Down to a Quantum Sea

© Brian Allan 2003

Word Count: 2,706

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure dome decree, Where Alph, the sacred rived ran, Through caverns measureless to man, Down to a sunless sea.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Introduction

It has frequently been suggested that in common with the fantastic tales of H.P. Lovecraft, the haunting and evocative poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes an alien but genuine world glimpsed by its author. It is known that Coleridge, in common with many of the intelligentsia of his day, flirted with the recreational use of opium and other narcotics and it is therefore presumed that anything written by him under the effects of this substance was merely the product of drug induced enchantment. However when the effects and visions produced by various naturally occurring hallucinogens used by shamans is taken into account, mitigating factors are introduced. If as is claimed, the use of plant extracts like 'Ayahuasca' induces visions of an alternate reality, which shamans' claim is genuine and repeatable, then Coleridge's words take on an utterly different and exciting perspective. In this essay I shall attempt to explore the possibility that certain brain chemicals can and do cause mind to separate from body and journey, travelling in the eddies of the accommodating, electromagnetic universe that ebbs and flows around us, to the alien shores of some distant reality.

Of all the categories comprising the bizarre world of the paranormal surely the most fascinating yet elusive is the hypothesis of alternate realities and continuums. It is theorised that within these nebulous dimensions lies the ultimate truth explaining the origins of magic, ghosts, Psi abilities, alien entities and other manifestations of the unexplained. While it is true that many reports of apparitions, angels and aliens overlap and to some extent are interchangeable, it is equally true that for millennia people have encountered and described beings and events existing outside normal experience; i.e. the truly paranormal.

While many people, usually debunkers and rationalists, have attempted to explain these events in terms of psychological abnormalities, overactive imaginations, wishful thinking and downright lies, there are innumerable instances where these worthy but mundane explanations cannot fully describe or justify the sightings. It is however necessary that the viewpoint of rationalists is understood and included for the following reasons. Although the overriding impression gained from their opinions is one of determined desperation and a desire to deny the possibility of anything beyond their narrow world view, it helps keep paranormal research both on track and responsive to outside enquiry.

At first reading, the phrase 'what is possible' appears to be a contradiction in terms when dealing with a subject like the paranormal which, by definition, exists outside the conventional. Nevertheless, one can only measure and record the many bizarre and often frightening manifestations by conventional and tested methods, all of which are generally accepted means of delivering a testable and repeatable result. While the data obtained using test and measuring devices is often ambivalent, this may not necessarily be the fault of the equipment. We should remember that we are looking for results within conventional parameters, or at least within the parameters of the human senses and the phenomena may operate outside these ranges, particularly in terms of so-called 'Psi' abilities. Since the majority of paranormal phenomena operate at the edges of consciousness, to obtain a truly balanced perspective it is essential to adopt an open and honest paradigm. For this to occur it is vital that a clear distinction between brain and mind is developed.

To understand the difference is fundamental to appreciate the possibilities presented by the existence of the discarnate energy created by mind, in effect the energy of pure thought. At present there are several definitions vying for acceptance and ultimately all are variations on the following three.

1) Mind and therefore consciousness is the sole end result of neurological and electrochemical processes taking place in various centres within and confined to the brain.

2) The second argument posits that a property, mind, cannot suddenly appear out of nothing and therefore had to have been there in one form or another in the first place. This appears to be what Prof. Rupert Sheldrake refers to in his theory of 'Morphogenetic Fields', which refers to an alleged matrix of information that surrounds us and can be unconsciously accessed by the interaction of the mind, effectively a variation on Jung's 'collective unconscious'.

3) The final theory suggests that within the brain there already exist mechanisms designed to interact at a sub-atomic level with certain quantum processes extant in the universe. This may be the ultimate answer to how some sensitive people are able to contact or see ghosts, apparitions or ET's. If indeed we as individuals are considered to emerge from a quantum soup, then when we die it is reasonable to assume that on decomposing our component atoms eventually return to the same soup in effect creating a closed loop. If this is the case, as in experiments where worms that had 'learned' specific function were ground up and fed to other worms and by consuming there fellows these worms 'learned' the same function, do our atoms carry their gained knowledge to the oneness of the whole? Perhaps this even reflects the belief of some 'primitive' tribes who consumed the remains of their dead so that their spirits continues to live on in the bodies of the living.

