The main architects of this astonishing idea are two of the world's
most eminent thinkers: University of London physicist David Bohm,
a protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum
physicists; and Karl Pribram, a neurophysiologist at Stanford Univer-
sity and author of the classic neuropsychological textbook Languages
of the Brain.
Pribram and Bohm Together
Considered together, Bohm and Pribram's theories provide a profound
new way of looking at the world: Our brains mathematically con-
struct objective reality by interpreting frequencies that are ulti-
mately projections from another dimension, a deeper order of exis-
tence that is beyond both space and time: The brain is a hologram
enfolded in a holographic universe.
For Pribram, this synthesis made him realize that the objective
world does not exist, at least not in the way we are accustomed to
believing. What is "out there" is a vast ocean of waves and frequen-
cies, and reality looks concrete to us only because our brains are able
to take this holographic blur and convert it into the sticks and stones
and other familiar objects that make up our world. How is the brain
(which itself is composed of frequencies of matter) able to take
something as insubstantial as a blur of frequencies and make it seem
solid to the touch? "The kind of mathematical process that Bekesy
simulated with his vibrators is basic to how our brains construct our
image of a world out there," Pribram states.' In other words, the
smoothness of a piece of fine china and the feel of beach sand be-
neath our feet are really just elaborate versions of the phantom limb
syndrome.
According to Pribram this does not mean there aren't china cups and
grains of beach sand out there. It simply means that a china cup has
two very different aspects to its reality. When it is filtered through
the
lens of our brain it manifests as a cup. But if we could get rid of our
lenses, we'd experience it as an interference pattern. Which one is real
and which is illusion? "Both are real to me," says Pribram, "or, if you
want to say, neither of them are real." a
This state of affairs is not limited to china cups. We, too, have two
very different aspects to our reality. We can view ourselves as physical
bodies moving through space. Or we can view ourselves as a blur of
interference patterns enfolded throughout the cosmic hologram.
Bohm believes this second point of view might even be the more
correct, for to think of ourselves as a holographic mind/brain looking
at a holographic universe is again an abstraction, an attempt to sepa-
rate two things that ultimately cannot be separated.
Do not be troubled if this is difficult to grasp. It is relatively easy
to understand the idea of holism in something that is external to us,
like an apple in a hologram. What makes it difficult is that in this
case
we are not looking at the hologram. We are part of the hologram.
The difficulty is also another indication of how radical a revision
Bohm and Pribram are trying to make in our way of thinking. But it
is not the only radical revision. Pribram's assertion that our brains
construct objects pales beside another of Bohm's conclusions: that we
even construct space and time. The implications of this view are
just one of the subjects that will be examined as we explore the effect
Bohm and Pribram's ideas have had on the work of researchers in other
fields.
--
Edmond H. Wollmann P.M.A.F.A.
© 2000 Altair Publications, SAN 299-5603
Astrological Consulting http://www.astroconsulting.com/
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Before you buy.
"Edmond H. Wollmann" wrote:
> In support of the idea of creating one's reality
You've decided that yours should be that of a whining crybaby.