Sentics

k
Sentics

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 Sentics

DR. MANFRED CLYNES is recognized as one of the keenest and

most creative intellects working in science today. He holds degrees
in neuroscience (D.Sc.) from the University of Melbourne and a
M.S. in music from the Juilliard School of Music in New York, as
well as an engineering degree, and did graduate work at Princeton
University in the psychology of music. He is also a poet. He was
chief research scientist at Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg.
New York, for seventeen years, where he pioneered biocybernetics
and discovered the principles of sentics. He has lectured at Harvard,
MIT, and Princeton, and is presently Professor of Neuropsychology
at the University of Melbourne. Born in Vienna, Clynes was first ac-
claimed as a pianist in Australia as a teenager, and has successfully
toured the major cities of Europe as a concert pianist; his
performances today are special cherished events. His teachers in
music included Gorodnitzki, Edwin Fischer and especially, Pablo
Casals. As a physiologist, he discovered the biologic law of uni-
directional rate sensitivity, and among his many inventions is the
Computer of Average Transient (CAT), which became a standard
tool in virtually all research laboratories for studying brain function.
His widely significant research in neurophysiology, culminating in
an integration with his work in music and the nature of emotions,
has been published in over hundred and ten articles in scientific
journals and five books and has been frequently reported by the
press. He is a charter member of the International Society for
Research on Emotion. An eminent authority on dynamic emotion
communication, in music, the arts and in personal life, his book,
Sentics, is regarded as a classic today. Sentic cycles, also known as
Music of Touch, have helped thousands of people in many parts of
the world to insight, greater enjoyment of life and peace.

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 Sentics

SENTICS
THE TOUCH OF THE
EMOTIONS
DR. MANFRED CLYNES

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 Clynes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank all those who have contributed to make this book possible:
men and women who came to me with their troubles; musicians
who gave of themselves; those who helped in scientific work at the
Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg, New York, and at the Uni-
versity of California, San Diego and the Biocybernetic Institute; and
above all the thousands who participated in sentic cycles and
reported their experience.
I cannot mention them all-but certainly without Pablo Casals,
Rudolf Serkin, Darius Clynes, Warren McCullough, Otto Schmitt,
Michael Kohn, and Steven Bunnell, this book would not have been
born.

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 Sentics

Dedication
To the source of essentic form and to those who get drunk on it
'The memory of my father of Pablo Casals and of Artur Schnabel and
to three beautiful women who have lived in me

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 Sentics

Contents
Foreword vii
Foreword 2 VIII
Preface i
Introduction vii
The Qualities of Experience 3
Emotions 15
Acton Theory 22
Measuring Essentic Form, the Biologic Basis of Emotion
Communication 28
Are Essentic Forms Culturally Conditioned? 44
The Communicating Power and Mathematical Equation of
Essentic Form 54
Producing and Recognizing Essentic Form, Empathy, and
Sympathy 61
Music and Sentics: Music as a Sentic Mirror 78
PART TWO 105
Sentic Circles and Their Capacity to Transform 107
The Nature of Sentic Experience: Further Elaborations of
Sentic Theory 162
Sentography and Personal Relationship Profiles 183
Essentic Form and the Transformation of Sources of Energy
193
Sentics and the Sources of Ethical Being 207
Sentics and Space Travel 217
Sentics and Natural Order: the Evolution of Sentic States and
the Generation of New Ideas 224

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 Clynes

A New Form of Laughter: A Prediction of Sentic Theory 232

Epilogue 239
I - Biologic Design Principles for Sentic Communication 242
II. A Glossary of Sentic Terms 243
III. Mathematical Appendix 250
IV. Music Appendix 253
V. References and Selected Bibliography 263

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 Sentics

Foreword
Dr. Clynes and I met the first time at the reception desk of the
newsroom of the New York Times where I was working as a reporter
in the newspaper's science department. It was around the time of the
congressional hearings on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1961, and
I had been sent to the reception area by the City Desk to interview a
person who claimed to have solved the single-seemingly in-
surmountable, at the time-technical problem standing in the way of
a total ban on all tests – in the air, space, water, and underground.
That problem was how to distinguish between natural earthquakes
and earth tremors touched off by underground nuclear test deto-
nations. The man who it seemed had found the solution was Dr.
Manfred Clynes.
I no longer recall the details of Clynes's scheme except that it
seemed at the time to be ingeniously simple and quite possibly work-
able. However, the process of the government's working out the de
tails to the treaty had already progressed too far for any substantial
modification: tests would be banned only in space, the atmosphere
and under water; underground testing was to be excluded from the
ban.
What stayed with me about Dr. Clynes's visit, however, and his
(characteristically) mumbled explanation of how to differentiate
earthquakes from underground bomb tests was his ingenious and
strikingly original style of thought. It was of a quality for which

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mathematicians reserve the term "elegant," and although I had al

ready met and come to know a great many brilliant men and women
of science and medicine—including several Nobel laureates—I had
the feeling that I had just encountered my first authentic genius.
Whether, in fact, Manfred Clynes was the first genius I had ever met,
his membership to that strange and exciting echelon of intuitive
mentality has been documented many times over and is done so
again here in this book. The reader is in store for the truly thrilling
experience of looking at the world from a new perspective—perhaps
never to see things quite the same again. Moreover, each reader's ex-
perience of this book is likely to be partly a very personal one; mine
was, as I went over the original manuscript and found that it evoked
discoveries about my own world which were suddenly obvious and,
at the same time, completely unexpected.
I believe I can best prepare the reader for the sort of experience
I've just promised by suggesting the kinds of thought processes that
I believe led Dr. Clynes to the ideas presented in this book. First of
all, it is important to realize that Clynes's own world is enormously
rich, for he is a concert pianist, neurophysiologist, electronics engi-
neer, biocybernetician, computer inventor, poet, and philosopher.
He has the capacity to dip freely into each of those talents and make
connections and associations that often produce totally unexpected
results.
For example, in 1956 Dr. Nathan Kline, the psychiatrist noted for
his work with tranquilizing and antidepressant drugs and director of
research at Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg, New York, sug-
gested that Manfred try to find ways to apply feedback control
systems analysis techniques to psychiatric problems. While Manfred
thought that this could not be tackled scientifically at that time, he
did adapt cybernetic (automatic feedback control) techniques to the
study of physiological regulatory mechanisms that control heart
rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc.
One of his experiments at Rockland involved measuring the
response of the pupil of the eve to change in illumination. It is well
known that the pupil contracts in response to increasing brightness

viii
 Sentics

and dilates in diminishing light. However, he surprisingly

discovered that when subjects were exposed to brief bursts of dark-
ness (by momentarily extinguishing the light, then turning it back
on) their pupils did not dilate in response to the moment of dark but
instead contracted to the stimulation of increasing illumination after
the moment of darkness. This was, of course, completely unexpected
and for a time defied explanation Clynes's solution was both inge-
nious and richly rewarding, for it aided in the discovery of a new
biological law—a very rare occurrence in science. His explanation of
the unexpected outcome of his experiment was that there must be
two information-carrying channels involved in the control of pupil
size: one channel responding to decreasing illumination, the other
channel responding to increasing illumination. Those two different
channels were made distinguishable in the experiment by the fact
that the dimming channel responded more slowly than the
brightening channel did—too slowly, in fact, for the pupil to dilate in
response to diminishing light, so that the other, faster channel sup-
planted the dilating reaction and caused pupillary constriction in
response to subsequent brightening. This is an easy experiment to
do, and the reader can try it with another person by simply watching
the person's pupils in a lighted room while the light is briefly flicked
off and then on again; the pupils will constrict, first, and then
redilate.
From that observation- and similar ones involving other physio-
logical regulatory systems such as the dynamic control of heart rate
through breathing-Manfred formulated the Biologic Law of Uni-
directional Rate Sensitivity. The law concerns the ways in which in-
formation can be processed for communication and control
functions in living organisms. As such, the law—probably more than
any other known law of nature—bears on qualities that distinguish
uniquely between living and non-living things. In only a few years
after Manfred's first publication of the URS principle, its function in
a wide range of biological processes was confirmed by scientists in
several laboratories throughout the world.

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 Clynes

Simply stated the URS law holds that, first, information about
several events in the world outside and within an organism is per-
ceived more acutely (if not actually differently) under changing
conditions than under static ones. Thus, we are more sensitive to
increasing or to decreasing temperature and lighting than to con-
stant ones—which may even become unnoticeable in time. Sec-
ondly, the law states that each of these two kinds of information
(increasing or decreasing change) requires its own one-way channel,
based on the fact that molecules can arrive only in positive numbers.
This channel many be a series of nerve fibers, a selective membrane,
a sequence of chemical reactions or hormones, or some other
dynamic biological system. For example, information about heating
travels in one channel and that about cooling in another. And, as
shown in the experiment with the eye's response to changing il-
lumination, two channels that carry information about a "similar"
(but actually, opposite) quality -e.g., increasing and decreasing
temperature, illumination—may respond at different rates. But other
systems have only developed one channel, such as the sensation of
smell, which is only sensitive to rate of increase.
From this work, Dr. Clynes began thinking more and more about
the relation of our experience of various "standard" qualities of the
perceived world. This sort of thought led him to experiments in
which he was able, for the first time, to associate specific electrical
brain wave patterns with particular events involving certain qualities
of the perceived world. Thus, as will be explained in this book, Man-
fred was able, first, to associate a particular recorded brain wave
shape with the perception of redness and later to expand the list to
more than one hundred other different visual stimuli (colors, pat-
terns) that were associated with specific shapes of brain waves
generated by subjects who perceived the stimuli. It was after he had
demonstrated this remarkable feat to his own and others' satisfaction
that he made a gigantic-elegant-conceptual leap that resulted in the
birth of a whole new field of science-sentics- -which this book is
about.

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 Sentics

In making that leap, Dr. Clynes, in effect, figured that if certain

electrical brain wave shapes are characteristic of particular perceived
qualities of the environment in the outside world, then there must be
brain patters that are characteristic of qualities of a person's inner
world, too. However, while it was completely easy for Dr. Clynes to
make the association between stimuli in the outside world and
corresponding brain wave shapes, it was quite another thing to find
qualities of inner experience that might have associated specific
brain patterns and to determine how those patterns might be
extracted reliably from all the other activity of the brain.
Clynes's solution to this formidable problem was inspired by his
rich musical background. He recalled having read a book by the Ger.
man musicologist Gustav Becking, in which it was noted that when-
ever an experienced musician was asked to follow a musical compo-
sition by moving his forefinger in the air—as if to conduct the mu-
sic—the finger "drew" shapes that seemed to be consistent among
different compositions by the same composer.
Dr. Clynes decided to use music as the source of qualities of inner
experience (one can think a melody) and to study the shape of the
movement- or in his method, pressure-as a representation of those
particular brain waves associated with the music. His notion was
that the expressive shape of the finger's pressure was, in effect, a me-
chanical transduction of the electrical wave shapes generated
specifically and characteristically in the brain in association with the
inner experience of a particular piece of music's "inner pulse," or
qualitative signature. As he explains in the book, experiments with
this concept-involving several notable musicians—supported his hy-
pothesis perfectly. Indeed, the insight into the fundamental nature of
music that Clynes's theory and experiments provide makes the very
essence of music comprehensible in ways never before possible.
His next elegant leap was to recognize that the qualities he was
studying in music could be thought of as corresponding to the
qualities inherent in human emotions. And, as he will explain, he
was able to show that several different emotions have characteristic

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expressive "shapes" (no doubt reflecting their generative brain wave

shapes), just as different musical compositions do.
I found this realm of Dr. Clynes's work especially evocative
because of my own interest in music, experimental psychology, and
personality types. He writes in his chapter on music that the shape of
a particular piece of music's "inner pulse" is similar to the shapes of
the composer's other works because the basic shape reflects the
composer's own personality—it is his personal signature, a kind of
"presence." This concept led me to make a little leap of my own one
Sunday while listening to a recording of pianist Joshua Rifkin
playing some of the works of the great ragtime composer Scott
Joplin.
I was doing some routine paper work while the recording played,
but I was surprised suddenly to find myself feeling so deeply moved
that my eyes filled with tears! The paper work certainly was not
deeply moving, so it had to be the music-but why, particularly, when
I wasn't really listening to it?
Then I had an idea. I happen to be of a certain type of personality
or temperament. It occurred to me that, just perhaps, Scott Joplin –
a favorite of mine since childhood- and Joshua Rifkin were the same
types as I, and that the signature of our common temperamental na-
ture was carried in the inner pulse of Joplin's music, to be rendered
to its best by Rifkin to my maximum enjoyment.
I went to the record jacket and found quite extensive notes on both
Joplin and Rifkin. Reading them and other notes left little doubt in
my mind that my suspicion was correct; Joplin, Rifkin, and Os-
mundsen were all three cut from the same temperamental cloth. In
terms of my hypothesis, then, what had happened was the following.
Black composer Joplin had translated the neurophysiological en-
gram of his basic temperamental nature- his personality signature
-from his brain to musical notation on paper in the inner pulse of the
music he wrote in New Orleans and Chicago between 1899 and
1909. While the music has wide appeal, it could strike the most
responsive chords in those whose fundamental nature was most like

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Joplin's, as reflected in the similarities of their neurophysiological

engrams. Thus, Rifkin, a young music professor and pianist of
Joplin's same personality type, was able both to find Joplin's compo-
sitions highly appealing and to render them with a high degree of
fidelity to the composer's original intent. Finally, while Rifkin's
performance of Joplin's works was highly appealing to the general
public because his interpretation was so nearly perfect, his record-
ings of the piano rags were especially moving to persons of like
temperament, such as myself.
This is all– or mostly – pure speculation, of course. The only
circumstantial support of this interpretation consists of three
factors: Manfred's findings in the new science of sentics, my having
favored Joplin's music since I was a boy but not liking any
performance of it nearly as much as I do Rifkin's, and, lastly, my
making a prediction, based upon my hypothesis (and on Manfred's
sentics theory), which I believe proved out.
What I am trying to show in this digression is that the reader may
expect to gain new and unexpected insights from Manfred's lines of
reasoning which should be great fun and possibly very rewarding to
explore.
Dr. Clynes's sentic theory may also be seen to apply to the teaching
and practice of the martial arts. In the instruction of such disciplines
as karate, kiai-jutsu, shoriniji kempo but particularly aikido, tai-chi-
ch'uan and wing chun, much is made of the shapes of movement.
The more nearly perfect one shapes movements- in merely exercises
or in actual combat—the more effective will the practitioner be. In
fact, martial artists who perfect their techniques including con-
trolled breathing, concentration, and shaped movement-can
develop abilities to perform seemingly supernatural feats. Appar-
ently, the disciplines practiced in certain of the martial arts enable
the practitioner to "tap into" a reserve or reservoir of the essence of
human being (which clearly exists in everyone, inasmuch as anyone
with sufficient determination and application can develop these
capabilities).

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 Clynes

Now precisely what that "essence" — may be-intrinsic energy, ki,

chi, or whatever one wants to call it—is not known. One cannot help
wondering, however, if the application of Manfred Clynes's new sci-
ence of sentics to an analysis of the occult aspects of the martial arts
might not bring us within reach of the answer to that ultimate
question: what are we that we can become?
But I daresay, the reader will come up with many other questions
to which sentics might be fruitfully applied—and may even
encounter a few unexpected answers along the way, as well. There is
"something for everyone" in this book simply because the science of
sentics touches on so many aspects of the human condition, from
creative expression in science and the arts, to the very core of
individual being, to practical matters of physical and mental health.
I hope in some small way I have helped prepare the reader for the
adventures ahead in this important book.
John A. Osmundsen New York, 1975

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 Clynes

Foreword 2
Dr. Manfred Clynes' great achievement is to have made emotions
and their communication respectable, recognizably rendered into
graphs, analysable and measurable. These most intimate, basic and
powerful of human drives are no longer imprisoned within the
realm of conjecture and blind groping with more or less working hy-
potheses, but have been released for study, respect and compassion.
It is obvious that this signal breakthrough could only have been
achieved by a musician: Dr. Clynes is a very distinguished pianist; a
scientist who remains a musician at heart. In the same way that
painting and drawing furthered our understanding of the human
body and of our anatomy, so is music the true and only revelation of
emotion, whether as pure music or as the music of language or
dance. When, as in Manfred Clynes' case, the music is allied to a
penetrating intellect and scientific insight, miracles may happen.
Dr. Clynes' contribution to the interrelationship of emotions, to
our crying need for personal expression, and for the cleansing of our
minds and souls, illuminates the good sense of our tribal ancestors
with their games and gestures and oral traditions, for they knew the
supreme importance of sound and contact. Perhaps his gift to
humanity will serve to lead us to a more balanced existence, to a co-
ordinated and reciprocal strengthening of mind and heart. Perhaps
it will lead to greater harmony and fewer wars. I welcome this sentic
science, for the god of love has finally put on the guise of science to
lead us into the truly humane - for we, having lost our intuition, and
often employing our intellect merely to enhance our brutality, and
having lost our faith in feeling and conscience, may rediscover our-
selves through the only avenue we acknowledge, that of science. I
pray, however, that just as every thing may be used to both good and
evil ends, this new science may be pursued to good, compassionate
and wholesome purposes only.
Yehudi Menuhin New York

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 Sentics

Preface
This book is about emotion communication. We are discovering
rather to our surprise—that nature has made the communication of
emotions elegantly simple. To find out how nature's dynamic
communicative forms function in man with precision and power,
this is the branch of science called sentics.
Western man has long lived as an uneasy guest within nature. In
trying to discover natural order, he put himself outside the order he
was discovering-as an observer, if not always a dispassionate ob-
server. He could not fit his passions and emotions into the order, but
had to regard them as epiphenomena. The existential attributes of
emotions could not compare with those of atoms and molecules they
did not seem to belong to the world at all as entities. Many psy-
chologists even doubted their existence, since there was nowhere an
emotion could be shown to be located.
Spinoza had long ago regarded emotions as part of nature to be
contemplated with the same interest and enjoyment as other natural
phenomena, but later centuries progressively divided Western man's
attitude into the objective and subjective in an attempt to rid
mankind of superstition and prejudice. Having accomplished this
task in good measure, man found himself paying the price of having
driven a painful wedge into his being, dividing him from himself as
well as from his fellow beings and natural environment.

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The work that is presented in this book may help to reunite man's
divided nature. Research in the developing science of sentics-the
study of genetically programmed dynamic forms of emotional ex-
pression—is leading us to discover the simple elegance of nature's
plan within us. Finding experimentally how emotions are grounded
precisely in natural order, and how the keys to the communication
of emotion are designed according to specific laws, we can discover
a new sense of our belonging to nature and recognize our common
brotherhood. Sentic studies are uncovering a natural basis of
emotion communication universal among humans.
In the chapters that follow we shall describe the precise dynamic
forms that are characteristic of each emotion. We call them essentic
forms. These forms operate like keys in the locks of our nervous
system. People touch one another emotionally through these ex-
pressive space-time forms. Without them we would live in
emotional isolation. Nature has provided for emotion
communication and contagion between individuals-the are of
communication—through precise spatio-temporal forms, ge-
netically programmed as specifically as the form of a kidney is
programmed. This book describes how these elementary biologic
forms were found.
To measure essentic form, new instruments – sentographs – had
to be developed. These instruments are used for discovering the
precise nature of essentic form and for diagnosing aspects of person-
ality. Chapter Four of this book will describe the methods by which
the sentograph can be used to measure emotional expression and
Chapter Eleven will relate how it can be helpful in discovering a sub-
ject's emotional relationships with key figures in his life and with his
environment.
Essentic forms are not idiosyncratic to each individual—although
when and how he may want to use them may well be. They represent
the natural "words" of emotion communication, "words" that were
developed before speech arose. Some of these we share with animals-
a dog often understands our tone of voice as well as a child.
Throughout this book we have tried to look at these "words," care-

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fully and lovingly, to see a glimpse of their exquisite nature and of the
laws of their power.
The power of communication of each "word" of essentic form, as
expressed in any expressive action (a laugh, a pat on the back, an
angry scowl, etc.), depends on its faithfulness to the characteristic
shape that it expresses. This biologic solution to the design problem
of how individuals may communicate qualities to one another has
also made it necessary to develop a new mathematics for dealing
with the power of emotion communication. For thousands of vears
artists. have used the remarkable potentiation of realizing precise
form to communicate and generate emotion and qualities. The bio-
logic basis for this power is now being discovered through the ex-
perimental isolation of pure essentic forms.
The neurophysiologic function of these forms in communicating
and generating emotions has largely remained outside the field of
psychoanalysis as well as that of traditional psychology. Neither
these nor psychiatry has systematically investigated the biologic
dynamic functions of essentic forms. Yet, the study of their function
leads to methods for using them for therapeutic purposes. The
individual's experience of generating specific emotions through re-
peatedly producing essentic form in accordance with their biologic
timing, and being able to be in touch with virtually the entire
spectrum of emotions in a controlled manner which these methods
provide give the individual a powerful preventive and normative
tool. In Part Two of this book, we shall describe the discovery and
development of "sentic cycles," which involves the experience of
seven basic emotion states in a specific order over the period of a half
hour. Practicing this method of "active meditation" has led many
subjects to a feeling of peace, increased emotional fluidity and re-
lease of blocked emotions, and other beneficial effects. It provides a
feeling of grounding in one's inner self. The Buddhist practice of
contemplation of feelings presages this experience. The therapist
may use it as a tool that produces insight into the personality struc-
ture, permits the experience of emotion, and can lead to peace for
the person seeking therapy.

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 Clynes

How does the practice of sentic cycles and sentic training relate to
other forms of therapy? The theory of psychoanalysis presently
seems too self-contained to engender a systematic extension linking
it with sentic theory. One may hope that a way will be found to pro-
vide an integration of the two systems of thought. The Jungian con-
cept of archetypes may constitute a partial bridge. The findings and
theories of sentics are also in accord with much of the Gestalt school
of psychotherapy and psychology. Some of the phenomena de-
scribed and measured in sentics may be recognized by those experi-
enced in Gestalt therapy. The importance of closing the Gestalt, the
experience of wholes, clearly relates to the experience of essentic
form.
In recent years, biofeedback methods have been developed to
teach a person to control bodily functions that are not normally sub-
ject to conscious control. To achieve this, instruments are used that
inform him of the effectiveness of his control over these processes.
But in discovering essentic forms within himself, a person does not
have to use instrumental biofeedback techniques—the feeling itself
is an inherent biologic feedback. A person knows through his own
feeling when he has expressed the true essentic form. Practice of es-
sentic form is self-centering.
Since sentics is very much involved in the study of fantasy
emotions, it also strikes a responsive chord in all disciplines where
fantasy emotion is of importance. This, of course, includes the arts
and music-sentics has much to say concerning the communication
of qualities by artists and musicians. The biologic elements of
emotion communication are nowhere better employed than in the
arts.
But perhaps the most important application of sentics should be
in education. Its methods can allow children, or adults, to learn to be
in touch with their emotions, to discriminate between them, and to
enjoy their controlled use. For people of all ages, a greater awareness
of the emotional processes they share (and specifically the shared ex-
perience of doing sentic cycles) may provide a direct way for people
of different races and backgrounds to experience their common

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basis in humanity. In terms of sentics all people are equal. Through

sentic education practically all individuals can achieve a high degree
of empathy and sensitivity. At present it is largely through chance
that such functions develop. But through the practice of sentics in
education, they could be developed as systematically as reading and
writing.
Like any "hard science" theory, sentics is also capable of making
predictions-predictions of new possible experience and about
properties of communication processes. Recently we were able to
predict the existence of a new form of laughter which could be
readily verified experimentally. Finding this new, voiceless laughter
(which shall be described in the last chapter of this book) is as ex-
citing, in its way, as the actual discovery in physics of a new particle
that previously has been predicted' to exist. It is perhaps for the first
time that it has been possible to predict precisely new modes of ex-
perience before anyone has ever actually experienced them.
It has been conjectured that unique modes of experience may ac-
company certain stable, "instinctive" animal behavior patterns.
Indeed, the behavior of animals associated with some innate release
mechanisms, such as the mating posture of the female rat, or the
burying of eggs of turtles, is resistant to behavior modification
techniques. So also we have found that a Skinnerian approach at-
tempting to change essentic form is unsuccessful; essentic form is
not arbitrary. Behavior modification techniques do not alter the
programmed neurophysiologic nature of these basic dynamic ele-
ments of communication. It is not possible, fortunately, to retrain an
individual to experience and communicate love through the essentic
form of anger, for example, and vice versa. But as we shall see, it is
clearly possible to alter the degrees of inhibition, the readiness to ex-
press, and the selection of particular motor functions of the body for
expression.
In sum, the research described in this book has led to a new
theory of emotion communication.— Precise, genetically
programmed brain processes have been found to exist which deter-
mine the way we perceive and express emotions. As a result, the

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 Clynes

developing science of sentics has yielded significant insights into

both the way people communicate and the way music and the arts
communicate. And a new method of meditation and therapy in-
volving sentic cycles has produced results in preventing and
relieving psychosomatic problems and reversing alienation.
Thus it seems that the evolution of sentics may have the capacity
to affect the future considerably: by bringing greater enjoyment of
being; by preventing violent, irrational aggression, and by teaching
man to induce in himself receptive states that increase his creative
powers and help him to solve problems. The following chapters will
explain the principles upon which sentic theory is based and will
show how some of these discoveries came to be made. As sentics
grows, much more remains to be discovered. It is our hope that the
ideas elaborated throughout this book will introduce the reader to a
fascinating branch of scientific inquiry—the study of emotion
communication—and act to inspire his own original thinking about
these pervasive functions of being human.
—This book is a synthesis of our sentic studies- including some
material never before published. For additional details the reader is
referred to the author's references in Appendix V.

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 Sentics

Introduction
It is man's predicament that he feels the necessity to create a self-
conscious vision of himself in the universe in order to feel at home
in it. It is not enough that such a world view be intellectual; it is nec-
essary that he develop a feeling of belonging. His role is not defined
for him; he feels he needs to define it and discover it for himself. In
part, his unique position and problem is posed to him by his gift of
language. To re-create his experience in word images is al most too
difficult a challenge for him. His resulting social institutions do not
clearly reflect his nature. And so he moves like a spiral growing be-
tween the poles of verbalization and differentiated direct experi-
ence-trying to grasp the transitory and to discover the timeless that
reveals itself forever anew in each moment.
"Trying to grasp": in that phrase man's predicament is summed up.
That phrase, with its double physiological and psychological
meaning, points to man's condition and to the contribution of
language to his dilemma. That he may "grasp" more, man's reach
should indeed exceed his "grasp." And so, embarked on his quest, he
discovers how to ask questions.
Only man can ask a question. Discovery of questions was man's
first chain reaction: every good question generates others. (We are
now experiencing a Malthusian question explosion perhaps even
greater than the population explosion.) A new question leads-it does
not follow. Where does it arise then? If it comes by chance, what is

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chance that it can create new questions? We could begin by saying

that questions arise from curiosity. And thus, the nature of man's
quest is linked to his emotional nature.
A man can be curious and search in different ways, involving
different kinds of emotions. One particular way involves a specific
emotion that is a kind of intellectual fervor, a "present openness" to
whatever ideas may be received by one's brain. This implies a true
readiness to receive; not the joy of discovery, but a passionate
openness and trust that a new idea could be in the right direction.
This state of emotion, which we have called "Being Apreene" and
will be more fully discussed in a later chapter, may be observed in
some individuals at various times. It has not been given a name pre-
viously, though it has clear bodily concomitants. The head may be
lifted slightly, the face assumes a characteristic expression, and one
feels a certain pleasant tension across the forward and upper part of
the head, while at the same time the body seemingly becomes light.
There is no anxiety and one seems disconnected from the sensual.
Can one find questions that lead, without this emotion? May this
emotion be induced and communicated?
As will become more apparent as this book unfolds, emotions and
specific knowledge are not as unrelated as has often been thought.
Let us consider the identity of natural forms. Habitually we tend to
regard only forms in space as "solid" and "real." Yet, there are forms
in time which belong to the order of the universe and are in every
sense as "solid" and "real" as the solidity of spatial form – forms
which occur not as accidental processes but arise from ordered
programmed relationships. The frequency of a photon of light is an
example of a characteristic time form of basic reality. Such time
forms exist also in the higher organized entities that relate directly
to the laws of the universe, such as molecules, including of course
also the DNA molecule. How do man's time forms relate to his DNA
program?
We are still largely unaware how the micro-molecular order
shapes the living world around us—how the particular shape of the
kidney is programmed genetically, for example. But seldom do we
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even consider how the form of living movement relates to the invis-
ible order of the genetic code. Yet most of life is concerned with
movement and only through movement do we communicate in the
present moment.
We can try to distinguish those aspects of man's possible time pat-
terns of behavior and communication which are programmed
directly as a consequence of DNA relationships, from those which
man acquired or devised arbitrarily. In doing so, as we shall see, it is
possible to discover in oneself time forms of expression which are
"solid" and "true" in the sense that they are faithful to our biologic
programming. And strangely, when these true forms are discovered
they provide the means for the most powerful immediate
communication with others in the present moment. This seems to
be so because the production and the perception of these forms is
governed by a coordinated biologic design, much as are the separate
coordinated functions of speaking and hearing.
Indeed, one of the strangest and yet commonplace natural phe-
nomena is the way in which we communicate qualities and shades
of emotion to each other through vision, sound, and touch. With
methods to be described, we can now measure and identify some of
the extraordinary precision with which these dynamic
communications are created and sensed. By producing and
measuring the precise time profile, or trajectory of the expressive
act, in a new way, we are beginning to be able to analyze the remark-
able communicative power that is inherent in the trajectories of
these forms and to determine which aspects of these processes ap-
pear to be biologically de signed and genetically preserved.
It is found, in fact, that the nervous system has design features that
allow it both to generate precise elements of communication faithful
to specific qualities, and also to recognize these elements when
communicated by others. It can do this, moreover, through a large
variety of modes of sensory communication. But behind the forms
of each particular sensory communication, it appears there lies a
true generating form specific for that emotional quality. We call
these essentic forms.

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Consider the evolution of qualities of experience for a moment.—

—Throughout this book, the word "quality" will be used in a spe-
cialized sense. By a particular quality we mean an irreducible ele-
ment of experience (such as thirst, an itch, green, warm, etc, and, as
we shall see, emotional qualities such as joy, love, anger, grief, etc.)
which is not analyzable in terms of other sensations or experience.
This concept will be further elaborated in Chapter One. (These and
other concepts integral to sentic theory are depicted in a glossary
found in Appendix II.)
As life develops, the ability to find the necessary food evolves also.
In the early stages of evolution, already single-cellular bacteria are
able to sense the presence of a food stuff they need, such as partic-
ular amino acid, and then move in its direction. They stay in the
neighborhood of this food concentration until they have a sufficient
amount of it and then move on toward another needed food stuff.
(This ability is called "chemotaxis.") Sometime in the evolution of
life, selective searching becomes the experience of hunger. As
humans, if it were not for hunger we would find it almost impossible
to teach our children to eat, and of course survival would be
impossible.
Sometime in the evolution of organisms, then, the behavior pat-
tern of searching for food became governed by a new entity, hunger,
or, as we more commonly experience it, appetite. In hunger there is
a great deal of knowledge: it tells us what to eat and how much. It
tells us when to eat. The body's needs for survival, already assured in
the food-searching behavior of single-cellular bacteria, became
transmuted into an experiential entity, a selective and subtle quality
of experience.
In another path, sexual qualities of experience developed,
governing reproduction of the organism. In both these processes
recognition plays a key role. As the organism searches, prompted by
its need, it recognizes that which it looks for; it then acts according
to a particular, specific behavior pattern and may experience what
we loosely call "satisfaction." After this, it is ready to proceed to
search again as it experiences the next need arising.
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We have long hidden our ignorance about these and similar

processes and their seemingly mysterious unification under the
name "instinct." (Indeed, we vaguely sense, in accord with our
language, that the opposite of instinct is "extinct.") But relatively lit-
tle is known yet concerning how the vast amount of knowledge and
differentiated experience inherent in instinctive recognition and
behavior function as entities or gestalts.
Recognition, which both hunger and sex imply at all levels of
evolution, is an information function. In recognition there is in fact
information which permits the form of the pattern to be recognized.
This information allows selective, preferred energy transmutation to
take place-e.g., a particular food is consumed, or the union be tween
particular mates is consummated.
Unlike hunger, though, with sex the recognition and information
are mutual. Here nature first invented communication. Later, more
forms and patterns evolved that could be precisely and mutually rec-
ognized. The specific patterns had their own experiential entities,
and involved various sense organs. Some, like smell or color, allow
recognition the moment that they are received. Others, like sounds
or movement or touch, are forms in time, and are recognized as
entities after their form in time has occurred.
As man found the gift of language he tried to describe these
entities of experience with words such as "hunger," "thirst," "pain,"
"yawn," "itch," or "laughter." But it was much easier to invent words
for objects in space, like "tree" or "sky," which are mutually ob-
servable, than for the subtleties of inward experience. If, in spite of
this, we have a remarkable heritage of words for distinct inward ex-
perience, it is a special tribute to the wisdom and ingenuity of
language. Yet words for shades of inward experience vary con-
siderably from one language to another, and are in fact often
untranslatable (the more languages we know, the richer our ability
to communicate, evoke, and portray the qualities of experience).
If one looks at the phenomena of experience more closely, one
soon discovers that words can only be a rough guide to the actual

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qualities of experience. The onset and decay, repression and changes

of intensity of feeling with time, and many of its shades and
combinations cannot be represented exactly by words. Music, how-
ever, using specific expressive dynamic forms, permits a more
precise communication of many subtleties of qualities.
We have all heard many inflections of tone of voice in our lives, yet
when we hear a new mode of inflection expressing a quality we have
not previously encountered (eg., in poetry reading, or in meeting a
new friend), we are able to recognize this quality. And so it is also
with music. Qualities in music may be recognized, captivate us, and
transform our state, even if we are unable to produce them our-
selves.
In another way, our own characteristic perception of qualities is
manifest in our view of and relationship with animals. We recognize
that each kind of animal possesses a "personality." We realize that
this is genetically programmed through a yet unknown language of
molecular relationship. The precision which defines the "cat"
personality, the "rabbit" personality, etc., has both charmed and
eluded us. Beyond the individual variations within each species, we
recognize that each species itself has characteristic forms of move-
ment: graceful or plodding, swift or nervous, gentle or ferocious,
playful or determined. The movements of a pig never suggest the
grace of a cat nor do the strides of the horse compare with the trot
of the rhinoceros. But through their movements we also see
reflected, as in our own mirror, qualities programmed in our own
brains. A cat may not set much store by its own gracefulness, and to
a rhinoceros its mate may not appear uncouth, but we see in these
movements reflections of our own sensibilities. There appear to be
precise qualities in us that these animals touch and bring to life as
one touches the keys of an instrument. To what extent can we trust
the universality and significance of these qualities?
Knowledge about the real world is ultimately based on some
sensory experience. Physics tries to minimize the number of
independent sensoria that it utilizes, but concepts of space and time
are meaningful to us only because of our experience of them. The
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validity of physics essentially confirms the truthfulness of aspects of

these sensoria.† (If we believe that as observers we can be entirely
outside the world of phenomena which we wish to describe, we are
making a dangerous error.) Trust in our observations, and our ob-
servation of qualities, is based on two brain processes: memory and
sensory experiences. Logical thought is impossible without
memory. One must be able to remember that the A of the moment
before is the same as the A now, before one can compare A with B.
In a world of only ever-changing flux, reasoned thought is
impossible. Indeed, thought itself is not possible without memory, at
the very least a short-term memory.
That we are able to remember how the color red looked yesterday
or the year before is evidence of the timeless, unchanging bases of
existence, evidence to which we have not perhaps given due weight.
Likewise, in remembering the quality of a scent, for example, as we
can over a span of many years, it is not only the stored memory that
demonstrates the stability of our mental functions but also those
processes that allow us to re-experience that stored memory as a
precise quality in the present.
We are used to looking at the unchanging foundations of exis-
tence only in events outside ourselves, as we observe the physical
laws of the universe unchanging in time and in space. But we have
been1 too little aware that we too are part of nature-that our being is
not an "abstraction." We are more "transducers" than isolated ob-
servers: as truth transducers we are part of the system.
The processes of fantasy partake of both the physiologic and psy-
chologic realms-but so do of course all forms of sensation as well.
We are beginning to realize that in these processes there exist
aspects of extraordinary precision, much as we have observed in the
lawful behavior of the world around us.
Goethe at the turn of the eighteenth century was already clearly
aware that the phenomenon of color could be understood only if

1
But note: even the direction of time, clear in our experience, is not given
by the translation into physics of this sensorium.
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one included all the processes involved: physical, physiologic, and

psychologic; he had a "systems view" of the phenomenon. He fore-
saw the discovery of the ingenious use of interacting inhibition and
excitation by the nervous system that produces the sensation of
white. It has been shown that inhibition and excitation are biologic
design principles basic to the organization of the central nervous
system and their balance influences the qualities of our experience
as decidedly as the individual color or other receptors themselves.
As we begin to see today that qualities exist with a high degree of
natural precision, their experience can no longer be relegated to the
so-called "vague subjective," or, as is often said, the "merely sub-
jective." The functioning of the subjective can be shown to be subject
to the highest degree of order and precision. Distinctions between
the subjective and objective have become changed. As we know
more of our brain processes, the boundary between those is moved.
We may see more clearly that it is not through denying inner experi-
ence, but in finding its anchor in reality that we can progress.
Man needs to remain faithful to the quest of increasing discrim-
ination of his direct experience. Beauty and ugliness have a myriad
of sounds, faces, and touches. The way in which the central nervous
system is organized fashions possibilities of man's experience. He
needs to clarify how much of his capacities and potentialities are
programmed into his brain's organization biologically, and to what
extent he can create as on a tabula rasa the plan of his possibilities. A
bird learns to fly without needing to ask himself who he is. Man does
not have the same confidence "to become." What has caused him to
lose that confidence? Is it possible for him to rediscover it? Have his
social works placed an untenable strain on his ability to be come?
Can the present disintegration of his social institutions be trans-
figured in time to save his potential?
It should recompense us well to study the qualities of our
emotional spectrum, studying them not as a pathologist dissects but
as an artist cares for his materials. Or perhaps as one who loves. For
the quality of our emotions belongs to ourselves perhaps more than
any other aspect of being. To love ourselves, then, means to love
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these pure qualities. In a strange way purely expressed emotions en-

gender a degree of empathy and love as part of our interrelatedness.
"See ing" them as they are eases the burden and boundary that sepa-
rate man from man.
Unwittingly contributing to the alienating forces, science has
frequently nurtured the bias that only that which is presently
measurable is real. Good scientists, of course, have never believed
this, yet our educational system induces too many people to exclude
mistakenly from their considered thoughts the enormous body of
experiential facts (facts without a theory) with which science has not
been able to deal as yet. They have lost confidence in the validity of
their own experience. However, a sunset is potentially beautiful even
though we have not measured this function. And now that we are
finding a way to measure the biologic coherence between the forms
of expression and experience and are discovering sentic design
principles, we begin to see, as we shall show, that the sphere of
qualities of emotions belongs to ordered reality as much as the ge-
netic code.

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xvi
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SENTICS

xvii
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xviii
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PART ONE
Sentic States: A Common Basis of Human Being

1
 Clynes

Here on this island, you find

The order of nature has no inner, has no outer.
Centered nowhere, yet everywhere.
Touch it and be touched!

2
 Sentics

The Qualities of Experience

Progress in science and knowledge appears to come largely from
an interplay of a priori thoughts with tests of experience. Such a
priori thoughts are not all equivalent, however. We can distinguish
concepts that have basis in our own being (like "satisfaction") from
others that are created ad hoc (like "chess"). The structure of our ner-
vous system causes us to experience in ways determined by it. Our
notions of time and space and other qualities are basically not
learned from textbooks but from experience.
Although the concepts "beauty" and "goodness" have given rise to
philosophic systems, there are many other vital concepts around
which philosophers have not chosen to build systems. It is rather
difficult to say why not. Partly, it seems through tradition: in philos-
ophy we have our "hamburgers" and "hot dogs" too. There are many
concepts that lend themselves to being thought about and meditated
upon so as to clarify what may be real and what may be inexact or
false in the way they correspond to actual processes. (Progress in sci-
ence of course consists in precisely this kind of continuing refine-
ment of concepts and their relationship to experience.) Two such
"floating" concepts looking for philosophical systems are those of
"quality" and "satisfaction."
In order to think clearly, we need to strive for a one-to-one
correspondence between the elements of experience, which the
central nervous system's physiologic code provides, and the words
we devise to correspond with them. In a great many instances
language has done an extraordinarily remarkable job in translating

3
 Clynes

the physiologic code, but also it has left a great many areas of experi-
ence untranslated and has made mistakes in the naming of others.1
In this chapter we shall look at what underlies various aspects of the
concept of quality.

"Red" as an Example of a Quality of Experience

Let us start with the quality of redness. To anyone who has seen
red, the experience is unique among all other experiences. It does
not matter what name we call it; even without a name a person can
remember the experience of red. The name red helps us to imagine
the experience when it is not there. We may call red a basic quality,
in that we cannot imagine a mixture of qualities which would
produce the experience of red. And indeed in terms of physiology
red is distinguished through the existence of a red receptor in the
retina of the eye. Every person (except some of the color blind) has
a red receptor. But this is insufficient to characterize the uniqueness
of the quality of red. Although the retina may well be regarded as an
extension of the brain's nervous system and although we now know
that in some organisms nerve messages are sent to the retina as well
as received from it, we need to see what happens in the brain itself,
i.e., the brain processes associated with the experience of red. In
1966 we were able for the first time to show that in human brains the
experience of redness is accompanied by a distinct physiologic code,
1
Most of us tend to take the notion of quality for granted. We use the word
as it seems to have developed in natural language, accepting its "meaning"
without a thorough special inquiry into the possible specific processes under-
lying its existence. There is something extraordinarily beautiful about
language. In it we sense the accumulation of generations, the breath of
multitudes, in a bond that seems bound to creativity itself. Yet language is
also a filter with long-term time constants. It is a truth constricter as well as
revealer whose characteristics we know only in rather small part. Left to its
natural development, language changes extremely slowly, even though it is
full of remarkable wisdom. But we can no longer be satisfied to be forced to
lie in the Procrustean bed of language (in both senses of the word "lie"l). We
need to renew language in accordance with our increasing knowledge of
brain function.
4
 The Qualities of Experience

a sequence of operations directly measurable and characteristic only

for red and for no other quality (Clynes 1967; see also John 1967 for
other brain responses).
D. H. Hubel and T. N. Wiesel had shown in cats and other animals
that there is a definite organization of cells in various layers of the
brain structured to process visual information according to specific
data processing designs. Independently, we found that in humans for
every distinct quality of the visual field, be it color or form, there was
a definite physiologic response pattern measured as the electric
activity of various parts of the brain. We could say there was a clear
one-to-one-to-one correspondence between the visual stimulus, the
observations of the space-time patterns of the electric brain
response, and what was perceived by the viewer. That is, the quality
of red has a distinct physiologic code representation in the brain that
displays crucial similarities across all people.
This comes close to saying that all people see red similarly (except
the colorblind, of course. If it is not quite the same as asserting this
with full certitude it does indicate with an exceedingly high proba-
bility that this is so. The brain patterns which we observe are clearly
similar for all individuals with respect to the sequence and the
timing of the response components. The components of the
response come from several extensive regions of the brain.1 (See
Figures 1-3). So there can be no question that by far the greatest
proportion of brain electric activity in relationship to the experience
of redness is similar across different individuals. This similarity of
data processing is not learned culturally but is genetically
programmed as part of human nature. (Of course we are not talking

1
Other processes of the brain may be involved in the recognition of the pat-
terns which we have not observed and it is possible that considerable
dissimilarities could arise in such processes. The probability of this, however,
must be small since in all those processes that have been available for
measurement, the brain functions operate similarly with respect to the
quality of red. If there were processes which have escaped our attention
operating in the recognition of red these would necessarily have to be on a
much more limited scale electrically than the ones we have observed.
5
 Clynes

Figure 1. A comparison of responses of eight adult males to the same vis-

ual stimulus. Each subject observed an illuminated screen change in color
from black to red, and his brain response was measured by four pairs of
electrodes attached occipitally in a circular rosette pattern (5 cm. diam-
eter) to the scalp. Each of the four measurements for each subject records
the response from each of the four pairs of electrodes. The lower right cor-
ner of the figure indicates the three common components that may be dis-
tinguished in each of the response groups. The relative magnitude of these
components is different for each subject, but their timing is similar for all
eight subjects. This figure illustrates various aspects of the one-to-one
correspondence found to exist between a specific stimulus and the
corresponding space-time pattern evoked in the brain. All traces shown in
Figures 1-3 are averages of 200 responses.
here about other brain processes that may be associated with per-
ceiving red, concerned with decision-making or evaluating, for
example, which of course vary with individuals.) What then do we
know about the quality of redness itself? We know that it continues,
we know that it is unchanging, and, as we discussed in the

6
 Sentics

Figure 2. Using the rosette electrode procedure described in Figure 1, these

measurements record one subject's responses to a variety of visual patterns
projected in red on a black background (except for lower right pattern).
Note how the amplitude of the responses drops sharply when images are
defocused. The bottom right response pattern illustrates how the response
to lines is greatly sensitive to the color and intensity of the surrounding
field.

introduction, that it can be remembered and imagined. Further, we

know that it can also be more intensely "red" up to a maximum
degree.1 When mixed with other color qualities it acquires subtly
different shades.
The continuity of the experience of a quality presents an extraor-
dinary problem. Not only is each quality unique and an entity in it-
self, but it is experienced continuously, in spite of the fact that in the
brain there exist only discontinuous phenomena. The nerve
impulses which travel within the brain and nervous system are
1
A degree that can be influenced by psychotropic drugs.

7
 Clynes

Figure 3. These patterns occur in response to changes of color at the same

intensity. Red-Blue indicates that the response was generated by a change
from blue to red on the illuminated screen. In this illustration, six pairs of
left horizontal occipital electrodes were used, as distinguished from the
four electrode pairs of the circular rosette used in the previous figures.
(Each pair of electrodes is placed a cm. above the other.) Note the stability
of each pattern and the gradual shift in balance of the components. Also
note the characteristic pattern for each color combination.

8
 Sentics

discontinuous in time. They consist of separate electric impulses that

make up trains of nerve firings. Related chemical concentrations of
substances represent an aggregate of discontinuous entities in space
(i.e., molecules). Yet when we look at a screen illuminated with red
light we perceive red continuously. (Only when we interrupt the
light sufficiently by artificial means do we begin to see a flicker.) This
means there must exist an integrating capacity as a brain function
which enables the numerous discontinuous events in time and space
to be integrated into a single experience and a continuous one.1
Leaving aside the problem of continuity which red shares with
every other conscious experience of quality, we may turn next to the
extraordinary stability of the experience. Red as we see it today does
not strike us any differently from red as we saw it when we were
many years younger. A child may perhaps like red more than an
adult but its "redness" is unchanged throughout a lifetime. It is very
likely that two thousand years ago people saw red the same way as
we see it today. Indeed if they did not this would indicate a genetic
change for which we have no evidence on any grounds.
We have studied the brain responses of color-blind individuals
(Clynes and Kohn 1968). (Their brain responses to changing color
are as one might expect from their perceptual experience.) One can
remember the redness of red even if one becomes blind. Other sense
experiences display the precise same stability. Beethoven was able to
compose with sound images in his brain after he had lost his sense
of hearing. A painter may have a clear idea of the form he wishes to
paint before he begins, and the most sought-after creators of per-
fume can imagine a new perfume before they have mixed its ingre-
dients. Indeed, anyone may think of a particular sound with a high
degree of precision. There is perhaps no better example of the
stability of qualities than our ability to recognize a specific person by
the sound of his voice even though that sound may not have been
heard for many years. If we consider that the quality of this personal
1
The concept of a field in physics describes the integrating property at a
point in space of adding up contributions from various individual particles,
so that individual contributions cannot be identified, only their sum.
9
 Clynes

sound becomes unrecognizable through being speeded up or slowed

down by only a few per cent as we have found (Clynes 1975), this
begins to give one an idea of the high precision of qualities in our
experiential personal life.
The quality of red, then, like other qualities displays an extraordi-
nary stability. Can we account for this? We must confess that we are
a long way from having refined our understanding to come close to
the degree of precision that this phenomenon obviously has, and
that it is difficult to propose adequate theories. It seems that the only
biologic processes capable of assuring this kind of precision would
be ones based on molecular relationships and the precision found in
the genetic code. While evidence is clear that the existence of the
quality of red as an element of experience is genetically assured, to
account for its extraordinary stability over one's lifetime no clear
functional mechanism can yet be postulated. The uniqueness of red
as a quality depends on a genetic program, as does the uniqueness of
a kidney or an arm or a leucocyte.
We may say that the quality of red is an identity and that it involves
recognition. Let us proceed to examine the concepts of identity and
recognition at different levels of existence.

