excitement Whatever it is, the fog of energy and information is present absolutely everywhere and always, including within the construct you think of as you. We used to refer to this fog as “space” and think of it as empty. A vacuum. Not any more. Now we know that space is suffused with quantum fields, which are literally everywhere. The protons, electrons, and other particles often described as the building blocks of matter are themselves exceptions of quantum fields. Space looks empty when the fields languish near their minimum energy levels. But when the fields are excited, space...

more God The concept of an ephemeral, conscious, God-based Universe is the point around which scientists and philosophers dance. For some, God is a name for the Intelligence that sends forth energy and information for use in the creation of Everything. Outside the realm of Science, it is frequently said that God is everywhere, in all things, at all times, and that this pulsing endless sea of space that flows through us and everything else is God. NEXT

God Some have given that seamless flow of energy and information the characterization of “God,” some sort of intelligence endlessly creating and re-organizing and re-building the universe: rebuilding its own environment, experiencing its creation. Some use the term “Nature” for this intelligence. But others say there is something behind even Nature. Others call it The Force and so on. NEXT

undivided wholeness Deepak Chopra and others speak of “an understanding of a conscious universe in which all [mysteries] are differentiated activities of a single field that is an undivided wholeness and in some sense bridges external reality with inner being.” Note that in the earlier Chopra quote he used “infinite fields of energy and information spanning the universe,” while in this latest quote he says “a single field that is an undivided wholeness,” implying it goes in one piece through everything and to the edges of Forever and, presumably, beyond. If there are many universes,...

atoms The organization of atoms is always in a state of decomposition (atoms going out) and recomposition (atoms coming in). As you and I talk face to face, millions of atoms fly out of our mouths and off of our skin, and we trade many of them. Atoms stream in a continuous network in and out of our bodies in this constant field of energy. They are said to be the same atoms, fixed in mass and quantity throughout time and the universe, and there are atoms in me today that were once in Cleopatra, say, or Mahatma Gandhi, or Marilyn Monroe. Presumably, that means the atoms that constituted Jesus...

strings to atoms Some say that matter comes into existence because a little fluff of vibrating strings of energy somehow transforms spacetime into particles that gang up to form atoms. Atoms are always in motion, always organizing into molecules and then cells and then rocks and squid and so on. Atoms play endless different roles as the arrow of Time moves forward (and never backward, although some argue that the past is pulled forward by the future and not the other way around). NEXT

the ephemeral Writers about quantum physics tell us that when you get right down to it and start observing fundamental particles and measuring them, they change state from waves (non-matter) to particles (matter) and back. They argue that particles cannot be said to exist in a certain space and time until they are observed. Only humans are able to look and imagine this deeply into Everything, which might imply that humans are needed to observe Everything into existence. But we can barely see into the atomic world and less so into the particle world, and we need lots of imagination to explore...

the seamless web  Here is how the philosopher Deepak Chopra explains Everything: “In their essential state, our bodies are composed of energy and information, not solid matter. “This energy and information is an outcropping of infinite fields of energy and information spanning the universe. “Your body appears to be composed of solid matter that can be broken down into molecules and atoms, but quantum physics tells us that every atom is more than 99.9999 % empty space, and the subatomic particles moving at lightning speed through this space are actually bundles of vibrating energy. “These...

no permanent parts Until pretty recent times, there was widespread acceptance among physical scientists and even philosophers that there is a single Universe that erupted about 13.78 billion years ago, and today it contains approximately a zillion galaxies and a gazillion stars that power planets spinning around them, and at least one of those planets has life on it, and that life is entirely supported by sunlight (starlight) and all of the Universe’s parts are made up of stardust. There is also a growing acceptance among scientists and philosophers that really, we’re fundamentally talking...

cosmoses The basic story is that a system of order we call “Cosmos” contains all possible concepts and universes. But the nature of the discussion about The Cosmos includes the possibility that there are infinitely many cosmoses contained in some other infinite concept, and so on. The image above is a vision of multiple Big Bangs creating multiple universes, simultaneously and everywhere. What will we think of next? NEXT