By David R. Hamilton | Source

It depends who you ask. But when you look closely at the fundamental nature of reality, there are some surprising overlaps between science and spirituality.

Look inside your body and you find cells. The cells are made of molecules, like lipids, proteins, enzymes, DNA, etc. And each of these are made of atoms. Then the atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons.

It doesn’t stop there. Protons and neutrons are made of quarks that are held together by gluons. A proton contains two “up quarks” and one “down quark,” while a neutron contains two “down quarks” and one “up quark.”

In terms of particles, that’s as far as it goes – quarks, gluons, and electrons are considered fundamental. But the word ‘particle’ conjures up the idea of a point-like substance; something solid like a grain of sand or salt. But in Quantum Field Theory (QFT), a particle is an ‘excitation in a field’.

An Excitation in a Quantum Field

What we measure as a particle is an excitation: an electron is an excitation in the electron field, a quark is an excitation in the quark field, and so on. These fields are quantum fields.

A quantum field is like a space that’s filled with energy. An excitation is a fluctuation or vibration moving through it.

Think of 2-D sheet pulled tight. Then you flick one end and a ripple moves across the sheet. That wave is an excitation of the sheet. An excitation of a quantum field is the same idea, but in 3-D.

The Spiritual Parallel

So what does this have to do with God? (or the Universe, infinite unbounded field of consciousness… whichever label you prefer)

Everything that exists is made of particles. And these particles are excitations of quantum fields.

So according to Quantum Field Theory, everything that exists is an expression of quantum fields – a ripple in them, not something separate from them.

In spiritual traditions, everything that exists is an expression of God, a ripple within the whole – so is part of God, not separate from God. That’s the parallel between God and quantum physics.

Does Quantum Field Theory Explain God?

But – and there is a but – we can’t use this to say that quantum physics explains God, because Quantum Field Theory is a physical theory. It refers to physical fields and physical particles. With God, we’re talking about consciousness.

But we can take the parallel a little further if we are clear about some assumptions we need to make.

With Quantum Field Theory as a physical theory, we’re resting on the assumption that consciousness is produced by neurons in the brain. In philosophy, this theory is known as physicalism. And I say theory, because despite the fact it’s typically talked about as a fact, there are over 300 theories of consciousness and physicalism is only one of these.

Physicalism works for all practical purposes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s correct.

The Illusion of “For All Practical Purposes”

Take gravity, for instance. Most people think of gravity as a force. We’re taught this in high school. But gravity is a consequence of the curvature of spacetime. It’s much easier to think of it as a force.

An often-used analogy for gravity is to think of a heavy object sitting on a trampoline. If you place a marble at the edge, it will roll down towards the heavy object. But is it rolling down because the heavy object is pulling on it with a force? No. It’s moving due to the stretched fabric of the trampoline.

The reason you land back on the ground whenever you jump up isn’t because gravity is a force pulling you back down. You’re sliding towards the centre of the earth on stretched spacetime. It just so happens the surface of the Earth is solid and stops you sliding all the way down.

Gravity as a force works for all practical purposes, but it’s not correct. Similarly, physicalism works for all practical purposes, but it could also be wrong.

What if Consciousness Comes First?

Let’s just suppose for a moment that it is wrong and that one of the philosophies that imagine consciousness as primary are correct – like idealism, panpsychism, or dual-aspect monism, for example. I’m not saying these are true, simply that if we were to make such an assumption, let’s see where it could take us.

Rather than the structure being:

Quantum fields -> particles -> atoms -> molecules -> cells (including neurons) -> consciousness

It becomes:

Consciousness -> Quantum fields -> particles -> atoms -> molecules -> cells (including neurons)

Rather than consciousness at the end, it’s at the beginning.

If this were to be true then consciousness is more fundamental than quantum fields, which leads to the conclusion that consciousness gives rise to excitations in the those fields. Given that everything that exists – according to Quantum Field Theory – is an expression of quantum fields, this means that everything that exists is an expression of consciousness and is part of consciousness.

This sounds a lot more like traditional spiritual views.

Of course, no one knows whether matter or consciousness is fundamental and there is much debate on all sides.

I don’t intend to wade into the debate all that much, but only to suggest that if we do run with an assumption that consciousness is primary, then we can confidently say that quantum physics and God do actually have a lot in common.