A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The Fourth Dimension and Its ApplicationsSmith, W. Whately (Walter Whately)
Philosophy
A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The Fourth Dimension and Its Applications
Smith, W. Whately (Walter Whately)
Fourth dimension; Parapsychology
According to the former view the power of prevision is the result of a
mere heightening of the faculties by which we can always foresee the
future to some slight extent. If we see a blind man walking towards the
edge of a cliff it is not difficult to foresee that he will, probably,
fall off it and be smashed at the bottom. Such a sight could easily be
supposed to give rise to a visualisation of the corpse at the bottom of
the cliff, which might pass for a prophetic vision.
In such simple matters it is not difficult to imagine that a suitable
clairvoyant state, combined with unconscious but accurate reasoning and
subsequent visualisation, would enable the percipient to forecast the
future.
But clearly the accuracy of such a forecast would depend on the
perception of _all_ the factors involved, as well as on the precision
of the unconscious reasoning.
Hence, although we might readily accept this explanation in the case of
prevision of events in the immediate future, or in the case of vague
presentiments, it becomes increasingly difficult to do so, as the
event prevised becomes more remote and the number of factors which may
possibly influence the issue are proportionately increased.
I need hardly say that these factors of which I speak must include
Psychic states and so forth.
To use the terminology to which we have by this time become accustomed,
we could, theoretically, forecast the distribution of every particle
of matter in three space, provided we knew present distribution and
velocities; and provided also that no interference could arise from
external, _i.e._, four space, sources. But in order to be certain of
the latter, we must know all about four space dispositions and so on to
the "N"th degree.
Absolute prevision could therefore only result from a complete
knowledge of all the factors in _every_ space combined with absolutely
perfect reasoning powers.
Although, as will be seen, certain of the ideas in the above have
a place in what I believe to be the true theory of prevision, the
explanation as above described does not appear to me to be satisfying.
The heightening of faculty required in all but the very simplest cases
is too great to be accepted except in the last resort.
Now, as regards the other theory, that the future does actually exist
_now_ and that only our own limitations prevent us from apprehending it.
Consider again the crude and metaphorical representation of change as
resulting from the passage across our three space of a congeries of
four space solids which supposes that the distribution of matter at any
moment is simply a very thin cross section of this congeries.
If this were the case it is evident that to anyone who had the power of
moving freely in four dimensions it would be possible to move up the
mass and see what some cross section was like which had not yet arrived
at our space.
This is desperately crude but it gives the general idea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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