Finally, every atom is made up of various subatomic particles in certain relationships with other subatomic particles. All subatomic particles are fluctuations and concentrations in the field of underlying fundamental reality. It is the changes in the energy, organisation, and relationships of those subatomic particles which allow the expression of the characteristic of thought.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: When we think any thought there are changes going on in our brain at the level of subatomic particles.
TINNY: The subatomic particles which make up the brain change their energy levels, their form, and their relationship with other subatomic particles as thought occurs.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How do the changes at the subatomic level show up at the level of the neurons, the nerve cells?
TINNY: At the cellular level thought consists of patterns of neural firings.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you explain how the neurons work in the brain.
TINNY: Neurons are nerve cells, and each one has many connections to other nerve cells in the brain.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What are those connections called and how many other nerve cells is each neuron connected to?
TINNY: The fine connections which branch off of each neuron are called dendrites. Each nerve cell would be connected with up to hundreds or thousands of other nerve cells.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: And how many individual nerve cells would there be in each brain?
TINNY: Many billions of neurons make up the structures of each brain.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If the neural firings in the brain during thought could be observed, what would they look like?
TINNY: A thought occurs when a series of neurons fire in patterned succession.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What does it mean for a neuron to fire?
TINNY: Each neuron, being made up of molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles, has what is called an electrochemical potential. The neuron acts somewhat like a chemical battery. When certain chemical changes take place in one part of the nerve cell it sets in motion reactions of signals at other parts of the neuron; the dendrites then transmit those signals to surrounding connected neurons. The neurons which receive those signals may themselves be sufficiently stimulated to fire and pass the signal along to other nerve cells, which may or may not be connected to the original neuron that fired.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Does a neuron always fire if it receives a signal from another nerve cell which it is connected to?
TINNY: It is not just receiving any signal which causes a neuron to fire, the signal must be an input of sufficient strength. In that case being a strong enough signal means receiving enough certain chemicals transmitted from one neuron to another. Those chemical transmissions occur through changes in the relationships of subatomic particles.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That succession of neural firings is not necessarily a long string of individual neurons firing, is it?
TINNY: No, it isn't. What would usually occur is a pattern of neural firings forming a dynamic chain with side chains. Some of those paths become the main branches of neural firings as others fail to reach threshold and fade out. That process might appear as a flashing spider web of light activity traveling through the neuronal structure of the brain, leaving a wake of changes in the organisation of subatomic particles along its path.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That description helps me visualise the process of thought as it transpires in the brain. Would all the different functions of mind in the physical structure of the brain appear in a similar manner?
TINNY: All different functions, such as thinking, learning, feeling, processing information, memory, and controlling the workings of the body take place through the same general process. It is the particular configuration of dynamic energy patterns, and in which part of the brain they occur, that determines which functions of mind are fulfilled.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: You explained quite well how thought occurs, but where does it come from?
TINNY: Some questions are very difficult to answer. I have been describing mind as made up of the interrelated parts of the brain which express the mental characteristics. That description is true, but all of those so-called parts are aspects of one unified whole. Mind is not to be truly known by any of its parts. Mind is a holistic system which links the physical structures of the brain with the essential consciousness of existence. That essential consciousness has a transcendental quality.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What does it mean to have a transcendental quality?
TINNY: Transcendental refers to those aspects of existence beyond the material plane. They have no physical form, no separate parts, and are not bound by the limits of space or time.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I'm not sure if I understand what you are saying about mind.
TINNY: The nature of mind is to exist both within the physical universe and outside all material limits. Mind links the two realms of existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Which are not really separate anyway.
TINNY: Physical existence and existence beyond the material plane only appear separate to those whose perception is limited by being observers within the material plane.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: When you speak of mind being the link between physical form and the non-material existence, I remember you described light as also being a link between physical existence and that which transcends the material plane. Is there any connection between light and mind?
TINNY: There is indeed. All of the changes in the organisation of subatomic particles which make up the brain are mediated by light.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How does light change the organisation of subatomic particles in the brain?
