Friday, November 15, 2013

Evidence for a Holographic Universe


Evidence for a Holographic Universe


The great American physicist Richard Feynman once said:-” There was a time when the newspapers said that only twelve men understood relativity. I do not believe there ever was such a time. There might have been a time when only one man did ( Einstein ). ....... On the other hand, I think I can safely say that nobody understood
quantum mechanics. “

The above quotation sums up the mystical nature of Quantum Theory in a nutshell. More than a century after Max Planck first pioneered the quantum concept no definitive explanation is forthcoming on the non-locality aspect of the theory despite the seasoned accuracy of the theory's predictions and applications. In fact, Quantum Theory is the most reliable scientific theory ever formulated by the scientists. Notwithstanding the numerous unsuccessful attempts to find a solution to this grand puzzle, there are some promising though farfetched propositions. One such theory is the Holographic Model first suggested by physicist David Bohm, a former student of Einstein and neuro-physicist Karl Pribram of Standford University. Stated briefly, it asserts that the visible universe is a giant hologram ( or illusion ) just like the three dimensional images used for communication purposes in sci-fi movies such as Star Trek and Star Wars.

The Holographic Model was inspired by the study of the memory function of the brain by Pribram. Based on numerous experimental results, he discovered that memory is not localized in any specific part of the human brain. In the case of brain damage suffered by human patients, the victim very often recovered certain neural abilities originally identified with the damaged part ot the brain. It was as if the other parts of the brain can adapt themselves to take over the functions formerly carried out by the damaged portion. In case of experiments carried out on rats which can still see after losing 90% of its brain cortex supposedly relating to vision, it was found that the remaining 10% can still carry out the basic neural function relating to vision. As regards damages to the human brain, the removal of a large portion of the patient's brain does cause hazy memory but never a specific part of the patient's memory showing that memory is not confined to or stored in any specific sections of the brain. This strange phenomenon is a puzzle that has troubled Pribram for some twenty years from the 1940s to the1960s. Then , he had a bright idea based on the nature of a hologram. Pribram found that there are many similarities between the characteristics of a hologram and the memory function of our brain.

A hologram is created by one beam of laser which is split into two separate components. Laser is the most condensed form of light and the purest. Therefore, it can produce images as clear and as vivid as the actual object itself. The first component beam is shone on the object to be photographed and the second component of the same beam is allowed to merge with the reflected light of the first and the resultant interference image is recorded on a photographic medium such as film. Under normal vision the interference image is just a blurred figure but when another laser beam is projected onto this interference image a vivid three-dimensional image of the original object is clearly visible. This image is a hologram of the original object.

Apart from the vivid and three-dimensional qualities of a hologram, there are many more miraculous characteristics in the principle of Holography or the techniques of creating holograms. One such special quality is what we call the whole in the parts. Like a piece of mirror, if a piece of holographic medium such as a slide of film is broken into small pieces, each small piece will still contain all the information necessary for recreating the whole image of the original object captured on that film, albeit on a smaller scale. This applies to all small pieces of the film without any exception. Thus, a hologram has enormous storage capacity for information. The most exciting feature of this quality is that Stephen Hawking and his team has recently discovered that the degree of entropy or disorder ( scrambled information ) of a black hole is proportional to the area of its event horizon. Common sense seems to indicate that the storage capacity of any container should be related to its volume instead of its surface area. This is obviously not true with regards to information. This is sometimes referred to as the Holographic Principle in relation to the storage of information. It has very significant implications on our understanding of the visible universe because physical stars greater than 2 times the sun's mass will end their lives as black holes. Stephen Hawking's discovery seems to indicate that black holes possess the characteristics of a hologram. Can there be any connection between the conversion of mass into energy and the creation of information ( or negative information or disorder ) ? If the degree of entropy in black holes is proportional to the area of the event horizon, does this imply that this universe possesses the characteristics of a hologram as well ? That the whole universe is, in fact, an image or illusion projected from a much deeper reality ?

