The Holographic Universe:  are we just a computer projection?

Condensed from a public lecture given by Robert Anderson PhD

From time immemorial, the human mind has strained to both understand how the universe is as it is – and this lies at the heart of our science - and to understand why the universe is as it is – and this lies at the heart of all our religious beliefs. From the ancient Vedas to Einstein and quantum realities, and from Buddhism and Advaita-Vedanta to the science of consciousness, we are drawing ever nearer to an understanding of these basic questions.

Our reality may well be a projected illusion created by a consciousness “programme”. That programme had a beginning and it has an end, as consciousness evolves in the alchemy of time. We could say that it is a virtual reality experiment in linear time created by a consciousness source through which our spiritual selves experience many dimensions simultaneously. Our new-age understanding comes from applying information laws. We have growing evidence that information laws are the true foundation of the universe of our mind, and also of the physical universe.

What led us to these ideas?  In 1982, a research team at the University of Paris, led by physicist Alain Aspect, performed what was to be one of the most exciting experiments of the 20th century. Aspect discovered that under certain circumstances sub-atomic particles are able to “communicate” with each other regardless of the distance which separates them, be it 10 cm or 10 miles. This feat effectively violated many of the fundamental laws of our universe, but convinced many others, like David Bohm, to believe that objective reality may not really exist.

Just like the fish in the tank - which appears to be two separate fish to an observer in each of two separate rooms - we may not be able to “see” a fourth dimension. As a three dimensional human being can we conceive a world of four dimensions? It seems that we exist in a dynamic hologram, the true nature of which we cannot conceive in our ordinary state of consciousness.   Working independently in the field of brain physiology, Professor Karl Pribram also became persuaded of the holographic nature of reality. Pribram firmly believes that the brain uses holographic principles to process information gained through the senses.

The holographic models developed by Bohm and Pribram emphasize the unity and wholeness of reality and this is the basic teaching of ancient Vedanta philosophy. It is nothing new. As Francis Thompson so beautifully put it:

“All things by immortal power

  Near and far, hiddenly

  To each other linked are

  Thou canst not stir a flower

  Without troubling of a star.”

Much the same ideas can be extended to our concept of time. We may exist, as the great seers have told us, in a permanent moment of “now”.

The 3-dimensionality of holographic images is not the only remarkable characteristic of holograms. When a hologram is cut into tiny pieces, each of the pieces reproduce the complete object when illuminated.  Unlike normal photographs, every part of a hologram contains all of the information possessed by the whole. This harks back to Edgar Cayce who prophesied that the time will come when examining a single drop of blood will reveal our whole history.  If this proves true, his prophesy echoes Bohm’s implicate and explicate order; “all is contained in the part.”

f this is true, what does it really mean when we get ‘magical’ remissions in cancer and other terminal diseases when all hope was abandoned? What are we missing here? Is it possible to change the body in such a way as to cure dis-ease by returning it to the blue print that it originally followed? One of the best examples illustrating this is the extraordinary cure of Vittorio Michelli.  (See www.freeinquiry.com/skeptic/resources/articles/wu-debunking-skeptical.htm #article 19)

We can of course encapsulate this theory for ourselves with the Buddha’s statement:  “All that you are is all that you have thought.” 

When men try to organise things as they feel they should be organised we get Havoc.  Havoc results whenever we attempt to force Reality into our idea of order. Order cannot be established.

Unlike Chaos, Havoc is responsible for the environmental devastation that we now see all over our planet. On the other hand, Chaos has been shown to be a basic creative form which nature uses. The recent mathematical study of Chaos by Mandelbrot and others has shown it to have remarkable properties. It fits perfectly into the picture of Bohm's dynamic holographic nature of our universe. It is stable, unique, creative and generative

If we try to set up our own idea of order, it invariably leads to Havoc. Recall the Chinese experiment to eradicate flies. They did eradicate flies, which then caused the deaths of millions of their bird life.  They also decided women babies were not really as valuable as boys. They now have a grave shortage of women with which to form families. This is precisely what we have done by working against nature, not with her, raping the Earth’s resources, and generally disregarding the rest of humanity as if we are all separate entities.

By ignoring this holographic principle of the interconnectedness of all life, the course civilization is currently following points only to one thing:  ecocide. We are on a collision course with nature. Mass extinction is now well under way. As the Oxford biologist, Dr Roger Payne, said, “Forever is older than the Universe itself. Losing a species, or an entire ocean of species, forever, is a more inexorable loss than any we can ever comprehend.”

Human beings are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue, one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in less than 100 years, as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. A majority of the nation's biologists are convinced that a "mass extinction" of plants and animals is underway that poses a major threat to humans in the next century, yet most of us are only dimly aware of the problem.

The rapid disappearance of species was ranked as one of the planet's gravest environmental worries, surpassing pollution, global warming and the thinning of the ozone layer, according to the survey of 400 scientists. Many of the estimates of species loss are extrapolations based on the global destruction of rain forests and other rich habitats - in other words, our inability to “see” the interconnectedness of all life.

Perhaps one of the most worrying loss of species is that of the honey bee. Professor Joe Cummins, Emeritus Professor in Genetics from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, recently put it succinctly:  “Honeybees may be our most sensitive indicator species for all the environmental pollution and dangerous technologies we perpetrate. When honeybees disappear, we too, shall follow shortly.”

Continuing to operate outside of this holographic principle – as if nothing is connected - will precipitate a disaster that will see the end of humanity as we know it.

© Robert Anderson PhD

 4.2.42 - 5.12.08

N.B. If you're interested in learning more about the Mandelbrot set, Chaos theory and fractals, I recommend James Gleick's classic book, Chaos:  Making a New Science.

Enquiries about books written by Robert Anderson should be addressed to naturesstar@xtra.co.nz

Remember:  "The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."  Comic strip artist, Bill Watterson