Everything is a Field

As we explore Whitehead, we do so with an understanding of particle physics that has extended beyond his time.

As Whitehead formulated his 'speculative philosophy' he did so to incorporate new understanding emerging from quantum mechanics in the 1920's. These new findings were dispelling the understanding of the matter from a Cartesian paradigm.

Physicists have continued their discoveries, leading to the formulation of a quantum field theory that underlies a new understanding of the nature of matter – one that recognized that it is fields from which matter emerges, not from particles. Particles are, indeed just moments of excited quanta, much like photons that are packets of energy on the wavelength of light. more

Here is a great talk given by Sean Carroll:

We begin to wonder, then, if Whitehead meant by 'feeling' was the forces in these fields – energy we might think of as waves that form a valence. Waves that can harmonically align – resonate - where there is an amplification into an event that presents a event perception - something he called an 'actual occasion', something we might call a 'monadic moment' in which there is an alignment with other moments, forming a 'concrescence' .

That possibility that resonance lies at the foundation of matter and, indeed, consciousness lies at the heart of Tam Hunt and Jonathon Schooler at the UC Santa Barbara. more Their General Resonance Theory was inspired by Whitehead's Process Philosophy. more

We also find the relationship between frequency and patterns fascinating - particularly as we explore the nature of fractals and strange attractors in chaos theory – a process in which order emerges from chaos.

Another valuable talk about quantum fields:

A video that explores quantum fields and the forming of the universe: