AT THE FRONTIER OF SPIRIT AND MATTER:
ELECTROMAGNETISM AND THE SACRED INDWELLING
Especially in
the last decade increasing attention has been devoted to the role of
electromagnetic phenomena play in modern life.
This has been evident in a whole spectrum of scientific, technological,
and medical work from quantum computing and cell interactions in living tissue,
to studies of the nature of consciousness.
Here the purview of electromagneticism's domain is extended by examining its relevance to our
spirituality. In order to understand
this relevance we need to discuss electromagnetism and the characteristics that
make it special. To help us do this we
must first see where electromagnetism stands in relation to the other forces of
nature.
As
far as we know today there are four different physical forces. One or more of them acts at every level from
the microscopic to the cosmologic realm to pull things together and yet keep
them separated in just such a way that we and the universe are here.
The
strongest of the forces is the nuclear force, which, for example, keeps quarks
together in clumps of three to form protons and neutrons, and, in turn, keeps
protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom. Next in order of strength, is the
electromagnetic force, which will be discussed further shortly. The third is known as the weak force, which
comes into play in the radioactive decay of a nucleus and many other elementary
particle phenomena. By far the weakest
of the four is gravity.
Just
how weak gravity is compared to electromagnetism, for example, can be shown by
the simple, well-known experiment of using a small magnet to lift a nail from a
tabletop. The little magnet is able to
do so again the gravitational attraction imposed by the whole earth.
With
some idea about what the four forces are, let us see how they, and especially
electromagnetism, came to be in the evolution of the universe. According to the estimates of most
cosmologists, some fourteen billion years ago, give or take a billion, the
universe was incredibly concentrated.
At this initial stage of the universe's life all of the forces of nature
are considered to have been unified as one force. While the forces were separating and doing their thing, the
particles in contrast were joining together to make more complex particles in a
series of successively cooler "soups." As the universe cooled, each new soup contained the more complex
particles synthesized from the more elementary particles of the previous
soup. After the last soup, the galaxies
and stars formed, and finally on earth came life, plants, animals, and humans
and their consciousness.
I
would like to begin with the last soup at 300,000 years and describe
electromagnetism's role in the universe's evolution from that point on. This soup occurred when the universe had
expanded and cooled sufficiently to allow negatively charged electrons to
attach themselves to positively charged nuclei by means of the electromagnetic
force to form electrically neutral atoms.
This made it possible for electromagnetic radiation (light) to move freely
throughout the universe without being trapped in constant interaction with the
ionized medium of electrically charged particles that characterized the
previous higher temperature soups.
It
is the cooled remnant of this radiation that constitutes what is called the
cosmic microwave background (CMB) today.
The entire universe is bathed in this very low-energy electromagnetic
radiation, which is electromagnetism's first, and still present, imprint
on the cosmos.
The
different colors seen in the usual presentations of the CMB represent temperature
variations, which in turn, reflect mass density in concentrations deduced from
this background. It is now thought that
by means of the gravitational force these density concentrations became seed
attractors, pulling in more and more neighboring matter, ultimately resulting
after billions of years in the stars and galaxies we see today. The shining of the stars is the result of
the tremendous heat generated by nuclear fusion reactions, whose outward
pressure balances the inward pressure of gravity. Thus, the stars and galaxies constitute the second means by
which the universe is immersed in electromagnetic radiation.
After
exhausting their nuclear fuel, first generation stars collapsed under the
unimpeded gravitational pressure, resulting in supernova explosions that
produced the heavy elements, the "stardust," of which we are
made. Second and third generation stars
then formed, many with planets. Our sun
was one such star, and it bathed the earth with electromagnetic radiation that
was vital for the evolution of life and humankind. Thus came what I see as the third stage of
electromagnetism's role in the universe's evolution: the stage wherein the full range of its exquisite subtleties came
into play. This stage saw the evolution
of life, trees, animals, and of humans who are conscious and conscious of being
conscious.
