A Quantum Mechanical Explanation for the Problem of Divine - Human Interaction

by Gary Gillespie

Time Binding -- our ability to think about the past and imagine the future -- is evidence for the transcendent powers of the mind. If the human consciousness is above the physical, material universe, it implies that a transcendent reality (God) exists. Consciousness demonstrates thought abilities above the arrow of time, which is inconsistent with physical properties of the brain. In other words, nothing in the material universe that we know of is above or outside of the arrow of time. We do not observe effects before causes or see events suddenly flashing back or forward. But, our intuitions and imagination does this all of the time, suggesting that human consciousness is on a higher level than the physical universe.

The non-local like properties of the imagination could be a wedge for solving the problem of how a transcendent God interacts with humans.

Literature can be taken as an analogue for our world. How do author and characters communicate with each other? Usually the characters are not aware that they are in a story, that they are artifacts of a larger created reality. However, sometimes the characters "take over" a story and suggest the direction of the story line when the author permits this interference. We might call the influence a literary character exerts over the formation of a story "character intentionality".

Most authors welcome character intentionality since it indicates that the reality of the story has reached an authentic depth and richness. Dorthy Sayers is an exception -- she resisted letting characters influence her story.

With character intentionality, rarely does the character speak a string of words to the author. Instead the author "just knows" what the character wants to do, as if they are forcing him or her to turn the plot in a specific way. It is possible to imagine a story in which an extraordinary character has grasped the reality that he is a character in the author's mind. This character may specifically make requests of the author. With some exceptions, the author is not an element of the character's universe. Yes, communication is possible in the author's mind.

Our prayers asking for our God's influence in our world is possible in the same way that character intentionality might influence a story's author to make changes in the plot. Like a good author who seeks to fully understand his stories setting, God is totally aware of every aspect of our universe, down to the subatomic level.

But, God's consciousness of the physical world is not a property of the physical world, like electrical impulses in neural correlates of thought. God's (That is Christ's) thoughts about our universe are above and outside of the arrow of time and space. The means of communication between the author and the characters takes a different form than normal communication between characters. The communication is more like a non-local all at once telepathy. It is a mental activity that is unbounded by the time line of the story.

When I am writing a story I imagine a scene that follows a time line. The author puts him or her self into the story's universe to imagine the direction of the plot. Sometimes characters interact with the mind of the author, influencing the direction the story will take. Christ is the author of our universe and we may interact with him when his consciousness and ours overlaps. Prayer is permitting the cosmic storyteller's consciousness to enter our own.

By knowing something of the mind of Christ, our next steps in the story line are made clearer. "God, should I take that job? Marry that person?" Prayer is like a dialogue with another person to the extent that words in sentences are often used, but in this case the person we are communicating with is the author of the universe who knows the beginning from the end. Prayer is entering the mind of God (that is Christ as the Cosmic Logos, Divine Mediator and Creator, see Colossians 1: 15 - 20 ).

The God we pray to is an all knowing point that fills every point in our world just like an author's consciousness fills every point of the imagined story since it is a construct of his mind. When characters in a story communicate with each other, they rely on the resources and properties of the universe in which they inhabit. The language, information and cultural meanings that characters share are the ground for shared understanding that is direct and has consequences. But, when a character wants to communicate with the author, he or she must enter into the perspective of the author who is present at every point in the character's universe, but also transcends it, living in the author's universe above. This character-author interaction is necessarily remote and requires the grace of the author to listen and if he or she chooses grant the request.

Communication between author and character-- like prayer -- implies that consciousness is not a linear, bio-chemical impulse exchange in the brain, but is a transcendent property that permits a persona to become unbounded by the timeline of his or her world and think outside of physical constraints of time and space. Instead, consciousness is revealed in the neural correlates, just as words on paper provides evidence of an author's thoughts.

God-in-Christ's observation of phenomena influences the properties just as measurement of objects influence and change them. The communication between God and humans is the result of this influence. (See Wheeler).

So, prayer is more like quantum entanglement (action at a distance) or the effects of measurement on objects that collapse superpositions in a quantum filed. (Not that it is the same thing, but is like it). Measuring an electron collapses its position, forever forcing it to assume a single path or form. God's observation of our prayers changes our reality without changing neural electrical interactions directly.

God is the actor and we are the created artifacts. God's grace permits changes in our time line as a result of our prayers in some cases.

Therefore, we can understand prayer in the same way that we think of a literary character communicating with an author. We do not expect that this communication between character and author will follow the same linear manner or use the same code of linguistic processes as the communication that occurs between characters in a story and in fact we will expect that the substance of such interaction is quite different.

This difference between the mind of a character and the mind of author is much like difference between the macro scale physical world we live in and subatomic quantum mechanics in which time and space break down. That is, the characters -- like us -- live in a universe that is coherent and follows a shared time line and cultural space. God, like an author of a story filled with conscious personae, is both in the universe at every point and transcends that universe at the same time by inhabiting another, unseen, but superior world above which is necessarily unbounded by the constraints of normal time and space.

