Aristotle defines metaphysics as “the knowledge of immaterial being,” or of “being in the highest degree of abstraction.” He refers to metaphysics as “first philosophy”, as well as “the theologic science.”

Substance, potentiality and actuality

Aristotle examines the concepts of substance and essence (ousia) in his Metaphysics (Book VII), and he concludes that a particular substance is a combination of both matter and form. As he proceeds to the book VIII, he concludes that the matter of the substance is the substratum or the stuff of which it is composed; e.g., the matter of the house are the bricks, stones, timbers etc., or whatever constitutes the potential house, while the form of the substance is the actual house, namely ‘covering for bodies and chattels’ or any other differentia (see also predicables). The formula that gives the components is the account of the matter, and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form.

With regard to the change (kinesis) and its causes now, as he defines in his physics and on Generation and Corruption 319b-320a, he distinguishes the coming to be from: 1) growth and diminution, which is change in quantity; 2) locomotion, which is change in space; and 3) alteration, which is change in quality.

The coming to be is a change where nothing persists of which the resultant is a property. In that particular change he introduces the concept of potentiality (dynamis) and actuality (entelecheia) in association with the matter and the form.

Referring to potentiality, this is what a thing is capable of doing, or being acted upon, if the conditions are right and it is not prevented by something else. For example, the seed of a plant in the soil is potentially (dynamei) plant, and if is not prevented by something, it will become a plant. Potentially beings can either ‘act’ (poiein) or ‘be acted upon’ (paschein), which can be either innate or learned. For example, the eyes possess the potentiality of sight (innate – being acted upon), while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning (exercise – acting).

Actuality is the fulfillment of the end of the potentiality. Because the end (telos) is the principle of every change, and for the sake of the end exists potentiality, therefore actuality is the end. Referring then to our previous example, we could say that an actuality is when a plant does one of the activities that plants do.

“For that for the sake of which a thing is, is its principle, and the becoming is for the sake of the end; and the actuality is the end, and it is for the sake of this that the potentiality is acquired. For animals do not see in order that they may have sight, but they have sight that they may see.”

In summary, the matter used to make a house has potentiality to be a house and both the activity of building and the form of the final house are actualities, which is also a final cause or end. Then Aristotle proceeds and concludes that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula, in time and in substantiality.

With this definition of the particular substance (i.e., matter and form), Aristotle tries to solve the problem of the unity of the beings, for example, “what is it that makes a man one”? Since, according to Plato there are two Ideas: animal and biped, how then is man a unity? However, according to Aristotle, the potential being (matter) and the actual one (form) are one and the same thing.

Image Source Buoy Encounter Version 2.0 by Bill M. Tracer

Here in Part 12 we finally wrap it up with this our final summation and (on the last page), conclusions of the entire series – Tiny Wormholes and the Crazy Dance. It’s been a fairly long run, truly my most lengthy article series to date. It is my sincere desire for this series to have been as much a joy for my readers, as it has been for me to write.

The Summation

Part 1: Our Brains Are Full of Tiny Wormholes!

In Part 1 we started off exploring the general concepts, revealing the science and theories upon which this entire series was built. What are these tiny wormholes? What is known, and/or thought about them? Professor Stephen Hawking has noted that on the scale of sub-particulate there exist tiny microscopic wormholes constantly popping in and out of reality, everywhere throughout the entire cosmos. These tiny wormholes interconnect space and time. They make up a true universal matrix of the space/time continuum, weaving together all moments and all space to that first primal moment we like to call the “Big Bang”. Likewise, these tiny wormholes connect all moments and places to whatever the ultimate fate of our cosmos might be, whether the “Big Cold Spread”, or “Big Crunch”, or a destiny we have yet to conceive.

Image via Wikipedia Professor Stephen Hawking

Part 2: The Metaphysics of Particle Physics

Then in Part 2 we examined the possibilities of metaphysical effects that could result from tapping into our awareness of the existence of these tiny wormholes. We explored the higher consequences of expanding our awareness of happenings in that realm of the very small, and looked into what else could we do with such theoretical knowledge? What are the bigger consequences of this continuous, (cosmically scaled), particle exchange within our very selves and the entire world around us? Could we somehow control this phenomenon; turn it to our own advantage in some way?

Part 3: Do Nano-wormholes Compose the Matrix of a Cosmic Over-mind?

By the end of Part 2 we’d only just begun to explore the possibilities of where the ramifications of these particle and tiny wormhole activities could lead us. But what’s it all about? Does this bizarre natural phenomenon, {Stephen Hawking calls the “Crazy Dance” of energy wave/particles and tiny wormholes}, have a function on the grand cosmic scale? In Part 3 we delved further into these ramifications and questions as we considered the idea of the “Crazy Dance” being a manifestation of a Cosmic Over-Mind.

Cover of Cosmic Consciousness by Richard M. Bucke

Part 4: What Comprises Cosmic Collective Consciousness?

Aside from us, what other components might there be within this collective? Just what is this collective consciousness a collective of? While highly speculative, my contemplations on those questions were explored in “Part 4: What Comprises Cosmic Collective Consciousness?” Concepts like streams of consciousness, and collective consciousness within a given living species were discussed.  

Part 5: The Collective Unconscious: Why Not Conscious?

Continuing with our speculative and metaphysical approach to this subject, in Part 5 we explored the question of why our connection to the Cosmic Collective is for the most part of an unconscious nature; Why not conscious? Why aren’t we always fully aware of our interconnectedness to this cosmic collective? Has it always been this way? Will it change some time in the future?

