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Second Scientific Lecture-Course:
Warmth Course
GA 321

14 March 1920, Stuttgart

Lecture XIV

[ 1 ] Today it is my object by giving you a few indications to bring these observations to a close for the time being.

It is indeed obvious that what we have sought for in the former course and in this one can only come out fully when we are in a position to extend our treatment of the subject further. Today I will have a few remarks to make on this phase of the matter, at the conclusion of the lecture.

[ 2 ] Let me first give a general summary of what we have taken under consideration in connection with heat and the matter related to it. Out of the array of concepts you have got, I will draw your attention to certain ones. They are the following. When we bring before our eyes the realms of reality that we are able to distinguish in physics, we may list them as follows:

The solid realm, which was have called \(z’\)
The fluid realm, which we have called \(y’\)
The gaseous or aeriform world, denoted by \(x’\)
The realm of chemical effects, which we call \(y\)

And lastly, by \(z\) we have denoted the life activity realm (see Table at end.) [ 3 ] Moreover, we considered yesterday very definite conditions obtaining in regard to the heat state when we pass from \(x\) to \(x'\) and from \(y\) to \(y'\). We tried for example to bring before you the facts which showed how chemical effects could make themselves felt in the fluid element. One who strives to comprehend chemical processes finds the following: Wherever chemical processes are taking place, wherever chemical combinations and chemical dissociations occur, all that has a certain relation to the fluid element must enter in its own particular way into the solid or gaseous realms in order for the chemical effects to manifest themselves there. Thus when we consider our terrestrial chemistry we must keep before our eyes an interpenetration, and with this interpenetration, a kind of mutual binding of chemical effects and the fluid realm. Our terrestrial chemistry presents to us, as it were, the fluid element animated by chemical effects.

[ 4 ] But now, you will readily see that when we consider these various realms of reality it is impossible for us to think that this working of one realm in another is limited to the activity of heat in the gaseous realm. The other realms also work within each other. These call forth their appropriate effects in this or that field of action. We can indeed say the following: although chemical effects work primarily in the fluid medium since they have an inner relationship to is, we have also to visualize the working of the chemical on \(x’,\) that is to say a direct working on the chemical or gaseous or aeriform bodies. [ 5 ] When I say “chemical effect” you must not think of that which comes to clear manifestation and is penetrated with an inner spirituality in the blue-violet portion of the spectrum. Here we have the chemical effect standing, as it were, by itself in a certain independence over against the material realm. When, however, we speak of chemical processes, we are really dealing with this effect as it interpenetrates physical bodies. We must conceive of something here in this chemical realm that, at the outset, has nothing to do with ponderable matter, but interpenetrates it, and in particular does it interpenetrate the fluid element owing to an inner relationship that I showed you yesterday. But let us now ask ourselves the question: What happens when the chemical effect picks out (figuratively speaking) the next realm, the gaseous, or its activities? Then it must happen, considering the matter simply from the external point of view, that something takes its rise in the gaseous which shows an inner relationship to the manifestation of this effect in fluids, which can be compared to this manifestation. In the fluid, the chemical effect seizes upon the material, as it were, and brings this material into such a condition that a mutual interaction sets in. When we put the fluid element before us in thought, we must conceive of it as in mutual reaction with the chemical effect. Let us assume, however, that the action does not go so far as to admit of this seizing of the chemical effect on the matter itself, but let us assume that it works on the matter from the outside only, that it is a stage removed from it as compared to its action on the fluid. Then we have as in the gaseous, a process in which the chemical effect accompanies the material, in one stage removed as compared to its action in fluids. Then there comes about a certain wide independence of the imponderable as compared to the material carrier. In chemical processes proper, the imponderable seizes definitely on the material. Here, however, we come upon a realm where there is not this definite linkage where the imponderable does not definitely insert itself into matter. This is the case in the acoustical realm, in the effect of tone; while in chemical processes in matter we have a complete submergence of the imponderable in matter, in tone we have a persistence of the imponderable as such, a preservation of it in gaseous or aeriform matter. This leads us to something further. It leads us to the point when we have to say: There must be some reason why in fluids the imponderable seizes directly on the material, while in tone effects in the gaseous realm, the imponderable is less able to do this. [ 6 ] If we observe chemical activity and have a feeling for what is to be seen within the physically visible, then we will as a matter of course, understand that it belongs to the nature of matter that chemical phenomena go as they do. That is to say: the imponderable is there as something which is a characteristic of matter. It is not possible otherwise than in this way, that when we are dealing with terrestrial matter the seizing upon the imponderable matter takes place through the earth. By means of the forces of the earth, the chemical effect is, so to speak, seized upon and works within the fluids. You see the forces of form stretched out over the whole terrestrial realm and active by virtue of the fact that these forces of form get hold of the interpenetrating chemical effect. [ 7 ] When we really understand correctly that we have here the forces of the earth, then we have understood something further, if we will grasp the meaning of tone in the air, namely that an opposite kind of force is involved in tone. That is, we have to think as active in tone a force passing into the earth in all directions from the cosmos, a tendency overcoming the earth forces, and thus striving to separate the imponderable from the earth. This is the peculiarity of the tone world. It is this which gives a certain characteristic to the physics of tone, of acoustics. For in this realm we can on the one hand study the material processes and on the other hand we can live in the world of tone by means of our sensations without paying the slightest attention to the acoustical side. What does acoustics matter to us perceiving men, when we live in tone with our sensations? Acoustics is a beautiful science; it reveals for us striking inner laws and an inner order, but that which lies before us as a subjective experience of tone is far, far removed from the physics of the tone as it is expressed in the material world.

And this is really due to the fact that tone manifestation preserves a certain individuality. It takes its origin from the periphery of the cosmos, while such a process as we observe in the chemical forces active in fluids, for instance, proceeds from the earth as a center.

[ 8 ] Now there is one relation brought out also yesterday in Dr. Kolisko's lecture which shows itself only when we rise, as it were, to a universal point of view. This is that we can conceive of the periodic arrangement of the elements as octaves. In this we have an analogy between the inner laws of tone and the whole nature of matter as it demonstrates itself in chemical processes.

Thus is established the fact that we may conceive of all the combinations and breaking down of material compounds as an outer reflection of an inner world music. This inner world music reveals itself to us outwardly as such in only one particular form, namely in our terrestrial music. Music should never be so conceived that we merely say, what is tone within us, subjectively, is only vibrating air outside of us. This must be looked upon as nonsense.

It is to be considered just as nonsensical as if we were to say the following: What you are outwardly as a physical body that you are inwardly as a soul; such a statement leaves out the subject. Likewise we leave out the subject when we consider tone in its inner nature as identical with the condensations and rarefactions of the air that constitute, in the aerial medium, the carrier of tone. Now if you get a correct conception of this matter, you will see that we have in chemical processes to do with a certain relationship between \(y\) and \(y’\), and in tone we have to do with a certain relationship between \(y\) and \(x’\) (See Table.)

[ 9 ] I have already indicated to you that when we stand within this or that realm, what we become aware of in the outer world always pertains to difference in level or potential differences. Please endeavor now, to trace what is similar to potential difference in this realm we are dealing with. Let us try to trace what is similar to the potential difference which becomes active in the case where gravity is used to furnish a driving force for a wheel through the falling water. Let us make clear to ourselves that we have differences in level involved in temperature, heat, tone and in the equalization of electric strains. Everywhere are potential differences, we meet them wherever we study forces. But what do we have, then? We have an inner relationship between what we perceive in the spectrum and liquid matter; and that which presents itself to us as chemical process is nothing but the result of the difference between chemical effects and the forces that are in the fluid. It is a \(y-y'\) potential difference. And in tone, a lower \(y-x’\) potential difference is manifesting.

Thus we can say: In relating a chemical process to the world of reality we are dealing with a potential difference between chemical effects and fluid forces. In the manifestation of tone and sound in the air, we are dealing with a potential difference between what is working formatively into chemical effects, what starts from the periphery into the world and the material of the gas, the aeriform body. [ 10 ] Furthermore, what shows itself in this realm of reality manifests through potential differences. The matter rests on these differences in potential even though we remain in one element, in warmth, or even in gas or in water. But especially when we perceive distinctions between realms, do we deal with potential differences in the effects of these realms.

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[ 11 ] Taking all of this together you come to the following: from a consideration of fluids and their boundary surfaces we are obliged to attribute the form of solids to earth forces. The extent to which gravity and the energies of configuration, to borrow a term from modern physics, are related, has been brought before you in past lectures. If we proceed from the forces that manifest in gravity, to those which result in liquid surfaces, apparently plane surfaces on account of the great size of the earth, we find we are really dealing with a sphere. Obviously the liquid levels of all the terrestrial bodies of water taken together constitute a sphere. Now you see, when we pass outwards from the center of the earth toward the surface of the sphere we meet successively certain sets of conditions. For terrestrial relations, within the solid realm we have forces which tend to close in, to delimit. Fluid forces, however, may perhaps be represented in their configuration by a line or plane tangential to the surface of the sphere. If we go further and observe the sphere from without we must put the matter in this way: beneath the sphere of liquid we have to deal with the formative forces of solids. In these formative forces which delimit solids we are dealing with a single body if we consider the earth as a whole.

The many single bodies together form a single form like the fluid element of the earth. How must we then conceive of these various conditions? For we have passed beyond the formed, beyond what is shaped from within as the solid bodies are. How must we picture this to ourselves? Well, we must conceive of it as the opposite condition. Within the sphere we have solids filled with matter, and without we must think of space filled with negative matter. Within we have filled space (see figure). [ 12 ] We must become accustomed to thinking of an emptying of space. The earth is indeed not influenced only by what happens on it, but by the other effects from all sides. If this were not so, the terrestrial phenomena themselves would be different. This can only be mentioned today; later we will go into it more thoroughly. For instance, it would not be possible for us to have a separations of continents from bodies of water, or a north and a south pole, if in the environment of the earth there were not empty spaces. These “matterless” spaces must work in from various directions. If we search for them we find them in what the older cosmic systems designated as the planets, to which we must add also the sun.

[ 13 ] Thus we are forced from the realm of the earth into the realm of the cosmos, and we are obliged to find the transition from the one condition of space to the opposite condition. We must learn to pass from a space filled positively with matter to one filled negatively with matter and this condition of negativity filled space so far as it acts on our earth we must think of as localized in the planets around the earth. Thus there is active at the point where terrestrial phenomena are going on a mutual interaction of the terrestrial proper and the cosmic, and this is due to the fact that from the negatively filled spaces, a suction-like action is going on while the formative forces are expressing themselves as pressures. This mutual interaction meets us in that particular force-configuration ordinarily sought for in molecular forces and attractions. We should conceive of these things as they were thought of by the intuitive knowledge of former times. Manifestations in matter, which are always accompanied by the imponderable, were then thought of as influenced by the whole cosmos instead of being misinterpreted fantastically as due to certain theoretical inner configurations. What the stars, like giants, do in the cosmos is reflected in the terrestrial dwarfs, the atoms and molecules.