TINNY: I think I said something earlier about all information exchanged in the physical universe being done through the medium of light; actually that occurs by an exchange of photons, the little quantum packages of electromagnetic energy of which light consists. To be really correct I should say all information is carried by light except in the nucleus of the atom; but that is only a technical point, not too important in this discussion of mind. Anyway it is light, by means of photon exchanges, which lets the different levels of organisation in the brain know what the subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, the whole body, and the entire external environment are doing.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: It seems you are saying that mind and light are very closely related.
TINNY: They are inseparable; they are one.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Explain how light is the means by which all information is transmitted. I'd like to hear that explanation in relation to some everyday situation. How about explaining how light transmits all the information when one person is talking to another person?
TINNY: I can do that. I can even relate that situation to the workings of the mind by giving an example where one person is teaching some new fact to another person as they speak.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I'm looking forward to hearing that.
TINNY: Let's pretend I'm going to teach you the definition of a word you don't know. I don't know yet what word I'm going to teach you so now that I have made the decision to teach you a word I have to decide which word to teach you. l search through my memory looking for a word which is not particularly well known so you are unlikely to know it already. Lots of words suddenly go running through my thoughts, some of them I consider too easy, some of them I'm not quite sure what they mean myself. All of a sudden l think of one that seems likely to fit the needs of the situation. I choose the word 'miasma', which is the name of a poisonous mist. Now that I have chosen a word, my mind sends a message along the nerves from the speech area of my brain telling my vocal cords to say the word 'miasma' and to give its definition. My vocal cords vibrate at the particular frequencies which cause sound waves to be generated in my throat and be transmitted through the air to your ears. The sound waves which reach your ears cause your eardrums to vibrate at the same frequencies as those sound waves. The vibrations of the eardrum create movement of small bones in the middle ear which transmit the vibrations from the eardrum to the cochlea in the inner ear. The cochlea changes the mechanical vibrations of sound to electrochemical signals which are transmitted along the auditory nerve from the cochlea to the brain. Your brain receives those signals and interprets them as the same words I spoke; the word 'miasma', and its definition. That new word and its definition are now stored in your memory. If all goes well in the future and you ever come across that word, 'miasma', you will know what it means.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That explains very well the process by which information gets from one mind to another; but what is light's part in this transmission of information?
TINNY: At every stage in that process it is light which is responsible for the transmission of information by an exchange of photons between subatomic particles.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could he go through your example step by step so I could see more clearly how light does this?
TINNY: That's fine, where did you want me to start?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Let's start with the decision as to which word you were going to teach me.
TINNY: The memory of all words I know is stored in my brain as neural patterns, certain relationships of subatomic particles. The search process to find a word appropriate to teach you occurs by other subatomic particles, those which make up the neurons involved in the search, examining the neural patterns making up those certain configurations of subatomic particles stored in memory. One subatomic particle, or any groups of particles, can know the position and energy states of other single or grouped subatomic particles by an exchange of photons. The unique quality of mind in human consciousness is the alteration of dynamic energy configurations by which mind can store information symbolically and later read those stored dynamic energy configurations to retrieve the information from memory. Both the initial storage and the retrieval of stored information occur by exchanges of photons; which in one case tells the subatomic particles how to order themselves to create any stored symbol, and in the case of retrieval allows the mind to read the stored symbolic information.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Before we go on I need to ask another, related question. What made you decide to teach me a word as an example, why not something else?
TINNY: I could say that in my mind I went through a similar search process to choose between a number of alternatives, just as I chose between a number of words before deciding on the word 'miasma'. While true, I don't think that would get at the essence of your question, it would just go back a step further in the chain of mental events. The difficulty is not only in the answer, but also in the question. Because we are material beings existing as part of the physical universe we see all things, including mental events, as occurring in a time sequence. Since mental events are linked with and have an aspect existing beyond the material plane, they exist with a holistic nature not bound by the limits of time. All consciousness is manifested not only in the physical universe, but also beyond the material plane. Mind also has an aspect manifested beyond the material plane. Mind in that unbound state does not include sequential mental processes; all mental processes, which appear as sequential in the physical plane of existence, are simultaneously manifested in a non-sequential manner beyond the material plane.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If I understand you correctly you are saying that mind not only exists in the brain, but also exists in a state where there is no physical form and time does not flow. In that condition mind is holistic in nature, with what we as physical beings might consider past mental events and future mental events all present at once.
