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Oh, and how likely to you think the danger of nanobots consuming the biosphere and evolving to basically eat the planet/universe is? I have heard some people in the policy debate circuit (college cross-examination debate) claim that nanotech would destroy the universe through its relentless reproduction.

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For example, it’s a fact that matter is almost entirely empty space, and that part isn’t is basically energy.  Realizing that entirely maybe will be enlightenment, “the kingdom of God” or whatever words we use. Anyway, in quantum mechanics there’s an effect called something like “non-local causality”.  I’m sorry I’m pretty vague on the science and maybe someone can verify and clarify what I’m saying.  As I understand it, the positive and negative aspects of a split atom remain in some kind of relationship even when they’re no longer in a physical range to be affected by the various measurable forces such as gravity and strong and weak forces.  This effect exists and can’t be explained, as far as I know.

Now presuming I’ve got this “non-local causality” right, while it doesn’t “prove karma,” it does provide a “real” analogy or model that could be applied to the moral realm, since the mechanism in either case is unknown, but observable. One ground-breaking book in this area was Fritjof Capra’s “The Tao of Physics” (re-issued 1995?).  Some other high-level scientists are writing on this too.  Another fascinating book is “Quantum Healing” by Deepak Chopra, for some stimulating ideas on the transmitter molecules located in the synapses.

I think quantum mechanics and Buddhism share many fascinating and encouraging parallels.  Comments, facts anyone?  Please enlighten us!

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Quantum Mechanics, from what I understand, is all about reality and possibilities.  Past, Present, and Future all exist at the same time, and all time exist within the mind and the mind alone.

Now, when I say possibility, I mean the infinite outcomes that life has, and most of these outcomes are in reality at the same time.

A famous experiment that proves this is the Shroeder’s Cat experiment:

Put a cat inside a closed box with a vial of poison.  The poison, which is lethal, is released out of the vial only fifty percent of the time.  This means that the cat inside the box with the vial of poison has a fifty/fifty chance of surviving.

Now, after sufficient time has passed, open the box and see if the cat survived or if the poison killed the cat.  WAIT!  Notice the moment that occurs right before you open the box.  Before opening the box and knowing the fate of the cat, the cat itself still has a fifty/fifty chance of survival, an equal chance between life and death.  This means, for that moment in time before we find out if the cat is alive or dead, in that moment of time both possibilities are real to us.

The cat is as much alive as it is dead.

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Fred Alan Wolf, who could justifiably be considered a quantum physicist, wrote in a book about dreaming several years back that the future actually arrives in the present via waves much like the wave form that characterizes sub-atomic particles when they’re NOT observed(because as we “quantum-wise” folk already know, the very act of observation will determine that which is observed).  But this wave arrival Wolf writes about could then explain precognition.

Another interesting notion in that book as I recall:  Due to the interconnectedness that exists among us all(and which transcends our apparent differences and barriers)if an earth-threatening event were to occur with a significant loss of life as a real possibility it would be revealed to us while we were dreaming.

I am keen to discuss such issue with anyone who is interested.

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Well, I just finished reading an article in this month’s Discovery. The article is about a scientist who proposes a quantum mechanics model of the brain.  He agrees with me that consciousness is non-computable. However, he points out that consciousness is not chemical process; it is a quantum mechanics process.

Our consciousness derives from the behavior of a quantum field.

The implication is that we do not “die” after we “die”.  After we die, the structure of the brain maintaining the quantum field is destroyed, the quantum field dissipates, but it is always present.  Hence, our soul persists although it’s perception of reality is quite different from the perception of a soul in a functioning human body.

Next question?  Is there a God?  On this, I’m perplexed.  No clues.

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