PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, AND PSYCHOLOGY. 151 



organisms is only a partial interpretation, just as the 

 physical interpretation is a still more partial interpre- 

 tation. 



The reaction between a conscious organism and its 

 environment is wholly different from the immediacy of 

 what we interpret as physical or physiological reaction. 

 In physical or physiological reaction one object reacts 

 directly with another in space, but only in space : the 

 reaction is immediate or " blind." Into conscious reac- 

 tion, both the actual past and the potential future 

 enter directly also. Objects of consciousness determine 

 directly, and are determined directly by, past and 

 future, as well as simultaneous, objects of consciousness. 

 A psychological object is thus in dynamic relation with 

 other objects surrounding it, not merely in space, but 

 also in time. It has therefore an element of timeless- 

 ness, inasmuch as it is in direct relation not only with 

 present, but also with future and past objects. It 

 involves action at a distance, not only in space, but also 

 in time. 



The physical world which we seem to see so plainly 

 around us is reality as it appears in our consciousness. 

 It is a reality of objects of consciousness, the constant 

 presence of which guides all our conscious actions. 

 What guides us is our knowledge of objects. This 

 knowledge is there and constantly active, though the 

 objects as physical or biological objects are out of sight 

 or contact, so that their "immediate" influence is 

 entirely absent* 



It has already been pointed out that the world of 

 mathematical physics is a very imperfect presentation 

 of reality, and that in the biological world much more 



