The Holographic Universe
by Michael Talbot
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Book Reviews of The Holographic Universe
Book Review: Universe As Hologram
Summary: 5 Stars
This controversial model proposed by physicist David Bohm and neuroscientist Karl Primbram posits that the brain mathematically interprets the appearance of the physical world from a deeper dimension of frequencies and vibrations unfolding from a realm beyond time and space.
Talbot traces the evolution of thought that led both men to simultaneously reach the fundamental conclusions behind their theory, offering the reader an easy-to-understand introduction to basic quantum mechanics and principles observed at the sub-atomic level in scientific experiments that appear to transcend what we think of as the laws of nature.
Talbot was not the first or last writer to tackle the task of expounding on this theory for the premise of a book. But "The Holographic Universe" stands above the rest, not for its lucid and inspirational style alone, but for the unique take and perceptions of its author, as well.
Talbot saw this as the long-anticipated unifying model or meta-hypothesis that would eventually erase the tensions of competing perspectives between emerging new theories and conventional consensus, and inevitably lead to the next great scientific revolution in history.
Revisiting Marilyn Ferguson's recapitulation in "Brain/Mind Bulletin" of the anatomy of a paradigm shift described by Thomas Kuhn in his 1962 classic, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," Talbot demonstrates how the holographic theory accommodates myriad anomalies accumulated in modern research, data about which any speculations are systematically rejected by peer-reviewed journals because of their tendency to challenge the finality of established paradigms that prevail within the Natural Sciences.
Talbot explains in credible terms how phenomena pervading the realm of human existence - subjective experiences of psi, poltergeists, precognition, clairvoyance, past-life memories, close encounters, UFO abductions, visions, apparitions, remote viewing, near-death and out-of-body episodes - find common ground in the scientific framework of a new worldview suggested by the nature of reality David Bohm and Iylia Pribram have proposed in tandem.
Recorded accounts of exceptional human experiences - though demonstrating a conspicuous familiarity across time and space - are traditionally unable to meet the standard of empirical evidence required by the scientific method to support any credible hypothesis.
Talbot asks: Why, considering what we know about the observer effect recognized in many domains of physics, changes which the act of observation makes on phenomenon being observed (often the result of instruments that alter the state of what they measure in some manner) do the clinical observations of scientists weigh more heavily than personal experiences recounted by the lay public? A commonplace example of the observer effect is that checking pressure in a tire cannot be done without letting air escape, thus changing the pressure.
If science is founded on the pursuit of an objective truth, the author contends, it must one day cease portraying the human mind and consciousness as an invalid source of evidence in making reasonable assumptions about the nature of reality.
"Two of the world's most eminent thinkers believe the universe may be a giant hologram, a kind of image or construct created at least, in part, by the human mind. This remarkable way of looking at the universe explains many of the unsolved puzzles of physics, and also such mysterious occurrences as telepathy, out-of-body and near death experiences, lucid dreams, and even religious and mystical experiences such as feelings of cosmic unity and the occurrence of miracles."
Book Review: Reactions Lay Bare Science's Persistent Crisis of Creativity
Summary: 5 Stars
As there have already been many reviews concerning the ideas advanced by Michael Talbot in his profoundly influential book The Holographic Universe, I want to refrain from reiterating them. Instead, I'll comment upon a number of reviews that only underline the continuing need for such books, and speak of those times when religion and science were virtually one and the same. The tales and memories of outrageous abuses committed in serving that worldview may be what continue to dissuade many scientists and realists from embracing a reinformed version of that genuinely troubled - and troubling - marriage.
Yet science has become, in so many ways, just another religion, choked off by the same dogma that holds our species hostage to a diminished, controlling idea of the reason for our being, Like religion, science is defined by a collection of beliefs that are substantiated within the context and boundaries of accepted understanding, failing to imagine that there are demonstrable answers and additional information to be had beyond them. But as with religion, science so often falls short because it cannot acknowledge the diversity of human - life - experience, that many outcomes cannot be repeated due to our beliefs affecting them, the most powerful notion that The Holographic Universe explores in every kind of light. This is also what allows joyless and dreary showmen such as James 'The Amazing' Randi to take advantage of similarly unquestioning skeptics, creating a cynical, self-fulfilling prophecy. It is truly terrifying to contemplate that others can exert such power over the direction of events in our lives as would a voodoo practitioner or kahuna (although both work in response to their victims' belief capacity) yet as with the clarity of purpose and direction that follows so many near-death experiences (including those of Talbot's) the awareness of this capability and how it relates to our true multidimensional nature (that, as the book suggests, of all matter) results in a self-policing sense of responsibility that rarely falls prey to material need or weaknesses. The inherent (and somewhat irrational) fear of this demonstrates a distinct lack of faith in humankind's capacity to evolve.