This indeed, is what we have to do; we must know that when we represent a terrestrial process or perform calculations on it, we are dealing with a picture of extra-terrestrial effects, with a mutual action of the terrestrial and the cosmic.

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[ 14 ] Now you see here we have the force that fills space with matter (see drawing.) Also, here we still have this force that fills space with matter, but this force is attenuated. Ultimately we come to the condition where there is negative matter. There must be a region between where, so to speak, space is torn apart.

We can put the matter in this way. Our space as it surrounds us constitutes a kind of vessel for physical manifestations, and has an inner relationship to these forces. Something in it corresponds to them. But when we go from the ponderable to the imponderable, space is torn apart. And in this tearing apart, something enters that was not there before it happened.

Let us assume that we tear apart the three dimensional space. What is it that enters through the rift? When I cut my finger, blood comes out—it is a manifestation in three dimensional space. But when I tear apart space itself that which comes through is something that is otherwise non-spatial.

[ 15 ] Note how modern physical thinking is lost in the woods. Is it not true that when we make electrical experiments in the school room, our apparatus must be painstakingly dried, we must make it a good insulator, or our experiments will fail. If it is moist, the experiment will fail. But I have often called attention to the fact that the inner friction of clouds which are certainly moist is supposed to give rise to electricity which in turn produced lightning and thunder. This is one of the most impossible ideas that can be conceived.

[ 16 ] Now on the other hand, if we bring together these things we have considered as necessary for a real understanding, then we can see that space is torn apart the moment the flash appears. At that moment, what fills space as non-dimensional entity, intensively, comes forth like the blood when I cut my hand. This is indeed always the case when light appears accompanied by heat. Space is torn apart. Space reveals to us what dwells within, while it shows us only its exterior in the usual three dimensions that we have before us. Space then shows us its inner content.

[ 17 ] We may thus say: when we proceed from the ponderable to the imponderable and have to pass through the realm of heat as we go, we find heat welling out wherever we make the transition from the pressure effects of ponderable matter to the suction effects of the imponderable. At all such points of transition heat wells out.

Now you will see that when we are constructing ideas about the processes which we spoke of several days ago as processes of conduction of heat, you have to relate to them the concept that the heat is bound to the ponderable matter. This is quite the opposite condition to that which we have considered as existing in radiating heat itself. This heat we find as the entity welling out when matter is torn apart. How will it affect matter? It will work from the intensive condition to the extensive. It will, so to speak, work from the inner portion of space into its outer portions. When heat and a material body mutually react on one another we see a certain thing occurring. What occurs is that the characteristic tendency of the heat is transformed. The suction effect is transformed into a pressure effect so that the cosmic tendency of the heat opposes the individualizing tendency of the material which, in solids, is the force that gives form.

We thus have in heat, in phenomena of warmth, insofar as these manifest a conductivity, to seek, not for rays, but for a tendency to spread in all directions. We must look for a mirroring of the imponderable matter, or for the presence of the imponderable in the ponderable. Bodies that conduct heat bring it into manifestation by an intensive reflection of the impinging imponderable heat on their material portion This is in contracts to the extensive reflection characteristic of light.

[ 18 ] Now I wish to ask you to work over in your minds such concepts as we are accustomed to entertain and to work them over in the way we do here so that they become saturated with reality, as it were. Let me give you a picture in closing to recapitulate and show you how much reality-saturated concepts can lead us into a vital grasp of the being of the cosmos.

[ 19 ] I have already called your attention to the basis upon which rests the perception, the subjective experiences of temperature. We really experience the difference between our own temperature and the temperature of the environment, which, indeed, is what the thermometer does—I have drawn this to your attention. But perception depends precisely on this that we have within us a certain condition and that which lies outside this condition constitutes our perception. We cannot be a thing and perceive it at the same time. But we must always be other than the conditions we are experiencing. Suppose we consider tone. Insofar as we are tone, we cannot experience tone. If we would answer without prejudice the question: what are we as experiencers of tone, we come to the conclusion that we simply experience one potential difference while we are the other potential difference. We experience the \(y-x’\) difference; we do not experience the \(y-y’\) difference because that is part of our being in time. It accompanies our perception of tone. It is an orderly inner chemical process in our fluid nature and is a part of our being. What causes chemical effects within us produces certain orderly effects in the world itself. It is by no means without interest to picture the following to yourselves. You know well that the human body consists only of a small degree of solid constituents. More than 90 percent of it is water, what plays through us as a delicate chemical process while we listen to a symphony is an inner continually phosphorescent marvel in this fluid nature. We are in our inner nature what these chemical processes reflect from tone. And we become aware of the tone world through the fact that we are chemically the tone world in the sense I have presented to you.

[ 20 ] Our understanding of man himself is really much broadened, you see, if we bring an understanding of physical problems to bear on the human body. But the thing we must strive for is not to form abstract concepts of which physics is so fond today Rather, we must force our way through the concepts really woven into the world, the objective world. Fundamentally everything that spiritual science is striving to bring into the conceptual world and especially what it is striving to do to promote a certain way of thinking, has for its object to bring back into human development thought permeated with reality. And it is indeed necessary for this to happen. For this reason we must prosecute vigorously such studies as have been presented here during the last few days.

You can see, my friends, how everywhere around you something old is dying out. Is it not possible from examination of physical concepts, to see that something old is really dying out, for little is to be done with them? The very fact that we can build up a new physical concept even when we attempt it in such a limited way—for we can only give indications now—this fact shows that we stand today at a turning point in human development.,

[ 21 ] We must, my friends, give thought to certain things. We must push forward the varied lines of endeavor which Dr. Baravalle, Dr. Blumel, Mr. Strakesch, and Dr. Kolisko have presented to you in order to give a new impulse to the development hitherto consummated by the human race. Thus we will lay foundations for progress.

You must see that people the world over are asking for an extension of these things. We must found schools. What is happening in the world outside? People are encouraging schools, the Danish school movement is an example. What is characteristic of the old schools is being carried into the new ones. But nothing new will come of this. The whole people will simply have fastened on them the thing that up to now has been fastened on the learned.

There is nothing sadder than to contemplate a future where the manner of thinking which has devastated the heads of the learned men in the fashion we have seen will be transmitted to the people of the whole earth through the school system. If we would found schools for the people, we must be sure that there will be something available to teach in them, something whose inner configuration represents an advance. We need first the science that can be given in these schools. People wish always to remain superficial, considering only what is obvious. Consequently, in a spiritual movement, they do not wish to do anything radical toward renewing their manner of thinking, but simply to bring to people the old, the disappearing. It is just in regard to physical facts that this tendency is most noticeable.

[ 22 ] You will certainly find many things in these lectures that are unsatisfactory, for they can only be suggestive at best. One thing however, is shown, and that is the necessity to build anew our whole physical, chemical, physiological and biological thought world. It must be rebuilt from the fundamental up. We will naturally accomplish this when we have reconstructed not only the schools, but also the science itself. And until we have succeeded in so arranging things that the academic side has been renewed along the lines started in these last few days, only then will we reach that which will and must be reached if European civilization is not to perish in a spiritual sense.

[ 23 ] Only consider the shocking trend in the modern academic world. We have long controversial papers read, completely divorced from real life. People sit in fine lecture halls and each reads his paper, but the others do not listen. For it is a noteworthy fact that one man is a specialist in one line, another man is a specialist in a different line. The mathematician reads but the medical man does not listen. And when the medical man reads the thoughts of the mathematician are busy elsewhere. This is indeed a well known sign. Something new must be injected. And this something must have its center in a spiritual striving. We must see this point. Therefore, one can say: if we can but bring together this striving towards a new kind of reality with a building up of the way of thinking in our schools, then we will attain what must be attained.

[ 24 ] You can see there is much to be done. We really learn how such is to be done only when we begin to go into details.

For this reason it is so pathetic that people today who cling to the old way of thinking, for it has become old, it has had its day—coin phrases and accumulate great amounts of money to perpetuate their academic system in the world. It is especially difficult because we must become fundamentally convinced that a genuine new world is necessary. We must not deceive ourselves and simply say, “build schools.” We must live in reality and say, “first it is necessary to have something to teach in these schools for the people.” And I would like to say that while fruitful technological results have flowed from science, a still more fruitful technology will flow from a popularizing of science of such a nature as we have tried to indicate here in the realm of physics.

We have in every case tried to emerge from the old theoretical point of view and enter into a point of view that is real, so that our concepts will be saturated with reality. This will yield technical results quite different from those attained up to the present. Practice and theory hang together inwardly. And when we see in any one case what reform is needed as in the case of physics, for instance, we can understand what must happen. Since the time has come when we must separate, I wish to emphasize that I have only indicated to you in these lectures what you are to see, to stimulate you to develop these things further. You will be able to develop them. Our mathematical physicists, whom we have among our number will be able to give new life to the old formulae. And they will find, when they apply to these old formulae the ideas I have indicated to you, that certain transformations can be made that are real metamorphoses. From these will grow much that will be of enormous importance technically for the further development of mankind. This is, of course, something which cannot be gone into in detail, but only can be indicated at this time.

[ 25 ] But these observations must now be brought to a close and their further progress will depend on your own work. It is this that I wish you to take especially to heart, for the things are now extremely pressing that have to be accomplished in the three paths of human endeavor. These things have become urgent in our era and there is no time to lose because chaos stands before the door. A second thing to remember is this: The end can only be attained satisfactorily through an orderly human working together. Thus we must try to work out further within ourselves the things that have been stimulated, and you will also find something arising in the work of the Waldorf School. The moment you really try to utilize in pedagogy the definite and valid ideas we have set forth here, they will be taken up at once, and you will also discover that they will go well if you find it necessary to apply them in the conduct of life. We could wish that one did not always have to speak about science to a public which while it takes in much, is always exposed to the opinions of “rigorous scientific thinkers,” to “authorities.” These authorities have no inkling that all we observe is very definitely shot through with the play of something else. We can see this even from language.

[ 26 ] Note that in language we have everything mutually related. We speak of an impact. Now it is only because we have ourselves brought about an impact and given a name to the phenomenon that we speak of an impact in a space free of human activity, and vice versa we speak of things that happen within us in words drawn from the outer world. But we do not realize that we should look into the outer world, that is the planetary world, if we will understand the terrestrial bodies, and because we not know this we cannot learn what is happening in the embryos of plants and animals or in any tiny cell upon which we turn our microscopes. We discover all sorts of interesting things, but the source of all this, the thing we long to know, we will only be able to see when we understand macroscopically these processes microscopically observed. We must see that the fertilization and the fruiting of outer nature takes place in a mutual interaction with the outer cosmos. We must study how to conceive of the planets as points of departure for the working of the imponderable in the physical world, as if we are to grasp the relation of the cosmos to plant and animal germ cells.

