Physical power

“ The muscles, bones, ligaments, feet, hands and nerves, etc., are agents for carrying out the mandates of the mind. The sole purpose of the volitional faculties is to move the physical mechanism as the energy travels along the wires of nerves and muscles. Just for that reason, if you throw a voluntary control over these messages, impulses, thoughts, emotions, physical movements and over these physical instruments you develop your faculties of self-mastery and to the extent you succeed here in proportion will you develop the power of concentration. ”

“ There are many of the best scientists who ridicule the use of the term vital force, or vitality, as a remnant of superstition; and yet the same men use the words gravity, magnetic force, chemical force, physical force, etc. Vital force is not underived—is not unrelated to other forces—is, in fact, correlated with them ”

“ The billions of atoms that constitute the flesh of the muscles and of the nerves, are in constant motion, without which, the body would lose all energy and become inert. By exercising the muscles constantly and uniformly, we are giving the atoms of the human system free and full play, and enabling them to perform their functions. We may indeed say, that exercise and physical development mean LIFE.
123 THE TEACHER, DOCTOR, LAWYER, CLERGYMAN—WHICH ARE YOU FITTED FOR? ”

“ But just as we draw from the stores of our own consciousness this idea of "Power," of force, of muscular or mental energy, precisely in the same way we are justified in drawing the idea of "purpose" in the direction of that energy. ”

“ Let us now consider with more attention the general physiological law that quantity of power is in proportion to the size of the body. This brings us to the still more fundamental principle of the inseparability of matter and force. ”

“ Taking the second position that the soul or the mass of thought, or however you may call it, is the outcome of this machine, the outcome of the chemical and physical combinations of matter making up the body and brain, leaves the question unanswered. What makes the body? What force combines the molecules into the body form? What force is there which takes up material from the mass of matter around and forms my body one way, another body another way, and so on? ”

“ But how “mechanical happening” comes to have this marvellous inwardness, which we call sensation, feeling, perception, thought and will, which is neither mechanical nor derivable from anything mechanical; and, further, how physical and psychical can condition one another without doing violence to the law of the conservation of the sum of energy, is an absolute riddle. ”

“ I was simple enough to think that no one who had as much knowledge of physiology as is to be found in an elementary primer, or who had ever heard of the greatest physical generalisation of modern times—the doctrine of the conservation of energy—would dream of doubting my statement ”

“ Alexander Bain, there are five chief powers, or forces in nature: one mechanical or molar, the momentum of moving matter; the others, molecular, are embodied in the molecules, also supposed in motion—these are light, heat, chemical force, electricity. One member of vital energies, the nerve force, allied to electricity, fully deserves to rank in the correlation. According to this same distinguished authority, mind is only a refined and sublimated form of physical force. ”

“ But turning from supposition to fact, we have to identify potential-gradient with force. Now it is true that we have a familiar conception of force—a sensation of muscular effort. But this does not give us any idea of the intrinsic nature of potential-gradient; the sensation is mere mind-spinning provoked by nervous impulses which have travelled a long way from the seat of the force. That is the way with all physical entities which affect the mind through the sense organs. ”

“ Before proceeding directly to the consideration of the attributes of man, it will be best to show the correlation that exists between what are called man's vital forces and the physical forces of nature. To do this let us choose three forms of its manifestation: these shall be heat evolved within the body; muscular energy or motion; and lastly, nervous energy or that form of force which, on the one hand, stimulates a muscle to contract, and on the other appears in forms called mental. ”

“ Mass arises from the conception of a passive quality of a material body, what it is in itself apart from its relation to other bodies; the notion of ‘force’ is that of an active agency changing the physical circumstances of the body, and in particular its spatial relations to other bodies. ”

“ The first of these is the influence of physical forces, as, when the strength of the muscles is enhanced by exercise, the mind invigorated by thought, or, inversely, their function impaired by long-continued disuse. ”

“ It is not the object of this paper to take sides on a question which is still a matter of debate; and, in regard to vital force, it has only to chronicle here some of the steps by which bodies, hitherto solely evolved by the action of living matter, may now, under the guidance of the human intellect, and by the instrumentality of physical forces, be formed artificially at will. ”

“ Thus the march onward proceeds, and when some general law of Nature—like, for instance, gravitation, the correlation of the physical forces, or, even, with a more limited bearing, reflex spinal action—is discovered, a gain is made which, through reflected influence, has the effect of at once immensely enlarging and perfecting the understanding. ”

“ The process of growth and fulfilment of functions is propelled by this energy, which is operative throughout all Nature. It is the force back of and expresses itself through the physical life of man and animal. ”

“ Have we not a right to ask 'why a special force (vital force) should be needed to effect the transformation of physical forces into those modes of energy which are active in the manifestation of living beings, while no peculiar force is deemed necessary to effect the transformation of one mode of physical force into any other mode of physical force? ”

“ What power, in sum, Can raise with agile leap our body aloft, Save energy of mind which steers the limbs? Now seest thou not how powerful may be A subtle nature, when conjoined it is With heavy body, as air is with the earth Conjoined, and energy of mind with us? ”

“ And so, summing up our conclusions regarding Force and Energy and Motion in Inorganic Substance—and then in Organic Substance—we arrive at an understanding of the Basic Proposition of the Theory of Dynamic Thought, which is as follows:
Basic Proposition.—That All forms and exhibition of Force, Energy, Motion and Power are manifestations of Vital-Mental Action. And that, consequently, at the last there is no Force but Vital-Mental Force; no Energy but Vital-Mental Energy; no Motion but Vital-Mental Motion; no Power but Vital-Mental Power. ”