What is faith? It is not another term for religion itself, but instead the spiritual maturing of a fundamental belief system, the butterfly of elegant understanding that emerges from a rough-hewn cocoon. More than anything else, spirituality is a recognition of relationships and interconnectedness, common origins in the energetic realm; faith, the belief that there are answers to every question posed, and that they are available to every person. Science also requires some faith, at least a belief, in the viability of a theory or hypothesis. When what came to be modern science rose up during the Rennaissance as a reaction to an unenlightened Dark Age (yet not necessarily giving the lie to alchemy, a very misunderstood pursuit to this day) it was attended by curious, extraordinarily driven individuals such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Copernicus and even Sir Isaac Newton whose creative tendencies led them to rarely-visited paths of inquiry and what were then decidedly radical ideas. The atrophying of just such a creative process and the aforementioned fear of abuse is what prevents many of us from attending the remarriage of science and faith, failing to make the distinction between the latter and religion.
Nearly fifteen years ago, The Holographic Universe strongly suggested that marriage needn't forever be an unhappy one and can give life to a far richer view of just what Man and matter truly are, help us to visualize a more meaningful existence, seen through the eyes of both.
Book Review: It is the mind that creates the hologram
Summary: 5 Stars
"...There is evidence to suggest that our world and everything in it...are ...projections from a level of reality so beyond our own it is literally beyond both space and time."(Introduction p1).
Talbot uses the theory developed by physicist Bohm in which he postulates an explicit order and an intricate order. The explicit is the world we see that is the hologram, which is projected from the intricate order, which is the mind.(or thought)(or spirit)
There is a brief discussion of holograms and theory and Talbot moves on to anecdotes.
In biology he notes that human memory is vaster than would be possible if it were stored as on film on the brains surface. It must be stored holgraphically. (p21) Similarly the evidence that the brain sees "out there" is an illusion. The brain cannot tell the difference between "out" there and its own process (eg "phantom limb" syndrome).
With respect to the role of mind in Medicine he quotes Siegal (author Love, Medicine and Miracles). Siegal sees this as a sign of tremendous hope,(p87) an indication that if one has the power to create sickness, one also has the power to create wellness.
And another quote from psychologist Keith Floyd. "Contrary to what everyone knows is so, it may not be the brain that produces consciousness, but rather consciousness that creates the appearance of the brain-matter,space,time and everything else we are pleased to interpret as the physical universe" (p160)
(In other words the brain is the effect of mind and not the cause!)
With respect to quantum physics he notes that small "particles" literally have no dimensions. (This would be consistent with say being a projection)
The quote by the way that "a grain of sand contains all the information out of which the universe is made" which is attributed to Blake in the "Holographic Universe" is also attributed to Jesus in "A Course in Miracles."
Talbot also uses the holographic theory to explain Marian visions, as does Gary R Renard in Disappearance of the Universe.
UFO's are also explained as being the physical manifestations of human (or nonhuman??) subconscious.
Some other insights of the power of mind are
1) The stigmatists. Starting with St Francis of Assisi, a group of mystics were able to alter skin blood vessels etc to create the wounds incurred by Christ. This is attributable to autosuggestion (and not divine intervention!). The mind altering normal body physiology to produce the result.
2) Hawaiian firewalkers. After undertaking various mind training exercises by the shamans, Hawaiians are able to walk across hot lava without harm, something that would be impossible under normal physics. Clearly the mind of the firewalkers alters the local physical environment in some way.
Strengths
1) Offers a scientific theory for the illusory nature of the "physical" world".
2) Offers support for the concept that we can create our own reality. That it is mind that causes body effect. This can be used to treat "dis-ease"!
Weaknesses
1) There is only one major physicist to draw on: David Bohm.
2) The quotation of various biological experiments does not get it all together In fact the brain is as illusory as the rest of the body, and mind must be separate from it as well.
Spiritual Correlates
For 1500 years the fact that the world is illusory is known to Hindu yogis> the illusion is referred to as the "Maya" in Sanskrit.. In the Twentieth Century "A Course in Miracles" also states that the world is illusory, a dream of a mind outside of space and time
In Summary Talbot is on the right track. He however tries to string too many anecdotes in without rigidly sticking to his original theory. Despite that..A must read.
Book Review: Are individual experiences valid scientific data?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most provocative books I have read in years. In the first few chapters Mr. Talbot describes the emerging holographic paradigm in science, drawing on David Bohm's work in quantum physics and Karl Pribam's work in neuroscience. I found both descriptions to be fascinating, and especially enjoyed the historical context for the work of these two seminal thinkers. As a person with a master's degree in neuroscience and chaos/complexity theory, I found a couple of his simplifications misleading, but would give him high marks for his overall comprehension of the conclusions of Pribam and his followers.The remaining 2/3 of the book is a discussion of how the holographic paradigm may provide a rational basis for interpreting a wide variety of phenomenon located around the fringes of established science. He looks at everything from strange historical "miracles" like stigmata and appearances of the Virgin Mary to modern psychic abilities and LSD experiences, from out-of-body and near-death-experiences to UFO abductions. In addition, he compares language used in the modern scientific discussion of holography with the language used by ancient mystical traditions.
Mr. Talbot's writing style is unusually clear and lucid. All of this makes for a highly engaging book. It kept me up late every night for more than a week. I am a person who has had an OBE/NDE (out-of-body, near-death-experience), and can tell you that his description of such events is an astoundingly accurate portrayal of what I experienced.
I am also a scientist, and know that most of my highly rational, empirical colleages would have trouble accepting a majority of Mr. Talbot's conclusions. This work addresses something so completely out of the realm of everyday experience for most people, and probes a world that is normally invisible to the five senses. Hence, objective, empirical science -- as defined by a conventional theorist or practicing technician -- simply cannot address these experiences. They are outside the range of focus of the tool that Western minds currently rely on.
The service that Mr. Talbot provides is a challenge to rethink the conventional definition of science so that it can take into account a much wider range of human experience. What he argues for is the acceptance, as valid scientific data, of the experiences of individual humans, across cultures and throughout history, that are remarkably consistent with one another. These experiences address aspects of reality that are invisible to the skeptical eye, but become obvious to the person who chooses to develop other forms of perception.
As a person who was unwittingly thrown into an OBE/NDE experience, I am naturally inclined to read a book like this one with an open mind, and felt immensely rewarded for doing so. However, if I had reviewed the same book before having my own personal experience of some of the phenomena it describes, I would have reviewed it as a new-age excursion into a realm of fantasy. I am completely sympathetic to some of the reviewers who see it that way, and respectfully disagree.
I believe there is an extraordinary synthesis happening among the realms of human experience, one that can validate each individual's story, however unusual, and also one that honors all the different ways of knowing. I see Mr. Talbot's work as one of the more important bridges yet constructed between traditional science and spirituality, between rational discourse about repeatable, empirically verifiable phenomenon and the quirky, esoteric or mythological elements of personal experience that actually define most people's experience of reality. This book is a "must read" for any passionate seeker of truth.
Book Review: WELL-WRITTEN, WELL-REASONED AND FEELS RIGHT
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Talbot, with this clearly-written book, provides a framework for understanding many anomalous events, including spontaneous healings, remote viewings, ghosts, near-death experiences, and even UFOs. The answer lies in the nature of the universe. We live in a world that feels "solid" to us, that we believe to be "real." But to many ancient sacred traditions, the physical world is but an illusion. The Hindus call it "maya" and believe all matter emanates from another world that exists beyond our senses. What if this is true?
The problem with accepting this concept has been the impossibility of proving it. Until now. Talbot shows how several theories, notably those of neurophysiologist Karl Pribram and physicist David Bohm, postulate a universe that is less solid than we like to think. In fact, it presents us with a universe that is basically a hologram, a projection from somewhere else. The implications of this are many. One property of a hologram is that the whole picture is contained in each portion of the whole. The whole is not the sum of the parts, but rather the parts are pictures of the whole.
Everything in the universe is holographic, including our bodies. We perceive the world with our physical senses but we are actually capable of sensing with any part of our body. Hypnotized people are able to see through objects and, in situations of sudden duress, people have developed 360 degree vision and superhuman strength. Accupuncturists have found that the ear is a map to the rest of the body and they can affect organs by putting the pins in the correct place in the ear. Other such maps have been found in other parts of the body, such as the hands and feet.
Talbot shows how the holographic model explains things like physical manifestations of objects and bilocation, as described by Indian yogis. A modern yogi, Sai Baba, is able to manifest plates of food out of nowhere. One of my favorite books, Autobiography of a Yogi, contains stories of a yogi who could be in two places at once (bilocation) and physical manifestations. In the US, remote viewers have been able to penetrate military installations on the other side of the world, seeing the images of those places in their head. How are these things done?
Talbot discusses the experiences of another of my favorite authors, Robert Monroe, who, before he died, wrote extensively about his out-of-body journeys. Monroe found his consciousness could easily separate from his physical body and he traveled in the astral realm, finding it a world built from thought. He also found he could suddenly be bombarded with a quantity of information about something he was seeing; he called these information pcakets "thought balls" and Talbott, himself a phychic, corroborates this experience.
The Holographic Universe covers a lot of territory and tries to unify many esoteric and anomolous experiences in support of the holographic idea. Bohm's concept of an implicate and an explicate order mirrors the spiritual tradition that says the spirit world is the "real" world which creates the physical world. It provides a deeper understanding than just accepting the particle/wave dichotomy we get from physics, which has no real explanation of how something can be both matter and energy and why an observer affects what he is observing. Experiments in physics have provided us with a lot of bizarre behavior by tiny particles - the stuff that makes up our universe. Can ancient spiritual traditions explain this behavior and give us a new model of reality? Michael Talbot has given us a great overview of the evidence that this is so.