NON-DUALITY
Key Idea - Nothing Ever Happens, No Last Looker, Von Neumann Chain, Wigners Friend
In Nothing all Possibilities exist, so everything happens
Wavefunction with Superpositions is Non-dual and open to Universe via Entanglements
Collapse = Information = Duality, entanglements and superpositions vanish (seemingly)
Collapse = Contracted Energy-Seeker/ Quantum Superpositions = Non-duality
xp - px = ih [one particle]
Local freedom, global cohesion
Spontaneity and Interconnectedness
1) h = discreteness, quantum jumping - there is no choice from a continuum
i = probability, superposition of possibilities in Nondual Potentia
2) Measurement Problem/Collapse -
Examples Double Slit and Schrodingers Cat
Von Neumann Chain and Wigners Friend
3) General Relativity and Cosmology - Basic Solutions to Expanding Universe (Friedmann solutions)
Freidmann 3 solutions - Expand forever (hyperbolic-Expansion), Contract (Spherical-Collapse), Flat (Uncertain)
4) Many Worlds Interpretation ==> Cosmos (Potentia not reality) | String Theory 10^500
5) Delayed Choice Experiments / Strong Anthropic/PAP
6) Fine Tuning Evidence
ASIDE = 3 - Sphere and Imaginary Numbers Resolving Pairs of Opposites.
7) Wave Equation of the Universe DeWitt/ Loop Quantum Gravity ==> Static Unchanging , Nothing Happens, But space is moving relative to space. All there is is space. Space is the One Substance. Boundary Condition (3-Sphere/Hypersphere - Finite but Unbounded)
8) Non-Duality of Universe from Outside looking in - with Von Neumann Chain/ Wigners friend
Vedanta - Points out Oneness 'as if' one were able to be outside of oneness
Cannot get outside of Oneness to Measure it. No last looker. Only One entangled State. Drawing the Line is arbitrary.
9) Dewitt - Non-Duality of Universe from Within - Only Space Moving Relative to Itself. Nothing and Everything
Nothing is Happening!
Universe that is Radically One, Nondual Where All Possible Universes are
In Nothing all Possibilities exist, so everything happens
Wavefunction with Superpositions is Non-dual and open to Universe via Entanglements
Collapse = Information = Duality, entanglements and superpositions vanish (seemingly)
Collapse = Contracted Energy-Seeker/ Quantum Superpositions = Non-duality
xp - px = ih [one particle]
Local freedom, global cohesion
Spontaneity and Interconnectedness
1) h = discreteness, quantum jumping - there is no choice from a continuum
i = probability, superposition of possibilities in Nondual Potentia
2) Measurement Problem/Collapse -
Examples Double Slit and Schrodingers Cat
Von Neumann Chain and Wigners Friend
3) General Relativity and Cosmology - Basic Solutions to Expanding Universe (Friedmann solutions)
Freidmann 3 solutions - Expand forever (hyperbolic-Expansion), Contract (Spherical-Collapse), Flat (Uncertain)
4) Many Worlds Interpretation ==> Cosmos (Potentia not reality) | String Theory 10^500
5) Delayed Choice Experiments / Strong Anthropic/PAP
6) Fine Tuning Evidence
ASIDE = 3 - Sphere and Imaginary Numbers Resolving Pairs of Opposites.
7) Wave Equation of the Universe DeWitt/ Loop Quantum Gravity ==> Static Unchanging , Nothing Happens, But space is moving relative to space. All there is is space. Space is the One Substance. Boundary Condition (3-Sphere/Hypersphere - Finite but Unbounded)
8) Non-Duality of Universe from Outside looking in - with Von Neumann Chain/ Wigners friend
Vedanta - Points out Oneness 'as if' one were able to be outside of oneness
Cannot get outside of Oneness to Measure it. No last looker. Only One entangled State. Drawing the Line is arbitrary.
9) Dewitt - Non-Duality of Universe from Within - Only Space Moving Relative to Itself. Nothing and Everything
Nothing is Happening!
Universe that is Radically One, Nondual Where All Possible Universes are
The Enigma of All Enigmas: "Nothing has ever happened"
[This conclusion is consistent with Quantum Theory!
