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| ~ ∞ ~ The Role of Consciousness in the Quantum World - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~ |
Experiments in Quantum Physics show that by looking at something as tiny as an electron – focusing our awareness upon it, changes its properties while we are watching it; this means that the very act of observation is an act of creation, in and of itself – our consciousness is doing the creating, you see? Most people tend to think that consciousness exists because there are human beings, because we have brains larger than any other bipedal mammal, because we have minds that can reason and think. According to the quantum explanation, however, consciousness already exists in the domain of potentiality, whether human beings are there or not, which points to the conclusion made many times in this book: consciousness is universal. Yet, current quantum-level proposals do not explain the prominent empirical features of consciousness, and so it is paramount to note that Quantum Mechanics of today is by no means the end-all-be-all way to understand the deeper mysteries of life, but it can most certainly provide a wonderful bridge to what is yet to be realized.
Like mentioned earlier, Quantum Mechanics is often labeled as the “weird” or “strange” science, but here we should ask ourselves: Is it really so? Could it be the other way around? What if the Quantum World is really too simple for us to understand it from the viewpoint of the mind? What if the whole thing should actually be approached and understood from the perspective and viewpoint of a child? Through playful discovery and subjective experiences, you see? What if the key to understanding the simplicity of Quantum Mechanics is to add the spiritual knowledge and understanding to the equation – especially the ideas of consciousness, awareness and presence? How would our attitude, actions, and overall outlook on life change if we would take into account the aforementioned factors?
As opposed to scientific approach, we have the spiritual worldview, from where we can find almost overly simplified approach to Quantum World. For all intents and purposes, this is only a good thing, because all of the equations, formulas, and other confusing “mind stuff” is taken away – leaving us with the pure amazingness of it all; applying the Occam’s razor*1, if you will. When things are simplified, everything is seen in more clarity. There are a lot of good things about this worldview – this is because the approach is so much different – almost opposite to the scientific one. The difference is pretty clear: the scientifically oriented people often see only theories and mathematical formulas, whereas the spiritually oriented people see infinite possibilities for real, tangible and practical usage. Spiritual worldview introduces us the missing (ignored) part of the equation – that of consciousness and its inherent awareness.
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*1 Occam’s razor in a nutshell: the simplest explanation is likely correct.
So in this context, it is worth noting that if something really is strange – it is most definitely the very fact that somewhere along the way, scientifically oriented people wanted to ignore the most important factor altogether – that of consciousness; and in so doing, continued to focus on finding the answers from the “material world,” although scientific figures like David Bohm, Max Planck, Von Neumann, Eugene Wigner, and Niels Bohr emphasized the importance of consciousness. Later in this chapter, we will take a look at what these figures have stated in regards to consciousness. It goes without saying that we are making a grave mistake by excluding ourselves from the equation; not including the effect of our very presence is a mistake of a profound nature. It seems as though since its inception, now more than 100 years, scientists have not quite got it, and hence they have twisted even the very foundations to fit their narrow perception.
On that note, the more I studied both worlds (scientific, spiritual), the more simple everything seemed to become. You could compare the situation to driving a car – you don’t necessarily need to know how the engine is put together, and yet you can still enjoy the many benefits that the car as a tool can provide for you. The same goes for utilizing the Quantum Mechanical principles of reality as our tools. That is to say, it is not needed for you to know all the mathematical formulas to utilize the underlying simplicity of the Quantum Mechanical Principles of Life for your benefit.
People all over the world are seeking answers more intensively and more extensively than ever before; what makes this increased, rapid, and almost desperate search for the God(Particle) even worse is the fact that most of the people are seeking the answers from a totally wrong direction (from outside sources vs. from within). What we need as the collective humanity is the way to bridge these worlds (scientific, spiritual) together in a meaningful and constructive manner; the most obvious reason for doing so is the truth that these worlds are very much interconnected and therefore interdependent of each other.
What we need is a synthesis of science and spirituality, a combination of both – modern and ancient wisdom. You see, though their methods and ultimate concerns differ, both science and spirituality seek, in their own ways, to reveal the “truth” about life, existence, and the universe. Science, relying on sensory experience, examines the objective, spatial universe. Spirituality, utilizing intuition and revelation, searches and dives into the depths of reality’s interior, symbolic face (Innerverse). Both sensory observation and intuitive modes of knowing have equal validity in humanity’s quest to understand reality, and ultimately, ourselves – the human experience, you see?
Ultimately, people in both worlds are trying to figure out the same phenomenon of entanglement, but just with a slightly different names and variations of meanings; essentially both agree that there’s an underlying structure behind the visible and observable universe connecting everything. This means that in randomness, there’s a Divine Structure that is contained within everything and no thing at the same time – emanating from one common Source. The idea of consciousness is central for the understanding of Interconnected Nature of Living Life, and herein lies both the problem and the solution: our modern contemporary methods of studying consciousness are linear, whereas consciousness is very much a non-linear phenomenon. The inner experiences of the individuals seem to be the only viable way to gain profound understanding about consciousness, and as an extension, of reality, life, and of ourselves. That is to say, instead of focusing on the external world, we should be focusing on the knowledge and wisdom that is gained from these inner experiences. When the necessary understanding is achieved, combining both sensory observation and intuitive modes of knowing could yield something great and lasting, you see?
