Holonomic brain theory
|  | The neutrality of this article is disputed. (August 2013) | 
Holonomic brain theory, also known as The Holographic Brain,
is a branch of neuroscience investigating the idea that human consciousness is formed by quantum effects in or between brain cells.
Holonomic refers to representations in a Hilbert phase space defined by both spectral and space-time coordinates.[1] The Holonomic Brain Theory is opposed by traditional neuroscience, which investigates the brain's behavior by looking at patterns of neurons and the surrounding chemistry.
The entire field of quantum consciousness is often criticized as pseudoscience.[citation needed]
This specific theory of quantum consciousness was developed by neuroscientist Karl Pribram initially in collaboration with physicist David Bohm building on the initial theories of holograms originally formulated by Dennis Gabor. It describes human cognition by modeling the brain as a holographic storage network.[2][3] Pribram suggests these processes involve electric oscillations in the brain's fine-fibered dendritic webs, which are different from the more commonly known action potentials involving axons and synapses.[4][5][6] These oscillations are waves and create wave interference patterns in which memory is encoded naturally, and the wave function may be analyzed by a Fourier transform.[4][5][6][7][8] Gabor, Pribram and others noted the similarities between these brain processes and the storage of information in a hologram, which can also be analyzed with a Fourier transform.[2][9] In a hologram, any part of the hologram with sufficient size contains the whole of the stored information. In this theory, a piece of a long-term memory is similarly distributed over a dendritic arbor so that each part of the dendritic network contains all the information stored over the entire network.[2][9][10] This model allows for important aspects of human consciousness, including the fast associative memory that allows for connections between different pieces of stored information and the non-locality of memory storage (a specific memory is not stored in a specific location, i.e. a certain cluster of neurons).[2][11][12]
Origins and development[edit]
In 1946 Dennis Gabor invented the hologram mathematically, describing a system where an image can be reconstructed through information that is stored throughout the hologram.[4] He demonstrated that the information pattern of a three-dimensional object can be encoded in a beam of light, which is more-or-less two-dimensional. Gabor also developed a mathematical model for demonstrating a holographic associative memory.[13] One of Gabor's colleagues, Pieter Jacobus Van Heerden, also developed a related holographic mathematical memory model in 1963.[14][15][16] This model contained the key aspect of non-locality, which became important years later when, in 1967, experiments by both Braitenberg and Kirschfield showed that exact localization of memory in the brain was false.[10]
Karl Pribram had worked with psychologist Karl Lashley on Lashley's engram experiments, which used lesions to determine the exact location of specific memories in primate brains.[2] Lashley made small lesions in the brains and found that these had little effect on memory. On the other hand, Pribram removed large areas of cortex, leading to multiple serious deficits in memory and cognitive function. Memories were not stored in a single neuron or exact location, but were spread over the entirety of a neural network. Lashley suggested that brain interference patterns could play a role in perception, but was unsure how such patterns might be generated in the brain or how they would lead to brain function.[17]
Several years later an article by neurophysiologist John Eccles described how a wave could be generated at the branching ends of pre-synaptic axons. Multiple of these waves could create interference patterns. Soon after, Emmett Leith was successful in storing visual images through the interference patterns of laser beams, inspired by Gabor's previous use of Fourier transformations to store information within a hologram.[18] After studying the work of Eccles and that of Leith,[17] Pribram put forward the hypothesis that memory might take the form of interference patterns that resemble laser-produced holograms.[19] Physicist David Bohm presented his ideas of holomovement and implicate and explicate order.[citation needed] Pribram became aware of Bohm's work in 1975[20] and realized that, since a hologram could store information within patterns of interference and then recreate that information when activated, it could serve as a strong metaphor for brain function.[17] Pribram was further encouraged in this line of speculation by the fact that neurophysiologists Russell and Karen DeValois[21] together established "the spatial frequency encoding displayed by cells of the visual cortex was best described as a Fourier transform of the input pattern."[22]
Theory overview[edit]
The hologram and holonomy[edit]
A main characteristic of a hologram is that every part of the stored information is distributed over the entire hologram.[3] Both processes of storage and retrieval are carried out in a way described by Fourier transformation equations.[23] As long as a part of the hologram is large enough to contain the interference pattern, that part can recreate the entirety of the stored image, but the image may have unwanted changes, called noise.[9]
An analogy to this is the broadcasting region of a radio antenna. In each smaller individual location within the entire area it is possible to access every channel, similar to how the entirety of the information of a hologram is contained within a part.[4] Another analogy of a hologram is the way sunlight illuminates objects in the visual field of an observer. It doesn't matter how narrow the beam of sunlight is. The beam always contains all the information of the object, and when conjugated by a lens of a camera or the eyeball, produces the same full three-dimensional image. The Fourier transform formula converts spatial forms to spatial wave frequencies and vice versa, as all objects are in essence vibratory structures. Different types of lenses, acting similarly to optic lenses, can alter the frequency nature of information that is transferred.
