Beyond Nothing — We The Living

The living organism seems to be a macroscopic system which in part of its behaviour approaches to that purely mechanical (as contrasted with thermodynamical) conduct to which all systems tend, as the temperature approaches the absolute zero and the molecular disorder is removed. – Erwin Schrodinger from “What Is Life? – The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell”

Having harkened not to me but to the Logos it is wise to agree that all things are one. – Heraclitus

Hello dear reader – I realize it has been some time since I’ve written and shared. Life has been moving and shaking both for myself personally and of course for just about everyone on the planet these days in so many ways both concerning and liberating. The issues of today weigh heavily on my mind and heart, and although I could say very many things on them – and to some degree the last few posts speak to that largely – I haven’t yet found a way to speak further about them in a more tactful, artful, and literary fashion as of yet. When that time comes, if ever, I will be sure to share with you all here. I am also quite keen on completing or at least concluding my modern metaphysics series – Beyond Nothing – and that is the focus of this and perhaps future posts to come. I have been doing much reading, thinking, and note-taking on this subject for the past year(s) now and much more to come I’m certain. I would like to share with you some of those results as best I can.

Many people today are trapped by a god of science. And although it is quite healthy and good and proper in all ways to insist and base our lives and understanding on that which we can measure, touch, and analyze, it seems obvious that there are many aspects of life which extend beyond measurement or provide conflicting measurements even as “the science” defines it. Philosophy certainly for the last couple hundred years in the West, let alone the great Christian theological tradition as well as Platonic philosophy before that all speak to and address these issues. Even science itself particularly over the last century, through the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, electron cloud probabilities, and the basic premise of quantum versus classical physics to name a few, has come to admit perhaps begrudgingly that our ability to measure out reality as we know it is itself limited in scope and range. Through impeccable application of scientific empiricism, science has, ironically enough, revealed that empiricism itself is flawed and incapable of knowing all things. Getting to the “bottom” of things as it were appears to not be as simple as a measuring spoon, data set, or experimental construction. Life pulses more poetically and mysteriously than the controls of science would like to admit and perhaps can appreciate.

A fellow reader here on the site recommended to me a fascinating book after I began posting my modern metaphysics. The name of the book is called Life on the Edge: The Coming Age of Quantum Biology. Written by two scientists in 2016 (how much has changed in just 5 years I wonder) one specializing in molecular genetics and the other a theoretical physicist, the book thoroughly explains how quantum mechanics is now known to be intricately involved in our everyday life and can be witnessed and measured in a myriad of biological functions which even more interestingly are often quite fundamental to the propagating and sustaining of life itself. Many if not all of the examples they discuss and explain certainly aid in furthering my own philosophical findings regarding the nature of life and consciousness as it relates to the quantum state. Let us look at some examples of the quantum in action as presented in the book Life on the Edge.

What’s more, certain macroscopic objects are sensitive to quantum phenomena; and most of these are living. We discovered in the last chapter how quantum tunneling inside enzymes can make a difference to whole cells; and here we have explored how the initial photon-capturing event responsible for putting most of the biomass on the planet appears to be dependent on a delicate quantum coherence that can be maintained for biologically relevant lengths of time within the warm but highly organized interior of a leaf or microbe….Life seems to bridge the quantum and classical worlds, perched on the quantum edge.

The scientific details and workings of these precise biological functions and how they relate to the quantum realm are explained excellently throughout the book, and therefore will not be a major focus of this post. For those of you interested in reading further on this subject, I highly recommend this book. Instead our focus here will be upon the philosophical ramifications of these scientific facts and observations and how in particular they relate and guide our modern metaphysics. Suffice it to say that the book illustrates conclusively that life is integrally connected and vitally dependent upon quantum interventions within the classically operated universe of the living cell and larger biological function. To understand the relationship between the quantum and classical worlds the authors provided a valuable image and notation which I’ve included below for your reference.

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Life as these authors state sits “on the edge” of the quantum and classical Newtonian realms enabling itself with properties and abilities beyond non-living entities even though curiously life itself is made up of those same non-living elements. We the living then naturally transcend our own biological and quantum make-up of non-living matter. We have animated that which is inanimate. This alone is miraculous beyond comprehension and reminds me of the great poetic lines from Walt Whitman, “As to me I know of nothing else but miracles…Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.” Amen Whitman! In his own way, the quote at the top of this post from Schrodinger is also exclaiming the utter uniqueness and peculiarity of life, he was simply stating it in the language of a physicist. And so when we look at life scientifically today we see a phenomena unlike any other in the way it relates to the quantum realm as well as the classical realm. And so we can safely conclude then that there is something at the quantum level of being that raises inanimate objects to a state and capacity beyond the sum of their elemental parts and classical physical bounds such that life as we know it exists and exists most intricately and exquisitely. Here is another quote from the book Life on the Edge:

