Possible implications for a universe once the mechanisms of mind and memory have been deciphered, with reference to Duplication theory
This paper is an exercise in conjecture and therefore self-indulgent, but such a source of pleasure to me in its development over the years that I have posted it regardless, having already posted about eight papers on Research Gate and academia.edu over the last two or three years to describe various aspects of the operation of memory in some detail under the general title of Duplication Theory (referred to as DT hereinafter). However, what I have not recorded are the possible implications that might occur if it transpired that my interpretation of the quantum entanglement principle behind memory was not too far adrift. I ought to declare straightaway my assumption that memory forms a major part of the process of thought, perhaps 75% in round terms, so that once memory’s mechanism is mastered, many other current imponderables will also fall to be resolved, probably to include consciousness and intuition. My conclusions for the way in which humanity exists, and indeed any other sentient life form, are optimistic, not necessarily for the human race in particular but for the advancement of life and increased order to counter balance increase in entropy and disorder. The reasons for this rather bland statement will be qualified towards the end of this paper but I prefer to set out the direction of my thinking right from the start.

In the next three pages I set out a synopsis of the initial most pertinent observations on which I based my thesis of DT. An explanation in such a dense form will hardly be capable of a satisfactory explanation to individuals who have already seriously considered such problems of the mind’s mechanism, a subject so challenging that it is still a tabula rasa. There being yet no answer which has been accepted as close in principle, it occurred to me that an alternative approach would be to present my proposals somewhat in reverse form by emphasising their future possible results if they were first taken as read and applicable. This is reinforced by the latter being quite specific and surprisingly positive, with a rationalisation of sorts for the problems of existence. I have to say that when I first started to consider such matters in any depth more than three decades ago, I had no intention of taking things this far.

In making such ambitious predictions, one is at least starting on a level playing field with everybody else, whether academically qualified experts in their fields or just amateur researchers. This because until such time as a vestige of a new and general explicatory principle for memory has been agreed, nobody has a validated answer. These next three pages outlining the basic fundamentals and assumptions involved in DT might well seem impenetrable to readers who have little knowledge of the way physics has developed over the last one hundred and fifty years. They might mean not much more, given their brevity, to those with more interest and some knowledge of the subject. The latter might well be exasperated, realising just how baffling the subject of quantum mechanics and entanglement, currently a minefield of uncertainty and dispute.

However, the next three pages of description of the assumptions and hypotheses involved are included as a brief outline for the benefit of the experts which the non-specialist reader may just quickly scan through or pass over. The latter might then move on to the more intriguing implications that would arise for a world peopled by minds developed to a more interconnected state than is currently possible. From that some long-range extrapolations are made for the evolution of intelligence and understanding, and an attempt made to justify a reason for thought, consciousness and existence generally. Effectively DT was developed on a series of observations made over years for which there seemed no rationale in explanation unless an assumption or two were made to resolve a particular relevant difficulty.

My first observation was from student days when watching a stage hypnotist at work. I realised that when an individual was in a trance state, self-induced perhaps or under hypnosis, the abilities of the mind were found to be very different, and in many ways far more competent than that mind would be in its normal conscious waking state. To rehearse briefly some of the underlying tenets of Duplication Theory, some years later I made a simple but crucial assumption that in a trance state, or something akin to that, the neurons, dendrites and other collections of nerve endings in the brain would be firing randomly without any apparent order or structure. In such circumstances, and for reasons described in earlier papers, if an earlier specific structure of such firing neurons was introduced into such a formless chaos, and if that chaos was near perfectly random, then that particular inserted thought structure would continue to resonate on to duplicate the ensuing original actions from that earlier time. In short here was a means of perfect recall. This was rationalised by an analysis of form and order in the presentation of recordable structure as opposed to random chaos otherwise known as entropy.

In short, for sequences of information to be transferred from an earlier time to the present, it was crucial for the brain to be able to empty itself of all previous thoughts and belief structures. For this be converted into useful everyday working memory rather than just long tranches of memory sequences, it would be necessary to reduce the latter into series of very short such sequences, jumping from frame to frame very rapidly in order that it would be possible to infer the most likely outcome and then take the appropriate actions to bring about the most favourable circumstances to enhance survival. Thought, which is created from memories of past events to mingle them with existing belief structures, results in this combination of past events with new incoming information, mainly visually via the eyes. This allows fresh conclusions as to how new unfamiliar circumstances might be dealt with in the most effective manner.

