Good. I’m glad you asked this question. It’s almost a given that we see the Force as a connecting factor. I mean, who can forget the Old Ben Kenobi quotation: “It binds the galaxy together”? The Force is never truly explained in the Lore, so we have to look at it from an applicable stand-point.
In other words, we have to ask the question: Is the Force the same Force that’s in the movies?
Doubtful. I really don’t think so. I believe the Force in the movies is something akin to a force that can be accessed through trained mutation. Let me explain. In the world of music, we have people who can SEE sound. They have mutation in their senses that allows them to pick out the colors (based on the wavelength) of sound they hear. I think Force sensitivity in the movies is like this. Certain beings (and all beings to some extent) have Midichlorians that commune with the Force. The more you have, the more sensitive you are to the Force.
Of course, in our real world application, this is not possible because Midichlorians do not exist. Mitochondria respond to energy and create energy that feeds cells… but it doesn’t intelligently communicate nor does it “whisper” in our ears like Qui-Gon says it does. So, do we have a real-world equivalent to the Midichlorians? No. Unfortunately, we don’t have any way to verbally communicate with the Force. I imagine that Lucas got the idea of intelligently communicating with the divine from the Christian idea of prayer; meaning that communicating with God is a possible way to connect wishes and desires from Earth to the Heavens.
It follows, then, that the communication that Jedi have with the Force is most like the connection that Christians do to their deity. I’m not saying the Force is LIKE God. I’m saying that the connection people have with the Force in the movies is like a Christian to Jesus.
But, is the Force a God figure? Christian literature tells us that God is unseeable and uncontainable. He enters our hearts and minds. I guess if we are taking a Universal world-view, then God is the connection between all beings. Like the Tao, it is “there” and “not there”, “everywhere” and “nowhere”. I find this not to be like the Force at all, since the Force is described as being ever-present and penetrating. But, the Force COULD be like the Holy Spirit, the energy that persists through Christ’s love. So, in other words, the Force is like the Eastern version of the Holy Spirit: Chi. This makes a nice complement to God being like the Tao.
If we are most able to relate the fictional Force to the Chi of the real world (which is a culturally significant Eastern energy that can be manipulated by the Human mind/body/spirit in conjunction), then we have something we can read on in the real world. It HAPPENS, funny enough, that George Lucas DID base the Force off of Chi and the sanskrit equivalent, Tantra.
You may ask: Where does science come into this hypothesis? It’s easy to say that Chi is real because we experience it, but that’s not convincing those who refuse to acknowledge its presence. I realize this is a touchy and debatable problem, and I trust you’ll remember this is just my opinion on the matter and I am no scientist.
It seems that the Universe is like a bunch of tiny lego blocks. We can’t live in a universe that is disconnected. That doesn’t make any sense. Even if the lego blocks are completely invisible, they still have to be there. I also know, from my elementary science, that I am made up of atoms. All these atoms are connected, as I learned in Chemistry, from the phenomenon of Valence Electrons. Basically, electrons are shared between atoms to form “bonds” that stabilize elements and create compounds and molecules. Billions and trillions of these create my finger. And, even more on an exponential scale create my body. I am not so naive to think that I am a solid figure. I am completely just a quadrillion quintillion lego blocks that are pieced together. Now, this is where it gets tricky… the buttons on the lego blocks that act as an adhesive are shared between many and also switch almost instantaneously all the time.
What does this mean for me? It means that I am a part of this table in front of me. I am a part of the keys I am hitting. What’s really weird? I never ACTUALLY touch anything. I am always touching EVERYTHING and just the combined force of all my atoms moving in one direction pushes those keys down because the springs are less forceful than my fingers.
Tl;dr? I am connected to EVERYTHING around me.
This sounds like the Force, yes? But what about where atoms don’t exist? There still have to be lego blocks yes? If not, the structure wouldn’t exist and everything would fall apart. We know now that the Higgs Boson acts as a glue from anti-matter to matter and that everything, even non-matter particles are connected. If this is true, then Chi HAS to exist.
Why? Because Chi is defined as transformative energy that penetrates ALL things. Sounds like what we’ve been describing above. Constantly changing energies that connect all things.
I think the Force is an active vehicle. It is strong and “glue”-like. Where, then, comes the Powers you asked about?
I believe that anything is possible. Humans have gone from having fins and gills to having lungs and arms that MOVE. We have MASTERED Kinetic energy. We can transform potential energy to kinetic energy with our minds… talk about mind over matter. What’s to say we can’t control heat and other forms of energy? Read up on Tummo.
I don’t put too much emphasis on the metaphysical only because I don’t want to waste 20 years of my life trying to move a pencil just by thinking about it. I’m sure, I’m ABSOLUTELY positive, that non-physical energies like healing energies and heat energies are manipulatable. Even electricity (technokinesis) is a very viable ability for those who are interested in it. I’m positive! (*cough* bad joke? *cough*)
So, for a BIG Tl;dr: Energy is the connection between us all. And, we have mastered forms of transforming energy. Who’s to say that we can’t master other ways of transforming energy?
Hinc illae lacrimae 