Robert Lanza is the author of the book on consciousness and science, Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe, released in 2010. It is now the first book in series with the follow-up Beyond Biocentrism and further talks with his publisher for a third and both books are part of my Unschooled Master of Theology Program
The gist of Lanza’s argument is a Theory of Everything, that would incorporate all the known laws of classical and quantum physics into a conducive whole, cannot be achieved through physics alone, but must take into account the biological origin of the external world itself.
Let’s see, shall we?
Introduction
Robert Lanza’s book, Biocentrism, is a new version of a “theory of everything,” a problem physicists and scientists the world over have been wrestling with for decades now. But, rather than argue for string theory or some other fantastical hypothetical solution, Lanza instead evokes biology as the binding force to ultimately unify the disparate parts of science into a conducive whole.
It is a fresh departure from traditional claims, as Lanza states, physics has been stalled for 80 plus years, unable to provide a breakthrough for its most urgent problems. For, the classical scientific view still holds to an external, physical, independent universe, material matter, and that the concrete sciences (physics, mathematics) will solve the ever present problem of a unifying field (a mystery even Einstein could not successfully unravel).
Despite this preponderance of opinion toward the status quo in the scientific community, Lanza proposes an alternative view – one that turns the last several decades on its head.
We are, he suggests, responsible for the universe and not the other way around.
He asserts there is more of us to the universe than there is the universe to us. In fact, he argues that we are God’s in our own right – God collectively – creating and maintaining the external world before us by sheer conscious will.
Lanza wastes no time in laying out his argument in seven Principles of Biocentrism, outlining a new direction for physics and cosmology to aim in the future, focusing on consciousness as the relativity of matter based on observer presence rather than on an objective, external existence of the world.
Let’s go through Lanza’s Principles each in turn.
Reality Originates in Consciousness
We all know the old adage: if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Intuitionally, most of us would respond with a confident YES. But, if we look a little deeper, we discover the answer is not so cut and dry.
The fact is, in order for sound to be sound, it must be received biologically. If a tree falls in a vacuum forest (no other life to observe it), there is actually no sound, since sound is only generated once the ear picks up the sound waves. The waves themselves do not generate the sound.1
Of course, there are no vacuum forests. Within these ecosystems (as with most everywhere in the physical world), there are a myriad of creatures, great and small, and all we can presume capable of hearing. In this instance, if a tree were to fall, the sound would indeed be registered by something. Maybe it would not be a human hearing it, but at least an animal of some kind.
So, Lanza appears correct. It is the observation that at least completes the act of hearing, thus rendering the observer integral to the production of the sound. The answer to the adage, then, would be: YES, if some creature or human were present, NO if not.
Lanza’s theory, though, that our entire physical reality is a manifestation of our own consciousness, is a struggle to accept. To qualify, does he differentiate consciousness between human and beast? In his paper co-written with B.F. Skinner in 1981,2 Lanza purports the claim that animals can be self-aware. But, of this, I’m skeptical.
Even further, his assertion that consciousness is the author of the external world – the universe, our planets, the stars, the Milky Way Galaxy, our forests and automobiles, houses and the very beds we sleep in at night – is mind boggling.
This conclusion he arrives at by the results of a few classical experiments, such as the Double Slit Experiment3 and Schrödinger’s Cat Experiment,4 speaks more of proof texting the scientific community to prove his pre-conceived point, rather than allowing the evidence to lead wheresoever it will go.
Yet, playing devil’s advocate, say the reality before us is merely a consciousness created illusion, and only by our observation does that reality then coalesce, then it stands to reason, given the plurality of individual consciousnesses on the earth and in any given one place (from human to animal, to insect, to microbial), our reality, though possibly initially sparked and manifested by consciousness, has been thus solidified for eons by continual and unrelenting observation.
There are, indeed, eyes everywhere, at every location, in every place in the world. There are now recording devices continually scanning the mysteries of space (Hubble, Voyager, etc). If even the remotest places were therefore held in a perpetual probability state, they would most probably be consistently coalescing now.
Even more so, this concept lends well to Biblical Theology, elucidating the persistence of creation, which is predicated eternally upon the Christ.