In order to qualify things a little more clearly, the next assumption I made about the mind was the way in which the brain absorbed most of its cognitive information comprising memory and thought. This was vision via the optic nerves into the brain. Since what I am able to see has to be a fairly accurate visual image, I have always seen vision as a holographic image of the external world in direct line of sight, and extremely detailed at that. I also knew that the brain was comprised of billions of neurons interconnected with dendrites and axons through which pass electrochemical currents in a highly complex manner, not yet much understood as to how they eventually produce memory and thought. However, it is certain that these complex structures of electrochemical currents will produce electromagnetic waves which will interfere with each other. My assumption is that not only do they interfere but they also produce highly detailed holograms representing the observed external world in great detail, which can be mixed with holograms recreated by the brain of earlier observed holographic images and resulting deductions as thought.

How we register such thoughts and images I cannot really hope to attempt a convincing explanation herein a short space: just too complex, but as a show of attempted bona fides, here is a curtailed synopsis. I assume there is the potential (but never apparently materialising in actuality) for a minuscule amount of the mass of the later near identical resonating structure in time within the brain (a specific instigatory memory frame), to convert back to radiation energy. This is a result of the fact that perfect duplication of similar structures is a singularity state and impossible to achieve at a quantum level due to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle (1927)¹, and also a more recent principle known as the No-Cloning theorem (1982)².

However, if very close approaches are made to the impossible state of perfect duplication, the brain is capable of detecting an increase in the potential for infinitesimal amounts of neuronal matter to be converted into radiation energy. This process is somewhat equivalent to binding energy being liberated when two hydrogen molecules are compressed and then fused together convert to one compact helium molecule to nearly occupy the same location. Perfect penetrability of matter, two particles occupying the same space at the same time, is another singularity state and cannot be achieved although close approaches can be made with dramatic results (for instance the fusion or hydrogen bomb emitted from this surplus binding energy). The later effect converting mass into radiation energy was unknown and unimaginable about one hundred and twenty years ago.

There is one further crucial conclusion to be briefly rehearsed before I move on to the implications of such a scenario for the future, and that is the operation of intuition. If a scientist for example is trying to work out the structure of a particular molecule, he will have a vague idea of how it is likely to pan out in principle, but there are so many possible combinations and permutations of such an arrangement that will be necessary to satisfy collections of known characteristics of the substance in question, that he is incapable of carrying out the necessary billions of thought experiments to see if just one works. Then one day when he is thinking of not much in particular with his mind relaxed, perhaps out walking on a pleasant day, suddenly the answer appears in a flash of intuitive accuracy, all of a piece, just like that.

This is not such a rare occurrence and it is for instance certainly recorded by Heisenberg’s discovery of his Uncertainty Principle. A similar sequence of events happened with Friedrich Kekule in his discovery of the structure of the benzene ring, and there are many other such examples. As mentioned above, if the mind is relaxed and thinking of not much in particular, it will be not in too dissimilar a state to that of a mind in trance with its active components in near random motion. In such circumstances such a mind will have an increasing ability to duplicate the true state of nature as it exists in the external world, always assuming that the mind in question is capable at least some sort of mental representation of the particular set of circumstances that may have been at other times under serious consideration. This would be a result of the Minimum energy principle. This is essentially a restatement of the second law of thermodynamics: in a closed system, its internal energy will decrease and approach a minimum value. Thus when the brain is in a fairly random but conscious state and in the back of the mind there is constantly lurking a problem that has been bothering an individual for a while, maybe years, then there is an increased possibility that the actual structure of reality will resonate enough with the various many possibilities in his mind to precipitate out suddenly with clarity as a perfect simulation or duplicate holographic mental image. This will produce an instant sense of gratification and pleasure of achievement which at once signals the successful result.

There is one useful element of supporting evidence for DT that should be mentioned, and that is from the work of biochemist Rupert Sheldrake who published his first book ‘A new Science of Life’ in 1981.³ His thesis of morphic resonance of similar structures through time was almost identical in conclusion to a major part of my DT, albeit from a very different approach. His books have been held contentious by some sources of establishment authority, and very strongly supported by others and the sales of his books over the years have been impressive and doubtless a source of irritation to his critics. His lectures and many recorded interviews are masterpieces of articulate eloquence and perspicacity. I will say no more than that at this stage, other than I have in continual contact with him over the years, and that his support has been invaluable.