If we can learn to see all these things on a grand scale without, these things that today we look for under the microscope where they are not really present, if we try to see these things in that which surrounds us (in the cosmos) then we will make progress.

The way is now clear before us. Human prejudice makes for us a very, very serious barricade. This prejudice is hard to overcome. It is for us to do all that we can to overcome it.

Let us hope that we can at some future time continue again these discussions.

Vierzehnter Vortrag

[ 1 ] Ich werde nur durch einige Hinweise diese Betrachtungen heute vorläufig abschließen können. Es ist ja selbstverständlich, daß dasjenige, was versucht worden ist in dem vorigen und in diesem Kursus, letztlich erst so recht herauskommen kann, wenn wir in der Lage sein werden, die Betrachtungen fortzusetzen. Ich werde über diese Dinge am Ende der heutigen Stunde noch ein paar Bemerkungen zu machen haben. Zunächst möchte ich Sie aber aus der ganzen Summe desjenigen, was wir vor unserer Anschauung vorbeigeführt haben in bezug auf die Wärmeerscheinungen und damit Verwandtes, aus dem Umkreis der Vorstellungen, die Sie dadurch haben gewinnen können, heute auf einiges aufmerksam machen. Das ist zunächst dieses:

[ 2 ] Wir haben, wenn wir dieses noch einmal uns vor Augen führen, Wirklichkeitsgebiete im Physischen unterschieden: Das feste Gebiet, das wir \(z’\) genannt haben, das flüssige Gebiet, das wir \(y’\) genannt haben, das gasige oder luftförmige Gebiet, das wir \(x’\) genannt haben. Dann haben wir dazwischen gehabt das Wärmegebiet, haben \(x\) als Lichtgebiet gehabt, \(y\) als Gebiet chemischer Effekte, \(z\) als die Lebenswirkungen.

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[ 3 ] Nun haben wir ganz bestimmte Beziehungen gestern uns vor Augen führen müssen, die gewissermaßen bestehen über das Wärmegebiet hinüber von \(x\) zu \(x’,\) von \(y\) zu \(y’.\) Wir haben versucht, die Tatsache uns vor Augen zu stellen, welche darauf hinweist, wie chemische Effekte vorzugsweise im flüssigen Element sich verwirklichen können. Wer versucht, chemische Vorgänge zu verstehen, wird ja finden: Wo auch chemische Vorgänge vor sich gehen, in einer gewissen Weise ist alles, was an chemischen Verbindungen und chemischen Entbindungen, chemischen Zersetzungen entsteht, an das flüssige Element gebunden. Es muß das Flüssige seine besondere Art wirken zu lassen, in das Feste oder Gasförmige hinein fortsetzen, damit dort chemische Wirkungen zustande kommen. Und so können wir ein Ineinanderwirken der chemischen Effekte und des Flüssigen bei einer relativen Scheidung dieser beiden Gebiete, also ein Durchdringen und im Durchdringen sich gewissermaßen binden, ins Auge fassen, wenn wir überhaupt von unserer irdischen Chemie sprechen. Unsere irdische Chemie würde also darstellen gewissermaßen ein Beleben des flüssigen Elementes durch die chemischen Effekte.

[ 4 ] Nun werden Sie sich aber leicht vorstellen können, daß, wenn wir diese Wirklichkeitsgebiete ins Auge fassen, wir unmöglich uns denken können, daß gewissermaßen nur immer über die Wärme und das Gasige hinweg ein solches Gebiet in das andere wirkt, sondern es werden auch die anderen Gebiete aufeinander wirken. Es werden auch die anderen Gebiete gewisse Effekte hervorrufen wiederum in diesem oder jenem Wirklichkeitsfeld. So daß wir auch sagen können: Wenn auch zunächst wie durch eine innere Verwandtschaft die chemischen Effekte besonders wirken im flüssigen Medium, so müssen wir uns aber auch eine Wirkungsweise vorstellen, die von den chemischen Effekten zum Beispiel auf das \(x’,\) geht, also ein direktes Hineinwirken der chemischen Effekte in das Gasige, das Luftförmige.

[ 5 ] Sie müssen, wenn ich jetzt sage «chemische Effekte», nur ja nicht an die chemischen Vorgänge denken. Sondern Sie müssen, wenn ich sage «chemische Effekte», an dasjenige denken, was ja wie ein inneres, durchgeistigtes Element im blauvioletten Teil des Spektrums uns klar entgegentritt, wo gewissermaßen die chemischen Effekte sich uns in einer gewissen Selbständigkeit gegenüber dem materiellen Dasein zeigen, während, wenn wir von chemischen Vorgängen sprechen, wir eigentlich schon sprechen von dem Durchdringen des Materiellen durch die chemischen Effekte. Bei diesen müssen wir uns vorstellen etwas, was mit unserer ponderablen Materie zunächst nichts zu tun hat, sondern sie durchdringt, also zunächst durch eine innere Verwandtschaft, deren Charakter ich Ihnen gestern zusammengestellt habe, das flüssige Element durchdringt. Aber wenn wir die Frage aufwerfen: Wenn nun gewissermaßen sich diese chemischen Effekte das nähere Element, das Luftförmige, zu ihrem Wirken wählen, wenn ich den Ausdruck gebrauchen darf, was entsteht denn dann? Dann muß - wir bleiben ja immer im Anschaulichen — im Luftförmigen etwas entstehen, was in einer gewissen Beziehung vorgestellt werden kann dadurch, daß wir es vergleichen mit dem, was im Flüssigen besteht. Im Flüssigen packt gewissermaßen das Wesen der chemischen Effekte die Materie an, bringt die Materien so durcheinander, daß diese Materien selbst in Wechselwirkungen treten. Wenn wir das flüssige Element uns vorstellen, müssen wir uns denken, daß die Materien da drinnen selbst in Wechselwirkung treten bei den chemischen Vorgängen. Nehmen wir aber an, es kommt nicht bis dahin, daß die chemischen Effekte die Materien selber anpacken, sondern nehmen wir an, sie bearbeiten diese Materien nur von außen, sie bleiben der Materie um ein Stück fremder, als sie es im flüssigen Medium sein können, dann tritt etwas ein, was sich stärker als ein Nebenhergehen der chemischen Effekte zeigen muß in dem luftförmigen Körper als in der Flüssigkeit. Dann muß eine gewisse Selbständigkeit des Imponderablen gegenüber dem materiellen Träger stattfinden. Bei den chemischen Vorgängen faßt das Imponderable die Materie scharf an. Hier werden wir auf Gebiete gewiesen, wo ein solch scharfes Anfassen nicht ist, sondern wo das Imponderable nicht drinnen bleibt in der Materie: Das ist bei dem Akustischen, bei den Tonwirkungen der Fall. Während wir in den chemisch-materiellen Wirkungen ein vollständiges Untertauchen des Imponderablen in die Materie haben, haben wir beim Ton ein Wahren, ein Sich-Bewahren des Imponderablen in der gasigen, der luftförmigen Materie. Das aber führt uns jetzt zu etwas anderem. Es führt uns dazu, daß wir uns sagen müssen: Es muß doch ein Grund da sein, warum im Flüssigen das Imponderable die Materie direkt angreift, daß aber dann, wenn Tonwirkungen im Luftförmigen auftreten, das Imponderable die Materie weniger erfassen kann.

[ 6 ] Wenn wir chemische Wirkungen betrachten und einen Sinn haben für innerlich physikalisch Anschauliches, dann werden wir selbstverständlich verspüren, daß es eben einfach zum Wesen des Materiellen gehört, daß die chemischen Wirkungen gerade so vor sich gehen, wie sie vor sich gehen, das heißt, das Imponderable ist da wie etwas, was ein Merkmal an der Materie ist. Das ist nicht anders möglich als dadurch, daß in diesem Falle, wenn wir es mit einer irdischen Materie 'zu tun haben, das Erfassen des Imponderablen durch die Erde selber stattfindet. Durch die Kräfte der Erde wird gewissermaßen der chemische Effekt erfaßt und arbeitet in der flüssigen Materie drinnen. Sie sehen die Gestaltungskraft über das ganze Gebiet der Erde ausgedehnt und wirksam, indem sich diese Gestaltungskraft bemächtigt des herandringenden chemischen Effektes.

[ 7 ] Wenn wir das nur richtig verstehen, daß es hier die Kraft der Erde ist, dann müssen wir, wenn wir richtig erfassen wollen das Weben des Tones in der Luft, die umgekehrte Kraft voraussetzen. Das heißt: Wir müssen im Tone uns wirksam denken die von der Erde nach allen Richtungen des Weltraumes hinausgehende, die Kräfte der Erde überwindende Tendenz, die also das Imponderable von der Erde wegbringt. Das macht das Eigentümliche der Tonwelt aus. Das macht das Eigentümliche aus bei der Physik der Töne, der Akustik, daß wir auf der einen Seite fähig sind, die materiellen Vorgänge physikalisch zu studieren, und auf der anderen Seite im Grunde genommen gar nichts von irgendeiner Rücksicht zu nehmen brauchen auf diese Akustik, wenn wir in der Welt der Töne mit unseren Empfindungen leben. Was geht uns schließlich, als empfindender Mensch, wenn wir die Töne wahrnehmen, alle Akustik an? Diese Akustik ist schön, weil sie merkwürdige innere Regelmäßigkeiten und Geserzmäßigkeiten uns enthüllt, aber dasjenige, was sich als das subjektive Erlebnis in der Welt der Töne darlebt, das ist weit, weit entfernt von dem, was sich da als Physik der Akustik abspielt im Materiellen. Und das ist aus dem Grunde, weil das Tonelement eben seine Selbständigkeit dadurch bewahrt, daß es eigentlich uns seinem Ursprunge nach sich zeigt ebenso von der Peripherie des Weltenalls her bestimmt, wie sich uns die chemischen Vorgänge in der flüssigen Materie, als von dem Zentrum unserer Erde her bestimmt, zeigen.

[ 8 ] Nun, der eine Zusammenhang, den wir ebensogut gestern schon beim Vortrag des Herrn Dr. Kolisko hätten erwähnen können, zeigt sich aber erst, wenn wir gewissermaßen zu einer Universalbetrachtung aufsteigen: daß wir ja die Anordnung der Elemente im periodischen System uns unter dem Bild der Oktave vorstellen können. Darin zeigt sich eine Analogie zwischen der inneren Gesetzmäßigkeit der Töne und dem ganzen Aufbau der Materie, wie sie sich vorbereitet, chemische Vorgänge zu entfalten. Dadurch rechtfertigt sich aber auch, daß wir das ganze Verbinden und Lösen des materiellen Daseins wie ein äußeres Bild auffassen einer inneren Weltenmusik und daß diese innere Weltenmusik eben nur in einem besonderen Falle sich uns enthüllt in der irdischen Musik. Diese irdische Musik darf am allerwenigsten etwa bloß so angesehen werden, daß wir sagen: Was in uns Ton ist, ist außen schwingende Luft. Das muß als geradeso unsinnig betrachtet werden, wie man etwa es als unsinnig empfinden würde, wenn man sagen würde: Was du außen als Leib bist, das bist du, von innen betrachtet, als Seele, nur für dich. — Jetzt fehlt uns das Subjekt. Also dieses Fehlen des Subjektes ist auch da, wenn wir den Ton in seinen inneren Gesetzmäßigkeiten als dasselbe, als identisch betrachten wollen mit den Verdünnungen und Verdichtungen der Luft, die äußerlich im luftförmigen Medium seine Träger sind. Nun, wenn Sie dieses sich richtig vor Augen führen, so werden Sie sehen: Wir haben. es zu tun mit einer gewissen Beziehung von \(y\) zu \(y’\) bei den chemischen Vorgängen, und wir haben es zu tun mit einer gewissen Beziehung von \(y\) zu \(x’\) bei den Tonwirkungen (siehe Schema).

[ 9 ] Ich habe Sie darauf hingewiesen, daß, wenn wir innerhalb des einen oder anderen Gebietes bleiben, wir immer bei dem, was wir in der Außenwelt gewahr werden, zu Niveaudifferenzen geführt werden. Nun versuchen Sie zu verspüren das mit Niveaudifferenzen Ähnliche bei dem, was uns hier entgegentrritt, versuchen Sie einfach zu verspüren das Ähnliche, sagen wir mit einer Niveaudifferenz, wie sie einfach bei der Schwerkraft auftritt, wo ein Wasser stürzt, wo auch die treibende Kraft bei einem Rade auf der Niveaudifferenz beruht. Versuchen Sie sich klarzumachen, daß Temperaturdifferenz, Wärmedifferenz, Klangdifferenz, der Ausgleich von Elektrizität auf Niveaudifferenz beruht. Also auf Niveaudifferenz. Wir kommen immer auf Niveaudifferenzen, wenn wir Wirkungen verfolgen. Aber was haben wir denn da? (Siehe Schema, Bogen \(y - y’.\)) Wir haben da eine innere Verwandtschaft zwischen dem, was wir im Spektrum wahrnehmen, und dem Materiellen in der Flüssigkeit. Und dasjenige, was sich uns darstellt, indem wir einen chemischen Vorgang beobachten, ist selber nichts anderes als der Unterschied des Daseins zwischen den chemischen Effekten und den Kräften, die in der Flüssigkeit sind. Es ist eine Niveaudifferenz \( y - y’.\) Und dann ist da eine geringere Niveaudifferenz \(y - x’,\) welche uns in den Tonwirkungen entgegentritt. So daß wir sagen können: Mit Bezug auf die Wirklichkeitsgebiete kann uns ein chemischer Vorgang eine Niveaudifferenz sein zwischen chemischen Effekten und Flüssigkeitskräften. Und das Auftreten des Tones und Klanges in der Luft muß uns sein die Niveaudifferenz zwischen demjenigen, was in den chemischen Effekten gestaltend, durch die Welt schießend wirkt, aber peripherisch von außen, und dem Materiellen des Gases, des luftförmigen Körpers.

[ 10 ] Auch dasjenige, was durch diese Wirklichkeitsgebiete selbst sich äußert, äußert sich dadurch, daß sich Niveaudifferenzen herausbilden. Ob wir in einem Element bleiben, in der Wärme oder gar im Gas oder im Wasser: Auf Niveaudifferenzen beruhen die Dinge. Aber daß wir überhaupt Unterschiede wahrnehmen zwischen diesen Gebieten, das beruht auf den Niveaudifferenzen der Effekte dieser Gebiete selber.

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[ 11 ] Wenn Sie das alles zusammennehmen, so werden Sie auf folgendes kommen: Gehen wir bis zur Flüssigkeit und ihrer relativen Oberfläche, so müssen wir sagen: Wir haben es für die festen Körper zu tun mit Erdkräften. Inwiefern die Gestaltungskräfte — die figurativen Energien könnte man sagen, wenn man den Ausdruck der heutigen Physik anwenden wollte - verwandt sein müssen mit der Schwerkraft, ist Ihnen ja vor Augen getreten in den verflossenen Betrachtungen. Gehen wir aber von da über zu den Kräften, die sich als Schwerkraft äußern, zu demjenigen, was sich uns im gewöhnlichen Leben wegen der Größe der Erde als Niveau charakterisiert, so finden wir eine Sphäre. Natürlich, dasjenige, was die verschiedenen Niveauflächen des Wassers sind, bildet zusammen eine Sphäre. Nun werden Sie sehen, wenn man nach auswärts dringt, vom Mittelpunkt der Erde gegen diese Sphären hindringt, so ist das so, daß wir uns sagen müssen: Für irdische Verhältnisse haben wir es, wenn Kräfte wirken, die im Bereich des Festen sind, zu tun mit Umschließungskräften; wenn Kräfte wirken, die in der Flüssigkeit sind, haben wir es zu tun mit Kräften, welche eigentlich in ihrer Konfiguration erreicht werden können, etwa indem man die Tangente hier zieht, oder die Tangentialebene legen würde. Wenn wir aber noch weiter hinausgehen, wenn wir über das Gebiet der Sphären dringen, so müssen wir doch folgendes sagen: Unter diesen Sphären haben wir es mit Gestaltungskräften für unsere festen Körper zu tun, mit Gestaltungskräften, die auf der Erde selbst noch die Körperräume abschließen. Hier (die gestrichelte Sphäre) haben wir es zu tun mit einer einzigen Gestalt, die vielen Gestalten verbinden sich gewissermaßen, durchdringen sich zu der einen Gestalt, welche das flüssige Element der Erde hat. Aber wenn wir jetzt hier (außerhalb der Sphäre) hinauskommen — wie müssen wir uns denn da eine Vorstellung bilden, indem wir vorgedrungen sind heraus aus dem, was sich einzeln gestaltet, was also im Inneren bewirkt, daß der feste Körper sich zusammenschließt, daß das Ganze eine Gestalt ist -, wie müssen wir, wenn wir da hinauskommen, uns die Sache vorstellen? So müssen wir sie uns vorstellen, daß wir das Entgegengesetzte haben. Haben wir hier den festen Körper, mit Materie ausgefüllt, dann müssen wir hier uns den Raum mit negativer Materie ausgespart denken. Hier haben wir eine Raumerfüllung, hier eine Raumentleerung.

[ 12 ] Das muß eine Vorstellung der Menschen werden, daß eine Raumentleerung möglich ist. Und indem ja wahrhaftig dasjenige, was auf der Erde geschieht - ich will es heute nur so sagen, später wird es uns noch eingehender beschäftigen —, durchaus nicht nur etwa sich zeigt als von einer Seite her beeinflußt, sonst müßten die Vorgänge auf der Erde ganz andere sein, zeigt sich die Erde von allen Seiten in differenzierter Weise beeinflußt. Es würde zum Beispiel ja nicht möglich sein, daß Unterschiede in den Kontinenten und in der Wasserverteilung zwischen Nordpol und Südpol auftreten, wenn im Umkreis nur ein solcher Hohlraum irgendwo im Raume wäre. Es müssen von verschiedenen Seiten her diese Raumaussparungen wirken. Suchen wir sie, so finden wir sie in dem, was man in den alten kosmischen Systemen die Planeten genannt hat, zu denen man noch die Sonne selbst gerechnet hat.

[ 13 ] Wir werden also hinausgetrieben über das Gebiet der Erde in das Gebiet des Kosmos und wir müssen den Übergang finden von der einen Seite des Raumes zu der anderen Seite des Raumes, wir müssen den Übergang finden von Raumerfüllung zu Raumentleerung. Und diese Raumentleerung müssen wir uns für unsere Erdenwirkung lokalisiert denken in den Planeten, die die Erde umgeben. Es werden daher auf unserer Erde — weil immer dasjenige, was durch die Raumentleerung hereinwirkt, gewissermaßen als Saugwirkung, und dasjenige, was hier wirkt durch die Gestaltungskräfte, als Druckwirkung erscheint —, es werden in jedem Punkte, wo Erdengeschehen stattfinden kann, Wechselwirkungen stattfinden zwischen Irdischem und Kosmischem. Diese Wechselwirkungen treten uns entgegen in denjenigen Konfigurationen des Erdengeschehens, die man gewöhnlich in Molekularkräften, Molekularanziehungen sucht, während wir es wirklich so machen müßten, wie man aus anderen Erkenntnisvoraussetzungen es in früheren Zeiten gemacht hat. Statt daß man, wenn man etwas vor sich hat wie eine Materienwirkung, bei der ja immer Imponderables beteiligt ist, den ganzen Kosmos sich ausdrücken läßt in seiner Wirkung, verlegt man dasjenige, was geschieht, in phantastisch ausgedachte innere Konfigurationen. Dasjenige, was die Sterne machen, was Riesen wirken, wenn sie in ihren gegenseitigen Beziehungen sich darstellen in den Vorgängen der Erde, das sollen die Zwerge der Atome und Moleküle zustande bringen. Das ist eben das, was wir nötig haben: daß wir wissen, wenn wir irgend etwas hineinzeichnen oder hineinrechnen in einen materiellen Prozeß unserer Erde, daß das nichts anderes ist als das Abbild von außerterrestrischen, von kosmischen Wechselwirkungen.

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[ 14 ] Aber nun sehen Sie, wir haben hier die Kraft, den Raum mit Materiellem zu erfüllen (siehe Zeichnung, links). Hier haben wir noch immer die Kraft, den Raum mit Materiellem zu erfüllen, nur hat sich diese Kraft ausgedehnt, und sie muß irgendwo einmal ankommen auf der anderen Seite, sie muß zur Entleerung des Raumes kommen. Es muß da eine Region dazwischen sein, wo gewissermaßen, wenn ich mich so ausdrücken darf, der Raum zerreißt. Wir müssen uns sagen: Unser Raum, der uns um uns herum erscheint und der gewissermaßen das Gefäß ist für unsere physikalische Wirkung, der muß innig verbunden sein mit unseren physikalischen Wirkungen. Er muß etwas darstellen, was in diesen physikalischen Wirkungen drinnen ist. Aber indem wir vom Ponderablen ins Imponderable übergehen, zerreißt der Raum, und wenn er zerreißt, dann kommt durch den Riß herüber dasjenige, was nicht da ist, bevor er zerrissen ist. Nehmen wir an, wir reißen den dreidimensionalen Raum auf, und wir fragen: Was kommt denn da heraus aus dem Riß? — Wenn ich hier in meinen Finger schneide, kommt Blut heraus, das bleibt im dreidimensionalen Raum. Wenn ich aber den Raum selber zerschneide, kommt das heraus, was schon im Unräumlichen ist.

[ 15 ] Sehen Sie, hier liegt einer der Punkte, wo sich recht anschaulich zeigt, auf welchen Holzwegen die heutige physikalische Anschauungsweise ist. Nicht wahr, wenn wir elektrische Versuche im Schulzimmer machen, dann müssen wir unsere elektrischen Apparate sorgfältig abtrocknen, wir müssen sie zu schlechten Elektrizitätsleitern machen, sonst kriegen wir nichts fertig. Wenn sie feucht sind, kriegen wir nichts fertig. Aber es findet sich tatsächlich die Anschauung — ich habe das oftmals erwähnt -, als ob durch die Reibung der Wolken, die doch ganz gewiß feucht sind, nach Anschauung der Physiker die Elektrizität sich entwickelt und in Blitz und Donner zum Vorschein kommt. Das ist natürlich eine der unmöglichsten Vorstellungen, die nur überhaupt zu denken ist.

[ 16 ] Dagegen findet derjenige, der nun, um zu einem wirklichkeitsgemäßen Begriff zu kommen, alles das zusammenträgt, was wir hier versuchen, in unseren physikalischen Betrachtungen zusammenzutragen, daß in dem Augenblick, wo der Blitz erscheint, der Raum zerreißt, und dasjenige, was den Raum intensiv undimensional erfüllt, das tritt heraus, wie, wenn ich mich schneide, das Blut herausdringt. Das ist aber der Fall jedesmal, wenn Licht in Begleitung von Wärme erscheint: Der Raum zerreißt, der Raum enthüllt uns dasjenige, was in seinem Inneren ist, während er uns in seinen gewöhnlichen drei Dimensionen, die wir vor uns haben, nur seine Außenseite zeigt. Der Raum führt uns in sein Inneres.

[ 17 ] Wir dürfen sagen: Indem wir weiter aufsteigen vom Ponderablen ins Imponderable und gerade durch das Gebiet der Wärme gehen müssen, finden wir, daß die Wärme überall da herausquillt, wo wir aus den Druckwirkungen der ponderablen Materie in die Saugwirkungen des Imponderablen hineinkommen. Es quillt die Wärme überall heraus. Wenn Sie sich nun vorstellen, daß wir es zu tun haben mit dem Vorgange, den wir vor ein paar Tagen hier als Wärmeleitung bezeichneten, so müssen Sie daran die andere Vorstellung knüpfen, daß diese Wärmeleitung ja an die ponderable Materie gebunden ist, im Gegensatz zu dem, was wir ja auch aufgezeigt haben als die sich ausbreitende Wärme selbst. Die sich ausbreitende Wärme selbst finden wir ja jetzt als dasjenige, was da herausquillt, wenn der Raum zerreißt. Wie will denn diese Wärme wirken? Sie will aus der Intensität des Raumes in die Extensivität hineinwirken. Sie will gewissermaßen aus dem Inneren des Raumes in sein Außenwerk hineinwirken. Wenn sie in Wechselwirkung tritt mit einem materiellen Körper, so sehen wir die Erscheinung auftreten, die darin besteht, daß die Eigentendenz der Wärme aufgehalten wird, ihr Saugeffekt in einen Druckeffekt umgewandelt wird, daß sich der Weltentendenz der Wärme entgegenstellt die individualisierende Tendenz des Materiellen, die im festen Körper dann die gestaltende Kraft wird. Wir haben also in der Wärme, in dem Erscheinen der Wärme, sofern dieses Erscheinen zur Wärmeleitung führt, zu suchen eine jetzt nicht in Strahlen, sondern nach allen Seiten sich bildende Ausbreitungstendenz, wir haben zu suchen ein Spiegeln der imponderablen Materie an der ponderablen Materie, oder des Imponderablen an der ponderablen Materie. Der Körper, welcher uns die Wärme leitet, der bringt ja eigentlich fortwährend Wärme zum Vorschein, indem er im Grunde intensiv zurückstößt — nicht extensiv, wie beim Licht, das aber nur in seinen Bildern uns entgegentritt — die auf sein Materielles aufstoßende imponderable Wärme.

[ 18 ] Nun möchte ich Sie aber bitten, solche Vorstellungen, wie wir sie ja gewohnt sind zu fassen, wirklich allmählich so zu verarbeiten, daß Sie in diesem Verarbeiten wirklich merken, wie wir es zu tun haben gewissermaßen mit wirklichkeitsgesättigten Vorstellungen. Und wie solche wirklichkeitsgesättigte Vorstellungen uns hineinführen in ein lebendiges Erfassen des Weltendaseins, das möge Ihnen noch ein Schlußbild veranschaulichen.

[ 19 ] Ich habe Sie ja schon aufmerksam gemacht, worauf das Wahrnehmen, das subjektive Wahrnehmen, das Empfinden einer Temperatur beruht. Wir nehmen eigentlich die Temperaturdifferenz zwischen unserem eigenen Organismus und der Außenwelt wahr, was ja auch das Thermometer tut, ich habe Sie darauf aufmerksam gemacht. Nun beruht aber überhaupt alles Wahrnehmen darauf, daß wir innerhalb eines gewissen Gebietes etwas sind, und dasjenige, was außerhalb dieses Gebietes liegt, wird unsere Wahrnehmung. Wir können nicht etwas zugleich sein und es wahrnehmen, sondern wir müssen immer etwas anderes sein als dasjenige, was wir wahrnehmen. Nehmen wir also Töne wahr, so können wir, insofern wir Töne wahrnehmen, nicht selbst Töne sein. Und wenn wir unbefangen die Frage beantworten: Was sind wir, indem wir Töne wahrnehmen? - so können wir zu dem Schlusse kommen: Dann sind wir eben gerade dasjenige, was nun der andere Niveauunterschied ist. Diesen Niveauunterschied ( \(y-x’\) im Schema) nehmen wir wahr; \(y-y’\) nehmen wir nicht wahr, der sind wir während dieser Zeit; jene unsere Tonwahrnehmungen begleitenden, ebenso regelmäßig verlaufenden chemischen inneren Vorgänge in unserem Flüssigkeitsorganismus, die sind wir. Dasjenige, was die chemischen Effekte in uns bewirken, das zeichnet in die Welt hinein etwas sehr Regelmäßiges. Es ist keineswegs uninteressant, das folgende Bild zu betrachten. Sie wissen ja, der menschliche Körper besteht nur zu sehr geringen Teilen aus festen Bestandteilen, zu mehr als neunzig Prozent ist er eine Flüssigkeitssäule. Das, was da — und zwar an chemischen Vorgängen, die nur sehr feiner Art sind — in unserem Organismus sich abspielt während wir eine Symphonie anhören, das ist ein ganz innerer, fortwährend phosphoreszierender Wunderbau. Da sind wir, was die Chemie eines 'Tongemäldes ist. Und dadurch nehmen wir die Tonwelt wahr, daß wir gewissermaßen chemisch das werden, was die Tonwelt in dem Sinne ist, wie ich das hier dargestellt habe.

[ 20 ] Sie sehen, das Verständnis des Menschen wird wesentlich gefördert dadurch, daß man das physikalische Verständnis an den Menschen heranbringt. Nun aber handelt es sich, um so etwas zu erreichen, immer darum, daß wir nicht jene abstrakten Vorstellungen uns bilden, die insbesondere in der heutigen Physik beliebt sind, sondern daß wir zu Vorstellungen vordringen, die nun wirklich mit der Welt, der objektiven Welt verwoben sind. Es ist im Grunde genommen alles das, was Geisteswissenschaft als Erkenntnisstreben, aber auch als Gesinnungsstreben will, darauf hingehend, solches wirklichkeitsgemäßes Denken in der menschlichen Entwickelung wiederum heraufzubringen. Und es ist notwendig, daß das heraufkommt. Deshalb wäre es so sehr notwendig, daß gerade solche schönen Bestrebungen, wie sie jetzt während dieser letzten vierzehn Tage hier hervorgetreten sind, fortgesetzt würden. Sie können ja überall sehen, wie in der Gegenwart ein Altes abstirbt. Kann man es denn nicht an den physikalischen Vorstellungen, mit denen nichts anzufangen ist, wirklich sehen, wie ein Altes abstirbt? Und indem wir hier noch ganz unvollkommen -— denn es können ja nur immer Andeutungen ganz unvollkommener Art sein — versuchen, das physikalische Anschauen auch aufzubauen, zeigt sich denn darin nicht, wie sehr wir heute an einem Wendepunkte der menschlichen Entwickelung stehen?

[ 21 ] Sehen Sie, meine lieben Freunde, so etwas muß uns immer darauf aufmerksam machen: Wir sollen diese Dinge fortsetzen, die jetzt eingetreten sind dadurch, daß Herr Dr. von Baravalle, Herr Dr. Blümel, Herr Strakosch, Herr Dr. Kolisko hier auf den verschiedensten Gebieten angeregt haben, dasjenige, was die Entwickelung der Menschheit bis jetzt gegeben hat, mit einem neuen Einschlag zu versehen. Dadurch liefern wir erst die Grundlage für ein Weiterkommen. Denn sehen Sie, draußen in der Welt reden die Leute davon, es müsse aufgebaut werden. Volkshochschulen müßten begründet werden. Ja, aber, was heißt denn das heute draußen in der Welt: Man fordert Volkshochschulen? Die dänische Volkshochschulbewegung wird uns vorgewiesen. Was heißt denn das alles, was da Volkshochschulen fordert? Man trägt dasjenige, was an den alten Hochschulen getrieben worden ist, in die Volkshochschulen hinein. Dadurch wird nichts Neues geschaffen. Dadurch wird nur von demjenigen, von dem bis jetzt nur unsere gelehrte Bildung angesteckt war, das ganze Volk angesteckt. Es gibt kaum etwas Trostloseres als den Zukunftsgedanken, daß nun dasjenige, was die Köpfe unserer Gelehrten und Gebildeten in dieser Weise verwüstet hat, wie wir es gesehen haben, nun auch noch auf dem Wege des Volkshochschulwesens die ganze gebildete Bevölkerung der Erde ebenso erstarren machen soll. Will man Volkshochschulen errichten, dann hat man vor allen Dingen dafür zu sorgen, daß dort etwas gelehrt werden kann, was selber in seiner inneren Konfiguration ein Aufbau ist. Wir brauchen ja erst die Wissenschaft, die an den Volkshochschulen getrieben werden kann. Man möchte immer an der Oberfläche bleiben, man möchte immer nur das nehmen, was da ist. Geradeso wie die Menschen im Politischen nicht das Neue möchten, sondern immer wiederum probieren möchten mit dem Alten; wie selbst die Sozialdemokraten nicht etwas Neues aufbauen, sondern es mit dem alten Staat versuchen wollen, nur dort ihren Senf hineintragen wollen, so willman auch in der geistigen Kulturbewegung nicht radikal nach einer Erneuerung unserer Erkenntnisart streben, sondern das Alte, das Untergehende nun in das Volk tragen. Gerade an den physikalischen Betrachtungen ist das ja am tiefsten und bedeutungsvollsten einzusehen.

[ 22 ] Gewiß, Sie werden Unbefriedigendes genug da oder dort in dieser Vortragsfolge finden, weil die Vorträge nur aphoristisch sein konnten, aber das eine wird sich Ihnen in dieser Vortragsfolge zeigen: daß es einfach notwendig ist, unsere gesamte physikalische, chemische, physiologische und biologische Vorstellungswelt neu aufzubauen, gründlich neu aufzubauen. Darin kommen wir natürlich nur weiter, wenn wir nicht nur das Schulwesen, sondern auch das Wissenschaftswesen selbst weiterbilden. Und wenn so etwas entstehen könnte hier an unserer Waldorfschule, daß wir ausbauen erstens die Unterrichtsklassen nach oben und zweitens ausbauen zu gleicher Zeit mit dem Schulwesen das Akademiewesen, zu dem wir einen wirklichen Keim in diesen. Tagen gelegt haben — denn es war so etwas wie der Keim zu einem neuen Akademiewesen —, dann würden wir eigentlich erst das erreichen, was im Grunde genommen erreicht werden soll und muß, wenn die europäische Zivilisation nicht zugrunde gehen soll auf geistigem Gebiet.

[ 23 ] Nehmen Sie nur einmal das schreckliche Treiben in den Akademien der Welt heute: Dieses von allem wirklichen Leben ausgesogene sich gegenseitige Anlesen mit langgeschriebenen Abhandlungen in den Akademien, wo die Leute in schönen Sälen sitzen und sich ihre langgeschriebenen Vorlesungen vorlesen und keiner dem anderen zuhört. Denn das Merkwürdige ist doch das, daß der eine Spezialist auf dem Gebiete ist, der andere auf jenem. Da hört der Mediziner dem Mathematiker nicht zu, aber der Mathematiker liest. Und wenn der Mediziner liest, beschäftigt sich in seinen Gedanken der Mathematiker mit etwas ganz anderem. Außerdem ist das ganze nur ein äußerliches traditionelles Zeichen. Da muß die Erneuerung einsetzen. Im Zentrum des geistigen Strebens muß die Erneuerung einsetzen. Das muß durchschaut werden. Daher kann man schon sagen: Wenn man es noch dahin bringen könnte, daß hier in Verbindung mit dem Streben nach einer neuen Art von Wirklichkeit ein Ausbau dieses unseres Schulgedankens geschehen könnte, dann würden wir erst das erreichen, was erreicht werden soll.

[ 24 ] Sie sehen, es ist viel zu tun. Aber man lernt auch nur erst richtig erkennen, wieviel zu tun ist, wenn man auf die Einzelheiten eingeht. Deshalb ist es ja so unendlich bedauernswert, daß jetzt Leute, die nur die alten Erkenntnisvorurteile der Menschheit — dazu sind sie geworden, denn ihre Zeit haben sie gehabt - in Phrasen umsetzen, heute tatsächlich große Kapitalien zusammenbekommen, um ihre Akademien und dergleichen in die Welt setzen zu können. Uns wird es vorzugsweise aus dem Grunde schwer, weil wir von der Erkenntnis durchdrungen sein müssen: Ein wirkliches Neuland ist notwendig. Wir können uns nicht der Illusion hingeben: Macht Volkshochschulen! Denn wir müssen in der Wirklichkeit leben und uns sagen, wir müssen erst etwas haben, was wir an diesen Volkshochschulen lehren sollen. Ebenso aber wie, ich möchte sagen, sogar zwischen den Zeilen der bisherigen Wissenschaft, sich eine fruchtbare Technik entwickelt hat, so wird sich erst recht eine noch fruchtbarere Technik entwickeln, wenn jene Wissenschaft populär werden wird, die wir hier zum Beispiel gerade im physikalischen Gebiet anstreben. Sie sehen ja, überall versucht man, aus dem alten Theoretischen herauszukommen und ins Wirkliche hineinzukommen, so daß schon die Vorstellungen mit Wirklichkeit gesättigt sind. Das muß auch eine Technik geben, die in ganz anderer Weise verläuft als die bisherige Technik. Praxis und Erkenntnis, sie hängen doch innerlich zusammen. Und wenn man an irgendeinem Punkte anfaßt dasjenige, was heute des Reformierens bedarf wie die Physik, so merkt man gleich, was eigentlich zu geschehen hat. Wenn es daher jetzt an der Zeit ist, daß wir wieder auseinandergehen, so möchte ich Sie doch darauf verweisen, daß Sie in dem, was hier nur aphoristisch vorgetragen worden ist, etwas sehen, das Sie selber anregen soll, diese Dinge weiter auszubauen. Sie werden sie ausbauen können. Unsere mathematischen Physiker, die wir ja unter uns haben, werden in der Lage sein, die alten Formeln zu revidieren, und sie werden finden, daß, wenn sie hineinarbeiten in die alten Formeln die Erkenntnisse, die sich gewinnen lassen aus den aphoristischen Andeutungen, die ich gegeben habe, diese Formeln auch gewiß Transformationen erfahren, die aber eigentlich Metamorphosen sind, und aus denen wird mancherlei heraussprießen, was technisch von ungeheurer Bedeutung für die Fortentwickelung der Menschheit sein wird. Das ist ja etwas, was man nicht einmal andeuten kann, sondern worauf man zunächst nur hinzuweisen hat.

[ 25 ] Aber wir müssen diese Betrachtungen jetzt abschließen, deren Fortsetzung in Ihrer eigenen selbständigen Arbeit liegen muß, und die ist es, die ich Ihnen besonders ans Herz legen möchte. Denn die Sachen sind jetzt außerordentlich dringlich, die sich beziehen auf den Fortschritt der Menschen auf allen drei Gebieten. Die Dinge sind heute erstens dringlich: Wir haben wirklich keine Zeit zu verlieren, weil das Chaos ja vor der Türe steht. Das zweite aber ist: Richtiges ist doch nur zu erreichen durch eine geregelte menschliche Zusammenarbeit. Also müssen wir versuchen, dasjenige, was angeregt ist, in uns selber weiter zu verarbeiten. Und Sie werden auf der anderen Seite gerade hier in der Waldorfschule finden: In dem Augenblick, wo Sie sich bemühen, gewisse rektifizierte Begriffe, die wir hier gewonnen haben, auf den Unterricht anzuwenden, geht es gleich. Sie werden aber auch ‚ finden, insofern Sie genötigt sind, diese Dinge im Betriebe des Lebens anzuwenden, geht es auch. Und es wäre schon zu wünschen, daß man heute mit der Naturwissenschaft nicht immer nur zu einem Publikum zu sprechen hat, das ja eigentlich schon manches aufnimmt, das aber immer sich ausgesetzt sieht — ich habe das ja schon im Verlaufe des Kursus bemerkt — dem Urteil der «richtigen Wissenschafter», der «Autoritäten». Diese Autoritäten haben keine Ahnung davon, daß ja in alles, was wir betrachten, im Grunde genommen alles andere fortwährend hineinspielt. An der Sprache könnte man es merken.

[ 26 ] Sehen Sie, in der Sprache lassen wir alles in gegenseitiger Wechselbeziehung sein. Wir sprechen von einem Stoß. Nur deshalb, weil wir etwas, was ursprünglich der Stoß war, den wir selbst vollführt haben, mit dem entsprechenden Wort bezeichnen, sprechen wir von einem Stoß auch in einem menschenentblößten Raum. Und wiederum umgekehrt, wir sprechen dasjenige, was in uns geschieht, mit Worten aus, die von der Außenwelt her genommen sind. Aber wir wissen nicht, daß wir in die Außenwelt schauen sollen, zum Beispiel in den planetarischen Kosmos, wenn wir die Konstitution des irdischen Körpers verstehen wollen. Und wir werden daher, wenn wir das nicht wissen, auch nicht dasjenige lernen können, worauf es ankommt. Wir können zwar ganz interessantes Kleinzeug entdecken, wenn wir das Mikroskop auf irgendeinen Pflanzenkeim oder Tierembryo richten, auf irgendeine Zelle, die mikroskopisch klein ist; da entdecken wir allerlei wirklich Interessantes. Aber dasjenige, worauf es ankommt, was wir ahnen, das würden wir entdecken, wenn wir dieselben Vorgänge, die im Mikroskop drinnen sind, überhaupt nur erst einmal sehen würden, wenn sie sich makrokosmisch abspielen. Wenn wir erst sehen würden, wie sich fortwährend im Wechselspiel der äußeren Natur Befruchtungen und Entfruchtungen vollziehen; wenn wir studieren würden, wie die Planeten als Ausgangspunkte für die imponderablen physikalischen Wirkungen zu erfassen sind; wenn wir erfassen würden den Kosmos in seinen Ausgangspunkten für das Pflanzenkeimen, für das Tierkeimen; wenn wir das alles betrachten würden im Großen, was wir heute versuchen zu sehen, wenn wir das Mikroskop auf die Zelle richten im Kleinen, wo es gar nicht ist; wenn wir versuchen könnten, überhaupt erst anzuschauen, was uns umgibt — dann würden wir weiterkommen. Der Weg ist heute schon klar vorgezeichnet. Durch die Vorurteile der Menschen ist er sehr, sehr verlegt. Diese Vorurteile der Menschen werden sich schwer überwinden lassen. An uns aber ist es, alles zu tun, was diese Vorurteile überwinden kann.

Hoffentlich können wir diese Betrachtungen einmal wieder fortsetzen.

Fourteenth Lecture

[ 1 ] I will be able to conclude these considerations for the time being with just a few remarks today. It goes without saying that what has been attempted in the previous and current courses can only really come to fruition when we are in a position to continue our considerations. I will have a few more comments to make on these matters at the end of today's lesson. But first, I would like to draw your attention to a few things from the whole sum of what we have presented to our view in relation to heat phenomena and related matters, from the range of mental images that you have been able to gain from this. The first of these is this:

[ 2 ] If we recall this once more, we have distinguished between different realms of reality in the physical world: the solid realm, which we have called \(z'\), the liquid realm, which we have called \(y'\), and the gaseous or airy realm, which we have called \(x'\). Then we had the thermal realm in between, \(x\) as the realm of light, \(y\) as the realm of chemical effects, and \(z\) as the realm of life effects.