“Nothing has happened” - to be able to understand this is very fortunate. If you can understand that nothing has happened, you have indeed been blessed with inner vision.” — Anandamayi Ma
"Everything that seems to happen is only an appearance of nothing happening. That is the mystery!" —Tony Parsons
So everything is not coming from nothing. It is both Nothing & Everything all along. Any logician will tell you that to predicate or declare something of everything is to predicate it of nothing. Nothing = Everything.
This quote of Anandamayi Ma contains perhaps the deepest non-dual mystery that there is. While the mind cannot grasp this paradox, quantum physics and cosmology (especially in Quantum Gravity) points to this same truth that the non-dual that mystics have realized.
The Non-dual Wavefunction Ѱ
To understand this profound mystery in light of quantum mechanics, let me briefly explain what a wavefunction is in quantum theory as it is central to this understanding. Quantum physics tells us that each quantum system, regardless of the number of components, can be assigned a single wave function that contains all the information about the system as whole. The quantum system can contain one electron or a billion, even the entire Universe, but in ANY case one wave function is enough to describe the entire system. This holism is one of the central hallmarks of quantum mechanics that is not present in classical or Newtonian physics. Quantum mechanics treats its objects whether an atom of a galaxy, as a whole and not as composed of separate parts. There is an intrinsic connection, called entanglement, between the seemingly separate components of the whole of which quantum mechanics is aware.
Another important feature of quantum systems that is counterintuitive is the idea of superposition. The wave function not only connects all the seemingly separate components in one Whole, but encodes a spectrum of possibilities or potentia as Heisenberg called them. This means a quantum particle can literally be many places at once, or many different frequencies at once, or any possible history or trajectory all at once limited only by the constraints of the experiment or system. But this superposition of possibilities is outside of space and time altogether, it is not like an electron is physically in many places at once, it literally does not exist in space time AT ALL until measured!
Literally nothing is happening until a conscious observer makes a measurement (The type of measurement has corresponding eigenfunctions with eigenstates representing possible measurement outcomes)! What we observe as an actual measurement in reality is a collapse of this wavefunction of all possible states to a single particular state or observable, like position (where is it). This is called the position eigenfunction and its eigenstates are all the possible positions a particle could be at. This collapse pins down say an electron into one eigenstate or location (or outcome) of many. Not only that, we are literally CREATING the electron in THAT location in space and time just by our observation!
The superpositions exist outside of space and time in a realm of pure non-local consciousness, pure potential, pure possibility. Superpositions are as unreal as a whisp of smoke.
Note: we could also measure momentum, energy, spin or other observables too, but position is easiest to grasp. But even this collapse of creating an electron into a particular location is an illusion. Nothing ultimately collapses only apparently so, just as the reality you see through you 5 senses is only apparently real, but not ultimately so as the non-dual mystics tell us.
Here is how we can explain why: Since any quantum system is given one wave function that collapses only upon interaction with an environment or conscious observer, what would happen if we defined our system to include the whole universe without leaving anything out? (Note: Stephen Hawking and many leading physicists have done this and it is not only allowable in quantum theory, but it is inevitable). So let’s define our quantum system to be the whole of the universe.
We assign to this whole system a single wave function, representing the largest possible universe or even multiverse that contains all that is. This leads us to the enigma of all enigmas:
The wavefunction of the ENTIRE universe can never collapse due to the way we defined the system. That is, there is nothing existing outside the entire wavefunction of the universe to measure or observe it, if it indeed contains everything, including the totality of consciousness. It never collapses into any actuality! This universe, our universe, as a totality, is always in a superposition state; it remains forever in a state of pure potentiality. To sum it up: Our universe cannot possibly be real; it cannot have come into existence.
NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! Pure consciousness is all there is in it's unchanging state in which no Creation has ever happened.
Perhaps now you can better appreciate Richard Feynman's famous quote:
"I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics"
The summarize, the underlying nature of the Entire Kosmos or Universe, the state of superposition, is essentially a Non-dual state of affairs composed of potentiality or pure consciousness rather than actuality. This is because there is nothing outside of the Universe that can observe or measure it to take on an actuality so it MUST remain in pure Non-dual potential. This leads to the paradoxical conclusion that nothing has really happened! Yet this illogical conclusion is itself a piece of knowledge experienced inside an apparently existing universe (emphasis on apparently). This is verily the enigma of all enigmas, the mystery behind all mysteries. And to REALLY experience and understand this truth, is as Anandamayi ma says, is very fortunate and you have indeed been blessed with inner vision.”