Cover via Amazon  The Eye of Spirit by Ken Wilber

Part 6: Affirming Existence of the Cosmic Collective

In Part 6 we moved into a different approach to the subject and started focusing on meditative exercises and experiments to help us sharpen an esoteric grasp of the part these tiny wormholes may be able to play in our personal lives. Part 6 presents the first of four meditation exercises designed to help reawaken our own personal connection to the theoretical Cosmic Collective Consciousness. With this exercise we seek to affirm the existence of the Cosmic Collective.

Part 7: Affirming the Extent of Cosmic Collective Consciousness

In Part 7 we focused on the next meditation exercise, affirming the Cosmic Collective’s extent of power. We also discussed the big 3 “Omnis”, omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. Furthermore, in Part 7 we explored questions like: If we accept the crazy dance as an active manifestation of a Cosmic Collective Consciousness, then is there a way we can expand our awareness of it? What can we discern or even deduce about the extent of this Cosmic Collective?  

Part 8: Affirming Our Awakening Connection to the Cosmic Collective

In Part 8 our focus was on the third meditation exercise on awakening our personal connections to the Cosmic Collective. We discussed widening our perspectives, pushing away the blinders that limit us, and seeing how many outmoded ways of thinking tend to hold us back. Willingness to acknowledge these blinders are present in our lives is an important first step. Questioning our preconceptions is necessary. It is only after we question that we come to realize we have gaps in our knowledge and reality understanding. Until we know those gaps are present, we blithely assume we already know all we need. So motivation for progressive change can not be until we acknowledge that need.

Part 9: Affirming Our Thoughts Within the Cosmic Collective

In Part 9 we focused on our forth meditation exercise on affirming that all thoughts and emotions of all beings are collectively combined within the Cosmic Collective. We opened our own realization that our thoughts, feelings, dreams and aspirations are also included and no matter who we are, our part of this collective is equally important compared to any other part, and should never be discounted.

Part 10: Additional Consequences of Tiny Wormholes

We moved on from our meditation exercises in Part 10, where we changed our direction and examined additional consequences of the existence of these tiny wormholes and the space/time matrix they make up. In a highly speculative, but thought provoking way we explored how these tiny wormholes could be part of the very mechanism of cosmic change through the application of fractal like formulations carried out over vast amounts of time, with immense numbers of iterations. This very long term process we speculated might even be the driving force behind evolution, not just of life but evolution of everything throughout the entire Cosmos and the very Cosmos itself.

Tetragrammaton Infinity  by Bill M. Tracer

Part 11: Aliens May Use Tiny Wormholes to Walk Through Your Walls

In Part 11 we took a different turn and looked at the quantum crazy dance from a more wildly speculative angle and explored how these tiny wormholes could be technologically enhanced and used by extraterrestrials or maybe by ourselves in the future, {or secretly, now}. Of all the series, Part 11 is by far the most highly speculative, delving into some admittedly science fiction-like concepts. But as we already know from history, some of today’s science fiction will likely be tomorrow’s science fact.

Image via Wikipedia

The Series Conclusion

These speculations have varied from the metaphysical to the esoteric, to the philosophical, sometimes scientific, to the most wildly science fiction-like. With many of the possibilities, definitive conclusions are far from viability. None-the-less stretching our minds in such speculative directions has benefits, even if it is just opening our thoughts into new perspectives. Throughout this series we’ve employed a great deal of “out of the box” thinking. When we confine ourselves within the box it may be safe, but it isn’t very innovative, and certainly subjects us to counterproductive self-imposed limitations. Personally I find great value in shedding self-imposed limitations. Far too often we say, “I can’t”, when we should be saying, “How can I?”, and then genuinely seek to find the answer. As long as we stretch our vistas, new innovations will naturally follow. And before we know it, we may find there is a method to the apparent madness, Professor Hawking calls the “crazy dance” of sub-atomic particles/energy waves and those tiny wormholes that permeate the Universe, percolating our reality into ever increasing complexification, driving Cosmic evolution through gradual iterative fractal processes.

Image Source   Another Psychedelic Spiral   by  Bill M. Tracer

If you’d like to read other speculative and/or philosophical works by the same writer see:

Will the Internet Become a Sentient Being? Part One

Will the Internet Become a Sentient Being? Part Two

Will the Internet Become a Sentient Being? Part Three

Will the Internet Become a Sentient Being? Part Four

Will The Internet Become a Sentient Being? Part Five

Infectious Ethos: Building a Viral Ethical AI

What is the Nature of Reality?

Subjective Conceptions Shape Our Reality

The Beginning is Near

Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?

Big Fuss Over Big Bang

What is Cathari Gnosis?

Pyramid of Cathari Gnosis

Evolution Need Not Threaten Belief in God

Do Nuclear Explosions Destroy Souls?

Superstitions Exposed

Moon Hoax Theory is Itself a Hoax

The Dual Mind: Logic and Intuition

The Dangers of Anthropomorphizing God

Inconclusive Truth

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A book series called Pop Culture and Philosophy is publishing books, aimed at 12-18 year olds, which are meant to teach the tenants of the major subdisiplines and questions of philosophy (logic, ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics are the most mentioned, note that there are large subdisiplines of philosophy not covered in these books as well as minor ones which are covered) by use of video games, particularly role-playing games, or RPG’s. So far, they have ones for Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda (now partially outdated with new games), and World of Warcraft (No Dragon Quest or RuneScape yet!). Outside of the RPG zone they also have Halo (I’m unsure how up-to-date it is), and outside of video games they have primers based on various TV and book series, popular music (mostly historical), and modern technology such as iPods.