To
summarize, nature's four forces working in conjunction made it possible for the
universe after the first three hundred thousand years of its life to become
transparent and for electromagnetism to make its first enduring mark by
immersing the universe in primordial light, the cosmic microwave
background. In the eons that followed,
the four forces again joined to form the galaxies and stars, whose light
constituted electromagnetism's second signature by gracing the universe with
billions and billions of "points" of light. Finally, in the third stage involving the evolution of life, of
humans, and of consciousness on this earth (and perhaps on planets of other
stars), electromagnetism pursued its own separate path and fulfilled its
awesome potential virtually independent of the relatively passive role played
by the other three forces
(Fagg 1999, 125).
It
is this realm of earthly nature energized by a host of underlying electromagnetic
phenomena that I now want to look at, and I want to start by giving a little
historical background. It has always
been the mission of physicists to be able to describe and predict the behavior
of as large a range of physical phenomena as possible with as little
mathematics as possible. That is, they
are always striving for an "economy of equations." In particular there have been continuing
attempts to unify some or all of the four forces into one theory so that one
set of equations describes all phenomena instead of a set for each force. Attempts to formulate what is termed a
Theory of Everything are frequently discussed in the popular literature. It is well known that Einstein tried
unsuccessfully to unify electromagnetism and gravity for a major part of his
life.
But
the first major unification of this kind was accomplished by James Clerk
Maxwell in his "Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" in 1873. With a set of equations of elegant
simplicity and symmetry he was able to give a unified description of the
electric and magnetic forces. Maxwell
thus showed that electricity and magnetism were simply aspects of one force,
electromagnetism.
One
of the most important results of Maxwell's work was that the electromagnetic
radiation predicted by the theory turned out to propagate at a speed about
equal to the speed of light as experimentally measured at the time. It was soon realized that the whole spectrum
of radiations, radio waves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, and
gamma-rays were all electromagnetic radiations moving at the speed of
light. So that the word
"light" has now become a common generic label for all electromagnetic
radiations, especially among physicists.
Some idea of the sweeping range of these radiations can be shown by
inspecting a diagram showing them on a scale in powers of ten for both
frequency and wavelength.
Just
how intimately light can be understood as part of electromagnetism and how
universal it is in a general sense was revealed in the next major refinement of
electromagnetic theory. This came soon
after World War II when Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, Shinichiro
Tomonaga, and Freeman Dyson completed the formulation of quantum
electrodynamics (QED). Their theory
reconciled Maxwell's theory for electromagnetic phenomena with the universally
applicable basic theories of the quantum and relativity. QED, although applicable only to
electromagnetic phenomena, is the most accurate theory in all of physics,
predicting numbers that agree with experiment to better than one part in ten
billion.
QED
showed that the electromagnetic force between electrically charged particles is
carried by unobservable quantum force-transmitters. They are called virtual photons.
This is in contrast to real photons (real photons being blobs of
electromagnetic energy, that constitute visible light). The virtual label may seem to imply that
virtual photons do not exist, but this is not so. Though they cannot be directly observed, their existence is
certified by the fact that without including them, QED calculations could not
yield results which are in such incredibly accurate agreement with experiments.
In
part because of the accuracy of QED but also because of the wide technological
application of electromagnetic theory, the electromagnetic force is known far
better than the other three forces. Its
effect and presence in all aspects of our life and relation to the world is
ubiquitous. Electrons are constrained
to orbit around the nucleus of an atom by the electromagnetic force via its
virtual photons. It is the same
interactive "glue" that keeps atoms together in a molecule so that
all of chemistry and biology at root operate via the electromagnetic
interaction, thus making it possible for bacteria, which are the smallest living
cells, to exhibit the purposeful mobility, coherent collective action, and
remarkable sophistication they do in their growth and survival. At the other end of the biological hierarchy
we ourselves, and all our organs, are run by this mechanism, from the
interactions of blood cells to the activity of neurons in the brain. So that our most intimate interaction with
matter, and the means by which consciousness interacts with matter, is via the
electromagnetic interaction.