This underlying, or Divine Structure, if you will, is such that it largely goes unnoticed, not only due to our lack of awareness, but also due to our lack of will to pursue such awareness. Another contributing aspect is our perception: what we perceive as regular, patterned information – we classify as order; what we perceive as irregular, unpatterned information – we classify as disorder, or simply randomness. What we classify and label as being mere randomness, may indeed be Intelligence so far beyond our current level of understanding and comprehension that we pass it off by labeling it randomness; such level of Intelligence we humans have yet to recognize – after all, we cannot recognize, let alone know something that we are not yet aware of. What we humans perceive as randomness, may instead reflect a degree of complexity of order that we have yet to decode in understandable form. And so it goes that we disregard this type of underlying structure and Intelligence altogether.
Eventually, it shall come to pass, as it has been written in the Book of Life, that in due time, and in due course, the Divine Structure and Intelligence within randomness is widely recognized and acknowledged. And so you see, the realization of the Divine Structure within randomness leads to the recognition and acknowledgement of the undeniable truth of Oneness and the Interconnectedness of Everything. This profoundly and inexorably changes the way we see and experience reality. Suddenly “this or that” becomes “this and that,” and eventually “this becomes that,” which simply just IS – Unity. If there is one – it always implies that there must be many – one cannot be if there isn’t many; it is only through the experience of the many, from where the one is realized, you see?
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In spiritual terms, this means that there is a definite difference between the ideas of Oneness, Unity, and Non-Duality (Advaita). Oneness is an Idea; Unity is a Concept from the realization of the Idea of Oneness (a generalization from experience), and finally there is a Non-Dual Beingness within that realization. So when we apply this understanding to the scientific paradigm, we arrive at a point where we can realize that Pure Non-Dual Beingness is both the “place” from where our Universe came out of, but also the very essence out of which it is made. This goes on to say that within this Non-Dual Beingness – Life has always existed, and always will exist; Life has always been, always is, and always will be – see?
Scientifically oriented people often think that consciousness is an emergent biological phenomena, making no difference to physical systems. More than that, these same people like to say, argue – and even insist, that the brain creates consciousness and that consciousness cannot survive without the brain. Also psychologists often speak of the mind and the body as two separate entities for convenience, while many still acknowledge that they are intimately entwined. Both have largely ignored how consciousness manifests in our existence; this has been done by assuming that the brain produces consciousness, although it has never been verified. The only verifiable thing is that consciousness in human form is something that conceives, governs, constructs, and eventually becomes the activity of the body.
When we observe consciousness more deeply by utilizing our innate ability of being aware of our own consciousness, we eventually find that it’s also something bigger than us; something much more greater than just our ability of being aware of our individuated self. Even though the theories & hypothesis are more than plentiful, none of them really have answered to the primary question of what consciousness is. In much the same way as biologists study and explain what life does, rather than what life is, so do scientists who like to focus on explaining what consciousness does, rather than what consciousness is. Although scientifically and spiritually oriented people have their differences, there’s much hope for learning to find a common ground – as
Dalai Lama put it:
“Broadly speaking, although there are some differences, I think Buddhist philosophy and Quantum Mechanics can shake hands on their view of the world.” ~ Dalai Lama.
The famous quantum double-slit experiment is a very popular experiment used to examine how consciousness and our physical material world are intertwined. It is a great example that documents how the factors associated with consciousness and our physical material world are connected. The most significant of these revelations is the fact that the observer seems to be creating the reality by the act of observation alone. The act of us looking creates the result of observation – in other words, we are literally creating the universe and the perception of the world as we go. A paper published in the
peer-reviewed journal Physics Essays by Dean Radin, PhD, explains how this experiment has been used multiple times to explore the role of consciousness in shaping the nature of physical reality:
“In this experiment, a double-slit optical system was used to test the possible role of consciousness in the collapse of the quantum wave-function. The ratio of the interference pattern’s double slit spectral power to its single slit spectral power was predicted to decrease when attention was focused toward the double slit as compared to away from it.
The study found that factors associated with consciousness “significantly” correlated in predicted ways with perturbations in the double slit interference pattern. Observation not only disturbs what has to be measured, they produce it. We compel the electron to assume a definite position. We ourselves produce the results of the measurement.”
What did the historic scientific figures say about the significance of consciousness on the observed results?
Von Neumann:
Consciousness, whatever it is, appears to be the only thing in physics that can ultimately cause this collapse or observation.
Max Planck:
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness.
Eugene Wigner:
It is not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a consistent way without reference to the consciousness.
Niels Bohr:
Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real. A physicist is just an atom’s way of looking at itself.
John Stewart Bell:
As regards mind, I am fully convinced that it has a central place in the ultimate nature of reality.
So, when we take a look at all of those sayings about Consciousness, we cannot but ask ourselves: isn’t that the very same thing that
Gautama Buddha talked about somewhere around the fourth century BCE by saying:
We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts, with our thoughts we make the world. ~ Gautama Buddha
When we once again take another example from the modern world by Martin Rees, we cannot but agree.
The Universe could only come into existence if someone observed it. It does not matter that the observers turned up several billion years later. The Universe exists because we are aware of it.
