The Intersection: Science & Faith
The question “Where did we come from?” is at the core intention of both religious and scientific thought. Through the ages, the modern age especially, faith and science have been engaged in a seemingly constant battle over the question of which of them is "right" and which is "wrong" on the concepts of what the origins of humanity and creation are.
But where do they meet in the middle? Where do science and faith intersect?
Let's start by establishing that a harmonious relationship between science and faith is most certainly possible and attainable in perceptions of the human mind. But in the current "academic" world of sciences, it is quite common to hear of the alleged conflict and incompatibility between science and faith, between being a scientist and being a "believer" or based in spirituality. Any scientist interested in establishing a dialogue with the world of faith would probably be frowned upon and any spiritualist teacher looking to base their inner wisdom on science is scoffed at. But the truth lies somewhere in the middle. A harmonious, complementary, and productive coexistence between spirituality and science has indeed been possible—and is still possible in the present day. In fact, the more we learn about the origins of the most basic matter that created our universe ( light, sound and magnetic energies) the more we start to see the "spirit" of them in the origins and stories of all forms of religion and spirituality. We begin to understand that scripture and mythos were taken far to literally by the evolutionary young human mind and that much of the story within is held in the lessons and metaphors of characters as manifestations or emanations of the source(s) of all creation and not literal personages. As we start the mental journey toward the intersection of the "two pillars" of humanity's awareness of it's place and origins in the cosmogenesis we must first define and understand them on an individual level.
A Definition of Science
Let us begin by establishing what is meant by the term “science.” Science is a human activity aimed at acquiring a reliable knowledge of the causes and principles of "things".. Science results from man's attempt to understand the natural material world, comprehend the universe to which we belong, and thus explain to ourselves our intentions for transcendence. Hence, man seeks to satisfy his need to immerse himself in the world, reveal the unknown, and conquer it through the sciences. From this perspective, science and faith share the same fundamental concerns: the intimate wish to comprehend the infinite, be part of it, and decipher/ define the role man plays in the "One Thing" According to Aristotle, man's admiration for all that surrounds us would account for the search for knowledge; in this wider sense, science should be understood as a natural philosophy.
A Definition of Faith
In line with our approach of understanding, we must attempt to define loosely the meaning of “faith”; before doing so, one has to first accept an anthropology that acknowledges the presence of levels in man beyond the purely material levels. That is, it is necessary to assert the spiritual and transcendent dimension of human beings. This dimension con-naturally implies a deep yearning for eternity, embodied in the search for higher truths through our own intellectual powers: memory, understanding, imagination and will. We are especially concerned here with the power of understanding and imagination, where new ideological life is given to intellectual pursuits within science and philosophy.
Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591) defined faith from an ontological and dynamic perspective as the "supernatural means to achieve union of the understanding with God, enabling this power to participate in Divinity". This means that through the action of faith and spirituality, it is possible to catch glimpse of a truth that transcends our corporeal selves; through the discovery of and participation in creation. According to Saint John, faith does not deny the power of deeper cosmogenic understanding, but rather, it raises it to its fullest potential so it can contemplate the mystery of the created and know itself and it's place within in the "One Eternal Thing".
The Alleged Conflict between Science and Faith
Science and faith in relation to one another should have been viewed as collaborative twin pillars of humanity and civilization. However, such a relationship is not as evident from either the modern scientific or faith based communities. The reason for this would be that Descartes's statement “I think, therefore I am” (Je pense, donc je suis, Descartes 1637), which constitutes a fundamental element to Western rationalism, has been misinterpreted by many scientists from the Enlightenment to our times, and reduced human nature to just intelligence to a mere object. In fact, Saint John Paul II made extensive reference to the tragic division between faith and human consciousness which originated with the emergence of modern science and lasts to the present day. Beginning in the Enlightenment period, an extreme and one-sided rationalism led to the radicalization of positions in the realm of the natural sciences and in that of philosophy versus faith and spiritual understanding. The resulting split between "faith" and "reason" caused irreparable damage not only to modern spirituality but also our culture(s).
The apparent conflict between science and faith came to serve as a basis for two broadly antagonistic positions: On one hand, a strict rationalism/ reductionism to the point of non-acknowledgement of the spiritual or "divine" nature of human beings and thus denying a sense of transcendence in the cosmos. This ideology is most exemplified in the opinion of DNA scientist Francis C. Crick who stated:
"You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules. "
On the other hand, we have creationism, a set of beliefs in which the Earth and every current living being originated in an action of creation performed by one or more divine entities with sentient intention. Thus, most pseudoscientific, spiritual and religious movements subscribing to creationism go against the theory (or theories) of standard education's view on evolution. Both fundamentalists and creationists have proposed that creationism could be taught in school science class as a valid alternative to standard evolution. This stream of thought, however, denies part of the physical reality of creation based on the more modern understandings of physics and quantum mechanics. It is necessary, therefore, to keep in mind Saint John Paul II's clear reference to this dualistic perception, in which he stated:
"I make this strong and insistent appeal that faith and philosophy recover the profound unity which allows them to stand in harmony with their nature without compromising their mutual autonomy." (John Paul II 1998)
In both of these viewpoints we see that the contradiction between materialism and creationism is more accurately a dissociation of the spiritual nature of human's and our part of divinity in the universal process. We begin to understand that a productive relationship between scientific reason/ understanding ( physics and quantum mechanics) and the spiritual or "divine" origin of humanity has been almost lost.