Do any of these insights provide an answer to the question Schrodinger posed decades ago about the nature of life? We have already taken on board his insight that life is a system dominated by order that goes all the way down, from highly organized whole organisms through the stormy thermodynamic ocean to the quantum bedrock below. And, crucially, these dynamics of life are delicately poised and balanced so that quantum-level events can make a difference to the macroscopic world, just as Pascual Jordan predicted in the 1930’s. This macroscopic sensitivity to the quantum realm is unique to life and allows it potentially to exploit quantum-level phenomena, such as tunneling, coherence, and entanglement, to make a difference to us all.

Life then is unlike anything else we can observe or measure in creation and this is at least in large part due to life’s intimate relationship with the quantum realm. The quantum in numerous respects is what separates animate and inanimate forms. This is a vital understanding for it is upon proven realities that we must base the construction of our metaphysics if we wish for it to be true, real, and valuable. And so please let the record state that we now know and realize it as scientific fact that life does, and apparently must, operate at the quantum level. You may notice in the detail write-up from the image above that the authors state “living organisms have roots that penetrate right down to the quantum bedrock of reality,” and in the quote directly above that life goes to the “quantum bedrock below.” Now I do agree that life reaches down to the quantum level but it is those terms “bedrock” and “reality” that I’d like to address here, for this is where I do differ with the authors slightly. The quantum reality is not in fact the “bedrock of reality” but just one more level closer to that bedrock compared to the classical Newtonian realm. As I stated in my previous post here regarding mind-body dualism, the nature of consciousness ultimately rests within the nothingness of creation, and so too now do I claim that the “bedrock of reality” also ultimately rests within that same nothingness. The quantum reality then could be considered the first or closest emanation of creation from the nothingness, but it is not the bedrock – that title is alone reserved for the nothing. And if another level below the quantum is at sometime in the future discovered or defined, then once again the nothingness will still rest beneath that too, reaffirming the nothingness as the bedrock of reality.

The world and creation and all observable realities whether Newtonian, Quantum, or otherwise are reduced to nothingness. That nothingness is among other things a quantum speedway or super highway for the most fundamental aspects of known creation namely the quantum realm and allows for various quantum phenomena such as quantum tunneling, spooky action at a distance, quantum entanglement, to name a few. The book Life on the Edge illustrates that these processes which are only possible through quantum relations can be observed at integral moments in the process and continuation of life and visible creation. From photosynthesis to human cellular enzyme activity to all sorts of prime functions within our genes, clear and present gaps or distances within the known world are being bridged through incredible feats of quantum mechanics. Simply put without the quantum realm we could not exist. Speaking now as a philosopher, not a scientist mind you, I am here to claim that the quantum realm rests upon pure nothingness and that within this nothingness, or through this nothingness, something exists. And furthermore that something is quite great – indeed it is the greatest of all things – and that something is called the Logos or the Word. What is Logos, how does it operate, is there an instrument that can measure it? And if so how is it calibrated and tested and verified?

Before we answer these vital questions, please let me digress a moment. I’ve said it before numerous times, but please allow me to state it again, that although my metaphysics insists and focuses upon the nothingness, my metaphysics is decidedly not based upon the nothingness but on that which lies beyond it. But before we can discuss this Logos beyond, we must first embrace and accept the nothingness for its presence and role which it most certainly does have in the formation and function of creation and consciousness both scientifically and philosophically. Indeed one of the main reasons for my embarking upon building a metaphysics at all is due to what I see as an unusually pervasive skepticism, fatalism, and desperation in the realm of philosophy and particularly metaphysics today. Too many scientists today are playing fast and loose with philosophy and too many philosophers fail to tackle or address the most fundamental, ontological issues. It seems both of these failures are due in large part as a refusal to consider anything which may spill into a theological controversy. And so this holy trinity of science, philosophy, and theology has been turned upside down upon itself for at least more than a century now in the West, leaving us today the inheritors of quite significant ethical, moral, and epistemological dilemmas which we are only beginning to realize and work our way through. The full implications of this philosophical and scientific fatalism are being reaped today more than ever before and is due in large part to a valid perception and realization of the nothingness that does indeed underlie all things. It is no coincidence that such a dire philosophy emerged at a time of admittedly rather paltry theological exegesis to counter such arguments as well as significant scientific advances over the last 200-300 years which likewise greatly challenged the validity of theology. The unfathomable brutality of World War 1 and then World War 2 certainly also contributed greatly to these fatalistic trends. But regardless of the ways and means of how the West arrived at the bleak, post-modern, subjectivism of today, it is our duty as intellectuals, philosophers, artists, and civilians to consider deeply the ramifications of these positions so we can more masterfully and constructively hack our way through the futility towards a more ordered, solid, and functional paradigm. To move forward and beyond whatever age we find ourselves requires a proper and sound understanding of what is believed and conceived at that time, because only from true understanding are we equipped enough to then discover and reveal what more is missing, what more lies beyond. This process is only beginning to occur in our age, but it is beginning.

Our culture, particularly when compared to the ancient Greeks, lacks any real or robust metaphysical framework, and frankly this philosophical deficiency is one of the fundamental causes for much of the social, cultural, and political turmoil we are experiencing today. Many of the issues we face are in fact best resolved through a proper philosophical, metaphysical, and even theological understanding which can then guide us towards a matrix of possible resolutions in every field of study for a more cohesive and integrated Western society. We have walked through the shadow of the valley of death long enough. It is time to rise and emerge from the darkness into an even rarer, more pristine light, a diamond light cut at an even finer angle thanks to this age of fatalism. The nothingness is a powerful awareness, and understanding it can contribute to man’s further achievement and liberation. This is where we find ourselves today, and this is largely why I am seeking to offer my attempt here, as meager as it may be, to remedy these clear and present deficiencies in the hopes of helping progress forward, beyond nothing, in any small way. It has been most surprising indeed for me to discover that much of what I am dealing with, and much of what the world reduces to, is in fact a nothingness. We know this to be true and accurate scientifically and so the philosophical implications for that must be embraced, understood, and incorporated.

The first and most obvious objection many people in the philosophical community will likely make in regards to a discussion of nothingness is that if it is truly nothing how can it be something. Or if, as I am claiming, that the Logos lives and operates through and beyond and within the nothing, then clearly this nothing of which you speak is in fact something. Now at first glance we can consider this to be true and happily concede that this nothing of which I speak is something, but to much the frustration and consternation of whomever this applies, I must object to such claims and refuse acceptance. The nothing is most certainly indeed nothing. And the Logos which does indeed exist does operate through and beyond this nothingness, but this does not change the nature of the nothingness but rather speaks to the nature of the Logos. The nothing is still nothing even if something is operating through it. Much like air is still air even when a ball or a leaf or an airplane is moving through it. The air remains the same. Likewise too the nothing remains the same. And indeed due to the nature of the Logos, which is beyond this world and beyond creation, it makes complete sense and stands to reason that it can and indeed must operate through this nothingness. For the nothing is the first and most accessible something which the Logos can most easily and readily relate and operate through. And the reason for this is that that Logos is not material at all in its nature. It is by definition unmeasurable, unobservable, imperceptible, and beyond knowing in the scientific sense of that word. The first and last “thing” that science can measure and observe is nothingness itself. That which lies beyond nothing simply cannot be controlled or contained in the fashions and means science operates within. It is beyond the realm. The Logos then is that which is known only and solely through Itself. Its beingness is the measure of Itself. There is no other way to know It. And yet because it operates through and beyond the nothing, and the nothing operates throughout all creation and all things, the Logos also operates and is connected directly and intimately to all things. The Logos is both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It is arguably the most real and fundamental “thing” in all existence. All other “things” emanate out from It, and It operates through and beyond the nothing. The only way to verify the Logos is through being the Logos, and upon being the Logos you have verified it. This is the way. There is no other. Science and true skepticism can not fathom, confirm, nor deny this Logos – the closest they can come is to the nothingness – beyond the nothing science cannot carry on further. Science must eventually be dropped along with all other “things” as the nothingness is approached and breached. The Logos lives beyond the nothing, beyond all things, and so then as we seek the Logos, we too must emulate, behave, be in like kind with the Logos. As we become the Logos we understand the Logos, and as we understand the Logos we become the Logos. It is fully ordered, cohesive, and integrated for it is the It of Itself. The being of being.

In one of the quotes above the authors of Life on the Edge mention a phrase “order that goes all the way down.” What does this mean exactly and how does it relate to the Logos? The phrase “order all the way down” comes from Erwin Schrodinger and his book What is Life? In it Schrodinger observes that heredity and therefore genes, the building blocks of life, are so incredibly accurate and to such a minute and incomprehensible degree that it seems impossible to him they are behaving according to the classical laws of Newtonian physics. This is because the classical laws are actually not perfect as we often imagine them to be, but instead behave according to statistical tendencies which eventually fall into higher and higher states of entropy according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In regular language that means the classical laws of physics suffer from randomness and disorder (entropy essentially means disorder or randomness). As an analogy, albeit an imperfect one, a car has moving parts and those moving parts have a tendency to slow down, decay, and experience “wear and tear” which is why we go to an auto-mechanic. The classical laws of physics suffer from such “wear and tear” (entropy), and Schrodinger explains this is why the classical laws of physics have statistical variance and therefore follow statistical averages. He states the following:

It has been explained in Chapter 1 that the laws of physics, as we know them, are statistical laws. They have a lot to do with the natural tendency of things to go over into disorder.

