At the inception of modern science three centuries ago, physics was a mechanical science with Isaac Newton as its principal founder. Modern western culture still essentially revolves around the Newtonian idea of space and time, ascribing a mechanical nature to most phenomena. The dogmatic idea of a real and objective material world that is completely separate from a mental/spiritual world is the “evident” background of modern science. In other words, Newtonian science accepts the Cartesian chasm without critiquing it.

Conventional science remains limited by the philosophical milieu into which it was born three centuries ago, still strictly bound by the Newtonian-Cartesian view of reality. The whole universe, included living nature on Earth, is seen as a giant machine that can be pulled apart and put together again. As a consequence, Nature has no ethical meaning. Mankind is not seen as part of Nature, but is viewed as being different. Hence the fight against Nature, leading to increased ecological stress.

Because modern western science was born against the background of a particular philosophical view, it has no validity even according to its own scientific method. Its essentially mechanistic view is taken for granted and not viewed as a working hypothesis. Is the metaphysics of an age the physics of the previous age? The present mechanistic/materialistic view comes directly from 19th century physics, not from ideas born in the 20th century. Modern science still strongly resists any paradigmatic change that could modify its general interpretation.

This article briefly reviews some of the major philosophical breakthroughs in western scientific thinking of the past century: relativity, quantum physics, system theory, and the study of mental phenomena. It then considers the cultural consequences of our behaviour towards the natural world if a new scientific paradigm would become acceptable, in the hope that an ethic could arise that includes the natural world and which could result in a beneficial influence on today’s mounting ecological problems.

Classical physics

In his book The Turning Point (New York, 1982) Fritjof Capra wrote:

In contrast to the mechanistic, Cartesian world-view, the emerging view from modern physics can be called organic, holistic and ecological; or a systemic view, in the meaning of general system theory. Universe is not viewed as a machine composed by a lot of objects, but as a not-divided, dynamic whole, with completely interconnected parts that we can understand only as dynamic patterns of a cosmic becoming.
(Translated from the Italian version of the book)

The classical background of physics, which remained almost up to the middle of 20th century, posits the existence of an objective, material world with its own physical laws. The observer’s task is to find these objectively existing laws. All phenomena occur in space and time, which are absolute and existing independent entities. The first crack in this mechanistic view came in the 19th century with thermodynamics and the concept of field. But thermodynamics was explained as a statistical-probabilistic mechanical movement and field was reduced to a mathematical concept useful for simplifying calculation. The mechanistic view was strengthened by these explanations.

The only non-mechanical development was Maxwell’s electromagnetic wave theory. But again, the atomic theory of matter strengthened the mechanistic world-view: the 92 “small balls” (atoms) became the building-blocks of reality. Radioactivity, which appeared around the turn of the century, showed that atoms are not indestructible, but are themselves composed of smaller particles: protons, electrons, and later, neutrons. The “balls” are much smaller, but there was no fundamental change of concept, the three “elementary particles” being described as the universal constituents of matter.

Relativity

With special relativity (1905), space and time lost their own independent and absolute existence and matter and energy became the same thing. With general relativity (1916), gravitational fields became the “geometry of space-time.” Scientists could now write physical laws valid in any reference system, for any kind of movement: acceleration takes place within a gravitational field. The revolution in concept seemed fundamental, but scientific thinking was still bound by the Cartesian view. Matter and energy may be interchangeable, but the principal chasm remains: there exists an objective energy/matter world that can be explored by a separated human mind.

Matter impenetrability (the empty-full dualism) and the logic “A cannot be not-A” are still considered obviously true. Everything, any problem, any process, can be divided in smaller and smaller parts, with no attention being paid to the fact that any such reduction cannot be neutral nor always valid, because is brought into being by philosophical prejudice. Non-quantifying and non-measurable entities are denied.

Present thinking has perhaps accepted the energy-matter unification, but it still stops short. Energy and matter are physical entities, but mind is different. It researches an externally objective physical world. Mind is human only, some bold thinkers attribute mind to other beings if they have a central nervous system, such as other mammals. Ethics deals only with mind-endowed, living beings, which means only humans.

