PANPSYCHISM, EXPLORED by T.A. Erikson ABSTRACT Roger Penrose's "Road to Reality" has a last line, "....perhaps, something that we all have missed?". This is motivation for revisiting panpsychism, an ancient theory that suggests all things have awareness and/or consciousness. With a recent paper(1) reporting increased attention to this subject, can a physicalist approach be fruitful? . Given that light requires mass to validate its existence and mass requires time to prove likewise, might these requirements suggest a basic "need" for all creatures? With life defined as a simple "awareness", that is, between self and otherness, observed and observer, etc. it seems to imply the concept(s) of the Heisenberg principle. Extending this idea, "mass" or "energy" at any level may be "aware" of it's surroundings, so that any action can result in a reaction that may be counted, measured, or harmonize In short, this article begins with concepts that light needs mass and mass needs time. BACKGROUND Nearly 50 years ago I was introduced to some new thermodynamic concepts(4) for a graduate degree in Chemistry. My adviser, Ralph J. Tykodi, now Professor Emeritus at Southeaster Massachusetts Technological Institute (SMTI) has authored two book (5, 6) plus many technical publications to introduce new, as yet not accepted, ideas (He is better known for many chess publications). In the preface(5)), his words, "...This book does for the class of nonequilibrium situations involving stationary states and steady rate processes what any good book on ordinary thermodynamics does for equilibrium situations:..." sums his view. In this book (5), (shelved by me until now), he applies "... only the concepts of heat, work, energy, and concepts derived therefrom." to various steadyrate processes. Processes of motion and growth incur changes in position and mass. Their forces, motion as F(m) and growth as F(g), cause changes that may be represented by, respectively: F(m) = mass, M, times acceleration,a (with "m" as meters) , i.e. Ma, or Kg(m/sec^2) F(g) = distance, d, times stimulation, s, i.e. ds, or m(Kg/sec^2).
The units of "Kg/sec^2" are not recognized in Physics... yet. However, on page 12 (5) Dr. Tykodi introduces Eq. (2.12), a "thermodynamic resistance" as an "entropy production term" divided by the square of a "suitably chosen rate parameter with respect to time", I consider this as a first support for my proposed "stimulation" as Kg/sec^2. Whereas Newton's "acceleration" for motion defines a force to mass ratio, "stimulation" defines a force to distance ratio. With energy as a force times a distance, then by analogy, "something?" (having units of m(Kg^2/sec^2) deals with growth. Thus, where light velocity limits motion to c, growth may be limited by (Kg^2/sec^2) which requires some way to measure. I suspect the product of surface tension (energy per unit area), times area will represent "growth work" much as pressure (energy per unit volume) times volume is "motion work". to be continued. REFERENCES (1) Panpsychism, Chicago Section AAPT, November 10, 2007. (2) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panpsychism (cites history, background (pro and con) with (a) 63 references dated from 1889 to 2005, (b) 3 internet resources by Chalmers,. More, and Skrbina, and (c) 19 related entries at Stanford's site.) (3) http://www.pdfcoke.com/search?query=panpsychism&x=29&y=15 (181 hits) (4) T. A. Erikson, M.S. Thesis, "Thermodyamics of Steady States", Illinois Institute of Technology, 1959 (5) R. J. Tykodi, "Thermodynamics of Steady States" Macmillan (1967) (6) R. J. Tykodi,Thermodynamics of Systems (2002)