Frozen Time Theory
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By Jack H Hiller, PhD, JD Nov 3, 2011 (Updated Nov 15, 2014, 4/30/2016, 2/5/2017)
Abstract
The theory presented uniquely integrates findings and principles from:
1) Relativity Theory (e.g., time does not run for entities traveling at light
speed),
2) Quantum mechanics (e.g., paired particles demonstrate a mysterious form
of communication instantly at any distance, called by Einstein "spooky action at
a distance" when he spoofed the possibility, and "quantum entanglement" by Erwin
Schrodinger), and
3) Analytic geometry in which ordinarily perceptible space (3D) includes time as
a hypothetical 'physical' 4th dimension (see next follow on paper below). A
multi-dimensional universe existing beyond 4D may explain why visible material
and energy account for less than 5% of the universe (based on gravitational
effects observed, i.e., so called dark energy and matter may exist in the higher
dimensional realms beyond direct observation),
with observer reports about time, principally from the Near Death Experience
(NDE) literature:
A) Time does not run on the "other" side, so that past, present, and future may
be accessed together (visualize an observer located high over a road with the
road conceptualized as the time dimension);
B) Perception and consciousness experienced before having an out-of-body
experience (OBE) may continue uninterrupted when consciousness leaves a dying
body,
C) Perception is enhanced during the OBE to be able to see, not by reflected
light, but "directly" at any measurement scale, sub atomic to galactic, and at
any location, termed "mindsight," and
D) Matter on the other side exists at frequencies far higher than ordinary
matter, implying super strings on the other side vibrate faster than in the
material realm and may provide the basis for dark energy and matter.
Scientific credibility has been established for the reality of OBE perceptions
from a substantial number of cases in which information, that was acquired
during the OBE that could not have been accessible to the dying body at its
location or while brain activity had measurably ceased, had been verified by
independent fact checking ( Holden, J.M. (2009) Veridical perception in
near-death experiences, in Holden, J.M., Greyson, B., and James B. (eds.) The
Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Santa
Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC). An excellent case is made for consciousness operating
without a functioning brain by Dr. Greyson
( http://dharma-documentaries.net/bruce-greyson-is-consciousness-produced-by-the-brain
).
Introduction
It will be important to recognize the distinction between the context of
discovery or hypothesis formation and the context of verification -- unlike
speculations about an other side or spiritual realm that cannot in principle be
empirically explored, the theory presented here provides for empirical testing;
for example, brain waves, which are rather slow, may be tested to communicate
with higher frequency electromagnetic waves hypothesized to emanate from
the other side by using the superheterodyne process we now routinely use for
radio reception and amplification of signals broadcast at higher
frequencies than the carrier waves used in radios, a signal mixing process.
The 2011 Discovery Channel program on, "Did God Create the Universe?" stimulated
by the views of Stephen Hawking, provided one perspective on the nature of
the universe and its creation which eliminated any need to include the concept
of God, as the traditional uncreated Creator. My own analysis making reference
to Relativity and Quantum theories comes to the opposite conclusion.
The sum of energy and matter in this universe (positive and negative energies
and matter) could be zero, so that the material universe starts out from
nothing; however, there needs to be a catalyst to trigger the creation of
balanced positive and negative states of material substance, and of course that
would be God. But that yet leaves open the issue of how God came into being from
nothingness. Described here are speculations about the nature of Creation based
on Relativity Theory, with its provisions that time is frozen at light speed,
and General Relativity with its provision that infinite gravity also freezes
time.
With time frozen, the situation prior to the Big Bang may rule out the
meaningfulness of the question of causation before the universe was born,
because when there is no time, causation ceases to function. In other words,
from accepted theories of Relativity, physics shows that it is possible to
meaningfully conceptualize a state of existence in which time is frozen, so
causal analysis is futile.
However, whereas Hawking takes the logic of that result (i.e., that causation
becomes a meaningless question when time does not function prior to the Big
Bang) to eliminate the need for including the uncreated Creator, this logic is
flawed. His explanation conveniently presupposes an eternal existence for
quantum mechanical rules, but that presupposition is no more plausible then
presupposing God to have created quantum mechanical law.
Hawking also relies on equating the ephemeral existence of quantum particles
(e.g., protons coming into and out of existence randomly, the uncaused quantum
flux) with the Big Bang involving an immense conglomerate of mass/energy in
contrast to isolated bits of quantum level elements. Surely the huge mass at the
core of the singularity would not precisely follow the identical quantum rules
for the behavior of "separated" quantum particles, just as the behavior of the
macro world of everyday existence is radically different from the ephemeral
quantum flux; the fact that reductionism has failed to generate macro-level
world theory from atomic and subatomic science is well explained by physicist
Robert Laughlin ( Laughlin,
Robert
(2005),
A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down,
Basic Books,
ISBN 0-465-03828-X ),
who argues for the philosophy of emergentism.
Frozen Time Theory (FTT) proposes a different line of analysis from Hawking's
quantum mechanical explanation for creation in the Big Bang. Contrary to
Hawking's explanation based on an eternal existence for quantum principles, FTT
addresses features of quantum theory (for example what came to be known as
Einstein's "spooky action at a distance," now commonly termed entanglement),
Relativity Theory (as mentioned for timelessness and elimination of causation),
includes findings from study on Near Death Experience (e.g., Ken Ring's work
being an especially good source from folks who were congenitally blind, but had
a form of seeing in their NDE (
http://near-death.com/experiences/experts04.html
), as well as Reincarnation study findings (principally studies by Prof Ian
Stevenson (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Stevenson
) and Carol Bowman (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Bowman).
