Hey there, welcome back. We're about to take
a really deep dive into some pretty wild concepts.
You know, you sent over some fascinating stuff,
including that interview with Deepak Chopra.
And it's got us thinking about the very nature
of reality, what consciousness really is, even
down to the fundamental building blocks of the
universe. You know, like what is it all made
of? Yeah, it's like. You sent us on this quest
to unpack these pretty heavy ideas. You know,
we're talking about the composition of the universe
and then we're diving into things like extrasensory
perception and even the emergence of like a new
human species. So, yeah, lots to cover. And it's
pulling from physics, the study of consciousness,
ancient wisdom, and all thanks to you, thanks
to the material you shared with us. Right. And
really at the center of it all is that MB Explorers
podcast you shared, where Maya Alec and Jonathan
Cohen, they had this incredibly far -reaching
conversation with Deepak Chopra. It seemed like
they covered everything, like the deepest mysteries
of the universe, the potential impact of AI,
and even like the untapped abilities that we
humans might have. So where do we even begin?
Like, how do we even start to unpack all of this?
Well, maybe we start with a question that seems
like it should have a simple answer. You know,
something really foundational. But it turns out
it's one of the biggest open questions in science.
Like, what is the universe actually made of?
Right. You would think we would have that figured
out by now. Adams, the periodic table, all that
stuff we learned in school. But get this, the
ordinary matter, the stuff that makes up you
and me, the stars, everything we see and touch,
that only counts for a tiny, tiny fraction of
the observable universe. We're talking 0 .1%.
And then, what about the other 99 .9 %? Well,
about 70 % of that is something we call dark
energy. Imagine this. You throw a ball up in
the air, right? You expect it to slow down. But
instead, it starts accelerating upwards, faster
and faster. That's kind of what dark energy is
like. It's this mysterious force that's causing
the universe to not just expand, but to expand
at an accelerating rate. And then there's this
other thing called dark matter. Makes up another
27 % or so. And it's completely invisible. It
doesn't interact with light or any kind of electromagnetic
radiation. Like we can't even see it. We only
know it's there because of its gravitational
pull. Without dark matter, galaxies wouldn't
have enough mass to hold themselves together.
So scientists are really trying to figure out
what this dark matter is. There's even this hypothetical
particle called a wimp. But we still haven't
found it. So think about this. Everything we
can actually observe, everything we can see and
touch, that's only a tiny sliver of what's really
out there. And even that tiny bit, that 0 .1
% made of atoms, well, even that behaves in really
strange ways at the quantum level. Oh, you mean
that whole particle wave duality thing? Yeah,
it's totally mind -bending. So at the smallest
scales, Things like electrons. Sometimes they
act like particles, like little tiny balls of
matter. But then other times they act like waves,
like they're spread out and don't have a specific
location. And these waves are basically mathematical
descriptions of probabilities. It's like, what's
really going on down there? Like, what is the
universe even made of? Well, according to the
interview, the best answer we have right now
is, we don't really know. It could even be...
Potentially like nothing at least not nothing
as we currently understand it which then leads
to this other huge question Like the second big
open question in science And philosophers have
been wrestling with this one for I don't know
thousands of years It's that whole hard problem
of consciousness, right? If the universe is mostly
this Mysterious nothing then why does it feel
so real to us? How do we experience things? Like
where do our feelings and thoughts come from?
It is a very fundamental puzzle, right? I mean,
how do we go from this? universe that's mostly
dark energy and dark matter, to this rich inner
world that we all experience. And like you said,
this is not a new conversation. As they talked
about in the interview, Plato was grappling with
this whole mind -body problem way back when.
I mean, he even suggested that maybe the universe
is ultimately made of ideas. Right, so it's not
just about matter. And that idea that the universe
as we see it might be kind of an illusion, that
resonates with a lot of wisdom traditions too,
like Eastern philosophies, the Kabbalah, Sufi
mysticism. They often talk about the universe
as being this kind of emanation or appearance
of a cosmic consciousness. And some modern thinkers,
they even propose that we could be living in
some kind of a simulation, you know, a complex
digital world outside of our familiar space and
time that's constantly generating our reality.
using information, like through an endless stream
of ones and zeros. It's a pretty wild concept
to try to wrap your head around, right? It's
like everything we encounter from the ground
beneath our feet to, I don't know, distant galaxies.
It could all just be different arrangements of
information. So if we're in this like. cosmic
dream or simulation. What does that even mean
for our own consciousness? Well, the interview
suggests that consciousness is not just another
form of computation. It's fundamentally different.