Since consciousness structures physical reality it must supersede it

Consciousness Generation in Persons, Literary Characters and Robotics

An a Inkling By GJ Gillespie

Quantum physics gives us a quite different picture of reality than we might expect. In our

Shelter from the Storm by GJ Gillespie

daily life, we do not see physical objects popping in and out of existence.

It has been observed that when two bars of metal polished extremely flat are placed near each other in a vacuum they will behave in strange ways. Not only do the two bars move closer to each other, but it can yield the production of photonic energy from nothing.

Virtual particles are said to pop in and out of existence from a pervasive super position in the microscopic quantum realm.

For the first time, we know that technology manipulated by conscious agents can create energy from nothing. Creation ex Nihilo has previously been limited to an act of God.

The physicist say that matter could also be created if there was enough energy applied to the process.

I wonder if generating something from nothing with this two facing mirrors process might be analogous to the self reflection necessary for the emergence of consciousness?

When a mind has been programed by the inter-subjectivity of a social system, learning language, norms and values from a culture there comes a point of maturation when a child begins to see him or her self as an object in the world. Perceiving the self as an object permits identity to emerge as the person chooses to integrate social norms and values into his or her interactions with others. The person can compare him or her self to role models in the social system and tact back and forth in forming an interdependent self.

Moreover, the socially conscious part of the self is now able to reflect upon the physiological, autonomic aspects of the self guiding urges with mindfulness. The mature self is able to control the automatic impulses that would otherwise motivate behavior in ways that are socially unacceptable.  Self reflection -- observing the self as an object in the world -- permits a person to change behavior consistent to an identity.

This mental interaction that occurs when a person is self aware is what George Herbert Mead calls the I and the ME dialogue. A person faced with an urge to act in an animal-like, unthinking way to satisfy some need may moderate the urge by talking back to it until it yields to the socially acceptable self image.

This mirroring effect is the basis for moral and ethical behavior as the maturing person compares potential actions with the socially conscious aspect of the self.

Something new is generated in the physical realm of time and space by the symbolic interactions in the mind of a person who is self reflecting.

Or perhaps it would be more correct to say that the consciousness of the person is revealed by the mental interactions? That is it existed before in virtual form and and is made real in time and space by the self reflection process -- exactly like the experiment with the polished bars.

In this sense the developing human brain crafted by social and cultural linguistic forces becomes a consciousness-generating machine, revealing the presence of a soul ex Nihilo that stands above and outside the physical universe.

If something new is generated by symbolic processes in the brain of a self reflecting person, it may be possible to mimic this process in the literary personae of creative writing. The author generates a literary self that has the appearance of reality because it  follows the same processes that lead to the emergence of consciousness in physical humans. If a literary person has a near-real or a soul like consciousness, the same could be possible for virtual persons in video game like universes or in robots.
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I am surprised by the number of viewers who are reading this blog post. 

Some of these ideas are more fully explained in another article that goes into more detail and is documented. See: Gillespie, Gary Pinocchio Shrugged: Character Intentionality as Artificial Intelligence — the Suspension of Disbelief in Robots as Persons. A version presented at the Faith in the Humanities Conference, Kirkland, Spring 2009.

Giant Sloth Invades NU

By GJ Gillespie

Kirkland authorities report that a large, slow moving South American marsupial known for hanging out all night foraging for food has recently been sighted on campus. This seemingly harmless beast should be approached with caution.

If bitten students may experience lethargy, shortness of breath when walking to chapel, inability to concentrate, disruption of social life, lack of self-esteem, depression and a progressive difficulty with waist management that can last for decades.

While dangling from trees constantly munching snacks, barely moving its body more than inches at a time, may be natural for the nocturnal three-toed sloth, such behavior for the college student can lead to life long health problems.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics 65% of Americans 18 years and older are overweight and 30% are obese. Being overweight is associated with diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart attacks and causes 300,000 deaths a year.

Scarier for college students is that a lack of exercise and poor eating habits slow the brains ability to process information.  That means that letting your self get out of shape devastates academic performance. 

You may think that a pattern of sleeping in, attending classes and club meetings all afternoon without taking time to workout or eat regular meals, then staying up until 3 AM cramming course material– along with bags of Doritos– and downing massive quantities of coke or coffee is the ideal study method. It isn't.

Saint Thomas Aquinas said that the antidote to the deadly sin of slothfulness is the virtue of diligence.

So this semester fight off your inner sloth. College is a time to expand your mind, not your pant size. You may be exposed to unlimited delicacies in the cafeteria all day long and your schedule is tight. But, with some planning you can eat right and choose to exercise daily. In the next 12 weeks make your goal to get into the best shape of your life.


My Sloth Defense Tips:
*Eat five small meals each day. Ive found that it is easy to add two more meals by fixing a protein shake at 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM. Satisfied by the shake, I am less likely to overeat at lunch or dinner.

