Quantum physics and reality. The observer effect: quantum physics and human consciousness What is quantum psychology

The dualism of consciousness and being, on which the previous philosophy was built, is now considered a materialistic anachronism due to their essential inseparability from each other. Many years ago I introduced the concept of “consciousness-being,” which describes their deep internal connection, explains many phenomena and destroys the insurmountable wall between us and the world, and therefore provides the fundamental possibility of endless knowledge of the world. This also means that God is not just the Creator, but is present in each of us.

Quantum physics for the first time overcame the separation and opposition of matter and spirit, recognizing not only the holism of consciousness-being, but the deep connection of the cognizable with its instrument. We have come close to the point in the development of science when further advancement of knowledge is impossible without unraveling the phenomenon of consciousness and understanding the internal relationship not only of being and non-being, reality and virtuality, but of objectivity and subjectivity, namely, the result of an experiment with the presence of an observer. In quantum physics, a unique situation arises: the measured properties do not exist until the measurement itself - one, and the consciousness of the experimenter is an equal participant in the direct creation of reality - two. By and large, reality is not exhausted by materiality, and what we call dimension appears only when consciousness appears.

According to the leading expert in the field of modern quantum mechanics M.B. Mensky, “ideal” consciousness is not just organically included in reality, but is a function of the whole world, and not its parts, the effect of actual infinity. The bearer of consciousness is not the brain of an individual person, but the whole world, the whole world, and it cannot be otherwise...

“Consciousness does not simply passively perceive one of the probable quantum alternatives, but can partly make a choice between quantum alternatives, shifting the probabilities of the occurrence of a particular event.”

It is generally accepted that the world consists of matter and energy, but at the same time they forget about the information that predetermines their transformations. A quantum computer makes use of the ability of microparticles to process information. After all, the Universe is a giant quantum computer, which, according to S. Lloyd, is constantly calculating its own future. After all, everything in this world is just stages of information processing, and a quantum computer is only one of them. After all, everything in this world, everything that we can imagine, is not just present in this quantum computer, but gives the world all its power and complexity, predetermines the evolution of the world, its continuous complication, the emergence of life, time and eternity itself...

In a sense, things arise from information, or at least they realize the ability of matter and energy to process information. “The computational power of the universe explains one of nature’s greatest mysteries: how complex systems, such as living things, arise from very simple laws of physics.” “The complex world we see around us is a manifestation of the quantum computing of the Universe.” We can say that the laws of quantum mechanics “program” the Universe, continuously complicating it and making its future predictable. The human brain is not only the fruit of these calculations, but also a natural quantum machine, reflecting the quantum world, coplanar to it. As in a quantum computer, in our brain the place of a bit is taken by a qubit, that is, the ability of a quantum system to be in two states at the same time. It is this ability that explains the speed of a quantum computer and the insights of the human mind. I believe that his very development of the mind was also subject to quantum laws in the form of leaps in information processing. The gigantic capabilities of human consciousness in processing information arose during the natural process of increasing the complexity of calculation, reflecting the computational ability of the Universe from the rudimentary level of the simplest to the quantum level of modern man.

The main advantage of a quantum computer working with qubits is that it executes mutually exclusive commands AT THE SAME TIME! David Deutsch calls this paradoxical ability of a quantum computer to do two things at once “quantum parallelism,” the simultaneous execution of several tasks at once. This ability to perform two functions at once is inherent in both quantum mechanics and human consciousness. At the lower levels of human consciousness, classical cognitive dissonance dominates, at the highest levels, “quantum parallelism” dominates. Quantum parallelism allows even a small number of qubits to perform an enormous number of operations, that is, to explore an almost unlimited number of possibilities. Quantum computing is like a symphony consisting of many tones interfering with each other, quantum thinking is symphonic by its very nature.

Modern quantum theory considers consciousness as an independent quantum object, which, like other studied physical objects, can be described using the mathematical apparatus of quantum mechanics, say, by a vector and state matrix, taking into account the interaction of consciousness with the environment.

The above also means that different levels (states) of consciousness correspond to their own superposition of states or different degrees of quantum entanglement (see my book
"Quantum physics and quantum consciousness", Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrucken, 2013, 336 S.). At higher levels of consciousness, the “I” does not interact with the environment and does not change its state even when the psyche interacts with the environment. In other words, the “I” should be where “nothing happens,” consciousness feels like an unchanging center of being, which is not affected by anything, no external events - only this provides the maximum degree of quantum entanglement.

The paradox of consciousness is the same as the paradox of classical and quantum physics, only in science there is a clear line between old and new physics, and in consciousness all levels (states) coexist: the simplest forms of consciousness are classical in nature, and the highest are quantum. Perhaps for this reason there is no need to resort to Everett’s interpretation of quantum theory: reduction or selection of states is necessary for ordinary consciousness, and higher consciousness is capable of mastering all “other worlds” (virtuality, divinity, ideality, intuitiveness, superconsciousness, illumination, etc.) in a state of enlightenment.

The quantum nature of consciousness is manifested in the fact that it obeys the quantum principles of uncertainty and complementarity. By the way, this complementarity of consciousness was noted in the 15th century treatise “Teologia Deutsch”, one of the chapters of which talks about two forms of knowledge: “The created human soul has two eyes: one can contemplate the eternal, the other only the temporary and created. But these two eyes of our soul cannot do their job both at the same time, but only in such a way that when our soul fixes its right eye on eternity, its left eye must completely abandon its activity and remain inactive, as if dying. When the left eye of the soul acts, that is, when it has to deal with the temporary and created, then the right eye must abandon its activity, that is, contemplation. Therefore, whoever wants to see with one eye must free himself from the other, for no one can serve two masters.”

This brilliant insight equally clearly describes both the nature of the mystical properties of the “right eye” consciousness and the numerous mental disorders associated with the bifurcation of a person into “right” and “left”. A real person is, as it were, a quantum superposition of a “left” and a “right” person, in which both of these states are mutually complementary in the quantum sense of the word and manifest themselves depending on the state of consciousness or the nature of observation.

The quantum nature of consciousness in this regard is quite acceptable for the superposition of states without selection of alternatives. Consciousness is not the border between physics and psychology, which is directly related to both of these spheres, as M.B. Mensky writes, but the general field of events occurring in consciousness-being. The meeting of science and mysticism, like the meeting of two cultures, which Charles Snow wrote about back in 1956, is not even a meeting at all, but two sides of the same thing, complementing each other!

The idea of ​​the key role of consciousness in quantum reality was supported and developed by Roger Penrose, Eugene Wigner, Jeffrey Chu, Mikhail Mensky, Edward Walker, Jack Sarfatti, Charles Muses, Stanislav Grof. Roger Penrose suggests that quantizing gravity will help create a physical theory of the microstructure of consciousness, and Geoffrey Chu, for example, considers it necessary to include consideration of human consciousness in future theories of matter: “Such a step will have a much stronger impact on the development of science than all the concepts included in hadronism.” bootstrap..."

S. Grof testifies: “Although it is currently impossible to connect the concepts of modern physics with the research of consciousness in a direct and understandable way, these parallels are striking. When one considers what extraordinary concepts physicists need to explain observations at the simplest of all levels of reality, the futility of mechanistic psychology's attempts to deny phenomena that conflict with boring common sense or cannot be traced back to such notable past events as circumcision or habituation becomes obvious. to the toilet."

It is obvious that nothing can limit the desire of physicists to go further along the path of improving quantum theory, which means not just understanding the nature of the choice (selection) of quantum alternatives, but also including its limitless possibilities in the theory of consciousness. According to M.B. Mensky, further development of applications of the theory of entangled states should sooner or later lead to the inclusion of consciousness in physical theory as a fundamental property, and if this succeeds, then such an attempt could lead to a radical expansion of the subject of physics and to the transition of physics to a qualitative a new level, more important and significant than what happened with the emergence of the theory of relativity or quantum mechanics.

In contrast to the body, everything connected with consciousness is literally saturated with “quantum” associations: a thought, like a wave, cannot be grasped, recorded, stopped, it, like light, flashes, flickers, goes out, gets lost, enlightenment occurs with consciousness or the dark night of the soul begins ... To describe states of consciousness, the color symbolism of the rainbow and the sound symbolism of music are used.

A large amount of scientific research has been devoted to the quantum nature of human consciousness (mental phenomena). The situation in psychology, where “it is impossible to separate the observed phenomenon from the observer, it is impossible to unambiguously draw the line between them” (I.M. Feigenberg), fully corresponds to the dependence of the observed result of a quantum experiment on the method of observation.

INFLUENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS ON THE CHOICE OF ALTERNATIVES

The idea of ​​the need to include the consciousness of the observer in the theory was expressed from the first years of the existence of quantum mechanics (W. Pauli). J. Wigner and E. Schrödinger went even further, concluding that consciousness not only needs to be included in the theory of measurement, but that consciousness influences reality, changing the result of the experiment.

Yu. Wigner's hypothesis about the influence of consciousness on the choice of alternatives can be interpreted as the ability of expanded consciousness to make such a choice purposefully. In D. A. Wheeler's terminology, an observer endowed with active consciousness is able to switch the switch and direct the train along his chosen path (or at least increase the likelihood that the train will take the chosen path). By the way, this shows a direct connection between quantum theory and religion and religious faith: God exists for a deeply religious person and does not exist for an atheist. In the mind of a deep believer and in his individual experience, the existence of God can have very strong evidence. But it can neither be proven nor disproved by scientific methods.

In fact, two world mysteries coincide in science: how one alternative is chosen in quantum measurement and how consciousness functions. It is appropriate to assume the existence of a deep connection between these two problems, and then the function of consciousness is precisely that it, having a quantum nature, participates in choice, say, consciously choosing one of the alternative Everettian worlds. Then to the question: what is awareness? - you can answer: this is the choice of a specific alternative in quantum measurement.

Reduction of the wave function of consciousness is classical certainty, uniqueness, the transformation of probability into our choice. It turns the spectrum of quantum possibilities into a seeming inevitability. But it happens only in our consciousness, because quantum probability dominates in the world, all possibilities are realized. Certainty is only our choice, our way of perception, our scanty faith, our saving crutch, our “bump of vision”.

M.B. Mensky comments: “Only after the choice is made, a certain picture of what is happening arises, described in the language of classical physics... Until the choice has taken place, there is only a quantum picture with its inherent multitude of alternatives. We can say this: only the choice of an alternative determines what happens in reality. But this is exactly what is commonly understood by awareness: only awareness answers the question of what is happening in reality. Thus, the hypothesis of identifying consciousness with quantum selection is fully consistent with our intuition.”

J. Squires considers consciousness to be a window into the quantum world and a tool for choosing alternatives, that is, fragments of quantum reality. There is no need to include consciousness in the theory of measurement - by its nature it is inseparable from reality and, therefore, was included in it from the very beginning.

NON-CLASSICALITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Human consciousness is “non-classical” due to the multi-layered nature discussed above, as well as the “mutuality” of the psyche and reality. Consciousness is indeed complex in nature, being initially adequate to the multi-layered reality and polysemy of language. Most of consciousness cannot be verbalized at all, that is, expressed by means of ordinary language. In the words of Ludwig Wittgenstein, “There is, indeed, the unsayable. It shows itself, it’s mystical.”

The “quantum nature” of our consciousness is that we see outside ourselves only those structures with which consciousness interacts most intensively. Only a “quantum” observer, capable of completely merging with the World, is capable of comprehending subtle mental states.

Quantum theory is quite applicable to explaining both the dual nature of the world (consciousness-being) and the dual nature of man (spirit-body). This is due to the fact that the density of states matrix can be decomposed into two components, one of which is constant and does not depend on external influences (eternal and unchanging), and the second, variable and dynamic, is determined by the parameters of the quantum system.

