Wisdom's View

Clockwork and Quantum Physics

The Quantum Universe Starting in 1905, Albert Einstein, began a revolution in modern physics by giving humanity a new vision of a quantum universe. Along with Max Planck, Neils Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger and others, Einstein determined that reality is not as it appears through man's five senses. The more physicists succeeding Einstein discovered, the more exotic the new reality became. In their view, solid appearing matter was an illusion. In the new perception, atoms of “solid matter” are mostly empty space. Each atom is similar to a miniature solar system, with an infinitesimally small cluster of particles (protons and neutrons) in the center, surrounded at relatively great distances by particles (electrons that are even smaller).

Indivisible Particles Before Einstein, from the time of the Greek philosophers, it was believed that atoms were tiny indivisible particles. These indivisible particles became the building blocks of Newton's clock-like mechanical view of creation. Matter and energy were believed to be two different types of phenomena. Matter was considered material. Energy was non-material, the movement of some kind of force as waves through matter. The quantum revolution, introduced by Einstein, revealed that nothing is solid, and there is no such thing as a particle. At the most elementary parts of creation, there is only pure energy - “particles" of energy with no mass. While Einstein described the particle with-no-mass, it was later called a photon, a “particle" of light. Although Einstein presented his concept in 1905, few scientists believed it until the 1920's when the first light "particles" were actually detected. The ultimaton, the most basic particle described in The Urantia Book is yet to be identified by science. Click for "ultimatons." Scroll to p. 476, "6. ULTIMATONS, ELECTRONS, AND ATOMS"

The Vacuum Einstein's introduction of the particle-with-no-mass was the beginning of quantum physics, and it led to the image of the atom as basically empty instead of solid. During the development of quantum theory, physicists looked at the matter and energy contained within the emptiness, the vacuum. In 1911, Max Planck, began to theorize about the energy in the vacuum state, called "zero-point energy" (because the purest vacuum has a temperature of absolute zero). Einstein, Heisenberg, Dirac, and other physicists put the emptiness, the "zero-point vacuum fluctuation field," into their theories. Eventually, it was determined that the emptiness is not empty at all. Actually, it is an ocean of energy. Physicist John A. Wheeler calculated that vacuum space has an energy density of about ten to the power of 94 grams per cubic centimeter. Other physicists' calculations from the field of quantum electrodynamics show that the amount of energy contained in the vacuum, as well as in all matter within the vacuum, is infinite. Quantum Physics is the actual presence of the Unqualified Absolute. For more, click and scroll to p. 469, "2. UNIVERSAL NONSPIRITUAL ENERGY SYSTEMS (PHYSICAL ENERGIES)"

Atomic construction is different than solar systems.   Initially, early quantum physicists thought the model of the atom was similar to the solar system, but there is a major difference. The solar system implies solid planets in orbit. If the negatively charged electrons were particles (in the solid sense), and in orbit, they would be pulled into the nucleus by the positive electric charge of the nucleus. Electrons were discovered to float, not orbit, in "quantum shells" around the nucleus. Physicists theorized that the quantum shells prevented the electrons from being pulled into the nucleus, which would have caused the atom to collapse. The early physicists failed to consider what energy supports the shells, a question recently answered. A constant radiation of energy from the vacuum field allows the atom to exist without collapsing. When electrons move into a shell closer to or farther away from the nucleus, they move in an astonishing way. They disappear from one shell, and reappear instantly in another. The electrons are never found between shells. This action is called a quantum leap.This action is called a quantum leap.

Disguised Waves   The reason electrons are able to disappear and reappear is because they are "veiled" waves. The idea that electrons are also waves was proven by George Thompson, who won the Nobel Prize in 1931. Einstein had proven that light was both wave and particle. Thompson proved that electrons were both particle and wave, a paradox. Neils Bohr named the paradox,“Complementarities,”meaning opposites true at the same time. This is the basic nature of the entire universe (the complementary, but opposite existence of the Qualified and the Unqualified Absolutes). The basic building blocks of all matter are particles-with-no-mass. While Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity showed theoretically that matter could be converted to energy, and that they might be interchangeable, quantum theory showed that matter was actually made from components of pure energy. Particles are waves. For more, click and scroll to p. 101, "3. THE UNIVERSAL MANIPULATOR"

