The Purpose-Guided Universe Read online

  "In his thought-provoking and easily-read book The Purpose-Guided Universe Haisch shows that it is indeed possible to be a scientist and a believer in God provided you have an open attitude to both science and religion. Indeed, after tackling the big questions of quantum nonlocality, consciousness, evolution and the nature of the Universe, he claims that belief in the absence of God presents more difficulties for an informed thinker than in the presence of God. Having accepted this main thrust of the book, many may not accept his particular religious stance, namely, Perennial Philosophy, but surely no religion has a monopoly on the truth as we explore common ground openly in the 21st century. Super book."

  -Prof. Eric Priest, FRS, Mathematics Institute, St. Andrews University, Scotland

  "The Purpose-Guided Universe convinces me on the basis of hard logic that the physical laws, constants, and thermodynamic principles shaping and sustaining every aspect of the universe point to an underlying creative and ordering mind that has perennially been termed God. Bernard Haisch adds new scientific clarity and interpretive nuance to what many thoughtful physicists of our time believe-this universe is most plausibly the work of a creative presence. The Purpose-Guided Universe is elegantly written and can be understood by the informed lay reader, yet it is such a conceptually clear work that it should appeal widely to professional scientists in all fields. It could easily be used with immense benefit in undergraduate or graduate teaching in the sciences or humanities."

  -Stephen G. Post, PhD, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Director, Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics, Stony Brook University

  "The Purpose-Guided Universe makes the case for God, and the case for science, together. How sad (and, furthermore, how strange) it is, that making such a case should be even necessary today! The evidence for science (e.g., the evidence for Darwinian evolution) is overwhelming. The evidence for God is, if anything, even more overwhelming. Yet, our laggard secular culture militates against belief in God. The great thing about science is not that we can prove that something is correct (we cannot) it is that we can prove that something is wrong (hypotheses that are falsifiable). And we have proven that the universe has no existence apart from our own consciousnesses. Haisch also points out the extraordinary character of our universe-how, against all odds, our universe permits life (and in particular, permits us). While this second argument is less persuasive to me, given the current incomplete state of our knowledge of physics, it is nonetheless deeply interesting. So-if you want to reconcile science and religion? Well, simply buy this book!"

  -Prof. Richard Conn Henry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University

  "The search for purpose is common to all people on Earth. Bernard Haisch, a world-class astrophysicist, finds purpose in the dynamics of the universe. If the universe has purpose, so does our life. Haisch asks the big question. He may not give the only possible answer, but his answers are certainly original. He equates belief in string theory solving all questions to belief in intelligence as the origin of fine-tuning. Religious experience speaks for the latter, providing a purpose for the universe: the conversion of potentiality to experience. It is a pleasure to read the direct and fast language, and the reader readily excuses some of his sweeping statements, such as on organized religion. Of particular interest is the quantum mechanical perspective, which is presented superbly and at the latest stage. Haisch is certainly not mainstream, but a refreshing wind from the West. Enjoy!"

  -Prof. Arnold 0. Benz, Institute of Astronomy, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

  "Haisch, a well known astrophysicist, argues that religion and God should be acceptable by science when obvious misconceptions and excesses are eliminated. He agrees with recent authors such as Dawkins, Harris or Hitchins who criticize the organized religions because of their intolerance, brainwashing and unrestricted power in human society. Following the idea behind Ockham's razor (that simple explanations are often closer to the truth than complicated ones), Haisch argues that to suppose the existence of God is a much simpler idea than to accept current speculations about enormous numbers of alternate universes where only a single one exists in which the constants of nature are so fine tuned that life and intelligent life could evolve in it. Haisch argues that consciousness and free will is very likely an outcome of quantum mechanics and that there is no inconsistency in believing in Einstein, Darwin and God."

  -Prof. Peter Ulmschneider, Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Heidelberg

  BERNARD HAISCH

  This book is dedicated to my wife and best friend, Marsha Sims, and to my children, Kate, Taylor, and Elizabeth. Also to Pamela Eakins, Joyce Eakins, Jason Brenneman, and especially little James West Brenneman.

  Marsha also deserves thanks for producing figures that clarify difficult but essential concepts.

  I also thank Patrick Huyghe, whose contributions to The God Theory significantly helped its success and thereby led to the present book.

  I acknowledge the classical education I received at the Latin School of Indianapolis, which in its own way wound up leading me to this book. And thanks, LSI classmates.

  PREFACE 9

  INTRODUCTION 15

  Z SCIENCE AND RELIGION 31

  2 QUANTUM REALITY 47

  3 THE FINELY TUNED UNIVERSE 67

  4 THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY 87

  5 THOU ART THAT 105

  6 THE GOD THEORY 119

  7 STAYING OUT OF HEAVEN 135

  8 CONSCIOUSNESS AND REALITY 151

  9 THE POST-PHYSICS ERA 169

  10 THE PRIMACY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 181

  11 WHERE Do THINGS STAND? 193

  BIBLIOGRAPHY 209

  INDEX 213

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR 221

  Is it possible that there is a purpose behind the universe? One that is consistent with modern science and especially the Big Bang and evolution'? I propose that there is such a grand purpose and that this has profound implications for the meaning of our lives.

