It’s a Case of Mind Over Matter... or Rather Mind Isn’t Matter

‘It would be the first time we as scientists can put our hands on this problem of consciousness.’

Published: Thursday, July 20, 2017 - 12:03

There is no shortage of weirdness in quantum mechanics, and the phenomenon known as entanglement is weird with a capital “W.”  When two particles are entangled, they share a connection no matter how far the distance between them.

Measuring one particle can tell you what measuring the other particle will provide. For decades experiments have been focused on finding what controls these measurements. Now a proposed test suggests the control could be separate from the material world—from human consciousness.

“[French philosopher Rene] Descartes put forth this mind-matter duality, [where] the mind is outside of regular physics and intervenes on the physical world,” says Lucien Hardy in a New Scientist article.

“[If] you only saw a violation of quantum theory when you had systems that might be regarded as conscious, humans or other animals, that would certainly be exciting,” says Hardy, who holds research and lecture positions at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. ”I can’t imagine a more striking experimental result in physics than that. We’d want to debate as to what that meant.”

“It would be the first time we as scientists can put our hands on this problem of consciousness,” says Nicolas Gisin, group leader in the Group of Applied Physics at the University of Geneva.

Imagine the human mind overcoming what dictates the physical world. We are already on that path.

Joe Dispenza, D.C., writes in his book You Are the Placebo—Making Your Mind Matter (Hay House Inc. 2014),  about independent studies on pain, asthma, and Parkinson’s disease showing that the human body has the ability to produce morphine, antihistamine, and dopamine.

And studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and at Harvard show it is possible to heal yourself even when you know you are taking a placebo. In fact in the Harvard study, the placebo pill for irritable bowel syndrome worked as well as the best IBS medications.

About The Author

Laurel Thoennes @ Quality Digest

Laurel Thoennes is an editor at Quality Digest. She has worked in the media industry for 33 years at newspapers, magazines, and UC Davis—the past 25 years with Quality Digest.