A set of well documented cases of reincarnation, complemented by You Tube
videos, is at this website: (http://www.victorzammit.com/evidence/childrenwhorememberpastlives.htm
), including a worthwhile interview of Jim B. Tucker, MD, who was
mentored in this field by Dr. Ian Stevenson. Pim Van Lommel, M.D. has published
an excellent, comprehensive review on the NDE research literature which is
valuable as a basic reference, 'Consciousness Beyond Life,'
The Frozen Time Theory addresses one of the great curiosities reported by seers,
and by ordinary individuals who had the NDE -- that time does not run in the
spirit world -- by hypothesizing that our 3-D material world, with time as an
adjunctive dimension, operates in the spiritual domain as a four dimensional, or
higher, spatial existence in which time exists as a fourth spatial dimension.
One particular NDE report directly supports the conjecture that time in the
spiritual world corresponds to a form of spatial dimensionality, of location in
a higher order space.
One with the Light: Authentic Near-Death Experiences that Changed lives and
Revealed the Beyond
by
Brad Steiger
(Sep 1, 1994) Chapter 22, page 145, The Extraordinary Near Death Experiences of
Two medical Doctors, is recounted. The source reported by Steiger is a paper
presentation of Sir Auckland Geddes, MD, to the Royal Medical Society of
Edinburgh, Feb 26, 1937. In one of these two cases of MDs having NDEs, Geddes
reported the following for a doctor experiencing an out of body experience
(pages 146 and 148):
"... he became aware of the presence of a guide, or "mentor," who explained to
him he was, 'free in a time dimension of space wherein now was equivalent
to here in the ordinary three-dimensional space of everyday life.'
With the new understanding related to
him by his guide, the doctor next noted that he was able to see things in four
or more dimensional places. At the same time, he could see equally well in the
three-dimensional space of everyday life."
This NDE report characterizes time in the spiritual world as being
represented--not by a clock-- but by spatial location. Thus, time on Earth may
be mapped to a spatial location in the spiritual realm, and that may explain how
valid premonitions are possible; premonitions may be reconciled with free will
by allowing that what is located at any time in the future may be changed as
events unfold.
Philosophical Perspectives on Existence and Creation
The foremost question for the ontological branch of metaphysics is -- how did
beingness come into existence and what is its nature (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology
)? Conceptualizing any process that can introduce matter and energy into what
had been a perfect void confronts the issue of where this matter and energy came
from to begin with (so reference to such materiality in the singularity
preceding the Big Bang begs the question in a circular manner), and ponders
further about the process by which materiality was incorporated into the
primordial void. Modern Big Bang Theory avoids consideration of how the material
at the core of the singularity was created or where it came from, and speculates
only about the nature of physical law explaining the singularity explosion
process; or alternatively, the Big Bang Theory of creation is replaced with
theory attributing creation to collision of preexisting brane universes, the
ekpyrotic scenario (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekpyrotic_universe).
This quandary about how to conceptualize the origin of a material
universe traces back to ancient Greek philosophy, with no substantive progress
after the issue of creation was formalized. This short note defining Frozen Time
Theory explains how an illogical application of the concept of time, which forms
the foundation concept for understanding and applying the concept of "causation"
to explain origins, blocks resolution of the ontological quandary. Frozen Time
Theory applies Special Relativity Theory to explain the ontology of creation and
spiritual beingness.
Special Relativity Includes a Condition of Timelessness
* Time as we understand and measure it according to Special Relativity slows for
increasing speed; more specifically, an object traveling at light speed exists
in frozen time, e.g., a photon does not age.
* Thus, when existence corresponds to light speed with its time stopped, asking
what preceded or comes after that existence has no meaningful answer for the
context of that existence.
* The dimension of time is constructed by Frozen Time Theory as a 4th dimension
of a Cartesian-like 4-D space; in other words, different times in 3-D may be
mapped to different spatial locations of 4-D space.
This analysis can actually be visualized by imagining 3-D chunks of space placed
at different points along a dimensional axis representing time, just as x, y,
and z dimensions are usually represented in Cartesian graphing for spatial
locations. The resulting 4-D spatial graphing will later be employed to explain
how spatial dimensions higher than 4-D may be conceptualized.
The NDE Phenomenon with Perception During OBE Verified
The NDE reports encompass observations made by consciousness, while it is
detached from an individual's dying body, about events taking place in the Earth
realm, and beyond. Observations made by individuals during their OBE may
be usefully classified as occurring while consciousness focuses on events within
the Earth plane of existence, and, for relatively extensive NDEs after
consciousness has moved beyond, usually thru what appears to be a tunnel, to
focus on a spiritual realm, typically corresponding to the concept of Heaven for
its beauty and the experience of feeling loved, but infrequently corresponding
to a Hellish environment.