This non-locality of information storage within the hologram is crucial, because even if most parts are damaged, the entirety will be contained within even a single remaining part of sufficient size. Pribram and others noted the similarities between an optical hologram and memory storage in the human brain. According to the holonomic brain theory, memories are stored within certain general regions, but stored non-locally within those regions.[24] This allows the brain to maintain function and memory even when it is damaged.[3][23][25] It is only when there exist no parts big enough to contain the whole that the memory is lost.[4] This can also explain why some children retain normal intelligence when large portions of their brain—in some cases, half—are removed. It can also explain why memory is not lost when the brain is sliced in different cross-sections.[5]
Pribram proposed that neural holograms were formed by the diffraction patterns of oscillating electric waves within the cortex.[25] Representation occurs as a dynamical transformation in a distributed network of dendritic microprocesses.[26] It is important to note the difference between the idea of a holonomic brain and a holographic one. Pribram does not suggest that the brain functions as a single hologram. Rather, the waves within smaller neural networks create localized holograms within the larger workings of the brain.[6] This patch holography is called holonomy or windowed Fourier transformations.
A holographic model can also account for other features of memory that more traditional models cannot. The Hopfield memory model has an early memory saturation point before which memory retrieval drastically slows and becomes unreliable.[23] On the other hand, holographic memory models have much larger theoretical storage capacities. Holographic models can also demonstrate associative memory, store complex connections between different concepts, and resemble forgetting through "lossy storage".[13]
The synaptodendritic web[edit]
In classic brain theory the summation of electrical inputs to the dendrites and soma (cell body) of a neuron either inhibit the neuron or excite it and set off an action potential down the axon to where it synapses with the next neuron. However, this fails to account for different varieties of synapses beyond the traditional axodendritic (axon to dendrite). There is evidence for the existence of other kinds of synapses, including serial synapses and those between dendrites and soma and between different dendrites.[5] Many synaptic locations are functionally bipolar, meaning they can both send and receive impulses from each neuron, distributing input and output over the entire group of dendrites.[5]
Processes in this dendritic arbor, the network of teledendrons and dendrites, occur due to the oscillations of polarizations in the membrane of the fine-fibered dendrites, not due to the propagated nerve impulses associated with action potentials.[4] Pribram posits that the length of the delay of an input signal in the dendritic arbor before it travels down the axon is related to mental awareness.[5][27] The shorter the delay the more unconscious the action, while a longer delay indicates a longer period of awareness. A study by David Alkon showed that after unconscious Pavlovian conditioning there was a proportionally greater reduction in the volume of the dendritic arbor, akin to synaptic elimination when experience increases the automaticity of an action.[5] Pribram and others theorize that, while unconscious behavior is mediated by impulses through nerve circuits, conscious behavior arises from microprocesses in the dendritic arbor.[4]
At the same time, the dendritic network is extremely complex, able to receive 100,000 to 200,000 inputs in a single tree, due to the large amount of branching and the many dendritic spines protruding from the branches.[5] Furthermore, synaptic hyperpolarization and depolarization remains somewhat isolated due to the resistance from the narrow dendritic spine stalk, allowing a polarization to spread without much interruption to the other spines. This spread is further aided intracellularly by the microtubules and extracellularly by glial cells. These polarizations act as waves in the synaptodendritic network, and the existence of multiple waves at once gives rise to interference patterns.[5]
Deep and surface structure of memory[edit]
Pribram suggests that there are two layers of cortical processing: a surface structure of separated and localized neural circuits and a deep structure of the dendritic arborization that binds the surface structure together. The deep structure contains distributed memory, while the surface structure acts as the retrieval mechanism.[4] Binding occurs through the temporal synchronization of the oscillating polarizations in the synaptodendritic web. It had been thought that binding only occurred when there was no phase lead or lag present, but a study by Saul and Humphrey found that cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus do in fact produce these.[5] Here phase lead and lag act to enhance sensory discrimination, acting as a frame to capture important features.[5] These filters are also similar to the lenses necessary for holographic functioning.
