A Radically Different Theory of Everything

Bernard Haisch

Digital Physics is a collection of theoretical concepts based on the premise that the universe can be thought of as consisting of information, rather than matter and energy. This naturally sounds absurd since it is obvious (or so it seems) that we live on a planet that is part of a universe that is made of real, solid stuff. Information, per se, has no physical existence. The structure of a cat, a car or a calculator may be the result of information put to use, but the bare information itself is nowhere to be found. So what is the motivation for entertaining such an odd hypothesis as digital physics operating in an unreal world? It lies in the possibility of thereby being able to treat the universe as a vast computer. In a recent published paper — “Is The Universe a Vast, Consciousness-Created Virtual Reality Simulation?” which was also presented at the 2014 SSE Meeting — I made a case for this. The foundational idea is that one and only one thing exists: some vast — or perhaps even unbounded — transcendent consciousness having the attendant capability of thought. This consciousness can serve as the hardware for computation while its thoughts can be the software: algorithms and data, organized in such a way as to foster computer-like capabilities. In this way some or all of the transcendent consciousness takes on the attributes and abilities of a computer capable of creating an entire universe of the imagination. The transcendent consciousness would have the ability to chose its laws of physics and would be able to dream up and keep track of the roughly 1080 protons and electrons we have in the universe, along with other particles.

Wading into deep philosophical waters, it has been proposed that the transcendent consciousness projects itself into the virtual lifeforms that Darwinian-like evolution would bring about on the virtual planets of this virtual universe. Some of the transcendent consciousness becomes the billions upon billions of avatars living in the greatest of simulations. The objective of this entire scheme would be for the transcendent consciousness to give itself the means of having experience through the actions of its avatar selves. And the ultimate objective could be to provide a means for evolution and self-perfection. In this ultimate simulation of physical reality the transcendent consciousness could experience the thrill of racing down a mountain… but also the grief of a loved one’s death. (In my view death in such a reality is merely a transition from being an active avatar inhabited by consciousness to returning to a higher level immaterial state, and back and forth… likely many times.)

If true, this would be the basis of a Theory of Everything on the grandest possible scale. Is there any evidence for this?

My introduction to these ideas is due to Tom Campbell, a physicist and author of the book: “My Big TOE” (Theory of Everything). Campbell was recruited by Robert Monroe in the early 1970s to devise and carry out scientific studies of the altered consciousness experiences, and Out of Body Experiences (OBEs) in particular, that Monroe was investigating; see Monroe’s seminal 1971 “Journeys out of the Body.” Since that time Campbell has been able to induce scores of OBEs which he has used to explore and map the landscape of realities adjacent to our own which will be presented at this meeting.

Recorded at the Society for Scientific Exploration Conference in Boulder, Colorado 2016.

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Published on November 22, 2018