With these books, many kids and teens who would not otherwise give a hoot will be prodded onto the fascinating field of philosophy by their favorite pastimes. What’s even moreso is that these books give the philosopher a unique look into gaming, prehaps making him into an avid RPG-er, as well as giving a whole new perspective on some games. My only real criticism of the series is that at some point the editors’ knowledge of the plots of the games seems to be weak at some points, and that the philosophy is only beginner’s level. Maybe they should make advanced versions of each book, as these books are written by legitimate philosophers and not cultural commentators pretending to be philosophers.

All in all, these unique books are sure to give any child a new look into philosophy, and any philosopher a new look into gaming, making me highly recommend them.

“When convention and science offer us no answers, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?” – David Duchovny as Fox Mulder (The X-Files, “Pilot”)

I think one of the most misunderstood things about the paranormal is that it may be normal. Things we don’t understand and perhaps simply don’t possess the technology yet to be able to fully understand the phenomena out there. If we did, wouldn’t those paranormal investigators be out of a job? Their area of study would just be “normal investigation”, nothing “para” about it. Nevertheless, their work must be done as the modern and mainstream accepted sciences want no part of it for the time being. Whatever is happening across the world, regarding all types of paranormal events and phenomena, it’s pretty clear something is going on. Unless the entire planet is in varying states of hallucination and hysteria, and let’s hope we find out if that’s true if it’s indeed happening…

I present another look at the strange happenings in our world. Perhaps, only the fantastic can be proven by the fantastic. Our world’s ecosystems are interconnected through the efforts of plants, animals, and the world around them to keep the circle of life moving. The paranormal maybe connected in the same way. Connected, both in it’s own separate existence from us, and with us moving in concert with our known ecosystems and life cycles. So, in my approach to this large area of the paranormal, I try to think of ways to connect the dots of the paranormal in such a way that they don’t contradict something else already existing, either in the world as we know it or maybe something that exists to us only in folklore.

To knock a few off the top, the existence of UFOs does not contradict whether the Loch Ness Monster exists or not. Both could co-exist at the same time. Likewise prophets and their prophecies don’t contradict the existance of ghosts. The cryptozoology field itself has a natural basis for everything in it to be true, just undiscovered. In another direction the idea of enhanced consciousness and levels of spirituality naturally contradict nothing in the psychical world. Science is moving in leaps and bounds in certain aspects of this area and it may one day be proven, but for now, telekenesis, telepathy and other mind powers remain in the paranormal category. No “mind power” contradicts any of the above either, it too can exist at the same time. To change directions again, Scottish legends of Little People could fall in a number of categories. It could simply be cryptozoology being a race of pygmies in different areas of the Earth.

It all must be approached with a healthy bit of skepicism of course. There are hoaxed tales and hoaxed evidence to all of the above subjects I listed. The thing to remember is that we’ve got tens of thousands of years of folklore, stories, legends and our modern sights to draw on for information. I believe all the pieces are there to solve some of the puzzle. We just don’t know what the big picture is supposed to look like. The vast majority of this field makes the average person take a leap of faith too far for them most of the time, but if enough people don’t do it, how are we ever to going to the bottom of our planet’s mysteries?

“Many of you know that I plan to enter into the military, and you’re probably thinking this is a discourse on my   willingness to sacrifice for the USA. But this isn’t about the U.S. Army. No, rather, this is about your life, your honor, and my honor.

Allow me to preface this by saying I don’t claim to have achieved perfection. Many times I am blinded by my own pride, shaken by weakness, or similarly incapacitated by my all-too-real human fallibility. Shit happens in this world, and we all step in it at some point.

But, like many others, I try my best. I hold myself to (for lack of a better, less colloquial, term) a strict code of honor. I never lie. Ever. “You’re brutally honest”, is I believe the way I was once described by someone extremely close to me. When I am committed to a relationship, I will never act unfaithfully, violating monoamory/monogamy. In whatever I do, I strive for my best–no matter how relatively good or bad my best is– and try to improve myself. I will not stand idly by as a witness to oppression, but neither will I mollycoddle the oppressed or the helpless; in the end, it is my duty to impart knowledge, inspire initiative, and develop strength, that they are no longer helpless and may free themselves from oppression. An insult to those close to me is an insult to me, but truth should never be punished. I will defend myself, but even more, I will defend my loved ones. This is both literal and figurative. I would be glad to spend my last breath knowing that I died in protection of the gift of their life (the value of life, part 2 of the ramblings… for some other time[which never did end up happening]).

And that, if I had to find one, is probably the core tenant in my code of honor. It is akin to the dying code of chivalry, but it is really the code of the Modern Human. It implies courteous behavior, strength of will, and principled, straightforward actions. It is the result of attempting to be a modern version of the Renaissance Man.

Why do I care? Because this world is losing its sense of honor. And, lacking honor, we lack many many things that allow our societies and especially our individuals to function and thrive. You all have lived, you know… life. I’m sure you’ve been fucked over at one or another time, because someone deceived you in some fashion. You probably did not enjoy that. As for me, I hate being lied to. I even hate the little lies, the half-truths, the white lies, the ones that people use in everyday life to keep parts of it from you. For me, if not for even a single one of you, the world would be better if we could all just speak exactly what we were thinking, exactly what we wanted to say. That’s why I speak frankly and honestly. Because maybe if I do, then juuuuuuuust perhaps some others will follow suit. And that would be great.

That’s one example. I don’t want to bore you, my very much appreciated Facebook friends who took the time to read all of this. Come up with your own examples. The point is, this world is lacking honor. No one’s word can be trusted, everyone is out for themselves, and the grasp of honesty and decency is slipping. Granted, morals are not nearly as aligned as they may once have been. But there are some commonalities that just about everyone can agree on, and we could all live by them. The problem stems from those of us thinking with their wallets, or their sex drives, or their fears.

