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Five Profound Scientific Facts!

DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
edited April 2012 in General Banter
http://practicalbuddhist.com/?p=175

Comments

  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    1. You came from the stars, literally.
    2. Your mind is a universe.
    3. Atoms are mostly empty space.
    4. 99% of all species that ever lived are extinct
    5. An observer can alter reality.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    1. You came from the stars, literally.
    2. Your mind is a universe.
    3. Atoms are mostly empty space.
    4. 99% of all species that ever lived are extinct
    5. An observer can alter reality.
    Dakini. What do you think about this list?
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited April 2012
    I'd like to add to it, but there's still a lot of argument in some areas of science. I'd like to add: "6. Minds can communicate with each other wordlessly", but that hasn't been accepted as mainstream yet. But think about it: How can an observer alter reality? What's the mechanism? We know observers do alter reality, it's been proven, but how do they do it? I wonder, does it come back to the idea of consciousness being a field that pervades the universe? So it's consciousness focussed on a wave that, through the matrix of the consciousness field, makes it behave like particles? If so, why couldn't consciousnesses communicate with each other through that same matrix? Like ESP, sensing when a distant loved one is in danger, and so forth.

    "Just noodling", as genkaku likes to say. :)
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    I'd like to add to it, but there's still a lot of argument in some areas of science. I'd like to add: "6. Minds can communicate with each other wordlessly", but that hasn't been accepted as mainstream yet. But think about it: How can an observer alter reality? What's the mechanism? We know observers do alter reality, it's been proven, but how do they do it? I wonder, does it come back to the idea of consciousness being a field that pervades the universe? So it's consciousness focussed on a wave that, through the matrix of the consciousness field, makes it behave like particles? If so, why couldn't consciousnesses communicate with each other through that same matrix? Like ESP, sensing when a distant loved one is in danger, and so forth.

    "Just noodling", as genkaku likes to say. :)
    Telepathic? From experience?
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    A lot of studies have been done proving telepathy is real. And there's the CIA use of psychics for remote-viewing experiments during the Cold War.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    A lot of studies have been done proving telepathy is real. And there's the CIA use of psychics for remote-viewing experiments during the Cold War.
    Interesting!
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    I have experienced telepathy a few times whilst under the influence of acid. Yes, people may suggest that it is an illusion from being high or whatever, but we tested it out on several occassions and there are many people who have also tested it out on the internet.

    I also have seen a program about remote viewing, that seemed quite interesting, alot can go on behind closed doors.
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    These facts are wrong! I will revise them properly in parentheses. :)

    1. You came from the stars, literally. (The body came from the stars, literally, but it's not you, nor is it yours)
    2. Your mind is a universe (the mind is the universe, figuratively, but it's not you nor is it yours)
    3. Atoms are mostly empty space. (Ok, that one is good)
    4. 99 percent of all the species that ever lived are extinct. (ok, good too)
    5. An observer can alter reality. (Yes, because the observer is what creates it to begin with!)

    :D
  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    edited April 2012
    Number 5 is actually a bit of a misstatement. When scientists say "observe" they mean measure. Just watching something happen does not change a thing. On the subatomic or quantum level only, an electron can act as either a particle or wave. It cannot be both at the same time, according to complicated equations. Of course, you cannot actually observe an electron, but you can design instruments to record their behavior. Instruments that are designed to interact with particles record only particles. Instruments that are designed to interact with waves get waves. On the quantum level, the thing observed by the instrument becomes what the instrument is designed to observe. It's fascinating, but not exactly "we alter reality by observing". It's more like "reality is in constant creation to what it needs to be"

    There's an even stranger quantum effect. If you create twin particles and send them off in different directions, each particle will have the same spin. You can change this spin in one of the particles, and when you do, the spin of the twin particle instantly changes to match, no matter how far apart they are. The speed of light does not exist as a barrier on the quantum level. Also, there is no known force connecting the two particles and no reason why changing one should effect the other.

    Perhaps number 5 could be changed to something like, "The subatomic realm is an entirely different universe and works by entirely different rules."
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Instruments that are designed to interact with particles record only particles. Instruments that are designed to interact with waves get waves. On the quantum level, the thing observed by the instrument becomes what the instrument is designed to observe.
    In the double slit experiment an electron is sent towards a device that records the electron. If the electron has the potential to pass through two or more slots a wave interference pattern is recorded. The same device records the electron as a particle if only one slot is available for the electron to pass through. There is nothing interacting with the electron until it hits the same measuring device post slit but it behaves in different ways depending upon the certainty of our knowledge.

    #5 is somewhat controversial still in regards to the meaning. The quantum buddhism thread explains alot particularly towards the middle of the first page where @ClearLightMind jumps in. He lists many quantum physicists who state that the observer does indeed effect reality.

    http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/7198/quantum-buddhism/p1
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    These facts are wrong! I will revise them properly in parentheses. :)

    1. You came from the stars, literally. (The body came from the stars, literally, but it's not you, nor is it yours)
    2. Your mind is a universe (the mind is the universe, figuratively, but it's not you nor is it yours)
    3. Atoms are mostly empty space. (Ok, that one is good)
    4. 99 percent of all the species that ever lived are extinct. (ok, good too)
    5. An observer can alter reality. (Yes, because the observer is what creates it to begin with!)

    :D
    I like!
  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    Instruments that are designed to interact with particles record only particles. Instruments that are designed to interact with waves get waves. On the quantum level, the thing observed by the instrument becomes what the instrument is designed to observe.
    In the double slit experiment an electron is sent towards a device that records the electron. If the electron has the potential to pass through two or more slots a wave interference pattern is recorded. The same device records the electron as a particle if only one slot is available for the electron to pass through. There is nothing interacting with the electron until it hits the same measuring device post slit but it behaves in different ways depending upon the certainty of our knowledge.

    #5 is somewhat controversial still in regards to the meaning. The quantum buddhism thread explains alot particularly towards the middle of the first page where @ClearLightMind jumps in. He lists many quantum physicists who state that the observer does indeed effect reality.

    http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/7198/quantum-buddhism/p1
    Well, yes, it's an active area of investigation and controversy in the scientific community. Some come down on one side or the other in explaining what happens. But, the fact remains that devices will measure and record the effect without a conscious observer present. Now, that might mean two entire universes exist, one with a particle recorded and one with a wave recorded, and the act of observing the recording puts you in one or the other. The problem is, how would anyone test for such a thing? One solution to the paradox is the multiple universes theory, though. It boggles the mind.


  • zidanguszidangus Veteran
    edited April 2012
    Instruments that are designed to interact with particles record only particles. Instruments that are designed to interact with waves get waves. On the quantum level, the thing observed by the instrument becomes what the instrument is designed to observe.
    In the double slit experiment an electron is sent towards a device that records the electron. If the electron has the potential to pass through two or more slots a wave interference pattern is recorded. The same device records the electron as a particle if only one slot is available for the electron to pass through. There is nothing interacting with the electron until it hits the same measuring device post slit but it behaves in different ways depending upon the certainty of our knowledge.

    #5 is somewhat controversial still in regards to the meaning. The quantum buddhism thread explains alot particularly towards the middle of the first page where @ClearLightMind jumps in. He lists many quantum physicists who state that the observer does indeed effect reality.

    http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/7198/quantum-buddhism/p1
    Well, yes, it's an active area of investigation and controversy in the scientific community. Some come down on one side or the other in explaining what happens. But, the fact remains that devices will measure and record the effect without a conscious observer present. Now, that might mean two entire universes exist, one with a particle recorded and one with a wave recorded, and the act of observing the recording puts you in one or the other. The problem is, how would anyone test for such a thing? One solution to the paradox is the multiple universes theory, though. It boggles the mind.


    My quantum mechanics is a bit rusty, and please correct me if I am wrong, but is it not the very act of observing that collapses the wavefunction, and hence the observation determines the perceived reality ?


    "During observation, the wavefunction describing the system collapses to one of several options. If there is no observation, this collapse does not occur, and none of the options ever become less likely."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind–body_problem
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Instruments that are designed to interact with particles record only particles. Instruments that are designed to interact with waves get waves. On the quantum level, the thing observed by the instrument becomes what the instrument is designed to observe.
    In the double slit experiment an electron is sent towards a device that records the electron. If the electron has the potential to pass through two or more slots a wave interference pattern is recorded. The same device records the electron as a particle if only one slot is available for the electron to pass through. There is nothing interacting with the electron until it hits the same measuring device post slit but it behaves in different ways depending upon the certainty of our knowledge.

    #5 is somewhat controversial still in regards to the meaning. The quantum buddhism thread explains alot particularly towards the middle of the first page where @ClearLightMind jumps in. He lists many quantum physicists who state that the observer does indeed effect reality.

    http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/7198/quantum-buddhism/p1
    Well, yes, it's an active area of investigation and controversy in the scientific community. Some come down on one side or the other in explaining what happens. But, the fact remains that devices will measure and record the effect without a conscious observer present. Now, that might mean two entire universes exist, one with a particle recorded and one with a wave recorded, and the act of observing the recording puts you in one or the other. The problem is, how would anyone test for such a thing? One solution to the paradox is the multiple universes theory, though. It boggles the mind.


    They record an event regardless of a conscious observer, but what they record differs depending upon knowledge of the slit the electron passes through. That this does happen is without doubt, what it means, how or why it happens isn't really understood. The concensus opinion though is that the act of knowing or observing collapses the wave function and in effect alters reality.

    Many in the spiritual community seem to interpret this to mean that we can manifest whatever reality we want, turn water into wine or lead into gold, what have you. I don't think it means that we shoot mind beams out of our heads that hit the electron and make it do whatever we want. My own speculation is that consciousness is a fundamental part of reality like matter or energy and is therefore somehow involved in the causal process.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    There's an even stranger quantum effect. If you create twin particles and send them off in different directions, each particle will have the same spin. You can change this spin in one of the particles, and when you do, the spin of the twin particle instantly changes to match, no matter how far apart they are. The speed of light does not exist as a barrier on the quantum level. Also, there is no known force connecting the two particles and no reason why changing one should effect the other.

    Perhaps number 5 could be changed to something like, "The subatomic realm is an entirely different universe and works by entirely different rules."
    Entanglement! Yes, 5 should include Entanglement, or maybe there should be a "6" for that. :)

  • Mr_SerenityMr_Serenity Veteran
    http://practicalbuddhist.com/?p=175
    Great website. Thanks for sharing!

  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    http://practicalbuddhist.com/?p=175
    Great website. Thanks for sharing!

    Welcome!
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    And if you took out all your veins and layed them end to end... you would die
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    And if you took out all your veins and layed them end to end... you would die
    Lol
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    A lot of studies have been done proving telepathy is real. And there's the CIA use of psychics for remote-viewing experiments during the Cold War.
    I'd hardly call CIA shenanigans science. Read "Legacy of Ashes" by Tim Weiner. The CIA was (and is) a comedy shop.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    "...a history of the CIA, from its creation after World War II ... to its near collapse after 9/11". It nearly collapsed after 9/11? I'm game, this looks good, and the author looks good. Thanks, Mts.

    (sorry, Leon--off-topic)
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    If you lined up all of the lines of cocaine snorted in the UK last year, it would stretch just over 5 times around the world, there's a fact for you, maybe not so scientific but still, COCAINE MADNESS!! Sorry, I have just woken up :coffee:
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    "...a history of the CIA, from its creation after World War II ... to its near collapse after 9/11". It nearly collapsed after 9/11? I'm game, this looks good, and the author looks good. Thanks, Mts.

    (sorry, Leon--off-topic)
    I don't mind!
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    If you lined up all of the lines of cocaine snorted in the UK last year, it would stretch just over 5 times around the world, there's a fact for you, maybe not so scientific but still, COCAINE MADNESS!! Sorry, I have just woken up :coffee:
    Lord! That is insane!
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    Seriously lol. There isa TV series that explores both sides of specific drugs, one of this cocaine. Interesting and very factualy, you tube 'drugs.inc if you are intetested in having a gander :p
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