Second Coming the novel: Extending the Entertainment

Hiding in plain sight: In the novel, balance is
the non-local ‘hidden variable’ of quantum physics

The novel makes only one assumption about the totality of existence: that balance is the operating principle. This means that, when taken as a whole, everything in the universe is in balance with everything else.

The consequence is that at the top level everything cancels to zero. At the top level, nothing exists: there is no universe. The conventional universe of separate things pops into view only if you go below the top level. One of the characters, Ben Sachs says it best: “When we view everything at once, we see nothing. When we view things sequentially, we see only a part of the whole, but at least we see something.”

Does the real universe offer an idea that makes the universe of the novel possible? Yes. Does this mean the the novel's universe is the real universe? No. However, it does make it possible for the real universe and the novel's universe to be the same and therein lies the novel's entertainment value. Below, we explore that idea: the non-local¹ hidden-variable theory of quantum physics.

Quantum reality is weird. No particle has position until it is observed. A particle can exist in two different places at once. Paired particles are in instant contact even though on opposite sides of the universe. Attempts to say this weirdness is limited to the subatomic realm fail because the world we experience at the macro level is built on the subatomic level. Proof exists in the fact that the subatomic level can be applied to our level to give us, for example, lasers and nuclear energy.

There is no dispute about the facts of quantum reality. The dispute is about what the facts mean. There are three main interpretations. Copenhagen, the standard interpretation, says there is no deep reality and doesn't attempt to explain what is going on. The two interpretations that generate the heat—parallel universes and non-local hidden variable—take a position on deep reality. Both of these interpretations claim the universe is objectively real.

Parallel-universes interpretation says that every possibility is objectively real and generates its own universe. There are uncountable universes. In some universes you were born and in others you were not. The word parallel is used because, like parallel lines in geometry, these universes never touch.

However, it is the non-local hidden-variable interpretation that informs the universe of the novel. According to this idea, there is only one objectively real universe. To fit the equations and experimental evidence, the single universe must be “super-determined.” ² What could possibly “inform” every particle of what every other particle is doing, has done, and will do? Science does not know, but the novel's protagonist, Paul, says it is balance.

Balance meets the requirement for a non-local hidden-variable universe. Balance of everything with everything else would instantly “guide” every particle's behavior so that it fit seamlessly into the whole. If you could see the lower level from the top level, it would appear that all events are always happening. Balance is hidden because it is a non-physical principle which can only be observed through its effects. And the effects of balance are everywhere. Balance is hiding in plain sight.

Paul was not surprised that the answer was so simple and required only one assumption about the universe (balance). He always suspected that the truth of existence was accessible to everyone.³ But Paul would not want you to take his word for it. As you will see in the novel, Paul would want you to go with the truth you learn from within.

Strange universe of Paul Genet

¹ Non-local in quantum physics means instant connections across the universe as if time and space did not exist. Scientific experiments since 1982 have verified non-local connections which Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.” Of course, instant connections are not spooky at all if you view all things as One through balance. —Editor

²The Ghost in the Atom, Edited by P.C.W. Davies & J.R. Brown, Cambridge University Press, pb edition, 1986, p. 47.

³To Paul, everyone means everyone. In his view, all humans without exception throughout history have had the ability to understand how the universe works. Jesus, for example, living in ancient Palestine, could easily have had the insight to apply balance to the totality of existence. And, as Paul tells the story, he did. —Editor

References

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Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics by J. S. Bell

Yes, the same J. S. Bell whose Bell's Theorem put an end to Einstein's local hidden variable

Wholeness and the Implicate Order by David Bohm

One-time Einstein colleague David Bohm does both theory and math for non-local hidden variable

The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch

Theoretical physicist David Deutsch is a leading proponent for the existence of parallel universes

The Ghost in the Atom edited by P.C.W. Davies & J.R. Brown

Physicist and science writer Paul Davies interviews J. S. Bell, David Bohm, and David Deutsch