Clock-like Mechanism and the Uncertainty Principle   The laws governing particles (Newton's mechanical clock-like laws) are very different from the laws governing waves. Wave mechanics have a completely different set of rules than particle mechanics. Neils Bohr's Principle of Complementarity found that in looking at particle qualities, one does not see the wave qualities clearly. When looking at the wave, one can't see the particle qualities clearly. This is significant because to predict according to the Clockwork Paradigm, one needs to know all the forces involved in the interaction. Quantum theory says the wave forces and the particle forces cannot be completely known at the same time. This is the basis of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Like the quantum leap, the uncertainty principle was not popular with many physicists. The lack of predictability prompted Einstein to renounce the quantum paradigm late in his career. He couldn't believe God plays dice with the universe. Einstein led the way to show the statistical, probabilistic nature of the quantum world. Einstein, however, expected to find an underlying mechanism that would be in harmony with the clockwork paradigm. Sir Arthur Eddington, a pioneer in quantum physics, wrote: "No familiar conception can be woven around the electron. [The atom] is something unknown doing we don't know what." Neils Bohr said that while we aren't looking at an atom, we can't say anything about what it is doing.

Ghost Electrons and Collapsing Waves An electron can be tracked. When following its path, it behaves like an ordinary particle. If it is not tracked, but checked to see where it went, the physicist finds it has disappeared into arrays of "ghosts." These ghosts appear as measurable wave packets. The wave packets are the measures of the probability of finding the electron there if you tracked it from the start. When the scientist attempts to peek at the ghosts, they all disappear except for one wave packet which crystallizes as the electron. Physicists call this crystallization the collapse of the wave function. The implication is particles are real only when humans give them consciousness by looking at them. When not viewed, they disappear into worlds of ghosts, packets of waves. This opinion was the interpretation of data from the scientific experiments of the world's greatest physicists.

Subjectivity and Objectivity The "collapse of the wave function" is one of the most important concepts of quantum theory. It shows a direct interaction between the experimenter and the experiment. It shows the subjective influences the objective. It shows consciousness has a direct effect on matter. Physicists did not like this idea any better than they liked other quantum ideas. The concept is contrary to man's sensory experiences. Schrodinger (who didn't like quantum jumping) thought the interpretation of quantum ghosts was absurd. So he initiated a thought experiment he hoped would serve as a "quantum ghost-buster." This was the cat in the box experiment.

The Cat in the Box Schrodinger's theoretical quantum experiment was: Put a cat in a box. Put in some radioactive material, which has a fifty percent chance of emitting a particle over a five minute period. If a particle is released, it breaks open a vial of poison, which immediately kills the cat. Under the rules of the mechanical world of clock-like mechanism: Place the cat in a box, close the lid, wait five minutes, and determine whether the cat has died or not. Under the rules of the quantum world, which is governing all the atoms in the experiment, while the experimenter is not looking in the box, he cannot know anything about what is happening inside the box. While the box is closed, the cat is neither dead nor alive, but exists in some composite series of wave forms. Only when the box is opened does the wave function collapse, and the cat becomes either alive or dead. Einstein and Schrodinger believed that the very absurdity of the cat being neither alive nor dead, which Bohr kept insisting was a basic requirement of quantum theory, showed there was a serious flaw in the theory. The absurdity of Schrodinger' Cat and of ghost electrons and collapsing wave functions does not show that quantum theory is flawed or invalid. It shows that consciousness is not a by-product of particle/waves or of the water chemistry that is believed to be life, but is a basic primary force in its own right. (Water chemistry refers to the ancient method of categorizing based upon the elemental substance it is made of – metal, earth, fire, water, wood.)

Cats Can Collapse Their Own Wave Functions In formatting the question of Schrodinger's Cat, Schrodinger and the other scientists neglected to consider that the cat has consciousness. The cat does not have to exist in some suspended animation not alive or dead while it waits for the experimenter to open the box. The cat has its own consciousness and can collapse its own wave functions. Cats and other animals do not require human beings to collapse their wave functions.