My conclusions for transferring information from an earlier time to the present could be defined in its briefest form as: “Equal intervals in space -similar structures- tend to duplicate themselves through all time in the same location” bearing in mind that since the universe is always expanding, the same location indicates relatively the same location given its general surroundings on one particular scale: i.e. a single brain. However, what I never initially intended but discovered almost inadvertently, was that if I reversed the words time and space to my surprise, I found another definition would be produced as “Equal intervals in time -similar actions- tend to duplicate themselves through all space at one moment in time.” This caught my attention since the two effects seemed to be direct corollaries of each other, and satisfyingly symmetrical.

After much further consideration, it occurred to me that this was an effective description of the way in which information is transferred through space simultaneously, and which is familiar as Electromagnetic radiation, and could be described as a sort of corollary effect. They could both be regarded as resonance effects without the necessity perhaps of a particle being involved in the transmission, otherwise known as a nonlocal effect. Feynman and Wheeler published their ingenious Absorber theory (1945)_⁴ which is surprisingly similar in a number of ways with this nonlocal resonance effect for the transmission of action across space, but I shall not go into any further detail of here other than to say this has proved to be an interesting facet of DT since there are still divisive arguments in the physics community as to how electromagnetic energy or action is transmitted across space at light speed by photons or whether it is a nonlocal effect. I was told very early on by eminence grise Arthur Koestler that my proposals were similar in many ways to those of eminent physicist David Bohm, and his pilot wave theory with De Broglie⁵ who also worked with neuroscientist Karl Pribram6 to develop their Holonomic brain theory. I met and corresponded with Pribram who was encouraging but the mathematics of Bohm was beyond my grasp. His theory work which fell somewhat into the shadows during the last few decades of the 20th century, seems now to be enjoying a resurgence, in that he believed that the brain, at the cellular level, works according to the mathematics of some quantum effects, and postulated that thought is distributed and non-localised just as quantum entities are.

One further source of possible support for DT of which I have only recently become aware in the last few months is the Free Energy principle being developed by Professor Karl Friston FRS of UCL and the Welcome Trust centre for neuro imaging with UCL. He shows that any adaptive change in the brain and its function will minimise free energy⁷. This also applies to any biological system that resists a tendency to disorder from single cell organisms to social networks. In other words, it is a self-ordering principle which seems very similar in conclusion to the results of DT, albeit reached by an alternative approach. I eagerly await further progress reports on this research work.

The above few paragraphs will not seem a comprehendible explanation of the bare bones of Duplication Theory (DT) other than as a reminder to anybody who might have attempted longer more comprehensive versions in my few papers on the internet under ResearchGate and academia.edu. One or two of the most relevant and more concise are included in the references below^8,9,10. However here follows a description of the rather less technical implications that should result from such a scenario for mind and memory. These are very speculative and easier to describe, being less technically inclined and might be more capable of evoking some general interest from other than just scientific and neurological sources. I trust they might at least not leave a reader with blank incomprehension as I fear might be the outcome from the necessarily brief synopsis explanations above.

From what is understood currently of the quantum world, it seems that it is possible for all quanta comprising the contents of the universe to be interconnected across all distance and all time. This is very different from the classical world of physics where connection between material objects is limited by the speed of light and the time it takes for light to travel from A to B. The premise of DT shows how it should be possible to transfer information both simultaneously across any amount of space and further how it might be transferred (correlated is the more precise description) across any amount of time, via the phenomenon of quantum entanglement in both cases. For time transfer, all that is needed is two similar systems both capable of firing perfectly randomly so that if into the later system a structure can be inserted similar enough to quantum levels with an earlier particular structure, then the latter will start to resonate and duplicate the sequence of movements of the original structure. In very simple terms, this is because the two structures are the same object and until the later surrounding circumstances are disturbed, can only act as one.

In 2015 I read about the experiments undertaken by physicist Anton Zeilinger initially in Vienna, and then read his book ‘The Dance of the Photons’¹¹ which was presented as an easy to grasp explanation of how photons could correlated a process of quantum entanglement so that effectively they departed from and arrived across a distance at the same moment in time, and in other words, faster than light. I found the explanation very hard to grasp but it is based on physicist John Bell’s Inequality Theorem from 1964,¹² little appreciated for a couple of decades until experiments established it later to become known by some eminent physicists as possibly the most profound discovery of Science. I also was surprised and encouraged to see that my requirement for randomness in the operation of DT was mirrored by its application to render quantum entanglement experiments viable. It seemed to me that this could not be just coincidence.