And not only Anandamayi, but the great Nondual traditions of the word, Advaita Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, Dzogchen, Taoism, Zen and more confirm that if you have the inner vision (called prajna), this blessed realization can be experienced! One of my favorites is Advaita Vedanta, mainly because I find consciousness only and the True One Self resonates more deeply with me that the idea of no self and emptiness in Buddhism, though I feel both are pointing to the same Nondual embrace. More on this later.
But with a non-dual mystical realization this can be known, not as a theory or mental understanding, but as a direct perception or mystical illumination.
--------
The Mystery Deepens: Ѱ of the Universe Applied to Us
You might object and say quantum theory is a theory for the very small, how can there be a wavefunction of the Universe? While there is a debate on this issue, more and more evidence of quantum macroscopic occurrences, along with evidence from Loop Quantum Gravity, points to this shocking conclusion. All the quantum weirdness of the very small, extends to the entire Cosmos.
In 1966, American physicist Bryce Dewitt combined quantum mechanics and general relativity to obtain what was the first quantum theory of cosmology. This was a monumental event, because it was the first time, the notion of a "wavefunction of the universe" entered scientific literature. What Dewitt found this wavefunction ONLY depends of spatial geometry, there is NO TIME!
**So DeWitt had derived his equation by Combining Einstein's general Relativity with Schrodingers version of wave mechanics, so he called it the Einstein Schrondinger Equation. Wheeler did much to publicize DeWitt's result, and so everyone called it the Wheeler-DeWitt equation.
This wavefunction describes a stationary universe, where nothing happens, and with zero total energy. This model only gives a static picture of the Cosmos. To get anything to happen in this Universe, different wavefunctions representing different quantum states of space must be added together and put into superposition to reintroduce time and evolution. But this is the evolution of the wavefunctions of many possibilites in Potentia/Consciousness. That is all possible/parallel Universes are all coexisting and evolving along there potential 'branches'.
But even with this Paradoxical Everything and Nothing, Static and Dynamic Quantum universe, the wavefunction of possibilities or superpositions must collapse for apparently anything to happen.
When applied to the entire universe using DeWitt's model, it does reintroduce a time evolution, but only an evolution of the superpositions, so still nothing is happening until there is a measurement. Why? Because this superposition of possibilities is outside of space and time altogether, and just like the electron it literally does not exist in space time AT ALL until measured by a conscious observer! But how can you 'get outside' the entire universe? Even DeWitt himself saw the problem:
"The Copenhagen view depends on the assumed a priori existence of a classical level to which all questions of observation may ultimately be referred. Here, however, the whole universe is the object of inspection; there is no classical vantage point, and hence the interpretation must be re-argued from the beginning."
This is, if we assume everything there is is inside the Universe, there can be no classical 'measuring device' (or conscious observer) sitting outside to collapse the wavefunction of the Universe. Ultimately even ideas of Oneness are based on a hypothetical position Outside pointing to the whole or oneness of everything. Again, there is no such position (This is one of the reasons why nonduality is a better term then Oneness).
But it goes even deeper, the Universe is ALSO non-dual from within for lack of a better term (even inside implies an outside but there is no boundary hence no inside or outside the universe), nothing is ever happening. You do not even need to use the argument of nothing is outside the Universe to collapse it (which there is not), but there is nothing INSIDE to collapse it either. The apparently Real Universe we experience, is due to the human brain/mind collapsing its local wavefunction(s) to observe a reality that appears solid, and where events happen in both space and time. But if there is NO classical anything, then there is no classical measuring device to measure anything.
But obviously something is happening, isn't it? Well yes and no.
This is in alignment with both the Buddhist Idea of Sunya or the Vedenta Brahman best
[This conclusion is consistent with Quantum Theory!
