Dear All, You might find this interesting. It's worth a wade-through.
THE UNIVERSE AS A HOLOGRAM
>Does Objective Reality Exist or is the Universe a Phantasm?
>In 1982 a remarkable event took place. At the University of Paris, a
>research team led by physicist Alain Aspect performed what may turn out
to
>be one of the most important experiments of the 20th century. You did
not
>hear it on the evening news. In fact, unless you are in the habit of
>reading scientific journals you probably have never even heard Aspect's
>name, though there are some who believe his discovery may change the
face
of
>science.
>Aspect and his team discovered that under certain circumstances
subatomic
>particles such as electrons are able to instantaneously communicate with
>each other regardless of the distance separating them. It doesn't
matter
>whether they are ten feet or 10 billion miles apart. Somehow each
particle
>always seems to know what the other is doing. The problem with this
feat
is
>that it violates Einstein's long held tenet that no communication can
travel
>faster than the speed of light. Since travelling faster than the speed
of
>light is tantamount to breaking the time barrier, this daunting prospect
has
>caused some physicists to try to come up with elaborate ways to explain
away
>Aspect's more radical explanations.
>University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes
Aspect's
>findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its
>apparent solidity the Universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and
>splendidly detailed hologram. To understand why Bohm makes this
startling
>assertion, one must first understand a little about holograms. 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 co-mingle) 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 a rose. Indeed 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.
>The "whole in every part nature of a hologram provides us with an
entirely
>new way of understanding organization and order. For most of its
history,
>Western science has laboured under the bias that the best way to
understand
>a physical phenomenon, whether a frog or an atom, is to dissect it and
study
>its respective parts. A hologram teaches us that some things in the
>Universe may not lend themselves to this approach. If we try to take
apart
>something constructed holographically, we will not get the pieces of
which
>it is made; we will only get smaller wholes.
>This insight suggested to Bohm another way of understanding Aspect's
>discovery. Bohm believes the reason subatomic particles are able to
>remaining contact with one another regardless of the distance separating
>them is not because they are sending some sort of mysterious signal back
and
>forth, but because their separateness is an illusion. He argues that at
>some deeper level of reality such particles are not individual entities,
but
>are actually extensions of the same fundamental something.
>To enable people to better visualize what he means, Bohm offers the
>following illustration. Imagine an aquarium containing a fish. Imagine
>also that you are unable to see the aquarium directly and your knowledge
>about it and what it contains comes from two television cameras, one
>directed at the aquarium's front and the other directed at its side. As
you
>stare at the two television monitors, you might assume that the fish on
each
>of the screens are separate entities. After all, because the cameras
are
>set at different angles, each of the images will be slightly different.
But
>as you continue to watch the two fish, you will eventually become aware
that
>there is a certain relationship between them. When one turns, the other
>also makes a slightly different but corresponding turn, when one faces
the
>front the other always faces toward the side. If you remain unaware of
the
>full scope of the situation, you might even conclude that the fish must
be
>instantaneously communicating with one another, but this is clearly not
the
>case.
>This, says Bohm, is precisely what is going on between the subatomic
>particles in Aspect's experiment. According to Bohm, the apparent
>faster-than-light connection between subatomic particles is really
telling
>us that there is a deeper level of reality we are not privy to, a more
>complex dimension beyond our own that is analogous to the aquarium.
And,
he
>adds, we view objects such as subatomic particles as separate from one
>another because we are seeing only a portion of their reality. Such
>particles are not separate "parts", but facets of a deeper and more
>underlying unity that is ultimately as holographic and indivisible as
the
>previously mentioned rose. And since everything in physical reality is
>comprised of those "eidolons" the Universe is itself a projection, a
>hologram.
>In addition to the phantom like nature, such a Universe would possess
other
>rather startling features. If the apparent separateness of subatomic
>particles is illusory, it means that at a deeper level of reality al
things
>in the Universe are infinitely interconnected. The electrons in a
carbon
>atom in the human brain are connected to the subatomic particles that
>comprise every salmon that swims, every heart that beats and every star
that
>shimmers in the sky. Everything interpenetrates everything, and
although
>human nature may seek to categorize and pigeonhole and subdivide, the
>various phenomena of the Universe, all apportionments are of necessity
>artificial and all of nature is ultimately a seamless web.
