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Will  Biology Solve the Universe?
By Aaron Rowe| Also by this reporter
10:00  AM Mar, 08, 2007
For years, scientists have tried to develop a universal  theory of
everything. Steven Hawking predicts that such a theory will be  discovered in
the next 20 years. A new theory asserts that biology, not  physics, will be
the key to unlocking the deepest mysteries of the  universe, such as quantum
mechanics.
"The answer to the universe is  biology -- it's as simple as that," says Dr.
Robert Lanza, vice president  of research and scientific development at
Advanced Cell Technology. He  details his theory in The American Scholar's
spring issue, published on  Thursday. Lanza says scientists will establish a
unified theory only if  they radically rethink their understanding of space
and time using a  "biocentric" approach. His article is essentially a
biological and  philosophical response to Hawking's A Brief History of Time,
in which he  questions how we interpret the big bang, the existence of space
and time,  as well as many other theories -- assertions that might ruffle the
feathers  of some physical scientists.
But Lanza is used to controversy. The 2005  Wired Rave Award winner has seen
plenty in response to his stem cell and  cloning work at Advanced Cell. And
he's ready for the scientific row his  latest work is likely to engender.
"The urgent and primary questions of the  universe have been undertaken by
those physicists who are trying to explain  the origins of everything with
grand unified theories," says Lanza in his  article. "But as exciting and
glamorous as these theories are, they are an  evasion, if not a reversal, of
the central mystery of knowledge: that the  laws of the world were somehow
created to produce the observer."
At  several points in his article, he argues that cosmologists are doing  work
that has been hijacked by creationists.
"In cosmology, scientists  have discovered that the universe has a long list
of traits that make it  appear as if everything it contains -- from atoms to
stars -- was  tailor-made for us," he writes. "Indeed, the lack of a
scientific  explanation has allowed these facts to be hijacked as a defense
of  intelligent design."
Lanza argues that time is not the linear phenomena  that we are comfortable
with. Rather, our perception of time is a tool we  use to understand the
world around us. While it works well for the average  person, it hampers our
understanding of advanced physics. In this Wired  News Q&A, Lanza explains
more about the theory he calls his life's work  .
Wired News: You call your theory of the universe a biocentric theory.  What,
exactly, does that mean?
Lanza: This new theory presents a shift  in world view with the perspective
that life creates the universe instead  of the other way around.
WN: I imagine that a lot of physicists will be  rather upset by your article.
How do you expect them to react?
Lanza:  People are not going to be very happy with what this all means. This
theory  is going to invalidate their (some scientists) entire life's work. I
will  definitely get crucified.
We've got the scientific structure and framework  incorrect. We need a theory
that is internally consistent. We can't do this  without creating a
biological understanding of space and time. This will  require restructuring
science so that biology is above physics.
WN: Does  that mean you think that big physics and astronomy projects should
not be  funded?
Lanza: Of course they should be funded. I don't think that  everything should
be changed. What I am saying is that there is a missing  piece to the puzzle
of how the universe works. The answer is biology. It is  as simple as that.
The biological picture of space and time must be  integrated into our
understanding of physics.
WN: Why do you think that  there is such a deep misunderstanding of what time
and space really  are?
Lanza: Our minds are structured to think that way. Even Einstein  avoided the
question of what space and time are. He simply defined them as  what we
measure with clocks and measuring-rods. However, the emphasis  should be on
the "we," not the measuring.
WN: Do you expect that some  people will read your article and think you mean
that they can sit on a  mountaintop and meditate to change the world around
them with mind  powers?
Lanza: We can't decide that we want to jump off the roof and not  get hurt.
However much we want, we can't violate the rules of  spatiotemporal logic.
WN: In your article, you make the assertion that time  and space do not
exist. What do you mean by that?
Lanza: There is  something very unusual about them. We can't put them in a
marmalade jar and  take them back to the lab for analysis. Space and time are
forms of animal  sense perception. Space and time are not objects or
things -- they are  forms of animal sense perception.
Thousands of articles and books have  danced around the desire to toss off
the current mechanical world view that  has dominated Western culture for
hundreds of years. While some imply that  time and space may not in fact
exist, this article diagrams, for the first  time, such a universe -- a
universe in which time and space do not exist as  physical realities
independent of humans and animals.
WN: You seem to  disagree with how the world was created.
Lanza: There are serious problems  with the current world view. We pride
ourselves in our current beliefs and  then we (scientists) say, and by the
way, we have no idea why the big bang  happened.
WN: Can you explain why we should doubt the things that are  accepted as the
truth in science classes everywhere?
Lanza: For the  first time outside of complex mathematics, this theory
explains the  provocative new experiment that was just published in Science
last month.  This landmark experiment showed that a choice you make now can
actually  influence an event that has already occurred in the past.
Scientists  continue to dismiss the observer as an inconvenience to their
theories.  Real experiments show that the properties of matter itself  are
observer-determined. A particle can go through one hole if you look at  it,
but if you don't look at it, it can actually go through more than one  hole
at the same time. Science has no explanation for how the world can be  like
that.

*This is why light can be both and/or a wave and a  particle,  depending upon
perception.  Ray,

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If there's a theory of everything,does  that mean it's a theory of  itself ?
 - and there's a theory of a theory of a theory of a .... oh, never  mind !

amanda


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