Schrodinger’s cat is the best known example of the paradox regarding the measurement problem in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. A cat is apparently evolving into a linear superposition of basis vectors that can be characterized as an alive cat and states that can be described as a dead cat. Each of these possibilities is associated with a specific nonzero probability amplitude. The cat seems to be in a mixed state. However, a single observation of the cat does not measure the probabilities. It always finds either a living cat, or a dead cat. After the measurement the cat is definitively alive or dead. The question is, how are the probabilities converted into an actual, sharply well-defined outcome?

The measurement problem is the key set of questions that every interpretation of quantum mechanics must address. The wavefunction in quantum mechanics evolves according to the Schrodinger equation into a linear superposition of different states, but the actual measurements always find the physical system in a definite state. Any future evolution is based on the state the system was discovered to be in when the measurement was made, meaning that the measurement did something to the process under examination. Whatever that something may be does not appear to be explained by the basic theory.

Different interpretations of quantum mechanics propose different solutions of the measurement problem. Quantum decoherence was proposed in the context of the many worlds interpretation, but it has also become an important part of some modern updates of the Copenhagen interpretation based on consistent histories. Quantum decoherence does not describe the actual process of the wavefunction collapse, but it explains the conversion of the quantum probabilities that are able to interfere to the ordinary physical probabilities. 

Hugh Everett’s relative state interpretation, also referred to as a many worlds interpretation, attempts to avoid the problem by suggesting it is an illusion. Under this system there is only one wavefunction, the superposition of the entire universe, and it never collapses, so there is no measurement problem. Instead the act of measurement is actually an interaction between two quantum entities, which entangle to form a single larger entity, for instance living cat and happy scientist. Everett also attempted to demonstrate the way that in measurements the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics would appear. Everett’s interpretation posits a single universal wavefunction, but with the added condition that reality from the point of view of any single observer is defined as a single path in time through the superpositions. Under this system our reality is one of many similar ones.

The Bohm interpretation tries to solve the measurement problem very differently. This interpretation contains not only the wavefunction, but also the information about the position of the particles. The role of the wavefunction is to create a quantum potential that influences the motion of the real particle in such a way that the probability distribution for the particle remains consistent with the predictions of the orthodox quantum mechanics. According to the Bohm interpretation, once the particle is observed, other wave function channels remain empty and thus ineffective, but there is no true wavefunction collapse. 

The present situation is slowly clarifying. Several proposals have been put forward to elucidate the meaning of probabilities and arrive at the Born rule. No decisive conclusion appears to have been reached as to the success of these derivations. Only the physical interactions between systems then determine a particular decomposition into classical states from the view of each particular system. Thus classical concepts are to be understood as locally emergent in a relative state sense and should no longer claim a fundamental role in the physical theory.

According to ancient and medieval science, Ether is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere. It was imagined in Greek mythology to be the pure essence where the gods lived and which they breathed, analogous to the air breathed by mortals.

Aristotle included Ether in the system of the classical elements of Ionic philosophy as the quintessence, on the principle that the four terrestrial elements were subject to change and moved naturally in straight lines while no change had been observed in the celestial regions and the heavenly bodies moved in circles. 

In Aristotle’s system Ether had no qualities, was neither hot, cold, wet, or dry, and was incapable of change. By its nature it moved in circles. Medieval scholastic philosophers granted Ether changes of density in which the bodies of the planets were considered to be denser than the medium which filled the rest of the universe.

Early modern physics proposed the existence of a medium of the Ether meaning upper air or pure, fresh air, a space filling substance or field, thought to be necessary as a transmission medium. The assorted Ether theories embody the various conceptions of this medium and substance. This early modern Ether has little in common with the Ether of classical elements from which the name was borrowed.

Although hypotheses of the Ether vary somewhat in detail they all have certain characteristics in common. Essentially it is considered to be a physical medium occupying every point in space, including material bodies. A second essential feature is that its properties gives rise to the electric, magnetic and gravitational potentials and determines the propagation velocity of their effects. 