>In a holographic Universe, even time and space could no loner be viewed
as
>fundamentals. Because concepts such as location break down in a
universe
in
>which nothing is truly separate from everything else, time and
>three-dimensional space, like the images of the fish on the TV monitors,
>would also have to be viewed as projections of this higher order. At
its
>deeper level reality is a sort of super hologram in which the past,
present
>and future all exist simultaneously. This suggests that given the
proper
>tools it might even be possible to someday reach into the
superholographic
>level of reality and pluck out scenes from the long forgotten past.
>What else the superhologram contains is an open-ended question.
Allowing,
>for the sake of argument, that the superhologram is the matrix that has
>given birth to everything else in the Universe, at the very least it
>contains every subatomic particle that has been or ever will be - every
>configuration of matter and energy that is possible, from snowflakes to
>quasars, from blue whales to gamma rays. It must be seen as a sort of
>cosmic storehouse of "All That Is."
>Although Bohm concedes that we have no way of knowing what else might
lie
>hidden in the superhologram, he does venture to say that we have no
reason
>to assume it does not contain more. Or as he puts it, perhaps the
>superholographic level of reality is a "mere stage" beyond which lies
"an
>infinity of further development". Bohm is not the only researcher who
has
>found evidence that the Universe is a hologram. Working independently
in
>the field of brain research, Standford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram
has
>also become persuaded of the holographic nature of reality.
>Pribram was drawn to the holographic model by the puzzle of how and
where
>memories are stored in the brain. For decades numerous studies have
shown
>that rather than being confined to a specific location, memories are
>dispersed throughout the brain. In a series of landmark experiments in
the
>1920's brain scientist Karl Lashley found that no matter what portion of
a
>rat's brain he removed he was unable to eradicate its memory of how to
>perform complex tasks it had learned prior to surgery. The only problem
was
>that no one was able to come up with a mechanism that might explain this
>curious "whole in every part" nature of memory storage.
>Then in the 1960's Pribram encountered the concept of holography and
>realized he had found the explanation brain scientists had been looking
for.
>Pribram believes memories are encoded not in neurons, or small groupings
of
>neurons, but in patterns of nerve impulses that crisscross the entire
area
>of a piece of film containing a holographic image. In other words,
Pribam
>believes the brain is itself a hologram.
>Pribram's theory also explains how the human brain can store so many
>memories in so little space. It has been estimated that the human brain
has
>the capacity to memorize something on the order of 10 billion bits of
>information during the average human lifetime (or roughly the same
amount
of
>information contained in five sets of the Encyclopaedia Britannica).
>Similarly, it has been discovered that in addition to their other
>capabilities, holograms possess an astounding capacity for information
>storage - simply by changing the angle at which the two lasers strike a
>piece of photographic film, it is possible to record many different
images
>on the same surface. It has been demonstrated that one cubic centimetre
of
>film can hold as many as 10 billion bits of information.
>Our uncanny ability to quickly retrieve whatever information we need
from
>the enormous store of our memories becomes more understandable if the
brain
>functions according to holographic principles. If a friend asks you to
tell
>him what comes to mind when he says the word "zebra", you do not have to
>clumsily sort back through some gigantic and cerebral alphabetic file to
>arrive at an answer. Instead associations like "striped, "horse like"
and
>"animal native to Africa" all pop into your head instantly. Indeed one
of
>the most amazing things about the human thinking process is that every
piece
>of information seems instantly cross-correlated with every other piece
of
>information - another feature intrinsic to the hologram. Because every
>portion of a hologram is infinitely interconnected with every other
portion,
>it is perhaps nature's supreme example of a cross-correlated system.
>The storage of memory is not the only neurophysiological puzzle that
becomes
>more tractable in light of Pribram's holographic model of the brain.
>Another is how the brain is able to translate the avalanche of
frequencies
>it receives via the senses (light frequencies, sound frequencies and so
on)
>into the concrete world of our perceptions. Encoding and decoding
>frequencies is precisely what a hologram does best. Just as a hologram
>functions as a sort of lens, a translating device able to convert an
>apparently meaningless blur of frequencies into a coherent image.
Pribram
>believes the brain also comprises a lens and uses holographic principles
to
>mathematically convert the frequencies it receives through the senses
into
>the inner world of our perception.
