The Ten Bulls of Zen Reframed: The True Nature of the Search

In Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, the Ten Bulls are a depiction of the awakening process in that they give a roadmap to enlightenment. This roadmap is remarkably detailed in that it gives a thorough depiction of the entire awakening process. This roadmap not only points out directions in the awakening process, but also allows for an assessment of where one stands in the process. All the necessary steps that are required to complete the process are depicted. Even more remarkable, these necessary steps can be understood scientifically in the framework of modern physics. This article reframes these steps in terms of what the holographic principle of quantum gravity can scientifically tell us about the awakening process and the nature of enlightenment.

The first thing to be clear about is enlightenment is only about consciousness. Enlightenment is about consciousness becoming aware of its true nature. Enlightenment is synonymous with awakening from delusion. The nature of delusion is consciousness unaware of its true nature, and enlightenment is consciousness aware of its true nature. The problem is actually much worse than simple unawareness. Delusion is consciousness actively believing false beliefs about itself. A delusion is a false belief one believes about oneself, which is the essence of the problem.

Unenlightened consciousness is not just unaware of its true nature, but actively believes itself to be something that it is not. Enlightenment is often called truth realization, but as Jed McKenna points out, the more correct terminology is untruth unrealization. Consciousness only becomes aware of its true nature when it stops believing untrue things about itself. Enlightenment is not an active process of learning the truth, but rather is a natural effortless discovery that consciousness comes to know about itself when it stops actively believing untrue things about itself.

In his discussion of the Ten Bulls, Osho points out this depiction of the awakening process is in the form of a search. Consciousness itself is searching for its true nature. The irony of all this searching activity is that consciousness discovers its true nature in an effortless and natural way once it stops actively believing untrue things about itself. Ultimately, this search comes down to a destructive process of disbelieving and deconstructing false beliefs. Since the false beliefs are self-concepts, McKenna refers to this self-destructive process as spiritual autolysis, which is a process of dissolution that dissolves separated aspects of consciousness back into an undifferentiated primordial state of consciousness, like a piece of ice that dissolves back into water.

The second thing to be clear about is science really has nothing to say about the true nature of consciousness. The true nature of consciousness cannot be conceptualized, and therefore no scientific concept has anything meaningful to say about it. On the other hand, scientific concepts have a great deal to tell us about the nature of delusion. Specifically, scientific concepts can tell us a great deal about the nature of Maya or illusion, which underlies delusion. The holographic principle of quantum gravity is the ultimate scientific concept that explains the nature of illusion.

The nature of delusion is a state of duality, which is always created in a subject-object relation of self and other. The holographic principle is the ultimate scientific concept that allows us to understand how duality is created in a subject-object relation as an observer observes some observable thing. The holographic principle explains the dualistic nature of a virtual reality. Underlying this dualistic virtual reality is the nondual reality of consciousness. Enlightenment is the direct experience of the underlying nondual reality of consciousness by consciousness itself. One can only transcend duality by going further into the nondual source of consciousness.

Shortly before his death, Nisargadatta Maharaj remarked that someday his teachings about the awakening process and enlightenment would be understood scientifically. Osho made similar comments during his lifetime. Thanks to the discovery of the holographic principle, that day is now. Even Jed McKenna, who usually views things in a decidedly unscientific way, often uses scientific analogies to explain things. McKenna bases his entire approach on the rigors of logic, but there is no more powerful form of logic than mathematical logic. Theoretical physics is fundamentally based on mathematical logic applied to scientific observations. The overwhelming consensus of theoretical physicists who work in the area of quantum gravity is the holographic principle is the most fundamental scientific concept we have about the nature of the world.

In this reframing of the Ten Bulls of Zen, the holographic principle will be used to discuss each step in the awakening process. Each step is a direction in which one must travel in order to break free of the bonds of delusion. The Ten Bulls understood as a roadmap in the awakening process can be scientifically reframed in this way because science in the framework of the holographic principle has something important to tell us about how the bonds of delusion are created.

Only a brief review of the holographic principle is given in this article, just enough to flesh out the argument. For those who want to delve deeper into the details of modern physics and why the holographic principle is the ultimate scientific concept, a review of the holographic principle and what it can tell us about the nature of reality is available as a PDF document:

The Holographic Principle and the Nature of Reality

A related article that discusses the holographic principle in the context of quantum gravity and how the holographic principle can resolve all the apparent paradoxes of quantum theory is also available below as a PDF document:

Topics in Quantum Theory

This article on the Ten Bulls of Zen is also available as a PDF document:

The Ten Bulls of Zen Reframed

In essence, the holographic principle is telling us that the world we perceive is no more real than a virtual reality movie of perceivable images projected from a screen to the perceiving point of view of an observer in empty space. The perceivable images are forms of information encoded on the screen and animated in the flow of energy. The illusion is created as animated perceivable images are projected from the screen to the observer’s point of view. The illusion appears three dimensional since the screen is a holographic screen that projects three dimensional images.

The observer itself cannot be described by any perceivable image it can perceive. The observer can only be described as a focal point of pure perceiving consciousness that arises at a point of view in empty space in relation to the screen. Everything the observer perceives is a form of information projected from the screen, but no perceivable form of information can characterize the observer’s true nature. All the information for everything the observer perceives is encoded on the screen. The act of observation is always a projection from the screen, like the projection of a movie image. Both the screen and the observer’s point of view arise in empty space, but there is really no information encoded at the observer’s point of perceiving consciousness. All the things the observer perceives in space are illusory and only arise with holographic projection.

The observer’s perceiving consciousness exists at a point in empty space, but no information is encoded at that perceiving point. The perceiving point of consciousness exists in a space that is empty of all information. The content of consciousness is defined by information encoded on the screen. The perceiving consciousness of the observer exists at a point in space that is empty of all content. Consciousness in-and-of-itself exists at a perceiving point in space that is empty of all information content, which is to say the observer itself exists in empty space. There is only an illusion of things existing in space due to holographic projection from a holographic screen.

The Observer, the Screen and the Thing

The observer does not really exist as something that appears in the virtual reality movie that it is perceiving from its point of view in empty space. In reality, the observer exists in empty space, and that perceiving point in space is empty of all things. Delusion arises when the observer believes itself to be something and identifies itself with something that it perceives in the virtual reality movie. The observer identifies itself with the personal form of its character in the movie. This kind of personal self-identification is a false belief the observer believes about itself, which is called a self-concept. The observer actively believes that it is a person in the virtual reality movie it is perceiving because that is where it actively focuses its attention.

The observer not only perceives the form of things projected as images from the screen, but also perceives the flow of energy that animates those things. As Jed McKenna points out, this flow of animating energy is the nature of the emotional energy that animates the form of the observer’s character in the virtual reality it perceives. The perception of this flow of animating energy, perceived as an emotional body feeling, is what makes the observer feel like it is a part of something real. The observer really feels self-limited to the animated form of its character as it perceives the flow of emotional energy that animates its character. That feeling of emotional self-limitation is what leads the observer to emotionally identify itself with its character, but also emotionally compels the observer to defend the survival of its character as though its existence depends on it.

This emotional feeling the observer has about itself that its existence depends on the survival of its character in the virtual reality movie it is perceiving is the big lie at the heart of its personal self-identification with the emotionally animated form of its character. This is the big lie at the heart of the hypnotic spell of the observer’s personal self-identification. This lie is the reason the observer’s focus of attention is monopolized by all the emotional concerns the observer has about the welfare and survival of its character, which is to say the observer’s focus of attention has become emotionally biased by those emotional concerns. That emotional bias in the observer’s focus of attention is what perpetuates the hypnotic spell of personal self-identification with its character and actively generates all the false beliefs the observer believes about itself. This is an active process of self-delusion that can only arise when the observer actively focuses its attention on the survival of its character in an emotionally biased way, which leads to the expression of more personally biased self-defensive emotions that reinforce the observer’s emotional sense of personal self-identification with its character and thereby perpetuate the hypnotic spell.

As Jed McKenna succinctly points out: to know the lie is to hate it; to see it is to slay it. It is natural to hate the lie of personal self-identification when one comes to know with certainty that one is not a person and all personal self-concepts are only false beliefs that one believes about oneself. One can never be any concept that one can perceive and understand, which is to say the true nature of consciousness cannot be conceptualized. It is also natural to destroy the lie when one clearly sees that the lie is only an illusion of what one really is. When one directly sees the illusion as an illusion, one loses interest in paying attention to it, and it is as though the illusion doesn’t even exist. One just ignores it. One no longer emotionally animates the illusion with one’s investment of emotional energy in it when one no longer pays any attention to it. Without that emotional energy, the illusion dies away. Jed McKenna calls this process of awakening to the truth of what one really is a process of ego death as a means to no-self. One is destroying one’s own self-concept. Freud described this self-destructive process as the death instinct. To awaken to the truth of what one really is, one must first die to all false concepts one has about oneself.

