Upixels

Just what is the fundamental stuff of the universe? Pixels on a computer screen are the smallest pieces of the image. In other words, it is the combination of pixels that allows us to see these images. Similarly, we could think of our reality as arising from pixel-like entities. I coined the term “upixels” to represent universal pixels. These upixels are a billion trillion times smaller than subatomic matter. They somehow become energy, matter, motion, time, gravity, us, and our reality.

Where did we come from?

So, if upixels are the fundamental ingredients that form everything in the universe, where did they come from? Hence, where did we come from? Scientists are attempting to understand what upixels are, where they come from, and what rules transform them to everything we experience.

Upixels and energy

Physicists use jargon such as strings, quarks, leptons, and other technical terms. But no agreed upon name exists for the fundamental component of our world. Because we do not know the basic unit of everything, I decided to arbitrarily use the term upixels. Scientists believe that upixels are some form of energy that cannot be adequately described. I find this assertion most interesting, since Eastern traditions have taught for thousands of years that everything is energy.

Beyond “fundamental particles”

For now, it is important to keep the upixels in mind, because they aid me in explaining our origins, our nature, and reality itself. Wait a minute you might say. So-called “fundamental particles” are the most basic component of the universe—right? No. Even these seem to have components trillions of times smaller. Furthermore, as we move from molecule to atom to fundamental particles to upixels, each smaller component has higher energy density. The protons and the neutrons in the nucleus appear to zip about each other at 40,000 miles per second. In reality this is a metaphor to indicate the high energy density. Upixels have a trillion times higher energy density than the nucleus. That is why String Theory considers upixels to be mere vibrating strings of energy and the shape and energy content determines whether they eventually manifest themselves as light, electrons, protons, quarks, and all the subatomic particles.

Where did all this stuff come from?

But if upixels create our world akin to pixels on a computer monitor what or who controls the placement of the upixels? The pixels on the computer screen are controlled by a program which is mere information. In like manner, scientists believe that our world is merely energy and information. Upixels and computer pixels both are but energy arranged by information. The upixels create our experience but what controls them?

Quantum theory and time

Quantum Theory suggests that atomic components such as electrons are in constant flux and can be everywhere at once and only observation “freezes” them into our reality. The great 20^th-century physicist John Wheeler proposed that the universe depends upon conscious observers to make it real. Consider the Big Bang or the universe 13 billion years ago. Who or what could have been the observer back then? Then I discovered that there is no “back then.” In our universe, there is no interval between events in our world! (I explain these scientific proposals in Healing the Rift.)

Bridging the gap between science and spirituality

In my research for Healing the Rift, I found scores of Nobel Laureates and leading scientists who provide gems of evidence for a 21^st-century scientific basis for bridging the gap between science and spirituality. One example is provided by physicist Richard Henry who wrote: “The only reality is mind and observations, but observations are not things. To see the universe as it really is, we must abandon our tendency to conceptualize observations as things. The universe is immaterial—mental and spiritual.” Thus, perhaps the metaphor of upixels might be replaced with something else–any ideas?

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Cosmology & spirituality, Mind & Matter, Science & Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.