>An impressive body of evidence suggests that the brain uses holographic
>principles to perform its operations. Pribram's theory, in fact, has
gained
>increasing support among neurophysiologist. Argentinean-Italian
researcher
>Hugo Zucarelli recently extended the holographic principles can explain
this
>ability. Zucarelli has also developed the technology of holophonic
sound,
a
>recording technique able to reproduce acoustic situations with an almost
>uncanny realism.
>Pribam's belief that our brains mathematically construct "hard" reality
by
>relying on input from frequency domain has also received a good deal of
>experimental support. It has been found that each of our senses is
>sensitive to a much broader range of frequencies than was previously
>suspected. Researchers have discovered, for instance that our visual
>systems are sensitive to sound frequencies, that our sense of smell is
in
>part dependent on what are now called "osmic frequencies", and that even
the
>cells in our bodies are sensitive to a broad range of frequencies. Such
>findings suggest that it is only in the holographic domain of
consciousness
>that such frequencies are sorted out and divided up into conventional
>perceptions.
>But the most mind-boggling aspect of Pribram's holographic model of the
>brain is what happens when it is put together with Bohm's theory. For
if
>the concreteness of the world is but a secondary reality and what is
there
>is actually a holographic blur of frequencies and if the brain is also a
>hologram and only selects some of the frequencies out of this blur and
>mathematically transforms them into sensory perceptions, what becomes of
>objective reality? Put quite simply, it ceases to exist. As the
religions
>of the East have long upheld, the material world is Maya, an illusion,
and
>although we may think we are physical beings moving through a physical
>world, this too is an illusion. We are really "receivers" floating
through
>a kaleidoscopic sea of frequency and what we extract from this sea and
>transmogrify into physical reality is but one channel from many
extracted
>out of the superhologram.
>This striking new picture of reality, the synthesis of Bohm and
Pribram's
>views, has come to be called the holographic paradigm, and although many
>scientists have greeted it with scepticism, it has galvanized others. A
>small but growing group of researchers believe it may be the most
accurate
>model of reality science has arrived at thus far. More than that, some
>believe it may solve some mysteries that have never before been
explainable
>by science and even establish the paranormal as a part of nature.
>Numerous researchers, including Bohm and Pribram, have noted that many
>para-psychological phenomena become much more understandable in terms of
the
>holographic paradigm. In a Universe in which individual brains are
actually
>indivisible portions of the greater hologram and everything is
infinitely
>connected, telepathy may merely be the accessing of the holographic
level.
>It is obviously much easier to understand how information can travel
from
>the mind of individual "A" to that of individual "B" at a far distance
point
>and helps to understand a number of unsolved puzzles in psychology. In
>particular, Grof feels the holographic paradigm offers a model for
>understanding many of the baffling phenomena experienced by individuals
>during altered states of consciousness.
>In the 1950s, while conducting research into the beliefs of LSD as a
>psychotherapeutic tool, Grof had one female patient who suddenly became
>convinced she had assumed the identity of a female of the species of
>prehistoric reptile. During the course of her hallucination, she not
only
>gave a richly detailed description of what it felt like to be
encapsulated
>in such a form, but also noted that the portion of the male of the
specie's
>anatomy was a patch of colored scales on the side of its head. What was
>startling to Grof was that although the woman had no prior knowledge
about
>such things, a conversation with a zoologist later confirmed that in
certain
>species of reptiles colored areas on the had to indeed play an important
>role as triggers of sexual arousal.
>The woman's experience was not unique. During the course of his
research,
>Grof encountered examples of patients regressing and identifying with
>virtually every species on the evolutionary tree (research findings
which
>helped influence the man-into-ape scene in the movie ALTERED STATES).
>Moreover, he found that such experiences frequently contained obscure
>zoological details, which turned out to be accurate.
>Regressions into the animal kingdom were not the only puzzling
psychological
>phenomena Grof encountered. He also had patients who appeared to tap
into
>some sort of collective or racial unconscious. Individuals with little
or
>no education suddenly gave detailed descriptions of Zoroastrian funerary
>practices and scenes from Hindu mythology. In other categories of
>experience, individuals gave persuasive accounts of out-of-body
journeys,
of
>precognitive glimpses of the future, of regression into apparent
past-life
>incarnations.