Anticipating that once the theorists have a better understanding of both these entanglement procedures, and the practical technocrats start to implement quantum computers or whatever devices they might develop to implement applications of the theory, then by reverse engineering they should be able to manufacture an approach to a simplified replica of certain parts of the human brain: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in short. This will be unlike any so-called AI device that might have been produced or envisaged today, since it will have some degree of intuitive ability that current computers currently lack as far as I am aware. This new form of quantum computer will be very different and capable of producing degrees of order and pattern from swathes of randomness, which ordinary digital computers cannot get near today. If I make a not impossible assumption that it should be possible to network a number of such artificial intelligences together, then the combined amount of information and intuitive reasoning in such networked device ability will increase. However, once the mechanism of mind and memory is ascertained then there would really be no need to manufacture AI machines/computers to emulate human intelligence, especially since initially their component parts would presumably be much larger than the tiny filaments of nerve endings that are the composite parts of the brain.

My next assumption is that it should be possible for individuals to be able to network their minds together, either by standard electronic wiring but also later by the entanglement procedures that should have been mastered by then: a large assumption but not impossible by any means along the lines of the current scenario. This would be brought about by setting up a group of similarly inclined empathetic minds together by initially setting them into some form of self-induced trance state that would ensure random firing of the neurons, into which a specific thought structure from one individual could then be invoked and transmitted instantly to all involved. I also assume that those involved could be far apart although coordination of the timing would presumably be easier initially if they were close at hand.

It would be a form of telepathy, which subject is often regarded as anathema by many scientists, and understandably so, at least according to their own parameters of belief, which dictate that if a specific result from an experiment cannot be reliably repeated, then it cannot be regarded as genuine example of reality. In short telepathy cannot exist for those of conservative mindsets. It is a pragmatic point of view in many ways but memory certainly does exist, and once we have understood its mechanism and understood how images from the past can be recreated, it does not seem unreasonable to me that a simultaneous effect (telepathy) or time reverse (precognition) should be not also be possible. This is especially so given that we know so little about the nature of time, although we now know that instant communication via entanglement can and does occur, and can also do so over time as demonstrated by the Megedish team experiment in Israel 2013.¹³ This emphasises further that the whole question of the passage of time has to be reviewed. I shall make an attempt on this latter problem in some following pages, but reverting to the networking of minds together, the rationale of DT suggests it should be possible for a group of individuals to empty their minds and then be put into some form of telepathic communication, although presumably one individual would have to be the instigator of mental proposals which would be transmitted to and shared with the others.

So if holographic images (which I refer to as holocepts) are projected and viewed by this one individual’s mind, I have assumed that a sequence of thoughts/holocepts can be transferred to the mind of another by some form of instant entanglement procedure, once the latter has been mastered in a great deal more detail than the very modest amount that has been achieved to date. This smacks more of ESP than science as mentioned above, and is a subject currently much excoriated, but once the current embarrassing lack of understanding of the mind’s mechanism has been mastered, and on the assumption it is on an entanglement basis as suggested by DT, the next step would be to understand how such holographic images of one mind might be transferred across both time and space to others. If it were accepted that such a deeper understanding of the operation of intuition has to become clearer as the quantum world becomes better understood, then such abilities, currently regarded as unestablished and unreliable, should be capable of study and development. It is at this juncture that I might tend to lose any possible credibility with the more conservative elements of the scientific community but I would hope that they persevere a little further to read the way in which such a premise can lead to fascinating conclusions when combined with some other facets and implications of DT.

As such communication techniques improve, I make the assumption that it should be possible for individuals within such a group to converse mentally and share experience and thought structures resulting in a sort of group mind. Rupert Sheldrake goes into this subject in the way that groups of insects and animals, bees, termites, swarms of birds, shoals of fish all indubitably demonstrate a group mind and inclinations separate from individual behaviour patterns via his morphic resonance. One result of this might be the development of a sort of super mind as a combination of many individual minds gained from the multifarious experience of all involved. In discussion with friends and colleagues in the past on this point, there has been some opposition to the prospect of loss of individuality in the process of joining in with the crowd and any event, if such a scenario was possible: for instance that one determined and negatively intended member of the group could disrupt and maybe take over the whole concern.

Well yes, I see the possible danger but posit that this would be offset by the fact that in order to join the group in the first place, ex hypothesi, an individual has to clear his mind completely of any thought structures at all, malign or beneficial, to achieve near perfect randomicity of the cognitive mental centre. This would be a sine qua non for any unsuitable person to be able to become involved, and a crucial issue.

