Hologram Paradigm

[dalin]

There are a few scientists presenting a new way of looking at the universe. I think this article explains it clearly. What are your thoughts on this? I'll post mine in response.

EDIT: I guess the lack of response is because of the length of the article? Here's a sort of summary of what this theory proposes, though I may not do it justice and one should read the article for a full understanding.

The main idea is that everything in the universe is connected. It's based in part on some experiments carried out by physicist Alain Aspect in 1982. From his study he found that subatomic particles, e.g. electrons, are able to "communicate" with each other, regardless of distance. They seem to behave in a way that indicates that each is aware of the other's presence, and thus acts in relation to the other. However, this ability to "communicate" so quickly doesn't jive with accepted physics; Einstein told us that nothing can surpass the speed of light. To reconcile these two, David Bohm (another physicist advocating the theory) has proposed that the two electrons in the example are not separate entities, but rather two manifestations of the same entity. He likens this concept to a fish in an aquarium:

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by

Imagine an aquarium containing a fish. Imagine also that you are unable to see the aquarium directly and your knowledge about it and what it contains comes from two television cameras, one directed at the aquarium's front and the other directed at its side. As you stare at the two television monitors, you might assume that the fish on each of the screens are separate entities. After all, because the cameras are set at different angles, each of the images will be slightly different. But as you continue to watch the two fish, you will eventually become aware that there is a certain relationship between them. When one turns, the other also makes a slightly different but corresponding turn; when one faces the front, the other always faces toward the side. If you remain unaware of the full scope of the situation, you might even conclude that the fish must be instantaneously communicating with one another, but this is clearly not the case. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>


So you can see where it gets its name; if you take a hologram on film, and illuminate just a fraction of it, you still get a complete image of the object the hologram was taken of.
So what do you guys think?

[tman_ndsu08]

I didn't read it...just scanned it and looked at some of the bold print sentences.

Sounds like a very complex theory....too complex.

[bmaestro]

First off, I read that entire article. It's insanely interesting. Then I proceeded to do a little more research into Aspect's work, also insanely interesting. From what I understand though, this whole idea is incredibly theoretical. Basically, if two photons are emitted by an atom at the same time, they will have different polarizations. However, uncertainty principles and schrodinger make it clear that you can't actually know the polarizations of both at the same time, but they must be opposite because of some quantum theory. basically, if you observe the polarization of one, you instantaneously impose a particular polarization on the other. If the two photons are light-years apart, but one changes state instantly with the observation of the other, this is information traveling faster than the speed of light. Thats a lot of what the whole holography principle is all about, but to me it doesn't seem like theres a whole lot more than a bunch of math and a thought experiment behind it.

As for the implications of such a theory, that all of reality is just a projection of this interconnected, whole hologram, i think that they're amazing, as this principle allows pretty much anything paranormal and all these things we've either called insanity or spirituality to be supported by physics. Its really an exciting idea, albeit based on just a lot of theory, but i guess thats where everything's gotta start.

I have one question, that's kinda a stretch of the imagination to grasp. What about chaos theory? if everything is so interconnected, does randomness have a place? or do the emergant behaviors we see in complex and chaotic systems reflect some property of the "hologram"?

B

[dalin]

Exactly. It would provide a neat explanation for the paranormal/spiritual etc.

Yeah, the place of randomness is an interesting point. I think any 'random' event might have to be considered determined in such an interconnected holographic universe, because they may have some unseen cause.

I think I'll look a little deeper into Aspect's work..heh

[Samildanach]

It's an extremely interesting idea....very hard to prove sufficently well though however what you are saying may well prove to be the undoing of quantum encryption and explains why quantum computers can do billions of calculations simultaneously.
Consider this scenario. You have twenty monitors instead of just two. currently our quantum encryption relies of just two atoms having the same spin states and basically says no other atom can be entangled. If the hologram paradigm is true then it may be possible to entangle a third atom into the arrangement...hell have as many views as u like effectively. the billions of calculations scenrio is just looking at all views at the same time. a 360 degree vision is you will and choosing the correct vision to solve the problem.

[Samildanach]

This was a bit of an after thought....but in theory doesn't this potentially mean that there is only ever one atom of each type just viewed from trillions and trillions of different angles and if we go back to the fish anology. instead of seeing the whole fish through the camera we might only be seeing the tip of the tail or the flash of a fin. when we look at the individual atom at two different places at the same time. In fact taking the extension of this even further means there may be only one fish and the view of the fin or the tail or the eye or the mouth is what gives you your atomic states.