The Retroactive Universe:
How the Emergence of "Moral Beings" (eg Humans) Catalyzed the Emergence into Existence of the Universe Itself!
Combining Kabbalah, quantum metaphysics and philosophy allows us to understand why the Biblical creation account juxtaposes the creation of the universe and the creation of modern-type humanity, making it seem as though the universe is only as old as recorded history. Physics deals with the material, and its account of emergence is bound by this, however quantum metaphysics ascribes more importance to the mental realm in determining reality, and of course religion ascribes more importance to the spiritual realm. The combination of quantum metaphysics and kabbalah presented hereconsiders moral choice as the fundamental factor in our reality. Accordingly the universe and humanity emerge into existence only due to the emergence of free will, and only at the nexus of this emergence.
From this perspective, the universe can therefore emerge into reality only when there are within it "Moral Beings", beings who understand the difference between good and evil, feel they ought to do good, and are capable of free-willed choice. Thus, in the Biblical account based on this perspective the emergence of humanity and of the universe seem virtually simultaneous.
The spiritual realm and physical reality
From the Kabbalistic perspective the true reality is the spiritual realm: the physical cosmos is God’s precision-crafted instrument for achieving spiritual goals. Indeed, the physical universe is a shadow of the spiritual world, the illusion perceived by limited beings who are in contact with the spiritual cosmos but can directly sense and perceive only its shadow. Human free-willed moral choice connects the two realms, and this moral activity gives meaning to the existence of the universe.
Since the true reality of the universe is the spiritually meaningful aspect, it should not be surprising that the emergence of the universe into reality is so intimately bound up with the emergence of those beings who endow physicality of meaning. Furthermore, once this connection is understood, it is most appropriate that the very characteristics of man which allow the emergence of the universe into reality (i.e., his free-willed consciousness) are the very same characteristics which endow it with meaning. We can thus see the fundamental interrelationship between meaning, purpose, free will, consciousness, and the very nature of reality (and how this is reflected in Creation).
Jewish philosophy sees free-willed choice as that which gives the universe meaning and so it is the “motivation” for the very existence of the universe.
Humanity And Reality
In our universe, the operative concepts are “free-willed conscious choice,” not “nature,” i.e. objective scientific fact. It is the former which causes the latter to emerge into existence (collapse of a probability wave). Moral law, free-willed conscious moral choice, rules over the “laws of nature,” rather than vice versa. The true reality is the spiritual one. The physical is in existence only to serve the spiritual. The entire physical universe is an artifact created by God. Man us a precisely crafted instrument designed to interact with the physical universe in ways which have the potential to achieve spiritual goals unattainable without the vehicle of the physical. Thus, the physical is of central importance, but only as a means: It can have sublime beauty and dignity, but only by virtue of its ability to achieve in the spiritual realm. Thus the human body, rather than being a hindrance to spirituality, is a potentially holy physical tool which can control the spiritual. Indeed, every action/thought/word affects the spiritualcosmos, and one's life when correctly lived is designed to resonate with the spiritual and to correctly utilize the physical order to elicit the fusion of ultimate spirituality with the physical. God created the universe and humanity, and designed a way of life which allows to humans and the res tof the universe complete each other, to complement one another, in a self-consistent optimum system.
The philosophy and metaphysics of quantum physics
According to the philosophy of quantum physics, actual physical reality can exist (in the scientific meaning of the term existence) only as a result of measurement. When not being measured, the universe is in a quasi-real state amenable to description only in terms of probabilities and not facts.
What is the active factor in a measurement which causes this emergence into reality? According to some leading physicists, this factor is consciousness
Since this is only one interpretation among many, we will refer to it as 'quantum metaphysics'. The great mathematician John Von Neumann, who provided a rigorous mathematical foundation for quantum mechanics, believed that only a human consciousness can collapse the wave function [DUP: According to this view, it is only measurement performed by a conscious being which can bring the universe into full reality.].
The eminent Nobel prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner writes: It follows that the quantum description of objects is influenced by impressions entering my consciousness…. It follows that the being with a consciousness must have a different role in quantum mechanics than the inanimate measuring device.
This view is far from the dominant one among physicists, but it is accepted as a possibility. We can consider this thesis either an aspect of quantum philosophy or of a quantum metaphysics.
The "Retroactive Universe"
The famous physicist John Wheeler has taken this several steps further. According to him the entire universe can emerge into true physical existence only via the observation of a consciousness! [DUP: a consciousness is indispensable to the universe if it is to emerge into reality. Physical reality can be said to exist only as a result of our presence within it or, more precisely, as a result of our perception of it. ]
And then he goes the next step: if the universe emerges into reality only when it is humanly-observed, "[Perhaps] no universe at all could come into being unless it were guaranteed to produce life, consciousness and observership somewhere and for some little length of time in its history-to-be?…
Thus, according to Wheeler's “quantum metaphysics,” in some sense the univere emerges 'retroactively'. Wheeler has constructed a fascinating diagram to illustrate this concept. Explaining the diagram, he writes: “Beginning with the Big Bang, the universe expands and cools. After eons of dynamic development it gives rise to observership. Acts of observer-participancy in turn give tangible reality to the universe not only now but back to the beginning.”
