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"I thought that's what you said," blathered my research assistant.
"Is that spelled with a capital 'G', Doctor?" He answered in the affirmative. I assumed a pose of deep thought, crossing my arms and then my legs. "A work of art of some sort," I conjectured, by way of testing him. "A common abstract vivipict."
"A Gnomon is a sundial, I think." Spirit-To-Change, in her eagerness to gain my approval, tried to fluster the Doctor. "No. Yes. Am I right?"
"Yes, you are right - it is that and more. Originally, Gnomon was the name given to the Babylonian shadow clock; a sundial, if you like. A little later the name referred only to the raised style which actually cast the shadow; this second definition, of course, was just a refinement of the first; it now took two words - sundial and Gnomon - to describe an object that once could be completely identified by one word. Basically, the word Gnomon referred to an instrument which assigned meaning to the motion of the sun - the instrument was a 'knower of time'."
Doctor Atum was nothing if not vigorous; his speech forged ahead at top speed, and his entire body gesticulated as he spoke, forming shapes in the air with his hands and dramatizing points with exhuberant, even flamboyant kinematics.
"The Greeks developed the ability to abstract concepts - to separate - to place distance between - the word for an object and the object itself. The idea, the feeling of 'assigning meaning' became an independent entity - a thing - and the word Gnomon was the word they used to identify that thing, that feeling. The definition of Gnomon became "one who knows", and 'interpreter', and 'mind', and 'judgement', and 'knower'. The Pythagoreans used the word Gnomon to describe that part of a parallelogram that remains after a similar parallelogram has been removed from one of the corners; the Gnomon contains enough information to reconstruct the whole figure - it 'knows' the whole. Thus the name Gnomon referred to a part of the whole which contained all the information necessary to reconstruct the whole."
I uncrossed my legs and placed my hands on my knees. "Yes, yes," I said imperiously, implying that I already knew all this. "But that is not a sundial, or a parallelogram. I want to know what that is." I pointed again.
"In different degrees, it is all the things I have just described, but the last definition is the most useful to you. Professor, I realize this will require some explanation."
"No doubt. But lest you think you are talking to a fool, let me tell you a little about myself. I was selected for this interview because I am an expert in all the great philosophies, both past and present. I understand the world and how it works intimately." I lowered my voice and looked him directly in the eye. "I understand the dialectics of Truth."
Doctor Atum, if I may say so, was suitably impressed. I felt encouraged and went on. "It is my job to make sense of your work, whatever it may be. I understand you have developed what is known in the trade as a Theory of Everything. I must warn you that I also have developed such a theory, and that my theory is still being seriously considered at the highest levels. In a word, Doctor, I know you and your species well." I sat back and crossed my legs again. Right from the start he knew exactly where he stood with me. I said, "Humph."
My companion Spirit-To-Change stared at me with what can only be called astonished admiration. Her angelic face quivered.
The Doctor was smiling, but I knew I had hit him hard. "You are a formidable foe indeed, Professor," was his initial reply. "May I say that I don't refer to my work as a Theory of Everything; those theories must navigate trecherous waters, and many a good soul has been lost in them, as you know. Rather, I see myself developing a window into the structure of consciousness, which may or may not meet your definition. If I had to label my work, I would call it a Theory of Power Relationships. Excellent, our tea is here."
"And not a moment too soon," my assistant-companion added quixotically.
I waited while MakeMake made the ritualistic distributions. After a round of mandatory flattery on the quality of the tea I continued.
"So you agree that your work can be described as a Theory of Everything."
"But that's not what Keter said," interjected my research assistant, in spite of my admonition against using first names.
"Tell me, Professor, what do you think of my home Living Spaces?"
"I am asking the questions, Doctor Atum. Why don't you tell me YOUR opinion of Living Spaces?" I am not a psychiatrist, but I know one. I turned his question back upon him.
"I hold few opinions, Professor; opinions are toys of the imagination. In geometry, with one point you can construct any design of any size; as the number of points increases, the number of non-equivalent - different - designs you can construct using all the points decreases. To draw any particular design, you must select certain points and omit others.
"Opinions are geometric designs drawn with selected, rather than inclusive points. They are useful for short-term goals requiring self-deception, but they are an unstable foundation for a balanced relationship with reality. Opinions are a form of delusion."
MakeMake intervened before I could formulate a reply.
