THE CRAZY IDEA WHOSE
TIME HAS COME
© Edward R. Close, July 18, 2016
INTRODUCTION
Almost
sixty years ago, in the winter of 1956, when I was an undergraduate student
pursuing a degree in physics and mathematics, I voiced the following concern:
“I think there is more to reality than just matter and energy interacting in
time and space, but no one seems to be
interested in thinking outside this box of materialism.”
Even
today, mainstream science is still stuck in the same box. Most of the millions
of academic publications that have flooded the world since 1956 are focused on filling
in the details of the currently accepted scientific paradigm. Few dare to push
the boundaries of the paradigm, and to go outside of it is professional
suicide. Data indicating that the paradigm might be incomplete or even wrong is largely ignored.
Scientists
working for the government or a major university must conform to the rules and
policies of the system. I’ve done both in my long career, but I chose, after
getting my PhD, and working my way up in the system, to work outside the
system, taking graduate and post-graduate courses at a number of major
universities to keep up with developments in the current paradigm while
pursuing my own independent research. In the last seven years, I joined forces
with another outside-the–box thinker, Dr. Vernon Neppe, MD, PhD, and together
we have developed a new paradigm we call TDVP.
Question: How Can Science Ever Get OUT of the
Self-Imposed Materialist Box?
Answer: We Have to
Question the Basic Assumptions of the Current Paradigm.
Why? Because some of the basic assumptions
behind the current scientific paradigm may simply be WRONG.
Working
within the current paradigm, mainstream scientists have been very successful,
explaining most of the phenomena that we observe and experience through the
physical senses. But when it comes to a broader understanding of the nature of
reality, mainstream scientists have been stuck in the Reductionist/Materialist
hole for a long time. The good news is that the efforts to fill in the details
of the model incorporating classical physics with relativity and quantum
mechanics have illuminated some problem areas in the current paradigm. More and
more scientists from every discipline are recognizing the need for radical
change in our understanding of matter, energy, space and time. They just don’t seem
to know what that radical change might be.
What is wrong with the current scientific
paradigm?
1. Even though the great
innovators of the last century, including Albert Einstein, Max Planck and more
recently others have indicated that they believe that an Infinite Conscious
Mind is behind physical reality, mainstream science has virtually excluded
consciousness and spirituality from scientific study. There have been valid
reasons for this in the past, but there is increasing empirical evidence that consciousness
may be just as fundamental as matter and energy.
2. The fallacy of
something from nothing: The current paradigm concludes that the universe as we
experience it is the result of an explosion that happened some 13.8 billion
years ago, but fails to explain why the explosion occurred, and how a highly
organized, stable universe like ours could evolve from nothing.
3. Mainstream scientists
are applying the calculus of Newton and Leibniz to quantum phenomena beyond its
legitimate range of applicability. This is the source of some of the quantum
‘weirdness’ physicists talk about.
In 1986,
I applied a mathematical tool I call the Calculus of Distinctions to the standard
model of the universe, and found that the big-bang, red-shift expanding
universe theory contains unresolved paradoxes. Having been a devout follower of
Einstein’s work, I was at first surprised to find that these paradoxes could be
resolved by taking the quantum nature of physical reality seriously. By doing
this and avoiding the fallacies listed above, I found that the Hawking and
Penrose ‘proof’ of a singularity origin for the universe was most likely a
mathematical abstraction, with no existential counterpart in the dynamics of
the physical universe.
Other
conclusions included the revelation that time, like space, must be
three-dimensional, implying that, consistent with the law of conservation of
mass and energy, our dynamic reality has no absolute beginning or end, only
change.
I
submitted an early manuscript presenting my findings to Stephen Hawking in late
1987. After about three months, I received a reply from his student/interpreter,
saying that Prof. Hawking was very busy and that he was not interested in
hyper-dimensional (more than 4-D) models. I finished writing the manuscript in
1988 and published my findings in a book titled: “Infinite Continuity” in 1990.
At
about this same time, in a publicized lecture in California, Prof. Hawking
stated his opinion that consciousness has no direct involvement in the forming
of physical reality, and he further stated that someone had suggested to him
that time might be three dimensional, but that he could not imagine that. In
later publications, Prof. Hawking began to consider the extra dimensions of
string-theory models, and after a serious attempt to reconcile general
relativity with quantum theory, he abandoned the mathematical singularity
origin of the physical universe idea, saying that we should probably not be
talking about absolute beginnings and endings, only change.
I completely
agree. Research conducted by applying the Calculus of Distinctions at the
quantum level produces a surprising conclusion: There is no such thing as nothing because the laws of physics
imply that there can be no existential state of absolute nothingness. Therefore,
in our quantized universe, there was no absolute beginning and there can be no
absolute end, only change.