TINNY: You understand me correctly. It is for that reason I find it difficult to tell you why I decided to do any certain thing or to think any certain thought because such a question implies a sequence of events, but the mental events of mind exist only as a unified present moment beyond the material plane, where consciousness is unchanging.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Now you say consciousness is unchanging, how can that be?
TINNY: From the relative perspective consciousness is constantly changing; from the absolute perspective consciousness is unchanging. Once again, simultaneously one and different.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: You know, these ideas you are expressing are very difficult to understand.
TINNY: As are many other aspects of this new, more correct understanding of the true nature of existence. We cannot deny truth just because it is unexpected. Truth has been hidden from view for so long that we have become blind to it. Historically the incorrect worldview has built an almost insurmountable edifice which stands between us as observers of reality and the realisation of the true expression of that reality.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could we go on with your explanation of how light transmits all information? Hopefully those difficult truths will become clearer as more of the sum total of knowledge becomes known.
TINNY: After I have chosen the word 'miasma', I send a message from my brain to my vocal cords to create the sound vibrations necessary to transmit that word through the air to your ears. The message is transmitted from the brain to the vocal cords by a series of nerve cells. Each of those nerve cells transmits information to the next cell in line by an exchange of photons, light energy, between their subatomic particles. Those messages tell the muscles to contract and relax in the correct sequence, causing the vocal cords to vibrate at the required frequencies. The messages at each of those steps including the muscles, are transmitted by an exchange of photons between the subatomic particles making up the neurons, muscles, and vocal cords.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: All those stages of the transmitted message so far are within the structures of the body. How does light transmit the message from your vocal cords to my ears? Isn't the message transmitted through the air by sound waves, not light?
TINNY: The vocal cords are made up, at the most basic level, of subatomic particles. As the vocal cords vibrate they bump against the molecules of the air. The air molecules perceive the vibrating vocal cords by an exchange of photons between the subatomic particles at the surface of the vocal cords and the subatomic particles making up the molecules of air which are adjacent to the surface of the vocal cords. The vibrating vocal cords cause the air molecules to vibrate at the same frequency as the vocal cords.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why is it that when the vibrating vocal cords exchange photons with the air molecules they begin to vibrate at the same frequency as the vocal cords?
TINNY: One of the things that happens when photons are exchanged is a transfer of light energy. The energy from the vibrating vocal cords is transferred to the adjacent air molecules by an exchange of photons.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do the photons carry the energy which is transferred?
TINNY: The photons are the energy which is transferred.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I suppose that is the reason the sound wave travels through the air. Each atom bumps into adjacent atoms transmitting the information as energy through an exchange of photons at the subatomic level.
TINNY: That's what happens all the way to the eardrum. The process from the atoms in the air to the eardrum is the reverse of the manner in which the vocal chords imparted the information to the atoms in the air.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: And the same process occurs from the eardrum to the bones in the middle ear. All transfer their energy and information by an exchange of photons from the subatomic particles of one stage in the sequence to the sub-atomic particles of the next stage in the sequence.
TINNY: When the mechanical vibrations of the bones in the middle ear reach the cochlea the energy is changed from mechanical energy back to electrochemical energy, which is then transmitted along the neurons of the auditory nerve by an exchange of photons of the subatomic particles which make up those neurons. The message is interpreted by specialised neurons in the brain whose subatomic particles exchange photons with the neurons carrying the incoming message, converting them to a symbolic representation. That symbolic representation is converted to a unique configuration of subatomic particles within the structure of the brain by a further exchange of photons. At which point that new configuration of subatomic particles, which is representative of the word 'miasma' and its meaning, remains as memory, available for future retrieval. A dynamic interplay of photon exchanges between subatomic particles in my brain results in the creation of a new organisation of subatomic particles in your brain.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Quite amazing. The groupings of subatomic particles which make up one brain can alter the groupings of subatomic particles which make up other brains.
TINNY: That is the way in which we, being different centres of energy field concentrations and fluctuations, communicate among ourselves. It is amazing isn't it?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: It is no wonder that human consciousness, as expressed in mind, is what separates us as a new envolutionary level beyond that of the animal.
