biocentrism: "life and biology are central to being, reality, and the cosmos — life creates the universe rather than the other way around." in other words when we look at an inanimate object it is only actually physically there when we try to observe it, and only because we are trying to observe it. there have been numerous experiments that yielded this very theory and scientists are spooked. for instance the double slit experiment. heisenberg uncertainty principle suggests that it is impossible to determine two certain phyical properties of parcticles similtaneously. meaning you measure position and your idea of its momentum goes out the window and vice versa. knowlege of this is helpful in understanding why this theory is given so much merit (it sounds crazy until you really get into it)

here are the seven principles, read carefully:

1. 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.

2. Our external and internal perceptions are inextricably intertwined. They are different sides of the same coin and cannot be divorced from one another.

3. 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.

4. Without consciousness, "matter" dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.

5. 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 spatio-temporal logic of the self.

6. Time does not have a real existence outside of animal-sense perception. It is the process by which we perceive changes in the universe.

7. 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.

Stand in a room.

Close your eyes.

Clear your mind.

Then run as fast as you can.

so if an inanimate object only exists when we look at it, what does that say about galaxies 1 million light years away? they existed 1 million years ago only because we are looking at them now? yes that is what the theory proposes. remember time doesnt actually exist...

A consciousness isn't required for an Observation in the quantum mechanical sense, so you can't really say that only humans looking at those galaxies is what caused anything. And time does exist, of course. The simplest proof of this is the unilateral increase in the universe's entropy. This idea is known as the Arrow of Time.

It's still an interesting read all the same, though.

though i agree the universe may have been there in a sense, but the physicalness of it seems to only be there when we try to detect it. when a tree falls and no one is there to hear it does it make a noise? there is no tree! and there is no "arrow," i was convinced when i read the "arrow of time" chapter in one of the first two brian greene books.

If we can observe a tree, even if we look away from it, that tree is still there unless something happens to it. That's just object permanence and conservation of matter. As for the sound? Of course a sound is made. Sound is just a longitudinal wave. The tree still creates the sound wave by vibrating the air molecules. Whether we hear it or not, that wave was still created. This whole line of thought is metaphysics and philosophy. While they might be interesting to think about, they don't really have any practical applications.

As for Brian Greene's book, I'll have to look into that some time.

this theory is based on scientific experiment. a parcticle exists in a probability wave until observed. meaning it is not necessarily there until we observe it.

3rd principle: "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."

4th principle: "Without consciousness, "matter" dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state."

read brian greene!

This post was edited by juliusjuice on Feb 2 2011 08:14pm

bentherdonethat has already said that consciousness of something doesn't always constitute a measurement, many things can constitute a measurement that causes the wavefunction to collapse. For instance, in the double slit experiment theiy put a detector at both of the slits and that causes the patten on the screen to become one of bullets and not waves.

Exactly, or how in the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment, the "observation" is when the Geiger counter detects the radiation. I know that any time a quantum mechanical particle interacts with something in the macro-world, that collapses the wave function. I'm also fairly sure that quantum particles interacting with other quantum particles can "observe" too and collapse their wave functions. One example of this that I can think of off-hand is Electron Capture radiation.

This is interesting if anyone wants to have a look, it has to do with what bentherdonethat was talking about. Enjoy!