Quantum physics

In 1927, Werner Heisenberg stated his well known uncertainty principle regarding the position and speed of a particle. Heisenberg realised that we cannot know both values simultaneously. If we choose to define one, the other is indefinable, so the observation “chooses” which value to know. The principle is valid also for other couplets, like energy-time: if we want a precise time, a particle has a completely undefinable mass/energy. There is nothing we can pin down in any way. The mind-nature of these entities is perhaps only concealed by mathematical language.

In the 1930s, many debates took place among physic scholars and the “Copenhagen interpretation” emerged. Uncertainty is not a limit of our measurement or our senses, but is a characteristic of the whole world; it is in the nature of the universe. We cannot divide phenomenon and observation, because there is no “objective reality” at all. The Cartesian split between mind and matter is over: we cannot divide them.

Erwin Schroedinger reached the same conclusion as Heisenberg in his Schroedinger equation, which talks about the chance of finding a particle in a defined position. His statement of fuzzy logic enables us to a describe a phenomenon against time. This observation collapses probability into “certainty” — could it be another attempt to make the observer important, centuries after Copernicus revolution? Some view this as a return to anthropocentrism, and the anthropic principle later emerged from this, positing that the universe is “made for mankind.” But a marmot, a mountain or a stream can say the same. Any entity can regard the universe as being made for itself.

The idea of quantum vacuum comes from the uncertainty principle being applied to the energy-time couplet: there is no firm particle or other entity, the only reality is a kind of creative vacuum, an energy dance in which entities are born into being and then vanish. The full-empty dualism disappears. “A” and “not-A” can exist together.

System theory and collective being

At the second half of 20th century, the study of systemics worked out the notions of the complex system and collective being. As a complex system evolves, its evolutionary path becomes completely unexpected after short time. It soon reaches some unstable branching-point, after which it follows a completely different path even for infinitely small differences before that point. This means that we cannot forecast with any chance at a correct prognosis.

We used to say that the system takes one or another way by chance, but we can also say that the system chooses its following way. Mental phenomena emerge in complex systems. (G. Minati, Esseri collettivi, Apogeo, 2001). According to English philosopher-scientist Gregory Bateson, mind emerges from the complexity of a system. Different phenomena behave in different ways, even with the same identical previous evolution. The Earth’s atmosphere is a typical example of a complex system: the forecast of weather is completely impossible beyond a short time due the butterfly effect, the system’s reaction to an unstable branching-point. The emergence of the mind in a system reduces to nonsense the idea that anything could be exactly repeated. A complex system generally has a different story in any case. The “exactly checked conditions” of science have no real meaning.

Coming back to quantum physics, observation itself is the unstable branching-point of the system. The importance of the observer is over (Prigogine). From this point of view, we can say that mind is ever-present in natural phenomena. (Here, mind has not the same meaning of consciousness, as psychoanalysis teaches.) Thus, we are in a natural world formed by mental entities, with no exact border. Human entities are only a part of the whole, thus our ethics must concern the whole of Nature. The idea of other sensing beings comes also from some Eastern philosophies, mostly of Indian origin such as Buddhism and Jainism, where ethics concern all beings and not only humans. The occurrence of mind makes a system worthy of ethical meaning.

Some examples

Some experiments were carried out on social insects (termites). Shielded and with complete isolation from all known fields among termite groups of the same colony, the termites were perfectly able to built a colony with complete precision on each side of the shields, its exact plan not suggested by any energy field. As well, each insect was able to perceive at once any kind of trouble in any part of the colony. The simplest hypothesis is that termites have (or are) a collective mind. Cartesian science ascribes the label of mysticism to any knowledge outside its dogmatic background.

Termites are only one example, there are so many other similar entities, such as a species, a culture, an ecosystem, a society, a cell, a tree, the whole Earth. An ecosystem is a mind-endowed complex system — this is perhaps why we feel emotion in a forest, there is an emotional exchange between ourselves and the forest. Many American native tribes perform a rain dance in an attempt to influence the weather system, sometimes with good results, sometimes not at all. Other living beings — a forest, a swamp, a species — are also mental entities. From a different approach, Jungian author James Hillman wrote about our immersion in the world-soul.

Ethics demand respect for all natural beings. We can now speak about the mind of the total system, the whole biosphere; this is the concept of Gaia (by Lovelock, Margulis, and Sheldrake). We are now very far from the traditional idea of an external man who studies and changes at will a world made by energy-matter. The dualism between the energy-matter world and the mental/psychic/soul world (viewed as an exclusively human property by western culture) is over; the Cartesian chasm has disappeared. We also leave behind the idea that mind is only the output of a central nervous system.

