V.

MOTION.

MOTION DEFINED--DO TIME AND SPACE MOVE?--TIME, SPACE, FORCE AND ATTRACTION COMPARED.--A LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF “ATTRACTION” BY USING EMPTY SPACE AS A BASIS.

I presume no one will deny that motion is a reality; we know that we move, and we know that motion is going on all around us. The immensity of motion is staggering when we come to consider it; the motions of stars, suns, planets and satellites; of rivers, lakes and seas; of wind and clouds; of the circulation of sap and blood; of atomic vibration, and so on. Motion is the cause of light and heat; of sound, tone, color, electricity, magnetism. Differences in the shape and motion of atoms make bodies solid or gaseous, and differentiate the so-called “substances” from each other. It may be seen then that motion plays an all-important part in the work of creation; that motion is the work of creation in progress; and so the study of motion becomes very important indeed. What is motion?

That which moves is neither time nor space; it is not conceivable that either time or space should move. That which moves is substance. Motion, then, is a shifting of substance from place to place; or from one part of space to another part of space. And are there different kinds of motion? In a way, there are; and the difference depends upon the time used in making the motion, and upon the direction in which the motion is made. That is, there are fast and slow motions; circular and linear motions; and those metaphysicians who contend that time and space do not exist should consider that if there is no time there is no such thing as fast and slow motion; and if there is no space there is no motion at all, for there is no place to move to. No more preposterous absurdity has appeared in modern thought than the denial of the existence of time and space. Motion, then, is the shifting of substance in space and time. And what causes motion?

To this you will be ready to answer “forces”; and after a little consideration you will see that that is no answer at all unless you tell what force is. What is force, and how does it cause substance to move? Force is not time; we cannot think of time as causing motion. Force is not space; we cannot think of space as causing motion. If force is substance and causes motion, then substance moves itself; and if force is not substance, then it is nothing, or empty space, and empty space cannot act on substance so as to cause it to move. It is all very well for scientists to write of atoms as being “electrons” or ultimate units of force; but these electrons are either substance or they are not; and if they are not substance they are nothing but empty space, and in that case there is no substance, no existence, no consciousness, no anything. Either force is substance, or it is something in substance; and if it is something in substance which is not substance, what is it? And how can that which has no substance act on substance so as to cause motion? Force is not motion, for it is the cause of motion and the effect cannot be its own cause. Let me now try to give you a definition of force.

Force is pressure of substance against substance. Try to exert force upon anything in any other way than by pressing substance against it; can you do it? Try to cause a body to move in any other way than by pressing something against it; can you do it? Try to conceive of force as being exerted upon any body without pressing anything against it; try to conceive of force as crossing a complete vacuum where is no substance of any kind. Force is pressure of substance; that it can be anything else is not thinkable. And this brings us to the consideration of what is loosely spoken of as “attraction.” It is stated that all solid bodies “attract” each other, and that every body in the universe attracts every other body; but those who make these assertions do not tell us how the attraction is accomplished. If bodies “attract” each other, then they exert force upon each other; and if they exert force upon each other they must cause pressure upon each other; for how can a body exert force upon another except by causing pressure upon it? If “attraction” is an unsubstantial thing, then it cannot affect substance, or cause motion; if it is an unsubstantial thing, then it is empty space; for where there is no substance there is only empty space. Can you think of an “attraction” crossing an empty space? What would it be like, and how would it get across? Can you think of a “vibration” as crossing an empty space? How would it be transmitted where there was nothing to vibrate? Can you think of a force as crossing an empty space? What would be the shape, size and general appearance of a force apart from substance? By considering all these points we see that what we know as force is simply pressure of substance; or, one portion of substance pressing against another portion of substance; and that force can be nothing else than this. And we see that pressure causes motion, and that motion, in turn, causes pressure; so that force and motion are mutually convertible, each into the other. Also, we see that there is only one force, the pressure of substance; and that all the so-called “forces” of nature are merely different rates and modes of motion, and have their origin in the One Force--pressure of substance. Furthermore, we see that there is no such thing as a universal attraction which bodies exert upon each other, but that there is a universal pressure, impelling all bodies toward each other in a definite and orderly way; and to the study of this universal pressure we will next turn our attention. Time, space, substance and motion exist. Substance is conscious. Motion is caused by pressure of substance against substance, and the varying forms of substance in the visible creation are caused by differences in motion.