Identity and Recognition

A quality of experience, being unique, may be said to have an
identity. Let us look at the concept of identity.1
A molecule may be said to have an identity. It has a series of
properties, which means potential relationships, that are unique to
that kind of molecule. These properties are in essence determined by
the laws of the universe. But a molecule is made up of atoms, and
atoms, in turn, of elementary particles each of which has an identity
in the same sense.
If we look at what we regard as being an entity (such as an atom,
an elementary particle, a molecule, a tree, the sea, and even the gal-
1
The terms "identity," "entity," and "oneness" are used interchangeably
throughout this book, and for our purposes shall be considered synonymous.
10
 Sentics

axies), it is clear that what we regard as an entity or a basic element

depends upon our point of view. We can however see that there are
two kinds of obiects in the universe: one kind whose form and na-
ture is determined by the laws of the universe like a molecule; and
another kind whose form is the result of chance and is not directly
prescribed by the laws of the universe like a stone. The or. bits and
interaction of the elementary particles comprising a molecule occur
according to a fixed plan of infinite precision. The properties of a
molecule are not accidental; they exist as potentialities inherent in
the plan before the molecule is formed.
In a sense we can look at the evolution of molecules as the play of
a pinball machine, the elementary particles that form a molecule
come together by chance but fall into place according to predeter-
mined slots or "holes" in the universal design.
This is also true of the relationship between elementary particles.
A photon will recognize an electron differently from a neutron or
other particle. Particles recognize one another through a mutual
relationship, a relationship that is as basic as their own identities.
Our conventional methods of physics usually constrain us to
discover the existence of particles before discovering their relation-
ship. But clearly the nature of their relationship is as basic to the uni-
versal design as the particles themselves. We can say that
relationship exists. We shall see that in that sense the recognition of
particles by one another represents a proto-phenomenon of
"quality."1
We cannot define identity and quality, only discover them. The
relationship of the elementary particles may be regarded as an ele-
mentary recognition process by which the identities of the particle
are recognized. The process of recognition occurs at many levels of
organization.

1
If we look at the origins of the word "quality" we see that it comes from the
Latin root quale meaning "such." Thus the origin of the word "quality" re ally
means "suchness," such as it is—an entirely appropriate formulation as we
may agree, as it cannot be defined in any other terms.
11
 Clynes

To what category, then, do we belong as human living beings? Are

our forms accidental like the stone or are we in touch with the design
criteria of universal law? We know our form in space is determined
by the molecular coding which we call genetic code. Does this code
relate forms to natural law or can it create arbitrary, unlimited
relationships? This is an important question. Let us see what it really
means.
Suppose elsewhere in the universe, perhaps in another galaxy,
there were life and a different genetic code, using different types of
molecules. Could such a different genetic code in theory create the
same type of life forms that ours does? If not, then what constraints
does a specific code put on the possible forms of life? Our earthly
genetic code can build a bird. Can it build an airplane? What we
know about our genetic code tells us what methods it uses for pro-
viding instructions. Consider the Morse code for a moment. It uses
dots and dashes and the sequences of these define the letters and
words used. But the dots and dashes themselves have no relation to
the actual or possible meanings of the message. These are derived
from English or other equivalent language. While we now know the
code system of our genetic language remarkably well-the dots and
dashes and their sequences—we still have practically no idea how
the genetic code programs the shape of the kidney in the precise way
that it does. We know the code, but we do not know the language of
the message as yet. But clearly there is such a language. At present we
can tell only the results of mistakes in spelling, the effects of missing,
altered instructions, but not most of the relationship designations
that are implicit in a language. In a sense we know the meta-
language of the genetic language.

Qualities of Living Forms

The class of all natural forms on earth is enormous. The possible
forms generated by the genetic code may seem infinite. However, the
class of all possible forms is infinitely greater. With all the possible
variety of natural forms, these represent a class apart from inanimate
or dead forms. Moreover, our own genetic construction is such that

12
 Sentics

it allows us to recognize natural forms in different ways from the

inanimate. The ear, for example, is more sensitive to animate sounds
than to inanimate ones. (The nervous system is built to recognize
special types of frequency modulation characteristic of animate
sounds.) A mother will recognize the cries of an infant even in sleep,
and our visual system responds differently to living forms than
inanimate ones. What are the qualities of living forms that make
them specially recognizable? This question goes to the heart of this
book. What we shall discuss will be that the dynamic living qualities
are precisely and genetically programmed into our brains, and that
we communicate these qualities to one another and to ourselves
through the production and recognition of their precise forms.
Recognition plays a key role in genetic processes: the shapes of
molecules are recognized with high specificity. The loose chemical
bonds used in the processes of building instructions and of
replication depend fundamentally on the recognition of specific
molecular forms. More recently the importance of vibrational
modes, introducing time, has been discovered. Indeed, recognition
implies time as well as space: the frequency of a photon is recognized
by an electron-forms in time may be programmed by genetic in-
structions as well as forms in space alone.
In human language we have been far too negligent in naming
forms in time. The precise reality of forms in time has escaped the
language-making processes and words denoting specific time forms
are quite rare (e.g., sigh, caress, etc.). But just as spatial forms are
precisely programmed genetically, so also can biologic forms in time
be programmed through appropriate genetic means. The pattern of
response to red, exhibiting the specific spatio-temporal forms of the
brain response to red, is the result of a genetic program.
It appears, in sum, that the physiological code gives us a potential
spectrum of basic qualities which we may or may not experience.
Language properly translates these basic qualities in a one-to-one
manner. Where it has failed to do so we need to hasten to correct its
omission.

13
 Clynes

Derived from perhaps a few hundred basic qualities we may expe-

rience myriad combinations. But the combinations are not simple
additions of qualities. And importantly, qualities seem to be also ge-
netically interrelated in a loosely coupled way, as will be discussed
later. It is sufficient to say at this point, however, the number of
possible combinations of qualities provides for an abundant, almost
limitless variety and creativeness.
We have spoken of qualities and of unique existences as ge-
netically programmed. These unique qualities or entities do not exist
in isolation, however, but are in relationship with other brain
functions. In particular, there is a class of qualities which is inher-
ently linked to the motor system, so that its uniqueness is complete
only with inclusion of the dynamics of the motor system as an
integral part of their spatio-temporal existence. It is because of this
inherent link to the motor system that these qualities can be
communicated. This class of qualities is referred to commonly as
emotions. In the next chapter and throughout this book we shall be
looking at emotions as such a class.

14
 Sentics

Emotions
Belonging to a class of qualities inherently linked to the motor
system, each emotion, as a unique quality, completes its identity only
if the motor dynamic program, part of which we usually call "expres-
sion," is included. Emotion and its expression form an existential
unit, a system. In order to characterize and understand its function,
we need to consider its system properties.
Unfortunately, as psychology as a science developed, emotion and
its expression were mostly studied separately. To study emotion
without its expression (and vice versa) is like cutting off the hand to
study its function. This is one reason why many functions of
emotions remained obscure and also why quantitative methods were
not found for their study. Indeed, unless our concepts correspond to
functioning processes we will not discover their lawful behavior.
(Galileo, for example, had to conceive of the concept of acceleration
before measurements could correspond to theories.) In studying
emotion as a system identity, including the phenomena of expres-
sion as part of the system, in a new scientific approach, it becomes
possible to evolve new concepts, subject to precise measurements.
This approach is neither exclusively psychological nor exclusively
physiological, but considers emotion and its expression as one
functional system.
But before we go on to discuss the theories and findings developed
from this approach, let us briefly review what we know of the char-
acteristic properties of emotions.

15
 Clynes

Emotions reflect and affect the quality of life, yet because of our
uncertain understanding of the phenomena of emotion we have
been far from clear as to how. Thus, some thinkers were even in favor
of avoiding or eliminating emotion entirely. They regard emotion as
restricting the free use of the mind and blinding man to what is "in
his best interests." Others equally strongly assert that life without
emotions is not worth living. To navigate between these extremes, a
key question seems to be: how to experience emotions con-
structively rather than being used by them.
The following are some characteristics of the state of emotion, its
expression, and its generation:
Emotion states
1. Each basic emotion is a unique experience.
2. To each basic emotion there corresponds a characteristic
brain pattern.
3. Each emotional state has a characteristic inertia, in terms of
brain and bodily processes. Once it has been established, it
will persist for some duration of time.
4. An emotion will tend to confine specific action patterns
according to its nature over a period of time.
5. Hormonal and cardiovascular changes occur together with an
emotional state. The extent and type of these changes will
depend on the nature of the specific emotion and also on the
attitude of control by the individual. Hormonal changes, in
turn, may predispose a person to experience motion.
6. Memory, unconscious, and autonomic processes influence the
control functions relating to emotional states.
7. The experience of emotions is influenced by age, sex, genetic
inheritance, and diurnal, seasonal, and other biologic
rhythms.
Emotional expression
1. The expression of emotion is an essential aspect of its nature,
Emotion needs to be expressed, much as a control system
needs to respond to its input until the desired output is

16
 Sentics

obtained.
2. Expression has an effect on the intensity of the state of
emotion. It can both charge (increase) and discharge
(decrease) the intensity.
Generation of emotion
1. The generation of emotion occurs through perception of and
changes in our existential circumstances: our relationships
with others, our environment, our losses and our gains, our
freedom to pursue our needs, and our self-image.
2. Emotion can also be generated through perceiving emotion in
others.
3. Emotion can be generated purely through the imagination by
imagining and remembering persons, forms, qualities, and
situations.
4. All these processes can be variously affected by drugs and by
specific electrical stimulation of the brain.
Emotions and environment interaction
1. Emotions play a crucial part in our interactions with our
social and natural environment.
2. Our drives and mental energy are affected specifically by our
emotions.
3. The degree of crowding—and its effect on privacy and
intimacy-affects the experience of emotional states.
4. Processes of habituation and adaptation also affect the
experience of emotion in a specific environment.
Obviously, emotions have an all-pervasive significance to our life
potential. Yet we have great difficulty in studying them system-
atically. One problem is in the use of vaguely defined words. Thus,
"emotion" and "feeling" are used almost interchangeably in psycho-
logic literature as well as in common parlance. In fact, there is no
accepted definition that distinguishes the appropriate use of these
two concepts. At best, a consensus might be that "feelings" are low-
intensity "emotions." Although an emotion may be overpowering
and beyond control, or it may be sensed and enjoyed without one's

17
 Clynes

becoming its slave, such an important distinction is not made by our

usage of the words "emotion" and "feeling." This is one reason for the
need for new terminology. Another is that these words are them-
selves emotionally charged, which causes further difficulties in
discussing them clearly.
Accordingly, we shall call a specific emotional state a sentic state.
The word "sentic" is derived from the Latin root sentire which also is
the root of the words "sentiment" and "sensation." We shall use the
term specifically to denote the brain state and its corresponding ex-
perience generally associated with the word "emotion."

Introduction to Sentic Theory

If we consider how sentic states (e.g., anger) arise spontaneously
in our daily life, we may see that reality and fantasy interpenetrate
each other in various degrees.
Modes of Experiencing Sentic States
A. In a real situation (e.g., a traffic jam causes one to miss a
plane; one is insulted or falsely accused).
B. Through exposure to another's sentic state (e.g., contagiously
experiencing another's anger).
C. In a fantasy situation imagined by oneself (e.g., imagining or
remembering a real situation, such as being caught in a traffic
jam or falsely accused).
D. Through exposure to a fantasy sentic state generated by
another (e.g., contagiously experiencing the fantasized anger
of an actor).
Concerning how the communication of sentic states functions, we
may formulate a number of principles that appear to hold, and are in
accordance with experience and experiment.
The following sentic principles together delineate some of the
system properties of the qualities of sentic states and their
communication. The significance of each of these principles, stated
didactically here, will become clearer as we consider their function

18
 Sentics

in more specific ways. The latter two principles introduced here for
formal reasons will be elucidated in the following chapter.

1. A sentic state is a single-channel system; only one state can be

expressed at any one time. (Exclusivity Principle)
One can only express one sentic state (which may be basic or com-
pound) with a single act of expression. Any attempt to express differ-
ent sentic states simultaneously with different parts of the body
results in blocking the experience of each state. For example, a per-
son cannot voluntarily express anger with one arm and love with the
other at the same time, and experience both simultaneously. (This is
also in accordance with the experiments of N. Bull, who found that
even under hypnosis two affects could not be simultaneously
elicited.)
2. A sentic state may be expressed by any of a number of
different output modalities. (Equivalence Principle)
The sentic state may be expressed by a variety of motor modes:
gestures, tone of voice, facial expression, a dance step, musical
phrase, etc. In each mode the emotional character is expressed by a
specific, subtle modulation of the motor action involved which
corresponds precisely to the demands of the sentic state.
3. Regardless of the particular motor output chosen to express a
sentic state, its dynamic expression is governed by a brain
program or algorithm specific for that state which shall be
called essentic form. (Coherence Principle)
Essentic form and its experience are coherently linked. This is not
a merely "mechanical" correspondence between the sentic state and
its expressive form, but an existential coherence between experi-
enced feeling and the form. There also is an inherent feedback be-
tween the act of expression, embodying essentic form, and sentic
experience. Thus, the act of expression inherently links the physio-
logic and the psychologic.
4. The production and recognition of essentic forms are

19
 Clynes

governed by inherent data processing programs of the central

nervous system, biologically coordinated so that a precisely
produced form is correspondingly recognized. The recognized
form in turn generates a sentic state in the perceiver.
(Complementarity Principle)
This ingenious biologic design allows individuals to recognize the
expression of essentic form in other individuals and makes it
possible for emotions to be communicated as qualities of experience.
The are of communication between individuals could not be
completed without this function.
A similar correspondence may be observed in the production and
recognition of speech sounds, phonemes, produced by the vocal
cords and perceived by the ear. But symbiosis of the production and
recognition of essentic form—their biologic cooperation-is of more
primitive evolutionary origin than speech phoneme production and
recognition. Animals respond to our tone of voice, and are affected
by other forms of our sentic expression, and humans can perceive
some of the essentic forms produced by animals.1
Recently this principle was beautifully demonstrated in crickets by
the experiment of Bentley and Hoy. They bred a hybrid species of
cricket that possessed a new mating song, intermediate between
those of its parent species. Without ever having heard it before,
females of the new species were attracted by the sound of the new
mating song, rather than by those of the parent species. This
illustrates that the genetic program for recognizing the mating song
was simultaneously transformed with the mutation of the program
for producing the song.

1
One day when visiting the 200, I saw a bear yawn. Before I knew what I
was doing, I found myself yawning, too. But how did I know the bear was
yawning, and was not hungry or angry? Clearly, it was through perceiving
the precise way that he opened his mouth. (And as I dictate this anecdote, I
also yawn. The imagined yawn generated a yawn in me also!) A yawn has a
clear beginning and end, and a specific timecourse, like other expressive
actions.
20
 Sentics

To test and prove the sentic principles stated above we conducted

experiments prompted by these theories in different cultures. We ob
served the behavior of the brain and various parts of the body used
for expression and a number of physiologic systems as well. These
experiments are described in Chapters Four and Five. Before we can
understand the specific significance and procedures of these experi-
ments, however, we shall have to examine a further concept—that of
the acton, an element of voluntary movement.

21
 Clynes

Acton Theory
If we consider a simple, single voluntary movement, such as an eye
movement or a finger movement, we see readily that it consists of a
decision or command, and its execution. The decision embodies the
idea of the movement. We have named the idea of a quality, together
with its specific brain function concomitants, an "idiolog." We may
say that there are sensory idiologs (the idea of a sound or smell),
affective idiologs (the idea of joy or anger), and motor idiologs (the
idea of particular movement). A motor idiolog calls for the exe-
cution of a single voluntary motor action. For example, if we have an
idea to throw a ball to hit a certain object, we may have a precise
motor idiolog. Its execution, in turn, may correspond to this idiolog
more or less precisely. Our success with the throw will depend upon
the precision of the idiolog and the precision of its execution.
Simple movements initiated by single voluntary decisions (such as
the single movement of a finger, or of an arm, or of the eyes) are pre-
programmed by the brain before they begin. Every such voluntary
movement is carried out cooperatively by two sets of muscles, one
set to accelerate the motion and the other to decelerate it. For each
movement, a set of "agonist" and "antagonist" muscles work together
to create the precise character of the intended movement. The two
muscle systems clearly work together with the most remarkable
precision in order to start, accelerate, and stop movement as
required. This "coordination" is programmed by the brain in the mo-
ment it makes the decision.

22
 Sentics

One may decide to move a finger a distance corresponding to one

inch or two inches, or to turn the eyes to look at an object say twenty
degrees or thirty degrees to the left. In each case, the muscles start,
complete and stop the motion in a fraction of a second (about 0.2
second for most simple movements), according to the specific idea
programmed in the decision, that is, according to the motor idiolog.
As we have noted, the movement is preprogrammed by the brain
before it begins. Once such a short movement has begun the deci-
sion is merely executed. Within that fraction of a second it takes to
execute there is no feedback that can permit one to modify the
programmed decision.
This raises another interesting experiential concept: the length of
the "present moment." For a physicist the present moment is infin-
itely short. Time is conceived as a line along which a point travels
from the past toward the future. That point is the present moment.
Being a point, it is necessarily infinitely short. Clearly the physicist's
time has no experiential reality. An infinitely short time cannot be
experienced. Since the present is all that exists, the past having gone
and the future not yet being here, such a concept of time is inad-
equate even for the description of inanimate reality. But it is the best
of which we are capable.
In our human experience, however, the present moment has a fi-
nite duration. How can we determine this duration? There are a
number of interesting experimental approaches. Have you noticed
how strange it is that we can see the second hand of a watch moving,
but that the minute hand and the hour are seen as stationary? An-
other being, with a different time consciousness, might well see the
minute hand moving also, and yet another may even see the hour
hand moving. There could even exist a being for whom day and
night would seem a flicker. There is nothing in the essence of our
being that preordains the length of the present moment. It is the
result of our physiologic design, as is the dynamic character of our
other sensations.
Several types of experiments can lead us to a measure of the length
of the present moment. One way in which it reveals itself is through

23
 Clynes

finding the velocity at which a slowly moving object (for example, a

dot of an oscilloscope) just begins to be seen as moving rather than
as stationary. One first determines the shortest distance it can jump
and still be recognized to be in a different location (the smallest no-
ticeable increment of position of visual angle). One then measures
how fast this small distance must be traversed for the dot to be seen
as moving. It turns out that this time is o.2 second. If the distance is
traversed at a slower rate, the dot is seen to be stationary. Another
measure we can use for determining an aspect of the length of the
present moment involves the following procedure. Having made a
decision, what is the minimum time within which we can make an-
other decision? In experiments to test this, a red light may signify to
a subject to press a certain button, while a green light may signify not
to press a button or to press another button. The red light is
presented to the subject and immediately after, a green light is
presented. Can he stop himself from executing the first command?
Experiments show that only if the green light is presented o.2 second
or more later can he make a separate decision.
Still another measurement of the function of the present moment
consists of presenting consecutive visual images, such as letters, on a
screen. At eight to ten letters per second, say, a subject notices the
different letters being flashed but only if the succession is slowed to
o.2 second (or five per second) will he be sure of the order of the let-
ters in time. (Similarly, in human speech lengths of perceived and
produced speech syllables are about o.2 second long.) As we have
seen, these measurements all tend to converge to a duration close to
0.2 second for humans (more precisely, 0.18-0.20 second). It seems
likely that this duration may be different for other animals, especially
those further removed in evolution. Insects and birds appear to be
able to make such decisions at a rate faster than the o.2 second
required for humans, and we may guess that if beings were found on
other planets or galaxies their time consciousness would probably be
very different from ours.

24
 Sentics

The Acton
Within the duration of the present moment no further decision
can be made. A single movement, once begun, must run its course
as preprogrammed by the idiolog of the motor action. Such a single
movement, consisting of the decision and its execution, has a clear
beginning and end. We need to recognize that such a voluntary
movement constitutes an existential entity. We have named this
entity an acton. An acton is rooted both in the psychologic and phys-
iologic. To state it as it was defined in 1969:
A single movement and its decision constitute an existential
unit integrally combining the physiologic and conscious aspects.
We call such a preprogrammed voluntary movement having a
clear beginning and end an "acton." An acton is the combination
of the acton's idiolog and its execution. (Clynes 1968; 1969.)
By recognizing such unity where it exists, we may develop theories
that correspond more closely to actual processes.
An expressive movement which has a clear beginning and end is
also an acton, but a special kind of acton. Expressive actons are
actons whose dynamic forms (i.e., space-time forms) are modulated
by the sentic states seeking expression. The sentic state, through the
cerebellum and other brain structures,1 influences the pre-pro
grammed course of the acton so as to alter it from the unmodulated,
undifferentiated course of the non-expressive acton. For example, a
playful toss of a stone differs much from a throw in anger. Moreover,
each sentic state has its own characteristic way of modulating the
acton. In this way, essentic form is expressed.
The modulation of the acton affects its shape and its total duration
as well. Such sentically modulated actons are called E-actons, for
"expressive actons." There are specific E-actons for each character-
istic sentic state. A smile is an example of such an E-acton. So is a
1
Many of the brain's automatic computations that shape the acton are
performed by the cerebellum, as has become clear through the work of J. C.
Eccles, whose findings have been significant in clarifying the role of the
cerebellum in governing specific motor programs.
25
 Clynes

caress or an angry stomp of the foot. An E-acton refers to a single

expressive act. And each E-acton begins through a distinct
command. It is important to realize that the modulation of the acton
through the sentic state determines its characteristic precise time
course, its relative phases of acceleration and deceleration (as well as
higher time derivatives)-ie., the form of the motion in time.

Generation of Sentic States Through Repeated E-actons

A remarkable property of E-actons is that they can act to generate
the sentic state in the person producing them, as well as in the per-
ceiver-there is a feedback that changes the intensity of the state.1
Moreover, when E-actons of the same state are produced repeatedly
at appropriate intervals, they can progressively augment the
intensity of the sentic state, as we have also found experimentally.
The appropriate time intervals are found to be different for each
emotion, and must be sufficiently variable not to be predictable or
"mechanical." This property of the system behavior of sentic states is
crucial in our investigations in generating sentic states.
Aspects of these properties were well known to some psy-
chologists, but were largely ignored. Thus the psychologist G. Mara-
non writes in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases in 1950:
Emotion is (also produced) by simply seeing in another
individual the expressive phenomena, the gestures of emotion. A
gesture of terror or of loathing in a person near us, infects us with
the terror or the loathing causing us to execute more or less the
same gesture and to experience the same vegetative sensation.
Furthermore, if we can ourselves execute the gestures of a given
emotion, we can come to experience the corresponding visceral
disturbance and to have the idea of it; in short, we can
emotionalize ourselves completely . . .

1
Most of us may have observed, for example, that repeated sobbing or
laughing or "angering" may intensify the sentic state over an initial period of
time.
26
 Sentics

Gesture is, in short, the expression of a certain emotion; it has

in its turn a reverse power over the emotion, and can itself
produce the emotion.
He goes on to cite examples of orators- especially Hitler and other
demagogues-and actors who by such repeated gestures generate
corresponding waves of emotions in spectators. Darwin too, in his
treatise on the expression of emotion published in 1872, was aware
of the power of repetitive expression in generating emotion.
Such irregular repetition of essentic form does not of course
increase the intensity of the sentic state indefinitely. A plateau of
intensity tends to be reached after perhaps ten to twenty repetitions.
The intensity will then fluctuate, and with continuing repetition the
sentic state will be discharged. The duration of this process varies
with the specific sentic state.
Thus a single essentic form produced is generally not as effective
in generating sentic states as a series of such forms expressed and
experienced in succession, though not in completely regular (or
"mechanical") succession. We may state this property as the fifth
sentic principle:
5. The intensity of a sentic state is increased, within limits, by
the repeated, arrhythmic generation of essentic form through
E-actons.
The ability to generate sentic states in this way is central to the
study of sentics and plays a crucial role both in measuring sentic
states in the laboratory and in the therapeutic effects of "sentic
cycles," which will be discussed in a later chapter.

27
 Clynes

Measuring Essentic Form, the Biologic Basis of

Emotion Communication
The multiple expressive modes we use to communicate makes the
scientific study of expression quite difficult. Smiles and facial expres-
sions and even gestures have been exceedingly difficult to measure
with the necessary subtlety. It also has not been easy to obtain
reliably produced, repeated expressions that could be used to vali-
date any measurements. Further, the commonly used expressive
modes are culturally conditioned in varying degrees. For all these
reasons, it has been impossible until recently to obtain valid data on
the precise dynamic forms of expressive action.
The psychologist Paul Ekman has studied facial expression using
constructed visual images and found that the recognition of certain
elements of expression is universal to all cultures; the range of ex-
pressions investigated was limited, however. The school of kinesics,
founded mainly by Birdwhistell, has studied many patterns of
culturally significant non-verbal expressive communication modes.
And specialists in the art of dance, chiefly Laban, have devised
systems of notation and theories of "effort" and spatial utilization
("shape") which attempt to delineate specific dance movements.
None of these measurements and studies were able, however, to
depict the precise dynamic forms and their time derivatives.
It is clear that standardization is required to allow the biologically
programmed inner shapes, which we have called essentic forms, to
be produced and measured without interference by extraneous
factors, as far as possible. In order to arrive at this, let us consider, as

28
 Sentics

noted, that a sentic state can be expressed in a variety of modes—

from tone of voice to gestures using many different parts of the body.
This is the sentic principle of equivalence, and if valid, it should al-
low us to select an arbitrary motor output of sufficient degrees of
freedom1 for the measurement of essentic form. A mode we can
choose (and have in fact chosen) that seems to fulfill the require-
ments is the transient pressure of a finger with the subject placed in
an appropriate body position. The dynamic pressure of a single fin-
ger on a finger rest has the possibility of being readily repeatable, and
can be easily measured, and thus can become a standard means for
measuring and comparing various expressive forms.
The subject sits in a chair with a straight back and no armrests.
(See Plate 1 in photo insert.) The upper arm-right or left, depending
on handedness-is held slightly forward at about a ten-degree angle
and the forearm is slightly downward, sloping at about a fifteen-
degree angle. The wrist is in line with the arm and the fingers are ex-
tended in a relaxed, smooth curve, neither straight nor curled. The
middle finger rests on a finger rest one inch high (see Plate 2 in
photo insert) so that the other fingers do not touch any objects but
are relaxed in a natural position. The finger remains in touch with
the finger rest throughout and is not lifted off at any time. Each ex-
pressive action is based from the torso. It is not a lifting of the finger
or of the wrist, but a transient pressure exerted through the arm.
We use pressure rather than movement to measure essentic form
for several reasons. First, it affords a convenience of measurement.
Second, in using pressure rather than movement, it is more readily
possible to characterize passionate states—certain essentic forms
include the experience of muscular tension that is provided by press-
ing against a finger rest. Pressing is more suitable than pulling. Even
so because of the resilience of the finger tip, a small amount of move-
ment necessarily ensues. (Small movements of one-eighth inch or so
on the finger rest in a direction away from or toward the body are
1
"Degrees of freedom" of a movement refers to the ability to move in a
number of independent dimensions and directions of rotation (degrees).

29
 Clynes

also acceptable.) An important feature of these expressive pressure

transients is that the direction of pressure is different for different
sentic states. In expressing some states, the pressure tends to be away
from the body; for other states, it has a neutral, close to vertical
direction. For still others, it tends to be more toward the body. We
have found that these distinctions have important significance.
It was necessary, therefore, to measure not only the amount of the
momentary pressure but the angle of its direction. This is done with
two pressure transducers, one measuring the vertical component of
pressure and the other the horizontal component. By knowing each
of these components at any one time, we know both the magnitude
and direction of pressure at that moment. In practice, the horizontal
and vertical components of pressure are recorded as separate curves
and the shape of these curves constitute the visual representation of
essentic form. (See Figure 4.) Since producing a single E-acton may
not adequately generate a clear sentic state in a subject, we request
each subject to produce a series of E-actons for a particular sentic
state. For instance, a subject is asked to express "anger." He then
hears a sequence of soft, single clicks spaced at varying intervals a
few seconds apart. He is requested to express anger as precisely as he
can each time he hears a click with a single, expressive finger
pressure action. The clicks are not spaced evenly in time but occur at
quasi-random intervals so the subject cannot predict when the next
click will occur. On hearing each click he expresses the quality of
anger as precisely as he can with a single expressive pressure action
and then waits for the next click, before he may express again.
During the seconds of waiting for the next click the intensity of
anger mounts. As he goes through this process, fantasy anger is
generated in him. Thirty to fifty expressive acts are measured in this
way and their forms in time are often averaged to obtain a more
precise shape. The averaging may be done by a digital computer such
as the Computer of Average Transients (CAT) or other similar in-
strument available in most physiologic laboratories. Averaging the
space-time shapes of many expressive acts minimizes the effects of
minor fluctuations of the sentic state, and fluctuations of the preci-

30
 Sentics

Figure 4. Sentograms of the essentic forms of emotions, as measured by the

sentograph. The upper trace for each emotion marks the vertical compo-
nent of transient finger pressure; the lower trace marks the horizontal
component (at twice the scale). No emotion is the form of expression
recorded when a subject is asked to express mechanically, as if depressing a
typewriter key. Each form is measured as the average of fifty actons. The
subtle differences in forms (e.g., between Love and Grief) are as significant
as the more obvious ones.

sion of executing the E-acton. (Although averaging results in some

loss of accuracy in regard to timing of each expressive form it is help-
ful in establishing systematic differences.) We record the essentic
forms as expressed through transient finger pressure, and also, in
many experiments, the specific action of various muscles that are in-
31
 Clynes

Figure 5. Recordings of essentic form as vertical and horizontal compo

nents of finger pressure, with four groups of muscle potentials recorded
from the forearm, upper arm, front shoulder, and back, respectively
(integrated and rectified with a time constant of 0.01 sec.). Each group is
the average of fifty actons for each emotion, from the same subject. The
comparison between groups, done on two different occasions, shows the
stability of response. Note the marked accentuation of the horizontal
component for Anger, indicating a tendency for the acton to be out. ward,
away from the body. The characteristic shape for love (not sexual) shows a
longer curved acton with often a slight reversed horizontal com. ponent,
indicating a pulling inward or embracing tendency. The muscle actions
reflect the differences of the essentic forms. The preprogrammed time of the
acton for love is considerably longer. The characteristic for sex shows a
strong secondary thrust with emphasized late muscle activity.
volved in the production of essentic form, including muscles of the
forearm, upper arm, shoulder, and back. (See Figures 5-6.) The
action of these muscles is measured through the electrical activity
produced at the neuromuscular junctions. Recordings of such
32
 Sentics

Figure 6. Typical response shapes illustrate the essentic form of grief, joy,
hate, and reverence, respectively. Note the pronounced horizontal compo-
nent for hate (indicating an orientation away from the body as seen with
Anger in Figure 5), the late muscle acceleration in muscle 2 indicating a
secondary thrust characteristic of passion. The response to grief is similar
to that of love but is flatter and slightly outward. Muscular action for grief
displays a lassitude which prevents the subject from actively lifting and re-
leasing pressure-the opposite of that for joy, which exhibits a rebound over-
shoot after the initial downward deflection of the finger. Reverence shows
some similarity to love but on a longer time scale—the programming of the
acton is extended in time.
activity are called "electromyograms." (In order to ob serve the
changes of activity in these more clearly, the electromyogram is
rectified and integrated with a time constant of less than o1 second.)
In addition to such electromyograms, we may simultaneously
measure the electric activity of the brain in a manner similar to that
described in Chapter One for observing the brain's responses to vis-
ual stimuli. (See Figure 7.) The patterns of change which we observe
33
 Clynes

Figure 7. Comparison of various essentic forms including cortical

potentials. Recordings show progressively less noise in the data as one com-
pares the brain electrical activity, muscle activity, and the touch form, thus
illustrating how the arm acts as a biologic filter. (The electrode position for
leads 1 and 2 are frontal to occipital and parietal, respectively; EEG ampli-
fier time constants of 5 sec. were used.)

on various levels all tend to confirm the stability of the essentic form.
The clearest measure of essentic form is provided by the recordings
of transient finger pressure. The arm is in fact a biologic filter
through which activity of the brain not connected with expression of
a particular essentic form is eliminated. The brain's electric activity,
in addition to aspects related to essentic form, contains all other
activity related to the innumerable conscious, unconscious, and au-
tonomic functions. Thus the expression of essentic form can at
present be revealed in the brain's electric activity measured from the
scalp only through averaging. We also measured processes that
reflect changes related to particular sentic states, rather than to each
separate expression. We observed and compared the changes in
34
 Sentics

Figure 8A. Comparison of forms recorded from three different subjects ex-
pressing the sentic states of anger and love. Note the general similari. ties
of corresponding essentic forms and also features of individual differences.
Average of fifty actons.

heart rate, cardiovascular function, respiration, oxygen con-

sumption, and the electric activity of the brain for the duration of
each state.
Procedures outlined above were conducted with a large number of
subjects for seven sentic states: anger, hate, grief, love, sex, joy, and
reverence. (See Figures 8A, 8B, and 9.)
In examining the results one would expect that the different
shades of meaning ascribed to these words in various contexts by
people of different age groups—and perhaps of different social strata
-might tend to confuse the picture. Even more so subtle differences
of the corresponding words in other languages also make it difficult
to ascertain whether we are attempting to measure precisely the

35
 Clynes

Figure 8B. Sentograms compared (vertical traces only) from different sub-
jects expressing the states of anger, hate, and joy as illustrative examples.
istic ones of well-defined forms.† Let us now look at the sentograms of the
specific essentic forms in some detail, in a sequence as given on pages 33-
35.
same sentic state when obtaining measurements in a different cul-
ture. Fortunately, however, we are aided here by the very nature of
the existence we wish to demonstrate-since it turns out that the
qualities of the spectrum of emotions are more precise by far than the
words used to describe them. We find that, regardless of the impreci-
sion of the language, sentic states tend to sort themselves out into
characteristic ones of well-defined forms.1 Let us now look at the
1
By being in the right "ball park," the subject himself focuses in on the true
existence, the form of which is inwardly given to him. Being attentive to that
inward form, he soon finds the expression that corresponds to it. The process
36
 Sentics

sentograms of the specific essentic forms in some detail, in a

sequence as given on pages 33-35.

Figure 9. This bar graph illustrates how the observed sentograms for var-
ious sentic states (measured from a number of subjects) can be readily
classified and identified according to parameters of the observed form.
Measuring the interval of time from the beginning of the subject's ex. pres-
sion to its peak pressure and multiplying it by a weighted tangent of the
angle of pressure (calculated from the ratio of the size of the vertical and
horizontal traces), one thus obtains an index which clearly separates the
individual forms statistically into distinct categories. It is significant that
each sentic state illustrated is clearly distinct for different individuals.

is similar to finding a way to hit an object with a ball, once having a clear
idea of what you want to hit. Because each expression completed is experi-
enced as an entity by the subject, the subject knows the feeling of the correct
expression. One can even say that the correct expression provides a minor
satisfaction to the subject, in a way not dissimilar to having hit the target.
The satisfaction is different, however, from that of hitting a target since it
partakes of the quality of the sentic state concerned. An interesting point,
however, is that this satisfaction is felt only to the degree that the correct
form is actually produced. Because of the feedback that an E-acton has on
the sentic state, the subject can be aware of the nature of his expressive act.
The feeling of sincerity thus gains on operational definition.

37
 Clynes

Anger
The essentic form of anger consists of a sharp movement in a
direction markedly away from the body (a large outward horizontal
component, downward on graph). The acton starts rapidly and ends
after a relatively short time (less than one second). In terms of effort
it is most intense at its beginning. It tends to occur together with a
sharp, short expiration of breath and corresponding diaphragm con-
traction. (In generating these fantasy states, the subject is in the sit-
ting position with the body quiet, as described.) The head tends to
be in a slightly downward tilted position. The gaze is directed slightly
downward. (Even the raising of the eyes or of the head is mostly felt
as contrary to the natural expression of anger.) A firm jaw position
with slight clenching of the teeth also tends to occur during anger,
breathing tends to be rapid, and oxygen consumption and heart rate
increased. (We shall not here describe indications of anger in the fa-
cial expression as they are well known. The facial expression during
sentic states does not change transiently with each Eacton, in our
method, but tends to have a steady and cumulative character for
each state.)

Hate
The essentic form of hate is markedly different from anger, but
also shows similarities. At first, some subjects find it difficult to dis-
tinguish between expressions of these two. There is a passionate
character in hate that finds its expression in a late-developing
muscular activity within each acton. The late muscular tension is ob-
served in specific muscle groups and is essential to its passionate na-
ture. The essentic form of hate starts more slowly than anger and is
also strongly away from the body. The peak of intensity in terms of
tension occurs considerably later than in anger. Through the specific
secondary, late muscle activity (see Figure 6), the essentic form is
also abruptly terminated with a rapid diminution of pressure.1 This
1
In using the tone of voice to express hate, one may observe this late active
muscle action in the rapid, tense termination of the voice, often associated
with a tense, final closure of the mouth, and clenching of teeth.
38
 Sentics

deceleration is far more rapid than the initial acceleration. The form
ends abruptly with an exceedingly high rate of change of motion.
The experience of hate is also accompanied by expiration of the
breath to some extent paralleling the dynamic course of the finger
pressure. In addition to tension of the diaphragm, more extensive
abdominal tension also accompanies the acton.
Respiration rate, heart rate, and oxygen consumption are
increased ‡ during the sentic state of hate. Termination pressure of
the acton generally does not coincide with the initial base level, so
that a remnant of steady tension may continue to exist for some time.

Grief
The essentic form of grief1 is principally a letting go, an almost
passive letting go or collapse. The acton is neither away from the
body nor toward it. It appears to be governed by a special lassitude.
The initial downward exertion is followed by a period of apparent
weakness and relative immobility. The finger pressure remains rel-
atively passive and constant. Respiration tends to stop at the bottom
of the expiratory phase, like the end of a sigh. Before the next acton
can be executed, one must "pick oneself up" and be poised for the
next expression of grief which again is an almost passive dropping.
The position of the head tends to be slightly inclined to the right, for
right-handed people. The gaze is somewhat downward; the head
may also be tilted slightly forward. The abdominal musculature is
relaxed, as are muscle systems in general. There is no late muscular
activity. Oxygen consumption, heart rate, and respiration all tend to
be lower. Respiration particularly is slowed down considerably. The
duration of the grief acton is greatly prolonged, perhaps three or four
seconds, or longer.

1
Grief is distinguished from sadness in that it contains an irretrievable ele-
ment; with regard to that aspect, no hope is possible. For example, the death
of a loved one is often imagined by subjects; in music, the slow movement of
Beethoven's Third Symphony provides an example.
39
 Clynes

Love
The subject is told that we are not dealing with sexual love in this
phase but rather with "motherly" or "brotherly" love. Again, words
are less precise than the sentic state and this state appears to be
generally well understood by the subjects.
The essentic form of love is a prolonged, smooth curve. The
direction of pressure tends to be slightly toward the body rather than
away from it. The muscles participating display a smooth continuous
action with greatest intensity near the beginning and toward the
middle. The acton starts with a much lower acceleration than for
anger or hate. Respiration rate and oxygen consumption are slower.
During an acton there is slight tension in the diaphragm with
abdominal relaxation. The breath does not rest at the end of ex-
piration as it does during grief, but is smooth. Love actons are often
begun near the end of inspiration and continue during the be-
ginning of expiration. But they can be executed during various res-
piratory phases. Love actons are terminated gradually with a smooth
diminution of pressure. There is a smooth return to the base level
from which the next expressive acton can be begun. Position of the
head tends to be neither raised nor lowered.

Sex
'The essentic form of sex also displays a passionate element of
"late" muscular activity (see Figure 5). The late active component
arises from special muscle groups. There is a marked horizontal
pressure component with some continuing steady state tension after
completion of the acton. The dynamic form is highly characteristic
of the manner in which the muscular activity develops, providing
specific modes of pressure, acceleration, and deceleration with a
marked horizontal component. The acton is somewhat prolonged
but shorter than the love acton. There is some abdominal tension,
but of a very different, more sustained character than for hate.
Breathing tends to be rapid, and at times temporarily blocked during
the expiration phase, so that the breathing contains abrupt panting-
like short puffs that start and end abruptly. Similar abrupt phases of

40
 Sentics

inspiration may also occur. Such a puffing nature of breathing is

characteristic of sex corresponding to a particular degree of sexual
excitement. This manner of breathing can be present in quite an un-
obtrusive manner without necessarily being accompanied by audible
sounds. Heart rate and oxygen consumption are increased during
the sex sentic state. Subjects experience degrees of physiologic in-
volvement, such as erection of nipples, but the fantasy state does not
normally result in orgasm. The position of the head tends to be
slightly downward.

Joy
The essentic form of joy is expressed predominantly vertically. It
tends to be neither away from nor toward the body and has a
bouncelike character. A relatively small initial downward pressure is
followed by the longer tail of a rebound ending in a floating kind of
return to the base line. The common phrase "jumping for joy" ap-
pears to be reflected in this form. The floating sensation of the over-
shoot phase is an essential part of the acton experience. This
sensation may well be related to aspects of the experience of weight-
lessness encountered by astronauts, or the frequently encountered
dream phenomenon of floating in the air as if flying.1 But the acton
also includes an initial rapid though moderate push, with
moderately high acceleration. The acton is characterized by a "free"
manner of exertion, without late muscular activity or maintained
tensions. The absence of a horizontal component also appears to
contribute to the freeness of the implied motion. The duration of the
joy acton is relatively short. The position of the head tends to be
slightly raised, the gaze slightly upward, and the head inclined nei-
ther to the right nor to the left. Respiration rate tends to be slightly
increased. The joy E-actons occur with inspiration and rarely with
expiration. The inspiration tends to begin with a rapid phase, as if
displaying an initial eagerness. Expiration is relaxed. Of all the sentic
states considered, joy is most consistently associated with the in-

1
This aspect will be further discussed in Chapter Fourteen on sentics and
space travel.
41
 Clynes

spiratory respiratory phase. Heart rate and oxygen consumption

tend to be moderately raised during this state.1

Reverence
The essentic form of reverence resembles that of love but is also
different in a number of aspects. The horizontal component of
pressure is not toward the body but slightly outward, or nearly
vertical. Its course is even more prolonged than that of love and be-
gins with very low acceleration. It is accompanied by a minimum of
tension of any kind. There is no abdominal tension and very little
tension of the diaphragm. Respiration is slowed down to a very slow
rate, slower than in any of the other sentic forms considered. There
tends to be a respiratory pause at the end of inspiration, the opposite
condition as found in grief (an anti-sigh!). Heart rate and oxygen
consumption tend to be lowered considerably. Head position and
gaze are often slightly upward.
No significant differences between essentic forms produced by
male and female subjects have been observed so far. Subjects are all
able to experience at least some of the emotions on first trial. After
three trial sessions the effectiveness, as reported by the subject in
terms of which emotions they could feel, is well over go per cent.
Subjects who may have had difficulties with one or two of the states
at first find that this difficulty diminishes with subsequent trials.
Self-scoring indices, in which a subject scores himself one half hour
after the completion of the test concerning the intensity of the sepa-
rate emotions experienced on a scale from o to 5, give an average
intensity of emotions from four hundred subjects as 3.8. Subjects on
the average tend to have least problems with anger, rarely with grief
and sex, more with hate, love, and joy in that order. Difficulties are
most often experienced with reverence, an emotion perhaps that half

1
Sometimes, subjects do not imagine the idiolog of the E-acton described
here: instead they imagine themselves joyfully hugging another person, and
express the implied dynamics of the hugging which gives a very different
form; such differences interestingly shed light on the idiolog processes in-
volved.
42
 Sentics

the subjects are "out of touch" with. It is usual in these subjects, how-
ever, to find scores for this rising from o to 1 to 3 or 4 after three
trials. If instructions are misunderstood and subjects do not
modulate their touch, they also report that they do not experience
the states, but feel boredom instead. Near optimal mean time be-
tween initiating signals was 4.8 sec. for anger, 5.3 for hate, 8.2 for
grief, 7.4 for love, 4-9 for sex, 5.2 for joy, 9.8 for reverence. Standard
deviation of successive times of initiating ranges from o.6 to o.9 sec.
and is proportionately somewhat less for the longer periods.
The sentic states we have described are those we have measured
most.1 There are of course other states which may be considered as
basic, that is, states that are not mixtures of several sentic states. But
an informed guess might be that there are not more than twenty
such basic sentic states. As these studies proceed it should become
possible to identify progressively the basic states, as has been done
with colors and other systems of qualities.
Many states, on the other hand, are clearly mixtures (envy, for
example). These too may have essentic forms. We are gradually find-
ing out how the essentic forms of mixed states are synthesized from
the essentic forms of the states making up the mixture. The study of
this aspect is helped by analyzing sentographic personal relationship
in profiles which we shall discuss in Chapter Eleven. Certainly, the
essentic form of a compound state is not a simple sum of the essentic
forms of the component states. One would not expect this to be so;
as is known to every cook, the taste of a dish is not the sum of the
taste of the ingredients. The elegant way in which the biologic design
does seem to have solved this problem is also discussed in Chapter
Eleven.
Thus, the essentic forms illustrated in this chapter can be regarded
as a general frame for the emotional spectrum. We may hope to fill
the gaps gradually as research progresses further.

1
Others studied include hope, courage, guilt, and shame.
43
 Clynes

Are Essentic Forms Culturally Conditioned?