I imagine that to qualify as a member of such a group there would have to have been a training period acquire the ability to void the mind, no doubt akin to meditation or other similar depersonalisation exercises. As anybody who has attempted such contemplative exercises will know, this has never been an easy task: almost impossible indeed to levels of perfection. So, if these exercises had not been incorporated then such a disruptive individual would not be capable of becoming part of a group mind in the first place. Maybe if he/she did, then the breadth of knowledge to which they had gained sudden access, would sort out and preclude any such venal inclinations of self-promulgation. I suppose what I am saying is that only applicants who had advanced themselves enough above personal ambition and self-advancement would be capable of becoming an active part of such a group: there would be an automatic self-actualising exclusion mechanism. I have briefly attempted to explain the consequential qualities of randomness in the quantum world, and here is yet another example of how fundamental that subject is.

Given the astonishing rate of technical progress over the last half century, I consider it a reasonable possibility that research on the mind might have developed within the next two or three decades and that we might have reached a state where such communications were possible with or without telepathic communication. That is always assuming our political leaders and autocrats have not managed pollute the atmosphere with radioactive dust clouds created by a nuclear war between two irresponsible warring minor states. I fear this is by no means impossible judging by the current unpredictable and erratic behaviour of our political leaders. I am also inclined to think that we have reached such a tipping point on the ability of the human race to either destroy itself or qualify to advance to a different level of existence. It could just as easily go one way as the other: a sort of test as whether we qualify to move up another level or fall back to square one to start the whole shooting match all over again.

Having made many wide ranging top down conjectures on how the mind operates, it would then be pusillanimous not to attempt a prediction of the results of such a scenario, and since my view of the future based on the potential of future research on the quantum world is teleologically optimistic, I now do not hesitate to do so. DT explains that there is this self-organising tendency which is there to counter the other fundamental tendency with which we are all too familiar, that of entropy, the principle that all systems run down into increasing chaos. Schrodinger observed in his short but remarkably prescient book ‘What is Life’ published in 1945,¹⁴ that in order to explain life there must be a principle of ‘Order from order’ to counter that of the other great principle behind quantum theory of ‘Order from disorder’. There are these two opposing tendencies, one dispersing and running down into the unpalatable heat death of the universe, with this being countered by this organising tendency for complex structures to duplicate themselves, which at its most basic level is that of simple cells starting to duplicate themselves into more complex and repetitive structures, manifesting themselves as life. The further implication of the ability to produce increasingly complex structures is that as life evolves, it also develops consciousness and the ability to understand nature and the external world in the form of duplicate holographic mental images of the latter. Thus, increasing intelligence is a result of this self-organising tendency and I see its purpose is to counter the effect of entropy and stave off this bleak prospect of the aimless heat death of the ever-expanding universe.

I anticipate such mind sharing techniques could be developed with practice so that eventually increasing numbers of sensitive and intelligent individuals would be able to develop this mutual empathy to such an extent that they effectively could be in some form of mutual or telepathic contact with each other. What is more, they could do this with large sections of society similarly trained and endowed, so that their brains and minds were effectively hooked up together like groups of networked computers. I imagine that there would have to be some sort of routine or exercise to go through, perhaps similar to entering into a self-induced trance, blanking off each mind into identical random trance states, before one joined into such a group mind. But think of all the advantages of having this enlarged memory and information to hand.

Eventually I doubt whether anyone of any intelligence at all would want to be left out of such an experience, so that there would be this huge joined up intellectual system, effectively a super mind. Thus armed, humankind will be capable of making large technical advances at a rate well above that experienced over the last 50 years or so which, after all, have been impressive enough. If my extrapolations are not completely awry, then within another 50 years or so, and maybe even after only another couple of decades, with the benefit of this new intelligence, we should be capable of making contact with other intelligent races, and be able to network with them if we so desire. Just imagine the amount of information that would be available then. This raises the question that if there are such other intelligent races then some of them will inevitably be well advanced beyond our current stage, so why have they not contacted us already?

Duplication Theory is a result of this self-ordering tendency acting as a counter tendency to entropy and increasing chaos. The latter causes the universe to be constantly expanding and running down, whereas life is increasing order and understanding of the universe, and just as fundamental as entropy. Duplication and the self-ordering process cannot be stopped, although in some very hostile environments it will develop very slowly and in forms which will be very alien to us, perhaps not using the familiar elements on which our organic chemistry is based: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and phosphorous. There could be different intelligence systems on different scales of dimensions as well, but let that alone for now.