Then, there is the quality of the enfolded ( hidden ) order. On the surface and under normal light, a hologram appears as some interference pattern but under another laser beam, the vivid image of the hidden object emerges. This is similar to order in chaos ( the interference image ). The Nobel Prize laureate, Ilya Prigogine who is a chemist discovered that certain chemical processes can be self-perpetuating from chaotic states to ordered states in defiance of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. He called such systems “dissipative structures” and won the Nobel prize for revealing their working secrets. However, the origins of dissipative structures remains a deep mystery. It is believed that solving this puzzle may lead to the key for unraveling the secret of the origin of life. At this stage, Prigogine speculates that such structures may have originated from a hidden order at a higher level of existence or reality. The view is very close to the the Hidden Variables Interpretation of Quantum Theory by Einstein and his camp. Being true to his mentor's philosophy, David Bohm has also been perfecting the Hidden Variables Theory. His interest in the global interconnectedness of the physical world has let him to join force with Pribram to develop the Holographic Model of the universe. If they can prove that the universe is actually an image projected from some inner or higher order of things under the Holographic Principle, then Einstein would be completely vindicated.

By 1980, Bohm had fully developed his notion of a Holographic Model of the universe and he presented his complete theory in his book called “ Wholeness and the implicate Order”. He called this deeper level of reality the implicate, hidden or enfolded order and our own physical level of existence the explicit or unfolded order. In brief, he claimed that our explicit or unfolded order is actually the holographic image projected from the implicit or enfolded order through the working of the Holographic Principle. He is of the opinion that our own physical world and all phenomena exhibited in it are the results of the unfolding and enfolding of these two levels of realities and their interactions with our human consciousness.

Under this interpretation of reality, the popping in and out of existence by elementary particles such as electrons and positrons ( the anti-particle of the electron ) pairs is viewed as the unfolding of the deeper reality ( in the case of electrons appearing ) and the enfolding of our reality back into the intricate order ( in the case of positrons annilhilating with electrons ). Complementarity where light behaves both as particles and waves is also understood in terms of the folding and unfolding of the implicate and explicit order. This interpretation also explains the existence of matter and anti-matter which is the implicate order of things in our own physical reality. On top of all these, Bohm's theory also seems to imply that both levels of existence have always co-existed in the forms of various force fields permeating space and all dimensions from time immemorial ( a vague reference to the Steady State Theory ? ). It is the unfolding and enfolding of these different levels of realities that give rise to all the physical phenomena that our consciousness can experience. The Big Bang would be considered as the unfolding of the implicate order and the beginning of our own physical level of reality but not of all levels of realities.

The most striking of Bohm's assertions is the WHOLENESS of existence which is philosophically and intellectually profound. His Holographic Model of the universe is asserting that there is a continuum connecting everything and everyone. As far as the working of each and every aspect of the universe is concerned, everything and everyone is not only made of the same thing ( namely, stardust ) but they are, in fact, the SAME THING or manifestations of the same thing from a deeper level, the implicate order. There is the intricate network that connects everything to everything else. This is the prime reason for NON-LOCALITY which is the crowning mystery in Quantum Theory. We are again reminded of the grand concept of “ Only Connect ! “. Exactly how the folding and unfolding of the intricate and explicit orders take place is still a matter for conjecture. However, suffice it to say at this stage of Bohm's theory that it is the first time in the arena of scientific research that a serious proposition is put forward to link the human consciousness to the occurrence of physical phenomena since the role of consciousness was first implicated in the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory. 

Non-Locality as proven by Bell's Inequality in theory and Alan Aspect in actual experimentation is indicative of a deeper reality or an implicate order. Just as in the case of set patterns exhibited by island chains in oceans which are all interconnected below the waves, the fact that non-locality exists points to a very high probability that a deeper reality is present.

