The Thinking Allowed series aired on as many as 120 public TV stations in the US and Canada for more than 18 years. Host Jeffrey Mishlove conducted several interviews with Arthur M. Young, inventor of the Bell helicopter, philosopher, cosmologist and author of The Reflexive Universe and The Geometry of Meaning.
01. Astrology and Science
The planets in astrology represent important distinctions concerning the different realms of reality that often become confused in science. Arthur M. Young states that insights about angular relationships were very important in the development of the helicopter and led him to develop a model in which the measure formulae of physics are expressed in a manner isomorphic to the signs of the zodiac.
Arthur M. Young elaborates on the difference between the planets Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, explaining how the planetary cycles of Saturn have had significance in his own life. He discusses the use of progressed charts in astrology from the perspective of systems theory in which whole cycles are embedded within each other. Astrology, he suggests, is a larger more comprehensive system than science. Scientists can benefit from studying it regardless of its application in individual horoscopes.
02. Determinism and Free Will
Free will and purpose are not inconsistent with a universe subject to law. In fact, says Arthur Young, free will would be ineffective without a determinate world to act upon. Young discusses the difference between determinism–the belief that everything acts according to law–and pre-destination or fate.
03. Evolution: The Great Chain of Being
Arthur M. Young describes three different types of evolution: physical evolution of the form of the body, evolution of the “group soul” of a species, and personal evolution, i.e., the spiritual evolution of the individual.
04. Number and Meaning
Numbers are more than abstract representations of quantity, but also have a qualitative dimension. Arthur M. Young discusses the descent of spirit into matter — and the ascent back to spirit — through four levels which correspond to point, line, plane, solid; fire, water, air, earth– and other classic fourfold patterns.
05. Self and Universe
How can there be separate things in a universe that is interconnected? How can we be separate beings in a universe created by God? Arthur M. Young suggests that the ancient deities act in our psyches as forces which unite the individual with the universe about us.
06. Value and Purpose in Science
Consciousness, rather than being a property which “emerges” at higher orders of complexity, is a basic principle intrinsic to every level of creation, according to this stimulating program with philosopher Arthur M. Young.
07. Is There a Paradigm Shift?
Arthur M. Young argues that although modern scientists often refer to a “paradigm shift” or new perspective as having emerged with the advent of quantum physics, most actual science proceeds under the same assumptions as always.
Credits
All video material on this page is copyrighted by Thinking Allowed Productions.
- Producer: Arthur Bloch
- Principle camerawork: Mike Shedlin
- Additional camerawork: Randy Elliott
- Host: Jeffrey Mishlove