The Ten Bulls of Zen are a set of instructions about how to break this hypnotic spell of personal self-identification. These instructions are in the form of a roadmap that gives directions about which way to travel in the awakening process, which is very much like a journey one makes. The only difficult thing about understanding these instructions is they are not about looking outward at the world or making a journey in the world, but rather about looking within and making an inward journey. The observer itself, which is only a focal point of perceiving consciousness, has to look within to discover the true nature of what it really is. The observer must turn the focus of its attention away from the world it perceives and look within to discover its true nature.

The Ten Bulls

Introduction (adapted from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones)

The enlightenment for which Zen aims, for which Zen exists, comes of itself. As consciousness, one moment it does not exist, the next it does. But physical man walks in the element of time even as he walks in mud, dragging his feet and his true nature.

So even Zen must compromise and recognize progressive steps of awareness leading closer to the ever instant of enlightenment.

The bull is the eternal principal of life, truth in action. The ten bulls represent subsequent steps in the realization of one’s true nature.

The Search for the Bull

Comment: The bull never has been lost. What need is there to search? Only because of separation from my true nature, I fail to find him. In the confusion of the senses I lose even his tracks. Far from home, I see many crossroads, but which way is the right one I know not. Greed and fear, good and bad, entangle me.

Modern physics tells us the world does not exist as an objective reality. Quantum physics tells us the world only exists in a state of potentiality until observed. Only at the moment of observation does the world come into an actual state of existence. The moment of observation is always now, as in the present moment. The way this is formulated in quantum theory is to express the quantum state of the world as a sum over all possible actual states, where each possible state is weighted with a probability amplitude that is the essence of the quantum wavefunction. This sum over all possible states can always be reformulated as a sum over all possible paths through some configuration space of possible states. This reformulation of the quantum state in terms of a sum over all possible paths through a configuration space is called the Feynman sum over all paths.

Sum Over all Possible Paths Formulation of the Quantum State

Each possible path is weighted with a probability factor that is the essence of the wavefunction. The quantum state of the world understood in this way tells us that the world only exists in a state of potentiality until observed. Only at the moment of observation does the world exist in an actual state. That actual state is described by a specific path through the configuration space of all possible states. The observation of an actual state must be observed by an observer, which for lack of a better description we can call the quantum observer. The quantum observer must be present now, in the present moment, to observe that actual state of the world as it appears now.

This quantum description of the world tells us that there is no such thing as objective reality. There is no such thing as an objective world out there that exists independent of an observer. The observation of the world by the quantum observer as the world actually appears to exist now can only appear to exist in a subject-object relation. Whatever the observer observes about the world can only have a subjective kind of existence that depends on the observer observing the actual state of the world as it appears to exist now. This actual state of the world as it appears to exist now is comprised of both the form of distinct things that appear in the world and the flow of energy that animates those forms. Both the form of things and flow of energy that animates things are aspects of the quantum state of the world. When the observer observes an actual state of the world as it appears to exist now, the observer is observing both the form of distinct things that appear in the world and the flow of energy that animates those things.

Confusion arises when we mistakenly assume that the perceivable form of a person in the world is the observer of that world. This kind of mistake is called a paradox of self-reference, which is a logical error in our understanding of the nature of the world. Any scientific or mathematical formulation of the nature of the world is logically inconsistent if we make such a logical error. This isn’t just idle speculation, but has been mathematically proven by the Godel incompleteness theorems. The only way a scientific formulation of the world can be logically consistent is if the observer of that world is outside of that observable world in the sense of mathematical logic.

If the observer of the world is not a person in the world, then what is it? The holographic principle tells us that the observer is a focal point of pure perceiving consciousness that arises at a point of view in empty space in relation to a holographic screen that projects all the images of things that can appear in space. The holographic images that appear in space are an illusion that arises from the way information is encoded on the holographic screen. The images of things that appear in space are forms of information encoded on the screen and projected from the screen to the observer’s point of view. The form of a person is just another one of these projected images.

Confusion arises because it really seems like the person is an observer of its own world, but as is well known, appearances are deceiving. The illusory holographic appearances that are deceiving the real observer are forms of information projected like images from the screen to the observer’s point of view in empty space. All the information for the form of things that appear in space is encoded on the screen. The observer itself cannot be characterized by any form of information, but only as a focal point of pure perceiving consciousness that arises in relation to the screen.

Confusion arises because the observer is perceiving both of the form of things and the flow of energy that animates things. The observer is perceiving things through the organs of sensory perception of a body. Those perceptions include sensory perceptions of the world external to the body, like sight and sound, internal perceptions of the body, like emotional feelings, and internal perceptions of mental imagination, like thoughts and memories. The surface of the body seems to create a boundary between internal and external, but in reality everything perceivable is external to the observer. Everything perceivable is a form of information projected like an image from the screen and animated in the flow of energy. The boundary of a body only creates an illusion that the embodied form of a person is an observer of the external state of its world and its internal emotional and mental state. The observer only feels like it is limited to the personal form of a body as it perceives self-limiting emotional body feelings. That emotional feeling creates a sense of personal self-limitation to a body, leading to personal self-identification. In reality, everything perceivable is external to the observer, which can only be characterized as a focal point of pure perceiving consciousness that arises in empty space in relation to a holographic screen.

How does the observer’s observation of an actual state of the world occur? Quantum theory has something very specific to say about how an observation occurs. The quantum state of the world is described as a state of potentiality, but in the act of observing the world, that potentiality is reduced to an actual state. In the sense of the sum over all possible paths, an actual path is chosen from the sum. The observation of an actual path is always a choice that chooses an actual path from the potentiality inherent in the sum over all possible paths of the quantum state.

How is this choice made? The answer quantum theory gives is the choice is made randomly, like flipping a coin or throwing dice. The reason quantum theory gives this answer is the laws of physics, like the law of gravity, are only inherent in the quantum state in terms of the probability amplitudes that weigh each possible path in the sum over all possible paths. The probability amplitudes are determined by an action principle, and the laws of physics are inherent in the action principle. The action principle is determining the quantum wavefunction. The laws of physics are always expressed as a principle of least action. A classical law of physics, like the classical law of gravity, is understood as the path of least action, which is like the shortest distance between two points in the configuration space of all possible paths. The most likely path in the sense of quantum probability is the path of least action, which is the classical path.

The problem is the quantum state as formulated by a sum over all possible paths, which is like a probability distribution, only gives rise to the path of least action as the most likely path if that path is chosen from the quantum state in a random way, without bias. The observation of any path is like a measurement of the probability distribution, and that measurement is only reliable if that path is chosen from the quantum state in an unbiased way. The path of least action is only observed as the most likely path if choices are made randomly. If bias arises in the way choices are made, then all bets are off and the laws of physics lose their predictability. If bias arises in the way choices are made, then to continue the gambling analogy, the game is rigged.

An even more important question than how the choices are made is who is making the choices? The obvious answer if the observer is making the choices. The observer is choosing which path it will follow through the configuration space of all possible states. Every actual state the observer can observe is a choice on the observer’s path. The observer chooses what it observes in its world with each of its observations, which is the same as choosing which path it will follow.

How does the observer make its choices? The obvious answer is the observer makes its choices with its focus of attention. The observer’s choice is synonymous with the observer’s focus of attention. This is where physics can no longer help us understand the nature of things for the simple reason that physicists do not want to talk about consciousness. It is the focus of attention of consciousness itself that is making its choices about what to observe and which path to follow.

This way of understanding the observer’s focus of attention as the nature of choice allows for an understanding of the life-force. The quantum state of potentiality that describes the observer’s world includes the potential for the form of all possible distinct things that can appear in that world and the potential for all possible ways energy can flow through that world as those things appear to be animated in the flow of energy. With each observation of an actual state of its world, the observer observes both the form of things that appear in that world and the flow of energy that animates those things. Each such observation the observer makes of its world is a choice that chooses the actual form of things and the actual flow of energy that animates things.

The observer’s choice about what to observe in its world and which path to follow through its world is the nature of the life-force. The life-force arises because the observer is making choices about what to observe in its world and which path to follow, but the life-force can only arise because the observer is focusing its attention on whatever it is choosing. The life-force can only arise with the focus of attention of the observer itself. Consciousness itself must focus its attention on its world in order to express the life-force in its world. It is the focus of attention of the observer itself that makes the expression of the life-force possible.

This way of understanding the life-force allows us to understand the metaphor of the bull in the Tens Bulls of Zen. The bull is a metaphor for the life-force, which can only arise with the focus of attention of consciousness itself. As the consciousness of the observer focuses its attention on the world it perceives, it makes possible the expression of the life-force in that world. The life-force is the actual flow of energy that is animating the actual form of things in that world, which only becomes possible when consciousness itself focuses its attention on its world.

