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Tyler Ross 2 - 28 - 05 Computer Throughout mans existence, we see questions arise upon certain topics. These questions are based upon answers of other questions, and everything becomes based upon itself. But it was Rene Descartes who first decided to doubt, to challenge, and to reject all that could be rejected. Suspicious of all that he was able, and skeptical of all, which might be criticized, Descartes fell upon his famous postulate, I think therefore I am. Although this theorem accounts for the existence of a perceiver, it leaves a trail of questions towards what is being perceived. Does Reality, as we know it, Exist?
Or is our universe simply a phantasm? Is the existential really being perceived? Or is it simply a ploy in the mind of the perceiver? Query upon query leads us to the fundamental question. Does Objective Reality Exist?
Objective Reality (Lawrence D Oliver) Objective Reality is that which remains true whether you believe it or not (The Perception, which exists regardless of the perceiver) Throughout mans existence, we see questions arise upon certain topics. These questions are based upon answers of other questions, and everything becomes based upon itself. But it was Rene Descartes who first decided to doubt, to challenge, and to reject all that could be rejected. Suspicious of all that he was able, and skeptical of all, which might be criticized, Descartes fell upon his famous postulate, I think therefore I am.
Although this theorem accounts for the existence of a perceiver, it leaves a trail of questions towards what is being perceived. Does Reality, as we know it, Exist? Or is our universe simply a phantasm? Is the existential really being perceived?
Or is it simply a ploy in the mind of the perceiver? Query upon query leads us to the fundamental question. Does Objective Reality Exist? This concept is one that is generally extremely hard to grasp by those not well versed in philosophy, or even in quantum physics. One common misconception is the notion that, if an attribute or object is perceived, it must exist. This is simply, not always the case.
That said, I offer this example for clarification, before going on to contrast the viewpoints of Objective Reality and Monistic Idealism. Observe a green object, or any object with a notable color for that matter, in your vicinity. Although you perceive that object to be green, in reality, is it? Thinking objectively we come to the conclusion that colors are simply wavelengths of light, and the perception of color is simply a ploy in the mind of the perceiver.
In simplest terms, the truth that remains to be true whether you believe it or not is that the object is not green, and we dont really know what color it is. Monistic Idealism (Amit Goswami) The idea that consciousness is the ground of being. (Namely, the notion that existence is a secondary vehicle to consciousness, that consciousness itself does not exist, and consciousness creates existence. ) Monistic Idealism is a belief or theory that is oft times closely attributed to religions of the east, and even mysticism; but as science moves ahead into new frontiers, namely that of quantum physics, we see that these notions may be backed by science, and not simply science fiction. Although Amit Goswami coined the term monistic idealism, one of the most influential advocates of this view is legendary physicist, and prodigy of Einstein, David Bohm. But before we asses Bohm's extraordinary and groundbreaking views, we must first observe the events that gave way to this provocative new paradigm.
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 20 th century. You did not hear about 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 10 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 traveling 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 findings. But it has inspired others to offer even 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 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. 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 labored 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 remain in 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...
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