TINNY: Mind at the human level is a way of relating the experiences of consciousness to language symbols and words.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: At the human level mind became aware of its own existence.
TINNY: Mind at the human level progresses beyond being aware of its own existence. Mind becomes aware of the true nature of its existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What is really happening when mind becomes aware of its own true nature?
TINNY: It is a funny feeling at first. We grow up thinking the word 'I' refers to our body. Then we come to believe that 'I' refers more to our consciousness than our body. Finally we realise that our material form and consciousness are a manifestation of some essential fabric of existence which is not physical and is beyond the limits of space and time. The 'I' becomes one with existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Realisation must envolve just like all other characteristics expressed on the material plane.
TINNY: At this present level of realisation I can know myself as a particular complex organisation of subatomic particles. I am the way by which the basic fabric of material existence comes to know its own nature. Not only do I come to know myself as a grouping of subatomic particles, but I am able to perceive other groupings of subatomic particles throughout the known universe.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Since mind is the means by which material existence becomes aware of its own nature, what comes next?
TINNY: Mind will become more aware of self, more aware of the true nature of existence, and more aware of other minds, which at the material level appear to be separate from each other.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What happens when mind becomes more aware of other minds?
TINNY: It is already happening. There is a collective or social mind developing. This collective mind of humanity is in itself a holistic entity, and as are all holistic systems, it is greater than the sum of its parts.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is the future development of consciousness the movement from the individual to the social?
TINNY: Future development of consciousness will be collective, but not to the exclusion of individual development. Both shall progress together in a complementary relationship.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Will the nature of consciousness, when perfected, be individual or collective?
TINNY: The two will be one. There will be a perfect integration between the individual and the collective. Individual consciousness will become perfected. Collective consciousness shall also become perfected.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How could consciousness be perfected both individually and collectively at the same time?
TINNY: Perfected consciousness would perfectly manifest every characteristic of consciousness. One of the characteristics of consciousness is communication. Perfected consciousness would manifest perfect communication. A network of perfect communication among beings of perfected individual consciousness would create a holistic system of consciousness which is collective in nature. That perfected collective consciousness will be greater than the sum of the individual parts.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I think that should be enough discussion of consciousness and mind right now. It was such a difficult subject, I'm hesitant to ask another hard question right away.
TINNY: What subject is it which you want to discuss next?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I wanted to ask questions about free-will and determinism.
TINNY: If we discuss free-will and determinism we will also have to consider predestination.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Before we begin that discussion, let me ask a few general and probably easier questions.
TINNY: Sure, go ahead.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Many would be surprised to find that you can know so much, particularly since you are still a child. Was it hard for you to learn so much, so young?
TINNY: It wasn't hard at all. Knowledge has come to me naturally as I lived my life. Since I have enjoyed virtually every moment of my life I have enjoyed all the learning I have done.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Can you tell me how it is you know how the mind works?
TINNY: Well, no one ever told me how the mind works, and I've never read a good explanation of how it works. I remember when I first came to know how the mind works, at least in the way I described it to you. I came to that realisation while I was observing my own mind.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How do you observe your own mind?
TINNY: I would describe the process as being somewhere between introspection and meditation. It's a way of observing one's own mental states.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is there a specific technique you use to do this? Could anyone learn it?
TINNY: At different times I become aware of mental states in different ways. There is no specific technique. Anyone could learn to do it, but they would have to develop their own techniques just as I did. I think true knowledge of one's own mind is a very personal thing; just as every person is different, each would require a different way to observe their own mental state.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Many who are searching for the way to know truth from within have spent a lifetime attempting to perfect such techniques. Methods by which the inner self can be known have been handed down by great masters of wisdom.
TINNY: The methods handed down would have benefited the masters more than the students. The greatest teachers would free their students from the shackles of their teachings.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could you be described as cynical about teachers?
TINNY: I could be; but I don't think I should be. I believe myself to be realistic. I know that nothing is more important in learning than freedom. I also know that those who teach are seldom willing to allow that needed freedom to be fully realised.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could a teacher ever allow too much freedom?