In Colossians 1:16 it states of Jesus, “for in him all things were created, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible…..the whole through him and and in him. He is before everything and in him everything συνέστηκε (G4921) “persists” or is “held together.”
It is not necessarily “our” observation that keeps the universe materialized, but rather may be HIS continued observation that is the proverbial tie that binds.
Internal Creates External
In Biocentrism, Lanza proposes the external reality we see around us is actually the product of internal processes within our minds.
The outside world, everything we see and taste and touch and recognize as reality, he states, is not discretely located autonomous of the observer. Rather, reality is merely a perception, and all that we perceive when experiencing the external world is our perception perceiving that mental construct. He contends nothing actually exists outside of the consciousness that has generated it.
If we look at the moon on a cloudless night, we believe wholeheartedly that it is real, that it orbits the earth every twenty-four hours, that it is objective, external, and truly exists separately and distinctly from ourselves. Yet, when we turn away from the moon and return back to our beds, the moon then is gone from view. Has it vanished from existence? Lanza would argue, in this instance, no longer being observed, the particles that make up the moon have returned to their state of indefinite probability. Only when observed do those probability waves collapse to form the moon we see. He would say the moon not only disappears, but it actually ceases to exist at all. In fact, it never actually existed externally in the first place. It is, as with all of the external world, a construct of the mind perceiving it.
But, in this example, Lanza fails to take into account several things. First, he does not address the issue of the external reality of the Double Slit Experiment. The fact that this experiment can be performed, that these waves could be measured, that the particles go through both slits to form an interference pattern, rather than a regular pattern when being observed – this would mean that those particles DO EXIST.
Regardless of their function or fundamental operation, there are particles of matter (of all matter) that do function a certain way. They may not function as we would have predicted. They may not follow Newtonian Laws of Motion. But, they do exist. The Double Slit Experiment seems to indicate that those particles of matter react differently under observation. This would indicate we are integral to how the external world materializes in our presence. But, it is a great leap of faith to conclude these probability waves are a figment of my own imagination.
Relativity and the Eye of the Observer
Lanza has so far proven there is consciousness. He has linked this consciousness (or the act of observation) with the fundamental function of matter. But, with his third Principle, Lanza asserts, “all particles….[are] inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability wave.”
This statement, of course, is unfalsifiable. First off, there is no certainty particles behave in this way when not observed (simply because there is no way to observe non-observation). We can see the results in the Double Slit Experiment, but there are other possibilities at play.
As I’ve posited, it is possible particles – all particles – are already in the perpetual state of being observed by God. If this be the case, then it stand to reason, particles only collapse for our benefit (creation’s). Or, being the Creator, it is entirely within His will for particles to function however he would like at any given moment.
We are, most certainly, blindfolded, grasping in the dark at an elephant. One is certain what he feels is a tree. Another is certain it is a snake. A third a vine. None, of course, understand the true reality before them. Only the man who is standing back, with no blindfold, can clearly see what the others have their hands on.
Second is our inability to alter our reality. If, as Lanza contends, the physical, external world is a construct of my consciousness, then it would stand to reason, I should be able to alter that reality any way I see fit. This would, indeed, be proof of his theory. If I could fly, or if I could violate any of the other laws of nature, this would portend the possibility of genuine self-manifestation.
But, sadly, I cannot fly. I cannot breathe underwater. I cannot perform magical feats, harnessing and manipulating the physical properties at my disposal. These are, indeed, things I can do in fantasy because those realms are truly generated by my mind. I am in control of everything there is within them. This cannot be said for the external world.
The Matrix of Matter
To state that the universe, any universe, could only exist prior to consciousness in a probability state is to undermine and trivialize the incomprehensible power and intelligence that would have been required to create the physical world in the first place. The earth, the moon, the solar system, the Milky Way, the universe with its seemingly endless number of other stars and galaxies on and on into the aether.
But, the reality of this universe is still one of terrible and tremendous mystery. We still are unsure of what makes up 96% of the cosmos. When adding up all the planets, all the gas, all the elements found in the universe, it sums at a mere 4%.5 What is the rest? We don’t know.
We have no idea what it is, where it came from, or even how to detect it. We evoke fanciful theories with vibrating strings and compulsory dimensions so the math works, but with no experimental evidence to prove such extrapolations.