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[ 3 ] Yesterday, we had to consider very specific relationships that exist, so to speak, across the heat region from \(x\) to \(x’\), from \(y\) to \(y’\). We have tried to form a mental image of the fact that chemical effects can be realized primarily in the liquid element. Anyone who tries to understand chemical processes will find that wherever chemical processes take place, everything that arises in terms of chemical compounds, chemical decompositions, and chemical decompositions is bound to the liquid element in a certain way. The liquid must allow its special nature to take effect, continuing into the solid or gaseous, so that chemical effects can take place there. And so, when we speak of our earthly chemistry, we can envisage an interaction between chemical effects and the liquid, with a relative separation of these two areas, that is, a penetration and, in the penetration, a binding, so to speak. Our earthly chemistry would thus represent, in a sense, an enlivening of the liquid element through chemical effects.

[ 4 ] Now, however, you can easily form a mental image of how, when we consider these areas of reality, we cannot possibly think that such an area only ever influences the other via heat and gas, but that the other areas also influence each other. The other areas also produce certain effects in this or that field of reality. So we can also say: even if, at first, the chemical effects have a particular effect in the liquid medium, as if through an inner affinity, we must also form a mental image of a mode of action that goes from the chemical effects to \(x’,\) for example, i.e., a direct influence of the chemical effects on the gaseous, the airy.

[ 5 ] When I say “chemical effects,” you must not think of chemical processes. Instead, when I say “chemical effects,” you must think of that which clearly confronts us as an inner, spiritualized element in the blue-violet part of the spectrum, where, in a sense, the chemical effects reveal themselves to us with a certain independence from material existence, whereas when we speak of chemical processes, we are actually already talking about the permeation of the material by the chemical effects. In the latter case, we must form a mental image of something that initially has nothing to do with our ponderable matter, but permeates it, that is, initially through an inner affinity, the character of which I summarized for you yesterday, permeates the fluid element. But when we raise the question: if, so to speak, these chemical effects choose the closer element, the airy element, for their action, if I may use the expression, what then arises? Then – we are always remaining in the realm of the concrete – something must arise in the airy element that can be given a mental image in a certain way by comparing it with what exists in the liquid element. In the liquid, the essence of the chemical effects, so to speak, tackles the matter, disrupting it in such a way that these materials themselves enter into interaction. When we form a mental image of the liquid element, we must think that the materials within it themselves enter into interaction during the chemical processes. But let us assume that the chemical effects do not go so far as to affect the materials themselves, but rather that they only act on these materials from the outside, remaining somewhat more foreign to the material than they can be in the liquid medium. Then something occurs that must manifest itself more strongly as a side effect of the chemical effects in the gaseous body than in the liquid. Then a certain independence of the imponderable must take place in relation to the material carrier. In chemical processes, the imponderable sharply affects the material. Here we are directed to areas where such a sharp effect does not occur, but where the imponderable does not remain within the material: this is the case with acoustics, with the effects of sound. While in chemical-material effects we have a complete submersion of the imponderable into matter, in sound we have a preservation, a retention of the imponderable in gaseous, air-like matter. But this now leads us to something else. It leads us to say to ourselves: there must be a reason why the imponderable directly attacks matter in liquids, but why, when sound effects occur in air, the imponderable is less able to affect matter.

[ 6 ] If we consider chemical effects and have a sense of inner physical clarity, then we will naturally feel that it is simply part of the nature of matter that chemical effects occur in the way they do, that is, the imponderable is there as something that is a characteristic of matter. This is only possible because, in this case, when we are dealing with earthly matter, the imponderable is grasped by the earth itself. Through the forces of the earth, the chemical effect is, in a sense, grasped and works within the liquid matter. You see the formative power extended and effective over the whole area of the earth, as this formative power takes hold of the approaching chemical effect.

[ 7 ] If we understand correctly that it is the power of the earth that is at work here, then, if we want to understand the weaving of sound in the air, we must assume the opposite power. This means that we must think of sound as effectively overcoming the forces of the earth, extending outwards from the earth in all directions of space, thus removing the imponderable from the earth. This is what makes the world of sound so unique. What makes the physics of sound, acoustics, so unique is that, on the one hand, we are able to study the material processes physically, and on the other hand, we basically do not need to take this acoustics into account at all when we live in the world of sound with our senses. After all, what does all this acoustics matter to us as sentient human beings when we perceive sounds? This acoustics is beautiful because it reveals strange inner regularities and laws to us, but what comes to life as the subjective experience in the world of sounds is far, far removed from what takes place in the material world as the physics of acoustics. And that is because the sound element preserves its independence by showing us its origin, which is determined by the periphery of the universe, just as the chemical processes in liquid matter are determined by the center of our earth.

[ 8 ] Now, the one connection that we could just as well have mentioned yesterday during Dr. Kolisko's lecture only becomes apparent when we ascend, so to speak, to a universal view: that we can imagine the arrangement of the elements in the periodic table under the image of the octave. This reveals an analogy between the inner laws of sound and the entire structure of matter as it prepares to unfold chemical processes. This also justifies our understanding the entire process of connecting and disconnecting material existence as an external image of an inner world music, and that this inner world music is only revealed to us in a special case in earthly music. This earthly music must not be viewed merely in such a way that we say: What is sound within us is air vibrating outside. This must be regarded as just as nonsensical as it would be to say: What you are outside as a body, you are, viewed from within, as a soul, only for yourself. Now we are missing the subject. So this absence of the subject is also there when we want to regard sound in its inner laws as the same, as identical with the rarefactions and condensations of the air, which are its carriers externally in the air-like medium. Now, if you really think about this, you will see that we have to do with a certain relationship between \(y\) and \(y’\) in chemical processes, and we have to do with a certain relationship between \(y\) and \(x’\) in the effects of sound (see diagram).

[ 9 ] I have pointed out to you that if we remain within one or the other area, we are always led to differences in level in what we perceive in the outside world. Now try to sense something similar to level differences in what we encounter here; simply try to sense something similar, say, to a level difference such as that which simply occurs with gravity, where water falls, where the driving force in a wheel is also based on the level difference. Try to realize that temperature differences, heat differences, sound differences, and the balancing of electricity are based on level differences. So, on level differences. We always come back to level differences when we follow effects. But what do we have there? (See diagram, arc \(y - y'.\)) We have an inner relationship between what we perceive in the spectrum and the material in the liquid. And what we see when we observe a chemical process is nothing other than the difference in existence between the chemical effects and the forces that are in the liquid. It is a level difference \( y - y’.\) And then there is a smaller level difference \(y - x’,\) which we encounter in the sound effects. So we can say: With regard to the realms of reality, a chemical process can be a level difference between chemical effects and fluid forces. And the occurrence of tone and sound in the air must be for us the level difference between that which shapes the chemical effects, shooting through the world, but peripherally from the outside, and the materiality of the gas, the air-like body.

[ 10 ] Even that which expresses itself through these realms of reality does so by means of level differences. Whether we remain in one element, in heat or even in gas or water: things are based on level differences. But the fact that we perceive differences between these realms at all is based on the level differences of the effects of these realms themselves.

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[ 11 ] If you take all this together, you will come to the following conclusion: if we go to the liquid and its relative surface, we must say: In the case of solid bodies, we are dealing with earth forces. The extent to which the formative forces — the figurative energies, one might say, if one wanted to use the terminology of modern physics — must be related to gravity has already become clear to you in the previous considerations. But if we move on from there to the forces that manifest themselves as gravity, to what we characterize in everyday life as level due to the size of the earth, we find a sphere. Of course, the various levels of the water together form a sphere. Now you will see that when we penetrate outwards, from the center of the Earth towards these spheres, we must say to ourselves: in earthly conditions, when forces are at work in the solid realm, we are dealing with enclosing forces; when forces are at work that are in the liquid, we are dealing with forces that can actually be achieved in their configuration, for example by drawing the tangent here, or by laying the tangential plane. But if we go even further, if we penetrate beyond the realm of the spheres, we must say the following: Below these spheres, we are dealing with formative forces for our solid bodies, with formative forces that still enclose the body spaces on Earth itself. Here (the dotted sphere), we are dealing with a single form; the many forms connect, so to speak, interpenetrating each other to form the one form that has the fluid element of the Earth. But when we now come out here (outside the sphere) — how are we to form a mental image of this, having advanced beyond what is individually formed, what causes the solid body to unite within, so that the whole is one form — how are we to imagine this when we come out here? We must form the mental image of it as the opposite. If we have the solid body here, filled with matter, then we must imagine space here as being emptied of matter. Here we have a filling of space, here an emptying of space.

[ 12 ] A mental image of people must be that a space void is possible. And since what happens on Earth – I will only say this much today, we will deal with it in more detail later – is by no means influenced from one side only, otherwise the processes on Earth would be completely different, the Earth is influenced in a differentiated way from all sides. For example, it would not be possible for differences to arise between the continents and in the distribution of water between the North Pole and the South Pole if there were only one such cavity somewhere in space. These spatial recesses must be acting from different sides. If we look for them, we find them in what the ancient cosmic systems called the planets, to which they also counted the sun itself.

[ 13 ] So we are driven out beyond the realm of the Earth into the realm of the cosmos, and we must find the transition from one side of space to the other; we must find the transition from space being filled to space being emptied. And we must think of this emptying of space as localized in the planets surrounding the Earth for our earthly activity. Therefore, on our Earth — because what comes in through the emptying of space appears, as it were, as a suction effect, and what acts here through the formative forces appears as a pressure effect — interactions will take place between the earthly and the cosmic at every point where earthly events can occur. These interactions confront us in those configurations of earthly events that are usually sought in molecular forces, molecular attractions, whereas we should really do as was done in earlier times on the basis of other premises of knowledge. Instead of allowing the entire cosmos to express itself in its effect when faced with something like a material effect, in which imponderables are always involved, we transfer what is happening into fantastically imagined internal configurations. What the stars do, what giants do when they manifest themselves in their mutual relationships in the processes of the earth, is supposed to be accomplished by the dwarfs of atoms and molecules. That is precisely what we need: to know that when we draw or calculate anything into a material process on our Earth, it is nothing other than the image of extraterrestrial, cosmic interactions.

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[ 14 ] But now you see, we have the power here to fill space with material (see drawing, left). Here we still have the power to fill space with material, only this power has expanded, and it must arrive somewhere on the other side, it must come to the emptying of space. There must be a region in between where, if I may express it this way, space is torn apart. We must say to ourselves: our space, which appears around us and is, in a sense, the vessel for our physical effects, must be intimately connected with our physical effects. It must represent something that is inside these physical effects. But as we move from the ponderable to the imponderable, space tears apart, and when it tears apart, what was not there before it tore apart comes through the tear. Let us assume that we tear open three-dimensional space and ask: What comes out of the tear? — If I cut my finger here, blood comes out, which remains in three-dimensional space. But if I cut space itself, what comes out is what is already in non-space.

