[MD] Relational metaphysics and the Holographic Principle Theory of Mind

[Mark Germine]

Ian,

My paper is at the URL:

www.goertzel.org/dynapsyc/2007/holomind.htm

I'm not sure if this will come back as a link.  If it does not, it might be 
simpler just to Google "Holographic Principle Theory of Mind" and click on 
the above URL.

The holographic principle in Talbot's book is a completely different theory. 
  The Holographic Principle in physics holds that the information in any 
space (closed or open) fundamentally "lives" on the 2D boundary of that 3D 
space.  It had its origins in the theory of black holes, and was later 
generalized to a universal and a general principle.

I am much more familiar with Whitehead's metaphysics than Persig's.  I think 
the two are compatable.  For Whitehead, the "actual entity" is always the 
reason for its own becoming.  There are various interpretations of what the 
actual entity is, but, most fundmentally, it is the particle, which is 
endowed with experience and is in a causal nexus through prehension or 
feeling with all other actual entities.  The actual entity enters into a 
nexus, or network, of relations, leading to its replication at the next 
moment through the ingression of some "eternal object" in a dimensional 
realm called the "extensive continuum."  When the satisfaction of the 
quality of experience is reached, there is a "concrescence" or integration 
occurs, which is fundamentally subjective, in what Whitehead calls "the mode 
of causal efficacy".  The actual entity has a "seriality of becomings" 
through discontinuous iterations of its entire past in the "mode of causal 
efficacy" which is fundamentally at the "physical pole."  Consciousness 
arises when the actual entity moves towards the "mental pole" in "the mode 
of presentational immediacy."  It brings about a refinement or definition of 
the actual entity, leading to a higher order of the quality of experience or 
"satisfaction" of the "subjective aim."  Once the "conscrescence" of the 
actual entity occurs, it passes into "objective immortality."

In Whiteheadean metaphysics, the "satisfaction" occurs at the level of the 
"actual entity," creating "societies" of actual occasions, although these 
societies can also be viewed as higher order "actual occasasions" in a 
hierarchy that leads to the "organism."

The "hologram" in the Whiteheadean sense exists at the level of the actual 
occasion and in the mode of causal efficacy.  Presentational immediacy gives 
us the perception of external objects or phenemena, seeming to be cut off 
from the past, and not "feeling" the "prehensions" that occur only in the 
mode of causal efficacy.  In the Holographic Principle this would be the 
most fundamental unit of information and experience.  My interpretation is 
that information and experience are the same thing.  Quality enters, in the 
Whiteheadean sense, through the ingression of some "eternal object" during 
the conscrescence of the actual entity.  Eternal objects exist in a 
timeless, Platonic realm, in Whitehead's metaphysics.

Integration of Whitehead's metaphysics with the Holographic Principle of 
Mind is something that I'm still working on, but some of my initial thoughts 
are in the paper, referenced above.

Best wishes,

Mark Germine


>Hi Mark,
>
>When you say "holographic principle" are you talking Michael Talbot
>"Holographic Universe" ideas ? Personally I have strong affinity for a
>quantum information "holochory" view of the foundations of reality,
>including consciousness, but find Talbot goes too far for me with
>literal holograms at the macro scale .... I'd be intrigued to see your
>paper.
>
>It seems almost obvious that the smallest "difference" must be the
>most atomic component of everything else ... however one constructs
>complex reality on top of that concept.
>
>Ian
>
>On 5/31/07, Mark Germine <mgermine at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > To all,
> >
> > I noticed a reference in a recent post on collective consciousness,
> > connecting this to the noosphere and the Holographic Principle Theory of
> > Mind.  This seems to be in keeping with Persig's ideas regarding the
> > metaphysics of quality in that the quality of experience is severely
> > compromized when we are unaware of our interconnectedness and seem to 
>each
> > other to be mere "objects."  My paper an the Holographic Principle 
>Theory of
> > mind can be found on the Dynamical Psychology website.  The abstract is
> > below:
> >
> > The Holographic Principle holds the information in any region of space 
>and
> > time exists on the surface of that region.  Layers of the holographic,
> > universal "now" go from the inception of the universe to the present.
> > Universal Consciousness is the timeless source of actuality and 
>mentality.
> > Information is experience, and the expansion of the "now" leads to 
>higher
> > and higher orders of experience in the Universe, with various levels of
> > consciousness emerging from experience.  The brain consists of a nested
> > hierarchy of surfaces which range from the most elementary field through 
>the
> > neuron, neural group, and the whole brain.  Evidence from the evolution 
>and
> > structure of the brain shows that optimal surface areas in a variety of
> > structures are conserved with respect to underlying surfaces.  
>Microgenesis,
> > the becoming of the mental state through a process of recapitulation of
> > development and evolution, is in full accord with the Holographic 
>Principle.
> > Evidence from a wide variety of contexts indicates the capacity of the 
>mind
> > for total recall of past life events and for access to universal
> > information, indicating connection with the holographic surfaces of 
>prior
> > "nows" and with the Universal holographic boundary.  In summation, the
> > Holographic Principle can help us explain the unity and mechanisms of
> > perception, experience, memory, and consciousness.
> >
> > Regards to all,
> >
> > Mark Germine