In fact, what we find with Lanza’s proposal, is a thinly veiled invocation to the age old philosophical argument for Solipsism. It is an ancient worldview that predicted one’s own mind is the only certain entity to exist. The external world and more specifically, the other minds we are aware of do not actually exist.6
This argument has been proposed in many different forms and by many different groups. Gorgias in the 4th Century BC, Descartes, Berkeley, to name a few.
Is is actually a well known belief in Hinduism, and one could argue Lanza is a New Age shill, hoping to gain converts while masquerading around in scientific language and garb.
This does, unfortunately, appear to be the case.
Goldilocks’ Perfect Planet
One uniquely interesting aspect of Lanza’s argument is the Goldilocks issue pertaining to not only our planet but the entire universe as a whole.
It is said the universe is mathematically consistent and fine tuned to support life. Lanza would have you believe this is due to life creating the external world so, of course, it would be designed in such a way as to support its creator.7
But, this is no argument. In my book Embracing Light Aurora,8 `someone comes into possession of grand, supernatural abilities. This person has the choice to do with those abilities whatever they choose. They quickly find themselves in a new world of their own making, a place where the old laws of physics do not apply.
Yes, he can indeed fly.
So, reality does not have to conform to our understanding of what it would take to make life sustainable. In fact, I do not know the myriad of requirements for the so called Goldilocks planet of ours. If this world was created by my consciousness, and all those parameters were put in place by my own mind, you would think I would know about it after the fact.
Of course, there is an alternative explanation that is much more conducive with the Goldilocks Principle. Despite being shunned in modern times, it is the single best explanation for how uniquely qualified our world – and the universe as a whole – is to support life.
The answer is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Christ. Jesus, the son of Mary – Creator of all things.9
Perceptual Changes in Time
Time is, in and of itself, a quandary for several reasons. Previously, scientists believed time was constant. With Einstein, this idea was turned on its head, and with actual measurable testing (Hafele–Keating Experiment),10 it has been confirmed that time is a relative property, and is actually the fourth dimension in our reality (something Sorli and Fiscaletti say should be corrected back to a three dimensional space).11
Yet, time is akin to entropy in that the latter is the process of change over time (the disorganization of matter and energy) and the former is the measurement of that latter process.
But, Lanza’s proposal would have us believe that time is itself a persistent illusion (to invoke Einstein).12 Biocentrism contends time is not linear, is not a fixed arrow pointing from the past to the future, but is yet anotherfabrication of consciousness.
He states, just like there is no independent reality external to the observer, there is also no self-existing matrix of physical events. Time is a means by which biological consciousness perceives change. It is our perception that applies a layer of time over top our projected external world and utilize it as a mechanism to perceive change in the universe.
As discussed above, time itself changes as a property (its rate) based on differences in its variables (speed, location – time dilation). This means that time is relative. In fact, time itself stretches and contracts depending on its velocity. So, as I travel faster and faster, and approach the speed of light, I’m moving through space at a faster rate, but the rate at which I move through time slows down.
This, Lanza capitalizes on, insinuating that since time is relative to its constituent variables, it is thus fluid.
He claims that time, as it ceases to be experienced at the speed of light, so too it ceases to be experienced by the yogi (here we go) who reaches the higher state of nirvana. To the Yogi or Zen Monk, time vanishes and is replaced by a feeling of ecstasy, freedom from time, from constraint.
He also states the ephemeral nature of time is illustrated by events slowing down to the observer at the time of an auto accident, or how we experience the loss of time when in a highly focused “flow” state.
Further, if a clock were to move at the speed of light, it would cease to track time altogether.
But, does this in any way prove we are experiencing a manifestation from within concerning time? Well, to test such a hypothesis, I would ask a few questions.
First, if time itself is a mirage created from within, again, I should have some reasonable control over that apparition. Yet, I in no way can move myself into a different state of time other than the states forced on me by the physical limitations of time itself. I cannot experience again my 20th birthday (which many of us would certainly like to do). I cannot move forward and experience ahead of “time” my eventual and, sadly, unavoidable (but maybe by then welcomed) death.
Time has strict parameters and rules governing us. In fact, there is nothing about time or its apparent apparatus that would indicate, in and of itself, an origin from within our own being.
I think, by now, it is becoming very apparent that Lanza’s purpose for Biocentrism was as a simple contrivance of Hinduism, in hopes of bringing in converts to Transcendental Meditative Practices under the audacious auspices of cutting edge science.
Spacial Interdependency
Space, too, it seems, is on the proverbial chopping block for Lanza, as he contends that space, along with time, is yet another mental contrivance our conscious mind uses to understand the physical world we have constructed. Yet, there is an objection to both assertions.
Why?
Second to that is: Who?
If correct, and consciousness generates from nothing the entirety of the external world, why would that consciousness need two distinct apparatus to “understand” that which it has created? Further, what was the purpose of the creation of space and time in the first place? Why would it need a measurement to detect change? Why would I need three dimensional space to fix my location in a particular place?
Why would my consciousness care about any of that?
The biblical account provides no evidence of God creating time or space to locate himself in. In fact, its predominate that God is outside of both. The creation account and biblical message is singular in purpose: communion.
God sought a relationship with other sentient beings. Beings he created.
Second, who is the observer? Is it you? Am I the creator in this scenario? This goes back to the concept of Solipsism, in that no other mind outside of my own truly exists. How could it? If my consciousness as observer creates the external world, that world would include all the other people and animals and insects – all other living beings – I see and interact with on a daily basis. My consciousness has created them.
It is quite possible that those created beings are not at all conscious like I am. They are simulating consciousness in one form or another, yet they are distinct from my own God-like consciousness. In fact, from my perspective, I have created not only the book Biocentrism, but I also have manifested Lanza as well.
I can fully understand the motivation for such acts. To be God-like is to be divine. The will and the creative force are both immensely powerful. I wield a great and powerful potency when writing fiction. Not in the laying down of words and sentences and paragraphs or pages. But, rather, in the creative process of bringing life to another world, separate from this one (which maybe I created, too), where I can experience with great ecstasy in a real and visceral way, breathe life into sentient beings who interact not only with each other and within their own construct of reality, but also with me as their God.
Unfortunately, there is no way for the creation to understand or conceptualize – no way to fathom – the reality of their Creator – for, he lives outside of their constraints.
Space has no purpose, except for a habitation for a creation to exist within. If I as the observer consciousness has had no Creator (God), then there would be no need for me (who is then God the Creator) to create for myself a dwelling place as I already dwell where I exist.
Our space exists only in the confines of the Creator’s mind, not in the minds of the created. To the created, space is real and tactile. To my characters in the worlds I’ve created for them, those worlds and the space allocated to it (my mind, my attention, the attention and imagination of my readers) is all too real for them, just as our space is, likewise, all too real for us.
If Lanza would like to test his theory, he could purchase a ticket on one of the new commercial space craft and fly into outer space, then, simply take a space walk. While out there, take off your helmet, Lanza. See how real the fabrication really is.
Conclusion
Lanza predicts this century will experience a substantial shift, one that moves away from physics and toward biology. Of course, it’s hard to overlook the personal incentive for this view, given Lanza is a biologist by trade.
But, his argument can really be boiled down to a a non-scientific explanation for a theory of everything. This theory, though, is deeply rooted in the Hindu quasi-neo new age movement of modern Transcendental Meditation, under Yogi influences.
It is a hijacking of scientific questions by speculative (and non-falsifiable) theories, flights of fantasy and irradiating fiction.
He is correct when he asserts, “we must admit we have no idea how awareness can ever arise – not in an individual, not collectively, and certainly not from molecules and electromagnetism.” But, if we do not know the origin or the process by which consciousness materializes, how can we be certain of it’s possible subsequent bi-products?
Dr. Frederick Travis, in the sixth lecture of the Standford Open Course, “Hacking Consciousness” states, “…when a baby is born, its brain is unassembled.”13 That is, there is a process by which a child mentally grows from infancy to adulthood. There is not a fully formed consciousness waiting patiently for the physical body to catch up. The person that the infant will one day become is not present at birth, neurologically.
