PHILOSOPHY JOURNAL

by Valerie Pennacchio, D.C., '90

Article 3 "Force without wisdom falls of its own weight."      - Horace (65 B.C. - 8 B.C., Roman poet and satirist)

In the previous Philosophy Journal, we explored the concept that universal intelligence continually coordinates and integrates all matter through properties (persistent patterns of motion) and actions (variable motions). We concluded that motion is tone.

Let us now consider that living matter is included in the distinction of all matter and that the major premise of chiropractic can easily be applied to living matter. R. W. Stephenson spoke of life in principles 2, 3, 4 and 5. Principle two states, “the expression of this intelligence through matter is the chiropractic meaning of life.” Principle three notes, “that life is the necessary union of intelligence and matter. These principles bring two questions to mind: What’s the difference, if any, between living matter and all matter? And, what links intelligence and matter?

Stephenson answers the first question with what is classically known and studied as the “signs of life.” Anything that has form or is organized (having a specific property or action) is considered to be universal life. This includes both living and non-living matter. Processes such as reproduction, growth, assimilation, elimination and adaptation (the five principal signs of life) are said to distinguish biological life from universal life. These signs of life are considered specific examples of properties and actions when considering biological life.

Another distinction of biological life centers around the intelligence that organizes it. When referencing biological life we call this innate intelligence. The reference to a universal intelligence organizing all matter and an innate intelligence organizing living matter often leads students of the philosophy of chiropractic to think that there are two different intelligences at work. I believe this is an inaccurate conclusion. Rather, I believe that these are the same intelligence simply given a different name when organizing or expressing through different media.

Consider the analogy of a road that goes by one name as it runs through town and another name as it continues outside the city borders. Many readers might remember Pine Street that runs through the center of Spartanburg. You can continue driving on the very same road and yet the name of it will change to Route 176 once you leave the city proper. It’s still the same street; it is simply referred to with different names based solely on its location. I believe the terms universal intelligence and innate intelligence are much the same. Universal intelligence refers to the entire “highway” and innate intelligence refers to that one stretch of road that runs through town - the component that exists within a living organism.

Making a distinction between universal life and biological life helps our minds grasp the magnitude of life by breaking the concept down into “bite size pieces.” This brings me back to my second question, “What links intelligence and matter?” Principle #4 states, “Life is a triunity having three necessary united factors, namely intelligence, force and matter.” This principle, the Triune of Life, holds the answer to my question. Force is the missing link. Force synthesizes the immaterial (intelligence) with the material (matter) components of life, universal or biological.

Webster defines force as, “any of the natural influences (as electromagnetism, gravity, the strong force, and the weak force) that exist especially between particles and determine the structure of the universe.” In chiropractic, force is seen as both energy that carries information and of course as the adjustic thrust that assists in the correction of a vertebral subluxation. It is these two components of force (the physical/energetic component and the immaterial/information component) that determine how the motion of matter is to be changed.

For example, when you walk into a darkened movie theater it is the information and energy of the mental impulse that changes the vibrational expression of your eye, causes your pupil to dilate and allows all available light in so you can navigate. The function of every cell of our body is coordinated by intelligence expressed through matter via this type of force. A force carrying such adaptive information is called a mental impulse. And, of course, the unmodified transmission of a mental impulse is the central concern to us as chiropractors.

It is innate forces, coordinated by innate intelligence that maintains us in active organization and it is the integration of our adjustic thrust by innate intelligence that coordinates the correction of a vertebral subluxation. This understanding gives a fuller meaning to Horace telling us that “force without wisdom falls of its own weight.”

Read Article 4  in this series

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