Let us call this physical scheme "God's wheel of fortune" for the sake
of argument. Perhaps at each moment a wheel is turned to decide whether
the atom emits light or not. This wheel could have stops which say
'emit' or 'not emit' in proportions which relate to the probability
involved. The omnipotence of God allows that he or she is able to
readjust the balance of stops in an instant to match changing
circumstances and probabilities.
Though such a setup obviously has no scientific basis, might there be
one that does? Rather than relying on a very busy 'God', might the
resolution of the mystery lie within the human brain, mind, or
consciousness? And if it does, might such a scheme unravel the mystery
of consciousness, human behavior, and the nature of the physical world?
The best clue we have to begin in answering these questions may be the
mysterious behavior of a superconducting material. The essence of
Quantum Theory in its most useful form was provided us in 1923, by the
French prince, Louis de Broglie. He said that all of matter could be
described as being composed of waves. A few years later, Erwin
Schrodinger provided us with a mathematical object called a 'wave
function' which would embody this idea and provide the mysterious
probabilities operating in the microscopic atomic world.
However, could this theory apply to objects much larger than the atom?
In a bold proposal, two Soviet scientists, Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev
Landau shocked the physics world in the '50s by asserting that electrons
in large groups (trillions or more) could exhibit a group behavior
which mimicked Schrodinger's wave function. It was the first indication
that a macroscopic 'object' might obey quantum theory. This was only a
working hypothesis used to describe the nature of the lowering of
electrical resistance to nothing in superconducting materials. However,
indications are such from other recent experiments that quantum theory
may directly apply to the macro world of people, tables, chairs, etc.
In a superconducting material, the waves describing pairs of electrons
choose to dance together in phase like the Rockettes at Radio City Music
Hall. The choice as to when to 'begin' the dance step obeys the laws
of chance, just as did the choice of the electron in the atom to take
the 'quantum leap'. Quantum theory has a ready-made quantity to
describe the choice in phase. It is the quantum gauge, a free angle in
the wave function. Amazingly, there is a physical analogy which
describes the random, equal probability choice of phase in
superconductivity. Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer finished the theory
of superconductivity a few years after the breakthrough of Ginzburg and
Landau. They said that pairs of electrons were like perfectly
synchronized couples on the 'dance floor' of the material.
The choice of phase was perfectly analogous to the choice of non-locally
interacting domains of a 2-D magnetic sheet to line up at a random
angle when brought to a certain temperature. This lining up of billions
of 'magnetic pairs' in a random direction is what physicists call a
'phase transition'. Lumped in this category is the freezing of randomly
oriented liquid water into specifically-ordered ice.
Philip Pearle, a theorist at Hamilton College, New York, proposed in
1976 that all quantum choices were made in a fashion similar to a
superconducting electron 'dance troupe's' choice of phase. Though this
proposal adds to quantum theory, it is easy to apply Ginzburg and
Landau's idea to the field of quantum possibilities in a way which does
not. One need merely add a superconducting-like term to the quantum
energy. This term could represent the way in which the brain,
perception, and consciousness relate to the world.
Such an idea completes quantum theory in the way Einstein
suggested, by providing a physical scheme as the basis for 'God's dice
game'. It also suggests a new world view or paradigm, which echoes and
expands the ancient Chinese wisdom.
The Yellow Emperor, the author of acupuncture philosophy, nearly 5,000
years ago echoed the more ancient philosopher, Fu Hsi, in proposing a
theory of everything. It is now called the Tai Chi Philosophy. The Tai
Chi, or 'ridgepole of the world' is the unit of the field of
manifestation, much like the gauge angles representing dimensions of
quantum choices, the possibilities which present themselves to human
beings. These possibilities manifest as polarities which are behind
appearance of the world. Dark and light, hot and cold, good and evil,
wisdom and ignorance are examples of the dimensions of possibility which
the ancient Tai Chi symbol represents. The phase of the wave function
in the interpretation of Quantum Theory we have suggested is what one
could call the 'Quantum Tai Chi'. It also represents the dimensions of
possible worlds which somehow are latent in the functioning of the brain
or consciousness.
If this is so, then it implies that each individual has ultimate power
to choose the world they perceive. It impels us to a philosophy in
which belief systems of humans make their world. This makes us
responsible for what 'happens' to us. There are not any 'victims' in
such a world picture. Choosing is like applying a magnet to an
unmagnetized material. We have ultimate choice as to which direction to
apply it. Though many of our important decisions are subconscious,
these are patterned by our conscious choices and what we consciously
accept of the collective unconscious.
One of the areas in which we have conscious choice is the area of health
and healing. Spontaneous remissions of cancer and other ailments are
often nearly instantaneous, and often involve a change in faith or
belief systems. In the dance of the Quantum Tai Chi, this means a
reorientation of the 'magnets' of the mind toward wholeness.
Does the brain have the computing power to model the complexity
necessary for such a model? If its neurons were only memory bits, it
would not be capable of the replicated possibilities for dimensions of
the perceived world. Neurons number only in the 100 billions. However,
with the discovery of the potential computing ability of microtubules,
tubular pillars of the neural cells, we have the possibility that their
information storage may make each neuron like a super home computer on
the internet of the Brain. Stuart Hammeroff, in his pioneering book, Ultimate Computing: Biomolecular Consciousness and NanoTechnology,
suggested this intriguing possibility in 1987. In 1988, Hans Moravec
suggested that the brain could perform 1024 operations per second with
this added capability. In 1996, supercomputers are below the figure of
1015 operations per second.
With such an intriguing possibility, who is the computer operator? Who
makes the quantum choices? This is like the question of the Hindu sage,
Ramana Maharshi, "who am I?" Is there a divine self to oversee the
magnetization of worlds of possibility? Science itself may soon pose
and answer this question.