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Brains and Branes
Brains and Branes
Are our brains sophisticated enough to understand branes?
For those brains wondering as to what branes are, well they are a
speculation of the string theory (the theory that is expected to
describe everything about our universe!! well again its another
interesting fact to note that the string theory which was expected to
describe our universe has now ended up speculating multiple co existing
universes like ours!!!) Branes are membranes that exist in higher
dimensions of space (9? 10?). Imagine a sheet of paper that can move
about in all 9-10 spatial dimensions. Well, yes, string theory requires
that the universe have many more spatial dimensions for it to explain
everything about the universe, sorry multiverse!!
Coming back to the brains, are our brains well equipped to understand
the functioning of this universe?? Well, that is not the question here.
The real question is an even more fundamental one.
The mental picture of the universe created in our brain with the help of
our sense organs, does it correspond to reality?
In other words, is the universe we see the same as the universe we live
in. Are we getting an incomplete partial picture based on the
capabilities of our sense organs?? Or is it just a mere mapping of the
universe into our brains and it has nothing do with the real picture at
all??
Consider the example of what we see through our eyes. Our eyes recognize
light rays that enter it and send the information to the brain, which
then maps it to our visual information in the visual cortex.
The question here is, do our eyes see everything?
Answer is an obvious ‘No’. Our eyes can identify only a part of the
electromagnetic spectrum i.e. the light whose wavelength is between 400
to 800 nanometres. We DO NOT SEE light that falls below or above this
so-called ‘visible range’!! In other words we are blind outside the so
called visible range.
Of course, yes, we have developed instruments, which can identify light
outside the ‘visible range’. For instance radio telescopes, X-ray
telescopes, Infrared goggles etc.
But when we see the images from these instruments, we map the contours
to some color that falls in the visible range!!!!! In other words, we
can never see how that real world looks like!!! For instance, if we
assume that our eyes were capable of also seeing light waves between 1000-1500
nanometers, how would it look like???????
Now being convinced that we DON’T SEE EVERYTHING, let us discuss about
whether at least what we see really corresponds to reality or not!!
We see a red rose. We identify its color as red. Now what is this red?
Is the rose really red, or is it just a visual interpretation given to
it by our brain??? Well, first lets talk about primary colors: red,
green and blue. We call them primary colors !! Why?? Because the cones
(cells that identify colors) in our eyes identify only these three
colors (to be more precise, only these three wavelengths!) Any other
color we perceive is a combination of two or more of these colors.
In other words, primary colors are primary ONLY for human eyes. Not
necessarily for every other species on this planet!! So even what we are
able to see is just a mapping done based on the light information
received by our eyes. Then what does the world really look like? Or does
it have something called real look at all??
Probably any audio/video or other information that we receive is
‘perceived depending on the ability of our sense organs’ and this
perceived information ‘mapped by the brain’s imagination’.
If this is the case, then what about the scientific theories, facts etc
that we build based on our observations of this universe?? Do they
correspond to reality atleast?? Well as long as the observation maps the
expectations, we can say yes. But we cannot say that it is the only way
universe is working. While we might have observed that 2+2=4, we cannot
say ONLY 2+2=4 and nothing else is 4. Probably we might have derived
based on our observations that 2+2=4, where as universe itself might be
functioning as per 3+1=4. We will never know it because the end result
is the same aka 4!!!
This is something similar to what Einstein had to say about theories. It
is like we are given a wristwatch that shows time accurately and then we
are asked to find out how the watch actually works and we have to do
that without opening the watch !!
Now, we might come up with an explanation as to how the watch is working
and it may perfectly fit the observation. Somebody else might come up
with another explanation and even that might fit the observation!! But
what is the real mechanism based on which the watch is working?? Based
on our earlier discussion on reality, here we are not even sure that we
are observing everything about the watch, let alone explain how it
works!
Oh my god, so isn’t there any thing called reality at all??
Well, I think there is. The quantum entanglement! Particles sharing
information in spite of being physically light-years apart!! The
physical universe that we see may not be a direct mapping between
reality and observation. We continuously try to refine and redefine our
understanding, but as I showed earlier we can never be sure that it is
the reality, because there is nothing called reality in the physical
universe we observe!! It is only a interpretation of our brain of the
information it receives from our sensory organs which are again limited
by the capabilities of their observation!
The reality lies in the universe that we feel. Probably that is the
reason why ancient Indian seers (scientists of those days) attempted to
observe the reality not by opening their eyes, but by closing them and
investigating inwards, where in the real truth lies!! Observing from
within does not have any limitations imposed by the sense organs, and
that is simply because when we observe reality there are no limitations
for that observation.
- by Gurudev
MADE
IN INDIA
gurudevp@vsnl.net
On 19 September 2006
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