Therefore the speed of light and all other propagating effects are determined by the physical properties of the Ether at the relevant location, analogous to the way that gaseous, liquid and solid media affect the propagation of sound waves.

The Ether is considered the overall reference frame for the universe and thus velocities are all absolute relative to its rest frame. Therefore, any physical consequences of those velocities are considered as having absolute or real effects.

Recent Ether theories of velocity effects, phenomenon of gravitation and planetary motion, creation of proton, of stars and planets, etc., exist but are not generally accepted by the mainstream scientific community.

John Bell, interviewed by Paul Davies in The Ghost in the Atom has suggested that an Ether theory allows a reference frame in which signals go faster than light. Bell suggests the Ether was wrongly rejected on purely philosophical grounds, in that what is unobservable does not exist. 

Einstein found the non-Ether theory simpler and more elegant, but Bell suggests that doesn’t rule it out. Besides the arguments based on his interpretation of quantum mechanics, Bell also suggests resurrecting the Ether because it is a useful pedagogical device. That is, lots of problems are solved more easily by imagining the existence of an Ether.

In the Latter Day Saint movement, Kolob is a star or planet mentioned in the Book of Abraham as being nearest to the throne or residence of God. The literal existence and the exact nature of Kolob is a controversial topic in Latter Day Saint movement theology, as is the Book of Abraham, which has not been canonized by the Community of Christ and several other denominations.

In an explanation of an Egyptian hypocephalus that was part of the Book of Abraham scrolls, Joseph Smith interpreted one set of hieroglyphics as representing Kolob, signifying the first creation nearest to the celestial or the residence of God. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth.

The Book of Abraham describes a hierarchy of heavenly bodies, including the earth, its moon, and the sun, each with different movements and measurements of time, where at the pinnacle, the slowest revolving body is Kolob, where one Kolob day corresponds to 1000 earth-years:

Modern Egyptologists have made an analysis of the facsimile and with fragments of the papyrus from which the Book of Abraham was translated, and disagree with Joseph Smith’s interpretation. In response to criticism that Joseph Smith’s interpretation is not consistent with Egyptologists interpretation, some Mormon apologists promote a loose, symbolic interpretation of the facsimile they say is consistent with Smith’s translation.

According to the literal interpretation, Kolob is an actual star in this universe that is near to, or perhaps the sun of, the physical throne of God. This interpretation has significant formative impact on Mormon belief and criticism, leading to conceptions such that the faithful will be made gods of planets in this universe, that God dwells within this universe rather than transcending it, and that the Biblical creation is a creation of the local earth, solar system, or galaxy, rather than the entire known physical reality.

A metaphorical interpretation relatively uncommon in Mormonism suggests that Kolob represents Jesus Christ rather than a physical object and location in this universe. Advocates of the symbolic interpretation believe it harmonizes better with other Mormon beliefs and with beliefs in the greater Christian community, as it does not require that God have a physical throne within this universe.

Kolob is similar to an Iroquoian word which expressed the power of life, healing, and rebirth, as symbolized by the rising of the Sun in the east each day. North American Tribes residing in the Eastern United States associated the rising of the sun with the direction of east, and associated Sunrise with divine power, rebirth, healing, and resurrection. The word kolob is similar to the Iroquoian word kalvg, pronounced kah-luh-g, which means east or Sunrise. The rising of the sun was associated with Asgaya Gigaei, the Red Man of the East, a pseudonym for the Apportioner or Creator Spirit, unelanvhi.

Some of the elements of the two Battlestar Galactica science-fiction television shows seem to be derived from the Mormon beliefs of its creator and chief producer, Glen A. Larson. In both the original series from 1978, and the 2003 new series, the planet Kobol is the ancient and distant mother world of the entire human race and the planet where life began, and the Lords of Kobol are sacred figures to the human race. 

Kolob was also the name of a short-lived record label company founded by the Osmond Brothers in the 1970s. Released in association with MGM Records, the logo consisted of a hand holding a ball of clay resembling the planet. The Osmonds also recorded an album called The Plan which deals with themes in Mormonism related to Kolob.

