Science and Reincarnation: The curious case of Robert Mayer

 The idea of conservation of energy was first enunciated by Robert Mayer.   He was a physician with a degree in medicine, not a physicist. Strangely enough, he formulated the first version of the 1^st law of thermodynamics, 1842:  Energy can be neither created nor destroyed.  Carl Jung found it odd that Mayer came up with an idea that caused a paradigm shift in Physics. Was the discovery sheer intuition or inspiration? Jung explains it as Mayer tapping into the resources of the collective unconscious.

There must be millions of ‘dormant images’ in the collective unconscious. Why did Mayer pick on the law of conservation of energy for which he had very limited scientific training? Besides, why did such an important idea come to Mayer and not to scientists who were working in that field? Could we say that Mayer’s previous life experiences prepared him for the discovery?

Carl Jung; ‘Essays on Analytical Psychology’

Artist:  Tang Chiew Ling, pic re shared courtesy: Art  & Painting, www.facebook.com