“ When we speak of mental or spiritual force, we have as distinct a conception as when we speak of physical force. It requires physical force to produce the effect that we call mental force, though how the one can result in the other is past understanding. The law of the correlation and conservation of energy requires that what goes into the body as physical force must come out in some form of physical force—heat, light, electricity, and so forth.
Science cannot trace force into the mental realm and connect it with our states of consciousness. ”

“ Force, with physical motion, and gravity, with resistance, are the four accidental powers by which all mortal things live and die. Force has its origin in spiritual motion, and this motion, flowing through the limbs of sentient animals, enlarges their muscles, and thus enlarged the muscles are shrunk in length and contract the tendons with which they are connected, and this is the cause of the strength in human limbs. The quality and quantity of the strength of a man can generate a further force, which will increase in proportion to the duration of the motions produced by them. ”

“ It is to the fact that all Nature is under the constraint due to the constant silent operation of physical Force that we owe, therefore, the law which determines the most essential features of vitality. The pulsations in which life consists and by which it is sustained are attributable to the constraint and limitation which we recognise as the effect of the operation of Natural Force. ”

“ And beyond his form no physical progress seems possible, for he fulfills what we conceive to be Nature's design, viz., to husband force by the fullest avoidance of gravity and friction, to decrease weight to the lowest available point consistent with the size and strength necessary to best adapt him to surrounding conditions, and to produce the utmost susceptibility to impression of natural force—to attain a form, in fact, having the greatest excess of available energy, and best adapted to gain experiences of the conditions of nature. ”

“ Full.—Creates a good share of energy and physical force, yet no more than is necessary to cope with surrounding difficulties; and, with large moral and intellectual faculties, manifests more mental than physical force. ”

“ The extension of the correlation of force to mind, if at all competent, must be made through the nerve-force, a genuine member of the correlated group." It may be interesting to see in what way another distinguished philosopher connects the forces of purely physical phenomena with those of life and animal movement. ”

“ But our sole object meanwhile, as I have said more than once, is to demonstrate, by such illustrations as these, that, whatever be the actual and as yet unknown modus operandi, there are physical conditions and distributions of force which could produce just such phenomena of movement as we see taking place within the living cell. ”

“ And, further, if it be true that the human will is a physical energy, we have here the discovery of a new force—a force just as [Pg 111] new to science as magnetism or electricity—and vastly more interesting, since it is intimately associated with all of us, and subject to our direction, guidance, and command—a force for us to wield and manipulate—for weal or woe!
It may be thought, by some, that this is no new discovery; that the human will is a physical energy is a fact of common observation; and that we all feel the liberation of this energy whenever an act of volition is performed. ”

“ Cause then becomes the synonym of force. But physical science defines force only by its effects:—movement, or work done. So, too, the biologist rejects the notion of “vital force”; non-metaphysical psychology will have none of the “faculties,” intervention of “the soul,” and the like. Is the notion thus discarded, totally suppressed? Nay,—for even in mechanics and physics it cannot be entirely eliminated. It is there as a postulate, a residuum, an unknown factor covering lacunæ. ”

“ Their frame exhibiting all the beauty of which the human body is susceptible, uniting strength with lightness, dignity and elegance with activity, the utmost robustness of health with extreme delicacy of contour, the muscles developed by exercise, and developed over the whole structure alike, suggested the idea of power and indefatigable energy ”

“ Again, the blood circulates through our bodies by means of another power or force counteracting the force of gravitation, and this is the vital power or force.
But why do we lift up our feet from the ground to go about some daily duty? Here comes another force—the force of will, which directs the action of some of the vital forces, but not that of others. ”

“ Adjust a balance, and a single weight removed from one of the scales gives preponderance to the opposite one; so with body and mind; what you cast into the scale of matter to weigh for or against health, you take away from Intelligence, and its power to hold the balance against matter. ”

“ In physiology, at least, it has now no place. It now never occurs to a physiologist to consider any of the vital phenomena as the result of a mysterious vital force, of an active power working for a definite purpose, standing outside of matter, and, so to speak, taking only the physico-chemical forces into its service. ”

“ Our ordinary discoveries teach us that force can be multiplied by a multiplication of the elements or organs evolving force. The simplest child knows how to obtain two pounds instead of one by putting another weight in the scale; and the electrician obtains more power by adding another jar, or another plate, or another cell to his battery. In like manner Nature has in various directions seized every means to increase and concentrate what for convenience is termed vital force. ”

“ The extent of this influence is controlled by man’s weight, or his “lifting power,” and the position which he occupies; just as the attraction of the pin for the earth is controlled by weight and position. ”

“ For it is nothing but thought which moves our bodies, and all the members of them, which are the immediate instruments of all human force and power: excepting mechanical motions which do not depend upon our wills, such as the motion of the heart, the circulation of the blood, the concoction of our meat and the like. ”

“ The harmonious action of the essential parts of the individual subsist only by the influence of a force, the operation of which is extended to all parts of the body, and does not depend on any single parts; this force must exist before the parts, which are in fact formed by it during the development of the embryo.... The vital force inherent in them generates from the organic matter the essential organs which constitute the whole being. ”

“ Since, however, we are ourselves in the practice of directing the motion of our own bodies, and of moving other things in this way, we have acquired a copious store of remembered sensations relating to these actions, and therefore our ideas of force are connected in our minds with ideas of conscious power, of exertion, and of fatigue, and of overcoming or yielding to pressure. ”