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The 8th European Meeting in SSE (Society
for Scientific Exploration)
August
13-16, Viterbo, Italy.
“Frontiers of Biology and
Contemporary Physics”
Several interesting papers were
presented at the meeting, but we have to restrict ourselves to just a
few of them. The meeting was held in a restored nunnery from the 15th
century. The town of Viterbo was partly chosen because the great Italian
mathematician Luigi Fantappiè, the creator of the theory of syntropy,
was born here. I shall therefore concentrate on the two presentations by
Ulisse Di Corpo: “Fantappiè” and by Antonella Vannini: “Pre-stimuli
heart rate reactions” which directly has to do with the theory of
syntropy.
Luigi Fantappiè who was born in
Viterbo the 15th of September 1901 was one of the foremost
Italian mathematicians. He has given a highly vivid account of how he
discovered the law of syntropy in a letter to a friend, which we have
rendered at our thematic page of physics.
Physical basis
According to Fantappiè syntropy
means that the future may influence the present, which implies
retrocausality. This is a consequence of the energy/momentum/mass
equation in the special theory of relativity which has two solutions for
energy, one positive and one negative. According to relativity theory
negative energy is a physical possibility, but it will move backwards in
time, that is from the future to the present. There have been several
attempts among physicists to avoid the solution with negative energy.
But these have not been successful. Di Corpo discusses these and cites
the well known physicist Roger Penrose from his book “The Road to
Reality” from 2005. Although Penrose regards the solution with negative
energy as highly problematic, he can not exclude it as a physical
possibility: “Unfortunately in relativistic particles both solutions of
the equation need to be considered as a possibility; even a non physical
negative energy has to be considered as a possibility.” And as regards
the relativistic version of the fundamental wave equation of Schrödinger
in quantum theory, he has to admit that there is no way to escape the
negative solution which implies waves that move backwards in time from
the future to the present, retrocausality and syntropy.
Although classical physics so
far tries to avoid the solution with negative energy and retrocausality,
some prominent physicists, including great names like Feynman and
Wheeler, have taken this solution seriously and included it in their
theoretical work. And some of them, like Costa de Beauregard (1977) and
John Cramer (1987) have tried to use this solution with negative energy
to explain fundamental problems in physics, like entanglement, non
locality and the wave-particle duality. The theory of Fantappiè about
advanced waves and syntropy has accordingly still actuality in physics
and in the debate about our basic, scientific understanding of reality.
Properties of syntropy
Examining the mathematical
properties of syntropy Fantappiè noted that:
1.
Increasing syntropy diminishes entropy. According to the second
law of thermodynamics the entropy in a closed physical system will
increase indefinitely. All energetic differences are levelled out and
structure and order is broken down. The inversion of the time arrow also
inverts the second law of thermodynamics. The increase in syntropy
increases differentiation, structure and order.
2.
Syntropic phenomena concentrate energy in a smaller space.
Examples of this are the fossil fuels of coal, oil and gas we have
inherited from previous life on this earth.
3.
In nature there is a balance between syntropic and entropic
processes.
4.
Syntropy is connected with attractors and final causes, and these
may accordingly be introduced in science.
5.
Anticipated waves connected with syntropy do not obey classical
causation and can therefore not be studied by the classical experimental
method. John Cramer accordingly writes: “Nature, in a very subtle way,
may be engaging in backwards-in-time handshaking. However, the use of
this mechanism is not available to experimental investigators even at
the microscopic level. The completed transaction erases all advanced
effects, so that no advanced wave signalling is possible. The future can
affect the past only very indirectly, by offering possibilities for
transactions.” (Cramer 1986)
Syntropy and living beings
Fantappiè noticed that the
properties that follow from the law of syntropy:
1.
Concentration of energy
2.
Differentiation
3.
Development of structure
4.
Order
are characteristic for living
systems, and that these in their essence are goal directed and
accordingly anticipatory systems.
It is well known that life
apparently is at odds with the second law of thermodynamics. Fantappiè
concluded that life depends on syntropy, and that those systems that
regulate the life functions, like the autonomic nervous system, may
demonstrate retrocausal effects.
On the basis of syntropy
Fantappiè explained these aspects of consciousness:
# The experience
of free will arises as due to a permanent state of choice between
information coming from the past and information coming from the future
in the guise of feelings.
# The feeling
of life which is another basic element of consciousness, is,
according to Fantappiè, due to advanced waves propagating backwards in
time.
# Non local
memory which Fantappiè believed may be due to non local correlations
that may be due to advanced waves propagating backwards in time.