OBE observations about events transpiring on the Earth plane may readily be
tested for reporting accuracy by checking on the facts known to participants in
the NDE event or bystanders. However, it is has also been possible to test
selective observations made during Heavenly visits. There are a few cases of NDE
reports made about relatives who were unknown before meeting them on the other
side, such as siblings, or other relatives (see, for example, cases reported in
Dr. Lommel's text at pages 32 and 33). Dr. van Lommel's thorough NDE
summary of an extensive research literature on OBE perceptional reality
concluded:
" [The] out-of-body experience is of scientific importance, because
doctors, nursing staff, and relatives can check and corroborate the reported
perceptions and the moment when they were supposed to have taken place. [ Dr.
van Lommel quotes here from the Holden OBE chapter cited in the Preface: "In a
recent review of 93 reports of potentially verifiable out-of-body
perceptions (or 'apparently nonphysical veridical perceptions') during NDE
it has been found that 43% had been corroborated to the investigator by an
independent informant, an additional 43% had been reported by the experiencer to
have been corroborated by an independent informant who was no longer
available to be interviewed by the investigator, and only 14% relied solely on
the experiencer's report. Of these out-of-body perceptions, 92% were
completely accurate, 6% contained some error, and only 1% was completely
erroneous. And even among those cases corroborated to the investigator by
an independent informant, 88% were completely accurate, 10% contained some
error, and only 3% were completely erroneous. "] This [review] proves that
an OBE cannot be a hallucination, which is a sensory perception that is
perceived as real by the hallucinating person, but does not correspond with
reality..." Pages 19 and 20 from the cited text of Dr. van Lommel, with
following pages in his text presenting compelling cases of verified OBE
perceptions, otherwise impossible from the position and condition of the dying
body. It is only reasonable to conclude, from the many verified cases, in which
individuals "perceived" events out of possible view from their dying body and
"heard" audible conversations or unvoiced thoughts, that OBE perceptions have
occurred by out-of-body consciousness -- and this conclusion has been well
authenticated by checking on factual accuracy.
Universally consistent observations from individuals returning from near death
experience (stopped heart and no brain activity
http://www.near-death.com/
) are that time as experienced in our material world does not exist in the
spiritual world.
* After death, relatives and friends, angels, and Christ all appear as made from
or glowing with light.
* After death "on the other side," ordinary time as felt here is reported
not to exist.
* Past, Present, and Future are unexplainably observed to coexist.
* Earth and its material world, the universe in which it exists, are said to
exist at a much lower frequency than beingness in the spiritual world.
Philosophy of Science Perspective on Time and its Role in Causation
* Causation is defined according to actions tied together across time
(
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/ap85/papers/CausationAndArrow.html
). Time at the macro level is conceptualized and measured as a continuous,
uninterrupted flowing sequence. Quantum Time Theory speculates that time takes
the form of a discrete quantum existence (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=splitting-time-from-space
). Regardless of the preferred theory, the concept of directional time underlies
the concept of a series of connected events happening along a dimension of
time.
* Given that time does not function, so that time is frozen, then "causation"
loses its operational meaning, and to search for causation is meaningless-- the
quest to comprehend how the world originated becomes meaningless.
Psychology of Perception and the Scientific Problem of Qualia in Perception
Conscious perception of the real world delights in varieties of colors seen,
sense of fragrances as when a rose is breathed, and the richness of music heard
( a good summary review of the concept of qualia is provided by "Mind & Brain,"
Jeffrey Schwartz, MD, Harper Collins, NY, 2002, pages 36-41). However,
microscopic examination of the brain neurons, and their cortical layers involved
in perception, fails to identify any features capable of "seeing" different
colors, or experiencing fragrances, or differentiating sounds to appreciate the
patterned sound of music. This problem has long been appreciated in philosophy
of perception as the problem of qualia
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia)
. Prof Alva Noe states his conclusion about the nature of consciousness in
clear, blunt language, ' Consciousness does not happen in the brain. That's why
we have been unable to come up with a good explanation of its neural basis.'
Chapter 1. An Astonishing Hypothesis (
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0809016486 ).
Erwin Schr'dinger,
one of the pioneers of quantum physics, offered the following perspective on
conscious perception contrary to any materialistic explanation of conscious
perception: "The sensation of colour cannot be accounted for by the physicist's
objective picture of light-waves. Could the physiologist account for it, if he
had fuller knowledge than he has of the processes in the retina and the nervous
processes set up by them in the optical nerve bundles and in the brain? I do not
think so."
The eminent neuroscientists Charles Sherrington and John Eccles, and the
pioneering neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield all came to the conclusion that the
brain does not itself originate or propagate consciousness, but instead
serves the function of a transmitter between materialistic sense-perception and
mind'soul. Even with today's special tools for examining brain activity, such
as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), conscious perception remains a
mystery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_perception
).
For the sake of argument, let's say we attempted to explain consciousness of
color perception by hypothetically locating different specific colors in
different places or in specially integrated neuronal circuits of the visual
cortex-- but that would not serve to explain color perception, because we would
then have to suppose a homunculus to be viewing the color representing regions,
and that would lead to reductio ad absurdom, for the conscious perception by the
homunculus would also need explaining.
