Self-Designed Universe, for the first time in history, proposes and endeavors to explain the whole universal panorama of evolution (change-over-time) from Big Bang to Big Crunch in terms of what the physicists call four basic forces or interactions of Nature, namely, the gravitational interactions, electromagnetic interactions, strong interactions and weak interactions*(1).In doing so it goes beyond hard science and takes the interactions in their more 'knowledge-theoretical' meanings.
Design: Beginning from and propelled by the Superforce*(2) of the Big Bang, all hierarchical systems from the Universe as a whole to the least spacetime entity, according to this book, pass through four basic interactions relevant to their levels, in each of their minute spacetime accretion as well as, adding up linearly and to what I call superimpositionally, finally in whole of their lives, and as a consequence pass through four basic phases displaying the characteristics of those interactions. This explains their whole evolution from the most fundamental level. Darwinian explanations in which come man's socalled free choices form only the reaction part of the interactions when 'evolution' reaches living beings. Needless to add the basic driver is action part of the interactions and it will drive evolution where it will in terms of forces and man's choices have only cosmetic say in it.
Anyway the process begins with tiny four-phased spirals, in a way, like our days, each having four phases also called biorhythms - which too are actually because of our going through four basic interactions in a day - which adding up linearly as well as superimpositionally finally giving us our whole life of four phases of childhood, youth, middle age and old age, again each representing one basic force or interaction.
And indeed, we display the characteristics of gravitational interactions by growing/running/jumping 'up' - opposite to gravity - in our childhood; of electromagnetic interactions by falling into and then growing up or transcending the attractions and repulsions - the characteristics of electromagnetic interactions in simple, 'knowledge-theoretical' meaning - in our youth. We display the characteristics of strong interactions in our middle age by experiencing virtual confinement in our own beings, in our own minds, in our own nucleus, and by the subsequent reason-led efforts to transcend it, to become free again. And we display the characteristics of weak interactions in our old age by feeling weak attractions and repulsions but now with the whole world, in contrast with the strong attractions and repulsions we felt in our youth or electromagnetic days and with a limited world of family, friends and others.
It's all forces and their carriers: It all depends upon how the portion of the original Superforce of the Big Bang which has now come to become our lot, and moves in four main quantum jumps along our 'axis', our spine - from center to center of four basic interactions in other words*(3) - acts upon and is in turn reacted upon by the 'outside' world, or in terms of the interactions. As also which are the carriers of these actions and reactions. For example, in our youth or electromagnetic interaction days, the days of strong attractions and repulsions, the carriers are the photons, which because of their limited mobility in space keep us limited to a limited world (passion). While in our old age or weak interaction days it is the neutrinos, which because of their almost unlimited mobility in space put us into weak attractions and repulsions now with the whole world (compassion).
Design is ubiquitous: Going on the above lines Self-Designed Universe has in fact explained the 'lives' of many systems up and down the line in a similar, four-phased, manner. And shown the way for explaining the lives of Earth and the Universe as well in the like manner to any keen student of geology and cosmology.
Overall, Self-Designed Universe divides the whole universal game into three distinguishable though overlapping and interacting realms i.e., spiritual, virtual and the actual - also the Soul, Mind and Body of the universal game in our more popular jargon. And proposes that while the spiritual realm or Soul denotes the underlying Oneness of All There Is*(4), in the virtual (quantum, super-quantum) realm*(5) or Mind the Soul or Oneness gets entangled into four basic forces (quantum entanglements), while in the actually realm or Body - our usual evolving, expanding universe - it gets disentangled from them.Again, what goes for the Universe goes for all hierarchical systems down the line. The virtual realm, the realm of 'potentia' of Aristotle, comes to be known as mind*(6) and the entanglement into forces comes to be known as karma as the things come evolving to Homo sapiens levels.
Nothing outside of Universe, not even intelligence: Anyway, the above process goes on in eternal entanglement and disentanglement or contraction and expansion or devolution and evolution cycles and is the design and sole design, is the explanation and sole explanation of the evolution of the Universe. Needless to add, it is in-built in the universal game and does not need any outside agency to install it. Hence the name Self Designed Universe of this book.
Unification of relativity and quantum theory: It may also be added here that the relativity theory describes the whole evolutionary or expanding part of the cyclical universal game in which the Universe gets disentangled from the four basic forces while the quantum theory describes its devolutionary or contracting part in which the universe gets again entangled into four basic forces in what finally comes to be known as Singularity. From where the new cycle begins with Big Bang.