My plea isn’t so complex. Return to honor. Introduce some simplicity back into the world. Lead happier, healthier lives. Or, at least, tell me why we shouldn’t.

As always, your comments are welcomed, and indeed asked for.”

Well, what do you think of my senior year discourse? A fiery and opinionated young man, wasn’t I? How crazy.

But if we’re using those guidelines, I’m positively insane now. Nothing I have done or seen or heard of or experienced in the almost-year since then has done anything to sway me from my views. If anything, I’ve become more entrenched in a few opinions.

• Lying: whether a white lie or just a straight-up deception, does not endear you to me. Whether you are deceiving me for your own gain, to protect me from something, or to protect my feelings from what you have to say, you can stow it. Obviously if you’re lying for gain you probably won’t care about what I want, but in the other cases I can try to make it clear that: I just. Don’t. Want to hear it. It doesn’t make me feel any better, and in the end when I find out–and everybody is so surprised when they’re found out, it’s like an old TV special–I feel worse. I’m not weak, I’m not sensitive. Whatever you think is going to hurt me so badly will be worse if you delay telling me, or deceive me into thinking something else is true.
• Loyalty: of all kinds is not only a praise-worthy trait, but a necessary one. Most people will take issue with this, but I am of the opinion that most people are unable to override their selfish tendencies to act in a loyal manner. Yes, you’ve dated the same man/woman for a month and haven’t taken anyone else out on a date. Bravo. But are your heart and mind in a place from which you can truly say that you are doing your best by not only your significant other, but by others close to you? This isn’t about whether you brought a peach cobbler to your neighbor when they moved in. This is about self-sacrifice, self-denial, and a certain amount of stoicism undertaken to benefit those about whom you care.
• Principles: I believe Steve Pavlina put it best in his article, “How to Be a Man”, though in turn I think that living by your principles is something everyone should strive for. “A man who values individuals above his own integrity is a wretch, not a free thinker. A man knows he must commit to something greater than satisfying the needs of a few people[...]When others observe that the man is unyieldingly committed to his values and ideals, he gains their trust and respect, even when he cannot gain their direct support. The surest way for a man to lose the respect of others (as well as his self-respect) is to violate his own values. A man’s greatest reward is to live with integrity, and his greatest punishment is what he inflicts upon himself for placing anything above his integrity. Whenever the man sacrifices his integrity, he loses his freedom… and himself as well. He becomes an object of pity.” That’s a rather long block of text, but I think it’s poignancy makes the point with more skill than I possibly could. I’ll elaborate and say that there is nothing wrong with questioning your own principles. In fact, it is desirable to self-examine and determine what you wish to keep in your life and what no longer serves your purposes in terms of self-growth and fulfillment. However, when you have decided upon those principles which you wish to uphold, and then you must decide on them, and you must uphold them. By allowing yourself to take actions which do not uphold your highest standards, you not only disrespect others by giving them less than they deserve, but above all disrespect yourself by acting in a manner that is not your best.
• Self-Examination: According to the Professor that was teaching my course on Critical Reading, Writing, and Research, the highest act of maturity in writing is to analyze a work for its merits and weaknesses, and especially analyze one’s own work. When speaking of individuality and principles, the same applies to each and every person. Some of the greatest thinking for yourself and others is to analyze their actions in relation to your world view (without judgement, I might add, though we all often fail at this caveat), and even more so to analyze your own actions and thoughts. Why exactly do you believe what you believe? What makes you react a certain way to that stimulus? Are you taking for granted certain assumptions about your life, or do you truly know your own motivations? Of course, sometimes personal motivations are just as difficult to fathom as the motivations of others. But any attempt each person can make to self-analyze brings each of us farther along our paths of self-growth and fulfillment. It is infinitely less difficult to accomplish the tasks that need to be done, infinitely less difficult to sharpen our own abilities and skills, and infinitely less difficult to uphold our principles when we know just what it is we are trying to accomplish.

Yes, I have strong views and opinions. But those strong views and opinions are hard-won from the past seven years of examining who I am, what principles I wish to uphold and embody, and what I wish to accomplish both for myself and for others. I’ve found what I want to live for. Have you?

What are you living for? Do you know who you are? Have you taken up those traits and principles on your own, or did they come from someone/somewhere else? Do you like them? Have they ever changed?

As always, I’d love for you to leave comments, questions, thoughts, and requests for further blog topics! You’re wonderful, have a great day.

Hume’s doubts are about the trustworthiness of our understanding. He wants to know whether the decisions man makes are in touch with the truth or the actual reasons why they happen. This leads to a speculation that is there something other than the actual reason which can guide our decisions. Hume believes this other guiding principle is experience. The problem Hume confronted was if a man does not base his decisions on the real reasons why things happen, but rather on his experiences, then isn’t he going to face problems in his life if those reasons change?  But since man does not know the real reason, there is the possibility that without his knowledge, the reasons can change. Man will be in doldrums because his old experiences cannot account for the new changes. Hume wants to know if man can trust the guiding principle that leads to the judgments he makes each day. An example that demonstrates this doubt is the formation of water from two molecules of Hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen.