As for the reason we have not heard from any of these more advanced races yet, they will be aware if too much information is given to a system in advance of its own natural rate of organic and uniform development, then that will not turn out well. If one part of a system starts to develop at a much faster rate than the rest, then this will have a sort of cancerous effect and destroy the equilibrium and hierarchy of the rest of the system resulting in serious disruption. These other more advanced civilisations will wait until we, or any other candidates who have reached the stage of reliable coherent thought, are ready to join up into a large super intelligence. On this basis there is not a problem in finding life elsewhere in the universe: it is everywhere and will be hard to avoid in one form or another. I also suppose it could be argued that in the early life of an expanding universe, not long perhaps after the big bang, entropy will be the overriding tendency at first.

So that deals with extra-terrestrial life and those who anticipate that we shall have difficulty finding it elsewhere in the universe. If I extrapolate the position from when the human race manages to get its act together and links all its separate minds together, I conclude the following. When human mental abilities have been developed by the group mind, the latter would be capable of reaching out through space to contact other similarly developed minds. They would then be able to network with them and further develop their intellectual ability. If this could be done in an ordered and not too hasty manner the result would be the eventual existence of a vast system of combined intelligence and understanding. The next step in such a scenario that occurred to me was that such an entity would have an almost godlike capacity, especially as by the time this degree of connectedness had been achieved there could perhaps be a diminishing need for some form of corporeal identity. If so, I conjecture that there would be little need for such an advanced entity to be supported by a material physical system. If that could be done away with, then the result is effectively an all-seeing, all-understanding and even all-forgiving God, very much in line with the belief of a large number of religions, especially Christianity and Buddhism.

I also consider it likely, having taken a leaf out of Rupert Sheldrake’s book from 2012 on this subject: The Science Delusion¹⁵ that the rules of nature are probably not static but are evolving, which view seems to be increasingly adopted by a number of respected physicists. If so, then why would not such an omnipotent intelligence hesitate to accelerate, moderate or alter such rules of nature that we take as given constants currently. Until recently there were a number of established constants of which light was perhaps the greatest, and most familiar, but there was also the important Cosmological constant, as well as a few others. But then in 1998 the astronomers discovered from observation of supernovae, the universe was apparently not only expanding which they had known since Hubble’s observation in 1931, but the rate of expansion was increasing as well. In short, they had got it wrong implying it was a positive non zero value for which Saul Perlmutter’s team were awarded the Nobel prize in 2011.¹⁶ There are a number of other standard figures taken as constants but there is one less now and decades of mathematical discussion and predictions on the shape and characteristics about the nature of the universe changed overnight. I have to say this is one of my concerns about the nature of modern science: too much time and energy spent of algebraic theorising and figure work involving thousands of hours’ production of learned papers and disputation by the academics involved that suddenly becomes irrelevant on the arrival of new undeniable observational evidence.

Within the expanding universe, life is duplicating itself constantly increasing its understanding of its own existence until it attains a state of being able to do what it wants with the universe of which it is a part, and not only a part, but possibly later becoming the controlling interest. It occurs to me that such an omniscient life form, understanding how much suffering of its forebears’ miserable earlier experiences had all been a necessary part of such evolution; it might well want to make amends for that. If I was part of such a system, then I would want all its component former life forms and sentient beings that had ever existed in the past to be able to see and properly understand how that had all been part of the way nature progressed: some overall well-arranged scenario. After all, its very existence is down to the fact that structures duplicate themselves and become more complex and more ordered as time passes. So how is it possible to go about justifying such an equitable and fair result when there has been so much pain and suffering in the past?

At the moment as far as we know there is a problem in that astronomical observations have shown that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, and that this is driven by dark energy which they calculate makes up about 68.3% of the mass in the universe in terms of energy equivalence. In order to avoid the heat depth of the universe where everything disappears out of sight, or possibly the Big Rip, where electrical and nuclear forces tear atoms apart, this giant combo intelligence would have to slow down such uncontrolled expansion. One answer is to make the assumption that when fully developed the super mind would be capable of doing this by an ability of mind over matter, also known as psychokinesis. This is obviously a conjecture, which sounds far too convenient, even assuming that such ability existed. However, I shall proceed with the conjecture as follows, why not?

All the giant intellect has to do is to wait until it has developed enough to be capable of creating a hologram of the universe, which ex hypothesi it might be capable of doing to such an accurate level, that it would be impossible to discern which is the real article and which the holographic image. Having reached that near singular state, the intellect consciously starts to slow down the expansion of the universe in its mental holoceptual form and the real thing should follow suit. This may sound very farfetched but it seems to corresponds in some way to a recent theory by Dutch physicist Erik Verlinde,¹⁷ whose thesis indicates that gravitation is explained as an entropic force in which space is emergent through a holographic scenario. If the super intelligence requires to move the external object in accordance with its wishes, all it has to do is adjust the structure of the mental holocept and reality will follow. This would be so, ex hypothesi, simply with the creation of such an accurate all-encompassing hologram, with the result that neither is more real than the other. But if the mental image is then changed by a palpable act of will, reality will follow to maintain the lowest energy state or maximum stability as described as one of the basic maxims of DT.