Producing "Generalized" Emotion
In the experiments described in the previous chapter the subject
at first finds it helpful to imagine specific scenes and persons in
generating a sentic state. He soon discovers, however, that such
imagined scenes are no longer necessary. It becomes possible to
imagine the sentic state idiolog without any specific scenarios. This
is of central theoretical and practical importance.
This process can be better understood through ridding oneself of
a particular constraint of language imposed by the customary use of
the word "imagine." Consider for a moment what we mean by the
processes of "imagining." The word "imagine" is biased toward the
visual sense. But not only a visual image (such as red) can be imag.
ined; one can also "imagine" a sound, a smell, a touch, a taste, or as
we find, a sentic state. If we use the word "imagine" for all these
functions there results a tendency for subjects to evoke visual images
that are actually extraneous to the brain processes involved. In this
way we are the slaves of language's processes. For that reason it is
useful to replace the word "imagine" with another word-"elogize."
This word, derived from the Greek root logos, denotes a process
corresponding to "imagining" a visual image, but applies to all the
sensory modalities. The word may also be used, more generally, to
de note the process of "imagining" idiologs. It is readily possible to
elogize a sound, a tune, a particular taste, smell, touch, or a specific
sentic state.1 We observe that when we use the word "elogize," there
1
In a way, this is not really as surprising as it seems. This is the normal ex-
44
 Sentics

is less tendency for subjects to imagine unessential visual scenes

together with the qualities required.
As a subject is asked to elogize anger or grief or love, he can soon
do so without reference to specific visual imagery. And, further-
more, he can also elogize sentic states without directing them at
particular individuals. He can experience and express anger without
having to be angry at a specific person, or he can experience and ex-
press love without necessarily imagining a specific individual. We
may formally state this as the sixth sentic principle:
6. Sentic states may be experienced and expressed as pure
qualities or identities, without reference to specific auxiliary
relationships to generate or receive these qualities.
It is clearly important to realize that such experience is possible. In
our daily lives we are prone to regard sentic states as arising mostly
through specific reasons. When it is possible to realize that one can
feel love without a specific or causative focus this tends to contradict
many of our accepted social paradigms. A generalized love ill-fits
into society.1 Many of the difficulties that artists encounter within
society also are rooted, to a considerable extent, in their ability, not
shared by others, to experience and consciously express generalized

perience of sentic states in music, the natural functioning of musical experi-

ence and communication. Beethoven obviously composed this way during
his last years when he was unable to hear. But this was not really difficult for
him (his conversation notebooks bear this out) since any composer composes
mostly by "hearing" first and sounding it after (although sometimes he may
at times allow his fingers and mind to lead him on an instrument). In fact,
any good musician "hears" first and then plays. The actual sound is used in
part to check that his intentions were carried out. But everyone, whether a
musician or not, can elogize specific sounds quite accurately. For example,
you can think accurately of some one's voice, or the sound of a cuckoo.
1
Love that transcends the family has an element of danger in the context of
our social framework. A political leader may talk about such sentic states,
but were he actually to experience them, and be governed by them during his
actual appearances, he would horrify and probably scare his electorate.
Anger authentically expressed in public is much more socially acceptable.
45
 Clynes

sentic states. This very ability, of course, underlies the processes by

which artistic expressions find their power of communication.
Thus, the relation between "generalized" emotions or sentic states
and of those experienced as directed at specific individuals or events
is a central question. It concerns an examination of the nature of the
relation linking fantasy and reality,1 which shall be gradually devel-
oped in this book. A natural basis of that link is found in essentic
form.
If essentic form can give rise to the experience of generalized
emotions (that is, independent of specific content) and if, as we saw
in our measurements of American subjects, essentic forms of differ-
ent subjects within one culture are similar, we are led to ask further
what reasons may lead us to regard these forms as biologically
programmed or as culturally learned. The forms we have shown so
far represent typical measurements from subjects in the United
States. To what extent do these forms pertain to essential human na-
ture and to what extent do they reflect the contemporary habits of
individual cultures? To answer this question we looked at the es-
sentic forms of people in other cultures, in particular in Japan, Bali,
and Mexico.

Studying Essentic Forms of Different Cultures

Our research in the United States using the sentograph to measure
emotional expression in a variety of subjects showed a similarity of
forms among the participants tested, a similarity that could be due
to cultural or biologic factors. We had to ask ourselves to what ex† ‡
tent these forms might have been the result of cultural leaming
among our American subjects, and to what extent they evidenced
universal biologic brain programs.
To test whether essentic forms are free from cultural effects, we
devised two methods of approach. One was to attempt to retrain a
subject, so that the essentic form of anger, for example, would
1
At this point in our discourse, it may impress the reader that fantasy and
reality are not two entirely distinct, separate concepts.
46
 Sentics

become the essentic form of love and vice versa. If the forms are arbi-
trarily learned, it should be possible to retrain or condition a subject
to express sentic states with different or switched essentic forms.
One can try to train subjects to do this, offering suitable induce-
ments and rewards, that is to say, positive or negative reinforce-
ments.
It is found, however, that even after prolonged periods of training,
subjects are unable to express or to generate the specific sentic state
through a different dynamic form. Such different forms will not act
to generate the original state in accordance with the fifth sentic
principle.1 Nor can the subject, if he feels the sentic state of love, ex-
press that state through the form of anger or vice versa. A caress
cannot replace a jabbing movement in expressing anger, and vice
versa. Thus (and fortunately so) it does not appear possible to sub-
stitute artificial sentic forms for the natural ones. Moreover, the de-
liberate introduction and use of such artificial forms appears to
cause continuing "blockage," an inability to experience the satis-
faction of expression (a process equivalent to an aspect of repres-
sion).
The stubborn resistance of this natural process to be receptive to
artifice is a further indication of the innate precision of the recog-
nition process.2 Even though it proves not to be possible to retrain an
individual to alter the function of essentic form, we needed to
question further whether inheritance could result in different es-
1
A schematic listing of the sentic principles discussed throughout this book
can be found in the appendix.
2
It is fortunate that this is so, otherwise our understanding of the qualities
of love, anger, or grief would be as unstable as the changing tastes in fashions
of the day. Instead, we find that the essentic forms of love, anger, and grief
have as great a stability as the quality of red. Because of this we are able to
communicate with and through the expressive achievements of the distant
past, recognizing elements of humanity present in Greek sculpture, in the
paintings of Rembrandt, in Bach or Beethoven as well as in Picasso or
Stravinsky, and hearing cadences in the poetry of Homer and Shakespeare,
whose mental time forms - idiologs - communicate unchanging qualities to
us.
47
 Clynes

sentic forms among various human groups. To see whether the spe-
cific essentic forms we discovered were universal to human nature
we carried out studies in several different cultures.
In a pilot study we sought to measure essentic form in a remote
Mexican village, hoping to learn how to conduct a larger-scale study.
We carried with us all the equipment including the averaging com-
puter. This made the expedition perhaps more cumbersome than
necessary. The Mexican people proved to be exceedingly friendly to
us and everywhere we were gladly given all the help we needed. We
found a young university student eager to help us as an interpreter,
and after his simple explanations, Mexicans in even the smallest
villages were readily willing to go through the procedures. Most of
them seemed to enjoy the sessions.
Our attempts were futile, of course, in finding places of Mexican
culture uninfluenced by North American life. Even the most remote
villages prided themselves on their transistor radios and pin-up girls
clipped from American magazines.
We did learn from that pilot project, though, the importance of
adequately translating the key words denoting the sentic states. If
these words are imperfectly translated, then observed differences are
ambiguous; they might be ascribed to either different word conno-
tation, or to a different essentic form. Perfect translations are, of
course, never possible even with these so widely used words; each
language has its own subtlety of meaning and connotation that pre-
vents a completely accurate translation. Yet slight differences of word
meaning should not really matter, since we had previously noted that
a subject tends to discover the precise essentic form within himself
and the commonality underlying the corresponding words should
overshadow small differences in conventional meaning.
Sometimes, however, such differences are sufficiently marked to
cause difficulties. For example, the word "joy" turns out to be difficult
to translate into Spanish. Neither the word alegria nor contento is
sufficiently equivalent to the Blakean or Mozartean concept of joy.1
1
On the other hand, there is a word in the Balinese language for the intense
48
 Sentics

It proved to be an unsuspected confirmation of the theory that

significant "cultural" differences appeared in the production of that
essentic form only when no really adequate word could be found in
translation.
With the Mexican experience behind us we were able to be more
efficient in our next expeditions to Japan and to Bali. The computer
was left at home for these trips and we took the chance to record the
data on tape. We waited with held breath until they could be
processed at home. (This allowed me to make the trip by myself with
only local assistance, an economically decisive advantage in view of
our limited grant funds.) Leaving the computer at home was also
taking a chance but it seemed better than running the risk of mal-
functioning equipment in an inaccessible place such as Bali; what
was more to the point, it saved much heavy lugging around of equip-
ment.
The choice of the contrasting cultures of Japan and Bali was delib-
erate. The Balinese have a culture of rare artistic penetration, almost
every Balinese individual is, in reality, some kind of artist. Dance,
music, painting, sculpture are all cultivated to a high degree of pro-
ficiency and the sensibilities of the Balinese are almost universally
high in spite of their material poverty by Western standards. In the
beauty and fulfillment of their personal lives, the Balinese are any-
thing but poor, and the objects with which they surround themselves
are probably more beautiful than those found in the average Park
Avenue apartment. The Balinese seemed an ideal group to study for

joy or delight experienced in a fraction of a second as one perceives unex-

pectedly an extraordinarily arresting, beautiful sight. Such an acutely
intense, short wave of feeling (which is remembered for a long time) has
found no word in English or any other language with which I am familiar. I
was amazed to hear my Balinese friend, Dr. Denny Thong, explain to me the
meaning of a concept which I had often experienced as a child but, un-
fortunately, had never heard named so that I could not communicate it
readily. And here it was in current usage in Bali!

49
 Clynes

the production of essentic form. (And Bali is certainly a great place

to work!)
On the other hand the Japanese, with their highly cultivated, dis-
tinct cultural patterns, frequently advocate extreme restraint in
emotional expression and the wearing of mask-like expressions. The
prevalence of a stereotype expressive behavior so strongly at vari-
ance with that found in the United States seemed well suited for
comparison. We wanted to concentrate on the old Japanese culture,
so we studied mainly a group of Zen Buddhist monks and
practitioners in Kyoto. We were fortunate to be able to have as one
subject for sentic measurement the Head Abbot of the Temple Ri-
anji, who occupies a position in Zen Buddhism somewhat analogous
to the Pope of the Catholic Church.
A most striking aspect of these experimental studies was the
readiness and ease with which subjects took to the specific ex-
pressive method. Although none had ever deliberately used just one
finger for the concentrated expression of emotion, all except one
subject readily seemed to feel comfortable with our method. (One
Japanese subject, apparently misunderstanding the instructions, ex-
claimed, "I cannot possibly feel any love for that finger rest" and did
not wish to do the measurements.) Most of the other Japanese sub-
jects found the experience "enjoyable" and "revealing" and "a unique
experience." They often expressed amazement at the ease with which
emotions were generated and could be experienced by this method.
Remarkably, none of the Japanese subjects had difficulty in clearly
distinguishing between anger and hate-an interesting and perhaps
significant cultural finding. In their daily lives it seems most Japa-
nese subjects were constrained by a severely limited range of
emotional expression, yet they seemed to be remarkably uninhibited
in their ability to produce essentic form with our method. Some sub-
jects enthusiastically expressed their sense of discovery of these
forms in themselves, and found it a liberating experience. Others,
with considerable experience of Zen, provided restrained yet highly
characteristic collections of essentic forms. These subjects involved
their bodies less in physiologic emotional reactions and appeared to

50
 Sentics

concentrate more on the mental enjoyment of the sentic state id-

iologs. (Indeed, the Head Abbot of Rianji warned us that Zen train-
ing consisted in part of the suppression of emotionality, and that
consequently we should not expect to obtain good results from him.)
The less Zen-minded Japanese, on the other hand, appeared to find
it easier, if anything, to generate sentic states spontaneously than the
average American. For the expression of reverence, care was nec-
essary to make it clear that reverence toward individuals was not the
required state.
The result: essentic forms produced by the Japanese were basically
and remarkably the same as those produced by a group of subjects in
the United States! Differences between individuals of different cul-
tures turned out to be no greater than those within a group from a
single culture. It was found, in other words, that the Japanese, on the
whole, appear to produce the same essentic forms as people in the
United States.
Measurement of the Balinese also proved to be especially interest-
ing. A difficulty was encountered immediately. It turned out that
there was no word for hate in the Balinese language! The Balinese
have retained their own language and their Hindu religious tra-
ditions although the island is part of Indonesia. The life of a Balinese
man or woman is governed from birth until death by the lore of the
Mahabharata, Ramayana, and other ancient Indian sagas and myths.
Although Western influences are now felt in some parts, most
Balinese villagers still believe implicitly these grand themes
encompassing their lives. Their dance, music, sculpture, and other
arts are almost exclusively based on these themes. Their daily lives
are filled with serenity and enjoyment. (A frequent sight is one
hundred or two hundred children playing on the beach joyfully
without any signs of fights.) Yet their plays and dances exhibit an
unrestrained vehemence of emotions that seems almost excessive to
Western eyes, but are startling in their purity of expression. How
would these subjects respond to our methods?
We found that they, too, produced essentic forms very similar to
all others. (See Figure 10.) Their degree of sentic state generation and

51
 Clynes

Figure 10. Examples of single E-actons expressing various emotions

recorded by a female Balinese subject, age twenty four. Tape-recorded data
were replayed on a strip chart recorder. These examples show the character
of the raw data before averaging. Initials below actons stand for emotions
expressed: No Emotion, Anger, Hate, Grief, Sex, Reverence, and Love.

involvement was not noticeably higher or lower than elsewhere; as

in other groups, about o per cent of the subjects cried during the
phase of grief. The Balinese, too, were amazed at the readiness with
which sentic states could be generated. An interesting, typical com-
ment was "I was sitting and expressing with my hand, and anger just
came!" As we have seen, the phenomenon of the sentic state "just
coming"–as if by magic–that is to say without any specific situation
or reason, is indeed a basic characteristic of the ability to generate

52
 Sentics

Figure 11. A comparison of the essentic forms of love and anger in four
cultures: Mexican, Japanese, American, and Balinese (vertical component
shown). Similarities of the sentograms are apparent. Differences be. tween
individuals are typically of about the same order as variation between cul-
tures.
sentic states in this manner. For the Balinese, the quasi-magical
aspect of this was prominent.1
Results of measurements of the Japanese and Balinese essentic
forms confirmed the similarity of different cultural groups and sup-
ported the view that specific essentic forms are characteristic of
human nature, regardless of race and culture. (See Figure 11.) This
is, of course, of inestimable value for the communication of
emotions and qualities among all people of the earth. It is a docu-
mentation of our brotherhood, in terms of our common inheritance
of unchanging, pure qualities of emotions and their expressive
forms, which are potentially programmed, so it seems, into every
man.

1
In our studies of the Balinese we were fortunate to have the assistance of
Dr. Denny Thong, a remarkable young doctor who had pioneered medical
services for the villages of Bali, where modern medical and surgical instru-
ments are almost totally lacking. He also has pioneered in providing psy-
chiatric services to these islanders, especially for those few cases of
schizophrenia among the three million population that do occur. Through his
enthusiastic help we were also able to obtain adequate translations of all the
words denoting sentic states except for hate.

53
 Clynes

The Communicating Power and Mathematical

Equation of Essentic Form
Perhaps the most remarkable biologic property of essentic form,
next to being a bridge between the otherwise isolated inner worlds
of individuals, is that its power of communication depends directly
on the degree of faithfulness to which it represents the characteristic
expressive form of the state to be communicated. Unlike the recog-
nition of the shape of a letter or numeral, for example, which fulfill
their communication function regardless of imperfections in form,
imperfections and errors in the production of essentic forms can
directly interfere with the power of communication, even if they are
consciously recognized as imperfections. The essentic function places
direct experience of form ahead of intellectual recognition. It requires
a person to be in a condition of connectedness so that the expressed
form corresponds to the inner state for the communication to
function fully. (Sometimes such a convincing communication may
even exceed our own capacity to imagine precise essentic form and
thus expand our capacities.)
We may state this property formally as the seventh sentic
principle:
7. The power of essentic form in communicating and generating
a sentic state is greater the more closely the form approaches
the pure or ideal essentic form for that state.
We call such a pure essentic form orthoessentic form. The more
nearly the expressed form approximates this true form the more
powerfully does it appear to act in generating its specific quality.
54
 Sentics

When we express an approximate essentic form we do not

communicate as effectively (even though "intellectually" one may be
able to guess the type of sentic state intended to be communicated).
This principle can be demonstrated in our communication with
other persons, with ourselves, and in music and the other arts.
Perhaps the following short anecdote will illustrate this more clearly.
Some years ago, in the house of Pablo Casals in Puerto Rico, the
Master was giving cello master classes. On this occasion, an out-
standing participant played the theme from the third movement of
the Haydn cello concerto, a graceful and joyful theme. Those of us
there could not help admiring the grace with which the young
master cellist played-probably as well as one would hear it anywhere.
Casals listened intently. "No," he said, and waved his hand with his
familiar, definite gesture, "that must be graceful!" And then he played
the same few bars-and it was graceful as though one had never heard
grace before—a hundred times more graceful—so that the cynicism
melted in the hearts of the people who sat there and listened. That
single phrase penetrated all the defenses, the armor, the hardness of
heart which we mostly carry with us, and with its power transformed
us into people who were glad to be alive.
What was the power that did this? A slight difference in shape be-
tween the phrase as played by the young man and by Casals. A slight
difference—but an enormous difference in power of
communication, evocation, and transformation.
How did Casals derive his precise shape? What is the meaning of
the function of such purity of expression in relation to the central
nervous system?
Such purity used to be ascribed to "inspiration"-a concept where
attempts at further understanding made a halt.1 In the course of
1
In conversation with Casals, his answer to this question about the source
of such quality of imagination was a devout gesture. Holding his arms out
toward "I alwavs used to say it comes to being "used" by the source of purity,
we may be enabled to communicate it, becoming its vessels. And the shape of
such gestures is not to be considered primarily "symbolic"-it has a biologic
basis in the essentic forms of qualities.
55
 Clynes

association with Casals one gradually came to some measure of

understanding of the source of such purity, as one heard him reit-
erate over and over again to play "naturally." To understand the
meaning of such a phrase invokes a highly precise process and an
enlightening one, although one it may take years to discover. Playing
"naturally" means two things: (1) to listen inwardly with utmost
precision to the inner form of every musical sound, and (2) then to
produce that form precisely. It means to have a precise idea, as well
as a precise execution of it. And the crucial and amazing fact is that
if one really believes this and listens with great care, then it also turns
out to be beautiful.
This operational principle, simple as it is, can be of revolutionary
import in musical performance. All too often the faithfulness
required by teachers is not to the inner sound but merely to so-called
tradition, or the totally inadequate notation of the score. The musical
score is not able to define the real subtleties that are essential to give
a truly living character to the music. It is no exaggeration to say that
in the hands of a master such as Casals the sound is defined to a
precision of hundredths of a tone, (that is to say, a single tone is
shaped with such meaningful detail that if represented by a curve
such a tone would have to be divided into one hundred ordinates to
denote its course adequately). This estimate is not far removed from
the ability of the ear to distinguish changes in essentic form amount-
ing to less than 100th of a second.
Thus the power of essentic form to generate sentic states in the
perceiver is greatly dependent upon its purity (the degree to which it
approximates or is faithful to the inner essentic form), and that in
turn is a function of how clearly the idiolog of the sentic state is ex-
perienced.
There are many different experimental ways to demonstrate the
dependence of communicating power of essentic form on its purity.
One such method is to present a subject with a deliberately distorted
dynamic essentic form, and, through adjustment of the control
knobs, allow him to adjust the form to be maximally expressive of
that particular quality. For example, joyous or angry exclamations

56
 Sentics

can be distorted by passing them through a process that alters one or

more chosen aspects or parameters, such as dynamic contour, pitch
contour, timbre contour, or timing. The subject can then take one or
more of these and by turning the appropriate control knobs try to
optimize the expression by restoring the contour to be an optimally
joyous or angry expression according to his own interpretation or
feeling.1
The important point is that for the recognition process to act it is
not sufficient merely to judge and classify the phenomenon from a
rough indication of its nature. The nature of the recognition process
is such that an approximate essentic form acts very differently from
a pure, faithful one. The "error accumulation" interferes with the
effective data processing of the quality in our nervous system. This is
the essence of the purity concept in the action of the essentic form
upon the nervous system.
This aspect of precision, as stated in the seventh sentic principle,
makes it possible to proceed to a mathematical representation of es-
sentic form. In such a representation, an objective would be to find
an equation that would describe the ideal essentic forms. And sec-
ondly, having found such an equation, we might try to search for
mathematical relationships that determine the specific nature of
each essentic form. At that point we could ask the question how it
comes about that a specific essentic form is what it is. Or, to put it in
analogous terms more familiar to the reader in exploring the world
of physics one can observe the orbit of a planet to be an ellipse and
find its exact equation as Kepler did, and then one may further ask
how it comes about that the planet moves in an ellipse, to which

1
A different, but related confirmation of the essentic form that we observed
has also come from the work of Bruce Brown at Brigham Young University,
who constructed his own sentograph and found similar essentic forms in the
sento graphic responses of fifty-four subjects to a set of emotional speech
sample stimuli. (He in fact found a clearer differentiation of affect through
sentographic responses than through verbal responses, given by the Osgood
semantic differential measures.)
57
 Clynes

Newton found an answer. Similar questions may be asked concern-

ing essentic form.

The Mathematical Equation of Essentic Form

To answer the first question would allow us objectively to charac-
terize essentic form and obtain some predictions concerning new
relationships of essentic forms and their effects. We have, in fact,
been able to find such a differential equation that represents the spe-
cific essentic forms we have discovered. The equation was found
with the help of computer simulation, using analog computer
models to set up physiologically plausible models until we found the
simplest, adequate, meaningful representation in terms of a differ-
ential equation capable of representing all the essentic forms. Each
essentic form represents a particular solution or eigenvalue of the
equation. These solutions have time constants as parameters; their
specific values determine the specific essentic form. The equation is
presented below.
The differential equation whose solutions for impulse function
inputs are the various essentic forms is given in Laplace Transform
notation as:

58
 Sentics

The differential equation was derived from a control system

approach. Utilizing Laplace Transform terminology allows a much
simpler notation than if it were written as a conventional fifth order
non-linear differential equation.
The input to the equation is fixed as an impulse function. The
equation is partially non-linear due to the necessity of introducing
the "passion coefficient" and its associated function, which is
required by the introduction of the late muscular activity found in
actons of passionate states, as described earlier.
The parameters of the equation also allow us to construct a vector
space of the emotions. The construction has a butterfly shape, which
circumscribes the manner of gradually proceeding from one sentic
state to another. It describes how we can go from certain states to
others only through passing through the areas within the butterfly
shape and not directly across.
Mathematical representation may also clearly separate the
measured essentic forms according to their horizontal vector
direction away from or toward the body. Those strongly away
include those usually classed as "negative" emotions (anger, hate)
whereas those more toward the body (or vertical) are often termed
"positive" (love). We thus have an objective characterization of this
aspect of psychologic significance.
The correspondence of the essentic forms calculated according to
the equation with those experimentally observed may be seen in
Figure 12. We may thus say that we have found an equation which
describes essentic form in the sense that it describes the "orbit of the
planet," according to our previously cited comparison. We may say
that these phenomena of expression which combine experience and
behavior (mind and body) have yielded their mathematical form.
As for finding an answer to the second question, to discover what
determines each essentic form to be as it is, in its coherence with a
specific emotion—this would involve to begin with a far greater
understanding of the language of the genetic code than we have to-
day. At this point we have no answer, but it is a perhaps not negligible

59
 Clynes

Figure 12. Measured and computed essentic forms.

merit of the theory that it can be posed at all. And we have at least a
few clues on how to proceed in our search toward that goal. If there
is an answer to this question (and there could be reasons why an
answer could not be formulated), it may be that within some decades
it could be within our grasp.
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 Sentics

Producing and Recognizing Essentic Form,

Empathy, and Sympathy
Consider again the anecdote related in the previous chapter which
illustrated how a great artist like Casals communicates qualities and
sentic states with a potency that can be marred by even small depar-
tures from specific, natural essentic form. This phenomenon, the
power of precision, is indeed true not only in music but also in the
personal communication of qualities and sentic states. Precision of
tone of voice, gesture, touch-all can communicate and act to trans-
form the sentic state of both the receiver and sender of sentic expres-
sions.
But the human sender, unlike his electronic counterpart, is also
his own receiver. An artist constantly communicates with his
growing work of art. As the work grows, its communicative power
imbues the artist as much as the artist gives to the work. Goethe, for
example, speaks of having lived "under the thrall of the 'West
Ostlichen Divan'" during the months he was writing this extended
series of poems that was to constitute one of his masterworks.
Similarly, Beethoven attested in his notebooks how specifically
transformed he was by the music he wrote – each symphony creating
a special world within him even as he was creating the symphony!
But the effect of expression on its producer is not limited to art.
Precision of expression has a remarkable function in daily life and in
interpersonal relations. The authentic expression of essentic form is
experienced as "sincerity." More than that, it has a force of inducing
empathy. (We not only enjoy the productions of a great artist, we also

61
 Clynes

tend to feel love for him.) This empathy arises when, in the manifest
openness of the person expressing, we sense that the expression
arises from the center of his being. We see no "artifice" in it and
nothing intrudes into the pattern of communication to act as a
warning sign of another level of communication, hiding behind
conventional, learned clichés or other "superficial" influences. We
intuitively distinguish a genuine, deeply felt communication from
superficial expressions.
Superficial expressions may have sentic significance in revealing a
person's psychological condition, particularly in the way he may be
blocking deeper, more meaningful communication. But we rec-
ognize the sharp differences between such expressions and authentic
ones precisely through the perception of essentic form. In order to
do this, only one's natural sensibilities are required; to pay attention
to these, however, is an attitude we may have thoroughly forgotten.
It involves an intense quietness, a true listening. One of the most
encouraging applications of sentics is that it provides a means to
sharpen the sensibilities and reawaken forgotten capacities in this
regard.

Production of Essentic Form

The production and recognition of essentic forms are coordinated
through design of the biologic data processing systems, involving
different processes. In producing an expressive form, such as a ges-
ture, several modes of sentic connectedness may significantly affect
the process. We may list three types of such modes in the production
of expressive form: (1) mimicry, (2) full sentic involvement, and (3)
empathic viewing. The sentic drive is connected differently in each
mode and the involvement of the body is different.
In mimicry,1 the sentic drive is not connected to the motor expres-
sion. The production of the expression is entirely "intellectual," with-
out experience of the sentic state that corresponds to the expressed
form. Nor does mimicry entrain the processes of empathy. It is an
1
Not to be confused with the superb art of a mime, such as that of Marcel
Marceau; he does not "mimic" in the above sense, but portrays.
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 Sentics

"unfeeling" production of expression. (Its humorous aspect, where

encountered, arises precisely from this disconnectedness.) The sec-
ond mode, which may be called "Dionysian," entails the full involve-
ment of the person in the sentic state, with corresponding
involvement of the physiological systems.1
In a third stage of expressive function, the sentic state is relieved
from the urgent requirements of inner drives. A different mode of
experience becomes more accessible, which we may call the em-
pathic viewing mode. In this mode of connectedness one experi-
ences and expresses the sentic state from a different point of view: a
view corresponding to meditative, or the "Apollonian"; the sentic
state is viewed and savored and body functions are involved in a
different way. This mode allows the particular sentic states to be
enjoyed in their purity, while retaining control of mental freedom.
The exercise of this freedom also allows us to switch sentic states vol-
untarily, and to proceed easily from the empathic viewing of one
sentic state to another.
The faculty that allows one to switch sentic states in the manner
described we call "pre-sentic control." Free exercise of presentic con-
trol implies sentic fluidity; one is not stuck rigidly in any one sentic
state, but can experience the spectrum of sentic states, freely and
readily. The condition of sentic fluidity, it becomes apparent, is an
important aspect of mental health. Many individuals are caught in a
"rut," unable to get out of their rigid sentic condition. Sentics can al-
leviate such a condition, as will be shown in our subsequent discus-
sion of sentic cycles.
The three modes of connected function are distinguished by their
"point of view, " and are to a degree open to choice. The choice an
individual makes affects the nature of his relationships with other
individuals, with himself, and with his environment. Through sentic
studies and practice one can become more clearly aware of the na-
1
The second mode, full sentic involvement, may at times be preceded by the
mimicry mode in the experimental production of essentic form. After a few
E-actons, however, the sentic drive becomes more fully connected and the
second mode tends to become established.
63
 Clynes

ture of these choices of "point of view." Interestingly, these choices

have effects upon the perception as well as on the production of es-
sentic form.

Perception of Essentic Form

Perception of essentic form occurs in two ways: (1) perception of
one's own essentic form expression as it is being produced, and (2)
the perception of essentic form separate from its production.
Perceiving our own essentic form as we produce it is different
from perceiving essentic form when produced by others or per-
ceiving our own forms at a later time. The nature of this difference
varies with the degree of awareness of the individual. For example,
we are gener ally less receptive to the quality of our own tone of voice
than to the same quality in another voice.1 Similarly in touching we
are gener ally less aware of the quality of our own touch than is the
person whom we are touching. This is because the simultaneous
production and perception of the same essentic form cannot be
carried out by the nervous system without a degree of interference.2
We are capable, however, of a great degree of latitude (or, in a sense
to be defined, "improvement) in the way we recognize the qualities
of our own tone of voice, even while speaking, and in the manner in
which we experience our own touch while touching another. Even
though the full sentic impact of perceiving our own essentic form
production cannot be experienced simultaneously, awareness of the
faithfulness of the form to the inner sentic demand is possible. We
can increase that awareness of the quality of our expressive actions
without fully experiencing the impact of the expression itself.
Understanding the quality of the expressive act derives from a con-
1
We are often surprised when we perceive the essentic forms contained in
our speech as we listen to a tape recording of ourselves.
2
This of course does not apply if the produced essentic form is perceived
later. For instance, an artist who draws a line or form can then look at it, or
a composer having produced an essentic form in sound can then listen to it.
In doing so he will not have to be limited bu the simultaneous production
and perception as happens in hearing one's own tone of voice.
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 Sentics

tinuous experience of the coherence between the sentic state and its
experienced expression. This sensation of coherence is not easily ex-
plained in words. In part, it is associated with an aspect of satis-
faction felt when the essentic form expressed truly corresponds to
the sentic state. We experience a sense of being true to ourselves at
that moment. But another aspect of the experience of coherence lies
in the savoring of the quality itself, both as it is expressed and as the
experience of the state.
Thus, one can have various degrees of awareness of the effect of the
essentic form one is expressing. But how necessary is such
awareness? Can essentic forms be expressed with complete
unawareness of what they are or of the state they are expressing? And
if so, what would result from such unawareness?
Consider, for example, that in writing a poem one may be in a state
where the lines come to awareness one after the other, with a
wholeness that could be impaired by any degree of self-con-
sciousness or a disturbance of the state from which they spring. In
the creative act it is important to allow the essentic form to be born
as the issue of that state—to allow the state to be intensified and
focused through the act of expression—but to avoid contamination
of the state through perception of incongruous forms. In short, we
have a paradigm very similar to that of the generation of sentic states
by the method of repeated E-acton expression.
But in personal interactions awareness of the quality and point of
view of expression can be not only helpful; it can transform the
relationship. In creative interpersonal relationships the self-steering
interplay of perception and production of essentic form is central.
And the processes of dream formation also partake of these
functions in ways we shall discuss in later chapters. Indeed,
production and perception of essentic form are biologic bridges for
the dynamic interchange between fantasy and reality, and in a differ-
ent sense, between art and life.

65
 Clynes

Precision of Essentic Form Perception

Let us now turn to the second, more general process of perceiving
essentic form, that of the person who perceives the form while not si
multaneously producing it. What about the precision of these
processes? If the essentic form produced is not precise, there will be
room for possible ambiguity. But ambiguity could well exist even
with a precisely expressed essentic form.
In order to clarify this important question, we need to look in
more detail at the modes of connectedness between the sentic
domain and the perceptual function. In Chapter One we discussed
the identity of qualities. We noted that in addition to the identity of
each quality there appeared to be a genetically programmed loose
coupling of qualities, but we did not pursue that significant topic fur-
ther.
Let us consider the quality of red once more. There is a physio-
logical characteristic of red which we have not yet considered. It is
that in addition to being "red," the quality of red is also exciting (just
as in a similar way blue is calming). It is readily seen that this charac
teristic of colors is not culturally conditioned.1 Indeed, evidence of
specific brain function shows electrical responses to red measured in
the brain to be more marked than to other colors of equal intensity
(Clynes 1968b).2 This "exciting" aspect of red is also a quality of red
that we experience. Thus we are faced with an apparent paradox -the
unique quality of red, which we said could not be composed of other
qualities, does in fact contain, or at least is inherently associated
with, a second quality. To understand the meaning of this paradox,
consider the example of a person taking a tranquilizer: the drug does
not change the redness of red for him, but it does sup press its "ex-
citing" aspect. Neurophysiologically, the two properties must arise
through different portions of the brain and through disparate brain
processes.
1
In fact, one can readily think of phylogenetic reasons why red might have
become exciting in the course of evolution.
2
Or even than a white light containing the same red stimulus as a compo-
nent.
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 Sentics

Their coupling,1 though inherent, is subject to changing influ-

ences. This is an example of a loosely coupled, genetically
programmed interrelation of qualities. This aspect of programmed
human nature is highly important and has bearing on the
interrelationship of sentic states and on other qualities and uncon-
scious functions as well.
The nature of the relationship of sentic states to one another, as
well as the possibilities of programming ordered functional relation-
ships among them, may be considered and explored in these terms.
Aspects of "loose coupling" apply especially to the connection of per-
ceptual functions with the sentic domain. In the example quoted, we
have a flexible choice to allow ourselves to be aware of red as exciting
or to ignore this function. We do not enjoy the redness of a stop
signal light as we might the redness of a rose. Red becomes a mere
sign—not an experienced quality. Thus the disconnectedness forced
upon us by the artifacts of civilization may often become habitual
(and also forgotten and may to various degrees atrophy our ability to
reconnect the sentic domain at will, and so to experience the per-
ceived qualities freely.
The action of essentic form was characterized earlier as somewhat
like a key in the data processing lock of our nervous system.
(Ethologists2 also refer to "innate release mechanisms" in animal
behavior, though without any specific ways of measuring their
precise dynamic forms.) Such actions can take place only if there is
appropriate connection between the perceptual and sentic domains.
Habitual disconnection corresponds to a process of alienation. Such
alienation results in part from and is reinforced by an inability to
communicate and experience freely in terms of pure essentic form.
Another source, thus, of possible uncertain perception of essentic
form, in addition to ambiguity of improper production, lies in the
readiness of the perceiver to be open. A sentically closed condition
1
Synaesthesia, the coupling of different sensory modes so that, for example
specific sounds appear to evoke or be associated with specific colors, is an-
other manifestation of a loose coupling of qualities.
2
E.g., Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Lorenz.
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leads to uncertainty of perceived quality. The lack of intensity of the

generated state educes its nondescript character.
A number of factors may contribute to achieving openness. A high
school student looking at a Rembrandt painting may not perceive its
qualities because he has not discovered how to "focus" on them. Yet
a few suitable remarks may well serve as guideposts to orient him to
the qualities to look for. Such a guide is helpful also in the sentic ori-
entation toward music. By looking for the wrong qualities and not
finding them, many people are disappointed and turn away from
works of art. They miss out on discovering the qualities they did not
look to find.
To distinguish between the essential and non-essential but contrib
uting qualities in the complex sensory experience of a particular
work of art requires an appropriate sensory orientation. If a person
listens to the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven for the sound of the pic-
colo he will not experience the communication inherent in the work,
to take an extreme example. Such an example is by no means as ab-
surd as it may seem. The enjoyment of specific qualities such as of
the sound of a violin, or of a particular shade of color, of even form,
can obscure the perception of other qualities, and even essentic
form. In a well-integrated work of art all these sensory aspects will
re inforce each other in the right context, but exaggerated attention
to any one of them interferes with the experience of essentic forms.

Precedence of Essentic Form over Other Sensory Perception

This leads us to consider how the power of the essentic form
acutely perceived transcends the power of other sensory per-
ceptions. A genuine, "captivating" smile will tend to make us forget
other competing sensory stimuli. A powerful, purely expressed es-
sentic form in a particular sensory mode gives primacy to that mode
over the others, whatever it may be. A pure expression of anger too
has a particular "arresting" beauty. Essentic form, purely—arrest-
ingly—produced in the tone of voice, in a musical phrase, in a touch,
can make that particular sense by far the most important to us

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 Sentics

(during the time of expression).1 If love is expressed purely, it does

not matter through which sensory modality it is conveyed—but
more than that, if the expression is recognized, it will have priority
over all other sensory impressions—it can make us forget cold,
warmth, rain, even burnt food—for a while.
The sense of touch has some special communicational aspects that
will be considered later. Perhaps it is odd that as yet we have no sym-
phonies of touch; essentic form touch communication is almost all
interpersonal.2 However, certain forms of massage such as those
developed at Esalen Institute, when well performed, can be like a
symphony performed upon the body and constitute aware essentic
form communication both to the performer and to the receiver. This
type of massage coordinates breathing and felt emotion with the
quality of touch, as an art, in such a way that the communication of
essentic form supplants the merely sensual.
Distinction between the sensual and the expression of essentic
form is very important. It is especially important in the
communication of sexual excitement. There is an enormous differ-
ence between mere "mechanical" stimulation and the
communication of passion through the sexual essentic form.
Communication through essentic form always presupposes a per-
son as the sender. This is so even in a work of art. We sense that it is
a person who created this work. Through a great work of art, we may
even become aware of intimate aspects of the creator's personality.
(This aspect will be considered in more detail in the following chap-
ter dealing with music.) A mechanical sensory stimulation is sensed
as "mechanical," precisely because no originating personality is
inherently sensed simultaneously with the stimulation. Only
1
This experience of essentic form through a particular sense modality is
thus not considered as acting by being perceived as symbolic as in the philos-
ophy of Susanne Langer, but as a direct biologic experience, a common neu-
rophysiologic factor extracted by the central nervous system from the sense
modalities, which, to an extent, animals too are capable of sharing.
2
We do not touch ourselves to communicate and express, as we sing and
play music for ourselves.
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 Clynes

through the expression of essentic form is sensory stimulation given

a personal image. Although mechanical vibrators can perhaps pro-
vide a greater, more intense sensation at times than a human touch,
in sexual communication essentic form sets a completely different
stage which in its own way can increase the intensity of sensation as
the sexual communication progresses. (The stimulus enters at a
different point of the chain of nervous system processes involved.)
The difference is similar to experiencing a work of art through es-
sentic form as compared with its mere sensation-perception—the
difference between sensory titillation and the contagious
communication of human essentic form.
Similar comments apply to music, in which the experience of es-
sentic form takes precedence over the sensory sound experience
(and even dictates the type of "tone quality" required) in the works
of most major classical composers, who are (in this sense) "expres-
sionists" with the notable exception of Debussy (whose music is "im-
pressionistic").1 Thus it happens that a phrase played by Artur
Schnabel on an old 78 record continues to be more meaningful and
satisfying than the latest "hi-fi-est" version which preserves all the
overtones—but misses the undertones of essentic form.
In an open, receptive condition the experience of essentic form
supersedes other impressions and fills the sentic domain with a
degree of intensity that is directly related to the purity of the essentic
form. In this state, it appears, there is no ambiguity at all.
Mendelssohn said that music cannot be expressed in words—not
because it is vague, but because it is more precise than words. This
dictum applies also to pure essentic form as experienced through

1
Debussy's contribution to the language of Western music was in fact to re-
verse this priority: his eloquence is not achieved directly through essentic
form; in his work, it is merely "quoted" and alluded to. Communication is
not achieved through production and recognition of essentic form but rather
through sounds that directly suggest sensory environments. It is thus both
more direct and more indirect, in different ways, than expressionist music.
This tradition has continued to much electronic music of today.
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 Sentics

touch, tone of voice, and through the other modes of commun-

ication.
For example, there are many phrases in music whose expression
might be either loving or sad. In the printed score the essentic form
is not unambiguously defined. As the reader may have noted in
Chapter Four, the essentic forms of Grief and of Love bear a certain
resemblance. This creates a possible ambiguity and range of
interpretation; yet it depends on the manner in which the phrase is
heard inwardly; there is an inner choice we may make between
"loving" or "sad." Having made that choice, for reasons which are be-
side our present considerations, the expression may then be made as
faithful as possible to that inner essentic form. In this way the ambi-
guity of the score is resolved to one or the other solution for the re-
creator of the score. An imperfect execution of the form will how-
ever leave the ambiguity up to the listener.
This is not to say that combined essentic forms may not also
function where this is the desired communication—for example, in
the state of melancholy. The point is, however, that we may have
complete confidence and trust that a purely expressed essentic form
will be received as such by the open receiving individual.1 The touch
of essentic form may have a myriad shades of meaning which, in the
proper circumstances, are inherently communicated. Many of these
qualities are sentically perceived even by animals.
Distortion through exaggeration, too, is rather easily detectable
and detracts from the transforming power. Certain diseased states,
however, appear to be connected with an exaggerated interpretation
of essentic form as communicated through tone of voice. For exam-
ple, certain cases of mania, and paranoia, as well as drug-induced
psychoses, appear to involve exaggerated or distorted essentic form
perception. In other words, "essentic form hallucination" may occur
apart from other hallucinatory processes. Such aberrations may be
regarded in a way as confirming further the natural function and
perception of essentic form.
1
These may not always be easy to find! And, in a new language of art, it may
take years for a substantial number of individuals to receive it.
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 Clynes

Empathy and Sympathy

To what extent do the implications of a personal origin of essentic
form affect the nature of the experience? To what extent do essentic
forms generated by specific individuals create expectations, personal
images in us? How does the origin of essentic form create personal
relationships, and how are these a function of such
communications? In producing essentic form, we did distinguish
between three possible modes of interconnectedness: mimicry, full
bodily involvement (Dionysian), and spectator-like viewing
(Apollonian). These different modes of interconnectedness apply
also to perceiving essentic form, and they result in different viewing
of the producing element or entity.
Corresponding to the function of mimicry in essentic form
production, there is the "cold," sentically disconnected perception-a
form of alienation previously discussed.
Second, there is the full sentic generation afforded by the experi-
ence of essentic form with awareness of the human (or living) orig-
ination of the form but without the experience of the person as such.
In this mode of perception we resonate "sympathetically,"1 and are
subject to the contagion of sentic communication for both positive
and negative sentic states (a function widely used by seducers and
political demagogues, and persuaders of Madison Avenue).
The third mode is the mode of empathy, in which essentic forms
are all viewed as related to the person as a single entity. Essentic form
1
We should emphasize that we are using the word "sympathy" in a some.
what more specialized sense than it is generally used. Thus, in events of mis-
fortune or bereavement we say we express our "sympathy" when we might
really like to convey "empathy." We have no ready phrase for communicating
our "empathy," which could well be more appreciated by the individuals
concerned. Here again we are facing the prison of our languagel Empathy is
a more subtle attitude to communicate than the co-resonance of sympathy.
In empathy, presentic control is involved- sentic fluidity and a "touching" at
a different level of the experiential process, which has to be communicated.
How this may happen is discussed in the chapter concerning sentic cycles
and their effects.
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 Sentics

is experienced not only as the expression of a single sentic state but

also as related, through pre-sentic control, to the unitary form of ex-
istence of the person (sometimes referred to as "inner self " or, poet-
ically, as a "point").
The distinction between the second and third mode of perceiving
essentic form thus involves a distinction between sympathy and
empathy.1 By "sympathy" we mean the experience of a similar sentic
state in two individuals, as that state is produced in one individual by
communication of the specific essentic forms from the other
individual. The process includes sympathetic resonance for both
positive and negative sentic states, and there is no need to experience
the other individual as an entity, to understand the other individual
in terms of sentic states other than the one that is communicated at
that time. The process of sympathy allows sentic states to spread by
contagion, like waves. Love, anger, hate, grief, joy, and others thus
may spread through the contagion of essentic form. This process
may be desirable for positive states (we do not even really know
many of the consequences of this, and hence distrust and fear the
contagion of positive states) but it is distinctly dangerous and often
degrading and disruptive in the contagion of negative states. In the
process of sympathy (as the term is used here) the seductive element
of essentic form has full reign.
When we are projected into an "emotional atmosphere" it is quite
difficult or even impossible not to be influenced to some degree. A
person placed in a group environment will be influenced by the
sentic states that surround him. The influence of such group states is
far greater than one may often realize. Although a person can to
some extent isolate himself from his sentic environment, he is es-

1
In considering our specific distinction between the words "empathy" and
"sympathy," we are struck by the difficulty in finding appropriately
corresponding words in other languages. Thus, in French, there is sympathie
and sympathique, but no word at all for "empathy." The German word Ein-
fühlung seems to have given rise through translation to the English usage of
"empathy (according to Webster's Dictionary), while Sympathie is also used
in German.
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 Clynes

sentially defenseless; for even by the act of defending or isolating

himself, he is constrained to make an effort of repression, and this
associated with some anger (as it nearly always is) is bound to affect
his creative, free impulses- his fantasy processes.
Yet in daily life we need to strike a balance between sympathy and
empathy. We cannot avoid being influenced sympathetically by the
multitude of seductive influences or often, by political demagoguery.
Deliberately to close ourselves off from their sentic perception
imposes a strain that in the long run tends to close us to empathy as
well.1 Let us consider further how we distinguish empathy from
sympathy: how the experience and communication of sentic states
relate to empathy, and how they influence interaction between
people. If we look in the Oxford dictionary, we find empathy de-
scribed as "the power of projecting one's personality into and so fully
understanding the object of contemplation." Webster's dictionary
calls it the "imaginative projection of a subjective state." In our use of
the term here, we mean just the opposite-namely, the imaginative
projection of another subject's state and personality into our own
awareness, so that in imagination we become that subject. Empathy
is a creation in our own awareness of the idiolog of another's being.
It is the process of elogizing another individual.
If this seems too difficult a task, as it may if we look at it naively,
we can point to the creation of consistent "living" personalities in our
dreams. The brain processes that allow us to create living dream
personalities are related to the process of empathy. We do have the
potential capacity to create idiologs of other individuals. Through
1
This is the sentic dilemma of man in our civilization. He can avoid
watching television, or neon signs, or ugly highways, but when he has suc-
ceeded in avoiding all of these, he is also alone and apart from society. The
strain of maintaining his sentic integrity is a heavy price to pay, and not
many are willing or able to pay this price, even if they are aware of the
bargain. We need to develop society so that man is not sentically assaulted
from all sides, so that he is free from the barrage of sentic insults hurled at
him from his own creations and re-creations, and so that essentic forms can
be enjoyed in relation to the specific human entity from whom they arise: the
individual.
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 Sentics

the processes of empathy as in our dream another individual in a real

sense may "live" in us.
As is perhaps true of all brain functions, the aware portion of the
empathic process appears to be only a small part of the total
function. In a dream the dreamed person may unfold through a var-
ied stream of actions, yet remains consistently the same person.
There is a brain program that comprises and directs the totality of
that person's personality as conceived in the dream. That we can do
this in dreams is proof of our ability to conceive personality. Such a
conception is often more real in a dream, indeed, than we can
achieve in the awake state.
In the awake state, however, empathy involves a specific experi-
ential quality. This quality of experience is very different from that of
sympathy. Empathy is not determined primarily by the specific
quality of the sentic states experienced. An additional integrating
function gives perspective to the experience—a perspective of the
sentic domain from which each sentic state is "savored," so to speak.
Empathy is inherently constructive; insofar as we willingly permit
another being to live within us, we also apply our own forces of self-
preservation to that individual who now lives within us—in short,
we have good will.
The point of view of empathy may allow us to feel good will even
toward someone whom we might otherwise hate. It benefits both
individuals involved in the relationship. Seeing an individual as he
is, even if that individual were to be a criminal; it is largely irrelevant,
in fact, what the specific configuration is: the sense of wonder and
awe at touching the entity of a unique individual supplants all other
sentic implications. Empathy is not judgmental; its nature is not to
offer advice.
The idiolog of a person, the basis of empathy, is not only mo-
mentarily present. Like idiologs of qualities, such as the tone of voice
by which we recognize an individual, the idiolog of a person may be
stored in the memory, and can partake of unconscious processes.
Also, like idiologs of other qualities, personal idiologs have great

75
 Clynes

stability. We may dream of individuals many years after not having

had contact with them, with a clear and undiminished dream
generation of their personalities.
Empathy and love are related. The essentic form of love, as we have
seen, involves a tendency to move toward the body, to include,
incorporate, to merge into us. With respect to the principle of inclu-
sion, empathy and love are similar. But with respect to action they
are different.
Empathy is achieved from an attitude of quiet. There is an inner
stillness on which the sentic impressions are projected, yet with full
recognition of the quality of each sentic state. This mode of per-
ceiving essentic form parallels the third mode of producing essentic
form that we have called the meditative, Apollonian, or spectator-
viewing mode. (It might seem strange to name an expressive mode
"the spectator-viewing" mode. This derives from the aspect of
quietness essential both to the production and to the perception of
essentic form in this mode. That quietness may correspond to the
concept of the Zen masters requiring one to "walk two inches off the
ground" and yet to experience fully.) There are thus two systems of
data processing of our nervous system involved in empathy: one
system which provides rock-like stability; the other which is
sensitive to every slightest nuance of essentic form.
To elucidate this function better, we may look at other, similar
aspects of double data processing which occur with some sensory
systems. For example, we possess an extremely stable spatial ori-
entation provided by the visual and kinesthetic systems, in spite of
the impingement of changing experience. Perhaps the earliest devel-
opment of such double data processing is our capacity to sense a
quality of touch together with the sense of where in the body it is
occurring. For example, a sensation of warmth on a finger is felt as
warm and simultaneously is experienced to occur at the finger. In
the highly advanced visual system, we can see a retinal image as sta-
ble in space as we move our eyes. When we turn our head, we do not

76
 Sentics

see the room rotate—it stays oriented in space because of compensa-

tion by the system.1
The sense of hearing also exhibits such double data processing.
The sensation of pitch corresponds to the kinesthetic sense: different
portions of the basilar membrane are stimulated by different
frequencies. The double data processing here becomes the sensing of
both pitch and intensity.
It is possible to consider that such double data processing methods
may extend to processes relating to emotional qualities. A prevalent
tendency of evolving organisms is to use already developed design
principles in further stages of development-we find this on many
different levels. (Cellular construction, unidirectional rate
sensitivity, inhibition excitation are some applicable design
principles.) A design principle once adopted is not easily rejected in
subsequent evolutionary development. And so the complementary
function of empathy and sympathy may be similarly involved in our
biologic design for orientation in emotional space.
This is because the retinal image is projected onto a second, oval,
dark "screen" and thus is experienced as stable in space with respect
to the head. We can see — in front of us, with eyes closed. It, in turn,
will appear to move as we move the head (Clynes 1968).

