[Fis] Emotional Contagion? -The Irreality of materialism
Eric Werner
eric.werner at oarf.org
Wed Mar 12 12:51:42 CET 2025
Dear Materialists,
Some time ago in my distant past while teaching philosophy and logic in
Africa at the University of Ibadan, John Curran and I held weekly
meetings to discuss the foundations of physics. John's central question
was "What is matter?" I took the role of logician and he the physical
chemist. We had a great time of it. But never a definite answer. I also
held weekly meetings with a linguist where I taught her Montague
grammar. And weekly meetings with Tom Tobias a neuroscientist on the
nature of intention and its realization in the brain (of monkeys and
humans). Still no definite answers but certainly not crude materialism.
Matter may just be generated by possibility spaces, whether or not an
observer.
Stu Kaufman and I have some ideas on the lack of definite phase spaces
and its relation to information. There is a lot to explore there and
that may have implications for the of physics and the nature of matter.
Possibilities make up more of reality than existing matter.
-Eric
On 3/12/25 12:26 PM, Gordana Dodig Crnkovic wrote:
>
> **
>
> **
>
> *Dear Dualists/Platonists/Spiritualists/Immaterialists,***
>
> **
>
> At the very bottom of all the mentioned phenomena lies matter.
> Yet, at the bottom of matter itself—when you open those boxes of
> elementary particles, each containing yet more boxes of more
> elementary particles, and so forth—at the very bottom lies nothingness
> (for us).
> Thus, the opposition between materiality and immateriality is less
> definitive than it might seem.
>
> Crucially, everything depends on the "observer" (actor): possibilities
> (potential information), quantum mechanics, consciousness, including
> “soul” in its various disguises. For Aristotle “soul” was synonymous
> with life which is a very reasonable view.
>
> *Without “materiality” there is no “reality”*for an
> observer/actor/agent in the world.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Gordana
>
> My second message this week.
>
> *From: *Eric Werner <eric.werner at oarf.org>
> *Organisation: *OARF.org
> *Date: *Wednesday, 12 March 2025 at 11:58
> *To: *Peter Erdi <Peter.Erdi at kzoo.edu>, Gordana CHALMERS
> <gordana.dodig-crnkovic at chalmers.se>, Katherine Peil
> <ktpeil at outlook.com>, Howard Bloom <howlbloom at aol.com>,
> "fis at listas.unizar.es" <fis at listas.unizar.es>
> *Subject: *Re: [Fis] Emotional Contagion? -The Irreality of materialism
>
> Dear Materialists,
>
>
> Reality of possibilities far exceeds material reality
>
> * There are more possibilities in most situations than there is
> space in the universe to contain them,
> * Possibilities are real.
> * Therefore, not all reality is physical or in physical space time.
> * In quantum mechanics there are more possibilities than space in
> the universe to contain them.
> * Therefore, there must be one or more extra dimensions to contain them.
> * The consciousness and cloning problem shows the consciousness must
> be in another dimension beyond our four dimensional space time
> * The soul if it exists may be partly in our four dimensional
> space-time and partly in other dimensions of reality.
> * Materialism is just one aspect of reality.
> * Reality is not just material it also contains the immaterial which
> by far exceeds the material.
>
> At least those are my thoughts this morning on a rainy day.
>
> -Eric
>
> On 3/11/25 8:35 PM, Peter Erdi wrote:
>
> I am supporting Gordana's arguments and suggest this well-cited paper
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://psu-psychology.github.io/psy-511-scan-fdns-2018/lectures/pdf/The_neural_bases_of_emotion_re.pdf__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!U9Czzt1x3euX6nKUqjyhUSww1lFo1B2wOyUhAmLjiDhWoezR3qmHkeNyM6qCMrHGgQC85OVLNYj-_QsdRKXdAq8$
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/psu-psychology.github.io/psy-511-scan-fdns-2018/lectures/pdf/The_neural_bases_of_emotion_re.pdf__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!X8l0cGXYnCDoWwpQdAKdeXofWqb9cy_mWyKiqDJK2ExjYcnj70EhtVRKY6IcHZLG6A96uAXbqawoFIm68LZD_HH9$>
>
> All the best,
>
> Peter
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* Fis <fis-bounces at listas.unizar.es>
> <mailto:fis-bounces at listas.unizar.es> on behalf of Gordana Dodig
> Crnkovic <gordana.dodig-crnkovic at chalmers.se>
> <mailto:gordana.dodig-crnkovic at chalmers.se>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 11, 2025 1:41 PM
> *To:* Eric Werner <eric.werner at oarf.org>
> <mailto:eric.werner at oarf.org>; Katherine Peil <ktpeil at outlook.com>
> <mailto:ktpeil at outlook.com>; Howard Bloom <howlbloom at aol.com>
> <mailto:howlbloom at aol.com>; fis at listas.unizar.es
> <fis at listas.unizar.es> <mailto:fis at listas.unizar.es>
> *Subject:* Re: [Fis] Emotional Contagion?