TINNY: There is no such thing as too much freedom. This is not to say, though, that freedom may not be misused. Often freedom is taken to mean license.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What is the difference between freedom and license?
TINNY: Freedom within any level of material development is granted naturally in accord with existing conditions. As such, freedom is not unlimited but, has certain inherent limitations. License is a social process best described as permission. Therefore license is not bound by any natural restrictions and may well go beyond the natural limits.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Are the natural limits so very important?
TINNY: The natural limits which are in effect at every level of material development are a matter of life and death. While it is possible to transgress the natural boundaries to some small degree major incursions place survival at jeopardy.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is that true just for the individual, or is it also true at the species level?
TINNY: It is equally true for both the individual and groups of all sizes. In fact for harm to be caused it is not necessary for all members of the species to go beyond the natural limits. If a sufficient number of individual members of any group stray from the right path they can bring destruction upon the whole.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If what you say is true then no individual could ever demand the right to act in any manner they choose by claiming they are only hurting themselves. Even if a person or group appears to harm no one but themselves they actually harm every member of society.
TINNY: Although the proverb, ''no man is an island'' was not meant to express that great social truth, it could well do so. That saying could even be another way of expressing the essential unity of all existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Everything we speak of seems to express that basic unity.
TINNY: It is for that reason this body of knowledge is called the unified theory of existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Perhaps now would be the right moment to begin the discussion of free-will and determinism.
TINNY: And predestination.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Yes, of course. Would you begin by defining those words for me?
TINNY: Don't you know what they mean?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I know what I think they mean, but to best understand what you will be telling me I need to know what those concepts mean to you.
TINNY: I'll start with free-will. This term means, at the human level, that we are able to choose and act according to the dictates of our own will, free from external forces.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What kind of external forces are referred to in that definition?
TINNY: Mainly physical forces, social pressures, or divine influence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Don't physical forces, social pressures, and divine influence affect people?
TINNY: Sure they do; but to have free-will means to be able to make the conscious decision whether or not to act in the manner dictated by those external forces.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is divine influence external or is it internal?
TINNY: You complicate every question. You don't often let me get away with giving simple answers.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: There are few simple questions.
TINNY: Since we are of divine essence then we have the divine within; but since the whole is greater than and has characteristics other than the individual parts, then the divine is also external to our being. I'm sorry, I'm having trouble expressing this answer.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Sometimes the difficulty inherent in expression is part of the answer.
TINNY: I need to use language and concepts from two different frames of reference simultaneously, and since we are bound by the limits of material existence true statements may appear to be contradictions.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Accept the reality of those limitations and say things as best you can. As consciousness is raised such conflicts shall disappear.
TINNY: I'll go on to an explanation of determinism. Determinism is a concept which considers all choice and action to be the result of the influence of previous events.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Indicating all choices and actions are caused, not freely decided upon by the individual.
TINNY: All choices and actions would then be determined by past events.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Which is the truth? Do we have free-will or are our choices and actions determined?
TINNY: We have free-will and at the same time our choices and actions are determined by past events. There is a unity of free-will and determinism, the two are one.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The question of free-will versus determinism has been debated for thousands of years. During that time both sides of the question have received vigorous support. Neither side of the argument has ever fully prevailed over the other. Now you assert that both sides here correct.
TINNY: That's probably why the question has never been resolved. If either side of the debate is supported to the exclusion of the other it could never provide a satisfactory answer.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: You also wanted to include predestination in this discussion.
TINNY: Predestination takes the concept of determinism even further. With predestination the concept goes beyond the idea that all things are caused by past events to say that all things are preordained. That a certain future is destined to come about.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would that mean everything which happens could be known beforehand? That it would be possible to know the future?
TINNY: The future is as knowable as the past.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Who decides how things are to be if everything is preordained?
TINNY: The concept of predestination is usually used to describe the relationship God has with the material universe.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If everything was predestined by God we would have even less free-will than if everything was caused by past events, as in deterministic thinking. I'm sure that you will find some way to show me how we must have free-will, while all things are determined by past events, and God knows all that will occur in the future.