Basic Forces   Scientists have always considered consciousness to be a by-product of the other forces of nature.   According to modern physics, there are four basic or primary forces in the universe:      1. The strong nuclear force      2. The weak nuclear force      3. Electromagnetic force      4. Gravity These forces have been observed and described in more or less detail, although the essential nature of each of them remains a mystery. A fifth force, anti-gravity, has been proposed. None of these forces explain the interaction of the experimenter on the experiment. None explain how the observation of the experimenter can cause the collapse of the wave function. Only if the consciousness of the experimenter is also a primary force, a basic force, can the collapse of the wave function be explained. Although consciousness should be the fifth (or sixth) force, it seems more likely that consciousness will end up being the first force, from which all other forces derive.

The Particle Zoo   More evidence suggesting a primary role of consciousness in nature comes from relatively recent work with elementary particles-with-no-mass. In the 1950s and 60s, physicists all over the world were searching for basic particles. Researchers would propose the existence of a certain particle-with-no-mass, and then they would eventually find its track in a cloud chamber. So many particles were reported, a “particle zoo" was created. The particle zoo was too much for Einstein. He believed in a simpler explanation, pointing out that while God is subtle, he is not mean. The particle zoo has been discarded by most physicists. Click for more on the cloud chamber.

The Theory of Everything   For many physicists, particles-with-no-mass have been replaced by "strings" as the basic substance. This is the String Theory that is sometimes called the "Theory of Everything." The basic building block of the "Theory of Everything" is the string, or super-string. According to string theory, all four of the basic forces, and the resulting mass and energy operate through one dimensional super-strings. The strings are very small. Laid end to end, a length of one centimeter would require 10 to the power of 13 strings. According to the String Theory of Everything, the universe has ten dimensions. The strings curve back upon themselves within these ten dimensions to create the world. The string theory is “conventional” since it does not regard consciousness as a basic force. One of the developers of the string theory, Michael Green, said, “When I hear the phrase 'Theory of Everything,' it sort of makes me think that people who use it mean it's The Theory of Everything They Can Think of Explaining, rather than The Theory of Everything There Is. Even if we could really explain everything we can think of, that still would leave a lot.”

Ten Dimensions   One of the few objections to string theory is that it requires ten dimensions to the universe rather than the four humans experience. All the basics of quantum theory go contrary to our everyday experience of the world, but why should this infinite world have only the few dimensions men perceive in their limited consciousness? Science's idea of dimensions has already proven untrustworthy. Originally, there were three dimensions. It took Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity to establish there were four. Some physicists have tried to rationalize that after the Big Bang, the ten dimensions collapsed into the four dimensions. They assumed the other six dimensions no longer exist except as a mathematical construct. It is more likely that these other dimensions exist as part of the consciousness of which men are unconscious.

Infinite Universes and Cats   If ten dimensions are difficult to accept, consider an infinity of universes. The hypothesis of an infinite number of universes, called by some the Many Worlds Theory, was developed by the physicist, Hugh Everett. While the mathematics of the theory is perfect, conceptually, it is difficult for most people to embrace. The Many Worlds theory proposes that when an elementary particle such as an electron splits into "ghost particles," each of these probability wave packets seems to belong to a separate universe. When the wave function collapses, with the introduction of consciousness into the system, one of the universes crystallizes into reality. The other universes continue to exist, but outside man's perspective. In the case of Schrodinger's Cat, it means that when the lid of the box is closed, the universe divides up into universes where the cat lives and universes where the cat dies. When the box lid is opened, if the cat is alive, there would be at least one universe where the cat is dead. In fact, if Everett's theory is true, there would probably be an infinite number of universes, half with live cats and half with dead cats.

