Spencer Heath's
Series
Spencer Heath Archive
Item 77
The original is in item 75 envelope.
The chart on (or opposite) page ______ diagrams, in terms of erg-seconds, any single simple action or event
Its three vertical columns are headed with brief descriptions of the three kinds of subjective quantities involved. The first horizontal column, left to right, shows how any given number of mass units pertains to a single unit of motion only as a ratio and with only one dimension, that of mass
In the second horizontal column, not a mere ratio but an actual number of Motion units is introduced. Multiplying the given number of Mass-units per Motion-unit by the now given number of Motion-units results in a quantity of Work or Energy having two magnitudes or dimensions and so described. Further, in this second column the given quantity of work is stated in ratio or relationship to a single unit of time. It is not multiplied by time. It only states what quantity of work will pertain to each unit of time if and when any quantity of time is taken into account.
In the third horizontal Column not a mere ratio but an actual number of Time-units is introduced. Multiplying the given number of Work-units pertaining to each unit of Time by the now given number of Time-units results in a quantity of Work in Action or a quantity of objective Action — a three-dimensional Event.
In the fourth horizontal Column, Mass, instead of being given as the prime foundation of Energy and of Action, is completely disregarded. We begin with any number of Motion-units that pertain to one unit of Time, if or when any quantity of time is involved, and we take this number as a ratio of Motion to Time. Thus velocity is only one of the separately subjective elements of an objective event. By definition, it can have no content of Mass. It has only a Motion magnitude or dimension, however much of that kind of magnitude may be assigned to a single unit of time.
Up to this point we have considered only how the three separately subjective aspects of an Action or Event are related in the formation of an Action or Event such as an erg-second that can be the object of experience.