The Holographic Universe

Today nearly everyone is familiar with holograms, three-dimensional images projected into space with the aid of a laser. Now, two of the world's most eminent thinkers -- University of London physicists David Bohm, a former protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum physicists, and Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, one of the architects of our modern understanding of the brain -- believe that the universe itself may be a giant hologram, quite literally a kind of image or construct created, at least in part, by the human mind. This remarkable new way of looking at the universe explains now only many of the unsolved puzzles of physics, but also such mysterious occurrences as telepathy, out-of-body and near death experiences, "lucid" dreams, and even religious and mystical experiences such as feelings of cosmic unity and miraculous healings.

The remaining 2/3 of the book is a discussion of how the holographic paradigm may provide a rational basis for interpreting a wide variety of phenomenon located around the fringes of established science. He looks at everything from strange historical "miracles" like stigmata and appearances of the Virgin Mary to modern psychic abilities and LSD experiences, from out-of-body and near-death-experiences to UFO abductions. In addition, he compares language used in the modern scientific discussion of holography with the language used by ancient mystical traditions.

Mr. Talbot's writing style is unusually clear and lucid. All of this makes for a highly engaging book. It kept me up late every night for more than a week. I am a person who has had an OBE/NDE (out-of-body, near-death-experience), and can tell you that his description of such events is an astoundingly accurate portrayal of what I experienced.

I am also a scientist, and know that most of my highly rational, empirical colleages would have trouble accepting a majority of Mr. Talbot's conclusions. This work addresses something so completely out of the realm of everyday experience for most people, and probes a world that is normally invisible to the five senses. Hence, objective, empirical science -- as defined by a conventional theorist or practicing technician -- simply cannot address these experiences. They are outside the range of focus of the tool that Western minds currently rely on.

The service that Mr. Talbot provides is a challenge to rethink the conventional definition of science so that it can take into account a much wider range of human experience. What he argues for is the acceptance, as valid scientific data, of the experiences of individual humans, across cultures and throughout history, that are remarkably consistent with one another. These experiences address aspects of reality that are invisible to the skeptical eye, but become obvious to the person who chooses to develop other forms of perception.

As a person who was unwittingly thrown into an OBE/NDE experience, I am naturally inclined to read a book like this one with an open mind, and felt immensely rewarded for doing so. However, if I had reviewed the same book before having my own personal experience of some of the phenomena it describes, I would have reviewed it as a new-age excursion into a realm of fantasy. I am completely sympathetic to some of the reviewers who see it that way, and respectfully disagree.

I believe there is an extraordinary synthesis happening among the realms of human experience, one that can validate each individual's story, however unusual, and also one that honors all the different ways of knowing. I see Mr. Talbot's work as one of the more important bridges yet constructed between traditional science and spirituality, between rational discourse about repeatable, empirically verifiable phenomenon and the quirky, esoteric or mythological elements of personal experience that actually define most people's experience of reality. This book is a "must read" for any passionate seeker of truth.


One of the best books ever written   January 25, 2001
Cynthia Sue Larson (San Francisco bay area, CA USA)
176 out of 184 found this review helpful

I've read The Holographic Universe often, and have gained new insights into the nature of consciousness and reality from its riches every time. I consider it to be author Michael Talbot's most important work, as well as one of the best books ever written on the subject of so-called paranormal phenomenon.

Talbot's fascination for finding scientific explanations for psychic and paranormal activity began when he noticed objects moving inexplicably around him, regardless where he lived. He would sometimes awaken to find socks draped on his houseplants, and occasionally found objects in his apartment that he knew for a fact had been hundreds of miles away. His real-life experiences with such shifts in reality combined with his training in physics led him to explore possible reasons for these and other mysterious happenings.

Talbot begins his book with an excellent introduction to physicist David Bohm's concept of the holographic model of the universe, and combines the physics model with Karl Pribram's work on the holographic model of the brain. The result is a marvelous description of a non-local, interconnected and alive universe that moves in response to our every thought and feeling.

I am very impressed with the clarity with which Talbot presents the concept of a holographic universe and how various paranormal phenomenon can be explained within that model. Talbot's discussion is comprehensive, fascinating, clear, and packed with relevant and intriguing stories of paranormal phenomenon. Out of body experiences (OBEs), near death experiences (NDEs), auric readings, psychokinesis, acupuncture, X-ray vision, healing, and psychic readings are all described and considered for placement into the holographic model.