  More than 30 years ago, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg famously (some would say infamously) wrote in his book, The First Three Minutes: "The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless." This is a pretty bleak view of things. If the universe is pointless, then probably so are we. That is not a life-enhancing perspective. There is no joy in Mu dville.

  Things have changed dramatically since then. The evidence today is quite the opposite. It has come to light in the fields of physics and astrophysics over the past two decades that there are numerous coincidences and fine-tunings of the laws of nature that altogether seem extraordinarily unlikely and need to be explained. These key properties of the Universe have just the right values to make life possible. These are discussed in Chapter 3.

  To be fair, it is possible to explain these coincidences and fine-tunings as just a matter of statistics. This involves a concept called the multiverse. The concept of the multiverse is that our apparently special universe is just one of a vast number of universes, all of which may be different from each other in unimaginable ways. There is no evidence whatsoever for this, but it makes for an interesting theory.

  I am proposing that an equally likely-and perhaps even slightly more likely-explanation is that there is a conscious intelligence behind the universe, and that the purpose of the universe and of our human lives is very intimately involved with that intelligence.

  The intelligence I am proposing-and we might as well call it God-has nothing to do with the anti-evolutionary view called "intelligent design." On the contrary, a Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, a 4.6 billion-year-old Earth, and Darwinian evolution are essential ingredients of a purposeful universe in the view I present. This God need
s Darwin to carry out his plan.

  Two of the most prominent and accomplished astrophysicists of the last century were Sir James Jeans and Sir Arthur Eddington. Both espoused the view that consciousness was likely the foundation of the universe itself. Jeans wrote in his The Mysterious Universe: "The universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine." Even Max Planck, the discoverer of the quantum, wrote in The Universe in Light of Modem Physics that "there are realities existing apart from our sense perceptions." And exceptional human experiences and accounts of mystics throughout the ages point in the same direction of a fundamental underlying consciousness. There is indeed mounting evidence from the opposite side of physics-the microscopic realm of quantum mechanics-that this view of consciousness as the basis of reality is correct.

  As long ago as 1932, mathematician John von Neumann showed that quantum mechanics requires consciousness to produce any kind of measurement result. The connection between quantum mechanics and consciousness has ever since been a nagging, unwelcome, best-to-pretend-itdoesn't-matter sort of skeleton in the physics closet. But new experiments have pried open the closet door. Quantum theory states that it is the act of observing an object to be at a certain place that actually causes it to be there. This is verified in the laboratory. But we ourselves and the world around us are comprised of atoms that are governed by quantum laws. If consciousness is at the heart of quantum physics (and it is), that puts it at the basis of everything.

  Recent best-sellers have denounced the evils of religion and proclaimed that science has shown that there is no God. But the human misuse of religions and the existence of God are very different matters. The problem is: What kind of God are we talking about'?

  In his little pull-no-punches Letter to a Christian Nation, anti-God author Sam Harris goes on a romp through the Bible finding example after example of God decreeing things for his followers to do that only a sociopathic, deranged despot would demand. Such things as stoning your bride to death if she proves not to be a virgin; such things as demanding the slaughter of even women and children if they happen to live in the wrong city at the wrong time... and even innocent cattle to boot.

  "Destroy it utterly!" says the God of Deuteronomy. Nowadays he would probably issue the command to nuke the enemy city. If that nut-case is God, add me to the ranks of the atheists. But I say with confidence that there will be no retribution coming my way because that God does not exist. He is merely the product of the dark side of the human imagination (which unfortunately is alive and well in certain parts of the world today).

  I am proposing a new concept of God, which is actually very old. It is part of the Perennial Philosophy, which is basically a distillation of core religious beliefs throughout the ages. My contribution is to bring this to the attention of a world sorely in need of an uplifting sense of purpose, and to put it in the context of recent scientific discoveries about the exceptional properties of the universe, and the actual scientific evidence for consciousness creating reality at the quantum level.

  Aldous Huxley made the heroic effort of collecting and comparing this mystical stream of fundamental metaphysical truths from many cultures and eras in his book The Perennial Philosophy. It concerns the nature of reality, the self, and the meaning and purpose of existence. Huxley's book was greatly praised by one of the founders of modern physics, Erwin Schroedinger.

  Key tenets of the Perennial Philosophy are:

  • The physical universe of matter is not the sole realty. Other non-physical realities exist, which may contain other life-forms. Interestingly, this is consistent with string theory and M-theory at the forefront of modern physics.

  • Our human nature has both a material side subject to physical laws, birth, and death, as well as a non-material immortal spirit or soul.

  • All humans possess a capacity to intuitively perceive the true multifaceted nature of ourselves and the greater reality. Unfortunately this is pretty dormant in modern society.

