Newtonian vs Quantum Consciousness

Many of you may have some understanding of how Physics has changed over the years. For hundreds of years both scientists and civilians assumed that we could establish exactly where something was in both space and time as well speed and size. It was either there, or it wasn’t. And there were fixed rules about what was possible and what was not. There were fixed rules about what something was, and what it wasn’t.

It was pretty much as if our Universe had very concrete and specific points, lines, edges, beginnings and ends, etc. Now at times, we didn’t know what the rules and laws were.  But for hundreds of years this view of the universe worked totally fine. Things fit this map…. and the map seemed to fit everything we dealt with.

However, at some point, when we started looking at smaller and smaller pieces of matter and energy, and started looking at higher and higher speeds of movement, we actually discovered that these so called “laws” of the universe weren’t really working like “laws” at all. Things that existed were found to not actually fit these so-called laws… And these “laws” didn’t accurately predict what we would have expected them to predict, if in fact they were actual laws that the universe followed.

We basically discovered that our “model” of how the universe worked was not correct. It was a giant shock to the world of physics and even to civilians who studied science and were just curious about how things worked.

New models of how things worked, suggested that points and particles in space and time couldn’t actually be assumed to be permanently fixed in any one specific location or spot or time, speed, or size, but rather were only there as probabilities and frequencies. Particles weren’t just particles, and waves were not just waves. Particles were waves and waves were particles.  Energy and matter were both the same and different. Time was not a straight line…. and on and on…..

A particle was not always at a specific point but it was often at that point. Things weren’t all or nothing, black and white, like we were used to.  

 I apologize to those who actually know Quantum physics versus Newtonian physics because I certainly don’t know how to explain it really well.  The important point here is; there is very likely something similar to Quantum Physics in Self-Awareness, Consciousness, Psychology. 

A Newtonian understanding of our consciousness/psychological Universe would be that we are either happy or sad, depressed or joyous, good or bad, worthy or not worthy, evil or saintly, valuable or worthless. The list is endless but the general theme is one of DICHOTOMY, either/ors, black or whites, polar opposites. Much of life would be about our own internal decision-making about which of the opposites applied to us.  In terms of internal evaluation of ourselves, we basically engaged in a long-term debate or battle between whether we were of light or of darkness, good or evil, loving or hateful, etc., etc.  Religions and other societal organisms fit into this internal system, or made this system fit.

And if the debate didn’t seem to very often come down to an absolute clear winner or dominance, we could throw in something that broke the tie. (See Christian forgiveness whereby we can’t find anybody who is actually without SIN, so Jesus comes to the rescue with godly forgiveness.)  And all religions can be seen as helping to deal with the system that requires these opposites to be in competition, and clear winners determined. And “winning” had to be basically all or nothing, 100% and 0%.

However, maybe physics has something to teach us about human consciousness. Newtonian physics was finally released as a model of TELLING US THE COMPLETE TRUTH, when it frequently was seen to fail at either explaining or predicting.  Perhaps it is time to let go of the Newtonian version of Consciousness and Self-Awareness, because it too fails to explain or predict successfully.  

Perhaps the life long debate about whether I am good or bad, good or evil, light or dark, happy or sad, joyous or grieving is the wrong set of questions to be asking. It is wrong because it is impossible to be all of one and none of the other. It is impossible to be one, all the time, and none of time, for the other. Perhaps the true model of the universe of consciousness, just like in physics, is that it is NOT an either-or-thing.

In early physics, when things didn’t fit the Newtonian model of the universe, huge efforts were made to explain away the errors or discrepancies, just so the model could be maintained…. mostly because we didn’t have an alternative. Magical forces were imagined to explain the gaps and errors.  We even pretended we didn’t see what we were seeing.  Well, in the world of Consciousness and Self-Awareness you can imagine how much more skillful we are at pretending and denying things in order to maintain more comfortable beliefs and models. This is especially true of being human from the inside.

Think of this,  we would rather spend a lifetime working on the “debate” as to whether we are fundamentally a “good” soul or an “evil” soul, than we would like to deal with the truth that we are all actually “good” and “evil” souls, its just a matter of percentages and frequencies, times and places. It isn’t possible to have 100’s and 0’s.

You can actually feel the truth of this because you can find, if you go deep enough inside,  the denial and delusion and pretend, that covers whichever opposite of the two poles you are saying denotes you.  If you say you are fundamentally good, looking deep you can feel the doubt and disagreement, or at least sense the hiding of the belief that you are fundamentally evil. On the other hand, if on a bad day, you firmly conclude that your fundamental nature is evil, you can go deep past the denial and delusion and discover your knowledge of the truth of your being fundamentally good. Or at least you can find the area that hides that alternative belief.