Talbot presents a wealth of relevant research studies and scientific theories from David Bohm, Helmut Schmidt, Marilyn Schlitz, Robert Monroe, Charles Tart, Larry Dossey, Paul Davies, PMH Atwater, Ian Stevenson, Fred Alan Wolf, Harold Puthoff, Russell Targ, Lyall Watson, Stanislav Grof, and many others.


important even after a decade   April 3, 2004
Jon Norris (Oregon, USA)
63 out of 67 found this review helpful

Talbot has created a great book. The Holographic Universe is a discourse on a new way (paradigm) for viewing life and the Universe, based primarily on revelations from quantum physics. While my copy is over 10 years old, and physics has moved forward a bit since then, most of the material in the book is as revelant today as it was when my copy was published in 1991.

The basic premise of the book concerns the nature of holography, and how the Universe and our existence and experience can be viewed through a holographic model. For those who don't know, a holgram or holograph is a photographic image created by splitting a laser beam and recording interference patterns between the two beams after one has been reflected off the subject to be photographed. It has the remarkable property of containing the entire image on each piece if you cut it or break it into smaller pieces. This idea of the whole contained in each piece is the basis of the Holographic principle. It has been found to be very useful in explaining the behavior of many natural systems, hence the purpose of this book.

Talbot discusses many areas of life, including particle physics and physical health. He quotes and cites authorities like Bohm, Grof, Pribram, and many others too numerous to mention here. The book is an incredible resource for a new view of reality as well as a huge listing of people, books, and research to go into more depth on the subjects covered. It is one of my favorite books, and I have given more than one away as a gift. At one time, I kept two additional copies just to loan out.

My favorite parts of the book are the experiment in mass dreams near the end, and the section starting on page 90 dealing with the placebo effect and Multiple Personality Disorder(MPD). The fact that placebo effect can cure illness at a higher rate than many pharmaceuticals should make people sit up and take notice. If that doesn't wake you up, then the research on the health capabilities of people with MPD ought to really rattle your sense of reality darned hard.

The fact that people with MPD can turn illnesses on and off totally destroys the whole Cartesian-clockwork view of physical reality, not to mention the Western allopathic model of medicine. These people can experience radical changes in their biology just by changing which personality is "in charge" of the body. I'm talking total disappearance of diabetes, complete changes in vision (color blindness as well as refractive errors), allergic reactions, erasing the effects of drugs and alcohol; tumors, scars, and cysts coming and going, and more. All of these things are well-documented in the scientific literature (cited in the book). I personally know of a case (not in the book) of a broken bone that would not show on x-rays unless the personality who broke the bone was present! The person who recounted this to me was very much frightened by it, and reluctantly revealed it only when I raved about this sction of the book.

The MPD research alone should force a total redirection of our health research. Of course it won't, because trillion-dollar industries rely on expensive cures that don't necessarily work, and those industries couldn't care less about your and my health, only our ability to pay.

This book is a terrific read and will open your eyes to wonderful new things. It may even open you up to a whole new life, it is that powerful. It is still vital after a decade, and well worth reading. A no-holds-barred 5.


Suspend your preconceptions and you may have an epiphany ...   March 23, 2002
Wayne Scott (Atlantic Beach, Florida)
60 out of 66 found this review helpful

"I am sure you have gone astray if you are moved to homesickness for anything in this dimension. We transform these things; they are not real, they are only the reflection upon the polished surface of our being." ~~ Ranier M. Rilke, from "Requiem for a Friend"

You've heard the parable of the five blind men who examined an elephant, to find it "like a rope, a tree, a wall, a spear, or a snake", depending on whether they encountered tail, leg, torso, tusk, or trunk? The polarities of the other 68 reviews remind me of that parable. I must comment to three: to 5-star "Mindboggling!!!!", who said, "...should be the new "Bible"!!!"; I liked it, too. But please, let's not. We've religions enough; to 1-star "The only book I ever trashed ... ", who threw it away, because, "To sell it would have made me feel guilty that someone might read it and believe it."; On behalf of the libraries to which you deprived a donation, thanks. Check out Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" at the library nearest you. You may find yourself. And to those who raked Talbot over the coals for his "unscientific" approach, I recommend your re-read his introduction, and understand his intention. For works of a sufficiently scientific approach, explore his 25 page bibliography.

Part one begins, "Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, to follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads, or you shall learn nothing." T. H. Huxley, quoted on the overleaf. Part One so thoroughly drew me in that I could not put the book down.

