Apollo 14 Plus 41: The Unexpected Benefit of Edgar Mitchell

Edgar D. Mitchellat Being Inducted into The Leonardo Da Vinci Society June 2011

By Larry Lowe
www.examiner.com/ufo-in-phoenix
1-30-12

An epiphany in space.

Science’s trusty sidekick engineering designed and built the massive Saturn V launch vehicle that injected Shepard, Mitchell and Roosa into low earth orbit over four decades ago.

Ironically, the technology of Apollo afforded Edgar Mitchell the epiphany that would propel him for the rest of his life. On the return trip, Mitchell was no longer preoccupied with the operational checklist. He sat in the capsule and watched the universe slowly drifting outside the window. The capsule was spun to equalize the fierce heat of sunlight and intense cold of deep space.

In a thoughtful frame of mind, Mitchell watched the earth, sun and moon drift past his view in metronomic progression. He had a 'sudden and profound' realization that connected his consciousness with that of the universe around him.

Consider the experience of the nirvikalpa samadhi which is described similarly in different traditions. In this experience the sense of Self merges with the cosmos and reality is experienced as unity of Self with All-That-Is. The experience is accompanied by intense ecstasy, a sense of eternity and a complete loss of fear. The experience is ineffable in the sense that description is inadequate to convey the experience and the description alone does not assist others in attaining the experience.

— Dyadic Model of Consciousness, Edgar Mitchell, ScD

Upon his return from the moon, Mitchell began a search for an explanation for that moment of profound realization. The search would lead him deep into physics theory.

The holy grail of physics is a unified field theory, a 'theory of everything'. The goal is one set reliable of equations that explain all science can observe and measure. These are currently based on the interactions of four fundamental forces that underly all physical matter: electromagnetism, the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation.

Mitchell thought there must be more to it than that. The answer, Mitchell now believes, lies in thinking outside The Standard Model of physics, the closest current theory set that can explain everything.

Integrating consciousness into the theory of everything would go a long way towards explaining a range of so-called 'paranormal' occurrences, spoon-bending, telepathy, precognition, the apparent teleportation of objects and similar phenomena described in Mitchell's book The Way of the Explorer.

That integration is intrinsically difficult. The mathematics of consciousness are far more complex than those needed to get from Cape Kennedy to Fra Mauro. The forces that physics grapples with are invisible, however their effects are measurable.

Consciousness is both invisible and unmeasurable.

"Fundamentally, I'm a cosmologist." Mitchell says, "And the question is: 'How did all of this come about? How does mind and matter interact? How can we write the equations for intentionality?’" The last question is an example of Mitchell’s thought process.

In English we describe intuition as our 'sixth sense'. The fact that such information derives from the quantum description of reality suggests it should be called our 'first sense' as the quantum world precedes the formation stars systems, planets, galaxies, and so forth, from which our usual sensory experience derive.

— Edgar Mitchell, ScD

The path to those answers begins, he believes, with understanding Zero Point Energy. Zero Point Energy is the energy that remains when all other energy is removed from a system.

The Zero-Point Energy (ZPE) field as electromagnetic quantum fluctuations is an accepted mainstream concept of quantum mechanics and takes place even at zero degrees Kelvin. It represents an almost unlimited, ubiquitous energy source that permeates and sustains all matter and exists everywhere (even the vacuum of outer space).

— Quantrek website.

The direction from there became apparent when Mitchell came across Schempp’s work, which used the notion of a holographic mechanism for conveyance of nature’s information. Reading Schempp's paper, Mitchell had another epiphany.

“My God,” he remembers thinking, “this is what consciousness is about.”

The notion of a Quantum Hologram, Mitchell realized, was the means to include consciousness in the quest for a unified theory. Finally, a mathematical hook was in place to allow consciousness to be part of the equation of everything. Exactly how remains to be derived, although Mitchell is excited with the initial progress made.

“We have to find a good definition of ‘consciousness’ within the scientific rubric.” Mitchell says, “We think we have a start on it but it's not fully developed."

"Now that we know that consciousness is fundamentally a quantum phenomenon,” he continues, “we can start to look at all of these areas, including alternative methods of healing and on and on."

The Quantum Hologram model may be the missing link between quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is the holistic thread that weaves these two schools of thought together, providing an unprecedented integration of cosmic scale and atomic scale phenomena. Further, early explorations with the mathematics of Quantum Hologram have already led to progress in developing a quantum cosmology, in resolving some of the conflicts between quantum mechanics and relativity, and in suggesting how matter might arise ex nihilo from the field of quantum fluctuations.

— About the Quantum Hologram, Edgar Mitchell, ScD

Building on the realization that the Quantum Hologram model might be able to link General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics through the Zero Point Energy field, Mitchell developed what he calls the Dyadic Model of Consciousness. It is this new model of consciousness that attempts the unification of understanding of mind and matter.

That is the unexpected benefit of Apollo 14. . . .