Vedanta-sutras.
This evidence
is considered to
originate beyond
the limits of
human
reasoning. Yet,
especially
for Westerners,
as an introduction to the
virtues of scriptural evidence,
it may be prudent to
first discuss the concept
of a transcendental personal Godhead
in the context of modern science
and quantum mechanics in
particular.
Following the transition from Newtonian
classical physics to
quantum mechanics, several scientists
have explored the
possibility of a connection between
physics and
transcendence. classical physics attempts to describe the physical reality in concrete, easily
understandable terms, while quantum mechanics deals in probabilities and wave
functions. Quantum mechanics, however, is much more rigorous in its attempt to
describe reality and explains phenomena that classical physics fails to account
for. The "quantum leap" has given several physicists the hope that the
transcendentalist's experience of consciousness can also be explained by the
quantum mechanical theory. Although the quantum theory does not account for
consciousness, it has become popular to attempt to bridge the gap between the
transcendentalist's experience and the quantum mechanic world view. Some people
have loosely called this the "new physics."
Although Fritjof Capra's
The Tao of Physics
and Gary Zukav's
Dancing Wu Li Masters.
Later, David Bohm's
The Implicate Order
was similarly praised but do not quite bridge the gap between physics and transcendence. Furthermore, the theories have turned many educated persons in the
spiritual direction.
Of all the recent attempts to show the "oneness" in
what physicists and transcendentalists speak of, Bohm's implicate order theory
is the most worthy of consideration. In comparison, Capra's "realization" that
dance of Shiva and the movement of atomic particles is one and the same ,falls more in the realm of poetry than science.
Of course Bohm, Richard
L. Thompson, Dr. of Mathematics and author of the book
Mechanistic and
Non-mechanistic Science,
has postulated a new theory of "creation through sound" using what he calls
The Vedic Paradigm.
Thompson advocates the philosophy of
achintya bhedabheda, a transcendental conception which, interestingly enough,
fits well with the example of the hologram (often used to illustrate Bohm's
implicate order theory). This transcendental conception is different than the
one Bohm advocates. Thompson attempts to show in his book,
End of
Physics, how some of the holes in Bohm's theory can be
filled using an alternative view of
transcendence, namely acintya bedhabedha.
Simply stated acintya bedhabedha
means that reality is ultimately, inconceivably one and different at the same
time. Bohm is an adherent of
advaita vedanta or
non-dualism. Non-dualists percieve reality as one homogenious substance. In
their view all forms of variety and individuality are products of illusion.
Acintya bedhabedha,
holds that the world of material variety is illusory but not altogether false.
It insists that there is a transcendental variety and spiritual individuality
that lies beyond illusion.
Acintya bedhabedha is
a theistic conception and
advaita vedanta is
monistic or atheistic.
Thompson is a practicing scientist who has been pursuing transcendental
disciplines for the last thirteen years. This kind of combination is rare. It is
hard to find someone who is thoroughly familiar with science as well as with
spirituality. In order to appreciate his theory of creation by sound it will be
helpful to first briefly explain Bohm's theory of the implicate order and then
proceed to further elaborate on the philosophy of
acintya bedhabedha. Such explanations will serve as a peface to the discussion
of creation, all of which shed new light on the nature of reality, helping to
harmonize physics and metaphysics.
THE IMPLICATE ORDERBohm's explanation of
reality involves an "implicate" and "explicate" order, with vague references to
love, compassion, and other similar attributes that may lie beyond both the
implicate and explicate. The implicate order is an ultimate physical substrate
which underlies our present perception of reality. The reality that we perceive
is what Bohm calls the explicate order. All order and variety, according to
Bohm, are stored at all times in the implicate order in an enfolded or
unmanifested state. Information continually unfolds or becomes manifest from the
implicate order as the explicate order of our experience.
Of course any attempt to find harmony between the scientific world view
and the mystic's vision will be incomplete unless we adjust the scientific world
view through an interface with the many realities it fails to account
for.
