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Re: Life Force



Thank you, Jeff.  How do we nourish our capacity to understand, feel, or be
inspired by the life force within nature, the soil, other people?  We don't
want to lose our capacity to think clearly, strategically and, should we
say, scientifically.  I don't suppose we are all going to shed material
reality for other realms. Many of us have children to put through college,
so we need to make a living.  In order to leave the world a bit better than
we found it, we need to achieve incremental change, which at times seems
tedious.  But, as you say, the source of power for change, and our ability
to make sound judgements about almost anything, is fueled by our capacity to
be in touch with deeper realities.

Hal

At 11:18 AM 1/22/97 EST, you wrote:
>IS LIFE FORCE REAL AND WORTHY OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION?
>The concept "Life Force" was recently discussed on this list, in reference
>to the effects of irradiating food on the "Life Force" in/of the food.
>After the initial use of the term, one person questioned the scientific
>validity of using such a term, if Life Force could not be quantified and
>thus proven to be "real".
>
>I use several assumptions concerning the nature and perception of reality:
>
>1] Reality is solely and completely a subjective experience for each
>individual-whatever the 'outsideness' of our experiences may be, we only
>perceive those experiences internally,'inside' our minds and bodies.
>
>2]Common or consensus reality is an agreement amongst and between ourselves
>as to what is real and what is unreal.
>
>3]The essential nature of the phenomena which underly our perceptions of
>reality is itself unknowable -we know only our perceptions.
>
>4]The whole edifice of science, reason and logic is based on our ability to
>construct conceptual frameworks and then to live comfortably in those
>edifices, even though the whole structure is suspended in the void.
>
>5]The three primary divisions of human reality are spirit, mind and
>energy/matter.  Mind co-ordinates the diverse realms of spirit and
>energy/matter.  By definition, neither mind nor spirit can be quantified,
>which in no way makes them any less 'real' than matter.  Spiritual levels of
>reality are the source of the values that are used by mind to create moral
>and ethical systems.
>
>6]Pattern is non-material, and the patterns that configure our perceivable
>reality do not necessarily exist in that reality.  Life Force is such a
>pattern: a meta-reality that configures other aspects of reality.
>
>While our morals and ethics are insubstantial, non-material and unknowable
>in a strictly scientific sense, try to imagine how human society could
>survive without them.  These ephemeral aspects of our nature actually form
>the foundation on which our civilization is built.
>
>So it is with the concept of "Life Force": we perceive the difference
>between that which is living and that which is dead.  Without the
>mysterious, unkowable phenomenon which we call "LIfe Force", we would not be
>having this discussion and this planet would be a frozen rock whirling in
>space.  Yet we cannot measure, weigh, touch, smell, taste, hear or see this
>aspect of reality.  But how can we deny that life exists?
>
>Perhaps in the near future it will be possible to measure the energetic
>activity of living organisms using a mechanical device.  Will that make the
>life force any more real than it already is, or tell us where that life
>force orginates, what its essential nature is and what is the meaning of life?
>
>The material aspect of this message is a pattern of dots created by
>electrons on a glass tube.  The meaning of my message is not in the dots,
>the electrons or the glass.  Yet you are able to understand me, and even
>reply to my thoughts.  Think about it: what is most significant to you in
>this scenario-the dots, the electrons, the glass or the meaning of the
>message?     
>
>
>