(Written based on my theses by the GPT-4 system, because I’m lazy)
At the quantum level, it is believed that information cannot be lost. One example that has made scientists ponder the preservation of information is black holes. For a long time, there was a contradiction in science, as it was thought that everything that falls into a black hole is lost forever. However, one way of preserving information is described in the theory of the holographic nature of black holes.
The theory of the holographic nature of black holes is based on ideas related to how information can be preserved at the boundary of a black hole, known as the event horizon.
First of all, let’s clarify what an event horizon is. The event horizon is the boundary surrounding a black hole beyond which nothing (including light) can escape. For an observer outside the black hole, it appears that objects approaching the event horizon slow down and never actually cross it.
In the 1970s, it was proposed that all information about matter absorbed by a black hole could be preserved on its event horizon in the form of a two-dimensional structure. This proposal, known as the holographic principle, suggests that three-dimensional information within the volume of a black hole can be represented on its two-dimensional surface.
Stephen Hawking, in his work on black holes, demonstrated that they can emit particles (Hawking radiation), which contradicts the idea that nothing can escape from a black hole. This led to the so-called “information paradox” in black holes: if a black hole can emit particles and eventually evaporate, what happens to the information about the matter that originally formed the black hole?
The holographic principle suggests that information is not lost but preserved at the event horizon. In this context, black holes can be viewed as holograms: their internal three-dimensional structure is entirely determined by their two-dimensional boundary.
Modern research in string theory and gravity aims to provide a comprehensive explanation of the holographic principle and its implications for understanding the nature of the cosmos, black holes, and information.
From the idea that a black hole is a hologram, it’s not far to the idea that the entire universe is a hologram, since the universe has such mass that it must also have an event horizon. The idea that the universe is a hologram is a concept suggesting that everything we perceive as a three-dimensional world may actually be a projection of information encoded on a two-dimensional boundary of that space. This idea is part of the holographic principle in theoretical physics. The holographic principle emerged from the study of black hole properties and string theory. Scientists have found that information about matter inside a black hole can be represented on its two-dimensional boundary, the event horizon, implying a holographic nature of space. If the universe is indeed holographic, it means that every fragment of this “two-dimensional surface” contains information about the entire universe. In a way, this resembles a hologram, where each piece of holographic film contains an image of the whole object. Some scientists believe that the holographic structure of the universe could explain certain phenomena of cosmic microwave background radiation—the relic radiation from the Big Bang. If we accept this theory, it changes our perception of reality. We stop seeing the world as an objective three-dimensional space and begin to view it as a projection, which has profound philosophical implications for our understanding of consciousness, reality, and our place in the universe. Although the holographic principle is an important and actively discussed idea in theoretical physics, it is still far from universal acceptance. Additional experimental data and research are needed to confirm or refute this hypothesis. Nevertheless, the idea of a holographic universe demonstrates how unusual and profound the laws of physics can be, and how far scientific inquiry can take us from our everyday intuitions about the nature of reality.
But we got sidetracked. If we perceive ourselves as information—after all, everything we consider to be “ourselves” consists of memories and experiences that shape our behavior and form the context through which we give meaning to all the signals we receive—then, from a biological and medical standpoint, immortality means the absence of aging and death. In the context of information, immortality can be viewed as the preservation and reproduction of information about oneself after death. If information is indeed preserved at the quantum level, then theoretically, every action we take, every thought or feeling we have, remains encoded in the structure of the Universe.
What we feel right now, our active moment of consciousness and existence, resembles the head of a comet: bright, dynamic, and in the spotlight. But behind this bright “head” follows a huge “tail” – all our memories, actions, feelings, and thoughts that we leave behind in the fabric of space-time. We rarely sense this “tail” because the brightness of the “head” overwhelms our chakras, much like a bright flashlight prevents us from seeing the stars in the sky.
But imagine that one day the bright light of the “head” goes out. Then we will be able to fully experience ourselves. We will find ourselves in a world where there is no division between the past and the future, where our existence extends into the temporal dimension. It will be like suddenly looking up at the sky after a long gaze at a bright lantern and seeing an infinite number of stars. Such a sight is undoubtedly much more interesting and captivating than a simple look at a solitary lantern. After all, the true wonder lies not in what is before us now, but in what we leave behind, in our unexplored “tail.”
All our experiences, every moment, every feeling, and every emotion are like stars in the infinite sky of our existence. Many of these stars are overshadowed by the bright light of our present moment, but they are still there, forming a part of our universe.
We are used to living in the “here and now,” focusing on current tasks, problems, and joys. But if we could learn to “turn off” this bright light, even for a short time, we would discover a new world. A world where every moment of our lives is important and meaningful, where there is no room for regrets or fear of the unknown.
Perhaps this is the very nature of moments of deep meditation. Moments when we feel like part of something greater, when we realize that every action and thought we have leaves a mark in the Universe.
The idea that we exist as four-dimensional objects is not new in modern physics and philosophy. One version of this idea suggests that everything we perceive in our three-dimensional world is actually just a “slice” of our true four-dimensional existence in spacetime. This “slice” is similar to how we would only see the tip of an iceberg until we delve below the surface of the water. After death or a profound spiritual awakening, when our limited three-dimensional perceptions fade away, we begin to fully experience our four-dimensional existence. Various religious texts throughout the centuries have illuminated ideas of eternity, enlightenment, and knowledge. The Torah and the Bible contain passages that reflect similar thoughts:
- Torah.:.
- “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.”(Isaiah 35:5) – This can be interpreted as the moment when a person realizes their true nature in a 4-dimensional world.
- Bible:.
- “For there is nothing hidden that will not be made known, and nothing concealed that will not come to light.”(Mark 4:22) – This may reflect the idea that ultimately all our actions, thoughts, and feelings from the past, present, and future will be revealed.
- “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”(Daniel 12:2) – This verse may refer to the resurrection of the dead and the possibility of seeing one’s own life and the lives of others in the fullness of existence, without the limitations of time.
It turns out that the idea that our true “self” extends beyond the three-dimensional world we are confined to connects with ancient religious concepts, offering a deeper understanding of the nature of existence and the possibility of spiritual enlightenment.