Monday, March 21, 2005

The hologram and the holomovement

Not many people could ever think that the hologram could provide an alternative theoretical insight into life but scientists such as the late David Bohm have been working on this idea and believe that it offers a comprehensive view of life. Of course, 'ultimate' theories claiming comprehensiveness can be treated with skepticism since quite often, if not always, lead to totalitarian attitudes. However, the underlining notion behind Bohm's theory is that the pursuit of the ultimate truth is futile since it is found in what he calls the 'implicate order', which is the basis of life, but not accessible to consciousness. What consciousness can do is to try and approach this hidden order through the use of analogies and such an analogy can be found in the hologram.
For those not familiar with the hologram, this is a 'special' photographic image of an object using laser technology. The amazing thing is that when you look at the holographic film what is visible is an 'interference pattern' similar to what happens when you throw a stone in calm water. However, when a laser beam falls on the film it produces a 3-D image of the photographed object which floats in space! Even more amazingly if you cut the film in half you will get not a split image as you would normally expect but two smaller reproductions of the original one. Incredible as it may sound, the same applies even with smaller pieces because every area of the film contains in encoded form the entire image! Of course it should be noted that the image on the film is just the codified representation of the invisible order of the electromagnetic film.
Using this analogy Bohm suggests that what we perceive is the 3-D representation of a higher reality, which he calls the implicate order. What happens is that senses and consciousness - like the laser beam - fall onto the implicate order, similar to the holographic film, and produce a specific 3-D model of perceived reality in the explicate order of ordinary experience. This model of course is conditioned by the limited spectrum of our senses and intelligence.
The implicate order, like the interference pattern in the photographic film, is ultimately incomprehensible and it should be seen as a kind of a sea of energy from which everything in the visible universe unfolds and enfolds in a continual process. Bohm calls this process the holomovement, which he sees as the basic process of life.
Versions of this process exist around us:
  • When you watch TV, for example, the unfolded images on the screen are carried in the enfolded form of electromagnetic waves.
  • Your brain enfolds information - in a fashion similar to that of the holographic film - which unfolds while expressing yourself.
  • An unread book enfolds the consciousness of the writer which unfolds into the consciousness of the reader by being enfolded in her/his brain.
  • Life and death could be seen in this light. If life unfolds from the energy of the implicate order it means that it ultimately enfolds back to it.
Finishing, it could be said that this notion of holomovent has applications in every sphere of life.