Examples of Co-Existence
First, we will refer to Saint Albert the Great (1206–1280), Doctor Universalis and “patron saint of natural scientists” , whose humility and selfless intellectual endeavors served as an inspiration for a number of disciples, among them Saint Thomas Aquinas. His many contributions include his proposal that the Earth was round, a detailed description of plant morphology and, in the field of chemistry, the discovery or the element arsenic. Another intellectual possessing deep spirituality was the Italian physician Saint Giuseppe Moscati (1880–1927), a prominent figure both for his pioneer work in physiological biochemistry (particularly the study of reactions involved in glycogen transformation), and for his integration of faith and reason, as expressed through his work with the poor and incurably ill patients. He personally looked over the “incurable" patients in the hospital, where he remained stationed for several years. While taking care of the ill, Moscati never stopped doing research, balancing science, and faith. Next, Edith Stein (1891–1942), also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, co-patroness of Europe, was a German Carmelite who participated prominently in the dialogue between science and faith. Initially an atheist philosopher ascribing to phenomenology, following a long discernment period she entered a spiritual life and devoted herself to deeply spiritual and philosophical writings, such as The Structure of the Human Person where Stein reached the conclusion that:
“...he who seeks the truth, whether aware of it or not, seeks God”;
According to Stein, for philosophy, the meaning of faith is two-fold. If through faith a truth is reached that cannot be accessed by any other means, philosophy cannot deny such facts of spirituality without relinquishing its claim as universal truth, and moreover, without risking its inherent knowledge being tainted by human error; due to the organic interdependence of truth, if separated from the core, any partial aspect of it will be poorly "illuminated". Therefore, if a person's highest certainty is inherent to faith, and if philosophy intends to provide the highest accessible truth, it has to take ownership of faith. Such is the case when it accepts in itself the truths of faith, and even more, analyzes all other certainties in the light of such truths of faith, as the ultimate criterion. This also accounts for a formal dependence of philosophy on faith. Sadly, given her Jewish origin and allegiance to the teachings of Jesus Christ, Edith Stein died a martyr in a Auschwitz during WWII.
Quantum Mechanics, Physics and Psychology
It is undeniable that the vast majority of crossover between faith and science has been in the areas of Psychology, Physics and the newer understandings of the field(s) of Quantum Mechanics. The true nature and power of the human mind (consciousness) and it's impacts on the material world, as well as, the impacts of the material world on the human mind, or rather, how they act and co-exist with one another has been one of the long standing mysteries. It seems that this relationship sits at the very core of the ideological movements which have best married the two pillars of society and produced some of the most highly revered "minds" through out human history. It is, of course, best to show the relationship with an experimental approach that holds space for human spirituality.
"I cannot define the real problem, therefore I suspect there's no real problem, but I'm not sure there's no real problem."
The American physicist Richard Feynman said the above in regards to the puzzling paradoxes of quantum mechanics (the theory physicists use to describe the tiniest objects in the Universe). He might as well have been talking about the equally knotty problem of consciousness. Some scientists think we already understand what consciousness is as an illusionary phenomenon and yet it is impossible to deny such other illusionary phenomena such as the construct of "time". Regardless of the "nay-sayers", many others feel we have not yet fully grasped where consciousness comes from at all or what it truly "is". The the "unknowable knowing" of consciousness has even led some researchers to invoke quantum physics to explain it. Unsurprisingly, this starting point of understanding has always been met with a degree of skepticism. In fairness, it does not sound wise to explain one mystery with another. But such ideologies and steps to "scientific evidence" of the role of consciousness are obviously not absurd nor arbitrary.
For one thing, the "mind", to the great discomfort of many physicists, seemed to undeniably force its way into early quantum theory. What's more, quantum computers are predicted to be capable of accomplishing things ordinary computers cannot, which reminds us of how our brains can achieve things that are still beyond our current understanding of "artificial intelligence" in our current time.
Here we begin the endeavor of understanding "quantum consciousness" which, despite many attempts at degrading it's existence, just will not go away. Quantum mechanics is the best theory we have for describing the world at the nuts-and-bolts level of atoms and subatomic particles. Perhaps the most renowned of its mysteries is the fact that the outcome of a quantum experiment can change depending on whether or not we choose to measure some property of the particles involved. When this "observer effect" was first noticed by the early pioneers of quantum theory, they were deeply troubled. It seemed to undermine the basic assumption behind all science: that there is an objective world out there, irrespective of us as participants in it's inner workers. If the way the world behaves depends on how – or if – we look at it, what can "reality" really mean? Some of those researchers felt forced to conclude that objectivity was an illusion, and that consciousness must be allowed an active role in quantum theory. To others, that did not make sense. Surely, as Albert Einstein once complained, the Moon does not exist only when we look at it!
Today some physicists suspect that, whether or not consciousness influences quantum mechanics, it might in fact arise because of it. They think that quantum theory might be needed to fully understand how the brain works. Might it be that, just as quantum objects can apparently be in two places at once, so a quantum brain can hold onto two mutually-exclusive ideas at the same time? These ideas are speculative, and it may turn out that quantum physics has no fundamental role either for or in the workings of the mind. But if nothing else, these possibilities show just how strangely quantum theory forces us to think.
The Double-Slit Experiment
The most famous "intrusion" of the mind into quantum mechanics comes in the double-slit experiment. This experiment works by shining a beam of light at a screen that contains two closely-spaced parallel slits. Some of the light passes through the slits, whereupon it strikes another screen. Light can be thought of as a kind of wave, and when waves emerge from two slits like this they can interfere with each other. If their peaks coincide, they reinforce each other, whereas if a peak and a trough coincide, they cancel out. This wave interference is called diffraction, and it produces a series of alternating bright and dark stripes on the back screen, where the light waves are either reinforced or cancelled out. This experiment was understood to be a characteristic of wave behavior over 200 years ago, well before quantum theory existed.
Interestingly, the double-slit experiment can also be performed with quantum particles like electrons; the tiny charged particles that are components of all atoms. In a counter-intuitive twist, these particles can behave like waves. That means they can undergo diffraction when a stream of them passes through the two slits, which produces an interference pattern. So what happens if quantum particles are sent through the slits one by one, and their arrival at the screen is likewise seen one by one? There appears to be nothing for each particle to interfere with along its route – nevertheless the pattern of particle impacts that builds up reveals interference bands similar to those found in the original double-slit experiment using light waves.
The implication seems to be that each particle passes simultaneously through both slits and interferes with itself. This combination of "both paths at once" is known as a superposition state. The truly phenomenal thing about this experiment is that if we place a detector inside or just behind one slit, we can find out whether any given particle goes through it or not. In that case, however, the interference seems to vanish. Simply by observing a particle's path – even if that observation should not disturb the particle's motion – the experimenter changes the outcome of the experiment. The physicist Pascual Jordan put it like this:
"observations not only disturb what has to be measured, they produce it… We compel (a quantum particle) to assume a definite position."
In other words, Jordan said, "we ourselves produce the results of measurements." If that is so, objective reality seems to go out of the window. If nature seems to be changing its behavior depending on whether we "look" or not, we could try to trick it into showing its hand. To do so, we could measure which path a particle took through the double slits, but only after it has passed through them. By then, it ought to have "decided" whether to take one path or both, regardless of the experimenter viewing it or not.
The Delayed Choice Experiment
An experiment for doing this was proposed in the 1970s by the American physicist John Wheeler called the "delayed choice" experiment. It used a rather clever technique to make measurements on the paths of quantum particles (generally, particles of light, called photons) after they "should" have chosen whether to take one path or a superposition of two. It turns out that, just as Bohr confidently predicted, it makes no difference whether we delay the measurement or not. As long as we measure the photon's path before its arrival at a detector is finally registered, we lose all interference. It is as if nature "knows" not just if we are looking, but if we are planning to look, or rather, using our mind in it's inherit direction via thought patterns. Whenever these experiments discover the path of a quantum particle, its cloud of possible routes collapses into a single well-defined state. What's more, the delayed-choice experiment implies that the sheer act of noticing, rather than any physical disturbance caused by measuring, can cause the collapse. But does this mean that true collapse has only happened when the result of a measurement impinges on our consciousness? The aforementioned possibility was admitted in the 1930s by physicist Eugene Wigner. He wrote:
"It follows that the quantum description of objects is influenced by impressions entering my consciousness" and that
"Solipsism may be logically consistent with present quantum mechanics."
Wheeler even entertained the thought that the presence of living beings, which are capable of "noticing" or "sentient thought", has transformed what was previously a multitude of possible quantum pasts into one concrete history. Wheeler said that in this sense "we have been participants in the evolution of the Universe since its very beginning". In other words he was saying that we live in a "participatory universe." To this day, physicists do not agree on the best way to interpret these quantum experiments, and to some extent what you make of them is (at the moment) up to you. But one way or another, it is hard to avoid the implication that our human sentience (our thoughts) or consciousness and quantum mechanics (the very existence in which we exist) are somehow ineffably linked.
Does Consciousness Affect Reality?
Beginning in the 1980s, the British physicist Roger Penrose suggested that the link might work in the other direction. Whether or not consciousness can affect quantum mechanics, he said, perhaps quantum mechanics is involved in consciousness. What if, Penrose asked, there are molecular structures in our brains that are able to alter their state in response to a single quantum event. Could these structures then adopt a superposition state, just like the particles in the double-slit experiment? Furthermore do those quantum superpositions then show up in the ways our brain's neuronal pathways are triggered to communicate via electrical signals? Penrose suggested that our ability to sustain seemingly incompatible mental states is no quirk of perception, but an actual quantum effect. After all, the human brain seems able to handle cognitive processes that still far exceed the capabilities of current digital computers. This theory suggests that our minds are capable of "computational" tasks or processes that are seemingly impossible on ordinary modern day computers using 21st Century digital schematics and logistical systems.
Penrose first proposed that quantum effects feature in human cognition in his book The Emperor's New Mind. The idea is called Orch-OR, which is short for "orchestrated objective reduction". The phrase "objective reduction" means that, as Penrose implies, the collapse of quantum interference and superposition is a real, physical process, like the bursting of a bubble. Orch-OR draws on Penrose's suggestion that gravity is responsible for the fact that everyday objects do not display quantum effects. With the results of the experiment Penrose suggests that quantum superpositions become impossible for objects much larger than atoms, because their gravitational effects would then force two incompatible versions of space-time to coexist.
Penrose developed this idea further with American physician Stuart Hameroff. In his 1994 book Shadows of the Mind, he suggested that the structures involved in this quantum cognition might be protein strands called microtubules. These are found in most of our cells, including the neurons in our brains. Penrose and Hameroff argue that vibrations of microtubules can adopt a quantum superposition. In a study published in 2015, physicist Matthew Fisher stated that the brain might contain molecules capable of sustaining more robust quantum superpositions. Specifically, he theorized that the nuclei of phosphorus atoms may have this ability.
Phosphorus atoms are everywhere in living cells. They often take the form of phosphate ions, in which one phosphorus atom joins up with four oxygen atoms. Such ions are the basic unit of energy within cells. Much of the cell's energy is stored in molecules called ATP, which contain a string of three phosphate groups joined to an organic molecule. When one of the phosphates is cut free, energy is released for the cell to use. Cells have molecular machinery for assembling phosphate ions into groups and cleaving them off again. Fisher suggested a scheme in which two phosphate ions might be placed in a special kind of superposition called an "entangled state". The phosphorus nuclei have a quantum property called spin, which makes them rather like little magnets with poles pointing in particular directions. In an entangled state, the spin of one phosphorus nucleus depends on that of the other. Put another way, entangled states are really superposition states involving more than one quantum particle.
Fisher says that the quantum-mechanical behaviour of these nuclear spins could plausibly resist decoherence on human timescales. He agrees with Tegmark that quantum vibrations, like those postulated by Penrose and Hameroff, will be strongly affected by their surroundings "and will decohere almost immediately". But nuclear spins do not interact very strongly with their surroundings. All the same, quantum behaviour in the phosphorus nuclear spins would have to be "protected" from decoherence. This might happen, Fisher says, if the phosphorus atoms are incorporated into larger objects called "Posner molecules". These are clusters of six phosphate ions, combined with nine calcium ions. There is some evidence that they can exist in living cells, though this is currently far from conclusive.
The Theosophical Society
As we discuss the intersection of science and faith through the ages, we would be remiss to overlook the very first societal movement which intended to create a true synthesis of science, religion and philosophy. The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 with the intentions of advancing the ideas of "Theosophy" in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially that of the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century AD. It also encompasses wider religious philosophies like Vedānta, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Qabbalah, and Sufism. The Theosophical Society intends to function as a bridge between the "worlds" Science and Faith as well as the Eastern and Western ideologies. Their teachings show the commonalities of humanity from an "all-encompassing" perspective. The term "theosophy" comes from the Greek theosophia, which is composed of two words: theos ("god," "gods," or "divine") and sophia ("wisdom"). Theosophia, therefore, may be most accurately translated as "wisdom of the gods", "wisdom in things divine", or "divine wisdom". The society is self-described as:
"an unsectarian body of seekers after Truth, who endeavor to promote Brotherhood and strive to serve humanity."
The most defining figurehead and co-founder of The Theosophical Society was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, author of "ISIS Unveiled" and "The Secret Doctrine". Largely self-educated, Blavatsky developed an interest in Western esotericism during her teenage years and in 1849 she embarked on a series of world travels, visiting Europe, the Americas, and India. During this period she encountered a group of spiritual adepts, the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", who sent her to Shigatse, Tibet, where they trained her to develop a deeper understanding of the synthesis of religion, philosophy and science. One of the central philosophical tenets promoted by Blavatsky and the Society was the complex doctrine of The Intelligent Evolution of All Existence, occurring on a cosmic scale, incorporating both the physical and non-physical aspects of the known and unknown Universe, and affecting all of its constituent parts regardless of apparent size or importance. The theory was originally promulgated in "The Secret Doctrine" (free digital copy available here), the magnum opus of Blavatsky. According to this view, humanity's evolution on earth (and beyond) is part of the overall cosmic evolution. It is overseen by a spiritual hierarchy called the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", whose upper echelons consist of advanced non-corporeal spiritual beings whose purpose is to guide us in a positive forward progression toward a "golden age" where science, faith and philosophy intersect harmoniously.
But where do they meet in the middle? Where do science and faith intersect?
Let's start by establishing that a harmonious relationship between science and faith is most certainly possible and attainable in perceptions of the human mind. But in the current "academic" world of sciences, it is quite common to hear of the alleged conflict and incompatibility between science and faith, between being a scientist and being a "believer" or based in spirituality. Any scientist interested in establishing a dialogue with the world of faith would probably be frowned upon and any spiritualist teacher looking to base their inner wisdom on science is scoffed at. But the truth lies somewhere in the middle. A harmonious, complementary, and productive coexistence between spirituality and science has indeed been possible—and is still possible in the present day. In fact, the more we learn about the origins of the most basic matter that created our universe ( light, sound and magnetic energies) the more we start to see the "spirit" of them in the origins and stories of all forms of religion and spirituality. We begin to understand that scripture and mythos were taken far to literally by the evolutionary young human mind and that much of the story within is held in the lessons and metaphors of characters as manifestations or emanations of the source(s) of all creation and not literal personages. As we start the mental journey toward the intersection of the "two pillars" of humanity's awareness of it's place and origins in the cosmogenesis we must first define and understand them on an individual level.
A Definition of Science
Let us begin by establishing what is meant by the term “science.” Science is a human activity aimed at acquiring a reliable knowledge of the causes and principles of "things".. Science results from man's attempt to understand the natural material world, comprehend the universe to which we belong, and thus explain to ourselves our intentions for transcendence. Hence, man seeks to satisfy his need to immerse himself in the world, reveal the unknown, and conquer it through the sciences. From this perspective, science and faith share the same fundamental concerns: the intimate wish to comprehend the infinite, be part of it, and decipher/ define the role man plays in the "One Thing" According to Aristotle, man's admiration for all that surrounds us would account for the search for knowledge; in this wider sense, science should be understood as a natural philosophy.
A Definition of Faith
In line with our approach of understanding, we must attempt to define loosely the meaning of “faith”; before doing so, one has to first accept an anthropology that acknowledges the presence of levels in man beyond the purely material levels. That is, it is necessary to assert the spiritual and transcendent dimension of human beings. This dimension con-naturally implies a deep yearning for eternity, embodied in the search for higher truths through our own intellectual powers: memory, understanding, imagination and will. We are especially concerned here with the power of understanding and imagination, where new ideological life is given to intellectual pursuits within science and philosophy.
Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591) defined faith from an ontological and dynamic perspective as the "supernatural means to achieve union of the understanding with God, enabling this power to participate in Divinity". This means that through the action of faith and spirituality, it is possible to catch glimpse of a truth that transcends our corporeal selves; through the discovery of and participation in creation. According to Saint John, faith does not deny the power of deeper cosmogenic understanding, but rather, it raises it to its fullest potential so it can contemplate the mystery of the created and know itself and it's place within in the "One Eternal Thing".
The Alleged Conflict between Science and Faith
Science and faith in relation to one another should have been viewed as collaborative twin pillars of humanity and civilization. However, such a relationship is not as evident from either the modern scientific or faith based communities. The reason for this would be that Descartes's statement “I think, therefore I am” (Je pense, donc je suis, Descartes 1637), which constitutes a fundamental element to Western rationalism, has been misinterpreted by many scientists from the Enlightenment to our times, and reduced human nature to just intelligence to a mere object. In fact, Saint John Paul II made extensive reference to the tragic division between faith and human consciousness which originated with the emergence of modern science and lasts to the present day. Beginning in the Enlightenment period, an extreme and one-sided rationalism led to the radicalization of positions in the realm of the natural sciences and in that of philosophy versus faith and spiritual understanding. The resulting split between "faith" and "reason" caused irreparable damage not only to modern spirituality but also our culture(s).
The apparent conflict between science and faith came to serve as a basis for two broadly antagonistic positions: On one hand, a strict rationalism/ reductionism to the point of non-acknowledgement of the spiritual or "divine" nature of human beings and thus denying a sense of transcendence in the cosmos. This ideology is most exemplified in the opinion of DNA scientist Francis C. Crick who stated:
"You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules. "
On the other hand, we have creationism, a set of beliefs in which the Earth and every current living being originated in an action of creation performed by one or more divine entities with sentient intention. Thus, most pseudoscientific, spiritual and religious movements subscribing to creationism go against the theory (or theories) of standard education's view on evolution. Both fundamentalists and creationists have proposed that creationism could be taught in school science class as a valid alternative to standard evolution. This stream of thought, however, denies part of the physical reality of creation based on the more modern understandings of physics and quantum mechanics. It is necessary, therefore, to keep in mind Saint John Paul II's clear reference to this dualistic perception, in which he stated:
"I make this strong and insistent appeal that faith and philosophy recover the profound unity which allows them to stand in harmony with their nature without compromising their mutual autonomy." (John Paul II 1998)
In both of these viewpoints we see that the contradiction between materialism and creationism is more accurately a dissociation of the spiritual nature of human's and our part of divinity in the universal process. We begin to understand that a productive relationship between scientific reason/ understanding ( physics and quantum mechanics) and the spiritual or "divine" origin of humanity has been almost lost.
Examples of Co-Existence
First, we will refer to Saint Albert the Great (1206–1280), Doctor Universalis and “patron saint of natural scientists” , whose humility and selfless intellectual endeavors served as an inspiration for a number of disciples, among them Saint Thomas Aquinas. His many contributions include his proposal that the Earth was round, a detailed description of plant morphology and, in the field of chemistry, the discovery or the element arsenic. Another intellectual possessing deep spirituality was the Italian physician Saint Giuseppe Moscati (1880–1927), a prominent figure both for his pioneer work in physiological biochemistry (particularly the study of reactions involved in glycogen transformation), and for his integration of faith and reason, as expressed through his work with the poor and incurably ill patients. He personally looked over the “incurable" patients in the hospital, where he remained stationed for several years. While taking care of the ill, Moscati never stopped doing research, balancing science, and faith. Next, Edith Stein (1891–1942), also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, co-patroness of Europe, was a German Carmelite who participated prominently in the dialogue between science and faith. Initially an atheist philosopher ascribing to phenomenology, following a long discernment period she entered a spiritual life and devoted herself to deeply spiritual and philosophical writings, such as The Structure of the Human Person where Stein reached the conclusion that:
“...he who seeks the truth, whether aware of it or not, seeks God”;
According to Stein, for philosophy, the meaning of faith is two-fold. If through faith a truth is reached that cannot be accessed by any other means, philosophy cannot deny such facts of spirituality without relinquishing its claim as universal truth, and moreover, without risking its inherent knowledge being tainted by human error; due to the organic interdependence of truth, if separated from the core, any partial aspect of it will be poorly "illuminated". Therefore, if a person's highest certainty is inherent to faith, and if philosophy intends to provide the highest accessible truth, it has to take ownership of faith. Such is the case when it accepts in itself the truths of faith, and even more, analyzes all other certainties in the light of such truths of faith, as the ultimate criterion. This also accounts for a formal dependence of philosophy on faith. Sadly, given her Jewish origin and allegiance to the teachings of Jesus Christ, Edith Stein died a martyr in a Auschwitz during WWII.
Quantum Mechanics, Physics and Psychology
It is undeniable that the vast majority of crossover between faith and science has been in the areas of Psychology, Physics and the newer understandings of the field(s) of Quantum Mechanics. The true nature and power of the human mind (consciousness) and it's impacts on the material world, as well as, the impacts of the material world on the human mind, or rather, how they act and co-exist with one another has been one of the long standing mysteries. It seems that this relationship sits at the very core of the ideological movements which have best married the two pillars of society and produced some of the most highly revered "minds" through out human history. It is, of course, best to show the relationship with an experimental approach that holds space for human spirituality.
"I cannot define the real problem, therefore I suspect there's no real problem, but I'm not sure there's no real problem."
The American physicist Richard Feynman said the above in regards to the puzzling paradoxes of quantum mechanics (the theory physicists use to describe the tiniest objects in the Universe). He might as well have been talking about the equally knotty problem of consciousness. Some scientists think we already understand what consciousness is as an illusionary phenomenon and yet it is impossible to deny such other illusionary phenomena such as the construct of "time". Regardless of the "nay-sayers", many others feel we have not yet fully grasped where consciousness comes from at all or what it truly "is". The the "unknowable knowing" of consciousness has even led some researchers to invoke quantum physics to explain it. Unsurprisingly, this starting point of understanding has always been met with a degree of skepticism. In fairness, it does not sound wise to explain one mystery with another. But such ideologies and steps to "scientific evidence" of the role of consciousness are obviously not absurd nor arbitrary.
For one thing, the "mind", to the great discomfort of many physicists, seemed to undeniably force its way into early quantum theory. What's more, quantum computers are predicted to be capable of accomplishing things ordinary computers cannot, which reminds us of how our brains can achieve things that are still beyond our current understanding of "artificial intelligence" in our current time.
Here we begin the endeavor of understanding "quantum consciousness" which, despite many attempts at degrading it's existence, just will not go away. Quantum mechanics is the best theory we have for describing the world at the nuts-and-bolts level of atoms and subatomic particles. Perhaps the most renowned of its mysteries is the fact that the outcome of a quantum experiment can change depending on whether or not we choose to measure some property of the particles involved. When this "observer effect" was first noticed by the early pioneers of quantum theory, they were deeply troubled. It seemed to undermine the basic assumption behind all science: that there is an objective world out there, irrespective of us as participants in it's inner workers. If the way the world behaves depends on how – or if – we look at it, what can "reality" really mean? Some of those researchers felt forced to conclude that objectivity was an illusion, and that consciousness must be allowed an active role in quantum theory. To others, that did not make sense. Surely, as Albert Einstein once complained, the Moon does not exist only when we look at it!
Today some physicists suspect that, whether or not consciousness influences quantum mechanics, it might in fact arise because of it. They think that quantum theory might be needed to fully understand how the brain works. Might it be that, just as quantum objects can apparently be in two places at once, so a quantum brain can hold onto two mutually-exclusive ideas at the same time? These ideas are speculative, and it may turn out that quantum physics has no fundamental role either for or in the workings of the mind. But if nothing else, these possibilities show just how strangely quantum theory forces us to think.
The Double-Slit Experiment
The most famous "intrusion" of the mind into quantum mechanics comes in the double-slit experiment. This experiment works by shining a beam of light at a screen that contains two closely-spaced parallel slits. Some of the light passes through the slits, whereupon it strikes another screen. Light can be thought of as a kind of wave, and when waves emerge from two slits like this they can interfere with each other. If their peaks coincide, they reinforce each other, whereas if a peak and a trough coincide, they cancel out. This wave interference is called diffraction, and it produces a series of alternating bright and dark stripes on the back screen, where the light waves are either reinforced or cancelled out. This experiment was understood to be a characteristic of wave behavior over 200 years ago, well before quantum theory existed.
Interestingly, the double-slit experiment can also be performed with quantum particles like electrons; the tiny charged particles that are components of all atoms. In a counter-intuitive twist, these particles can behave like waves. That means they can undergo diffraction when a stream of them passes through the two slits, which produces an interference pattern. So what happens if quantum particles are sent through the slits one by one, and their arrival at the screen is likewise seen one by one? There appears to be nothing for each particle to interfere with along its route – nevertheless the pattern of particle impacts that builds up reveals interference bands similar to those found in the original double-slit experiment using light waves.
The implication seems to be that each particle passes simultaneously through both slits and interferes with itself. This combination of "both paths at once" is known as a superposition state. The truly phenomenal thing about this experiment is that if we place a detector inside or just behind one slit, we can find out whether any given particle goes through it or not. In that case, however, the interference seems to vanish. Simply by observing a particle's path – even if that observation should not disturb the particle's motion – the experimenter changes the outcome of the experiment. The physicist Pascual Jordan put it like this:
"observations not only disturb what has to be measured, they produce it… We compel (a quantum particle) to assume a definite position."
In other words, Jordan said, "we ourselves produce the results of measurements." If that is so, objective reality seems to go out of the window. If nature seems to be changing its behavior depending on whether we "look" or not, we could try to trick it into showing its hand. To do so, we could measure which path a particle took through the double slits, but only after it has passed through them. By then, it ought to have "decided" whether to take one path or both, regardless of the experimenter viewing it or not.
The Delayed Choice Experiment
An experiment for doing this was proposed in the 1970s by the American physicist John Wheeler called the "delayed choice" experiment. It used a rather clever technique to make measurements on the paths of quantum particles (generally, particles of light, called photons) after they "should" have chosen whether to take one path or a superposition of two. It turns out that, just as Bohr confidently predicted, it makes no difference whether we delay the measurement or not. As long as we measure the photon's path before its arrival at a detector is finally registered, we lose all interference. It is as if nature "knows" not just if we are looking, but if we are planning to look, or rather, using our mind in it's inherit direction via thought patterns. Whenever these experiments discover the path of a quantum particle, its cloud of possible routes collapses into a single well-defined state. What's more, the delayed-choice experiment implies that the sheer act of noticing, rather than any physical disturbance caused by measuring, can cause the collapse. But does this mean that true collapse has only happened when the result of a measurement impinges on our consciousness? The aforementioned possibility was admitted in the 1930s by physicist Eugene Wigner. He wrote:
"It follows that the quantum description of objects is influenced by impressions entering my consciousness" and that
"Solipsism may be logically consistent with present quantum mechanics."
Wheeler even entertained the thought that the presence of living beings, which are capable of "noticing" or "sentient thought", has transformed what was previously a multitude of possible quantum pasts into one concrete history. Wheeler said that in this sense "we have been participants in the evolution of the Universe since its very beginning". In other words he was saying that we live in a "participatory universe." To this day, physicists do not agree on the best way to interpret these quantum experiments, and to some extent what you make of them is (at the moment) up to you. But one way or another, it is hard to avoid the implication that our human sentience (our thoughts) or consciousness and quantum mechanics (the very existence in which we exist) are somehow ineffably linked.
Does Consciousness Affect Reality?
Beginning in the 1980s, the British physicist Roger Penrose suggested that the link might work in the other direction. Whether or not consciousness can affect quantum mechanics, he said, perhaps quantum mechanics is involved in consciousness. What if, Penrose asked, there are molecular structures in our brains that are able to alter their state in response to a single quantum event. Could these structures then adopt a superposition state, just like the particles in the double-slit experiment? Furthermore do those quantum superpositions then show up in the ways our brain's neuronal pathways are triggered to communicate via electrical signals? Penrose suggested that our ability to sustain seemingly incompatible mental states is no quirk of perception, but an actual quantum effect. After all, the human brain seems able to handle cognitive processes that still far exceed the capabilities of current digital computers. This theory suggests that our minds are capable of "computational" tasks or processes that are seemingly impossible on ordinary modern day computers using 21st Century digital schematics and logistical systems.
Penrose first proposed that quantum effects feature in human cognition in his book The Emperor's New Mind. The idea is called Orch-OR, which is short for "orchestrated objective reduction". The phrase "objective reduction" means that, as Penrose implies, the collapse of quantum interference and superposition is a real, physical process, like the bursting of a bubble. Orch-OR draws on Penrose's suggestion that gravity is responsible for the fact that everyday objects do not display quantum effects. With the results of the experiment Penrose suggests that quantum superpositions become impossible for objects much larger than atoms, because their gravitational effects would then force two incompatible versions of space-time to coexist.
Penrose developed this idea further with American physician Stuart Hameroff. In his 1994 book Shadows of the Mind, he suggested that the structures involved in this quantum cognition might be protein strands called microtubules. These are found in most of our cells, including the neurons in our brains. Penrose and Hameroff argue that vibrations of microtubules can adopt a quantum superposition. In a study published in 2015, physicist Matthew Fisher stated that the brain might contain molecules capable of sustaining more robust quantum superpositions. Specifically, he theorized that the nuclei of phosphorus atoms may have this ability.
Phosphorus atoms are everywhere in living cells. They often take the form of phosphate ions, in which one phosphorus atom joins up with four oxygen atoms. Such ions are the basic unit of energy within cells. Much of the cell's energy is stored in molecules called ATP, which contain a string of three phosphate groups joined to an organic molecule. When one of the phosphates is cut free, energy is released for the cell to use. Cells have molecular machinery for assembling phosphate ions into groups and cleaving them off again. Fisher suggested a scheme in which two phosphate ions might be placed in a special kind of superposition called an "entangled state". The phosphorus nuclei have a quantum property called spin, which makes them rather like little magnets with poles pointing in particular directions. In an entangled state, the spin of one phosphorus nucleus depends on that of the other. Put another way, entangled states are really superposition states involving more than one quantum particle.
Fisher says that the quantum-mechanical behaviour of these nuclear spins could plausibly resist decoherence on human timescales. He agrees with Tegmark that quantum vibrations, like those postulated by Penrose and Hameroff, will be strongly affected by their surroundings "and will decohere almost immediately". But nuclear spins do not interact very strongly with their surroundings. All the same, quantum behaviour in the phosphorus nuclear spins would have to be "protected" from decoherence. This might happen, Fisher says, if the phosphorus atoms are incorporated into larger objects called "Posner molecules". These are clusters of six phosphate ions, combined with nine calcium ions. There is some evidence that they can exist in living cells, though this is currently far from conclusive.
The Theosophical Society
As we discuss the intersection of science and faith through the ages, we would be remiss to overlook the very first societal movement which intended to create a true synthesis of science, religion and philosophy. The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 with the intentions of advancing the ideas of "Theosophy" in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially that of the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century AD. It also encompasses wider religious philosophies like Vedānta, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Qabbalah, and Sufism. The Theosophical Society intends to function as a bridge between the "worlds" Science and Faith as well as the Eastern and Western ideologies. Their teachings show the commonalities of humanity from an "all-encompassing" perspective. The term "theosophy" comes from the Greek theosophia, which is composed of two words: theos ("god," "gods," or "divine") and sophia ("wisdom"). Theosophia, therefore, may be most accurately translated as "wisdom of the gods", "wisdom in things divine", or "divine wisdom". The society is self-described as:
"an unsectarian body of seekers after Truth, who endeavor to promote Brotherhood and strive to serve humanity."
The most defining figurehead and co-founder of The Theosophical Society was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, author of "ISIS Unveiled" and "The Secret Doctrine". Largely self-educated, Blavatsky developed an interest in Western esotericism during her teenage years and in 1849 she embarked on a series of world travels, visiting Europe, the Americas, and India. During this period she encountered a group of spiritual adepts, the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", who sent her to Shigatse, Tibet, where they trained her to develop a deeper understanding of the synthesis of religion, philosophy and science. One of the central philosophical tenets promoted by Blavatsky and the Society was the complex doctrine of The Intelligent Evolution of All Existence, occurring on a cosmic scale, incorporating both the physical and non-physical aspects of the known and unknown Universe, and affecting all of its constituent parts regardless of apparent size or importance. The theory was originally promulgated in "The Secret Doctrine" (free digital copy available here), the magnum opus of Blavatsky. According to this view, humanity's evolution on earth (and beyond) is part of the overall cosmic evolution. It is overseen by a spiritual hierarchy called the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", whose upper echelons consist of advanced non-corporeal spiritual beings whose purpose is to guide us in a positive forward progression toward a "golden age" where science, faith and philosophy intersect harmoniously.