This problem of how to explain conscious perception was tackled by Rene
Descartes in his dualistic theory of mind (soul) and brain, with the quaint idea
that brain and mind communicated through the pineal gland. Placing this gland
point connection aside, mind as the source remains a possible explanation, and
is consistent with those having NDEs who report that, when leaving the body,
perception is continuous from within the body to out of body, thus implying that
ordinary conscious perception is reliant on mind or soul ( see Mindsight, by Ken
Ring:
http://www.amazon.com/Mindsight-Near-Death-Out-Body-Experiences/dp/0966963008
and a BBC TV production on the NDE that concludes with solid evidence for
spirit, but of course no proof positive
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uuf-xct2sHk
There is a possibility that conscious perception does not need to be explained
by reference to mechanical brain processes, if consciousness and conscious
perception are not culminating functions of brain processes, but are instead
found in soul attached to brain, as theorized by Descartes. Theoretically,
locating perception in soul then merits an explanation for how the soul works
perception, so, at first blush, the issue of how perception works remains when
the site is shifted from brain into soul. The recently reported NDE by Eben
Alexander, MD, ("Proof of Heaven" Simon and Schuster, 2012) offers inference of
an elegant solution, really an Occam's razor-like solution, that soul directly
perceives information, both perceptual and conceptual. Alexander describes his
spirit's perceptual experience while in God's "core" realm:
" Seeing and hearing were not separate in this place where I now was. I
could hear the visual beauty of the silvery bodies of those scintillating
beings above and I could see the surging, joyful perfection of what they sang.
It seemed that you could not look at or listen to anything in this world without
becoming a part of it-- without joining with it in some mysterious way.
Again, from my perspective, I would suggest that you couldn't look at
anything in that world at all, for the word at itself implies a
separation that did not exist there. Everything was distinct, yet
everything was also a part of everything else, like the rich and intermingled
designs on a carpet...or on a butterfly's wing. " Pages 45/46.
In other words, spirit and its "sensory" and conceptual surround integrate as a
coherent whole, so that perception does not need to be specially created, but is
instead a seamless aspect of spirit existence.
Frozen Time Theory
The proposed theory of frozen time postulates that the spiritual world is the
original and dominant form of existence. Many seers claim that the Earth realm
functions at a lower frequency range than the objects of the spiritual realm. In
terms of current super string theorizing, the strings and loops of the spiritual
world would vibrate at much higher frequencies than objects in the material
world. However, as described in the quote from Alexander above about the
holistic nature of experience in the spiritual realm, the Reductionist program
in physics (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductionism
) is likely inapplicable in the spirit realm, and all phenomena there are best
characterized from our material perspective as Emergent in nature (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergentism
).
Frozen Time Theory speculates that time in the Earth realm can be mapped
to coordinates of a fourth spatial dimension in the spiritual world where time
does not exist as a moving arrow but as different places. Thus, in the spiritual
world, beingness exists all at once for past, present, and future. Alexander
acquired this understanding of time during a visit with God, and reported about
time as a spatial dimension." From these higher worlds one could access any time
or place in our world " Page 49, and see the next section below for
further explanation. This theory resolves the paradox of Predestination (in the
sense that God knows the future) and Free Will in which the future must be able
to accommodate unpredictable behavior. A four coordinate spatial realm (wherein
different Earth time existences are located in different places) always exists,
but the contents may change as events unfold in the material world. The theory
thus also accommodates paranormal instances of precognition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precognition
). Perhaps what exists at the four dimensional locations corresponding to future
events may be thought of as similar to quantum superposition states (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition
) in which an infinite flux of potential states exist with only one culminating
when an operational interaction (observation or measurement operation) takes
place.
Frozen Time Theory can be applied to explain how particle entanglement (spooky
action at a distance), as first proposed to refute quantum mechanics in 1935 by
Einstein in the EPR Paradox paper (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_paradox
), and later demonstrated first by Alain Aspect in an experiment in 1982,
to be a valid quantum theory prediction (
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/447.htm
), can create apparent instantaneous communication across unlimited distance. In
ordinary 3D space, the two paired particles that can be made to demonstrate
entanglement are observed as distinct entities separated in space. In Frozen
Time Theory, the separately appearing particles would be observed as a single
particle and could be located in 4D space at a single point in the time
dimension.
Higher Dimensional Worlds in the Spiritual Realm
Conceptualization of time as a spatial fourth dimension provides a framework for
conceptualizing higher order dimensions, as required by M theory's needing
eleven.
Consider the process of encapsulating a 3-D cube of ordinary material space, and
placing it at a point on a time line, with time as a single dimension.
Visualizing the material world cube at any point in time presents a 4-D spatial
image. Now, take the time line and cross it with another line to form a two
dimensional Cartesian graph; if the cube were displaced off of the original time
line to any point in the new graph, we then have a five dimensional coordinate
system imaged. Next, run another dimensional line thru the graph of the 4rth and
5th dimensional Cartesian graph (for 4 and 5 D), and the 3-D material cube may
be moved into a higher order 3-D space, with six dimensions represented. With
the original 3-D cube as a reference, we may encapsulate its position in the new
3-D higher order space (6-D space), and then place it in yet another higher
order 3-D space, achieving conceptualization of 9-D. This process of moving into
higher and higher dimensions is limitless.