Each one of us is far greater, far more advanced, far more consciously aware, far more intelligent than we conceive of our selves as being. Within each of us is a central law pressure place, a quiet center, in which we can learn to live eternally. Just outside of this quiet center is a cyclone, the rotating storm of the ego, competing with other egos in a furious high velocity circular dance.

In the quiet center we are untouched by the cyclone, but as we leave it, the roar of the rotating wind deafens as we join the frenzied dance of our ever more busy lives. Our centered thinking, feeling and being is in the quiet center, not outside in the busy world. Our pushed, pulled and driven states, our antiSatori modes of functioning, our self created hell, is outside the quiet center. When in the quiet center we are off the wheel of karma, outside the busy details and dramas of life, rising to join the creators of the universe, the creators of us. Here we find that we have created They who are Us

Major philosophical puzzles are concerned with the existence of self, with the relation of the self to the brain, to the mind and to other minds, with the existence or non-existence of an immortal self. Powerful beliefs have evolved about these areas of thought.

There are two aspects of the self. There is an observing self, the observer, and a doing or participating self, the operator. The whole self is the observer and the operator. Depending upon circumstances, the observer can be observing external events, or internal events, or both. The operator can be participating in external events, or in internal events, or both. In the external reality the operator uses the body to do things and participate. In the internal reality the operator uses simulations of reality, which are concepts, beliefs, meta beliefs, intentions, distinctions, and so forth. These internal images or pictures of external reality are not real, they are simulations of what is out there, as we perceive it. Simulations of the same external event can vary widely among people.

No matter what you are doing, the the self and observer and operator is always immersed in the internal simulations domain. Even when engaged in external events, we are simultaneously engaged in watching and acting in the internal domain. The two realities, internal and external, interact in a two way feedback relationship, internal reality to external reality to internal reality to external reality and so on endlessly.

Like a scientist, the self observes, which involves consciousness and control. In the science game, the scientist is expected to be always conscious, aware and in control of his thinking, to be rational, and in control of the processes that he is examining. This is not always the case. When in the void space and isolated from sensory stimulation, it can be discovered that there are many states in which the Self is not in control but is being programmed by forces very much larger than self.

It is as if the self were a victim, being coercively persuaded of another belief system not one’s own. Most of us have been aware of such an experience at one time or another, especially as children. The passive observer and the active operator both disappear under these conditions. Interlocked with forces, with beings, with entities far greater than we are, the self does that which it is programmed to do rather than to operate by our own initiative. We are forced into participation by external forces. We do not sit still and watch, as a scientist would.

Words, language, logic and mathematical descriptions are not adequate expressers of either the inner or outer aspects of reality. Somehow, all descriptions of reality are sterile. They tend to play word games that cleverly juggle with ideas in intricate patterns as if meaningful.

There are protocols for how to think objectively about outer physical, chemical and biological realities. Equally important is to develop ways to think objectively about the inner realities. But we lack tools to conduct a truly objective philosophical analysis of who we are on the inside.

Realization of the lack of any limits in the mind is not easy to acquire. The domains of direct experience of infinities within greater infinities of experience are sometimes frightening, sometimes awesome, sometimes blissfull. Franklin Merrell-Wolff, who feels this lack of mind limits in his own experiences writes in The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object: Reflections on the Nature of Transcendental Consciousness:

1) The first discernible effect in consciousness was something that I may call a shift in the base of consciousness. From the relative point of view, the final step may be likened to a leap into Nothing. At once, that Nothing was resolved into utter Fullness, which in turn gave the relative world a dreamlike quality of unreality. I felt and knew myself to have arrived, at last, at the Real. I was not dissipated in a sort of spatial emptiness, but on the contrary was spread out in a Fullness beyond measure.

The roots of my consciousness, which prior to this moment had been (seemingly) more or less deeply implanted in the field of relative consciousness, now were forcibly removed and instantaneously transplanted into a supernal region. This sense of being thus transplanted has continued to the present day, and it seems to be a much more normal state of emplacement than ever the old rooting had been.