Current thought and official world are still on a “ninetenth century position”, in which the universal is mechanically made by small particles, where mankind only is mind-endowed and worth of ethical regard. The way we have attempted to follow gives us a hope: to find again the spirit of the tree, the swamp or the stream.

About the Author

Guido Dalla Casa is an ecologist and writer who lives in Milan, Italy. An updated edition of his 1996 book Deep Ecology has been published by Arianna Editrice as a 170-page e-book Deep Ecology: Steps To A New Worldview. An abridged English translation of the original can be downloaded as a PDF at Steps To A Deep Ecology.

By Viktor Postnikov

Windmill generators at Findhorn Bay in Scotland

My first spiritual breakthrough came at the Schumacher College (UK) in 2004. Initially, my secret hope was to meet Fritjof Capra, whom I had known since the late 1970s by his Tao of Physics and his later books, especially The Turning Point and The Uncommon Wisdom. The course I was admitted to (special thanks to Jan Slakov and Patrick Curry) was called Earth, Spirit and Action. It was absolutely fantastic. Course leaders John Seed, Ruth Rosenhek, Starhawk, Alastair McIntosh and Verene Nicolas, each provided a “signpost” that unambiguously spoke to my deepest aspirations.

Undoubtedly, I had received many signposts before in my life, but I was blind to them, never paying attention to their significance. Verene Nicolas first stirred a conscious interest in my inner life patterns when she asked each of us to draw a design that could reflect our life journey. I drew the spiral with the “signposts” that I thought were important for me. I was amazed by the consistency of these signposts. Since then my life has become far more meaningful, and my direction soon was set once and forever.

I found poetry in John and Alastair, courage and magic in Starhawk, grace and profoundness in Verene. Although I did not meet Fritjof Capra, Stephan Harding gave a brilliant introduction to holistic science and Gaia theory. Satish Kumar, a spiritual teacher at the College, told about his personal pilgrimage and Hindu spirituality, which was especially appealing to me as I translated several books by Swami Sivananda and was generally hooked on yoga.

The magic of coming to Schumacher College could be illustrated by a mysterious incident. I had brought my favourite books of poetry by Rabindranath Tagore with me, and to my astonishment, the very first day as I ascended the staircase I saw a painting by Tagore himself hanging on the wall! It was a gift of the poet, who had visited the Centre! For me, it was a magically significant sign.

Another “signpost”

I left Schumacher College inspired and enriched by the course. But I needed to go further, to create something beautiful both for myself and out of respect for the teachers. Coming home, though, I found myself once again drawn in the same exhaustive political, social and personal turmoil. Obviously, most people around me were moving in different direction. I badly needed another “signpost.”

Thanks to David Orton, it came through my acquaintance with Douglas Tompkins. I had suggested several books for translation, and without even knowing me, he agreed to finance the project. That was magic. I spent two years in translating in Russian, editing and publishing the two radical authors William R. Catton and Jerry Mander. To my delight and to the delight of many others, the books have attracted the attention of many people and their impact is growing. In 2006 I felt that I need to go on. At that time, I became seriously interested in the Ecovillage movement and eco-localism as an alternative to capitalism. Then I remembered that somebody I met at Schumacher College was from the Findhorn Foundation. The name of that village kept resonating in my head.

In 2007 I was accepted for the Experience Week in the Findhorn Foundation — definitely another signpost. The Experience Week was my coming back to humanity. We danced, played games, touched one another, and laughed and fooled around like children. I badly needed that because I was experiencing enmity towards people around home at that time. People differ widely; sometimes it seems we belong to different species. Experience Week brought me together with a group of like-minded people, and soon we felt like one great family.

The psychological games and the direct tactile contact exercises of the course created a unity among us more than dry lectures ever could. In the ordinary life we avoid tactile contact, narrowing the circle with whom such contacts are deemed desirable or acceptable. We do not allow ourselves to behave in a child-like way. On the contrary, we pretend to be learned adults. This is a major difference between Schumacher College and the Findhorn Foundation. While the former is a serious adult education establishment, the latter is definitely more of a child-like playground. Possibly, the child in me had long been waiting to awaken.