*Eat breakfast. Eggbeaters and oatmeal is my choice.

*Drink a gallon of water a day. Simple when I space out four quart sized bottles.

*Run or walk. Move your body. A lap around the field near my home or walking down town with and back with my wife is a great workout.

*Go to the gym and learn how to transform your body by resistance training.  I do six times a week and love it.

*Be sure to sleep 7.5 to 8 hours each night. Lack of rest is associated with weight gain.

*Eat small portions. Try a fist sized amount of protein and an equal amount of carbs every meal. No seconds. I eat all the veggies that I want. Once my stomach shrank, I never feel hungry.

*Limit desserts to once a week.

*Keep a food journal. I do that whenever the scales are up. Works every time.

Check out the inspiration and easy instruction of the Body for Life program as taught by fitness expert Bill Phillips. 

When Worlds Collide

by Gary Gillespie

Today's text: Romans 6:3-4;8

Imagine the world’s last night. The sun goes down without hope of it coming up again. That is a scene in the 1951 film “When Worlds Collide” – a classic sci-fi that my wife Teresa and I recently enjoyed. Steven Spielberg is planning to make a new version.

In the story astronomers discover that a rogue red star named Bellus and its Earth-sized planet companion, Zyra, are on a collision course with the earth. Zyra will pass close to the earth then begin orbiting the sun. But, eight months later Bellus will hit and destroy the earth.

Humanity’s survival depends on Dr. Cole Hendron, a heroic rocket scientist, who hurriedly builds a space ship to ferry forty people, picked by lot, to the new world -- which they hope will support life.

A subplot involves David Randall, a flyboy pilot, who falls in love with the scientist’s lovely daughter Joyce. When the days on the calendar finally count down to zero, David and Joyce embrace to witness earth’s final sunset.

For the disciples Good Friday looked like the world’s last night. Their Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had been executed. On Saturday they entered a state of shock and grief. All their hopes that they had found the long awaited messiah were crushed. They scattered in fear.

In a sense, for us every day is like the Saturday after Good Friday and before Easter because we live in a broken world of disappointment and travail.

“For we know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.” Romans 8: 22.

Although we may anticipate a future daybreak when we might see face-to-face, in this mortal life we see only dimly. The truth is we are all marked by an expiration date. One of the characteristics that separate humans from animals is that we can contemplate our own death. The day will come when we will watch “The End” appear before the credits roll on the screen of our life.

My wife and I live in a wooded neighborhood in Kirkland near the university. Recently our neighbor next door to the north revealed to me that a woman in his Bible study complained of a headache at home one evening and died of an aneurism five minutes later. The young couple next door to the south also experienced a sudden tragedy when both of the husband’s parents were killed in a car crash while traveling to Harrison Hot Springs. His dad had just helped him build a new fence the week before.

We may be reminded of death constantly in this world, but like a baby bird without feathers, one glad morning we hope to fly away. That is why we Christians put our trust in Jesus. By assuming a radical identification with Christ's death, burial and resurrection we are saved. As Paul says:
“Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death … Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Romans 6:3-4, 8.

The Greek word for baptism is to submerge, immerse, plunge or wash. One commentator says that the word suggests a sunken ship, swamped and waterlogged, sent to rest on the ocean floor. “A sunken wooden ship is a baptized ship.” Baptism signifies that our sinful nature has been permeated by the living water of the Holy Spirit and sunk to the bottom of the sea of God’s forgetfulness.

Now like an unborn child churning to breath amniotic fluid and weakly kick, or an insomniac in bed staring at the electric clock that seems to endlessly read “02:00 AM,” we wait for our deliverance.

Last year Odyssey Marine Exploration, a wreckage salvage company, discovered the largest lost treasure in history when robotic submarines excavated the sunken Merchant Royal, which went down in a storm off the coast of England three hundred and forty years ago. The load of silver and gold coins recovered from the shipwreck is worth an estimated 500 million dollars.

Our baptism into Christ is like recovered sunken treasure. While the first part of baptism is submersion, the second is resurfacing into new life. We are reborn from death into eternal life. We've hit the jackpot.

In Jesus Christ God became a man to exchange his divine glory to purchase our redemption. Like a Special Forces Team rescuing hostages, when Christ died he descended into Hades for our benefit to save those held captive and bring them back alive.

In a museum in Stockholm, Sweden a 371 year-old ship recovered form the ocean floor is on display. The Vasa was a war ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. It sits preserved in a special humidified room.  Years ago I was close enough to touch the water soaked planks of that vessel.

We believe that when our Saturday turns to Sunday, God will perform his own salvage operation. He will go treasure hunting. One day the ship of our life will be raised from the ocean of death, rebuilt better than before, and set to sail on a new sea in a new world. That is the hope we celebrate on Easter.


Prayer: Lord Jesus, you went before us to show us the way. Rescue us from this world of sin and brokenness. Let us live and believe in you so that we may never die.