Model: As a partial*(7) model, this book proposes the model of a seed/fruit-bearing tree. In the seed/fruit the tree gets entangled into its virtual or potential future plant, which again really is an arrangement of four basic forces relevant to the level of that plant in the final analysis. In the growing of the next actual plant it gets disentangled from them, again, relevant to the level.Humans are important: Applying to the Universe, the first will be described by the quantum theory while the latter by the relativity theory. (Author feels human beings, like the seeds of the above tree, are the seeds of the Universe and rightly imagine the universe as biocentric - like seeds of a tree imagining tree seed-centric; but both do not know what has gone before right from Big Bang which made them those seeds and human beings. Here is an interesting related post: http://self-designed-universe.blogspot.in/2010/10/where-is-our-mind.html)
Darwinism secondary: Obviously, Self-Designed Universe renders all other explanations of evolution, especially Darwinian explanations involving survival considerations, natural selections, variations, mutations etc either in support or secondary to the above-mentioned four-interactions-based basic explanation. For example, the explanation of evolution in terms of survival is in support. For, so long as a system is entangled into forces it will need to survive and survive to continue going through four basic interactions so as to be finally free from them. And explanation in terms of natural selections is secondary, because, besides of course for survival as above, all selections by a system are made in response to the pulls and pressures of four basic forces or interactions only.
Basic forces force what we will select: Thus plants 'select' to go 'up' to counter the effect of gravity. Animals, in addition, select to experience the feelings of attractions and repulsions, and consequent movement to actualize them, thanks to the pulls and pressures of electromagnetic interactions at their base, at their "I"s - at the center of electromagnetic forces being experienced by them. Similarly, Homo sapiens, still in addition, select reason, intellect, language and other ever-expanding means of communication etc: reason, intellect to understand the prison-like situation in which they find themselves thanks to the pulls and pressures or confinement of strong interactions at their base, thanks to nucleons' constructed prison around their "I"s; and language and other means of communication to communicate across that virtual prison. No wonder primates, like Sultan, which had been put into prison to perform some experiments developed basic thinking skills (as told by Carl Sagan in his book Dragons of Eden).Mutations not mistakes: Mutation in any system happens when it - its "I", its center of the forces under consideration - quantum jumps to the next interaction center (glimpse here sudden change) and then reorganizes its virtual and actual realms, its mind and body accordingly there (glimse here subsequent gradual change). And has nothing to do with chance, much less mistakes in replication of genes or other systems. The latter will be like saying that we mutate from childhood to youth, or from youth to middle age by chance, by mistake. No, we mutate because we have jumped from gravitational interactions phase to electromagnetic interactions phase in the first case and from electromagnetic interactions phase to strong interactions phase in the second, on the scale of our whole four-phased life.
These mutations first elaborate a new behavior from deep within a system and then find manifestation in their body accordingly.
Here I am reminded of J. Bronowski's words in The Ascent of Man:
"We must always remember that the real content of evolution (biological as well as cultural) is the elaboration of new behavior. It is only because behavior leaves no fossils that we are forced to search for it in bones and teeth."
Indeed! How I wish I could tell him that it is the interactions which do the trick - of elaborating the new behavior!
Purpose of evolution: Purpose of evolution is disentanglement from four basic forces at myriad of hierarchical system levels. At human levels and in human terms this basic purpose has been depicted in names like freedom, liberation, moksha, nirvana.
Having once begun from the Oneness, from One, from Soul, even from "God" with the Universe, the purpose of evolution for all can also be said to be "rejoining the One" again after exhausting full course of interactions.
Increase in complexity-consciousness of any system is possible up to its going through strong interactions only, which for our present biospherical evolutionary system would be up to us Homo sapiens only. Thenceforth, it will be the turn of the simplicity-consciousness of the expected supermen. An advance idea of this can be had from the fact that our highly evolved great men called masters, sages, 'polymath geniuses' already have rather simple consciousness - just like that of a child, as they say.
Death Wish: Self-organization for any system is necessary at an interaction center till it is time for it - for its "I" - to jump over to the next interaction center, after which self-disorganization becomes necessary, of course, with self-organization simultaneously beginning to take place at the next interaction center.
Thus, in an other popular jargon of the day, it is not order out of chaos as is generally understood, but rather, chaos sets in a system only when order has already begun to take place at the next force or interaction center. Where the "I" of the system has already lodged itself through a process similar to quantum jumping.Freud saw these very self-organization and disorganization processes as life and death wish going on simultaneously in man. And rightly so. For, life-wish represented efforts at reorganization at the next interaction level, while death wish represented 'let-go' attitude for facilitating disorganization at the previous one.
