Electromagnetism: Laws of Nature, Cosmic Epochs, Subjectivity and Wavelengths

Electromagnetism

Laws of Nature, Cosmic Epochs,
Subjectivity, and Wavelengths

Process philosophers influenced by Whitehead propose that there is an ontological continuity between the quanta of energy in the depths of an atom and human emotion. The quanta are, says Whitehead, "pulses of emotion" which inherit feelings from the past as "vector transmissions of primitive feeling" and then throb for a moment, responding to what has been transmitted, thereby adding something new to the universe.

When analyzed in what he calls "coordinate division," the pulsations appear as wave-lengths and vibratory phenomena. The wave-lengths and vibrations are manifestations of felt contrasts created the the pulsations - contrasts between what they perceive and what they create. In his words:

In this vector transmission of primitive feeling the primitive provision of width for contrast is secured by pulses of emotion, which in the coordinate division of occasions appear as wave-lengths and vibrations...Thus the emotional appetitive elements in our conscious experience are those which most closely resemble the basic elements of all physical experience. (AN Whitehead, Process and Reality)

This idea, that pulsations of energy are pulsations of emotion, and that they "pulse" in wave-like patterns is the basis upon which he interprets electromagnetism.

Physicists tell us that there are four fundamental forces of physics: gravitation, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and electromagnetism. The electromagnetic force acts between charged particles and is responsible for electricity, magnetism, and light. It is much stronger than gravity and has an infinite range. This force is described by Maxwell’s equations and Quantum Electrodynamics (QED).

For Whitehead, electromagnetism holds a special place in our cosmic epoch. He writes:

“Thus our cosmic epoch is to be conceived primarily as a society of electromagnetic occasions, including electronic and protonic occasions, and only occasionally—for the sake of brevity in statement—as a society of electrons and protons.” (Process and Reality)

A cosmic epoch is an era of the cosmos lasting billions of years or more, within which certain “laws” prevail, though only as contingent, arbitrary givens. They are part of what makes a given cosmic epoch unique. Whitehead explains:

“The arbitrary, as it were ‘given,’ elements in the laws of nature warn us that we are in a special cosmic epoch. Here the phrase ‘cosmic epoch’ is used to mean that widest society of actual entities whose immediate relevance to ourselves is traceable. This epoch is characterized by electronic and protonic actual entities, and by yet more ultimate actual entities which can be dimly discerned in the quanta of energy.” (Process and Reality)

Electromagnetism dominates in our cosmic epoch, but there is no guarantee that it holds sway in other epochs — those that may have preceded, may follow, or may even exist parallel to our own. The laws of physics, like all laws, are contextual.

Whitehead further notes that, in this epoch, the “laws of electromagnetism” did not precede the electrons and protons. Rather, the laws emerged from the habitual patterns of interaction between protons and electrons. And these particles themselves are not solid objects traveling through space; they are societies or groupings of “occasions” — quanta of energy — that arise, briefly experience intensity, and then perish, to be succeeded by others. He writes:

“These occasions are the reasons for the electromagnetic laws; but their capacity for reproduction, whereby each electron and each proton has a long life, and whereby new electrons and new protons come into being, is itself due to these same laws.” (Process and Reality)

Each “occasion” or quantum of energy is also shaped by its environment - or, to put it differently, the environment participates in each occasion. Whitehead writes:

“The whole environment participates in the nature of each of its occasions. Thus each occasion takes its initial form from the character of its environment. Also the laws which condition each environment merely express the general character of the occasions composing that environment.” (Adventures of Ideas)

What, then, are laws? Whitehead suggests that they are not imposed commands but rather customs:

“The laws are the outcome of the character of the behaving things: they are the ‘communal customs’ of which Clement [of Alexandria] spoke. This conception should replace the older idea of given things with mutual behaviour conditioned by imposed laws. What we know of external nature is wholly in terms of how the various occasions in nature contribute to each other’s natures.” (Adventures of Ideas)

Moreover, these “customs” are not perfectly deterministic; they can evolve and adapt:

“But there is disorder in the sense that the laws are not perfectly obeyed, and that the reproduction is mingled with instances of failure. There is accordingly a gradual transition to new types of order, supervening upon a gradual rise into dominance on the part of the present natural laws.” (Process and Reality)

Why is there disobedience? Why are there instances of failure?

It is not because quanta of energy are somehow rebellious by nature. Rather, it is because they carry within themselves a degree of spontaneity — a spontaneity not entirely determined by the past.

