Is this the matrix? [Book Review]

Every once in a while, like the gangsta I am, I drop Gs at the bookstore, and then just hope I got books that are worth it. I got The Holographic Universe for SR 60 at Virgin Megastore (you guyz, remember when a paperback cost SR 39 at most?), and it was well worth the money. I mean Gs. Mr. Shakur!! *shakes fist*

My interest in Physics started last year when I found myself constantly surrounded by conversations on the topic, thanks to friends like Omair, Faisal and Squeek. 

I then decided to write a novel loosely based on general physics, a ballsy move considering the only background I had on it was 2 years of the high school subject, from which I remember almost nothing. 

I read several introductory books on it, like Stephen Hawking's The Grand Design and Michael Brooks' 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, and found it a little fascinating. 

Probably like most people who read that Michael Brooks book, I tried to find different ways to explain the unexplained. When I read The Holographic Universe, it gave me one: A slight shift in the way we look at things, metaphorically, could explain some of the mysteries that have, on occasion, scared us shitless. 

Here's what Michael Talbot, who wrote the book in 1991 (and passed away soon after), proposed: The universe is a hologram, a projection where space and time doesn't exist the way we understand it now, where everything, and every time - past, present, future - is interconnected and are parts of one whole, and where, if this hologram was broken into tiny pieces, each piece contains information of the whole. 

Right off the bat (which would be the first chapter), here were my reactions:

a. What is this hippie, Zen, yogic chanting? I wasn't expecting this. I wanted more "science", more cold truths, numbers, proof. I was so skeptical that the notes I scribbled on the first few pages of the book were "LOL".

b. How many of my favorite sci-fi show/film writers read this book? So many times, it was like watching an episode of Fringe, Doctor Who, The Matrix, Minority Report, Lost, or Supernatural. 

The book touches on topics like ghostly apparitions, time travel, parallel universes, and the paranormal. It was like reading the implied dialogue script between Mr Science Jack Shepard and Mr Religion John Locke. It's true, I'm a fan of sci-fi, but the key word there is fiction, which is precisely what this book is NOT. 

Talbot tries to ease the reader into the "ridiculous" concepts within the book as it unfolds, starting off with the more scientific explanations, and transitioning to stories (presented as evidence) towards the middle and end, including his own experiences with the paranormal. He appealed to my alleged open-mindedness, and it was with what little of that I had that I continued to read what he had to say. 

This was a pretty huge feat, I can only imagine. Try explaining parallel universes to a bunch of people (including physicists) not prepared for a different way of thinking, one that doesn't have concrete, mathematical proof. I myself, the opposite of what a scientist is, was constantly on the internet while reading the book, researching what's been said on the topic, trying to find the parts where Talbot could have been exaggerating, or wrong, and just being generally skeptical about everything he says.

While he didn't fully "convert" me into believing that the universe is holographic, I took away some very important things from reading this book. 

One, that I need to be MORE open-minded, and less dismissive of things that I don't experience myself. I come from a culture that strongly believes in the supernatural - my mom and several friends and family members have told me stories that involve religious revelation, synchronicities, out-of-body and near-death experiences, shapeshifting (yes!), and communicating with other-worldly beings, all stories that I have dismissed without second thought, mostly because I've never experienced them, and therefore must be products of their minds, and therefore does not affect me. 

Two, that I should give my mind more credit, for how many things have I achieved just by sheer mind power? Paired with actionable plans, the power of the brain is almost unstoppable. All brains. Anyone's brain. (It's why zombies love them.)

Three, that maybe our minds are literally incapable of grasping The Big Picture (of the universe, of existence), but that maybe, due to some weird wiring glitch, every now and then, we ARE. Have you ever experienced that one, fleeting moment of UNDERSTANDING everything so suddenly, when everything is just so clear? Whether or not you were high then, that moment is just… as the great philosopher Keanu Reeves would say, WHOA.

Here are 2 quotes from the book:

"Jahn and Dunne.. believe that instead of discovering particles, physicists may actually be creating them. As evidence, they cite a recently discovered subatomic particle called an anomalon, whose properties vary from laboratory to laboratory. Imagine owning a car that had a different color and different features depending on who drove it! This is very curious and seems to suggest that an anomalon's reality depends on who finds/creates it."

I kno rite? And a chapter later, under the heading "A Participatory Reality", Talbot says:

"Thus we must be extremely cautious about saying that we have discovered a particular structure or pattern in the human energy field when we may have actually created what we have found."

Ironically, I took this advice to heart, and it was with that mindset that I took in what he had to say. A holographic universe, that maybe we created, or Talbot himself created in his mind. A proper mindfuck. Who knows?