Thus,
the ability of your eyes to see a tree and for your brain to process and
interpret their content is based on a host of underlying quantum electrodynamic
events. The capacity of resonating
strings to yield the soaring strains of Brahms's Violin Concerto, for the sound
to travel to your ears, for your ears to process the sensations, for your brain
to respond to the music--all depend directly or indirectly on the
electromagnetic interaction.
It
is the same interaction with its photonic "glue" that governs the incessant
interplay of the molecules in air and water that collectively unite their
motion to give us sound and ocean surf.
While it is gravity that keeps us, all earthly objects, and the
atmosphere attached to the Earth, it is the electromagnetic force with its
mediating photons binding the atoms and molecules tightly together that yields
the vibrant stasis of solid objects. So
that it is a prime factor, along with certain quantum effects, in keeping the
table lamp from falling through the table, and the table from falling through
the floor.
It
is this force that makes possible all modern communication: telephone, radio, TV, satellite, etc. Furthermore, whether we are examining the
microscopic realm of elementary particles with gigantic particle accelerators
or probing the heavens with giant telescopes, in either case the knowledge we
gain is mediated by the electromagnetic interaction. Virtually all experimental studies of the other three forces,
whether in the microscopic or the cosmologic realm, are conducted through an
electromagnetic "sensor."
This, of course, includes the operation of all the computers and complex
electronic instruments that store and analyze the data, and that make
calculations based on the data.
However,
perhaps the most relevant feature of electromagnetism is the host of very low
energy, electromagnetic events that make possible the life of humans and their
consciousness. The extreme subtlety of
these events is quantified in experiments in microbiology which show that voltage
gradients as low as one ten millionth of a volt/cm and frequencies between
0 and 100 cycles/sec are involved in the interaction between cells in
living creatures. All plant and animal
life is bathed in, and interacts with, a sea of such very low frequency
radiation that envelopes the Earth.
This is independent, independent of the radiation superimposed by
technology (Adey 1993).
The
universality of this radiation and the incredibly sensitive and subtle
electrodynamic interactions that are involved in its generation elicits what
for me, as a physicist, is the most challenging question. How is it that four simple properties of
electromagnetic radiation can combine with such minute sensitivity to
physically underlie our consciousness?
Let me be more specific.
There
is an inexhaustible variety available in the continuous ranges of these four
basic properties of electromagnetic radiation:
amplitude or intensity, frequency, phase (providing
the capacity of electromagnetic waves to mutually reinforce or cancel), and polarization
(exemplified by the light that passes through your polarized sun glasses). These properties not only characterize
visible or detectable radiation, but also the unobservable photons (virtual
photons) that quantum electrodynamics tells us transmits the electromagnetic
force, the same force that is the undergirding physical mechanism keeping our
hearts throbbing and energizing the brain to make possible the unceasing chain
of thoughts that fill our consciousness.
How
these properties, these electromagnetic tools, can be orchestrated to provide
the physical basis for the incredible richness of life and human consciousness
on this earth is to me the most awe-provoking question. As a physicist I can understand how two
hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom can combine to form a water molecule, and how
water molecules can agglomerate to create the exquisite hexagonal symmetry of a
snow flake. But understanding the
principles of the marvelous organizing action that utilizes innumerable quantum
electrodynamic agents to fashion the creatures of this earth and physically
underlie our consciousness, I believe, is a challenge that will be with us far
into the indefinite future.
An
equally impressive manifestation of electromagnetism's universality is the role
that its radiation (light) and its speed play in our understanding of the
structure of space-time and the nature of the cosmos. Although the 300 million meter/second speed of light is
extremely fast, it is not infinite.
Light's finite and measurable speed sets the pace at which we learn
about the behavior of the cosmos. Some
of the farthest galaxies are estimated to be some 13 billion light years
away. (A light year is the distance
traveled by light in one year.) This
means that the light arriving at the astronomers' telescopes now allows them to
see the galaxies as they were 13 billion years ago. So the farther away a galaxy is, the further back in time is our
observation. The history of the entire
physical universe is spread out before our eyes, and it is electromagnetic
radiation that tells the story.