TINNY: I hope to; but you're moving too fast.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: There is another word I want to be sure I understand. You have used the common word 'cause' several times when discussing determinism. It would help me to understand determinism if you would define the concept of causality.
TINNY: Something is caused when there is a relationship between two events such that the first event brings about the second.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Does the original event have to bring about the second event directly?
TINNY: No, the initiating event can set in motion a series of linked events which result in the final action and still be considered as causative.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How far back can that chain of events go?
TINNY: As with all things, causal events are links in a direct chain which goes back to the beginning of the physical universe.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would this mean that not only are all material forms in the physical universe inextricably linked, but all events in the physical universe are also inextricably linked?
TINNY: Unity is complete. Everything which exists, objects, words, concepts, events, and dimensions are all aspects of one basic essence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Which is God?
TINNY: The word God seems too limited to represent the totality of that which exists. We have for so long associated God with all sorts of human characteristics, that those characteristics now circumscribe the fullest meaning of the word.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do you have a better word?
TINNY: No, I don't. Actually, I often use the word God in my thoughts to represent all that exists and all of the various manifestations of that infinite quality. God is a good word if we don't come to believe we know all that word really means.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Hopefully we will speak more of God later. I don't want to get too far from free-will and determinism.
TINNY: I find I can skip around from topic to topic and from idea to idea with ease. I think it's because I see the unified nature of all existence. No matter what I'm thinking or talking about, it's all part of the same thing.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That's fine for your own thoughts; but when you're talking to others they may not yet have come to the same realisation of the unity of all things. You could make it difficult for others to understand what you are trying to say.
TINNY: What you say is true.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Please go back to the longstanding debate concerning determinism versus free-will.
TINNY: As I have said, that is a question which has been discussed and argued by philosophers and theologians for thousands of years. Are we beings whose actions are determined, or are we free to choose for ourselves what our actions shall be?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: A question which has never been satisfactorily answered to all parties involved in the debate.
TINNY: There is a very direct and quite correct answer to the determinism versus free-will controversy. The reason that an answer is available now is because of the new understanding of the origin of life and consciousness, and the understanding of the process of the envolution which takes place throughout the universe.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you describe determinism and free-will in relation to the process of envolution?
TINNY: In the beginning of the physical universe there was a condition of virtual total determinism. Every subatomic particle which existed did as it must do based on the elementary laws of physics. There was no free-will or choice involved. It was a universe of almost total determinism. The actions of existing matter were due to external forces, those of physics; which could also be thought of as the imposition of will by force, if we use the word 'will' rather broadly. Whatever will or force which was in effect determined the actions of the matter of the universe.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Things did not remain in such a totally determined condition though, did they?
TINNY: As matter organised into more complex levels those new organisations gained greater facility to act with increased freedom. The initial subatomic particles had no choice but to do exactly as required by the elementary laws of physics. The basic atoms, while still governed by the elementary laws of physics, possessed a greater range of action than did subatomic particles. It could be said they had a greater degree of freedom. Once atoms came into existence they could participate in a greater range of relationships with other matter than could subatomic particles. Molecules, while also still largely determined by the elementary laws of physics, are able to relate to each other in such a complex way that we call this new degree of freedom, chemistry. Plant and animal life, the next higher level of organisation of matter, has the ability to interact in their environment far beyond that of the original subatomic particles, atoms, or molecules. While still by no means totally free, plants and animals possess many more degrees of freedom than the previous levels of material existence. We call this new degree of freedom, biology.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: And what does that tell us?
TINNY: We see from this progressive development toward greater freedom of action that just as all other things envolve, free-will also envolves. Free-will does not come into existence all of a sudden, just as life does not come into existence all of a sudden, and consciousness does not come into existence all of a sudden. Each of those aspects of existence is manifested through a series of successive small steps into more complex forms of expression as the organisation of matter becomes more complex.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What happens after the level of plant development is reached?
TINNY: Within the biological range, once we go beyond the level of plant life to the animal level of existence, the characteristic of inner-directed mobility is manifested. This is a major new step in the progression toward free-will. Instead of the fixed or externally controlled nature of plant motion, an animal can move at will in its environment. Animal life thereby possesses many more degrees of freedom of action than had ever previously existed in the lower levels.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That covers all the levels of envolutionary progression up to the human level of existence. The human level seems so very different in the degree of freedom which can be expressed. Human freedom is far beyond that of the animal level, isn't it?
