There have been a few mentions around the forum as of late to the intrinsic connectedness that humanity has with nature and the rest of the universe, the feeling of 'oneness' and the loss of ego that comes so often with the use of psychoactive substances. These mentions are what have inspired me to start this thread (though I've toyed with the idea for a while, I'm a horrible procrastinator).
A while back, a friend linked me to a very interesting article called "The Universe as a Hologram", which was a review and excerpts from a book by Michael Talbolt, "The Holographic Universe". Based on the studies of several scientists, including renowned quantum mechanical physicist and David Bohm (author of the related book, "Wholeness and the Implicate Order") and Standford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram (known for his development of the holonomic brain model of cognitive function), Michael suggests that physical reality as we know it is actually a phantasm -- that the universe is really just an incredibly detailed 'superhologram'. After presenting the evidence of these scientific studies, he then goes on to explain how such a model for the universe could potentially explain all manner of paranormal phenomena that we generally do not yet understand, including psychic abilities, out of body experiences, near death experiences, and even such things as stigmata and UFO abductions.
Although there is far more information than is practical to post here on the forum, I'll do my best to sum up a basic explanation of this holographic universe, and then provide some links so that anyone who's interested can delve further.
To understand what Talbolt means when he speaks of a holographic universe, it helps to understand how a holograph works:
(http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sai/hologram.html)Quote:
A hologram is a three- dimensional photograph made with the aid of a laser. To make a hologram, the object to be photographed is first bathed in the light of a laser beam. Then a second laser beam is bounced off the reflected light of the first and the resulting interference pattern (the area where the two laser beams commingle) is captured on film.
When the film is developed, it looks like a meaningless swirl of light and dark lines. But as soon as the developed film is illuminated by another laser beam, a three-dimensional image of the original object appears.
The three-dimensionality of such images is not the only remarkable characteristic of holograms. If a hologram of a rose is cut in half and then illuminated by a laser, each half will still be found to contain the entire image of the rose.
Indeed, even if the halves are divided again, each snippet of film will always be found to contain a smaller but intact version of the original image. Unlike normal photographs, every part of a hologram contains all the information possessed by the whole."
Based on studies of the behavior of subatomic particles, Bohm concluded that the universe, too, may function like a hologram, with all of the information in the universe (including all events that have and will happen) contained non-locally: that is, with the same 'whole-in-every-part' functionality. He offered that the level of reality that we experience, called the 'explicate' (or unfolded) order is actually a manifestation of the implicate (or enfolded) order, just as a revealed hologram is an 'explicate' manifestationn of the 'implicate' holographic film. In his own words:
I think that's a good place to leave off the post for now.. :stoned: I know I didn't include a lot on the scientific aspects of this stuff, but I figure that might be best left for people to explore on their own.Quote:
"Electrons and all other particles are no more substantive or permanent than the form a geyser of water takes as it gushes out of a fountain. They are sustained by a constant influx from the implicate order, and when a particle appears to be destroyed, it is not lost. It has merely enfolded back into the deeper order from which it sprang. ... Everything in the universe is part of a continuum. Despite the apparent separateness of things at the explicate level, everything is a seamless extension of everything else, and ultimately even the implicate and explicate orders blend into each other."
Sources/More Info:
http://www.alienjigsaw.com/Part_II/forestnew.htm
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sai/hologram.html
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sai/pribram.htm
Recent studies involving the entropy of black holes also support the Holographic model of the universe:
http://www.crystalinks.com/holouniverse1.html
