Expanding the Boundary: Examining A Mental/Physical Dualistic Model By Frank Landis, 2011 A View of the Physical/Mental Boundary from the Mind Side Any scientific examination of boundary conditions includes a study of how cause and effect propagates through the boundary. Let s look first at the flow from the physical to the mental. I will use the word awareness to refer to this aspect of the boundary interactions. I refer to the universal mental aspect as Mind and I use the mind or a mind to refer to the mental aspect of one instance of the interaction between the mental and physical. As Mind becomes aware of the physical world, it observes a time and space location. The mind, becoming aware of the now of the physical, can derive meaning from the minute changes in the physical characteristics of the boundary area. I like to picture it as being similar to the view from under the ocean. From there you can see things in the ocean and you can see changes in the surface caused by the winds above. You cannot see the land but with enough experience you can begin to imagine how the land is affecting the wind and visualize the land as it might be. It is the same with our minds, becoming aware of the physical world through the ripples of variation in those locations where the physical world is so thin, quiet and subtle that the cause can clearly be seen and understood. These locations must be continually balanced and supported to retain the necessary characteristics of calmness and order and to sustain the boundary characteristics. Sustaining a connected boundary is not possible in other locations, which are of dense matter, high energy and complex interaction, the signals are unusable and cannot contribute to the understanding of the wider context. Any meaning that these locations can provide is only about those very localized phenomena and cannot contribute to the understanding of any surrounding contextual information. In order to see why the understanding of the wider context is important, we must next explore the complementary behavior of the boundary. As each phenomenon in the physical world causes an effect in the mind and the mind becomes aware, the mind causes an effect in the physical world by exerting Frank Landis Page 1 of 5 2011-12-19
intention upon the physical phenomena. This, of course, is an extremely subtle effect. Such an effect can only expand to the wider context if the physical location where the effect is seen is constructed in a way that amplifies the effect to cause a larger result. We can see now that there would need to be physical structures, which provide and maintain the boundary zones, through which mind has a connection to the physical world. In turn, the mind can then use the influence of its intention to affect the world in a way to continue the existence of the physical structures that allow it contact to the world. This is the basis of life and indeed of beingness, in general. The Living Interaction Anywhere in reality where we can see a system of persistent dynamic stability, it is probable that the influence of a mental living reality is at work. In most cases this living interaction is limited to the local area. The subtle changes in forces and fields that maintain the stability of particles, atoms and molecules are limited to the local area. There is no awareness of the wider context. At this scale, the interaction that I describe has such a subtle effect that it is not generally recognized. The common proposed (and generally accepted) idea is that the parts just fit together this way. But when you ask for an explanation of why these parts are the ones that exist, the answer is always a reference to the way that a smaller context operates. For example, organic molecules remain stable because of the characteristics of the atoms. My position is that at each level of organization it is the influence of mind that adds the small increment of control necessary to provide stability. At these small contexts it is hard to picture any purpose other than stability, which at other contextual levels might be characterized as balance or survival. I am sure that we all agree that these are values that recognized living systems seek and support. My extension of this common position is to suppose that wherever we find these values that mind is in some way involved. In this view, the mind at each level of context finds a way to combine elements into structures that allow mind to gain an increased awareness of a larger context. Increased awareness provides information that is used to bring about stability. The physical elements of the smaller context contribute Frank Landis Page 2 of 5 2011-12-19
to the larger context without losing their individual characteristics. Atoms do not cease to exist when they form a molecule, but the physical characteristics of the molecule are the result of a new level of organization. The amount of matter is no more than the total of the parts; however, mind expands and takes on the purpose of the larger context. A new level of mind interaction is created without any reduction of the smaller level interaction. Mind is available at every level of context to interact with the physical reality and it can do so whenever the physical reality is organized to provide the necessary conditions. Time and Consciousness When the mind is aware of physical reality it gains information only about the past. When it uses intention to influence physical reality it can only change the future. This temporal aspect of the interaction is an extension of the sequential cause and effect characteristics of the physical reality combined with the knowledge aspect of the mental reality. The oneness of this temporal relationship is what becomes our impression of a present instant. The awareness interaction creates knowledge of the past in the mind. Existing knowledge is excited by newly created knowledge when similar patterns interact. The excitement results in desires or preferences being formed by imagination that in turn are expressed through the intention