2) Closely related to the foregoing is a transformation in the meaning of the “Self” or “I” Previously, pure subjectivity had seemed to me to be like a zero or vanishing point, a “somewhat” that had position in consciousness but no body. So long as that which man calls his “Self” had body, it stood within the range of analytic observation. Stripping off the sheaths of this body until none is left is the function of the discriminative technique in meditation. At the end there remains that which is never an object and yet is the foundation upon which all relative consciousness is strung like beads upon a string.

Our conduct naturally shapes itself according to the ideas in the mind, and nothing contributes more to success in life than having a high ideal and keeping it constantly in view. Where such is the case one can hardly fail in attaining it. Numerous unexpected circumstances will be found to bring it about, and even what seemed at first to be hostile may be converted into means for its continuance.

By having a high ideal constantly before the mind one is always ready to take advantage of any favoring circumstances that may present themselves. The mind subconsciously molds itself around the prevailing mental image or attitude, and then proceeds to draw upon the outer world for material with which to build in accordance with the plan. Not only is one’s character built in this way, but the circumstances and incidents of life follow the same rule.

It is well known that the few who have attained high degrees of development make use of this idea in order to help the race. Many a world movement has been directed by the minds of those advanced souls who were able to see the ideal of evolution and by concentrating upon it in meditation actually hastened its progress.

Some have used similar plans to further their own selfish personal ends often without fully realizing just what they were employing, but this simply illustrates the fact that the forces of nature may be used rightly or wrongly. And it is all the more reason why those who are desirous of advancing the race and assisting in the evolution of the world should make use of the power of meditation in their work.

Many are beginning to understand that thought manifests itself in action, and that thought attracts to itself the things, persons and circumstances in harmony with itself. The life of our race is entering into a new stage of development and evolution, and in the years to come mind will be seen more and more clearly to be the great principle underlying the world of material things and happenings.

Cells are individual conscious entities that participate in collective consciousnesses at various levels. There are many varieties of one celled beings who do not live in cell communities but spend their lives free and self regulating. When cells join in cooperative association they do not lose consciousness any more than a fish in a school. There is a body of evidence indicating that there is more to an organism than simply chemical reactions.

Dr. Harold Saxton Burr spent much of his life experimenting with electrical fields that envelop all organic forms. We need to keep in mind that all form is of a field nature. When we put iron filings around a magnet we see the shape of an immaterial field. When we examine matter we see an atomic field that assumes many forms. The nature of form is that it has boundary. Organic forms have the familiar material boundaries that we see and then there is an electrical envelope outside this boundary that has been studied by Dr. Burr.

This envelope is an extremely weak, direct current electrical field, extending out less than an inch. This field exists around all organic forms. There are also other energy fields such as the alternating current fields of electricity extending out from various regions of the human body, but none of these encompass the whole body. Dr. Burr was interested not so much by the fact that such a field exists but by the fluctuation of energy potential in these fields, which resonated with terrestrial and extraterrestrial events.

By monitoring the direct current field around living things, Dr. Burr found that the change in potential energy of this field correlates with specific events both internal and external to the body. This energy field that Burr studied is the same as the energy field that is monitored by the lie detector. The lie detector monitors fluctuations of the emotions. It is important to note that the field of electricity itself is probably not the emotion but a byproduct of its functioning. The symptomatic fluctuation makes it possible to monitor the actual phenomenon.

By his study, Burr found that each of us is a participant in the metabolism of the solar body through this field. Fluctuations in energy potential of this direct current field correlate with the lunar cycle and the sun spot cycle. He also discovered that by monitoring the field, the ovulation of the human female could be determined exactly, a matter of extreme importance to the human family. The electrical monitoring indicates an immaterial force that both controls and is controlled by the material. It is an integrated whole.

