quantum hologram

A quantum hologram is a theoretical (i.e., imaginary) information-containing entity emitted by all physical objects (above the molecular level) and which contains the entire history of the object. Edgar Mitchell, former astronaut and psi aficionado, describes the concept and it usefulness to parapsychology:

The concept of the quantum hologram is based on quantum emissions from all physical objects: you, me, the camera. Any physical object of macroscopic size, molecular and above, emits quanta of energy and absorbs quanta of energy. The quanta emitted from every object we've discovered carries information about the physical. The quantum hologram is this informational structure about a physical object and it is non-local, which means it is not space-time restricted. It appears to be a proper mechanism for explaining virtually all of these types of psychic manifestation that we humans know. We are now beginning to understand what consciousness is, and what we understand so far is that the quantum holographic record survives. It is our history, it records our passage, it records what we do, and it's available to the future. It appears to be nature's way of preserving our experience; that's the non-local part. It's the informational part of us, so that everything we do as physical beings is recorded in the ephemeral quantum holographic record, the giant hard disc in the sky, if you will.

In other words, the quantum hologram is the latest version of the Akashic record: an imaginary record of everything that's ever happened or will happen, allegedly accessible by psychic means.

Despite what Edgar Mitchell claims, the concept of the quantum hologram has nothing to do with understanding consciousness. Perception is not holographic and there is no evidence that physical objects leave behind a holographic record of their existence.

According to Mitchell, the concept of the quantum hologram is "the information structure suitable to explain [Rupert] Sheldrake's morphic resonance," as well as all other psychic phenomena.* Thus, we have one postulate to explain another postulate, neither of which is needed to explain anything, as a careful study of the history of psi research shows. However, if the quantum hologram were a reality Edgar Mitchell could find out what was erased from the Watergate tapes. That information is apparently floating around somewhere in the holographic universe and is assessable by psychic means. We could also find out if Bob Woodward lied in his report on what former CIA Director William J. Casey allegedly told him on his deathbed. There are no secrets anymore. Everything has been revealed to our quantum holograms, but it will take a special mind like that of Edgar Mitchell, Edgar Cayce, or Edgar the psychic barber to figure out how to retrieve all that information allegedly floating around, in, and through us in some other dimension.

For those who wish to waste more time on this subject, may I suggest reading Dean Radin's Entangled Minds. On page 254 he describes Bohm's Implicate/Explicate Order, which has been connected to spiritual and psychic phenomena by Karl Pribram and Ken Wilber. According to Radin, Bohm:

...dubbed the implicate order an undivided holistic realm that is beyond concepts like space-time, matter, or energy. In the implicate order everything is fully enfolded or entangled with everything else. By contrast, the explicate order world of ordinary observations and common sense emerge, or unfold, out of the implicate order....Bohm used a hologram as a metaphor to illustrate how information about a whole system can be enfolded into an explicit structure, any part of which reflects the whole.

Real thinkers, however, turn metaphors into realities. To Radin's credit, he offers four other quantum explanations of psi and finds them all interesting. I find them all yawn-worthy manifestations of the will to believe in psi at any cost.

There is a legitimate notion of quantum holography in physics, but it has nothing to do with psychic phenomena. Radin has one sensible quote in his discussion of quantum theories put forth to explain psi. He took it from the website of the American Institute of Physics (API):

Second sight and remote viewing are terms used to explain charlatans' supposed psychic ability to see hidden objects in terms of pseudoscientific gibberish. Quantum holography, on the other hand, is a method firmly grounded in modern physics that permits the imaging of hidden objects with entangled photons.

Radin says that the API is biased against the concept of psi because it's concerned with its public image. Exactly. Why would physicists want to present themselves as pseuodscientists?

See also clairvoyance, ESP, precognition, presentiment, psychic, remote viewing, retrocognition, telekinesis, and telepathy.

further reading

Stenger, Victor J. "Quantum Quackery," Skeptical Inquirer. January/February 1997.

Quantum mechanics: Myths and facts Hrvoje Nikoli´c

Edgar Mitchell's ESP Experiment from Apollo 14

My Last Lecture - Why do People Believe in the Palpably Untrue? by Robert T. Carroll

My review of Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality

My review of The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena

Nature's Mind: the Quantum Hologram by Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D.

Private Lunar ESP: An Interview with Edgar Mitchell

Last updated 27-Oct-2015