The Universe - where modern science and eastern philosophy agree

The Universe is one organic whole.

You might think that the above statement the universe is one organic whole – is the conclusion of saints and mystics. In fact I have derived this concept from the relatively new discoveries of Physics – specifically Bells Theorum and Quantum Mechanics.

Quantum physics is the study of sub-atomic particles. It is the Physics of the microscopic world. It is different from the physics of the world of objects and things that we live in, the macroscopic world. The physics of the macroscopic world was more or less explained by the laws of Newton. However in the microscopic world of subatomic particles the physics of Newton does not apply.

Quantum physics deals with statistics or probabilities. The physics of the macroscopic world deals with cause and effect as applied to individual objects.

If I take an apple to the balcony of my 6th floor apartment and drop it, the apple will fall down to the earth every time. However there is no such certainty as applied to electrons, protons and neutrons (the subatomic particles). The molecules of the ink in the pen that I am using to write behave according to Newton’s physics, in a highly predictable member. However the electrons inside that molecule (of ink) behave pretty much as they like and there is no certainty as to where inside the molecule they will travel.

However, although we cannot predict (or develop laws for) the behavior of an individual electron, for groups of electrons (or subatomic particles) we can predict their behavior. Behavior of groups of subatomic particles can be predicted using probabilities and statistics and that is what quantum physics is all about. It deals with probabilities as applied to groups of subatomic particles. And this theory of quantum physics is complete in the sense that we can use it to predict the behavior of groups of subatomic particles in any experiment that we care to hold. It has never failed in its predictions there is simply no competition to quantum physics - it is accurate and complete.

When we think of the real worlds – the macroscopic world or the outer Universe – we think in terms of independent local events. If there is a traffic jam or traffic accident in the city of Mumbai in India for example, it should not affect the movement of traffic in New York. Or take another example – if I am suffering from a fever in Pune in India it will not affect the health of my sister who is living in UK. Not only that, my sister in UK cannot possibly know of my illness unless someone calls up to tell her. We think in terms of independent local events and we also assume that communication between people is either through sound (hearing) or through light (the sense of sight).

Both sound and light travel at fixed maximum speeds. The speed of light as everyone knows is about 186,000 miles per second. Scientists have been unable to discover any object that travels at a speed faster than light. This means obviously that communication – whether between individual humans or individual subatomic particles - cannot be at a speed faster than the speed of light since there is nothing in this universe that travels faster than light.

Light from the sun - for example reaches as in about 8 minutes time. When we book at the sun we see it as it existed 8 minutes ago. On the surface of the Earth, for all practical purposes, light travels more or less instantaneously yet light has fixed maximum speed faster then which it cannot travel. And as I said earlier there is nothing in this world that travels faster than light (except thought).

Certain experiments in quantum physics however brought into light a paradox. This paradox was given a mathematical form by Bell’s theorem. The paradox was this.

1) The behavior of a subatomic particle (say an electron) in an experiment seems to be influenced by the behavior of some other electron somewhere else. In other words the common sense concept of independent local events does not apply.

2) The subatomic particles in that experiment seemed to communicate super-luminally that is they seemed to communicate at a speed faster than the speed of light; at a speed which was instantaneous or even faster.

These experiments and their conclusions were verified and proved mathematically be Quantum Physics.

Thus we find ourselves in this situation-

Either we disbelieve the math of Quantum Physics. Bear in mind that Quantum Physics has never failed us and its mathematics has predicted or explained the behavior of subatomic particles in all experiments conducted till date.

Or we disbelieve the common sense concept of independent local events. We accept that the behavior of electron A in location X can affect the behavior of electron B in location Y. These local events are not independent. They influence each other. And not only that, they influence each other instantaneously. Electron A and Electron B seem to communicate and be influenced by each other instantaneously – at a speed faster than the speed of light.

There are certain implications of these findings. The consensus of opinion amongst modern physicists is that these findings indicate that the universe is one organic whole. There are other alternatives to this conclusion but they seem to be less reasonable.

And this concept of the universe being one organic whole is exactly what the mystics and Eastern Philosophers have been saying through the ages.

“Everything that we know about nature is in accord with the idea that the fundamental process of Nature lies outside space - time … but generates events that can be located in space- time”

The Dancing Wu Li Masters

The implication of these conclusions about the Universe and our relationship with it and how this affects the way we lead our lives will be explained further in this ebook.

On to the next chapter on Using Impermanence to gain a true view of life:

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