“Nothing has happened” - to be able to understand this is very fortunate. If you can understand that nothing has happened, you have indeed been blessed with inner vision.” — Anandamayi Ma
"Everything that seems to happen is only an appearance of nothing happening. That is the mystery!" —Tony Parsons
So everything is not coming from nothing. It is both Nothing & Everything all along. Any logician will tell you that to predicate or declare something of everything is to predicate it of nothing. Nothing = Everything.
This quote of Anandamayi Ma contains perhaps the deepest non-dual mystery that there is. While the mind cannot grasp this paradox, quantum physics and cosmology (especially in Quantum Gravity) points to this same truth that the non-dual that mystics have realized.
The Non-dual Wavefunction Ѱ
To understand this profound mystery in light of quantum mechanics, let me briefly explain what a wavefunction is in quantum theory as it is central to this understanding. Quantum physics tells us that each quantum system, regardless of the number of components, can be assigned a single wave function that contains all the information about the system as whole. The quantum system can contain one electron or a billion, even the entire Universe, but in ANY case one wave function is enough to describe the entire system. This holism is one of the central hallmarks of quantum mechanics that is not present in classical or Newtonian physics. Quantum mechanics treats its objects whether an atom of a galaxy, as a whole and not as composed of separate parts. There is an intrinsic connection, called entanglement, between the seemingly separate components of the whole of which quantum mechanics is aware.
Another important feature of quantum systems that is counterintuitive is the idea of superposition. The wave function not only connects all the seemingly separate components in one Whole, but encodes a spectrum of possibilities or potentia as Heisenberg called them. This means a quantum particle can literally be many places at once, or many different frequencies at once, or any possible history or trajectory all at once limited only by the constraints of the experiment or system. But this superposition of possibilities is outside of space and time altogether, it is not like an electron is physically in many places at once, it literally does not exist in space time AT ALL until measured!
Literally nothing is happening until a conscious observer makes a measurement (The type of measurement has corresponding eigenfunctions with eigenstates representing possible measurement outcomes)! What we observe as an actual measurement in reality is a collapse of this wavefunction of all possible states to a single particular state or observable, like position (where is it). This is called the position eigenfunction and its eigenstates are all the possible positions a particle could be at. This collapse pins down say an electron into one eigenstate or location (or outcome) of many. Not only that, we are literally CREATING the electron in THAT location in space and time just by our observation!
The superpositions exist outside of space and time in a realm of pure non-local consciousness, pure potential, pure possibility. Superpositions are as unreal as a whisp of smoke.
Note: we could also measure momentum, energy, spin or other observables too, but position is easiest to grasp. But even this collapse of creating an electron into a particular location is an illusion. Nothing ultimately collapses only apparently so, just as the reality you see through you 5 senses is only apparently real, but not ultimately so as the non-dual mystics tell us.
Here is how we can explain why: Since any quantum system is given one wave function that collapses only upon interaction with an environment or conscious observer, what would happen if we defined our system to include the whole universe without leaving anything out? (Note: Stephen Hawking and many leading physicists have done this and it is not only allowable in quantum theory, but it is inevitable). So let’s define our quantum system to be the whole of the universe.
We assign to this whole system a single wave function, representing the largest possible universe or even multiverse that contains all that is. This leads us to the enigma of all enigmas:
The wavefunction of the ENTIRE universe can never collapse due to the way we defined the system. That is, there is nothing existing outside the entire wavefunction of the universe to measure or observe it, if it indeed contains everything, including the totality of consciousness. It never collapses into any actuality! This universe, our universe, as a totality, is always in a superposition state; it remains forever in a state of pure potentiality. To sum it up: Our universe cannot possibly be real; it cannot have come into existence.
NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! Pure consciousness is all there is in it's unchanging state in which no Creation has ever happened.
Perhaps now you can better appreciate Richard Feynman's famous quote:
"I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics"
The summarize, the underlying nature of the Entire Kosmos or Universe, the state of superposition, is essentially a Non-dual state of affairs composed of potentiality or pure consciousness rather than actuality. This is because there is nothing outside of the Universe that can observe or measure it to take on an actuality so it MUST remain in pure Non-dual potential. This leads to the paradoxical conclusion that nothing has really happened! Yet this illogical conclusion is itself a piece of knowledge experienced inside an apparently existing universe (emphasis on apparently). This is verily the enigma of all enigmas, the mystery behind all mysteries. And to REALLY experience and understand this truth, is as Anandamayi ma says, is very fortunate and you have indeed been blessed with inner vision.”
And not only Anandamayi, but the great Nondual traditions of the word, Advaita Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, Dzogchen, Taoism, Zen and more confirm that if you have the inner vision (called prajna), this blessed realization can be experienced! One of my favorites is Advaita Vedanta, mainly because I find consciousness only and the True One Self resonates more deeply with me that the idea of no self and emptiness in Buddhism, though I feel both are pointing to the same Nondual embrace. More on this later.
But with a non-dual mystical realization this can be known, not as a theory or mental understanding, but as a direct perception or mystical illumination.
--------
The Mystery Deepens: Ѱ of the Universe Applied to Us
You might object and say quantum theory is a theory for the very small, how can there be a wavefunction of the Universe? While there is a debate on this issue, more and more evidence of quantum macroscopic occurrences, along with evidence from Loop Quantum Gravity, points to this shocking conclusion. All the quantum weirdness of the very small, extends to the entire Cosmos.
In 1966, American physicist Bryce Dewitt combined quantum mechanics and general relativity to obtain what was the first quantum theory of cosmology. This was a monumental event, because it was the first time, the notion of a "wavefunction of the universe" entered scientific literature. What Dewitt found this wavefunction ONLY depends of spatial geometry, there is NO TIME!
**So DeWitt had derived his equation by Combining Einstein's general Relativity with Schrodingers version of wave mechanics, so he called it the Einstein Schrondinger Equation. Wheeler did much to publicize DeWitt's result, and so everyone called it the Wheeler-DeWitt equation.
This wavefunction describes a stationary universe, where nothing happens, and with zero total energy. This model only gives a static picture of the Cosmos. To get anything to happen in this Universe, different wavefunctions representing different quantum states of space must be added together and put into superposition to reintroduce time and evolution. But this is the evolution of the wavefunctions of many possibilites in Potentia/Consciousness. That is all possible/parallel Universes are all coexisting and evolving along there potential 'branches'.
But even with this Paradoxical Everything and Nothing, Static and Dynamic Quantum universe, the wavefunction of possibilities or superpositions must collapse for apparently anything to happen.
When applied to the entire universe using DeWitt's model, it does reintroduce a time evolution, but only an evolution of the superpositions, so still nothing is happening until there is a measurement. Why? Because this superposition of possibilities is outside of space and time altogether, and just like the electron it literally does not exist in space time AT ALL until measured by a conscious observer! But how can you 'get outside' the entire universe? Even DeWitt himself saw the problem:
"The Copenhagen view depends on the assumed a priori existence of a classical level to which all questions of observation may ultimately be referred. Here, however, the whole universe is the object of inspection; there is no classical vantage point, and hence the interpretation must be re-argued from the beginning."
This is, if we assume everything there is is inside the Universe, there can be no classical 'measuring device' (or conscious observer) sitting outside to collapse the wavefunction of the Universe. Ultimately even ideas of Oneness are based on a hypothetical position Outside pointing to the whole or oneness of everything. Again, there is no such position (This is one of the reasons why nonduality is a better term then Oneness).
But it goes even deeper, the Universe is ALSO non-dual from within for lack of a better term (even inside implies an outside but there is no boundary hence no inside or outside the universe), nothing is ever happening. You do not even need to use the argument of nothing is outside the Universe to collapse it (which there is not), but there is nothing INSIDE to collapse it either. The apparently Real Universe we experience, is due to the human brain/mind collapsing its local wavefunction(s) to observe a reality that appears solid, and where events happen in both space and time. But if there is NO classical anything, then there is no classical measuring device to measure anything.
But obviously something is happening, isn't it? Well yes and no.
This is in alignment with both the Buddhist Idea of Sunya or the Vedenta Brahman best
**Why Quantum Mechanics is Non-dual**
No Object = No Subject
What has amazed me is quantum mechanics FINALLY makes total sense in a non-dual framework, something which can seem nonsensical if viewed from a dualistic mindset that science and society at large seems to be stuck in. The simple and sad reason for this pervasive duality, is that it is sadly hard-wired into our sensory awareness and conditioning. We see a separate world of Nature, people and things "out there" that seems convincingly separate from our subjective thoughts, feelings, and perceptions "in here".