In fact, it is fair to say, our brain changes dramatically each and every day. Nearly 70% of all the brain’s connections will change within twenty-four hours.14 Again and again, throughout the course of one’s life.
Memory is the only binding thread that links our present self with the self of the past. Yet, our reality – this external world that on a multitude of characteristics we all universally agree upon – does not change with that continual internal transformation.
I would postulate, rather than a consciousness created universe, an external one that may be constructed upon strange, quantum level particle behavior due to the nature of its Creator, rather than our own.
It is mercurial only by limitations of our own knowledge base, our own fundamental processing restrictions. Just as the characters in my story are limited to the physical (or, in this case, digital) page they are written on, they still find self-expression within the space of my mind, and sometimes in the space of a reader’s. Yet, those characters have no ability to fathom the depths of their reality, as they simply have no capacity to comprehend it. Again, blindfolded, hands outstretched.
It was the same for us in our geocentric past, as we grappled in the darkness of our own limitations, the idea of an earth orbiting the sun simply too fantastical, too heretical a concept to be grasped.
Yet, not until the heliocentric shift did our intellectual and scientific progress surge forward and fulfill fate.
There is, then, one objective reality, distinct and external from the observer, whoever that may be. It is both separate from the Creator and the created, regardless of it’s illusive or idiosyncratic properties.
One cannot argue against the multitude of perspectives. This does originate from within each of us, even those of the animal kingdom, and of the insect world – regardless of how limiting that perspective might be. At the onset of the book, Lanza refers to the reality of a slug compared to his own. This is not a “different” reality, but only a different perspective of the greater external reality.
Indeed, our physical, eternal world may be a construct, a simulation. If so, it is not of our own making. It’s structure, at the quantum level, no matter how fantastic, does not intimate a reality from within, but rather a fantastical and awe striking Creator.
Just because we don’t understand it (or believe He created it), doesn’t make it any less real – to Him or to us.
Until my next review….
Sources:
1. Mos.org 2019. Sound and Hearing. https://www.mos.org/sites/dev-elvis.mos.org/files/docs/education/mos_now-hear-this_sound-and-hearing.pdf
2. Epstein, R., Lanza, R. P., & Skinner, B. F. (1981). “Self-awareness” in the pigeon. Retrieved from https://philpapers.org/rec/EPSSIT
3. Bach, R., Pope, D., Liou, S.-H., & Batelaan, H. (2013). Controlled double-slit electron diffraction. New J. Phys., 15(3), 033018. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/15/3/033018
4. Schrodinger, Erwin 1935. The Present Situation in Quantum Mechanics: A Translation of Schrodinger’s Cat Paradox Paper. Translated by John D Trimmer.http://hermes.ffn.ub.es/luisnavarro/nuevo_maletin/Schrodinger_1935_cat.pdf
5. Panek, R. (2011). The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality. Mariner Books.
6. Watson, R. A. (2016). Solipsism: The Ultimate Empirical Theory of Human Existence. St. Augustines Press.
7, Thomas, A. (2017). Hidden In Plain Sight 7: The Fine-Tuned Universe. .
8. Hunter, I. (2016). Embracing Light Aurora: A Supernatural Suspense Thriller (Book 3 of the Aurora Series Trilogy). .
9. Davies, P. (2008). The Goldilocks Enigma: Why Is the Universe Just Right for Life? Mariner Books.
10. Hafele, J. C.; Keating, R. E. (July 14, 1972). “Around-the-World Atomic Clocks: Predicted Relativistic Time Gains” (PDF). Science. 177 (4044): 166–168. doi:10.1126/science.177.4044.166.
11. Sorli, A., Kaufman, S., & Fiscaletti, D. (2018). Minkowski Space-time and Einstein’s Now Conundrum. NeuroQuantology, 16(5). doi: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.5.1345
12. Einstein, A., Calaprice, A., & Dyson, F. (2000). The Expanded Quotable Einstein. Princeton University Press.
13. Stanford Open Course Ware. (2019, April 30). Stanford University \Science\Hacking Consciousness: Consciousness, Cognition, and the Brain. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrwuNGSwGLHeU5lYqY1K6rGT7079Ss4_v.
