Science and Interrelationship
Science has revealed that a pattern of mutual relationships occurs at all levels of the universe, from the minute quantum world of sub-atomic physics to the inconceivably vast realm of stars, nebulae, supernovas, quasars, black holes and galaxies studied by modern astronomy. The relationships between the different elements and levels of the natural world can take a variety of forms: equivalent, symmetrical, mutually supportive, hierarchical, or asymmetric.
The fundamental laws of physics are universal and apply throughout the universe. They reveal that an intrinsic interconnectivity pervades the entire universe at all levels of reality, linking disparate phenomena in a harmonious, indivisible whole. In The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra writes: “The universe is seen as a dynamic web of interrelated events. None of the properties of any part of this web is fundamental; they all follow from the properties of other parts, and the overall consistency of their mutual interrelations determines the structure of the entire web.”
The concept of the hologram has been applied to describe a universe in which everything is interrelated and part of a greater whole, and supposed dualities are recast as complementary polarities. This ‘unity in diversity’ is one of the hallmarks of the new vision of the cosmos enunciated by leading thinkers and scientists. In this paradigm, all things in the phenomenal world are intrinsic elements in an integral whole: “The holographic nature of the manifest world enables the coherent oneness, the integral wholeness of the universe, to be expressed through the many facets of cosmic order at all scales of existence. It is the means by which every aspect of the cosmos can relate to and interface with every other aspect as well as the whole.”
For much of human history, the visible universe was conceived as a “machine” composed of separate, independent objects. The discoveries of quantum physics in the early 20th century changed this prevailing paradigm and ushered in a completely new world-view characterized by energy fields, subatomic particles, probability, complementarity, uncertainty, and dynamic relationship. Physicist Max Planck: “In quantum mechanics it is impossible to obtain an adequate version of the laws for which we are looking, unless the physical system is regarded as a whole. According to field theory, each individual particle of the system, in a certain sense, at any one time, exists simultaneously in every part of the space occupied by the system.”
Modern physics now recognizes the unbroken wholeness of a reality in which the universe is seen not as a collection of discrete physical objects, but rather as a vast nexus of relationships between the various parts of a unified whole. Quantum theory supports the notion of a basic interconnectedness of all the constituent parts of the universe. Physicist David Bohm: “We say that inseparable quantum interconnectedness of the whole universe is the fundamental reality, and that relatively independently behaving parts are merely particular and contingent forms within this whole.”
Our work brings out in an intuitive way just how and why a quantum manybody system cannot properly be analyzed into independently existent parts, with fixed and determinate dynamical relationships between each of the parts. Rather, the “parts” are seen to be in immediate connection, in which their dynamical relationships depend, in an irreducible way, on the state of the whole system (and indeed on that of broader systems in which they are contained, extending ultimately and in principle to the entire universe). Thus, one is led to a new notion of unbroken wholeness which denies the classical idea of analyzability of the world into separately and independently existent parts. We now find that the relationships between any two particles depend on something going beyond what can be described in terms of these particles alone. Indeed, more generally, this relationship may depend on the quantum state of even larger systems, within which the system in question is contained, ultimately going on to the universe as a whole. (11)
Interconnectivity also operates at the human physiological level. For instance, the human body is constantly renewing itself as it interacts with the surrounding environment – a process sometimes called a “biodance” or the “dance of life.” Dr. Larry Dossey: “Each body structure has its own rate of reformation: the lining of the stomach renews itself in a week; the skin is entirely replaced in a month; the liver is regenerated in six weeks. Some tissue is relatively resistant to the constant turnover, such as the supporting tissue called collagen and the iron in the blood’s hemoglobin molecules. But even though these rates of replacement differ, after five years one can presume that the entire body is renewed even to the very last atom.”
Biodance – the endless exchange of the elements of living things with the earth itself – proceeds silently, giving us no hint that it is happening. It is a dervish dance, animated and purposeful and disciplined; and it is a dance in which every living organism participates. These observations simply defy any definition of a static and fixed body. Even our genes, our claim to biologic individuality, constantly dissolve and are renewed. We are in a persistent equilibrium with the earth. Yet the boundary of our body has to be extended even farther than the earth itself. We know that certain elements in our body, such as the phosphorus in our bones, were formed at an earlier stage in the evolution of our galaxy. Like many elements in the earth’s crust, it was cycled through the lifetime of several stars before appearing terrestrially, eventually finding its way into our body. A strictly bounded body does not exist. The concept of a physical I that is fixed in space and that endures in time is at odds with our knowledge that living structures are richly connected with the world around them. Our roots go deep; we are anchored in the stars. (12)
Humanity has a deep spiritual responsibility for the welfare of the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms, and a recognition of the primacy of Great Nature, for which we depend for so many of our needs. One of the consequences of the fact of universal interdependency is to awaken a respect for all forms of life. Fourth Way author Keith Buzzell: “We live in one continuous and harmonious cosmos. Studies in many diverse fields of science reveal a cosmos of such grandeur and subtlety, of such tightly interwoven and interdependent energies, that past myth, imagery and analogy pale in their ability to convey its real dimensions.”
Everything, every state of matter or energy, every idea, feeling and motion in our entire Cosmos is interconnected (webbed and woofed) into one great moving whole. This interconnectedness is not an abstract, indifferent, mechanical process but is, rather, an endless, multi-layered feeding – sustaining – nurturing. Since everything is essential and has its roles to fulfill within the whole, everything is to be valued in balanced proportion. The balanced proportion can only be approached if man’s third brain is constantly alerted to and reminded of the real hazard of egoism and enabled to explore and create new and more harmonious personal (first brain) and social (second brain) images . . . If so, then we can only encourage you to consider with care and sobriety, the world inside and outside of us. Consider the uncountable wars and the unremitting weight of suffering of the mothers and children of this world. Consider what we have done to this beautiful, fragile planet. Is this what we wish for our children and for all children to come? (13)
Rodger R Ricketts
- Bob Toben Space-Time and Beyond (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1975), p. 135.
- Larry Dossey Space, Time & Medicine (Boulder: Shambhala, 1982), pp.74-75.
- Keith Buzzell Man – A Three-Brained Being (Salt Lake City: Fifth Press, 2007). pp. 58-59.
We are all Interconnected even with the Universe 