24
Apr
The Holographic Universe
I just finished reading The Holographic Universe because it sounded like it had some neat ideas in it. Overall it did indeed have some interesting ideas, but the support of those ideas throguh much of hte book was very weak.
The basic premise is that there is a theory in physics that explains everything as being an interaction of wave fronts that creat the hologram that we see as reality. There is another holographic theory of mind that is in psychology where a part contains the information of the whole as well, as evidenced by removing part of the brain not destroying the knowledge of how to do something. Memories and other brain functions are not all local to specific portions of the brain.
Now take those and draw links between them and use that to try and explain psychic phenomenon. I’m not saying this isn’t the way things really are or not because there certainly are things out there that aren’t explained by current theories and things that people don’t want to try to address because they are too far out there. I’m glad people are working to try and explain these things even if they are considered the outside fringe of science.
The problem with this book is the support for many claims are anecdotal tales from the author or his friends. The other weakness in the support is in jumping to conclusions. After spending considerable time explaining how people have been shown to be able to manipulate physical phenomenon like which holes balls will fall in statistically vs no concentration, he uses a completely different explanation for how the contents of a tape got changed when experimental subjects were supposed to focus on changing it. The explanation? They changed the past! It’s going to be a lot easier to change a tape than to change a computer generated tape made some time in the past.
The other example was in his explanation that subjects predicted the future by guessing what picture would be shown the next day. This was after a lengthy description on how mind reading and telepathic communication can be explained by this theory. It’s more likely that the subjects were influencing the choices of picture made by the researcher.
If the author had stuck to a the few areas where his points do seem to hold up instead of trying to stretch it to fit any reported oddness that happens his case and book would have been much stronger.
I’d say to avoid this book.
The concept of a holographic universe is frightening for many human beings. That our brains may be “parts” containing the information of the whole (i.e. the universe) is even more frightening, consequently many humans just don’t want to know or investigate anything about it all. If you explore the teachings of the mystics (spiritual teachers and spiritual masters) you will find references that point to our reality being holographic in this earthly dimension. Today’s scientists like Bohm and Pribaum and an ever- increasing number of similar conservative, highly trained and disciplined humans are realising that the holographic explanation of the universe is most plausible. All is one “Beingness” – every material form is “Beingness” manifested. “Beingness” is the essence of every form, it is “God’s hand” in everything: “Beingness” is the essence that permeates all. It is in every plant, every insect, every stone, water, every animal, every grain of sand, every mountain, every plant. And in every human. “Love thy neighbour as thyself” is slightly misunderstood because it means quite plainly that the spiritual essence you find in yourself is the same as is in your neighbour. All is one Beingness. Beingness permeates all.
July 5th, 2005 at 3:53 amYour neighbour IS your self in “beingness” beyond the form we appear in. And that is where true “love” is found. You love all “beingness” beyond the forms it appears in. So whatever is said in the book the answers are really in what I am saying now. Tracy Ansdell
…Ansdell continued:
July 5th, 2005 at 5:08 amAnother point about understanding the universe as holographic, is that time is not linear, there is no past followed by the present followed by the future. The reality is that it has always been NOW. The past and future are envisioned using our human imagination. The Australian aboriginal people describe anything that is not NOW, as being in the “dream world”.
Also, look up “Akashic Records” on the Internet. This is described by all sources as the record of all that ever happens in this dimension we live in. It is what clairvoyants and psychics access to convey spiritual information to us. I believe that via LIGHT, the 2-dimensional surface of the “Akashic Records” projects the 3-dimensional manifestations of all forms. And by that, I mean the forms (bodies) we humans inhabit, the plant forms, animal forms, insect forms, land forms, the planets, the world we dwell in….. I am saying that ultimately the whole “ever-was” and “ever-will-be” universe is a holographic projection caused by LIGHT interacting somehow with the Akashic Records. At this stage we are gradually uncovering this phantasmic reality and
science, technology, religion and spiritual mysticism are at last merging into one uniform understanding after eons of egotism, pain and confusion.
Tracy Ansdell
I did not say I disagreed with the ideas presented in the book or about the holographic universe. My problem was in the presentation. The book is sold in the science section as a science book. It is weak in its explanations of things. It disregards the more logical explanations he presents in earlier chapters for the phenomena in the current chapter and choosing another explanation instead.
If you want to learn about the ideas of the holographic universe read abou tthe first 100 pages or go and find another source.
July 5th, 2005 at 9:16 am