And it turns out, upon careful analysis of quantum mechanics, science is ALSO telling us that the universe as a whole is radically non-dual as well. All the energy, every particle, and all of spacetime is quantumly entangled and it is this phenomenon that connects all that is in a unity of divine being. You could say consciousness or spirit underlies and is one with all matter and energy. But there is only One ultimate substance, this is something science and spirituality agree upon in the final analysis, even if disagreeing on terminology. The evidence in science is the Grand Unifying theories that trace all matter and energy back to one super force or unified equation. Even though science has not found that equation (and maybe never will), their goal is still to unify all the forces and particles.
So here is what I realized in quantum mechanics that makes it non-dual at its core. I promise if you really "get this", your life will change!
Hopefully you are familiar with the basics of the double slit experiment, polarizer experiments or the Schrodinger's Cat. Basically the gist is this: A quantum system of any kind remains in a strange superposition of all possible states encoded in a wave function that evolves all these possible states until a measurement is made by a conscious observer with a detecting instrument or apparatus of some kind. For example, in the double slit experiment, we look at the wave function of one electron and the two slit setup, and rather shockingly, we see one electron is spread out like a wave and goes through BOTH SLITS AT ONCE! This is absolutely something that matter is not supposed to be able to do (be in two places at once). This is seen on a detector screen if we shoot one electron at a time and take a large sample, the end result pattern is identical to spread out wave interference patterns.
But, if an experimenter, let's call him Bob, puts a detector at one of the two slits and tries to "look" at it, it collapses to what seems to be a very real and solid electron in the "watched" slit detector. That is, it becomes the little particle "out there" we think we all know. But how can that be? It makes no sense that electrons, which are particles, should spread out like waves, and only become (almost magically) particles when we "look" at them? This collapse of the wave function, also called the measurement problem, has baffled scientists and physicist even up to this very DAY!
Nonduality to the rescue!
What is happening upon the "illusory" collapse of the wavefunction is we are creating a duality that is really not there. There is ONLY the non-dual ONE that could be encoded in a sort of wavefunction of the universe. It is purely an illusion that we are seeing the electron as a particle SEPARATE from us, and OUTSIDE of us.
Why am I so confident? Because you can show the wave function actually did NOT collapse but simply became entangled with the detector. From this very correct perspective of quantum mechanics, the pure nondual wave function safely avoids collapse. But wait a minute, you might say, that is all fine and good, but say a scientist Bob, as an observer "looks" at the new entangled state of detector and electron and sees for himself (consciously) that the detector indeed registered a location of the electron (say the left slit). But seen from the non-dual quantum perspective (and again very correct), now Bob, the detector and the electron are now all three in an entangled state. Again quantum mechanics works fine and no collapse is needed, which means no duality. But hold on, you might say, perhaps someone else, say Alice can walk in and see that Bob is indeed viewing the electron in the detector at a precise location. So alas, the wave function does collapse and we see our electron "out there" in the "real world" as a particle with a location. Right?
But not so fast, quantum mechanical entanglement says NOW the electron, the detector, Bob AND Alice are all four now entangled. Again quantum mechanics works fine and no collapse or duality is necessary. Then Charlie can come in, and on and on we can go with an endless number of lookers that can ALL in the end remain in one large entangled state, the wave function of the Universe. In this ultimate wave function no collapse ever happens, only non-dual wave function continuously and wondrously evolves throughout spaceless space and timeless time giving rise to the apparent manifest universe, whose ultimate nature is both real and unreal, but certainly NOT dual, just as we are non-dual too!
There is no last looker that can collapse anything, for that would require something outside of Oneness, and there is nothing that is outside of oneness, not even God! There is only the Non-dual mystery and feel free to call it what you like, but it most certainly is not part of any duality, because all duality in the universe, without exception is an ILLUSION!