We have usually defined the main issue as deciding which of these various opposite is actually the truth. We go through massive efforts of trying to determine or believe in one or the other. We pretend we have it figured out, even while knowing at the deepest levels that we don’t fully believe the single choices we make. So we have tons of denial and delusions hiding all sorts of truths… just because the Newtonian system demands that we reach a conclusion.

Well, the problem is not our inability to figure out what the size, speed, and location of a particle is. The TRUTH is that in the Universe, it is impossible to figure out all three, because they never exist separately like that.

And in the universe of Consciousness it is very similar.  We can’t figure out which of the seeming opposites we are; good/bad, light/dark, happy/sad,  etc… etc… because in the TRUE UNIVERSE OF CONSCIOUSNESS  these things don’t even exist separate from their seeming opposite. They ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS co-exist.      Just like in physics, it is a matter of frequency, probabilities, percentages, not 100%s and 0%s.    

This is one of those realizations that can seem like more bad news than good news. But it is actually both good news and bad news, and that’s good news at the highest levels.

Feel what it feels like to give up deciding which is zero and which is 100%.  Feel what it feels like to STOP PRETENDING that one of the sides is zero when you know it really isn’t.  Feel what letting go of the denial and delusions feels like.  Feel what it feels like to release the guilt that has always been there, at some level, because you always KNEW that some of that dark side was there.  Feel what it feels like to celebrate the positive sides without pretending that there is zero dark side.  The celebrations are so much bigger happier and real because they aren’t based on denial delusion or pretend.

Of course the “downside” is that we let go of our dreams of achieving 100% and 0%. This may release religions of some role they have been playing.  It might make your critics partially right.  It means we have to make peace and ease with accepting that there is some of that “negative” stuff in all of us and it will never, never, never go away totally. ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO GO AWAY TOTALLY…. ITS NOT ALLOWED TO GO AWAY TOTALLY.  Oh my.

It does require a massive reorganization of our sense of the world, society, the universe, most importantly our SELF and who we are.  This will require a massive increase in our ability to FORGIVE OURSELF for our true nature.  Forgive ourselves for always having some of that “other” stuff.  Forgiveness will be a key to making use of these truths. At the same time it will actually allow a much deeper acceptance and love of self that is based on truth, not denial and delusion. We will be able to love ourselves and others more deeply and honestly with this more accurate model of the truth. 

This is a massive reframe of consciousness and sense of self but it has HUGE implications that are very valuable and very healing. Play with it and share with me what your thoughts are about how this model of the Universe can work better, in terms of capturing truth and also making predictions. How can it work for you and be healing for you?  What are the implications if this model is a more accurate model of the truth?

4 Comments

  1. Shannon

    I like this article and it is consistent with my Christian worldview. Regardless of how hard I try to always do right and be perfect, it is not possible here on earth. Forgiveness is essential. I have found that I am better if I calmly look at the good, bad and the ugly and then decide how I am going to work with it. Holding on to guilt because I have something that appears ugly does not make it appealing. 

  2. Dr David Illig

    Another thought on the article Quantum Consciousness vs Newtonian Consciousness
    by Dr. David Illig:
    It is a powerful article that can change your life. How is that? It can change the way you see yourself, how you see others, and the world. It’s like a new set of lenses, glasses, that change what you see, especially yourself. And it changes how you deal with your self and others. Learn to use these new lenses and you will have new abilities, new skills, and most importantly will feel better as you live your life. I actually believe these lenses get you closer to the truth. However, the truth can seem too difficult to handle quite often. That’s partly why it’s not popular. But with some adjustments, these lenses can make life better and easier once you learn to use them. It will take some experimenting and practicing so you can make use of them. It takes some chewing and playing-with to figure out how to use it. A flexible mind and lots of forgiveness are key skills you will need. You will also benefit from learning to be “mindful” about things you discover, rather than judgmental.

    For example, it is easy to jump in with judgment, resentment, depression, fear, anxiety among others when I look inside and discover my “self-hatred” that hides deep inside. This is why we usually hide from even “knowing” such things as our self-hatred. But learning to be “mindful” about it… just sitting with it and observing it… being curious about it… Noticing its sources and history… without judgment, it will begin to transform for you…. You can start working to change it…understand its sources… reduce it. The key to growth and healing…is looking deeply inside, often. But that requires we learn how to do it without wearing ourselves out…or harming ourselves… without judging ourselves over what we discover is there…. and learning how to do it more easily and effectively.

    Pretending these things are not in there is not a healthy solution that works. But that’s what most people do. It doesn’t work long term. You are different…Going deeply inside often and working with what we find…. is the answer…

    Add your comments and spread it around to interesting people.  Dr. David Illig

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