1
A simple but revealing experiment is to produce an after-image on the
retina by looking at a bright image, and then observe how the afterimage
moves as the eyes are rotated with lids closed. Although the afterimage rep-
resents a particular fixed spot on the retina, it will be seen to move as the eyes
are turned.
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 Clynes

Music and Sentics: Music as a Sentic Mirror

The Sentic Foundations of Music Essentic form is a form in time.
How may one capture such a form so that it can be experienced
again? The artist in a primitive culture can draw a form, a spatial
form that may suggest specific movement to us. But how could
primitive man capture the evanescent forms in time of the tone of
voice or an expressive sound? How can one indicate the course of the
sound? Music is the invention that answers this question. Music
differs from other sounds in using stable, defined pitch-sounds that
have a beginning, middle, and end. It partakes of the precision of es-
sentic form.
That music is largely an expression of inner gesture and song is
widely understood. Thus, for example, Roger Sessions says in his
book Questions About Music:
It is the quality and character of the musical gesture that
constitutes the essence of the music, the essential goal of the
performer's endeavors ...
...We experience music as movement and gesture, and that
movement and gesture, if they are to retain their power for us,
have to be constantly reinvested with fresh energy…
One must emphasize that a real gesture is in its very nature
organic. It takes precise and characteristic shape by virtue of its
own energy, its own inherent laws, its goals, its own curve and
direction. There is nothing whatever fortuitous about it.
Meaning in expressive music arises from the essentic forms of its
idiolog elements. Gestures, dance steps, vocalizations-all having id-
78
 Sentics

iolog representations in the brain—are the elements of music. How

do musical tones precisely express those idiologs of E-actons? A cat
or dog can perceive essentic form in the tone of voice or gesture, but
to perceive essentic form in musical sounds one needs the psycho-
logic key to understand musical language.
Because this key is often missing, many individuals fail to hear es-
sentic form in music. Such persons often describe themselves as
"tone deaf." Yet in modulation of their own voices they can be as ex-
pressive as anyone else, and they perceive others' voice inflections
quite normally. These individuals can gain entrance into the world of
music, in fact, once they regard music as a language of essentic
forms.

A Biological Basic of Musical Talent

Musical talent is to a considerable extent the natural ability to rec-
ognize essentic form in music and communicate through it. This is
independently discovered by the "talented" child. A child who has
discovered this "key" independently will gain familiarity with this
form of communication that appears to give him a great lead over his
peers, and so we say "this child has musical talent!" It is capable of
being taught, however. If a child did not have to wait for chance to
discover essentic form as musical communication, musical talent
would be a much more general phenomenon.1
Only rarely are individuals not capable of modulating their voice
according to their sentic condition. Although individuals inhibit
such modulation in various degrees, even everyday communication

1
Sentic training, including the practice of sentic cycles, provides a new
method for musical training and makes it possible for music students and
musicians to discover individually how to be naturally expressive in music,
while eschewing exaggeration. Developing musical talent and ability
through sentic training is the subject of a book presently in preparation by
the author. If one considers how much time musicians spent practicing
technical aspects and how little, if at all, emotional qualities are generally
practiced (or are even known how to be practiced), it is apparent that a
method that permits systematic emotional practice is long overdue!
79
 Clynes

requires a continuous modulation of the voice. Lack of such voice

modulation, encountered rarely, is perceived as clearly pathological.
The ability to think in musical sounds is in essence no different from
the ability to modulate one's tone of voice. Music uses discrete
frequencies, forming separate tones, but in the relationship of tones
essentic form may always be discovered.1 Traditionally, the question
of how music communicates-how it changes our states and gives us
insights—has mainly been the concern of aesthetics or of music crit-
icism. But we may regard the language of music also scientifically, in
the perspective of the existence of essentic forms. A good composer
who intends a particular portion of music to communicate joy can
do just that. The performer who understands the composer's
intention can transduce joy, and a listener can be sensitive to the
performance and perceive joy, a reflection of the vision of joy the
composer created perhaps hundreds of years before—all this is
possible through the function and stability of essentic form.

Essentic Form and the Dynamics of Musical Expression

Pitch, intensity, tone color, duration, and harmonic progression
are some of the variables that may be used either singly or in co-
operation to create sound images of essentic form.
Most music has another characteristic: a repetitive rhythmicity.
We need to examine the sentic significance of both these mental
processes: the organization of the sequence of sounds according to
motifs or phrases, and the recurrent generation of the beat.
In great music of the classical period in Western culture, a special
aspect of the beat developed, the inner pulse, which became a vehicle
for a most intimate revelation of the composer's personality; the
inner pulse became sentically charged.
In such music, the inner pulse provides an unvarying framework
or context, from which the sentic meaning of individual phrases de-
rives perspective. The inner pulse represents a certain "point of
view": an empathic identification with the composer. Like a con-
1
In the present discussion, all references are to "expressionist" rather than
"impressionist" types of music.
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 Sentics

ductor's beat, a rhythmic alternation modified in various dynamic

ways, the phenomenon of the inner pulse consists of a sequence of
imaginary actons: it is in effect an internally conducted beat. We can
think music without sound—the inner pulse consists of repeated
acton idiologs.
As we pointed out earlier in Chapter Three a sustained rhythmic
repetition requires only a single action pattern idiolog; there is only
one decision. The pattern is then automatically retriggered and the
rhythmic activity continues as long as a decision to stop is not made.
Likewise, the inner pulse, once set, will tend to continue without
special separate decisions for reiteration.1
The inner pulse is an alternation of two phases, which we may call
active and resting phases (a repetitive programming of impulse
response movements, in control theory terminology). The
important point is that when the inner pulse is sentically charged
(this inner alternation is not a mechanical clock, but contains char-
acteristic dynamic forms) the result is a specific inner pulse form.
The shape of this pulse form becomes a personal signature of the
composer. But it is not only a signature; it is also a sentic matrix rep-
resenting his own specific point of view or identity. We feel it as
"presence." Without it, music may be "correct" but it does not
communicate the immediate, intimate experience of the presence of
the composer. The inner pulse is a key to the empathy we experience
with a composer. Through it we can also come to love the composer
as a person.
The process generating the repeated inner pulse in music as
personal presence seems to be related to the dream process through
which the personality of a dreamed individual remains the same
from moment to moment in a dream- our creation of the personality
of a dreamed person. A similar continuity of personal presence oc-
curs in great music through the phenomenon of the inner pulse.2
1
The inner pulse may be measured with the methods already described of
measuring essentic form- expressive finger pressure with only slight
modification, as we shall discuss in the second half of this chapter.
2
This idea of the correspondence of these processes in fact presented itself to
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 Clynes

The specific pulse form of the inner pulse is characteristic of the

composer's individuality. But together with the underpinning of the
inner pulse, every good composer uses a wide range of essentic
forms in his musical expression; they are portrayed in the phrases,
harmonies, rhythms and motifs, tone color, dynamics, and silences
of the music. The two processes-the generation of the inner pulse,
and of various essentic forms-go on simultaneously. The basic form
of the inner pulse is unaffected by the specific expressive forms and
continues unchanged even during rests. It will continue for a certain
number of pulses after the last sound of the piece.1
The specific phrases are in a subtle way affected by the inner mu-
sical pulse. The inner pulse works as a matrix, permitting certain
types of essentic forms, excluding others. Thus the purity of the spe-
cific mixture of essentic form used in each phrase is to some extent
governed by the inner pulse, which serves, as mentioned before, as a
"point of view."
Apart from the influence of the inner pulse, each phrase or motif
communicated needs to be as faithful as possible to the particular
essentic form it is chosen to express. This affects not only the dynam-
ics and rhythm but every aspect of the sound produced down to the
smallest detail. Expression becomes a process of purification, of
avoiding all aspects not contributing to its quality. Only when the
sound produced is perfectly faithful to the inwardly heard essentic
form is the communication process really effective: then it can be
"beautiful." These aspects of the produced sound may be refined
down to fractions of tones, fractions of note values.
This does not mean that there is only one way to perform a given
piece, but rather that all ways should be living ways, i.e., faithful to
some essentic form. There are many possible living forms based on
sentic states and orthoessentic forms, but the class of dead forms is
infinitely greater. The interpretative choice of a musical phrase or
section consists of choosing what essentic form to express—which
the author first in a dream!
1
It may however stop briefly during the course of the piece at the end of a
large section, thereby clearly demarcating large subdivisions.
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 Sentics

sentic state and its orthoessentic form-and following that form with
greatest faithfulness or inner precision. In addition, the inner pulse
must be there to provide the personal presence.

Musical Notation and Inner Fidelity

How does this inner precision relate to written music? The true
essentic form rhythms are not capable of precise musical rhythmic
notation. A dance rhythm cannot be accurately notated, since the
rhythm idiolog is based on essentic form, the precision of which
does not divide neatly into half, quarter, or eighth-note values. The
stop. ping and starting of the successive actons and the precise ac-
celeration and deceleration govern the inner faithfulness to the ex-
pressive character of the dance. That may be only approximated by
musical notation. A good musician, however, feels and experiences
the expressiveness of the rhythm and will—unless constrained by
faulty academic teaching-be faithful to that inner form. A musician
may indeed rely on that form with greater trust than on his ability to
reproduce mechanical subdivisions of time. (By "mechanical" we
mean here arbitrary subdivisions that have no biological counterpart
in terms of essentic form programming.)
It is not only with respect to rhythmic notation that conventional
musical notation is inadequate. In hearing or thinking a melody we
mentally shape each tone. The manner of growth and decay of the
tone is implied precisely in our mental thought of the tone. But not
often do we in fact hear performances where the tones are shaped
according to our inner hearing. Mostly, a conflict occurs between the
actual and mentally heard sound. Such conflict is inevitable part of
the time. In a great performance, however, this conflict largely disap-
pears: the tones which we are led to anticipate confirm our antic-
ipation, and this contributes to the special ecstatic experience that
the performance gives. The wholeness of such an experience derives
from the coincidence between our inner expectation and the actual
heard realization.1 At rare times the actual heard sound may exceed
1
G. Kamizsa has demonstrated recently that the visual system can auto-
matically supply precise curved as well as straight contours and even angles
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and transcend our expectations. Such performances are truly mind-

expanding. They enlarge our own capacities and our sense of
discrimination and of values. That this should be possible through
music we shall be discussing in the following sections.

Expectation, Satisfaction, and Style

The functions and effects just discussed depend to a degree upon
"expectation." Since essentic form is a form in time, we do not expe-
rience the meaning and the satisfaction of the form until it is
completed. Accordingly, we have an expectation that extends to the
end of the particular essentic form being experienced. This means
that the duration of expectancy varies, depending on the phase of
the essentic form one is experiencing at that moment. This ex-
pectancy may cover a period of anywhere from o to 4 seconds.
What happens at the end of an essentic form? Is there any further
expectancy? At this point a different kind of expectancy phenome-
non occurs. We may be led to expect a repetition of a similar essentic
form, beginning at that time or shortly thereafter. The nature of this
expectancy, however, is different from the expectancy of an un-
finished essentic form. If, through the sentic state generated, we are
led to expect another similar essentic form, we may experience
several possibilities. Either this expectation is fulfilled, and another
similar essentic form does in fact occur; or the form may be some
what modified, to a slight departure from the previous form with a
modified experience—perhaps of a more intense or less intense
aspect with a subtly different shade of emphasis. However, we may
also be presented with a strongly contrasted essentic form which de-
liberately runs counter to our expectation of continuity. In the first
case we shall be led, step by step, into a gradually altered, intensified,
to missing portions of incomplete figures. "This visual process appears to be
analogous to the auditory phenomena we are discussing. Moreover, essentic
forms, regardless of the particular sense modality, appear to have this
property: if their forms are constituted through a number of fragments that
are precise and of sufficient extent, the nervous system will interpolate the
rest. The error must be one of omission, not commission. How much may be
omitted remains to be determined.
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or shaded experience arising from the original state; in the second

case, we shall experience surprise and be jolted from the previous
state into a confrontation arising from the contrast between the two
states, a confrontation which we are accustomed to call "dramatic."
In the second case, instead of the security of continuing ex-
pectations, we may experience humor, awe, perspective, or perhaps
wonder.
After the newly established essentic form is repeated a few times,
we are again led to expectations as before. Accordingly there is the
possibility of an alternation of the satisfaction of expectations that
are fulfilled, with the special sensations of sentic contrast. Each
phase by its nature may last only for a specific duration. Therefore,
one method of building a significant piece of music consists of using
the appropriate alternation of the satisfaction of continuity of es-
sentic form in turn with the deliberate juxtaposition of different
sentic states. (For an obvious example of this, consider the slow
movement of Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony.) The proportion in
which different composers employ the expectancy of continuous es-
sentic form versus the contrasted juxtaposition is a function of both
the style and personality of the composer. Certain composers and
styles favor continuity (for example, the baroque style), others favor
juxtaposition (for example, the classical style.)
Another difference concerns the nature of the juxtaposition itself.
If the transition from one essentic form to another is in the nature of
opposites, the surprise experience will be mitigated by the new
integration of the two states as opposites. If, however, the juxtaposed
states are presented without this implied unifying relationship, the
surprise will have elements of "magic." In this meaning, magic is the
opposite of inevitability. The experience pulls away from the past or
anticipation of the future, and we lose control. The dictionary
meaning of "magic" is "supernatural," the suspension of some
aspects of natural law and of continuity. The use of magic in this
sense in the composition of music characterizes the primarily
"romantic" approach to music.

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In a different sense of the word, all music partakes of magic. But

the "magical" effect of much of the music of Bach, Beethoven, and
Mozart, say, lies in its ability to expand our comprehension of es-
sentic forms through continuity, expectation, and meaningful con-
trast, as well as in the specific experience of qualities of essentic form
that particularly involves love and reverence.
On the other hand, in romantic music, expectations tend to center
around situations of longings, or of unaccountably tragic events, or
magical reprieves, of fairytale-like transportations into imaginary
worlds. The first type of music gives us an impression of increasing
our empathy, our ability to be in touch with natural sentic order. It
provides us with immediate knowledge of essentic forms in relation
to their place in the larger order. Romantic music, on the other hand,
is more seductive in nature, and will give us ecstasies of the moment-
forgetfulness but will not generally provide as lasting a sense of
security.

The Composer's Point of View

These considerations imply that a relationship between various
sentic states can be brought into play. Thus, for example, the sense of
bliss and terror in Mozart are diametrically related. But in Chopin's
Fantasy in F, longing, turmoil, and grief do not in themselves con-
stitute such opposable states, but form part of a dramatic continuum
where each sentic state is felt as a result of a situation or action rather
than as an existential quality in its own right.
More generally, we can distinguish various attitudes of
communication in the way essentic forms are used by composers.
We may classify these "points of view" first according to whether
they represent:
(1) action in the present,
(2) reminiscence of the past, or
(3) anticipation of the future.
Secondly, we can also classify them as representing either a
"spectator" or "actor" point of view. This distinction is similar to the

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ways in which we may actively participate or be a spectator in our

own dreams.
There are six such points of view. If P stands for point of view, then
we may have:
Pp, Pn, Pf where p stands for past
n stands for now
f stands for future
And further we may have:
Ppa, Pna, Pfa where a stands for actor
Pps, Pns, Pfs where s stands for spectator
The inner pulse consists of acton idiologs modulated by the point
of view of the composer. For example, Mahler's point of view is
frequently that of "spectator reminiscing"; his pulse form
corresponds to this. Beethoven is predominantly "actor in the
present"; Mozart is "spectator in the present"; Schubert is mostly
"actor with expectations of the future," and so on.
Within each category of point of view, there is a range of possible
sentic implications. Thus, the quality of expectations of the future
may vary according to various forms of longing. The object of
longing may be of a sexual nature, or "romantic" in the colloquial
sense, or may be a longing for deliverance or salvation. We can ob-
serve that quite different essentic forms are involved. Does the differ-
ence in shape imply that these longings relate to basically different
drives? We shall explore aspects of this later on.
Looking thus at the relationship of the inner pulse and the point
of view, we may ask cryptically concerning how the character of the
inner pulse and the corresponding acton idiologs is experienced:
who is doing what?-in terms of the actor versus spectator point of
view and of the temporal function of living in the present, reminisc-
ing, or hoping for or dreading the future.
We need to ask ourselves further about the nature of the "who."
Some form of image of self, of identification, is sensed in the inner
pulse. This is of particular importance. Let us consider how it applies

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to the last works of Beethoven and their particular psychedelic

power.

Quantum Leap in Identification Achieved by Beethoven's Last

Works
The psychological function of the "who" may be reframed in terms
of a personal image, or an image of the universal implied. If we are
considering music as a dance, who is dancing? Is it "I" or "You" or the
whole living world? In the language of psychology, with whom does
the "who" identify? In middle-period Beethoven, a Promethean atti-
tude dominates—the contrast between universal forces or spirit, and
the striving of the individual. This contrast sets up a tension, which
we feel as reflecting enormous power—the inner pulse of Beethoven
has a massiveness that appears essentially unshakable. This rock-like
strength conveyed in every dynamic form forms the basis of the eth-
ical character of Beethoven's pulse in this period. There is, as it were,
a continuing relationship, the striving of the individual related to
universal forces—a dualism revealed in an interlocking pulse form,
within which yet a sense of separateness is maintained.
In his last works Beethoven surmounted this sense of dualism and
achieved a fusion of being that eliminates struggle and its tension
from the inner pulse. This is replaced by a projection of a "peace that
passeth all understanding" whose own strength far surpasses the
tensile strength of his earlier pulse. Although the outward shape of
the pulse is not substantially changed, it is now no longer accompa-
nied by the steady muscular tensions that resulted in the pulse's
effectively very high inertia. The implied strength of this pulse de-
rives from its universality. Even the liveliest dances of Beethoven's
last quartets no longer incite the feet to dance. Instead, the "heart in-
side dances." Beethoven found a new way of uncoupling the motoric
output from the expression of essentic form by allowing inner forms
to dance without corresponding motor outputs. He embodied in his
music a way to live fully and be at perfect peace at the same time. In
this music the meaning of essentic form appears no longer as a

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communication directed at motoric outward expression. When the

universe dances within who needs to be told?
In terms of sentic communication, when several individuals
together experience this, they "know" that they are brothers.
Beethoven once said about his music, "Anyone who understands my
music is saved." Let us try to understand what he may have meant by
this. Anyone who has heard Beethoven's last quartets tends to
become stronger. The sentic images of this music act as a powerful
shield providing refuge from attack, from personal sorrow, from
cynical disbelief. Transfused in this way with love and universal
energy, we become purged from vicissitudes, destructive thoughts,
doubts, and hostilities of our own making. In his music he succeeded
in expanding our minds to boundaries and intelligence far exceed-
ing our ordinary abilities.
Today we begin to realize the scientific basis of the "mind expan-
sion" produced by the magic of musical forms. The magic is not
supernatural, although it is universal. It touches the sentic ground of
our existence, and follows its laws. The point of view of Beethoven's
last music incorporates the precise transfer function1 relating the
universal essentic forms to domains of awareness, in experience that
needs no further expression. This transfer function can be seen to be
in theory precisely analyzable-to be the mathematical relationship of
what has also been called satori. In that relationship we experience
that we exist and are "at home," secure beyond possibility of doubt.
How did Beethoven produce this identification with the universal
in the expression of each single essentic form? How was he able to
program us in such a way that the dancing and love within is not felt
as dancing of our individual egos, the "I," but of universal forces? In
order to experience the great calm that is programmed, a
disconnection as well as a connection is made in our internal
programming. Our own individual drives are disconnected from
their usual outputs. (Again, we are reminded of the Zen dictum of
walking two inches above the ground.) More than detachment is
1
A mathematical statement in differential equations relating input and out-
put variables.
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implied, however. We are also connected in an immediate, direct

way to what appears as a "source of universal energy and love.
An aspect of this special state is that it can be remembered: we
remember here not only a specific sentic state, but the quality of the
point of view, of feeling a different sense of connectedness—a state
that allows the simultaneous experience of energy and peace. Such a
quality is not to be found, for instance, in the music of Chopin,
where energy is generally coupled to passion, and peace to sit-
uational realization and satisfaction. The peace of the last quartets of
Beethoven is not the peace of a lullaby.1
It is an apparent paradox that this sense of utmost peace is at the
same time combined with a state of energy. If we examine this para-
doxical combination closely we note that it is also combined with ab-
sence of anxiety. The strength it gives is not that of the armed
aggressor, but that of the man who is home in the wonder of exis-
tence. Yet, all that brought this experience forth are only sounds,
vibrations of the air, tones. How can these relationships transform us
to such an extent? Sentic analysis of music and the meta-music of
sentic cycles in the following chapters, together with observation of
brain behavior, may help us further to elucidate this question.2
1
The identification of the "who" with the universal in the inner musical
pulse, which so pronouncedly occurs in the last works of Beethoven, is not
necessarily unique to this music alone. Bach, and Mozart at times allow us
to partake of this in their own way. However, it is present concentratedly in
the last quartets of Beethoven, largely freed from unessentials of style and
epoch.
2
The concept of "assimilation" was recently introduced by Segal to denote
the process whereby real stimuli may be incorporated into imagined images
so that the image itself contains some aspects of the stimulus, without the
awareness of the individual that this relates to an external stimulus. In cre-
ating an image we also create certain expectancies and tend to assimilate
those features of the environment which meet these expectations.
Such assimilation phenomena are even more widespread in the experience
of sentic states. When we are in love, we see spring all around us. Our
sensibilities are selectively changed by our moods and what may move us to
ecstasy in one sentic state will hardly move us at all in another. So also in
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Precision of Execution in Musical Performance

In the first chapter of this book, we showed how the stability of the
quality of red and of similar idiologs that are one-to-one translations
of the physiologic code demonstrate the high degree of precision of
our nervous system. Idiologs of qualities and emotions as portrayed
by music may show a perhaps even more astonishing precision.
An example of this precision is made clear by data drawn from a
study we made of performances by Arturo Toscanini separated by
many years. Recorded music makes it feasible to compare
performances of the same composition by the same individual sepa-
rated by a long period of time. The stability of the performance is
primarily a function of four influences: (a) stability of the idea and
concept (i.e., idiologs and their organization), (2) stability of exe-
cution, (3) influence of environmental factors (i.e., acoustics,
humidity) and their effect on both the idiologs and execution, and
(4) the presence of "noise" elements with respect to idea and exe-
cution (e.g., inattention, anxiety, fatigue, lack of concentration, etc.).
Appreciating the many sources of possible variability in the
performance of a complex musical composition, one would expect a
relatively limited possibility of stability.
To estimate what stability is humanly possible in this regard we
carefully examined many years of recordings of Arturo Toscanini-a
musician whose precision was legendary. The published timings of
these in some instances varied so little over many years that they
aroused both our interest and doubt. With the kind help of the con-
ductor's son, Walter, we secured access to the original master tapes
of the performances to eliminate errors in timing on the commercial
recordings due to the transfer from the master, variability of pauses
introduced, and confusion due to splicing of different takes.
Comparisons were confined to entire continuous "live"

music, the intensity and specific effects of separate essentic forms depend on
the context from which they spring. The context of the sentic state needs to be
established. In that established state, specific musical phrases gain added
significance.
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performances, recorded in the same NBC studio with the same or-
chestra (although the personnel of the orchestra varied slightly).
Among the works available, we chose to analyze three
performances of the Brahms Haydn Variations Op. 56B (performed
in 1935, 1938, and 1948) because of the number of variations that
permit convenient comparison of both the total performance time of
the work and of the times of the individual sections, the variations,
within it. We were amazed to discover that the total timing of two of
these performances differed only by o.3 second in 16 minutes 50 sec-
onds (about 1 part in 2,000) although recorded ten years apart (See
Figure 13.) Comparisons of individual variations show most of them
to be within one second of each other, illustrating that the similarity
in over-all timing was not just a coincidence. Major portions of the
1935 performance also coincide with the 1938 performance, further
confirming the stability. Where deviations appear, they are relatively
substantial. The timing data illustrate that if the idea and concept
remained the same there was a great stability, but if the musician
changed his mind about a variation, the change would amount to at
least an order of magnitude greater than the variability. Other
performances show similar results.1
That the idea and concept could remain the same over so many
years—during which time there occurred a major world upheaval
and thirteen years of aging of the conductor, as well as members of
the orchestra—is astonishing. The stability of the idea/concept that
Toscanini's execution demonstrated here is a remarkable proof of
the precision of feelings and idiologs. Such precision is probably
present in all great art, whether it is a line in a Raphael painting or
an eloquent phrase from the cello of Pablo Casals. (See Plates 4-8 in
photo insert.) The source of this precision is the human qualities and
corresponding idiologs and not a stability of repetitiousness due to
rote learning. There can be no question of Toscanini trying to
remember how he did it ten years previously: a good artist always
1
Toscanini indicated his own metronome marks in his score: however, he
was in practice an order of magnitude more accurate than the increments of
the metronome steps!
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Figure 13. Timings of three performances of the Brahms Haydn Vari-

ations Opus 56B by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra
in 1935, 1938, and 1948, respectively. A great similarity exists in the last
two performances in the sections from the theme to variation 6, while the
sections from variations 5 to 9 are very similar in the first two
performances. The differences in the timings in the other variations are
considerably greater and indicate a change in concept. Variation 7 has two
time markings, the second one is for the repetition. The changes in vari-
ations 7, 8, and 9 of the last two performances are mutually compensating
so that the total time of the performance differed by less than 0.5 sec. (Ac-
curacy of the timing system was about two times greater than this
deviation.)

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feels the work anew—besides, memory alone would hardly allow

such accuracy!
We have considered aspects of the stability, identity, and dynamics
of idiologs, and we may now see how generalized emotions have
been used through idiolog representation in music. A composer may
(and frequently does) think of idiolog forms in music without actual
sound, as Beethoven did. Even after he became deaf, in some in-
stances he could judge from the facial expression of the performer
whether he was interpreting the music in the right spirit.1 One senses
muscular tensions and relaxations in the expressive shapes of sound,
in particular those of the throat and chest muscles. These sensed id-
iologs of muscle tensions and relaxations reconstruct the essentic
form in the hearer-thus producing sentic communication. If there
were no idiologs of muscle tension and relaxation, most music
would cease to communicate.
Such an approach in terms of muscle tension and relaxation pat-
terns makes it easier to analyze the actual sound in terms of sentic
communication than frequency and power spectrum analysis of the
sound alone, which has been stymied in its efforts.2 (K. N. Stevens
has reported expressive forms of anger and grief in voice production
that compare well with the essentic forms we have found.)

Measuring the Inner Pulse Shapes of Music

As we have seen, thinking in music largely combines a succession
of expressive actons which have beginnings and ends and precise
shapes with a simultaneous, repetitive motor idiolog pattern. The re-

1
In fact, what Beethoven sensed is in accordance with measurements of how
the dynamics of the tone of voice in expressive exclamations such as "ah" or
are produced. These measurements suggest that the expressive character of
the sensed qualities follows the essentic forms when observations are taken
of the dynamic muscular changes that produce them rather than by an-
alyzing the sound alone.
2
Since the information and significance lie in the transient form itself, fre
quency analysis is at a disadvantage, since it must take separate, finite time
segments for analysis.
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cutent initiation of action, the inner pulse, is not, however, the same
as meter, rhythm, or beating time. Two pieces of music with the
same meter or notated rhythm may have entirely different essentic
pulse forms.
In fact, we can measure the inner musical pulse without producing
any sound at all. (See Figures 14-21.) As in the measurement of es-
sentic form, a subject sits in a chair and presses the middle finger of
his right hand (if he is right-handed) on the pressure transducer ex-
pressing his experience of the inner pulse as he thinks the specific
piece of music, without producing any sound. In a way, this is a kind
of conducting in which the movement of the arm is replaced by
transient pressure of the finger. As the musical piece is thought
through (one thinks the music, not about the music) in real time, the
inner pulse is expressed repeatedly. To standardize the measurement
of the form of the pulse we normalize the tempo to sixty per minute,
or one second per pulse (in order to have comparable pulse forms-
the active and resting phases of the inner pulse "telescope" differently
at different speeds). This in fact is not far removed from the real
tempo of the pieces we are investigating. (It turns out that the
deviations in the tempo from that otherwise desired by the sub ject
do not affect the specific nature of the inner pulse.)
A counter is used as a visual synchronizing agent, but no auditory
synchronization is used.1 Fifty pulse shapes (of fifty seconds total
duration) are averaged with a CAT computer for each music piece.
The shapes generated seemed to be related to the personality of the
composer in a highly intimate manner. It was found that with some
care we could reliably observe pulse shapes characteristic of
individual composers, regardless of the particular piece chosen. But
only musicians capable of an intimate understanding of the
composers could produce their characteristic pulse shape in this
way.2
1
An auditory synchronizing signal (as opposed to a visual one) causes one
to tend to synchronize not with the initiation of the downbeat, but with its
lowest point, thus phase-shifting the observed pulse form.
2
In his book Theme and Variations, Yehudi Menuhin speaks of meeting Bela
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The shape of the inner musical pulse as measured, from an average

of say fifty pulses in a given piece, is an image of the composer's
personality, as seen by the interpreter. As noted before the process is
similar to the dream process in which one dreams of a person and
that person continues to retain her or his personality during the
dream; it is the dreamer who creates this consistent continuity. Just
as in a dream, the personality of the composer is retained in the
character of the continuing musical pulse. In fact, the absence of the
characteristic musical pulse is immediately recognized as an absence
of the "living presence" of the composer.
As Becking (1927) already recognized so clearly, one cannot take
a musical phrase from Mozart and put it into Beethoven—even if it
is identical note for note-without stumbling over the beat when one
arrives at the phrase; there are different underlying musical pulses
involved. The change from one pulse to another involves a major
change of program in the brain- e.g., switching from a Beethoven
pulse to a Chopin pulse.
The stability of the pulse form as produced by different musicians
does not mean that the subjects are equally good at performing but
merely that they share certain ideas about the nature of the
composer. These ideas would in the past have been described as "in-

Bartók for the first time. "I shall never forget my first meeting with him: it
was in November 1943. . . . I was anxious to play for Bartôk-to receive his
criticism before performing his music in public.
"Though I had had no preconceived idea of his manner or appearance, his
music had already revealed to me his innermost secrets. A composer is
unable to hide anything_ by his music you shall know him.
"Immediately, with the first notes, there burst forth between us, like an
electric current, an intimate bond, which was to remain fast and firm. It was
as if we had known each other for years. I believe that between a composer
and his interpreter there can exist a stronger, more intimate bond, even with
the exchange of words, than between the composer and a friend he may have
known all his life. For the composer reserves the core of his personality, the
essence of his self for his works."

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Figure 14. Essentic form of the inner pulse of slow movements of Bee.
thoven (vertical component). Different movements are compared, as well
as the same movement for different interpreters. The lowest trace is of a
first movement in triple meter whose pulse is considered comparable in an
appropriate time scale (one pulse per bar in this case). The inner pulse
shape continues into periods of rest. Considered as a second-order
dynamic system, it has a damping factor equivalent to approximately 0.2,
indicating about three afterbeats before cessation, and comparatively high
inertia. The high inertia tends to give both an inherent propulsion and a
comparatively late down (negative) peak. There is a prolonged initial acton
preprogramming as compared with the low-inertia pulse of Mozart (see
Figure 15). The relative symmetry of the pulse precludes introduction of
late sexual elements of longing as observed in the second phases of the
inner pulses associated with romantic composers, and gives rise to an im-
pression of "ethical constraint." (Average of fifty pulses.)

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Figure 15. The essentic form of the inner pulse of Mozart shows consid.
erably lower inertia than that of Beethoven. The down peak occurs much
earlier, and there is a small overshoot with damping of about 0.7. The
Mozart pulse has no more than one afterbeat compared with several for
Beethoven. Its relatively light and buoyant character is related to the low-
inertia term coupled with slight underdamping and a response time
corresponding to a normally preprogrammed free acton. In that sense the
Mozart pulse is freer than the Beethoven pulse and we may see how it could
well be associated with such descriptive terms as a "cosmic pulse" as com-

tuitive"-but we can now relate them to the performer's discovery of

the type of idiologs and essentic forms that "ft" (somewhat in the
manner of a sentic jigsaw puzzle) the point of view of the composer.1
Such discoveries are readily made even by talented children—and
even often better by them, before sentic fluidity is blocked as they
grow up. The music itself implies them. The manner of implication

1
A few examples are given in Appendix IV, where certain phrases by Bee
thoven, Mozart, and Chopin are compared to show how essentic form pro-
vides meaning and expression.
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 Sentics

Figure 16. Essentic form of the Schubert pulse illustrated shows a genet.
ally very early down peak, and low inertia, but also a fast rise leading to
overshoot. There is a characteristic upward deflection related to elements
of hope and longing. But this characteristic Schubert rise is very different
from the romantic sexual rise, accompanied by higher inertia and tension.
The Schubert pulse is relatively highly damped. (Lyric Brahms has a high
inertia and low damping.)

has not yet been analyzed, so that one still depends on individuals at
this time to have the "sensitivity" to perceive these implications.
The stability, however, shows that, like red, the personality
Beethoven revealed in his music has a precise existence that con-
tinues. This stability is not a result of "tradition" or of "style." Mozart
and Haydn have very different inner musical pulse shapes! So have
Debussy and Ravel. However, the study of changes in pulse shape
with the history of music is interesting as an indication of the change
in the sentic matrix (the inclusion of sexual longing, of disdain, of
anger, of despair or hope, of enthusiasm, etc. as important elements

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Figure 17. Baroque music as conceived in the customary baroque style has
a pulse which is primarily time beating and not charged with essentic form.
(Though this is not so for Casals, whose interpretation of Bach rather has
aspects of a super Beethoven pulse.) It is interesting that differences in
interpretive approach are so clearly brought out by the measure of essentic
form of the inner pulse.

of the pulse point of view at various times and with various

composers).

Figure 18. Essentic form of the inner pulses of romantic composers.

Schumann in his slow movements has a pulse form of medium inertia, no
overshoot, and high damping. This essentic form has a character of special
intimacy, a gentle touch to the inner core of a person. The sec. ond portion
of the pulse is in a state of suspension and tension mounts as one awaits the
next pulse. Each pulse becomes a special act, a gift or miracle almost—
wonders appear every second as if created out of nothing.

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The longing and passionate romantic themes of Tchaikovsky and Wagner

show a very marked second phase with a strong overshoot of high inertia.
It seems that the effective inertia and tension is not as constant as in
Beethoven but fluctuates periodically with an increase in the second half of
the pulse. This appears to be related to the increased ten. sion of opposing
sets of muscles in the second half of the pulse. The horizontal components
of this music (not shown) are far more outward as compared with that of
Mozart and Beethoven (vertical). The preponderant second phase is asso-
ciated with the secondary muscle activity seen in passionate actons, as
illustrated in the Sex responses (see Figure 4 in Chapter Four).

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Figure 19. Inner pulse of compositions of Virgil Thomson as pro. duced by

the composer himself and compared with his interpretations of Debussy
and Ravel. Both vertical and horizontal components are given. Note the
similarity of the two different pieces of each composer to one another and
how the essentic form of Virgil Thomson falls between those characteristic
of Debussy and Ravel. Virgil Thomson's music has frequently been charac-
terized, in fact, as having kinship to both Ravel and Debussy. It is desirable
to measure essentic forms of living composers, as they think their own mu-
sic, giving us their authentic form.

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Figure 20. Comparison of essentic forms of "romantic" and "classic"

composers together with associated muscle activity (recorded as in Figures
5-6 in Chapter Four). The marked outward horizontal components of
romantic composers are in concordance with elements ascribed to sexual
longing. Note the reversal of phase for muscle 4 for Chopin as compared
with Beethoven.

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Figure 21. Comparison of the inner musical pulse forms of Haydn and
Mozart. These forms were measured for various slow movements (K.491,
467, 570 for Mozart; Sonatas in C Major E Flat Major, and D Major for
Haydn). Note the interesting and consistent differences in in the horizontal
trace also. The sense of awe, wonder, and "natural piety" characteristic of
the Haydn pulse is reflected by the upward striving, rounded top portion of
the pulse compared with the more sober pulse shape of Mozart. Note
particularly that, though the composers share a style, the context of their
individual personal character results in different pulse forms.

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PART TWO
Sentic Cycles, Personal Applications and
Extensions of Sentic Theory

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Cell Cluster that names itself brain:

I am, says the order of cells And moves some matter
In a living space.
1 feel, says the multitude Of atoms, and moving Weaves a trace
In an empty One.
And presently essentic form becomes A trace to touchOne and
One, now Is transformed to Thou.

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Sentic Circles and Their Capacity to Transform

How remarkable it would be if one could experience and express
the spectrum of emotions embodied in music originating from one-
self- -without the crutch of a composer's intercession, without being
driven by the composer; and to do so moreover whenever we wish,
not when circumstance may call them forth. This, indeed, has
become possible through the development of sentic cycles.
In the previous chapters, we observed various temporal properties
of essentic forms. We have seen how the biologic time forms that
communicate emotion are stored in music, keeping them timelessly
fresh across centuries. In each vital experience of music, these forms
are regenerated anew.
In music, essentic forms are enjoyed through ordered relation-
ships between tones; but the tone of voice and touch are not so
schematized. Can we make the source of essentic forms permanently
available to the individual, using only his own fantasy, not a
composer's, independently of musical instruments and of sound it-
self? Can the touch that lies behind music be tapped?
That is, can we generate and newly experience sequences of sentic
states, using the biologic temporal "deep structures" - the time lattice
of meta-music that lies behind musical communication?
The discovery of the universality of essentic forms has in fact led
to the development of a simple, direct method by which they can be
repeatedly produced and experienced - creatively, meditatively, and
freed from their customary sensory coding of sound or of visual
form. This work has yielded a program making it feasible to experi-

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ence sentic states at will a programmed sequence which we call

"sentic cycles."
It was found that tapping this source directly could indeed help a
person be more in touch with the vital sources of life. This process
largely eliminates a distinction analogous to that between composer
and performer: the subject becomes both (without learning to
perform on a musical instrument).1 The power of sentic cycles and
music to generate emotions shares a common source. However, do-
ing sentic cycles requires no production of sound, no laboriously
acquired skills divorced from sentic discrimination. Everyone can
readily do them. Sentic cycles is a simple means by which a person,
in his own home, can generate in himself substantially the entire
spectrum of emotions in a period of approximately thirty minutes
This method allows one to experience emotions from different
points of view, meditatively and with active expression, and has led
to a variety of therapeutic effects.

What Are Sentic Cycles?

The method of expressing and generating sentic states (as de-
scribed in Chapter Four) can be employed to engender creative ex-
periences of organized sequences of sentic states- somewhat like a
new art form of touch.
To do sentic cycles, all that is necessary is to have a sentic cycle
cassette tape, a finger rest, and a means of playing the tape. (No
measuring instruments are required.) A person sits on a simple chair
without armrests, preferably with a cushion behind his back and one

1
* In the study of music, the practice and development of sentic discrim-
ination is clearly different from the development of skills in mastering instru-
mental technique. The monolithic drive to develop technical skills frequently
leads- except in those exceptionally "gifted"-to the neglect of practice of sentic
discrimination and development. Finger exercises have been foisted on mu-
sic students for generations, but no one until now has devised systematic
"'feeling exercises" although it is certainly obvious how much they are
needed. As we shall see, sentic training afforded by sentic cycles ac-
complished this also.
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on the seat, with his feet firmly placed on the floor (shoes may be
removed); legs should not be crossed. The finger rest is positioned on
a coffee table, or on a second, hard-seat chair. The person starts the
tape, puts the third finger on the finger rest, and closes his eyes.
Whenever he hears a click, he expresses with a single expressive
action of pressure the quality of the state called for, as precisely as he
can. States to be generated are announced by the tape: no emotion,
anger, hate, grief, love, sex, joy, and reverence. Each state lasts several
minutes and contains a sequence of timing clicks initiating ex-
pressive actions. The participant cannot predict when the next click
will occur. The person is ready to express the quality called for and
awaits the next click to carry out the expression. One expression for
each click is to be done.
At the end of the cycle (or several such cycles) he sits quietly for a
minute or two before getting up and resuming his activities. He may
not want to talk for some minutes afterward.

The Discovery of Sentic Cycles

One day in 1968, having worked long hours in the laboratory, I
made a strange discovery: I noticed myself feeling unduly well! I had
often spent many hours expressing essentic forms to obtain precise
measurements. But after seven or eight hours of being constrained
and hooked up to several instruments, instead of feeling tired, I
found myself fresh and exhilarated. At first I thought this to be just
the result of having accomplished a good day's work. But the phe-
nomenon kept recurring, and it soon became clear that something
else was involved.1 Results with other subjects confirmed this. So we
decided to try to make the experience more compact, to concentrate
the beneficial effects and study them systematically. The order and
selection of sentic states, and the duration of each, were refined step
by step, and the biologically optimum durations for the mean inter-
vals between acton initiation and for the degree of randomness be-

1
I even started to look forward to coming to work-to spend hours doing this
and to get paid for it as well!
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tween actions were gradually discovered for each sentic state. These
turned out to be quite different for different states.
As the design of the sequences of intervals was undertaken, every
interval was sculptured in relationship to those before and after.
Every change produced a change in the effect of the experience on
the subject. To try to perfect the sequences was at times like training
a dog to choose between an ellipse and a circle: as the differences are
made smaller and smaller, the dog tends to go insane! It was nec-
essary to sense the differences of each change, but also to compare
the new effect with how it was before the change was made. In spite
of the benefits of sentics, this seemed sometimes enough to drive one
crazy. But, persevering over several years, programs and tapes were
developed for initiating each action and for the sequence of sentic
states that seemed close to optimal. The real payoff, remarkably, was
that the subtleties of timing being nearly optimal for one individual
were also nearly optimal for others. Considering sentic theory, this
is perhaps really not so surprising. In fact if it were not so, music
would not function either. Still, it was gratifying to observe this
result.

The Therapeutic Effects of Sentic Cycles

It is found that sentic cycles have many possible therapeutic and
preventive uses. The effects of their regular practice are far-ranging.
Well-adjusted persons can use them to generate a "high," and like
forms of meditation and physical exercise, they can be used on a
regular basis to maintain a general sense of well-being and of being
in "touch" with the self. Doing sentic cycles can increase self-assur-
ance and expand one's sensitivity to a range of emotional experience,
affording insight into the nature of feeling, interpersonal relation-
ships, and, in general, the nature of being. It is a form of emotional
training.
Those suffering from unusual anxieties, phobias, severe stress, and
a wide range of psychosomatic symptoms can use them (with
supervision) to alleviate their symptoms and facilitate normal
functioning. And sentic cycles used regularly over longer periods of

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time can gradually modify attitudes, patterns of behavior, emotional

reactions, and improve relationships with other people. Couples, es-
pecially, can use them jointly to enlarge and improve their relation-
ship. The insights that their continued experience provides can
implement positive changes in character structure.
Sentic cycles have distinct effects on the mental state and on a
number of physiologic processes. The experience of sentic cycles is
unique and cannot be completely adequately described in words, but
it is not at all difficult to experience for most subjects.
In over four years, 72 per cent of about three thousand subjects
(ages twelve to eighty) were able to perform sentic cycles successfully
at their first session, and to experience their effects. Of those subjects
who completed three trials of sentic cycles, 83 per cent of the fantasy
emotions called for were readily experienced (only 17 per cent caus-
ing any difficulty), according to subjects' reports. And 68 per cent of
the subjects had no difficulty in expressing and fantasizing all the
seven sentic states: anger, hate, grief, love, sex, joy, reverence. Rever-
ence proved to cause difficulty most frequently, less frequently hate,
and more rarely joy. After two additional trials, three quarters of
those subjects reported no further difficulty with the particular
emotion that they had previously been unable to express.
The experience of other investigators who have used sentic cycles
extensively has been similar. For example, Drs. Alfred French and J.
Tupin report that there is no question that sentic cycles are indeed
effective in generating fantasy emotions. The two scientists reported
"clyning1 is clearly a process wherein affect is experienced, ex-
pressed, and made accessible to the psyche." The effects on the
mental state are a sense of calmness, relatedness, and, at times, in-
sights into the nature of the emotions themselves, and of the sub-
ject's relationships with them. To be able to summon up various
sentic states at will and express them without fear or embarrassment
is a satisfaction in itself. In addition, the subject has confidence that

1
"Clyning" is the term introduced by Dr. A. French to describe carrying out
sentic states.
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Figure 22. Variations of heart rate during a sentic cycle. Many subjects
show marked increases in heart rate especially during anger and sex.

he can and may act freely, spontaneously, without worry that it will
have a punitive effect.
Subjects are often afraid to express emotions in real life for various
reasons, but they are willing and even glad-to experience similar
emotions while doing sentic cycles. The fear of losing control which
they experience in a real situation does not seem to play an
inhibiting effect during sentic cycles. 1
The state produced by sentic cycles is very different from hypnosis.
One is very alert and in full control at all times. Physiologic
responses include changes in heart rate and respiration. These vary
systematically with each sentic state, as does oxygen consumption.
(See Figures 22-25.) Huenergardt reported that heart rate increased
on the average from 75 to 115 beats per minute during the experi-
1
Even a musical performance does not have such freedom - an audience is
more or less critical, and there also is self-criticism. But when one plays to
oneself, perhaps a fantasy, without thought of success or failure, listening and
"speaking" at the same time, one comes closest to some aspect of the experi-
ence that sentic cycles, without the need for hours and years of dulling
practice, can give.
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Figure 23. Changes in respiration and heart rate during a sentic cycle.
Respiration accelerates during anger and hate. During grief the respiration
has a gasping character with rest periods at the expiratory end of the cycle.
Respiration slows during love, and speeds up markedly for sex. (In-
spiration is downward in the figure.) During reverence there is a marked

ence of anger and joy, generated through the repeated expression of

essentic form in response to images presented on a screen showing
scenes suggestive of these states. Some 20 per cent of the subjects
tested cry during the state of grief during the first time they do sentic
cycles.
There is a marked difference in respiration during different phases
of sentic cycles, as would be expected. Respiration slows during
grief, love, and reverence and increases during anger, hate, and sex.
Different phases of respiration tend to coincide with expressions of
specific sentic states- for example, anger with expiration and joy with

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114
 Sentics

Figure 24. In the upper left graph oxygen consumption for four sentic
cycles of the same subject shows consistent change for the various sentic
states. Changes in all four cycles are in the same direction for
corresponding states, except for one step between grief and love in the
fourth cycle. Passionate states tend to show greater oxygen consumption.
Note the relation between oxen consumption and respiration rates
indicated in Figure 23. The lower left graph shows the average oxygen up-
take for the four cycles.