Obviously
I could go on indefinitely giving examples of how universal electromagnetism
and its radiation are in our internal and external experience. For no other phenomenon of physical nature
so totally and intimately permeates and affects our lives and our world,
providing the means by which humans can in turn sense the inner presence of the
sacred in all of earthly nature.
For
example, one part of nature, light (which, again, is electromagnetic radiation)
has served as a primary medium for the spirituality of men and women since the
dawn of human consciousness. It has
been an essential component in the creation myths of a variety of different cultures
throughout the world. These include not
only the biblical creation accounts, but also creation myths of the Navaho and
Zuni in the Southwest United States, the Polynesians, and the Egyptians, to
name a few.
Besides
being among the first emergents of the creative act in such cosmologies, light
subsequently figures prominently in characterizing the nature of God's, or a
deity's, posture with respect to humankind.
Scriptures of religions worldwide are replete with the use of light to
symbolize God's provident and salvational relation to men and women. As is well known, the Bible contains many
such examples, particularly in Isaiah and the Psalms of the Old Testament and
John's Gospel in the New Testament.
In
Sura 57 of the Quran light proceeds ahead for believers and is provided by
God so that believers may walk straight.
In the Bhagavad Gita, the scriptural jewel of Hinduism, we read "I
behold thee...as a mass of light shining everywhere with the radiance of
flaming fire and the sun."
In
many of the spiritual paths traveled by the Christian mystics light has been a
major feature in the visions they have experienced. For example, St. Theresa of Avila speaks of "a light
which knows no night" and Mechthild of Magdeburg: "The flowing light of the
godhead." Jesus, Christian saints,
and the Buddha are pictured with a halo of light surrounding their heads. Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus
was accompanied by a blinding light.
Many of those who have had a near death experience report finding
themselves at the final stage of the episode in the presence of a "being
of light," that exudes unquestioned warmth and love and requires
unequivocally honest response (Moody 1976).
The
quiet, calm glow of a small candle has been a spiritual symbol for men and
women for millennia. Such use of candles
to symbolize the spirituality expressed in rituals is found in religions
throughout the world.
Furthermore
the reference to light as a symbol or metaphor is voluminous in the writings of
theologians and religious scholars worldwide.
But each of them, among many others, saw in the spiritually directed use
of light a clear distinction between the worldly light that god created and the
uncreated Light that characterizes God.
So
whatever God there may be has provided the photon of electromagnetic radiation,
as a very early feature of creation, as an indispensable ingredient of our
daily lives, as a means of communication for all humankind, and as an
intimation of divine presence.
However,
complementing the role that light plays is the role played by the non-visible
properties of electromagnetism. Again,
it is the electromagnetic interaction that activates all of the biological and
chemical operations that give life to earthly nature. It is this life, this muted dynamism, that those with the
reverence for nature see has having a spiritual, indwelling aspect. Literature worldwide abounds with rich
descriptions of the unqualified spiritual sense of a divine presence in
surrounding nature. This sense has been
cogently expressed by such Christian mystics as William Blake, Jacob Boehme,
St. Rose of Lima, and, of course, St. Francis Assisi. For him all creatures were brothers and
sisters; brother sun - sister moon; brother wind and sister water. St. Rose saw in the sway of the
flowers, rustling of the trees, the trill of the birds, and the hum of the
insects, a symphony that joined her in the praise of God. The eminent scholar of mysticism,
E. Underhill, writes: "The
flowery garden of the world is the veritable clothing of God"
(Underhill 1961, 191).
In the
East the vibrant presence that inheres in nature especially characterizes the
Toaist, Shinto, and some Buddhist traditions.
For example, in Taoism the Tao is the mysterious quiet that pervades the
natural world; and in Shinto anything from a specially located rock to a tree
can possess a spirit, called kami.
