Demystifying the Akasha: Consciousness and the Quantum Vacuum

One of the most interesting books I have read. Highly recommended if you are interested in consciousness.

The idea that reality can be understood fundamentally as 'information' has become quite popular in recent years. That is, rather than taking a physicalist philosophical view that reality is fundamentally just matter/energy or an idealist view that reality is fundamentally mind or consciousness, a monist or 'dual-aspect' monist interpretation may be given that sees the physical and mental as aspects of a single process: information processing. The model outlined by Abraham and Roy posits such an idea. In their model, the quantum vacuum can be described as discrete information exchanges between a nodes in an information network, much like a neural network. These nodes, however, obey rules of quantum entanglement, rather than the classical rules of information exchange seen in neural networks. Their model suggests that these microscopic process nodes form groups or 'cliques' that form 'fuzzy sets' of associations that appear at a macroscopic scale as a continuous space-time geometry. The model was originally derived by Roy to show mathematically how a continuous physical space-time can arise out of discrete quantum mechanical energy exchanges. However, this book extends the idea to suggest that the conscious mind may also evolve out of this quantum information-exchange system. In other words, I think Abraham and Roy are suggesting that cosmic consciousness and the quantum vacuum are aspects of the same universal information processes. The book gives an outline of the mathematics of the theory and a brief summary of esoteric thought on the nature of reality from the Ancient Greeks, to Descartes, to Eastern Indian Sanskrit Philosophy. They contend that the seeds of their model are alluded to in these ancient esoteric writings. A special emphasis is given on ancient Indian philosophy with its teachings on other dimensional planes of existence accessed by Yogic practices. Abraham gives a brief rundown on his travel to India, his mystical yogic visions during meditation that fuelled his ideas on the connection between dimensional vibrations/resonances and geometric forms/patterns experienced during mystical states and also seen in the evolution of natural physical systems. Abraham, is not just interested in using the notion of vibration/resonance as a metaphor for mystical connections between mind and matter. For Abraham, mind and matter can be described mathematically though the language of resonances and non-linear wave dynamics. If we are to unify and overcome the Descartes dualism of mind and matter, we need a common language for both the processes of physical reality and mental reality. This common language, expressed though mathematics, is the language of waves or resonances. Ironically, this idea is shared by both modern physicalist ideas in neuroscience/cognitive science and ancient mysticism. As the book outlines, this idea goes back to the teachings of Pythagoras, Plato and Indian esoteric philosophy. I am sympathetic to the general lines of reasoning used by Abraham and Roy in their model, although an important issue regarding causal principles with regards to what we call 'physical causation' versus 'mental causation,' stands as a conceptual stumbling block for their model. This is, human causation appears to be guided by notions of Aristotle's final and formal causation: the desires, reasons, ethics, aesthetics of our mental nature determine causal outcomes when it comes to actions of the mind in the world. While for physical causation, Aristotle's notion of efficient and material causation determine the events in the world. That is, physical events are described by physicists using physical forces and fields that do not stipulate the operations of an 'intensional' mind or 'intentional' agency in the world. Now the crucial question is: should we see Abraham and Roy's fundamental information network as operating according to physical principles, working only by efficient and material causation, as a philosophical physicalist would contend, or should we instead see their information network as really reflecting a cosmic consciousness or (dare I say) "God" that directs the universe's actions based on principles of desire, reason, ethics and aesthetic? Their model does not clearly answer this question. A similar problem arises when one posits a Computational or neural-based theory of Mind and Brain. Does the Mind direct or guide the causal dynamics in the neural architecture of the brain, or are the neural process of the brain just fundamentally 'mind-less' physical processes explained purely by notions of efficient and material causal principles? Perhaps Abraham and Roy, have not 'solved' the mind-body problem (as they claim in the book), but merely pushed the mind/body problem further back, from the level of explanation of individual mind/brain to a broader cosmic level? Some readers may find the mathematics, dealing with network graphs, set theory etc., as intimidating, but hopefully most readers won't find it too much heavy going.

This book expands nicely on my previous reading about the quantum vacuum. This makes it seem more plausible, more understandable and more interesting.

Heavy stuff, much needed in this almost void space.