Figure 25. Typical transient respiration forms during E-actons for no

emotion, love, hate, sex, anger, joy, grief, and reverence, respectively, based
on an average of twenty actons. (Averaging began 0.5 sec. after click.)

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inspiration. Also, though both grief and love induce slowed res-
piration, they differ in that there is a marked pause after the ex-
piratory phase for grief before the next inspiration.
After sentic cycles, subjects' faces are slightly flushed, their eyes
sparkle, and they comment often on "having had an experience" or
having been "turned on." Even agitated patients are generally able to
express their feelings with this method and at these times their over-
all bodily agitation ceases.
Practice of sentic cycles teaches one discrimination in the ex-
pressive language of touch. As this language becomes known more
precisely, communication with others through touch becomes more
effective and powerful. It becomes easier to know what one is
communicating through touch—as well as in voice inflection and
other modes.
However, depending on the "point of view" as discussed earlier,
the communication of touch forms may occur without a deeply felt
origin or cause for the touch. The social danger of lightheaded touch
communication and manipulation must be pointed out. As
discussed earlier, in a form of touch there may be a full commitment
of the entire individual or merely the production of a known form-
one of human relationship, the other a manipulation or a quasi-
artistic expression. On the other hand, in playful use of essentic
form, pleasant feelings may be enhanced and the communication of
unpleasant feelings can become modified through the pleasure of
the purity of expression, as in music.
For persons who are in a sentic "rut." "sentic cycles improve the
fluidity of their mental state, abolishing sentic rigidity, a symptom of
depression and anxiety. French and Tupin have reported, "Some sub-
jects found immediate and dramatic relief of symptoms of depres-
sion, anxiety, and sleep disturbance after the first forty-five minute
session following only a few minutes of instruction." However, one
does not necessarily have to have been depressed to feel increasingly
alive through the ability to control one's sentic state. We may
perhaps say that the sentic cycle is a form of discipline in which a

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man is a disciple of his true or natural self.1 It is also interesting that

in practicing sentic cycles one often comes to enjoy most, and look
forward to, the state of love as a favored state.

Sentic Cycles and the Satisfaction of Inner Drives

Perhaps the most important application and effect of sentic cycles
lies in their ability to influence the urges and driving forces of the
personality. The sense of calmness and satisfaction of being, as such,
or the sensation of being emotionally drained, which occasionally
replaces this, noticeably alters the dynamics of drives. One may ob-
serve the replacement of the neurotic anxious drive- the rigid drive
toward self-imposed goals- by a creative drive coupled with joy in its
exercise. This displacement of a drive whose satisfaction lies in a dis-
tant goal (which cannot be achieved in the present) by a creative
drive whose exercise provides a continuous flow satisfaction coupled
with joy) is a remarkable aspect of sentic cycles. It appears that needs
for smoking and perhaps even drugs may be seriously altered
through the use of sentic cycles.2
In practice, the length and frequency of the sentic cycle dosage
should be adjusted to individual need. Generally, the longer the total
length of sentic cycles, the greater the attenuation of drives. Too pro-
longed or intense sentic cycle sessions can attenuate drives ex-
cessively and produce a "psyched-out" state of being over-
tranquilized. Events that probably should cause one displeasure and
anxiety may be shrugged off under these conditions as insignificant.
1
Sentic cycles share with meditation the remarkable property of self-re-
fining. The forms of the emotions as practiced in sentic cycles lead to an
increasing degree of refinement in their production and perception. This oc-
curs as a natural process. A similar process takes place in meditation, as a
mantra is inwardly refined and takes on more subtle qualities Sentic cycles
also share with meditation the filling of the sentic domain- which normally
partakes of random-like perturbations entity, a focus of unchanging quality
about which the world of change and permanence is viewed
2
No one has ever asked to smoke during sentic cycles. Heavy smokers do not
desire to smoke then. This is significant, since a heavy smoker frequently asks
for a cigarette particularly during periods of mental concentration.
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 Clynes

An appropriate degree of moderation is called for; not more than

one hour per day, say, should be devoted to sentic cycles, except for
special therapeutic reasons to relieve specific psychosomatic prob-
lems. For the person in daily business activity, twenty to thirty
minutes of sentic cycles a day may well be best, or one hour every
other day.

Modifying Aggression
One characteristic effect of sentic cycles is frequently observed—a
special form of contentment. After completion of sentic cycles, one's
face may portray a characteristic "contented smile" that persists for
some time. Immediately afterward one often wishes not to talk but
to allow the experience to "sink in." Yet at those times one does not
feel isolated; on the contrary, there is a sense of sharing an inner ex-
istence one feels is common to men. This feeling communicates it-
self, even in the absence of verbal expression.1
Removal of anxiety or anger is not invariably desirable, in fact. A
subject may feel that the experience can, so to speak, cheat him out
of his maintained rightful anger. A person may not wish to give up
the emotional set deriving from a specific individual situation. In
preventing this, a person can always exercise his choice to use sentic
cycles judiciously. The absence of anxiety and anger may require
1
* The teacher or therapist, too, is often moved to a spontaneous flow of love
toward the subject at these times. (This kind of experience has also been
reported by Dr. French.) Frequently, the condition of the subject immediately
after sentic cycle is so free from hostility and aggression, and yet full of such
a special vitality, that it seems as if a natural flow of love, which is present in
the teacher or therapist but has been previously inhibited by the sentic
messages of the people around him, is allowed to flow toward the subject
without hindrance.
Such an empathic experience is furthered by the knowledge that the subject
has just experienced all the emotions of the cycles. Like a shared musical ex-
perience of the late works of Beethoven, a bond appears between therapist
and subject, even if the therapist or teacher has not participated in the cycle
himself. The two individuals are no longer strangers, but have "shared" a
particular, rather beautiful intimacy, like a sunset witnessed together.
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 Sentics

some reorganization of one's life habits, which is sometimes an

uncomfortable phase.
Another effect of sentic cycles is often to lower the threshold of
emotional experience, and to enable subjects to produce shortlasting
outbursts in daily life. Again, this is generally a favorable effect, al-
though one should avoid excess. What constitutes excess in this
respect is difficult to know, however, at this stage of our knowledge.
Taken all together, the evidence of the remarkable power of sentic
cycles to modify levels of aggression clearly has social significance-
in the life of the family, in the prevention of crime and suicide, and
in releasing the creativity of the individual.

Personal Experiences of Sentic Cycles

These various points may be made clearer by the following exam-
ples of individual sentic cycle experiences. These are a typical cross
section of sentic cycle experience describing in the subiects' own
words the effects of several sessions on some subjects, and first ses-
sions only on others.
I should like to let these comments speak for themselves. As the
subjects describe the experience in their own words, we also
gradually get a fuller and more comprehensive view of the nature of
the effects of sentic cycles. The newness of the experience (and
perhaps the effect of sentic cycles to some extent) seems to spur
some subjects at times to description of almost literary quality and
authenticity, and to reveal unsuspected powers of self-expression.

T.C. (Female) Age 261

First Session (2/22/72)
Two Cycles Upon completion of first session I found deep sense of
calmness or "peace." Condition before starting was depressed,
bitchy, irritable. Anger and hate sequences seemed very long. Senses
very aware of changes in heat, sounds in house, etc. During sex
1
Initials and names have been altered here to preserve the privacy of the
subjects.
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 Clynes

sequence very aware of dimple in button which was not noticeable

in other emotions. Joy and love called forth spontaneous humming,
also aware of pleasant smell. These sequences seemed very short.
Anger seemed to call forth red image. Reverence seemed to be more
difficult to express. Sense of greenness accompanied sex.
Later (five hours) held lover in different way (according to him),
noticed increase in lubrication for intercourse, length of climax ex-
tended.
Second Session (2/27/72)
Repetition of impression of red during anger. Hate like a black
curtain rising, falling, flowing, flickering. Angle of finger on finger
rest changed with different emotion. (This was noticed in first ses-
sion also, along with changes in position of other fingers.) Not as
much of a feeling of extra length of hate and anger this time. First
cycle of reverence interminable second cycle had vision of holy per-
son and eves of person which seemed to communicate the feeling;
the cycle seemed very brief. Feel it best to have time alone after a ses-
sion before discussing experience. Marked feeling of lightness ac-
companied joy. The pressure exerted during anger and hate even
between "clicks" much heavier than other emotions. Physical side
effects: Headache disappeared. Increase of lubricatory discharge,
lessening of menstrual cramps. Hunger disappeared. The first tape
seemed more even in emotion generation. Three hours after session
noticed faster calming down of upset condition. Hands more
sensitive.
Third Session (3/28/72 )
Two Cycles After a month of heavy smoking (one or two packs a
day) and some drinking I was able to undergo a complete session
with a new tape. The reaction was extremely positive. There was a
marked sense of calmness which included a feeling of unity of self.
In the modern vernacular I "got it all together." There was no desire
for cigarettes (which I quit smoking the day before) and a release of
tension. I also had a slight headache and heavy menstrual cramps at
the beginning of the session which were relieved. The calm feeling

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extended to enable me to endure very heavy emotional harassment

that evening
Fourth Session (3/29/72)
One Cvcle Calming effect still in evidence. Went through one
cycle. Felt restless during cycle but got benefit after. Very aware of
increased tactile awareness. Experienced many of same reactions
related to color and music as noted before-more confidence in self
and awareness of others. The next morning, following two restless
nights, felt very exuberant and energetic. (This is an unusual re-
action for me. I think I need a lot of sleep and am usually tired and
depressed from lack of it ... this seems to be common among many
women of my acquaintance.) Perhaps clyning reduces need for sleep.
My increased tactile awareness exemplified by impression of taste
and texture of blackberries. The fruit felt smooth, hairy, plump, bit-
tersweet in an almost excruciatingly sensual way.
During the day felt "stretched" time sense as though I was able to
complete tasks in a very deliberate, complete manner which I would
normally rush through, but this deliberateness did not extend the
time of the task at hand. I felt able to accomplish more, better, in the
same amount of time In a very real way I believe the continued
clyning experience seems to give a feeling of having that insulating
layer which we defensively construct against ourselves, the natural
world, our awareness of and relationships with others, and our
senses stripped away, enabling a more clear, beautiful, and true view
of life as a man.
Fifth Session (3/31/72)
One Cycle Had difficulty concentrating today. I felt frustrated at
the lack of a comfortable place, but afterward experienced sense of
calmness and heightened awareness usually associated with the
process... can feel air, ground, self, smells, etc. much more keenly.
During sex sequence felt nipple tissue become erect. After clyning
feel desire to be "quiet," i.e., not to communicate orally (if I do talk
notice marked change in rate of speech [slower] and pitch of voice
[lower]). Feel that mind is very active, though. It's not a desire to be

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uncommunicative; quite the contrary, one would like to share the

feeling Perhaps it's a need to absorb the experience.

J.C. (Female) Age 42

First Experience (12/15/72)
Upon hearing "no emotion," I was not yet relaxed or comfortable
with what was happening. It was helpful to have the suggestion of
imagining my finger on a typewriter key and feeling the relative
detachment of that. The pressure of my finger was light and did not
last long. After a while images began to form of what I was typing,
though. One was a letter to my mother. I felt ambivalent emotions
rising in me and reminded myself that I was to feel no emotion. The
ambivalence ebbed and flowed on its own nonetheless. But the
pressure of my finger did not seem to change a great deal. X think I
was consciously trying to express no emotion.
Upon hearing "anger," I immediately plunged into another milieu.
I could hardly wait for that first click to sound. My finger responded
autonomously and angrily pushed at the button, a thrusting, away-
from-me motion. As the clicks continued, I had the impression of
shoving someone I was angry with. A number of people appeared to
me whom I had been irritated with recently Barry and his nar-
cissism, Charles and his pomposities, my mother and her paranoia,
but most of all myself and my own confusion. I had several distinct
impressions of shoving myself off balance. Gradually, more periph-
eral people began to appear students who make inconsiderate de-
mands, acquaintances who seem insensitive. I took some pleasure in
flicking them away, but they'd circle and come back, and my irri-
tation would increase. Finally, though, my anger seemed to definitely
dissipate. I couldn't even summon up much anger toward myself any
more. I felt a little bored toward the end and wondered what was
next.
Upon hearing "hate," my finger began to feel very warm, as if
mobilizing itself to hate. My heart began to pound fast again. I tried
to express hate as an emotion and could not find anything to direct
it to. I conjured up people I thought I really felt negative about but
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could not find an appropriate feeling. All the time I was pressing the
button very hard as the click sounded. There was warmth going to it,
but not feeling. Perhaps I should say heat, not warmth. After a while,
as I realized that feelings were not going to accompany, I con-
centrated on the effort. I pressed down passionately, and abstract
thoughts began to form. Revulsion of the Vietnam conflict, friends
who had been severely injured, injustices in general. Whatever
hatred I could summon was injury to my beliefs. By now my finger
was pressing very hard, so hard that I found a severe cramp was
forming in the first knuckle, and I wondered if the finger was
breaking or broken. I kept on pressing as the clicks sounded, but my
feeling wasn't with it, really, and I thought it would never end.
On "grief," an entirely new world happened. Sadness enveloped
me quickly. Perhaps because of my overwhelming feeling for injured
friends. I sank down into that. My finger motion must have been
gentler, more caressing, more toward myself but at the same time
reaching out toward the other person first. For a while I had been
hearing faint voices calling and hadn't thought much about it: it
must have been down the street. Voices began calling my name. I
was not sure it was Peter calling my name from some hospital. But at
the same time I saw the vision I'd had of him since then, standing in
a corner of our kitchen, looking as he did before he went away,
smiling, coming forward, calling my name. Seemingly simultane-
ously, I had been hearing my father's voice, calling my name in a very
familiar way; it made me laugh, or at least smile. Then I felt the grief
at his death. Then a hallucination I'd had of him at home, lying in his
coffin in the fireplace as he was at the mortuary, but he turned to me
and said, "Death is O.K.," just turning his head a little. I then pro-
jected myself into my mother's death and felt enormous pain and
guilt. Then visited the funerals of both Charles's parents and felt
similar emotions, but more concerned with what Charles was feel-
ing. As the clicks continued, I tried to enter myself into grief, it was
not difficult for me to do. I can feel sad. Each situation was fairly easy
to get into.

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Upon hearing "love," a whole myriad of voices started coming. My

finger became gentle. The voice of a friend of mine came first; David
said, "The reason you're feeling angry with Barry and Charles is
because they have been so kind to you lately and you don't feel
deserving of such extreme kindness, and you react by releasing
anger." I sit stiller and try to express love with the button. It goes out
warm and clear, with a steady pressure. I also feel it coming in, like
when Charles touches the back of my neck as he passes me, and
when Barry consciously sends loving feelings to me in a warm glow.
My reaction to that is a back-and-forth motion of my finger on the
finger rest as I am sending and receiving, but not always on equal
frequency. The loving feeling begins to expand to a more general
feeling toward mankind and then compresses back to the personal.
(I feel this must have been expressed in the pressing, but maybe not
significantly.) Then I begin to see a whole bunch of people, some of
whom surprise me to come up in the context of love, as I don't feel
that close to them. Laura I barely know, yet feel warmly toward; still,
she has "come up" earlier as an angry woman, and now as trying to
be loving. A young man I've felt estranged with comes riding up the
street from the West End on a bicycle and turns into the driveway; I
am standing in the shadows of the garage, but he sees me and pedals
in an oval around me; hands me a gift and leans down and kisses me;
I feel dazzled by this light kiss. The scene begins to fades as there is a
steady presence of Charles in the form of my feelings about love.
Upon hearing "sex," Charles leaps right into the limelight. My fin-
ger begins to have back-and-forth caressing motions on the button.
I begin to feel mild orgasms. I sort of glide with that for quite a few
clicks. I feel Charles turning toward me, touching me, sometimes in
the night, sometimes as we are around each other anywhere.
Warmth coming up in me, my finger motion seems to warm and
intensify. I experience sexual feelings coming from and going toward
other people, but they are more undifferentiated; sometimes faces
fade by, but they seem unrelated to the body. It is more my own feel-
ings I am feeling, and everyone is contributing to that. Again many
of my sexual experiences with Charles are primary; they seem to

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represent what is important. A significant part of it is the pleasure I

can give him, not just what I am receiving. The orgasms become
quite intense, and this segment seems quite short. Joy was a funny
feeling. My finger was hesitant for a while, then began tentative,
leaping motions away from me, very light; yet aware. Dancing
motions, visions of lovers and forests Myself in a filmy nightgown
running through the forest, dancing very gracefully, feeling sunlight
filter onto me, yet coolness envelop me refreshingly. I see someone
at the end of a meadow and cry out with pleasure, begin to dance
toward him, and when I get closer, he is running to meet me; air is
rushing around; it is all so intense and happy; we collide in a burst of
laughter and stimulation, and fall to the earth in a tumbling,
chuckling embrace. Of course, it is Charles.
Upon hearing "reverence," I feel more solemn. My whole body
relaxes, my finger slows to a more quiet caress. I feel a misty, pale
sunlight start to come. Maybe it is moonlight. Tears form in my eyes.
I close my eyes as my finger continues its gentle motion, mostly to-
ward myself. A force gathers in the atmosphere around me and re-
assures me, lifts me. I know I can fly if I want to. I know I can also
sink. I feel I should stay here and somehow cope. I feel myself lifting
and permit myself the ecstasy of letting myself go upward. I feel cra-
dled by some great but gentle force, then placed gently back down
where I belong for now.

I.K. (Female) Age 35

First Session (1/9/73)
I found that I had to make up scenes to experience anger. I had to
be angry at a specific person. Then, I got involved with whether the
anger was justified. It was hard to sustain any one scene or the feel-
ing. I had to keep working at it. Hate was even more difficult. Hate,
to me, is a very big emotion, bigger than people, and so I had to
think of impersonal forces, e.g., Nazism, injustice, the bomb at Hi-
roshima-and then I felt impotent, because what could I do about
these bigger-than-life evils?

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For grief I needed to conjure up pictures too-being in the funeral

parlor, after my father or my brother had died-being in the hospital
room, when my brother was dying. Also, I remembered taking my
little dog to the hospital, and the doctor calling soon after, to tell me
he had died. Then, in the midst of true situations, I saw myself
standing alone as a very small child, in the middle of nowhere, and
totally bereft. I recognized myself as the child, but I have no real
memory of such an incident.
During love, I saw the faces of my husband and children,
individually, and I had the feeling of love being a circular force that
flowed around through me and whoever I was seeing. How their
eyes looked was very important. I saw my dog that way too.
Joy was nice, I had to imagine skiing in a fresh snowfall, and then
I got involved with WHO was skiing with me, and I realized that in
each joyful fantasy, my happiness was contingent upon someone
else.
Sex was very easy. We had just seen the movie Deep Throat. I
recalled scenes from that. They were very vivid, and I really felt sexy
- but then to my surprise, I found that I was thinking about clothes
or what to have for dinner; in none of the other categories had my
attention left the emotion so entirely, although it was the one I had
initially been the most engrossed in.
When I came to reverence, I experienced great relief. It was the
only category in which I didn't have to fantasize-I really felt rever-
ence. I saw blue sky and just felt great. I thought, that's why being
stoned is referred to as "high." I felt way up, as if I were above all
problems in some heady atmosphere. It was certainly the emotion
that I enjoyed the most. As I thought about it later, it seemed to me
like being in Alpha or meditating, in a way it seemed like a copout.
That is, in experiencing all the other emotions I had "to get involved"
with other people, or deal with my feelings of impotence to change
the world, or myself. The feeling of being outside these involve-
ments, and at the same time one with some larger benign force, was
wonderfully inviting. But upon realizing this, I was later depressed,

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because I saw it as a sign of my shortcomings-because isn't it

precisely in those "involvements" that we find "where it is at”?
Later in the day I went about my business as usual, although I did
feel as though I had had some sort of revelation. I planned to review
it and work on it later.
Today I felt quite energetic early in the day, but now it is mid-after-
noon and I have run downhill. I feel the sentics revealed an aspect of
myself that I was not aware of, but I am puzzled as to where to go
from here.
Second Session ( 1/11/73)
In the anger phase, the fantasizing episodes were briefer than the
last time. I was not really frowning or scowling, but separate muscles
all over my face seemed to be contracting and relaxing at different
rates. Towards the end of the anger, I began to feel there was no real
justification for my anger in the imagined situations, and it all felt
contrived. I had even more trouble than the first time stirring up
hate. I just could not really feel it since I could not conjure up any
situation that would really warrant hate. But as in the anger, my fa-
cial muscles seemed to be very busy. It also suddenly occurred to me
that as a result of the first sentic session where I found I was hating
the feeling of impotence about "doing something" about our
downstairs playroom I had in the interim actually refinished the
floor and straightened up the room!
My feelings in the other three emotion sections were not notably
different from the first sentic session, except possibly less intense.
I do feel, however, that the two sentic sessions have in some inex-
plicable way helped me to "unhook myself " from some emotional
hang-ups that have been bothering me for a long time. I couldn't say
just how, because I did NOT think about the problems while doing
the sentics, but I feel able to flow along more freely now. I look
forward to doing sentics some more.

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P.V. (Male) Age 25

First Session (7/2/72 )
A mind-boggling experience. Feel very calm; a peaceful state of
mind-not depressed although not really happy. Feel exhausted but
tenseness in stomach is gone. Feel more alert. The following night
slept very well and felt I didn't need as much sleep. Awoke feeling
very alert. Still feel the reaction from yesterday's experience. After
the sentic cycles was a little disoriented in speech two or three hours
later. At the same time I appreciated Balboa Park more noticed more
details like flowers, grass, etc. Also didn't feel much like talking
wanted to be alone.
In the first part of the cycle had some difficulty with expressing
hate and anger. Grief came through very well- started to sob toward
the end of the grief phase. Joy came through very well. I felt myself
smiling. Reverence was probably the most difficult-my head was
slightly bowed.
During the second cycle everything was more intense, especially
anger and hate. With anger I was almost jumping up and down in
the chair, breathing heavily. Joy was all "tingly." Joy lingered more
than any other emotion. During the second cycle I didn't have to
think of specific scenes or examples generally, as opposed to the first
time. Just a general thought would bring on the emotions. Emotions
were exaggerated, more exaggerated than in real life-all emotions
more intense: for example, anger. Afterward felt a comfortable
tiredness and wanted to lie down for ten to fifteen minutes.
Second Session (7/3/72)
Thinking emotions came without any problem. Strongest was love
and joy. Reverence became stronger. I felt awe. For hate I was think-
ing of Hitler and the Nazis. I was not tired today as I was yesterday.1
Not that I was bored the previous day, but today's seemed shorter. I
cried slightly during grief. Sex was enjoyable but had been stronger
1
The subject estimated that he spent about fifteen to twenty
minutes in the sentic session whereas actually the tape was an hour
long
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the previous day. I had no difficulty at all in switching from one

emotion to another nor did I yesterday either.

D.E., Ph.D. (Psychoanalyst, Female) Age 29

First Session (1/9/73) Two Cycles
No EMOTION-Some tension, feeling expectant, impatient, then
awareness of tension and relaxation, awareness of breathing.
ANGER-Every time start to feel the anger also experience a gleeful
feeling of the liberation involved in feeling the anger makes me want
to laugh or smile, then get into the anger itself, lips tighten up, feeling
increased tension and almost strain, and then feel very tired and
drained, too tiring to sustain the feeling.
HATE- Find myself sneering with each click, involuntarily. Seems
diabolical and almost amusing to sit there and voluntarily feel hate
get into it though and tension builds up, finger hurts from the
amount of pressure, whole thing becomes too tiring to sustain.
Remember some wild aggressive fantasies I have had and the weird
relief they offered at times I felt in an impotent rage though I never
acted on them; just the satisfaction involved in conjuring them up in
all their gory detail.
GRIEF-Limpness, heaviness, head down, no energy, depression,
image of myself at the funeral of someone I cared very deeply about,
wondering if one ever fully recovers from such a loss, image of my-
self talking about these feelings in analysis and crying as I talked
about them then -not crying now.
LOVE-_Warm glow in chest, smile, feeling tender, thinking of
those I love, feeling much warmth but also it is intense, feeling
emotionally "turned on" rather than relaxed, feels warm and nice,
and sort of full.
SEX Feeling vaginal contractions every time I respond to click.
Feels good, makes me smile. Also feels a little funny in room full of
people like this. Very localized. Then think of feeling love and sex
together, it's much more complete-now feeling contractions plus the
warm glow and it's really nice. Makes me think of the difference be-

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tween a simply sexual experience and one where you are feeling
much love too and how different orgasms are under the two
conditions. Combination produced a total body shudder, like having
the chills, that was surprising and pleasant.
JOY-Light feeling, headiness, smile; image of a new baby. Feeling
of things floating upalmost expansion of inner space in head. Think
of feeling close after sex; and of people I love. Main feeling though
that strikes me is the actual physical sensations of lightness and how
particular they are and how they are different from love, and sex. The
uniqueness of each emotion.
REVERENCE-Think of my grandfather, of a teacher I revere, im-
age of the temple at Miyajima in Japan, built on the water. Very
serious quality to this feeling and somehow more intellectual than
the others, not quite as kinesthetic. Not as expansive-almost con-
straining. Aware of posture and breathing throughout. By second
cycle, tired and resenting having to do it over. Throughout seemed
arbitrary to start a feeling and have to hold it back between clicks.
Second Session (1/15/73)
Finger wanting to persist once an emotion started-seems unnat-
ural to stop and start, finger getting tired and stiff, much tension,
mouth very expressive.
Started exhausted and with severe headache, after felt very relaxed
and pleasantly tired. No desire to do second cycle though. Enjoyed
getting into the awareness of posture and breathing and the
quietness of sitting in dark room and getting into self in this way.
Kind of feeling I often get from writing. Feeling of getting into self
and exploring inner space.

D.M. (Male) Age 22

First Session (2 /25/72 ) Two Cycles
Found clyning to be very relaxing both physically and mentally.
Surprised that it relaxes my mind as well as my body so much. Con-
scious of physically tensing-relaxing, tensing-relaxing. Changed
mood, more mellow after. Had feeling that brain had been working.

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During second cycle felt flow of emotion from one to next, on first
cycle some overlap of emotions. Anger seemed longer than others,
and hate and reverence were also long. Felt grief most because of re-
cent personal experience. Felt mental picture of each emotion, and
felt apprehension and tenseness drain from body. Voice appeared
softer and speech slower than before session. Found experience
totally absorbing. Every businessman should dyne every day to pre-
vent ulcers. Felt build-up of body heat through face and chest.

K.L. (Female) Age 28

First Session (3/26/72) Two Cycles
Definitely experienced all of the emotions called for. Feel drained,
it was fascinating, an experience. Even a piece of music does not
always have all those emotions. During reverence, I was in Chartres
Cathedral or listening to music. Felt reverence for creativity. Enjoyed
love, sex, joy, and reverence most. Feel like I have gone through a
complete experience, unique and intriguing. On another level, I feel
absolutely exhausted emotionally. Next morning still felt rather
exhausted.

D.G. (Polio Paralysis Victim, Male) Age 38

First Session (12/28/72 )
Two Cycles I was impressed by the phenomenon of triggering
emotional programming in the absence of events external to one's
conscious awareness. The love phase and the sex phase evoked very
strong images of past relationships. Except for the no emotion cycle,
all of the cycles were pleasant- even the negative emotions.
The over-all effect experienced afterward was a mild high with
lightness of the upper body, warmth in the back of the head and back
of the neck, and heightened feelings of serenity and "enoughness."
This lasted from late afternoon until bedtime.

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Plate 4. The essentic forms of love and sex and their associated
muscle activity are here compared with drawings by Picasso of
Mother and Child, and Pan, respectively. There appears to be an
analogy that may well not be altogether accidental between the
uniquely rounded forms of the Mother and Child drawing (the
enfolding arms) and the measured essentic form of love. An
embrace illustrated visually and its dynamic tactile
representation in essentic form show a resemblance. On the
right, the accentuation and particular angularity of the horns,
arms, and shoulder with strong dark accents and implied thrusts
compare well with the measured essentic form of the sexual
quality with its secondary accents of muscle activity. It would
seem as if the dynamic visual impressions, communicated by a

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great artist, correspond to the biologic shapes of expression as

measured in essentic form. In attempting to obtain pure essentic
forms in emotional expression, one is not too far removed from
the aspirations of the artist.
The examples given here show one way (through the use of
curved forms) that dynamic essentic forms may be represented in
art. Other visually expressive techniques, using color and light
for example, are not directly graphically comparable to dynamic
forms we have measured.

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L.D., M.D. (Psychoanalyst and Psychiatrist, Female) Age 49

First Session (1/9/73) Two Cvcles
Experienced emotions as "paired" and opposite, e.g., grief and joy
seemed opposed and very intense. More so than other emotions. Felt
good for twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Sex was paired with some
grief in second cycle.
Second Session (1/15/73) One Cycle
Cycle was unexpectedly interrupted and left me with some ten-
sion. I returned to it and released tension. Cried when I got to grief
and felt rage very intensely. Had two significant dreams after this ex-
perience which I could analyze for myself quite well because of focus
and clarity.
Third Session ( 2/22/73) One Cycle
A feeling of boredom at first. Partly due to being tired at night.
Then a peaceful and "into it" feeling with timelessness in which I
seemed to play with all the emotions quite calmly and to enjoy it.
Slept well. No dreams. Woke feeling well. This day had been one
which started with a lot of anger and irritation. So can rate this expe-
rience as an excellent one.

M.J. (Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, Male) Age 50

First Session (2/15/73) Two Cycles
Noted particularly with emotions of hate and anger there was a
repeated need to swallow and, especially with hate, a very severe
burning sensation in the throat. The second time around with hate,
there was an opening up in my throat and in my breathing for a
period of time and an awareness of a passageway of air that I had
never really experienced before except once or twice with Al Lowen.
The first time around of anger-hate, love-sex, joy, and reverence I felt
the strongest feeling, at first with anger. I noticed my lips quivering,
something that I've never been aware of before. It also happened
with hate, though hate seemed to be a more profound feeling and
somewhat colder. The first time around I felt fear with anger and

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hate. With hate in particular I noticed that what I would do is begin

to, at certain points, put myself down for not being as good as other
people and that would cut off the feeling and I could see from the
experience how putting myself down is really just the reverse of feel-
ing and expressing anger and hatred, particularly hatred. I also no-
ticed that anger was a feeling that I was blocking somehow by not
feeling in my arms and my fingers and that I was cutting off and
detaching my feelings. Once I became aware of this, I could allow
more of the feeling to go into my arms. The flow of energy is some-
thing I was quite aware of throughout the whole experience.
Grief seemed to be centered down in my lower abdomen, and it
was the hardest of all the emotions to reach. Somehow I got the feel-
ing that it was the one deepest buried in me. I grieve, but I'm afraid
to allow myself to feel the grief because then I will feel the hurt and
allow myself to be exposed to hurt again, which is, of course, what I
need to do in order to fulfill my life.
The experiences I least had confidence in feeling were joy and love.
The one that I experienced least the first time around was sex, simply
being some pretty girl in the room, but very strongly the second time
around with tremendous heat throughout the whole lower part of
my body. Then when love came up (I don't remember which came
first, now) it was something that was experienced more in the upper
part of my body, my shoulders, my chest, and into my heart, and I
realized that there was a split, a cutoff between those feelings in my
pelvis, the grief in my abdomen, and the love in my chest, and sud-
denly they all seemed to flow together.
Somehow reverence was the easiest for me; it was just a very quiet
meaningful experience in which I was in touch with something
which I could not name. Occasionally there were images of the
country, where I live, possibly of animals, but primarily it was a con-
tact with something very deep inside me and if it went in any
direction, it was upward. I'm also more aware of an attempt to con-
trol my feelings, order them, to grasp onto ideas and to force feelings
out and to let them flow. I have a real need to be in control of these

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feelings, rather than to let them control me, or to, at least, let me live
them.
One of the physical experiences, the tension of my jaw, at the
present time I feel remarkably relaxed, as much as at any time in my
life, though there is the sense of the grief inside and the question as
to what I can do about it, about reversing everything that I under-
stand that makes for this grief. I think I feel calmer than I've ever felt
before in my life.

D.F. (Female) Age 27

Fourth Session (12/2/73 ) No EMOTION-Mechanical.
ANGER-Pressed finger rest very hard. Fantasy of throwing globs
of paint at a canvas. Anger phase seemed long.
HATE-Again pressed finger rest hard but had no particular
thoughts of hatred. Seemed very, very long and just concentrated on
pressing finger rest. Started to look forward to love and jov.
GRIEF-Same motion as before, pushing down and across-
sometimes stroking. Felt sad but peaceful. Tried to think of a way of
depicting grief. Started to really get into that but phase was over.
LOVE-Felt good, caressing finger rest. Thought about children,
swinging, laughing. Gentle swaying.
JOY-Also felt good. Finger hopped, light motion. Thought about
running, playing, sunshine, and happiness. I am beginning to feel
more joy.
SEX-Again, the same rubbing motion. Thought about my body as
a whole, sensual object. Thought of paintings of nudes without feel-
ings of disgust but of a natural thing. REVERENCE-I am really
enjoying reverence more. My finger moved lightly across button,
almost a combination of love and joy. Thought about nature
snowing, still and quiet watching each snowflake fall.
I did the sentic cycles very early in the morning before everyone
else was up. At first I didn't feel much except a calmness but I didn't
feel tired or drained. Later I felt very happy, peaceful. and sat for a

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long time looking out the living room window into the back yard.
The yard seemed especially beautiful. The only fear I had was that
this feeling would go away. I thought about doing the sentic cycles
and what the real purpose was for doing them. I felt for the first time
I had a glimpse of what was really happening. I felt like my soul had
been "tapped" and wondered how incredible it was to have this feel-
ing. Also wished I could feel like this always. I had visions of people
walking across my yard and me going out to greet them with warmth
and love. I particularly enjoyed the morning playing with the chil-
dren, listening to music, reading to them, which was unusual
because most of the time I feel annoyed by them Several hours after
dong the cycles, I still feel good but not as I felt earlier. It is hard to
describe how I feel now-almost fearful that I won't feel the same
again and a little fearful that I felt so good and peaceful.
In a way, I feel a little silly about my feelings. Also, I am trying to
judge them—whether they were good or bad, right or wrong, and
whether or not they are appropriate feelings for someone like me (at
my age). I started to get the feeling of the tremendous responsibility
of these feelings—normally I don't feel responsible for my feelings or
I am not aware of my responsibility.
Sixth Session (12/8/73 )
ANGER-Not much at first but then started to get angry at helpless
feelings and anxiety. HATE-Both in anger and hate I was caught up
with my feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, and how I hated to feel
that way.
GRIEF-Can't remember much about grief except the general feel-
ing of grief. Felt very sad and almost like crying but I couldn't.
LOVE-I don't remember at all what I felt other than feeling
frustrated during this cycle. I try to concentrate just on the feeling of
love and I can generally get it when I think of the children. I feel
rather empty during this cycle-not that I feel unloved, but I feel like
my own love for others is thwarted. I realize more and more the
difficulty I have in showing, feeling, and expressing my love, but I

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know it is there. Sometimes I do feel love but it is rare-I wish it could

be spontaneous again.
SEX-This phase is getting better all the time! I am getting more
and more sexual feelings. Very nice-I enjoy it.
JOY-Thought of warm sun shining on my face-felt good, comfort-
able. A song was going through my mind. This cycle is also getting a
little better, but I keep thinking I should feel more joy like I used to.
REVERENCE-I started to think about a blade of grass- so simple
vet so beautifully created. I started to pray but very differently than
before. I seemed to move out of the focus of attention in not asking
just for help for myself but asking God to help me understand and
see the needs of the people I care for and to help me show my love
for them; just to actually look at other people and not only at myself
and my problems. It felt so good.
Before I did the cycles I felt nervous and uptight. I noticed my
hand was shaking when I started but stopped. Afterwards I felt
peaceful and felt that way for the rest of the day. The day was a
pleasure-really enjoyable

G.R. (Female) Age 29

First Session (9/22/72 ) One Cycle
Have lots of questions. Couldn't stop my mind from working.
Weird experience.
Very peaceful-dazed. I'm sort of like in a state of-the Reverence
thing got to me. My first image was church and how high the ceilings
are, and being a kid, and how it was a sacred place. Then a lot of
space above me enveloped me- almost like drowning, but it was
beautiful, comfortable.
No EMOTION-I was just being mechanical getting a little bit anx-
ious, but it wasn't controlling me.
ANGER After a while was getting a tingling sensation in my fin-
ger. I was very very scared, also very angry. But it gets into a hate
thing when it got connected up with a person. The only time I felt the

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time was too long was in joy. I wanted to give up, wanted to stop and
cry. I couldn't conjure up any joy. I didn't want to.
It wasn't difficult to express angeL Didn't have any specific per-
son's face there. When hate came in I thought about my mother, but
anger itself (was not associated with) imagery. Just came out.
It's dangerous to express anger. I'll be hit. I was hyperventilating.
HATE-My first feeling hate was one of every part of me going into
some middle part of me, and seething. Almost as though image I had
was of looking at someone. I hate, and every part of me is feeling the
hate, but not expressing it. Almost like an absence of feeling for per-
son. That's what true hate is. Then anger came in. To me it connected
up with a person, my mother. It was just anger afterward.
GRIEF-Right before grief I started feeling very like the anger was
spent. It started waning and I started to feel very sad. When grief
came on I wanted to fight the feeling of grief and fought it the whole
way. I could feel myself trying and I didn't want to try.
LOVE During love ... I just got feeling about people I like, have
feelings of love for, one after another, different people. D., he was just
holding me and stroking me, just being cradled, and I rocked back
and forth. The image of the sun-a lot of warmth- being bathed in
warmth. It went in the direction of abandoning myself to the sun, to
a person, letting it come in. More receiving than giving.
SEX-I was questioning that love was connected with sex. I resisted.
Got in a block. My image was of a man kissing my breasts and caress-
ing me. Then I got the image of a penis coming into me, and I
resisted, and then there was a whole image of being forced against
my will in a sexual situation of a man trying to make love to me. I
think I was trying to get away from my own sexual feeling. I might
really get turned on by rape fantasy. Resisted it. Then I started feeling
very sad.
When I heard the word joy, I thought, My God, there is no joy. I
started thinking of ice cream. Picture of me and my mother I'm
holding on to ice cream cone. Made me very sad that no joy
connected with sex. Felt very barren I was starting to cry. At one
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point I tried to get joy through crying, but wasn't feeling it partic-
ularly REVERENCE-My first image was of a church and God and
altar. Gothic image of everything being much much bigger than I
was.
Then of infinite space-coming down and enveloping me. How
peaceful death must be. Then image of drowning in water and very
warm liquid, just as though death was going to rescue me Then I felt
very very calm.
Second Cycle (Done separately, on same day)
Feel really good. It was a different experience, this time, totally.
Much more loving and warm. It was just a transition of feelings that
carried along. Last time I tried to compartmentalize. This time I just
stayed and went along, and experienced an organic kind of tran-
sition from one feeling state to another.
NO EMOTION-Just thought of something like "Star Trek."
Someplace way in future where I was sitting in a big chair and
looking all around me passively. My fantasy was that I had been
programmed not to feel any emotion and I was playing that part.
ANGER-I thought of it as my mother trying to slap me or hurt me
in some way. It got to be a real struggle. At one point I felt I couldn't
get away from being hurt, but I tried to assert myself. Click, she was
trying to hurt me and I reacted against that.
My anger was to stave off an attack, to scare person away with my
anger. That session seemed very long to me.
HATE-_I didn't want to hate. I pictured my mother and I pictured
R. I didn't want to hate them because I felt it was a loss on my part,
in some way I was the loser. I went into the imagery of when I was
with R. the last time and I had been aggressive sexually and he had
not responded. I felt I had made a total fool of myself.
Extreme anger and hatred for being made a fool of.
Tremendous effort, in the beginning, to feel hate. Element of my
hatred not having an effect, a feeling of helplessness.

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GRIEF-Not active at all. Very passive grief. I felt helpless,

abandoned, very drained. I felt so helpless that I couldn't even feel
grief. Left, like a desolate, empty space. Nobody going to care. No-
body going to come. No point to expressing feeling because no one
would come. Effort to push finger rest.
LOVE-I experienced again this image of being rocked, of being
cuddled and rocked and stroked, and swaying back and forth. Im-
ages of the group I work with coming over. Mostly connected with
the group, that was the first place I really allowed myself to feel love.
I could have just swayed on the finger rest button.
SEX-This time it was different. I was resisting feeling sexual. It was
almost like an innocent sexual thing. My fantasy was that D. was
stroking me in an innocent way. Then it turned into a sexual thing.
But my feeling was it was O.K., he wouldn't hurt me. I wouldn't have
to give anything in return.
Concentrated on feeling sensations in my vagina. Felt safe down
there. Didn't feel it was being violated, felt it was being loved, a very
gentle, quiet sex. Not much feeling in my breasts. It was really an
evolution of the love segment.
JOY-Was continuation of the sex. Like I got an image of myself
looking up into a loving man's face and just feeling good and safe
and unthreatened. Started getting images of rolling around on a bed
with this man, in slow motion. A very loving, tumbling image. Like
it never stopped moving. Very free-flowing, like a free fall. Nothing
got in the way. No sharp objects. Warm air cushioning everything.
Very loving, protective, receiving.
REVERENCE- I got an image of being- it was very early in the
morning. Sun wasn't up yet, but it was light. Big meadow with trees
around. Very still, except for the sound of birds. I felt I could have
stood there for a very long time, just being part of this quiet scene.
There was nothing to fight. I could just have laid down and looked at
the sky at one with my surroundings.
There was a house somewhere, and the man would still be there. It
was O.K. to be alone, because there was love.

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Many of these reports are of the very first sentic cycle session ever
done by the subject, following only a few minutes' instruction. The
depth of experience and satisfactions made possible by the simple,
vet profoundly affecting meditative rite of sentic cycles continues to
astonish users well after their initial experience. With their finger
rests and sentic cycle tape they can do sentic cycles at home, when-
ever they feel the need, whenever they wish to affirm their sense of
belonging. For many it is an opening of a new and better world, a
door to security for which they have received the key.

Sentic Cycles and Psychosomatic Stress

Each sentic state is accompanied by specific somatic experience.1
For example, a person who experiences anger may have a sensation
of limbs tending to be torn apart and of certain abdominal tension.
But the nature of repressive processes makes it possible to repress
some aspects of the sentic state, while experiencing parts of the
somatic experience (or "virtual body image"). A person may remain
aware of only part of this total phenomenon while no longer
knowing that it is part of his anger, nor what specific situation may
have given rise to it. Such partial, incomplete virtual body images
may also appear from time to time in a person's awareness, as a
truncated form of his original experience.
Another way in which a suppressed sentic state continues to
function, without the individual's being aware of its cognitive
connection, is by a specific physiologic shunting that concentrates
on selected aspects of the virtual body image. (Selected portions of
the virtual body image may be transformed into specific physiologic
consequences e.g., specific body tension such as stomach cramps,
tics, and the like.) Virtual body images are quite specific and differ
even for the various shades of the sentic states, and so particular psy-
chosomatic symptoms in effect may be seen as somatic traces of the
specific character of the sentic state from which they arise.

1
We consider some aspects of this characteristic experience a "virtual body
image" and describe the phenomenon in the following chapter 19
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Chronic set posture and facial expression also may be considered

often to result from similar dynamics.

Longer-Range Effects of Doing Sentic Cycles

The expression of these sentic states during sentic cycles tends to
free the individual from these unaware, accumulated somatic
memories. Although each sentic state experience has a temporary
effect, alleviation through sentic cycles is cumulative over a period
of time. The associated fantasy processes appear gradually to be
effective in reorganizing the dynamics, so that a new integration can
take place. These processes include elements of catharsis, of abre-
action, of desensitization, and of forming new associations. This
makes it possible for sentic cycles to be helpful in cases of phobias,
in addition to the alleviation of non-specific anxiety. Long-term
results of sentic cycle experience show facilitation rather than habit-
uation of the effects. Instead of requiring greater and greater doses
for a given effect, the effectiveness of sentic cycles persists, and may
even increase. Thus, Mrs. D.S, a thirty-eight-year-old nurse who
learned to do sentic cycles at the NYU Nursing School, writes after
two years that her tape broke, and asks for a replacement. She adds,
parenthetically almost:
My usual pattern is to play the cycle on two consecutive days
each week. This is what I have been doing irregularly for the past
year. Obviously there have been some positive results for me while
doing sentic cycles. I pay particular attention to my posture before
starting the tape. The most persistent personal change not altered
by intermittent use of the tape has been my ability to experience
the emotions without fantasizing. The over-all feeling I
experience after each cycle is relaxation sufficient to fall asleep
accompanied by an awareness that I have energy to do any tasks
that I may want to The general effect on me personally is an
ability to experience the emotions more fully, or quickly, as they
are triggered in day-to-day living. I feel more at ease with people
and less tense in stress-producing situations. I have more

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arguments, but also more orgasms. These effects diminish when I

discontinue the cycles.
A particularly interesting case involves a paralyzed subject who
has been doing sentic cycles every day for over two years. Because of
the theoretical interest of this case, we shall describe it in some
detail.
Mrs. C.N., who lives in Denver, contacted me in May 1972 ex-
pressing her desire to experience sentic cycles. It was not she, how-
ever, who wrote, but her nurse: Mrs. C.N. had been paralyzed from
the neck down for many years, suffering from multiple sclerosis. The
letter posed a problem we had not yet encountered. With her arms
and legs paralyzed, how could she possibly do sentic cycles?
If the sentic theories are correct, then it should not matter which
part of the body is used to express the essentic forms, as long as the
movement has sufficient degrees of freedom (the number of dimen-
sions in which movement is free to occur). So I designed a chin rest
for Mrs. C.N. (she could move her chin and neck) to be used instead
of the finger rest! During a trip to California, I stopped in Denver to
give her this chin rest and to instruct her in its use.
Mrs. C.N. was in such an advanced state of the disease that in
addition to her bodily paralysis her two eyes rolled independently of
one another. One eye had to be covered by a patch to avoid double
vision, and even then her uncovered eye moved largely uncon-
trollably. Now in her late forties, Mrs. C.N. has been suffering from
multiple sclerosis for over twenty years. She is totally unable to move
her body below the neck, and has to be positioned and carried from
place to place. At night her husband must turn her over every one
and a half hours, which he has dutifully done for many years. At the
time of my visit, the emotional state of Mrs. C.N. was poor, not
surprisingly. She had previously attempted suicide through an over-
dose of pills. A tracheotomy had been performed to allow her to
breathe during the drug overdose coma, and as a result, she had lost
a good deal of her voice. Her paralyzed condition left Mrs. C.N. with

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little opportunity to express her grief, frustration, and anger in the

way other people can.
In less than an hour Mrs. C.N. learned to express essentic form
with her chin on the chin rest and found it quite natural. Her first
experience of sentic cycles was a truly spine-chilling experience for
me. When she expressed anger and grief there was such con-
centrated, powerful intensity in her expression that I could hardly
continue. But when it came time to express joy she said, "I cannot do
joy, there is nothing that gives me joy." For some moments, I did not
know what to answer, but then I said, "Imagine you are perfectly well
and you are playing outside in the sunshine, and express that!" Mrs.
C.N. tried, and found that it worked: she could do this. The next
problem was with reverence. The patient said, "The only thing I can
feel reverence for is my husband, he has been so good to me all these
years. As far as any outside force is concerned-God or nature- I can
only feel intense anger and resentment at the injustice of my
affliction." With some reluctance, I agreed that she might think of
her husband in terms of reverence and Mrs. C.N. finished her first
cycle. She had cried during grief and said that this was the first time
in many years she had been able to experience some of these
emotions. Thereafter, Mrs. C.N. has kept a regular schedule of doing
one sentic cycle at ten-thirty every morning. Her nurse puts on the
tape for her and positions her with the chin rest, and she has been
doing this every day for over two years.
Even within the first two or three weeks a change occurred in her
personality. She became less resentful, more calm and cheerful and
outgoing. After three months a transformation had taken place in
her relationships with her family and others. She became more inter-
ested in them, and smiled and was talkative when her husband came
home at night from work, instead of complaining and being resent-
ful. She looked forward to her half hour of "sentics" every day and
would not allow any disturbance to interrupt her routine. I saw her
altogether only three times during the first year. On one visit I was
told by the new nurse (who didn't know who I was) that Mrs. C.N.
was doing her sentics and could not be disturbed As the year

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progressed the improvement continued and became more pervasive,

so much so that it came to be a real pleasure to be in Mrs. C.N.'s
company; a radiance seemed to issue from her that affected others
who came in contact with her. She now could enjoy music, and al-
though her paralysis had not diminished, she slept better, suffered
less from pain, and could tolerate it more easily when it occurred.
She also required considerably less supportive medicine. Near the
end of the first vear she had a serious accident. She had been po-
sitioned improperly and toppled from her chair, smashing part of
her upper jaw, tearing her lip and breaking some teeth. Doing sentics
during this time allowed her to get over the psychological effects of
the accident with little emotional trauma.
Six months later, she was asked whether she was not getting tired
of doing the same set of emotions every day. Would she not like
additional ones, such as envy or hope, or substitute them for some of
the others. She said, "I am satisfied with doing these. I already have
hope through doing the others so I don't need to do hope." A year
later she still feels the same way. One of the benefits Mrs. C.N. says
she is getting from her sentic cycle experience is that it lets her cry in
a gentle way during the grief phase, without the violent spasms that
used to wrack her without giving her any real emotional release. She
is able to cry in this fashion every day and enjoys the experience.
Interestingly, she changed her manner of expressing love within the
first few months. Initially, she had been asked to express love, as she
would the other emotions, with an opening movement of her jaw.
But she discovered that she preferred expressing love with a turning
to and fro of her neck, moving the jaw sideways over the chin rest in
a caressing manner. Of course, there was no reason to object to this;
it was a mode of action she also chose for expressing reverence. In
these ways we were learning from her.
The experience of Mrs. C.N. demonstrates the continued long-
term effect of sentic cycles and the ability of the incapacitated to ben-
efit from their experience. In changing her own expression and
personality, Mrs. C.N. also changed the family atmosphere
dramatically and brought an increased enjoyment of life to all

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around her. To quite an extent, Mrs. C.N. became aware that al-
though her body was not functioning, her mind and her person were
sound; her disease could not really touch that part of her that was
most herself.1

1
In some ways it may have helped her to discover these aspects of her person
more than if she had been healthy. She had the advantage of being able to
stick to a schedule that allowed for a daily sentic cycle experience. Healthy
individuals seldom would be willing to submit themselves to such a stringent
schedule
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The Nature of Sentic Experience: Further

Elaborations of Sentic Theory
In this chapter we shall consider further aspects of the develop-
ment of sentic theory and experimental findings. We will examine
aspects of the nature of sentic experience, the physiological
processes associated with it, and verifiable predictions that sentic
theory can make concerning that experience.
Satisfaction Traditional psychology has encountered difficulties in
studying the precision of emotional communication also partly as a
result of its attempting to view and grade its qualities of experience
in terns of a single dimension—a single "gray scale" of pleasant/
unpleasant. But there is no equivalent shade of gray to which
emotional pleasures can be meaningfully reduced by ignoring other
important dimensions of quality.1 Pleasures vary in their degree of
pervasiveness (the capacity of some pleasures to satisfy a range of
urges for various durations and to cause other urges to abate), and
they vary also in the type of satisfaction that follows them. They
selectively exclude and include other satisfactions and pleasures as
part of their process. 'Thus pleasures may enhance or inhibit other
pleasures, and other needs and urges may be stimulated or sup-
pressed.
How to compare the excitement of an amusement ride to the
peace of a Bach cantata, the pleasure of a sunny morning to the
1
As is possible, for example, with the phenomenon of color. The range of all
colors may be projected into a single black and white scale by ignoring hue
and saturation and by preserving an equivalent intensity (brightness).
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beauty of storm, or the joy of color to the majesty of the starry night?
Each has its time and place, and, outside of this, its effective quality
changes too. Each has its time and place also in the context of man's
life. The very concept of quality gives pleasures an order that
depends on other dimensions than that of intensity. What are these
dimensionalities?
Among the many words and concepts of natural language giving
rise to confusion in regard to natural brain processes, few are more
enigmatic and unresearched than the notion of "satisfaction." The
concepts of beauty, goodness, and justice have given rise to whole
fields of inquiry, but the concept of satisfaction has not received
similar attention from philosophers. Perhaps for this reason, the
unclarified concept is acting as a rampant weed in our culture. Psy-
chologists, as well as Freud and his followers, have not given it a large
measure of consideration, nor have the physiologists. Perhaps the
worst thing that one can say about a concept is that everybody
assumes he knows what it means. The study of sentics and of the
effect of sentic cycles, however, may help clarify some of the dynamic
principles of satisfaction.
The word itself has the Latin roots satis and facere, "to make sated."
If we inquire further as to the meaning of "sated" the dictionary
refers us to "the 'satisfaction' of hunger or of desire," or "to quieten"-a
circuitous route! But if we consider examples of the experience of
satisfaction, we notice that when hunger is satisfied there exists a
feeling that is not merely the absence of hunger, but a distinct feeling
of its own. And when we complete defecation there exists a feeling
that is not merely the absence of the urge to defecate but also has a
quality of its own. Indeed, after we have emptied the bladder,
sneezed, or scratched in response to an itch, there is in each case a
feeling of satisfaction that has a quality of its own and lasts for a
period of time, fading into nothing before a new build-up phase be-
gins. At the end of orgasm, too, there are a number of sensations that
have a quality of their own.
"To make quiet" is an insufficient description of what these
processes have in common. They do share some dynamic properties

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of what are called relaxation "oscillators," and the fact that such dis-
tinctive qualities of sensation of "satisfaction" occur at the end of the
discharge period. That these phenomena do occur at those times in
the cycle implies a bimodal neuronal organization, since the "satis-
faction" sensation is not coincidental with the discharge phase but
follows it.
On the other hand, there is another type of satisfaction. Many sen-
sations and qualities can give satisfaction without a build-up period
and discharge phase-for example, lying in the sun or savoring the
greenness of grass. The sight of the ocean or of a snowy mountain
peak or of the starry skies—not replaceable by looking at re-
productions—these qualities appear to be integral functions of our
nervous system programming that require the dimension of space
itself.
In earlier chapters we have talked about the satisfaction of express-
ing essentic form. If we now consider the organization of them into
sentic cycles, we observe that the specific new satisfactions provided
by sentic cycles indicate the presence of elements of both types. The
experience and expression of emotion provide one aspect. Its own
quality of peace, if it affords it, is itself a satisfaction, lasting for some
time. And the memory of that peace is another kind of satisfaction,
that tells one that it is there "for the asking."

Sentic Theory and Freud

Let us compare the principles of sentic theory with some views of
Freud. Freud tended to shy away from experience of generalized
emotion, emotion that he could not verbalize in terms of asso-
ciations. For example, in The Moses of Michelangelo Freud writes:
Works of art do exercise a powerful effect on me, especially
those of literature and sculpture, less often of painting. This has
occasioned me, when I have been contemplating such things, to
spend a long time before them trying to apprehend them in my
own way, i.e. to explain to myself what their effect is due to.
Whenever I cannot do this, as for instance with music, I am
almost incapable of obtaining any pleasure [my emphasis]. Some
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rationalistic, or perhaps analytic, turn of mind in me rebels

against being moved by a thing without knowing why I am thus
affected and what it is that affects me.
And in Civilization and Its Discontents he states:
It is not easy to deal scientifically with feelings. One may
attempt to describe their physiological signs. Where that is
impossible-I am afraid the oceanic feeling, too, will defy this kind
of classification—nothing remains but to turn to the ideational
content which most readily associates itself with the feeling.
Such a constrained attitude of unwillingness to free the emotions
from the content-bound personal and social setting seems part of a
certain rigor of Freud's own personality. Yet with his perspicacity, in
The Relation of the Poet to Daydreaming he is well aware that
Many things which if they happened in real life could produce
no pleasure can nevertheless give enjoyment in play-many
emotions which are essentially painful may become a source of
enjoyment to the spectators and hearers of a poet's work.
Faced with an apparent paradox, he amazingly resorts to the word
"technique" as a rescue:
You will remember that we said the daydreamer hid his
fantasies carefully from other people because he had reason to be
ashamed of them. I may now add that even if he were to
communicate them to us, he would give us no pleasure by his
disclosures. When we hear such fantasies they repel us, or at least
leave us cold. But when a man of literary talent presents his plays,
or relates what we take to be his personal daydreams, we
experience great pleasure arising probably from many sources.
How the writer accomplished this is his innermost secret; the
essential ars poetica lies in the technique by which our feeling of
repulsion is overcome, and this has certainly to do with those
barriers erected between every individual being and all others.
Indeed, we may say so now, if the "technique" includes empathy,
being faithful to pure essentic form—abolishing inanimate artifice in

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favor of the precise attentive passion of inwardly listened to and

communicated living forms.
It seems that, for Freud, in real life the self-protective dynamics
predominate over the dynamics of giving1 and over the seductive
contagion in emotional communication. Concerning the principle
"love thy neighbor as thyself " he says in Civilization and Its Discon-
tents:
If he is a stranger to me and cannot attract me by any value he
has in himself or any significance he may have already acquired
in my emotional life, it will be hard for me to love him. I shall be
doing wrong if I do, for my love is valued as a privilege by all those
belonging to me…
When I look more closely I find still further difficulties. Not
merely is this stranger on the whole not worthy of love, but to be
honest, I must confess he has more claim to my hostility, even to
my hatred. He does not seem to have the least trace of love for me,
does not show me the slightest consideration. If it will do him any
good, he has no hesitation in injuring me, never even asking
himself whether the amount of advantage he gains by it bears any
proportion to the amount of wrong done to me. What is more, he
does not even need to get an advantage from it; if he can merely
get a little pleasure out of it, he thinks nothing of jeering at me,
insulting me, slandering me, showing his power over me: and the
more secure he feels himself, or the more helpless I am, with so
much more certainty can I expect this behavior from him towards
me.
As we read this we may have a curious bifurcated response—we
can see an obvious rightness in these rather mole-like remarks,

1
Expressing an emotion is a form of giving. the concept of "giving" and its
ramifications in sentic theory as related to satisfaction are very significant.
A kiss, for example, has potentially a "giving component that transcends the
mutual sensory excitation involved. Sentic "giving" is also contained in a
blessing and in a curse. "Giving" in relation to sentic experience shall be
treated more fully in another book.
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whose view leaves the initiative to the other fellow, but we may feel
strongly that, in a different context, they are quite wrong.
Perhaps if Freud really heard Beethoven's last works, for example,
he would have valued the mutual reality of generalized emotions
(and the function of pre-sentic control) as dimensions additional to
the personal and social realms of which he was a master. He could
not readily tap that intrinsic source of joy, belonging, and happiness,
nor could those millions who followed him exclusively. If he could
have done so, the concepts of being "worthy of love" and "love val
wed as a privilege would have seemed meaningless to him in that
context. Sentic studies demonstrate how human beings, regardless of
race, sex, and, to a large extent, age, can experience sentic states and
their relationship as a part of human heritage.

Cognitive Aspects of Generalized Emotion

In a quite special way, emotion and knowledge are not as mutually
exclusive as is commonly supposed. Knowledge of emotions is more
than an acquaintance with their special character. Each sentic state,
generalized or not, seems to imply almost a world view as part of its
nature. Such a view may not be formulated in specific terms, yet it
seems to be implicit. (Actually, we frequently confuse the cause or
recipient of an emotion with the state itself as a cognitive influence.)
It may most clearly be seen in the experience of generalized emotion.
An important aspect of the special experience of sentic cycles is that
corresponding to the various sentic states that make up the cycle;
one experiences a succession of attitudes. That is, with each suc-
cessive state one experiences the particular world view of that state.
To know these attitudes intimately and clearly is to be conscious of
aspects of human nature which we usually call "intuitive" or "in-
stinctive." Recognizing these as cognitive sentic processes helps to
clarify the concept of the "intuitive": attitudes and distinctions
implied are not so much the result of specific situational content, but
seem to be part of the nature of the quality itself, experienced in its
generalized form.1
1
There was a strong interest in the nineteenth century in these matters, e.g.,
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Some cognitive distinctions can be related to the nature of the hor-

izontal component of the essentic form. The horizontal component
may be strongly away from the body, or only slightly, or may be to-
ward the body, implying rejection or acceptance, and what lies
behind these words.
Another such cognitive implication is reflected in the experi-
mental observation that in certain aspects the essentic form of hate
does not have its formal opposite in the essentic form of love, but in
that of hope (See Plate 9): the opposite of hate, in terms of essentic
form, is not love but hope! If we think about this, we may recognize
that there is a sense of destroying life or killing in hate; but hope
implies an engendering and nurturing of life. Another example is
reflected in the essentic form of guilt which generally has a strongly
aggressive component directed toward the body. (It appears some-
what like hate directed inward.) Particularly significant are cognitive
aspects of the experience of certain states of bliss, in which the state
itself appears to give know edge of interrelatedness.
These cognitive aspects also ensure that, although hope, for exam-
ple, may be irrational and irreducible, the irrational can become
rational on a different level of integration: sentic states are used
rationally in sentic cycles or in music.
But precisely because of the cognitive aspect, the negative
emotions (generalized or specific) such as hate, even in subliminal
forms, also produce the familiar "emotional bias." We cannot do
without the "knowledge" of emotion because we cannot do without
emotion (conscious or repressed).
A clearer understanding of the distinctions between generalized
versus specifically directed emotion, the Apollonian and Dionysian
experience of the state, and the actor and spectator point of view
would make it easier to find rational, enriching ways of integrating
sentic states and their cognitive implications into our lives.

the cognitive relationship of joy described poetically by Schiller in his "ode to

Joy": brotherhood is seen to be a result of joy- not the other way around, as
is often presumed.
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Sentic Afterimages
We regard sentic states as a special class of qualities. One of the
known characteristics of sensory qualities is that they have afterim-
ages. (For example, after looking at a bright light, we can see an im-
age of it if we close our eyes.) We might expect, therefore, that the
experienced qualities of sentic states could also display analogous
phenomena—that there should be sentic afterimages, or, to use a
seemingly more appropriate term, sentic "after-experience" as dis-
tinguished from satisfaction as such. (The term "afterimage" how-
ever does refer to all forms of sensory stimulation, not just the
visual.) Afterimages must not be confused with the memory of the
experience itself. Some forms of afterimages appear to persist in the
same quality as the original stimulus; other afterimages sometimes
indicate the opposite quality of the originating stimulus. (Thus, the
afterimage of a bright light is a bright image, but the afterimage of
purple is green, and vice versa.) During afterimages, we are generally
less sensitive to the same stimulus—an aspect of refractoriness.1
(For example, a loud sound raises the threshold of hearing.) Some
sensory modalities such as temperature sensors include after-sensa-
tions that may not be easy to separate from the other bodily sensa-
tions that accompany them (e.g., the glow felt after a warm bath).
The nature of sentic afterimages is not yet fully understood. It is
clear, however, that the order of sentic states experienced in sentic
cycles has a considerable effect on the specific experience of each
state. For example, the relationship between Grief and Love is such
that Love is facilitated after Grief. In the reverse order, however, the
specific experience of Grief is also affected—but not facilitated-by
the immediately preceding state of Love. Each state appears to cast
its shadow on the following ones in a way that needs more study.
Hormonal and other bodily changes accompanying each specific
state produce a distinct cumulative patter for every sentic state
sequence. This happens because hormones secreted into the blood-

1
A refractory period is that period of insensitivity to a stimulus that follows
excitation.
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stream as one state is established are not removed immediately upon

generation of the next state. This is another example of uni-
directional rate sensitivity (URS) applied to sentic state systems.
The duration of sentic state afterimages is generally several times
as long as the corresponding sentic state experience within the sentic
cycle. One of the difficulties in the study of sentic afterimages is that
we have no words to denote their specific sensations. We need also
to distinguish between the gradual self-extinction of the sentic state
and the phenomenon of the afterimage. Pronounced afterimages
require stimuli of strong intensity. The same may be said to be true
of sentic afterimages; very mild sentic states may produce negligible
afterimages.
Afterimages can help us to understand the nature of opposites, as
programmed within our nervous system. For instance, a purple
afterimage is produced by a strong green light because the dynamic
balance between green and purple in terms of inhibition and exci-
tation has been disturbed by habituation to the green stimulus.
Similarly, sentic afterimages may help us to clarify the nature of
the sentic spectrum to determine which sentic states might be con-
sidered as opposites. The ability to generate sentic states in the
laboratory, repeatedly and reliably, by the method described, makes
it possible to discover the dynamic meaning of opposites in regard to
sentic states and to enlarge on and clarify these problems.

Virtual Body Images

As each sentic state is actually experienced, generated by our
method, one's body becomes very quiet. This makes it easy for sub-
jects to observe the bodily sensations that accompany each sentic
state, sensations that are quite apart from the experience of each sep-
arate expression. We call them "steady state sensations," meaning
thereby that they are experienced as part of the state itself, and not
specifically with the transient expression. The sensations are quite
different for each state. For love there tends to be a sensation of flow
appearing to come from within the torso, flowing outward to the
limbs and through the neck. There is a steady sensation of flow, with-
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 Sentics

out a sense of diminution of substance at the region from which the

flow appears to originate. There seems to be no actual physiologic
process of the body giving rise to this body image; changes in blood
flow do not correspond to this feeling. And, of course, there is no
substance that actually flows in the way that is felt.
Similarly, with joy there is a specific sense of lightness and floating.
The characteristic sensation of anger feels as if the body is tending to
be torn apart. The induced heaviness of grief, or the sense of loss of
boundary of the body in reverence—all these do not correspond to
physiologic visceral processes, yet are very specific and consistent.
Our method of repeatedly generating sentic states makes it possible
to observe these body images with a special focus, since the rest of
the body—apart from the exertion of finger pressure becomes very
quiet. Our observations lead us to conclude that these images are
programmed projections of the nervous system. What does this
mean?
To project a sensation into space is a normal, though highly
remarkable, function of the sense of hearing and of vision. (We do
not sense at the retina, or normally at the eardrum.) We do not feel
photons hitting the eye (as we would expect to sense a small fly hit-
ting it or sound waves hitting the ear, but automatically project that
they come from some outside region of space. We "sense at a dis-
tance," unlike the sensing of warm or cold, of touch, or of taste. (The
projection takes place monocularly and monaurally as well, of
course.) This capacity is available to other sense modalities under
certain circumstances, as has been demonstrated by G. Bekesy.
Bekesy was able to produce a sensation of touch five to eight feet
away from the body by phasing two vibrators placed on the chest
some distance apart in a manner similar to stereophonic hearing of
the two ears. (He could make the sensation of touch move about in
space outside the body by adjusting the relative phases of the two
vibrators.) And, of course, the phenomenon of the phantom limb is
a well-known example of a different kind.
We propose that the characteristic sensation of flow for love and
other specific sensations characteristic of each separate sentic state

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are projected virtual body images, specifically programmed into the

nervous system.1† In addition to the virtual body images, there may
of course be sensations of actual physiologic changes such as
abdominal tension, crying, changes in the sexual organs, and so
forth. Some of these changes also can be perceived differently,
depending on the sentic state within which they occur. For example,
tears during the state of grief have a very different sensation from the
tears produced by an irritation of the eye. But, as has been pointed
out by the critics of the James-Lange theory (the theory that emotion
is the experience of bodily changes that occur when you have an
emotion), these actual physiologic changes are not synchronized in
time with the initial emotion state and their perception cannot in it-
self be taken to represent the nature of the emotion.
The theory of virtual body images for specific sentic states in some
ways appears to reconcile the different viewpoints of traditional
theories of emotion, as represented by the polar opposites of the
James-Lange and Cannon theories and their offshoots. (The Cannon
theory holds that emotion is experienced centrally by the brain and
that experience of emotion is possible without sensations of or from
the body.) For every sentic state there is a programmed virtual body
image which includes specific "virtual" sensations along with specific
posture, and motor activity. These sensations are "virtual" only in the
sense that there is no directly corresponding physiologic realization
of the sensation e.g. of "flow" for love, or lightness for joy, etc. But of
course, they are very real experiences.
Each emotion appears to have its characteristic sensory projection
gestalt. If we speak of waves of anger coming over us, the lassitude of
grief, gut reactions of hate, the lightness of joy, these are more than
figures of speech; there appear to be clear, separate virtual images
that correspond to each specific emotion.
We may distinguish between the actual body behavior that is
kinesthetically sensed, such as contractions of abdominal muscles
during the emotion of hate, or crying during grief and associated
1
These images, in fact, include the direction and magnitude of gravitation
(e.g., the "lightness" of joy and "heaviness" of grief). See Chapter Fourteen.
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respiratory behavior, on the one hand, and sensory projections

which are experienced but have no direct observable body motor
activity. Further, the abdominal muscle contractions accompanying
the expression of hate are sensed very differently from similar
muscular contractions related to tickling or to preparedness before
jumping. In each case, when muscle changes are driven by a different
sentic state, there is an entirely different sensation.
The ability to generate emotion through initially focusing on a
concept may be considered in relation to the studies on "cognitive
labeling" of Schachter and Singer. Their well-known studies have
indicated that injection of epinephrine, producing an arousal state,
tends to predispose an individual to be in an emotional state, but
without specifying what state; then an additional influence is
required to induce a specific emotion, an influence they have called
"labeling." Our studies however show that it is possible to begin by
"labeling," and then produce sentic states which may in tum have
hormonal consequences.

Electric Activity of the Brain in Relation to Sentic States

The changing observable electric behavior of the brain is related to
conscious events like the tip of an iceberg to its mass. Two distinct
aspects of electric activity in the human brain can be recorded from
the scalp at various sites, both of which belong to the iceberg as
much as to the tip.
The first method involves measuring the pattern of electric activity
accompanying a particular event such as a perception, an expressive
movement, or a specific experience retrieved from memory. These
patterns of electric behavior are confined to a few seconds or less and
can be observed at various sites. During this time one can observe
contributions to the activity from various regions of the brain. These
regions come into operation sequentially, in general, and the
sequence is characteristic of the particular event. The timing and the
sequential nature of the response from each region are precise and
give us information relating to the event. (See Chapter One for
responses to color and visual form.) This kind of electric activity,

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Figure 26. Average changes in electric brain potentials during the expres-
sion of love and also during the expression of no emotion. form of love is
reflected in the top trace, representing the left frontal lead, while other oc-
cipital and frontal leads do not show this form. Early activity especially no-
table in the occipital leads includes auditory response to the click. Note that
the form bears a resemblance to the essentic form of love as measured
through the finger pressure transducer. The response on the right is shown
for comparison, as a control, with the absence of the love-modulated E-
acton. (Leads are left frontal, left occipital, right occipital, and right
frontal; all leads are referred to a common vertex lead. Average of one
hundred actons.)

however, represents only a very small, hidden part of the total

electric activity of the brain at any one moment. There are always
many other events occurring in the brain, which obscure the specific
one in which we happen to be interested. In order to measure the
"hidden" activity, called "evoked potentials," it is necessary to ob-
serve the activity during many such similar events and average the
responses. By doing this, activity that is not related to the event tends
to be averaged out, and, conversely, activity related to the event is
reinforced. Often as many as two hundred repetitions may be nec-
essary to obtain sufficient and accurate measures of evoked
potentials. Figures 26 and 27 illustrate aspects of the electric activity
of the brain related to the production of essential form.

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 Sentics

Figure 27. A similar response as in Figure 26 in another subject, but this

time comparing essentic form produced by the finger pressure with that
through pressure of the foot. The similarity of the shapes observed
illustrates the independence of essentic form from the output modality cho-
sen to express it.
The second aspect involves measuring the total ongoing electric
activity of the brain at various sites on the scalp and observing
changes in time. This total recorded ongoing activity is known as the
EEG or electroencephalogram. The character of this activity varies at
different locations and changes according to the state of the
individual. 'The well-known alpha, delta, and theta waves are exam-
ples of components of the total brain activity. Not only the presence
or absence of such components but their relationship between var-
ious regions of the brain-front to back, right to left—may be con-
sidered significant. Considerable changes also occur in the degree of
synchronicity between different portions of the brain.
All these aspects are found to change during experience of differ-
ent sentic states. Each sentic state affects the brain's electrical activity
in specific ways. It is possible to use such changes to constitute an
index, and the index may even be used as a bio-feedback measure.
The best bio-feedback, however, is the experience of the sentic state
itself—an inherent feedback. Specific changes in electric activity of
the brain during sentic states are shown in Figures 28-30. Much
work needs to be done to study these changes further.

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Figure 28. Very large slow waves observed in the second trace (left occip-
ital lead) during the phase of reverence. Such slow waves are not normally
encountered in the observed electric behavior recorded from the scalp.
These remarkable waves persisted for over one minute, and have a period
of 4-5.5 seconds per cycle and an amplitude of over 100 microvolts. The
pulse on the fourth trace indicates the soft clicks initiating the E-actons.
(Leads from top to bottom: left occipital, right occipital, left frontal, right
frontal.)

Figure 29. Selective presence of large slow waves on the right occipital lead
primarily (third trace from the top) during the love phase.

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Figure 30. Shift bursts as shown here are often observed during anger, in
single leads and sometimes in two or more leads at a time. These shifts in
the base DC level are of considerable magnitude and persist for some time
after the burst associated with it. (The second trace of the top example
demonstrates such a shift most dramatically.) This type of behavior is ob-
served quite frequently and sometimes at a regular periodicity. 'The bursts
do not seem to be phase-related to the individual actons. (Leads as in
Figure 29.)

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An Objective Sentic Measure of Intensity

Sentic theory is concerned with the identity of qualities. There is a
one-to-one correspondence between specific essentic forms and
corresponding qualities of experience. However, essentic form as
such does not define the degree of intensity-the dimension of
intensity of a quality is not represented in a one-to-one manner by
the essentic form. We noted in Chapter Seven that the intensity with
which a specific state is experienced is influenced by the degree of
openness of perceptual and conceptual processes, including repres-
sion and the process we have called the "point of view." The intensity
and modes of experience (Apollonian or Dionysian) which ac-
company the state are affected by conscious and bodily influences.
How then does sentic theory deal with the dimension of intensity?
We can, of course, ask a subject experiencing fantasy-generated
sentic states to rate the intensity of his own experience according to
a scale, say from zero to five. As we in fact do this procedure, subjects
rate themselves for each separate state on this scale about one hour
after their experience. The average score of such self-ratings across
all the states for 2,500 subjects has been 3.8. Such subjective scoring
provides an index of how involved the subject has become in each
specific state, and can also indicate when subjects have had difficulty
experiencing particular sentic states. Nevertheless, it is a subjective
evaluation.
Sentic theory, as we have seen, has been able to cross the chasm
between the subjective and objective, with respect to the
communicative function of certain qualities. So far, however, we had
not been able to do this with the parameter of intensity, although this
deficiency may soon be overcome. Sentic theory has recently pro-
vided an objective method of evaluating the intensity of sentic states
as a numerical score obtained essentially without subjective judg-
ment of either the subject or the experimenter. Moreover, this
method of measuring intensity is intrinsic to sentic communication
theory and does not rest on the measurement of psychologic bodily
responses, which are well known to be highly variable.

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How is this done? To measure the intensity of a sentic state we

make use of the dynamic properties discussed in earlier chapters
concerning the timing of E-acton initiation. As noted, in order to
build up the intensity of the sentic state the E-actons must be
initiated at quasi-random intervals, that is, not in a predictable,
regular rhythmic pattern. A regular rhythmic repetition (if at an
appropriate rate) will not build up the sentic state but on the con-
trary will tend to discharge it. By selecting a suitable repetition rate,
this discharge can be controlled.
It becomes possible, therefore, to measure the intensity of a sentic
state at a particular moment by switching from a random type
initiation to a regular rhythmic initiation. This will cause the
intensity to be gradually discharged. But, the greater the intensity,
the greater number of repetitions it will take to discharge it. Accord-
ingly, the subject merely indicates at which moment he no longer
feels the state, it is necessary then only to count the number of repe-
titions it took to discharge the state, from starting when the
initiation rate was switched from random to repetitive. This number
provides an index of the intensity of the state at the moment
concerned. We thus have the elegant possibility of a numerical index
related to intensity derived from the dynamics of expression alone,
self-contained within sentic theory!
Interestingly, after we had discovered this method of measuring
intensity, a very well-known pattern of behavior appeared in a new
light: the action of tapping or patting a person on the back repeatedly
in order to quiet his passion and emotions. This kind of patting is
effective only when it has a certain rhythmicity and may be used
under various circumstances. A woman can use this repetitive pat-
ting to cool sexual excitement in a man (or vice versa, in today's
world). It can also be used to stop a child or an adult from crying, to
assuage grief, or even to calm anger. In each case the pattern of
movement results in a decrease in intensity of the emotion, but only
when the patting is performed with a certain rhythmicity. At least
three taps are desirable for the effect. If the third tap occurs after a
markedly different interval from that between the first two, the effect

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tends to be lost. (The rate of patting is at approximately o.7-second

intervals.) This specific dynamic form of patting is done intuitively
and with specific intent, by many, perhaps by most people. Thus, we
see sentic theory illuminate an ancient act of touch communication.

Prediction of Acton Theory: Blocking of Phase Shifted E-

Actons
Our studies of sentics differ from most approaches to the study of
psychologic factors in that they are not primarily statistical. Even a
single instance of a contradictory result would serve to throw sentic
theory in doubt, and would require changes in the theory! We are
dealing with some of the processes and entities concerned in the
manner of hard science: we can make predictions that are capable of
being confirmed by experiment, predictions that will involve new
experiences. Since there is existential coherence between essentic
forms and their qualities of experience, any new predictions would
also concern corresponding specific experience.
Sentic theory can make predictions about the timing of expressive
actions executed simultaneously, and about the conditions of block
ing, as we shall see in the following.
We have seen that only one sentic state can be expressed at a time
and that a single expressive action, or E-acton, has a definite
duration and course. As pointed out, we cannot express anger with
one hand, and at the same time joy with the other, and experience
them both. We cannot do this, even if we attempt to express the sec-
ond state not simultaneously but a little later, during the course of an
E-acton already begun. If we try to do this, there is blocking.1 The
coherence between the expressive form and the corresponding expe-
rience is broken. An E-acton once begun must be completed before
another one begins.
1
The experience of the state ceases quite abruptly and one experiences in-
stead a sense of irritation, of frustration. In a specific sense, this blocking is
also a kind of repression. An incomplete acton tends to result in an unpleas-
ant sensation, regardless of the nature of the state expressed. It is as
frustrating to interrupt an anger or hate acton as a joy or love acton.
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 Sentics

These properties of E-actons can be used to predict a rather unex-

pected property of the dynamics of expression even within the same
sentic state—a prediction about expressing E-actons through differ-
ent output modes. Let us take the example of a person express. ing
love. Once a love E-acton is begun with one hand (a caress), we can
predict that another such E-acton could not be initiated with the
other arm during the course of the ongoing E-acton, without block-
ing.
This prediction is readily confirmed and applies to other sentic
states with equal validity, for example to anger or to grief. It also has
an interesting and significant corollary: one E-acton can join in the
expression of another in some other part of the body without block-
ing if it does not start at its beginning but is executed as a fraction of
an E-acton-corresponding to the remaining fraction of the ongoing
E-acton-so that the two E-actons finish together in parallel! (See
Figure 31.) For example, a phrase such as "I love you" must be said
with a different tone of voice if it begins in the middle of an E-acton
caress than if it starts together with the caress, if blocking is not to
occur. Since the minimum duration of love E-actons is approxi-
mately 2.1 seconds, this means that separate love E-actons cannot be
initiated with different output modes during 2.1 seconds without
blocking.
This specific, unambiguous prediction has significance for under-
standing how people communicate with each other. It permits one
to understand that emotional blocking occurs, under certain
circumstances, as a natural phenomenon-and is not a mental dis-
turbance, or symptom of disease. It helps to avoid
miscommunication, and distinguishes between natural and unnat-
ural patterns of communication.
Such a finding is significant for music also, as it makes it clear that
the effectiveness of essentic form communication does not increase
with an increasing number of E-actons beyond 2.1 seconds, i.e.,
there is no sense of producing more than one love acton in 2.1 sec-
onds—it only causes blocking. (This knowledge would prevent many
music students, and musicians, from playing some music as if

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squeezing the last drop of juice out of a lemon: it defines exag-

geration and its failure to communicate, in this particular aspect.)

Figure 31. Diagrammatic illustration of free and blocked expression in-

volving more than one E-acton.

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 Sentics

Sentography and Personal Relationship Profiles

Because essentic forms are stable, as we have seen, we can proceed
to study an individual's sentic relationship with his human and nat-
ural environment using our methods to obtain his sentic responses
to personal and impersonal relationships. In a sense, this is the
opposite of generating and measuring generalized sentic states we
are interested in a person's sentic responses to particular features of
the environment and to particular people.
Since we know the essentic form for specific sentic states, however,
we can attempt to interpret the sentic responses in terms of the
known forms and sentic states. The known forms can be used as a
kind of template to reveal the sentic relationship of the subject with
a particular individual or an aspect of the environment.
The measurement techniques used in this method are similar to
the ones described earlier. The sentograph and voluntary expressive
pressure of a finger is used. Instead of expressing a particular
required sentic state, however, a person is asked to express his
response to the name of suggested people with whom the person has
a relationship.
The series of sentograms obtained constitute a sentic personal
relationship profile of the subject (PRP). The sentogram of the sub-
ject's fantasized reaction to each particular individual, such as his
mother, father, etc., has a distinct character and is stable as long as
the basic relationship does not change. It does not reflect the mo-
mentary feelings toward that person as much as the underlying,
longer-term relationship. A man may be irritated with his wife, for

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Figure 32. A Personal Relationship Profile for a male subject, forty-five

years old, comprised of sentic responses to person idiologs on two different
occasions. Sentograms shown are the average of ten actons in response to
such words as Mother, Father, etc. Each name is repeatedly pronounced a
few seconds apart by the experimenter, ten times in succession. Note the
characteristic shapes introduced on two separate occasions (two weeks
apart) for each person idiolog, and compare them with the basic essentic
forms given in Chapter Four. Note the resemblance of the sentogram for
Father (Fa) with the essentic form of love, with its inward horizontal
component. The sentogram for Mother, on the other hand, has an outward
horizontal component. In fact, all female sentograms in this PRP (Mother,
Ex-Wife, Woman 2, Woman 3) show an outward angle of pressure,
whereas sentograms to Grandfather (Gt), Son 2, and male friends (D, H)
show a marked inward horizontal component. The sentogram for Woman
3 may be compared with the essentic form for sex, while that for Richard
Nixon (Ni) resembles the form for anger and that for the subject's "business
enemy" (G) is suggestive of the form for hate. Other sentograms are clearly
different from the simple essentic forms so far measured. The element of
"inscrutability" present in this subject's reaction to Mao Tse-tung (Ma)
confirmed by the inter. view is also subtly reflected in his attitude toward
Mother. (In the inter. view the subject indicated being awed by his mother
and not really understanding her.)

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 Clynes

example, but his sentogram for "wife" would show not the irritation
but an expression of the relationship at a deeper level. These
sentograms acquire special significance as we relate them to the es-
sentic forms for specific emotions. Such a comparison often is re-
vealing and significant in a way that verbal expression of feelings
cannot be.
The figure shown (see Figure 32) comprises the collection of
sentographic forms of the PRP for one subject. The sentogram can
be compared with the established essentic forms for specific states
previously measured. For example, the sentogram for father may
closely resemble the essentic form for love as in the figure; and, the
essentic forms of anger, hate, or sex may be observed in particular
sentograms produced by the subject as an expression of his relation-
ship with specific individuals.
Other stable sentograms may clearly differ from any of the estab-
lished essentic forms. These are especially interesting in a different
way. They may express "mixed" states, i.e., combinations of basic
states. Or, they could represent basic states we have not yet inves-
tigated.

Measuring and Interpreting a Personal Relationship Profile

In measuring an individual's PRP, the experimenter in an initial
interview with the subject selects names of individuals with whom
the subject has, or has had, significant relationships. Generally
included are mother, father, wives or husbands, brothers and sisters,
children, grandparents, lovers, boss, subordinate, and/or other
significant individuals. Figures of national prominence, such as the
President, may also be chosen, if the subject has a significantly devel-
oped sentic attitude toward them.
The subject then sits in a chair without armrests and places his
arm on the finger rest in the standardized position, and is asked to
express his sentic response to the person mentioned by the experi-
menter with a single transient pressure. For each person chosen the
name is repeated five to ten times at random intervals of several sec-
onds apart; as he hears the name pronounced, the subject expresses
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 Sentics

his sentic attitude on the two-dimensional pressure transducer. Five

to ten responses are usually sufficient to characterize the form quite
accurately; using more than ten responses for one fantasized person
tends to blunt the sensibility of the subject.
In choosing the sequence in which the names are presented, it is
better for the subject's relaxation to avoid repeated violent contrasts
in attitude from one name to the next and to proceed in a gradual
sequence as far as is feasible.
When asking a subject to express his sentic reactions to how he
feels about the individual concerned (and not to how he feels about
what he or she might have done that day), the subject is quite easily
able to avoid expressing reactions to a temporary event of that day,
and is aware of this distinction without any real difficulty. Aspects of
the totality of the relationship determine the form, and not a partic-
ular incident. Yet there can be incidents that have a deciding effect
on the total relationship. In such a case a change in the form will be
Figure 33. Sentic reactions to colors as measured with the sentograph.
Note the distinctive forms for each color. The excitement of red is shown by
a strong outer-directed response. The calm of blue is reflected by a small
inverted horizontal component, i.e., the absence of an out. ward thrust.
Yellow has a more sustained response form than red and the response is
outward with a sustained energy. Green shows a compound motion out-
ward and also upward in the second phase. (Because of this response, it
was necessary to use a modified transducer setup that permit. ted a neg-
ative vertical pressure to be recorded.) Curves shown are valid for the
particular subject and particular hue only. Shapes are relatively sensitive
to minor changes in hue and saturation.

observed and may persist after such an incident.

The PR can be used diagnostically and as a particular sentic expe-
rience, as well as providing insight into the subject's relationships,
for the therapist and for the subject himself. Also, taking a PRP can
be a valuable emotional experience in itself.
In a similar approach, a person's sentic reactions can be measured
by various factors of the environment, such as color (see Figure 33)

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or shapes, either singly or in combination. This tells us something

both about the character of environmental factors and about the
subject himself.

"Mixed" Expressive Actons

So far we have mainly considered and measured the expression of
basic sentic states. But how are the many subtle shades and
combinations for states expressed and communicated?
Some sentic states appear clearly to be "mixed"; that is, they con-
tain elements of several sentic states. In this respect sentic states
resemble the spectrum of colors. Thus, while red and yellow cannot
be sensed in terns of other color sensations, orange is clearly sensed
as being a combination of red and yellow. States such as melancholy
and envy seem to be compounded from several others. How does the
essentic form of these states represent their components? It is clearly
not through a simple algebraic addition of the separate forms—such
an addition would interfere with the demodulating process that
functions according to the recognition principle of a key-lock
manner. Such a summation would also tend to confuse quality and
intensity.
It appears instead that the problem is solved in biologic design by
the ingenious method of combining portions of separate E-actons
sequentially. The essentic forms are "telescoped" together to form
one combined form. For example, melancholy (which may be
regarded as a combination of love and sadness) appears to be ex-
pressed by an E-acton which begins as a love acton that cannot
complete itself and after approximately o.6 second changes into a
sadness acton. The combined "telescoped" form results from a single
initial preprogramming and does not involve a separate decision of
stopping and starting the second acton in midstream, which as
noted earlier would result in blocking. The love component be-
ginning the acton is sufficiently long to be recognized as such, and
the termination of the acton in sadness is also recognized; neverthe-
less the melancholy acton is expressed and recognized as a single
entity.

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 Sentics

The dynamics of mixed expressive actons are still being inves-

tigated, and we have just begun to discern which emotions are the
result of mixing elements of the basic sentic states. It will be quite
some time before we can distinguish with full adequacy the basic
and mixed states of the emotional spectrum.

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Clynes

190
 Sentics

PART THREE
Sentics, the Individual, and Society

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A surface of grace
Bounds fluid motion
Myriad nerve-channels, like parachute chords
Connect surface movement to the moving thought-
Essentic form is born

And the moment's true surfaced expression

Seems one graceful line
To a point of powerless power
Giving
Weight to weight,
Time to time, continuity to experience

Asleep or awake, I too, sometimes seem

A point of nothing

A point of contact of living breath

With the multicolored, evanescent scene
Giving form to surface.

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 Sentics

Essentic Form and the Transformation of

Sources of Energy
Emotions Stored in Memory Qualities can be remembered as
such, regardless of specific situational content, as the experience of
sentic cycles shows. A person who has done sentic cycles can
remember sentic qualities he experienced, regardless of what
fantasies he may have had while producing them. In fact, he may
tend to forget these fantasies while still remembering the quality of
experience. Thus, it seems, the experi ence of the quality itself is
stored in the memory engram. That is, there may exist a chemical
representation of the memory of a specific quality, such as anger or
love.
In his paper "The Unconscious" Freud sees an apparent contra-
diction in the term "unconscious affect."1— Although he conceives a
repressed idea as being unconscious, he sees a contradiction in the
concept of a repressed unconscious affect. This view implies that an
1
Freud writes, "It is surely of the essence of an emotion that we should feel
it, i.e. that it should enter consciousness. So for emotion, feelings, and affects
to be unconscious would be quite out of the question. But in psychoanalytic
practice we are accustomed to speak of unconscious love, hate, anger, etc.,
and find it impossible to avoid even the strange conjunction, unconscious
consciousness of guilt…
"In every instance where repression has succeeded in inhibiting the develop-
ment of an affect we apply the term 'unconscious' to those affects that are re
stored when we undo the work of repression. So it cannot be denied that the
use of the terms in question is logical; but a comparison of the unconscious
affect with the unconscious idea reveals the significant difference that the
actual information is in the system Ucs [the unconscious] whilst to the
unconscious affect there corresponds in the same system only a potential
disposition which prevented from developing further. So that, strictly
speaking, although no fault can be found with the mode of expression in
question, there are no unconscious affects in the sense in which there are
unconscious ideas . . The whole difference arises from the fact that ideas are
cathexes ultimately of memory. traces—whilst affects and emotions
correspond with processes of discharge
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affect cannot be stored in the memory as such, as an entity. It denies

an affect the existential attribute which is given to an idea.
Freud's distinction appears to have as its roots a notion that the
very existence of an affect is linked to bodily processes, while, on the
other hand, ideas occur in the brain. Such a distinction is mis-
leading. The quality of pain, hunger, redness, of a musical experience
can be remembered. And if we may recall a quality, we may also
choose not to recall that quality, that is, to suppress that aspect.
What happens to the memory of an expressed sentic state? What
is the difference between a memory of an expressed sentic state, as
compared with one that has remained unexpressed and incomplete?
A crucial difference seems to be with respect to energy dynamics.
Incomplete states stored in the memory continue to demand ex-
pression, to require fulfillment. To discharge this, a scanning process
may allow us to complete them selectively as opportunity arises for
expressing that emotion. (For example, a twenty-two-year-old
female student, whose dog had died six months earlier, cried bitterly
during the Grief phase when doing sentic cycles for the first time, at
last being able to mourn for her dog.) Alternatively, expression of a
dormant sentic state may depend on reactivating that state, not
through memory alone, but through newly created situations. How-
ever, the experiences of anger from one cause may not always be
helpful in discharging stored anger from other causes.
It is observed in our studies that the quality of the experience of a
sentic state can be transferred from short-term to long-term
memory storage, like other entities of memory. For this to occur, a
person should have a period of relatively undisturbed sentic
condition fol lowing the experience. If the short-term memory stor-
age relating to sentic states is undergoing too rapid and continuous
change, the experience cannot settle in terms of long-term memory.
(Thus, in our lives, after any significant experience, we should leave
adequate time -one hour or more—for the experience to sink in, and
not divert our sentic state immediately afterward by distractions.
This seems advisable for any valuable experience.) Rhythms of

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personal interaction are related to the dynamics of essentic form.

When people are "in harmony," their essentic form productions are
interlocked in a unifying time patter. The phases augment rather
than cancel or block each other. The choice between genuine and
cathartic expression and of repression or blocking is often effected
by the interpersonal timing in the exchange of essentic forms.

Essentic Form in Dreams

There appear to be no significant differences between our experi-
ence of essentic forms in dreams and our experience of them in the
awake state. Smiles, gestures, musical phrases, tones of voice, etc, all
function in dreams much as they do in real life. Yet we are able to
generate these "unconsciously" in our dreams without confining our
selves to the expression of our "own" sentic states. In a dream we may
experience love expressed by another, the anger of two or more oth-
ers toward each other, and so on, on a practically limitless dramatic
stage. What gift of fantasy we all have in our dreams!
The need for dreaming appears related to sentic states that need to
be expressed. Dreams provide ways for satisfying expressive de-
mands, as well as for experiencing relationships with more insight
than in the awake state.†1 We need to separate satisfaction of the re-
pressed demand for expression from the pleasant or unpleasant
quality of the sentic state experienced in the dream. If nightmares
represent the expression of suppressed fears, they may be in that
sense "liberating" and attempt to discharge a situation which de-
mands expression.
In their analysis of dreams, Freud and his followers have empha-
sized the importance of affects as constructive influences of the
dream. With each scene of the dream a particular affect occurs. As
1
In considering the sentic structure of dreams, an important distinction be
tween the concept of wish and the sentic state of hope must be made. The
essentic form of hope is readily measured. It may exist without a specific
object that may be hoped for. Hope is open-ended; it is a generalized sentic
state. "Wish. ing." on the other hand, needs an object.