Pribram notes that holographic memories show large capacities, parallel processing and content addressability for rapid recognition, associative storage for perceptual completion and for associative recall.[28][29] In systems endowed with memory storage, these interactions therefore lead to progressively more self-determination.[26]
Recent studies[edit]
While Pribram originally developed the holonomic brain theory as an analogy for certain brain processes, several papers (including some more recent ones by Pribram himself) have proposed that the similarity between hologram and certain brain functions is more than just metaphorical, but actually structural.[11][27] Others still maintain that the relationship is only analogical.[30] Several studies have shown that the same series of operations used in holographic memory models are performed in certain processes concerning temporal memory and optomotor responses. This indicates at least the possibility of the existence of neurological structures with certain holonomic properties.[10] Other studies have demonstrated the possibility that biophoton emission (biological electrical signals that are converted to weak electromagnetic waves in the visible range) may be a necessary condition for the electric activity in the brain to store holographic images.[11] These may play a role in cell communication and certain brain processes including sleep, but further studies are needed to strengthen current ones.[27] Other studies have shown the correlation between more advanced cognitive function and homeothermy. Taking holographic brain models into account, this temperature regulation would reduce distortion of the signal waves, an important condition for holographic systems.[11] See: Computation approach in terms of holographic codes and processing.[31]
Criticism and alternative models[edit]
Pribram's holonomic model of brain function did not receive widespread attention at the time, but other quantum models have been developed since, including brain dynamics by Jibu & Yasue and Vitiello's dissipative quantum brain dynamics. Though not directly related to the holonomic model, they continue to move beyond approaches based solely in classic brain theory.[3][11]
Correlograph[edit]
In 1969 scientists D. Wilshaw, O. P. Buneman and H. Longuet-Higgins proposed an alternative, non-holographic model that fulfilled many of the same requirements as Gabor's original holographic model. The Gabor model did not explain how the brain could use Fourier analysis on incoming signals or how it would deal with the low signal-noise ratio in reconstructed memories. Longuet-Higgin's correlograph model built on the idea that any system could perform the same functions as a Fourier holograph if it could correlate pairs of patterns. It uses minute pinholes that do not produce diffraction patterns to create a similar reconstruction as that in Fourier holography.[3] Like a hologram, a discrete correlograph can recognize displaced patterns and store information in a parallel and non-local way so it usually will not be destroyed by localized damage.[32] They then expanded the model beyond the correlograph to an associative net where the points become parallel lines arranged in a grid. Horizontal lines represent axons of input neurons while vertical lines represent output neurons. Each intersection represents a modifiable synapse. Though this cannot recognize displaced patterns, it has a greater potential storage capacity. This was not necessarily meant to show how the brain is organized, but instead to show the possibility of improving on Gabor's original model.[32] One property of the associative net that makes it attractive as a neural model is that good retrieval can be obtained even when some of the storage elements are damaged or when some of the components of the address are incorrect.[33] P. Van Heerden countered this model by demonstrating mathematically that the signal-noise ratio of a hologram could reach 50% of ideal. He also used a model with a 2D neural hologram network for fast searching imposed upon a 3D network for large storage capacity. A key quality of this model was its flexibility to change the orientation and fix distortions of stored information, which is important for our ability to recognize an object as the same entity from different angles and positions, something the correlograph and association network models lack.[16]
See also[edit]
- Gestalt psychology
- Orchestrated objective reduction
- Quantum cognition
- Quantum mysticism
- Visual perception
References[edit]
- ^ Pribram, Karl. Brain and Perception: Holonomy and Structure in Figural Processing. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-89859-995-4.
- ^ a b c d e Forsdyke D. R. (2009). "Samuel Butler and human long term memory: Is the cupboard bare?". Journal of Theoretical Biology. 258 (1): 156–164. Bibcode:2009JThBi.258..156F. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.01.028. PMID 19490862.
- ^ a b c d e Andrew A. M. (1997). "The decade of the brain - further thoughts". Kybernetes. 26 (3): 255–264. doi:10.1108/03684929710163155.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pribram K. H., Meade S. D. (1999). "Conscious awareness: Processing in the synaptodendritic web". New Ideas in Psychology. 17 (3): 205–214. doi:10.1016/S0732-118X(99)00024-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pribram K. H. (1999). "Quantum holography: Is it relevant to brain function?". Information Sciences. 115 (1–4): 97–102. doi:10.1016/S0020-0255(98)10082-8.
- ^ a b c Vandervert L. R. (1995). "Chaos theory and the evolution of consciousness and mind: A thermodynamic-holographic resolution to the mind-body problem". New Ideas in Psychology. 13 (2): 107–127. doi:10.1016/0732-118X(94)00047-7.
- ^ Berger D.H., Pribram K.H. (1992). "The Relationship between the Gabor elementary function and a stochastic model of the inter-spike interval distribution in the responses of the visual cortex neurons". Biological Cybernetics. 67 (2): 191–194. doi:10.1007/bf00201026. PMID 1320946. S2CID 11123748.
- ^ Pribram K.H. (2004). "Consciousness Reassessed". Mind and Matter. 2: 7–35.
- ^ a b c Gabor D (1972). "Holography, 1948–1971". Science. 177 (4046): 299–313. Bibcode:1972Sci...177..299G. doi:10.1126/science.177.4046.299. PMID 4556285.
- ^ a b c Borsellino A., Poggio T. (1972). "Holographic aspects of temporal memory and optomotor responses". Kybernetik. 10 (1): 58–60. doi:10.1007/bf00288785. PMID 4338085. S2CID 10084612.
- ^ a b c d e Bókkon István (2005). "Dreams and neuroholography: An interdisciplinary interpretation of development of homeotherm state in evolution". Sleep and Hypnosis. 7 (2): 47–62.
- ^ Gabor D (1968). "Holographic Model of Temporal Recall". Nature. 217 (5128): 584. Bibcode:1968Natur.217..584G. doi:10.1038/217584a0. PMID 5641120. S2CID 4147927.
- ^ a b Kelly M. A.; Blostein D.; Mewhort D. J. K. (2013). "Encoding structure in holographic reduced representations". Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology. 67 (2): 79–93. doi:10.1037/a0030301. PMID 23205508.
- ^ Van Heerden P. J. (1963). "A New Optical Method of Storing and Retrieving Information". Applied Optics. 2 (4): 387–392. Bibcode:1963ApOpt...2..387V. doi:10.1364/AO.2.000387.
- ^ Van Heerden P. J. (1963). "Theory of Optical Information Storage in Solids". Applied Optics. 2 (4): 393–400. Bibcode:1963ApOpt...2..393V. doi:10.1364/AO.2.000393.
- ^ a b Van Heerden P. J. (1970). "Models for the brain". Nature. 225 (5228): 177–178. Bibcode:1970Natur.225..177V. doi:10.1038/225177a0. PMID 5409963. S2CID 4224802.
- ^ a b c Pribram H.H. (2011). "Recollections". NeuroQuantology. 9 (3): 370–374. doi:10.14704/nq.2011.9.3.447.
- ^ Emmett N. Leith and Juris Upatnieks (1965). Photography by Laser. Scientific American Volume 212, Issue 6, June 1, 1965
- ^ K. Pribram (1969). The Neurophysiology of Remembering. American Volume 220, Issue 1, January 1, 1969
- ^ The implicate brain by Karl H. Pribram, karlhpribram.com
- ^ DeValois and DeValois, 1980
- ^ "Pribram, 1987"
- ^ a b c Srivastava V., Edwards S. F. (2004). "A mathematical model of capacious and efficient memory that survives trauma". Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications. 333 (1–4): 465–477. Bibcode:2004PhyA..333..465S. doi:10.1016/j.physa.2003.10.008.
- ^ Longuet-Higgins H. C. (1968). "Holographic model of temporal recall [50]". Nature. 217 (5123): 104. doi:10.1038/217104a0. PMID 5635629. S2CID 4281144.
- ^ a b Baev K.V. (2012). "Solution of the Problem of Central Pattern Generators and a New Concept of Brain Functions". Neurophysiology. 4 (5): 414–432. doi:10.1007/s11062-012-9313-x. S2CID 17264908.
- ^ a b Pribram, Karl (1991). Brain and Perception: Holonomy and Structure in Figural Processing. Laurence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-89859-995-4.
- ^ a b c Persinger M.A., Lavallee C. (2012). "The Σn=n Concept and the Quantitative Support for the Cerebral-Holographic and Electromagnetic Configuration of Consciousness". Journal of Consciousness Studies. 19: 128–253.