Dr. Alexander mentioned above stated that God communicated to him that the
spirit world does exist in many dimensions:" I saw that there are countless
higher dimensions, but that the only way to know these dimensions is to enter
and experience them directly. ... The world of time and space in which we move
in this terrestrial realm is tightly and intricately meshed within these higher
worlds." Pages 48 and 49. Similarly in a report here on NDERF.Com, a
multidimensional world was reported:
'This
place was an expansive forever and yet the room was there, like in a glass cube.
The cube is the dimension we live on earth and it is but a tiny fraction of the
reality of existance. We on earth, in our lives, only see with these few little
senses. Meanwhile, in REALITY, and that's what I had the sense of, is that true
REALITY consists of far more than the small dimensions we have on earth. We have
our 5 senses on earth and it is upon this that we build our entire sense of what
we are and who we are and what we are doing here. In REALITY, there are far more
elements and far more senses that our soul beings have. Now this sounds insane,
but if you can imagine this, to a theoretical physicist or to a Jewish Mystic,
it almost makes sense I suppose. I have been studying these things to try to
make sense of the information I received.
'
NDERF, com reference:
4288.
Heather V NDE
1/29/2017. NDE 23192.
The mystery of dark matter and energy, estimated from gravitational effects to
include more than 95% of the
universe, with observable energy and matter less than 5%, may be explained by a
multidimensional universe in which the 'dark' energy and matter, although not
directly observable, exist in the higher
dimensions. Research is underway to map the locations of dark energy and mater
(http://www.nature.com/news/cameras-to-focus-on-dark-energy-1.11391
)
Mechanisms
Enabling Mind-Brain Dualism to Function
A feature of this theory that is entirely common to reports of seers and NDEers
is that our soul, existing in a spiritual realm without material bodies, is
joined to a body at some time after fertilization of the human (or higher
animal) egg, and before birth.
The joining of soul with brain functionality has been a traditional problem in
philosophy that was made clear by Descartes Dualistic theory that distinguished
between mind/soul and brain. In Descartes theory, somehow brain and mind
communicated in the pineal gland; regardless of the site of communication, the
mechanism was not itself explained. Recently, Dr. van Lommel has
hypothesized (text earlier referenced, page 248) that consciousness operates
according to the principles of quantum theory that enable non local
communication, e.g., entanglement, and further that wave resonance between
information in non local space with long (a meter) DNA molecules (acting as an
antenna) may explain brain-consciousness communication ( page 275). However
brain and mind communicate, it is clear from the lack of any interruption of
consciousness when soul departs body during traumatic NDE experiences, that
mind/soul operates while soul is attached to brain/body to inform conscious
perception.
Seers across the ages and contemporary folks who experience a Near Death episode
commonly report that the material realm has a frequency range that is much
slower than spiritual "substance." In terms of modern super string theory, we
can hypothesize that the strings in the material world vibrate at a much lower
frequency than the strings in the spiritual realm.
It is the case that the superheterodyne technology, earlier well developed for
radio broadcast reception and amplification ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodyne
), offers a potential explanation for the means of communication between brain
and mind. The basis of the technology is the use of an oscillator in the radio
to provide a lower frequency carrier wave form that is then mixed electronically
with the higher frequency broadcast signals by simple sine wave merger of the
two signal sources. The brain has been measured to create electrical
(electronic) wave forms that correspond to different modes of brain wave
activity, such as occurs during sleep, wakefulness, and meditation. By use of a
superheterodyne mixing of soul and brain wave forms, each could be made to
communicate with the other.
The so called "God Helmet" apparatus might provide a means for testing this
hypothesis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_helmet).
Normal Consciousness and Conscious Perception Do Not Require a Normal Brain
Frozen Time Theory concludes that conscious perception cannot be found in the
electrochemical workings of neurons in the brain, because there is no way to
explain differentiated qualitative states, such as seeing red or green and
hearing music and experiencing fragrance; and because the NDE reporters
frequently mention that when they experienced leaving their bodies, conscious
perception from the body state to the out of body state was continuous, with no
interruption, strongly implying that conscious perception was from the soul and
not the brain. There is also striking evidence that conscious perception
may take place routinely in individuals who not only lack the normal brain
structures believed to be required for consciousness and conscious perception,
but essentially have no brain at all. Prof John Lorber has found from some of
his hydrocephalic patients who have suffered a massive loss of normal brain
matter that they are able to function normally without the normal brain lobes
(e.g., missing their occipital cortex for processing stimuli from the retinas
and w/o the frontal cortex
http://www.rifters.com/real/articles/Science_No-Brain.pdf
). Lorber cites one extreme case of a normally functioning university
student with a recorded IQ of 126 who was at the time of research by Lorber
earning an advanced degree in math. 'In place of the normal cortical lobes that
are about 4.5 cm thick, there was a thin layer of the mantle measuring about a
millimeter thick, with the cranium filled with cerebrospinal fluid in place of
the normal brain.'