Einstein's Final Effort   As these theories were emerging from the scientific evidence, physicists themselves were outraged by ghost electrons,  cats neither dead or alive, electrons that know they are being watched, collapsing wave functions, the statistical nature of existence, and total emptiness. Still, every experimental effort to disprove the disturbing aspects of quantum theory has given strong evidence in favor of quantum theory. Einstein's final effort to destroy quantum theory, the theory he played a large part in creating, provided an extraordinary experimental finding. Although Einstein believed that his experiment would overthrow the Quantum Paradigm and return science back to clock-workism, it had the opposite effect. It gave the final proof for quantum theory. Known as the EPR experiment, it was named from the initials of Einstein and his two associates, Podolsky and Rosen. There is a condition in quantum theory where two particles start off together, but fly apart if the experimenter does a certain measurement on the first particle. The type of measurement done will affect the second particle instantaneously, regardless of the distance the two particles are separated in space. Einstein commented that no reasonable definition of reality could be expected to allow this. It would require information to be transferred faster than the speed of light. Quantum theory not only allowed, but required a transfer of information faster than the speed of light. Originally, Einstein believed that if the experiment were performed at the quantum level, the measurement of the first particle would not affect the second particle. The basic equivalent of the EPR experiment was carried out. The results were conclusive. The second particle was instantaneously affected.

Omniscience   The confirmation that the second particle in the EPR experiment was instantaneously affected came in Paris, in 1982, by Alain Aspect and his team. In his book, In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, physicist John Gribbon describes the physics involved in Aspect's experiment. In discussing the results of the EPR experiment, Gribbin said that the fundamental particles that make up the universe are inseparably connected into an indivisible whole, each particle aware of what happens to the other. If each part is instantaneously aware of the whole, this suggests omniscience exists in the universe. If there is omniscience in the universe, as the EPR experiment suggests, this omniscience may not be conscious. In the EPR experiment, the second photon is instantaneously aware of the measurement of the first photon, and behaves accordingly. It may be unconsciously aware - unconsciously omniscient.

The Great Awakening   Because conscious awareness exists, at least in the human species, it seems plausible to consider the possibility that there may be a conscious omniscience. Since humans are part of one universe, one part of which must be a quantum system, men must be unconsciously omniscient. Because man has consciousness, he may have the potential of conscious omniscience. This should not be surprising. Humans do not exist as entities separate from the whole existence. In a real, not metaphorical way, men are evolving into the whole existence. The fact that these quantum truths are becoming accepted in the minds of people means that people are being prepared for an awakening, the realization that they are one with the whole existence. At first, the realization of oneness is intellectual. Eventually, it may be a direct experience of consciousness. The growth of the feeling of oneness is an individual and global evolution of consciousness.   The first steps in the process of individual and global awakening are small. Subsequent awakenings are discussed more fully in The Urantia Book:   “During the closing ages of this dispensation, society begins to return to more simplified forms of living. The complex nature of an advancing civilization is running its course, and mortals are learning to live more naturally and effectively. And this trend increases with each succeeding epoch. This is the age of the flowering of art, music, and higher learning. The physical sciences have already reached their height of development. The termination of this age, on an ideal world, witnesses the fullness of a great religious awakening, a world-wide spiritual enlightenment. And this extensive arousal of the spiritual natures of the races is the signal for the arrival of the bestowal Son and for the inauguration of the fifth mortal epoch.” Page-595. “Ethical awakening. Only ethical consciousness can unmask the immorality of human intolerance and the sinfulness of fratricidal strife. Only a moral conscience can condemn the evils of national envy and racial jealousy. Only moral beings will ever seek for that spiritual insight which is essential to living the golden rule.” Page-597. Click for more on The Urantia Book citations.

No Limit to the Speed of Light   Older scientific paradigms provided no explanation for how omniscience could possibly happen, but science can no longer say for sure it doesn't happen. The results of the EPR experiment show something like omniscience happens. A possible explanation is that the information is passed through the zero point field. The zero point field (the vacuum space), is the base for man's existence. The zero point field operates with a completely different set of rules than man's sensory fed space. One such rule suggested by the EPR results is that there is no limit to the speed of light in the vacuum field. Because each atom in the universe exists in the same vacuum space, each atom is connected to all others through the vacuum space. All creation is part of the same whole, and people are aware, at least unconsciously, of all other particles in the existence.

