PRECOGNITION – the problem of free will

I must state before I start this particular story that I am quite a sceptic at heart, mathematically and scientifically inclined.

At the age of 9 I had a feeling that I gained some superpowers. I could make kids in my class trip up at a distance and things of that sort. I told my closest friends in class and decided I was going to prove to them my immense powers by creating an earthquake. I gave them a specific day; “in 3 days time”... then for three days before I went to bed I visualised a quake. On the 4th day I showed up at school thinking I had failed but instead I found all my friends freaked out, one of them holding a newspaper. The previous day one of the largest quakes of the century had struck a few hundred miles from us. On the front page they wrote of victims in the hundreds. I can still remember the shock and the guilt I felt. From that day I decided I would never use my powers again to hurt people even if I got very angry at someone.
Looking back I can certainly give the more mundane explanation; that most kids at that age think they have superpowers and most will try them out. I can imagine there are thousands of kids out there who feel they might have caused a quake, a flood or a crash. Many kids might have had a so called premonitory dream and felt responsible for what happened after. In both these cases we can see how a bad understanding of probability and selection bias might mislead us not to see the obvious; that these are COINCIDENCES.

The problem I have with that is that I had in the years that followed many cases of Precognition. Flashes of near future events (often not linked with what I was doing at the time) that would come true. I decided to read a few SCEPTIC books (Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermes, Viaggio nel mondo del paranormale by Piero Angela, etc.) but though they made sense on
most things, I wasn’t 100% convinced.

I still get flashes of precognition and with my super sceptic analysis of statistics, probabilities, and mind selection bias, unconscious perception, etc. I can discard most of them. But there are still some that are so strong that they test even the hardest sceptic, such as “oh I’m going to be shocked to see a green Ferrari around the next corner and then seeing one and being shocked (it wasn’t a pretty sight!). Or at the casino, having a flash of getting two consecutive numbers right at a roulette, declaring it out loud to my friends next to me and proceeding to win the next 2 bets with 2 en pleins. (no, I hadn’t been 1296 times to the casino stating “I will get 2 numbers in a row” each time).

At this point I decided to research a little and ask about a possible parapsychological explanation (those were pre Wikipedia days, so I asked an esoteric bookshop owner in France). Of the various theories and explanations, the one I prefer is that our “soul” is made of a few subatomic particles that centre around our bodies, in the present. These are free to move a little away from our body and also (following quantum laws of physics) a little away from the present into the past or into the future. Then upon returning from, say, the future, some of the “memory” of what they perceived is passed to our consciousness. This is usually just a flash or a sensation due to the limited number of particles carrying the information.

The “soul” could be made of Tachyons or psitrons, time travelling particles with imaginary mass. Or more simply our awareness could be fundamentally trans-temporal as discussed by Dunne (1927) and Saltmarsh (1938) and while we are only ever consciously aware of some limited temporal range, unconsciously a much wider temporal range of information is sampled and used for the benefit of the organism.

Besides the fact Tachyons have never been observed, violation of causality and temporal paradoxes all seem to point to their non existence. But even supposing that somehow precognition was possible, what fascinates me is the concept of free will.

Is what I see in the future going to happen no matter what I do ? If so free will is only an illusion created by our limited conscious awareness that only allows us to see one frame at a time instead of the whole film stock. More on free will in a future post.

Distortions in time perception.



The above drawing is derived from the one below. Whereas I devised the one above, the one below came to me as a clear vision. The line of ‘consciousness of here and now’ is my way of seeing the Time line or at least our perception of Time. In other words when we are inside that line we are conscious of the passing of time. Then as we start thinking of something we move down into the realm of thoughts, though some of our consciousness remains in the ‘here and now’, so our body doesn’t lose track of where we are. When we are immersed in the 'thoughs' area we can perceive time differently. We can also become "lost in thought", whereby we are so absorbed in our thought that when we come back we feel we’ve lost track of time (I’ve labelled this ‘gap’).

I was wondering whether our thoughts could have multiple branches (multitask), which would have conflicted with my drawing below but science seems to point in the direction of one thought at a time.
Neuroscientist Earl Miller of MIT states “When people say they can multitask, they're deluding themselves What we do is shift our focus from one thing to the next with astonishing speed.”
Neuroscientist Daniel Weissman at the university of Michigan came to the same conclusion. By using MRI to scan brains of subjects that were assigned 2 different tasks. The subject would be shown two numbers of a certain colour. If the digits are one colour, say red, he would decide which digit was numerically larger. If the digits are a different colour, say green, the subject decides which digit is printed in a larger font. The brain was seen to pause each time the colour was changed. In my picture this would be the equivalent of coming back to the conscious time line to round up all the information it had about the other task and then branch off to give the answer. The part of the brain that acts as a conductor and decides how much flow goes out (as thought) and how much stays in the ‘conscious here and now’ is called the ‘executive system’ and lives in the brain's frontal lobes, basically above our eyes. The executive system also helps us achieve a goal by ignoring distractions.