Conclusions
Our current understanding of physics, incorporated in both Special and General
Relativity, establishes that time is frozen under light speed velocity or
extreme gravity (black hole conditions), so the concept of frozen time is
compatible with modern physics. Reports by individuals having had NDEs and by
seers across centuries state that time in the spiritual realm does not run as
experienced in our material world, but instead they are able to simultaneously
view past, present and future. Frozen Time Theory conceptualizes time as
experienced in the material world as capable of mapping to a 4th dimension in
the spiritual world as a form of spatial location. By freezing time in the
spiritual realm, the search for explanation of when or how the material world
(or spiritual realm) was caused loses meaning, as causation requires time to
inform its meaning. The EPR Paradox from quantum mechanics for spooky action at
a distance is explainable by hypothesizing that the entangled particles
separated in 3-D in the material world are collocated in the spiritual world, so
action on one particle naturally instantaneously affects the "other." A 4-D
spatial model of reality that replaces a 3-D model, with time added as a spatial
dimension, has no trouble explaining reports of precognition, as well as reports
about spirit ability to perceive past, present and future at will.
Note of appreciation for Dr. von Lommel who kindly provided review and key
reference.
Jack H. Hiller, PhD, JD, is a retired applied scientist and engineer.
He earned the PhD from UConn, Storrs, Conn. in 1968 specializing in research
design, applied statistics, and computer sciences.
He earned the JD from George Mason School of Law in 1995.
He has worked as a professor at S Ill U, and for U Maryland and George Mason U.
His primary career was as research scientist in the Dept of Army for 25 years
from bench scientist (GS 13) thru Lab Director (Fed Gov SES4, from 1974-1995),
and he retired from the Army HQ Staff in the Pentagon as Director of Personnel
Technologies overseeing Human Factors Engineering design in all major systems,
and setting policy for all Army R&D involving man-machine systems design
(1995-1998).
After retirement from Army R&D, he worked for Northrop Grumman Corp as a Chief
Scientist providing program management for PhD Physicists and Electronics
engineers (1999-2010).
Retired as Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the American
Psychological Society.
Past member of American Mensa.
Email:
jh7138@gmail.com
Possible
enablers and barriers to dimensional perception
Jack H Hiller,
April 22, 2016
The purpose of
this analysis is to frame an understanding of how human perception forms for
lines (1D) and planes (2D), and 3D spaces, but appears to be absent for 4D and
higher dimensional perception. Reports from the Near Death Experience claim that
the world has many higher dimensions, even if unseen in the material body. Super
string theory makes use of multiple dimensions, only they are defined as curled
so tightly around an origin as to be imperceptible. Reports of Out of Body
Experience, associated with the Near Death Experience, report time as ceasing to
flow, with past, present, and future all accessible from consciousness
(corresponding to the theory of Eternalism in which the past and present always
exist, and perhaps the future as well ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternalism_(philosophy_of_time)
). So, the main question addressed is why we do not see in 4D time as a real
dimension on par with the three spatial dimensions that we do "see."
In Abbott's
clever Flatland satire ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland ), he portrays
the perceptual limitations of dwellers in a flat plane (2D world) who may be
points, line segments, or two dimensional objects, and pokes fun at their
difficulties in seeing, or even imagining three dimensional entities; while the
frustrations of these zero, one, and two dimensional entities in seeing or
understanding higher dimensions is satirically funny, Abbott nevertheless
created a metaphorical treatment of dimensionality that may be helpful in
conceptualizing four and higher dimensions.
Analysis.
Fundamental concepts include the dimensionality of a perceiving entity, the
dimensionality of the entity's sense-receptor and perceptual systems, and the
assumption of perceptual capacity inherent in the perception system. As an
aside, it has been argued that human perception is not possible by brain
function alone, but requires a consciousness that may receive sense-perception
information from the brain ( https://www.nderf.org/NDERF/Articles/frozen_time.htm
), which is to say that some form of Descartes' mind-brain dualism is required
to explain perception.
Point (0D),
line (1D) and plane (2D) entities.
Sensor system A dimensionless point may theoretically
receive light from another point by using a point sense-receptor, except that a
mathematical point is dimensionless (it only offers a location designation). If
we take the innovation of superstring theory to expand a point to a circle with
the radius of a Plank length (
1.616199 '10−35
meters ), then a Planck point may receive the light from the
multiple points of a line by rotating or moving to receive light from different
points along a line, or by employing an arrayed line of point sensors. The
sensed line energy points may be processed to create data storage enabling some
form of re-creation of the original line point observations; in other words,
light rays can be transduced to "data" representing the original light impinging
on the sensor system, and the data can be stored for retrieval and processing as
individual points or as a line array. However, a point entity yet has only a
single point for perceiving the data created by sensing. It is interesting to
note that a point sensor with approximately 0 dimensionality is able to collect
data from higher, 1D, energy sources.
Perception
system Data constructed from sense-reception can
be processed to enable perception of a single point spot or line segment. In the
human perceptual system, there are more neurons providing feedback to the
primary visual cortex (V1 or striate cortex) than come from the retinas; the
primary visual cortex gets feedback from higher level visual cortical areas up
thru to the hippocampus and its neocortex, implying that memory is used for the
sensory data recognition and interpretation that support perception. Thus, the
memory system directly supports elementary feature recognition that contributes
to perception. In fact, Hubel and Wiesel have found ganglion structures in the
retina itself that facilitate detection of a range of features (lines at a
variety of angles and movement ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_detection_(nervous_system)
) and the feature detection output maps directly to associated areas of the
primary visual cortex ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2718241/ ).