The Ten Bulls is also a metaphor for awakening to the true nature of what one really is. It is consciousness itself that is discovering its true nature. The first step in the awakening process is called The Search for the Bull. It is consciousness itself that must redirect its focus of attention away from the world it perceives and look within to discover its true nature. The life-force is only active in the observer’s world because the observer’s focus of attention is directed outwardly as it observes that world. In the awakening process, the observer must withdraw its attention away from the world it perceives, which has the effect of withdrawing the energy of its life-force away from that world. That energy must be redirected inwardly as the observer looks within. The process of looking within, which is the first step in the awakening process, is the redirection of the observer’s focus of attention or life-force onto its own true nature as consciousness itself.

This understanding of the life-force is about as far as we can go with the conventional way of understanding quantum theory. Conventional quantum theory is perfectly fine for understanding the flow of energy, but it does not really help much in terms of understanding the form of things. In order to understand the form of things, we not only need to understand the nature of energy, but we also need to understand the nature of information. The holographic principle is what allows us to understand the nature of information that in inherent in the form of all things.

The conventional formulation of quantum theory is very specific in terms of how it allows us to understand the nature of energy. This conventional understanding is called the point particle formulation of physics. In this formulation of particle physics, there is an assumption that the world is composed of point particles that exist in space and time. A point particle is located at some point in space and moves through space over the course of time. Particles carry energy because they move through space, which is called kinetic energy, and because they interact with each other through some kind of attractive or repulsive force, which is called potential energy.

The most mathematically sophisticated formulation of particle physics is called quantum field theory (QFT). A quantum field is the probability amplitude that specifies the probability with which a particle can be measured at some point in space at some moment of time. Every particle has it own quantum field, which plays the role of the quantum wavefunction. In QFT, there are both matter particles, like the electron, and force particles, like the photon. The quantum field that describes the electron is called the Dirac field, and the quantum field that describes the photon is called the electromagnetic field. The Dirac field is characterized by the Dirac equation and the electromagnetic field is characterized by Maxwell’s equations. The electron carries mass, which is characterized by mass energy, but also carries other quantized properties such as spin angular momentum and electric charge. The photon is massless and chargeless, but also carries spin angular momentum. Electrons are conceptualized to interact with each other through the electromagnetic force by exchanging photons. These ideas can be generalized to include all the nuclear particles and nuclear forces. In this way, QFT has successfully characterized all the matter particles and their interactions through the electromagnetic and nuclear forces.

There is a little problem with this formulation of particle physics with QFT. The problem is gravity. In Einstein’s formulation of general relativity, gravity is understood as the curvature of space-time geometry, which is not static, but is dynamical and allowed to change like everything else in the world. The problem is QFT assumes a special kind of static space-time geometry, which is called flat Minkowski space. Flat means it has no curvature, and therefore no gravity, since gravity is conceptualized as the curvature of space-time geometry. The problem is QFT assumes particles can be localized at some point in space at some moment of time. The quantum field of a particle is the probability amplitude that specifies how likely a particle can be localized at a point in space at some moment of time. This assumption only makes sense if space-time geometry is static like flat Minkowski space. If space-time geometry is allowed to be dynamical and curved, then the force of gravity is active and all hell breaks loose.

Curved Space-Time Geometry

This problem is epitomized by Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric, which is a measure of the dynamical curvature of space-time geometry that gives rise to the force of gravity. If we treat the space-time metric like any other quantum field, such as the electromagnetic field for the photon, the space-time metric is the quantum field that specifies the probability amplitude for measuring the graviton, which is the force particle of gravity, at some point in space at some moment of time. The problem is the space-time metric is also specifying the dynamical nature of the curvature of that space-time geometry. We are trying to use the space-time metric both as a quantum field to determine a probability amplitude for where the graviton can be measured at a point in space at some moment of time and as a way to specify the nature of that dynamical space-time geometry. The problem is we can’t have it both ways. We can’t have our cake and eat it too. Either the space-time metric can be understood as a quantum field for the graviton or it can be understood to specify the nature of the space-time geometry within which the quantum fields of all particles must make reference to, but it can’t do both. The space-time metric can’t specify both the space-time geometry stage upon which the quantization of all particle fields play out and the quantization of the graviton field that must play out on the same stage. QFT only makes sense if we assume a static space-time geometry like flat Minkowski space, but then QFT has no notion of the nature of gravity. There is no way to understand gravity as a QFT.

The problem of trying to understand the space-time metric as a quantum field is that space-time geometry is the stage upon which all the drama of quantum theory is performed. Particles follow paths through space-time. When we measure the position of a particle at some point in space and at some moment of time, that measurement is an event in space-time. The wavefunction is only a probability amplitude that specifies the probability with which that event can be measured.

The problem is Einstein’s theory of general reality tells us that space-time geometry is the stage upon which the drama of a quantized space-time geometry must be performed. Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric determine the curvature of that space-time geometry, but the space-time metric is also the wavefunction for the motion of a particle we call the graviton that follows some path through that curved space-time geometry. Can we have it both ways? Is space-time geometry really a fundamental description of the physical world? Obviously not.

This problem is only compounded when we consider the problem of black holes as predicted by Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric. A black hole is a gravitational hole in space-time geometry. This sounds weird since gravity is the curvature of space-time geometry, but this gravitational curvature allows for holes in space-time geometry. A black hole is a region of space-time where the force of gravity has become so strong that even light cannot escape from that region. Since a light ray conceptualized as a photon carries energy, and all mass and energy cause gravitational attraction since energy is equivalent to mass, even light is attracted by the force of gravity. The force of gravity for a black hole is so strong that even light cannot escape its gravitational attraction. The region of space called a black hole is a hole in space-time geometry that is characterized by a bounding surface, which is called an event horizon. At the surface of the black hole’s event horizon, the force of gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape.

Black Hole Event Horizon

Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric determine the radius R of the event horizon of a black hole of mass M as R=2GM/c2, where G is the gravitational constant and c is the speed of light. No signal that originates from within the event horizon can escape from the black hole since the force of gravity is so strong at the event horizon that even light cannot escape and nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. All the things that apparently fell into the black hole are trapped inside the black hole forever and can never communicate with the outside world.

In the 1970’s, both Jakob Bekenstein and Stephen Hawking tried to understand black holes as thermodynamic objects. A thermodynamic object is something characterized by a total energy, E, a temperature, T, and an entropy, S. The total energy is well understood in quantum theory in terms of the total amount of kinetic and potential energy of all the particles that comprise the object. The temperature is understood in terms of the average amount of random kinetic energy per each dynamical degree of freedom that characterizes the object. For a collection of particles inside an object, each dynamical degree of freedom can be conceptualized as a particle coordinate, such as the particle’s position in space at some moment of time and the particle’s velocity or momentum through space over the course of time. The entropy is understood in terms of the total number of dynamical degrees of freedom that characterize the object.

At thermal equilibrium, which is defined when the temperature is constant and there is no net flow of energy between the object and its environment, these quantities satisfy the second law of thermodynamics, ΔE=TΔS, which relates a change in total energy ΔE of the object to a change in the entropy ΔS of the object. This equation is easy to understand if we conceptualize the total number of dynamical degrees of freedom inside the object in terms of quantized bits of information, similar to the bits of information encoded inside a computer. This is a natural way to understand entropy in quantum theory since the dynamical degrees of freedom of elementary particles, like spin and orbital angular momentum and quantized energy levels, are typically quantized in terms of some integer quantum number. The total number of dynamical degrees of freedom can therefore be represented by an integer n, which can be conceptualized as specifying a total number of bits of information. An example of such a bit of information is the spin angular momentum of a spin ½ particle like the electron, which can only point up or down and therefore specifies information in a binary code like a computer switch that is either on or off. In terms of the total number of bits of information n, entropy can be written as S=kn, where k is Boltzmann’s constant. The temperature is defined in terms of the average amount of thermal energy per degree of freedom, which is written as kT, and so a change in the total energy is related to a change in the total number of degrees of freedom or entropy as ΔE=TΔS. This makes sense, since if Δn=1, then ΔE=kT, which is the average amount of thermal energy per degree of freedom.

A black hole of mass M has a total energy of E=Mc2. The things that fell into the black hole as the black hole formed were all thermodynamic objects characterized by a temperature and an entropy, like a burnt-out star that gravitationally collapses into a black hole, and so a black hole should also have a characterization as a thermodynamic object in terms of temperature and entropy. This was the problem that Jakob Bekenstein and Stephen Hawking considered. What they discovered revolutionized our ideas about the fundamental nature of dynamical degrees of freedom, which eventually led to the discovery of the holographic principle.