[ 15 ] You see, this is one of the points where it becomes quite clear how misguided today's physical view is. Isn't it true that when we conduct electrical experiments in the classroom, we have to dry our electrical apparatus carefully, we have to make them poor conductors of electricity, otherwise we can't get anything done. If they are damp, we can't get anything done. But there is actually a view—I have mentioned this many times—that, according to physicists, electricity is generated by the friction of clouds, which are certainly damp, and manifests itself in lightning and thunder. This is, of course, one of the most impossible mental images that can be imagined.

[ 16 ] On the other hand, anyone who, in order to arrive at a realistic concept, gathers together everything that we are trying to gather here in our physical considerations, will find that at the moment when the lightning appears, space is torn apart, and that which intensely fills space in a non-dimensional way emerges, just as blood emerges when I cut myself. But this is the case every time light appears accompanied by heat: space tears apart, space reveals to us what is inside it, while in its usual three dimensions, which we see before us, it shows us only its outer side. Space leads us into its interior.

[ 17 ] We may say that as we continue to ascend from the ponderable to the imponderable and pass through the realm of heat, we find that heat wells up everywhere where we enter from the pressure effects of ponderable matter into the suction effects of the imponderable. Heat wells up everywhere. If you now imagine that we are dealing with the process that we described here a few days ago as heat conduction, you must link this to the other mental image that this heat conduction is bound to ponderable matter, in contrast to what we have also shown to be the spreading heat itself. We now find the spreading heat itself to be that which flows out when space is torn apart. How does this heat act? It wants to act from the intensity of space into its extensiveness. It wants, so to speak, to act from the interior of space into its exterior. When it interacts with a material body, we see the phenomenon occur in which the inherent tendency of heat is stopped, its suction effect is converted into a pressure effect, and the world tendency of heat is opposed by the individualizing tendency of the material, which then becomes the formative force in the solid body. So in heat, in the appearance of heat, insofar as this appearance leads to heat conduction, we must look not for rays, but for a tendency to spread in all directions; we must look for a reflection of imponderable matter in ponderable matter, or of the imponderable in ponderable matter. The body that conducts heat to us actually brings heat to the surface continuously by basically repelling intensively — not extensively, as with light, which only confronts us in its images — the imponderable heat that strikes its material.

[ 18 ] Now, however, I would like to ask you to gradually process such mental images, as we are accustomed to grasping them, in such a way that you really notice in this processing how we are dealing, in a sense, with mental images saturated with reality. And how such reality-saturated mental images lead us into a living understanding of the world's existence may be illustrated by one final image.

[ 19 ] I have already drawn your attention to what perception, subjective perception, the sensation of temperature is based on. We actually perceive the temperature difference between our own organism and the outside world, which is what a thermometer does, as I have pointed out to you. But all perception is based on the fact that we are something within a certain area, and that which lies outside this area becomes our perception. We cannot be something and perceive it at the same time, but must always be something other than what we perceive. So when we perceive sounds, we cannot be sounds ourselves insofar as we perceive sounds. And if we answer the question impartially: What are we when we perceive sounds? – we can come to the conclusion: Then we are precisely what is now the other difference in level. We perceive this difference in level ( \(y-x'\) in the diagram); we do not perceive \(y-y'\), which is what we are during this time; those chemical processes in our fluid organism that accompany our perception of sounds and run just as regularly are what we are. What the chemical effects cause in us draws something very regular into the world. It is by no means uninteresting to consider the following image. As you know, the human body consists only to a very small extent of solid components; more than ninety percent of it is a column of fluid. What takes place in our organism while we listen to a symphony – namely chemical processes of a very subtle nature – is a completely internal, continuously phosphorescent miracle. We are the chemistry of a ‘sound painting’. And we perceive the world of sound by becoming, in a sense, chemically what the world of sound is in the sense I have described here.

[ 20 ] You see, human understanding is greatly enhanced by bringing physical understanding to the human being. But in order to achieve this, it is always important that we do not form those abstract mental images that are particularly popular in physics today, but that we advance to mental images that are truly interwoven with the world, the objective world. Basically, this is everything that spiritual science aims for as a pursuit of knowledge, but also as a pursuit of attitude, with a view to bringing such realistic thinking back into human development. And it is necessary that this be brought forth. That is why it would be so necessary that precisely such beautiful endeavors as have emerged here during the last fourteen days be continued. You can see everywhere how something old is dying away in the present. Can't you really see how something old is dying away in the physical mental images that are of no use? And as we try here, still very imperfectly — for it can only ever be very imperfect hints — to build up a physical view, does this not show how much we are standing at a turning point in human development today?

[ 21 ] You see, my dear friends, something like this must always make us aware that we should continue with these things that have now come about through the inspiration of Dr. von Baravalle, Dr. Blümel, Mr. Strakosch, and Dr. Kolisko in various fields, giving a new impetus to what the development of humanity has achieved so far. In this way, we are laying the foundation for further progress. For you see, out in the world, people are talking about the need to build something new. Adult education centers need to be established. Yes, but what does that mean today out in the world: people are calling for adult education centers? The Danish adult education movement is held up to us as an example. What does all this calling for adult education centers mean? What has been done in the old universities is being carried over into the adult education centers. This does not create anything new. It only infects the whole population with what has so far only infected our scholarly education. There is hardly anything more dismal than the thought for the future that what has devastated the minds of our scholars and educated people in this way, as we have seen, will now also paralyze the entire educated population of the earth through the adult education system. If one wants to establish adult education centers, then one must above all ensure that something can be taught there that is itself constructive in its inner configuration. We first need the science that can be pursued at adult education centers. People always want to remain on the surface, they always want to take only what is there. Just as people in politics do not want anything new, but always want to try the old again; just as even the Social Democrats do not want to build something new, but want to try it with the old state, just want to have their say there, so too in the intellectual cultural movement they do not want to strive radically for a renewal of our way of knowing, but want to carry the old, the dying, into the people. This can be seen most deeply and meaningfully in physical observations.

[ 22 ] Certainly, you will find enough unsatisfactory things here and there in this series of lectures, because the lectures could only be aphoristic, but one thing will become clear to you in this series of lectures: that it is simply necessary to rebuild our entire physical, chemical, physiological, and biological world of ideas, to rebuild it thoroughly. Of course, we can only make progress in this if we further develop not only the school system, but also the scientific system itself. And if something like this could develop here at our Waldorf school, that we first expand the teaching classes upwards and secondly, at the same time as the school system, expand the academy system, for which we have planted a real seed in these days — because it was something like the seed of a new academy system — then we would actually achieve what should and must be achieved if European civilization is not to perish. — because it was something like the seed of a new academic system — then we would actually achieve what must be achieved if European civilization is not to perish in the spiritual realm.

[ 23 ] Just take a look at the terrible goings-on in the academies of the world today: this mutual reading aloud of long-written treatises in the academies, sucked dry of all real life, where people sit in beautiful halls and read aloud their long-written lectures and no one listens to anyone else. For the strange thing is that one is a specialist in one field, the other in another. The physician does not listen to the mathematician, but the mathematician reads. And when the physician reads, the mathematician's thoughts are occupied with something completely different. Moreover, the whole thing is only an outward traditional sign. That is where renewal must begin. Renewal must begin at the center of intellectual endeavor. This must be understood. Therefore, one can already say: if we could still bring it about that, in connection with the striving for a new kind of reality, an expansion of our school concept could take place, then we would finally achieve what is to be achieved.

[ 24 ] You see, there is much to be done. But one only really learns to recognize how much there is to do when one goes into the details. That is why it is so infinitely regrettable that people who only translate the old prejudices of humanity into phrases—which is what they have become, because they have had their time—are now actually raising large amounts of capital in order to be able to establish their academies and the like. It is difficult for us primarily because we must be imbued with the knowledge that truly new ground is necessary. We cannot succumb to the illusion of establishing adult education centers. We must live in reality and recognize that we first need to have something to teach at these adult education centers. But just as, I would say, even between the lines of previous science, a fruitful technique has developed, so an even more fruitful technique will develop when the science we are striving for here, for example in the field of physics, becomes popular. You see, everywhere people are trying to move away from the old theories and into reality, so that their mental images are already saturated with reality. There must also be a technique that works in a completely different way from the previous technique. Practice and knowledge are intrinsically linked. And when you tackle something that needs reforming today, such as physics, you immediately realize what actually needs to be done. So now that it is time for us to part ways again, I would like to point out that what has been presented here in aphoristic form should inspire you to develop these ideas further. You will be able to develop them. Our mathematical physicists, whom we have among us, will be in a position to revise the old formulas, and they will find that when they work into the old formulas the insights that can be gained from the aphoristic hints I have given, these formulas will certainly undergo transformations, which are actually metamorphoses, and from which many things will spring forth that will be of tremendous technical importance for the further development of humanity. This is something that cannot even be hinted at, but only pointed out for the time being.

[ 25 ] But we must now conclude these considerations, the continuation of which must lie in your own independent work, and that is what I would particularly like to recommend to you. For the matters relating to human progress in all three areas are now extremely urgent. Firstly, these matters are urgent today: we really have no time to lose, because chaos is just around the corner. Secondly, however, the right thing can only be achieved through orderly human cooperation. So we must try to continue to process what has been stimulated in ourselves. And you will find, on the other hand, right here in the Waldorf school: the moment you try to apply certain rectified concepts that we have gained here to teaching, it works right away. But you will also find that, insofar as you are compelled to apply these things in the course of life, it also works. And it would be desirable if today, with natural science, one did not always have to speak to an audience that already absorbs some things, but which always finds itself exposed — as I have already noted in the course — to the judgment of “real scientists,” the “authorities.” These authorities have no idea that, in everything we observe, everything else is constantly at play. You can see this in language.

[ 26 ] You see, in language we allow everything to be interrelated. We speak of a shock. Only because we use the corresponding word to describe something that was originally the shock we ourselves experienced do we also speak of a shock in a space devoid of human beings. And conversely, we express what happens within us with words taken from the outside world. But we do not know that we should look to the outside world, for example to the planetary cosmos, if we want to understand the constitution of the earthly body. And if we do not know this, we will not be able to learn what is important. We can discover all sorts of interesting little things when we focus the microscope on a plant seed or animal embryo, on any cell that is microscopically small; there we discover all kinds of really interesting things. But what is important, what we suspect, we would discover if we could only see the same processes that are visible under the microscope when they take place in the macrocosm. If we could only see how fertilization and defecation take place continuously in the interplay of external nature; if we could study how the planets are to be understood as starting points for imponderable physical effects; if we could grasp the cosmos in its starting points for plant germination, for animal germination; if we were to consider all this on a large scale, what we are trying to see today, if we were to focus the microscope on the cell on a small scale, where it is not at all; if we could try to look at what surrounds us in the first place — then we would make progress. The path is already clearly marked out today. It is very, very obstructed by people's prejudices. These prejudices will be difficult to overcome. But it is up to us to do everything we can to overcome them.

Hopefully we will be able to continue these reflections again someday.