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one remembers a dream, one also remembers the corresponding

affect. (In fact, it is through this affect that we gain confidence in
remembering more and more details of the dream.) It is the cement,
so to speak, that binds the various details together within that partic-
ular scene of the dream. In the construction of the dream as a whole
we may experience a succession of affects.1 Dreams often sum up the
present condition of the individual in terms of his life situation.
Potential interaction between sentic states of various individuals and
their needs contributes to the particular "wisdom" revealed in the
dream. Our sentic discrimination and experience may be more acute
in dreams. When dreaming we often are better able than when
awake to experience requirements of others in addition to our own
needs to experience empathy.
Like dreams, sentic cycles make it possible to enjoy the expression
of states which one might not be able to do in real life. Providing
these safety vents, sentic cycles also tend to modify the dream con-
tent and unconscious driving forces of the personality. (Such reliefs
may also act temporarily to unbalance the drives of the individual,
and he will at times have a strange sensation of missing his familiar
neurotic urges. However, a readjustment readily takes place in which
the more creative aspects supplant the missed destructive elements.
A proper measure of sentic cycle exposure is necessary to achieve
1
The time course of experience in dreaming appears to be highly accelerated.
However, it may be possible to relate the minimum duration of a particular
sentic state to the duration of single expressed essentic form. One can spec-
ulate that possibly, scenes may be collapsed in time so that many actions are
projected into the time of one essentic form. There is a unitary, specific, sentic
experience for each section of a dream- the quality of the sentic state is
maintained through. out this portion of the dream. The shortest period of
this maintained state may be related to the duration of essentic form.
Certainly experience with sentic cycles suggests that during the expression of
a single E-acton frequently several scenes concordant with the expression
flash within one's fantasy- even if only for a fraction of a second. Images ap-
pear and disappear at rates that may occasionally approach the duration of
a single moment (o.2 second). This phenomenon is significant in relating the
function of sentic cycles to the function of dreams.
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this. Too much exposure may cause too great a dissipation of the in-
centive to act.)

Biological Aspects of Expressive Satisfaction

A repressed sentic state may be said to have the urge for expres-
sion also stored with its memory. On the other hand, if a satisfying
expression has occurred, the memory also incorporates that satis-
faction.
From a systems point of view, there is some correspondence be-
tween the demands of a spontaneously generated drive such as
hunger, and demands of unsatisfied repressed sentic states. But while
an individual is clearly aware of the method of satisfying hunger
namely eating food, and more particularly, through specific kinds of
food—the demands of repressed sentic states become known to the
individual only under selective attention.
If a person with repressed anger finds himself in a situation,
which, for other reasons, provokes him to anger, he may at the same
time discharge some of the unexpressed, repressed anger. He may
not be aware of this. This well-known phenomenon has bearing on
the study of generalized sentic states and their relative independence
from the specific situational content.
Let us consider the dynamics of a particular biologic satisfaction,
say that associated with urination. We may ask ourselves to what
extent is the drive itself related to a desire to obtain the sensation of
satisfaction? We may observe that the sensation urging one to
urinate does not urge us toward the particular sensation of satis-
faction we experience upon completion of the urination process.
Urination would take place regardless of whether this final satis-
faction would be experienced. But during the process of urination
the urge undergoes a transformation. Even though there is no satis-
faction until the completion of the act, information is nonetheless
received by the nervous system; the ongoing process of urination has
had an effect on the urge to commence it.

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An unexpressed sentic state provides an urge to express. During

expression there appears to be a modification of the felt urge so that
one inherently relates the act of expression to its previous require-
ment, and finally, the feeling of satisfaction is experienced
additionally, as a bonus, so to speak, not as a component of the urge.
Although the satisfactions are in themselves pleasant, it is not the
desire for these pleasant experiences that urges us to act. The urge
itself has an aspect of blindness with respect to these satisfactions.
(We desire sexually not in order to experience the satisfaction one
feels after a sexual act, but for its own sake. The satisfaction that fol-
lows is an experience in itself.) The expression of each sentic state
has its own particular satisfaction. The satisfaction of experiencing
anger may, at times, be more pleasant than that of expressing love.
Although one might say that obtaining food and eating is an "expres-
sion" of hunger, it is not so in the same sense as applies to the "ex-
pression" of sentic states. An infant, a young bird, or a dog
communicates the desire for food by specific cries recognized by the
mother or attending person. These cries express a sentic state. Acts
resulting from hunger have communication characteristics of the
state. The usual action pattern of eating acts to a certain extent, if
remotely, like an expressive motor pattern in being contagious and
in providing satisfaction.
But this is only one aspect of its nature. No one has been able to
compose music about hunger, or for that matter about eating. Ex-
pressive patterns associated with hunger do not lend themselves to
musical portrayal. Why is this so? The sensation of hunger is
specifically related to food only. There is no way of satisfying hunger
through any other sensory modality. To communicate love, however,
a caress or tone of voice or a gesture are all possible modes that can
satisfy the need to express. But no sounds have ever been invented to
satisfy hunger and no gestures will satisfy an empty stomach.
Nervous system signals and body images for hunger are thus spe-
cific; yet, generalized sensory input communication and experience
of sentic states may affect the dynamics involved. Under emotional

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stress, we may lose appetite and starve ourselves, or, under re pressed
emotion, overeat.
It is interesting and remarkable that during sentic cycles hunger is
sharply attenuated or disappears (this also happens during sleep).
The fantasy experience provided by sentic states appears to fill the
sentic domain, and displaces the sensation of hunger.

Sexual Satisfaction and Relationship Idiologs

If we compare sexual desire and function, and its drive, with the
hunger drive, we note in each a repeated generation of desire, with
some specific goal-direction or cognitive aspect that may result in an
action pattern.
Merely chewing and swallowing without eating gives some satis-
faction (e.g., chewing, and spitting food out before swallowing and
then swallowing-a good way to reduce weight!). But the demands of
hunger include also recognition and specific selection of food; if we
eat three pieces of cake, for example, we no longer want to eat cake
even though we may not be satisfied, i.e., are still hungry. Further
subtle body images are brought into play. We do not know how that
selection and imaging process works—its functioning is clearly
unconscious—but it is essential to satisfaction.
Consider the nature of the satisfaction of the sexual drive, and
masturbation. When a person touches himself on the nose, say, it is
a neuro-physiologically different experience than if someone else
touches him, since in one case intention, motor action, and touch
perception are integrated, and in the other they are not.1 It is clearly
a mistake to identify the sexual drive, its experience, and satisfaction
with the physiologic processes of sexual excitation and orgasm. The
spontaneous generation and perception of essentic form in mutual
sexual communication increases the level of excitement, and
changes the quality of experience and of satisfaction. The generating
action of essentic form combines exciting and seductive aspects. (To
generate these forms freely, the sentic domain must not be filled with
anxiety or fear.)
1
As also in massage, compared with self-massage.
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If we love the other person, and there is desire to merge with the
other individual, then how we integrate that image (or idiolog of the
person) with the sexual impulse is very important. The inability to
integrate these may become a source of sexual problems.1 In fact, ex-
perience with experimenting with the order of the phases of sentic
cycles shows that the phase of sex when coupled between love and
joy has an entirely different function, than when it is positioned be
tween other sentic states. The kind of satisfaction obtained from it
may vary greatly according to the sentic states associated with it (an
example of the "loose coupling" of qualities referred to in Chapter
Nine). The sexual drive shows itself to include more than so-called
"physiologic gratification." It, too, comprises virtual body images
and cognitive aspects (in the sense of Chapter Eleven. Combining or
divorcing ardor, joy, and love in relation to sexual experience, we al-
ter its dynamic function both as to unconscious and conscious expe-
rience.
Orgasm—as well as a tickle or a yawn-includes a wide range of ex-
perience (which should have better verbal description) that includes
the image of relationship. Not only does the intensity of the experi-
ence vary greatly with these relationship images, but certainly also
the qualities and consequent satisfactions.
The sentic function of the relationship image is definite and real,
but adequate words do not exist yet to describe its range and depth.
This makes it most difficult for us to be clear about the sentic
meaning of relationship. (Words such as "brother" mix up relation-
ship concepts with genealogy.) In terms of sexual experiencing, the
sentic meaning and function of relationship cannot be constrained
to fit the established word categories such as "lover," "mother," "fa-
ther," "friend," and so on. The extent to which the person or person
idiolog encompasses a range of conscious and unconscious
possibilities—as potentialities of relationship—controls the degree
of satisfaction and quality. Although we have no words to denote
these potentialities we can clearly sense their sentic function. Dis-
1
The effect on the dynamics of the unconscious processes is very different,
depending on the idiolog consciously experienced.
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 Sentics

tinguishing types of relationship as "nourishing" and "draining" is an

example of going in the right direction toward finding verbal equiv-
alents for a better differentiation, but these are still very inadequate
compared to the richness of the phenomena of relationships.
Thus, paying greater attention to the virtual body images asso-
ciated with the sentic state of sex and to its own cognitive aspect (see
Chapter Eleven) should allow us to discriminate better within the
range of sexual experience and its energy balance (as has been ex-
plored to a considerable degree by the Reichian schools of therapy).
'The large role of fantasy in governing the quality of sexual experi-
ence, recently brought to social attention through current popular
magazines, has been systematically cultivated, however, in a differ-
ent context in Tantra Yoga, as mutual fantasy. Fantasy acts both to
create idiologs of essentic form repeatedly and in combining the
sexual with other sentic states.
Energy capacities released by good sexual relationships are
perhaps the most unused and unrealized potential source of psychic
energy and human resources. Regarding sexual functioning largely
mechanistically, however, is a dangerous mistake to make in an effort
toward making these resources available. If our evolving current
concepts of sexuality (and the prevalence of various levels of
pornography) seem unfulfilling steps that appear to have truncated
the essential nature of this drive, it seems to be because sentic
relationship (except paradoxically perhaps for S-M) has not been
given its proper fantasy function as part of the sexual experience it-
self.
As the reader may have noted in the reports of subjects on their
sentic cycle experiences, these experiences may at times help to
integrate the sexual drive with personal image idiologs and prevent
the truncated shadow of one interfering with the other.
There are some immediate practical applications of sentic meth-
ods to sexual problems. For all too many individuals, sexual
activities are associated with specific, traumatic memories. These
associations often interfere dramatically with the natural sponta-

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neous enjoyment that the experience has to offer. Anxiety, guilt, fears
of impotence and of homosexual fantasies, phobic feelings, and
anger – these are examples of some of the processes that may occur
against the will of the individual. Sentic cycles can be used to redi-
rect these fantasy processes by offering new associations, and by pro-
viding enjoyable experience of the emotional spectrum.
This method, acting in part somewhat like Wolpe's desensitization
method (a technique of behavior modification which works by re-
peatedly and gradually associating the quality of an unpleasant expe-
rience with pleasant contexts), consists of deliberately and briefly
bringing to the subject's mind the negative associations when he is
established in a positive generalized sentic state—for example, love
or joy. In this way, habitual fears of sexual inadequacies may also be
replaced by repeatedly establishing positive associations during the
sex phase of sentic cycles. As the specific stimulus giving rise to fear
is thought of in a positive sentic state, the fear-provoking stimulus
becomes less potent after sufficient repeated association, and
assumes some of the character of the state in which it is presented.
In this way, it can be possible to abolish the fear of snakes, for in-
stance, and perhaps even induce a love of them. One should be care-
ful, however, that the positive state is well established first, before the
negative fantasy is presented. (Otherwise the subject might end up
with a fear of love, instead of a love of snakes! In practice this is not
difficult to avoid.
Not surprisingly, the reduction of non-specific anxiety produced
by sentic cycles, can be helpful in problems involving impotence and
frigidity. (Where possible, it is desirable that both members of a cou-
ple partake in sentic training.)

Aggressiveness, Peace, and Energy

The expression of emotions affects the drives which urge toward
expressive behavior. A key problem is to gain insight into the
relation of emotions and drives to psychic energy. Psychic energy
and aggressiveness are often and falsely equated. The all too vague
concept of "aggressiveness" appears to fall into several distinct cat-

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egories which have separate functions. These various types of

"aggressiveness" may be noted in the behavior of animals.
For example, a hungry animal will hunt for food and may kill an-
other animal in the pursuit of this goal. But psychobiologists (for
example D. Ploog) have found that such behavior does not appear to
be associated with anger or hate. The animal kills its prey to satisfy
hunger.
Another aggressive, "angry" behavior is observed as an animal
endeavors to secure his "territorial rights" and to fight off rivals, in
order to protect his property, relationships, and family. This self-pro-
tective behavior does not usually involve killing.
A third form of behavior we also tend to call "aggressive," even
though it is not directed at any other being, is the "aggressive"
pursuit of constructive activity and exploration. A female turtle
single-mindedly buries her eggs, ants labor untiringly in concerted
action, birds build their nests, and other animals hoard their food in
anticipation of later consumption. (In humans this activity is
exemplified by the engineer, the inventor, and the builder.) Some
ethologists are of the opinion that certain aggressiveness is a contin-
uously generated and periodically discharged urge (like the sexual
drive), which operates dynamically like a ramp function or sawtooth
configuration. (See Figure 34.) Also, it has been found to be possible
to bleed animals genetically according to specific types of
aggressiveness, demonstrating that the intensity of their sexual drive
is not necessarily correlated with the intensity of other aggressive
drives.

Figure 34. Ramp function illustrated by sawtooth configuration

corresponds with the dynamics of some periodically discharged urges.

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The hostile behavior that one observes arising from the frustration
of drives can be clearly differentiated in animals, as well as in
humans, from the constructive forms of aggressiveness. The latter
involves not attacking another individual, but rather a problem, and
energies are spent not fighting others but on the solution of a prob-
lem or the execution of a plan.
On the whole we may admit with Freud that in humans, creativity
is more like excretion than like ingestion. But in creativity there is
also an element of ingestion. Ideas and expressions are received.1
The concepts of aggressiveness and of psychic energy overlap, like
many other concepts of natural language. The problem is to under-
stand distinctions between emotions, drives and their relation to
psychic energy. But the concept of psychic energy itself is diffuse. Do
we equate the energy of anger to that of joyous excitement? For
many, anxiety is the driving force behind aggressive action and psy-
chic energy. In more disturbed individuals there is no longer an
awareness of the goal which would remove anxiety; that is to say,
anxiety becomes non-specific. Eventually such anxiety may no
longer produce activity. A drive based on the urge to remove anxiety
is also a drive to remove the blocking which anxiety produces. There
comes a point, however, when an individual no longer recognizes
the blocks and restrictions, and is ready to forget that he indeed does
have a drive which is being so blocked. The person increasingly re-
presses both the manifestations of the drive, as well as its blocking,
until gradually he becomes resigned, gives up, and becomes one of
Eliot's "hollow" men.
A crucial difference between energy based on anxiety and creative
energy seems to be that in the latter instead of trying to get some-
1
At times, one experiences the dynamics of being a mere "vessel" for re-
ceiving ideas and forms that appear to come to one. The processes of being
obsessed by a drive seeking to purge one, or to excrete, or literally "express,"
is joined by another, conjugate experience of being a vessel for receiving that
which comes. This requires not suction, but a clarity of emptiness, like a
clearly focused tele scope erected onto the black sky, open to receive the light
of an unsought star.
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thing, we experience both giving and receiving-although not nec-

essarily from or to specific individuals. Being connected to the
source of receiving is at the same time a feeling of strength and
peace-that is, energy. A balanced, homeostatic equilibrium takes
place as a result of the knowledge that in giving "there is more where
that came from"; the source of riches seems much greater, in fact,
than we are capable of receiving. The feeling of peace and security
which accompanies this realization is stronger than any other.
The form of psychic energy which results in spontaneous
generation is frequently and clearly seen in the play of young chil-
dren. Play may have its rules, but they serve to allow freedom of
choice and of action to exist. For older people, using that source of
psychic energy may represent a change in attitude toward being it-
self. Many of us do not feel a spontaneous joy and gratitude for life.
According to his autobiography, even Bertrand Russell, in spite of his
gifts, his insights, his success, and his sensitive nature, did not expe-
rience this until late in life. Deeply ingrained anxieties and resent-
ments appear to prevent one from experiencing this. But if these can
be removed, the forces of regeneration can be set free.
In generating qualities of experience, we know that for some
sensory qualities the nervous system has developed a two-channel
communication system so that the absence of the stimulus has a
quality of its own. Darkness is not nothing. When one experiences
black, certain neurons in the retina are stimulated by the absence of
light. (This happens because receptors that are stimulated by light to
inhibit these are now inactive.) Using the design principles of exci-
tation and inhibition, the nervous system can create unique qualities
through the absence of a specific stimulus.
This is not to suggest that peace is darkness. But when influences
of other sentic states, which by their mode of action often are
inhibiting influences, are absent, the inhibition is absent too, and
peace may be experienced as a spontaneously generated continuum.
In the sphere of emotions, interactions also seem to occur in a way
so that some emotions and qualities may be only experienced pro-
vided they are not inhibited by others. Through sentic cycles' dis-

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charge of accumulated emotional needs for expression, inhibiting

influences are removed. This appears often sufficient to experience
the spontaneously generated well-being and enjoyment of existence
as such, even the specific ecstasy which we call by the word "peace."
This kind of peace is not the peace of dreamless sleep. It is not the
peace of lassitude or of laziness or of lethargy or of inactivity. It is ac
companied by gratitude and a surge of energy, no longer directed at
the removal of anxiety or at some goal set for the satisfaction of a
drive, it is energy which joyfully embraces what the world has to
offer.1— —

1
The combination of the experience of calm or quietness with
increased psychic energy, an apparent paradox, is paralleled by the
experience associated with meditation. In fact, sentic cycles may be
regarded as a unique "active-quiet" form of meditation, which
includes considered experience of emotion.
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Sentics and the Sources of Ethical Being

The Sentic Source of the Ethical Impulse As we have seen, essentic
forms tend to fall into two groups: those which are expressed
strongly away from the body and those which tend toward incor-
poration. This distinction makes it possible to correlate some of
them with concepts of rejection and acceptance. Thus, we naturally
enter the realm of ethics. How are ethical considerations related to
the qualities of sentic states? Can love exist without an ethical aspect,
or hate without an unethical one? Do the qualities of grief and joy
have innate ethical aspects?
These questions are not solely philosophic, but also have an ex-
perimental basis in the light of sentics. For most philosophers,
emotions are largely seen as interfering with ethical judgment and
behavior. Even Spinoza, whose treatise on ethics concerns itself with
emotions in systematic detail and whose great insights in many ways
anticipate our findings, was mostly concerned with eliminating
emotional attitudes which appeared to him to promote bias and ob-
scure ethical thought. On the other hand, it is clear to us that empa-
thy, as we have described it, is entirely in harmony with ethical
objectives. Through the practical distinction between Apollonian
and Dionysian emotional experience and the ability to cultivate
empathy, sentics may clarify the relation between the sentic basis of
the ethical impulse and the sentic states that hinder its realization.
Let us consider the biblical ethical principle, "Do unto others as
you would desire them to do unto you" (or "Love thy neighbor as
thyself ") and Schweitzer's "Reverence for life." Such ethical

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principles denote attitudes, plans for action. As we have seen, sentic

states also place characteristic constraints on possible action pat-
terns. An individual under strong emotion becomes more pre-
dictable in some ways. His actions tend to be constrained to the
demands of the particular emotional state. Moreover, sentic states
continue in time according to their own inertia. Accordingly, a man
in a sentic state responds to the requirements of the moment with an
emotional filter. The question is how the constraint of sentic states
relates to the constraint of ethics.
In fact, the ethical principles we have quoted above do not elim-
inate sentic states. On the contrary, they specifically include the ex-
perience of reverence and desire: reverence for life, and, in good will
toward others, the desire for the nurturing of life. Clearly, it would
seem, regardless of our approach to ethics, sentic states serve as a
basis for the ethical impulse and thus its principles.
The sentic states that serve as a basis for the ethical impulse in man
seem to appear to some degree in the lives of animals. Thus, many
species of animals display behavior that implies that doing good to
others may bring them satisfaction. Ebl-Eibesfeldt calls this the "al-
truistic" behavior of animals. Parents labor hard to feed their off-
spring; animals come to the rescue of others when they are in
danger. (It would seem that we are often less "humane" than ani-
mals!) Such evidence suggests that we may look for a natural
harmony in ethics by considering the natural qualities of sentic
states, their interrelation, and their dynamic properties, including
sentic afterimages. These properties are not yet fully understood. If
we consider sentic states as ordered merely according to a single
dimension of pleasantness, as is often attempted, we necessarily find
many contradictions. For example, so-called "unpleasant" sentic
states such as anger may be very satisfying (and thus "pleasant" in a
different sense under the appropriate circumstances. Research into
the unique dynamic system qualities of sentic states is required for
understanding their relevance to ethical thought.
Thus, if, as it appears, ethical principles are inherently connected
with and derived from certain sentic states, we may study how the

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application of these principles is reinforced by some sentic states and

modes, and hindered and prevented by others. Sentics can contrib-
ute toward social ethics by making the application of ethical
principles more natural—it can allow the ethical impulse to be
frequently regenerated. It can help to avoid the distorting or brutal-
izing sentimentalities and injustices that result from an insufficient
empathy/ sympathy ratio.1
Social Significance
A practical problem of social ethics is discovering how to integrate
these new findings and experiences into the social fabric. The knowl-
edge of essentic form will give rise to numerous applications in
communication with others and in environmental design. These
possibilities will necessitate increasing discrimination to encourage
socially desirable applications and discourage exploitative ones.
Further, the practice and experience of sentic cycles introduces a
new element or input into probing of relationships. When people
practice sentic cycles, especially together, they are made aware of the
human qualities they share—through their own direct experience,
not merely intellectually. This tends to make them more accepting of
each other, and to develop an intimacy that is not easily come by in
other ways. Sharing their experience and fantasies afterward can fur-
ther add to mutual understanding and trust. People will thus be less
dependent on chance circumstances in meeting the "right" person in
order to experience the empathy that arises from intimacy. The
recognition of the universal quality of sentic states is an ethical
input, and the way a society may react to this input will be a
significant clue to its own nature.
Considering sentic states in terms of the acceptance-rejection
quotient as indicated by the horizontal component of the essentic
1
Although ethics is not justice, the concepts of justice and ethics are inter.
woven in our culture, in a way of which we are not fully aware. (For exam-
ple, Mercy is an ethical concept, not an arm of justice. vet is used
judiciously.) Love indeed is never just: more than just, it is a gift-both to the
ever and to the receiver. Nurturing and giving of life commanded by the eth-
ical principles has love as its source.
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form, we may prefer to cultivate a set of sentic states that are ac-
cepting, inclusive, incorporating, and that engender energy without
destructiveness or hostility. An ethical educational approach derived
from the biologic basis of sentics could lead us to educate the young
at an early age in the elements of sentics, teaching them in practical
terms how every individual has the ability to experience and
communicate these states. Their relationships could gradually be
transformed to include many individuals who previously might have
been rejected and disliked. Through an enlightened cultivation of es-
sentic forms for communication, and the enjoyment of sentic
practice, many of them would no longer be quite as "ignorant of
what they are most assured." Through sentic education we may hope
for a greater sense of brotherhood, and in turn for less deprivation
and isolation. The practice of sentic cycles tends to diminish prej-
udice by increasing our range of empathy. By discarding the
timeworn notion that emotional qualities are vague and only matters
of personal opinion, we make room for the natural roots of
emotional communication that bind people together.
Our dislike of individuals is often based on our dislike of their
sentie habits, which have developed in them as a result of their edu-
cation and experience. (Some of these are "defense mechanisms" in
Freudian thought.) An object of sentic training is to minimize the
need for rigidified defense mechanisms, and to develop a sense of
openness and trust. We shall always have much sorrow and pain, and
also injustice; but the former could be bore better with sentic train-
ing, and constructive psychic energy could be increasingly provided
to reduce the latter. We have seen in the past how hate breeds hate,
contempt breeds contempt, and anger breeds anger. Allowing the ex-
pression of these in non-destructive sentic cycles, we may free our-
selves from their chain of necessity.

Personal Relationship Idiologs and Ethics

Let us consider the question of how generalized emotions relate to
those involved in a personal relationship with a specific individual.
If one can experience generalized sentic states, it might seem that

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specific individuals might not seem important to experiencing

sentic states. This would be a misconception, however, because the
arc of communication from one individual to another is not
complete unless it includes the final point—the point of both
individuals' unique existence. A caress applied to the skin only is
incomplete. In closing this arc, there is an inevitable commitment
made. The time relations of this commitment are part of the sentic
dynamics, the non-verbal cognitive aspects of the state. (Having ac-
cepted one another "in one's heart," one expects to stay there at least
for some time!)
As we have seen, the sentic domain can elogize-hold images-of
loved ones. Without such an image (not necessarily visual, of
course), love that may be felt is not directed specifically at one per
son. There is what may appear as an essential sacrament in the bond
between two people that exceeds simple sentic experience. This
bond is formed, in effect, by the creation of an elogized sentic re-
ceptor in ourselves for every individual we care about. These elo-
gized receptors are not interchangeable but unique. We may like
dogs, but our own dog receives a special place, not only because of
our sense of responsibility, but because we know that dog. To know
in this sense does not mean to be introduced socially, or even to have
a full psychoanalytic knowledge of that individual's case; but is
rather a simple statement of the existence within us of that
individual as an elogized, unique sentic receptor.1
If in our daily lives we may often tend to interpret Jesus' ethical
principle as "love your neighbor, except for your neighbors," this
reflects that the intellectual good will we might feel toward the un-
known millions of the world is different in an important way from
the love of those we know intimately. It is true that there is a similar-
ity through understanding the generalized sentic state and the con-
sequent sense of the "brotherhood" of man. But the communication
arcs in those two situations are different. With individuals we know
personally, a reciprocal relationship in the present is possible,

1
This is another instance of the cognitive aspects of qualities of emotions.
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 Clynes

communicated through essentic form. No such communication is

yet possible between the distant millions.1
Sentic Diet and the Environment Application of the universality of
essentic forms shall help us also to create environments that will
favor the sentic states we desire. Our society has already discovered
how to do this for sex-though imperfectly. In fact, our culture is
inundated with attempts to use the essentic forms of sex as a
seductive tool. With the philosophy that everyone likes sex, a
technology has been created in which visual and auditory essentic
forms of sex are used to attract and excite as large a segment of the
population as possible.
Such mono-sentic stimulation, however, tends to fixate people and
leads to sentic impoverishment instead of achieving balanced sentic
fluidity; this is all the more so when this form of sexual stimulation
cannot lead to adequate resolution. It is very important to be aware
of the pure forms of sexual communication. But it is important to
cultivate our awareness of the pure essentic forms for the generation
and communication of other sentic states as well.
Sentic hygiene would demand that we include in our environment
adequate stimulation through the pure essentic forms of love, joy,
reverence, and other related qualities. The power of these essentic
forms to transform the state of mind is quite comparable to that of
the essentic form of sex, although it may not be so for individuals
who have become habituated addicts, so to speak, of sexual
communication. The socially pervasive essentic forms of sex tend to
produce a dependence on seeking this form of stimulation, often
leaving little opportunity for seeking other sentic experience.
1
Perhaps someday there will be a way of integrating essentic form
communication, so that love flowing at a given time from one individual to-
ward many others can be mutually felt at a distance. In music and the other
arts, there are partial attempts at this, but reciprocity to a large extent is not
really possible, although a concert performance can include elements of rec-
iprocity. The possibilities in our society of sentic communication among large
numbers of people – not in a confused, chaotic state, nor as simultaneous
response to only one sentic stimulus – need exploration.
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An important part of human nature is that a balanced experience

of sentic states allows each one (including sex) to be experienced
more fully than exclusive concentration on one state. A degree of va-
riety is essential in human life. The best food, the most beautiful
scene, the most lofty sentic state experience palls if not interspersed
with other experiences.1 Failure to recognize the need for variety as
a basic data processing requirement of our nervous system vitiates
much of our planning, and of the realization of the principles of so-
cial ethics.
Our need for sentic variety is well pointed out by dreams. Each
dream may be constructed around two or three sentic states, a state
persisting for a large part of the dream. With a series of dreams a
fairly comprehensive idea of an individual's sentic requirements is
portrayed. They may well include most of the spectrum of sentic
states; but specific omissions may be significant. The need for varied
sentic experience, as evidenced in dreams, may be a better indication
of our needs for a balanced sentic diet than the comparatively vague
notions and rationalizations we are able to conjure up in our awake
state.
It is especially significant that we find indications that reverence
(one's relationship to an existence larger than oneself) also appears
to be a natural ingredient of a balanced sentic diet. Our balanced
daily diet might well include the experience of the essentic form of
reverence. Indeed, it is amazing to see, over and over again, how the
intensity and enjoyment of that phase increases in the course of just
a few experiences of sentic cycles in subjects to whom reverence is
initially rather meaningless. They spontaneously come to discover
its importance in their lives. The wordless implications of the state
are understood and function in them. They sense their need for this
state.

1
The physiological phenomenon of adaptation based on rate sensitivity
holds also for sentic experience. The range of adaptation time constants in-
volved needs to be further experimentally determined and certainly will vary
for different sentic aspects, over a range of hours, days, to months.
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 Clynes

It seems that many of those millions who are apparently devoted

to the cultivation of sex have highly repressed desires for the satis-
faction of their spiritual hunger!

The Sentic Principle of Non-Equivalence of Individuals

The new techniques of communication that have been practiced at
such centers as Esalen often enable individuals more readily to expe-
rience love and other sentic states and to express these freely to. ward
one another. After experiencing them, one soon realizes that these
forms of communication have an element in common with the free
communication of a musician, even though they may be directed at
specific individuals. Successful participation in such groups may al-
low one to feel love toward practically all participants.
Such experiences are very real. Yet, they are incomplete in one
respect. In such a condition of "love," it tends to be possible to sub-
stitute one individual for another without a corresponding experi-
ence of loss. To exaggerate the point, if one participant were to drop
dead and a new member to take his place, one could relate to the new
member (given a similar amount of time) in much the same way as
to the missing member.1
Such relationships, however, leave out an important part of the
communicational link. The communication channel of love must
find its way to the unique elogized image of the particular individual
-we must, in common parlance, "care" for that individual.
Sentics appears to be able to make a contribution to this problem
in clarifying the distinctions involved. Sentic theory suggests that it
is not because of individual differences that we regard individuals as
unique. In fact, it is a consequence of sentic theory that paradoxi-
cally, individuals would be unique even if they were identical to one
another.

1
While each individual may be different, those differences are more like the
"spice than the "meat one relates primarily to their essential humanity and
secondarily to their specific differences.
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 Sentics

To illustrate the distinction involved, let us consider a conversa-

tion I had with Pablo Casals some time ago, in which we talked
about sentic studies. Having discussed implications of sentics for a
time, Casals rejoined, "I am a philosopher too," and continued, "Tell
an eight-year-old child that in the whole history of the universe no
individual ever has been just like him, nor will there ever be another
individual just like him—that he is a unique experiment of the uni-
verse, a unique participant! If the child understands this, how can he
ever kill or commit the atrocities we find around us?" That is, Casals
implied, if a person is aware of his participation in the universal
process as a unique link, he will feel responsible, and have a natural
ethical desire, a sense of belonging participation in the universal
process. His "uniqueness" is given by his particular constitution and
corresponding natural gifts, which have never occurred before, nor
will ever be duplicated again in this specific way.
But we need to proceed one step further. We need to recognize the
essential uniqueness of each individual, regardless of his specific
individual differences. It is not these differences that make him
unique, but the facts of his being an entity capable of being elogized.
Any part of the entity of a molecule can be replaced by substituting
an equivalent atom. All atoms of the same element are equivalent. In
a relationship between people, however, such equivalence does not
exist. The difference lies in the imaging or elogizing function of
fantasy processes which constitute an indispensable aspect of empa-
thy. We shall try to formalize this more precisely. Let us consider a
relationship between two individuals. A and B. If one were to sub-
stitute, in theory, an exactly similar individual A' for one of the
people (A), two possibilities may exist. If the other individual is not
told of the substitution he would be deceived and would regard the
substituted individual A' as the one replaced (A). If he knows how-
ever that two individuals were involved, two separate images will be
elogized in his sentic domain, one for each of the two individuals.
Empathy will allow him to experience the absence of one individual
as a loss. Such a loss is in no way canceled by the presence of the new,
second elogized entity. The second entity may mitigate one's sense of

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loss and be a compensation for the loss, but would not allow the
individual literally to forget the loss of the first entity. A loss followed
by a gain, even of the identical entity, does not cancel to no event
(this is an application of unidirectional rate sensitivity and rein con-
trol to living systems). The situation is different from that of a mole-
cule in which one atom has been replaced by another, equivalent
atom. The state of such a molecule in no way reflects that a sub-
stitution has taken place.
The knowledge of twoness acts as a branch point that provides for the
separate images in the data processing scheme of the nervous system.
Without that knowledge, the processes of empathy could not
function adequately: the result is that there are two elogized images,
not one. This constitutes a sentic ethical principle of nonequivalence.
We may state it formally thus:
Individuals are elogized as unique entities regardless of how
similar they may be to one another. They cannot be substituted
and are empathy non-equivalent, ie., ergodic substitution is
impossible.
The process of elogizing individuals results in a one-to-one
correspondence between an individual and his clogized existence in
the person with whom he has a relationship. Accordingly a sub-
stituted individual is a contradiction in itself. Love permits no sub-
stitution. This is in fact so, no matter how closely similar the two
individuals may be. The similarity may make it quite difficult to form
coherent distinct images but this is an unessential difficulty, giving
rise to some confusion at worst.
Generalized love and love for a particular individual differ in that
for the latter a specific individual is elogized and forms a living im-
age in the person who loves. Such an "elogy" of an individual, like a
thought, cannot be "unthought." It (and its recall) can only fade -for
good or bad, as it may be!

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Sentics and Space Travel

Insight into the relationship of sentics to ethical principles may
help us deal with some of our problems with our earth environment.
However, when we venture out of the earth environment into
space, the very nature of our biologic programming may bring us
into a new source of conflict, the nature and potential danger of
which can become clear through sentic considerations. In this chap-
ter, we shall consider the effects of space travel on our earth-made
biologic emotion communication systems. This may prove to be in-
structive in thinking about our emotion communication design in
the larger frame, as inhabitants of the universe.
About fifteen years ago Dr. N. S. Kline and I developed the concept
of the cyborg, which denotes how a man may extend his regulatory
processes to suit the environments he may choose to live in. The
cyborg concept suggests that a man traveling in space should not be
constrained to take an encapsuled earth environment with him;
rather, he should use his intelligence to redesign his bodily
regulatory processes, supplementing them with artificial automatic
homeostatic devices, to allow him to exist more naturally in a "for-
eign" environment. Such a man, redesigned by himself to fit the
environment he chooses, is a cyborg. By analogy, if a fish wanted to
live on land, he should not surround himself with a bowl of water,
but, as a smart fish could, design himself special gills so that he could
breathe air. We proposed then that man has enough intelligence to
begin to redesign his systems in just that way. Wherever possible, he
would do far better to redesign his physiological regulatory systems

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so that he could, in the new external environment also, near opti-

mally regulate his internal environment without his conscious at-
tention. Today, insights contributed by sentic theory have
significantly altered our understanding of the problems involved.
Experience with sentics has disclosed that specific modes of
emotional expression are related innately to the direction and
strength of gravitation. Space travel changes man's ability to express
emotion, and also affects his need for it. The ways in which these
changes occur suggest some new ways in which his needs may be
satisfied.
Maintaining Emotional Health in Space Man's exploration of
space has been successful from the technical point of view during
the last decade, but emotional exploration of his new experience and
environment has not been spectacular. It may be too much to expect
astronauts to provide us with a fully communicated view of their
new enlarged experience. The exigencies of piloting their vehicles
necessarily make great demands on them, and so we must be satis-
fied with the language of "wows" and "manoh-mans's" and similar
expletives, whose implications we can only guess at from their con-
texts on earth. But communicating new emotional possibilities is
only part of the story that remains to be developed. The other part—
perhaps in the long run more important-is to provide for the
emotional needs of astronauts who are together confined to such
small spaces for such long periods of time, often without significant
emotional contact with human beings, other than their fellow astro-
nauts.
To plan for extensive space travel adequately we need to under-
stand man's psychological drives, needs, and qualities of satisfaction,
as well as to provide for physiological homeostasis. We could call this
aspect his "psychological" homeostasis, but that tends to be mis-
leading, since there is an indissoluble connection between his
mental and physiologic functions. And of course, we are more
advanced in understanding the process of physiologic homeostasis
than those that include psychologic homeostasis. How can man be
"authentic" in space?

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Some outstanding components of the astronaut's emotional expe-

rience are exhilaration, boredom, and anxiety. Exhilaration is fine,
although at times it could provoke dangerous recklessness, but one
wants to avoid the deteriorating effects of boredom, and at times of
anxiety. The build-up of explosive needs, unsatisfied through long
periods of deprivation, needs to be avoided.
The problem of the astronaut is not so very different from that of
the inhabitants of earth. Man has a need for both order and variety.
Nature has provided both, but in his trip into space he may well
suffer from too much order and not enough variety.
There is a strange technological imbalance between man's devel-
opment of his tools and machines for the penetration of space, and
his lack of progress in cyborg technology, even in the most obvious
modifications of his own nature for the environmental goals that he
sets. The first thing man needed to do on achieving the tremendous
technological feat of landing on the moon was to sleep for eight
hours! Of course, we do not know why man needs to sleep. But if the
spaceship had such pervasive unknown needs, it surely never would
have made it to the moon!
An essential part of sleep is to allow man his necessary dreams.
Every man when he dreams has at his disposal an extraordinary fac-
ulty of imagination and fantasy. Even the "dullest" man, when he
dreams, produces plays that he casts, directs, and acts in-and for
which he even designs the costumes and sets. But the quality of those
dreams in a prolonged space trip could become nightmares.
Sentic cycles enable a person—in space or on earth—to undergo a
highly pervasive and integrating emotional experience. As noted,
the sentic cycle experience affords the calmness combined with a
sense of well-being and energy-it is not the calmness of a tranquil-
izer.1 Hostile aggression is attenuated and there is a sense of be-
1
Sentic cycles may also be preferable to the use of various drugs, not only
because the drugs may have side effects, but also because of the length of time
it takes the body to recover from the administration of drugs. A suitable
combination on sentic cycles with appropriate drugs may well be possible,
however.
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 Clynes

longing and of satisfaction in simply being. Although sentic cycles

can be emotionally draining if done to excess, in proper measure no
boredom sets in. Remarkably there is a collapse of the sense of
elapsed time; a one-hour sentic cycle experience is often judged to be
only some twenty minutes long.
All these attributes make sentic cycles interesting for possible use
in space travel to provide for emotional stability and to prevent bore.
dom.
The paralyzed subject in Colorado (Chapter Nine) has experi-
enced conditions in some ways analogous to those of space travel.
Because of her paralysis many of the sensory inputs available to
normal individuals are eliminated for her. Even her sleep pattern is
affected by the necessity that she be turned over every hour and a
half throughout the night, which her husband has been doing for all
these years! The fact that sentic cycles have made her life not only
tolerable but even pleasant is relevant to the conditions facing the
space traveler.

The Changed Nature of Emotions with Altered Gravity

As noted earlier, the expression of emotions takes place very
differently in the absence of gravitation. Experiencing the virtual
body images characteristic of sentic states shows that the position of
the body and limbs in relationship to the direction of gravity is an
integral part of the entity of the sentic state and of the essentic form.
Virtual body images are closely linked to the force and direction of
gravity. Reviewing aspects of them, we may note that for joy, for
example, there is a sense of lightness, of bounce. As illustrated in
Chapter Four, the essentic form of joy contains a rebound overshoot
corresponding to a floating sensation. Grief, on the other hand, is
accompanied by a sense of heaviness of the limbs. There is also a
tendency of the head to be tilted downward and to one side; for joy,
the head tends to be tilted upward. The expression of anger has a
strong downward component. Courage, also, is expressed directly in
relation to the direction of gravity.

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Expressing love with a caress normally tends to be with palms

downward; the pressure exertions necessary to carry out a caress
with the palm pressing vertically upward are foreign to our
programmed forms of expression, tend to feel unnatural, and, if at-
tempted, may block the feeling of the emotion associated with it.1
Furthermore, we may remember that in the introduction to this
book we briefly discussed a specific emotion, which we have called
being Apreene, that may be a prerequisite for the discovery of new
ideas. For this emotion the head tends to be tilted slightly to the side
and slightly upward, the body feels light, and there is no anxiety and
fear, but an enthusiastic and yet a still eagerness, which waits to re-
ceive; the face has a characteristic openness and intentness, a rapt
kind of attention, and there is a characteristic sensation in the
forehead between the temples. This emotion too involves gravity!
Does this imply, then, that the combination of lightness and strength
experienced with this emotion (a feeling of not being totally earth-
bound—cf. "the fight of the imagination") will no longer provide us
with the sense of newness, of being taken out of one's pedestrianism,
in space travel where lightness is habitual?
Such questions really ask to what extent those inherent body im-
ages will be felt as missing in space travel, and to what extent they
might be altered or retrained. If there is no gravity, how can the
heaviness of grief find its expression? Will it no longer be heavy, or
will it simply not be possible to express and even experience grief?
Experiments in water tanks reveal the difficulties resulting from
removal of gravitational forces on the ability to communicate and
express emotions. When floating in water, the dynamics of gestures
are modified not only because of the resistance of the water but
1
During the Apollo-Soyuz fight, there was a memorable moment when the
Russian cosmonauts shook hands with the astronauts. An especially memo-
rable aspect, from the point of view of sentics, was that the Russian vigor-
ously shook the astronaut's hand "vertically downward" with respect to his
bodily orientation, moved the receiving hand about four inches stopped at
that love, holding tie hand hand. About, wendichemanty wand. shake, with
a measure of commitment—this is how it appeared from the earth. But how
did it actually feel, without gravity's confirming guide?
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because of the altered kinesthetic experience. In fact such an experi-

ence is a good illustration of the sentic principle of partial reciproc-
ity. Floating in water tends to be pleasant in itself: the absence of
heaviness tends to counteract possible bodily images of grief and
related sadness, and is in accordance with virtual body images asso-
ciated with joy. Much of the exhilaration of the experience of weight-
lessness appears related to this characteristic of the essentic form of
joy. The experience is presaged in the experience of those who dream
about flying with their own bodies. This is a very common dream.
One pushes off with one's legs and then floats while usually looking
down on the scene below with a delightful feeling.1
The ability of dreams to provide us with a precise perspective of
feeling and to create pre-verbal concepts for us is a crucial human
function. How will conflict between virtual body images of emotion
in astronauts' dreams be reconciled with their waking experience in
space?
How do we account for the lightness of joy? What is it about joy
that links it with lightness indissolubly? If on earth the shape of a
caress has to be the way it is to express love, while a sexual caress, say,
has a very different form, how might these forms be different in
different parts of the universe? If each emotion has its own specific
spatio-temporal form and if we should encounter some new
emotions among beings living elsewhere, what might their essentic
forms be? Clearly, emotions which we regard as the highest devel-
oped on earth may well be surpassed by more developed beings—it
is not merely in intelligence but also in the spectrum of emotions
that evolution proceeds.
The emotion-generating function of our dreams uses the essentic
forms and the innate virtual body images that include the magnitude
and direction of gravity. In the weightless condition of space, as also
1
The author once had occasion to ask astronaut Cunningham if he had ever
dreamt of flying in this way. He said he had done so, on a number of occa-
sions. "And how did that feeling in the dream compare with your experience
of weightlessness in space?" I asked. "Come to think of it, it was just like that
feeling," Cunningham replied.
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in conditions of different gravity, the traveler will find his ac-

customed emotional virtual bodily images at variance with experi-
ence. To what extent the essentic forms would be modified in
prolonged space travel can now be investigated. Instrumentation
necessary to do this is simple and light. Thus it appears the
opportunity should not be missed in coming space flights to conduct
these simple tests. A specific question is whether the virtual body
images—which involve gravity and appear to be genetically
programmed into man's nature-would be affected by prolonged
weightlessness. There is a direct correspondence or coherence-be-
tween the expressed form and the felt experience. If there is an al-
teration in the form, the felt experience also changes. If the
exigencies of space travel alter the expressed form, our built-in ner-
vous system integration of that form would also alter the quality of
the corresponding emotional experience. In other words, it is
possible that disassociation may occur between gestures and experi-
ence even in the awake state. This would present a serious problem
for the emotional stability and long-term viability of the astronaut's
mode of life. Expressing essentic form with finger pressure and
sentic cycles provide a possibility both to study this condition and to
ameliorate it if it is a serious problem. The ability of man to express
his emotions in accordance with his nature is indispensable for a
prolonged existence in space. In a weightless condition, can man's
emotional nature function in an unaltered manner or—like a ballet
of Mendelssohnian elves—will the dance of space necessarily require
him to transform his emotional nature?
Virtual body images associated with each emotion have an uncon-
scious origin. They are not willfully created by each individual-they
represent human heritage. So do essentic forms. This unconscious
heritage travels with us into space. But the autonomic and the
unconscious meet, and so by understanding our unconscious sentic
heritage consciously, we may be able to teach our autonomic systems
to live in harmony with our old heritage, as well as with our new ex-
ploration of outer—and perforce inner—space.

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 Clynes

Sentics and Natural Order: the Evolution of

Sentic States and the Generation of New Ideas
Concerning the Existence of Emotion
We are in the habit of considering entities as "things," objects of
matter in space. But we are not used to thinking of entities in time as
existing in the same sense that things exist. In this book, we have
tried to point out the error in this kind of thinking. Even in con-
sidering elementary matter, such as a photon, time cannot be left
out: the frequency of the photon is an inherent part of its nature.
Without time a photon could not exist. Quantum mechanics extends
a similar concept to the nature of all forms of matter. The nature of
matter depends on the existence of time. Without time, matter
cannot exist.
In our language, however, we have become accustomed to dis-
tinguishing only forms in space as existing, as if forms in time did
not exist. The concept of a "thing" literally embodies this attitude.
This is reflected in the historical quest for an answer to the question
"What is emotion?" Thus, for example, we find McDougal saying,
"emotion is not a thing," while other psychologists claim, "if emotion
is not a thing, it is in effect nothing." Between the categories of things
and nothing, much is excluded! On the other hand, others like
Sartre, impressed by the "magic" of emotions, conceive that magic as
equivalent to the "supernatural." If emotion is not a thing and yet is
an entity (as seems to be sensed by Sartre), we would seem to be
dealing with an apparently magical phenomenon!