>In later research, Grof found that the same range of phenomena
manifested
in
>therapy sessions, which did not involve the use of drugs. Because the
>common element in such experiences appeared to be transcending of an
>individual's consciousness beyond the usual boundaries of ego and/or
>limitations of space and time, Grof called such manifestations
>"transpersonal experiences", and in the late 1960s he helped found a
branch
>of psychology called "transpersonal psychology" devoted entirely to
their
>study.
>Although Grof's newly founded Association of Transpersonal Psychology
>garnered a rapidly growing group of like-minded professionals and has
become
>a respected branch of psychology, for years neither Grof nor any of his
>colleagues were able to offer a mechanism for explaining the bizarre
>psychological phenomena they were witnessing. But that has changed with
the
>advent of the holographic paradigm.
>As Grof recently noted, if the mind is actually part of a continuum, a
>labyrinth that is connected not only to every other mind that exists or
has
>existed, but to every atom, organism, and region in the vastness of
space
>and time itself, the fact that it is able to occasionally make forays
into
>the labyrinth and have transpersonal experiences no longer seems so
strange.
>The holographic paradigm also has implications for so called hard
sciences,
>like biology. Keith Floyd, a psychologist at Virginia Intermont
College,
>has pointed out that if the concreteness of reality is but a holographic
>illusion, it would no longer be true to say the brain produces
>consciousness. Rather, it is consciousness that creates the appearance
of
>the brain as well as the body and everything else around us we interpret
as
>physical.
>Such a turnabout in the way we view biological structures has caused
>researchers to point out that medicine and our understanding of the
healing
>process could also be transformed by the olographic paradigm. If the
>apparent physical structure of the body is but a holographic projection
of
>consciousness, it becomes clear that each of us is much more responsible
for
>our health than the current medical wisdom allows. What we now view as
>miraculous remissions of disease may actually be due to changes in
>consciousness that in turn effect changes in the hologram of the body.
>Similarly, controversial new healing techniques such as visualization
may
>work so well because in the holographic domain of thought images are
>ultimately as real as "reality". Even visions and experiences involving
>"non-ordinary" reality becomes explainable under the holographic
paradigm.
>In his book, GIFTS OF UNKNOWN THINGS, biologist Lyall Watson describes
his
>encounter with an Indonesian shaman woman who, by performing a ritual
dance,
>was able to make an entire grove of trees instantly vanish into thin
air.
>Watson relates that as he and another astonished onlooker continued to
watch
>the woman, she caused the trees to reappear, then "click" off again and
on
>again several times in succession.
>Although current scientific understanding is incapable of explaining
such
>events, experiences like this become more tenable if "hard" reality is
only
>a holographic projection. Perhaps we agree on what is "there" or "not
> there" because what we call consensus reality is formulated and
ratified
at
>the level of the human unconscious at which all minds are infinitely
>inter-connected. If this is true, it is the most profound implication
of
>the holographic paradigm of all, for it means that experiences such as
>Watson's are not commonplace only because we have not programmed our
minds
>with the beliefs that would make them so. In a holographic Universe
there
>are no limits to the extent to which we can alter the fabric of reality.
>What we perceive as reality is not only a canvas waiting for us to draw
upon
>it any picture we want. Anything is possible, from bending spoons with
the
>power of the mind to the phantasmagorical events experienced by
Casteneda
>during his encounters with the Yaqui brujo don Juan, for magic is our
>birthright, no more or less miraculous than our ability to compute the
>reality we want when we are in our dreams. Indeed, even our most
>fundamental notions about reality become suspect, for in a holographic
>Universe, as Pribram has pointed out, even random events would have to
be
>seen as based on holographic principles and therefore determined.
>Synchronicities or meaningful coincidences suddenly makes sense, and
>everything in reality would have to be seen as a metaphor, for even the
most
>haphazard events would express some underlying symmetry.
>Whether Bohm and Pribram's holographic paradigm becomes accepted in
science
>or dies an ignoble death remains to be seen, but it is safe to say that
it
>has already had an influence on the thinking of many scientists. And
even
>if it is found that the holographic model does not provide the best
>explanation for the instantaneous communications that seem to be passing
>back and forth between subatomic particles, at the very least, as noted
by
···
>Bail Hiley, a physicist at Birbeck College in London. Aspect's findings
>"indicate that we must be prepared to consider radically new views of
>reality"--------------------------------------------------