Quantum mechanics is an immensely complex scientific field, so much so, that Albert Einstein himself declared it ‘spooky action at a distance’. But in the field of physics and abstract mathematics, comes a discovery that can sometimes parallel and even complement our spiritual truth – quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement is the idea that two particles being inextricably connected can cause one another to react no matter the distance between them – a powerful concept, illustrated with both natural science and spiritual frameworks, by famously English philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal.
Pascal’s wager, says that if there is a god, and one believes in it, one will go to heaven, and gain all eternity. But if one does not, and god exists, one will go to hell, an infinitely bad situation. While an atheist would gain nothing or lose nothing, a believer, theoretically, gains infinity. This thought experiment implies how natural and spiritual truths may not be as contradictory as some believe, as both realms make up a whole set of beliefs, that taken together create a more complete understanding of the way things are.
C.S. Lewis, famously known author and theologian, thought the same when he wrote that only through knowledge and belief of natural laws do we have the expectation of law in nature itself, implying that science and the divine are deeply intertwined. As the Apostle John in the bible writes the same in his first line, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”.
One particularly stunning example of this collaboration is the idea that information, a product of conscious minds, is the fundamental building block of physical reality. Before the Big Bang, millions of years before any form of life, there was still the fundamental information that creates the particles that are found in the universe today. That information was the Word, the divine.
Dr. Seth Lloyd, professor at MIT, turns this concept into the idea that the Universe itself is a vast quantum computer – and that the information found in the Universe is the product of a conscious being. Thus, entailing the same ideas already discovered in the Bible, that the Word was there, but only now has science given us the insight to understand and appreciate this mystery.
The Christian-Science war may not be a clash of two ideologies, but rather, a link in the chain that brings us to the truth of where we all come from – both in a spiritual and a scientific perspective. It is these findings, these mysteries, these entanglements that take us closer to the true understanding of reality, both the material and the spiritual.
The Company mentioned in this article is Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is an independent, privately endowed university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a world-renowned research institution, and MIT has been at the forefront of technological and scientific breakthroughs since its founding in 1861. MIT is home to researchers, educators, and scientists from around the world, continuously pushing the boundaries of knowledge and exploring the world’s most pressing issues.
The person mentioned in the article is Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and philosopher. Considered a prodigy by many, Pascal made significant contributions to mathematics, physics, and philosophy. He was a true polymath and he also wrote religious treatises and is best known for his work on probability theory, his work on the foundations of mathematics, and his famous “Pascal’s Wager” statement about god. He died in Paris in 1662, having achieved great things and leaving behind a legacy of theological and scientific wonder.
