The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe

Classical physics or biology could not account for such fundamental issues as how we can think in the first place; why cells organize as they do; how many molecular processes proceed virtually instantaneously; why arms develop as arms and legs as legsm even though they have the same genes and proteins; why we get cance; how this machine of ours can miraculously heal itself; and even what knowing is - how it is that we know what we know. Scientists might understand in minute detail the screws, bolts, joints and various wheels; but nothing about the force that powers the engine. They might treat the smallest mechanics of the body but still they appeared ignorant of the most fundamental mysteries of life.

If it were true that the laws of quantum mechanics also apply to the world at large, and not just the subatomic world, and to biology and not just the world of matter, then the entire paradigm for biological science was flawed or incomplete. Just as Newton`s theories had eventually been improved upon by the quantum theorists, perhaps Heisenberg and Einstein themselves had been wrong, or at least only partially right. If quantum theory were applied to biology on a large scale, we would be viewed more as a complex network of energy fields in some sort of dynamic interplay with our chemical cellular systems. The world would exist as a matrix of indivisible interrelation, just as Ed had experienced it in outer space. What was so evidently missing from standard biology was an explanation for the organizing principle - for human consciousness.

Ed began devouring books about religious experiences, Eastern thoughtm and the little scientific evidence that existed on the nature of consciousness. He launched early studies with a number of scientists in Stanford, he set up the Institute of Neotic Sciences, a non-profit organization whose role was to fund this type of research, he began amassing scientific studies of consciousness into a book. Before long, it was all he could think of and talk about, and what had turned into an obsession tore himarriage apart.

Edgars work may not have lit a revolutionary fire, but he certainly, stoked it. In prestigious universities around the world tiny pockets of quiet rebellion were sprouting up against the world view of Newton and Darwin, the dualism in physics and the current view of human perception. During his search, Ed began making contact with scientists with impressive credentials at many of the big reputable universities - Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, the university of Edinburgh - who were coming up with discoveries that just didn`t fit.

Unlike Edgar, these scientists hadn`t undergoe an epiphany to arrive at a new world view. It was simply that in the course of their work they`d come across scientific results which were square pegs to the round hole of established scientific theory, and much as they might try to jam them into place - and in many cases, the scientists wished, indeed willed, them to fit - they would stubbornly resist. Most of the scientists had arrived at their conclusions accidentally, and, as if they`d landed at the wrong railway station, once they`d got there, they figured that there was no other possibility but to get out and explore the new terrain. To be a true explorer is to carry on your exploration even if it takes you to a place you didn`t particularly plan to go to.

The most important quality common to all these researchers was a simple willingness to suspend disbelief and remain open to true discovery, even if it meant challenging the existing order of things, alientating, coleagues or opening themselves up to censure and professional ruin. To be a revolutionary in science today is to flirt with professional suicide. Much as the field purports to encourage experimental freedom, the entire structure of science, with its highly competitive grant syste, coupled with the publishing and peer review system, largely depends upon individuals conforming to the accepted scientific world view. The system tends to encourage professionals to carry out experimentation whose purpose is primarily to confirm the existing view of things, or to further develop technology for industry, rather than to serve up true innovation.

From: The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe