In this article we will continue to discuss aspects of the Holographic Universe. We will now cover the work of physicist David Bohm.
Holographic Thought
The principles of Eastern mysticism agree with new theories of physics being developed that “the universe is an interconnected whole in which no part is any more fundamental than the other, so that the properties of any one part are determined by those of all the others. In that sense, one might say that every part ‘contains’ all the others and indeed a vision of mutual embodiment seems to be characteristic of the mystical experience of nature.”1
Indian philosopher, yogi and poet Sri Aurobindo said, “Nothing to the supra-mental sense is really finite; it is founded on a feeling of all in each and of each in all.”
Indra’s net, in Buddhist philosophy, is a metaphor of a holographic reality: “In the heaven of Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls, so arranged that if you look at one you see all the others reflected in it.”
Sir Charles Eliot adds, “In every particle of dust, there are present Buddhas without number.”
The brilliant poet William Blake writes, “To see a world in a grain of sand; And heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.”
The Law of One describes it thusly: “In each infinitesimal part of your being lies the One in all its power.”
William Mahoney, author of Exquisite Love, writes, “The One becomes the Many, all of which also hold within them the essence of the One.”
And physicist David Bohm explains, “The essential feature of quantum interconnectedness is that the whole universe is enfolded in everything, and that each thing is enfolded in the whole.”
The Holographic Cosmos
The Holographic cosmos includes wave-particle duality and processes that result in a pair of particles (particle and anti-particle).
It also includes the ability to transform from one kind of particle to another.
No matter how far photons travel apart, when measured they will always have identical angles of polarization (spatial orientation).
This suggests that photons must be instantaneously communicating with each other.
Dr. David Bohm
David Bohm (1917-1992) was an American/British physicist who studied the relationships between consciousness and matter in a scientific context.
He worked closely with Robert Oppenheimer at Berkeley and Albert Einstein at Princeton.
He found that interconnections of the whole have nothing to do with locality in space and time but exhibit an entirely different quality – that of enfoldment.
He used the hologram as an analogy – each of its parts contains the whole.
Dr. Bohm saw mind and matter as being interdependent and correlated, but not causally connected. They are mutually enfolding projections of a higher reality which is neither matter nor consciousness.
He was puzzled by Neil’s Bohr and his follower’s lack of interest in interconnectedness.
Bohr claimed quantum theory was complete and it was not possible to arrive at any clearer understanding. He said it is ‘uncertain’ so why try to figure it out!
Sadly, Bohr’s views became entrenched in the scientific mainstream. Alternatives were (and are) viewed as heresy. Bohr thought differences were primarily philosophical not scientific. He did not recognize that philosophy and science are interdependent concepts in a unified cosmos.
Dr. Bohm “warned of the dangers of rampant reason and technology, advocating instead the need for genuine supportive dialogue, which he claimed could broaden and unify conflicting and troublesome divisions in the social world…[His] main concern was with understanding the nature of reality in general and of consciousness in particular as a coherent whole, which according to Bohm is never static or complete but rather an unfolding process.”2
Plasma studies by Bohm
Plasma is a gas containing a high density of electrons and positive ions.
Dr. Bohm found that once in the plasma the subatomic particles stopped behaving like individuals and behaved as a part of a larger interconnected whole.
The plasma produced effects of extreme self-organization.
Dr. Bohm had the impression the electron sea was ‘alive’. Entire oceans of particles were behaving as if it knew what untold trillions of others were doing.
Bohm and his ‘Quantum Potential’ Field
Dr. Bohm assumed particles do exist in the absence of observers.
He assumed a reality beneath Bohr’s inviolable wall.
He called his field the ‘quantum potential’. It pervaded all space like gravity; but did not diminish with distance. In essence, it was the Aether.
The behavior of the parts were actually organized by the whole.
He suggested wholeness was in some ways the more primary reality.
In Dr. Bohm’s interpretation of quantum physics, location ceased to exist. “All points in space became equal to all other points in space.”
Nonlocality became a central part of his work.
“Because the quantum potential permeates all of space, all particles are nonlocally interconnected. Subatomic particles are not separate from one another and moving through the void of space but one in which all things are part of an unbroken web and embedded in a space that is as real and rich with process as the matter that moves through it.”3
Dr. Bohm realized there are different degrees of order, implying there is, perhaps, no end to the hierarchies of order that exist in the universe.
It is interesting to note that even today mathematicians are unable to prove randomness.
Dr. Bohm says, “What we call empty space contains an immense background of energy, and that matter as we know it is a small, “quantized” wavelike excitation on top of this background, rather like a tiny ripple on a vast sea.”
