Quantum-Inspired Framework for the Dimension of Thought: Part Two

🔗 Read the first blog in this series here.

2. The Structure of the Thought Dimension

In this section, we delve into the quantum-like properties of the thought dimension, exploring how the dynamics of mental processes and the behavior of quantum systems can be understood as analogous. We propose that thoughts and words exhibit bosonic properties, while individual beings are more akin to fermions. We also discuss the implications of quantum entanglement and communication within the thought dimension and how these phenomena may manifest in the physical world.

2.1 Thoughts and words as bosons

Bosons, such as photons and gluons, are particles that can occupy the same quantum state simultaneously, exhibiting collective behavior and coherence (Bose, 1924). The reason for this is that the individual bosons are indistinguishable from others of the same kind. For instance, if a thought existed in the minds of two individual people at the same time, we could interchange those two thoughts without any meaningful or detectable change occurring in the universe. This simple feature of boson particles enables a wide range of phenomena that are important in our current technological world, including lasers and superconductivity. In the thought dimension, we propose that thoughts and words can be understood as analogous to bosons, displaying similar properties of collective behavior and coherence.

2.1.1 The fundamental Axiom

Present time thought awareness in a living being is the only place from which all known phenomena arise and/or terminate.

This is an axiomatic statement, and it is fundamentally non-dual. It is axiomatic in that it is a formative description of the universe. Rather than the big bang, it is this, always and forever, from which the universe unfolds. A continuous stream of awareness that is always at the present moment is the place where the universe is both created and destroyed. None of this takes away from the observations of science. We merely note that science has had a tendency to extrapolate into areas for matters of theoretical convenience, and often times scientists confuse these extrapolations with reality. This has been true since the time of Pythagoras or earlier. This is only problematic if the extrapolations turn into a very non-scientific form of dogma.

These extrapolations can outlive their usefulness as new observations are brought to bear. The observations of quantum mechanics a century ago revealed that models of an objective universe were fundamentally flawed. We are still unraveling the message that quantum mechanics has delivered to us, and the concept that it is settled science is readily disputed by all physicists, even as it is the most accurate and complete physical theory that has ever been devised. What holds us back from integrating its conclusions may very well be our hanging onto illusory extrapolations that no longer fit the data observed.

The above axiom can be summed up in a more relatable converse: "There has never been a single verifiable event that has occurred in this universe which has not resulted in a thought of some form at some moment in time by some living entity." While this concept borrows from existentialism, solipsism, and biocentrism, it is still distinct in that it ties these together into terms that enable a possible unification of the metaphysical and physical realms, something that would dramatically affect our understandings across the sciences, both hard and soft.

We will go further and state that the difference between thoughts and sensations is a superficial one that is largely based upon frequency domain considerations. There is a certain frequency whereby the transmission of information is ill-suited to verbal thoughts and can take different forms. Images and sounds are good examples of these. Sound is just a vibration. We can track and contemplate something that is moving up to a rate of about 10 cycles per second. Above that frequency, our minds replace this with a meta-concept called sound, and our physical structure supports this transition with the intricate device called the ear. The output of the ear is a sequence of thought-forms that are used to produce our awareness of the universe.

The eye similarly produces sensory inputs that are compiled into thoughts about a 3D universe, one which the eyes presumably inhabit. The image and the thought of the image are one and the same thing. An image is an experience that cannot be separated from the person experiencing it.

Thoughts are the totality of a living entity and thus the primary building block of the cosmos. That thoughts from separate entities come together and share a universe with other living individuals is something highly non-trivial. This does not, a priori, imply the existence of something that is independent of all of these thoughts. The universe IS the agreement of the thoughts. Nothing more can be said about it. Based upon all things we know about quantum mechanics, there is insufficient basis to ever say that the universe needs to be something that exists independently of these thoughts.

2.2 Individual beings as fermions

In contrast to the bosonic nature of thoughts, words, and meaning, we propose that individual beings can be understood as analogous to fermions, such as electrons and quarks. Fermions are particles that obey the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that no two fermions can occupy the same quantum state simultaneously (Pauli, 1925). While thoughts can be interchanged without altering the state of the universe, no two living entities can be seen as fully interchangeable without an energetic reorganization of the spaces they occupy. That has profound implications for the statistical mechanics of living entities.

Just to mention in passing, this points to the idea that there can never be any notion of true equality between two individuals. To be different is to be alive. The manner of such difference cannot be dictated across any dimension, as any attempt to constrain life in such a manner will ultimately be seen as an attempt to end life, something that life is quite abhorrent to experiencing.

2.2.1 Unique, non-overlapping identities

The fermionic nature of individual beings implies that each person possesses a unique, non-overlapping identity within the thought dimension. This identity arises from the specific configuration of thoughts, ideas, and experiences that constitute an individual's mental "cloud."

Just as fermions are characterized by their distinct quantum numbers, such as spin and charge, individual beings can be characterized by their unique combinations of personality traits, memories, and cognitive abilities (Eysenck, 1967). These characteristics define the "quantum state" of an individual within the thought dimension, determining their interactions with other beings and their role in the collective dynamics of the thought dimension.

We hypothesize that the manner in which this occurs is consistent with quantum mechanics, projected into the dimension of thought. Note that we use the concept "dimension of thought" to describe something which may indeed prove to be a multiplicity of dimensions, but it is at the very least a single independent dimension. We also do not pretend to have defined an adequate metric for this dimension as would be required to develop a complete quantum theory involving it. However, we are free to use our imagination in the process of scientific conjecture, veritably using thought as a bridge to get us from our current understanding to the place where we can all expect to end up. It is up to the reader to help define and bear witness to that place.

2.2.2 Personal mental "clouds" of thoughts, ideas, and experiences

The fermionic nature of individual beings suggests that each person's mental landscape can be understood as a complex, multi-dimensional "cloud" of thoughts, ideas, and experiences. This cloud represents the probabilistic distribution of an individual's mental states. What this means is that the thoughts that exist as part of an entity, as far as other entities are concerned, are all virtual. The thoughts can be emitted through communication that is mediated by other dimensions, but ultimately reaches the thought dimension of another being.

It is possible to emit thoughts into the physical dimension, as spoken or written language for example, and these thoughts and words may or may not ever interact with another being, even if the being comes in direct contact with the thoughts and words. This will happen if the being that receives the physical communication has no interacting states that can be influenced by the message being conveyed (e.g. a complete ignorance of the symbols).

Other individuals will have the necessary existing thought patterns that enable them to integrate the new information in some way, resulting in a change in the thought population of the individual. This can lead to this individual spontaneously emitting that same thought again at a later time.

The probability of this spontaneous emission will be affected by the present time environment of the individual, and if there are other similar thoughts present in the individual's contextual environment, then this emission becomes more likely. The words chosen here are intentional to cast this into terms that make the entire process appear quite similar to what is known and observed among bosons and fermions in the physical realm.

2.3 Quantum entanglement and communication in the thought dimension

The quantum-like nature of the thought dimension also implies the existence of quantum entanglement and non-local communication between individual beings. These phenomena, which are well-established in the realm of quantum physics (Bell, 1964; Aspect et al., 1982), can provide a basis for understanding the apparent non-local connections between individuals, such as telepathy, empathy, and collective consciousness.

2.3.1 Non-local connections between individuals

Quantum entanglement occurs when two or more particles become correlated in such a way that their quantum states cannot be described independently, even when they are separated by large distances (Einstein, Podolsky, & Rosen, 1935). In the thought dimension, we propose that individual beings can become entangled through shared experiences, emotional bonds, or even genetic or morphogenetic connections (Sheldrake, 2009).

These entangled states can give rise to non-local correlations between individuals, allowing for the instantaneous transmission of information or influence across the thought dimension. This may manifest as the seemingly spontaneous emergence of shared ideas or synchronicities between individuals who are physically separated (Jung, 1952).

2.3.2 Instantaneous transmission of ideas, emotions, and intentions

The non-local nature of quantum entanglement in the thought dimension suggests that ideas, emotions, and intentions can be transmitted instantaneously between entangled individuals. This transmission occurs through the "hidden variables" or "implicate order" of the thought dimension (Bohm, 1980), bypassing the limitations of classical communication and causality.

The instantaneous transmission of mental states through quantum entanglement can be understood as a form of "quantum teleportation" (Bennett et al., 1993), where the quantum state of one individual's mental cloud is transferred to another individual without traversing the intervening physical space. This may provide a basis for understanding phenomena such as telepathy, empathy, and the "transmission" of ideas or emotions between individuals (Radin, 2006). The potential mechanisms for this process will be described in more detail later.

The quantum-like structure of the thought dimension, with its bosonic thoughts and words and fermionic individual beings, provides a rich framework for understanding the complex dynamics of mental processes and their relationship to the physical world. By incorporating concepts from quantum mechanics, such as entanglement and non-locality, this framework offers new insights into the nature of consciousness, the emergence of collective phenomena, and the potential for mind-matter interactions.

In future chapters, we will explore how this quantum-inspired structure of the thought dimension interacts with the physical world through the brain as a quantum interface device and how it relates to the concepts of morphogenesis and the collective unconscious. By integrating these ideas, we aim to develop a comprehensive model of reality that bridges the gap between mind and matter and provides a new foundation for understanding the nature of consciousness and its role in shaping the universe.

References

• Anderson, M. H., Ensher, J. R., Matthews, M. R., Wieman, C. E., & Cornell, E. A. (1995). Observation of Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute atomic vapor. Science, 269(5221), 198-201.
• Aspect, A., Grangier, P., & Roger, G. (1982). Experimental realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment: A new violation of Bell's inequalities. Physical Review Letters, 49(2), 91-94.
• Bell, J. S. (1964). On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox. Physics, 1(3), 195-200.
• Bennett, C. H., Brassard, G., Crépeau, C., Jozsa, R., Peres, A., & Wootters, W. K. (1993). Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels. Physical Review Letters, 70(13), 1895-1899.
• Bohm, D. (1980). Wholeness and the implicate order. Routledge.
• Bose, S. N. (1924). Plancks Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese. Zeitschrift für Physik, 26(1), 178-181.
• Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. Oxford University Press.
• Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (1935). Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical Review, 47(10), 777-780.
• Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Charles C. Thomas.
• Glauber, R. J. (1963). Coherent and incoherent states of the radiation field. Physical Review, 131(6), 2766-2788.
• Haken, H. (1983). Synergetics: An introduction. Non-equilibrium phase transition and self-organization in physics, chemistry and biology. Springer.
• Hameroff, S., & Penrose, R. (2014). Consciousness in the universe: A review of the 'Orch OR' theory. Physics of Life Reviews, 11(1), 39-78.
• Jung, C. G. (1952). Synchronicity: An acausal connecting principle. Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1959). The archetypes and the collective unconscious. Princeton University Press.
• Pauli, W. (1925). Über den Zusammenhang des Abschlusses der Elektronengruppen im Atom mit der Komplexstruktur der Spektren. Zeitschrift für Physik, 31(1), 765-783.
• Radin, D. (2006). Entangled minds: Extrasensory experiences in a quantum reality. Paraview Pocket Books.
• Schrödinger, E. (1926). An undulatory theory of the mechanics of atoms and molecules. Physical Review, 28(6), 1049-1070.
• Sheldrake, R. (2009). Morphic resonance: The nature of formative causation. Park Street Press.
• Vitiello, G. (2001). My double unveiled: The dissipative quantum model of brain. John Benjamins Publishing.
• von Neumann, J. (1932). Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik. Springer.
• Wendt, A. (2015). Quantum mind and social science: Unifying physical and social ontology. Cambridge University Press.