"Opinions are valid as revealed structure of the mind that creates them; but they lack the undiscriminating structure of truth, which uses all the visible geometric points to create its picture of reality. This is just a way of saying that truths are complete definitions of visible reality, while opinions are partial definitions." She spoke first to me, then to my assistant. From her direct manner, I received the distinct impression that MakeMake was a strumpet.
"God is always doing geometry." Spirit-To-Change mused out loud, shocking everyone. "Plato said that."
"He also said that ideas exist independently of the world we live in," added MakeMake. "The world changes, but ideas are eternal. Or as my husband would say, the power relationships the ideas represent are eternal."
"Precisely put as always, my darling." The Doctor slowly finished his tea, carefully replaced his cup in its saucer, and then resumed his exposition with renewed frenzy. "Living Spaces, as you may have been told, was once the location of a cyclotron - an atom smasher. Many years ago scientists from around the world gathered here to conduct an epochal experiment; their goal was to re-create the conditions existing at the fraction of time preceeding the origin of the Universe - the instant before the Big Bang.
"Their plan was to fuse together each different atomic particle in ratios consistent with their population in nature; for safety's sake, they decided to employ the absolute minimum number of particles necessary while still maintaining the proper numerical proportions. By this method, of course, the scientists intended to go back in time to the point when all the particles were a single entity.
"Miraculously, the experiment - code-named 'Small Bang' - succeeded. But the experimenters had grossly underestimated the power of the forces they were unleashing. The resulting explosion devastated this macrocosm and turned it into a desert. No one and nothing survived."
The Doctor turned to the wall and faced the demented, seething tempest that threatened to overwhelm us at any moment. "The macrocosm was abandoned because the detonation took a generation to complete. When it was finally possible to return, this is what was found."
"A vivipict?" I said cleverly.
"A Gnomon," said Spirit-To-Change, in a voice loud enough to annoy everyone who heard it.
"A Gnomon," the Doctor repeated unnecessarily. "The remnant, the wake, the offspring of the Small Bang induced by those heroic dreamers. A context composed of pure energy, composed of all the power relationships its original creator - the creator of all power relationships - bestowed upon our Universe. It is an essence of the sublime wisdom from which it came."
It was an easy target. After some deliberation I attacked immediately. "You've overlooked a small detail, Doctor. If this is a re-creation of the Big Bang, as you claim, why isn't it expanding?" I smiled like a dog.
"The apparent stability of the Gnomon is an illusion, Professor. Our readings show that it is expanding in a complexity of processes beyond our ability to accurately measure. The core we see here may be regenerating itself, or exhausting an internal energy source of astronomical density; of course, these options are both speculation. We haven't yet developed the tools to explain what is really happening."
Spirit-To-Change stood up and stared at the wall screen, blocking my view. While I was not in the least impressed with the Doctor's arguments, I also stood up.
"The surrounding vivapict is a magnification of a small area of the Gnomon," said MakeMake, gesturing with her hands as she spoke. "A microscopic viewpoint. For a comparison, look in the window."
I placed my hands on my research assistant's soft shoulders and moved her aside with less delicacy than I had intended, and looked. Sunlight surrounded the perimeter of the window like a corona, enclosing a spherical cloud flexing huge grey muscles. The cloud was some distance away, and difficult to see.
"I can't see a thing," I said as I turned away, but as if anticipating my words, MakeMake was already motioning me to the telescope; the base of the telescope had been jacked up, and its barrel was now nearly horizontal. She made an adjustment as she peered into an eyepiece, and then waved me to an adjoining viewer, whose eyepiece seemed much smaller than hers.
Although we were in a desert, I saw a lake of ice covered with a thin layer of water; the water was animated by spreading ripples. I heard MakeMake spin a dial, and the image moved slightly upward to reveal the cause of the ripples. It was a huge convulsive nebula of ephemeral points of light. The nebula expanded and contracted like a heart.
I alternated my gaze from the telescope to the window and back again. The motions I observed appeared to be synchronized.
I stepped away from the telescope. My research assistant took my place.
"A cheap trick," I said with plenty of savvy. "But I've seen better."
"No trick, Professor. We will see the Gnomon in person before you leave."
"Keter, you mentioned power relationships," Spirit-To-Change said out of turn. Because my recorder still occupied the seat next to me, she again sat down next to Doctor Atum, pausing first to take a pict of him, then his wife.
It was distressing to see my assistant so easily taken in by parlor games. I found it necessary to again assert my authority.
"Assuming this fantastic story is true, Doctor Atum, which it most certainly is not, what do you mean by power relationships?"