>
> Dear Eric, Kate, Howard, and All,
>
> Being a physicist, and reading recent discussions, I would like to
> argue that there is no such thing as immaterial emotions.
>
> At the core, emotions are material phenomena.
>
> Likewise, /relations/ are fundamentally material. There is no
> information without physical implementation, as Landauer famously
> argued.
>
> Below are my five arguments on embodyment of emotional contagion.
>
> *1. Emotional Contagion is a Biological Process*
>
> Emotional contagion occurs through bodily interactions—facial
> expressions, gestures, tone of voice, posture, and even subtle
> physiological signals (heart rate, breathing patterns). When one
> person smiles, it activates mirror neurons in the observer’s
> brain, prompting similar facial muscles to contract, causing
> measurable physical changes and subsequent shifts in emotional state.
>
> *2. Emotional Contagion is Chemically Mediated*
>
> Emotional states are directly connected to biochemical substances
> like oxytocin, cortisol, dopamine, and serotonin. When emotional
> contagion happens, it does so through these material biochemical
> mediators.
>
> *3. Emotional Contagion Based on Embodiment of Emotion*
>
> Emotions are not "floating" entities—they are communicated via
> bodily presence. The presence of a physical body expressing
> emotion is essential for contagion. Without physical embodiment
> (special facial expressions, sound, rhythm, smell, touch, posture,
> movements), emotional contagion does not occur. Emotions
> transmitted through screens (video calls) are weaker compared to
> face-to-face interactions precisely because physical embodiment.
>
> *4. Manipulability of Emotional Contagion*
>
> Emotional contagion can be modified or dampened pharmacologically
> (e.g., through anxiety-reducing drugs). If emotions were
> immaterial, medications wouldn't alter emotional responses.
> Beta-blockers reduce physical symptoms of anxiety (heartbeat,
> shaking), weakening emotional contagion (e.g., stage fright
> contagion). Antidepressants directly alter emotional contagion by
> stabilizing neurotransmitters.
>
> *5. Neuroscientific Evidence of Embodied Resonance*
>
> Neuroimaging clearly demonstrates activation of specific physical
> brain areas (mirror neuron systems, limbic system, amygdala)
> during emotional reactions. This direct neural activity is
> material. Seeing someone in pain activates similar pain circuits
> in the observer's brain—physically embodying the emotion in neural
> tissue.
>
> **
>
> *How this counters the immaterial perspective?*
>
> Those who argue emotions are "immaterial" claim emotions are
> disconnected from the body. However, emotional contagion’s
> dependence on observable, biological, chemical, and neurological
> mechanisms refute this clearly. If emotions were immaterial,
> contagion wouldn’t require physical presence with related
> physiological processes involving chemical, or neuronal pathways.
>
> All the best,
>
> Gordana
>
> PS
>
> My arguments are the result of a long discussion with GPT-4.5,
> which produced 20 pages of text. These were the prompts I used:
>
> 1. Can you please explain emotional contagion to me?
> 2. Do you see a connection to the resonance phenomena in physics?*
> 3. What are the main differences between physical resonance and
> emotional contagion?
> (At this point, GPT-4.5 began to explain the view that
> emotions, like consciousness, are subjective and therefore
> immaterial, while physical resonance is a material phenomenon.
> I argued that it confused "subjective" with "immaterial."
> Subjective experience is necessarily embodied and thus has a
> material substrate. GPT-4.5 accepted my arguments.)
> 4. Can you summarize this discussion?
>
> Finally, I edited the summary, shortening it.
>
> I wrote this mail and asked GPT-4.5 to check my English.
>
> What was my contribution?