14. Ibid.
Please consider supporting my writing, my unschooled studies, and my hermitic lifestyle by purchasing one or more of my books. I’m not supported by academia or have a lucrative corporate job – I’m just a mystical modern-day hermit trying to live out the life I believe God has called me to. So, any support you choose to provide is GREATLY appreciated.
Excerpt from Our Daughter:
“Okay, mom,” Randy said.
“You behave yourself and be nice. You’re lucky to have company while you wait for the doctors.”
The woman turned and started back the way she came.
“The nurse said it would be twenty or thirty more minutes, so we’ll eat quick and be back up here before they take you in, okay?”
“Okay, mom.”
“Sorry for him,” the woman said to Katie as she walked by.
“He’s funny.”
Katie grinned.
As the woman left, Katie noticed the boy moving around again on the bed. Before she realized what was happening, the tiny lump disappeared and she could hear the faint sound of bare hands and feet on the tile floor.
He was low crawling under the beds toward her.
A moment later, Randy popped his head out from under the nearest hospital bed, craning his neck around to look up at her.
“Hello, there,” Katie said.
Randy disappeared back under the bed, the bed sheet draping down almost to the floor. Katie could still see three little fingers pressed to the tile.
“What are you here for?” Katie asked, readjusting her seat in the chair, trying to get the ache in her chest to lessen.
For whatever reason, the wheelchair was really uncomfortable.
“Why are – ”
Randy’s voice trailed off for a moment as he looked around.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m getting my leg fixed,” Katie said. “See?”
Randy poked his head back out from under the bed and looked at the leg she was pointing to.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“The doctor said it’s broken,” Katie said. “Shattered.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch.”
“Can you feel it?” Randy asked, able to stay out from his hiding place.
“I can feel it, but it’s not too bad,” Katie said, then tapped the IV in her arm. “This thing is giving me medicine of some kind for the pain. At least that’s what the nurses said.”
“Why are you – ”
Randy stopped mid-sentence.
He scooted out from under the bed entirely and slowly crept over to her on all fours.
“What are you, some kind of spider?” Katie asked, giggling a little.
“What are you?” Randy echoed.
He was now only about a foot away from her chair and sat there, his legs folded up under him, gawking up at her.
“What are you staring at me for?”
“I’ve never – ”
Randy put out a hesitant hand and ever so gently touched her arm.
“Are you some kind of ghost?”
He looked around again.
“Are you – ”
He leaned in, talking in a whisper.
“Are you dead?”
A nurse came around the corner and stopped abruptly, spotting the empty bed in the far corner where Randy should have been.
“Randy Andrews,” the nurse said, her hands now on her hips. “You get right back into the bed and you stop playing around, please. They are ready for you in surgery.”
Katie watched as Randy scrambled on all fours under the beds and back up onto his, pulling the sheet back over top of himself again.
She started to ask him about his question, but couldn’t get the words out before his parents appeared at the door.
Katie sat there quietly, watching Randy stare back at her from under his sheet. She glanced over at his parents and the nurse, noticed Randy’s dad had no hair on the top of his head.
Are you dead?
What kind of question was that?
The snap of the wheel locks being disengaged on Randy’s hospital bed jarred Katie out of the confusion she was in.
The doctor she’d first seen was now at the door, waiting for Randy.
He was his surgeon.
They wheeled Randy out of the room, his parents following right behind, disappearing to the left, heading for his operating room.
The pre-op room was empty again.
Dead.
Are you dead?
What kind of crazy question was that?
The nurse came back through the double doors.
“It won’t be long now,” she said.
“Okay.”
Katie tried not to think about the dull ache growing just behind her sternum.
The nurse disappeared around the corner as Katie watched the double doors to the operating rooms slowly shut.
Buy my book Our Daughter and begin the adventure of a lifetime, as you uncover the mysteries behind Katie Cadora’s new life after the horrible accident that stole her mother away from her. Will she find sure footing again? Will the pain ever stop? Will she discover the secrets her new foster family are keeping from her? Is the boy’s question right? Is Katie Cadora actually dead?
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But, trust me when I tell you, there are deceivers in our midsts! Get started in this bone chilling suspense novel right away and find out why….sometimes….you’re just better off DEAD!
ISAAC HUNTER 