Essential to this work was Steiner's understanding of nature, which differed from the materialist view, particularly in regard to life force. W hen farmers asked Steiner to deliver a course on agriculture their concern was the on-going deterioration of life force in their animals and crops. They realized that without understanding how life forces work in the farm environment they could not achieve lasting agricultural productivity either in quantity or quality. In giving these farmers his course on agriculture Steiner provided a view of life force that many scientists today are unprepared to grasp. Forces Arise Between Polarities S teiner was inspired by Goethe's view that forces arise between opposite polarities.
Electricity arises between the positive and negative polarities.
Magnetism arises between north and south. There is another force, a cohesive or formative force, that arises between point and periphery. Like gravity before Sir Isaac Newton, this third force is largely unrecognized and has no commonly agreed upon name. Yet it is of the greatest importance to all forms of life. T he opposite streams of this formative force are gravity and levity.