Hume’s argument is that man does not know the most basic working principle that makes Hydrogen a compatible element with oxygen to make water. Chemists are able to manipulate the two elements to make water by using appropriate ratios, but they do so based on their experiments or experiences. But they do not know what makes protons and electrons in Hydrogen and Oxygen to form water instead of oil. Hume says, “Yet he has not, by all his experience, acquired any idea or knowledge of the secret power, by which the object produces the other…” (28). Hume’ qualm is if the properties of the two elements change, which might be possible because man is not in control, then will man be able to cope with that change and live? What certainty is there that Hydrogen and oxygen will combine to form water? Is there any evidence to prove this as a fact, beyond reasonable doubt? Hume is looking for proof that two molecules of Hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen will definitely form water. Hume wants to know if there is real evidence about the certainty of the supposed matter of facts around him.

Hume arrives at this doubt when he considers the difference between matter of facts and relations of ideas. Unlike the relation of ideas where an axiom is definite, such as in 3 + 5 = 8 which never equal anything else, according to Hume, matters of fact have contradicting possibilities of equal weight. It is a matter of fact the sun rises every day. Hume says that is one possibility, but there is also another equally pressing possibility; the sun will not rise every day. The idea that the sun will not rise every day could be true. Hume argues that man does not know the most basic principles to determine why things happen. When concerned with the sun’s rising, man does not know what universal principle prompts the earth to rotate on its axis at a fixed speed. Man has not experienced the sun not rising. But all knowledge cannot be contained in his finite experience, due to his short life span. Therefore, Hume reasons that no argument–whether the sun rises or it does not– is superior because man does not know the real reason why the sun rises. Hume considers that since man does not possess knowledge of the basic principles, they can change at any time leaving him without anything to go on. Man experiences the sun rise, Hume is looking for the evidence to prove that this matter of fact is more favored than the other possibility, which is the sun not rising. Hume wants to know what gives the one possibility of a fact– the sun rising each day– precedence over the possibility over the other equally opposite fact.

 David Hume believes the solution to his doubt about the evidence that leads to the certainty of one possibility of a fact over the other, is the pre established harmony. He believes there is a world-order, which drives everything like an automaton. It is this pre established harmony that makes the earth revolve on its axis and force Hydrogen and Oxygen to form water instead of oil. Hume points out that this evidence what he has been seeking. The harmony points to one matter of fact over the other, such as the sun will rise each day, instead of it not rising. The harmony is vital because it forces man to think a certain way and gives him certain experiences. The harmony forces man to experience the heat from a flame instead of cold. After experiencing pain, he will keep his hand away from all flames. Thus, it is his experience that fire causes burns and keep away from it. The pre established harmony forced man’s experience to keep away from fire, because the harmony itself decided that fires should burn rather than freeze.

Thus, using these experiences, man lives each day of his life on earth with assurance. But through experiences he knows enough to manipulate certain axioms in the world to his advantage. An example would be energy. No man had seen energy embodied in a physical state such as a solid or liquid. The most sophisticated machines can only detect the transfer of energy in chemical reactions. The products are seen after the reaction, but the actual component of energy, as in one gram of it, is not seen. But man can still manipulate energy to catalyze reactions that enable him to have the technological advances he has today. Though man does not understand the most basic workings of the universe, such as the comprehension of energy, he can gain sufficient knowledge to manipulate his surroundings based on his experiences. Man gains these experiences by interacting with the pre established harmony. The solution-man lives in a world that forces him to think and act certain ways with a few freedoms to live his life peacefully.

David Hume’s doubts concern the evidence regarding the possibility of one aspect of a fact over the other. To answer this doubt, the solution Hume proposes is the presence of a pre- established harmony prevalent in the world. Thus, the pre established harmony drives man to make certain decisions, by using the experiences he gains. The pre established harmony has the sun set to rise each day instead of not rising. Man, based on his experiences that the sun raises each day, gets up when the sun rises, and then when it sets, goes to sleep. In this process, he lives each day guiding his decisions while being guided by the world order.

Hume influenced the thought of many subsequent philosophers including Adam Smith, Rousseau, Fodor and many others (Image via Wikipedia)

Works Cited

Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Ed. Eric Steinberg. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 1993.

Image via Wikipedia

Friggatriskaidekaphobia, or an irrational and morbid fear of Friday the 13th, is a phobia that has affected many people across America, for centuries. Indeed, the fear of the number 13 seems to be embedded into the very fabric of our society. With most cities skipping 13th street, and most buildings excluding a 13th floor, it seems that  the negative associations with the number 13 has become second nature to us. But why? Here’s my top 5 list of why the fear of Friday the 13th remains so prevalent in our society.

