The Impact of Acknowledging the Inherent Self-organizing Process:
(Chapter 5)
Integrating Science, Spirituality, and Philosophy
When we observe the historical pattern of the progression of western science, there is an emergent pattern of foundational assumptions and theories shifting from a static, rigid, and linear view of the universe to a more dynamic, flexible, and nonlinear view. We are shifting from a mathematical perception initially based in Euclidean geometry, which deals with static shapes or the flat concept of Earth, to one of fractal geometry, which collectively explain the dynamic, flexible, and nonlinear world, such as the self-organizing process of living systems. The following shifts are the result of a series of nonlinear discoveries that have changed our understanding of fundamental scientific paradigms, many of which are being explored by renowned scientists including Fritjof Capra, Steven Strogatz, Mark Buchanan, Albert-László Barabási, and their colleagues.
The first shift is understanding that the universe is not made of fundamental building blocks but in its purest form is constantly moving energy that contains a cognitive pattern of information. The dancing energy has a pattern of information that can be found everywhere. Each creature on Earth is composed of information; information sits at the center of our cells and rattles around in our brains. Every particle in the universe, every electron, every atom, every star, and each one of the countless galaxies throughout our universe is packed full of information. That information is always flowing, moving from place to place, spreading throughout the cosmos.
Therefore, energy and information are the most essential components of the universe, and so we can observe the universe as being made of cognitive energy. And as cosmic history has progressed, our energetic universe has evolved to contain a diverse array of complex life forms that are capable of processing this complex, energetic information, including human beings. Now that we have processed the information of our universe structurally and quantitatively, we are shifting to processing this information through qualitative evaluation. In the old paradigm, it was the structure that determined the processes; in the new paradigm, the process is primary, and every structure we observe is a manifestation of an underlying process. And focusing on patterns, relationship, and networks allows us to more deeply understand this process.
The second shift is due to the discovery of entanglement phenomena which created a new era of understanding that we are dealing with an interdependent, interconnected, correlated, and nonlinear universe. And in order to understand this universe we must remodel our approach to be similarly holistic, systemic, and nonlinear.
The third shift is a shift in the relationship between the observer and the observed, as we are recognizing that there is also entanglement among the consciousness of a human observer and the observed universe—for when we try to observe the dualistic behavior of a photon it responds to our observation.
The fourth shift is one of our perception of chaos. This shift is being facilitated by our recognition of the nonlinear network as the structural organization of all living systems. This recognition is allowing us to develop a deeper understanding of randomness and its significant role in a nonlinear world, and to acknowledge that there is an amazing order beyond our perceived chaos as we observe how nonlinear networks manifest themselves into fractal patterns. As fractal patterns, they become self-organizing systems when the behavioral patterns of the elements and the whole system are in sync, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Considering chaos as an emergent zone leading us to a higher order through synchronization will allow us to shift our negative perception of chaos as purely destructive and adopt positive, hopeful, and comfortable perception of it as an essential part of a greater creative process of our self-organizing universe.
The fifth shift is a recognition that there is a deep simplicity that governs the universe, and the search for the unified theory that describes this deep simplicity is shifting from physics to living science, and eventually self-organizing networks. In his book Decoding the Universe (2007), Charles Seife describes this shift as our metaphors for our defined order of the universe continues to evolve:
There is a long tradition of using pinnacles of science and its corresponding technology as a metaphor for the universe. In ancient Greece, geometry, surveying equipment and musical instruments were the science and technological wonders of the age, and Greeks regarded the cosmos as a manifestation of geometric relationships and the most complex technology, and Newton described a deterministic clockwork universe, with time as an infinitely precise parameter that gauged all cosmic change. In the nineteenth century, with advancements in thermodynamics and entropy, and development of the steam engine, Clausius, Von Helmholtz, Boltzmann, and Maxwell described the universe as a gigantic entropy-generating heat engine, sliding inexorably to a cosmic heat death.
The last few decades have been dominated by the development of computer science and information technology, resulting in the proposition of the metaphor of the universe as a gigantic computer by Seth Lloyd, Gregg Braden, and other scientists. Now, our continuously advancing observational technology allows us to witness the self-organizing process and fractal dimension of the universe at different scales in ways we were previously unable. Our expanding perception combined with advancements in biomimicry have provided a new metaphor of the universe as a living system. Although Gaia theory has been accepted among scientists since the 1970s, until recently achievements had not been applied to our understanding of the Earth as a living system. Similarly, many spiritual thinkers had not paid attention to Gaia theory and the emerging living universe metaphor and how Gaia theory is consistent with most spiritual traditions. And now we are seeing the living universe metaphor having the potential of providing a theory capable of unifying the previously siloed conversations of science and spirituality.
The Universe is made of cognitive energy
The universe is made of cognitive energy and cognitive energy performs in its most efficient form as a wave; but when it experiences local stability, it performs as particles. The particles carry an inherent spiral pattern of information (which could be demonstrated by the fractal dimension of the golden ratio) that makes them capable of organizing themselves in nonlinear network patterns, to perform at the chaotic zone, become fractal, and create the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. And so energy experiencing local stability as molecules is able to organize itself in this inherent nonlinear network to create enzymes with a higher level of functionality, content of information, and intelligence with a higher cognitive purpose. With a similar organizational pattern, these enzymes create proteins that contain a higher level of such qualities. If we follow this expanding perspective from enzyme to protein, protein to cell, cell to organ, and organ to our body, there is always a higher intelligence or cognitive purpose at each level.
By applying this observation of the body network to the collective consciousness of humanity, we then come to the consciousness and cognitive purpose of the entire Earth (which includes collective intelligence of humans, plants, animals, and the planet itself) we can observe it all as an interconnected system of cognitive information that is collectively greater than the sum of Earth’s individual parts. From there, we can zoom out even further to other planets, to our solar system, and to galaxies and acknowledge each having higher intelligence and higher purpose, as the whole at any scale is always capable of operating with greater creativity and efficiency than the sum of its parts. With this perspective, we are able to observe a universal process that is capable of continuously producing something of qualitatively higher functionality, content of information, and intelligence, as it is creating its own guidance for and of itself. This is the greatest creativity of the universe: a self-creating, self-organizing living system that is able to grow beyond and continuously manage itself.
With linear perception and linear thinking, the way we illusively separated ourselves from the universe and the brain from the body, we separated the divine (creator) from creation. However, now we know that this is a self-creating system that is capable of creating itself without the need for an outside creator, without any central command. From this perspective we are able to integrate the creator and creation. Acknowledging this unified higher intelligence is in line with various wisdom traditions around the world, as they discovered intuitively that there is a higher intelligence that is governing the system, and that higher intelligence is not found exclusively outside of the body experiencing consciousness, but within ourselves as well.
This brings us back to the seemingly inefficiency and unsustainability of human behavior based on linear modeling that has emerged as part of our self-awareness process. A systems approach focuses on the cognitive process and on connectivity. When it is established that everything is connected and not separated from each other, we can then see the self-awareness of human beings as part of the greater process of a system of higher intelligence. From this perspective, our self-awareness process was not a waste but a detour. As we converted cognitive energy into information, now this information is allowing the greater human network to observe ourselves as part of a greater cognitive process: the process of the whole Earth network becoming aware of all of its parts, and the value of the details of each asset in its own self-organizing process. And so with our awareness of this, our previous role in the greater process has already been achieved, and our self-awareness process was not a waste as it has played its role in this greater process.
Human beings are a byproduct of an amazing creative process. So why are we not consistently performing at the level of creativity of the greater process? Consciously we are not synchronizing with this inherent self-organizing potential. If our will is to perform with our ultimate potential mentally, physically, and spiritually, as a cognitive system, the goal of the Earth is similar to our own: to manifest its greatest potential through the self-organizing process. As the greater guiding system, our planet network defines our destiny. So when we shift our brain from domination of the left-side to cooperation of left-and-right, our brain and body synchronize with the universal, inherent process, and our destiny and will become one.
Mystical, metaphysical, and spiritual experiences are some of the most elegant experiences that we can perceive as humans. But until now, these experiences have not been acknowledged as part of the cognitive process because these experiences could not be explained through reductionist, linear sciences. Now, we are not only able to acknowledge these experiences as a part of our planet’s greater self-awareness process, but we are also able to explain these experiences via this new paradigm of the self-organizing, living universe, by integrating science and spirituality. In traditional philosophy we try to explain the world through linear logic and perception, which does not acknowledge the metaphysical power of the universe. But systemic perception has the potential to enable linear logic to explain mysticism, and the metaphysical power of the universe.
The emerging self-awareness of our green planet enables us to experience a cognitive process which is not limited to mental capacities and intellectual experiences; it is a process that has manifested the amazing potentials of this universe, through the scents of flowers and their beauty, the sounds of birds and animals, the aesthetics and flavors of food, the beauty of the human body, and more. The human experiences of mysticism, art, and eventually science and technology have enabled us to become consciously aware of how this universe works, identify its essential behaviors, and recognize how it is able to manifest itself through this creative process of coming into self-awareness. This may seem like a detour from our natural alignment with the greater cognitive process of our planet as from it emerged our illusive separation of ourselves from the greater system. But this process has been a part of Earth’s overall cognitive, self-awareness process, as Earth wanted to consciously come into awareness of its potential, what it is and how it works; and now, this has been achieved through the shared discoveries of science and spirituality.
We are residing in a living universe, which is made of self-creating, self-healing, self-regulating, self-organizing networks.