Hawking was able to calculate the temperature of the event horizon of a black hole. He used quantum field theory to calculate the vacuum energy of a quantum field in the vicinity of the event horizon, and discovered the event horizon emitted a kind of thermal radiation characteristic of a hot object at thermal equilibrium, which is called blackbody radiation. The vacuum energy of a quantum field undergoes quantum fluctuations in the form of virtual particle-antiparticle pairs that are spontaneously created by the vacuum and then rapidly annihilate back into the vacuum. Hawking discovered that as observed by a distant observer outside the event horizon, something very strange appeared to happen. The strange thing that appeared to happen was the separation of virtual particle-antiparticle pairs at the event horizon as observed by the distant observer. When a virtual particle-antiparticle pair is created near the event horizon, one member of the pair can fall across the event horizon and disappear into the black hole, while the other member of the pair can travel toward the distant observer outside the event horizon and be observed as a particle of thermal radiation. The distant observer will observe a spectrum of thermal radiation characteristic of blackbody radiation from a hot object with a temperature T. This thermal radiation from the event horizon of a black hole is called Hawking radiation.

Hawking Radiation

Hawking was able to calculate the temperature of the event horizon in terms of the radius R of the event horizon as kT=ħc/4πR, where ħ is Planck’s constant and R is given in terms of the mass M of the black hole as R=2GM/c2. This temperature can be written in terms of the acceleration due to gravity at the event horizon, a=GM/R2, in the form of an Unruh temperature, kT=ħa/2πc.

We’re now in a position to calculate the entropy of the black hole. We simply use the second law of thermodynamics ΔE=TΔS, Hawking’s formula for the temperature of the event horizon in the form of an Unruh temperature kT=ħa/2πc, and the total energy of the black hole E=Mc2. Since the acceleration due to gravity at the event horizon is given as a=GM/R2, the entropy S must be proportional to the surface area, A=4πR2, of the event horizon. If we write S=kn=kA/4ℓ2, then ΔS=kΔA/4ℓ2, where ΔA=8πRΔR. Since we can write ΔR=2GΔM/c2 and use kT=ħc/4πR, then ΔE=ΔMc2=TΔS=(ħc/4πR)(8πR)(2GΔM/c2)/4ℓ2=(ħG/c3)(ΔMc2)/ℓ2, and we can identify ℓ2=ћG/c3, which is called the Planck area, where the Planck length ℓ is about 1.6 x 10−33 centimeters.

Planck Length

This is an amazing result. The number of quantized dynamical degrees of freedom or bits of information that characterize a black hole is proportional to the surface area of the event horizon as n=A/4ℓ2. It is as though the event horizon is covered with pixels about the size of a Planck area and each pixel encodes a bit of information. This way of encoding information on an event horizon in terms of a bit of information per Planck size pixel is called the holographic principle.

Information/Entropy Encoded on a Black Hole Event Horizon

This result is also weird. The things that fell into the black hole were also characterized by entropy or quantized dynamical degrees of freedom. Since those things fell into the black hole, it would seem the entropy of the black hole should be proportional to the volume of the black hole, not to the surface area of the event horizon, but that’s not what the math says. The math is telling us that the fundamental nature of the quantized dynamical degrees of freedom that characterize all things, including black holes, do not actually exist within those things, but rather exist on a bounding surface of space, like an event horizon. The bounding surface acts like a holographic screen that encodes bits of information, where the pixel size is about a Planck area. The appearance of something in three dimensional space is something of a holographic illusion that arises from holographic projection, like an image projected from a screen to the point of view of an observer. All the bits of information are encoded on a two dimensional holographic screen.

Observer’s Holographic Screen

There is something else that is weird about this result. The nature of holographic projection is observer dependent. Holographic projection can only arise in an observer’s accelerated frame of reference. The distant observer outside the event horizon of a black hole is in an accelerated frame of reference due to the gravitational attraction of the black hole. To avoid being pulled into the black hole by the force of gravity, the distant observer must accelerate away from the black hole with an acceleration that is equal to the acceleration due to gravity the black hole is exerting on the observer. If the observer is in a rocketship, the thrusters of the rocketship must exert an equal but opposite acceleration that opposes the acceleration due to gravity for the rocketship to remain in a stationary position. The stationary observer only observes thermal radiation from the event horizon of the black hole because the observer is in an accelerated frame of reference.

What about a freely falling observer that falls through the event horizon? What does the freely falling observer observe? The strange answer is nothing. For the freely falling observer, the event horizon is only an imaginary surface in space, which has no temperature and radiates no thermal radiation. Particles of thermal radiation do not exist for the freely falling observer, only for the stationary observer outside the event horizon in an accelerated frame of reference.

How is this possible? How can particles of thermal radiation appear to exist for the stationary observer in an accelerated frame of reference outside the event horizon but not for the freely falling observer that falls through the event horizon? The answer is holographic projection is observer dependent and depends on the observer’s accelerated frame of reference. The thermal energy of the thermal radiation observed by the accelerated observer literally arises from the observer’s acceleration, which gives rise to the temperature of the event horizon. Even the event horizon, understood as a bounding surface of space that limits the observer’s observations of things in space due to the limitation of the speed of light as a means of information transfer in three dimensional space, only arises in the observer’s accelerated frame of reference. The holographic encoding of bits of information on the event horizon can only arise in the observer’s accelerated frame of reference. The whole geometric mechanism that leads to holographic projection is observer dependent as it depends on the observer’s acceleration.

The only way to understand what is going on here is to go back to the foundations of relativity theory. The central assumption of relativity theory is the principle of equivalence, which says every force is equivalent to an acceleration. The classic example is an observer in an accelerating rocketship. If that observer drops an object, the object will appear to accelerate towards the floor of the rocketship as observed by the accelerating observer, but this is really no different than an observer standing on the surface of the earth that drops an apple and watches the apple accelerate towards the ground. In the second case we say the force of gravity made the apple accelerate. In the first case we don’t say any such thing. There are no forces in the first case, only an accelerating rocket-ship that creates the appearance of falling objects accelerating relative to an accelerating observer. In some sense the force of gravity is an illusion that only arises because the observer is in an accelerated frame of reference.

Principle of Equivalence

The idea of relativity theory is based on the principle of relativity and the equivalence principle. The principle of relativity tells us that there is a maximal rate of information transfer in three dimensional space, which we call the speed of light. The speed of light is the same constant for all observers, independent of their state of relative motion. The equivalence principle tells us that the force of gravity is equivalent to an acceleration. When we lump all the so-called fundamental forces together in a theory of quantum gravity, the equivalence principle tells us that all forces are equivalent to accelerations. Einstein used these two principles to formulate the theory of general reality, which culminated in his field equations for the space-time metric.

Einstein’s Field Equations for the Space-time Metric

Relativity theory tells us the exertion of every force, like gravity, is equivalent to an accelerated frame of reference. The exertion of a force always implies the expenditure of energy, like a rocketship that must expend energy through the force of its thrusters as it accelerates through space. The force of gravity is always equivalent to an observer in an accelerating frame of reference, which requires the expenditure of energy.

In relativity theory, an observer is understood to be located at the central point of view of a frame of reference or at the origin of a coordinate system. From the observer’s own perspective, the observer does not move through space since space is defined in its own coordinate system, but if that frame of reference is accelerated, the observer will experience a force, which implies the expenditure of energy. From the perspective of another observer in another frame of reference, the accelerating observer appears to follow an accelerated world-line through the space-time geometry of the other observer. The accelerating observer’s observations in space are always limited by an event horizon, which is as far out in space as the observer can see things in space.

The observer’s horizon is a two-dimensional bounding surface of space that limits the observer’s observations of things in space. Since nothing can travel faster than the speed of light through three dimensional space, even a light ray cannot cross the observer’s event horizon and reach the accelerating observer’s point of view, and so nothing is observable beyond the observer’s event horizon. If the observer stops its acceleration and enters into a freely falling frame of reference, which implies energy is no longer expended, the observer’s horizon apparently disappears and the observer’s observations in space are no longer limited, or so it would seem. The irony of the holographic principle is that when those observations become unlimited, nothing is observed.

Due to the limitation of the speed of light as a means of information transfer in three dimensional space, every observer in an accelerated frame of reference is surrounded by an event horizon that limits the observer’s observations of things in space. The event horizon is as far out into space as the observer can see things in space. The event horizon is a bounding surface of space, which is understood to act as a holographic screen, like a computer screen. The holographic principle tells us that everything the observer can observe in space is a form of information that is encoded on the screen and that is projected like an image from the screen to the observer’s point of view. The observation of anything in space can only arise through a process of holographic projection, which is only possible in an observer’s accelerated frame of reference.

Every accelerating observer has its own event horizon, which limits its observations of things in space. The observer’s event horizon is observer-dependent in the sense it can only arise in the observer’s accelerated frame of reference. For example, an observer in de Sitter space has a cosmic de Sitter horizon that arises due to the accelerated expansion of space. Even an observer in empty space that undergoes a constant acceleration has an event horizon called a Rindler horizon that limits the observer’s observations of things in space.