Dr. Bohm’s Holographic Universe Theory: ‘Holomovement’
Dr. Bohm coined the term holomovement to describe his holographic universe theory. His theory provided a new way of understanding order.
“Underlying [reality] is a deeper order of existence, a vast and more primary level of reality that gives birth to all the objects and appearances of our physical world in much the same way that a piece of holographic film gives birth to a hologram.”4
Dr. Bohm conceived of the universe as having two realms or levels of reality:
Implicate (enfolded) order – the deeper level of reality (unseen metaphysical time/space)
Explicate (unfolded) order – our own level of existence (seen physical space/time)
He saw the manifestation of all forms as the result of countless enfoldings and unfoldings between these two orders. These enfolding and unfoldings can be likened to oscillations between the two realms of time/space and space/time.
When a particle appears to be destroyed, it is not lost. It has enfolded back into the deeper order from which it came (aka, dematerialization).
The constant flowing exchange between the two orders explains how particles can shape-shift from one kind to another.
It also explains how a quantum unit can manifest as particle or wave.
He used holomovement rather than ‘hologram’ because hologram is static and holomovement is dynamic.
All is motion.
Holomovement also explains why reality becomes non-local at the subquantum level.
Dr. Bohm says everything in the universe is part of a continuum – a seamless extension of everything else, even the implicate and explicate orders blend.
He does not suggest the universe is a ‘giant undifferentiated mass’ but is part of an undivided whole still possessing parts with unique qualities.
Consciousness in the Holographic Universe
Dr. Bohm advocated that consciousness is a subtler form of matter.
“The observer is the observed.”
Dr. Bohm wrote, “The ability of form to be active is the most characteristic feature of mind, and we have something that is mind-like already with the electron.”
Animate and inanimate matter are inseparably interwoven.
Life and intelligence is present in matter, energy, space, time and the fabric of the entire universe.
This is the idea of panpsychism that is the foundation of the esoteric stream of knowledge.
“Just as every portion of a hologram contains the image of the whole, every portion of the universe enfolds the whole.”5
“Every cell in our body enfolds the entire cosmos.”6
Mainstream science is, of course, skeptical.
Several prominent physicists support Bohm’s work however: Roger Penrose (Oxford), Bernard d’Espagnat (University of Paris) and Brian Josephson (Cambridge).
“Josephson believes Bohm’s implicate order may someday even lead to the inclusion of God or Mind within the framework of science.”7
Dr. John Stewart Bell
John Stewart Bell (1928-1990) was an Irish theoretical physicist at CERN and the originator of Bell’s theorem, an important theorem in quantum physics regarding hidden variable theories.8
He was also greatly impressed with Bohm’s work.
Dr. Bell wondered if there was a way to verify the existence of non-locality.
He conceived of an experiment in 1964 but it needed a level of technological precision that had not yet been invented.
It had to perform in an “infinitesimally brief instant [so fast] that there wouldn’t be enough time for a ray of light to cross the distance separating the two particles.”9
The instruments needed to perform all operations within a few thousand-millionths of a second.
In 1982 Alain Aspect, Jean Dalibard, and Gerard Roger successfully produced conclusive results of Bell’s experiment.
The process took 30 billionths of a second less than for light to travel the distance.
The possibility of photons communicating through known physical processes was ruled out.
Each photon was able to correlate its angle of polarization with that of its twin.
This meant either:
- Faster than light communication (a scandalous idea in mainstream physics) or
- Photons are non-locally connected.
Physicist Paul Davis of England remarked, “Since all particles are continually interacting and separating, the non-local aspects of quantum systems is therefore a general property of nature.”
Conclusion
As can be seen in this article, and many of the previous articles, advanced physics has repeatedly proven the vast, interconnectedness and order of the universe. These concepts of interconnectedness and nonlocality are taken for granted as truth in mainstream science, yet the implications of these concepts are what the mainstream scientists have a hard time reconciling.
Why is it so difficult to recognize and admit that science and spirituality are equally valid?
Why is it so difficult to recognize and admit that conservatism and liberalism are equally valid?
Why is it so difficult to recognize and admit that rational thinking and intuition are equally valid?
Why is it so difficult to recognize and admit that ancient wisdom and modern understanding are equally valid?
What’s to be afraid of?
We have nothing to gain and everything to lose if we, as a society cannot reconcile these seemingly opposing, yet harmonious ‘opposites’.
- Capra, Fritjof, The Tao of Physics, Shambhala Publications, Inc, 5th Edition, 2010
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bohm
- Linde, The Book, 2013, thebookbook.co.uk
- Talbot, Michael, The Holographic Universe, Harper Perennial, 1991
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_Bell
- Talbot, Michael, The Holographic Universe, Harper Perennial, 1991
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