What Is Common Between Smell Of Onions And Feeling Of Love, Answers Deepak Chopra

View of Cosmos

DEEPAK CHOPRA, MENAS KAFATOS and RUDOLPH E TANZI write of the mystery of existence and our awareness of it from the quantum perspective

The greatest mystery of existence is existence itself. There is the existence of the universe and there is the existence of the awareness of existence of the universe. Were it not for this awareness, even if the universe existed as an external reality, we would not be aware of its existence, so it would for all practical purpose not exist. 

Traditional Newtonian science assumes, for the most part, that an objective observer independent reality exists; the stars, galaxies and earth would still be there if no one was looking. However, modern quantum theory disagrees. The properties of a particle, quantum theory tells us, do not even exist until an observation takes place. When we examine the hypothesis of traditional science, we find it more a metaphysical assumption than a scientific assertion.

Who Am I?
How can we assert that an observer-independent reality exists if the assertion itself is dependent on the existence of a conscious observer? This raises the additional dilemma of who or what is the observer and where is this observer located? When scientists in general describe empirical facts and formulate scientific theories, they forget that neither facts nor theories are an insight into the true nature of fundamental reality apart from any observer. What we consider to be empirical facts are entirely dependent on observation, in agreement with quantum theory. Many scientists have never really asked the question “Who am I”?

Most neuroscientists who still don’t believe that quantum theory has anything to do with the brain, would assert that “I”, the conscious observer, is solely an epiphenomenon of the brain; that consciousness is produced by the brain, just as gastric juices are produced by the stomach and bile is produced by the gall bladder. The problem with this of course, is that any neuroscientist will tell you that there is no satisfactory theory in neuroscience that explains how neurochemistry translates into conscious experience. How do electrochemical phenomena in the brain create the appreciation of the beauty of a red rose, the taste of garlic, the smell of onions, the feeling of love, creativity, free will, or awareness of existence of self and the universe? There is no physicalist theory based on classical physics to explain these subjective experiences. Nor, is there any obvious means for coming up with one.

When traditional science finds itself in such an impasse, it might be time to question some of the basic assumptions about the so-called independently existing reality. We must revisit the idea that science is a methodology and not an ontology. Current science, however, is based on a physicalist ontology. This is the basic belief that reality is physical and mind is an epiphenomenon of matter (the nervous system). Nonetheless, we are baffled when asked to explain how matter becomes mind. 

We suggest here a fundamental revision in our most cherished scientific assumptions. We boldly suggest that matter, force fields, particles, waves, even the fabric of space and time are not denizens of fundamental reality but that they are perceptual and cognitive experiences in consciousness. We are also going beyond, taking the statements of quantum theory to the next level: All of physical reality is a perceptual experience in consciousness alone. The experience may turn out to be different for different species.

What is physical reality to a whale, an eagle, an insect with numerous eyes? There is no fixed physical reality, no single perception of the world, just numerous ways of interpreting world views as dictated by one’s nervous system and the specific environment of our planetary existence. We propose that the worldview of current science as it is being practised, which operates from the assumption that human perception and particularly facts emanating from observations made with human scientific methods are the only fundamental truth, is clearly flawed. Furthermore, the subject/object split that is the basic premise of the current scientific methods has led to the creation of arguably detrimental technologies, including mechanised death, petroleum products in our food, genetically modified foods, global warming, extinction of species, and even the possible extinction of the human species.

Quantum View
Building on the quantum view of the cosmos, which accepts a non-local, entangled reality that includes observers as fundamental, we suggest the next natural step, a new science rooted in consciousness, one that strives to interpret the entire universe, with all its observers, all modes of observation, and all objects observed as nothing other than consciousness and its manifestations!

We suggest that perceptual objects experienced in consciousness, including our very brains, are not the source of consciousness. We suggest rigorous testing of this radically different ontology. We feel a holistic science that does not separate observer from that which is observed, would lead to the unraveling of the mysteries of the universe which at presently seem beyond reach. This will lead to an understanding of a conscious universe in which all are differentiated activities of a single field that is an undivided wholeness and in some sense bridges external reality with inner being.

(Menas Kafatos is professor in Computational Physics, Chapman University and Rudolph E Tanzi is professor of Neurology at Harvard University).