The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-02-20
By Mr.. NikOIa Tesla
The Distinguished scientst, Electrical Expert and Invent.

- YER living being is an engine geared 10
the wheelwork OF the universe. Though
- seemingly Affected only by its immediate
surrounding. the sphere OF external influence
extends 10 INFINITE distance. There n no con
stellation or nsbula. no sun or planet. IN all
the depths of llmitless space. no passing wan
derer Of the starry heavens. that does not
exercise some control over its destiny-not In
the vague and delusive sense OF astrology. but
in the rigid and positive meaning OF physical
scisnes.
More than shis can be said. There IL no
thing endowed WIN nfe-from man. who Is en-
slavins ns slsmsnts. to the numbiest creature
in I'll this world that does not sway II In
turn. Whenever action Is born from force.
thoush u be inhnitesimAl, the eosmic balance
IL UPSET and universal motion results.
Herbert Spencer has interpreted life as a
continuous adjustment TO the environment. .
denhitfon Of this incOncelvably complex mani.
Hesitation quite in accord with advanced scien-
tho thought. but. perhaps. not broad enough
20 cypress our present views. With each step
forward In the Investigation Of its laws and
mysteries our conceptions OF nature and its
phases have been gaining in depth and breadth.
In the early stages OF intellectual develop
ment man was conscious Of but a small part
Of the macroeosm. He knew nothing OF the
wonders OF the microscopic world, OF the mole
cules composing IL, OF the atoms making up
the molecules aid Of the dwindlingly small
world OF e~lectrons within the atoms. To him
life was Synonymous with voluntary motion and
action. A plant did not suggest TO him what
II does TO us-that II lives and feels, fights
for its existence. that il suffers and enjoys
Not only have we found this to be true. but we
have ascertained that even matter called inor.
ganie. believed to be dead. responds to ~irritants
and gives unmistakable evidence o: the pres
ence Of a living principle within.
Thus, everything that exists. organic or In
organic, animated or inert. Is susceptible to
stimulus from the outside. There is no gap
between. no break Of continuity. no special and
distinguishing vital agent. The same law gov
ems al matter, all the universe is alive. The
nomsntous question OF Spencer. What Is II
that causes inorganic matter to run into organic
forms7" has been answered. It Is the suns heat
and light. Wherever they are there is life.
Only IN the boundless wastes OF interstellar
space. in the eternal darkness and cold, Is
animation suspended, and. possibly, at the
Temperature OF absolute zero all matter may
die.
Man as a Machine.
THIS realistic aspect OF the perceptible uni
verse. as a ~clOckwork wound up and running
down. dispensing with the necessity OF a hyper
mechanical vital principle. need not be in dis.
cord with our religious and artistic aspirations
-tuobo uuutuuaDAt anu ueaulliu tuOftS
through which the human mind endeavors to
free itself from material bonds. On the con
trary. the better understanding OF nature. the
consciousness that our knowledge IS true. can
only be all the more elevating and inspiring.
II was DescaTtes. the great French philoso-
pher. who, ~ the seventeenth century. laid the
first foundation to the mechanistic theory OF
life. not a little assisted by Haryeys eDochal
discovery Of blood circulation. He held that
animals we're simply automata without con
sciousness and recognized that man. though
possessed OF a higher and distinctive quality.
is Incapable OF action other than those char
a~cteristic OF a machine. He also made the
FIRST attempt 20 explain the physical mechan-
ism OF memory. But in his time many func.
lions Of the human body were not as ye; under.
stood. and In this respect ome OF his assump-
tons were erroneous.
Gpeat strides have since been made IN the
art Of anatomy. physiology and all branches OF
science. and the workings OF the man-machine
are nov perfectly clear. Yet the very fewest
among US are able 70 trace their actions to
primary %external causes. II IS indispensable
70 the 7 shall advance to keep in
mind the main facts which have myself es.
tabliShed In years Of close reasoning and Oh.
s%arvatiOn aud when may be- summed up as
follows.
l. The human being Is a seIfpropeiIcd autom.
atom entirely under the control OF external
Influences. Wmmi and Predetermined though
they appear. hs actions are governed not from
within. but from without Re o. like a hoat
tossed about by the waves Of "a turbulent sea.
2. There ls no memory or retentlve faculty
based on lasting impression. What we desig.
nate AZ memory is but Increased responsive.
ness 90 repeated stimuli.
3. 10 o. not true. as Doacarles taught. thai.
The brain Dr. nn accumulate There Del no per-
uanent record Boz the brain, there d. u1 stored
sponhn to disturbances directly received on the
hn0Wleage knowledge is something akin to
into being
a. All knowledge or form conception o. evoked
through The medium of fhc eye. either Dol
retina or to their fainter SECONDARY effects and
reverberatons Other sense organs can only
cal forth feelings which have u0 reality 0.
existence and of which no conception can b,
formed.
3 Contrary 90 The most important tenet Of
Cauesiau philosophy that the perceptions oi
ne nltnd are missionary. fhc eye transmits f1
% the true and accurate likeness uf @aEterua.
thinFH This ~ because UFbI ur1uarafaa r
sfraifhf lines and f.. .rH.sl I... .. rho ......