----
You can play this game with the Schrodinger Cat Paradox too, as Eugene Wigner did by invoking Wigner's friends (which is just Alice, Charlie, and an endless line of lookers ad infinitum). But could God or a universal consciousness be the ultimate or final Looker? Up until recently I thought this was the case. That is, God is the final looker that collapses the wave function of creation into the Universe we all know. But this doesn't work because the wave function of the universe cannot have any sort of "other" to look at it. It remains pure and non dual, never collapsed, not even by God. But things get a little tricky trying to explain this, because the wave function itself is a mathematical tool or probability calculus that can be used to see the evolution of the wave function, and possible experiment outcomes if we evoke the dualistic collapse. And we do not have a wave function of the Universe, but this is a possibility in the framework of quantum mechanics. God or ultimate consciousness as Source is beyond all such descriptions. But there is one thing quantum mechanics points to, and that is this Ultimate Reality is itself a radically whole, interconnected, and entangled non dual ultimate reality.
But you might be saying, but at some point there must be a LAST LOOKER that could finally sees the electron manifest in the real world. And in saying this you would be WRONG in the ultimate sense, because no matter HOW MANY lookers gaze upon this, quantum mechanics can always entangle each sub-system or looker in a larger system all the way up to the entirely of the multidimensional multiverse.
Is a conscious observer needed for the universe to exist? Could it be that life is a more primary science? - Wheeler/Biocentrism. Can we change the past with observation - Wheeler , Stephen Hawking
Delayed choice experiment is like a double slit experiment in which you have the option of observing the path that a particle takes EXCEPT you postpone your decision about whether or not to observe the path until just before the particle hits the detection screen.
More rigorous version done in 2007 when reliable single photon pulses could be generated, and fast enough electronics available.
The result was that quantum theory predictions were confirmed. Observation creates a relevant history.
Hawking - The probability of any observation is constructed from all possible histories that could have led to that observation. Top Down Approach.
Wheeler and the cosmic version of this experiment - photons from very powerful quasars billions of light years away. Since light could be split and refocused to earth via gravitational lensing of an intervening galaxy.
Beyond reach of current technology, if we could collect enough photons from this light, there should be an interference pattern. If we place a device to measure "which path" information shortly before detection, that pattern should disappear. The choice to take one or both paths in this case would be made billions of years ago!
Hawking says the Universe, like a particle doesn't have a single history, but every possible history, each with its own probability; and our observations of its current state affect its past and determine the different histories in the universe, just as the observations of the particles of the double slit experiment affect the particles past.
8) Weak, Strong and Participatory Anthropic Principle
a. The strong anthropic principle (SAP) the Universe is compelled, in some sense, for conscious life to eventually emerge.
Strong - The universe MUST have those properties which allow life to develop within it at some stage in history.
b. Weak anthropic principle (WAP) states that the universe's ostensible fine tuning is the result of selection bias: i.e., only in a universe capable of eventually supporting life will there be living beings capable of observing any such fine tuning, while a universe less compatible with life will go unbeheld. Like Law of Natural Selection. Our existence guarantees that the laws of physics and the fundamental constants are compatible with organic chemistry and biology, but it also guarantees that our universe was lucky enough to draw the winning peptide (that became a self replicator). Mutation and Natural Selection only begins after the cell is created.
c. PAP - Participatory Anthropic Principle - Observers are required to bring the universe into existence. Any pre-life earth would exist in an indeterminate state, like Schrondingers Cat.
Could this mean that the pre-life universe can only exist retroactively after the fact of consciousness?
If the universe is in a non-determined state until forced to resolve by an observer, and this non-determined state included the determination of all the fundamental constants, that means the constants would have to resolve in such a way as to allow life.
Are we a pocket universe/Multiverse
9) Fine Tuning and Specialness of the laws of physics
Laws of Physics are very special.
Throw away electrons
No atoms, no chemistry, no biology
Gravity is very very weak, compared to atom. Gravitational force completely neglible.
If Gravity were just a hair stronger, stars would burn out too quickly, they would not live long enough for life to evolve, black holes would form. Universe would expand and contract too rapidly. Everything things to be on a knife-edge.
electric charge of electron, mass of particles.
Cosmological constant - really on a knifeedge... Such a narrow knife-edge... We would not be here.