It is important to note that the sense- perception system does not act as any
kind of veridical transmission system for retinal images that might otherwise be
thought of as functioning like a simply camera copier for stimuli. The retina is
itself a complex organ, and the visual cortex even more complex in managing
input from the retinas and from long term memory to process sensory information.
Note too that there is no structure or function known in the frontal lobes which
register conscious perception of any eye-like receiver. The nature of perception
associated with the frontal cortex remains a mystery (
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4168671/ ).
Plane (2D) and
spatial (3D) entities
Sensor systems The retina, as a planar entity, can use an
array of points (connected as a ganglion) to detect a line segment. A single
retina exists in a slightly curved plane, so it is inherently slightly in 3D
space; however, the use of two spaced retinas separated in 3D space achieves a
distinctive capability to receive and process stimuli that reveal 3D spatial
cues, such as reduced size and displacement of objects as they extend away from
the fovea (there are additional cues such as haze and amount of haze with
distant objects suffering additional haze distortion).
Perception
systems It is clear that the human perception
system constructs a complex neural registration of sensory information that in
no way provides a simple, direct "copy" of objects and spatial cues stimulating
the retinas. The brain is thus responsible for creating information that is
somehow "interpreted" and supports spatial perception. The retinas do exist as
3D entities (humans) in 3D space, so it ought not be surprising that spatial
perception is achieved, even if principally from two planar retinas. However,
the retinas also exist in a temporal dimension, but no extension of time is
directly perceived, only inferred (granting there are neural structures that
serve as time keepers in the brain, as clocks (
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-4131-5_11#page-1 ).
Hypothetical
4D entity (time defined as a fourth spatial dimension)
The
hypothetical 4D entity, i.e., a normal human, does not directly perceive a
spatial 4D world view in which past, present, and future are available by
looking at different points of a physical time dimension. But we do see 3D, and
2D, so what is the barrier? One possible explanatory hypothesis would be that we
do not in fact perceive any 3D or 2D spatial realities either, that, instead,
our perception is entirely a construct or fabrication'the human visual system is
not in any way constructed for veridical copying or modeling of its environment
the way ordinary film cameras or tv cameras function. Starting with the retinas,
the visual system selects cues, such as light intensity gradients and edges
according to orientation, for transmission and processing, and that processing
importantly includes long term memory guidance, with perceptual expectations
generated both by unconscious memory and consciously held expectations. In other
words, we do not directly perceive the world, but actively fabricate a
representation that appears in conscious perception (
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Bruner/Cards/ ). So then, why does conscious
perception stop at 3D?
Common sense
holds that we see three spatial dimensions, not four. But we do experience time
as a continuation of objects in our perceptual environment. So, in a real sense,
we do perceive continuation, or the existence of time by instant perception and
near term memory of percepts, with an ability to detect changes in object
perception over time, e.g., a pitched ball to a batter, the batter's swing, and
the ball flying away when struck. In other words, Eternalism theory for past and
present temporal states corresponds to actual perception, with the future alone
missing. Given that the future exists as an infinity of possible states, a
quantum superposition ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition ),
any construction of such perception of the future would create some form of a
useless, bewildering blur. Presumably brain evolution has continually screened
off any emergent capabilities to image any such useless blur.
A
question may be raised about why we do not perceive higher order dimensions,
such as a 5th or 6th, etc.. An answer may be found in the metaphor
employed in Abbott's Flatland. Higher order dimensions may exist, but as 4D
entities, we lack the sensor systems required for observation into the higher
dimensions, e.g., 3 or more retinas. One might consider how sensors could be
arranged to capture 4D and higher spatial images. However, with regard to 4D, we
actually capture such routinely now any time we view or take a picture of an
real physical object that was made possible by the sensor and object viewed
"existing" together for more than the Planck length of time (10 to the minus 43
seconds, defined as the time it takes a photon traveling at light speed to cross
the Planck length,
1.616199 '10−35
meters).
So then, an issue becomes why we do not ordinarily regard our
viewing the real world in 4D when we do so.
The conceptual trap of imposing mathematical concepts on interpretation of the
real physical world
In the
text above, we refer to points as dimensionless location in "space", line
segments as 1D, planar area as 2D, and spatial objects as 3D. We also wonder
about not "seeing" a hypothesized 4th dimension. However, the
dimensions referred to have been implicitly defined as idealized mathematical
concepts (eternal Platonic ideal forms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Forms
) such that any real, physical world object's persistence in time is ignored as
a form. However, Abbott's creatures, for example, to possess definable character
and activity, must persist, and by conventional terminology, they exit or
persist in time. So, Abbott's point creatures to be placed into the real would
not be 0D, 1D, and 2D, but 1D, 2D, and 3D to acknowledge their temporal
existence. By this reckoning, we do have direct awareness of time as
persistence, and also as change (e.g., movement and alteration).
We might then
inquire about the perceptual differences for physical world spatial dimensions
and time, with time thought about as a dimension of persistence. We think there
is a difference in quality between time and the spatial dimensions , because we
can see, for example, a real ruler as an edge or planar object (ignoring its
thickness), but we cannot see time as such'or can we? If we think about time as
the persistence of any real world object, then we do indeed see the effect of
"time" when we see any object either persist statically or change. We do
perceive the effect or result of time by seeing persistence or change in
observed objects. In point of fact, we do NOT see ideal spatial dimensions
either, as they are only mathematical objects that cannot be "seen." For
example, it would be impossible to see a mathematically defined point, as it
occupies no tangible space, but merely is assigned a location in an idealized
multidimensional space ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_(geometry) ). The
same is true of any of the ordinary dimensions of length, height, and width.