"To discuss power relationships we must also discuss primordial particles, thoughts and architecture. The story is not long but it is intense. Shall we begin?"
"It is why I am here." Primordial particles, thoughts and architecture. The man was on drugs. Illegal drugs. "Begin now." I pretended to switch on the recorder, even though it was already on.
"Very well, my friend. We will begin at the beginning. The Big Bang Theory states that the Universe was created in a great explosion of energy. Before this explosion there was nothing; after the explosion there was energy, matter and space. Yet matter and space owe their existence to energy, and we can therefore say that energy, in its various states of being, is the sole substance of the known Universe."
"There are those who would say that God created the Universe, Doctor Atum," I correctly informed him.
"I am not describing a religion, Lithic - excuse me, Professor Frost - I am a scientist, not an apostle. Let's just assume that energy is the tool God chose to execute his magnificent plan."
"That is perfectly acceptable."
"Excellent."
"I have heard matter described as 'frozen energy'," chimed in my research assistant, apropos of nothing. "Is that right?"
"Perfectly right. Albert Einstein's formula E=MC˛ describes the relationship between energy and matter. In plain language, the formula states that energy and matter are equivalent - interchangeable - that matter is 'frozen energy', if you like. Let me pict it for you.
"Imagine two rockets, A and B, sitting at rest on the surface of the earth. Now imagine that both rockets are launched from earth at the same time, at the same speed, on parallel courses, within sight of each other. An observer on earth sees Rocket A accelerate from zero to great speed as it lifts off and shoots into the sky. To the observer on earth, Rocket A has increased its velocity, and therefore its energy. Simply, something has been added to Rocket A.
"Now imagine an astronaut observer on Rocket B looking over at Rocket A. Assume a uniform background. Because both rockets are travelling at the same velocity, Rocket A seems to be standing still to the astronaut on Rocket B; to him, it doesn't look like anything has been added to Rocket A.
"The difference between energy and mass is the difference between the points of view of the earth observer and the astronaut observer. The reality of Rocket A is the same in both points of view - it is moving and it is at rest at the same time.
"The two-headed point - the parallax point - we are leading to is that (1) energy is the sole substance of the Universe, and (2) every entity in the Universe is composed of energy. You must accept these points or all that follows will not make sense. Professor?"
"You have said the same identical thing twice, it appears to me. But this is not new information."
"The points are equivalent, but not identical. They are like two doors opening into the same room. Did you follow my explanation, Spirit-To-Change?"
Unless I missed my guess, my research assistant was baffled but embarrassed to show it. "Yes, yes, please go on."
"Excellent, excellent. A practical result of Einstein's equation is that energy can be described in terms of matter, and vice versa. Now go back to the instant of the Big Bang. Everything that has existed, everything that exists, everything that will exist - assuming that energy is and remains the sole substance of the Universe - is the spawn of that moment.
"Think of it in terms of a gene pool - a gene pool of innumerable primordial energy particles - quarks, electrons, protons, neutrons, W particles, Z particles, antiquarks, pions, neutrinos, positrons - the subatomic family in all its manifestations - zooming and spiraling and diving and colliding in an expanding space of their own creation - mated variously into electromagnetic and nuclear and gravitational embraces with other particles, yet always speeding to their next impact , their next moment of freedom, their next embrace.
"Imagine the relationship each particle had with every other particle in the primordial soup - the physical attraction, repulsion, or relative indifference each had for every other as they flew through the mix. If your mind can hold even a small part of this picture, you can get a sense of the indescribable pushing and pulling and battering - the poetry and the violence - the love and the madness that must have occurred."
Incredibly, my research assistant was nodding her head.
The Doctor leaped up, histrionically exaggerating his speech with outright pantomime. Beads of sweat formed on his brow, and he seemed to dance as he spoke. It was then that I noticed his socks didn't match.
"The relationships between these particles was of course physical. The electromagnetic, nuclear and gravitational forces - themselves forms of energy - that affected the particles are physical forces, acting on mass and energy both because energy and mass are two sides of the same coin. The coercions affecting a particle - the amount of power each different force applied to each different particle - varied with the location and the type of particle; the relationships among all the particles can therefore be called power relationships.
"Do you see it? Power is influence - bigger particles influenced smaller particles in greater measure than moderate particles; but the number, position and distance of competing forces on a particle tended to mitigate sheer size as the dominant influencing factor."
"So?" I said impatiently. "What is your conclusion?"
