The Wrong Assumption

“On the Separation of Church and Science” provides an introduction to the book. It simply starts the conversation about the controversy between science and spirituality. This chapter uses the constitutional principle of separation of church and state as a metaphor for how modern secular societies may perceive spirituality as the antithesis of science. It claims that many people today feel comfortable with the idea that science and spirituality should be two separate areas of knowledge; however, the author personally disagrees with this notion. If the right assumptions are made, then science can be used to validate invisible elements of the universe that could provide tangible evidence of the presence of a higher consciousness.

“The Outer Limits” seeks to determine if science alone could describe everything that is real in the universe. Most would probably agree that not everything can be explained by science. However, the question addressed here is whether science might be able to explain those things in the future. To answer this question, this chapter quickly moves through history from the discovery of electricity and magnetism to the development of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. It concludes that the separation between objects and events only exist within well-defined theoretical limits, and beyond those limits, everything converges into invisible forms of existence. It does not matter how much technology may advance in the future, there are certain things in the universe that can only be perceived in the mind of the observer.

“The Matter of Facts” focuses on the substance that makes up the universe. It explains that, according to the laws of physics, the natural world is entirely made of a substance that can be referred as mass and energy. In the same way, if the supernatural is real, then it also has to be made of something real. The story first looks for this substance in the ancient theory of the four elements and then moves quickly through history, explaining how the concepts of mass and energy were first created in the theory of classic physics and then unified in the special theory of relativity. The theory shows that the universe is either eternal or it was created by something else, and the best explanation of its origin is the theory of the Big Bang. If this theory is correct, then the almost infinite variety of elements that people perceive, including human life and intelligence, comprise only 5% of the mass and energy available in the universe. The rest is invisible to the senses of perception.

“The Age of Time” explores the possibility that the universe may possess memory of the past. The discussion starts by explaining the relationship between time and age. The chapter explains that, even though time is just an imaginary concept, age seems to be something real that irreversibly advances with time. To understand this connection, the chapter quickly reviews the scientific definition of time, from the sundial to the atomic clock, and it then continues with the history of entropy from the steam engine to the theory of communication. It concludes that entropy behaves as an immaterial memory that takes note of every action and remembers it for the rest of eternity. Metaphorically speaking, entropy behaves as if the universe must remember the past in order to avoid repeating it in the future.

“Between Life and No Life” explores the question of whether life can exist independent of the physical body. The discussion starts with a brief introduction to the scientific definition of life. It explains that life in science is supposed to exist within microscopic units called cells, and these cells can only be created by dividing other cells in two. The story then talks about the theory of evolution, the motivations for the theory, and how it was apparently validated by the theory of molecular genetics. This chapter concludes that, if the theory of molecular genetics is correct, then there is an obvious paradox in the definition of life; the creation of life contradicts its own definition. Regardless of the efforts to explain this paradox during the last century, scientists have still not found the law of nature that can fill this gap. In contrast, the hypothesis proposed by the author asserts that life behaves as if it is has consciousness of its own existence.

“The Inner Truth” explores the concept of spirituality from the perspective of the human mind. The chapter starts with a basic introduction to the theory of neurons and neurotransmitters and then explains how they work by using the theory of artificial neural networks as a mathematical analogy. It reveals that, if the theory of artificial neural networks is an acceptable model of the brain, then the human mind cannot arbitrarily create any idea that it wants to; ideas are apparently created from preconceived thinking patterns that were learned by trial and error in the past. The discussion then provides a quick introduction to statistics. It explains that statistics can be used as a tool to measure ambiguous human concepts such as words and feelings. It concludes that, if the theory of evolution is correct, then the brain may contain a spiritual inner truth that explains why so many scientists today do not see any conflicts between science and spirituality.

“To Believe or Not to Believe” presents some final thoughts about a possible link between science and spirituality. After showing that it is possible to be a scientist and still have spiritual beliefs, this chapter asks the question of whether it makes any difference if one has spiritual beliefs or not. To answer that question, the author proposes the analogy of a color-blind person, explaining that sometimes people need to believe in hypothetical concepts in order to understand how these concepts may affect their levels of happiness and chance for success. The chapter concludes with the claim that everybody should seize the opportunity to explore their mystical thoughts.