Entropy (diverging waves) makes
time move forwards, while syntropy (converging waves) makes time move
backwards. In our expanding universe entropy is dominating. But in micro
cosmos there is a balance between diverging and converging waves. Living
beings may absorb syntropy at the micro level. For this reason we ought
to study biological structures connecting the micro and macro level.
Fantappiè notes the special
properties of water, making it different from other liquids, for example
that it becomes lighter when it solidifies into ice. He thought that
water may act as a kind of bridge for syntropy between the micro and
macro level, and therefore is essential for living systems. His ideas
here are in accordance with what I myself have written about the strange
properties of water in my book ‘Legekunsten på nye veier’ (1974).
A new scientific paradigm
The discovery of the law of
syntropy widens science to a study of phenomena that are not due to
classical causality. Such phenomena can not be reproduced in the
laboratory but they can be observed. To study them we need a new
scientific methodology. In addition to the experimental method based on
entropic causality, Fantappiè proposes the methodology of concomitances
developed by the English philosopher Stuart Mill in 1843. The use of
this method in scientific research has been limited because it has been
believed that only cause-effect relations existed, and because of a lack
of sufficient data-processing power. The experimental method has brought
great advances in physics and chemistry. But in medicine, biology,
psychology and sociology it has entailed a mechanistic way of thinking
and a loss of a unified vision of life processes. Introducing a
methodology of concomitances Fantappiè wanted to open for a broader
study of these sciences.
Studying syntropic phenomena as
final causes (according to Aristotle), differentiation, order and
organization Fantappiè came to the conclusion that syntropy is the
essence of life: “let us conclude by looking at what we can say about
life. What makes life different is the presence of syntropic qualities:
finalities, goal, and attractors. Now as we consider causality the
essence of the entropic world, it is natural to consider finality the
essence of the syntropic world. It is therefore possible to say that the
essence of life is final causes, syntropy. Living means tending to
attractors (….) the law of life is not the law of mechanical causes;
this is the law of non-life, the law of death, the law of entropy; the
law which dominates life is the law of finalities, the law of syntropy.”
Fantappiè stated that what we
to day see written in the book of nature (which Galilei taught us was
written in mathematical characters) are the same laws of love that we
find written in the holy books of the great religions: “ … the law of
life is not the law of hate, the law of force, or the law of mechanical
causes; this is the law of non-life, the law of death, the law of
entropy; the law which dominates life is the law of finalities, the law
of cooperation towards goals which are always higher, and this is true
also for the lowest forms of life. In humans this law takes the form of
love, since for humans living means loving, and it is important to note
that these scientific results can have great consequences at all levels,
particularly on the social level, which is now so confused. (……) The law
of life is therefore the law of love and differentiation. It does not
move towards levelling and conforming, but towards higher forms of
differentiation. Each living being, whether modest or famous, has its
mission, its finalities, which, in the general economy of the universe,
are important, great and beautiful.”
In her presentation ‘Pre-stimuli
Heart Rate Reaction’ Antonella Vannini told us about her ongoing
doctoral research at the University of Rome. According to Fantappiè we
react syntropically through our feelings and intuition. And he believed
that through a study of the autonomous nervous system, which coordinates
the vital functions, it would be possible to detect retrocausal effects,
i. e. effects due to future events. In fact there are several studies
that have proved that typical reactions of the autonomous nervous
system, like changes in the rhythm of the heart and in the electrical
resistance in the skin, occur prior to stimuli which are likely to
elicit such reactions.
In 1997 Bierman and Radin found
an increase in electrical conductance in the skin that came 2-3 seconds
before emotional stimuli were presented to test persons. Spottiswood and
May replicated this experiment in 2003 under very controlled conditions,
excluding all possible artefacts and alternative explanation and found a
statistical significance of p=0005.
In their article ‘Heart Rate
Differences between Targets and Non-Targets in Intuitive Tasks’
Tressoldi and coll. reported in 2005 results of two experiments showing
that pre-stimuli changes in heart rate occurred before emotional stimuli
were shown.
And in a large experiment at
the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory using a random
event generator published in 2005 a statistical significance of
p=0,000000001 was found for a retrocausal effect in a so called
anomalous mind/machine interaction.
In her presentation Antonella
Vannini told about her research project where she is using colours as
stimuli and is measuring the subjective reaction to these by the changes
in heart rhythm and skin conductance. Preliminary results show a
distinct retrocausal effect. The autonomous nervous system apparently
reacts to emotionally active colour stimuli a few seconds in advance.
It is found that it is
crucially significant for the retrocausal effect that the colour
stimulus really is shown to the test person. If it is only the random
selector that has made a choice, and this is not shown to the test
person there is no effect. The retrocausal or syntropic effect
apparently implies that the autonomous nervous system reacts a few
seconds before the emotional stimuli are shown to the test persons.