Burr’s research led him to the discovery that by monitoring the energy field he could determine the longitudinal axis (spinal column) of an unfertilized salamander egg. As he monitored it after fertilization his monitoring of the immaterial guiding field indicated that the spinal column remained congruous with the electrical polarity throughout its development. That is, the guiding field was there before fertilization and remained there as the guiding field, as the biological form unfolded. Burr went further and demonstrated that the guiding field not only participates in guiding the development of form but also is always at work with the living organism.

Burr also found the cosmic fluctuations of moon cycle, sun cycle and sunspots caused changes in the electrical potential of field, thus giving us evidence of the intimate connection of our bodies and emotions to cosmic events. In addition to being simply another piece of evidence that everything is connected, the Burr material shows an interaction between a force field that can be monitored by its electrical side effect and the physical organism. It suggests even further that important aspects of the control of the material form exists in this field.

Student and colleague Leonard Ravitz carried Burr’s work forward. Ravitz focused especially on the human dimension, beginning with a solid demonstration of the effects of the lunar cycle on the human energy field, reaching a peak of activity at the full moon. Through work with hypnosis he demonstrated that changes in the energy field directly relate to changes in a person’s mental and emotional states. Ravitz stated, “Both emotional activity and stimuli of any sort involve mobilization of electrical energy, as indicated on the galvanometer, hence, both emotions and stimuli evoke the same energy. Emotions can be equated with energy.” Most intriguingly, Ravitz showed that the energy field as a whole disappears before physical death.

When one looks out into the heavens at night, one sees points of light. This light is the transmission of pure energy striking the cells in our eyes. We know intellectually that the universe is full of pure energy going in all directions from those stars, but sometimes we cannot perceive that the light is something that is formed by the same source that has created us.

Cycle and balance are the basic processes of the universe. Events are circular, cyclical and vibrational. They travel from one pole and back around to the other. We are born into cycle and motion. From the time that the reproductive cells are formed in each of our parents, we are in motion. When we are later carried in the womb, we are in a sea of motion. After the cycle of gestation, we are finally born out of the body into a world of motion where winds blow, seasons cycle, and cycles of our own growth occur.

Each of us has been born onto a sphere travelling in space called the Earth, which is spinning around the central sun. The central sun with its planetary companions travels in a circle within our galaxy which itself is moving around a supercluster of galaxies. From the moment our first cell is created, we are part of the whole, and we never cease being in motion. 

We are a part of increasingly larger processes. There is no such thing as linear expansion toward some static security. The motion we experience is not random, but is cyclic. The circles of the Milky Way Galaxy, the solar system, our earth and the moon around us, occur in cycles so finely balanced and timed that they may be computed exactly, far into the future or into the past. 

These invariable motions are the Law. These impeccably tuned, harmonious cycles are imposed upon us by forces so powerful that there is no question that they are Cosmic Law. Within these celestial cycles the planet spins in a constant cycle of sunlight and darkness that is functionally a day night alternating current. Each point on the planet’s sphere is saturated with energy, then shadowed from it in precisely timed measures. 

Within this cycle and the energy cycle of the seasons, organic life on earth proliferates. The life of the earth was able to grow and develop because it remained in a state of dynamic balance. There is certainly change in the earth’s life but this occurs within a context of balance. If the earth tilted even a few more degrees or if there were any deviation of the earth’s orbit around the sun, the life of the earth would be greatly altered or non-existent.

The earth, this complex blue and white speckled egg, is alive, and its life processes vary constantly as it spins. Its colors change with the seasons, its cloud layers whirl and circulate in rhythmic cycles. Not surprisingly, an Italian chemist, Giorgio Piccardi, has discovered that the speed of the chemical reactions varies according to a number of planetary situations.

Uncountable numbers of organic events occur each second on earth, conditioned by celestial events within the body ofthe solar system. Everything is in relationship, everything flows in cyclic adaptation according to its nature and place in the universe. Organic events such as the metabolism of plankton in the oceans, the migration of salmon, the growth of forests, the annual migration of caribou and innumerable other events all are influenced by cyclic forces completely enmeshed in a flowing whole that is intricately balanced.