ONLY MATTER MATTERS.(E O M - 6)

MYTH CONCEPTION 1: ONLY MATTER MATTERS.(Ref. Book – Excerpts from Spontaneous Evolution, Authors: Bruce H. Lipton and Steve Bhaerman)

As repeatedly propagated by Swami Vijnananand, we have been mentioning in these blogs the role of mind and the importance and inevitability of mind's role for inclusion in the scope of science. Such opinions are echoed by a few scientists and thinkers in the 21^st century. Next few blogs to follow cover these topics.

In order to examine why the materialistic attitude has been created among the scientists, we need to review the milestones of the science journey in the past.

Aristotle and other thinkers:

As the interference of church in the life proved mysterious and troublesome, the revolution based on the rational, logic based thinking got initiated in the society. The book ‘On the revolution of heavenly spheres’ by Copernicus created first challenge to the church’s authority in 1543 and marked the advent of modern scientific revolution.

The mission statement of science that time meant to “To gain an understanding of the natural order so that we can live in harmony with it”. The present (21st century?) mission of the science appears to be “To obtain knowledge that can be used to control and dominate nature”. (This is how the modern medicine controls the disease).

Essentially the scientific method involves making observation and measurements, creating explanatory hypothesis, and conducting experiments designed to test the hypotheses. The results of the experiments are then used to refine the hypothesis so they become more predictive of the experimental results. In the end predictability is the primary hallmark of the scientific truth.

Rene Descartes further called for completing the scientific reforms. He boldly suggested throwing out the existing ancient Greek beliefs and replacing them with verifiable truths. ‘Doubt everything’ said Descartes. That time the science search was only restricted to matter. The concept of invisible energy, matrix – which modern quantum physicist named “the field” and which Einstein later attributed as “the sole governing agency of matter” – was not clearly accessible to scientific observation at the time of Newton and Descartes.

Consequently, the parameters of the scientific method unavoidably limited science to the studies of the physical material world. By narrowing its focus of study and determining the non material concepts, such as spirit and mind which were out of the box of analytical science, these elements of the invisible realm were happily left to the church not subjected to the rigid rules of physical science. Thus science officially acquired the status of scientific materialism.

(This truce of distributing the ownership of matter to the science and that of non-matter to the church and creating separate kingdoms though suited to science at that time, the bad effects of negligence of science towards the spiritual realities of life are clearly seen today).

Rather than viewing the universe as controlled by spiritual forces, scientists pursued the notion that the Universe was a physical machine. To them the planets, stars, plants, and animals were merely mechanical gears in a giant clockwork mechanism.

Scientists supported the notion that God created the machine, they also believed that once the machine was set in motion, God was not personally involved in day-to-day operation.

Later the great contribution of Newton to science established the mechanics, (also known as physics) of the Universe and substantiated the Descartes theory.

Since the 1700s, three main tenets of Newtonian philosophy have shaped how scientists approached their study of the Universe.

1. Materialism: Physical matter is the only fundamental reality. Rather than dealing with unseen vital forces or spirits (viz. mind) science need to study and understand only visible physical parts. Simply stated: “All that matters is matter”.
2. Reductionism: To understand anything, take it apart and study its pieces.
3. Determinism: We (scientists) can predict and control the outcome of natural processes. An outcome can be predicted by the linear progression of the discrete (distinct, separate) events.

At the end of 19^th century the entire material universe rested on foundation of irrefutable Newtonian truth. In fact that time physicists were so pleased with themselves that they publicly acknowledged that the science of physics was complete and there was nothing more to learn. But later cracks in the mechanical world view started arriving.

Cracks to Materialism:

1. Investigation by German physicist Wilhelm Concard Roentgen of X-rays.
2. Detection of electron by Sir Joseph John Thompson and findings of Max Plank.
3. Einstein postulated the existence of Photons (1905).
4. Louis-Victor de Broglie later confirmed hypothesis that all particles of matter should also behave as non-material waves.
5. The particle-verses-wave confusion was eventually resolved with advent and establishment of Quantum Mechanics.

Einstein showed that atoms are actually not made out of matter but consist of non-material energy. Today it is fully established that physical atoms are comprised of a menagerie (collection) of sub-atomic units such as quarks, bosons, and fermions.

Jerk to “Reductionism”:

Plank demonstrated that some events cannot be linear cause-effect reaction but seem to occur simultaneously as a part of inter-acting energy matrix called “The field”. In order to understand the nature of the Universe, we must abandon reductionism and, instead, turn to holism, where-in everything interacts with everything else.

Determinism:

Science of quantum physics also dispenses with the notion of determinism. The doctrine that all events, including human choices and decisions, are predicted on a specific sequence of causal reaction that adhere to natural law. Simply stated, the determinism proposed that, with enough data, we can predict the future. Heisenberg theory of uncertainty applies to any two conjugate (joined together, coupled) variables such as position and velocity, time and energy, or angle of rotation and angular momentum. The theory implies that the measurement of one variable results in the disturbance of its conjugate partner, so that both variables can never be accurately predicted at the same time.

Existence of matter uncertainty: Not only Heisenberg theory is direct affront (open insult) to determinism, it also suggests that the existence of matter is itself, an uncertainty.

Dilemma:

This is the predicament we find our self in if we try to make sense of our world by only focusing on material realm (dominance).

What Einstein meant was that the field is the Universe’s energy matrix that governs all matter. He also said that “There is no place in this new kind of physics both for the field and matter, for the field is the only reality”.

Still, many people tenaciously (firmly) hang onto the illusion of material reality. After a century passed, in spite of the Einstein’s establishing the mass-energy equation, it is hard to reconcile with such attitude of the so-called scientists.

Spirit: Interestingly, the invisible energy field that shapes matter, as defined by quantum physicist, has the same characteristics as the invisible shaping fields that meta physicians define as “Spirit”.

Newtonian Physics not negated (invalidated): Quantum physics is a larger realm of awareness that includes and substantially adds to the information provided by the Newtonian physics. Consequently, quantum physics accounts for what was already known plus a whole new realm of heretofore-unrecognized forces that control the unfolding of our Universe.

Science can’t have a Dogma.

If the established science cannot prove the existence of ‘the field’ by their known methods, it can’t avoid acknowledging the power of invisible field. We should open an entirely new field of inquiry and challenge science to explore what it has previously ignored.

Conclusion : 

It is the “non matter mind” which matters most. Swami Vijnananand (S. V.) has clearly stated that science can't reach to the TRUTH unless it opens its doors for the entry of 'MIND'.

Vijay R. Joshi.