FREE WILL, QUANTUM PHYSICS, AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE WAVE FUNCTION
A free-willed decision, in order to be truly free, has to be unconstrained by the laws of nature and not determined by any physical phenomena. Hence free will must be neither the result of deterministic processes, nor the result of random processes occurring in accordance with the natural order of phenomena. Hence if the universe contains a free will, this free will must operate via interactions which transcend both the determinism of classical physics and the randomness of quantum physics. Free will is then unique in this respect. If some entity exists which can collapse the quantum wave function, then it is reasonable to postulate that this entity has to be a free will, since, as we just discussed, only free will transcends quantum randomness, as it transcends nature in general. Since a consciousness can affect the universe only if it has a free will, and a free will is by definition unthinkable without a consciousness, we will assume in the course of further discussion that free will subsumes within itself the concept of consciousness.
EXISTENCE OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE ROLE OF FREE-WILLED CONSCIOUS BEINGS
We will now try to apply the conclusions we reached above to the question of the existence of the universe. As we saw, according to quantum metaphysics, the universe can emerge into reality only when it is observed by a consciousness. This consciousness possibly must function in a nonquantum fashion in order to “collapse the wave function.” The only such nonquantum factor in the universe is free will. Thus, we postulate that it is the presence of a free-willed, conscious being which enables the universe to emerge into reality.
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Thus, since the true reality of the universe is the spiritually meaningful aspect, it should not be surprising that the emergence of the universe into reality is so intimately bound up with the emergence of those beings who endow physicality of meaning. Furthermore, once this connection is understood, it is most appropriate that the very characteristics of man which both according to quantum metaphysics and according to religious teachings allow the emergence of the universe into reality (i.e., his free-willed consciousness) are the very same characteristics which endow it with meaning. We can thus see the fundamental interrelationship between meaning, purpose, free will, consciousness, and the very nature of reality (and how this is reflected in Creation).
Summary We have seen that according to quantum (meta)physics, reality is established via the observation of a (free-willed) consciousness. In addition, according to Jewish thought free-willed choice gives the universe meaning and is thus the “motivation” for the very existence of the universe.
Just as according to quantum physics (or metaphysics) nature has delegated to humans the ability to determine the nature of physical reality within the limitations of natural law, similarly God, the Creator of nature, delegated to man alone the ability to determine the nature of spiritual reality, which then influences the physical. Of the two levels, the physical is merely the means to the spiritual end. Thus the determination by man of spiritual reality is even more fundamental than is his determination of physical reality. So, too, it is man’s spiritual qualities (free-willed consciousness) which are more fundamental than these physical qualities. It is up to man to use his own limited sense of right and wrong, guided by moral and religious criteria, to determine reality. This is the way to achieve one’s purpose - and it is this purpose which also gives meaning to the universe. Since it is man’s consciousness and free will which invest his choices with the possibility of meaning, it is therefore only free-willed consciousness which has the possibility of conducting reality-determining observation and measurement. Nature by itself is powerless to achieve self-realization; man is required to bring both himself and the universe into reality. Thus nature cannot determine reality, God does not decide reality; it is man’s prerogative and sole responsibility. Man, alive and physical and yet spiritual as well, albeit limited and fallible - or perhaps because he is limited and fallible - is uniquely qualified, by virtue of his possessing a free-willed consciousness, to determine the nature of physical and spiritual reality.
Emergence of Humans
As we have seen, quantum physics connects ontology (being) with epistemology (knowing), and quantum metaphysics postulates that the universe can emerge into true physical existence only when there are (free-willed) conscious beings in it. According to this scenario, man is not a random product of the universe but is rather a necessary condition for the very existence of the universe. In addition, since the universe can emerge into true physical existence only when free-willed conscious man is present within it, there is no true physical reality to any time prior to the emergence of the first free-willed conscious man. According to Torah, this man was Adam. Of course, other theories have been advanced regarding the emergence of man. However, these by definition relate to a time prior to the emergence of conscious individuals. According to the approach of quantum physics explored here, these theories cannot relate actual physical historical events since there were no such actual events prior to the emergence of free-willed conscious beings.
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Adam, Creation & Science
If events “prior” to the emergence of the first free-willed conscious being are undefined scientifically, then it is only to be expected that there will be differences between the description made of the emergence of this first free-willed conscious being by a source limited by quantum physics - such as man and his theories - and the description made by a source originating outside of physicality - such as the Torah.