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However, if one recognizes that entities may exist in time, as well

as merely in space, at least part of the magical aspect of the
communication of emotions becomes "natural" magic rather than
supernatural. That two magnets a distance apart attract each other is
as magical as anything that we may observe. In that sense the
communication of emotions is still magical. But we no longer need
to regard it as supernatural, as unconnected with the order of nature.
What, then, is the nature of this connection? How do the entities of
emotion derive their existence from the order of nature? We may
again consider the two possibilities we raised in the early section of
this book. The first is that they are the result of genetic mutations
produced by chance, without any pre-existing conditions for their
existence. That means that it would have been impossible, even in
theory, to predict that these entities would arise.1 The other
possibility is to consider these entities as among those which
potentially exist in the order of nature, like specific molecules: i.e.,
that the potential existence of these entities is implied by the uni-
versal laws, and that their actual realization depends on the chance
interaction of the processes of mutation (the pinball machine
analogy). The quantum levels of molecules exist potentially whether
or not a particular electron is captured. Likewise the entities or
qualities we are considering may exist as potentialities, and be come
realized through chance processes of interaction.
In considering these two possibilities we should realize that if we
favor the first, then we must be prepared to accept the existence of
two different kinds of entities: those that pre-exist like molecules,
and those qualities that arise at random without any necessary basis
in universal order. We then have to consider how the latter may
exhibit the degree of stability and precision which we observe. The
infinite precision of the existence of a molecule is not the precision

1
This view can lead to attempts at synthesis such as the book by E. O. Wil-
son, Sociobiology, in which the qualities of emotion and experience appear
as arbitrary byproducts of the DNA's program of producing more DNA (Wil-
son "an egg's way of making more eggs"); paradoxically, in this "synthesis"
the elements of experience are not considered fundamental natural entities.
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 Clynes

of a machine.1 A man-made machine has the freedom to make

errors. No two mass-produced items are exactly alike. A molecule,
however, can never make an error. It can never malfunction. The
concept of accuracy is meaningless to it; it has no freedom to be
inaccurate (this is regardless of the Heisenberg indeterminacy
principle, which is itself highly determinate).
The stability of the phenomenon of red, or of love, across the cen-
turies can be accounted for by genetic stabilities. But a crucial
question is whether predispositions exist for the mutations involved
in their development. Is it possible that some molecular
combinations have an inherently more probable existence, and that
these specific combinations are genetic language elements resulting
in the specific spatio-temporal organization characteristic of those
qualities? At present there is little direct evidence on the molecular
level that this is so. Mutations may appear to have an equal chance
for occurring regardless of their "constructive" aspects; we regard
their continued existence as largely determined by natural selection.
There is mounting evidence, however, that such a view is inadequate
to account for what may appear as design choices.
It is simplistic to believe, a priori, that higher molecular organi-
zation is completely free in the sense that the organization of a
hydrogen atom is not. It is conceivable that certain combinations of
the elements of the genetic code form "words" that have a pre-exist-
ing "meaning." That is, the stability of existence of these con-
figurations would not itself be of random nature, although their
actualization would be the result of chance.
This second alternative implies that such entities cannot arise
from nothing, although they may arise by chance (in the same sense
1
A machine implies a specific function -a human design that determines the
function of the machine (for example, a machine that makes bicycle parts).
Such a human design is not rooted in natural law. An artist, on the other
hand, may feel some compulsion to be faithful to an inner form he senses to
be in ac cord with an aspect of natural order. (Such a constraint, rooted in
the nature of qualities, is different from the constraint of "copying" from na-
ture.)
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that the hydrogen atom does not arise from nothing). This would
mean that a series of entities potentially pre-exist waiting to be
realized through chance interaction. Clearly the qualities so far
realized in our own development would represent only a fraction,
and perhaps a very small fraction of entities existing in potentiality.
A chance process of evolution would determine whether one or an-
other preexisting quality would become realized first. The order in
which qualities come into existence would be subject to chance
(though it may be that certain qualities have to exist first before oth-
ers can come into being), as well as the time at which they come into
existence. But the number and possible nature of the potential
entities would be a predetermined function of natural design,
implicit in the genetic code.
There is growing evidence of various kinds for this second al-
ternative. Studies of enzyme structure have discovered that enzymes
which have evolved separately, within totally different organic
functional systems, nevertheless turn out to have similar structures
– evidence for the "pinball machine" theory. Further, similar specific,
highly ingenious solutions to environmental problems in totally
different parts of the world are found in both the plant and animal
world.1 Language, too, may have arisen independently among sepa-
rate human groups. Thus, on various levels we see nature displaying
"preferred" solutions. We may try to account for these through
purely statistical considerations, but there is growing difficulty to
avoid concluding that some design choice is implied in the relative
stabilities of some of the DNA molecule configurations in the ge-
netic apparatus. We shy away from the concept of "design" if we
regard it anthropomorphically, as intelligence having to make
certain new choices. But we are well satisfied that there is design in
the universe with regard to atoms and molecules; physicists admire
the "elegant design" implicit in natural law—that in fact appears to
be a source of its beauty, as well as of the awe and wonder which
1
For example, certain algae plants have adapted themselves to live at geyser
temperatures of 170 degrees F. by similar "unique" means in Yellowstone
Park and at Russian geyser locations.
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physicists often experience. Why then should we not permit our-

selves to accept the possibility that design may be implicit in the
more complex molecular organizations? Ultimately all universal
design principles tend toward the simplest and yet encompass all of
the complexities of the real world: there is no contradiction here,
since experience of the entities of qualities is essentially simple while
the circumstances bringing it about are highly complex.

Concerning the Evolution of Sentic States

The evolutionary processes that give rise to qualities can also be
considered to give rise to the special class of qualities of sentic states.
Different sentic states thus may have developed at different stages of
evolution. Our observation that the electrical activity of these spe-
cific states influences different regions and orientations of the brain
is in accordance with this supposition.1 P. D. MacLean's concept of
the "Triune Brain" also supposes different types of emotional experi-
ences at various levels of brain evolution.
However, advances in genetic engineering may make it theo-
retically possible that the next sentic state to be evolved might not
have to await a random event for its actualization. If the nature of the
relative molecular stability of the genetic code pertaining to specific
sentic states is known, it is conceivable that it should become
possible to produce a new sentic state by the actualization of another
such stable configuration, assuming, of course, our speculations
concerning the genetic bases of the evolution of sentic states are
correct. It may even become possible to predict the nature of the next
essentic forms to appear, provided a fully comprehensive math-
ematical theory of essentic forms can be formulated.
Thus, the main underlying hypothesis for these considerations is
that the evolution of qualities and of sentic states represents the
1
That does not mean, however, that specific sentic states are associated with
specific centers of the brain. It is clear that in any sentic state a large part of
the brain is involved and not just a localized region. Nevertheless, it does ap-
pear that the electrical activity is modulated in specific ways in different
parts of the brain for each sentic state.
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gradual actualization through random influences of potential exis-

tence inherent in natural order (in a way similar to the evolution of
molecules).
The striving of the individual may be seen as an attempt to
actualize selective potentialities. In this perspective, his own
selection may in some ways seem to parallel the selection of
evolution: sentic qualities most recently developed by evolution may
promise the most potential "growth" for the individual,
communication of the "highest" sentic states, as an element of cul-
ture, seems to be in accord with the direction of evolution. In this
way, men like Beethoven who consider their function to be messen-
gers of a higher Geist may also pioneer in evolution.

Concerning the Source of Order in the Process of Fantasy.

Evolution of Ideas: BEING APREENE
As we noted, in the creation of dreams the sentic state appears to
act as a generating matrix into which specific details of the con-
struction of the dream fall. This "falling into place" of specific de.
tails when a given sentic state is established similarly is an important
part of the creative process. When we try to recall someone's name
from memory, an aspect of our awareness goes blank for some sec-
onds, while some unknown process "searches" our memory, within
a certain "set," until we "remember" the name or item for which we
search. Likewise, it seems there is a specific sentic state which acts as
a receiving template, as a "catcher" of new ideas—a state in which
one is ready to receive the details pertaining to the set, like an aspect
of the process of dream creation. Being in that appropriate state, a
concatenation of ideas will naturally occur.
We have no conscious understanding or even experience of this
organizational process and no word has been developed to denote it.
Yet it is one of the most important functions of the brain. This state
allows certain freely operating processes to occur, even though we
do not consciously experience the details of these processes. We
merely experience a general state of readiness, an openness to re-
ceive. Yet in those moments, searching combinations are taking

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place without pressure, without binding concentration, without con-

scious logical thought restraint. Such thinking, however, represents
elements of logic also, but the logical thought appears to be the result
of brain

SENTICS AND NATURAL ORDER 205 function rather than that

of a "rational" – ie., conscious examination - of each element of
thought. In this sense rationality may be said to be inherent brain
function: an unconscious rationality not subject to learning as
syllogisms but simply exercised and available to be freely used. (The
use of rationality to avoid inconsistency and self-contradiction is
only a shadow of its real function—a secondary rather than primary
aim of the creative reasoning process.) In thinking of new ideas we
need to place confidence in our creative reason, much as we have
confidence in the creative dream process—a deep confidence "to let
it happen." After the connections have been made we may test them
for inconsistency, and reject an idea. But we must not reject ideas
before they are born.
How do we reject ideas before they are born? By not providing
suitable conditions to allow the birth of new ideas, we in effect abort
them, or prevent their conception. In the introduction we have de-
scribed a state that accompanies their conception. We shall call that
sentic state, which nurtures the quest for new ideas, "being apreene."
This sentic state, like others, has particular concomitants of body
posture, facial expression, and a virtual body image. As we have de.
scribed it, the head tends to be tilted slightly to the right and slightly
upward, the body feels light, and there is a characteristic sensation of
sideways expanding pressure in the forehead between the temples.
Inhalation takes place slowly and steadily, while expiration is rapid.
It is a specific intellectual fervor, an openness, receptivity, enthu-
siasm, a readiness to receive.
New creative ideas occur probably mainly through the sentic state
of being apreene. Without that state, ideas that are found may well
never exceed the pedestrian. In an apreene state new ideas appear in

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an unexpected manner. They employ reason, but not what is taught

as "reasoning" in school. The unexpected ideas surpass those that
can be obtained through conjecture. In this state, the quality of ideas
is transformed—the unconscious processes appear to be involved to
a much higher degree. We stand there with "a net," in readiness,
waiting for "the fish to be caught."1
Having identified its essentic form (see Plate 10), we see that being
apreene is a sentic state that can be elogized, practiced, and culti-
vated. And to have named it makes it easier to do.
The state implies also a total absence of fear and a willingness to
accept whatever may come without fear of its implications. This may
be a factor why certain types of creativity are so rare in totalitarian
states. To be armed with courage and thus not afraid may require a
mental set which can be inimical to creativity. Rather, the unafraid
searcher needs trust. Trust that whatever may come into his
awareness is worthy to be well received and even treasured. Indeed,
we may even say that the processes of fantasy contain a "whole" or
"holy" aspect which man may tap. When he has found this, a man
knows it, and this is part of the apreene sentic experience. As Her-
mann Hesse phrased it, "Be a window to let the light in."2 To be
apreene is a concomitant to the unconscious processing that takes
part in creating new ideas. Having named and identified the state, it
has become more amenable to consciousness. Like the verb "to
think," it remains a mystery, but now we can, through the word,
evoke the state—and through its essentic form, practice it.

1
Some of the concepts that form the basis of this book presented themselves
to the author in such a way and in dreams, and he was forced to follow their
consequences whether he wanted to or not. In the state of being apreene,
ideas may present themselves with "demonic" power--the result of an agency
outside the willful direction of the individual.
2
We should be very careful to differentiate between the apreene state which
is focused on the receiving of new ideas, and the state of empathic involve-
ment that encompasses the drama of personal existence and its emotions.
Being recep tive to ideas is not the same as being sensitive or "listening" to
people.
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A New Form of Laughter: A Prediction of Sentic

Theory
In the preface we alluded to recent, exciting findings of sentics
concerning laughter. It seems fitting to approach the end of this book
with a short chapter on laughter. What an extraordinary existence
laughter is—how important in our lives-and yet, how little do we
know about its functioning!
Laughter, like speech and crying with tears, is found on earth only
among humans. Although some birds and animals, such as the
laughing bird and hyena, can produce what sounds to us like laugh-
ter, these sounds are not associated with any apparent sense of
humor. And though other animals in turn seem to display degrees of
what appears like a sense of humor, they do not laugh. The
combination of laughter with the sensation of "funniness" seems a
specifically human development. We should thus expect the sentic
study of laughter to be a particularly interesting example of
communicating specific qualities through expressive dynamic pat-
terns.
There are, of course, many kinds of laughter. A particular laughter
combines in its expression aspects of both the individual's character
and the particular situation that gives rise to it. An individual's
spontaneous manner of laughing contains sentic information about
his person. The sentic significance of the subtle shades of one's tone
of laughter reveals one's present sentic state but also one's "point of
view." We can recognize a person by his mode of laughter almost as
well as by his speech. In part, this reflects the characteristic con-

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figuration of sound produced by the individual's particular resonant

structure. But to a great extent, choices of sentic use of inflection and
subtleties of dynamic voice changes are also personal characteristics
of the individual.
Like the subtleties of relationship of tones in music, the tones and
inflections of the countless possible gradations of laughter reveal
more and more, the closer one listens. As one listens attentively, the
precision of laughter as communication, more than almost any other
single form of behavior, can afford direct, intimate knowledge of the
individual. Laughter is able to transmit various sentic states
implicitly, as a "sentic carrier." There is joyful laughter, malicious
laughter, sardonic laughter, embarrassed laughter, spiteful laughter,
and so on.
Like other essentic forms and sentic states, laughter can also be
experienced as a generalized sentic state, without either a cause or
recipient.1 In the most common experience of laughter, an urge to
laugh (which may be suppressed is provoked by a particular sit-
uation, perception, or idea. As one laughs, this urge is satisfied. After
a certain duration of laughter, there is no further urge to laugh. (But
there is an aftereffect on the sentic state and an afterimage.) The urge
to laugh and the dynamics of its expression and satisfaction are also
affected by the prior sentic condition of the individual. Like orgasm,
sneezing, or sobbing, laughter is a repetitive biologic pattern. At
times, one experiences paroxysms of laughter, in which the laughter
keeps triggering itself. Less and less of the provoking stimulus is
required to maintain laughter. This experience is close to laughter
without a cause. But most commonly, we recognize what it is we are
laughing at. There is usually a cognitive aspect to the initiation of
laughter; that is part of our notion of a "sense of humor."

1
There have been devices available from time to time that produce sounds
of laughter. These can make one laugh, in sympathetic resonance, without
other "reason."

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How Laughter Is Provoked Mentally

A sudden perceived incompatibility of two idiologs of sentic
significance is involved in provoking laughter. To induce laughter,
the two incompatible idiologs have to be viewed with detachment
from a point of view in which both idiologs are contained in a higher
synthesis. The suddenly discovered integration is: "Order I" and an
element of disorder with respect to Order I are viewed with detach-
ment from "Order II," the point of view of the person who laughs.
From the point of view of Order II, the element of disorder has be
come only an apparent one.
When we are tempted to laugh at ourselves, we recognize
incompatibility between two elogized views. A child who is running
may fall and cry, but the same fall may cause him to laugh if he has
at that time a spectator-like, detached point of view, which allows
him to discover the sudden fall as only an apparent element of disor-
der in a larger sense of belonging. The late Alan Watts often used to
start meditation with a characteristic deep laugh, continued for
some time-an image of cosmic laughter, which clearly illustrated the
disparity between the world and our possible ideas of it.
But not all incompatibilities of idiologs are automatically con-
ducive to laughter. What distinguishes these is our attitude or point
of view-another instance of the influence of the point of view on the
quality of experience.1
If a dressed-up man walks along the street and suddenly falls into
a ditch, we may think it funny if we have a "spectator" point of view.
Sympathy would prevent one from laughing: one would respond
with a similar sentic state to the person concerned (e.g., being mad
at the construction company which neglected to cover up the ditch).
The integration of laughing may, however, sometimes involve
empathy. This power of laughter is used successfully, for example, in
1
In terms of other aspects of sentic theory, we can also distinguish between
Apollonian and Dionysian laughter, each with corresponding virtual body
images, and between laughter directed at an event remembered from the
past, or at a present situation, or in anticipation of the future.
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 Sentics

the art of Charlie Chaplin. By dressing himself as a tramp, he creates

two incompatible idiologs: his dress as opposed to that of the rest of
society. But this is funny in itself only because we are able to sub-
sume both idiologs in a larger human integration: a recognition of
the artificiality and vanity of dress. Chaplin induces empathy in-
volving the condition of man. It is not a question alone of resonating
in sympathy with the plight of the unfortunate. This is no laughing
matter. His achievement lies in requiring from us a higher
integration in empathy in which we may laugh and also be compas-
sionate.

The New Dynamic Form of Laughter

Although much has been written on what makes us laugh (by
Freud, Eastman, and Bergson, among others), the physiology of
laughter, amazingly, has received only the scantest attention. Laugh-
ter contains two distinct action patterns: (1) a breathing pattern and
(2) a voice pattern. Both the breathing and voice patterns have a
characteristic "chopped" nature. Breathing consists of a series of ex-
piratory puffs or bursts (or "step functions," in control theory ter-
minology). These occur at the rate of about five per second. If there
is no more air left to be expelled, a fast, gasping inspiration is taken,
and the expiratory bursts are interrupted only to allow the necessary
inspiratory gasps to take place, until laughing stops.
With each expiratory burst, there is also a muscular activation of
the vocal cords, in a similar chopped manner. Both processes
operate together in the expression of laughter.
We have seen that in the expression of a particular essentic form
many different motor output modes can be used (Principle of Equiv-
alence). Using finger pressure is one such example. According to the
theory, therefore, the voice component in laughter may be regarded
as one of a number of possible motor output modes. Thus, we may
predict that, maintaining the respiratory component, it should be
possible to replace the vocal component with another equivalent
motor output. If this motor output has sufficient degrees of freedom

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and is activated in a dynamic patter similar to the voice component

it replaces, the experience of laughter should be realized.
This means that it should be possible to replace the voice compo-
nent by a repetitive finger pressure—a finger pressure recurring at
the same rate as the chopped character of voice would have, and
related to the simultaneously maintained chopped breathing pat-
tern. This would not produce the same sounds of laughter, but it
should permit the full quality of laughter to be experienced.
In fact, it is readily possible to do this. As one tries, one senses the
experience of funniness "locking in" with the new expressive pattern,
and one becomes clearly aware that he is laughing. The sense of
funniness "locks in" only when the pattern is done the "right" way-at
the right frequency, phase, and angle. This voiceless "touch" laughter
also produces the same paroxysms as the familiar laughter, and it is
often difficult to stop laughing in this way, once begun. It may even
be easier to laugh in this manner without a particular cause. A
similar release of tension is achieved by this new form of laughter as
that experienced with the usual laughter. It is enjoyable, and can be
maintained for considerable periods of time.1
No subject has failed to experience laughter in this new way. The
frequencies of repetition are approximately five per second,
corresponding to the frequency observed in customary laughter. The
mean frequency observed in twenty subjects was 5.03 per second
with a standard deviation of +/- 0.18. If the reiterated finger pressure
is stopped, the laughing stops also. If the frequency is significantly
faster or slower than five per second, the sense of funniness is lost. A
second interesting observation concerning the new laughter is that
the vector angle and wave form of finger pressure turn out to be
related to the specific sentic quality associated with the laughter; joy-
1
On one occasion, the author was laughing in this way during most of a
rather boring lecture at a recent meeting. He was sitting in the last row of the
hall, thinking that no one would be disturbed, as he did not make any sound.
At the end, a lady sitting next to him asked, "What were you laughing at so
much during this lecture?" She turned out to be the wife of the chairman of
the meeting!
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 Sentics

ful laughter, for example, tends to be vertically up and down, similar

to the angle exhibited by the essentic form of joy. Malicious laughter
on the other hand tends to be strongly away from the body, like
anger and hate; while sardonic laughter is toward the body some.
what like the expression of guilt.
Thus it is possible to distinguish between joyous, merry laughter,
malicious laughter, sardonic laughter, and gradually to characterize
other forms of laughter that shall define themselves, much as the es-
sentic forms have defined themselves in the course of the work out-
lined here. By presenting different types of laughter-provoking
stimuli to subjects—jokes, pictures, cartoons, or sounds-and letting
them express laughter on the finger transient, it is possible by ob-
serving the vector angle and the dynamic characteristics of pressure
(as with the inner pulse of a composer) to obtain measurements that
may be related to the subjects point of view, their possible sadistic or
masochistic tendencies, and various other aspects of personality. The
new laughter is useful in itself, but its greatest importance is that it
independently confirms the existential coherence between ex-
pressive form and experience. This coherence is not learned, but is
part of the dynamic program of human nature, implied in the ge-
netic code: a coherence existing as a bridge between the subjective
and the objective.
The new laughter has existed, potentially, like a molecule exists
potentially before it is formed. It was just left to chance for us to
think of realizing it. The correspondence between the expressive
dynamic pattern and experience, as a unique entity, appears to be an
aspect of our being in touch with reality (as it defines itself to us).
Because of it, we can ask questions concerning dynamic expressive
forms in ways similar to questions we ask concerning the form of a
particular molecule.
But what is it that determines the correspondence between a
particular expressive form and a specific quality of experience? How
is it that love and laughter have the particular essentic forms they
have? If we can answer that, we may be able to find new forms of

237
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expression for new sentic states beyond the range of our present
potential for experience.

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 Sentics

Epilogue
As I write this, I seem to hear a kind of cosmic laughter, laughter
at our feeble efforts to understand-laughter provoked by the
incompatible idiologs of our efforts and the enormity of the task -the
seemingly deliberate need for comprehension beyond human
capacity inherently required.
Beyond this, I feel the need to express gratitude, a sense of respon-
sibility, and awe for having been allowed to explore a little of that ex-
panding island of the unknown in the ocean of the unknowable – an
island that is expanding more and more as the answer to every good
question raises several others in chain reaction.
Every such question partakes of both fantasy and reality, as we
have seen. And as we endeavor through sentics to see more reality in
fantasy, and more fantasy in reality, we may also progress in clar-
ifying thought-as we become more aware of the dynamic anatomy of
emotion in ourselves, and in the world around us.
Man, the breeder of questions, may he find his Blessing-answer to
no question.

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and he said
with a smile,
"The Kingdom of heaven is also
Where fantasy and reality meet."

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APPENDICES
I. Biologic Design Principles For Sentic Communication
II. A Glossary of Sentic Terms
III. Mathematical Appendix
IV. Music Appendix
V. References and Selected Bibliography

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I - Biologic Design Principles for Sentic

Communication
1. A sentic is a single-channel system; only one state can be
expressed at any one time. (Exclusivity Principle; see page 18)
2. A sentic state may be expressed by any of a number of
different output modalities. (Equivalence Principle; page 18)
3. Regardless of the particular motor output chosen to express a
sentic state, its dynamic expression is governed by a brain
program or algorithm specific for that state which shall be
called essentic form. (Coherence Principle; page 18)
4. The production and recognition of essentic forms are
governed by inherent data processing programs of the central
nervous system, biologically coordinated so that a precisely
produced form is correspondingly recognized. The recognized
form in turn generates a sentic state in the perceiver.
(Complementarity Principle; page 18)
5. The intensity of a sentic state is increased, within limits, by the
repeated, arrhythmic generation of essentic form through E-
actons. (Self-Generating Principle; page 25)
6. Sentic states may be experienced and expressed as pure
qualities or identities, without reference to specific auxiliary
relationships to generate or receive these qualities.
(Experience of generalized emotion; page 43)
7. The power of essentic form in communicating and generating
a sentic state is greater the more closely the form approaches
the pure or ideal essentic form for that state. (Communicative
Power as a Form Function; page 53)
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II. A Glossary of Sentic Terms

Acton The simplest elementary unit of voluntary action: the brain
action decision together with its execution, such as a simple single
finger or eye movement.
Apollonian "Point of View" A point of view compatible with empathy
from which emotions are experienced and savored as existential
entities, rather than as ego-functions, implying a contemplative,
somewhat detached, yet very aware and discriminating condition
with characteristic Apollonian virtual body images for each
emotion.
Being Apreene The state of eager expectancy in searching for ideas,
which includes an intellectual ardor and openness. This emotion is
accompanied by a sense of lightness and quiet in the body, the ab-
sence of anxiety, and trust that ideas received will be worthy. Its
virtual body image is further characterized by a slight tension
across the forehead, a slight inclination of the head, and initial in-
spiration of breath—an "inspired" waiting for an idea to come.
Blocking A phenomenon that occurs when an essentic form is not
permitted to complete itself. A blocking of experience felt as a
deadening, an inability to experience further, a frustrating feeling
that is similar regardless of the nature of the essentic form left
incomplete; a love acton, or anger acton, or joy acton not allowed
to complete themselves all result in blocking and frustration. Block
ing is related to repression.
Cognitive Aspects of Generalized Emotion Generalized emotion does
not need a specific cause or recipient to be experienced, yet its ex-

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perience influences the way we relate to the environment, the way

we view ourselves and others. When we experience a specific
sentic state, it also affects the way we know relationships, and our
functions in a direct manner. Thus, for example, joy engenders
brotherhood, anger fighting and violence, grief isolation. The state
of bliss, in the same sense, has been regarded by religious leaders
to impart cognitive relationships and understanding. The experi-
ence of sentic cycles itself has cognitive functions that change one's
point of view and manner of relating for some time after doing
them.
Dionysian "Point of View" The experience of specific emotions with
full bodily involvement, as ego-function, accompanied by specific
virtual body images: lightness, heaviness, sensations of flow, being
"torn apart," and so on. Focal experience is centered lower in the
body than with the Apollonian experience of the same emotion.
E-Acton An expressive acton, an element of communication-action
whose form is modulated by the state seeking expression. The
more precisely effective the modulating process, resulting in es-
sentic form production, the more powerful the communication.
Elogize A word denoting the act of imagination, but not specific to
the visual sense or any particular sense. One can elogize a specific
quality (red, sour, warm) or a specific emotion (joy, anger, love,
sex, reverence) or a particular form of movement (throwing,
jumping, dancing). The term denotes the same process as the word
"imagine" stripped of its visual bias.

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Empathy The faculty of imaging another person in oneself, in his or

her essential totality as a living being. Such an image importantly
includes potentiality. It is always accompanied by good will. Es-
sentic Form The form that has developed biologically for the
communication of a specific emotion state or quality. It is a
spatiotemporal form, with a clear beginning and end, that can be
expressed by various motor outputs: a smile, a gesture, the tone of
voice, etc. In each case it is the essentic form that carries the emo
tional message as a precise dynamic form. It is the biological arc
that bridges the isolation between individuals. Essentic forms are
produced and sensed by symbiotically developed nervous system
programs. They also serve as the emotion communication ele-
ments in music and art.
Generalized Emotion This is a term used for the experience of the
quality of an emotion, either Dionysian or Apollonian, as experi-
enced in itself without reference to particular causes or recipients.
With our grammatically conditioned use of words, we normally
say we are angry at someone, but not that we joy at someone; or, we
love someone, but we do not anger or grieve someone (that in fact
denotes causing anger or grief in the other person. In the experi-
ence of generalized emotions, these various grammatic references
are dropped. In experiential terms, sentic cycles (as well as our ex-
perience of music) readily makes it evident that pure qualities of
emotions can be experienced in themselves, without recourse to
specific situations, causes, or recipients. Laughter that is generated

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by laughter itself, and other contagious means of emotion

generation, constitute familiar examples.
Idiolog An imagined quality of experience (sensory, affective, or
motor) together with its physiological brain process concomitants.
One may have an idiolog of red, warm, joy, anger, a tone, a partic-
ular movement, etc.
Mimicry Expressive action that imitates essentic form without
corresponding sentic experience. It is detached and disconnected
from its affect.
Orthoessentic Form The ideal, true dynamic expressive form for a
particular basic emotion.
Personal Relationship Profile (PRP) A collection of sentograms rep-
resenting a person's sentic reactions to various individuals with
whom he has relationships, such as mother, father, husband, wife,
siblings, children, sweethearts, social friends, boss, subordinates,
etc. In interpreting the PRP, these sentograms can be compared
with the known sentograms of specific emotions. PR sentograms
are helpful in revealing the nature of relationships, and change
markedly only when the nature of the relationship changes.
Present Moment Although the present in terms of physical science is
infinitely short, in terms of human experience the present moment
has a finite duration. In terms of the ability to make separate deci-
sions and experiencing "chunks" of experience such as syllables,
the minimum duration of a "present moment" is approximately o.2
second.
Pre-sentic Control The ability to change one's sentic state voluntarily,
freely generating each state in a condition of sentic fluidity without
repression of another state. This ability, essential for great musical
performance, is important in relationships with others and with
the environment. It in no way conflicts with the simultaneous ex-
perience of inner peace, but in fact strengthens it.
Quality An irreducible element of experience that is not translatable
in terms of any other element. Salty, sweet, red, joy, warm, and
itching are such qualities-unique entities of experience whose exis-
246
 Sentics

tence is biologically programmed. Qualities are the transducers of

experience; we are constrained to experience life through them.
Their existence is highly stable.
Recognition A basic function that has meaning on many levels of ex-
istence, from that of elementary particles that relate to one another
characteristically; to the recognition of molecular shape; to genetic
programming through macro-molecular recognition and
genomes; to immunologic recognition of antibodies and antigens;
to the recognition of food and sexual mates; to the recognition of
qualities and essentic forms. It is a reflection, a re-cognition of pre-
existing relationship or existence.
Relationship Image The image of a characteristic relationship, such as
"brother." It includes the potentiality of possible interrelation.
"Mother," "father," "sister," "brother," "lover," "friend" are accepted
names for such relationship images, although their existence as
distinct or as interpenetrating images comes about within the per-
son through their sentic significance.
Sentic Afterimage The experience of a distinct quality following a
sentic state, which would not have occurred without the prior ex-
perience of the state. Not to be confused with the memory of the
state and its recollection.
Sentic Cycles A specific succession of sentic states generated and ex-
perienced by a person in a quiet sitting position, through express-
ing the sentic states repeatedly with transient finger pressure on a
nearby finger rest at intervals given by timing signals on a sentic
cycle tape (or record). The timing signals are characteristically
different for each sentic state in the cycle (No Emotion; Anger;
Hate; Grief; Love; Sex; Joy; and Reverence), and are derived from
the biologic timing of each essentic form. Doing sentic cycles is
easily learned. The experience of thus traversing substantially most
of the emotional spectrum in thirty minutes is cumulative and
results in over-all significant effects lasting from three to twenty-
four hours or longer, generally involving increased psychic energy
and specific insight.

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 Clynes

Sentic Fluidity Not to be confused with emotional instability, sentic

fluidity is the condition of being ready to experience any sentic
state appropriately, either in the Apollonian or Dionysian manner,
and being able to switch from one state to another largely effort-
lessly, without compulsion, repression, or undue attachment to any
one state.
Sentic Rut The opposite of sentic fluidity; the helpless attachment to
a sentic state from which one is unable to free oneself. Frequently
and often damagingly prevalent with anger, hate, and resentment.
Sentic State A state of emotion; a state encompassing a quality of ex-
perience linked with the motor system in a unique way that makes
it capable of specific communicative expression.
Sentogram The graph of essentic form, or of sentic reactions to the
environment or to other individuals as measured on the sento-
graph, consisting of traces of the vertical and horizontal compo-
nents of an act of expressive finger pressure.
Sentograph The instrument that precisely measures the forms of the
vertical and horizontal components of transient pressure on a fin-
ger rest as functions of time. May or may not have averaging capa-
bility.
Sympathy As contrasted with empathy, in our usage sympathy de
notes co-resonance with the sentic state of another, the wave of
contagion of emotion that spreads from one individual to the
other. A chief method of contagion of emotion is through essentic
form; one could say that essentic form is its biologic medium.
Virtual Body Image Every sentic state has its specific bodily sensa-
tions, such as the lightness of joy, the heaviness of grief, or the
sense of flow of love. These sensations appear to be projections of
the nervous system, rather than perceptions of physiologic
changes as such. These projections seem to be characteristic of the
sentic state, and programmed functions of the nervous system.
They need to be distinguished from the experience of the actual
body changes, tensions, relaxations, and breathing efforts that ac-
company the specific state. This concept strikes a balance between

248
 Sentics

the concepts of the central (Cannon) and the peripheral (James

Lange) experience theories of emotion.

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 Clynes

III. Mathematical Appendix

The generating or transfer function as given in the equation stated
in Chapter Six:

is composed of two parts. The first part is similar in form to the

"human operator" transfer function:

as determined for tracking tasks, for example, with the addition of

another time constant. The second part is the sum of an adaptive and
a unidirectionally rate sensitive term. The adding of two separate
channels is primarily utilized by the passionate states, and is an ex-
pression of a special late-developing function.
This generating function is restricted to have meaning only for
impulse inputs, related to the decision to express. The equation has
physiologic significance.
The generating function includes a unidirectionally rate sensitive
term; it is thus non-linear and multiplication is non-commutative;
the input to the transfer function in the second bracket is the output
of the transfer function in the first bracket, and not the reverse. An

250
 Sentics

analogue computer circuit for simulating essentic forms according

to the equation is given in Figure 35.
The decision to express is expressed by the input impulse function.
The output of the linear portion of the equation is represented by a
sum of four exponentials, as functions of time with t=o at the time
of the input. (These have independent time constants but inter-
dependent amplitude coefficients.) The non-linear aspect of the
equation has no known analytic solution but is easily computed on a
computer.

Figure 36. Components of computer essentic form simulation showing

separate contribution of portions A and B of transfer function. B rep-
resents effects of late-acting muscle group.

251
 Clynes

As to the question of uniqueness, we may appeal to Occam's razor,

or maximum simplicity, and to the possible physiologic significance
of this formulation. And we certainly should look at this formu-
lation, according to our present state of knowledge, as hopefully sub-
ject to greater refinement in the future.
Communicative Power as a Form Function The theory that es-
sentic form acts more powerfully the more closely it represents the
"true" form may be formulated by the following form function
relationship:

This formulation takes into account that communicative power

increases rapidly as the ideal shape is approximated; u-v in the expo-
nent is taken as the time integral of the absolute value of the in-
stantaneous difference between the actual essentic form and the
essentic form required. This is a tentative formulation; it weighs de-
partures from essentic form according to amplitude. A more
comprehensive formulation would have to include frequency and
time selectivity with respect to effective errors.

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 Sentics

IV. Music Appendix

We shall here give a few examples of particular essentic form
(rather than the inner pulse as described in Chapter Eight) and
sentic experience embedded in music. The examples given may also
be thought of as samples of sentic music analysis.1
To understand precisely how essentic form influences the
communicating power of music, one needs to hear the music,
inwardly or actually, as played with the various shades of expression
engendered by selection from the living essentic forms. Those who
can hear inwardly from reading the printed score and are familiar
with the musical examples chosen will find it quite easy to follow the
examples. Others may wish to hear them on records, and thus recon-
stitute the feelings, expressed sentographically in the illustrated
examples, in order to obtain insight into the process.
In the examples that follow we are using a further extension of our
methods for the analysis and measurement of musical expression.
This recent development allows simultaneous independent
measurement of the phenomena of essentic forms, as separate from
those of the inner pulse. Two sentographs are used simultaneously,
one for each hand: the right hand expressing the inner pulse; the left
hand expressing the essentic form (without the pulse), in a manner
similar to our music-less method of expression of emotion.
The method of expression is somewhat like the movements of a
conductor who may give the pulse or beat with the right hand while
expressing special sentic aspects with the left hand. (It is not always
easy to do. The recorded pulse of the right hand naturally tends to
carry indications of the essentic forms implied as well as the inner
pulse. However, it does permit the recording of the essentic forms
1
The reader may wish to consider the relationship of this mode of analysis
to analysis in terms of tension and line, such as Schenkerian analysis (which
treats music's unifying structure in terms of extended tonal tensions and res-
olutions). Sentic analysis is more specific about the nature of the tensions in-
volved, and is able to observe and record them in detail.

253
 Clynes

without the pulse, while maintaining the framework within the

living pulse structure.) In all these examples of particular
interpretations, no sound was used; the expressions are produced as
the music is inwardly thought.1

EXAMPLE I
Bach, Prelude in F minor, Bk. II, Wohltemperierte Klavier.
This example has characteristic two-note phrases often used by
Bach (as well as by Mozart and other composers in their own way).
Such a two-note phrase (in slow tempo) lends itself to a particular
kind of ambiguity. It can be related to either the essentic form of grief
or of love. As we have seen, these two forms have a degree of similar-
ity, although they are quite distinct. One may suggest a sigh, the
other a caress. Bach often uses such phrases in context of grief and
sadness, as in the St. Matthew Passion, where the text makes the
intent clear. However, the phrase may also be interpreted as a love
acton. In fact, a proper combination of both modes, successively,
may often be most meaningful.
In the sadness or grief interpretation, the grief acton starts on the
first beat of the bar. The upbeat coincides with the "pick up phase"
after the collapse (see Figure 37) which is characteristic of the grief
acton. Consequently in such an interpretation the upbeat note is
played in a slightly detached way (portamento). The last note of the

1
A subject, the pianist Steven Manes, commented on how he experienced
this: "It feels just like playing.

254
 Sentics

Figure 37

phrase is considerably softer, and the beginning of the first note of

the two-note phrase has a slight edge to it, as approximately
indicated (see Figure 38).

Figure 38

In the other mode of interpretation, the mode of love, the love E-

acton begins earlier than the grief acton. The three notes are unified;
there is a legato effect combining all three, the middle note falling
near the bottom of the love E-acton. The last note would now only
be slightly softer than the middle note (see Figure 39).

Figure 39

255
 Clynes

This interpretation lends itself here also in that the bass notes
during the rest can be considered as coinciding with the preparatory
upbeat for the love acton (inspiration). The breathing pattern
implied here is more conjointed than in the grief mode (see Figure
40).

In each case expiration occurs on the first beat of the bar but in the
grief interpretation the breathing rests at the end of expiration and is
resumed with a kind of gasp, to be expelled again as a sigh. In the
love mode, the breath alternates smoothly between expiration and
inspiration. (For breathing patterns associated with love and grief
see Chapter Nine.) Thus in either case the particular E-actons act as
a kind of template in which the musical parameters find their place.
The detailed shape of the essentic form is inwardly implied by mu-
sical material but not completely filled. The imagination completes
the form. Thus we tend to hear subtleties of inner forms, not all
actually physically realized in the sound, but rather outlined. This is
so even for realizations on bowed stringed instruments or the voice.
With continuous sounding instruments, there may even be greater
danger that the musician will provide actual sounds that conflict
with the appropriate essentic form—for the listener such contrary
produced sounds are difficult to think away.
In the example shown (see Plate 11 in insert) a particular
interpretive solution there are grief actons for the first two phrases,
the third one passing into more intense anguish, and the fourth one
love. This progression is accorded appropriate meaning by the
harmonic progression, and especially the B fat/B natural/C progres-

256
 Sentics

sion of the bass, the pull and harmonic resolution of which reinforce
and guide the change in affect.
The nature of the musical meaning may be compared with the
feeling tone of the Pietà (see Plate 5 in insert) on a much less grand
scale.

EXAMPLE II
Chopin, Ballade No. 3 A Flat, Opus 47.
The main theme of this composition, given in the first four bars,
has a unique magic of its own. (The ballade is composed after a poem
"Ondine," the story of a fisherman enticed by a mermaid.) The first
half of this theme can be felt to embody longing, yeaming, and ec-
stasy. It begins with a sense of being attracted, a pull, expanding, and
at the second bar, there is a continuing sense of floating upward after
the C is struck. This apparently limitless "being carried upward" is
accompanied by a sense of ecstasy, lasting for a moment, till we are
gently carried back to the ground by the following F-E flat phrase.
The inner form of this feeling and virtual body image may be il
lustrated graphically as follows (see Figure 41). There are several out-
standing points to be made in connection with the expression of
this.
First, this feeling is produced only if there is slight acceleration in
the second half of the bar, and a corresponding lengthening of the
first part of the second bar (rubato). The acceleration relates to the
feeling of being pulled, the attraction or surrender, the giving of
one's self. The first part of the second bar is lengthened in turn and
gives us that one extra moment (0.2 second) experienced as floating

257
 Clynes

ecstasy. It is, as it were, an overabundance, a surfeit, and then one is

gently returned, caress-like, to the earth, though still high up.
All this in the first two bars!

A second interesting point is the distinct inner form of the sound

C one hears between the C and the F, after the C is struck in the sec-
ond bar (an inner rising), which on the piano obviously cannot be
realized. This inner sound, though only momentary, has to be sup-
plied by the listener—it is sculptured out of his imagination -the es-
sentic form forces him to think thus. Without this extra inner sound
provided by the imagination, the phrase would be deprived of its
magic power to lift one out of one's ordinary spheres of existence.
This provides a good example of how a tone can be heard inwardly
with a specific form, unlike its actual realizable physical sound. The
sentographic representation of this will be evident (see Plate 12 in
insert). Note also the reversal of the last pulse form on the horizontal
trace, as well as a corresponding phase reversal on trace 4 indicating
an inward movement, a caress ending the phrase. (An analysis of the
second part of the theme-bars 3 and 4-will not be given here, for
reasons of space.)

258
 Sentics

EXAMPLE III
Mozart, Excerpt from Sonata in C Minor, K. 457,
Second Mvt. (Bars 24-25), Adagio.
This theme of Mozart is note for note the same for the first five or
six seconds as the theme of the slow movement of Beethoven's
Pathétique Sonata. Op. 13, shown in Example IV. It is also in the
same key and uses similar harmony. Yet the inner pulse is quite
different. (If one were to substitute one for the other, one would nec-
essarily stumble when conducting because of the different pulse
forms and points of view implied; see pages 77-81).
The theme, repeated in the second bar, can be experienced to have
a character akin to hope. The second part of the essentic form trace
corresponds to a gentle, benign, Mozartean angelic smile which be-
gins at the end of the "hope" phase. Note particularly that the hope
form continues past the beginning of the third note of the melody-
there is in fact a crescendo in intensity implied during the first half
of the note-which of course the piano cannot provide. A bowed
string instrument (or a singer) could supply what the "ear" demands
here. Such a crescendo in intensity does not particularly mean an
increase in total volume. Its tension can be expressed by a change in
timbre, a greater and specific emphasis on the higher overtones as
required in this example. Such refinements of tone production
knowingly carried to the furthermost limits mark the power of the
art of a Casals.

259
 Clynes

The hope of this Mozartean example is not an ego function, but is

Hope, i.e. considered as an existence. The following "smile" acts as a
kind of affirmation. The example represents an Apollonian point of
view. (See Plate 13 in insert.)

EXAMPLE IV
Beethoven, Sonata Op. 13 (Pathétique), Slow Movement.
This opening theme is note for note the same for the first two bars
as the Mozart theme in the previous example. The pulse forms are
different, however.
The world of this theme is noble, serene, and exalted. We find in it
fulfillment, satisfaction, and at the end, especially, love and grati-
tude. The qualities of this theme on the whole are exalted so that it is
difficult to find corresponding words to denote their character.
Beethoven seems to be stretching the very fabric of our experience
to let an unearthly, yet immediate light illumine and touch us. It
would not be far wrong to say it has a holy quality.
The essentic forms are in part correspondingly unfamiliar, except
where they suggest, as at the beginning, a particular kind of rever-
ence, and at the end, love. Two different sentographic performances
by the same artist are compared here. (See Plates 14 and 15 in insert;

260
 Sentics

numbers on plates refer to the bars of the score.) The bottom trace is
recorded from Sentograph I (right hand). The upper two traces are
recorded from Sentograph II (left hand), representing essentic
forms. (The horizontal trace contains a slight muscular tremor,
invisible in the actual expression.)

EXAMPLE V
Schubert F minor Fantasy for Piano, 4 Hands
This example is chosen to illustrate transition from sadness to
hope (bars 13-24).
The phrase of bar a3 illustrates how Schubert, by tying the three
notes together (and by the harmonic content), implies the essentic
form of hope. However, it is important to realize that it ends with the
third tied note. (The essentic form of hope has a duration of about
3.3. seconds.) The following dotted rhythm is light, Schubertian, not
a heavier march as if it were Beethoven. It is a good example of how
the Schubertian point of view, implicit in the inner pulse form, con-
strains the particular phrasing. Through it, we are momentarily
transported in thought to the future and view the fulfillment of hope
with a particular joy. Variations of this juxtaposition of character—

261
 Clynes

with faith, or triumph substituting for hope—give meaning and

interest to the unfolding of the work. (See Plate 16 in insert.)

262
 Sentics

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New Publications by the Author since 1977

BOOKS
Clynes, M., and J. Panksepp, ed. 1988, Emotions and Psy-
chopathology, Plenum Press, New York, 326pp.
Evans, J., Clynes, M., (ed.) 1986, Rhythm in Psychological, Linguistie
and Musical Processes. Charles C. Thomas, Chicago, 291pp
Clynes, M., (ed.) 1982, Music, Mind and Brain: The Neuropsy-
chology of Music, Plenum Press, New York, 430pp.
ARTICLES
Clynes, M., 1988, Generalized Emotion, its Production, and Sentic
Cycle Therapy, in Emotions and Psychopathology, M. Clynes and
J. Panksepp, eds., Plenum Press, New York, pp107-170.
Clynes, M., 1987, What a musician can learn from newly discovered
principles of musical thought, PM and PAM., in: Action and Per-
ception in Rhythm and Music. A. Gabrielsson ed., Publication of
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. No. 55 Stockholm, pp201-
233.
Clynes, M., 1986, Generative Principles of Musical Thought:
Integration of Microstructure with Structure, CCAI, The Journal
for the Integrated Study of Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Sci-
ence and Applied Epistemology, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp185-223. Clynes,
M., 1986, When Time is Music, in Rhythm in Psychological,
Linguistic and Musical Processes, Evans and M. Clynes (eds.), C.C.
Thomas, Chicago, pp 169-224. Clynes, M., and Walker, J., 1986,
Music as Time's Measure, Music Perception, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp85-
120.
Clynes, M., 1987, On Music and Healing, Proceedings of the I
International Symposium on Music and Medicine, ed. R. Spintke
and R. Droh, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York pp13-
31.
Clynes, M., 1985, Secrets of Life in Music, in Analytics, Festschrift
for Bengtsson, Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Publication No.
47, Stockholm, pp3-15.

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Clynes, M., 1983, Expressive Microstructure in Music, linked to

Living Qualities in Studies of Music Parformance, J. Sundberg
(ed.), Publication of Royal Swedish Academy of Music No. 39,
pp79-181. Stockholm.
Clynes, M., and Nettheim, N., 1982. The Living Quality of Musie:
Neurobiologic Basis of Communicating Feeling, in Music, Mind
and Brain: The Neuropsychology of Music, M. Clynes (ed.) pp47-
82, Plenum Press, New York.
Clynes, M., and Walker, J., 1982, Neurobiologic Functions of
Rhythm, Time and Pulse in Music in Music, Mind and Brain: The
Neuropsychology of Music, M Clynes (ed.) pp171-216, Plenum
Press, New York.
Clynes, M., 1980, The communication of emotion: theory of sentics,
in Emotion: Theory, Research and Experience, Vol. 1 Theories of
Emotion, R. Plutchik, H, Kellerman (eds.) pp271-300, Academic
Press, New York.
Clynes, M., 1979, The source of laughter and essentic form: Is
evolution dis-covery? Humanitas, Vol. XV, 29-45, Duquesne Uni-
versity Press, Pittsburgh.
Clynes, M., 1979: Sentics: communication and generation of
emotion through dynamic expression, in Nonverbal
Communication, S. Weitz (ed.) 386-397, New York, Oxford Uni-
versity Press.
Since 1977 many thousands have benefited from Sentic Cycles.
They can be learned in minutes. Having learned to do them, you can
obtain their benefit whenever you wish, for the rest of your life. You
can receive for your own use the following:

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 Clynes

Sentic Cycles
A. STANDARD SENTIC CYCLE: set containing Sentic Cycle cas-
sette audiotape with the sequence No Emotion, Anger, Hate, Grief,
Love, Sex, Joy, Reverence (27 min.); a Finger Rest; and an illustrated
Instruction Booklet.
B. ADVANCED SENTIC CYCLE: containing an Advance I Sentic
Cycle audiotape, with only positive emotions, No Emotion, Love,
Reverence, Bliss, Compassion, and Give Blessing (32 min.) with an
illustrated Instruction Booklet (no finger rest required).
C. VIDEO OF ADVANCED SENTIC CYCLE: As B, but with this
you can do the Advanced Cycle together with Dr. Manfred Clynes,
and by yourself; contains visual information especially helpful for
the Advanced Cycle (VHS, 70 min.).
Live Performances by Manfred Clynes Cassette audiotapes of
concerts by Manfred Clynes, recorded live, piano, 90 minutes each.
D. J.S. BACH Goldberg Variations E. BEETHOVEN Diabelli Vari-
ations Op. 120, and MOZART Adagio in B minor, and Sonata in B
flat, K570.
These recordings have been regarded by some experts as arguably
unsurpassed performances of these works.
To order:
A B C D or E
United States § 32.00 28.50 49.50 12.00
Australia SA 32.50 28.50 49.50 12.00
Great Britain § 17.50 15.00 27.50 7.00
Please send cheque or money order to:
American Sentic Association, Box 2716, La Jofla, California,
92038 Australian Sentic Association, c/o Unity Press, 6a Ortona
Road, Lindfield, N.S.W. 2070 European Sentic Association, c/o
Prism Press, 2 South Street, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 3NQ, England.
You are cordially invited to become a Member of the American,
European or Australian Sentic Association. Annual Membership fee
278
 Sentics

is $25.00. Students and Senior Citizens, $10.00 (£14.00 and £6.00 for
the European Association).

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Clynes

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