Biocentrism: How life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe by Robert Lanza with Bob BermanBenBella Books.

 

Biocentrism is a theory put forward by Robert Lanza that life creates the universe instead of the other way round. It argues that current theories and a “theory of everything” on the physical world will not work unless the consciousness of life is included in the equation. It is a proposal for a paradigm shift in Science along the lines of Quantum physics and what’s called Biocentrism with “Quantum weirdness.”

 

This is a well written book about a new scientific approach of looking at the world. It is not hard to read although it is about complex theories of science from the viewpoints of biology and astronomy. Robert Lanza is a medical doctor who is also a well respected scientist and covers the biological aspects of the book while Bob Berman is one of the best known astronomers in the world and covers the inter-stellar aspects of the book. It is not a long book or technically written and it includes passages from Lanza’s own life.

 

Lanza explains the “Goldilocks principle” in which the world appears to be “just right” for life to emerge and how it seems to be designed for life at all levels from the sub atomic to the inter-stellar. For example’ if the big bang had been one part in a million more powerful, it would have exploded too fast for the galaxies and life to develop. Another example is that if nuclear force were decreased two percent atomic nuclei wouldn’t hold together and hydrogen would be the only element in the Universe. The Universes parts are perfectly set up for atomic interactions, as are the atoms as elements, the planets and water and life. There are 200 of these physical parameters within the Universe that are so exact that it is nearly impossible that it is random. Lanza believes that, rather than matter evolved into life, life (consciousness) operating at a quantum sub-atomic level created the universe.

 

He focuses on the importance of how the observer and particles and waves of matter behave differently when an observer is present at subatomic level. When studying subatomic particles like this, the observer seems to alter and determine what is perceived. The consciousness of the observer is decisive in determining what a particle does at any given moment. Quantum theory points out that at sub atomic level particles have both a particle nature and a wave nature. An object’s behaviour only exists as probabilities until an observer appears.

 

I have problems with his theory that reality must include the observer. An example he gives is that the room you are reading this in for example disappears into waves of probability as soon as you leave it. However at subatomic level this quantum weirdness says this is correct. It is a scientifically proven fact that particles and waves act differently at subatomic level when there is an observer. Scientists cannot be totally sure of quantum particles motion and position at the same time; we have to choose one or the other. Thus the consciousness of the observer is critical to determining what a particle does at any moment.

 

Lanza sets out in his book seven principles of Biocentrism:

  • What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness. An”external” reality, if it existed, would - by definition - have to exist in space. But this is meaningless because space and time are not absolute realities but rather tools of the human and animal mind.
  • Our external and internal perceptions are inextricably intertwined. They are different sides of the same coin and cannot be divorced from one another.
  • The behavior of subatomic particles, indeed all particles and objects, is inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability waves.
  • Without consciousness, “matter” dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.
  • The structure of the universe is explainable only through biocentrism. The universe is fine-tuned for life, which makes perfect sense as life creates the universe, not the other way around. The “universe” is simply the complete spatial-temporal logic of the self.
  • Time does not have a real existence outside of animal-sense perception. It is the process by which we perceive changes in the universe.
  • Space, like time, is not an object or a thing. Space is another form of our animal understanding and does not have an independent reality. We carry space and time around with us like turtles with shells. Thus, there is no absolute self-existing matrix in which physical events occur independent of life.

Biocentrism has its limits as a theory but according to Lanza it offers far and away the best explanation for why the Universe is the way it is. Lanza points out that this theory should be seen as a portal to deeper understandings of nature and the universe.

 

The book certainly makes you think and unlocks different ways of looking at the Universe whether or not you agree with his approach.