Timewave zero
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved. This protection is not an endorsement of the current version. See the protection policy and protection log for more details. Please discuss any changes on the talk page; you may use the {{editprotected}} template to ask an administrator to make the edit if it is supported by consensus. You may also request that this page be unprotected. |
 |
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive trivia, praise, criticism, lists and collections of links. (June 2009) |
 |
This article may contain wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording or find sources which back the claims. |
 |
The text in this article or section may be incoherent or very hard to understand, and should be reworded if the intended meaning can be determined. The talk page may have details. |
 |
This article needs references that appear in reliable third-party publications. Primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please add more appropriate citations from reliable sources. (June 2009) |
|
|
This article or section is missing information about: how Whitehead's subjective and unquantifiable concept relates to McKenna's graphable (and thus quantifiable) measure — or what it is exactly that McKenna is measuring. This concern has been noted on the talk page where it may be discussed whether or not to include such information. (July 2009) |
Timewave Zero, also known as Novelty Theory, is a pseudoscientific theory that purports to calculate the ebb and flow of "novelty" in the universe as an inherent quality of time. It is an idea conceived of and discussed at length by psychonaut and occult philosopher Terence McKenna from the early 1970s until his death in the year 2000. The early 20th-century philosopher Alfred North Whitehead had defined this concept as an increase in the universe's intuitively perceived interconnectedness[1][2].
According to McKenna, when "novelty" is graphed over time, a fractal waveform[clarification needed] known as timewave zero or simply the timewave results. The graph shows at what times, but never at what locations, novelty is supposedly increasing or decreasing over any span of time from a few days to tens of millennia[3].
McKenna claimed that the basic struggle of the Universe is not one between good and evil but between habit and novelty[4][5].
Contents |
Timewave
The timewave itself is a complex mathematical formula derived from McKenna's interpretation and analysis of numerical patterns in the King Wen sequence of the I Ching (the ancient Chinese Book of Changes).[6][clarification needed] McKenna interpreted the apparently fractal nature and resonances of the wave, as well as his theory of the I Ching's configuration, to show that the events of any given time are recursively related to the events of other times.[7]
On this basis, McKenna originally chose the date of ultimate singularity—December 21, 2012—by looking for a particularly "novel" event in recent history, and using this as the beginning of what he conceived to be a final 67.29 year cycle; the event he chose was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which gave an end-date in mid-November of 2012, but when he discovered the proximity of this date to the end of the current 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan calendar on 21 December 2012, he adjusted the end date to fit.[8][9]
Summary
According to McKenna:
- A bound system has a lower potential energy than its constituent parts; that is why the universe is evolving toward infinite interconnectedness or nonlocality.[10][clarification needed]
- Universal interconnectedness undergoes an exponential growth until it reaches a macroscopic nonlocality[5] by 21 December 2012.
- The main signs of macroscopic nonlocality are psychokinesis,[11] teleportation, and time travel.[12]
Objections
- McKenna never claimed that his ideas had a scientific basis, and McKenna's major source, Alfred North Whitehead, was a metaphysical philosopher rather than a scientist in the normal sense of the term.[13]
- McKenna arrived at the concept of timewave through use of Dimethyltryptamine, not by rational enquiry.[14]
- Its basic ideas are derived from the Chinese I Ching, which is not a scientific text, but an oracular tool based on Chinese philosophy and closely associated with magic.
- As the theory was never published in a peer-reviewed journal and McKenna's sources and reasoning were primarily what would be considered numerological rather than mathematical by professional mathematicians and scientists, the theory has failed to gain any scientific credibility or much recognition.
- The theory assumes, and was adjusted to fit the idea, that December 21, 2012 is the end of the long count of the Mayan calendar. Academic research by Maya scholars flatly contradicts this idea.[15]
See also
References
- ^ Cunningham, Eric (May 28, 2007). Hallucinating the End of History (Studies in Intellectual History). Academica Press,LLC. ISBN 1933146281. http://books.google.com/books?id=3tkQAQAAIAAJ.
- ^ Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004). Holy people of the world - A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 568. ISBN 1576073556. http://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&pg=PA568&dq=philosophy+timewave+McKenna&ei=ErI7StztN5C8M7DN9bgF.
- ^ McKenna, Terence. Approaching Timewave Zero. Magical Blend Magazine, Issue 44 (November 1994)
- ^ Horgan, John (2004). Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 186. ISBN 061844663X. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7dYV9UJszlUC&pg=PA186&dq=McKenna++Novelty+Theory&ei=PPQoSuWeE42ozQTlv7DkCg.
- ^ a b Terence McKenna on Art Bell Show, 4/01/1999.
- ^ McKenna, Terence; McKenna, Dennis (1975). The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching. HarperCollins. ISBN 0816492492.
- ^ St. John, Graham (2004). Rave culture and religion. Routledge. pp. 214. ISBN 0415314496. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tv7t7YbFM-UC&oi=fnd&pg=RA1-PA213&dq=Terence+McKenna+timewave&ots=wGrVJvMhFT&sig=jSyxfuikKmNQqG0YS0t2j8FBkww#PRA1-PA214,M1.
- ^ "Transcripts of Talks by Ralph H. Abraham, 1980-1989 1983#5, Dynamics of Hyperspace". Butterfly Productions Santa Cruz, CA,. Ralph H. Abraham,. June, 1983. http://www.ralph-abraham.org/talks/transcripts/index.1980s.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-29.
- ^ Meyer, Peter (1999, slightly modified 2006). "The Zero Date". Hermetic Systems — PC Software for Intelligent People. http://www.hermetic.ch/frt/zerodate.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-29.
- ^ Terence McKenna's article in Magical Blend Magazine, Issue 44, November 1994.
- ^ Dynamics of Hyperspace with Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna. Santa Cruz, CA, 1983.
- ^ Terence McKenna, interviewed on the Art Bell Show, 1997-05-22.
- ^ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Alfred North Whitehead" – by A. D. Irvine
- ^ Palmer, Judith (18 October 1996). "EVENT The Incident ICA, London". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/event-the-incident-ica-london-1358925.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-29.
- ^ See 2012 Doomsday prediction.