1. Mysterious Origins- While the theoretical origins of Friday the 13th superstitions range from the idea that primitive men were mystified by the number 13 because they could not count passed the number 12, to the possibility that it was born based on the number of people at the last supper, the origins of this unholy-day are virtually untraceable. This only fuels the Friday fires more as, it is difficult to dispel a myth when you are unsure of its origins in the first place. That is to say, even many otherwise rational people may have an unhealthy fear of this day because there’s not enough information to rationalize against it.
2. The Dreaded Group Think- If you have at all looked into metaphysics, you know that thoughts give off vibrational frequencies and emit energy. Seeing as how we are all introduced to this myth at a very young age, when our minds are the most impressionable, part of us will always hold the superstitions associated with it, as fact. This means that just based on the fact that it is Friday the 13th, the negative vibrations and energy increases on a massive scale which thus, causes more negative events and experiences to take place, which in turn, makes Friday the 13th seem all the more valid for friggatriskaidekaphobiacs. 
3. Black Cats & Broken Mirrors: Unavoidable Bad Luck Symbols- Along with learning about the day itself, we were also given some symbols which many of us will always associate with negativity and bad luck. This is only magnified on Friday the 13th as, people already fear the symbols and the day separately so, when the two are combined, panic may ensue for those involved. The problem is, black cats exist and can and will cross the path of many daily; Friday the 13th is no exception to this. The same can be said for broken mirrors, nobody breaks a mirror on purpose (usually), but when these types of things occur on Friday the 13th, this only fuels the fear of this day as our brains subconsciously associate the two. But are there actually stats on bad luck associated with these phenomena, or is it all just smoke and mirrors?
4. Jason, Ware-wolves, Witches and other Shady characters- What’s more, along with real life occurrences, we are also conditioned to hold some belief in supernatural occurrences on Friday the 13th. This is yet another train of thought that requires the suspension of rationality. That is to say, part of us will always believe that supernatural happenings are at least possible, if not, plausible. The idea that there’s a black magical cloud sent into the atmosphere from some spell-casting, cackling, witches coven, causes many to believe that there’s something inhuman in the air, which only adds to the acceptance of this un-holiday. This further adds to our collective fears on Friday the 13th because while our rational minds are laughing and shrugging it off, our subconscious minds are saying but what if it’s true?
5. Freak Accidents- Of course accidents happen, but on Friday the 13th, they’re magnified. While there is undoubtedly a spike in accidents (car accidents reportedly spike about 13%, and emergency room visits have been know to spike up to a whopping 52%), this is likely due to the fact that many people are holding these ideas in their heads and thus, almost willing these events to occur. I mean, if you leave the house thinking Oh no! Something bad is going to happen! then is is likely that something bad will happen. Multiply that sentiment by millions and it’s no wonder why the sudden spike in accidents occur on this day. But is it because it’s Friday the 13th, or are people just more nervous…because it’s Friday the 13th?

Whether you believe in Friday the 13th as an un-holiday is almost irrelevant as, the group think of it all will likely overshadow your personal rationality. Either way, if you love your mother, you might want to avoid stepping on any cracks…

Sensitize yourself to be constantly alert for opportunities to use every psychic trick you have up your sleeve. It doesn’t necessarily have to be some gigantic project that you direct your energies toward, although it certainly can be.

Perhaps you hear on the radio that a gunman is holed up in your city, and he has hostages. Use your psychic ability to project to that gunman; talk sensibly to him at the psychic level so that he will not harm anyone. Project courage and protection to the hostages.

What if you aren’t certain how to go about some demanding task that your boss has asked you to perform? Use your psychic abilities to find out what to do. Solve the problem in your mind, and then do the work as your mind directs you. Problem Solved!

You might see a child crying on the street. If you are not able to stop and physically help the child, then send help and comfort at a psychic level.

I am not advocating using your psychic help as a cop-out so that you don’t have to render physical aid. Never. You should always offer physical help whenever possible. There are thousands of times, however, when you just are not able to help physically. In those cases, us your psychic abilities.

Now that you have committed yourself to a new way of life, there is one final piece advice I want to impress on you.

Don’t become impressed with yourself. Don’t go around announcing to the world or to whoever will listen, “I am a psychic. Let me butt into your business.”

I give this advice because I personally know psychics who have become egotistical and self-centered. The only course of power is the supreme source that created everything. You have the privilege of being a channel for the expression of that power.

As for the cry, “I am psychic!”-so what? So is everyone, potentially. Big deal. You have merely have learned how to use some of the abilities given to you as a birthright by your Creator. There’s no need to get big-headed about it.

Live your life in quiet happiness, using your psychic ability to create a better world for yourself. Your life is already beginning to change for the better in some measure.

If you continue to exercise your psychic ability every day, even if only for brief moments, the changes will continue to occur and become more profound. You are the entire play, the script writer, the actor, the stage manager, and the director. Your success rate is directly proportional to your efforts, persistence, perseverance, belief, expectancy, intensity, and openness to experience and learning.

There are a number of things you will notice happening as you become more and more one with your higher mind. You will have experiences that come in a flash of total awareness that nearly defies adequate description. This is because our vocabulary is designed for the physical world we are temporarily residing in, and these experiences are non-physical. Hence, at best our physical-world words only partially embrace the needs of describing a non-physical world.

If you experience music in the physical realm, it will be extraordinary profound and beautiful that you will be unable to adequately express it in words. You will see things in mental images. You will hear things in non-verbal sounds, You will gain a total awareness of something in a slit-second; it may take several hours to verbally explain the information you received in that flash, and even then, you will find your explanation falling short of what you know in your mind.

“Oh, I have loved him too much to feel no  hate for him!”–Jean Racine

We could not have lived without love.  Loving with the best  we can  is a quest;  being loved  best is  a precious gift, an ideal.  BUT WHEN LOVE IS LOST WHAT IS LEFT? WHERE DOES IT GO?

To answer this question we have to  accept this premise:  LOVE IS OUR PERFECT GIFT FROM GOD, AND SO IF THIS GIFT IS PERFECT, IT CANNOT BE OPPOSED OR DIMINISHED  OR  BE LOST FOREVER. We often speak of love as the most intense, most powerful, most marvelous, most beautiful  feeling. By that token,  it can be opposed  and diminished only by  a passion or feeling  equal to or  stronger  than  itself   from the opposite end of the spectrum. Since by our  experience and intuition there’s no passion  or feeling that can equal or exceed the beauty and intensity of love,

Image via Wikipedia

 then, we cannot provide its antithesis. LOVE CONQUERS ALL.

LOVE  defies meaning. So, to  look for the opposite of love  becomes more  mind-boggling. All the books about wisdom are always so small to define love  and identify its antithesis. It’s so huge and elusive that we only have to experience it. Walt Whitman finds love in Nature to keep in touch with love: “A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.”– Meaning, love is just under our nose. It’s in ourselves. 