From the position of quantum theory, it is the first component (the maximally confused state) that has a basic, fundamental, world-generating character, while the second is derivative, secondary. It is like a dynamic shell that reflects the changes occurring in the system. In the language of mysticism, we can talk about the primacy of consciousness and the secondary nature of matter, eidos and telos, the ideal “Core or Axis of the World” and the “shell” in the form of matter, through which the system realizes one or another potential state of the core, spirit, and in the presence of an environment can interact with him.

Quantum theory demonstrates the unity of these two qualitatively different components of the system, and if we talk about consciousness, then the unity of spirit and body in a system that has consciousness.

DESCRIPTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS BY QUANTUM METHODS

What Plato called eidos is equivalent in quantum theory to the density matrix of a maximally entangled state, the “ideal image.” In fact, all physics operates not with bodies, but with “ideas”, “copies”, “maps”,
“images”, “patterns” of real objects, with a copy of the real system in one of its permissible states. Similarly, extending what has been said to the spiritual sphere, one can see in human souls non-local states that exist as particles of the World Spirit or shares of quantum information of the “primary substance” or the Non-Local Source of Reality.

Our thoughts and emotions are intangible manifestations of non-local states described by density matrices. They cannot be detected by instruments, but they exist in subtle reality and can interact here with similar emanations “generated” by other people.

Different states of human consciousness can be put into correspondence, and, perhaps, described by a quantum mechanical state vector, and energy, charisma, activity of consciousness - by a quantum mechanical dependence of energy on state, quantum changes in the distribution of energy in the system.

Today there is virtually no doubt that the subtle energy-informational processes occurring in nature and human consciousness are controlled and can be described by the fundamental laws of quantum theory. Therefore, the need for vague concepts of mysticism and magic gradually disappears, and their interpretation based on the principle of quantum theory about the superposition of states emerges more and more clearly.

S.I. Doronin testifies: “In this case, a significant role is played by the presence of nonlocality, quantum entanglement at subtle levels of reality, as a result of which external objects in some part become one with our energy body and are connected with it by quantum correlations. Therefore, consciousness has the fundamental ability to change the distribution of energy in external objects as an external “extension” of its energy body, to which consciousness has direct access. However, to consciously manage this process, our consciousness must have practical experience of individual activity at these levels of reality.”

The movement of consciousness, copying all layers of reality, includes two opposing paths: decoherence and recoherence. The first is the path from the omniscient, free and eternal God to the local structures of the material world. The second, reverse path is the path of recoherence, from locality and bodily diversity to pure spirituality.

“Having reached the maximum level of decoherence and falling into the mixture on the material plane, the Spirit begins to move back towards itself. This path is called life, life in the broadest sense of the word.”

Consciousness itself has a decohering character - it manifests the unmanifested and in some sense “materializes” the quantum: “The main state of the quantum world is apocalyptic: with the consciousness of quanta the world can no longer exist. Approaching the threshold of the quantum world, the physicist approaches the understanding of the last times of the local system. Once quantum knowledge becomes available, it begins to disappear."

From the perspective of quantum theory, higher states of consciousness associated with an expanded perception of reality and “magic” can be explained by quantum processes occurring in the human brain. The transition to an entangled state is possible in any object, and is accompanied by a transition from one event space to another. It is important to understand that for this there is no need to involve the human body in such a transition, since only that part of us that is associated with consciousness can be transferred to a non-local state. Most likely, it is this subsystem of ours that is most convenient and prepared for such transitions, which have long been called in mysticism “expansion of consciousness.”

Mystics have long known spiritual practices and techniques for such transformations with the formation of so-called “thought forms” or changes in the level of reality. Mystics also established the conditions for such a transition - “prayer and meditation”, “silence of the mind”, “exit of the soul from the body”, maximum overcoming of the classical correlations of our body and its organs of perception with the environment, fixing consciousness on objective reality. We can talk about the powerful desire of consciousness to “dissolve the body in infinity,” that is, to enter a state of confusion, non-locality due to the breaking of classical correlations of consciousness with the body and with the external environment.

In fact, we are talking about transferring our attention from bodies and objects to the reality of subtle and non-local quantum structures of the World as a whole. In other words, we immerse our consciousness in less dense quantum layers of reality and gain the ability to perceive the subtle structure of the environment. In the language of mysticism, this means that with the help of these techniques we enter “other worlds” - a state of quantum nonlocality. As a result of the unity and integrity of these worlds, we acquire the magical ability to see the invisible, to go out of time into eternity, to control distant objects at their quantum level, since for this it is enough to change our internal state.

It is the quantum nature of our consciousness that makes it universal and eternal in the sense that our soul is in a quantum-correlated state of relationship with everything that exists. In the classical state it manifests itself locally and in time, in the quantum state it manifests itself nonlocally and eternally. The death of the body means the transition of consciousness to a quantum-correlated state of connection between everything and everything. Only our classical part is born and dies, which corresponds to the fastest and most energetically saturated part of existence; the purely quantum part of consciousness is immortal and karmically tied to the heaven and hell that we carry in our soul. One of the best descriptions of this part is “The Tibetan Book of the Dead”.

STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

From the perspective of quantum theory, all differences in the psychophysical states of a person are manifestations of the “quantum nature of consciousness,” different vectors of states, space of states, dynamics of entangled states, energy levels of the psyche, as well as interactions between various quantum states. These states themselves are largely determined by charisma (the level of created energy), spiritual development, mental level of consciousness and verbal constructs with which the personality operates.

Quantum physics has encountered the problem of consciousness in its search for answers to questions about reality and its perception. If in classical physics we deal with objects, then in quantum physics we deal with states. I draw attention to the deep analogy with psychology, which also deals mainly with states of consciousness. By the way, in both cases there is a rejection of the objective nature of the concept of “state”. Just as mystics considered all states to be interconnected, and philosophers paid a lot of attention to the problem and features of changes in states, quantum physicists view nature in general and the nature of human consciousness, in particular, solely as a change in mental states.

The deepest parallel between the quantum worlds and the world of consciousness lies precisely in the fact that in both cases we are dealing with “sciences of states” and that through changes in the states of an object or consciousness (energy levels or activity of states) all transitions to “other worlds” occur. Thus, in parallel, the possibility of a transition from classical physics or psychology to their quantum variants arises.

S.I. Doronin: “Quantum theory helps to understand the essence of such personality states, unusual for classical psychology, as “meditation on emptiness” (inner silence). This is a non-local superpositional state of consciousness, when there are no classical characteristics of it (there is no “manifested” personality - local emotions, thoughts, etc.). And at the same time, this state is the key to the magical, supernatural capabilities of a person.”

Different levels of consciousness can be compared to quantum states. From a quantum mechanical point of view, consciousness is defined as an internal property of a system, which consists in its ability to distinguish and implement individual states and transitions between them that are permissible for it.

It can be assumed that consciousness has freedom of choice between possible states - from the simplest to the god-like. From the position of quantum theory, we can also talk about a superposition of states, as well as transitions to one or another state of consciousness. These states can be distinguished by state vector, energy, information or other quantum parameters. There are also internal and external limitations of consciousness imposed by its “structure” and the external environment. We can also talk about the reduction of consciousness as the ability to reduce the higher to the lower - to characterize this process, I often use the concept of “self-blinding.” In the language of information, this means the ability to expand or narrow the information field of consciousness.

Another important property of consciousness is its ability to convert quantum information into classical information and back. This corresponds to the possibility of transitions from higher levels of consciousness to lower ones and vice versa, in the language of mysticism - narrowing and expanding the field of consciousness.

An obvious property of human consciousness is its ability to distinguish a huge, almost infinite number of states, which can be called godlikeness.

Consciousness as the immaterial side of life in terms of quantum theory corresponds to entangled states and non-local connections typical of a purely quantum state.

Therefore, any thought is a quantum state, that is, something that exists outside of material reality, but determines this reality. Freedom of consciousness is the level of reality to which a specific thought corresponds.

Considering consciousness as a wide range of quantum states, physicists propose to quantify some of its properties, say, the measure of consciousness as the number of permissible states of a system that it is able to distinguish, or the amount of information that the system is able to operate. A number of other definitions have been proposed:

Will as a quantitative characteristic of consciousness, equal to the number of states that can be realized by the system itself.

Attention as the ability of consciousness to distinguish from the total number of distinguishable states of the system separate classes of states that are qualitatively different in their characteristics.

The degree of development of consciousness as the number of different classes of states that the system is able to highlight with its attention.

The development of consciousness, called in mysticism the “gifts of the Spirit,” from the position of quantum theory is a continuous increase in the space of states, or an expansion of the set of permissible states due to the larger system of which they are part.

In a similar way, any properties of consciousness can be determined, which opens up new possibilities not only for classification, but also for the development of consciousness. In this case, the development of consciousness can be understood as an expansion of the set of admissible states of consciousness or the dimension of state space in the process of evolution.

From the position of quantum theory, it is quite acceptable to consider consciousness as something absolutely fundamental to everything else, that is, to consider consciousness as that unmanifest reality from which the material world can arise. In this case, consciousness will be a non-local source of reality with world-generating capabilities. Of course, this is just a guess, but I am convinced that the physics of the future will tackle this possibility!

One way or another, a quantitative description of consciousness using the concepts of quantum theory leaves the realm of science fiction and becomes reality. The first steps towards this reality are being taken in our time.

HIGHER STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The quantum nature of consciousness is similar to wave-particle duality: being continuous, consciousness is divided into “moments of truth” and discrete images. That is, it is local and non-local at the same time. Like quantum objects, states of consciousness are characterized by reincarnations. Moreover, according to Jewish Kabbalah, the cells (vessels) of consciousness are filled with divine light, but can be destroyed under its influence, leading to the “dark night of the soul.”

Most, if not all, of the phenomena of extrasensory perception are associated with the ability of consciousness to ascend to the quantum levels of reality, which at the same time is clear evidence of the correctness of the concept of consciousness-being introduced by me, unity, same-nature, integrity, unity of consciousness and the world. In both cases (the world and consciousness) we are dealing with a hierarchy of realities, at different levels of which physical and mental processes reside.

It is the existence of quantum levels of reality and consciousness that opens to consciousness entrances to “other worlds”, including in reality such mystical phenomena as “the exit of the soul from the body”, “life after death”, “transmigration of the soul”, the phenomena described in “Bardo Thodol” and other Books of the Dead.

An important quality of the new consciousness is spiritual spontaneity, a state of no-mind when decisions made are guided only by our spirit or our guardian angel. In moments of revelation, instead of mental chewing gum, a person is guided by a higher power that never makes mistakes, protects and saves. We must learn to put ourselves in her hands.

A person of new consciousness never clings to something external, does not try to get something, or become attached to some expectations, causes and consequences. In general, the problem is quite simple: either you own your ideas, or they own you, or you acquire wisdom, or knowledge has you.

We can say that a new language adequate to the higher nature of consciousness has yet to be created. For now, we are talking about the quantum nature of consciousness in the language of classical science - and this is one of the reasons for the lack of significant breakthroughs in the psychology of quantum consciousness.

EXPANSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS, ENLIGHTENMENT

Quantum theory has come close to possible explanations for the mystical acts of time reversal or providence. Although technical devices of this kind are still awaiting their discoverers, these processes occur in our consciousness, once again confirming its “quantum” nature. In one of my books, I called human consciousness a really existing “time machine.” It is possible that in this respect consciousness with its endless spiritual and extrasensory abilities exceeds the capabilities of any technical devices.

Numerous examples of consciousness “falling out” of time are given in my book
“Eternity”, which examines the effects of xenglass, proscopy and historical “returns”.

In the reflections presented in Geometrodynamics, John Wheeler discovered parallels in the physical world to what happens empirically in certain non-ordinary states of consciousness. Wheeler's concept of hyperspace theoretically allows for instantaneous connections between elements of space without Einstein's limitation on the speed of light. The extraordinary changes in space-time, matter and causality postulated by the theory of relativity in connection with the collapse of stars and black holes also have their parallels with experiences in unusual states of consciousness. In Weyl hyperspace, nothing ever happens; here everything already exists and nothing happens. Only our consciousness, our gaze glides across this universal stage, snatching images of eternity and calling it time.

In Eastern mysticism, among the enlightened, whose mind is not darkened, knowledge of the past and future is no different from the direct perception of the given (Bhartrihari, Vakyapadia).
Spiritual practices that develop human consciousness and allow one to reach the highest levels of reality (into Nothingness or Eternity) expand the correlation sphere, or the quantum halo of consciousness. It is no coincidence that mystics have long defined this property as “expansion of consciousness.”
The actual result of spiritual practices is the gradual mastery by consciousness of “other worlds” - higher spheres or layers of reality. In the language of quantum theory, this means the existence of the ability of consciousness to “operate purposefully in the state space to which it has reached (change the state vector at the achieved level).

S.I. Doronin: “In practice, this means that consciousness is able to redistribute energy in the necessary way, controlling energy flows... A change in state is a change in energy, since in quantum mechanics it is a function of state. Consciousness must be able to give “commands” (energy flows) at the achieved level and understand what consequences this command will have at lower levels. This is similar to what Castaneda calls “intention,” when the command of human consciousness becomes the “Eagle command.”

I call enlightenment the bringing of key information from an inaccessible source, and it doesn’t matter what you call it. The state of enlightenment is a transparent and radiant vision of the world without boundaries, requiring no explanations or justifications, a state of complete and free fusion with the world, perceived by the mystic as self-perfection and beauty. Here being and non-being are one. “No-thought is when there is a thought and it is not there. This is the ability to not think while immersing yourself in thinking.” From the position of quantum theory, our “I” falls into the reality of quantum entanglement of states in a closed system called the Universe. From the position of mysticism, this means that in the structure of human consciousness there is initially an atmanic body - Brahman (the One) embedded in us.

“The omniscience of the Buddha is non-cognitive knowledge, where there is no accumulated knowledge and no discrimination. Buddha is capable of being at any level of consciousness, both sequentially and simultaneously... He has to lower his level, “descending” into this world” (V.Yu. Irkhin, M.I. Katsnelson).

Western and Eastern mystics are unanimous in the opinion that enlightenment is found in a state of serene peace, mental peace, and enlightening nirvana. In the Surangama Sutra we read: “When the mind enters into a state of complete peace and absolute concentration, then it will see all things not separately, but in their unity, in which there is no place for passions and which completely corresponds to the mysterious and indescribable purity of Nirvana.”

Quantum reality is only accessible in a state of enlightenment, which is possible in exceptional “moments of truth.” Like the decay of a radioactive nucleus, states of “insight” are unpredictable: in fact, this is similar to the relationship between uncertainty and an “altered state of consciousness.”

In fact, enlightenment is such moments of cosmic awareness when the boundaries of the “I” disappear and it turns out that the “I” is present in everything, everywhere and always. This once again suggests that the higher levels of consciousness are not only not localized in the brain, but that discourse actually “screens out” holistic levels of consciousness!

Numerous methods of expanding consciousness from the perspective of quantum theory indicate a person’s ability to control the degree of entanglement of his consciousness with the surrounding reality, and thereby reach other levels of reality. According to physicists, “the theory of entangled states and rematerialization can provide the researcher with a theoretical apparatus for the scientific analysis of magical practices.” The essence of spiritual practices and techniques for expanding consciousness from this position is quite simple - to weaken the interaction of consciousness with the familiar objective world and move into a confused state with the surrounding reality, that is, to break the usual framework of space and time. When the physical world of matter fades into the background, your perception of the world changes in a fundamental way.

In any case, you no longer care about the dollar exchange rate and the latest news. This means that by controlling the degree of quantum entanglement of consciousness with the environment, we can significantly expand our perception and even create new objects of reality that did not previously exist.

According to mysticism, a person deals only with a reflection, with a shadow of truth in his mind. Only a small part of reality is accessible to the average person. The reason for this is man's absorption in matter and his attachment to his lower nature - inner blindness. Spiritual practices help expand consciousness and bring us closer to a better, deeper understanding of the world. In other words, the main obstacle in the process of cognition is not the world, not reality, but the blinders of our consciousness: “...You yourself, that is, everything that you believe about yourself, is the main obstacle. Outside of false identifications, you are already the Truth, you only need to realize your existence in it.”

The hidden potential of consciousness is limitless, and I have no doubt that in the future the role of psychology as a science and spiritual practices for using the limitless reserves of consciousness will continuously increase. In fact, we are talking about the possibility of realizing those reserves of consciousness that mysticism has been using for many centuries and even millennia. The mystics of antiquity actually possessed many techniques for “expanding the horizon,” which, alas, were largely lost in the ill-fated age of Enlightenment.

Quantum integrity (non-separability), due to its non-locality, cannot be represented in space-time; classical bindings are generally inapplicable to it. This is adequate to the inability of “common sense” to grasp the world in its unity - for this reason, mystics have long insisted on the need to overcome the shackles of discursive reason, which fragments the world into parts. Until we get used to the all-containing Void, we will equally not understand and accept purely quantum states, on the one hand, and mystical phenomena, on the other. After all, in order for a psychic to be able to “remove” information from an object or event, he must be in a reality where all states are in a state of unity, that is, in a non-localized quantum reality in which everything is linked to everything. All extrasensory perception is built on the holistic properties of consciousness, opening “other worlds” “sealed” in an object (in the language of quantum theory - to comprehend quantum correlations).

S.I. Doronin: “Probably many have heard that the walls of old houses can “tell” a lot about their inhabitants. And strong esotericists can “read” fragments of information of this kind. One can consider all this to be fantasy, but the principle of non-separability says that there is nothing unusual in this; on the contrary, this is the most natural situation, that a brick, in non-local correlations, stores information about all interactions, including the “psychic secretions” of the inhabitants of the house, especially about their most striking manifestations. But it’s not so easy to “remove” this information, although from a physical point of view it is possible in principle.”

In recent years, the technique of “lucid dreams” has become increasingly widespread, and has even managed to make its way into official science. (See S. Laberge. Lucid dreaming. K.: Sofia, M.: Publishing House of the Transpersonal Institute, 1996). This technique was developed at Stanford University, and as its creator writes,
“lucid dreaming ceased to be associated with the occult and parapsychology and, having taken its place in the traditional scientific system, was recognized as a topic for research.”

The technique of “lucid dreaming” allows almost anyone to learn
“waking up in a dream” and thereby traveling in the world of dreams in full consciousness. “According to the testimony of people who practice this activity, nothing can give a clearer idea of ​​parallel realities than the most realistic experience of lucid dreams. The main feature of the world of dreams is the significantly greater plasticity of the surrounding reality, reflecting a closer connection and interaction of the world of matter with our consciousness.”

CONSCIOUSNESS CREATES BEING

Albertus Magnus testifies: “The human soul has a certain ability to change things... When the soul of a person is seized by a strong passion of any kind, then, and this can be proven experimentally, it [passion] subjugates things in a [magical] way and changes it as it pleases.”

Human consciousness creates being in the sense that it creates “objects” in the course of interaction with their eidos. The visible world is secondary not because it is derived from consciousness or reflects our own qualities, but because what is important for us is not what can be seen, but what arises in the process of interaction and understanding.

The more developed and interesting a person is, the less dependent he is on external influences and the deeper levels of reality available to him. From the position of quantum theory, our relationship with the world is even deeper: each of us is not just an Observer, but takes part in the creation of the World. The universe exists both on its own and thanks to us as partners in creation!

One can give a huge number of examples of the influence of consciousness on the probability of events, as well as on changes in material reality. Telekinesis, poltergeist, strong will, human influence are examples of the influence of consciousness on material objects. I will also point out the psychokinetic effect - the influence of the observer on the fall of the dice. Many experiments have shown that positive results are obtained regardless of the distance of the guesser from the place of the experiment, and guessing is possible both before and after shuffling cards or throwing dice, which simultaneously confirms the existence of foresight.

K. G. Jung statistically analyzed experiments with guessing one of 25 Rhine cards with various symbols and found out three circumstances:
- the number of guesses, as a rule, exceeds the statistical average;
- results do not depend on distance;
- results depend on the interest and enthusiasm of the performers.

It must be borne in mind that many fears, desires, and archetypes suppressed by consciousness are indeed capable of “materializing”: the probability of certain events, according to quantum theory, is proportional to our aspirations and intentions. Perhaps many mystical phenomena and signs are recoherent in nature. For example, poltergeists and other paranormal phenomena often occur around people with an unbalanced psyche, especially teenagers.

The myrrh streaming of icons is another example of the materialization of desires. This phenomenon rarely occurs in calm times, but the number of myrrh-streaming icons increases sharply during turbulent events in the psychic world.

I have been thinking for a long time about an experiment on the mental influence of psychics on the period of radioactive decay. Partially, such an experiment has already been carried out: it turns out that the mechanism controlled by a radioactive source and used to statistically equally fill several receivers with small balls fails under the influence of the mental influences of strong psychics: the probability of the balls hitting one of the receivers indicated by the psychic increases somewhat.

(Chapters from the book by I. Papirov (I. Garin) “Quantum physics and quantum consciousness”, Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrucken, 2013, 336 S.)

ADDITION.

Mensky M.B. "Intuition and the quantum approach to the theory of consciousness" 04/16/2015

One of the most amazing aspects of consciousness is the human capacity for intuitive insights, that is, guesses for which there is no basis in the available information. This ability is difficult to explain within the framework of conventional scientific approaches, and the view that quantum mechanics must be invoked to explain it is becoming increasingly common. Work in this direction began in collaboration between Pauli and Jung in the first third of the 20th century, but only in our time has it become systematic. Most of those who develop this topic appeal to quantum processes that can occur in some brain structures. These include the famous mathematician Roger Penrose, who, apparently, did more than anyone else to popularize the very topic of the “quantum theory of consciousness.” The author of this article proposed a different approach. It uses only the logical structure of quantum mechanics as interpreted by Everett, and on this basis consciousness is introduced not as a function of the brain, but independently, within the framework of psychophysical parallelism. This allows us to effectively consider not only consciousness itself, but also the role of the unconscious, which, as is well known, is extremely important. This makes it possible to explain the phenomenon of “superintuition,” that is, insights (including scientific ones) that obviously cannot be the result of rational reasoning, but appear as a kind of “direct vision of the truth.”

The phenomenon of consciousness is multifaceted, and some of its aspects have been well studied. Others, however, cause great difficulties and sometimes seem mysterious. An example is the phenomenon of synchrony (simultaneous events that are united by a common meaning, but obviously cannot have a common cause for their occurrence). Carl Gustav Jung seriously worked on this phenomenon, and Wolfgang Pauli, in search of its explanation, first turned to quantum mechanics. Another familiar phenomenon, intuition, in its most important manifestations, such as great scientific insights, remains essentially incomprehensible and constitutes one of the deepest secrets of creativity.

In our time, the opinion, first expressed by Jung and Pauli, is increasingly spreading that an explanation of such strange possibilities of consciousness and an understanding of its nature is possible only if we turn to quantum mechanics. It is likely that only along this path will it be possible to solve the problem of consciousness at a fundamental level.

In the spring of 2013, Roger Penrose, a world-famous mathematician and physicist, came to our country. In speeches in St. Petersburg and Moscow, he presented and justified two directions of his research in recent years: firstly, the cosmological hypothesis, according to which the Big Bang was not the only one, but the periods from the big bang to the global collapse are constantly repeated, and secondly, his own version quantum theory of consciousness.

In Moscow, Penrose’s visit began with the fact that he visited the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he became a participant in a round table on the topic “Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness”[i]. Speaking at this event, Penrose emphasized that, firstly, he considers it necessary to involve quantum mechanics to explain the phenomenon of consciousness and, secondly, most likely, to solve the problem of consciousness, the physics that we already know is not enough, but some kind of new physics. In addition to Penrose, five Russian scientists spoke at the round table at IFRAN: physicists A.D. Panov and M.B. Mensky, philosopher V.A. Lektorsky, biologists T.V. Chernigovskaya and K.V. Anokhin. All speakers emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of the problem of consciousness and the need for a comprehensive discussion and clarification of the very concept of consciousness and the phenomenon of consciousness.

Among the speakers was the author of this article, who had previously proposed his Expanded Everett Concept (ERC), which can also be called the Quantum Concept of Consciousness and the Unconscious (QCUB). So what is the problem, sometimes called “quantum consciousness” for short, and how do Roger Penrose’s approach to this problem and our approach agree and differ?

Of our contemporaries, no one has done more to popularize the idea of ​​“quantum consciousness” than Roger Penrose, who wrote two books on this topic [Penrose 2011a; Penrose 2011b] and gave many lectures explaining the issue to the general public. However, the problem itself was formulated back in the 30s. last century during the formation of quantum mechanics by Freud's student, psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, in collaboration with physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who later became a Nobel laureate. Jung and Pauli believed that the physical and mental are inseparable. Pauli tried to find a formalism that adequately expressed a single psychophysical reality. Jung distinguished three layers in the spiritual sphere of man (psyche): consciousness, personal unconscious and collective unconscious.

For Jung, one of the important starting points in this line of work was his repeated observation of such manifestations of consciousness that defy rational explanation, including those that were called synchronicities. Jung spoke of a case of synchronicity if a certain number of events coincided in time and were connected to each other by a common idea or a common keyword, but there could be no physical reason for their simultaneous occurrence. In the case of synchronicity, the probability of a simple coincidence is small, and there is no common physical reason. There is a feeling that it is impossible to rationally explain what is happening, that something mystical is happening. Pauli hoped that such strange phenomena could be explained by invoking quantum mechanics, which by that time had already led to many unexpected and paradoxical conclusions.

At the time Pauli and Jung were working, quantum mechanics had not yet developed some of its important conceptual tools (such as Bell's theorem). The differences between quantum reality and classical reality were not sufficiently understood and adequately formulated. In particular, the interpretation of quantum mechanics proposed in 1957 by Everett and usually called the many-worlds interpretation did not yet exist. The absence of all these tools did not allow Pauli and Jung to make serious progress in explaining the phenomenon of consciousness on the basis of quantum mechanics, although the very formulation of this problem was, as is now obvious, a brilliant achievement.

After Jung and Pauli, this task was forgotten for a long time. But in recent decades, interest in it has been revived on a broader basis and using the latest achievements of quantum mechanics. One of the adherents and promoters of the line of research thus born is Roger Penrose. The main motive for him was the well-known fact of the amazing insights that a person is capable of.

As a mathematician, Penrose formalized this phenomenon in precise mathematical terms. He showed that people (more precisely, mathematicians) are capable of solving mathematical problems whose solution cannot be reduced to some algorithm and which, therefore, cannot be solved by a computing device.

Penrose argues that consciousness transcends formal logic, and bases this claim on some well-known principles in mathematics. He uses the statement about the unsolvability of the problem of stopping a calculation (that is, the impossibility of saying in advance whether a calculation with a given algorithm will stop or continue indefinitely) and Gödel's theorem on the incompleteness of any formal system. The conclusion that Penrose's analysis leads to is that such abilities of human intelligence as mathematical insight cannot be reproduced by an algorithmic system of logic. In other words, some human abilities cannot be replicated by a computing device. These assertions of Penrose were supported by the philosopher John Lucas of Oxford.

Penrose asked whether quantum mechanics could explain this phenomenon and tried to outline the key points for answering this question. He suggested that with quantum mechanical reduction of the wave function, deterministic but non-algorithmic processes can arise, and the brain uses them in its work. For this reason, the rational processes of the mind are not completely algorithmic and cannot be duplicated by an arbitrarily complex computer.

In addition to formal mathematical arguments, an important motive for Penrose's thinking about the quantum nature of consciousness was the even more surprising and essentially relatable phenomenon of intuitive insights that happen to both great scientists and talented people in other areas of life. Many who experienced this mysterious phenomenon, including Poincaré and Einstein, left written evidence from which one can judge how it occurs.

It should be emphasized that we are not talking about simple intuition, when a person, due to knowledge and experience in a certain field, in a very short time scrolls through a chain of reasoning in his mind and almost instantly comes to the correct answer to a complex question. We are now talking about such insights that provide answers to key questions and the choice of paradigm. The cardinal difference between these insights and ordinary intuitive decisions is that, in principle, they cannot be obtained on the basis of rational reasoning. There is simply no basis for this in the totality of information that a given person possesses. The decision comes to him as if out of nowhere.

This decision always comes spontaneously and unexpectedly, like a momentary insight. As a rule, this does not happen while working on the relevant problem, but rather on vacation or while working on completely different issues. Sometimes the solution comes in a dream or immediately after waking up.

What is happening is perceived as a kind of miracle. A hunch, for which there is no rational basis, comes initially in non-verbal form. Its subsequent precise verbal formulation requires time, sometimes considerable. At the same time, as scientists who have experienced such a state testify, at the moment of a guess there is an extraordinary surge of positive emotions and absolute confidence that the solution thus found is correct. And although such confidence, it would seem, is not based on anything, the future, sometimes many years later, invariably confirms that the guess that came instantly was correct.

These kinds of facts of inexplicable insights (primarily scientific ones) were the impetus for thinking about the connection between consciousness and quantum mechanics not only for Penrose, but also for the author of this article. As a result, the Extended Everett Concept (EEC) was proposed. We will see further that we can call it the Quantum Concept of Consciousness and the Unconscious (QSUB). Its first formulation was published in 2000 in the article [Mensky 2000], and a more detailed study was published in a number of articles and two books: [Mensky 2004; Mensky 2005a; Mensky 2007; Mensky 2005b; Mensky 2011; Mensky 2012; Mensky 2013].

Despite the common goal, the approaches to constructing a quantum theory of consciousness, proposed by Penrose and in our works, differ significantly both in construction methods and in final conclusions.

In the theory to which Penrose is inclined, a significant role is played by the reduction of the state of a quantum system (collapse of the wave function). In the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, reduction occurs during measurement and changes (reduces) the state of the measured system to a state that corresponds to the result of the measurement. According to Penrose, state reduction in the brain occurs spontaneously, and a succession of reductions produces a state of mind called consciousness.

The papers, written by Penrose and co-authored by Stuart Hameroff, speculate as a hypothesis about the processes that occur in the brain. It is assumed that some microscopic structures in the brain, the so-called microtubules, operate in an essentially quantum, quantum-coherent mode, and do not undergo decoherence due to uncontrolled interaction with the environment. The absence of decoherence at the computation stage is characteristic of quantum computers, so we can simply say that according to the Penrose–Hameroff hypothesis, the brain works more like a quantum computer than a classical computing device.

The functioning of the brain as a quantum computing device is supposed to explain the phenomenon of consciousness, including those features of it that seem inexplicable when we analyze them within the framework of ordinary classical logic. Whether the authors succeed in achieving this goal is not obvious, and different opinions are expressed on this matter in the literature. In any case, the works of Penrose and Hameroff do not provide definitive answers to all the questions posed at the very beginning and arising during the course of the study. It remains unproven that microtubules do not undergo decoherence on the time scale characteristic of mental processes. But even if we assume that decoherence does not occur, it is not entirely clear why accounting for quantum processes in the brain can explain the phenomenon called consciousness.

Partly to counter these objections, partly to expand the idea of ​​“quantum consciousness,” Penrose suggests that simply invoking quantum mechanics to explain the phenomenon of consciousness is not enough. We need to go significantly beyond quantum mechanics; we need “new physics.” It is not yet possible to characterize it accurately. In any case, gravity should play an important role in it, according to Penrose: it is gravity, as he believes, that forms the bridge between classical and quantum physics, that is, it allows us to finally solve the notorious problem of measurement. This direction of search in Penrose's work, although it cannot be considered complete, deserves serious attention, because the unification of gravity with quantum mechanics, that is, the creation of quantum gravity, still remains one of the most important unsolved problems of theoretical physics.

In the preface to the book [Abbott, Davis, Paty 2008], Penrose referred in this regard to Schrödinger’s opinion about the need to modify quantum physics: “... the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the foundations of quantum theory undoubtedly forced him [Schrödinger] to be skeptical about the accepted dogma that the rules of quantum mechanics must be followed at all levels of physical description. (It may be noted that three other key figures in the development of quantum mechanics, namely Einstein, de Broglie and Dirac, also expressed the view that existing quantum mechanics is most likely only a preliminary theory.) Indeed, there is a distinct possibility that the extension our ideas about physical reality, which may well be required, will become something that will play a central role in any successful theory of physics underlying the phenomenon of consciousness" [Ibid., xi].

Note that to find the connection between consciousness and quantum mechanics, Penrose and Hameroff follow a path that is not only typical for physicists, but often seems to be the only possible one. This way consists in identifying a certain material system that is essential for the phenomenon being studied, analyzing the behavior of this system in accordance with known physical laws, and deducing all the features of the phenomenon being studied from the behavior of this system. In this case, the goal is to derive all the features of consciousness from the behavior of the brain (more precisely, microtubules) as a quantum material system.

However, this method of reasoning, which answers typical questions from physicists, appears to be insufficient in relation to consciousness. The reason for this is obvious. It is that the very phenomenon of consciousness lies at the center of a still unresolved conceptual problem of quantum mechanics: the problem of quantum measurement. This problem leads to the well-known quantum paradoxes and surrounds quantum mechanics with an aura of mystery that has not yet dissipated (note that there is no mystery in quantum mechanics if we are only interested in probabilistic calculations made on its basis).

When constructing the RKE [Mensky 2000; Mensky 2004; Mensky 2005a] instead of the usual way of reasoning for physicists (from the analysis of a material system to the explanation of the phenomena generated by it), a workaround was chosen. Instead of analyzing the properties of matter (in particular, the brain), an analysis was made of the logic of the theory describing matter, in particular, the logic of the quantum theory of measurements. With the help of this analysis, the concept of consciousness was formulated (which, as is known, inevitably has to be included in the description of quantum measurement) and its most important properties were derived. Consciousness was thus defined not as a function of the brain, but as an independent concept necessary for the logical completeness of quantum theory. The brain in such a theory does not generate consciousness, but plays the role of an interface between consciousness and body.

Thus, the logical structure of the phenomenon under study (consciousness) was compared with the logical structure of quantum physics, or more precisely, with the logical scheme of quantum measurement. It is extremely important that to represent the quantum measurement, the only, in our opinion, correct interpretation of quantum mechanics was used, namely the Everett interpretation (which is often, but rather unsuccessfully, called the many-worlds interpretation).

In some works, Penrose touches on the ontology of quantum mechanics, that is, on its various interpretations. At the same time, he expresses the opinion (in particular, in the book [Penrose 2007]) that it is possible to judge Everett’s interpretation only after a theory of consciousness has been constructed. From our point of view, this position is ineffective, since it does not allow us to finally solve either of the two problems. It is impossible to construct either a theory of consciousness or to evaluate Everett's interpretation. On the contrary, the experience of constructing the RKE shows, in our opinion, that by accepting Everett’s interpretation and relying on it, it is possible to construct a theory of consciousness.

Moreover, in such a theory, a kind of interaction naturally arises between consciousness and what in psychology is called the unconscious. This allows us to shed light on the enormous role of the unconscious in human psychology. That is why the logical scheme that arises in this way can be called the Quantum Concept of Consciousness and the Unconscious (QCSB).

Thus, RKE-KKSB explains not only those phenomena that are obviously included in the phenomenon of consciousness, but also those that are generated by the unconscious. Some of these phenomena are considered mystical and are often not recognized by science at all, although evidence of such phenomena has always existed, and in our time it accumulates systematically and can hardly be ignored. The main phenomenon of this kind within the framework of the CCSB was called superintuition. Essentially it is a direct vision of the truth.

These conclusions were unexpected; nothing like this could be foreseen when the task was set to explain consciousness on the basis of quantum mechanics. Nevertheless, these conclusions naturally followed from the logic of the RKE–KKSB. And since the phenomena predicted in this way are confirmed by the thousand-year experience of mankind, the possibility of their explanation within the framework of the CCSB became additional confirmation of the validity of this concept. In particular, Jung's synchronicities, which served as the impetus for the searches of Jung and Pauli, finally receive their explanation in the KKSB [Mensky 2012].

Since the theory that arises in this way concerns the most fundamental concepts, it also leads to philosophical generalizations, essentially overcoming the dualism of the material and the ideal. This makes the whole design even more interesting.

Let us very briefly outline the logical scheme that makes up the essence of the RKE-KKSB.

In quantum mechanics, unlike classical physics, the states of any physical system are elements of linear (vector) space. This means that two states can be added, like vectors are added, resulting in a new state (in addition, each state, like an ordinary vector, can be multiplied by a number, but this is not important for us now).

This property of states is difficult to accept by our intuition. For example, a point particle (say, an electron) may be located at point A. This state of the electron is described by some state vector;A. If the electron is at point B, then its state is described by the state vector;B. But in quantum mechanics, state vectors can be added, so there is also a state of the electron that is represented by a total vector; = ;A + ;B. In this case the condition is said to be; is a superposition of states;A and;B (each vector term can also be multiplied by a complex number, then the superposition has the form; = ;;A + ;;B).

At what point is the electron located if its state is described by a vector;? In a sense, at both points A and B simultaneously, and this despite the fact that the electron is a point particle (has no size, or, more precisely, this size is extremely small), and points A and B can be anything far from each other.

When physicists encountered this property of microscopic systems, they had to seriously change their worldview, but this was done because they could not explain the experiments otherwise. According to experiments, all microscopic objects had unusual properties (say, the ability to be in different points at the same time).

As for macroscopic systems, there are no measurements that could prove or disprove similar properties of these systems. This does not mean that they cannot exist in principle, but in practice it is impossible to create instruments for such measurements. The reason is that instruments would be needed that could monitor all degrees of freedom of macroscopic bodies, and the number of such degrees of freedom is of the order of 1023. So far it is possible to monitor a huge number of degrees of freedom, about 105, but this is still immeasurably far from what required.

However, it can be shown that for the logical completeness of the theory it is necessary to assume that macroscopic systems can be not only in the usual “classical” states, but also in states that are superpositions of distinguishable classical states. American physicist Hugh Everett III was the first to suggest in 1957 that logic should be taken seriously and began to consider superpositions of states of macroscopic systems.

So, according to the interpretation of quantum mechanics proposed by Everett, the quantum world can be in one of the classical states;1, ;2, ... , ;n, ..., but it can also be in the state;= ;1+;2+ ... + ;n + … In this case, we can say that “classical realities” ;1, ;2, … , ;n, … coexist.

Naturally, the question arises as to why we perceive only one classical reality. Typically, adherents of the Everett interpretation answer that;1, ;2, ... , ;n, ... are different “Everett worlds,” each of which has a “clone” or “double” of each observer. Hence the most common term is many-worlds interpretation. This verbal formulation of Everett's interpretation was proposed by the famous physicist Devitt.

From our point of view, this verbal formulation is unfortunate and leads to misunderstandings. For example, we have to say that when measuring any quantum system, one world “splits” into many worlds, which differ in that the measurement gave different results in these worlds. This is only misleading, since the quantum world is one, and only its state can have a complex structure, be a superposition of many classical states.

In the works [Mensky 2000; Mensky 2005a] proposed a verbal formulation free of this drawback. It was suggested:

1) call the components of the superposition;= ;1+;2+ … + ;n + … alternative classical realities, or simply alternatives, and say that quantum reality; is described only by the totality of all alternative classical realities (alternatives) (;1, ;2, ... , ;n, ...) ;

2) to say that according to Everett’s interpretation, classical realities;1, ;2, ... , ;n, ... objectively coexist, but are separated in consciousness.

As a result, while subjectively perceiving one of these realities, the observer does not perceive the others, and he has the illusion that there is only one classical reality.

From here there is one step left to the formulation of the RKE-KKSB. Instead of assuming that alternatives, or alternative classical realities, are divided in consciousness, let us assume that consciousness is a division of alternatives. This is a significantly different assumption, so by accepting it, we modify, or expand, Everett's interpretation, moving on to RKE.

Obviously, such a transition simplifies the logical construction of the theory. Indeed, now instead of two primary concepts, “consciousness” and “separation of alternatives,” only one remains (consciousness = separation of alternatives). In addition, we can now explain the meaning of this concept from two different points of view - from the point of view of psychology (consciousness) and from the point of view of quantum physics (separation of alternatives). But most importantly, the assumption of the identification of consciousness and the separation of alternatives allows us to take the next, and already much more important step, which demonstrates the power of a new interpretation.

If consciousness is a separation of alternatives, then we can answer the question of what happens if we turn off consciousness (in sleep, trance, meditation). Obviously, we must logically conclude that in this case the separation of alternatives is turned off, that is, access to all alternatives (or at least to more than one alternative) appears. The conclusion is that when consciousness is (completely or partially) turned off, there is access to information that is inaccessible in a normal conscious state. Thus, on the basis of quantum mechanics, the role of the unconscious, which has long been noticed by psychologists, is explained.

It can be shown that when consciousness is turned off, not only information from all alternatives becomes available, but also information from all alternatives at all points in time. This is due to the fact that if the complete quantum state of the world;= ;1+;2+ … + ;n + … is known at some point in time, then it is uniquely determined by the law of quantum evolution at any other moment. As a result, the information contained in this complete quantum state is essentially timeless. If it becomes available, then access opens to all points in time.

The ability to access such expanded information can be called superconsciousness. Therefore, turning off consciousness, that is, the transition to “pure existence,” means the emergence of superconsciousness[v]. When consciousness is turned off, the available information does not decrease, but increases incredibly. It is clear that such a defined superconsciousness may well be a source of not just intuition in the usual sense of the word, but a source of superintuition, that is, knowledge of what is true, although it cannot be deduced from the entire volume of information available to a person in a conscious state.

This conclusion, which arises quite naturally within the framework of the RKE-KKSB, is very unusual, since it allows not only to bring together, but also to combine two directions of cognition, which are considered by many to be mutually exclusive. The first of these directions is natural science, or science, and the second can be characterized as the mystical way of knowledge, or metaphysics.

The first direction develops within the framework of materialism, and the second, it would seem, goes beyond the framework of materialism, that is, it is an example of an idealistic worldview. However, when considered within the framework of the CCSC, it turns out that these two directions are not only compatible, but also need each other. Oddly enough, such an unusual field of (materialist) science as quantum mechanics cannot be made logically complete without including the phenomenon of consciousness, which in fact means an appeal to idealism. Moreover, the logic of quantum mechanics leads to the fact that the concept of the “sphere of consciousness” is expanded to include the phenomena of superconsciousness and superintuition (direct vision of truth), which are confirmed in human experience, but are usually interpreted as mystical.

The result of the analysis of the “sphere of consciousness” understood in such an expanded way is the conclusion that materialism inevitably has to be expanded in such a way that it includes some elements traditionally considered within the framework of idealism. These kinds of trends in science are represented not only by RQE, but also by other approaches connecting consciousness with quantum mechanics. Apparently, they indicate that a new scientific revolution is taking place before our eyes, which finally solves the notorious “measurement problem” in quantum mechanics and makes this science logically complete. However, the “payment” (or rather reward) for this is the rejection of a narrow materialistic (in fact, vulgar materialistic) worldview.

Acceptance of materialism, understood broadly, means including in it not only the laws governing the evolution of matter, but also specific laws characterizing the phenomenon of consciousness and, more broadly, the phenomenon of life. By the way, it becomes clear why attempts to derive the laws governing life (and, above all, the evolution of living things) from the laws of matter (physics and chemistry) at some points encounter fundamental difficulties (an example is inexplicable leaps in evolution).

Until now, speaking about the QCSB, or RQE, we have relied on the logical analysis of the quantum theory of measurements and from it we have derived the characteristic features of the phenomenon of consciousness. At the same time, consciousness was considered not as a function of the brain, but as something independent. Viewed this way, the brain (or some of its specific structures) plays the role of an interface between consciousness and body. This method of constructing a theory of consciousness can be considered a variant of psychophysical parallelism, a concept that appeared during the formation of quantum mechanics.

Is it possible, when considering the CCSB, to follow the usual line of reasoning for physicists, from the material system to the phenomena generated by it? Is it possible to reformulate the CCSB in such a way as to abandon the workaround (which we described above) and move on to the direct path? Is it possible to define consciousness and superconsciousness as a function of certain material systems, to derive the phenomenon of consciousness directly from the laws of matter?

Apparently, this is possible, but for this, quantum mechanics itself will have to be considered at a deeper level, when the phenomena under consideration do not violate quantum coherence. The fact is that superconsciousness, as predicted in the RKE, operates not with individual alternative classical realities;n, but with their superposition;= ;1+;2+ … + ;n + …, that is, with the quantum state as a whole. This means that the work of the superconscious does not violate quantum coherence and does not lead to decoherence.

It is known from quantum mechanics that during the evolution of any limited quantum system, its decoherence occurs. Decoherence (that is, the partial loss of essentially quantum properties, the transition to behavior characteristic of classical physics) occurs due to the interaction of the system with its environment. Thus, over time, the state of a limited quantum system acquires more and more classical features. There would be no decoherence if the limited system were absolutely isolated from its environment, but this is impossible. However, this is not only possible, but inevitable for a system that is not limited, but represents the entire world, the Universe. Such a system has no environment at all, so it does not undergo decoherence, but always remains in the quantum coherent regime.

So, the quantum-coherent regime necessary for the emergence of superconsciousness is possible only for the quantum world as a whole. The phenomenon of superconsciousness cannot be generated by a limited material system that includes only the brain or body of the observer, or even the environment of the observer with which his body interacts (which is consciously perceived by his brain). Superconsciousness can only be generated by such a material system, which represents the whole world [Mensky 2013]. The transition from consciousness to superconsciousness means a gradual expansion of consciousness from personal to interpersonal and ultimately to an extrapersonal phenomenon that embraces the entire world. At the same time, it is obvious that the concept of superconsciousness essentially becomes a version of the well-known philosophical idea of ​​the microcosm. Consciousness is personal, but deep superconsciousness is extrapersonal. At the level of superconsciousness, “I” = “the whole world.”

The superconscious, according to the KKSB, operates with information that is not limited by anything. This is not information about the state of the immediate surroundings of a given person (the subject whose consciousness we are considering). This is information that can concern arbitrarily remote parts of the world, as well as their future and past. Accordingly, the alternative classical states mentioned above are the classical (more precisely, quasi-classical) states of the entire world, and their totality represents the quantum state of our entire quantum world. This is why superintuition arises, that is, the unlimited ability to directly see the truth.

It is interesting that such a deepening of quantum physics, which includes the entire world as one of the quantum systems under consideration, actually already exists, although it cannot yet be considered a complete theory. This is quantum cosmology, which is part of quantum gravity. Thus, the theory of consciousness resulting from Everett's interpretation must be reconciled with quantum cosmology, and to some extent this has already been done. These findings echo Penrose's view that a theory of consciousness must involve quantum gravity, and that new physics is needed to fully understand the phenomenon of consciousness.

Literature

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Mensky 2007 – Mensky M.B. Quantum measurements, the phenomenon of life and the arrow of time: connections between the “three great problems” (according to Ginzburg’s terminology) // Advances in Physical Sciences. 2007. T. 177. pp. 415–425.

Mensky 2011 – Mensky M.B. Consciousness and quantum mechanics: Life in parallel worlds (Miracles of consciousness - from quantum mechanics). Per. from English Fryazino: Century 2, 2011.

