| OCR Text |
Show Page 120 atoms, and adhering together with such a variety of intensities according to such uniform and general laws? The only sound answer that can be given to these intricate enquiries is, that these atoms must be intelligent..." 37 Orson defines "intelligence" as the capacity to obey uniform principles while "limited to certain spheres and modes of action." It is difficult to determine whether Orson is constructing here a truly metaphysical system, for his definition of the degrees of intelligence manifested by atomic particles seems restricted to the"self-motivating force" - although his terms are ambiguous, he does not necessarily apply the idea of "self-awareness" to organized matter in all its modes. In summary, Orson Pratt's "Mormon Philosophy" views the constituent particles of matter to be intelligent, self-moving, and active; and the universe as a hierarchy of intelligences, varying in degrees of awareness and rational capacity in proportion to the level of organization. Although most moderns would probably smile at Orson's system, rooted as it is in old assumptions about the atom and Newton's "clockwork" universe, still there is a peculiar relevance in his arguments. The nature of the bonding force in sub-atomic structures, now known to involve immense energies when unleashed, remains essentially a mystery to particle physicists of the Twentieth Century. And there is a curious, almost "Einsteinian" quality about Orson's simple reversal of Newtonian physics. In any case, his theory has continued to influence Mormon thinking to this day about these fundamental scientific questions. Though the New York Messenger was full of such treatises, along with solemn tirades against the "desolating ravages" committed against the Latter-day Saints, Pratt's humor managed to show through. He reports making a day's journey to New Jersey on the train, "with the help of a little boiling water." And with tongue in cheek he recounts a dream in which |
