What is the true reality? The Vedic philosophy defines it with an Axiom: “Anything that changes with respect to circumstances is NOT a true reality”. Now let us examine some of the deepest physical aspects of the universe to find out the true reality.
The universe is made of sub-atomic particles and the intervening space. The sub-atomic particles carry a mass, charge and energy. M-Theory - which can be regarded as the ultimate theory of modern physics - states that all sub-atomic particles are made of one dimensional strings. All the characteristics of sub-atomic particles (i.e. mass, charge and energy) arise from the way these strings oscillate. If the strings oscillate in one particular way, we perceive it as electrons. If the strings oscillate in a different way, we perceive it as protons, and so on. Therefore, we can define the whole universe as countless vibrating strings. However, these strings strictly require a multi-dimensional space (10 spatial dimensions) for their existence. In other words, the “empty space” is more fundamental than these strings. Without the intervening space with extra dimensions, there can be no oscillating strings and hence no universe at all.
Does this imply that empty space is the true reality? Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity states that even empty space is not absolute and constant. At extremely high speed travels, the in-between space shrinks and can even vanish into a zero dimensional point. This shows that even the most fundamental entity of the universe – the space, changes with respect to circumstances. Time is another entity, which was historically believed to be very fundamental and universal. However, Einstein’s theory states that time flows at different rates at different physical conditions, which implies that time is also not absolute and universal. Hence, according to the Axiom, both space and time are not a part of the true reality.
If space and time are not a part of reality, then what they are actually? Quantum Mechanics reveals that space and time has no meaning unless there is a conscious observer. When Einstein was asked to describe about space, he just said “space is what we measure with a measuring rod”. Here, this definition of space strictly involves “we” – the observer. If there is no one to measure space, there is no need for space to exist. The same is applicable to even time. Currently physicists take a stand that none of the physical principles really require the concept of time. Even Neuroscientists say that the past and the future only exist as ideas in the mind, which are mental events occurring only in the present moment. All these prove that even space and time are not really the basic properties of the universe, rather a product of our own mind.
So the present-day science does not give an answer to the question – what is the true reality? Perhaps the answer does not exist in the physical plane? Should we stop asking this question from logical viewpoint and start focusing on the mental creations to get the answer?
Please add your views and thoughts to this subject.
Dear Vaitheeswaran:
The true reality is all pervasive, motionless and does not interact with anything that is in motion therefore it cannot be detected by experiments. The true reality is the fundamental substance of the universe which is The Great Cause of everything and itself is not caused by any other cause. The true reality is indivisible whole and appears to have divided (apparently) and is one without a second. Space and time are imaginary artifacts superimposed on oscillating energy. It is like mistaking a rope for a snake. It appears that string theory, M theory and general relativity has run out fuel in trying to understand the true reality. Godel's incompleteness theorems rule out the possibility of finding a theory of everything in physics but the true reality can be understood better if physics and philosophy come together. Sting theory and general relativity are geometrical/mathematical theories. Geometry is a part of creation. Before creation, the geometry did not exist. So geometry does not have the power to describe the ultimate cause of the universe which is beyond space and time. A theory of everything must account for the presence of life and consciousness in this universe. If you exclude this aspect then you cannot call it a theory of everything. Following is the link to a theory of everything which describes the nature of true reality in more detail.
Article Periodic quantum gravity and cosmology
Hi Vikram,
Thanks for your answer. I went through your paper, which is a very good attempt to include consciousness within the framework of modern physics. It indeed gave me some answers for my questions. However, i have many more questions for you in a slightly different context.
If I ask myself “what makes me unique and different from others?” all I can say is I have a unique memory of myself, both in terms of psychological and physical, shared by no one else in the world. So right now I am just a bundle of “memories” in my mind and body. This memory is what makes me different from other. So naturally I am curious to know what memory is. What is its origin? How modern science explains memory?
I myself did some exploration to get answer for the above questions. To me, memory stands out as one of the least understood subjects in science. Psychology defines it as a process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. But is memory just limited to psychological domain? If so, how do millions of atoms that could be flying through the cells randomly, “somehow” stay together in a double helix structure in order to create a DNA molecule in an impeccable way so that it is unique to every living creature on earth? It is difficult to explain this without knowing how memory truly works. So memory must be evolving from much deeper level than just psychological.
It is not unreasonable to think that memory could evolve right from physical level and manifest into chemical, biological, and psychological levels. Hence, there could be an explanation for memory in physics. As a physicist, I became curious to know which theory in physics could successfully explain memory. Surprisingly, none of the existing physical theories explain memory successfully.
On the other hand, recently a few physicists have started to realize that it is not physics that is going to explain memory anytime soon, but it is the concept of memory that can help us understand physics better. To put it in simple words, memory could be more fundamental than physics itself. This is a breath taking notion, which is going to drastically transform the way we have been looking at the physical aspects of the universe. This shift in thought among physicists is because of their inability to explain the random nature of elementary particles. Quantum mechanics (QM) - the most successful theory in physics - can just give us the probability to find a particle in a given location and time. The idea that nature is inherently probabilistic — that particles have only likelihoods, until they are observed — is directly implied by the standard equations of QM. This is the central problem in QM. Einstein rejected this idea by saying “I am convinced God does not play dice”. He believed there must be some hidden variable or property of the particle that gives rise to such weird behavior. But hidden variable theory was not accepted by many physicists. Many argued that as long as we are able to make useful predictions using QM without hidden variables, it really does not matter.
After nearly 100 years, few physicists are at the verge of proving that there could be hidden variables associated with the elementary particles. Physicists have termed it as “Path memory”, because the particles seem to carry the “memory” of the path they have traveled and the interactions they have undergone along the path. Therefore, two electrons that are identical in terms of all known physical properties need not react to an experiment the same way because their path memories can be different. As the path memory builds up during the particle’s journey, its randomness seems to be increasing. In fact the particle is not behaving randomly at all. It is just that our ignorance about the path memory (of that particle) shows up as randomness. This theory might explain how an electron inside my brain could be different from the one in the hot core of a distant star. They carry extremely different path memories.
So now can I say that those atoms that carry a unique combination of path memories stick together to form my DNA that defines who I am?. We started to explore the basis of memory, while ended up showing that memory could be the basis and origin of everything. This raises further questions such as "Can empty space itself can hold memory?
@ Vikram: Can you answer some of my above questions using your new framework?
Dear Vaitheeswaran:
Few things I learned about memory is this. In humans there are two different types of memory storage. One is in the gross body and another in the subtle body. At death the subtle body separates from the gross body and goes either to heaven or hell. The gross body gets destroyed as we see on earth. The memory storage in gross body takes place in what scientists call grey matter which forms around the brain as the person grows. If this grey matter gets damaged, it results in memory loss. Alzamer's diseas is a chronic case of memory loss. The memory in grey matter has to do with our present life on earth and with our day to day life. The memory storage in subtle body is more subtle in nature and not known to modern science. This comes in the domain of spirituality. In Bhagavad Gita (4:1), Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, "In the beginning, I taught this yoga to Vivaswat (Sun)..." In reply (4:4) Arjuna asks Krishna "Later is Your birth and Vivaswat's birth earlier; How
am I to understand this, that You taught this to him at the beginning?" Sri Krishna replied, "Many lives have I passed through as also youself; I know them all, but you do not know them." From this it is clear that spiritually advanced persons have power to recall the memories of their previous lives. This is the memory stored in the subtle body. This memory remains with the person till the entire subtle body is
destroyed at the time of Salvation or ultimate illumination. Memories of previous lives is a well recorded fact in the life of Buddha. Same is the case with Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Guru of Swami Vivekananda. He came to know of his former lives through the power of "Jatismaratwa". This is mentioned in Ch.16:2-5 of the book "Sri Ramakrishan The Great Master." So you are right in saying that the memory must be evolving from much deeper level than just psychological and that none of the existing physical theories explain memory successfully. Spiritual aspect of the memory is unknown to modern science. Memory of previous lives seems to fit well the concepts of "Path memory of the particles" and the "hidden variables."
Regarding empty space holding memory. There is considerable discussion on the concept of "Cosmic Mind" in the eight volumes Of "The complete works of Swami Vivekananda." This concept is based on the "Mahat" of Sankhya Philosophy.
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