interaction. None of the parts of this descriptive model should be conceived of as separate objects, phenomena or events. This process of being is continuous and indivisible. At most levels of context this process results in a basic, I could say instinctual, living behavior of the supporting structures. As we follow the increasing complexity up through the levels of organization, we can identify specific levels where a different kind of behavior becomes evident. This occurs when a type of structure emerges that becomes aware of its own ability to affect its environment. Some parts of the structure (organism?) become capable of being aware of the intention of other parts of the structure. It is as if the structure is watching from the future, looking at the present, while intentionally affecting the present from the past. These two simultaneous interactions are unified in the mental reality. In the mind, time does not exist the way it does in the physical. Mind, in complex structures, can operate in multiple frames of reference. These frames can encompass knowledge that corresponds to different times in the physical world. Examples would include memories of the past and dreams of the future. By operating simultaneously in the intention, affecting what is Frank Landis Page 3 of 5 2011-12-19
starting to happen now, and in the awareness, of what is occurring now, the mind completes a loop of interaction. I can use the word consciousness to label this phenomenon, as it occurs at the human level. The conscious mind is aware of its own intention. I suggest this as a definition of consciousness. The word consciousness has been used in many ways often leading to disagreement and confusion. By agreeing to focus its use to phenomena that have the basic characteristics of the awareness of intention interaction, we can unify and clarify our understanding of this aspect of human reality. This human consciousness is a special case of the general nature of the interaction of mind with the physical reality. Here, I will use the word beingness to represent this wider view of the process of mental-physical interaction. Being human is the only example of the process of beingness that we, as humans, can directly experience. We must not allow this limitation to prevent us from seeing that beingness is the foundation of existence at all levels and that this process involves mental, as well as physical, characteristics. Contexts of Beingness The larger, more complex and longer that a structure can continue to exist, the larger that the body of accessible knowledge becomes. This emergence towards increasing complexity goes through cycles of organization. This cycle of increasing organization starts and ends with the achievement of beingness at each level. I will attempt to identify some of these stages. I believe the following three levels of organization exhibit the characteristics of beingness. The nucleic acid molecules, the cell and the human being all show evidence of reaching a plateau of organization that set them apart from similar structures. Small and medium size molecules have an instinctual, perhaps we should say natural, behavior. Stability seems to be the goal of the structure. When we look at larger molecules, out of the vast variety comes one type that has ability beyond any seemingly natural characteristics. The nucleic acid molecules, in the appropriate environment, can build a new level of structure. Cellular structures emerge as the next level of organization. Out of the vast variety of cells, there are specific cells that can form plants and animals. Zygotes and germination cells have the ability to generate the next level of structure. At the level of plants and animals, the human beings seem Frank Landis Page 4 of 5 2011-12-19
to be the structure that generates the next level. I can only speculate on what the next level is. Life is Natural The aspect of reality that seeks stability and growth through interaction between dynamic molecular forms and the mental reality of the process of beingness leads to the phenomenon called life. So, in my view, life is a special case of the force of beingness that exists everywhere, at all levels of structure. It is a characteristic of reality. The common view, when trying to define life, draws the line at some arbitrary level of organizational structure and declares that structures below this level are not alive. This arbitrary declaration is what creates the concept of death. When you try to separate life from other parts of reality you must have a description for what is not alive. As science explores smaller less complex structures it fails to see the characteristics that represent the continuum of beingness and that life is a special case that is an inherent part of reality. In my view, the concept of death represents a transition back to a lower level of beingness structure. While this loss of organization is no less tragic than in the more common view, it eliminates a source of fear and opens a possibility of finding a more coherent explanation of the many death and near death phenomena that are reported and believed in by human beings. During life, the mental aspects of beingness search through the past and future of the life form, and find ways to influence the physical reality through the living form. The mental aspects of the life form do not exist within the time of the physical form. From the viewpoint within physical reality, after death can only refer to the form, not to the mental aspect of beingness that participates in the form. Many philosophies and religions find many different ways to try to express that non-correlation between the time of the living form and the timelessness of the being. Conclusion Having progressed through this examination of a Mental/Physical Dualistic Model, as conclusion I can only offer that a repeat reading of the beginning may allow a deeper view of the foundational boundary principles, after following various explorations into related aspects of this approach. Frank Landis Page 5 of 5 2011-12-19