Monday 28 December 2015

Infinite Voyages: Man's Future

Poul Anderson, The Infinite Voyage: Man's Future In Space (London, 1969).

An infinite voyage through space or infinite voyages in every direction? Anderson's Foreword mentions:

the ocean;
the Antarcitic;
tropical rain forests;
science -

- although not the mind.

The ocean is mostly unknown. Anderson's "The Sensitive Man" describes an underwater settlement:

oil wells;
mines;
exploration -

- "...men learned to go deeper into cold and darkness and pressure. It was expensive but an overcrowded world had little choice." (The Psychotechnic League, pp. 140-141)

Science includes the exploration of the microcosm. How infinite is that? Is it possible that every particle is composed of smaller particles and spaces between them? No. If every particle = spaces + at least two smaller particles, then every particle = spaces + (spaces + at least four even smaller particles). But then every particle = spaces + (spaces + {spaces + at least eight much smaller particles}) etc. So, at infinity, the volume of every particle = space + infinite particles of zero volume, i.e., just space. In any case, physics has moved away from the model of particles as merely much smaller physical objects.

The human mind is also scientifically studied in the Psychotechnic History which includes "The Sensitive Man." Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote:

"...mind has mountains...no-man-fathomed."

Can science fathom mental mountains?

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