Scientists are exploring the outer and inner regions of the universe in ways that challenge our culturally Newtonian belief that we live in a world of objects ruled by gravity, which is basically centrifugal force. While I am not a scientist, I appreciate the work scientists are doing to inform the public about the amazing insights their explorations yield.
Nova’s The Fabric of the Cosmos gives a fabulously illustrated version of the way we have changed our understanding of the universe mathematically. Like Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos series, astrophysicists, mathematicians, neurobiologists and others are using new media tools to illustrate their seeming weekly breakthroughs. We can see so far into space, both inner and outer that it’s changing how we perceive our world on the most fundamental levels. For instance, discovering the increasing acceleration in the expansion of the universe led to a new awareness of dark energy, a force that repels in the way gravity attracts, challenging Einstein’s view of his “biggest blunder“.
From quintessence to eternal recurrence, new theories invoke specters of 19th century spiritualism in which the aether becomes a fifth element, a medium of transmission for electromagnetic energy (light) and a new perspective on time and space (dark). Alchemy is alive and well in the 21st Century. Carl Jung ‘s study of alchemy provided a new interpretation of what is largely considered balderdash. Jung recognized the cycles of transformation as aspects of psychic integration, creating new interest in this ancient art. In my post on the fractal nature of time I talked about the intergenerational transmission of trauma and other family traits. After watching the Nova program on the fabric of space-time several things fell into place, resulting in the (albeit crude) model shown below. Superstring theory reveals the vibratory interconnectedness of all there is. That sensitivity is reflected in the responsiveness and receptivity of space-time. Is science bringing us closer to a merger of physical reality and consciousness?
Before I launch into an explanation, let’s talk about the felt experience of some of these ideas. Intuition, if not reviled, has certainly been the poor handmaiden of science, champion of the age of enlightenment. In the 20th Century, famous examples of scientific breakthroughs linked to dreams include Friedrich Kekulé’s discovery of benzene, Otto Loewi’s chemical transmission of nerve impulses, and Srinivasa Ramanujan’ series of mathematical formulas. Many inventions and works of literature and art are beholden to information brought to light in dreams. Dreams help bridge the gap between our unconscious knowledge and our waking consciousness.
The model below suggests that space-time is the medium of consciousness as well as the physical world.
I apologize for the limitations of my model. Try to imagine the cones as vortices, spiraling outward/inward in 6 directions (so too the arrows). Our conscious awareness is generally focused on ourselves in the center and in the areas of family and collective awareness immediately surrounding us. We tend to experience time as forward marching and linear. If I knew how to create a 3D animated model, you would see the structure as a globular, pulsing cloud connecting to others in expanding and contracting spirals of energy.
The further out we go from the central self, the more we explore the subconscious aspects of our awareness, both personal and collective. When the spirals overlap, we might experience foresight, synchronicity, new life themes and emergent evolutionary patterns. Or we might meet people who facilitate our growth. Space-time is the medium in which intensely lived experiences reside. In this model, time moves in all directions and is subject to the way we define our experience more than any kind of imposed linearity. With the advent of holographic theories of the universe, it could be argued that our lives are the end of life projections of choices we have already made that are capable of change and renewal. Or perhaps the dream projects the dreamer, with no beginning and no end, backwards to the future with Aristotle. 