> A physicist's view on emotional contagion.
>
> * Resonance occurs when an external force or /driving frequency
> matches the natural frequency of a system/, causing the system to
> oscillate with greatly increased amplitude.
>
> *From: *Fis <fis-bounces at listas.unizar.es>
> <mailto:fis-bounces at listas.unizar.es> on behalf of Eric Werner
> <eric.werner at oarf.org> <mailto:eric.werner at oarf.org>
> *Organisation: *OARF.org
> *Date: *Tuesday, 11 March 2025 at 16:24
> *To: *Howard Bloom <howlbloom at aol.com> <mailto:howlbloom at aol.com>,
> "fis at listas.unizar.es" <mailto:fis at listas.unizar.es>
> <fis at listas.unizar.es> <mailto:fis at listas.unizar.es>, Katherine
> Peil <ktpeil at outlook.com> <mailto:ktpeil at outlook.com>
> *Subject: *Re: [Fis] Emotional Contagion?
>
> Dear Kate, Howard and All,
>
> I have had highs in concerts and deep experiences with the
> Aborigines in the heart of Australia. These experiences seem to
> have little to do with each other.
>
> The insight given to me by my experience in Australia evoked the
> thought "They are crazy over there". Where "over there" was
> European and American industrialized societies, their wrong path
> and lack of genuine meaning.
>
> The insight given to me while blowing up balloons backstage at a
> Rolling Stones concert was, well, seeing Mick Jagger from the
> back while he elicited the highs in his frontal audience. (My
> girlfriend and I didn't have tickets and tried to get in and
> lucked out being asked if we wanted to help backstage.) So I, the
> Ph.D. -logician-philosopher-computer AI scientist-developmental
> biologist-cancer theorist-(back at you Howard😉), worked for a
> time for Mick Jagger!
>
> What is the point?: I learned more from my interaction with a
> 50,000 year old mind in Australia than from all the science and
> even Mick Jagger! It was emotion but it was more. Certainly not
> material.
>
> As for the Beethoven sequence (of creating, encoding, interpreting
> and executing the encoding, hearing the execution, encoding and
> experiencing}, has interesting relations to embryonic development.
> Such transformations are at the heart of development and
> communication.
>
> -Eric
>
> On 3/11/25 5:48 AM, Howard Bloom wrote:
>
> kate, your question about emotional contagion and what we can
> call "the cloud effect" is a good one.
>
> about this statement, with which i deeply agree:
>
> science is remiss if it fails to interrogate the nature
> and power of “faith”, given our embodied capacities
> for anomalous or “spiritual" experiences
>
> i'm an atheist. when science first grabbed hold of my soul
> when i was ten years old, its aspiration to me seemed to be
> omniscience.
>
> spiritual experiences are real. they may not be
> manifestations of god, especially to folks like me to whom
> there is no god. so what the hell are they? where do they
> come from? how did they evolve? what do they mean? what do
> they tell us about the nature of the cosmos that has birthed them?
>
> in my fieldwork in mass behavior, working with people like
> michael jackson and prince for 20 years, i saw collective
> ecstasies, what emil durkheim called "collective
> effervescence," ecstatic experiences at work in audiences all
> over north america.
>
> in fact, one of the jobs of my entertainers was to reliably
> evoke these transcendent experiences. and in building the
> careers of people like Prince, it was my job to help deliver
> these ecstasies. they are real.
>
> if science can't address the question of these experiences, it
> abandons the aspiration to omniscience. and it's not science.
>
> with warmth and oomph--howard
>
> On Monday, March 10, 2025 at 07:49:34 PM EDT, Katherine Peil
> _<ktpeil at outlook.com> <mailto:ktpeil at outlook.com>_ wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
> The discussion about “nothing" or “something" being exchanged
> between speakers and listeners prompts this question: What
> about the phenomenon of "emotional contagion”? Do Mike Levin’s
> revelation about bioelectricity bear upon the concept
> of “subtle energy”?
>
> Also, science is remiss if it fails to interrogate the nature
> and power of “faith”, given our embodied capacities
> for anomalous or “spiritual" experiences. Pre-emptive
> pejoratives are not good science, but they abound.
>
> Kate Kauffman
>
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> --
> /Dr. Eric Werner, FLS
> Oxford Advanced Research Foundation
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> Oxford Advanced Research Foundation
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