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The Connectivity Hypothesis:
Foundations of an Integral Science of Quantum, Cosmos, Life, and Consciousness
by Ervin Laszlo
Albany: SUNY Press, 2003
Foreword by Ralph H. Abraham (abraham@vismath.org)
Pythagoras, ancient theologian and prophet, imagined a model for cosmos and
consciousness based on number mysticism. But 2000 years would pass before
his prophesy could be realized. Then in 1637, Descartes and Fermat independently
connected algebra and geometry, an adequate basis for modern science. And very
swiftly we had Galileo, Newton, d'Alembert, Fourier, Maxwell, Einstein,
Schroedinger, and the field theories of mathematical physics -- scalar,
vector, tensor, spinor fields, and so on. The attempts to unify all the
fields into a single mathematical model began with Einstein and are ongoing
today. The current state of the art, known as the theory of the quantum vacuum
field, attempts to model the wholeness and connectedness of the physical
universe, from quantum to cosmos. Meanwhile, the methods and dreams of
mathematical physics were applied to biology by Rashevsky, and to psychology
by Lewin, in the 1930s.
More recently, hopes grow for a science of consciousness, and many capable
scientists are engaged in experimental and theoretical work aimed at models
inspired by the field theories of mathematical physics, especially quantum theory.
Somehow, and nobody knows quite why, the upper, vital spheres of the perennial
philosophy -- intellect, soul, and spirit -- were dropped out of the picture,
as modern science took over from philosophy and religion at the end of the
Renaissance. The new science of life of Sheldrake tries to restore vitalism
to biology. The archetypal psychology of Jung, Hillman, and Moore tries to bring
it back into psychology. Along with many others, these efforts may be seen as a
New Renaissance.
Amid the milieu of this embryonic paradigm shift, Ervin Laszlo stands out as the
unique champion of a wholistic philosophy of the broadest perspective. For his
bold plan is to unify all -- quantum, cosmos, life, and consciousness -- in a
single grand unified model. In this book he summarizes the new empirical
results which now trigger a paradigm shift, details his blueprint for the
conceptual foundations of a unified theory of the psi field, and works out
the implications of the new theory for the outstanding philosophical problems
unresolved by our current paradigm. A chief characteristic feature of his psi
field theory is its bipolar aspect: the manifest domain of matter and a virtual
domain of infinite energy are in an endless loop of coevolution.
It seems likely that someday, such a great grand unified theory will appear.
And when it does, it will very likely conform in broad outline to the prophetic
vision of Ervin Laszlo. In this book, he points the way indeed to Wholeness
in Cosmos and Consciousness, and provides the Conceptual Foundations of the
Emerging Paradigm of the 21st Century.
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