Accelerating Observer’s Horizon

Let’s go back to the problem of how particles of thermal radiation can appear to exist for an accelerating observer in a stationary position outside the event horizon of a black hole but not for a freely falling observer that falls through the event horizon. How can the two observers disagree about the nature of what exists? One possible answer is once the freely falling observer crosses the event horizon, there is no possibility of communication between the freely falling observer inside the black hole and accelerated external observer outside the black hole since no signal that originates from inside the black hole can ever cross the event horizon. The two observers cannot communicate with each other about their differing observations of what exists, and so there is no possibility of disagreement. This question about what really exists becomes meaningless.

The principle of equivalence tells us that every frame of reference has equal validity. There is no absolute or preferred frame of reference. What the accelerated external observer observes is just as valid as what the freely falling observer observes. The problem is the accelerated external observer observes a black hole event horizon that appears to have a temperature and radiate Hawking radiation, while the freely falling observer doesn’t observe any of this stuff. As far as the freely falling observer is concerned, what the accelerating observer observes doesn’t exist.

The key point that allows for a solution to this puzzle is the accelerating observer observes an event horizon that limits its observation of things in space while the freely falling observer has no such limitation of its observations. The holographic principle tells us that the accelerating observer’s event horizon acts as a holographic screen that allows for the perception of Hawking radiation. The freely falling observer has no holographic screen and observes nothing.

The ultimate solution to this puzzle is the holographic principle. In the strict sense of ontology, nothing perceivable really exists. Everything perceivable is only a holographic illusion that results from holographic projection from a holographic screen to the point of view of an observer. The perceivable things are all forms of information that are encoded on the holographic screen. The perception of anything is like the projection of an image from the holographic screen to the point of view of the observer. These perceptions are illusory in the same sense the projection of movie images from a movie screen to an observer out in the movie audience is illusory. The observer itself is not a perceivable thing, but can only be described in the sense of perceiving consciousness that arises at a point of view in relation to the screen. Consciousness itself is not a perceivable thing. Consciousness is what perceives things. We can’t say what consciousness is in the framework of perceivable things because it isn’t a perceivable thing.

Appearances are deceiving because of the way information is encoded for the appearance of things on a holographic screen. Things are characterized by information, but that information does not actually exist within things. The information that characterizes the appearance of things does not actually exist inside of things. Instead, all information is encoded on a holographic screen. The appearance of anything in three dimensional space is a holographic projection of the image of that thing from a holographic screen to the point of view of the observer of that image. The projected images of things correspond to the organization of forms of information on the holographic screen. When the observer observes the image of anything, there is only the appearance of that thing actually existing in three dimensional space in the sense of holographic projection. When something appears to fall into a black hole, that’s only another appearance that results from holographic projection. When the black hole appears to radiate Hawking radiation, that’s only another appearance that results from holographic projection. No matter what appears to happen, the information for those happenings is always encoded on the holographic screen.

Holographic Projection

The perceivable things are all holographic projections from the holographic screen, where all the information for those things is encoded. Different observers in different frames of reference can observe different things due to the nature of holographic projection. Different observers can disagree about the nature of what appears to exist since what appears to exist is only an illusory holographic projection. Every observer is observing the form of things as projected from its own holographic screen. Those perceptions don’t necessarily need to agree since the way information is encoded and organized on different screens can be different for different observers.

The fact that different observers can observe different things and can even disagree about what appears to exist is not surprising since that is a natural consequence of the holographic principle. What is surprising is that different observers can share a consensual reality and can agree about anything. Again, the holographic principle suggests a solution. Each observer observes events as projected from its own holographic screen, but in the sense of a Venn diagram those screens can overlap and share information, much like the kind of information sharing we see in a network of computer screens, like the internet. A consensual reality shared among different observers becomes possible with information sharing among overlapping holographic screens.

Overlapping Bounding Surfaces of Space

When Susskind and ‘t Hooft first proposed the holographic principle it was only a good idea in search of a more rigorous mathematical solution, which was soon discovered with the AdS/CFT correspondence. This rigorous mathematical solution about the nature of a holographic screen was possible because of the special properties of anti-de Sitter space, which is a geometric space that only has a single boundary, called an anti-de Sitter event horizon, and a single central point of singularity, which is the central point of view of an observer. The anti-de Sitter horizon is the observer’s holographic screen. The special properties of anti-de Sitter space is what reduces the complexity of the problem and makes an exact mathematical solution possible. In anti-de Sitter space, we don’t have to worry about differing observations of different observers because there aren’t any. In anti-de Sitter space there is only a single observer and a single holographic screen.

In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato describes the perceivable world in terms of shadows projected on the wall of a cave. Plato describes a source of light that projects shadows on the wall of the cave and describes prisoners that perceive these projected shadows and identify themselves with the shadows. In this allegory, the cave is the observable universe and the wall of the cave is a cosmic horizon that defines the boundary of the observable universe relative to an observer at the central point of view of the observable universe. As a cosmic horizon, the wall of the cave limits the observer’s observations of things in space. In the sense of the holographic principle, the wall of the cave acts as a holographic screen that projects the perceivable images of all things in the observer’s world to the observer’s central point of view. These projected images are forms of information, which Plato refers to as shadows. The projecting light is the light of consciousness and the observer is the perceiving consciousness. Plato refers to the observer as a prisoner since the observer identifies itself with the projected image of a shadow it perceives.

In what sense are images projected from a holographic screen shadows? The formulation of the holographic principle in the AdS/CFT correspondence gives an answer. If all perceivable objects are really defined on a two dimensional holographic screen in terms of where all the fundamental bits of information are encoded, then where does the third dimension come from? An answer is given by the correspondence between conformal field theory (CFT) and gravity in anti-de Sitter space (AdS). The perception of gravity in a bounded region of anti-de Sitter space is equivalent to a conformal field theory encoded on the bounding surface of that space. The perception of a third dimension arises from the Weyl symmetry of the conformal field theory. Conformal invariance is not a symmetry of space-time geometry the way Lorentz invariance is a symmetry of flat Minkowski space, but is a symmetry of the space-time metric that measures the curvature of space-time geometry. Conformal invariance allows anti-de Sitter space to become a holographic space in the sense that whatever appears to happen in that space is a holographic projection from the bounding surface, where all the information for those happenings is encoded, to the central point of view of the observer that perceives those happenings.

Weyl symmetry of the space-time metric is what gives rise to the perception of a third dimension. Conformal invariance is inherently a symmetry of the changing size of objects, which are forms of information. Conformal symmetry is also inherent in the geometric structure of fractals, which appear the same or self-similar no matter the distance scale at which one looks at them. In the AdS/CFT correspondence, all objects in space exhibit conformal symmetry. As objects in space appear to move toward or away from the point of view of an observer and appear to grow larger or smaller in size, the way bits of information are encoded for the objects on the bounding surface of that space also grow larger or smaller in size in perfect proportions of three dimensional perception. It is as though a light is projecting a shadow of the object onto a screen, and that shadow is growing larger or smaller in size as the object moves toward or away from the observer. The holographic principle is telling us that the shadow is the nature of the perception of objects. Objects don’t really exist in three dimensional space except as holographic projections. Their shadows only exist in terms of the information encoded on a two dimensional bounding surface. This way of describing the appearance of objects in space as shadows projected on a wall is eerily similar to how Plato describes objects in the Allegory of the Cave.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a metaphor for the holographic principle. In the Allegory, Plato described a cave. The cave is a metaphor for the observable world. The cave has a wall. The wall is a metaphor for the boundary of the observable world. The observable world has a boundary because every observer in an accelerated frame of reference has an event horizon that acts as a holographic screen. The wall of the cave acts as a screen, like a movie screen. Inside the cave there is a source of light that projects images on the wall of the cave, like a movie projector. Also inside the cave are observers that observe the images projected on the wall of the cave, like observers in a movie audience watching movie images projected from the screen. Plato called the observers prisoners because they’re identifying themselves with the images they’re observing. The observers have mistakenly taken the images projected on the screen for themselves and don’t know who they really are. They’ve mistakenly identified themselves with a projected image they perceive and are confused about who they really are.

This sounds weird, but that’s because the holographic principle is weird. The only way we can understand what Plato is saying is to understand the metaphor. The cave is the observable world and the wall of the cave is the boundary of the observable world. That boundary acts as a holographic screen that projects holographic images to the observers in the cave. Everything observable in the cave is a holographic image projected from the screen. What does that make the observers? Are the observers people? The answer is no. The observable image of a person is just another holographic image projected from the wall of the cave. Just like in relativity theory all we can say is the observer is a point of view that corresponds to an accelerated frame of reference. We’ll come back to this later, but the wall of the cave is an event horizon that arises in the observer’s accelerated frame of reference. Since nothing is observable beyond the event horizon, the event horizon defines the observer’s observable world. It’s the event horizon that acts as the holographic screen. The observer itself is only a point of view at the origin of a coordinate system that defines an accelerated frame of reference. If we want to get fancy about it, we can say the observer is the perceiving consciousness that is present at that point of view.