LOVE IS PERFECT. THERE’S ANOTHER ONE THAT IS PERFECT: YOU.  It’s  we  humans who  tamper with perfection. Doing so causes suffering or pain.  We strangle love and in the process  diminish or stain   its perfection. We invent and insist on paragons of virtue and  models of perfection.  We force people into this mold, and if they had not been devastated before, we will surely  devastate them now.

So one way to preserve love is  to rid ourselves of expectations. “When you  cease expecting, you have all things.”–Buddha.–  We should not expect much from people. They were not born to meet our expectations. One day he/she is saying goodbye. Oh, as if goodbye were enough! We feel betrayed. Take what is given and keep it in your heart. “Blessed are those who take without forgetting.” Accept the person as a temporary gift in your life.  It’s useless grieving when it’s just as cheap and easy to rejoice even if the happiness is for the other person.  

Forgiveness softens the stones in our hearts. If we cannot forgive, we destroy forever the bridge  to cross to the other side.  As time passes, anger subsides and it is amazing how we feel  the cracks in our  heart filling with water little by little to quench our thirst for love: we survive.  

LOVE, an extraordinary gift, ”just doesn’t sit there like a stone: it has to be made like bread; re-made all the time, made new.”–Ursula K. Le Guin. — Why waste time questioning  where love has gone when what we need to GROW LOVE is  already in us?    ###

Image Source    Fractal Me a River Version 2.0 Variation Six   by Bill M. Tracer

With our next meditation exercise we focus on affirming that all thoughts and emotions of all beings are collectively combined within the Cosmic Collective. We’ll open our own realization that our thoughts, feelings, dreams and aspirations are also included and no matter who we are, our part of this collective is equally important to any other part, and should never be discounted. We begin by considering; what is the essence of each of our contributions to the Cosmic Collective Consciousness?

Understanding Our Essential Nature

Essentialism: the belief that all are imbued with “essence”, and that each of us are like droplets in the ocean of the total essence, existing on a cosmic level. This Cosmic Essence is an idea with much in common with the metaphysical philosophy of the Cosmic Collective Consciousness. Pardon the pun but it is essentially the same concept, expressed with different words.

Total Cosmic Essence is where all essences intersect, so that the total essence is composed of the complete coming together of all the many essences of the entire. As we suggested in the earlier Part 4 of this series, What Comprises Cosmic Collective Consciousness?, when we talked about streams of consciousness flowing together to form the complete collective consciousness, within this total essence there are sub collectives of essences. For instance, a given individual Human being may embody the essence of kindness, but there is more to that individual than just kindness. That same individual might also embody the essence of fear when confronted with some particularly frightening event. They might also embody the essence of love and compassion on some other safer and warmer occasion. When enraged that same individual would embody the essence of anger. While during emotionally calmer times, when logic is needed, that same person could display the essence of logic. We are not simple beings. Within each of us there exist several simultaneous essences, like within the total essence intersecting collectively. Like the parts of a hologram, each Human being reflects within themselves a mini version of the Total Cosmic Essence. Each component part is an image of the whole. This is how we are made in the image of the Source, not in a literal physical fashion, but within our essences of beinghood. The many aspects of our essence holographically reflect the total essence that is the Cosmic Collective Consciousness. Therefore all thoughts, all feelings, indeed all of our internal mental and emotional constitution, all that makes each of us who we are, our very souls are within this collective. As we come to embrace this notion, we begin to see that each unique individual is just as important, just as special as any other individual. No one should be elevated to a higher position over and above anyone else. No one is more important than anyone else! Celebrities are not more important than you. Politicians and/or royal families are not more important than you, even if they think they are. Likewise, military officers are not more important than you. Religious leaders, (both living and historical), are not more important than you. Yes, even though it may be difficult for some to embrace, even the Dali Lama is not more important than you, nor is the Pope. It is nothing more than vanity that makes anyone think they are more important than anyone else. And while vanity is an emotion that is also an essence within the collective, when it becomes unbalanced it can lead one astray from this essential realization. Simply put, none of us are any more important than any other us, and all of us are just as special as any one of us. If you reject this, then you reject the most essential truth of all truths of all conscious beings in the entire Universe.  

Before Getting to the Next Affirmation Meditation Exercise

Now, before we get to the affirmations for this particular meditation exercise let us reaffirm what has brought us to this point in the series, thus far. It would be helpful to refresh our memories of our previous meditation exercises, by referring back to Part 6: Affirming Existence of the Cosmic Collective, Part 7: Affirming the Extent of Cosmic Collective Consciousness, and Part 8: Affirming Our Awakening Connection to the Cosmic Collective. As a foundation upon which to build this current affirmation meditation, we must practice the methods of relaxation described in the earlier parts, including establishing a meditation site, your personal scheduling, the “Zo – Om” breathing exercises, the Purification Meditation, the Energizing Meditation, and Opening the Inner Vortex. These exercises and meditation practices lead us up to our next meditation exercise, and require this sort of building process for any of these exercises to make sense.

The Importance of Continuing to Visualize the Inner Vortex

As we have done all along throughout these exercises, we dare not neglect going through the purification and energizing meditations. After which we will have settled down into that calm still place within. That will be the time to alter our focus from our breathing to that most focal of our sensory aspects, our inner eye. Like discussed in Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8 visualize the inner light or bright spot or what some call the inner vortex, and turn your “third eye” toward it. It is generally an indistinct form with fuzzy edges that dance within your inner vision. Sometimes we find it calm, or even barely present. Other times it churns with great activity, shrinking and expanding alternately. On especially lively nights you see it spiraling in upon itself, until it nearly disappears to a tiny dot, only to re-blossom, spiraling outward again. Sometimes it almost seems as if the inner vortex has its own weather patterns that differ perhaps in relations to the Earths magnetic field fluctuations, and maybe even in relation to actual atmospheric weather patterns, especially when electromagnetic forces are concerned, such as when thunder storms are near or present. As we stated before, this vortex is our inner visualization of our quantum level connection to the Cosmic Collective Consciousness, and as such it seems to be subject to all levels of energetic interplay with our Mother Earth, as well as the Cosmos beyond. This light vortex is how we see our own inner view of the crazy dance. It represents the many tiny wormholes that serve as our very own personal conduits to the Cosmic Collective.

The Power of Imagination is Greater Than We Imagine

It is at this point that we must again assert our power of imagination. The imagination is an awesomely powerful psyche force that we all have within us. Unfortunately, so many have willing allowed this powerful inner world component of their lives to virtually atrophy. If you have fallen in that trap, telling yourself that you just don’t have much of an imagination, then you must start telling yourself otherwise. Create your own affirmation exercise in which you reeducate yourself, affirming that you do have an active imagination, and by virtue of imagining that you do, you will find yourself reclaiming this natural in-born and abundant power. Now with this power, we must imagine ourselves consciously in control of our connection to this collective by focusing our essence toward the inner vortex. This all may seem very strange to some, especially to those who lift up science, as the only standard to measure things against. It all may seem like mystical mumbo jumbo to those who hold logic supreme. But odd though it may appear there is a certain science to it, even if much of this may seem more like fringe or pseudo-science. It has long been held that the pineal gland in the Human brain may well be what we might call our “psychic” center. See Third Eye – Pineal Gland for more details. If true, then finding ways to “exercise” this pineal gland would be desirable. Once one has achieved the calm meditative state these exercises can lead one to, the Human brain reaches what is known as the Theta brain wave state. In this state brain activity becomes very centered, with periphery brain activity calmed to the minimum. The pineal gland is fairly centered within the brain, and is therefore in its most active state when the brain reaches the Theta mode. This may be key to seeing how these meditations and affirmation exercises can help focus our brains in such a way as to activate our dormant or perhaps at least under used psychic centers.    

Visualize as Well as Affirm

Like in all of our previous exercises, while in this meditative state, repeat the affirmations of this exercise multiple times in your mind. Focus on your inner vortex, and use your power of imagination as you visualize yourself pushing these affirmations into the vortex. Remember to do more than just repeat the words in your mind, but take it that extra step and actively visualize the desires represented by these words. Push these visualizations into your vortex. Deliver them in your minds eye directly to the Cosmic Collective Consciousness, via your vortex connection. As stated before, you don’t have to speak them out loud. But, if you wish to vocalize your affirmations, it is fine. However, as you speak these words; be sure to visualize the actions of those words, as well. In the end, the visualization is more important than any mere words. The power is not in the words, but in the concepts they represent.  

Constant Reinforcement is Key

This affirmation exercise, like those that came before, continues to progressively help us naturally remove our pesky blinders both self imposed and culturally implanted, and overwrite the erroneous limits we’ve programmed into our reality perceptions. To continue getting the fullest benefits from these exercises, you must be diligent. After all, the limits under which we labor were not just set before us one time. It took much repeating from multiple sources to convince us of many of these limitations, and it may likely take just as many if not more of our inner repetitions to “unconvince” ourselves and realign our thinking. Once more, allow me to reiterate that behavioral scientists say when we do anything repeatedly and consistently for at least fourteen days, we can transform that behavior into a habit for good or ill. Consequently, I continue to suggest that you practice this forth affirmation exercise, just like the first three, repeatedly no less than fourteen days, preferably more often, and this will be setting a good habit in the process. Be sure to remember that as you affirm these concepts within your meditations, that your essential thoughts and feelings are no less important than the essential thoughts and feelings of anyone else.

 Affirming Our Thoughts * Within the Cosmic Collective

“I Affirm All Thoughts * Are Within the Cosmic Collective Consciousness.”

 ”I Affirm My Thoughts * Are Among All Thoughts *.”

 ”I Affirm My Thoughts * Are Within the Cosmic Collective Consciousness.”

 * {and Feelings} If you prefer the terminology of Essentialism you can substitute the word Thoughts * with Essences.

We move on from our meditation exercises in Part 10 where we will examine additional consequences of the existence of these tiny wormholes and the space/time matrix they make up. In a highly speculative, but thought provoking way we will explore how these tiny wormholes could be part of the very mechanism of cosmic change through the application of fractal like formulations carried out over vast amounts of time in, Additional Consequences of Tiny Wormholes Part 10 of the series – Tiny Wormholes and the Crazy Dance.

If you’d like to read and/or study or just catch up with the entire series, Tiny Wormholes and the Crazy Dance, the following links will direct you to all other parts:

Part 1: Our Brains Are Full of Tiny Wormholes!

Part 2: The Metaphysics of Particle Physics

Part 3: Do Nano-wormholes Compose the Matrix of a Cosmic Over-mind?

Part 4: What Comprises Cosmic Collective Consciousness?

Part 5: The Collective Unconscious: Why Not Conscious?

Part 6: Affirming Existence of the Cosmic Collective

Part 7: Affirming the Extent of Cosmic Collective Consciousness

Part 8: Affirming Our Awakening Connection to the Cosmic Collective

Part 10: Additional Consequences of Tiny Wormholes