Secondly, the possibility of the existence of the implicate order is

also favourably supported by Ilya Prigogine's theory of Dissipative Systems or Order in Chaos. Greater details will be described later in the chapter on Chaos. At this point, perhaps an actual example would illustrate the meaning and working of the Implicate or Enfolded Order. The reader may have come across a game or scientific display in many science museum worldwide. A cylindrical jar with a handle for turning is filled with glycerine and a few drops of black ink is put in the same jar. Upon turning the jar in one direction, the ink seems to disappear as it mixes up with the glycerine but when you reverse the direction of the turn the ink reappears. This is the actual operation of the enfolding ( hidding ) and unfolding ( reappearing ) of the Intricate Order. At the first turning, Chaos ensue as the ink mixes with the glycerine while Order unfolds on the reverse turn. Many phenomena in this world work in a similar manner. Therefore, never be discouraged when you are faced with any complex problem. It can most likely be solved if you deal with it in the proper sequence. Order in Chaos and Chaos in Order seem to be inherent in Nature and we shoud take note of this law of nature.
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Thirdly, from Pribam's case studies over a period of a few decades in psychological and psychiatric patients many mental phenomena seem to suggest that the human brain displays many characteristics of a Hologram. The most noticeable ones include Lucid Dreams ( LD ), Out-of-Body-Experiences ( OBE ), Near Death Experiences ( NDE ), Multiple Personalities Disorder ( MPD ), Extra-Sensory Perception ( ESP ) and Reincarnation Claims ( RC ). We shall briefly examine each in turn. While we venture into the mystical, I must remind the reader of the words of caution I put forward in the preface of this book. The areas into which we are advancing are most interesting but the facts may not be totally conclusive by themselves. Before further definite research results are forthcoming, we should treat the inferences from these facts as scientific speculations only. Personally, however, I tend to accept them as very favourable circumstantial
evidence in support of Bohm's Holographic Universe Theory.

Going back to the various relevant mental phenomena, Lucid Dreams

( LD ) are dreams in which the dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming. The details can be so vivid and clear that the dreamer can remember every detail and sensations experienced in a LD. The strangest of all is that some LD dreamer can be trained to have LD or to continue a particular LD after the dreamer has been awakened in the middle of one. Pribram is of the opinion that such dreams bear some similarities to the characteristics of a hologram. The hologram can generate a virtual image ( an optical illusion like a mirror ) behind the holographic film or medium as well as a real image resulting from the interaction of two laser light beams in front of the medium. We do not usually take notice of the real image because it is invisible most of the time unless some smoke or dust is present in the position occupied by the real image. Normal dreams are made up of virtual images of the hologram while LD is composed of real images from the hologram generated by our brain. As LD is composed of real images it is particularly vivid.

Out-of-Body Experience ( OBE ) refers to the subject encountering a mental situation of himself or herself being able to observe their physical self as an objective observer. Examples of OBE include patients undergoing surgery under general anaesthetics being able to describe the surgical procedures in exact details after waking up from the operation as if looking down on himself from above. The Holographic Theory attributes such ability to the patients' brains being able to project the consciousness hologram to the vantage point above the operation table and to observe the physical self which is also the holographic image created by the brain.

During Near Death Experiences ( NDE ), subjects invariably 
report seeing bright lights shining at the far end of some sort of tunnel and the feeling of peace and tranquility. Other reported details which bear close resemblance to a hologram include the ultra fast rewinding of the subjects' whole life in reverse motion but having real feelings of each and every important moments of their lives in quick reverse succession. The reader will recall that one special quality of the hologram in relation to the storage of information is the hologram's ability to recreate the whole image from even a very small piece of a holographic film like shattered pieces of a mirror. This indicates that the human brain may possess holographic abilities. Only during NDE can any person experience such a long sequence of events in a ultra quick but orderly fashion within a few moments. Considering that brain waves are the results of elementary particles such as electrons moving at the speed of light and the fact that memory cells are also composed of timeless elementary particles, such atemporal sensations in NDE are entirely probable.

