Physics' inability to reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity, and biology's inability to define the nature of consciousness, has led me away from our Newtonian certainties. I am drawn back towards more unorthodox ideas. The US Navy's acknowledgment that unidentified flying objects are manoeuvring at impossible speeds through its restricted airspace makes that intellectual journey easier.
Scientists tend to dismiss all manifestations of the paranormal, supernatural or metaphysical on the basis that they cannot be replicated in a lab. I'm tending to believe that these phenomena do exist, but weakly.
How weakly? Look at the four fundamental forces that shape our Universe - gravity, electromagnetism and the strong- and weak nuclear interaction. Gravity is the weakest of the four by a huge margin - around 1038 times weaker than the strong nuclear interaction, 1036 times weaker than electromagnetic force and 1029 times weaker than the weak nuclear interaction. As such, gravity has no significant influence at the level of subatomic particles.
And yet gravity exists; we all know it and we all feel its effects. It's there, it's measurable (at sea level on Earth, objects fall towards it at the rate of 9.8 metres per second per second). It's just that on earth, the gravitational pull of a grain of sand cannot be measured. Out in the depths of space, however, tiny dust particles ejected from the remains of supernovae will gravitate together, eventually forming asteroids.
Could it not be the same of paranormal powers? We feel they exist, it's just that they are weak and cannot be measured? And that they don't want to allow themselves to be measured in standardised laboratory experiments?
It is though God - the Universe - is like Planet Earth, whose gravitation pull is undeniable. But we humans... Reach for a steel can with a magnet in your hand, and the can will be drawn to the magnet. But not to your hand; your gravitational pull is insignificant.
If you ask the reasonably observant layperson, "which is stronger - gravity or the forces holding atoms together?", they'd think for a while and say the latter, but when asked how much stronger, few would dare postulate that the strong nuclear interaction is a trillion trillion quadrillion times stronger than gravity. Now if you asked that same person "which is more likely, a random event or a meaningful coincidence?" they'll say a "random event", but will not reject meaningful coincidence out of hand (unless they are a hardened sceptic), mainly because they have experienced meaningful coincidences enough times in their lives to recognise the phenomenon.
And yet physicists roundly reject the notion of meaningful coincidence, saying that it's merely an artificial construct of cognitive bias. The rational mind dismisses the causal connection of unrelated events as 'magical thinking'.
Yet the notion of fate - that which is meant to be; that which shall come to pass - is deeply rooted in our subconscious habits, our culture, and history as a species.
The notion held by some quantum physicists that the future determines the past is of interest to me. Of all the paths that could have been taken by a photon, only one was taken. Rationalists explain that we can no more see into the future than time can travel backward. But what if we can see into the future, only darkly? Weakly?
Fate, destiny - luck - can they be seen as being woven into the fields of electromagnetism and gravity, influencing paths that somehow can be steered by the conscious mind? Some people have stronger psychic powers than others - I take this to be an indicator of spiritual evolution after numerous successive incarnations, gathering not only understanding, but in their ability to manipulate destiny.
Do not let reductionist materialism rob you of hope or comfort; the Universe is unfolding just for you. We are about to enter the post-materialist age.
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This time 13 years ago:
Warsaw's accident-filled streets
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