"That the energy relationships - the power relationships - the googols of multiple interactions - existing at the moment of the Universe's birth are the parents and structure of all that followed. That not only planets and stars, not only men and women, but also the thoughts of men and women are expressions of these energy interactions, and they all obey the same physical laws that energy obeys."
I humphed. "Meaning what?"
"That is my conclusion, Professor Frost. The rest is merely explication." He sat back down, knees and arms splayed. One hand came perilously close to touching Spirit-To-Change.
"Doctor. Doctor, doctor, doctor. You should have started with your conclusion. I am a busy man. You've told a fairy tale with minimal entertainment value, nothing more." I felt the glance of my companion, and I knew she understood the point I was making.
"Perhaps improperly, I felt it best to provide the complete picture for you and your editor." He neglected to include Spirit-To-Change, and I saw her react.
I went for the quick kill. "So this is your theory? For this I dared a blindfolded journey over a burning desert in a computer-operated sonicopter? And my companion as well?"
"It is just the beginning, Professor. The next step may interest you more. Would you like to hear more?"
I looked at my companion, overruled her unspoken wish, and sighed "I knew the risks the day I chose to become a Professor. You may proceed."
"Excellent. As I hope I have established, thoughts are composed of energy; and because energy is interchangeable with matter, thoughts are interchangeable with matter. From that point of view we can see thoughts as entities with physical properties, even though we can't pick them up and hold them in our hands."
"You can't pick up and hold an atom, either," I informed him. Then, making it appear as a continuous thought, I added "But you can pict it."
"We can pict thoughts too, Professor, but not in the way you suggest. Human creations are a direct result of a mind's thought processes; therefore human creations are necessarily a reflection of a mind's thought processes. Do you see it? Human creations must exist in here - " he tapped his temple, "before they can exist out there - " he spread his arms out.
"'What is perceptible to the senses is the reflection of what is intelligible to the mind' - Plato." said MakeMake, audaciously intruding with a non sequitur.
"'What is below is like what is above' - Tabula Smaragdina." reposted the Doctor.
"'What is within is also without' - Goethe."
"'Out of the lowest the highest reaches its peak' - Nietzsche." finished the Doctor. He and MakeMake had apparently had this conversation before, and they both began laughing. Eventually the Doctor turned to me and said "Let me see if I can build a pict for you, a pict of what the inside of a mind looks like."
Unless I am suffering from delusions, and I most certainly am not, the Doctor said he was going to describe the inside of a human mind - in front of witnesses. I hid my pity. "You poor misguided man. Go ahead and try."
"We have much to learn from each other, Professor. Very well." He leaned forward and again began shaping the air with his pantomimes. "By definition, a thought is an idea or a related group of ideas. We have established that the particles which constitute the Universe must also constitute ideas, so we can define any particular idea as the specific power relationships among the elementary particles which compose it. Correct?"
I shrugged, not giving him anything. Spirit-To-Change was immobile; the Doctor was putting her to sleep. MakeMake templed her fingers and bounced them against each other. She smiled slavishly at her husband.
"A context is a group of related ideas, so we can define a context as the power relationships between and/or among ideas. Since both ideas and contexts are composed of primordial particles, and since a context is really just a complex idea, the terms 'idea' and 'context' are equivalent, and they can be used interchangeably.
"This leads us to an interesting place: because contexts are composed of energy particles, and because anything composed of energy has physical properties, then contexts are the architecture of the thinking process; contexts are the physical psychic structures that direct our conscious and unconscious mental calculations."
I had him. "You are hallucinating, Doctor. I can't think of a more humane way to say it. You need help. Something as ethereal, as sublime as human thought can never be proven to have a physical counterpart. Don't you agree, Spirit-To-Change?"
I had shocked my companion back to my point of view, as was my intention. She was forced to agree with me. "I can see the reasoning, but I can't feel it. Do you see what I mean, Doctor? I can't touch my thoughts, and so they don't seem real."
"You mean you could believe in a thought's physicality if, and only if, one or more of your five senses could feel it?"
"It is the only proof an intelligent person such as myself could accept," I declared. "The scientific method demands it."
I had Doctor Atum on the defensive, although he hid his emotions well. Spirit-To-Change was solidly on my side. MakeMake tried to put up a good front; she had stopped bouncing her fingers and was now scratching her palms. She was still smiling, but now the smile was aimed at me. All in all, I didn't like it.
"Perhaps we can solve this problem; I will try to prove to you that ideas can be physically accessed by your senses. I will give you both a problem, and you will solve it silently, repeating the answer only to yourself. Are you ready?"
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