Research by Prof. Michael Persinger, a neurophysiologist at the Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, indicates that the brain and its internal neurological processes are affected by the application of mild, external electromagnetic (EM) fields. The induction of these external fields produces a variety of emotional responses in the subject which range from irrational fears to the strong impression that there is someone both present in room with them, and/or touching them when in fact no-one is there. According to accepted scientific dogma this is attributed entirely to the effects of the induced EM field reacting with magnetite on the surface of neurones in the brain. It has only recently been discovered that in the presence of EM fields the magnetite polarises and resonates causing ionisation, which in turn releases the neurotransmitters that create hallucinations; perhaps, but is there another explanation? Is it possible that the effects of the EM fields indeed induce the mind/brain interface to produce neurotransmitters and temporarily 'open up', recognising the presence of otherwise invisible and unreachable entities. One possibility suggests that they are in fact already here with us and always have been, theoretically inhabiting realities existing above and below the infrared and ultra-violet spectrum and therefore outwith the normal range of human perceptions. If in fact humans were equipped with the sensory equipment to access these invisible spectrums what would we make of it, how would our brains perceive and process the additional information?

Taken at face value, i.e. magnetic fields produce hallucinations albeit indirectly, the net results of Professor Persinger's research are far reaching and astonishing in their own right with regard to sightings of ghosts and other manifestations of the paranormal. When these results are combined with the findings of a Swiss surgical team who, in 2002, induced out-of-body sensations in a woman when they touched parts of her exposed brain with electrodes carrying a mild electrical charge, the evidence seems unarguable. However since it has not been conclusively established that the impressions created were solely due to electrical signals within the brain, although convention would prefer it to be this way, perhaps the alternatives are too incredible to contemplate. Is it possible that we are capable of making the transition into an altered state of reality and awareness induced by chemicals? For it is here that a clear schism develops between conventional science and para-science.

While mainstream scientists can just about accept the findings of their peers who work in the abstract world of quantum physics, due to their training they still balk instinctively at findings that indicate the possible existence of awareness and intellect existing remotely from the body. This is particularly true in the case of membrane theory (M theory), a facet of quantum science, which requires the existence of an infinite number of universes in the 11th dimension for the theory to function. Briefly, M theory is the direct descendant of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity with its four dimensions, (three spatial and one of time), which evolved into, 'supergravity', 'superstrings' the 'non local interaction of particles', (a condition Einstein termed 'spooky attraction at a distance') and ultimately membrane theory. It is within the alien dimensions and universes predicted by this theory, that once freed from physical limitations, human (and alien) consciousness may ultimately make contact with other realities, a process that may well operate both ways. In fact our universe has been described as a bubble of foam existing in a quantum sea.

Yet another incredible aspect of these theories posits that realities do not become real until someone thinks about them. This curious statement appears to have been proved during an experiment conducted at Boulder, Colorado in 1989. Highly charged particles were sealed inside a 'magnetic bottle' with the intention of testing their response when a laser beam was fired through the electromagnetic field. The particles altered their quantum state in greater numbers when the experiment was actually physically observed as the laser beam fired than when it was not.

The perceived effect of consciousness upon reality has implications that truly leave the conventions of physical (and Einsteinian) science looking askance for support. The confident prediction of general relativity stating that faster than light velocities are impossible is now no longer unassailable when the behaviour of subatomic particles is observed. Among these anomalous effects is the apparent phenomenon of the 'non-locality' of particles, already referred to as Einstein's 'spooky attraction at a distance'. This expression describes the effect on two identical particles when they are separated and one of them is subjected to a change of state, an identical change occurs in the other particle. Amazingly, sometimes this change occurs before the initiating state of the first particle changes, which indicates that the very nature of time is fluid and open to question. This very temporal fluidity may account for the common observation that a watched kettle never boils and may be a simplistic demonstration of the 'observer effect'. Does this imply that sometime in the future we may be able to step outside time and space, in mind if not body and journey both back and forward in time outside and independent of the physical universe? Why this is the case is not clear by any means, but nevertheless the experimental results and indications are undeniable.

