Experimenting With Time20th Nov 2003 “There is no such thing as a fixed universal scale. Even to us the divisions of our arbitrary time scale can pass at very differing speeds.” T.C. Lethbridge ‘The Power of the Pendulum’ Imagine trying to describe colour to someone who has never witnessed it before. The limitations of our vocabulary become immediately apparent and eventually, language fails us in our endeavour. This definition of ‘experience’ as opposed to the methodology and scientific logic of physics is astutely discussed at the beginning of J.W. Dunne’s ‘An Experiment With Time’,(1) a book much cited by T.C. Lethbridge. ‘An Experiment With Time’ was published in 1927 and it is difficult to imagine how it was perceived by a world that was still drawn to the scientific reasoning of Victoriana. Even in the opening lines, Dunne is quick to assert that this is not a book about ‘occultism’ or ‘psycho-analysis’, subjects that were already being frowned upon by academics and those in the scientific community. However, as Dunne states, it is a “cautious reconnaissance in a rather novel direction…”. Ultimately, mankind’s ‘voyage of discovery’ is limited to the sea-worthiness of our vessel. We can only work with the tools that are available to us, for our comprehension of the Universe is based upon how we can scientifically evidence our observations. Without this scientific evidence, our views and theories are merely philosophical. Because of human nature, our perception of ‘truth’ is always going to be subjective. Imagine two people in a cinema watching the same film, each will have their own recollections, but because of their unique personalities, the focus of their attention in each scene may differ entirely. One, may focus on the leading lady’s actions, the other may focus upon a classic car that pulls into shot in the background. Our ability to comprehend the whole scene, for 100% of the time, is limited, but because of this, the observer will leave the cinema with their own perception of events. The greatest part of any scientific enquiry is the role played by the experimenter. The medieval alchemists believed that the elusive ingredient was ‘the self’, the unique part played by the chemist. The two people in our cinema scenario may well have been observed by a third person who has spent the entire movie not watching the film, but monitoring the two members of the audience – what was their version of events? Their understanding of the proceedings in the cinema may have a wider, more universal perspective compared to that of the viewer who spent the entirety of the film ogling the leading lady. Whether we like it or not, as experimenter or observer, we too become part of the trial, for our own presence has a bearing on the outcome of events. Of course, this chain of events could, in theory, continue infinitum, each observer progressing up the ‘chain’, each participant influencing and memorising events. Lethbridge was intrigued by this concept of the role of the conscious mind of the observer and in ‘The Monkey’s Tail’ he contemplates on whom, or what would observe a future time. The conclusion? This chain of spectators must surely lead to a single, omnipresent observer – god? Lethbridge searched for a middle way, one observed the laws of science, but yet was sympathetic to universal and theological viewpoints. He believed, that consciousness was a faculty that we had developed in our own evolution and that any evolution, be it in plant or animal, must have taken place in the ‘seed’. Without the presence of a conscious mind to observe events both terrestrially and universally, how could we possibly define reality? In ‘An Experiment With Time’, Dunne discusses ‘Animism’ a term used to describe the intervention of the observer. It is this intervention or ‘soul’ aspect that intrigued Tom Lethbridge. It was this ability to observe and interpret our dreams that enabled the savage to become the conscious being that we have become. It is our ability to focus and maintain attention that enables us to enquire and it is from this ‘focus’ that our memories are created. But this comprehension is a ‘double-edged sword’, for with this attention comes the failing of or ability to understand the world outside this main focus of events. This ‘tunnel vision’ prevents us, like our two members of the cinema audience, being able to comprehend events in the auditorium as well as on the screen. The memories taken away by three people in the cinema that day may have varied greatly. Dunne believed that dreams were the key to understanding time. He believed that they contained memories, not just of the past, but also of the future. He was astutely aware that in being able and willing to undertake the dream experiments, mankind had made a leap forward in understand ‘time’. Dunne believed that there was a need to record dreams to gain a success rate of dream analysis. This actual recording process is crucial to human evolution, for by undertaking this proactive stance, it challenged mankind’s relationship with time. Perhaps there is no definitive answer to the ‘big questions’, for the answer will be contrived as a result of mankind’s intervention – basically, revealing an open book of possibilities. Dreams of future events may not necessarily come true or be detailed and entirely accurate. The dreamer’s consequent actions determine his or her own fate. The momentary waking glimpses of the future know as ‘déjå vu’, enable us to take stock, but these ‘glimpses’ are far too rapid for analysis. This glimpse of ‘the future’ enables us to make conscious actions to determine future events, but their significance is lost instantaneously. But unlike déjå vu, dreams are a mixing of future memories, a displacement in time which often requires triggers, arousals and recalls before they emerge and flood into the conscious waking mind. Nature provides us with a barrier to stop this ‘future time’ interfering with our conscious, material world, but dreams provide us with this ‘gateway’. Dunne discussed ideas such as ‘The Memory Train’ and ‘The Train of Ideas, methodologies designed to open the ‘gate’. Dunne’s task was to find the barrier that divided past and future knowledge, but deep down he knew that the barrier didn’t exist. He believed, that all one had to do was to arrest all obvious thinking of the past, and the future would become apparent in disconnected flashes. The observer could then alter his or her course of action, and as a result of these pre-observations, events may be prevented from happening. There was in fact free will. In the opening chapter of ‘Mankind and Mother Earth’, the historian Arnold Toynbee states, “A human being feels as if he is the centre of the Universe because his own consciousness is, for him, the point from which he views the cosmic, spiritual and material panorama. He is also self-centred in the sense that his natural impulse is to try to make the rest of the Universe serve his own purposes. At the same time, he is aware that, so far from being the Universe’s true centre, he himself is ephemeral and expandable; and his conscience also tells him that, in so far as he gives way to his self-centredness, he is putting himself morally, as well as intellectually, in the wrong.”,(2) It is this disillusion that has resulted in mankind’s separation from nature. Our ability to capture moments in time by using film and photography and to record its progression, somehow gives us a foothold over something that is totally abstract to our material world. I can watch a live football match and be on the edge of my seat knowing that within minutes I will be either elated or deflated at the final result. However, I can also record the match and watch it later, still unaware of the outcome, I will still experience the excitement as if watching it ‘live’. For with the use of technology, I have created my own ‘timeless’ reality - a ‘reality in a bubble’. As events on the videotape unfold, I know I only have to click on the Teletext or speak to someone ‘in the know’ who is sitting next to me, to discover the final result and immediately I will once again find myself in ‘real time’. The crucial element here is that I am still observing ‘sequence’, but out of time. Lethbridge astutely observed, “Time, as we know it in daily life, is just convenience for the observation of sequences of events.” ,(3) If mankind has advanced to a point where it is able to create this ‘prefabricated’ reality, surely nature too must ultimately be able to surpass our ‘amateurish’ attempts to control ‘time’. Like Dunne, Lethbridge understood that nature would always be one step ahead of any man-made discovery, for he knew that our scientific knowledge was in its infancy. By presenting his ideas and theories as possibilities he was quite prepared to challenge other, more academic minds to prove him wrong. But, ultimately, he knew that we would have to shed the baggage of our material existence to comprehend the greatest gift – a comprehension of time. welbourn TEKH – Lincoln - November 2003 Notes: 1. Dunne J.W. (1927) ‘An Experiment With Time’ A. & C. Black Ltd. 2. Toynbee A. (1976) ‘Mankind and Mother Earth’ Oxford University Press p.3 3. Lethbridge T.C. (1971) ‘The Power of the Pendulum’ Routledge and Kegan Paul p.6 |
 Tehk's Journal |