The Dancing Wu Li Masters

I’m re-reading a book that was popular when I was in college. It’s The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics. Written by Gary Zukav and first published in 1979, it is still widely available. The edition I just bought, published by HarperOne, is 375 pages and lists for $15.99 in paperback.

I’m still early in my re-read of The Dancing Wu Li Masters. I wanted to mention it sooner than later, though, because it would make a good holiday gift for those of scientific or philosophical mind. As a crossroads between East and West, Saipan is a particularly suitable place for this book’s outlook.

The outlook can be neatly summarized in 10 words. Addressing the weird way that subatomic particles behave, it says: “The new physics sounds very much like old Eastern mysticism.”

One line of thought here, and in many other works that address this topic, is that we are not separate from the world that we observe. We’re very much a part of it. Our very act of observation is what crystallizes the difference between the realm of mere possibility and the realm of actualized reality. What strikes us as a straightforward world of cause-and-effect is really a dynamic net of interrelated relationships and probabilities. Unable to see, or even conceptualize, the actual workings of this net, we’re pretty much reduced to noting what goes into a situation, noting what’s coming out of it, and then reckoning how these elements seem to be correlated.

It is a humbling notion.

And if we think that we’re objective observers, well, that might just be an illusion. “The point of view that we can be without a point of view is a point of view,” writes Zukav. Here, his pen hits the juncture of the objective and the subjective, a longstanding bone of contention among the philosophical set.

The Dancing Wu Li Masters hit the stands about five years after the philosophical blockbuster Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance did. The author of the latter work, Robert Pirsig, passed away earlier this year. I make a point of mentioning the book from time to time since it is a good fit for the CNMI’s professional class.

After all, many CNMI professionals have a wider scope of thinking than you’re likely to encounter in the broader corporate world. Pirsig, aware of the tunnel vision that is getting ever-tighter in the modern age of specialization and technology, extolled the merits of “lateral” thinking, an outlook that can heed both the objective and the subjective in its sweep.

That was a dramatic notion in 1974. It’s probably even more dramatic these days, which stand decades away from the freewheeling tone of the ’70s. But, be it now or then, the difference recedes into a mere blip by comparison when we realize that the Chinese sages entertained that notion 2,500 years ago.

As for The Dancing Wu Li Masters, “wu li” means “physics” in Chinese. The book expounds on this, but I’ll offer my beach chair translation as “thing texture” or “thing logic.” Either way is good enough for me. True, my Chinese lacks nuance. But, then again, so does my English. I therefore don’t feel any sense of loss when making the switch.

Many famous names are mentioned in The Dancing Wu Li Masters. It won’t surprise you that scientists such as Einstein, Bohr, and Planck are mentioned, along with predecessors such as Galileo, Newton, and Descartes.

Some other names are also mentioned. One is the philosopher Alan Watts, an Englishman who eventually settled in California. Watts was probably the foremost guide to Eastern thought for Western audiences. He was also an ordained Episcopal minster. His books are still very much present in retail bookshelves.

Another name that’s mentioned is Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who kept company with Freud and Einstein. Jung was an interesting guy. When it came to lateral thinking he was certainly no stranger to the concept. I find that merely following his train of thought can be an adventure, even when I’m too obtuse to understand the destination.

Having all these people, and others, of course, in the book adds a lot of depth to the various scientific issues it covers. After all, science is a human endeavor, so it says just as much about people as it does about things.

The Dancing Wu Li Masters is extremely well-written. It manages to distill the arcane world of modern physics into everyday language without getting trite or bubble-gum about things. The book isn’t just informative, it also speaks in a likeable and comfortable tone. I don’t know if I’ll follow up with a more comprehensive review of it, but, for now, it’s enough that you’re aware of the book in case you want to tell Santa about it.