During Findhorn’s’ Experience Week I met beautiful people from around the globe, both in our group and among the teachers. We met 80-year old Dorothy Maclean, one of the three founders of the Findhorn Foundation, and Craig Gibsone, the elder of the community, who is a shaman and a visionary. The stately architecture of the Cluny Hill College where I stayed vaguely reminded me of Schumacher College. But the excursions to the eco-village The Park near Findhorn Bay, the forest and the sea, planted the seeds of hope in me that some day I would live in nature.

Return to Findhorn

The very next year I enrolled in the Exploring Community Life course with a desire to develop an in-depth knowledge of the community. I landed in a group of six wonderful women and a fantastic facilitator (also a woman), and was absolutely pleased with my life. We were having a lot of fun together, and I definitely felt that I was at the right place. The Transformation Game was the crux of the program, a psychic journey through one’s own life. I played the game with two women from our group, and the experience was awesome. It was as if our lives were correlated and intercepted.

Meeting Craig Gibsone during the Experience Week was definitely another signpost. Craig told about his life in the ’60’s, his acquaintance with aboriginal culture, his study of permaculture, and his pioneering work with the founders of the ecovillage. I began seriously thinking about his course on Ecovillage Training, and how my own affiliation with alternative energy could fit into his course and the life in the ecovillage in general. I wrote him, and my wife and I were invited to join the course. I was not sure we could afford it until the very last moment, but after receiving a bursary, I knew we had to go.

The course had to begin on February, 14th, 2008. We flew to London on Friday the 13th. (Perhaps that was the reason for the cheap tickets?) The aeroplane took off into the snowy night sky with a shudder. However, the sky over London was clear. We took the midnight London-Inverness bus, and after endless attempts to sleep in a sitting position, reached Inverness thirteen hours later. The ancient Highlands capital greeted us with spring in its surrounding mountains, beautiful and fresh. Another bus to Forres, a little snack, and we were nearly in the village.

When we finally arrived at the Ecovillage we ran immediately to the community center, where the program had already started two hours previously. Gosh! It had been a stressful journey: Would the plane arrive on time? Would we catch up the bus? How we can exchange the money? But as soon as we saw Craig’s smiling face as he rose to hug us, all our fears evaporated and we began to relax.

The room was full of people, 32 participants from 15 countries, sitting in a circle. Each was given a few minutes to speak. The number of participants, the diversity of faces was at first overwhelming. To remember all their the names seemed a hopeless endeavour. Craig had two sympathetic facilitators, Gabriella and Elizabeth. Their friendly smiles immediately won our hearts. They had both been raised at Findhorn, and despite their youth, they are experienced facilitators. Following the Findhorn practice, we draw an angel for the group, it is Abundance. Then everyone draws his or her own angel. Mine is Clarity — exactly what I needed. The whole month confirmed the relevance of these “messages from above.”

Soon we become a family or tribe, or as someone put it, “a perfect ashram,” talented passionate youth, eager to change the world for the better. For the first time, my scepticism had been shaken. We thoroughly studied the principles of permaculture, which included People Care (building effective eco-villages), Fair Share (new social economy and sustainable food), and Earth Share (eco-design, wilderness restoration) presented by Craig and other teachers. Craig built his own house and garden on permaculture principles to act as a model and laboratory for all. My respect for Craig had grown enormously, as he masterly steered the program with ease, shamanic wisdom, and a child-like openness.

The fourth week was dedicated to the projects we developed around the course material. Each of us was to bring our expertise home and to implement a project. While rambling in the dunes of the nearby seashore during this time, I found a beautiful white Turbinella pirum shell. According to Wikipedia, “the shell has considerable significance in Buddhism, representing the beautiful, deep, melodious and interpenetrating sound of the Buddhadharma, which being appropriate to different natures, predispositions and aspirations of disciples, awakens them from the deep slumber of ignorance and urges them to accomplish their own welfare and the welfare of others.”

Could I have ever found a better sign?

About the author

Viktor Ivanovitch Postnikov is a Russian-born independent scientist (DSc.) who lives in Kiev, Ukraine. A prolific poetry translator, he has also translated books on both eastern philosophies and deep ecology, and written many essays on Russian anarchism and eco-poetry for journals and other publications.

Aknowledgement

My deepest thanks to Stuart Hertzog for tidying up the text and placing it on Dandelion Times.