Bohm uses the example of the hologram to help explain his theory. A hologram
is a photographic plate on which information is recorded as a series of density
variations. Because holography is a method of lensless photography, the
photographic plate appears as a meaningless pattern of swirls. When a coherent
beam of light -- typically the laser -- interacts with the plate, the resultant
emerging light is highly ordered and is perceived as an image in three
dimensions. The image has depth and solidity, and by looking at it from
different angles, one will see different sides of the image. Any part of the
hologram will reproduce the whole image (although with less resolution). Bohm
would say that the three-dimensional form of the image is enfolded or stored in
the pattern of density variations on the hologram.
A further understanding of the nature of Bohm's implicate order is somewhat
more difficult to grasp. In the transition from the classical description of
physical objects to a quantum mechanical description, one is forced to use
mutually incompatible descriptions. That is, to understand the behavior of
electrons, it is necessary to describe them as point-like particles and extended
waves. This concept of complementarity, devised in the 1920's by the physicist
Niels Bohr, leads naturally to the thought that electrons, or their ultimate
substrate, may not actually be fully describable in mathematical terms. Thus the
ultimate physical reality may be an undefinable "something" which is only
partially describable but not fully, because some of the partial descriptions
will inevitably contradict each other. This is Bohm's idea regarding the nature
of his implicate order.
Although Bohm accepts the reality of a whole containing distinguishable
parts, he maintains that ultimately, reality at its most fundamental level is
devoid of variety or individuality. Bohm believes that individuality is a
temporal or illusory state of perception. According to his theory, although the
parts appear to be distinct from the whole, in fact, because they "enfold" or
include the whole, they are identical with the whole.
The intuitive basis behind this idea of wholeness is that when information is
enfolded into a physical system, it tends to become distributed more or less
uniformly throughout the system.
The hologram provides an easily understandable example. If portions of a
hologram are blocked off, the resultant image remains basically the same. This,
perhaps metaphorically, helps to illustrate the concept that the whole is
present in each of its parts. Consider then a continuum in which all patterns
ever manifested in any part of the continuum are represented equally in all
parts. Loosely speaking, then one could say that the whole of the continuum in
both space and time is present in any small part of the continuum. If we invoke
the precedent of quantum mechanical indefinability, we could leap to the idea of
a unified entity encompassing all space and time in which each part contains the
whole and thus is identical to it. Because wholes are made up of parts, such an
entity could not be fully described mathematically, although mathematical
descriptions could be applied to the parts.
THOMPSON'S OBSERVATIONSAlthough Bohm's
theory of the implicate order is partially based on the standard methodology of
physics, it is also apparent that it involves ideas that are not found in
traditional science. Most of these ideas are clearly the influence of a
preconceived notion of non-dualism.
Bohm's theory is sorely in need of a logical source of compassion which
provides inspiration enabling finite beings to know the infinte. Ironically
while Bohm emphatically states that it is not possible for unaided human thought
to rise above the realm of manifest matter (explicate order) he proceeds to
carry on a lengthy discussion about the unmanifest (implicate order). Although
he speaks of compassion it is only in a vague reference to an abstract
attribute. The logical necessity for an entity possesed of compassion is avoided
by Bohm (although he almost admits the need). He retreats from this idea because
the standard notions of a personal God are dualistic and thus undermine the
sense that reality at the most fundamental plane is unified.
Bohm's idea that the parts of the implicate order actually include the whole
is not fully supported by his physical examples alone. Indeed this is impossible
to demonstrate mathematically. The part of the hologram is not fully
representative of the whole. The part suffers from lack of resolution. It is
qualitatively one but quantitatively different.
Bohm's account for the corruption in human society is also a short coming in
an otherwise profound theory. The theory alleges that evil arises from the
explicate order -- which is a contradiction of the basis of the theory which
states that everything in the explicate order unfolds from the implicate order.
This means that evil and human society at large or something at least resembling
it must be originally present in the implicate order. But what would lead us to
believe that an undifferentiated entity would store anything even remotely
resembling human society? Or how could there be evil in or beyond the implicate
order which is the source of love and compassion?