Eastern mysticism complements western science: Ever heard of the chakras of Hindu Yogic philosophy? These are the very force or interaction centers along our spines, where our "I" - as self-referent systems as described in endnote *(3) - lodges in successive quantum jumps thanks to our going through four basic interactions in our whole life. Yes, there is our quantum mechanical "I" too, which jumps up and down depending upon with whom we are interacting at any given point of time, but that is subordinate to the overall control of the above interactions-related "I". For example, in old age I may act child with a child but it will only be my quantum mechanical persona, as a self-referent system I will be and remain an old man.Elaborating a bit more on interactions, Self-Designed Universe takes an interaction as a two-tier process. In the first tier a system gets disentangled from the previous force, in the next it gets entangled into the next, or brings forth its virtual entanglement into the next. Accordingly, each interaction gives us two apparent sub-systems.
Thus, talking of ‘species’ on Earth, gravitational interactions gave us two sub-systems or ‘species’ of clay to minerals. In clay, it got disentangles from inertia and in minerals it further got entangled into gravity. Similarly, electromagnetic interactions gave us two sub-systems or species of plants and animals. In plants, Earth got disentangled from gravity, in animals it further got entangled into electromagnetic forces. Strong interactions gave us two species of primates and man. In primates we got disentangled from electromagnetic forces, in man we got entangled into strong forces.
Story begins right from clay/minerals: It will be amusing to see how the species in which the Earth got disentangled from a force such as plants and primates are relaxed as compared to those in which it got entangled into the next i.e., animals and man. These poor latter species have to hop like mad to get rid of their entanglements. I am sure renowned mineralogist A.G. Cairns-Smith will find the comparable level of 'hopping' going on in minerals too, in which Earth got entangled into gravity!Our free choice yes but...: Equally amusing will be to divide our individual lives in the above manner. Gravitational interactions will give us two distinctive phases of our overall childhood. The first, our early childhood, in which we will get disentangled from inertia and the second, our late childhood, in which, like minerals, we will get further entangled into gravity. Similarly, electromagnetic interactions will give two phases of our overall youth. The first, our early youth, in which we will get disentangled from gravity, and the second, our later youth, in which we will get further entangled into electromagnetic interactions. Now we can find here too that we are relaxed in both the early phases of childhood and youth, and hop like mad in both the latter ones. We sit like clay and feel shy like plants in our early childhood and youth phases respectively, and we seethe with surreptitious (mischievous) activity like minerals and follow the opposite sex like mad like animals in our later childhood and youth phases.
Going on, the strong interactions will give two phases of early middle age and later middle age. In early middle age we will get disentanlged from electromagnetic interactions and in later middle age we will further get entalged in strong interactions. Just imagine, how from 40 onwards for a few years you just take respite from the youthful loves and wars and then how in later middle age you just end up being a prisoner of your thoughts, mind or concepts you have developed or read to understand your and your world's situation. Then finally you go beyond even this rational phase in which you disentangle even from strong interactions and are comparatively calm and wise so to say.
All One's Play: Our modes of knowing through senses, through feelings, through intellect and finally through intelligence, or experiential wisdom in general in our childhood, youth, middle age and old age have also been shown to be the product of four basic interactions in the main book. All these modes of knowing we developed basically to rediscover the same Oneness we first lost as one with the Universe at Big Bang and then again as individuals at our birth. Not for nothing psychologists aver that we wish to go back to our mother's womb. Indeed in a way! Either to our mother's womb, or to the greatest Womb of them all, The Womb of the One, of even 'God'!From the above, it will also be clear that the intelligence is rather the product of design and not vice versa.
Newton's law goes right to the end: At the end of the day, it is again the same old story: To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton said it all. It just needs to be applied to all the four basic forces and not only gravity. And it is a fitting finale to our story that began with gravity to finally end via the electromagnetic, strong and weak interactions again at gravity thus completing the circle.Everything in nature in cycles/circles: Because everything in Nature is in circles, as Emerson said, and we have fully understood it only when we have completed its circle.
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Endnotes:
Different from within: *(1) Interactions: I have explained in the book why I have taken the interactions in the order of gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak, and not as per the prevailing scientific opinion, i.e., in the order of gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong. In brief, for one, it is because of the difference how we see things from the outside and inside, from the macroscopic side and microscopic side, from the point of view of duality and oneness. And for another, the confusion is further confounded because of the overlapping of two cycles comprising of four interactions each, in which the 'universe' gets unwound and wound-up into forces (white and black parts/cycles in the accompanying fig). The universe gets unwound in the order of gravitational, electromagnetic, strong and weak forces, and wound-up in the order of weak, strong, electromagnetic and gravitational forces. But because of the overlapping the apparent or resultant single cycle seems to comprise of gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong forces, because the last two interactions of the first go latent in the first two interactions of the second, just as the last two interactions of the second go latent in the first two interactions of the first.What causes the big bang, first causa: *(2)Superforce: According to Self Designed Universe, our usual 'physical' universe comprises of gravitational and electromagnetic interaction layers only while the whole universe, sometimes called the actual universe in the book, comprises of all the four basic interactions. Similarly, our usual anti-universe comprises of gravitational and electromagnetic interactions only while the whole 'anti- universe', called the virtual universe in the book, comprises of all the four basic interactions. Now just as when the universe and anti-universe meet they annihilate each other and produce electromagnetic energy, similarly, when (the whole) actual and virtual universes meet they annihilate each other and produce Superforce, religion's socalled First Causa. A bit more detail if one is further interested can be read here: http://self-designed-universe.blogspot.in/2010/11/there-is-nothing-supernatural-beyond.html
Quantum mechanical and self-referent identities: *(3)It denotes our “I” at each center as what David Bohm calls ‘self-referent systems’ in the book A Ghost in the Atom.
*(4)Which comes into play at Big Bang and is also called Supersymmetry, Superspace, Superforce by the scientists, as also Substance, Thing-in-itself by the philosophers and Spirit, Suchness, Sunyata, Love, Absolute, Void, even God by the religious people.
Anti and virtual realms: *(5)The virtual world, the world in which the universe gets entangled or wound-up into weak, strong, electromagnetic and gravitational forces as above, comprises the normal or lower energy versions of the weak and strong interactions realms - which make the weak interactions short-ranged and strong interactions really strongly binding - plus what the scientists call the anti-world. Just as the 'actual' world later includes the usual physical world, the world of gravitational and electromagnetic interactions, besides the now high-energy versions of strong interactions which make the strong interactions rather 'freeing' (asymptotic) and of weak interactions which make the weak interactions rather strong and long-ranged.
Distinction between mind and brain: *(6)Mind + brain: lower energy versions of weak and strong interactions + anti-world : Knower through intuition; intellect, reason + knower through feelings and senses. For more read: http://self-designed-universe.blogspot.in/2010/10/where-is-our-mind.html)
Silence at the end: *(7)All being sub or partial systems of the universe can only be partial models of the universe. Partial in the sense that while the universe will entangle into and disentangle from all the forces completely in one 'life'-cycle, all partial models will do so only in parts relevant to their evolutionary levels, relevant to how far down the line they have come from Big Bang. For the complete model or description, actually there is neither any question nor answer. It just Is. One can't expect a description from One's point of view. Author too surrenders. For 10 years through what author calls his First Experience of Oneness ( http://harbbook.blogspot.in/2011/06/my-first-experience-of-oneness.html ) he remained in this indescribable state. Then thanks to wheel of time he came to his own ego/intellect stage and fell for knowing and then writing about the universe. Someday he will again go beyond it - to the Silence again.
PS: Author is neither interested nor recommends buying nor reading of the main book. That is admittedly very difficult to read, in which author just wanted to record whatever and in whatever way came to his mind. Reader or publishing was far from his mind. Anyway, what needs to be read and known is here. In fact, only one line from books of such nature often proves sufficient to tell the world what it says. Darwin's was evolution or that we have evolved from lower forms. Marx's was communism, or the world is not for individual but for the community as a whole. Not many could read the whole books. In the same way author wants his book to be known as evolution through four fundamental forces - comprising of Newtonian action and reaction but applied to all four forces in which we have no say in action part but have in terms of Darwinism (old and new) in reaction part, together both of which comprise so called (Intelligent) Design. Beginning from Big Bang it is because of the action part (which initially breaks supersymmetry to say it in other words) why all religions and far reaching philosophers/sages say "what will happen will happen" or Bible says that there is time for everything. Thank you for reading.
PS2. Alternatively wait for the revised edition to come if any publisher gets ready.
PS3. An interesting aside on the case for unification of science, philosophy and mysticism: http://self-designed-universe.blogspot.in/2010/10/my-comment-at-huffington-post.html
PS4: Preface and First Chapter of the book here: http://selfdesigneduniverse.blogspot.in/