This is only a conjecture but it is at least consistent with the modus ponens constructed by DT, and it would represent a specific and explicable explanation of the destiny of us all as part of that great entity. Better still, it would effectively be a combination of all existing intelligent life, with all of its previous existences, and could be seen as a sort of judgment day once this stage is reached. Every individual and every moment of their separate existences will be available and exposed to all the rest without exception. Nothing would be hidden, which is one of the conclusions of DT, in that everything experienced can be recalled, and not just by the individual who was originally involved. All those needlessly cruel and violent actions ever taken by any individuals would be understood in the light of their backgrounds, and the gene pool passed on to them by previous generations, which I suppose would be some sort of justification for so much individual stupidity and needless cruelty. Nevertheless, it would be suitably embarrassing for the individual former minds forming part of that huge intelligence to have their actions displayed in every little graphic detail.

So then what? I assume that this huge disembodied intelligence would not want the universe to go on expanding to the heat death that would otherwise occur if nothing else was done about it: a very unsatisfactory state of affairs. Worse, it would not observe the requirements of everything being symmetrical that the scientists seem to consider an absolute must, and which seems intuitively sensible enough to me. In which case this super intelligence would want to slow down the outward expansion, and then reverse it until the big crunch was achieved, and in doing so, time would need to be reversed. I have described this in more detail in my paper ‘The Nature of Time’ ¹⁸ from March 2019. So, once this super mind was comprehensive enough to be able to duplicate the universe with its own holocept, perfect in every detail, as I have said, it could then slow down the expansion of this holoceptual duplicate and the real one would duplicate its action to do the same.

One absorbing result of this scenario would be that each individual part of the super mind would be able to experience his or her own life in reverse, and observe, played out in front of them in perfect detail, all the crass mistakes, nonsense and suffering for which they were responsible. These embarrassments would not matter to the all-seeing and understanding super mind as a whole, but even so, each former individual as part would have this galling experience set before them. I see that as a sort of purgatory where the foolishness of their individual early existences is beholden to all with the accompanying subjective ability to see just how trivial their behaviour was. Not exactly a harsh physical penance, but one which would presumably be acutely embarrassing to the individual concerned with the knowledge that such information was accessible to every other entity that has ever existed. That might be some form of a downside to having been Hitler, Stalin or Genghis Khan, especially as such people seem to suffer worst from pride and ambition than any other failing.

This suggests that such an embarrassment is a universal solution or sort of compensation for an individual’s appalling performance in life, which might not seem an adequate recompense for those that suffered. However, I am trying to describe the feelings of this omniscient intelligence system which is supremely understanding and empathetic. From personal experience I have to say that for me, apart from physical incompetence and actual pain, the worst form of mental suffering is the recollection of past events when I did something unforgiveable and so embarrassing, that I would rather forget, but cannot. How much worse would such a sentiment be for a part of a now hypersensitive being, had he been Stalin when alive? I think even his victims in their now supremely understanding capacity would feel horrified and sorry for the past stupidity and ignorance of such primitive human individuals, now comprising part of that combined intelligence and whose past performance is held up for all to perceive.

This is my initial attempt at solving the problem of pain and suffering, crime and punishment in this world. It might be off the wall, but at least it is an answer of sorts to a problem on which I have never heard or read much of a satisfactory answer from anybody yet, other than the standard version of the righteous but oppressed shall sit on God’s right hand on judgment day and variations on that theme. Good enough for some if they are prepared to rely on faith in their beliefs to carry them through, but if one can have a bit of a rationale to qualify the apparent unfairness of existence in order to dilute the need for blind faith to explain everything, then that has to be a good thing. I have always found the concept of the necessity of blind faith to justify behaviour patterns of religion or a creed not very satisfactory.

It might seem a paltry reason for the reason for the universe to come into being, so it can then snuff itself out in order to maintain a nice symmetrical shape, but that is all I currently can suggest having considered over a number of decades the implications of the way in which mind and memory operate, assuming DT has a basis of probability. Until somebody else comes up with any modus operandi for memory which explains and makes consistent such a large number of other phenomena which previously had been thought to be completely unconnected, it is at least a reasoned proposal. It is based on a background of not entirely illogical observations, some principles of physics, and some very striking recent experiments carried out on entanglement which are starting to turn current beliefs upside down.