  But the greatest truth of all is the saying: Thou art that! Here "thou" refers to our own spiritual nature and "that" is God. And therein lies the answer to the great riddle: If God is responsible for creating the universe (in the Big Bang), why in heaven's name did he do this'? The answer, I believe, is to experience physical reality in all the diverse ways possible in such a universe. That is why I think that the "just right" laws of physics are really the "just right" ideas of God made manifest, the "great thought" that Jeans proposed.

  An infinite intelligence selects an ensemble of compatible ideas that then become the laws of nature of a given universe. The proper combination results in a universe where life can originate and evolve, and the consciousness of God can then experience its potential. This does indeed give us each a great life's purpose: to create God's experience as the incarnations of him in physical form.

  I certainly am not claiming that what I am proposing can be proven. Unresolved riddles remain, such as the origin and nature of evil. Free will and karma surely play a role in that conundrum, but when it comes to God's plans, the devil is in the details.

  The Jesuit paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin wrote: "Surely we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience." I would modify this to say: We are God having a human experience. This book will explain why this makes sense, is in no way in conflict with science, and has the potential to transform human consciousness.

  Has the time finally come for humanity to transform its behavior and raise its consciousness to a new and better level'? Is it possible that we can connect with an intelligence whose thoughts created a Universe tailor-made for life'? Given the present state of the world this may sound like the most naive of fantasies. Nonetheless, the idea resonates with many. Millions are buying books such as the runaway best-seller by Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, and countless others offering a similar message of hope and opportunity for mankind.

  It would be none too soon. The last violent century saw more than 100 million people slaughtered in wars, genocides, and mere crimes of all sorts, large and small, significant or simply overlooked. The madness continues in the new century. And if mankind's cruelty to each other were not enough, we are now facing the first unmistakable signs of planet-wide environmental disaster on our present course and trajectory. A radical shift in our human consciousness may be the only hope we have.

  Is THERE ANY CHANCE IT COULD COME ABOUT?

  The possibility of such a transformation has been at the core of religious beliefs, though unfortunately more often than not buried or misinterpreted in self-serving ways. I will not promote any specific religion; indeed, I see most organized religions in their present state as part of the problem, not the solution. Instead I will point to the wisdom teachings drawn from the depths of essentially all religions known as the Perennial Philosophy, made famous by the 18th-century mathematical genius Gottfried Leibnitz, and published as a compendium in 1945 by Aldous Huxley.

  Just as science derives its truths from experiment and careful observation, the Perennial Philosophy derives its truths from the transcendent experience that saints and sages, along with countless ordinary men and women, have reported throughout the ages and across varying religions and cultures. When it happens, this experience is so profound that the true reality revealed in those moments becomes absolutely undeniable, more certain than any other knowledge or prior belief. It is the ultimate "Aha, now I get it!" moment. The same truths emerge over and over again with respect to our true nature as both physical and spiritual beings and our relationship to an underlying intelligence that goes by many names in different cultures, but that is really the same.

  A PURPOSE-GUIDED UNIVERSE

  On the cover of A New Earth is the bold subtitle: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. And there lies the question: Is there a purpose for your life'? And not just a decent but transitory purpose such as a successful career, a happy marriage, or even children of whom you can be proud. Those are laudable, but i
s there an ultimate purpose transcending all others'? Is there a purpose that goes beyond a single mortal lifetime'? Is there a purpose for all of us human beings, the widespread realization of which could in fact bring about a transformation of human consciousness?

  Let me take this question to the ultimate level. Do we live in a purpose-guided Universe'? As an astrophysicist I am well aware of the enormity of space and the vast time scales such as the 14 billion years or so since the Big Bang. Purpose for such an enormous "inanimate physical system" as many of my colleagues would put it, seems to many, indeed probably most, scientists as a blatant absurdity. What could it even mean'?

  But in physics and astrophysics discoveries are being made that point to a fine-tuning of physical laws and constants of nature that, taken together, are conducive to life and evolution. This has become an important issue in astrophysics, something that cannot be overlooked or brushed under the cosmic carpet. There are really only two ways to explain it. One of them involves a purpose-guided Universe.

  Imagine a pyramid made up of stacked basketballs. Picture it a thousand feet on each side and a thousand feet high. That's twice as high as the real great pyramid in Egypt. That's as tall as a hundred-story building. To stack such a pyramid would require about a billion basketballs. It's a big number.

  Rounding off to the nearest billion, we live on a fivebillion-year-old planet in a 14-billion-year-old universe. Our sun is one star amid a few hundred billion others in the Milky Way Galaxy. Our Milky Way Galaxy is one of a hundred billion or so other galaxies in the visible Universe.

  That's a lot of billions.

  Given this large-scale picture of things, how could there be any purpose in any man or woman's brief life, amounting to perhaps 80 years or so on average, on one obscure planet'? That is a question that matters a great deal to most of us.

  As noted physicist Freeman Dyson said in his Templeton Prize lecture: