I shall bring forward a complete system of four-dimensional
thought--mechanics, science, and art. The necessary condition is, that
the mind acquire the power of using four-dimensional space as it now
does three-dimensional.
And there is another condition which is no less important. We can never
see, for instance, four-dimensional pictures with our bodily eyes, but
we can with our mental and inner eye. The condition is, that we should
acquire the power of mentally carrying a great number of details.
If, for instance, we could think of the human body right down to every
minute part in its right position, and conceive its aspect, we should
have a four-dimensional picture which is a solid structure. Now, to do
this, we must form the habit of mental painting, that is, of putting
definite colours in definite positions, not with our hands on paper, but
with our minds in thought, so that we can recall, alter, and view
complicated arrangements of colour existing in thought with the same
ease with which we can paint on canvas. This is simply an affair of
industry; and the mental power latent in us in this direction is simply
marvellous.
In any picture, a stroke of the brush put on without thought is
valueless. The artist is not conscious of the thought process he goes
through. For our purpose it is necessary that the manipulation of colour
and form which the artist goes through unconsciously, should become a
conscious power, and that, at whatever sacrifice of immediate beauty,
the art of mental painting should exist beside our more unconscious art.
All that I mean is this--that in the course of our campaign it is
necessary to take up the task of learning pictures by heart, so that,
just as an artist thinks over the outlines of a figure he wants to draw,
so we think over each stroke in our pictures. The means by which this
can be done will be given in a future volume.
We throw ourselves on an enterprise in which we have to leave altogether
the direct presentation to the senses. We must acquire a
sense-perception and memory of so keen and accurate a kind that we can
build up mental pictures of greater complexity than any which we can
see. We have a vast work of organization, but it is merely organization.
The power really exists and shows itself when it is looked for.
Much fault may be found with the system of organization which I have
adopted, but it is the survivor of many attempts; and although I could
better it in parts, still I think it is best to use it until, the full
importance of the subject being realized, it will be the lifework of men
of science to reorganize the methods.
The one thing on which I must insist is this--that knowledge is of no
value, it does not exist unless it comes into the mind. To know that a
thing must be is no use at all. It must be clearly realized, and in
detail as it _is_, before it can be used.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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