I suppose I will continue to think along these lines, especially now I have this hypothesis of resonance, unless as I have said already, someone comes up with a simpler and better general alternative. The whole system seems pretty much all of a piece with so many phenomena brought together which have formerly not been capable of any reasonable clarity, at least not to my mind. Having little ability in mathematics, instead I have to be able to create mental images of how things might work. If some algebraic proof on which a theory is based, say string theory, is so complex that only a handful of top mathematicians and physicists have a grasp of it, then that is a warning sign for me. Whereas I would not presume to say it is wrong, I would say that it is probably incomplete and that some piece of the jigsaw is missing, or that some basic assumption on which the theory is based will be flawed, or both.

For instance, my interpretation of the photon is very different to the established belief, much simpler, as is my explanation of gravitation and inertia. It is also similar to David Bohm’s explanation, which he called the pilot wave theory which agreed perfectly with quantum theory, in other words a nonlocal effect. As far as I know there is no accepted explanation for why mass resists acceleration. It is just what is observed to happen: no reason given at all, but presented as an observed fait accompli. Duplication Theory gives it a rationale in that structures resonate with themselves through time, and will thus resist any force which upsets that state. This is compounded by my postulate of the pressure exerted by the motion of the outward rim of the universe acting on any piece of matter within to resist any tendency to change its velocity or motion in a straight line. This is enlarged upon in my very speculative paper on Mach’s Principle, Gravitation and matter Distribution (2010) 19 on Research gate, and is a development of the corollary effect of DT mentioned above on page 4 and my paper on the Nature of Time on page 10 above in which I make the assumption that the universe is closed and bounded but expanding out at a current velocity which is duplicated by every wave of electromagnetic action radiation within.

I suppose it could be argued that DT’s statement that similar structures tend to duplicate themselves through all time in one location is just as much a given fait accompli as saying mass has inertia and resists being moved, so why is it an improvement? It is because my answer seems deeper, given that it is a direct corollary and therefore tied in with the mechanism behind EM radiation, as well as being just the result of the simple observation that mass resists force. We know and see that similar actions tend to duplicate themselves through all space at one time in EM radiation. This observation is so far reaching with applications to such a wide range of previously considered unconnected phenomena that it has to be more fundamental. I have always understood that it is the purpose of science to link together all phenomena under one fundamentally consistent rationale. There is this need to establish a TOE, or Theory of Everything, with everything under one heading or basic principle if at all possible. DT has not done that but it seems to have made a step in the right direction in that connects a few phenomena that were formerly thought very disparate. It also disposes of some current givens, which otherwise have to be accepted without adequate explanation for why they exist.

As for what happens after time reverses and all sentient beings as part of the super mind live through their former experience of existence with the benefit of full understanding of how and why it came to pass, I have no inkling. Start the whole shooting match over again in another universe which bounces out of the big crunch is the only rather insipid answer that occurs to me and that some form of existence and motion is better than nothing at all, which is not unlike some of the ancient Hindu teachings in the Vedanta. I also have an anticipation that if we knew more about dark matter and what happens within black holes, we might have a better chance of gaining some possible insights on such apparently imponderable questions. I sometimes wonder if the expansion rate of the universe needed moderating for any reason then black holes might provide some sort of capacitor effect in slowing it down by increasing their rate of accretion or vice versa if necessary. But given lack of any more specific knowledge of these hugely massive objects we now know are at the centre of most elliptical galaxies, I cannot anticipate any further than this vague intuitive possibility currently allows.

22/08/19 Nick Greaves

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References

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8. Greaves, N: The significance of singularity states: (8 pages) November 2002 https: TCD/academia.edu/nickgreaves
9. Greaves, N Transfer of information across space & time: an explanation for memory via quantum entanglement: TCD/academia.edu/nickgreaves
10. Greaves, N: Duplication Theory, (27 pages) academia.edu as above, revised October 2016
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13. Megedish, E et al, Entanglement swapping between photons that have never coexisted, Physical review letters May 2013
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17. Verlinde, E: On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University Amsterdam, Jan 2010
18. Greaves, N: The Nature of Time, (5 pages) as above: academia.edu February 2019
19. Greaves, N: Mach’s principle, Gravitation & Matter Distribution (20 pages): as above academia.edu 2010