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#3844 -
The Nonduality
Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/147271
Quantum Science
Proving Mysticism
Philip F. Harris
Is science beginning to verify ancient mystical truths?
Here are two events as reported in Scientific American that, to
me, show that continued discoveries in quantum physics leave
little doubt as to the answer.
"PORTLAND, Ore.
— Researchers have demonstrated a device that can pick up
single quanta of mechanical vibration similar to those that shake
molecules during chemical reactions, and have shown that the
device itself, which is the width of a hair, acts as if it exists
in two places at once—a "quantum weirdness" feat
that so far had only been observed at the scale of molecules.
"This is a
milestone," says Wojciech Zurek, a theorist at the Los
Alamos National Laboratory in
Physicists have long
known that, following the laws of quantum mechanics, objects at
the scale of atoms or smaller can exist in multiple simultaneous
states. For example, a single electron can move along multiple
different paths or an atom can be placed in two different places,
simultaneously. This so-called superposition of states should in
principle apply to larger objects, as well… As to how the
day-to-day reality of objects that we observe, such as furniture
and fruit, emerges from such a different and exotic quantum
world, that remains a mystery."
In another story written
by Geoff Brumfiel we see that, "A team of scientists has
succeeded in putting an object large enough to be visible to the
naked eye into a mixed quantum state of moving and not moving.
Andrew Cleland at the
The work is
simultaneously being published online today in Nature and
presented today at the American Physical Society's meeting in
According to quantum
theory, particles act as waves rather than point masses on very
small scales. This has dozens of bizarre consequences: it is
impossible to know a particle's exact position and velocity
through space, yet it is possible for the same particle to be
doing two contradictory things simultaneously. Through a
phenomenon known as "superposition" a particle can be
moving and stationary at the same time--at least until an outside
force acts on it. Then it instantly chooses one of the two
contradictory positions.
But although the rules of
quantum mechanics seem to apply at small scales, nobody has seen
evidence of them on a large scale, where outside influences can
more easily destroy fragile quantum states. "No one has
shown to date that if you take a big object, with trillions of
atoms in it, that quantum mechanics applies to its motion,"
Cleland says."
There is no obvious
reason why the rules of quantum mechanics shouldn't apply to
large objects. Erwin Schrödinger, one of the fathers of quantum
mechanics, was so disturbed by the possibility of quantum
weirdness on the large scale…
"It's
wonderful," says Hailin Wang, a physicist at the
So if trillions of atoms
can be put into a quantum state, why don't we see double-decker
buses simultaneously stopping and going? Cleland says he believes
size does matter: the larger an object, the easier it is for
outside forces to disrupt its quantum state.
So what´s the big deal?
Mystics have long held to several fundamental maxims. The
macrocosm, large, and the microcosm, infinitely small, are one:
what applies to one, applies to the other. Mystics have said that
we create our own reality; form follows thought; what we seek is
what we find; like attracts like; our focus is our reality;
reality is merely our thoughts made manifest and we can alter
that reality with thought; and we are all one.
Until now, many
scientists simply shunned much of what was happening on the
quantum scale and felt that it just did not matter with regard to
the larger world in which we live. The mentioned experiments
would seem to point in the direction that they are wrong. What we
hold as laws of the physical world are not immutable and only
reflect our current state of awareness. Almost every day, some
basic scientific law is found to be false. We have seen that if
we seek to measure electrons as particles, we get particles. But,
if we seek to measure electrons as waves, we get waves. Science
is finding that things can be in different places at the same
time and can be opposite and alike at the same time. They are
have shown that what is done to one atom can affect an atom at an
infinite distance at the same time. Words like quantum
entanglement and superposition may not be just unusual phenomena
at the sub-atomic level but can be observed at the larger scale.
What may be happening is that as human awareness expands, granted
at the moment through the use of new equipment, we are beginning
to observe a closer version of reality–one that can change
with a thought. When we are only aware of things at the gross
level, then we only perceive what appears to be true at that
level. But when we look closer at the detail, a whole new world
and sets of laws emerge. These are the same laws that mystics
intuited in ancient days when they were not under the mental
restrictions of scientific, religious, political or even social
dogma.
This is why I cannot
accept some of the basic premises of author Sam Harris. While I
applaud his fight against religious dogma, he is actually
creating a new dogma based upon science and reason. But as we
see, science and reason are also suspect as they are ever
changing and never creating a true picture of the inner workings
of the universe. They find what they seek. But if your search is
based upon preconceived notions and false science, you have
merely done what all movements do; collapse under their own
biased philosophy. They create laws where there are none.
Many seers and prophets
tell of two possible futures for humanity: one in which dogma
leads to destruction and one where spiritual enlightenment leads
to a world of balance and harmony. Nostradamus, the Mayans, the
Hopi, biblical seers,
The articles references
can be found at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=supersize-quantum-mechanics&sc=physics_20100319
And
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=quantum-microphone&sc=DD_20100319