In
this century there are religious thinkers whose philosophic approach to the
phenomena of the natural world implies a spiritual indwelling and the influence
of God. Leading among these are Alfred
North Whitehead and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Whitehead saw the natural world proceeding by means of
irreducible events or elements of experience called "actual
occasions," which can be influenced, but not determined, by God. Teilhard speaks of the "within of
things" characterizing all of nature.
But the immanence in nature expressed by all of
these sources, East or West, finds its most proximate physical undergirding in
the electromagnetic field. This is
essentially the reason I see this field as a meaningful physical analogy to
God's or some divinity's indwelling.
In
suggesting this I needed to be reminded of what analogy is. Webster's dictionary gives as its primary
definition: "A similarity or
likeness between things in some circumstances or effects, when the things are
other-wise entirely different."
Thus the similarities and differences between any two given things can
vary to almost any degree. In other words,
two things may have just one similarity but a host of differences and vice versa. Analogies through the use of metaphors,
similes, etc. are incessant in our conversation, writing, and daily lives. In our train of free associative thoughts,
during the day, the trigger for the next thought is almost always an analogy,
however seemingly trivial.
In
attempts to describe the nature of God as Creator, for example, in the
Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, metaphorical analogies have been used for
centuries. God has been called a
watchmaker who wound up the universe and started it ticking; a playwright, with
us the inept actors; a painter who, with the splash of a brush, produced
nature's florid display.
Of
course, the most serious problem in using such analogies is the awesome
unbridgeable gap between the perfection and transfiniteness of God and the
finiteness of us and the world. An
analogy is only an analogy; it is not the real thing being analogized. And in the case of using part or all of
finite creation as an analogy to some aspect of God, it is very far from the
real thing. Nevertheless, despite the
gap between us and God I believe a case can be made for the use of analogy in
formulating meaningful references to God.
Analogy
is one powerful means to help us understand something about God. Analogy helps connect us to God. Analogy helps us place ourselves in a
properly realistic perspective with respect to God as the ideal, and thus
places us and nature in a conceptually reasonable relation to God, by being
both not only separate and different but also linked to God as derivative
creatures bearing the signs of the creator.
One
primal way that we are able to feel linked to God's being is by our awareness
of some sense of that being in us and nature, that is, God's indwelling or
immanence. But wherever that indwelling
can be perceived on this Earth, it is electromagnetism that provides its
physical grounding. While it is true
that any analogy involves both similarities and differences and is by
definition an incomplete comparison, especially in reference to God, I reason
that one of the most complete of the "incompletes" is the
electromagnetic field, specifically with respect to God's indwelling
(Fagg 1999, 104).
This
hypothesis is based on essentially on how this interaction can be seen
to be analogous to divine immanence.
First, they both share in the property of ubiquity, both are all
pervasive in our world. Second, they
have analogous ranges of intensity from the most subtle and sensitive natural
phenomena and human experiences to the most powerful and awesome. Third, they are analogous because light is
so often used as a sign or symbol for God's inner presence. But light is electromagnetic radiation. Just as God's light extends far beyond what
we can see, so analogously the electromagnetic spectrum extends far beyond what
is visible. Fourth, just as there is
beauty in a spiritual experience or insight, so also there is beauty in
physical nature and the elegance of the electromagnetic equations that describe
the depths of that nature.
One
area of study where the notion of analogy has been used is in the evolution of
life. Especially in recent years
evolution has been a major subject of discussion in the science-religion
dialogue. In virtually all of this
dialogue the science referred to have understandably been the biological
sciences, e.g., biology, neurophysiology, zoology, etc.
However,
I suggest that the landscape for this dialectic study could be significantly
broadened and enriched by seriously considering the physics that has been
involved in life's evolution. In
particular, perhaps it is timely to ponder what it might mean that
electromagnetic interactions underlie and activate all of the phenomena studied
by the biological disciplines.
Life's
entire evolutionary process from the assembly of molecules to form first, a
bacteria cells, then the host of plant and animal species, and finally humans
and their consciousness has occurred through the utilization of electromagnetic
phenomena. In each case the
breakthrough to a greater level of complexity was carried out as the result of
the incessant probing and testing with a multitude of exquisitely sensitive
tools, "electrodynamic photon
messengers," effecting the interaction among molecules and cells. These photons restlessly and unremittingly
serve as agents in the experimentation and search for a higher level of ordered
complexity or organization.
Thus
at virtually every level of complexity in our natural world as it is today,
from the most primitive and static to the most intricate and animated, where the
theologian, spiritualist, or mystic can conceive of sacred indwelling to occur,
the electromagnetic interaction is there to provide a dynamic physical
grounding. The ceaseless electrodynamic
interplay of molecules or organisms at each level goes hand in hand with God's
or a divinity's presence there, and serves in a kind of rough one-to-one
correspondence as a physical analogue for that presence.
I
believe furthermore that it is of direct supplementary relevance that virtually
all of modern technology also depends on the electromagnetic force for its
operation. This is so from the
alignment and synchronization of electromagnetic waves to form a laser beam for
eye surgery to the massive motor generators furnishing electric power to our
homes. In a real sense this technology,
with our constant interaction with it and our dependence on it, can be seen as
a vital and intimate adjunct to our continued evolution. This is evident considering, for example,
the growing proximate interaction we have with computers, cell phones, robotic
devices, etc. Indeed, it is so if only
because our very survival as a species may depend on the technology we develop
to combat the increasing number of diseases that are resistant to antibiotics,
or to launch a rocket that can prod an asteroid out of its earth-destroying
trajectory.
But
for those engaged in the science-religion dialogue, I suggest that the
essential idea to contemplate is that just as we have used these
electromagnetic "tools" to create almost all of the technology we
enjoy today, so did God, with infinitely more dexterity and subtlety, use them
to create us.
However,
in all that I have said I must emphasize that God is not light or
electromagnetism, and electromagnetism is not divine immanence or
indwelling. But it is the primal
physical mechanism serving as an analogue for us to have access to that
indwelling. I believe it awaits
appreciation as such by any theology that seeks to understand God's, or a
deity's, relation to us and the natural world.
In
particular I believe that this is true of what in the science-religion
community is called a theology of nature, which interprets the role of nature
in a traditional theology based on divine revelation and spiritual
insight. But it is also true of what is
known in the community as natural theology, which seeks for intimations of, or
pointers to, God in the beauty and order of nature. Of course, the two sound the same, but they are not. A theology of nature starts with God and
interprets nature, a top-down theology.
Natural theology starts with nature and seeks God, a bottom-up theology.
But
regardless of which theology is being considered, I believe that what I say
here is a refreshing approach. That is,
instead of dealing in broad generalities that perforce characterize much of the
science-religion dialogue, I am discussing a specific part of nature,
electromagnetism, and associating it with a specific attribute of God, sacred
indwelling, or immanence. On the other hand
since electromagnetic phenomena underlie so much of the nature that is
discussed in this dialogue, it provides a unifying an cohesive influence in the
pursuit of either of the two theologies.
There
is one theological issue that I believe can be informed by thoughtful
reflection on electromagnetism's ubiquity.
While it is indeed true that electromagnetism provides the physical
underpinning for all of the diversity and fecundity we see in the beauty of
earthly nature, it is equally true that it is the underlying physical basis for
the dangerous aspects of nature.
Electromagnetism is completely neutral on this issue. Thus sharks, tornadoes, earthquakes, poison
ivy, and the AIDS virus all at root are also energized by electrodynamic
interactions. The beautiful and the
dangerous live side by side and at times even coalesce: the rings of the poisonous coral snake are
quite strikingly colorful, the graceful undulations of a swimming shark are
equally impressive; the uniform symmetry of a tornado likewise reveals its own
awesome beauty.
