A DIMENSION THEORY of the NATURE of MIND ' By1 Wilson M. Van Dusen Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University Of
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^ 000492 A DIMENSION THEORY OF THE NATURE OF MIND ' by1 Wilson M. Van Dusen Thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ottawa through the Institute of Psychology as partial ful fillment of the requirements for the degree of Dootor of Philosophy. ^ % - B:3!lOr"t.Q'JrS -rSity o^ ° Ottawa, Canada, 1952 UMI Number: DC53485 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform DC53485 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ACKNOWLEDGMENT This thesis was prepared under the guidance of the Director of the Institute of Psychology, Reverend Father Raymond H. Shevenell, O.M.I. I am also Indebted to Professor Olga Brldgman of the University of California who gave freedom and encourage ment in the original development of the idea, to Professor Rheem Jarrett for his guidance and stimulus in mathematics, and to Professor George Adams in cosmology. I am grateful for helpful comments and criticism from my colleagues Ernest Belden and Jack Danlelson of the Neuropsychiatry Consultation Service, Fort Ord, California, and from Gilles Chagnon and Bruce Mendel of the University of Ottawa. CURRICULUM STUDIORUM Wilson Miles Van Dusen, born September 11, 1923 at San Francisco, California, U.S.A. Bachelor of Arts degree, University of California, June 17, 19^S. Master of Arts degree. University of California, July 30, 19^9 with a thesis titled A Theory Of Mind In Relation To Space. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter page INTRODUCTION viil I.- PRESENT CONCEPTIONS OF THE NATURE OF MIND. 1 l.Only matter exists 9 2.Mind versus matter 13 (.Only mind exists IS I:-.Min d and matter as a unity 19 5.Evaluation of the existing theories of mind 22 II.- INADEQUACY OF THE PRESENT CONCEPT OF A FOUR DIMENSIONAL UNIVER3E TO EXPLAIN MIND .... 26 III.- DEVELOPMENT OF THE MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATION OF THE THEORY IN SPACE OF GREATER THAN FOUR DIMENSIONS 1+5 l.The relationship of mathematlos to experience k& 2.Development of the mathematical basis of the theory 55 A.Brief history of the important errors made in dimension theory 5g B.The geometry of n dimensions 6 C.The topology of n dimensions 6 D.The mathematical logic of n dimensions 73 E.Group theory and dimension theory J& 3.The relationship of this mathematics to real space Sk- IV.- THE IDENTITY OF THE OPERATIONS OF MIND TO THOSE IN CERTAIN LEVELS OF HYPERSPACE 91 l.The mathematical development of real four space 92 2.Five dimensional space and alpha mind 99 i.Slx dimensional spaoe and beta mind 115 2-.Seve: n dimensional space and gamma mind 128 Chapter page V.- THE FUNCTIONING OF MIND IM HYPERSPACE .... 135 1.Principles of relations in dimension theory 136 2.Relations within levels; quality of awareness 14-6 3.Relations between levels within raind 155 A.Simple functioning from higher to lower levels - oreatlvity 159 B.Simple functioning from lower to higher levels - learning 163 VI.- FURTHER FUNCTIONING OF MIND IN HYPERSPACE . 166 1.Complex functioning within mind l6g 2.The mind-body relationship 176 3.Boundaries of the individual lgg VII.- IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 198 1.Conclusion 215 BIBLIOGRAPHY 219 APPENDIX - Abstract of the thesis 22k- LIST OF TABLES Table pag« I. - A suggestive representation of equivalents between alpha and beta levels of mind . 122 II. - Summary descriptions of the nature of existence in spaces at dimensional levels from minus one to seven 133 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1. Structure of this work xiii 2. Schematic representation of four and five space. 103 INTRODUCTION We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children In the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea. T.S. Eliot, Little bidding. Probably the greatest theoretical problem in the science of psychology is that of the nature of mind itself. But beyond psychology it is one of the major problems in philosophy and in seienoe in general. Man has worked out the physical world in great detail, and in modern physics he has penetrated beyond appearances. Yet the mind that surveys the physical universe, and surveys Itself is unknown in its essential nature. The many psychologies have catalogued its, phenomena into so .many conflicting systems as to demonstrate their uncertainty. Yet the mind which is the beginning and end of all that man knows of, which is the very heart of man, is unknown in Itself. The self-assigned, ambitious aim of this work is to solve this bedrock theoretical problem in psychology; to discover what la the funoamental nature of mind. It is felt that until recently issues Inherent in the problem were unsolvable. In the last fifty years or so INTRODUCTION villa necessary forerunner discoveries were made so that this problem may now be open to a scientific solution. There were at least two forerunners that had to come first. The main one is the conceptual change involved in Relativity Theory leading up to the discovery that this physical world is a real four space. Having added one dimension to the three that have been held to since the time of the Greeks, it was natural enough to ask what reality in higher dimen sion would be like. This whole theory was born out of such a simple and obvious question. The next discovery Involves the little known and little recognized work of parapsychol ogy. Until this work it was always possible for psychology especially, and science in general, to expect that mind would be found in the physical neurophysiology of the brain. Perhaps to philosophers and even laymen of common sense this was an obvious falsity, but it is still the most oommon expectation among scientists. Parapsychology gives a Jolt to this thinking for in its great mass of work it has apparently found a mind related phenomena (extra-sensory perception) which transcends space and time and thenoe must lie outside of four space. The discovery that the physical world is four dimensional, and the demonstration of a mind related phenomena outside of four space led to the develop ment of this theory of the nature of mind. INTRODUCTION ix The question as to what is the nature of mind is seen by many as an invalid problem. Many reasons for its Invalidity have been given,- even that mind does not exist. If a valid solution to the problem can be proposed perhaps such apparently defensive denials of its existence oan be overcome. Contrary to this tread, many will say the pro blem Is already solved, and they will refer to one of the many theories of the mind-body relation in philosophical systems. The whole point of view of this work is one governed and limited by the knowledge and means of solence. If philosophy has solved the problem, and science offers a valid solution, the two should agree. They will comple ment each other. What separates them is the way of attacking things, and pertly in the kinds of Issues raised. Any opposition between them should be cleared away as seienoe approaches closer to the truth and as scientists and philosophers come to understand more aptly what the other is saying. But from the outset this work is in the view of solence, deliberately taking upon itself the limitations and means involved in that view. Because it is a work of solence all things said here are held in some doubt. In this view there are only degrees of certainty or probability, but no absolute certainty. To economize on words, appears, seems to be, and other expressions of doubt will often be omitted; but the reader is to understand INTRODUCTION x that at least some uncertainty runs all through this. The only certain thing in this whole work is the existence of the given—mind as it is experienced. Like one of the many aspects of this work reflected In the above quote from T.3. Eliot, the basic datum is experlenoe Itself. The work must begin with experience and return to experlenoe if it is to be of any value. This is an unusual point of view in psychology, but it is adopted both because mind as it finds itself Is a primal datum, and because it appears feasible to deal with it in this manner instead of being foroed to reduce it to measurable behavior. Mind seen in terms of behavior is the view, for Instance, of Robert R. Sears' recent presidential address to the American Psychological Association in which he maps out the framework of personality and social psychology . The philosopher, G.P. Adams, well expresses the empirical 1 R.R. Sears, "A Theoretical Framework For Person ality and Social Behavior", The American Psychologist.