Mensky 2012 – Mensky M.B. Synchronicities of Carl Jung interpreted in Quantum Concept of Consciousness // NeuroQuantology. 2012. V. 10. P. 468–481.

Mensky 2013 – Mensky M.B., Everett Interpretation and Quantum Concept of Consciousness // NeuroQuantology 2013. V. 11. P. 85–96.
Penrose 2007 – Penrose R. The Path to Reality, or the Laws Governing the Universe. Complete guide. Per. from English A.R. Logunova, E.M. Epstein. M.: Regular and chaotic dynamics; Izhevsk: IKI, 2007.

Penrose 2011a – Penrose R. The New Mind of the King. About computers, thinking and the laws of physics. Per. from English under general ed. IN. Malyshenko. 4th ed. M.: URSS: LKI, 2011.

Penrose 2011b – Penrose R. Shadows of the Mind: In Search of a Science of Consciousness. Translation from English A.R. Logunova, N.A. Zubchenko. M.; Izhevsk: IKI, 2011.
Abbott, Davis, Pati 2008 – Abbott D., Davies P.C.W., Pati A.K. Quantum Aspects
Notes

[i] Materials of the Round Table at IFRAN with the participation of Penrose can be found on the Internet at http://iph.ras.ru/new_phys.htm.

Further analysis showed that this method of reasoning leads to an expansion of the originally posed problem, from the theory of human consciousness to the theory of life in general [Mensky 2011]. The generalization of the phenomenon of consciousness then becomes the way of perception of the quantum world by any living being.

The simplest way to demonstrate this necessity is to analyze the famous thought experiment proposed by Erwin Schrödinger, in which, as we know, a cat finds itself in a superposition state (live cat + dead cat).

For simplicity, we are talking about a discrete set of classical realities. In the general case, their set is continuous, but for our purposes this is unimportant.

[v] In fact, superconsciousness can exist against the background of a fully included consciousness, and this is important from a practical point of view. However, the fundamental side of the issue, the need for superconsciousness, is seen more clearly when we consider the complete shutdown of consciousness.

Theoretical physicist, Ph.D. In addition to scientific work, he conducts seminars and trainings aimed at revealing the creative potential of a person, his holistic and harmonious development.

Your book is called "Quantum-mystical picture of the world. The structure of reality and the path of man", why exactly "Quantum-mystical", how does it differ from the classical, familiar one? How does it manifest itself in a person’s everyday life?

The fact is that in the last 5–10 years, quantum physics has taken decisive steps to connect the quantum and mystical pictures of the world.

If classical physics was able to offer only the concept of a world common to all with a single space-time, then modern quantum theory assumes the presence of different levels of reality, each of which corresponds to its own world, its own, as physicists say, space of events. Any of these worlds may have its own objects and its own “inhabitants”; there may be a space-time metric characteristic only for this world.

What seemed subjective to us - for example, emotions or thoughts - can now be considered as objective states of the corresponding levels of quantum reality. A person appears as a complex multi-level system connecting the physical world, the world of sensations, emotions, mental states... Behind all this lies a Unified Quantum Source of Reality that does not have certain properties, but creates all that exists in the course of interaction between its parts.

Isn't it true that this is very reminiscent of what we know from ancient revelations, the Vedas, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Shamanism...?

The significance of this cannot be overestimated. From the classical, material picture of the world, the idea of ​​man as the crown of evolution, who can only manipulate the forces of nature for the sake of his convenience, naturally followed. This ideology obviously leads humanity to a dead end. There is a joke among educated Americans: when will the world end? Answer: when every Chinese person will have a car. Indeed, a basic calculation shows that if the entire world population reaches America's consumption level, proven mineral reserves will only last for a few years.

From the quantum picture follows a completely different idea of ​​man’s place in the world and the tasks facing him. In the version that I am developing, man appears as a creature located approximately in the middle of the evolutionary ladder, and with limitless potential possibilities. Sooner or later he may become one of those whom we call gods, and this is not the limit!

And what is equally important, the quantum picture of the world can provide real practical support to any person striving to realize their capabilities.

Why, only almost 100 years after the first discoveries of quantum physics, only now has this science attracted the attention of not only scientists, but also theological schools, psychologists and sociologists?

The very concept of “quantum theory” has changed. If almost until the end of the 20th century it was associated only with discrete energy exchange or wave-particle dualism, now quantum theory considers the connections between part and whole, the exchange of energy and information, mutual transitions between the unmanifested quantum reality and the observable classical world. The main thing in modern quantum theory is the concept of “state”; for anything that can be characterized as a state, one can hope to apply quantum methods. Thus, quantum theory immeasurably expanded the scope of its possible application.

Your book is in sync with a large number of works on this topic that have appeared in recent years (we have seen the film What the Bleep Do We Know, read books by Doctors Wolf, Capra, Talbot, Bennett, students are studying the works of Zeilinger’s group, etc.) Does it change, in your opinion? view, scientific and social paradigm, or do these synchronicities indicate changes in the consciousness of humanity as a whole?

The scientific and social paradigm is gradually changing, but so far these changes affect only a very small part of society. I think that changes will occur not so much under the influence of scientific discoveries, but under the influence of increasing threats to the existence of humanity in the form of resource depletion, increasing instability of atmospheric circulation, which threatens agriculture, etc. Also, a certain turn in consciousness may occur with the mass introduction of quantum computers - devices that have non-local states as a working resource, that is, states that cannot be correlated with the space-time we are familiar with. When this happens, it will become more difficult to deny the existence of other layers of reality.

Does grass and the entire Universe have consciousness? Co-knowledge and co-creation – does it mean shared or collective knowledge or creation? (Lithuanian and Russian words so- and sa are semantically identical).

The words of the Russian and Lithuanian languages ​​contain many amazing clues that guide us to the very essence of the phenomenon. One of these clue words is co-knowledge, that is, shared knowledge.

We receive knowledge, that is, information about something, only through interaction, and any interaction, from the standpoint of modern quantum physics, is primarily an exchange of information. Moreover, in any interaction there are at least two participants. So it turns out that we receive any knowledge collectively! Is it possible to learn something about yourself or the world without interacting with anyone? Or without splitting into parts for the sake of such interaction?

Thus, consciousness is simply the basis of the existence of the world, and the fundamental nature of consciousness is the exchange of information that occurs between participants in any interaction. All around us is consciousness, and nothing else!

Consciousness is presented at various levels - particles, minerals, plants, animals, humans, creatures that are significantly superior to humans in their capabilities... It ends, apparently, at the level of the Single Quantum Source of Reality, which unites all these levels.

You probably also wanted to ask whether grass, particles, or the entire Universe have the properties of a subject, a person, an individual?

Obviously, awareness arises at the next stage, after consciousness, when the process of obtaining information about the environment begins to reflect the process of obtaining this information itself. That is, when consciousness itself becomes the object of consciousness, albeit presented at a different level. From here it is very close to self-awareness. As for the question of whether the grass or the Universe as a whole has it, this question cannot be answered through “objective” scientific methods. My personal experience tells me that we live in an animated world. This is evidenced not only by my experience, or the statements of ancient books, or the narrations of Russian fairy tales. For example, it is known that one of the greatest inventors of the 20th century, Nikola Tesla, communicated with electrons, power lines, the information field of the Earth, etc. as with living beings, and made most of his ingenious discoveries on the basis of the revelations thus obtained.

Mikhail, you mentioned creatures that are significantly superior in their capabilities to humans. Are these other, alien civilizations? Can communication be established with them using existing technical means?

These are not necessarily alien civilizations. The evolutionary development of man presupposes the development of other layers of reality in which quantum nonlocality takes place, that is, ordinary space-time restrictions lose their meaning. Contact is waiting for us there! It seems quite obvious to me that a number of people in the past and present have reached this level.

The minimum level from which Contact is possible was called by Hindus the highest manas, and in Russian fairy tales - the silver kingdom. Below this level, life is presented as an endless movement in the world of consequences from one hope to another hope, from one hobby to another hobby, from the description of one phenomenon to the description of another phenomenon; the source of all this diversity remains outside the field of perception. A person can get a fairly correct idea of ​​himself and the world only by rising above this plane of the world of phenomena. He must step to where the Knowledge turns out to lie within himself - this is his main task.

And humanity’s attempts to achieve Contact by technical means or through the development of extrasensory abilities speak only of its immaturity.

Quantum physics, reality, Consciousness: yet we co-create or create, i.e. do we make the grass green ourselves (as the Taoists say), or does someone “tell” it to be green?

We interact with the grass, the grass interacts with us, and during this process we receive information about each other. Within us, this process consists of many stages; in the Buddhist Abhidhamma, for example, 17 main stages of perception of any object are described. If this process is conscious and we are present in it, then we, representing the received information in the form of color, create color. If not, the output of the perception process “gets” this or that color, we simply find ourselves faced with a certain fact.

This happens at the level where our awareness appears. If it appears at the conceptual level, then we see only colors whose names are in our memory. Numerous studies show that if a language does not have a word for the color blue, not every speaker of that language will be able to distinguish blue from green. There is nothing in a person’s perception that he does not know!

So we are not co-creating yet, and we are not creating. Alas, for most of us, “it just so happens” that the grass is green. And not all of us think about how our perception makes green grass green grass.

We are still decoherent, the general reality is local. Is non-locality the true spiritual path or the other extreme?

First, I will explain a little what decoherence is. Decoherence is the process of transition from a quantum state to a classical one. During it, subsystems begin to become isolated, separated from each other, up to complete separation and independence. At the same time, their localization occurs: the subsystems acquire visible forms and “dense bodies” that separate them from each other. Decoherence is movement from the source, the center, to the periphery, to a multitude of externally unrelated phenomena. A completely decohered system moves towards chaos. In relation to the human psyche, decoherence means a narrowing of attention on one side of a phenomenon, an object of attraction or addiction, as a result of which a person finds himself in a narrowed space of perception. He accepts one side of the phenomenon, but not the other.

The reverse process of a system acquiring quantum properties when interaction with the environment ceases or weakens is called recoherence. During it, dense material shells “blur”, and the boundaries between bodies begin to disappear, and subsystems are united into a single non-local quantum system. Recoherence means movement from the periphery of flickering phenomena to the center, to their source.

In relation to the human psyche, recoherence means awareness, synthesis, that is, a transition to understanding what is happening from a wider spectrum of perception of the world. It would seem that this is exactly what we are missing, but we should not forget that recoherence is possible when there is already something to recohere, that is, when decoherence processes have previously taken place and the necessary information about the parts of some phenomenon has been obtained. Those who consider it normal to live in half-truths, double standards, half-heartedness, insincerity, duplicity, who are “neither cold nor hot,” do not complete this task. And at the very least, they stop developing.

Thus, development is impossible without a combination of de- and recoherence processes! And it is in our power to learn to use them consciously.

Now in society and in the minds of most people, decoherence processes dominate, that is, the separation of individual parts from the whole in isolation from the rest. The decohered world appears in a very devilish guise, in the form of a set of objects and phenomena on which we depend. We try to get something or avoid something, control the situation, manipulate the environment - but complete control turns out to be impossible. We get a lack of unity, splits in science and society, fragmentation of the psyche, professional idiocy... A person stops noticing the forest for the trees, and imaginary goals and needs completely displace systemic knowledge and authenticity.

The interaction of the processes of re- and decoherence in the surrounding world is perfectly reflected in the images of the gods of almost all ancient cultures. Among the Greeks, the process of recoherence can be compared with Apollo, the god of perfect forms and achieved harmony, and decoherence with Dionysus, a cheerful and unrestrained god who sweeps away any barriers; among the Slavs these are Dazhdbog and Yarilo. Each of them is completely barren without the other!

How can a modern person living in a modern hyperactive information society find a middle path between re- and decoherence?

I would formulate your question differently: how to find harmony? The best answers, in my opinion, are carved on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Nothing in excess” and “Know yourself.” This means no one-sidedness, everything must be proportionate. If any quality is clearly expressed in you, see if the opposite is present, can you express it comfortably for yourself and without harm to others? Do you like to take, but do you like to give? If not, keep in mind that it is precisely this quality that you need to “decohere” in yourself; the basic structures of perception of any person provide this opportunity. And then, by recoiling opposites, we gain wholeness.

A person usually directs attention to what is happening around him and to his well-being - but does he direct it to how he creates this very well-being in himself? How does he create his perception, his assessments, how does he make something bad, something good, grass green, and snow white? If yes, then he is on the right path of harmonious knowledge of himself and the world!

Everything that we call real consists of things that cannot be considered as real. If quantum mechanics hasn't completely shocked you yet, you don't understand it well.

Double slit experiment

Could reality be an illusion created by our consciousness? Does consciousness create the material world?

Before answering these questions, it is important to note that “reality” is not just made up of tiny physical pieces. Molecules are made of atoms, atoms are made of subatomic particles like protons and electrons, which are 99.99999% empty space. These, in turn, are made up of quarks, which appear to be part of a field of superstrings, which are made up of vibrating strings of energy.

We interact with the world of physical objects, but in reality these are just electrical signals that our brain interprets. At the smallest limits and fundamental scales of nature, the idea of ​​“physical reality” does not exist.

As Nobel laureate, father of quantum mechanics Niels Bohr said, “everything that we call real consists of things that cannot be considered as real. If quantum mechanics hasn’t completely shocked you yet, you don’t understand it well.”.

When you clap your hands, empty space is actually just touching even more empty space with a hint of the energetic spin of tiny particles. The particles that make up matter have absolutely no physical structure.

This is important to understand because if we think of the world of quantum physics as a world of bowling balls and planets, the idea that consciousness creates reality doesn't make any sense. But if we understand that reality is a cosmic soup of non-localized energy and simple space, it becomes obvious that our thoughts and the signals that the brain registers have the same properties on their scales.

Consciousness represents one of the most difficult problems of science. There is no way to explain how something like material, chemical and physical processes lead to something as intangible as experience. There is no explanation as to why subjective experience exists at all or why sensitivity evolved. Nature will do just as well without subjectivity, and when we begin to scientifically explore the origins and physics of consciousness, we come to the conclusion that perhaps consciousness and reality are not as separate as the science of matter believes.

Here are some principles of quantum mechanics from the book “The Self-Aware Universe”, written by former theoretical physics professor who taught at the University of Oregon for 30 years, Dr. Amit Gozwami:

• A quantum object (like an electron) can be in more than one place at one time. It can be measured as a wave spread out in space and can be located at several different points throughout the wave. This is called the wave property.
• A quantum object ceases to exist here and spontaneously appears there without moving in space. This is known as a quantum transition. It's basically a teleport.
• The manifestation of one quantum object caused by our observations spontaneously affects its associated twin object, no matter how far away it is. Knock an electron and a proton out of an atom. Whatever happens to the electron, the same will happen to the proton. This is called "quantum action at a distance."
• A quantum object cannot manifest itself in ordinary spacetime unless we observe it as a particle. Consciousness destroys the wave function of a particle.

The last point is interesting because without a conscious observer who causes the wave to collapse, it will remain without physical manifestation.

Observation not only disturbs the object being measured, it causes an effect. This was tested by the so-called double-slit experiment, where the presence of a conscious observer changes the behavior of the electron, turning it from a wave to a particle. The so-called observer effect completely shakes up what we know about the real world.

The results of this experiment were published in the journal Nature. Essentially, what it comes down to is that the measurement system that is used to detect the activity of a particle determines the behavior of that particle.

As scientist Dean Radin noted, “We force the electron to occupy a certain position. We produce the measurement results ourselves.” Now they believe that “it is not we who measure the electron, but the machine that is behind the observation.” But the machine simply complements our consciousness. It’s like saying “it’s not me who’s looking at someone swimming across the lake, it’s the binoculars.” The machine itself sees no more than a computer, which can "listen" to songs by interpreting the audio signal.

Some scientists suggest that without consciousness, the universe would exist indefinitely, like a sea of ​​quantum potential. In other words, physical reality cannot exist without subjectivity. Without consciousness there is no physical matter. This observation is known as the “anthropic principle,” and was first introduced by physicist John Wheeler. Essentially, any possible universe we can imagine without a conscious observer will already have one. Consciousness is the basis of existence in this case and existed, perhaps, before the emergence of the physical universe. Consciousness literally creates the physical world.

These findings guarantee huge implications for how we understand our relationship with the outside world, and what kind of relationship we can have with the Universe.

As living beings, we have direct access to all that exists and the foundation of everything that physically exists. Consciousness allows us to do this.

“We create reality” means in this context that our thoughts create the perspective of what we are in our world, but if you look at it, it is important for us to accurately understand this process.

We give birth to the physical universe through our subjectivity. The fabric of the universe is consciousness, and we are just ripples on the sea of ​​the universe.

It turns out, we are lucky to experience the miracle of such a life, and the Universe continues to pour part of its self-awareness into us.

excerpt from article

Mikhail Zarechny

Quantum physics, time, consciousness, reality

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Andrey: - Mikhail, as far as I can imagine, many of the conclusions voiced are based on observations of elementary particles. To what extent can this be true for macroscopic bodies?

The theory of entangled states and the theory of decoherence are formulated not in the categories of particles, but in the categories of systems and subsystems containing any number of particles. The first experiments on quantum correlations in systems containing a macroscopic number of particles have now been carried out.

The transfer of the conclusions of these theories to all systems around us, of course, is a hypothesis.

Tatyana: - Mikhail, for some reason it seems to me that divinity or enlightenment is possible, but for a reason - in return you have to pay a certain price. You must get rid of pain, joy, happiness, grief, desires, fantasies…. It turns out that you won’t have anything related to feelings at all. And by the way, there will be no thoughts with questions either - why, you already see and know everything. Why do I need this emptiness! It's not interesting. It's only interesting when it's significant!

Tanya, watch who is controlling you now, where your question is coming from! Emptiness for an ordinary person sounds like emptiness. The mind, after all, craves illusions, craves an illusory life, and perceives everything within the boundaries and ideas in which it lives. And the state of Enlightenment goes beyond any concept. The mind will never accommodate this. An enlightened person lives everything that is possible in this world. He is present everywhere, even in anger and fear, blissful, surprised and rejoicing. He cannot be called indifferent, insensitive or omniscient. Rather, on the contrary - he is cheerful, easy-going, playful and very inquisitive. There is peace, joy, love and laughter in it - although outwardly it may look like anything. As for emptiness, there is emptiness in the state of Enlightenment, but this does not mean the absence of something. This is the emptiness of Tao. Emptiness for the Master is the absence of unfreedom, the absence of dependence, it is a state of unoccupied and unconditioned consciousness. It is indistinguishable from fullness, but fullness without dependence. And further. Mind is not a state of life. The mind is a state of survival. The mind will never make you happy. Happiness is a state of presence in something, participation in something without dependence, it is a state of no-mind, i.e. mastery of the mind without dependence or identification with it.

Elena: - Mikhail, are you striving to achieve this highest state of Consciousness?

More likely no than yes. If you strive for it, you will never achieve it. Effort here is more unnecessary than necessary. I just live like that, that's all.

Sergei: - Mikhail, is it possible to predict what awaits our world in the future? Will there be what is called "the end of the world"?

As a hypothesis describing the possible end of the world, we can consider the following scenario.

Now, when a person is increasingly alienated from himself, from his life, his psyche is fragmented, its different parts, like a swan, a crayfish and a pike, drag a person in different directions. This means increasing conflict and tension between different parts of the psyche, and increasing tension in the structure of the “I”.

It is known from physics that with a sufficient energy gradient, virtual states become real, local, “classical”.

At a certain threshold value of tension, a phase transition is possible, when images, desires, fears, archetypes of the collective unconscious, etc., suppressed by consciousness. will materialize, and suppressed Fears, Horrors, Lusts, Demons will become the same reality as the one that surrounds us now.

And in ancient books, as you know, it was said that before the “end of the world” there would be many signs. Signs are the local materialization of “dream” images and other structures of the “subtle” world.

This happens now (for example, the myrrh streaming of icons), only on a not very noticeable scale (yet)

And when a global phase transition occurs, everyone will receive in real life what they are actually thinking about, will receive the materialization of those thoughts and images that are most energetically manifested in them.

The majority will receive the materialization of their passions (demons), which will satisfy them, until complete collapse. For some it will be painful (materialization of fears, etc.), for others it will be pleasant. For some it is a painful death, for others it is an easy and pleasant euthanasia.

Believers will receive according to their faith, some of them will see the “second coming,” and some will be tempted by demons until the end of time. But even for those who saw the “second coming” and went to “paradise”, this will only be a delay, a gain of time.

From general considerations of quantum physics, we can expect that in the future all subsystems of the Universe will undergo a reverse transition from a local (classical) to a purely quantum (entangled, nonlocal) state. In Vedanta, such a state of the Universe is called the period of Great Pralaya, when nothing manifest exists, including space and time.

Only those who have realized their existence outside of material forms and have formed a self-aware structure capable of being such even in a pure confused state will be truly saved.

They, apparently, are destined to become one of the Gods, for such a structure is, in principle, capable of creating its own space of events, its own classical reality.

So, the chain is simple: acceleration of technological development -> increased alienation from life and oneself, increased tension in the structure of the “I” -> phase transition (materialization of “subtle” worlds), traditionally called the end of the world.

Alexander: - In esoteric and psychological literature I often come across the term “awareness”; it is often heard today. I understand it as observation, witnessing. This is true?

Almost. Only this is not only observation, it is DISTINCTION, that is, isolating individual components of something. As applied to us, this vision of our reactions, the vision of the components of experience, the components of perception, is an opportunity to EXPLORE it. It's just an understanding of what is happening around you and with you now. It is what happens, happens with your participation, and does not “happen” to you. To be aware you need to be attentive to everything that happens to you. For example, if you were insulted, see which muscles tense and where, how breathing changes, on what thoughts (such as “you can’t do this with me. And with other people too. I have to educate you. Now you will get it!”) our mind. Having examined our experience and seen it, we lose dependence on the object that caused it. We find ourselves in that unchanging center that is not affected by any peripheral movement - which goes on without changing our state at all.

There are many small subtleties in mastering observation and witnessing. Often a person says “I am observing,” but in reality he is not observing, but recording some events or his states. This happens when a person purposefully does something and sees a discrepancy between what is happening and what he wants. These inconsistencies are recorded and felt as concern or worry. Please watch your breathing - I will be silent for a minute. Who noticed that his breathing changed? (most raise their hands). That's it. If the breathing changed, it was a fixation, not an observation. Observation and witnessing require a high degree of disinterest in what is happening. Keep in mind that we have a habit - if we look at something, we immediately want to do something about it. And you don’t need to do anything - you just need to observe. Whatever happens, it does not concern the observer himself. This is where gut knowledge of the situation comes from.

There is another typical mistake in mastering witnessing. Witnessing does not imply detachment from one's own thoughts and emotions, as many people think. It involves any degree of involvement - entirely at your discretion. This is exactly the state when absolute peace and the strongest emotions and experiences are in a state of superposition, existing simultaneously and manifesting outward consciously, entirely at your discretion.

The ability to realize is an immanent property of all things, which is manifested, as already mentioned, at different levels. We are aware with our body, our mind, and all our senses.

An ordinary person is only partially aware of himself; he is aware of what is happening thanks to his mind. The mind is only a part of consciousness, consciousness at the level of the mind. It is this part that decides what is good for us and what is bad, what should be done and what should not be done, and tries to control our behavior. But control in situations that require spontaneous action is impossible, although in situations that do not require anything other than chatter, gestures or a known algorithm of behavior, the mind copes with this task quite well. We can decide not to be angry, not to worry, not to be bored, not to quarrel with our mother-in-law, to be happy and complacent, relaxed and natural, not to smoke, to do exercises in the morning, so what? There is no power behind these decisions. The mind is the most powerless part of our consciousness. The mind can decide, but it does not have the power to implement its decisions. Almost all the strength and energy is in the subconscious, and the real implementation of all our actions is carried out precisely by the subconscious. This part has energy - but it is completely blind, it cannot decide. We consciously make certain decisions, but our unconscious carries them out.

The mind tries to control the work of the subconscious, but complete control is impossible: a part (consciousness of the mind) cannot control the whole. And a conflict arises between our conscious and unconscious parts, a conflict between thought and desire, thought and action. You can try to increase control over your desires and actions, but the more you succeed in this, the more artificial, schizophrenic, false and hypocritical you will become. You will look for and try on all sorts of roles and masks, and in the end you will lose your true being.

There are two ways to get out of this conflict. The first is to remove the control of the mind, and turn into a complete, but unconscious animal. There are countless ways to do this, and alcohol is only one of them. The second is to make the unconscious conscious, to become aware of it. And become aware of the work of the mind. You need to see and experience internal conflicts, realize them - this will open the way to consciousness, consciousness at a much higher level than the consciousness of the mind. This is exactly the path that Buddha and Christ, Lao Tzu and Bodhidharma took... The opportunity to reprogram the mind in such a way as to reduce conflicts between it and the unconscious (many areas of psychology, NLP, etc. do this) is only a delay, sweeping garbage under the carpet , because a person still remains unconscious in relation to these modified programs.

In the process of awareness, the unconscious dissolves into the conscious, and in this our conditioning by the external and the automaticity of reactions disappear. We become more free and whole, we have less and less conflicts inside. At the limit, we realize ourselves not as a body, not as a mind, not as a set of ideas about ourselves, but as Consciousness, which was, is and will always be.

By the way, the charm of danger and risk lies in the fact that there is no time to think, we are forced to act immediately, spontaneously. At these moments, instead of mental chewing, we become aware of ourselves in spontaneity, outside the mind... and then we remember these moments for a long time as moments of genuine life. Authentic life is a life of spontaneity, beyond the control of ideas that have become a barrier between us and the world. And in our classes, as you noticed, we often require exercises to be performed in such a way that the evaluating mind does not have time to turn on, fix something, and become a barrier. Therefore, many Simoron techniques, such as acting out marks or working in reflections, give an almost instant effect due to the removal of mental fixations that come from the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe significance of certain objects. And when we don’t cling to something external, everything that is NOT YOU dies, and little by little we find ourselves in the center of Consciousness. This is how a gradual movement from unconsciousness to awareness is ensured - if, of course, you use it correctly. And rightly, it means simply exploring, being aware of yourself, not trying to get anything, tying something to some expectations, causes and consequences.

I would also like, just in case, to say that we are not at all calling for giving up the mind or anything else. It is about refusing to be attached to and conditioned by them, to identify with them.

The question is simple - either you own your ideas, or they own you. Either you have knowledge, or knowledge has you. Either you eat the chicken or the chicken eats you

Dmitry: Mikhail, isn’t it possible that quantum consideration is valid for small scales, but for ordinary ones, which are familiar to us, it turns into classical, and there are no features that you spoke about in the world that is familiar to us?

Indeed, if certain conditions are met, namely, the smallness of the change in potential energy on the de Broglie wavelength scale, the QM equations transform into the equations of classical physics, and the equations of motion of macroscopic bodies arise as a limiting transition of the QM equations (the so-called Ehrenfest theorem).

This does not mean at all that there are no quantum properties in the “world familiar to us.” For example, the radiation spectrum of the Sun, like a light bulb, like a hydrogen atom, is described exclusively by quantum formulas, and the most ordinary magnet owes its existence exclusively to quantum effects.

But that's not the point. The main quantum dualism is not the “wave-particle” dualism, as was believed until the 80s of the last century, but the “locality-non-locality” dualism. This dualism exists for all bodies, all particles. Now I, as a local object, stand in front of you. And as a quantum-nonlocal structure I am present “everywhere and always.”

Valentina: - Mikhail, does the Universe exist without an observer?

Without an observer, the world both exists and does not exist. Any closed system is in a pure entangled state, and there are no local, classical objects in it. Local (classical) objects exist only for subsystems (observers) exchanging energy with each other.

We can always (formally) identify some object (subsystem) in the world, and this object + the rest of the Universe form a closed system in which the coherence of states is preserved. This object is an observer; when interacting, it is capable of separating the components of the state vector in the rest of the Universe. There are an infinite number of these observers, but, in a sense, they do not exist - there is only an integral system, and observers exist only for each other. Each observer creates his own world, but other observers also take part in this. So the Universe exists thanks to you and me!

What we talked about today are in many ways mind games, mind games at the level of concepts of quantum physics, many of which, however, have been confirmed experimentally. Sometimes these mind games are useful, some even get paid for them.

And the testimonies of mystics are not games of the mind. Buddha looked through millions of illusory worlds. Mystics agree that only the One exists. This was formulated many thousands of years ago in the famous saying “This is THAT.” The One is called differently, most often, recently, it is called Consciousness. We call it the emergency response of the Universe as a whole.

Valentina: - Mikhail, why do all people perceive the world approximately the same way, if the world of each observer, as you say, is subjective?

Good question. Since people’s organs of perception and accumulation of information about the world around them are generally quite similar, and usually deal with objects with a high level of classical correlations, the worlds in which people find themselves are also quite similar. However, this is not the only reason for the illusion of “objectivity” of the world. It is in those fixations of our attention that are socially conditioned, it is in the general system of concepts that humanity uses, and the constant internal dialogue of almost each of us. These reasons fix the assemblage point of almost all people in a very close position, preventing most people from looking at the world from other parts of the spectrum of consciousness.

Many have heard about the ability to move the assemblage point, thus collecting a variety of worlds around you. I read similar descriptions from Castaneda and Marez, and also, as an experiment, I more than once fell into the streaks of bestial perception. The world looks completely different there. Also, data from ethnopsychology and the psychology of primitive tribes indicate that even individuals of the species homo sapiens perceive the world very differently.

Alexander: - Mikhail, is it possible to say what physical death is, and what awaits us after it?

I'll try (smiles).

As we have already said, any object represents a set of interacting quantum fields that differ in the energy of interaction with the environment. That part of the fields that most strongly interacts with the environment is characterized by a low degree of entanglement, and passes into a manifested, local, classical state. And that part of the fields that interacts weakly with the environment is characterized by a high degree of entanglement and remains in a nonlocal, superpositional state.

Between these levels of being there can be all the intermediate links, differing in the energy of interaction - and, therefore, in the degree of entanglement and non-locality. For each “link” in this chain there is its own space of events, with its own metric of space and time, where its Being is realized.

Let me remind you that in “this world” we carry out measurements (observations) not on all quantum fields, but only on those that are characterized by a sufficiently strong energy of interaction with other fields, i.e. with electromagnetic radiation, atoms, molecules, etc. As a result of these measurements, we, for example, see a tree trunk, touch it, smell it, etc.

Out of school habit, many people believe that physical fields arise as a result of the interaction of “dense” matter - electrons, atoms, nuclei, etc. That is, the substance is primary, and the field is secondary. From here, it would seem, we can conclude that with the destruction of the material form, ALL fields corresponding to a given object disappear. This is not so, matter and elementary particles can also be described as excitations of quantum fields (the so-called representation of secondary quantization). These two methods of description are completely equal; sometimes it is more convenient to use the first method, sometimes the second. By and large, any material structure, including elementary particles, arises as a result of decoherence by the environment of a quantum nonlocal state.

That is, when an object “dies” in the material world, we can only say that the characteristics of the “dense” part of the quantum fields of this object change significantly. Quantum fields characterized by lower interaction energy remain outside our instrumental observation.

From general considerations of quantum information theory and decoherence theory, we can say that these fields can store a significant part of the information about the life of an object, and they can last immeasurably longer than its material form, because they interact much weaker with the environment. Measurements using the Kirlian effect confirm this - for example, if you cut off part of a living leaf, the Kirlian image will show the whole leaf for a long time.

Of course, not all information is recorded in these fields, but some averaging of it. Processes occurring at a high speed, inherent in more “dense” fields due to higher interaction energy, cannot leave a trace in the “thinner” layers. This is similar to how a movie camera filming a fire only records information about the shape, color and brightness of the fire, but is not able to record the coordinates and momenta of all the molecules and atoms involved in the process.

Without a doubt, these “subtle” fields can, albeit weakly, interact with what we call the material world, i.e. with “dense” fields characterized by high interaction energy and a high level of classical correlations. And they are able to both transfer accumulated information back to it and interact with other formations, including more “subtle” ones, giving something to them and receiving something from them.

If these fields “die” as a result of interaction with their environment, there will be even weaker interacting fields into which some of the information from these fields will be recorded. They will be even more non-local. And they will also interact - both with fields that are “coarser” in relation to them, and with fields that are more “subtle”, and similar ones.

There is a limit in the chain of such fields, which mystics call the One and the Unborn, and we call the pure entangled state of the Universe as a whole.

That is, we have two poles: on the one hand, a completely entangled state existing outside of time and space, quantum-correlated with everything that exists and capable of manifesting itself in a classical state in an arbitrary place and time (in the terminology of the mystics - Nirvana, God, Consciousness). On the other hand, there are strongly interacting fields with a high level of classical correlations and cause-and-effect relationships (Devil, Separation, Samsara), manifested locally, in a certain place and time. The evolution of “samsaric” structures is largely predetermined by the history of their emergence; this determinism in the east is often called Karma.

In any case, any material or field structure on one side, through quantum correlations and more non-local neighbors, is turned towards the connection of everything with everything (God, a completely quantum-correlated state), and on the other side, through classical correlations, it is turned towards separation, the world determinism, isolation and struggle. These forces are absolutely balanced everywhere, and everyone is free to choose which way to go.

So, in a sense, we can say that we were never born and will never die:) Only our part, which corresponds to the fastest and most energetically saturated part of existence, is born and dies.

Only a person can realize this. Each layer of quantum fields has its own level of consciousness (i.e., the ability to distinguish and record information about the environment), but only a person has the opportunity to directly contact all of them. And the opportunity to see your true existence, existence outside the birth and death of the body, while still alive.

However, Alexander’s question, as I understand it, was asked more specifically - what we will see and feel after death. This is a big topic; it cannot be explained in a few words. Those interested can refer to the descriptions of Emmanuel Swedenborg, the Tibetan Book of the Dead or Robert Monroe. Just keep in mind that a lot is determined by the cultural environment in which a person lived and the corresponding stereotypes. From these positions, the descriptions of Robert Monroe made by him in “Distant Travels” are closest to us. Although the most accurate description, in my opinion - true, in relation to the cultural environment of medieval Tibet - is given in the "Tibetan Book of the Dead".

I will add that the layer of posthumous existence in which we find ourselves will be “chosen” by the bindings of our consciousness and the energy of these bindings. We will be like a ball placed in a salt solution of variable density, and the ball will hover where its density (=binding energy) coincides with the density of the solution. And everyone there will see their own, depending on mental and other stereotypes.

Everyone, in a sense, will go to “paradise” and receive what they dreamed of - only for some it will be joy, and for others it will be torment. For example, in the lower layers (something like purgatory) a person will see the object of his desire, but will not be able to be satisfied, because there is no body, and saturation does not occur. And this torment will continue until the attachments are lived out and the person abandons them.

However, everyone can figure out for themselves which attachments they have the strongest and where they will end up. I advise you to live and abandon these attachments “even during this life” - there, in the afterlife, everything happens much more slowly. Just in case, I’ll emphasize that I don’t mean renouncing pleasures at all, I mean renouncing attachment to them and being conditioned by them. Only when a person becomes a slave to his pleasures can they become destructive.

We have been dealt the Trump Ace, that we were born human beings, and how to dispose of it is entirely up to everyone.