It's anti-gravity and causes everything to expand. Magnitude is incredibly small. Only felt on the largest scales of the universe. Not because the mathematics tells us, whoever made the universe made it with
.0000--123 zeros than a 2. 10^-123.
If it were much greater, counteracting antigravity could have prevented the forming of planets, suns solar systems and galaxies. Physicsist never understood why its soo small.
The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of explaining how and why we have qualia or phenomenal experiences — how sensations acquire characteristics, such as colours and tastes.[1] David Chalmers, who introduced the term "hard problem" of consciousness,[2] contrasts this with the "easy problems" of explaining the ability to discriminate, integrate information, report mental states, focus attention, etc. Easy problems are easy because all that is required for their solution is to specify a mechanism that can perform the function.
Delayed choice experiment is like a double slit experiment in which you have the option of observing the path that a particle takes EXCEPT you postpone your decision about whether or not to observe the path until just before the particle hits the detection screen.
More rigorous version done in 2007 when reliable single photon pulses could be generated, and fast enough electronics available.
The result was that quantum theory predictions were confirmed. Observation creates a relevant history.
Hawking - The probability of any observation is constructed from all possible histories that could have led to that observation. Top Down Approach.
Wheeler and the cosmic version of this experiment - photons from very powerful quasars billions of light years away. Since light could be split and refocused to earth via gravitational lensing of an intervening galaxy.
Beyond reach of current technology, if we could collect enough photons from this light, there should be an interference pattern. If we place a device to measure "which path" information shortly before detection, that pattern should disappear. The choice to take one or both paths in this case would be made billions of years ago!
Hawking says the Universe, like a particle doesn't have a single history, but every possible history, each with its own probability; and our observations of its current state affect its past and determine the different histories in the universe, just as the observations of the particles of the double slit experiment affect the particles past.
8) Weak, Strong and Participatory Anthropic Principle
a. The strong anthropic principle (SAP) the Universe is compelled, in some sense, for conscious life to eventually emerge.
Strong - The universe MUST have those properties which allow life to develop within it at some stage in history.
b. Weak anthropic principle (WAP) states that the universe's ostensible fine tuning is the result of selection bias: i.e., only in a universe capable of eventually supporting life will there be living beings capable of observing any such fine tuning, while a universe less compatible with life will go unbeheld. Like Law of Natural Selection. Our existence guarantees that the laws of physics and the fundamental constants are compatible with organic chemistry and biology, but it also guarantees that our universe was lucky enough to draw the winning peptide (that became a self replicator). Mutation and Natural Selection only begins after the cell is created.
c. PAP - Participatory Anthropic Principle - Observers are required to bring the universe into existence. Any pre-life earth would exist in an indeterminate state, like Schrondingers Cat.
Could this mean that the pre-life universe can only exist retroactively after the fact of consciousness?
If the universe is in a non-determined state until forced to resolve by an observer, and this non-determined state included the determination of all the fundamental constants, that means the constants would have to resolve in such a way as to allow life.
Are we a pocket universe/Multiverse
9) Fine Tuning and Specialness of the laws of physics
Laws of Physics are very special.
Throw away electrons
No atoms, no chemistry, no biology
Gravity is very very weak, compared to atom. Gravitational force completely neglible.
If Gravity were just a hair stronger, stars would burn out too quickly, they would not live long enough for life to evolve, black holes would form. Universe would expand and contract too rapidly. Everything things to be on a knife-edge.
electric charge of electron, mass of particles.
Cosmological constant - really on a knifeedge... Such a narrow knife-edge... We would not be here.
It's anti-gravity and causes everything to expand. Magnitude is incredibly small. Only felt on the largest scales of the universe. Not because the mathematics tells us, whoever made the universe made it with
.0000--123 zeros than a 2. 10^-123.
If it were much greater, counteracting antigravity could have prevented the forming of planets, suns solar systems and galaxies. Physicsist never understood why its soo small.
The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of explaining how and why we have qualia or phenomenal experiences — how sensations acquire characteristics, such as colours and tastes.[1] David Chalmers, who introduced the term "hard problem" of consciousness,[2] contrasts this with the "easy problems" of explaining the ability to discriminate, integrate information, report mental states, focus attention, etc. Easy problems are easy because all that is required for their solution is to specify a mechanism that can perform the function.