What we can see are real world objects, with spatial dimensions'but only if they
persist in time.
However, even
when seeing real world physical objects persisting in time, we do not really
"see" such, in the sense that a camera senses reflected energy from any object
and fairly directly transduces the acquired energy into some data set or image
in a film or viewing screen. The energies collected by the retina are complexly
woven by cortical processing, aided by long term memory elicited by
"similarities" recognized consciously or subconsciously for the object of
vision. Our perception is a construction, and as too often revealed by witnesses
at trial, is subject to substantial error ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyewitness_testimony
) that goes beyond mere problems of memory retrieval. Human perception does not
create any veridical copy of any viewed object, but instead relies on a mental
representation'but we do not yet understand how that representation is fully
constructed and then perceived in consciousness. The conclusion here is that
perception of spatial dimensions is no more substantial in quality then the
perception of persistence and change. Spatial extensiveness is an abstract
concept as much as time is an abstraction.
Tangible 3D
objects require temporal existence, but not quantum particles
However, it
may yet be argued that, while the ideal mathematical constructs for 3D space may
be intangible, and idealized space is likewise intangible, physical objects in
space do manifest the three dimensions, and spatial objects are observable.
While we do not "see" the spatial dimensions as such, we see objects from which
we can usefully impose a 3D coordinate system. That is true enough, but it also
follows that any such objects, and their tangible frame works or environment,
must also persist in time, i.e., without temporal existence objects do not
exist. Thus, time, as represented by observed persistence (including change),
must persist for any physical 3D object. In other words, without time, at least
as long as the Plank time constant, objects do not exist, so time is a required
companion of spatiality. We cannot properly think about real objects without
also including time, or potential real objects would not last long enough to
observe, much less behave according to any laws of physics.
It might be
argued that real world objects are not simply a constructed illusion of any
brain constructed visual perception of them, because we can also include
correlated tactile perception of objects, we feel them. However, it is just as
true for tactile perception that it must also persist in time, so persistence is
also required for tactile perception. Without persistence in time, there is no
perception of objects in space possible in our material world.
In the realm
of quantum phenomena, however, persistence in time is not required for entities
to "exist," as elementary particles routinely "disappear" into the quantum flux
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_fluctuation ), while quantum entities
also pop out of the space vacuum into existence. So, there is a difference for
quantum phenomena and the macro level matter we commonly experience regarding
persistence.
A conjecture about material space-time and consciousness
Ordinary
space-time, as experienced in the material world with time moving in a direction
from past to future, is well signified by entropy in the second law of
thermodynamics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_(arrow_of_time) ), and it
includes an assumption of regular change, or progression automatically operating
as a universal law. The real world we experience is subject to ongoing change.
In contrast with the material world, reporting from individuals experiencing the
OBE is that there is no sense of time running, that change is in no way
automatic, and that, while time does exist, it corresponds to different
locations in a true 4D space where the past, present and future all exist
concurrently and are accessible instantly by thought. During the OBE,
individuals also report that they have "bodies" that glow, as if made of light,
and that all other entities likewise glow; if the realm of consciousness is
populated by photons, then time does not run as held by Special Relativity.
The ability to
think in the realm of consciousness with instant results, and to instantly
access different locations along a time dimension, is reminiscent of quantum
entanglement in which the collapse of the Schrodinger wave function for any
particle is somehow instantly communicated to a partnered particle --regardless
of their separation distance (Einstein's complaint of spooky action at a
distance). Thus, quantum entanglement shares its instant mode of operation with
descriptions of how consciousness operates during the OBE when mind is separated
from the material brain. Furthermore, the popping into material existence of
quantum entities from the vacuum of space implies that, if such particles are
coming from somewhere that is unseen, it may be from the field of consciousness
as their home, with the ordinary material world existing as a subset of a higher
order multidimensional space (a claim made by some reports from the Near Death
Experience and from seers across the ages).
Conclusion
Primitive concepts, initially
defined unto themselves, include "location" in "space" and extensibility in
space. Extensibility includes the four dimensions we refer to as space-time. We
have culturally regarded spatial extensibility to be directly observable in real
world objects, but not time, with time considered a mysterious abstraction. The
argument has been made here that the three dimensions of spatial extensibility,
and space itself in which extension may be present either in mathematics or real
world physics, are abstract concepts equivalent in their intangible character
with "time" as an abstraction. However,
Einstein's
Theory of Special Relativity in fact links the primitive concepts of space and
time together as interdependent concepts. "Time and space cannot be defined
separately from each other. Rather space and time are interwoven into
a single continuum known as spacetime.
" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity )
Human consciousness is required to comprehend the abstract ideas of space-time,
and human conscious perception is required to conduct space-time observation and
measurement for real world environments. While ordinary visual perception is not
itself culturally regarded as mysterious for ordinary everyday living, or even
regarded as strange by those accepting their NDE with it's associated out of
body experience, consciousness and conscious perception remain true mysteries
for science.