What about the images? Is there really a movie projector with film inside the projector? The answer is no. The projected images are forms of information. The holographic principle is telling us that the movie screen is really a holographic screen that encodes bits of information in some fundamental way. The holographic screen arises as an event horizon in the observer’s accelerated frame of reference, and encodes bits of information due to some kind of fundamental encoding mechanism. We’ll come back to this mechanism latter, but suffice it to say, it is a geometric mechanism. The projected images are forms of information organized on the holographic screen.

What about the light that is projecting the images on the wall of the cave. Is that physical light? The answer is no. To continue the metaphor, the projecting light is not physical light but the light of consciousness. We usually don’t think about consciousness this way, but consciousness has both an outgoing projecting aspect and an incoming perceiving aspect. We call the perceiving aspect of consciousness the observer. The best name for the outgoing projecting aspect of consciousness is the light of consciousness. In a twisted way, the reason why the observers are identifying themselves with the images they’re observing is because they’re also projecting those images with their own light of consciousness. It’s only a projection of their own bullshit.

Genesis tells us that in the beginning, God divided the light from the darkness. The light that Genesis refers to is the light of consciousness. Genesis also say the spirit of God moved over the face of the deep. The spirit of God is the observer in the sense of the perceiving consciousness, just as the projecting light is the light of consciousness. The source of both the perceiving consciousness and the light of consciousness is the darkness. The darkness is also consciousness, but it can’t be described as either perceiving consciousness or the light of consciousness. It’s the source of both. For lack of a better name, it can be called the source consciousness. When Genesis says God divided the light from the darkness, this implies the source is undivided. The source consciousness is one undivided consciousness. In order to create an observable world that is observed by an observer, the observer’s perceiving consciousness and the projecting light of consciousness must be divided from the undivided source consciousness. In some sense, the observer’s perceiving consciousness and the projecting light of consciousness are fragments of the undivided source consciousness. This act of division or fragmentation gives rise to individuality. Individual consciousness is always divided off from its undivided source. Individual consciousness has an outgoing projecting nature, which is the light of consciousness, and an incoming perceiving nature, which is the observer. The source of consciousness cannot be described in either of these ways because it is undivided. The undivided source of consciousness has no individuality, and has neither an outgoing projecting nor an incoming perceiving aspect.

When Genesis says the spirit of God moved over the face of the deep, this is a metaphor for the holographic principle. The spirit of God is the observer in an accelerated reference frame. The motion of the observer is its acceleration. The face of the deep is an event horizon that arises in the observer’s accelerated frame of reference. The face of the deep is the wall of Plato’s cave. The deep or the darkness or the abyss or the void is a way of describing the undivided source of consciousness in the sense of negation, or what it isn’t. It isn’t possible to describe what it is. Before the observer’s observable world was created, there was only formless darkness or void. The observable world was only created because the consciousness of the observer was divided from the undivided source of consciousness, just like the light of consciousness was divided from the darkness. That observable world is always defined on a holographic screen, which is the face of the deep. The light of consciousness is projecting images of that world from the screen back to the observer, where the projected images are perceived. The whole thing is twisted since the observer only perceives images if its own light of consciousness projects them.

Observer’s Holographic Screen

The AdS/CFT correspondence mathematically proves the holographic principle applies to any world described by anti-de Sitter space. This is a mathematical proof, not just idle speculation. The problem is the world we apparently find ourself to exist within is not anti-de Sitter space, but de Sitter space. Anti-de Sitter space arises as a solution to Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric with a negative cosmological constant. In Einstein’s theory, gravity is a locally attractive force that arises from the local contraction of space. A negative cosmological constant gives rise to a globally attractive force that causes the global contraction of space. In a heuristic sense, anti-de Sitter space arises from the accelerated contraction of space.

Anti-de Sitter space is weird. In a strict mathematical sense, the distance from the central point of singularity to the anti-de Sitter event horizon is infinite, but due to the accelerated contraction of anti-de Sitter space, it takes light a finite amount of time to travel this infinite distance. In a strict mathematical sense, the anti-de Sitter event horizon is a boundary at infinity, but in the sense of the holographic principle, it encodes a finite amount of information for everything that can appear to happen within that bounded region of space. In a very deep sense, anti-de Sitter space is unphysical since it is mixing up the finite with the infinite. This is not a physical space.

The problem with anti-de Sitter space is the negative value of the cosmological constant. The cosmological constant is understood as a vacuum energy, which is the energy of empty space. For a physical space, the lowest possible value of the vacuum energy is zero. A negative vacuum energy does not correspond to a physical space. It is possible in physics to have false vacuums that correspond to metastable states in which the vacuum energy is non-zero, but for these metastable states to be physical, the vacuum energy of these false vacuums must be positive.

The observational evidence is the observable physical universe does exist in a metastable or a false vacuum state with a positive vacuum energy. This positive vacuum energy is the measured cosmological constant, which in Planck units has a numerical value of about 10−123. This value is determined from observations of the rate with which distant galaxies are accelerating away from us, which corresponds to the accelerated expansion of space. There is also evidence from observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the big bang event that early in the history of the universe the cosmological constant had a value of about 1.

Big Bang as the Accelerated Expansion of Space

There must be some mechanism that allows the false vacuum state of the observable physical universe to transition from a higher value of vacuum energy to a lower value of vacuum energy. This would be a transition from a less stable metastable state to a more stable metastable state. Such a transition must have occurred early in the history of the universe to reduce the initial value of the cosmological constant to its current measured value of about 10−123. There may have been more than one transition, and even more transitions may be possible since the most stable state is the true vacuum with a zero value of vacuum energy. The transition mechanism is unknown, but most likely it is a non-equilibrium process like a phase transition.

Metastable False Vacuum State

A non-zero positive value for the cosmological constant corresponds to a metastable state with a positive vacuum energy that through some unknown mechanism can decay into a more stable state with a lower energy. Since this vacuum energy is the energy of empty space, the lowest possible value that can correspond to a physical space is zero. A non-zero positive vacuum energy is a false vacuum, while a zero vacuum energy is the true vacuum. A negative vacuum energy is not physical, and cannot correspond to the physical universe.

The problem with the AdS/CFT correspondence is the kind of cosmological space we find ourselves within inside the physical universe is not anti-de Sitter space but de Sitter space. In relativity theory, anti-de Sitter space arises with a negative cosmological constant, which gives rise to a globally attractive force that corresponds to the accelerated contraction of space, while de Sitter space arises with a positive cosmological constant, which gives rise to a globally repulsive force that corresponds to the accelerated expansion of space. For various reasons, a positive cosmological constant is now called dark energy, and de Sitter space is understood as the accelerated expansion of space that arises as dark energy is expended.

As dark energy is expended, the observer at the central point of view enters into an accelerated frame of reference and space appears to expand away from the observer at an accelerated rate, faster the farther out the observer looks into space. At some point in space, space appears to expand away from the observer at the speed of light, and nothing is observable beyond that point, which defines the surface of the observer’s cosmic de Sitter horizon. The accelerated observer is surrounded by a cosmic horizon, which is a bounding surface of space that limits the observer’s observations of things within that bounded region of space. Nothing is observable beyond the observer’s cosmic horizon due to the accelerated expansion of space, which in relativity theory is understood as an exponentially expanding universe.

Accelerated Expansion of Space

As dark energy is expended, the observer at the central point of view enters into an accelerated frame of reference and space appears to expand away from the observer at an accelerated rate, faster the farther out the observer looks into space. This accelerated observer is then surrounded by a cosmic or de Sitter horizon, which is a bounding surface of space that limits the observer’s observations of things within that bounded region of space. The holographic principle tells us the observer’s horizon acts as a holographic screen that encodes all the bits of information for all the observable things the observer can observe in that bounded region of space. The observation of anything within that bounded region of space is a holographic projection from the screen to the observer’s central point of view, which is at the center of that bounded space.

The AdS/CFT correspondence explicitly demonstrates the holographic principle in anti-de Sitter space, but for various technical reasons cannot be generalized to de Sitter space. However, this correspondence is a special case of non-commutative geometry, and generic non-commutative geometry can be applied to de Sitter space, which is to say non-commutative geometry can be applied to the kind of space we find ourselves within inside the physical universe. Even fractal geometries can be understood as special cases of non-commutative geometry. Through the magic of non-commutative geometry, the holographic principle can be extended into de Sitter space.

It may seem like an arcane topic of discussion, but non-commutative geometry is the natural way to understand how space-time geometry is quantized. The natural kind of geometry for which non-commutative geometry can be applied is a two dimensional bounding surface of space, like an event horizon. Instead of localizing an infinite number of infinitesimal points on the surface of the horizon, with non-commutative geometry a finite number of quantized position coordinates are defined on the surface. In effect, each quantized position coordinate defined on the surface is smeared out into an area element, like a pixel on a screen, with a well-defined mathematical procedure for defining quantized position coordinates in terms of non-commuting variables.

In quantum gravity, the pixel size is about a Planck area, and the total number, n, of quantized position coordinates defined on the surface is given in terms of the surface area, A, as n=A/4ℓ2. Non-commutative geometry not only gives a mathematical procedure for how quantized position coordinates are defined on the surface in terms of non-commuting variables, but also explains how each quantized position coordinate acts like a pixel that encodes a bit of information in a binary code of 1’s and 0’s. The bounding surface typically encodes n bits of information as the n eigenvalues of an n x n matrix. Just as the two eigenvalues of an SU(2) matrix can explain how a spin ½ variable is quantized into spin up and spin down states, like a computer switch that is either on or off and encodes information in a binary code, the n eigenvalues of an n x n matrix can explain how n non-commuting variables defined on the surface encode n bits of information. The value of n corresponds to a spin S variable, where n=2S+1. Since the n x n matrix is a higher spin representation of an SU(2) matrix, it can also represent rotational symmetry on the surface of a sphere, like the spherical surface of an event horizon. Although the surface of the sphere is typically drawn as covered with pixels, each pixel encoding a bit of information, the pixels are actually defined by non-commuting variables in a rotationally invariant way.

Holographic Principle

Since all the information for a holographic world arises as the eigenvalues of an n x n matrix, all the bits of information are naturally entangled in the sense of quantum entanglement. All the paradoxes of quantum entanglement that Einstein referred to as spooky action at a distance have a natural explanation in terms of holographic projection. Entangled objects in a holographic world can appear to separate in distance, but the entangled bits of information that define those objects as encoded on a holographic screen do not separate, and so there is no paradox. The appearance of the separation of objects is an illusion that results from holographic projection.

Quantum Entanglement and Spooky Action at a Distance

Non-commutative geometry gives us a natural operational explanation for how the holographic principle comes into effect. Whenever non-commutative geometry is applied to a bounding surface of space as a way to define n quantized position coordinates on the bounding surface, the holographic principle is automatically in effect and the bounding surface encodes n bits of information in a binary code of 1’s and 0’s, typically as the n eigenvalues of an n x n matrix. Each non-commuting variable defined on the bounding surface acts like a pixel that encodes a bit of information. The bounding surface of space naturally arises as an event horizon whenever an observer enters into an accelerated frame of reference, such as a cosmic or de Sitter horizon that arises whenever dark energy is expended and space appears to expand at an accelerated rate away from the central point of view of the observer at the central point of singularity.

This operational explanation explains the nature of everything the observer can observe within the bounded space, which in effect defines the observer’s world. The nature of the observation of anything within the bounded space, which is the nature of everything the observer can observe within the bounded space that arises in its accelerated frame of reference, is a holographic projection from the observer’s holographic screen, which is a bounding surface of space, to its central point of view, which is the central point of singularity of that bounded space.

Remarkably, the holographic principle tells us that everything that can appear to happen from the point of view of an observer in any observable world, which is always a region of space that is bounded by a holographic screen that projects images of that world to the observer’s central point of view, is as though nothing happens. It is as though nothing happens because all the energy for those happenings exactly adds up to zero. This is possible in relativity theory since the negative potential energy of gravitational attraction can exactly cancel out all forms of positive energy. A holographic world is fundamentally a world that is equivalent to nothing. A holographic world is a world that consists of nothing more than forms of information projected like images from a screen to an observer’s point of view, and the animation of those images in the flow of energy. A holographic world is equivalent to nothing due to the nature of holographic projection.

Yin-Yang Balance

The normal flow of energy through the observer’s world is a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics, which describes the random flow of thermal energy. Heat tends to flow from hotter to colder objects, and also from hotter states to colder states of the observer’s world. The observer’s world is not at thermal equilibrium, which is why heat flows. This is purely a statistical consequence of hotter objects tending to radiate away more heat. As heat flows in a thermal gradient, entropy, which is the disordering of information inherent in objects as a consequence of the randomization of thermal energy, tends to increase, which tends to disorder objects, like a piece of ice that becomes more disordered when it melts into water as heat flows into it and chemical bonds are broken, or the flow of heat from the sun to the earth which arises through the dispersion of photons into more randomized states. This normal flow of heat in a thermal gradient and the corresponding increase in entropy that accompanies the flow of heat is what gives rise to the normal flow of energy through the observer’s world.

Normal Flow of Energy in a Thermal Gradient

There is a competing process that tends to balance out the normal increase in entropy or disorder that occurs as heat flows in a thermal gradient. This balancing process is the tendency for coherent organization of information to develop, which allows for the organization of objects into distinct forms that coherently self-replicate their forms and for distinct forms to become inter-related. This tendency for coherent organization to develop is a natural aspect of a holographic world, since all the bits of information encoded on a holographic screen are entangled, typically as the n entangled eigenvalues of an n x n matrix that arises when a finite number of position coordinates are specified on the screen by non-commutative geometry. Entanglement of information implies that every distinct form of information that appears in the observer’s world through the projection of images from the observer’s holographic screen to its central point of view is inherently related to every other distinct form of information. Entangled bits of information naturally tend to align over an animated sequence of holographic projections, and that alignment of information gives rise to the coherent organization of information. Coherence can even be seen on a piece of holographic film as an interference pattern.

This tendency for entangled bits of information to align or bind together is typical of quantum entanglement, like entangled spin variables that tend to align. This tendency for entangled spin variables to align over a sequence of quantum state reductions is demonstrated in a spin network. A holographic screen has that kind of underlying structure. This natural tendency for entangled bits of information to self-organize and form self-replicating distinct forms of information and for the development of inter-relationships between distinct forms is balanced out by the natural tendency for information to become disordered and entropy to increase as heat flows in a thermal gradient. The temporary and local organization of information into forms is possible in spite of the relentless tendency for entropy to globally increase and eventually disorganize all forms due to the possibility of entropy locally and temporarily decreasing while global entropy increases.

This local and temporary decrease in entropy is possible due to the addition of organizing potential energy to a form while disorganizing random kinetic energy or heat is radiated away from the form into the global environment. We call this addition of organizing potential energy to a form the process of forms eating other forms. The necessity for a life-form to add potential energy to itself by eating other life-forms is a necessary condition for the temporary organization of all life-forms. Life-forms can only survive as self-replicating forms if they eat other life-forms and avoid being eaten by other life-forms. This kind of energetic expression by a life-form is what we call an emotional expression, as in the expression of fear and desire, which is necessary for survival of life-forms. Even plants have to eat photons through the process of photosynthesis.

The organization and disorganization of the forms of all objects and their inter-relationships are always in a balanced state of interplay in a holographic world. This balanced state of interplay is another manifestation of a holographic world fundamentally being equivalent to nothing. Every positive action is ultimately cancelled out by a negative action, just as negative gravitational potential energy cancels out all forms of positive energy. Everything ultimately adds up to zero.

Yin-Yang Balance

Ted Jacobson has shown the dynamical nature of space-time geometry in any bounded region of space, which is the nature of gravity, is a thermodynamic consequence of the holographic way bits of information are encoded on the bounding surface of that space. The reason is quite simple. As energy flows across a bounding surface of space, the second law ΔE=TΔS tells us the entropy of that bounded region must change, but the holographic principle then tells us the bounding surface must change, which is reflected in a change in the geometry of that bounded region of space as specified by Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric. The law of gravity as formulated with Einstein’s field equations for the metric is not really a law of nature, but is more like a thermodynamic equation of state that arises as a thermal average when things are near thermal equilibrium. This is analogous to the way wave equations for sound waves arise from atomic theory as thermodynamic equations of state. Einstein’s field equations for gravity are no more fundamental than wave equations for sound waves. The microscopic formulation of bits of information encoded on a bounding surface of space is more fundamental than Einstein’s field equations just as atomic theory is more fundamental than wave equations for sound waves. The scientific term for how field equations arise from information is thermodynamic emergence.

The amazing thing is the second law of thermodynamics interpreted in terms of the holographic principle and the Unruh temperature implies Einstein’s field equations for the space-time metric, which is the law of gravity for everything that appears in the bounded region of space. The law of gravity is then understood to be a purely geometric result of the way bits of information are encoded on the bounding surface of that space and the temperature of the bounding surface.

Using the usual unification mechanisms of super-symmetry and the Kaluza-Klein mechanism of extra compactified dimensions of space then gives rise to all the usual quantum fields of the standard model of particle physics. A quantum field is understood to arise as an extra component of the space-time metric, which is a way of unifying all fundamental forces and particles into a unified theory of quantum gravity. The problem is none of these quantum fields are really fundamental as they all emerge through geometric mechanisms, starting with the holographic principle. A theory of quantum gravity is only a holographic description of what appears to happen in a bounded region of space. More fundamental than that description is the way bits of information are encoded on the bounding surface of that space and the flow of energy within which everything spontaneously emerges.