In Process and Reality, Whitehead calls this self-creativity. It is the spontaneous activity by which, in the immediacy of the moment, an occasion actualizes certain possibilities for behaving — for reasons unknown — over other, more predictable possibilities. In this sense, the quantum of energy is, in a very real way, free.

Whitehead elaborates on this freedom in what he calls the ninth category of obligation, “Freedom and Determinism”:

“The Category of Freedom and Determination. The concrescence of each individual actual entity is internally determined and is externally free. This category can be condensed into the formula, that in each concrescence whatever is determinable is determined, but that there is always a remainder for the decision of the subject-superject of that concrescence.” (Process and Reality)

Here, Whitehead underscores that while each occasion is shaped by its past and its environment, there is always a remainder of freedom — a moment of decision within the act of becoming. This freedom, woven into the fabric of reality, is what allows novelty to enter the universe.

This internal self-determination - this freedom - carries within it something akin to what, in human life, we call subjectivity, here understood as feeling, emotion, and, to use Whitehead's term, self-enjoyment. This means that quanta of energy are not simple objects in the world, they are moments of subjective immediacy with reality for themselves, which become, in his words, 'superjects' that influence the future.

The physical laws of nature can evolve by virtue of this internal self-determination — this “decision of the subject-superject” in the immediacy of a concrescing moment. In this way, freedom transcends even the laws of nature, making the universe an open and creative process.

The reality of internal freedom does not negate the fact that quanta of energy are also partly — perhaps even largely — determined by the past. Still, they have their own inwardness, their own aim at intensity, and this gives rise to the pulsating and vibratory nature of reality.

In any given moment, Whitehead suggests, a concrescing subject seeks maximum intensity relative to what has been inherited from its immediate past. This intensity is heightened when the emerging quantum introduces contrast, creating a fresh difference from what has been received. In the world of quanta, this creative contrast takes the form of quantum vibrations. As Whitehead puts it:

"But the feeling is subjectively rooted in the immediacy of the present occasion: it is what the occasion feels for itself, as derived from the past and as merging into the future. In this vector transmission of primitive feeling the primitive provision of width for contrast is secured by pulses of emotion, which in the coordinate division [the analysis of] of occasions appear as wave-lengths and vibrations...In physics, such transmission can be conceived as corpuscular or undulatory, according to the special importance of particular features in the instance considered." (Process and Reality)

Summary

Ten Propositions on Energy, Emotion,
and the Creative Cosmos

Continuity of Experience

Human experience is ontologically continuous with what is happening within the depths of matter.

Emotional Nature of Energy

Pulses of energy (occasions of energy) within the depths of matter are also pulses of emotion (occasions of experience).

Subjective Immediacy

These pulses are not merely objects to be analyzed; they have their own subjective immediacy, seek and enjoy contrasts, and are aesthetic achievements.

Concrescence

Every pulsation of emotion/energy embodies the universe into its immediacy — a concrescence of the universe.

Self-Creativity and Indeterminacy

Every pulsation carries a degree of self-creativity, giving rise to what we observe as quantum indeterminacy.

Vibrational Patterns

Wavelengths and vibrations are outcomes of the pulsing nature of energy/emotion.

Habits of Nature

The laws of nature are not imposed from the outside but emerge as habits or customs from the interactions of events.

Evolution of Laws

The laws of nature can evolve over time.

Other Cosmic Epochs

In other cosmic epochs, other laws may hold sway.

Creativity

The universe is not a closed system, but rather a creative advance into novelty.

Magnetism: A Scholarly Discussion

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of magnetism. Pliny the Elder, in his Historia Naturalis, tells a story of a legendary Greek shepherd called Magnes who, while guiding his flock on Mount Ida, suddenly found it hard to move his feet. The nails of his sandals held fast to the rock beneath them, and the iron tip of his crook was strangely attracted to the boulders all around. Magnes had stumbled across the lodestone, or 'Magnetite', and discovered the phenomenon of magnetism. Plato was baffled by this strange force, as were Aristotle and Galen, and despite being used in navigation, supposedly suspended over the body of Mohammed and deployed in the pursuit of medical cures. St Thomas Aquinas thought magnets had souls. it was not until the late 16th century that any serious scientific attempt was made to explain the mystifying powers of the magnet. Descartes developed a particle theory of magnetism but the great Isaac Newton fought shy of the problem of what caused magnets to attract and repelWho pioneered the study of magnetism? What theories did they construct from its curious abilities and how was the power of the magnet brought out of the realm of magic and into the service of science? With Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Lancaster; John Heilbron, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley; Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London.