An Overview of Som

Som, an acronym for Speculations on mind, is a speculative theory of the fundamental physiological structure and operational nature of a mind. After the essential background information and basic premises of Som are given, the theory is progressively developed to attempt to account for the manifestation of subjective feelings, awareness, consciousness, sensory and mental qualia, personness, thought and reasoning processes, memory, imagination, dreams, moods, emotions, and numerous other diverse phenomena within our own personal reality.

Som has been additionally provided with a brief addendum titled, Sor, an acronym for Speculations on reality. Sor considers the question of whether or not there might be an existent, underlying, supersensible reality which is possibly causal to the subsistence of our spatiotemporal continuum, and so ourselves.

If you choose to travel into and through the imaginary realms of Som and Sor, you will likely realize at the end of your journey that you have gone full circle, and so returned to exactly where you started, within yourself, but then having a new and perhaps unforeseen ability to view your personal reality in a wholly different and surprisingly practical way.

A Brief History of the Development of Som

In 2000, I self-published a lengthy science fiction novel through iUniverse.com. The novel told the story of the eons long life of an ancient and ageless, spherically shaped, normally invisible alien being, the Spherit. I titled the novel, The OverFile—The Story of the Spherit. The narrative of The OverFile also included a theory of reality and mind which I had been intermittently developing since 1959. Three years after The OverFile was published, in March of 2003, I became aware of several unresolved issues which my previously proposed theories could not explain. When I decided to revise these theories, I had no idea that it would require intermittently working on these revisions for another 21 years.

When the new theory of mind, Som, was recently finalized, I also added in Sor as a brief addendum, and then I began the process of self-publishing once again through iUniverse.com.

Although Som has yet to be scrutinized by the scientific community, I think you will find that it is nonetheless subjectively self-evident as a practical account of what mind and reality might actually be.

As a personal aside, I served in the US military in the 1960’s, and I was employed as a law enforcement officer from 1971 to 2011. The army taught me how to fight and use firearms. Policing did the same, but with two added benefits. Policing taught me to be ever observant of my sensory and mental surrounds, and as well taught me how to write detailed reports of my observations.

For much of my life I have been a prolific writer of unpublished science fiction novels, and I have also written and prosecuted numerous patents.

If you are interested in knowing more about The OverFile and some of my past inventions, please go to www.jixis.com/othersites.htm.

If you wish to communicate your questions or comments to me please use the email address of SomSpeculations@gmail.com.

If you wish to read Som, it may be purchased almost anywhere books are sold such as:



Here is a link to a 12 minute account of how to interpret the cover of Som: Speculations on mind.


Thank you for your time spent here!

Tom Chesters