If
there is a creating God, the fact that this creature, this electromagnetism,
was made to physically underlie both the beautiful and benign as well as the
ugly and dangerous colors my view of what constitutes evil. In particular, I believe that
electromagnetism's neutrality with respect to the "good and bad"
things in nature may suggest a qualification and refinement of what has been
called natural evil. That is, what some
people see as evil arising from natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions
and tornadoes. This is in contrast to
moral evil, primarily associated with human behavior. Perhaps, for example, at the very least these phenomena such as
earthquakes and hurricanes, although extremely dangerous, might be considered
for exclusion from the realm of natural evil.
This, of course, depends on whether one considers as evil anything that
causes suffering, or whether suffering is accepted as part of human living, and
evil is restricted to a deliberate, directed malintent toward a creature or
group of creatures. In any case
electromagnetism's neutrality with respect to the "good and bad features
of nature might be looked upon as a manifestation of natural creation's
God-given freedom (Fagg 2002).
Nevertheless,
despite the problem of evil, esthetics is an important aspect of theology and
it seems that theologians these days rarely consider the beauty and esthetics
of some of the concepts they are pondering.
Beauty finds its fullest expression and consummation in the spiritual
realm. In the words of philosopher
Georg Friedrich Hegel: "Beauty is
merely the spiritual making itself known sensuously." Ineffable beauty is the signature that
inspires the mystics on their paths to alignment with God or Reality, because
for the mystic, according to Evelyn Underhill, "beauty is simply Reality
seen with the eyes of love." This
is also true of religious scriptures.
There is beauty in the righteousness and charity of the Bible, the power
and justice of the Koran, the gentle wisdom of the Tao te Ching, and
the transcendent insights of the Hindu Upanishads and Puranas.
Spiritual
and religious beauty has its physical counterpart in the nature that
theoretical physicists continuously try to describe with ever-increasing
accuracy. Many theoretical physicists
throughout their careers have expressed how they have been guided by the
criteria of beauty and simplicity in their work. The physical laws they have formulated find much of their beauty
in the symmetries they exhibit. This
underlying symmetry at the quantum level becomes ultimately reflected, for
example, the beautiful symmetry of a maple leaf, the hexagonal symmetry of snow
flakes, and the symmetry of the human body.
So fundamental symmetries
characterize the electromagnetic interactions in all of space that help in
arranging matter to yield the awesome spectacles we see in the material
world. But this world is far less
material than it appears.
The
living creatures of the world, including us, are carbon-based species. So let us consider the carbon atom. 99.99% of its mass is concentrated in the
nucleus at its center, which occupies roughly one trillionth of its
volume. The rest of the volume is
occupied by six electrons (of very low mass) and trillions of virtual photons
transmitting the electromagnetic force that keeps the electrons in their
orbits.
Thus,
there is a vast array of electrodynamic phenomena that fills the overwhelming
majority of the world's space, so that we ourselves are in a very real sense
immersed in an ocean of electromagnetic events; indeed we are part of the
ocean. This helps me see
electromagnetism as constituting the furthest frontier of the material realm
probing with its sensitive tendrils into the unknown gap between that realm and
the realm of the conscious and spiritual.
Thus, it plays an unique role in our unending search for a fuller
cohesion of the whole continuum of existence from the material to the conscious
and spiritual (Fagg 1999, 130).
Adey, R. 1993.
"Whispering between Cells:
Electromagnetic Fields and Regulatory Mechanisms in Tissue" in
"Frontier Perspectives: Journal of
the Center for Frontier Sciences" 3(2):21-25.
Fagg, L. W. 1999.
"Electromagnetism and the Sacred:
at the Frontier of Spiritual Matter." New York: Continuum.
Fagg, L. W. 2002.
"The Electromagnetic Undercurrent and Sacred Indwelling in
Nature" in "Zygon: Journal of
Religion and Science" 47(2):473-490.
Moody, R. A. 1976.
"Life after Life." New
York: Bantam.
Underhill, E. 1961.
"Mysticism." New
York: E. P. Dutton.