The holographic principle is a radical departure from the concepts of both classical and quantum physics. In the classical concept of particle physics, the dynamical degrees of freedom of any bound or unbound state of particles observed in the world are described by particle coordinates, which define a phase space in terms of particle position and momentum variables. In quantum theory, particle position and momentum coordinates are represented by non-commuting variables that give rise to quantized values for particle position and momentum. Forces between particles are represented by fields, like the gravitational and electromagnetic fields. With quantum field theory, even these force fields are understood to be composed of force particles like the photon or graviton that arise as localized wave-packets of field energy and momentum. The matter particles like the electron are also represented by quantum fields. With unification, all quantum fields are understood to arise as extra components of the space-time metric, which describes the dynamical nature of the space-time geometry of some bounded region of space. In this way, all degrees of freedom of any bounded region of space are represented by dynamical variables. Quantization of dynamical variables gives rise to the entropy of that bounded region of space.

The holographic principle is telling us that none of these classical or quantum concepts are really fundamental. Particle coordinates in any bounded region of space are not really fundamental dynamical variables. The way bits of information are encoded on the bounding surface of that space is the more fundamental description. Non-commutative geometry tells us the fundamental dynamical variables are non-commuting position coordinates on the bounding surface that are smeared out into area elements like pixels and encode bits of information in a binary code. The bits of information encoded on the bounding surface are the fundamental nature of entropy for whatever can be observed in that bounded region of space. This is a radical departure from the way entropy is described in either classical or quantum particle physics.

The amazing aspect of the holographic principle is it tells us this radical departure from the way entropy is described by particle physics in a bounded region of space is equivalent to the way entropy is more fundamentally defined in terms of bits of information encoded on the bounding surface of that space. This equivalence is due to holographic projection. The bounding surface arises as an observation-limiting event horizon in an observer’s accelerated reference frame. The thermal energy of that bounded region of space arises from the observer’s acceleration, which gives rise to the temperature of the bounding surface. Everything the observer can observe in the bounded region of space is like a holographic projection of images from the bounding surface, which acts as a holographic screen, to the observer’s central point of view.

When we observe something, like a point particle that follows a trajectory through space, we are actually observing a sequence of holographic screens, each of which encodes information for the object at some moment of time. Those holographic screens can be layered together, so that each observation of a point on the trajectory corresponds to observing how that point pierces another layer of the screens. Holographic screens are inherently two dimensional, but the layering of screens gives the illusion of three dimensional space. Like all event horizons that arise in an accelerated reference frame, the distance to the screen is set by the observer’s acceleration.

The classic example of this effect is a Rindler horizon, which is an event horizon that arises for an observer that undergoes constant acceleration. The observer’s horizon is entirely due to the observer’s acceleration. If the observer accelerates in a different way, the observer has a different horizon. The Unruh temperature is derived as the temperature of a Rindler horizon, which is given by kT=ħa/2πc when the observer accelerates with an acceleration a.

Unruh Temperature of a Rindler Horizon

In quantum theory, the Unruh effect is understood as a kind of Hawking radiation that results from an accelerating observer observing the separation of virtual particle-antiparticle pairs at the observer’s event horizon, which turns separated virtual particles into a kind of thermal radiation. The classic way to understand the Unruh effect is for a Rindler horizon that arises for an observer undergoing constant acceleration. The Unruh effect in effect quantizes the thermal energy of each degree of freedom as E=kT=ħω, where the natural frequency of oscillation is given in terms of the observer’s acceleration as ω=a/2πc. It is easy to show that for the event horizon of a black hole of radius R=2GM/c2 this frequency of oscillation implies a wavelength λ as ω=2πc/λ, where the wavelength is approximately the maximal circumference 2πR of the event horizon, which is characteristic of Hawking radiation. This tells us the temperature of the event horizon is inversely proportional to its radius. The other way to look at this result is the Unruh effect implies gravitational acceleration and potential energy if we understand that the wavelength of thermal radiation from an event horizon is quantized in terms of its circumference.

Quantum field theory is the ultimate mathematical formulation of particle physics, but it assumes that flat Minkowski space is the background space-time geometry within which all particle excitations of fields arise. All particle excitations of fields must move within that flat space-time geometry. The problem is that flat Minkowski space has no dynamical curvature, and therefore has no notion of the idea of gravity. It is simply not possible to develop a formulation of quantum gravity with the graviton as the force particle of the gravitational field in flat Minkowski space.

The other problem with this formulation of QFT is the space-time symmetries inherent in flat Minkowski space. For example, time translational invariance of the laws of physics gives rise to the conservation of energy and spatial translational invariance of the laws of physics gives rise to the conservation of momentum. The problem is that once gravity and the dynamical curvature of space-time geometry is allowed, there is no such thing as time or spatial translational invariance.

The weird thing about energy conservation and the invariance of the laws of physics under time translation is there is no such thing. The observable physical universe began at a point of singularity called the big bang event and will end in its heat death when the size of the universe expands to infinity. The singular big bang event is the beginning of time and the end of time is at infinity. There is no invariance under time translation because the universe is not at thermal equilibrium. The asymmetric direction of time, called time’s arrow, is a result of the second law of thermodynamics, which tells us that heat tends to flow from hotter objects to colder objects. Nothing can be hotter than the big bang event and nothing can be colder than the heat death of the universe. The observable physical universe is not invariant under time translation.

The observable physical universe is also not invariant under spatial translations. The universe is expanding in size at an accelerated rate, which tells us the size of the observable universe is limited by a cosmic horizon that limits the observations of an observer at the central point of view. There is really no such thing as invariance of the laws of physics under spatial translations and momentum conservation. At best, the symmetries of space-time geometry that give rise to the conservation laws of energy and momentum are idealizations that arise in some idealized limit when we ignore the asymmetrical nature of the observable universe. These idealizations may have practical value in terms of what can be measured in a physics lab, but do not apply to the asymmetrical nature of the observable universe. The whole concept of the symmetries of space-time geometry is flawed when we speak of the asymmetric observable physical universe.

Since the whole concept of space-time symmetry is flawed, the whole concept of quantum theory built on the conservation laws of that symmetry is also flawed. There must be something more fundamental than either space-time geometry or quantum theory that in some sense underlies these approximate idealizations. As we’ve discovered, the holographic principle is what underlies these idealizations with the more fundamental concept of pure information. The way space-time geometry and quantum theory arise from pure information is called thermodynamic emergence. Both space-time geometry and quantum theory thermodynamically emerge from a more fundamental state of pure information that is described by the holographic principle.

Is space-time really fundamental or is there something more fundamental than space-time? The holographic principle is telling us is that space-time is a holographic illusion that results from holographic projection. The thing more fundamental than space-time is pure information. The holographic principle is all about describing the nature of the information that underlies the perception of space-time. The holographic principle says that information underlies all perceptions. That’s why the concept of an observer in an accelerated reference frame is so important. The relativistic observer is observing those perceptions. The holographic principle is telling us that all perceptions in some sense are illusions that arise from holographic projection.

On the one hand, we have information that underlies all perceptions, and on the other hand, we have an observer that is observing those perceptions. The only thing that connects them is holographic projection. The perceptions in-and-of-themselves are illusory since they consist of nothing more than holographic projections of forms of information, like the images of a movie projected from a movie screen to an observer out in the movie audience. More fundamental than the illusory perceptions are the bits of information encoded on the screen and the observer out in the audience. The big question is about the true nature of the observer. This is a question physicists don’t like to ask because it’s a question about the nature of consciousness.

Is there some connection between the relativistic observer in an accelerated reference frame and the quantum observer that is observing the observable values of the quantum state? Can we put these two observers together and make them into one unified observer? The answer of course is yes. There has to be a way to put them together. This is exactly what the holographic principle accomplishes. That’s why the holographic principle is the most fundamental principle, more fundamental that the uncertainty principle or the equivalence principle, but this unification comes at a price. The holographic principle is telling us that the price is neither quantum theory nor relativity theory can really be fundamental. Just like space-time is a holographic illusion that results from holographic projection, the quantum observables of the quantum state are also holographic illusions that result from holographic projection. In the strict mathematical sense of quantum theory, there is no such thing as a quantum observable. Such a thing is impossible for reasons that will be discussed below. What we call observable values, like the position and the momentum of a particle, are just as illusory as the space-time geometry we observe.

The whole concept of quantum observables in quantum theory is flawed. In the strict mathematical sense of quantum theory, the concept of quantum observables is impossible. A quantum observable is something that in principle can be measured with exact precision. If we know absolutely nothing about a particle’s momentum, in principle we can know everything about the particle’s position. We can measure the particle’s position with absolute certainty as long as its momentum remains totally uncertain. This is a direct consequence of the uncertainty principle. The problem is that when we add gravity to the equation the whole concept of quantum observables evaporates into the mist of holographic projection. Gravity throws a monkey wrench into the whole conceptual framework of quantum observables. That monkey wrench is called a black hole. Relativity theory tells us if we conc