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47 4 Evidence for Process in the Physical World John A. Jungerman Introduction From the world of the extremely small (atoms, nuclei, and their constituents), to nonlinear self-organizing systems on a human scale, and finally to the vast regions of the cosmos itself, at every level we find interconnectedness, openness , creativity, and increasing order. These are fundamental tenets of process thought through its description of events, or occasions of experience, which the process philosopher Alfred North Whitehead assumes are its basic entity. Process philosophy asserts that an event, or society of events, is influenced by or connected to previous events. The event harmonizes this information with its goals and makes a choice among alternatives, an openness that may lead to creativity and novelty. It is impressive that process thought is often in agreement with discoveries in physics that occurred decades after its formulation. I would now like to discuss in turn interconnectedness, openness, creativity, and increasing order in more detail (see also J. Jungerman, World in Process: Creativity and Interconnection in the New Physics, Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000). Interconnectedness According to the general theory of relativity, there is an interdependence of time, space, mass-energy, and gravity. They are all interlinked. Time is itself part of a process. The general theory also predicts that accelerating masses will give off gravitational radiation—a prediction recently verified with great precision by long-term observation of a binary pulsar.1 The special and general theories of relativity give us a connection between concepts that were previously thought to be separate. Such interrelatedness is in accord with process thought—it shows a dynamic and interconnected universe. 48 John A. Jungerman Again, twentieth-century physics has shown us new connections between concepts originally thought to be separate: light is both a wave and a particle, and matter itself is not only a particle, but also has a wave aspect. We are invited to a transcendent conception of a wavicle for both light, or more generally electromagnetic radiation, and matter. Wave-particle duality is a fact of the physical universe. These discoveries are illustrations of the fundamental tenet of process thought that the world is formed of interconnections—in this instance conceptual ones. Quantum mechanics is in accord with a holistic conception of the universe in that interconnectedness lies at its heart. This was another of Einstein’s objections to quantum mechanics. He foresaw “spooky interactions at a distance ,” which he rejected. Yet in the late twentieth century there has been ample experimental evidence that particles once formed in a quantum state remain in this state and are connected to each other even though separated at great distances . In 1997 a group of Swiss physicists demonstrated that the quantum mechanical correlation was intact over a distance of 10 kilometers using fiber optic telephone lines.2 Thus, the connection observed is independent of distance . Particles formed from three quarks, such as the proton and the neutron, are called baryons. In addition to the neutron and proton, other baryons have been found, and these contain new types of quarks. In fact, four quarks in addition to the up and down quarks that form neutrons and protons have been discovered and given the quaint names “charm,” “strange,” “bottom,” and “top.” The last, the top quark, was found in 1995. Atoms in an excited state decay to their ground state by emission of a photon. In an analogous manner, protons and neutrons have been found to have excited states that are formed from baryons made from up, down, charm, and strange quarks. They decay to protons and neutrons by emission of photons as well as other particles, which may themselves be structured. In this way these baryons form a web of connections, in agreement with process thought. Self-organizing systems at the human scale form connections among trillions of molecules. A thin layer of heated oil with a thermal gradient and far from equilibrium forms an exquisite pattern of Bénard cells—an intimate connection among the myriad of molecules involved. The gravity of our sun makes it possible for the earth to be at just the right distance to be hospitable to life. The low-entropy electromagnetic radiation from the sun makes life possible— an essential connection for all of us. We humans are connected by necessity and dependent on plants and animals for our survival and depend on each other through our cultures to provide not only the necessities of life...

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