We can
begin to understand what is necessary to correct the current paradigm by
considering the following facts: 1. We
live in a quantized universe. 2. All existential forms are made up of multiples
of quanta of mass and/or energy. 3. Mass and energy are two forms of the same
thing, related mathematically by the equation E = mc2. If we live in a quantized universe, then we
need a quantized calculus to replace Newtonian calculus because in Newtonian
calculus, the important processes of differentiation and integration depend on
the assumption that the variables can approach nothingness infinitesimally
closely.
There
are four primary variables in any mathematical model describing physical
reality: mass, energy, space and time. Planck’s discovery that mass and energy
are only meted out in multiples of very small units, coupled with Einstein’s
discovery that they are related mathematically by the equation E = mc2,
means that neither mass nor energy can be divided infinitely; there is a finite
smallest equivalence unit; in other words, there is a smallest possible scale,
a bottom to the precision with which
a measurement can be made in a quantized universe.
You can
reduce a given amount of mass and/or energy to smaller and smaller amounts by
removing units of mass and/or energy one at a time, but, you can only end up
with one unit or none, not anything in between, because Planck’s discovery
means that there can be no fractional quanta. Thus the variables used to
measure mass and energy cannot approach nothingness
infinitely closely, meaning that the basic assumption of the differential and
integral calculus of Newton and Leibniz is invalid for application to quantum
mass and energy.
But, what
about space-time? Can space and/or time be divided infinitely? It might seem
so, but a closer examination reveals that such divisions are meaningless
because the space-time continuum is not a stand-alone reality, it is a
derivative of mass and energy.
To
understand this, notice that the equivalence expression, E = mc2
involves not just mass and energy, but also space and time. The speed of light,
represented by ‘c’, is the distance travelled by light in a unit of time. We
can measure it in miles per hour, kilometers per second, etc. But, in order to
normalize the units of mass and energy so that in keeping with empirical
evidence of quantization, i.e. the results of Planck’s black body radiation
experiments, we must also normalize the units of space and time. We can do this
by defining the speed of light as the movement of light across one unit of
space in one unit of time. In this normalized system of units,
c = Δx/Δt = 1/1 =1.
This is
consistent with the ‘natural’ units known as Planck units, and it is also consistent
with Einstein’s final appendix to his book on relativity suggesting that space-time
is derivative of mass and energy, and has no independent existence. Space and
time have meaning only in relation to mass, energy and observation by a
conscious entity. In TDVP, as in relativity, the concepts of empty space and
empty time have no meaning.
Thus
the variables of space and time, like mass and energy, cannot meaningfully
approach nothingness infinitesimally as assumed in the application of Newton’s
differential and integral calculus.
The remedy for this problem is easy to
understand: We must simply replace the calculus of Newton and Leibniz with a
quantum calculus, a calculus in which variables approach a finite quantum
limit, not nothingness.
QUANTUM CALCULUS
Newtonian
calculus is very successful when applied to macro-scale problems. But when
applied at the quantum scale, it leads to erroneous results. For example, if we
are trying to determine the exact location of an elementary particle in a dynamic
system, the assumption of continuity is invalid. No variable of measurement can
approach nothingness infinitely closely because the accuracy of the measurement
stops at one quantum. The quantum value of the expression describing the
location of the particle will be different than the value obtained by applying
Newtonian calculus. The appropriate calculus for analyzing and describing quantum
phenomena is a calculus with one quantum equivalence as its basic unit of
measurement.
I
developed such a calculus in 1986, the Calculus of Distinctions, published in
“Infinite Continuity” in 1990, and I applied the Calculus of Distinctions to
the processes of consciousness in “Transcendental Physics,” 1997 and 2000. The
Calculus of Distinctions was also applied to the analysis of intelligence in “The Calculus of Dimensional
Distinction” in “Elements of mathematical theory of intellect”, Brandin V,
Close ER, Moscow, Interphysica Lab, 2003. The Calculus of Distinctions was further
developed and published in articles including “The Calculus of Distinctions: A Workable Model
across Dimensions and Consciousness”, the Dynamic
Journal of Exceptional Creative Achievement (DJECA) 1210:1210; 2387 -2397,
2012, Close ER, Neppe VM, and “Reality Begins with Consciousness” Neppe, VM and
Close, ER, 2012.