Based on actual case studies by Pribram and other practising psychiatrists, mental patients suffering from Multiple Personalities Disorder ( MPD ) very often display physical reactions which defy all known laws of physics. For example, the subject patient who is normally allergic to a certain substance in his normal frame of mind may be immune to the same substance when he assumes a different personality. If a bee sting can kill him in his nomal mental state, there are officially recorded cases where the patients are known to be immune to the same bee sting in a different personality. There are even cases of MPD patients involving more than thirty different personalities which carry with them all the different biological reactions to the same substance that the normal personality is allergic to. Under Bohm's Holographic Principle of the universe MPD has the characteriistics of a hologram insofar as the compact storage capacity of the brain is concerned. Different personalities together with all their complex qualities and abilities can be entirely stored in our hologram brain.

Extra-Sensory Perception ( ESP ) is the ability to know things that are not
supposed to be detectable by the ordinary human senses. This may include foretelling the future correctly or mind reading. Sometimes ESP is the demonstrated in TV shows in mind reading across huge distances such as instantly reading what is drawn in a hidden piece of paper by a guest in a TV studio in New York by a psychic in London. The holographic view on such extraordinary ability is that the psychic is able to connect the explicit and implicit order and the person with ESP ability can some how apply the brain's holographic power of atemporal projection to locate and access information unavailable to the ordinary human senses in the normal physical or unfolded reality.

Very often we have heard about claims of reincarnation and stories from a previous life. Such Reincarnation Claims ( RC ) are sometimes very mind-boggling. There are cases where it is absolutely impossible for the claimant to know the facts in the story of that alleged previous life which are subsequently proven to be accurate. There was the case of a young Indian girl that lives in the Kashmir Region in northern India who claims that she had led a former life in California, USA. She has never been out of her native province but can describe in great detail the small Californian town she has alleged to have led her former life. The details of a small post office in the town that existed in the 1890s were accurately given by the young Indian girl. The post office no longer exists. Such details are unknown even to the current residents in that Californian town but nevertheless the details have been confirmed to be accurate from drawings found in the local museum. It is really remarkable. This case is but one of numerous documented RC cases which are now being investigated in earnest by qualified professional scientific researchers. According to the Holographic Theory, the human consciousness survives far beyond the explicit order that is our physical level of existence. Such ideas are reminiscent of both Buddhist and Hindu philosophy !
Apart from the above remarkable mental phenomena, one additional psychic ability that is often cited as one of the possible causes of some reported miracles which were witnessed by so many people that the facts could not be ignored. But scientists generally brushed the claims off by assuming that such unnatural events were mass hysteria and stopped at that. Most of them simply did not have the courage to investigate further for fear of being ridiculed by their peers. This very strange and powerful psychic ability is known as Psychokinesis (or PK ). Many documented cases of stigmata where the sufferers showed the same bleeding wounds as Jesus Christ after the crucifixtion have proven to have defied the laws of nature. In particular, the direction of the flow of the blood from the sufferers' wounds always remains to be away from the genuine wounds regardless of whether or not the sufferers' body positions are upright or inverted. This is a complete defiance of the laws of gravity. Such psychic ability of the sufferers is called PK by psychologists and psychiartrists of paranormal psychology. It was David Bohm's hypothesis that PK is the result of the special ability of the human subject based on the wave/particle duality of brain waves. When the related brain impulses which are a form of electromagnetic wave are particlelike, our consciousness would appear to be localized in our brain, but in its wavelike nature, our consciousness could produce remote or distant effects like a radio wave propagating meaningful signals. Bohm conjectured that one of these remote influences is PK. Despite the deliberate rejection of such hypothesis by the conventional or conservative scientists, some serious and respected researchers like Robert G. Jahn, a professor of aerospace sciences and dean emeritus of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University was courageous enough to have founded the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory in 1979 to investigate such powerful psychic ability. Hopefully, more respected scientists would follow his footsteps to provide reliable experimental data as the basis of further research into this fascinating and mysterious aspect of our brain and consciousness. The huge potential impact of such research on our understanding of reality and our own consciousness cannot be ruled out. 

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