They describe it as non -computable, meaning
it can't be replicated or fully understood through
algorithms. It's also described as borderless,
infinite, spaceless, timeless. It's like ultimately
beyond our comprehension. Freeman Dyson even
said something like, God is what the mind becomes
when it has passed beyond the scale of our comprehension.
So the suggestion here is that this consciousness
is what allows for all computation, but it's
not a product of computation itself. That's a
pretty big shift in perspective. And waking up
in this context, it's not about your morning
alarm, right? It's about shifting our awareness
from this perceived projection, this everyday
reality that seems so solid. to the source of
that projection, to this underlying cosmic consciousness.
Wittgenstein even had this similar idea, you
know, where he compared our life to a dream,
and he said we occasionally awaken to a deeper
reality. There's this really important aspect
of this dream we're talking about, our beliefs.
You know, the interview says we only see things
that we believe in, not the other way around.
Think about that, like our childhood conditioning,
everything from our economic background, ethnicity,
to our emotional upbringing, religion, and even
our spiritual environment. All of this shakes
how we perceive the world. It forms our belief
system. And they give this really powerful example
with that kitten experiment. So they raised kittens
in an environment where they only saw horizontal
stripes. And those kittens, they grew up unable
to perceive vertical lines and vice versa. It's
like their brains literally didn't develop the
neural connections to process what they hadn't
experienced. It's crazy, right? Like our experiences
actually wire our perception. Yeah, exactly.
So what we think of as matter... as this tangible
stuff, might not actually be the fundamental
reality. It's more like a perceptual activity,
a way that our consciousness interprets experience.
Think about it. You have a sensation, or you
hear a sound. Where does that happen? Not inside
your brain, as some miniature image or sound
wave, but seemingly outside of space -time, in
consciousness itself, and even the brain itself.
From this point of view, it's just another experience
within that field of consciousness. Wow. OK,
so if our perception shapes a reality so much,
and if consciousness is this fundamental non
-local thing, what does that mean for us? For
our own evolution. Yeah. And the potential we
have as humans. Well, the interviews suggest
that humanity is at a crucial point in its evolutionary
journey, with AI, you know, artificial intelligence,
advancing so rapidly. There are risks, of course,
but there's also the potential for amazing change,
for us to transform into something new. And that
actually leads to a pretty radical prediction.
They talked about the emergence of a new human
species, which they called meta -humans. And
they think this could happen within, like, the
next 20 years. It's the idea that these large
language models, which, you know, everyone's
using now, they're subtly changing our brains.
And when you combine that with epigenetic modulation,
that's where your environment influences your
genes. Without actually changing your DNA, it
could lead to significant evolution. They even
suggested that, like, as we're listening right
now, our frontal cortexes are potentially changing
in real time. Now, this is all pretty challenging
for people who have a strictly materialist worldview,
you know, people who only believe what they can
see and measure. But the interview emphasizes
that there are real things out there that we
can't easily measure. Like, some people say they
can see auras. Or take Thomas Campbell, for example.
He had these out -of -body experiences after
doing transcendental meditation. And that brings
us to extra sensory perception. You know, ESP.
and non -local potential. The interview explored
the possibility that these are latent abilities,
things like ESP and remote viewing. That might
become more common in this new kind of human.
They even shared that story about the telepathy
tapes. Oh yeah, that story about the young boy
from New Jersey. His mom was convinced he could
read her mind. So researchers set up this experiment,
put the mother in one room, she was reading a
book silently, and then the boy, he was in another
room. typing on a computer. And get this, he
was typing out exactly what she was reading.
It's incredible, right? And when they asked him
how he did it, he just said, I love my mother
so much. And that led to this fascinating idea.
What if love is actually a form of non -local
correlation or entanglement between their consciousness?
It would be similar to the quantum entanglement
they've observed with particles. And the interview
even highlighted that the Nobel Prize was given
for research into quantum entanglement. And building
on that, they presented this perspective. that
love isn't just an emotion, but maybe a fundamental
force that connects everything. Maybe it's even
like the ultimate truth, as the poet Rumi suggested,
a state of oneness, where the boundaries between
you and me or between us and the universe dissolve.
And this concept of love extends to healing too.
They mentioned the general theory of love from
neuroscience, which talks about things like limbic
resonance, you know, where our emotional states
can sync up with the people around us, and limbic
regulation. where one person's calm energy can
actually help to regulate another person's emotions.
