Book Review

Quantum Shift in the Global Brain by Ervin Laszlo

In his latest book, Quantum Shift in the Global Brain, Ervin Laszlo embraces a new view of physical reality, one that will enable us to deal with the problems our society has developed.  His approach is summed up in two chapters, "Macro Shift in Society," and "Paradigm Shift in Science."  In the first chapter, Laszlo examines the roots of our non-sustainable society and concludes that change is required for survival.  If these changes occur, they will take the form of "macro shifts," where society develops to its maximum allowable level, then stagnates and stops growing.  In the next phase, mounting pressure develops and new ideas begin to emerge that can solve its problems. At a certain point, there is forward leap into a new reality. 
   
Whether society will macro shift or not depends on whether it will be able to develop new scientific paradigms or new innovations in other fields, which will then produce the theories and ideas necessary to initiate a macro shift. 

Laszlo proposes two theories that could initiate a macro shift:

1. The Theory of the Cosmic Plenum
   This is essentially the Quantum Vacuum, a derivative of Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics.  The Cosmic Plenum is outside of normal space and time, and is a phenomenon that connects (through the nonlocal effect) all events and all conscious thought.  It is the basis for the "Global Brain."
2. The Theory of Coherence
   This theory bases ethical values and health on the coherent functioning of the mind (ethics), and the body (health).  Our current understanding of mental, emotional, and physical health is based on behavioral analysis and chemical signatures.  The sciences involved in these diverse descriptions are separated by vast gaps in the continuum of knowledge.  Currently, coherence is limited to describing the light that is emitted by lasers. However, if it could be extended to describe the functioning of all aspects of living cells and organisms, it could become the basis for a new scientific paradigm defining health and disease.

This book is a leading entry in the field of new science. It is wide in scale and broad in ideas, but it lacks details as to how to accomplish what it sees as necessary. My book, The Theory of the Prime Field, is a detailed account of the physics that underlies the new scientific paradigm of coherence.  It is hoped that other theories will be developed in this new and essential field.

*Quantum Shift in the Global Brain, (How the New Scientific Reality Can Change Our World), Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT, 2008.