The reason Schrodinger’s remarks are so significant is because he was observing genes and heredity, that is to say life as we know it, behaving in ways so accurate that it was defying the known statistical deviations of the classical laws of physics. Life then behaves in ways that transcend Newtonian physics and adhere more to the dynamics of quantum physics. He continues:

But, to reconcile the high durability of the hereditary substance with its minute size, we have to evade the tendency to disorder, by ‘inventing the molecule,’ in fact, an unusually large molecule which has to be a masterpiece of highly differentiated order, safeguarded by the conjuring rod of quantum theory. The laws of chance are not invalidated by this ‘invention,’ but their outcome is modified. The physicist is familiar with the fact that the classical laws of physics are modified by quantum theory, especially at low temperature. There are many instances of this. Life seems to be one of them, a particularly striking one. Life seems to be orderly and lawful behavior of matter, not based exclusively on its tendency to go over from order to disorder, but based partly on existing order that is kept up.

Life then is unique in the realm of matter and the laws of physics for it adheres to quantum behaviors which we can only observe at very low temperatures, like absolute zero. Except how is this at all possible when life itself holds temperatures far, far greater than absolute zero? For Schrodinger, and dare I say for all of us too now, such an observation and awareness is most “striking” indeed. One of the implications of this observable fact is that similar to the quantum realm, life itself exhibits a much lower state of entropy, that is to say a higher state of order, than what we observe within the classical “laws” of physics. This higher order within the quantum is so unique that it appears to be the fundamental building block of life itself. If life itself is “order all the way down” and that order originates from within the quantum realm, then the next question becomes, where does this order come from within the quantum realm? Allow me to propose to you, as you might have already guessed, that this quantum order originates from within the nothingness, out of the Logos. Of course there is I’m sure many incredibly microscopic levels within the quantum realm which science can tell us “the order” comes from, but once again if you travel down far enough, trace the causal relationships all the way down, eventually there will be nothing. And then it is from out of the nothing that something emerges. That something is the Logos, and it is “ordered all the way down,” and indeed it is life itself. The Logos could be considered what Aristotle referred to as the Prime Mover, the Uncaused Cause. It is the being that is being which moves all things though itself is unmovable. Such a being, which Aristotle proves has to exist, must exist beyond the material creation of cause and effect. It must exist beyond measurement and control, indeed beyond science. Therefore it must then be beyond the nothing. The Logos creates out of nothing and it is ordered and living. This ordered something within nothing is one of the signatures of the Logos. It is the order of life rising out of the nothing. Through the Logos all things are one. It transcends all physical matter, all observable creation, time, space, all wavelengths, heat signatures, anything that can be measured, including the nothingness. The Logos retains its integrity regardless of place, position, or circumstance. The closest measurable “thing” we have to the Logos is the nothingness, and yet that too is a false representation for the Logos is not nothing; it is the only thing that is anything at all. It is the order of life. It is being, consciousness, life itself, and it resides behind and beyond that which is nothing, projecting itself through the nothingness into the quantum realm onto this side of life, the material life, ordering quanta around itself. Like a fresh green shoot sprouting out of the dirt in springtime, it thrusts order and life into the known creation for all to observe and bear witness to. All of the glory and beauty of this world and creation that we can see and sense, taste and feel, it is all the fruit of the Logos. From the immaterial comes material. From material there is the immaterial. This is our life, this is all life, this is who we are, this is what all is. All things resort ultimately to nothing and beyond the nothing lives the Logos. As we continue to observe to the most infinitesimal microscopic quantum state we eventually burst into nothing. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Here we are. And yet pulsing rhythmically, impossibly, the shape of the immaterial form, the Logos, lives alive and ordered, a well spring within the nothingness. Forever with us, with all things, beyond time and space, past the Newtonian world of statistical probabilities and laws of likelihood. We are living miracles. We are beyond even the nothing, stretching into an immaterial, imperceptible order which holds true and fast beyond time, space, all things, and can be seen through all life – that which is holding fast and true from out of the nothing, to the quantum, thermodynamic, and classical laws. We are the Logos – all that ever was, ever will be, and most especially all that is – we the living.