It is now established that mystics of all persuasions have experienced visions of other places and entities reflecting their own particular belief systems. In the case of Christian, (usually Roman Catholic) saints, this has often been expressed in images of God, Christ, the Holy Family, heaven and in extreme cases bodily mutilation, i.e. stigmata. In the case of religious mystics, these images and physical phenomena have normally been induced by means of meditation, extreme asceticism of various kinds normally involving lack of food, sleep and other forms of deliberate physical mortification. That they experience visions is no surprise since prolonged meditation combined with lack of food and particularly lack of sleep create a serious imbalance in body chemistry particularly in the brain where sleeplessness causes overproduction of large amounts of the neurotransmitters dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and serotonin. Incidentally, the increased presence of these chemicals through lack of sleep may help explain why many sightings of ghosts and indeed ET's take place at night, although of course there may be other factors, viz. injury or psychosis of various sorts.

Once it has been established that there are indeed occurrences that, as yet, cannot be explained in rational physical terms, we are forced to the conclusion that there must be an explanation beyond the realms of conventional physics and for this we must return to the intangible concept of mind and consciousness. However, for this to occur, conventional science must move outwith the realms of purely Newtonian principles, sometimes called 'objective materialism', and look elsewhere.

The Newtonian view of reality considers that the universe and all it contains function like a gigantic mechanism that can be prodded dismantled and studied by a dispassionate observer existing outwith the whole. One physicist, Amit Goswami, a professor of physics at the University of Oregon, has suggested that one of the principles derived from quantum physics may be 'downward causation'. This means that rather than moving outwards from the fundamental building blocks of matter, i.e. atoms and their subatomic components, given the very fact that these very elements appear to flicker in and out of existence with no predictability, then our current model of reality is truly founded on sand. It would therefore logically make more sense to look downward and inward for the truth, which has produced the fascinating concept that both humanity and its perception of reality exist because of consciousness and probability waves. Surprisingly, this theory is not new, far from it; it has been enshrined in mystical belief for millennia by contemplative religious belief stemming almost exclusively from eastern traditions. These systems of belief, which have been around for aeons before the three main monotheistic faiths, have always been more at one with mans place and function in the cosmos. The multifaceted effects of the nature of consciousness also lead us inescapably to contemplate one more of conventional sciences 'sacred cows'; the impossibility of perpetual motion, which is now contradicted by current research into 'Zero Point Energy'. This exciting area of research indicates the existence of a source of inexhaustible (and accessible) energy existing uniformly all around us. The energy comes from the continuous movement present in all subatomic particles even at temperatures of minus 375degrees Celsius or absolute zero, where no movement of any kind should occur, hence the expression 'Zero Point Energy' (ZPE). Another theory regarding this ubiquitous energy field comes from physicist David Bohm's theory of 'implicate order', which suggests that ZPE is the state of solid matter and energy before it becomes visible. This once again leads us back almost full circle to the subject of the paranormal and its attendant rich tapestry of phenomena. Is the state of ZPE part and parcel of the 'Akashic Records,' the 'Collective Unconscious 'and Sheldrake's 'Morphogenetic Fields' and are all these definitions merely different perspectives on the same thing? The results of current experimentation suggest that indeed it might be, and the possibilities and implications are both limitless and fascinating.

Perhaps this is perhaps best illustrated by the following observation: "Consciousness represents the most general cases of cause and effect. It can either transcend or stimulate the four forces known to the old physics - electromagnetic, gravity, weak nuclear and strong nuclear. It can reach into the spaces beyond time and space. Consciousness can unite the universe or pieces of it instantaneously and even across time. It's medium of action appears to come from an invisible potential field embedded in the fabric of time and space". [Re-inheriting the Earth, author Dr Brian O'Leary, distributed by Paradigm Books, PO box 8237, Boulder, Colorado, CO 80308-1237]. From what we have seen here it is indeed likely that all we perceive as mans immutable domain and our pride in humankind's achievements amount no more than a few grains of sand in all the deserts of the world. The sheer scale of what quantum sciences predicts (and so far all the theories yet tested have been 100% correct) beggars belief. Does mankind's future lie within human consciousness and can indeed mankind influence his ultimate destiny through the application of will? Are the effects of various psychoactive chemicals the means by which this can be achieved? The apparent answers to these questions combined with the findings of quantum physicists appear to lend support to one another and cast a bright light into the dark abyss of the future. It is a light than mankind should use to guide his way into the unexplored riches of the unconscious mind.

References:

Re-Inheriting the Earth, author Brian O'Leary