The Essential David Bohm

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Summary: Meaning in a subjective universe
Review: I've read several books by and about physicist David Bohm including "Wholeness and the Implicate Order", but it wasn't until I read "The Essential David Bohm" that I began to comprehend Bohm's philosophy.

If I were to attempt a one-line summary of his philosophy it would be that nature is an undivided whole. This is not a new idea as it has its roots in monistic traditions, but it has always been difficult for me to understand just how we, as individual observers, fit into the wholenss of the universe. How is it, as Einstein himself wondered, that we are able to make the universe comprehensible by doing objective science if we are a part of what we are studying? And if matter and energy scurry around in a cold, purposeless fashion as most modern orthodox physicists proclaim, why do we, as one of the most complex inhabitants of this universe, seem to aspire to creativity and purpose?

The answer according to David Bohm, is that the universe is organized at all levels of complexity according to "meaning", and this includes life itself. If "meaning" is enfolded within all matter and energy, in what Bohm calls the implicate order, then there is no separation of mind and matter. Nor, can objectivity and subjectivity be discrete. If the entire universe is organized according to meaning then the universe is contextual and therefore subjective at all levels. Objectivity becomes a false endeavor.

Yet, it is undeniable that "objective" science has taken us a long way in the twentieth century, from an understanding of the workings of the atom to the marvels of DNA. There is a limit to this kind of approach, however. There is a growing realization in many scientific disciplines that the ultimate building blocks of nature are unattainable. The philosophy of reductionism has by definition a major flaw. The part can never abstract the whole. Therefore, a new holistic aproach must be adapted in which "meaning" is considerd at all levels of complexity.

How is it possible for us to observe nature if all is subjective? Bohm explanation is that "meaning" is self-referential allowing consciousness to observe itself. And contrary to what most of us intuitively believe, the process of observation is not passive. Similar to the scientific method, experimentation between our brain and the environment are constantly taking place in a process of active "attunement".

Such attunement is a skill that requires practive. For example, visual observation requires a subtle unconscious movement of the eyeball itself. When subjects are placed in sensory depravation where practice of these skills cease, perception can completely break down. Taking a Kantian viewpoint, Bohm says that observation allows us only an abstraction of the universe filtered through our senses. We are not creating reality through this continual interplay between our nervous systems and nature. We are only creating an "inner show" which allows us a subjective insight into the universe. Therefore, an abstract comprehension of nature is possible due to the constant interplay between nature and ourselves, and because the universe is subjective and contextual.

The idea of a contextual universe is not such a radical step for two reasons: First, Niels Bohr himself made the position and momentum of particles context dependent by bringing in the measuring device (the observer) as the determining factor for the outcome of the experiment. An "observation" is required in quantum experiments to make the particle determinate. And second, Bohr realized that there could be no division between the classical and quantum worlds. In fact, in his later years Bohr proclaimed: "There is no quantum world." And yet, there seems to be a dichotomy. Classical physics is supposed to be causal, objective, and deterministic, while quantum physics is non-local, acausal, and indeterministic.

For example, two similar processes exemplify one of the most mysterious aspects of quantum theory: The acausal jump of the electron from one orbit to another around the nucleus of an atom, and the acausal process of nuclear decay. Both processes are indeterministic in that there is no cause for an individual electron to make a jump, nor an unstable atom to decay. Only a statistical average can be determined. But if, as Bohm claims, the universe is context driven then "meaning" can be the unifying factor of the quantum and classical worlds. For if we realize that the original source of all cause and effect is "meaning", then both classical and quantum physics would be contextual, and therefore no division would exist.

One of David Bohm's colleagues once said of Bohm's ideas: Some are brilliant, many are obscure, and some are just plain nonsense." In reading this book I discovered much of the brilliance as well as some of the obscurity of David Bohm. And though I found his description of physic's famous double-slit experiment, as well as his "pilot-wave" idea unsatisfying, I would not want to proclaim it "nonsense". This book was truly mind-expanding and I highly recommend it for the contemplative individual.

This book review by David Kreiter, author of "Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective."