Supernaturalism: The REAL Reason For The "Great Rift" Between Science And Religion

Michael Hobart's recent book, 'The Great Rift' claims to offer a new take on the divide (what he calls "great rift") between science and religion - but is it really?  Hobart's central thesis - to cut to the chase- is that since the Galilean era (1564- 1642) science has communicated using abstract mathematics while religion remained anchored in Logos, i.e. "the logic coupling words and things".   Hence, he avers that not only can the two realms (or "magisteria" in Stephen J. Gould's parlance) not communicate with each other but the quantitative approach has proven to be better at grasping reality.

Galileo's achievement, to fix ideas, was to demonstrate the potency and superiority of the mathematical-experimental method while analyzing projectile motion, e.g.



Thus, Galileo discerned via careful observations that an object hurled into the air, for example, has two independent motions: a vertical  (y-) and a horizontal (x- )one. Through the use of mathematics Galileo managed to combine the two motions algebraically into a model that describes all projectile motion (including for today's missiles) as parabolic.  (See e.g. the parabolic trajectory shown in the graphic above.)

This is an approach to and an identification of a real thing. It is also arguable (certainly to me) that the split between the two magisteria - science and religion - is actually predicated on the split between the applied mathematics (i.e.to models in physics) and a false  "Logos". The latter is a coupling of words with non-existent things, i.e. supernatural artifacts engendered by specific brain regions.

For the sake of argument let's agree that Logos implies a coupling of words with things. This begs the question of what kinds of things, and does this coupling confer reality?  I will argue here that science and religion - or at least spirituality - might find a kind of common ground so long as the introduction of supernatural agents is disdained in the latter.   As I wrote in my recent letter to Physics Today,  on science and religion and why they are so mutually antagonistic so cannot be harmonized,  e.g.

Readers' thoughts on science and religion: Physics Today: Vol 71, No 6

 
"As I see it, the most fundamental split—an irreparable one—between science and religion is that religion embraces a supernatural order and genuine science, as opposed to pseudoscience, does not.

From a scientific and objective standpoint, there is simply no way that any purportedly supernatural entity or order can be demonstrated or proven. No scientific methodologies for such exist, nor any credible instruments or measuring techniques. The rejoinder that those things can't be measured merely reinforces the argument that they are no more fit for scientific inquiry than the astrologer’s claim of “malefic” influences of Mars at an infant’s birth.

Because a supernatural domain cannot be approached in any scientific or objective way, then by my reckoning it doesn't exist. One need not even deny its existence because to all intents the supernatural entity becomes logically unnecessary or redundant. It doesn't help us make scientific predictions or explain natural phenomena—say, coronal mass ejections or auroral substorms"

Let me again underscore here for the record, that the preceding applies to any religion that enlists supernatural agents to support its basis. It was not intended to be a blanket statement that modern science could find no commonality with any religion. For example, according to the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism there exist a multitude of universes and none of these harbors supernatural agents such as demons, or "Satan".  Many of them, however, may well harbor other intelligent life forms.  This view in its most rudimentary form comports with the multiverse speculations of modern physics. 

One can then argue that a genuine Logos,  or coupling of words and real things,  is not necessarily mutually exclusive with modern science or its quantitative formulations. This leaves open the possibility that any bifurcation or "rift" between science and religion may actually be between a false version of one, and a false version of the other. A false version of science would be a pseudo science like astrology.(see e.g. the preceding quote from my letter and the reference to the astrologer's "malefic influences.")  In many ways these echo conventional religionists' invocations of "Satan" and "demons" - say to account for earthly evil.  This also suggest any religions that make such invocations must be false. Let's recall again the words of philosopher George Santayana, in his book, Reason In Religion, Dover Books, p.157:

"In a word, theology, for those whose religion is secondary, is simply a false physics, a doctrine  about eventual experience not founded on the experiences of the past.  Such a false physics, however, is soon discredit by events. It does not require much experience or much shrewdness to discover that supernatural beings and laws are without the empirical efficacy attributed to them."

One can then understand why a religion grounded in supernaturalist demonology, say, cannot be true. But make no mistake, the consequences pertaining to these beliefs have been quite real! The most profound example lay in the wide use of the Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer (Dean of Cologne University) and Jacob Sprenger (Dominican Inquisitor General of Germany). This was the book which gave the prescriptions for exposing those possessed by demons, or under their influence, including: accused witches,  familiars, succubi, and incubi) . This was under a Bull issued by Pope Innocent VIII. 

Once the suspect was identified as a witch (especially if possessing a "familiar', usually a cat) it became necessary to obtain her confession.The procedure first required obtaining evidence in the form of "devil's marks".  Prosecutors and examiners often made great displays of such searches, which usually included the shaving of the head and genitals in public as the witches were prodded with sharp implements by their accusers. The Malleus, after all mandated "diligent and careful inspections of secret parts".   The Malleus also advised that torture, deception and terror be used to extract confessions.  

The rack, scourging, burning and eye gouging were all sanctioned as inducement to confess, and the impetus for confessions was primarily driven by the fact the more confessions forthcoming the more the pay for the prosecutors-Inquisitors.  Thus, under torture, the accused witches were routinely forced to name any and all accomplices including those who participated in sabbats.  One of the most infamous cases, as described by historian Henry Lea ('The Inquisition of the Middle Ages' ),  concerned a 71 -year old woman put to the rack no less than seven times, especially after confessing to signing a pact with the devil. 

Females suspected of being witches and in congress with "the Devil"  caught holy hell for sure, with ultimate tortures that would give most people today psychotic nightmares.  Males, often accused as "warlocks" for their part,  did not entirely escape suspicion either, and often faced tortures just as unnerving, according to historian Henry Lea,  e.g.

This  then was the real fruit of the unreal beliefs of millions once supernatural agents were admitted into the pantheon of religions such as Christianity and Islam. And again, I reiterate, any religion that must resort to torture or invocations of "demons", "Hell" and "Satan" to gain allegiance and "faith" - cannot be sincere.  They must be false. They clearly cannot be evocative of a God of love.     

Some may argue or claim at this point that those practices -  taking a cue from demonology (belief in supernatural forces, demons) -  are things of the past and the RC Church, for example, no longer invokes demons or Satan. This would be a mistake, given how just over 50 years ago a Loyola University (New Orleans) priest attempted an exorcism on a women's dorm, e.g.

Brane Space: Did "Satan" Visit Loyola University Women's Dorm Back ...

brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/09/did-satan-visit-loyola-university.html

Not to mention the fact the Vatican is evidently still "all in" with general exorcisms. For example, back in 2015 a new school for exorcists  The Pope Leo XIII Institute  opened  "for the “education & training of priests in the holy ministry of exorcism and deliverance”. It was further revealed that another reason for promoting exorcism was that the Church needed to "grow its numbers".  What better way than to excite superstitions about demons?

  Heck, even when I attended Loyola (1964-67) , the common Theology course always included a first section dealing with "demoniac" accounts as described in the Gospels. I still have 


those old 1964 notes to prove it:

The following 6 pages then go into detail, citing chapter and verse, why we need to take such accounts seriously. 

Interestingly, the philosopher Alvin Plantinga, in his recent book:  'Where The Real Conflict Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism', makes the basic argument that the supposed conflicts between science and religion are superficial because of the "methodological naturalism used by science".  For a brief summary of what this means, re-read the second paragraph of my quotation above, from my Physics Today letter.   In other words, Plantinga is advocating that science open the door to supernatural agents ...via a methodological supernaturalism, I presume.  What types of investigation  this might portend, we can only surmise.   Seances like the Loyola girls attempted? Ouija boards?  He doesn't really say. But what he does do, on this basis, is argue that naturalistic evolution - relying on mutation and natural selection - is wholly consonant with  a supernatural theistic underpinning.  This was one of the primary memes I demolished in my book, The Atheist's Handbook To Modern Materialism, (Chapter Three, The Evolutionary Foundation')

  Regrettably, like Tom McLeish in his Physics Today appeal ('Thinking Differently About Science and Religion")  https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.3831

to harmonize science with religion, Plantinga  is reduced to desperately seeking a back door  entry for the supernatural.  There is no way, I would counsel him, that physics - and certainly biology and chemistry - will allow such nonsense anytime soon!

 The conclusion?  The real Logos is quite compatible with mathematical sciences such as physics and astrophysics, because the words and 'things' it describes possess an innate reality embodied in what quantitative science describes. The job of believers then is not to oppose science as an enemy but to seek the real Logos which is compatible with that real science, as Santayana indicates.   That real Logos is itself divested of the supernatural, but which can still provide an avenue for transcendence as I explained in my book, Beyond Atheism, Beyond God..  And as I also wrote in the last paragraph of my PT letter:

"Is it possible for religion and science to coexist? Possibly, but only if religion is diluted to the point that it’s devoid of all supernatural memes, agents, and explanations. Otherwise, all bets are off and we are left with embracing glorified superstition, and a deleterious form at that, able to use its fantasy agents to subvert objective human inquiry."

If then reality is the most important thing for the human mind to apprehend and supernatural entities only obscure this reality, why is there the need for supernatural religion?  More importantly why can't science and religion find common cause as opposed to being at each other's throats?  As noted in my quote above, that day happens when religion divests itself of supernatural memes, agents, artifacts and explanations.  Only then can a common ground be feasible.

 To highlight where are at now, the top most graphic shows the mathematics  embodied in Emmy Noether's famous equation  which encapsulates "Noether's therorem".  For reference, Noether's theorem became a foundation of the standard model of particle physics in the second half of the 20th cnetury and today retains a central role in continuing to define physical reality via inherent symmetry properties.  These hold  no matter how far one travels in space or time.  In many respect then,  Noether's first and second theorems, e.g.


Noether's first theorem 

highlight the quantitative physics responsible for divorce of modern quantitative science from conventional religion and conventional spirituality's more limited reality.  For example, symmetries in the 2D quantum gravity model peculiar to the first theorem, show up in the 3D quantum gravity in a different context in Neother's 2nd theorem.  In greater generalization, one can say a quantum theory of particles on a 2D surface (say for atomic spin magnets) can act as a hologram for a 3-dimensional theory of quantum gravity in curved spacetime.

Interestingly, ,the late quantum physicist David Bohm used an analogous quantitative approach incorporating his development of stochastic quantum mechanics to show that our 4 dimensional universe can be enfolded holographically into a five dimensional implicate order. (See e.g. "Wholeness and the Implicate Order-  which the interested reader can access here as a pdf:

[PDF]

Wholeness and the Implicate Order

www.gci.org.uk/Documents/DavidBohm-WholenessAndTheImplicateOrder.pdf

Bohm postulated that all material forms are the unfolded or explicated manifestations of a fundamental implicate order reality. This explication arises at the level of the particulate (atoms, molecules etc.)  and is emphasized over the wave aspect (defined by de Broglie waves).  Particles bespeak the separation of the cosmos - waves (quantum waves) its unity. The problem with traditional thinking, of which most modern theology is the embodiment, is that it has treated reality in a particulate rather than wave context. In a sense, the false theology of the orthodox theologians (along with their false God concepts) fits hand in glove with the false physics reflected in the Cartesian-Newtonian viewpoint, leading to an ultra- reductionism. 

Not surprisingly, in this view the universe is perceived to be fragmented: galaxy from galaxy, star from star, each human from every other and even man from himself (body vs. Soul, mind vs. Body, etc.). It is out of this background of a false theology that the conceptual theological horrors like ‘heaven and hell’, ‘damnation’ and ‘salvation’ arise. The reaction of the false physicists to this is also natural and understandable: i.e. they wholesale reject all of the false theology as puerile rubbish so like the ancient Greek Epicureans they cut the false theologians off at the pass by proclaiming everything ends at death.

In the implicate order proposed by Bohm, the separateness of the universe is ultimately submerged within its higher dimensional implicate aspect. All seemingly separate entities are ultimately unified into one, much like the apparently separate ‘waves’ seen on the ocean ultimately dissolve and submerge into the vastly greater background sea that spawned them.  This illustration helps to understand the relation:

Explicate Order:

___Ç___Ç___Ç___Ç___Ç___  

(IMPLICATE ORDER)

The waves are the explicated manifestation of the unfolded implicate 'sea'. This is where the often used term oceanic reality originates.

In human terms, this implies that at a higher dimensional level all matter, especially as embodied in human forms, along with human minds, becomes interfused into one reality, one whole without division. As Bohm describes it[1]:

In the implicate order we have to say the mind enfolds matter in general and therefore the body in particular. Similarly, the body enfolds not only the mind but also in some sense, the entire material universe.

Physicist Bernard d 'Espagnat provides again the real basis for science (reality) and spirituality to come to a unifying stance [2]::

The archaic notion that is conveyed by the words ‘Lord’ and ‘Almighty’ will presumably never recover its full efficiency for lulling the ontological qualms of mankind. For a religious mind, turning towards Being should therefore become a subtler endeavor than the mere acceptance of the heavenly will stated in the Bible, formulated by the priests, and exhibited by miracles

---

[1] Bohm, D.: op. cit., 209

[2] d’Espagnat,, B.  : In Search Of Reality,  .158.

How To Manage The Next Four Years Under A Trump Dictatorship

Kids in a Denver public school practice meditation which will also have benefits for liberals forced to live in a Trump presidency.

Let us agree that the Trump Imperium facing the sane proportion of the U.S. in January will be ugly and mean-spirited to the core. Indeed, we may regularly see episodes like the one I discussed in the previous post, with the unhinged Trumpeter female shouting at everyone in a Chicago store.

The best prescription for retaining one's sanity may well be meditation, or at least mastering one such technique, as depicted in the image above for Denver school kids.  For fifteen minutes twice a month they are taught how to still their minds and reduce the flow of incessant mental rubbish to zero. Thereby, once they emerge, they are more able to handle the stresses of the day and achieve more in their classes.

We may also safely assume we need this to remain reasonably sane under Donald Dump's reign.  We may expect that each new day - once he enters the White House - ever new national outrages and assaults will materialize.  Many of them will be mental or psychological, stemming from his splenetic tweets, a good reason to ignore any media that circulates them as news. The way to deal with these and other affronts to normal consciousness is basically to shut them out, as well as any and all media rubbish, and empty one's mind to enable a different level of consciousness. Physicist David Bohm put it well in his book, Wholeness and the Implicate Order:

I think that meditation would even bring us out of all the difficulties we’ve been talking about....the actuality of this 3n-dimensional consciousness could not be attained by studying physics with our 3 dimensional consciousness. It might form a bridge or pier of some sort that moves us a certain way but, somewhere we’ve got to leave thought behind, and come to this emptiness of this manifest thought altogether and of the conditioning of the non-manifest mind by the seeds of manifest thought. In other words, meditation actually transforms the mind. It transforms consciousness.

 

Bohm’s reference to bringing us out of the difficulties etc. is in response to questions posed concerning the role of meditation  in respect to:  space-time,  and in particular his holomovement, and ‘3n-dimensional reality’. In effect, meditation permits a bridge by which to escape the plurality of objects and enter a realm of unity.  In like manner it can afford us a bridge to escape the travails, slings and arrows of Trumpdom, however long it lasts. Of course, the Trumpsters, or Trumpeters if you will, may try to portray such efforts as akin to the 'Cry -ins' held recently at some college campuses. But in truth there is no similarity at all. Meditation isn't expressive of any emotion as crying is, but rather concerned with emptying the mind of rubbish including the daily regimen of "Trump turds" we know will be dumped on us by a sorry Vichy media, e.g.



So there is enormous power in meditation, while crying - apart from providing a brief emotional release- leaves one as powerless as before. The full emptiness of non-manifest thought implicit in meditation, as I noted in my recent book,  Beyond Atheism, Beyond God,  requires rational thought be left behind. In normal practice  meditation accomplishes this by providing a thoughtless void, given undisciplined streams of thought are more distractive than constructive. Hence, the effective conditioning of  thought via non-manifest thought yields a more cogent rationality less susceptible to  kowtowing to PR, propaganda.  At another level, such non-manifest thought allows the substratum of the wave universe or oceanic reality to be rendered accessible. In effect, meditation acts as an amplifier to empower our minds toward higher dimensionality, rationality and  openness to the Universal Mind. 

 

This is defined here to be basically synonymous with Bohm's  holomovement (op. cit.): 

In the implicate order we have to say that mind  enfolds matter in general and therefore the body in particular. Similarly, the body enfolds not only the mind but also in some sense the  entire material universe

 

The beauty of meditation is that it is accessible to all of us, without regard to class, race, income level or IQ. It is the one indispensible access point to Universal Mind and submergence within that Mind. It is, in other words, an intuitive and personal tool to accomplish the foremost practical goal of Theo-Physics: unity with Universal Mind and Christhood  in the sense of being and acting as our own "saviors", given there is one ground of being in which the individual is subsumed within a vaster infinite energy medium.

In this regard, the implicate and explicate orders may be depicted as shown below:

                                       INDIVIDUAL FORMS (EXPLICATE ORDER)

___Ç___Ç___Ç___Ç___Ç___

DIRAC ENERGY SEA (IMPLICATE ORDER)

 The relation is holographic in the sense that each of the individual forms contains the information of the whole holographic field. The Dirac Ether is equivalent to Bohm's Implicate Order, or what he calls the holomovement, and is a pure frequency domain. If one imparts to it a universal consciousness (as Bohm does) it would also be the "Universal Mind" (another term for God, albeit, impersonal - not personal- and embracing the whole).  The ripples on this "sea" are the distinct material forms perceived as separate entities in the universe because we are generally unaware of the implicate order.  But - to the extent we become aware, whether by learning the applicable quantum mechanics, or using meditation - yes, we emerge as conscious forms manifesting the Whole (Universal Mind) and hence, "co-creators" of reality, not merely passive creatures. (The last is thoroughly discussed and shown in physicist Henry Stapp's book, Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics.)

 Ken Wilber (who interviewed Bohm) observes:[1]

 

           ...the core insight of this holistic experience is that man’s innermost consciousness is identical to the absolute and ultimate reality of the universe,

 

Bohm, in this same interview, alludes to meditation as a possible means to go from the explicate to the implicate, thence to some vast ocean outside of space as we ordinarily experience it.[2]

 

All of this may sound abstract, but once you actually practice meditation you can see how powerful a tool it is, in quieting the mind and eliminating the chaos erupting without. A chaos that will surely increase exponentially once January 20, 2017 arrives.

See also:

http://www.how-to-meditate.org/

---

[1] Wilber: Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 2.

[2] Wilber, K.. (Ed.) The Holographic Paradigm,  213.

About That Snowden- Leaked "Top Secret" Video With The English Speaking Alien

Image of EBE on Snowden's recently released file video from June, 1964

The unusual "top secret" alien video released by Edward Snowden on Aug. 21  - prefaced as "Project 220675" -  has incepted a lot of ruckus in cyberspace. It was evidently uploaded by Snowden as part of his recent NSA files release and still has millions of viewers puzzled, and debating its credibility. The take appears to be about 5 to 1 that the "alien" (actually an EBE or "extraterrestrial biological entity" - which claims to be from Earth's past) is either a puppet or CGI creation.  Both presumptions are nonsense as I will show, and probably explained by the fact those offering them weren't alive or watching TV back in 1964. Nor did they have an appreciation for 1964 technology.

First, let's start eliminating complaints that don't hold water:

1) "It was made in 2016 and fake-dated June 9, 1964"

Nope. It was indeed, made in June, 1964 as the cover title indicates. The diction of the "interrogator" as my linguist friend "Rebecca" observed,  "places it totally in the 1960s" including the cadence, accentuation, nasal emphasis and mid-Atlantic origin for that time, as well as turn of phrase, e.g. "Try me"  One seldom, indeed, hears anyone saying "try me" these days. At least I haven't and wifey admits the same.

2) "There was no really good color TV back then"

Not true! The 'Bonanza' western was very popular in 1963-64 and in full color. Walt Disney's 'Wonderful World of Color' had been airing since 1959.  The color in the Snowden -leaked video file is certainly not a patch on what one saw back then, but that is what 52 years storage can do.

3) "The 'alien' is  either a puppet or bad CGI"

Actually, neither. Not CGI because the technology didn't exist in  1964. Nor a puppet because the blinking eyes and mouth motion make it improbable.  It was likely a carefully costumed human, of which many were seen on sci -fi TV shows ca. 1963- 64 including 'The Twilight Zone' and 'The Outer Limits': See e.g. this "alien" from the latter show:


Note the dimensions of the expanded skull in relation to the narrow jaw, which is somewhat similar to the 220 675 "alien".  Some have commented that the latter's "glowing eyes" had to be cgi, but this again isn't true. Check out the Outer Limits episode 'The Galaxy Being' featuring a microwave alien with glowing eyes. It would be within 1964 TV technology to have those superposed on a skull such as shown above, and 'Voila!' we have Snowden's EBE. Well, at least a fair approximation.

See also this image below from  the Outer Limits episode 'Nightmare":


Before continuing, I sent my Barbadian friend John Phillips (a bio-geneticist and biologist)


the file video link, e.g.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwIozu-plFM


He vehemently disagreed with my take. According to him:

"Your hypothesis is a clever debunking but doesn't hold up. This thing, whatever it is, is quite real. Look at the articulation of its limbs. More important,  pause it and examine the scale (width)  of its limbs and the contours of head and neck in relation to its shoulders. There is no normal, non-deformed  human that could fit into any such costume.  If not an actual alien, it is clearly a genetic experiment gone  awry.  A mutant? Maybe carried out at Area 51? Who knows? But it's definitely not a human in make up!"

I pressed him also as to whether it might be a puppet but he concurred with my own assessment that the blinking eyes make that - if not impossible- about as likely as our having another major hail storm at our location before the end of the year.  (However, as I summarize at the end, it could have been one of the earliest animatronic robots - which appeared at Walt Disney World by the early 1970s. Wikipedia also notes that by 1965 the first animatronics figure of a person was created by Disney. This is not to say prototypes weren't around before then - and they certainly weren't beyond the capacity of the military or security state to create - say for simulation or training purposes).

Perhaps the most trenchant objection widely seen on the net is:

4) "Look how few people are interested in it, no big news media are touching it!"

This is the key point for why few people are going to take it seriously even IF it was real.  My argument is that the video file IS real in that it was made in June, 1964 as the date cover stamp indicates.  But it is not real in the sense of a literal interrogation of a real alien from Earth's future. The giveaway is the label tag at very bottom of the cover title lead -in, which identifies the source as:

Air Technical Intelligence Center  (ATIC)

But as anyone who's investigated UFO claims knows, that designation was changed on September 21, 1959 to Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center.  The failure to alter the source label tells me that what we are looking at is indeed from June, 1964 but is a simulation of an alien interview, not an actual one.  (Or, if you prefer, a mock interview.) Another clue that it's just a simulation is the "MAJ 12" on the same title, which refers to Majestic 12. This was supposedly a covert group of top specialists, scientists, government honchos,  military who were keeping alien, UFO files from the public. But up to now no one has proven this secret group exists, although my now deceased middle brother Jerome (who served in the USAF)  did show me some documents headed "Majestic 12 - Secret Eyes Only" in 1986. Alas, I've been unable to independently confirm the authenticity. (If I can locate the files I will post scans.)

Barbadian psychologist Dr. Pat Bannister - who also proposed a theory of mind linking lying and conspiracy awareness,, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/04/higher-iq-liar-children-conspiracy.html


Once told me that the constant debunking of events "at the extreme spectrum of believability"  e.g. like alien abductions (which a few of her patients claimed) and UFO -alien visitations, meant that if actual evidence ever was revealed it would be unlikely to be accepted. She called it the "cry wolf" template. Repeat a wild claim often enough, have it or some variation repeatedly debunked, and ultimately when the real claim is validated no one will believe it anyway.

In Ufology the hoax examples are endless, from the George Adamski scam to more recent UFO and alien abduction hoaxes and claims - which anyone can find by googling.

But what interested me more than the imagery was the content of the ATIC agent's exchange with the purported EBE. I found most of the EBE's answers compelling and logically coherent - as I will show -but way too prolix for a genuine EBE or alien. It appeared to me more like a human (or disguised human voice)  delivering prepared responses that were intended to push the interviewer to hone his own questions. Again, more like a simulated questioning than a real one.

The  ATIC interrogator first demands: "State planet of origin." To which the EBE replies: "Earth."   My initial reaction was "Hogwash!" - as it followed too closely the 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes' script where three ape astronauts from Earth's distant future end up on Earth in its past (ca. 1972). However, before passing immediate judgment I wanted to hear more:

The ATIC agents then states, "OK, yesterday and I quote, you told us, and I quote, 'thousands of light years to get here.'" The EBE answers "Yes." The ATIC  interrogator then demands that the entity tell the truth, and delivers a threat ("I'll wring your damned neck!"  ?? ) that has been subject to audio distortion. The EBE answers, "It is truth. I am from Earth. From your future. To travel in time is to travel in space. Offset spatial divergence."

This is a correct description of  relativistic displacement through time, which also involves movement through space back to where an object was during the target time, or forward to where it will be. Thus, movement can occur in time, and have a space offset. For example, stay where you are- maybe sitting on a chair -  and let one minute elapse on your watch. You have performed a 'movement in time' and a corresponding movement in space of 460 m, based on Earth's rotation rate of roughly 1,000 mph. (I.e. you are not simply sitting on a stationary Earth but a rotating Earth).

This imaginary spatial displacement can also be easily be computed, using the speed of light c:

Im(x) = i(300,000 km/s x 60 s) = 18,000,000(i) km

That is, you have traversed 18 million imaginary kilometers or 11.25 million miles in imaginary space. (Im(x) is the symbolic representation for an imaginary space (x) transition. This concept can also be used to invoke hypothetical extraordinary distances (and velocities, i.e. v = 2c) to show imaginary times can be obtained- but this would necessitate backward displacement in time.

For time dilation we have from special relativity:

t' = t [1 - v²/c²]^½

Let, v = 2.0 c  (the EBE's  rate of displacement) so:

t' = t [1.0 – 2.0]^½ = t [-1.0]^½ = it

There are 9.5 x 10¹⁵ meters per light year

Take D = 2,000 LY:

D = (2,000 Ly) x (9.5 x 10¹⁵ m/Ly)= 1.9 x 10¹⁹ m

Or: D = 1.9 x 10 ¹⁶ km

The time t' required is imaginary – worked out from::

(-1t/2.0) x (1.9 x 10¹⁶  km) / (300,000 km/s]  =  -i3.1 x 10¹⁰ s

On this basis it appears the EBE is referencing a "space-like interval" between two events: his own origin event departure point, and his (past) Earth arrival event.   From Wikipedia:

"When a space-like interval separates two events, not enough time passes between their occurrences for there to exist a causal relationship crossing the spatial distance between the two events at the speed of light or slower. Generally, the events are considered not to occur in each other's future or past. There exists a reference frame such that the two events are observed to occur at the same time, but there is no reference frame in which the two events can occur in the same spatial location.
For these space-like event pairs with a positive spacetime interval (${\displaystyle s^{2}>0}$), the measurement of space-like separation is the proper distance, ${\displaystyle \Delta \sigma }$:

${\displaystyle \Delta \sigma ={\sqrt {s^{2}}}={\sqrt {\Delta r^{2}-c^{2}\Delta t^{2}}}}$   (proper distance)".

The ATIC agent  then asks, "So aliens took over our future?" The response is "No" and the entity then explains that it evolved from us.  In the spacelike interval context given above this makes sense. It evolved from us perhaps over millions of years and came from our future in imaginary time - i.e. as if using a faster than light mode of spatial displacement.  In essence then, when the time between two events is shorter than that which light would take to traverse them (at c = 300,000 km/sec) the interval is "spacelike" and no causal relationship exists. Thus the previous example using v = 2c fits this mode.

The EBE is then asked what it is doing here on Earth now. It answers, "Observing. Since evidence was destroyed." The ATIC interrogator asks "How?" and the EBE's answer is "Nuclear war." When asked to expand on that, the EBE responds: "Dogma. Political and religious dogma. It is the root of all major conflict of your species. In your next century, access to weaponry of mass destruction by states that are ruled by dogma will destroy your species".

Note first the EBE's reference to "the next century". Since the interview year is 1964 and the comment was made in the 20th century then the "next century" is the current one - the 21st. Right now, the stage is already being set for possible nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan. Each has 50-150 nuclear weapons and (as reported, p. 11,  in the latest TIME) moved closer to conflict after 18 Indian soldiers were slain in Kashmir in a recent attack by Pakistani-led terrorists, Jaish -e-Muhammad.  Quote: "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now under pressure to retaliate with military force."

Another "dogma" state, North Korea, has recently conducted its 5th successful nuclear test and is working toward mounting nuclear warheads on ICBMs that can reach the U.S. Nations such as Pakistan, North Korea and Iran are all ruled by dogma, and all possess, or are attempting to possess, nuclear weapons.

Most interesting to me is when the question is asked, "So you know how the universe was created?" To which the entity responds: "Yes." The ATIC questioner then asks, "So you've seen God?" The EBE's answer is "We have evolved past a need for superstitions, the need for a god and other myths."

This suggests that the EBE or its impersonator is indicating that beyond a certain evolutionary stage the brain will have advanced beyond the need to entertain deities. Recall that this tendency is a particular property of the OAA or orientation association area. (See e.g. Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief’.  by Andrew Newberg and Eugene Daquill). For more on this see: http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2010/12/god-is-found-inside-brain-1.html

The  ATIC interrogator then suggests, "How about we concentrate on your time?" The entity responds, "You are not capable of accepting or understanding the discoveries of my time." The interrogator responds, "Try me." The EBE's response is, "the nature of the universe, the origin of so-called life, it is known."

The ATIC interrogator also asks the EBE, "So how was the universe created and why is it so perfectly made for us?"

This has been suggested by some (e.g. Whitley Streiber) to be a clue that the video is a hoax because  the fine tuned universe idea  "didn't arise until much later" (likely with Fred Hoyle's 1984 book 'The Intelligent Universe'). But in fact, the idea had been around since 1961 when physicist Robert H. Dicke claimed that certain forces in physics, such as gravity and electromagnetism, must be perfectly fine-tuned for life to exist anywhere in the Universe.  This was then refined to the "anthropic principle" - proposed in Poland ca. 1973-   that  held only we on Earth have benefited from such fine tuning.

The EBE's response is direct and takes note of the modern multiverse proposal:

"There are an infinite number of universes.. Each with different physical properties. Virtually all do not support like, such as you know it We exist in a universe that does support so-called life."

The EBE (or EBE impersonator) is not referring to Hugh Everett's 'many worlds' interpretation of QM but rather actual parallel cosmi incepted from the selfsame primordial vacuum state (via inflation) as our own universe. Thus, an actual primordial vacuum - not a human observer or consciousness making observational choices- is the source of the real parallel universes. Hence, all putative parallel universes plausibly emerged from the primordial vacuum the way ours did, e.g. from the Big Bang. See e.g.:

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2011/09/are-there-parallel-universes.html

Just as interesting is when the ATIC agent inquires: "What happens when we die?"  Whereupon the EBE replies: "Death is a human construct. It does not exist. You will experience, you have experienced, every instance of a so-called life."

The ATIC agent seeks clarity,  asking: "So let me get this straight. There's no death and we all experience each other's lives". To which the EBE responds, "In essence, yes."

This is rather esoteric but might refer to Frank Tipler's notion of "eternal return" discussed in his book, The Physics of Immortality. A Wikipedia summation can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return

An alternative interpretation is one I explored four years ago,  As I noted:

"(Stuart) Hameroff's basic argument then, is that death doesn't mean the final termination of consciousness, so much as the end of its localization. If that is so, you cease to be a "person" or an individual identity and instead merge with other dispersed quantum wave forms (I have called them "B-waves" or de Broglie waves) to enter an "oceanic" state. "

I added that this oceanic state was identified as the "implicate order" by physicist David Bohm, in his superb book 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order'.  It referred to a higher dimensional reality into which we are subsumed. 

At another point the ATIC agent interjects: "So you know the meaning of life?" The answer is, "Not meaning, nature." The interrogator responds, "What's the difference?" The EBE's  answer is, "Meaning is ascribed. Nature is the objective reality."

This is a subtle point that might be missed by many. "Meaning" is what our limited brains impose on physical reality to make it more accessible.  Our brains' frontal lobes  evolved to parse meaning  seek it out  It is often culturally or religiously molded and often independent of actual facts, evidence. Nature is associated with objective physical reality, i.e. independent of our brains' filters on that reality.  For example, human brains have evolved to search for meaning or purpose in the universe which is a major reason they cling to God or promote the invention of gods. These artifacts help us to assign meaning to our lives which - to the brain - would otherwise be "meaningless".

Another crucial interlude opens when the ATIC interrogator asks, "What do you base your morality on?" The answer is "Compassion and evidence."   The first part could easily be traced to Buddhism where compassion - for all living things - is the primary virtue taught. As an example, the compassionate person extends and enhances life for all things, even insects, birds, rats etc.. He is also incapable of hateful or destructive thoughts or inimical beliefs toward others. On the other hand, the angry person entertains hate and vicious beliefs, including that his beliefs are superior to all others and indeed, that if others don't cooperate with them they will suffer grievous future harm - perhaps in a "next life". To the Buddha, this sort of thinking exemplified the epitome of desire turned inward toward spiritual arrogance and pride.

The second aspect, "evidence" has been a long time element of scientific Materialist morality, meaning that we predicate behavior on the evidence that it is constructive for the whole community not a small part of it.  An evidentiary morality, indeed, would most likely be based on provisional ethics, see e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/08/absolutist-ethics-needs-to-be-replaced.html

In summary, this video is definitely entrancing but I simply don't buy that it is a literal interview with an actual EBE. (Apologies to John Phillips, but I believe he is wrong - as he is on global warming- which he claims is "not all human-induced").  My conclusion is that it is an elaborate simulation of a potential future encounter in which an EBE might be interviewed. Perhaps ATIC intended it as a training exercise just in case a genuine EBE turned up. What is this EBE in the simulation? Possibly an audio animatronic robot, into which a pitch-altered human voice has been piped (though some insist an analysis was done which rules that out, but they haven't cited any specific source).

Or it could be a severely anorexic person made up as an EBE.  Who knows?   In any case, what was encouraging was to at least behold answers, responses to the ATIC agent  that would do any actual EBE (or alien) proud.

"Childhood's End" - Great Sci Fi But Not For Everyone (Spoilers!)

Overlord Karellan emerges for first time from his ship with two Earth kids in tow.

Question: How badly, to what degree, will humanity shit bricks if the first ever aliens to visit Earth - indeed, subdue it, look like the spitting image of Satan? My guess is that half the planet will go batshit nuts and probably off themselves and the other half will run to gun stores to purchase the biggest weapons legally available. Of course, neither choice will make much difference because the Overlords featured in the Syfy channel's miniseries - Childhood's End - will have their way anyway.

In Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel, Childhood's End, an armada of benevolent alien Overlords arrives at Earth and cultivates the growth - maturity of humanity. They are not here as "invaders"- the first reaction of the military minds - but rather as "enablers" to help us reach our destiny in evolving beyond the state of lizard-brained greedheads, congenital assholes and warmongers.

Only very late in the novel do the Overlords finally reveal their physiognomy - looking just like assorted depictions of "Satan" through antiquity. Of course, it helped that the Overlords waited 15 years for their Earth supervisor Karellan to reveal himself. It took that long for humans to mature enough psychologically to see his Satanic frame without passing out from fright or going into shock.

But one wonders what would have transpired if the visiting aliens  foolishly revealed themselves first. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to project all the human armies of the world would likely have attacked the invaders but the results would have been radically different from 'Independence Day'. The  scenario provides a definite cautionary tales on how humans may have to process any future alien landings.

The Syfy adaptation of the book was fine as far as it goes, though more or less a modern interpretation  - also with some twists. For example, the Overlords chose their earthly emissary as an ordinary Missouri farmer (Ricky Stromgren) not the UN representative and dignitary in the book. After all, no one would respect a UN honcho today - what with all the conspiracy theories circulating about UN "black helicopters", the "New World Order" and  being in bed with a hidden Earth power to take over the U.S. We can surely thank Alex Jones and his InfoWars site or most of that!

Clearly, once Karellan reveals himself there are all kinds of repercussions and Earth religions - especially evangelicalism - fear their faith is under siege even if indirectly. (After all, Karellan and the Overlords can provide at a technological 'touch' all that humans have been praying for since the year dot, e.g. world peace, good health, financial security etc.)

 The religious resistance is embodied in the person of one hyper-Christian woman who firmly believes Karellan has only come to deceive and sow evil, never mind how humans have thrived. I mean, the whole planet and all its inhabitant are finally on an even keel  - helped by the fact all earthly armies have had their weapons neutralized.

But for many the utopia that emerges is too boring so they have to eventually establish their own little chaotic city in "New Athens" where losers can still commit crimes, money rules, poverty abounds - but hey - art and literature are blossoming again!  It appears all the nasty stuff is necessary for those to thrive - or so the "mayor" of the place claims.

The religious zealot, meanwhile, is not happy given no one is taking her seriously even when she digs up ancient images of Satan from assorted books. "Looka the bat wings! The horns! The goat's hoof feet! What more y'all want?" Well, most humans want to keep enjoying the bounty of the Overlords and not rock the boat!

Of course, while the little "counselor", as she calls herself, may have studied lots of religion it appears she didn't do much evolutionary biology during her school days. Hence, she was unaware of how a planetary environment might shape a species to appear the way Karellan does.

Indeed, in one scene in Ricky's barn it is proven once and for all that Karellan is not a spirit being (like Lucifer is alleged to be by the religious) but an ordinary flesh and blood mortal. Unable to convince Ricky that Karellan is deceiving him and his wife she grabs a shotgun and fires into Karellan's midsection. He falls to the ground in a heap gasping,  and it's clear he will soon die but Ricky injects him with an Overlord prepared medicinal (intended for him, dying of a fatal disease). Karellan comes back and faces down his would be killer who shouts at him:

"You are destroying our faith! You have deceived us!"

TO which the Overlord replies: "NO, you have deceived yourselves."

 A point he later reinforces when he also adds that humanity has been far too prone to believing and not sufficiently invested in knowing. Another point constantly made is that Karellan is not acting unilaterally or as his own agent for his own agenda. He is a "servant" doing the bidding of an "over Force" or "Over mind". (Think of The Force in Star Wars as an ultimate linked consciousness that drives unity or unification of all sentient beings, as opposed to divisions.  The physical counterpart also comes fairly close to what I described as "Being" in my book, 'Beyond Atheism, Beyond God')

My favorite character, apart from Karellan (who some reviews erroneously refer to as a "villain" - maybe because he resembles Satan),  is Milo. He's a black astrophysicist frustrated because with the reams of knowledge the Overlords have delivered - including of quantum physics, general relativity and astrophysics -  scientific inquiry has become redundant. So, in order to satisfy more of his curiosity Milo decides he must stow away on an Overlord ship and check out their home world in the constellation Carina. (It is the "sixth planet in the Carina system")

Suffice it to say I was glad the book didn't divert too much from Clarke's central plot and that included not allowing a fringe story to manifest, i.e. that Karellan really was a Satanic being and the "counselor" and her religious gang were going to triumph.

Again, this series will not be for everyone,  particularly those of a highly religious mold who will have difficulty reconciling Karellan with any kind of benign entity. I am reminded of Dorothy Rabinowitz' recent review in the WSJ,  actually making comparisons of the Overlords to the Nazis, i.e. when they occupied France in 1940. But given her Jewish background this is perhaps understandable. Other people of religious bent will likely also see into the series what they will, but they ought to realize that - as an atheist- Arthur C. Clarke had no use for "evil" - he believed we humans were its only authors.

Nonetheless, it is at once entertaining and enlightening to behold th extent to which Arthur C. had woven metaphysics (of a sort) into his work with the "Overmind"- which seems an awful lot like the "Universal Mind" of mystics or the Holomovement of physicist David Bohm, described in his 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order'.

The end of the story can best be described as hurling the characters and the planet into the "Implicate Order". Anyway, I won't reveal the end part because that is what the whole story pivots on: the future of homo sapiens and planet Earth as facilitated by Karellan and the Overlords.