TINNY: Human existence is the first stage where there is a predominance of free-will over the deterministic aspect. All previous levels of existence, the subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, plants, and animals have their actions more subject to causal factors than they are allowed free choice. An animal does not have the potential, even with all its many degrees of freedom, to actually make a free choice. Human beings with their self-reflective consciousness are the highest level of organisation of matter that we know of, and have many more degrees of freedom than any of the previous levels of material existence. The human level is the turning point where the manifestation of free-will becomes greater than the deterministic aspect.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What is the major effect of that shift from a predominance of determinism to a predominance of free-will?
TINNY: Humanity is the first of the envolutionary stages which has the ability to control its own destiny.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That is quite a responsibility.
TINNY: It is both a great blessing and a great burden.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What is it which allows the human species to control its own destiny while the previous levels of material existence cannot?
TINNY: That ability occurs because human beings have developed the capacity to override the external determinants of their behaviour by inner speech. Inner speech arises from humanity's self-reflective level of consciousness.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What exactly is inner speech?
TINNY: Inner speech is the ability to communicate with ourselves. Because we can use language to describe the reality external to ourselves, and our relationship with that reality, we are no longer bound to acquiesce to the external influences of the environment.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: You don't mean we are totally free of all environmental influences do you?
TINNY: We are far from being entirely free of those external influences, particularly the physical forces; but, even while we are under the influences of those forces we can alter their effect.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What then is really the answer to the conflict between free-will and determinism.
TINNY: The answer to the free-will versus determinism controversy is not that the actions of human beings are determined, nor that human beings are free. The truth is that human beings are somewhere on the continuum between total determinism and total free-will.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The determinism/free-will continuum is another dichotomously variable continuum, isn't it?
TINNY: That's true. As with all dichotomous continuums there appear to be two opposing sides, the extremes on either end being the total opposites of each other. And every continuum of that type has a point on the continuum where the characteristic which had been dominant gives way to the opposite characteristic which then takes over dominance. The opposing characteristics on that particular dichotomous continuum are determinism and its opposite, free-will.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: All dichotomous continuums naturally possess a turning point where the predominant characteristic becomes the subordinate characteristic; the human level of development is at that turning point. At the beginning of the physical universe the subatomic particles were at one extreme of the dichotomous continuum. They were at the deterministic extreme.
TINNY: Right, and as matter developed into more complex forms determinism, while remaining dominant, began to give way to free-will. As the human level was approached by the higher animals, free-will was becoming a strong contender against determinism. As humanity developed with its self-reflective consciousness the turning point was broached, and free-will became the dominant characteristic.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: We are only just past the turning point where free-will predominates over determinism.
TINNY: That's true, human existence is only slightly weighted toward the predominance of free-will. It is for that reason we have such a battle ahead of us. While it is now up to us to choose our destiny, we are still heavily influenced by the deterministic side of the continuum, and will be susceptible to that influence until we progress a good distance from the turning point, from that point where free-will and determinism vie almost equally for control.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How does the knowledge that free-will now predominates, by however little over determinism, affect our lives?
TINNY: It is most important to realise that the turning point has been reached. Rather than having our lives determined mainly by external factors, human beings now have the potential to mainly exercise control from within.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If we did not realise the nature of our freedom wouldn't we still have it?
TINNY: It would exist as potential, but unless the nature of our freedom is realised we would not be able to fully manifest that freedom.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Once again; 'the truth shall set you free'.
TINNY: One of the things that bothers me is the blindness which exists to our true nature. It is often taught, and even believed, that human beings are the highest form of animal; but we are not animals. We have envolved from the animals, but we have passed beyond animal characteristics to a new level of material existence, the human level.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Even if we aren't animals, what would be the harm in believing we were?
TINNY: At each level of material existence there is an essential nature. That nature is expressed in a total relationship with the environment. Actions in accord with that natural order constitute the right path for each level of material existence. What is the right path for one level of material existence will not be the right path for another level. What is natural for animals is the right path for them, and to stray from that path would cause a disharmony. If the disharmony was too great then the animals would fail to survive. What is natural for animals is not the right path for human beings. Human beings must act in accord with their own true nature. If human beings attempt to live in a manner which is natural for animals a disharmony is caused. The human race is presently in danger of that disharmony being fatal.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: To believe we are animals would harm us because we would then act in accord with the animal nature; but if we were to understand we are not animals we would act in accord with our human nature.
TINNY: It is particularly hard to win in a struggle with an unknown enemy. We are in a constant struggle with the animal nature, and if we do not know our own true nature it is a struggle we have scant chance of winning.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do you mean to say that human beings could not exist as animals?
TINNY: Not for long.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If you were to ask most people if their actions were of their own choosing they would say yes. Most people believe they are free. Most, even if they believe human beings are animals, would not say they act like animals.
TINNY: As has been pointed out a number of times in this talk, the way we perceive things has little relation to the reality of our existence. Many human actions are conditioned by external influences and as such are not acts of free-will. It is the animal nature expressed in human beings which is causing the manifold social problems that are destroying our society and have pushed us to the very brink of extinction.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What does that mean for the future of the human race?
TINNY: If we choose to survive, we must give up actions in accord with animal nature and live in accord with human nature.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Many people believe human nature to have a number of bad qualities.
TINNY: Human nature has no bad qualities. What is objected to in human nature is actually our failure to transcend the animal nature.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What do you mean when you say human nature has no bad qualities?
TINNY: Human nature is basically good. All we have to do is allow our true nature to be expressed.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Aren't we all trying to do that?
TINNY: Some are, but they are few. Instead of fighting against the animal nature and struggling to live in accord with human nature, most are fighting against human nature as they struggle to live in accord with the animal nature.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Are people consciously doing that?
TINNY: That is an example of when ignorance of the truth becomes so harmful. Many well intentioned people, as well as those who are ill intentioned, do not realise the error of their ways and therefore follow the wrong path.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do the misguided ones include the world's religious, political, and business leaders?
TINNY: Some of the most misguided of all are among those who have risen to power.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why would that be?
TINNY: Often the very beliefs and qualities which it takes to rise to positions of power and influence are those which most strongly bind us to the animal nature,
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Getting back to free-will and determinism; how do those concepts relate to the right path of behaviour at the human level of existence?
TINNY: By looking at that dichotomous continuum, which began in total determinism and is moving toward total free-will, we can begin to understand the purpose of envolution in the universe. The purpose of the physical universe is to allow matter to organise into increasingly complex levels. Those more complex levels of existence manifest certain new characteristics which allow an ever increasing freedom of interaction within the environment,
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How do you know the material universe is moving toward total free-will?
TINNY: Since the universe began in complete determinism and has for billions of years progressed toward an increasing expression of free-will, reaching at the human level a predominance of free-will over determinism, we must logically assume we are heading towards the goal of total free-will. Total free-will is one of the culminating characteristics that the envolution of matter in the universe is progressing toward.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is it only the logical progression from the beginning deterministic universe to the present human turning point, where free-will becomes stronger than determinism, which allows us to know that the universe will culminate in total free-will?
TINNY: The more important evidence is that a physical universe which is moving toward an expression of total free-will is consistent with so much of the other knowledge which makes up the unified theory of existence. The fact that so many different lines of evidence point to one truth is indeed a powerful indicator of the correctness of the overall theory.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: It took eighteen billion years or so for the material universe to progress from the beginning subatomic particles to human life. Since human beings are at the turning point on the continuum from total determinism to total free-will, are we at the middle of that continuum? Can we expect another similar period of time until the final goal is reached?
TINNY: We spoke briefly about this earlier. In general, it is important to realise that the turning point on any dichotomous continuum does not have to fall on the midpoint of that continuum. It may fall anywhere between the two extremes.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could the turning point be very close to one of the end points on the continuum?
TINNY: There is no limit to how close the turning point, where the initial major characteristic becomes the minor characteristic, can be to either extreme on the continuum. The only limit is that the turning point cannot actually be fully at either of the extreme ends on the continuum.