From the many other papers
presented at the meeting I shall here only give a short summary of two
of them which support the hypothesis of the formation of dissipative
structures in water:
V. Elia and E. Napoli:
‘Dissipative Structures in Extremely Diluted Solutions of Homeopathic
Drugs. A Molecular Model based on Gravimetric Data’
Referring to several previously
published studies (some of which are tied to the name V. Elia,
Department of Chemistry, University ‘Frederico II’, Napoli, Italy) they
claim that it is well known that the physical and chemical properties of
the extremely diluted solutions that are used in homeopathic medicine,
are significantly different from what we find for ordinary solutions in
water. It has therefore been supposed that the special method used in
the preparation of homeopathic solutions creates non-equilibrium changes
in the supra-molecular structure of the water. In the present study a
new method is introduced to obtain further information about the
possible presence of dissipative structures in this context.
Homeopathic solutions are
prepared according to the method prescribed by Hahnemann by violent
succession. These solutions are exposed to evaporation at 90 degrees
Celsius for 36-48 hours. The residual is weighed and compared to the
amount of solid that was used in preparing the solution. It was found
that the residual consistently surpassed in weight the solid that went
into the solution. Some water accordingly had been bound into the
residual that remained after evaporation. They were able to show that
this extra weight - by all probability - was due to the formation of
dissipative structures in the homeopathic solution. – This experiment of
course can only be done with homeopathic solutions of very low potency
where a solid residue will be found after evaporation. In this study
they used homeopathic solutions with the potency of C1 and C2.
In their conclusion they claim
that their research strongly supports the possibility of a physical
explanation of homeopathy:
“In conclusion,
dissipative structures are aggregates of water molecules that form as a
result of perturbations of different nature, and are endowed with low
contents of energy. They can remain far from thermodynamic equilibrium
for a long time, i. e., of the order of magnitude of several years or
more (Elia, V., Napoli, E., Nicoli, M., Marchettini, N., Tiezzi, E.:
”New physic chemical properties of extremely diluted solutions. A
conductivity study at 25 degr. C. in relation to ageing”, J. Solution
Chem. ; 2008, 37, 85-91) In the absence of bulk water, as for some of
the simplest forms, they convert into a quiescent state in which they
exploit their strong interactions with hydrophilic substances. This
strong interaction helps them to remain in a state in which energy is
not dissipated until sufficient bulk water becomes available again.
Under such conditions they are able to return to an active state, i. e.
to dissipative structures which are far from equilibrium.
An additional
intriguing comparison might be made with homeopathic remedies offered to
patients as globules or granules of lactose and sucrose imbued with EDS
(Extremely Diluted Solutions of homeopathy). When bulk water evaporates,
dissipative structures remain in a quiescent state until the patients
ingests the globules. When globules contact biological liquids, they
enter a state far from equilibrium, ‘dissipative structures’ which are
capable to eventually elict therapeutic information. In view of the goal
of this research project, the consistent data obtained using four
different methods appears to be really encouraging.”
Richard Blasband (The
Center for Functional Research, Sausalito, Ca., USA) and Mikhail
Dekhta:
‘The Effects of Healing Intention on Water’
While the therapeutic effect of
healing by conscious intention has been studied, documented and even
acknowledged, we know little about how this effect works. This study
tries to throw some light on this process by studying changes in water
that has been ‘programmed’ by a healer intending to promote healing of a
spinal disk injury in a patient. Ten experimental samples of water that
had been ‘programmed’ by the healer were frozen to ice cubes and
compared with ice cubes from the same source of water that had not been
‘programmed’
When the ‘programmed’ ice cubes
were compared with untreated ice cubes they showed anomalous spikes
protruding from the surface. During the meeting we were shown examples
of such ‘intention programmed’ ice cubes which clearly demonstrated to
us that something extraordinary had affected the water and the ice cubes.
Other samples of water that had
been ‘programmed’ by the healer were studied by Kirlian photography (a
method to study objects by their electrical discharge developed by
Kirlian in the 1970’s and developed further by the Russian physicist
Konstantin Korotkov). When the Kirlian photos were analysed by a
computer significant differences were found between ‘programmed’ and
untreated water.
As a conclusion the researchers
concluded that “The results of the study show preliminary evidence
that conscious mental intention exerted by a healer can anonymously
influence the structure and electrical properties of water. Further
research will expand the study searching for other parameters that may
permit detection of the changes in programmed water when using this
method and in-depth studies to ascertain the nature of the changes.
Vilhelm Schjelderup |