Chapter 1: The Brain as Hologram (Pribram). Memory; local or non-local, that is the question. Do specific memories reside in specific locations (cells)? That they do is stipulated as the commonly accepted view. That they do not is put forward with evidence from Pribram's work, along with that of Penfield, Lashley, and others. Hologram fundamentals are reviewed (keep in mind "reference beam", "object beam", and "interference pattern"). Eyesight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste are spoken of as operating in frequency spectrums. How does associative memory work? And photographic memory? The statement that "there is evidence that neurons respond individually to narrow bands of frequencies" (everything has a resonant frequency) leapt off the page at me. The inference I take from it is that, in a holographic model for memory ~ and consciousness itself ~ our five senses provide the "reference beams". Talbot touches upon transference of motor skills, phantom limb phenomena, and the idea that the brain employs Fourier Transform to process and comprehend sensory input. He concludes by alluding to Pribram pondering the implications of his theory with respect to the nature of reality and how we experience it.

Chapter 2: The Cosmos as Hologram (Bohm). Quanta only behave as particles when we look at them; they are interconnected (both at a distance, instantaneously, and with near-conscious, self sustaining behavior, in a plasma). Physicist Nick Herbert is quoted, "...Likewise humans can never experience the true texture of quantum reality because everything we touch turns to matter." It's a very small leap from there to infer that our brain's cognitive processes influence the physical world as much as the physical world influences us.

The remaining seven chapters are an exploration of these ideas and relate to a variety of phenomena: placebo effect, dreams, hypnosis, psychedelic drugs and psychedelic experiences WITHOUT drugs, shamanism, precognition, near death experiences ~~~ everything but the kitchen sink. I cannot express my thoughts here succinctly enough to fit the word count limit. Be prepared for an excursion into things for which there is no explanation, and to which "pure science" replies "insufficient evidence". There was so much material concerning psychic phenomena that at times it seemed as though Talbot was shouting "Look, look! You cannot ignore this." But then, for the most part my own spiritual beliefs already accommodate things that he seemed intent of providing overwhelming evidence to support. I just have evidence enough of my own (experiential, not "empirical") that it wasn't necessary. Most of it I did find fascinating. The only exception was Talbot's personal experiences with "poltergeist" phenomena, which, while I understand their influence on his curiosity, seemed to detract a bit from the body of evidence he presents.

Personally, I'm not overly impressed with phenomena, and do not hunger for it. Truth impresses me. Alot. That's where my particular appetite peaks. And I think Talbot is on to something true. "Holographic Universe" was an epiphany for me.

I'll concede "Holographic Universe" is not "purely scientific" enough for stalwart academics. it may well be a map to the "Rosetta Stone" for how human consciousness functions within the quantum universe: a "sneak preview" to a "theory of everything" that has the capacity to account for human "mystical" experience, including a plausible explanation of the form and function of the human soul. Name any "pure scientist" who did not, at least in private life, ponder "purely unscientific" philosophical implications of their work in the context of a higher meaning. I cannot. Talbot portrays Pribram and Bohm as deserving, for their departure from the "orthodox" view, their own unwritten chapters in "Profiles in Courage".

"Everywhere I go, I find the poet has been there before me." ~~ Jung

"We transform these things; they are not real, they are only the reflection upon the polished surface of our being ..." ~~ Rilke


Excellent and makes you rethink your view of reality!   September 10, 2000
Winston (Washington state)
36 out of 39 found this review helpful

This is definitely a must read for anyone who ever pondered the meaning of reality or the universe. It puts together a big picture of all kinds of phenomenon and how they exist. So many things about our mind, our world, and our universe are explained if we adopt a holographic paradigm. There is convincing scientific evidence to support this too, such as the 1982 Alan Aspect experiment that showed that there was no locality between the twin particles. This book is not some wacky theory, because it contains quotes and studies from credible people and sources. In addition, the holographic theory is consistent with the view of reality by mystics and the idea that we are all connected and one, which is why love is so important because it brings unity.

The only unanswered question I have that this book didn't seem to answer is this: If the universe is a hologram, then how is it that matter is solid to the touch? Why does my hand not pass through this table in front of me if it is a hologram? Upon reading the first 2 chapters closely, it appears that the answer to my question is that since our hands and our bodies are PART of the hologram of the universe, it would "feel" that other objects are solid too. I am not sure of this though, but that is my interpretation of it. If anyone else who has read the book knows the answer to my question, feel free to let me know. My email address is WWu777@aol.com

Thanks, Winston