MATTER
The quest of physics has always basically been to discover what
'matter' is; what the fundamental building block of the reality we experience
is actually made of. Once they had made the discovery of the atom,
scientists represented everything as being made of components which
resembled coloured balls, albeit very small coloured balls. As the atom was
examined further it was found to be composed of a nucleus with orbiting
electrons, but we still had the coloured ball imagery.
The quest continued to find what these components were made of. What
followed was the discovery that the atom’s nucleus was made up of two
other ‘bits’ which scientists called neutrons and protons. They have
since found even smaller 'pieces of matter' and given them names like
quarks, neutrinos and even more recently 'strings'. However the journey
is not over because these 'pieces of matter' also have to be made of
something, don't they? Unfortunately for science, as they examine
'matter' further they are left with what they can only call energy, and
nobody is quite sure just what that is. Again it seems that science has
moved closer to realising what the ancient wisdom philosophies have always
said, that all things are really 'one'.
To illustrate scientific thinking, please consider the following
quotations from several scientists:
"It is not only possible but fairly probable, even, that psyche and
matter are two different aspects of one and the same thing."
- Carl Jung
"Quantum Physics leaves us with 'Quantumstuff', existing as a particle
in our three dimensional world and appearing only when we observe it,
and otherwise, existing as a wavelike entity not in our three
dimensional world."
- Norman Friedman
"The difference between the old and the new physics is simple and
profound; both the old and the new physics were dealing with shadow-symbols,
but the new physics was forced to be aware of the fact; forced to be
aware that it was dealing with shadows and illusions, not reality."
- Sir Arthur Eddington
SOURCE : NOR