As early as 1986, I reasoned that,
if the natural elementary particle with the smallest mass also had the smallest
volume, then it would be the logical candidate for the unitary distinction of
the Calculus of Distinctions for application to quantum mechanics. In a
quantized system, variables can only have integer values, and the equations
describing a quantized reality become Diophantine,
meaning that only integer solutions correspond
to reality. This brought me to the realization that proof of Fermat’s
Last Theorem for n = 3 might explain why quarks combine in threes to form
protons and neutrons. I developed the concept and published a brief description
of it in “Infinite Continuity” pp. 68 – 71 and 192, in 1990.
Problems involving dynamic systems
in three dimensions are difficult in conventional mathematics, and such analyses
in more than three dimensions are often virtually intractable. On the other
hand, using a calculus of quantized distinctions, the analysis is
three-dimensional from the beginning and once the problem is set up, results
can often be obtained by hand with a few lines of calculations. In my opinion,
this computational simplification resulting from switching to a quantum
calculus makes the trouble of learning a new system of mathematical logic
worthwhile. And there is an added bonus: the Calculus of Distinctions can be
used to evaluate hypotheses. If a hypothesis can be translated into the
language of the calculus, a few calculations can determine whether the
hypothesis is valid, or contains logical contradictions. As explained later, on
page 8, I have built a bridge from the Calculus of Distinctions back to the
Standard Model. Therefore, it is not necessary to be proficient in the Calculus
of Distinctions to evaluate some of the work completed as a part of TDVP.
In 2010, when Dr. Vernon Neppe and
I first met in person in Amsterdam, I confided to him that I believed that I
could explain why up-quarks and down-quarks combine in threes. In 2011, using
particle collider data, I was able to demonstrate that up-and down-quarks combine
in threes to form stable rotating structures because they combine
volumetrically. That is, the quarks in a proton or neutron are not just stuck
together like a cluster of grapes, they merge to form symmetrically stable
entities.
In 2012, I applied the principles
of relativity and quantum mechanics to the Hydrogen atom and used the mass and
volume of the free electron to define a basic quantum unit of measurement. Normalizing
collider data for quarks to multiples of this unit, which I named the Triadic
Rotational Unit of Equivalence (the TRUE quantum unit), I was able to show that
there would be no stable atomic structure without TRUE quantum units of a third
form of substance. These units of the third form occupy the same volumes as units
of mass and energy, but have no measurable mass or energy. After some amount of
discussion, Dr. Neppe and I decided to call this third form of the substance of
reality ‘gimmel.’
Combining TRUE analysis with data
on the abundance of elements in the universe, and computing the volumetric
ratio of gimmel to mass/energy, we found it to be exactly the same as the ratio
of dark matter and energy to ordinary matter and energy computed by
astrophysicists using the Hubble Space Probe data. This strongly suggests that
so-called dark matter and dark energy are either the same as or equivalent to
gimmel!
Applying TRUE analysis to the
natural elements, we found that the most stable atoms of the Periodic Table
having this basic symmetry provided by gimmel, are the elements that support
life, and gaps that occur in the progressive symmetry of the Periodic Table,
are filled by compounds that are part of the RNA and DNA molecules that make up
the physical structure of organic life. These facts strongly suggest that the universe
is designed specifically for conscious life as we know it. And ‘gimmel’ provides a way to evaluate the
amount of consciousness present in a given form of matter.
FINALLY, THE SCIENCE
OF THE FUTURE IS HERE!
When I voiced my concerns about
science nearly 60 years ago, almost no one was interested. Even in 1996, when I
attended the second ‘Toward a Science of Consciousness’ conference in Tucson,
where I presented “the Case for the Non-Quantum Receptor’, the primary focus
was materialistic. I talked with Henry Stapp, Amit Goswami, Charles Tart, and a
number of others about this problem. At the Toward a Science of Consciousness
conference in 2012, David Chalmers stopped and scanned my Poster Presentation
on the findings of TDVP, but at that time he still seemed to me to be very much
in the material/reductionist camp.
Recently, however, in a TED video
published July 14, 2014, David Chalmers asked the question “How do you explain
consciousness?” Now, David Chalmers, along with an increasing number of
scientists, including Henry Stapp, Roger Penrose, Stuart Hameroff, David Peat,
Peter Russell, Fred Alan Wolf, Dean Radin, Menos Kafatos, John Hagelin, and
Deepak Chopra, appear to be moving toward the TDVP position that the
non-physical aspects of consciousness are legitimate subjects for scientific investigation.
David Chalmers asks: “How do we
accommodate consciousness in science?” No one knows. He says: “Maybe it is time
to consider a crazy idea: Maybe consciousness itself is fundamental and
universal in reality.” Based on this TED presentation, it appears that, in his
quest to solve the ‘hard problem’ of explaining why we experience the amazing
qualia of consciousness, Chalmers favors the ‘crazy idea’ that consciousness is
fundamental; but he is less certain about whether or not consciousness is
universal.
These researchers are recognizing that what is missing is a scientifically
reproducible, and mathematically provable connection between the laws of
physics and the qualia of conscious experience. And that is exactly what is
provided in TDVP.
What is TDVP and How Does it Fix the Current
Scientific Paradigm?
TDVP is
an Acronym for the Close-Neppe Triadic Dimensional Vortical Paradigm (TDVP).
TDVP argues that the assumption that consciousness is an epiphenomenon arising
from complex structures of matter is wrong. TDVP presents compelling evidence
that some form of consciousness is just as fundamental in the universe as mass and
energy. Working from this basic assumption, TDVP introduces new mathematical
procedures resolving the conflicts and paradoxes in the empirical data and the
problem areas of the current paradigm.
Why is it called the Triadic
Dimensional Vortical Paradigm (TDVP)?
TRIADIC - because it describes reality in terms of three types
of variables of extent: Space, Time and Consciousness; three variables of
content: mass, energy and consciousness; and three forms of consciousness:
Primary, individual self, and individual other.
DIMENSIONAL – because the framework within which all phenomena and
events are described is comprised of a series of three-dimensional domains.
VORTICAL – because physical objects are composed of rapidly spinning
triadic quanta that form vortexes connecting space, time and consciousness
domains.
PARADIGM – because it is not just a group of theories patched
together, it is an integrated logical framework within which every sort of
phenomena can be described.
THE TDVP PARADIGM SHIFT
TDVP turns the current paradigm
upside down: It provides proof that
consciousness is fundamental and universal, and that the physical universe is
an emergent feature of consciousness, not the other way round.
TDVP is an expanded model of
reality that incorporates all of the demonstrably correct features of the
Standard Model as a subset of a larger self-participatory conscious universe. Like
the paradigm shifts of the past, TDVP requires new mathematics.
The shift from classical physics
to relativity required the new mathematics needed to describe reality as a
four-dimensional continuum and the shift to quantum mechanics required the new
mathematics needed to describe the dynamics of quantum probability: Schrӧdinger’s wave equation and Heisenberg’s probability matrices.
The TDVP shift from a dualistic
material-based description of reality to a triadic consciousness-based
description integrating classical physics, relativity and quantum physics
requires the following trio of new mathematical tools:
1. The Calculus of Distinctions
A calculus derived from the
conscious drawing of distinctions including the distinction of self from other,
and inside from outside.
2. Dimensional Extrapolation
The process of rotation and projecting
mathematically from an n-dimensional domain to an n+1 dimensional domain.
3. The Conveyance Equations
A set of Diophantine (integer)
equations describing the volumetric combination of two or more objects
comprised of multiples of quantum units (TRUE) of two or more dimensions.
The mathematics of TRUE quantum
analysis, derived by applying these three new mathematical tools, is the scientifically reproducible,
and mathematically provable connection between the laws of physics and the
qualia of conscious experience.
As stated previously, one need not
learn the Calculus of Distinctions, Dimensional Extrapolation, or the Conveyance
Equations to evaluate the TRUE units and TRUE quantum analysis. I have developed
the math of TRUE analysis by working backwards from the Calculus of
Distinctions to build a bridge to the existing paradigm that anyone trained in basic
physics and mathematics can follow, utilize, and evaluate the material.
Application of these new
mathematical techniques has explained, and continues to explain an increasing
number of phenomena inexplicable in the current paradigm, confirming the
validity of TDVP. The following are conundrums, observations and measurements explained
by TDVP that are not explained by the current scientific paradigm and the
Standard Model of particle physics:
1.
Why up- and
down-quarks can only combine in threes to form stable particles
2.
The exact
value of the Cabibbo quark mixing angle
3.
The intrinsic
½ spin of fermions
4.
Why Hydrogen
is the most abundant element in the universe
5.
Why some
elements are much more stable than others
6.
Quantum
entanglement and non-locality
7.
The nature of
dark matter and energy and its ratio to ordinary matter and energy
8.
Why there is
something rather than nothing
9.
The role of
consciousness in the physical universe
By reversing the basic assumption
of scientific materialism, TDVP expands the legitimate application of scientific
analysis into areas long avoided by the current paradigm, and simplifies our
understanding of the universe. In the process, it provides new analytical tools
that allow us to determine whether a particular hypothesis represents an existential
part of reality, or is merely a conceptual abstraction.
In conclusion, I believe that TDVP
is the science of the future, and I predict that in the future nearly every
thinking person alive will realize that the paradigm of scientific materialism
was actually the crazy theory, and will wonder how anyone could ever have thought
that reality could possibly exist without consciousness.
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