The Vacuum Is Full   According to clockwork physics, in a complete vacuum at absolute zero temperature, there should be no energy within that vacuum. However, quantum physics shows that energy does exist in that state, in a constant state of random fluctuation. The vacuum is not empty as previously thought. It has infinite (or nearly infinite) energy at every point in space. Harold Puthoff, while a physicist at the Institute For Advanced Studies in Austin, Texas, described how this can be. “Of all the zero-point fluctuation phenomena, the zero-point fluctuations of electromagnetic energy are the most easy to detect. Electromagnetic waves have standing, or traveling modes, that are a bit like the various modes of waves going along a rope that is shaken. Each set of waves has its own characteristic set of nodes and crests. It turns out that even though the zero-point energy in any particular mode of an electromagnetic field is minute (equivalent to that in half a photon), there are nearly an infinite number of possible modes of propagation (frequencies and directions). The zero-point energy added up over all possible modes, therefore, is quite enormous." This is how the energy density of the vacuum was calculated to be equivalent to 10 to the power of 94 grams per cubic centimeter.

Harmonic Relationships   The zero-point vacuum fluctuation field is considered by physicists to be totally random. However, Harold Puthoff's description (see prior blog) of nearly infinite modes of propagation of standing waves, through all the frequency range and in all directions, filling up space to an infinite degree, sounds more like a harmonic relationship than random chaos. Standing waves do not suggest randomness, and an infinite series of standing waves seems even less random. Some of the behavior of the zero-point vacuum fluctuation field may be random. For example, the creation and destruction of particles and anti-particles could be random. The basic foundations of the vacuum field, however, do not seem random. Rather, it seems the field may be harmonic with some randomness.

Extracting Energy from the Vacuum   An early believer in "free energy" was Nikola Tesla. Tesla reportedly said that before many generations passed, machinery would be driven by a power obtainable at any point in the universe. The world may obtain free energy from vacuum space (low cost and with no pollution) in the future. Adam Trombly, founder of Project Earth, is one of the leaders in the development of zero-point vacuum field technologies for the generation of electricity. Trombly has designed several generators that get free energy from vacuum space. In June, 1989, he and David Farnsworth demonstrated a solid state circuit that produced fifty times the electrical power on the output side as compared to the input. Trombly's design was used by Paramahamsa Tewari, who built a working model at the Tarapore Atomic Power Plant near Bombay, India. Called a homopolar generator, based on a little known discovery by Michael Faraday in 1831, it is the first zero-point technology to be documented publicly by an independent third party. The Urantia Book substantiates the possibility of extracting energy from the vacuum. And there is still another form of nonspiritual energy which is virtually unknown on Urantia (Earth); it is as yet unrecognized. Click and scroll to p. 47 for more.

An Enigma Solved    The zero point field answers the riddle of quantum physics regarding why the negatively charged electrons in an atom don't fall into the positively charged nucleus. The reason each atom in existence doesn't collapse is because it is powered from vacuum space. Because this applies to all atoms in existence, each atom in man's body is powered from the zero-point vacuum field. Every individual is drawing energy from the infinite well of vacuum space. Adam Trombly explains that atoms are actually modifications of the vacuum field. They are not separate particles existing within the field. They are parts of the field in altered or modified form. From this view, all men are modifications of the same field, each one inseparable from the field and inseparable from each other.

Einstein's Faith   Although Einstein did not ultimately believe in quantum mechanics, he did believe in the idea of a unified field. Towards the end of his life, he said: “A human being is a part of the whole, called the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons near us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.” Click for more on the distinction between faith and belief. Scroll to p. 1114 - 8. FAITH AND BELIEF

The Physics of Consciousness   The interface of quantum physics with spiritual ideas has always been obvious, but has been held back by the fact that the scientists who made the discoveries could not accept the results of their own work. Einstein, Schrodinger, etal, resisted the ideas that support a spiritual hypotheses. It is only since the EPR experiment “failed” and since the vacuum field energy has been understood in a new way, that physicists and all humanity can make the quantum leap into the physics of consciousness.

Co-Creators   The quantum revolution has given man a new understanding of the nature of realitv, and to the interaction of consciousness with matter. With an awakened consciousness and conscious awareness of being part of the One Whole, humans have the power to collapse wave functions and to co-create the physical world. Jesus spoke of man's collaboration with spirit to co-create when he said, "Will is that manifestation of the human mind which enables the subjective consciousness to express itself objectively and to experience the phenomenon of aspiring to be Godlike." And it is in this same sense that every reflective and spiritually minded human being can become creative. Click and scroll to last paragraph of p. 1431.