9.26 Perception Spheres and views on movement and centricity in the Universe
The Perception Spheres allow us to understand and visualize how human knowledge regarding the laws of movement and the associated concepts of centrality has evolved over time. This chapter maps the various stages of cosmological conceptions in direct relation to the shifts in our perception of physical reality—from local sensory experience to global topological principles. Each shift in the understanding of movement has historically correlated with a new self-conception and a transformed vision of Reality.
- The Concrete Sphere: Geocentrism
Key scientific figure: Ptolemaios
The perception in this sphere mirrors reality as a result of concrete experience and sensory perspective. What is seen is taken as the truth.
A) Cosmological Conception of the Center:
The Earth, and consequently the observer, is the unmoving center of the Universe and all existence. The cosmos is arranged primarily to serve the observer and orbit around them.
B) Nature of Motion:
Motion is perceived as external and requires continuous activity. Celestial bodies are embedded in perfect crystalline spheres and must be constantly driven by external forces—divine movers or intelligences—to complete their rotation.
C) The Self-Conception:
The theological-philosophical anchor is Anthropocentrism (Classical Greece and Rome). The focus remained on the human being as the “measure of all things.” We are unique and paramount; our personal vantage point is the absolute reference frame for reality.
Typical Self-Conception representatives: Ancient philosophers, Sophists
- The General Sphere: Heliocentrism
Key scientific figures: Copernicus, Kepler, Newton
The picture of reality related to this sphere emerges from a new general logic that is no longer based on the sensory foundation of concrete perception, but on theoretical models.
A) Cosmological Conception of the Center:
The Sun replaces the Earth as the new central anchor, dominating the dynamics of the solar system. The fundamental principle is the existence of Universal Gravitation as a unifying, external force that governs the relationship between all bodies with mathematically definable precision.
B) Nature of Motion:
In contrast to the previous sphere, motion is no longer seen as a continuous “labor” or activity. According to the Law of Inertia (Newton’s First Law), bodies naturally persist in their state of uniform motion without the need for an external “pusher.” Movement itself becomes a state rather than an action. Within this framework, gravity does not create motion; it only dictates its path, acting as an external “rudder” that curves the inherent straight-line momentum of the planets into orbits.
C) The Self-Conception:
The theological-philosophical anchor is Monotheism. Heliocentrism triumphed when society was dominated by faith in the Single God. Isaac Newton wrote more on religion than on physics. In this view, humans relate to the Creator as planets relate to the Sun: we possess our own existence and momentum, yet we are held in a perfect, divine order by a higher external authority that guides our direction and destiny.
Typical Self-Conception representatives: Priests, Saints, Theologians
- The Autonomous Sphere: Acentrism
Key scientific figure: Einstein
The perception in this sphere shifts from external forces to the internal dynamics of the system. Reality is no longer viewed through a divine or gravitational “ruler,” but is seen as an expression of autonomous, geometric necessity.
A) Cosmological Conception of the Center:
With General Relativity, the concept of an absolute center and even the concept of an “attractive force” are abolished. Einstein dismantled the Newtonian “rudder” by demonstrating that gravity is not a force acting at a distance, but a property of the environment itself. As he famously put it: “Gravity does not exist; what we call gravity is merely inertial motion in curved spacetime.”
B) Nature of Motion:
Motion achieves full autonomy. It is defined as inertial free fall (movement along geodesics). Planets do not orbit because they are “pulled” by the Sun; they simply follow the straightest possible path through a spacetime that has been warped by the Sun’s presence. The “external rudder” of the previous sphere is absorbed into the geometry of the path. Movement and the law of movement become one and the same.
C) The Self-Conception:
The theological-philosophical anchor is Existential Psychocentrism. In an era where “God is dead” (Nietzsche), the primary center of meaning shifts from a higher power to the individual psyche. A new science—psychology—offers the tools to dissect the human mind. Just as planets follow their own autonomous paths dictated by the geometry of their positions, humans are understood to navigate their lives through self-determined motion within their own internal “curvatures.” Authority is no longer “up there,” but “in here.”
Typical Self-Conception representatives: Psychiatrist, Psychoanalysts
- The Essential Sphere: Cosmological Non-Centrism
Key scientific figures: Friedman, Lemaître, Hubble…
The picture of reality in this sphere transcends local dynamics to mirror the totality and its essential topology. Perception here moves beyond individual points of reference to grasp the impersonal and non-centric nature of the whole.
A) Cosmological Conception of the Center:
The Universe is isotropic and homogeneous. It has no spatial center and no edge; every point is equally “central.” There is an absolute dissolution of the concept of “center” on a global, topological level.
B) Nature of Motion:
“Motion” is Universal Expansion. It is not a movement from a single point outward, but spacetime itself expands everywhere at once. The global principle is the uniform expansion of the totality, where everything moves away from everything else without the need for a central point.
C) The Self-Conception:
The theological-philosophical anchor is Radical Non-Duality / Impersonalism. This stage mirrors the view that there is no separate God and no separate “I”. Nothing “happens” to anyone; there is only the impersonal operation of the whole reality. Our individual position dissolves into the whole. In essence, it never existed, as the feeling of separation and the division of reality into subject and object was an illusion.
Typical Self-Conception representatives: Awakened beings, Non-dual messengers