- ^ Unterseher, Fred (1996). Holography Handbook: Making Holograms The Easy Way (Second ed.). Ross Books. pp. 354–359. ISBN 0-89496-016-4.
- ^ Pribram, Karl (1990). Prolegomenon for a Holonomic Brain Theory (PDF).
- ^ Velmans M (2003). "Is the world in the brain, or the brain in the world?". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 26 (4): 427–429. doi:10.1017/s0140525x03420098. S2CID 142563034.
- ^ Shlomi Dolev; Ariel, Hanemann (2014). "Holographic "Brain" Memory and Computation". Latin America Optics and Photonics: 16–21. doi:10.1364/LAOP.2014.LM2A.3. ISBN 978-1-55752-825-4.
- ^ a b Willshaw D. J.; Buneman O. P.; Longuet-Higgins H. C. (1969). "Non-holographic associative memory". Nature. 222 (5197): 960–962. Bibcode:1969Natur.222..960W. doi:10.1038/222960a0. PMID 5789326. S2CID 27768997.
- ^ Hinton, Geoffrey; Anderson, James (1989). Parallel Models Of Associative Memory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. pp. 115–116. ISBN 0-8058-0270-3.
Bibliography[edit]
- Karl Pribram, Brain and Perception: Holonomy and Structure in Figural Processing (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991).
- Karl Pribram, Rethinking Neural Networks: Quantum Fields And Biological Data (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates and INNS Press, 1993).
- Ervin Laszlo, “In Defense of Intuition: Exploring the Physical Foundations of Spontaneous Apprehension,” Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2009, Volume 23[unreliable source?]
- Steven Platek et al., “Boldly going where no brain has gone: Futures of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience,” Futures, October 2011, Volume 43, Issue 8, 771–776.
- Diedrick Aerts et al., Quantum Interaction Approach in Cognition, Artificial Intelligence, and Robots, Brussels University Press, April 2011.
- Mitja Perus & Chu Kiong Loo, Biological And Quantum Computing For Human Vision: Holonomic Models And Applications (Medical Information Sciences Reference, 2011).
- Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe (HarperCollins, 2011).
- Karl Pribram, The Form Within (Prospecta Press, 2013).
External links[edit]
- Pribram, Karl (1975). "Toward A Holonomic Theory Of Perception" (PDF). karlpribram.com.
- Pribram, Karl (1981). "El Funcionamiento Holonomico Del Cerebro" (PDF). karlpribram.com.
- Pribram, Karl (1986). "Holonomic Brain Theory In Imaging And Object Perception" (PDF). karlpribram.com. PMID 3591432.
- Pribram, Karl (1990). "Prolegomenon For A Holonomic Brain Theory" (PDF). karlpribram.com.
- Mishlove, Jeffrey (1998). "The Holographic Brain: Karl Pribram, Ph.D. interview". TWM.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2006-05-18. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
- Pribram, Karl (2007). "Holonomic brain theory". Scholarpedia. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. 2 (5): 2735. Bibcode:2007SchpJ...2.2735P. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.2735.
- Prideaux, Jeff. "Comparison between Karl Pribram's "Holographic Brain Theory" and more conventional models of neuronal computation". ACSA2000.net.
- Ramesh, Chidambaram (2014). "Thought Forms and Hallucinations - Some Curious Effects of the Holographic Mind Process".
 hide
 v
 t
 e
 Consciousness
 Figures
 Philosophy
 Alfred North Whitehead
 Arthur Schopenhauer
 Baruch Spinoza
 Bertrand Russell
 Brian O'Shaughnessy
 Charles Augustus Strong
 Christopher Peacocke
 Colin McGinn
 Daniel Dennett
 David Chalmers
 David Hume
 David Papineau
 David Pearce
 Donald Davidson
 Douglas Hofstadter
 Edmund Husserl
 Frank Jackson
 Fred Dretske
 Galen Strawson
 George Berkeley
 George Henry Lewes
 Georges Rey
 Gottfried Leibniz
 Immanuel Kant
 John Eccles
 John Locke
 John Polkinghorne
 John Searle
 Joseph Levine
 Karl Popper
 Keith Frankish
 Kenneth M. Sayre
 Maurice Merleau-Ponty
 Max Velmans
 Michael Tye
 Martin Heidegger
 Ned Block
 Patricia Churchland
 Paul Churchland
 Philip Goff
 René Descartes
 Thomas Metzinger
 Thomas Nagel
 William Kingdon Clifford
 William Lycan
 William Seager
 Psychology
 Carl Gustav Jung
 Donald D. Hoffman
 Franz Brentano
 Gustav Fechner
 Kurt Koffka
 Max Wertheimer
 Sigmund Freud
 Wilhelm Wundt
 William James
 Wolfgang Köhler
 Neuroscience
 Anil Seth
 Antonio Damasio
 Benjamin Libet
 Bernard Baars
 Christof Koch
 Francis Crick
 Francisco Varela
 Gerald Edelman
 Giulio Tononi
 Karl Pribram
 Lawrence Weiskrantz
 Michael Gazzaniga
 Michael Graziano
 Patrick Wilken
 Roger Sperry
 Stanislas Dehaene
 Steven Laureys
 Stuart Hameroff
 Wolf Singer
 Others
 Annaka Harris
 David Bohm
 Eugene Wigner
 Erwin Schrödinger
 Marvin Minsky
 Max Planck
 Roger Penrose
 Susan Blackmore
 Victor J. Stenger
 Wolfgang Pauli
 Theories
 Philosophy of mind
 Anomalous monism
 Computationalism
 Double-aspect theory
 Eliminative materialism
 Emergentism
 Epiphenomenalism
 Functionalism
 Idealism
 Interactionism
 Materialism
 Mind–body dualism
 Monism
 Neutral monism
 New mysterianism
 Panpsychism
 Parallelism
 Physicalism
 Property dualism
 Qualia
 Reflexive monism
 Revisionary materialism
 Solipsism
 Type physicalism (reductive materialism, identity theory)
- Science 
 Attention schema theory
 Dynamic core hypothesis
 Damasio's theory of consciousness
 Electromagnetic theories of consciousness
 Global workspace theory
 Holonomic brain theory
 Integrated information theory
 Lamme's recurrent feedback hypothesis
 Multiple drafts model
 Orchestrated objective reduction
 Topics
 Agnosia
 Altered state of consciousness
 Animal consciousness
 Artificial consciousness
 Attention
 Awareness
 Binding problem
 Binocular rivalry
 Blindsight
 Brain
 Cartesian theater
 Consciousness after death
 Disorders of consciousness
 Divided consciousness
 Dual consciousness (split-brain)
 Experience
 Explanatory gap
 Free will
 Flash suppression
 Hallucination
 Hard problem of consciousness
 Heterophenomenology
 Higher consciousness
 Illusion
 Introspection illusion
 Knowledge argument
 Locked-in syndrome
 Mind
 Mind–body problem
 Minimally conscious state
 Neural correlates of consciousness
 Neurophenomenology
 Ontology
 Phenomenology
 Philosophical zombie
 Philosophy of mind
 Primary consciousness
 Problem of other minds
 Reentry
 Qualia
 Quantum mind
 Sakshi Purusha
 Secondary consciousness
 Sentience
 Sentiocentrism
 Sociology of human consciousness
 Soul
 Stream of consciousness
 Subconscious
 Subjective character of experience
 Subjectivity
 Unconscious mind
 Unconsciousness
 Upanishads
 Visual masking
 Von Neumann–Wigner interpretation
 Yogachara
- Works 
 A Universe of Consciousness
 Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
 Consciousness and Cognition
 Consciousness Explained
 Cosmic Consciousness
 How the Self Controls Its Brain
 Journal of Consciousness Studies
 Online Consciousness Conference
 Psyche
 The Astonishing Hypothesis
 The Conscious Mind
 The Emperor's New Mind
 The Science of Consciousness
 Understanding Consciousness
 "What Is it Like to Be a Bat?"
 Wider than the Sky
홀로그램 우주
|  | 
 | 
홀로그램 우주(Holographic space)란 미국 태생의 영국인 물리학자인 데이비드 봄이 처음 주장한 가설로, 우주와 경험적 현상 세계는 전체의 일부분일 뿐이며, 우리가 보는 부분의 모습은 홀로그램의 간섭 무늬처럼 질서가 결여된 모습이고, 실제 의미를 가진 전체는 더 깊고 본질적인 차원의 현실에 존재한다는 이론이다.[1] 레너드 서스킨드를 비롯한 일부 끈이론학자들은 홀로그래피 원리를 주장하기도 했다.
가설의 탄생[편집]
데이비드 봄의 기존 양자역학에 대한 불만[편집]
홀로그램 우주 가설은 미국 태생의 물리학자인 데이비드 봄이 처음으로 주장한 가설인데, 그 자체는 양자역학에 대한 의문점에서 출발했다. 그는 EPR 역설에서 양자역학의 측정 결과를 빛의 속도보다 빨라야만 측정할 수 있다고 알베르트 아인슈타인이 의문을 제기한 것에 대해서, 그것이 전자가 상호연결되어있기 때문에 가능한 것이라고 주장했다. 봄은 버클리 방사선연구소에서의 실험을 통해 플라스마 속에 전자들이 들어왔을 때 전자들이 개별로 활동하는 것이 아니라 서로 연결되어 있는 전체의 일부처럼 조직적인 활동을 한다는 것을 알아냈고, 이것을 플라스몬이라고 명명했다.
데이비드 봄의 양자장과 비국소성[편집]
봄은 전자와 같은 입자가 관찰자가 없으면 파동으로 존재한다는 의견에 반대하여 관찰자들이 없어도 실제로 존재한다는 입장에서 자신의 이론을 펼쳤다. 그는 중력장처럼 공간 속에 편재해 있는 양자장이 있다는 이론을 내세웠으며, 이 양자장의 힘은 중력장이나 전자기장과는 달리 거리가 멀어져도 약해지지 않으며 어느 곳에서나 똑같은 힘으로 작용한다는 해석을 발표했다. 이것은 우주의 전체성이라는 중요한 개념을 시사하는데, 플라스마 안의 전자들이 전체의 일부처럼 활동하는 것이 바로 양자장이 주장하는 전체성의 개념이다. 우리가 보는 것들은 전체의 일부로, 우리가 생각하는 것과는 달리 조직화된 행동을 한다는 것이 그것이다. 이 양자장이 작용하는 차원에서는 모든 것이 하나로 연결되어 있고, 전체의 일부로서, 위치가 더 이상 존재하지 않으며, 공간 속의 모든 지점들은 동일하다. 이러한 성질을 비국소성(non-locality)이라고 부른다. 이 이론으로 봄은 EPR 역설의 아인슈타인의 의문 제기를 두 입자가 서로 연결되어 있는 전체의 일부이기 때문이라고 해명한다.
데이비드 봄의 홀로그램 우주[편집]
미국 시민권을 박탈당한 뒤, 영국으로 망명한 봄은 BBC의 한 TV 프로그램에서 특수하게 고안된 장치를 보고, 자신의 생각을 더욱 발전시키는 계기를 갖게 된다. 문제의 장치는 원통 모양으로 되어 있었는데, 그 안에는 커다란 회전 실린더가 들어 있었고, 통과 실린더 사이의 공간에는 글리세린이, 그 글리세린 속에는 잉크 한 방울이 떠 있었다. 회전 실린더를 돌리면 한 방울의 잉크가 글리세린 속으로 퍼지는데, 실린더를 반대 방향으로 돌리면 그 퍼진 잉크가 다시 한 방울이 되었다. 이것을 보고 봄은 홀로그래피가 우주의 현상을 설명해내는데 큰 기여를 한다는 것을 깨닫는다. 마치 퍼진 잉크방울처럼 홀로그램 필름에 기록된 간섭무늬는 알아볼 수 없는, 무질서한 모습이지만, 실린더를 반대 방향으로 돌리면 퍼진 잉크방울이 다시 한 방울이 되는 것처럼 홀로그램의 이미지가 제대로 보일 때에는 그것의 질서가 갖춰진 것이다. 이처럼 우리가 일상적으로 경험하는 현실 세계는 홀로그램의 간섭무늬처럼 무질서한 환영이고, 더 깊은 차원에 모든 사물과 물리적 세계의 모습을 만들어내는 본질적인 차원의 현실이 존재한다는 것이 데이비드 봄의 홀로그램 우주이다. 하지만 봄은 매순간 살아 숨쉬는 역동적인 우주의 성질을 홀로그램이라는 정지된 이미지를 나타내는 단어가 제대로 나타낼 수 없다고 보고, 우주를 홀로그램보다는 홀로무브먼트(holomovement)로 묘사하기를 더 좋아한다고 한다. 이 홀로무브먼트는 양자역학의 전통적인 해석 (코펜하겐 해석)에 불만인 봄이 만든 여러 신조어 중의 하나이다.
참조[편집]
- ↑ [홀로그램 우주] 마이클 탤보트 지음, 이균형 옮김. 정신세계사



 
  
 