And even limbic revision, which means that deep
love connections can actually rewire our emotional
brain circuitry. Yeah. It really aligns with
ideas about energy healing, you know, where intention
and connection really matter. Absolutely. So
what some people call psychic abilities, the
interview reframes them as these non -local damnit
human potentials. or as these manifestations
of non -local correlation or entanglement in
the yoga sutras. They even describe all these
extraordinary abilities that can come from deep
meditative states suggesting that consciousness
is this field of infinite possibilities. And
this kind of all circles back to intuition and
creativity, right, like true intuition. It's
presented as more than just a hunch. It's a form
of knowing that goes beyond logic, a holistic
understanding that might even tap into what some
call the mind of God and radical creativity,
the kind that really pushes boundaries. It's
described as disruptive and non -algorithmic.
So it's different from even what the most advanced
AI can come up with. And this whole shift in
how we see reality, it's really about going beyond
that purely materialist perspective to one that
acknowledges the role of consciousness, the power
of our beliefs, and the incredible potential
that we have as humans. And speaking of potential,
the interview had this really interesting anecdote
about how Maharishi Mahesh Yogi advised a young
Deepak Chopra to study consciousness. And this
advice led him to leave his successful medical
career and follow his passion. which ultimately
led to even greater things. Yeah, it's a powerful
example, you know, like sometimes we need to
look within and figure out what really resonates
with us, what truly excites us, even if it means
letting go of what we thought we should be doing.
It's not about ignoring practical considerations
completely though, like they also talked about
the example of not getting into medical school
and how that led to finding a different path,
which can be just as meaningful. Right. And our
mindset is so important. Having what they call
an infinite mindset helps us to see and grab
opportunities that we might otherwise miss. And
even something like good luck, they reframe it
as the point where opportunity and preparedness
meet. Like you have to have the right mindset
and be ready when the opportunity shows up. And
that's also connected to the idea of synchronicity.
You know those meaningful coincidences that happen
sometimes but to really experience those synchronicities
To really tap into that intuition The interview
suggests that we need to go beyond our ego to
connect with something larger than ourselves
That mystery that some people call God or universal
consciousness and they also talked about how
everything is vibration You know our bodies our
thoughts everything and they said that the space
between our thoughts that brief pause it's potentially
like God's mind, a state of pure silence and
presence beyond time. And that's where yoga comes
in. A lot of people in the West just think of
yoga as the physical postures. But there's so
much more to it. You know, the eight limbs of
yoga offer this whole path towards inner stillness
and awareness. Those postures, the asanas, they
were meant to be comfortable seats of awareness
for meditation. And then there's breath control.
That's pranayama. And all the different stages
of meditation like dhyana, dharana, samadhi,
they're all powerful tools for cultivating self
-awareness and connecting with that stillness.
They even suggested a little experiment. can
try. Notice the stillness between a question
and when you answer yes, that tiny pause can
be an experience of pure presence. That's cool.
OK, so we've covered a lot. But before we wrap
up, they also touched on a couple of other really
big questions. Like, are we alone in the universe?
And what about the multiverse? Yeah. So that
whole Fermi paradox thing, you know, why haven't
we found any aliens yet? It's a good question.
But most astrobiologists today think that life
probably exists all over the universe, even if
we haven't found it yet. And it could be in forms
we can't even imagine. I mean, this came up in
conversations with experts like David Newman
from MIT. And it's something that a lot of astrobiology
departments are researching. And then there's
the multiverse. It's a really mind -bending concept.
You know, with that many worlds, interpretation
of quantum mechanics. Physicists like Sean Carroll
suggest that there could be infinite parallel
universes. Like every possible outcome of every
quantum event is playing out in a separate universe.
But are these universes real? Or are they just
part of the imagination of the divine? That's
a pretty big mystery to think about. So we've
explored some really profound and interconnected
ideas today. We've shifted our perspective away
from a purely material view of reality. And we've
acknowledged the role of consciousness, the power
of belief, and the incredible potential that
each of us has. And to you, our listener, the
one who loves knowledge and those aha moments,
we hope this deep dive has given you some new
ways to think about your own potential. and the
nature of the reality we all share. Perhaps the
most thought -provoking idea to take away from
all of this is this. That love, in its deepest
form, could be the fundamental force that connects
everything, that allows for communication beyond
space and time, and even facilitates healing.
You know, try exploring practices like meditation
or mindfulness, anything that can help you cultivate
that inner stillness. It could be the key to
experiencing these concepts firsthand. Yes. Thanks
for joining us on this deep dive. We really appreciate
you.