Bohm states that the totality of all things is timeless and unitary and
therefore incapable of being changed. Later on he proposes that through
collective human endeavor the state of arrairs can be changed. This is similar
to the contradiction of
advaita vedanta in
which ultimate oneness is thought to be attained even though it is beyond time
and forever uninfluenced by our actions.
These are some of the scientific and philosophical problems with the theory
of the implicate order pointed out by Thompson. They are resolved by Thompson by
replacing
advaita vedanta
with
achintya bedhabedha.
ACHINTYA
BHEDABHEDAThe history of philosophy bears evidence that neither the
concepts of oneness (non-dualism) or difference (dualism) are adequate to fully
describe the nature of being. Exclusive emphasis on oneness leads to the denial
of the world and our very sense of self as an individual -- viewing them as
illusion. Exclusive emphasis on difference divides reality, creating an
unbridgeable gap between man and God. Both concepts at the same time seem
necessary inasmuch as identity is a necessary demand of our reason while
difference is an undeniable fact of our experience. Therefore a synthesis of the
two can be seen as the goal of philosophy. In the theory of
achintya
bhedabheda, the concepts of both oneness and difference are
transcended and reconciled in this higher synthesis, and thus they become
associated aspects of an abiding unity in the Godhead.
The word
achintya is
central to the theory. It can be defined as the power to reconcile the
impossible.
Achintya is
that which is inconceivable on account of the contradictory notions it involves,
yet it can be appreciated through logical implication.
Achintya, inconceivable, is different from
anirvacaniya, or indescribable, which is said to be the
nature of transcendence in the non-dualistic school.
Anirvacaniya involves the joining of the opposing concepts of reality
and illusion, producing a canceling effect -- a negative effect.
Achintya,
on the other hand, signifies a marriage of opposite
concepts leading to a more complete unity -- a positive effect.
Just as the eye cannot see the mind but can be in connection with it if
the mind chooses to think about it, so similarly the finite can know about the
infinite only by the grace of the infinite.
It may be helpful to draw upon a reference from Vedic literature. Actually,
the example of the hologram is similar to an explanation of the basis of reality
recorded in the
Brahma Samhita.
There we find a verse in which, ironically, Godhead has been described as
personal and individual and Who, at the same time one with and different from
His energies.
He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency
and possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His
potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in
His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the
universe at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.
(Brahma Samhita 5.35)
In the material conception of form, the whole can be reduced to a mere
juxtaposition of the parts. This makes the form secondary. In this verse the
material conception of form is transcended. The supreme entity is fully present
in all of the parts which make up the total reality and thus the supreme is one
unified principle underlying all variegated manifestations. Yet He is personal
and in this feature different from his parts or energies at the same time. The
Brahma Samhita goes on to say that each of the parts of
the Godhead's form are equal to each other and to the whole form as well. At the
same time each of the parts remains a part. This is fundamental to the
philosophical outlook of
achintya bhedabheda. It
allows for the eternal individuality of all things without the loss of oneness
or harmony. It also allows for the possibility that man, even while possessed of
limited mind and senses, can come to know about the nature of transcendence. The
infinite, being so, can and does reveal Himself to the finite. Just as the eye
can not see the mind but can be in connection with it if the mind chooses to
think about it, so similarly the finite can know about the infinite by the grace
of the infinite. The concept of non-dualism however allows for neither of these
things.
In the
Bhagavad Gita we
find the following verse: (9.4)
By Me in My unmanifested form this entire universe is
pervaded. All
beings are in Me, but I am not in them.
Although this is inconceivable --
achintya --
an example drawn from material nature may help us to understand this concept
(logical implication). We cannot think of fire without the power of burning;
similarly, we cannot think of the power of burning without fire. Both are
identical. While fire is nothing but that which burns; the power of burning is
but fire in action. Yet at the same time, fire and its burning power are not
absolutely the same. If they were absolutely the same, there would be no need to
warn our children that "fire burns." Rather it would be sufficient to say
"fire." Furthermore, if they were the same, it would not be possible to
neutralize the burning power in fire through medicine or mantra without causing
fire to disappear altogether. In reality the fire is the energetic source of the
energy which is the power to burn. From this example drawn from the world of our
experience, we can deduce that the principle of simultaneous oneness and
difference is all pervading, appearing even in material objects.
Just as there is neither absolute oneness nor absolute difference in the
material example of fire and burning power, there is neither absolute oneness
nor absolute difference between Godhead and His energies. Godhead consists of
both the energetic and the energy, which are one and different. Godhead is also
necessarily complete without His various emanations. This is absolute
completeness. No matter how much energy He distributes, He remains the complete
balance.
In this theory the personal form of God exists beyond material time in a
trans-temporal state, There eternality and the passage of time are harmonized by
the same principle of simultaneous oneness and variegatedness that applies to
transcendental form. Thus within Godhead there may very well be something that
resembles human society which could unfold as the explicate order.
The individual self is a minute particle of will or consciousness -- a
sentient being -- endowed with a serving tendency. This self is transcendental
to matter and qualitatively one with Godhead, while quantitatively
different.
A personal, "human-like" Godhead replete with abode and paraphernalia is a
perennial notion. In this conception the explicate order becomes in effect a
perverted reflection of the ultimate reality existing in the transcendental
realm. The reflection of that realm, appearing as the explicate order, amounts
to the kingdom of God without God. It would be without God inasmuch as God,
being the center of the ultimate reality, when expressed in reflected form no
longer appears as the center. This produces illusion and the necessity for
corruption. The basis of corruption is the misplaced sense of proprietorship
resulting in the utterly false notions of "I" and "mine.
According to
achintya bhedabheda,the
individual self is a minute particle of will or consciousness -- a sentient
being -- endowed with a serving tendency. This self is transcendental to matter
and qualitatively one with Godhead, while quantitatively different. The inherent
defect of smallness in size in the minute self in contrast to the quantitative
superiority of Godhead makes the individual minute particle of consciousness
prone to the influence of illusion. This is analogous to the example of the
hologram in which only a portion of the holographic plate is illuminated with a
coherent light source. The resultant image, although apparently complete, is
slightly fuzzy and does not give the total three-dimensional view from all
directions which one would observe when the entire holographic plate is
illuminated.
Living in illusion, the atomic soul sees himself as separate from the
Godhead. As a result of imperfect sense perception he is caused to make false
distinctions such as good and bad, happiness and distress. The minute self can
also live in an enlightened state in complete harmony with the Godhead by the
latter's grace -- which is attracted by sincere petition or devotion. The very
nature of devotion is that it is of another world, and for it to be devotion in
the full sense, it must be engaged in for its own sake and nothing else. This
act of devotion is the purified function of the inherent serving tendency of the
self. It makes possible a communion with Godhead. In this communion the self
becomes one in purpose with the one reality and eternally serves that reality
with no sense of any separateness from Godhead. If we accept this theory then
there is scope for action from within the explicate order, such as prayer or
meditation, to have influence upon the whole. At least it would appear so,
inasmuch as, in reality, the inspiration for such action has its origin in
Godhead. Of course this idea is also found in varying degrees in many perennial
theistic philosophies. It is perhaps most thoroughly dealt with, however, in the
doctrine of
achintya bhedabheda.
Although it is true that the human mind cannot possibly demonstrate the truth
of this conception, this does not provide sufficient justification for rejecting
the notion in favor of something more abstract, such as non-dualism. The fact is
that any conception of the Godhead that is generated from the finite mind is
subject to the same criticism. If we are limited to our mundane mind and senses
for acquiring transcendental knowledge, then we may as well forego any
speculation about transcendence and turn our attention exclusively to the
manifest mundane world. The
achintya bhedabheda theory of transcendence, however, at least allows for the
possibility of the finite entity to approach the plane of transcendence through
the acquisition of transcendental "grace." This conception provides for us
something we can do in relation to Godhead (such as prayer or meditation)
whereby our understanding can be enhanced. Alternatively, the non-dualistic
approach really affords no method of approach.
Finally it must be emphasized that both the doctrines of non-dualism and
achintya bhedabheda
are quite extensive and impossible to deal with thoroughly in this short
article. At least it should be clear that insistence on the non-dual conception
of the ultimate reality creates problems for the theory of the implicate order.
At the same time the theistic doctrine of inconceivable simultaneous oneness and
difference at the very least deals with these problems adequately.
CREATION THROUGH SOUND
Thompson points out that the purely
physical observations on which Bohm's theory is based provide insight as to how
physics can be linked with transcendence. Thompson suggests that, scientifically
speaking, the implicate order is limited to the observation that "organized
macroscopic forms can arise by natural physical transformations from patterns of
minute fluctuations that look indistinguishable from random noise." Such
patterns could appear in many different forms such as electromagnetic fields
(light waves) or the matter waves of quantum mechanics. These patterns which may
later produce distinct macroscopic events can either be all-pervading or
localized, and two such patterns could even occupy the same volume of space.
Thompson uses the philosophy of the
Bhagavad Gita
and other Vedic literatures as a source of metaphysical ideas. He offers a
tentative proposal of a synthesis of physical and spiritual knowledge by
introducing the necessary element of divine revelation.
He states that, "According to the
Srimad Bhagavatam,
the material creation is brought about and maintained through the injection of
divinely ordered sound vibrations into a primordial material substrate called
pradhana. According to this idea, the
pradhana is an eternally existing energy of the supreme
which is potentially capable of manifesting material space and time, the
material elements, and their various possible combinations." In the absence of
external influences no manifestations would take place. However, the
pradhana will indeed produce various manifestations under the influence
of intelligently directed sound vibrations generated by the Godhead. Thompson
explains the meaning of "sound," coming from the Sanskrit word
shabda, as
"any type of propagating vibration, however subtle."
Keeping in mind that creation is a very complex affair, let's look at the
final stages of creation in which organized forms are generated and controlled
in a setting made up of the physical elements as we know them. According to the
Vedic paradigm, at this stage, transcendental sound is introduced into the
material continuum on the most subtle level. As a result, grosser elements are
agitated, and finally organized structures such as the bodies of living
organisms are produced.
Consider the phenomenon of optical phase
conjugation -- a process that can reverse the motion of a beam of light and
cause an image scrambled by frosted glass to return to its original, undistorted
form. In a typical experiment, light is reflected from an object and passes
through a pane of frosted glass. It then reflects from a device called a phase
conjugate mirror and passes back through the glass. When the light enters the
eye, one perceives a clear, undistorted image of the original object. This can
be contrasted with the garbled blur one would observe if the light were
reflected back through the glass by an ordinary mirror. See Figure left.
The explanation of this phenomenon is that the light on its first pass
through the frosted pane is distorted in a complicated way by irregularities in
the glass. The phase conjugate mirror reverses the distorted beam, and as it
passes back through the glass it precisely retraces its steps and thus returns
to its original undistorted form.
The beam reflected from the phase conjugate mirror has the curious property
that it encodes information for the original image in a distorted,
unrecognizable form, and as time passes, the distortion is reduced and the
information contained by the beam becomes clearly manifest. Normally, we expect
to see just the opposite -- a pattern containing meaningful information will
gradually degrade until the information is irretrievably lost.
Thompson further elucidates the connection between the material and
transcendental levels of existence with an example similar to that of optical
phase conjugation. Suppose we have an arrangement in which pictures are being
transmitted through a sheet of frosted glass. On one side of the glass we would
see a series of images but we would not be able to determine the source of the
images on the other side of the opaque glass. But in thinking about it, one
would expect that the light coming through the frosted glass would become
distorted. The fact that it does not seems to indicate that there is some sort
of intelligence which is organizing or ordering the transmitted images. This is
a simplified example of optical phase conjugation. Similarly, the order and
complexity we find in matter must have intelligence behind it, although we at
present cannot directly see that intelligence. The Vedic conception states that
a veil of illusion called
maya prevents living beings in the material domain from directly
perceiving their origin, Godhead -- the supreme intelligent being. The Vedas
further maintain that although God predominates the material nature, He is
manipulating it in such an expert way that His influence cannot be detected; as
Bohm states, "Complex patterns of events seem to unfold simply by material
action and reaction."
As Thompson progresses in the formulation of his Vedic paradigm, a number of
questions arise. How are the postulated organized vibrations introduced into the
known physical continuum? How can some outside influence be accommodated? This
would seem to involve violations of certain basic laws of physics such as
conservation of energy, the second law of thermodynamics, and statistical laws
of quantum mechanics.
In response to these objections, Thompson postulates a model involving levels
of physical reality more subtle than quantum fields. "One can readily imagine a
hierarchy of subtler and subtler levels culminating in an ultimate substrate
which is transcendental and not amenable to mathematical description. Organized
wave patterns could propagate through this hierarchy from the transcendental
level to the level of gross matter. In such models the quantum fields will be
reducible to these subtler levels, and phenomena on these levels will have
effects on the level of the quantum fields." In the transition from Newtonian
physics to quantum mechanics and further to quantum field theory, the conceptual
framework diverges from the domain of familiar mechanical imagery. Thompson
suggests that "The degree of subtlety of a level of reality corresponds to the
degree of novelty and unfamiliarity of the concepts needed to adequately
comprehend it. On the subtlest (or transcendental) level, the materially
inconceivable principle of
achintya bheda bheda tattva
becomes applicable."
According to the Vedic paradigm, the conscious self is transcendental and
has the same qualitative nature as the Godhead. Thus the link between conscious
will and the initiation of physical action by the brain should also entail the
transmission of patterns of information from transcendental to gross physical
levels of reality.
The introduction of wave patterns into the gross material realm from an
outside independent source should produce detectable violations of the
conservation laws of physics. It would not be surprising to find violations of
known laws if such subtler levels of material energy do exist. Indeed, the
existence of the neutrino was postulated by Enrico Fermi in the 1930's because
of an apparent violation of the principle of conservation of momentum in the
radioactive decay of certain atomic nuclei. The discovery of the neutrino showed
the existence of a subtle level which was previously unknown. It is therefore
entirely reasonable to speak of the existence of more subtle levels which are as
yet undiscovered. Also, in his forthcoming book, Thompson shows that models
which receive influences from more subtle levels without undergoing any
detectable change in momentum or energy may be constructed.
Thompson suggests, "Let us suppose for the moment that organized wave
patterns are continually being injected into the known physical continuum
perhaps from subtler levels of physical reality. Such patterns will appear to be
random, especially if they encode information for many different macroscopic
forms and sequences of events. For this reason they will be very difficult to
distinguish from purely random patterns by experimental observation."
Consider a two-dimensional wave field -- exemplified by the
surface of a body of water. This is illustrated in Figure 2, left. A
two-dimensional wave field is capable of propagating waves which can be
expressed by what is called the classical wave equation. In the first frame of
Figure 2 we see the wave field moving in an apparently random way. As time
passes it becomes apparent that this pattern of waves contains hidden
information. This is illustrated in successive frames, where first in frame 2 we
see that a letter "A" has appeared in the field. This form quickly takes shape
and dissipates (frame 3), and it is replaced in frame 4 by the similar rapid
appearance and disappearance of the symbol "
"
(Aum). Actually the information for both symbols is present in all 4 frames of
the figure. This example is discussed in detail by Thompson in his forthcoming
book:
Thus much of the random noise that surrounds us may consist of information
for patterns that will 'unfold' in the future to produce macroscopic results,
while the rest consists of the 'enfolded' or 'refolded' remnants of past
macroscopic patterns.
Because the original source of these patterns is the inaccessible
transcendental level, it is not possible to produce them at will. A thorough
investigation of this phenomenon would necessarily depend on the analysis of
observed spontaneous events.
Thompson believes that this type of study might be fruitful in the field of
cognitive science. "According to the Vedic paradigm, the conscious self is
transcendental and has the same qualitative nature as the Godhead. Thus the link
between conscious will and the initiation of physical action by the brain should
also entail the transmission of patterns of information from transcendental to
gross physical levels of reality."
The concept of the unfolding of information is also useful in the field of
natural history. The predominating scientific viewpoint is that the origin of
living species can be explained by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural
selection and random variation. Included in the group of those who have always
dissented from this view is Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-inventor of Darwin's
theory. Wallace felt that certain biological phenomenon, such as the brain,
could not be accounted for properly without the action of some higher
intelligence. Similarly, Bohm feels that "Natural selection is not the whole
story, but rather that evolution is a sign of the creative intelligence of
matter." Thompson has pointed out that "Bohm regards this intelligence as
emanating either from his implicate order or from beyond."
The Vedic paradigm proposes that the supreme intelligent being can create or
modify the forms of living beings by the transmission of organized wave patterns
into the physical realm. Of course both this theory of creation by sound and the
Darwinian theory of evolution are very difficult to verify. Thompson states,
"The theory of creation by sound vibration involves transcendental levels of
reality not accessible to the mundane senses, and thus in one sense it is more
unverifiable than the purely physical Darwinian theory. However, if a purely
physical theory turns out to be empirically unverifiable, then there is nothing
further one can do to be sure about it. In contrast, a theory that posits a
supreme intelligent being opens up the possibility that further knowledge may be
gained through internal and external revelation brought about by the will of
that being."
This entire approach is in line with the oft-mentioned need for a new
paradigm, a new world view which is said to be in the making. Although the
mechanistic world view founded by Descartes, Galileo, Newton, and Bacon has
dominated thought since the seventeenth century -- now, as we approach the
twenty-first century, the severe limitations of this view have become apparent.
The mechanistic approach must be replaced with a holistic approach. Rather than
torturing nature for her secrets, Thompson's idea calls for a reverence for
nature and a humble appeal to Godhead for divine service.
Finally, in Thompson's own words, "This approach to knowledge and to life
also constitutes one of the great perennial philosophies of mankind, but it has
tended to be eclipsed in this age of scientific empiricism. To obtain the fruits
of this path to knowledge, one must be willing to follow it, and one will be
inclined to do this only if one thinks the world view on which it is based might
possibly be true. Establishing this possibility constitutes the ultimate
justification for constructing theories such as the one considered here: linking
physics and metaphysics."
1)
The Holographic Paradigm by
Ken Wilber, p. 211-212.
From vedicsciencesnet
Here is a paraphrase of Darwin's argument. Although humans have
complex camera-type eyes, many animals get by with less. Some tiny creatures
have just a simple group of pigmented cells, or not much more than a light
sensitive spot. That simple arrangement can hardly be said to confer vision, but
it can sense light and dark, and so it meets the creature's needs. The
light-sensing organ of some starfishes is somewhat more sophisticated. Their eye
is located in a depressed region. This allows the animal to sense which
direction the light is coming from, since the curvature of the depression blocks
off light from some directions. If the curvature becomes more pronounced, the
directional sense of the eye improves. But more curvature lessens the amount of
light that enters the eye, decreasing its sensitivity. The sensitivity can be
increased by placement of gelatinous material in the cavity to act as a lens.
Some modern animals have eyes with such crude lenses. Gradual improvements in
the lens could then provide an image of increasing sharpness, as the
requirements of the animal's environment dictated.
To Darwin
vision was a black box, but today, after the hard, cumulative work of many
biochemists, we are approaching answers to the question of sight. Here is a
brief overview of the biochemistry of vision. When light first strikes the
retina, a photon interacts with a molecule called 11-cis-retinal, which
rearranges within picoseconds to trans-retinal. The change in the shape of
retinal forces a change in the shape of the protein, rhodopsin, to which the
retinal is tightly bound. The protein's metamorphosis alters its behavior,
making it stick to another protein called transducin. Before bumping into
activated rhodopsin, transducin had tightly bound a small molecule called GDP.
But when transducin interacts with activated rhodopsin, the GDP falls off and a
molecule called GTP binds to transducin. (GTP is closely related to, but
critically different from, GDP.)
Now, are any
biochemical systems irreducibly complex? Yes, it turns out that many are. A good
example is the cilium. Cilia are hairlike structures on the surfaces of many
animal and lower plant cells that can move fluid over the cell's surface or
"row" single cells through a fluid. Inhumans, for example, cells lining the
respiratory tract each have about 200 cilia that beat in synchrony to sweep
mucus towards the throat for elimination. What is the structure of a cilium? A
cilium consists of bundle of fibers called an axoneme. An axoneme contains a
ring of 9 double "microtubules" surrounding two central single microtubules.
Each outer doublet consists of a ring of 13 filaments (subfiber A) fused to an
assembly of 10 filaments (subfiber B). The filaments of the microtubules are
composedof two proteins called alpha and beta tubulin. The 11 microtubules
forming an axoneme are held together by three types of connectors: subfibers A
are joined to the central microtubules by radial spokes; adjacent outer doublets
are joined by linkers of a highly elastic protein called nexin; and the central
microtubules are joined by a connecting bridge. Finally, every subfiber A bears
two arms, an inner arm and an outer arm, both containing a protein called
dynein.
Here's a picture of a cell trapped in a
clot. The meshwork is formed from a protein called fibrin. But what controls
blood clotting? Why does blood clot when you cut yourself, but not at other
times when a clot would cause a stroke or heart attack? Here's a diagram of
what's called the blood clotting cascade. Let's go through just some of the
reactions of clotting.
None of the papers
discussed detailed models for intermediates in the development of complex
biomolecular structures. In the past ten years JME has published over a thousand
papers. Of these, about one hundred discussed the chemical synthesis of
molecules thought to be necessary for the origin of life, about 50 proposed
mathematical models to improve sequence analysis, and about 800 were analyses of
sequences. There were ZERO papers discussing detailed models for intermediates
in the development of complex biomolecular structures. This is not a peculiarity
of JME. No papers are to be found that discuss detailed models for intermediates
in the development of complex biomolecular structures in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Science, Nature, Science, the Journal of Molecular Biology
or, to my knowledge, any science journal whatsoever.
The shape of one rock might have been determined primarily by one
mechanism, the shape of another rock by another mechanism. The possibility of a
meteor's impact does not mean that volcanos can be ignored; the existence of
sculptors does not mean that many rocks are not shaped by weather. Similarly,
evolutionary biologists have recognized that a number of factors might have
affected the development of life: common descent, natural selection, migration,
population size, founder effects (effects that may be due to the limited number
of organisms that begin a new species), genetic drift (spread of neutral,
nonselective mutations), gene flow (the incorporation of genes into a population
from a separate population), linkage (occurrence of two genes on the same
chromosome), meiotic drive (the preferential selection during sex cell
production of one of the two copies of a gene inherited from an organism's
parents), transposition (the transfer of a gene between widely separated species
by non-sexual means), and much more. The fact that some biochemical systems were
designed by an intelligent agent does not mean that any of the other factors are
not operative, common, or important. 
Things got steadily
worse over the years. With the discovery of fossils it became apparent that the
familiar animals of field and forest had not always been on earth; the world had
once been inhabited by huge, alien creatures who were now gone. Sometime later
Darwin shook the world by arguing that the familiar biota was derived from the
bizarre, vanished life over lengths of time incomprehensible to human minds.
Einstein told us that space is curved and time is relative. Modern physics says
that solid objects are mostly space, that sub atomic particles have no definite
position, that the universe had a beginning.
Now it's the turn of
the fundamental science of life, modern biochemistry, to disturb. The simplicity
that was once expected to be the foundation of life has proven to be a phantom.
Instead, systems of horrendous, irreducible complexity inhabit the cell. The
resulting realization that life was designed by an intelligence is a shock to us
in the twentieth century who have gotten used to thinking of life as the result
of simple natural laws. But other centuries have had their shocks and there is
no reason to suppose that we should escape them. Humanity has endured as the
center of the heavens moved from the earth to beyond the sun, as the history of
life expanded to encompass long-dead reptiles, as the eternal universe proved
mortal. We will endure the opening of Darwin's black box. 