Many years ago while, travelling in Amsterdam, I stopped in a coffee shop and had a smoke. Whilst under the influence, my thoughts would start normally but be extremely intense and focused. I would start to focus all my conscience on it. I felt I was accelerating down a spiral and as I approached the centre everything regarding that thought was becoming clear to me. So much so, that the feeling of being overwhelmed by this total understanding would make me jump back to the ‘here and now’ but with quite a large ‘gap’ of time. A few seconds later I would think of something else and spiral down the next thought before again jumping back to the ‘here and now’ line. While all this was happening I had a very clear visual image of what was happening. The picture below is how I saw it:


my vision in 2001

Many years after drawing my spirals I found a text by Charles Baudelaire written in 1860 describing the effects of hachich on time perception. He writes of a stream of thought hurling you down a living vortex for what seems like eternity followerd by an instant of lucidity in you realise only one minute has passed. Then the next thought current drags you into your next vortex;

"Un autre courant d'idées vous emporte ; il vous emportera pendant une minute dans son tourbillon vivant, et cette minute sera encore une éternité. Les proportions du temps et de l'être sont dérangées par la multitude innombrable et par l'intensité des sensations et des idées. On vit plusieurs vies d'homme en l'espace d'une heure". - Charles Bodelaire - Le poème du haschisch

Choices

At every fork in life I regret not being able to follow both paths.

The Case for God by Karen Armstrong

I spent quite a while in the bookshop last month trying to find a book that could counter The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I respect Dawkins for his insight in 1976 on genetic evolution and the concept of memes but his recent persuit of atheism I find somewhat less appealing. I had read a little book called The Dawkins Delusion as a possible counter but was extremely disappointed by it.
Finally I stumbled upon this Case for God and the first page has Karen’s biography. Now there was someone who really seemed to know her subject. The book turned out to be much more than an answer to Dawkins and was one of my best reads of 2010.
Right from the start we plunge into the history of religion, shamanism and what might have been similar to Heidegger’s  philosophy of ‘Being’. From the documents of later Neolithic and pastoral societies, we know, Karen writes, that Being rather than a Being was revered as the ultimate sacred power.

In chapter 3 she writes about, among other Greek  philosophers, Parmenides who became convinced that to attain the truth, human reason must rise above common sense and unverified opinion. The idea of change, for example, was pure convention. The Milesians had been wrong to imagine the world had developed gradually. Reality consisted of a unified, single, complete and eternal being. It might appear that creatures came into being and passed away, but true reality was unaffected by time.

The book then continues through two thousand years of evolution of philosophy, wars and religion until the present day.

“Just as the feats of a dancer or an athlete are impossible for an untrained body and seem superhuman to most of us, these people all developed a spiritual capacity that took them beyond the norm and revealed to their followers the untapped ‘divine’ or ‘enlightened’ potential that exists in any man or woman”.

¡Olé!

Karen Armstrong is one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs. She spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun, but left her teaching order in 1969 to read English at St Anne's College, Oxford. In 1982, she became a full time writer and broadcaster. She is a best-selling author of over 16 books. An accomplished writer and passionate campaigner for religious liberty, Armstrong has addressed members of the United States Congress and the Senate and has participated in the World Economic Forum. In 2005 she was appointed by Kofi Annan to take part in the United Nations initiative ‘The Alliance of Civilizations’. In 2008 she was awarded the Frankiln J. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal for her work on religious liberty.

A Gothic Story on time illusion

Don Juan Manuel    (1285 - 1348)

I just read a short story by Don Juan Manuel entitled El Brujo Postergado. It is a fascinating story of an ambitious dean of Santiago who wanted to learn the art of magic to progress in his ecclesiastical career. He hears Don Illan of Toledo was unsurpassed in the art of Necromancy and promptly travels to Toledo to learn it.

Does it talk about time ?

Yes, in fact I see this story as one of the earliest example of the Sci-fi genre. It talks of magic as a science and of time travel and was written in the early 14th Century.

For those who are interested the story goes more or less as follows:

The day the dean arrived at Don Illan's house he is received with kindness, and was asked to give the reason of his visit only after sitting for a nice lunch. After the lunch the dean asked to learn the science of magic. Don Illan said he could guess in the dean a man of good position and good future and that he feared he'd forget him one day. The dean promised him that his favours would never be forgotten and that he would always be at his service.

That matter settled, Don Illan explained that the magical arts could be learned in a secluded place, taking him by the hand he lead the dean to an adjoining room on the floor of which was a large iron ring. He told his maid to prepare some partridges for dinner but not to start roasting them before he'd give the order. They raised the ring and went down a well carved stone staircase, so deep it felt they were below the bed of river Tagus. They reached a large cell with a library and just as they started reviewing the books, two men entered the room with a letter from the dean’s uncle the Bishop of Santiago, which informed him that he was very ill and wished to see him.
The dean was upset about his uncle’s health but mostly for having to interrupt his studies and therefore opted to send an apology letter to the Bishop. Three days later some men came in mourning announcing the death of the Bishop. They told the dean they were in the process of electing a successor and that they hoped, by the grace of God, it would be him. They also told him the election could very well take place in his absence.

Ten days later came two well dressed squires who threw themselves at his feet, kissed his hand and greeted him Bishop. Don Illan thanked the lord for such good news delivered to his house and promptly asked the Bishop for the vacant seat of dean for his son, but the Bishop informed him that he had reserved that seat for his own brother but asked him to travel with him to Santiago. Upon their arrival they were greeted with honours. Six months later the Bishop received a messenger from the Pope offering him the post of Archbishop of Toulouse, leaving him the choice of a successor. Don Illan reminded him of his ancient promise and asked for his son to succeed him but the Archbishop said he had reserved it for his uncle, brother of his father, but asked him to leave with him to Toulouse. Don Illan had to agree.

Upon their arrival they were greeted with honours and masses. Two years later, messengers from the Pope offered him the Cardinal’s hat, leaving him the choice for a successor. Don Illan reminded him of his ancient promise but the Cardinal informed him the post of Archbishop was reserved for his own uncle, brother of his mother, but decided to take him to Rome. Don Illan had to agree.

Upon their arrival they were greeted with honours, masses and processions. Four years later the Pope died and the Cardinal was elected to the papacy. When don Illan heard this he kissed the feet of His Holiness and reminded him of his ancient promise asking the Cardinal’s hat for his son. The Pope threatened to imprison him, for he knew well that he was a sorcerer and that in Toledo he practiced magic arts. The poor Don Illan said he would return to Spain and asked the Pope for some food for the return journey but the Pope offered him none. At this point Don Illan spoke, in a voice without trembling:

“ Well, I’ll have to eat the partridges I ordered for tonight”. The maid appeared and don Illan told her she could go ahead and roast them now. Upon these words the Pope found himself in the underground cell , simple dean of Santiago, so ashamed of his ingratitude he could not even apologise. Don Illan told him the lesson was over, denied him his share of the partridges and accompanied him outside where he wished him a happy journey and dismissed him with much courtesy.

Don Juan Manuel (c.1330)

The Fourth Dimension by Rudy Rucker

If you have read Flatland and were left wondering about its implications regarding higher dimensions this book is a absolute must read. The book then goes much further than simply explaining the 4th spatial dimension and explores the possibilities of higher universes.

Does it talk about time ?

Extensively, in fact the third part, chapters 9, 10 and 11 all talk about time.
Rucker seems to favour the eternalist model and spends quite a lot of time describing, quite convincingly, a “block universe” in which past, present and future are all equally “real”.

St. Augustine wrote that God is outside of time and that Time exists only within the created universe. On this view, God would perceive something like a block universe, while we would be limited to seeing it frame by frame in the present.

He also writes of time cones, circular time and in chapter 10 analyses the implications of time travel.

In the final chapter "what is reality?" he imagines getting rid of all preconception and building from scratch. At the core he sees only 2 realities that he calls certain: “I exist and I perceive things. I could be a robot, a spirit, an eye of God, a software or who knows what, but I am sure I exist. I am sure I am the entity that is typing these words. You the reader could doubt of my existence, but you know for sure that you exist”

On the perception of things it’s a little trickier, Rucker talks about the philosopher George Berkeley, and his concept of reality, His concept of “spirit” is close to the concept of “conscious subject” or of “mind”, and the concept of “idea” is close to the concept of “sensation” or “state of mind” or “conscious experience”. Berkeley denied the existence of matter as a metaphysical substance, but did not deny the existence of objects such as apples or mountains. Berkeley’s claims on immaterialism has many followers today under the more common term of subjective idealism.

He also mentions quantum mechanics and the implication that might have on our perception of "reality".

All great food for thought.

Flatland - an introduction to higher dimensions

This book is probably the one that got me started on this quest for the 4th dimension and subsequently, the better understanding of time. I devoured this book and I recommend it to anyone interested in higher spacial dimensions.

It was written in 1884 as a satirical novel, a “hidden” critique of Victorian society but what fascinated mathematicians, physicists and myself is the thought provoking effect Abbott brings about in his analysis of a higher dimension.

By describing a 2 dimensional universe he automatically puts us in the position of possessing a higher vantage point from which we can analyse that world. By the time you reach the end of the book it is only natural to imagine someone living in 4 dimensions looking down on our simple 3 dimensional world.

Though flatlanders live in a 2 dimensional universe there are hints to the fact that that plain actually exists within a 3 dimensional universe, such as the thickness of the shapes that allows them to recognise each other and finally the crossing of the plain by a sphere who apparently possesses god like powers. I have therefore started looking for hints, in the nature around us, of hyper-dimensional activity and certainly found it in tales of Religion; most of the miracles performed by the Prophets seem to go against our laws of physics but would be child play for anyone moving in 4 physical dimensions. Rudy Rucker in his The Fourth Dimension certainly leads us to a great voyage through higher dimensional universes.

But I have also in recent years observed certain events in nature in which certain living organism move in hyper-shapes. To do this they must have a clear image in their mind of a 4 dimensional space. The only reason for them to visualise space in 4D is that we in fact live in a 4D universe but we are for now stuck on our 3D plain.

The organisms that move in 4D are of various species and are found around the world and I will describe them, and their movements,  in a separate article.