Customer Reviews

Nothing I See Means Anything: Quantum Questions, Quantum Answers

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book offers a look at metaphysics from a very unique perspective. I have always been a big fan of U.S. Andersen's writings about the important relationship between our conscious and sub-conscious. Because I know Dr. Parrish personally, I was very interested in reading his interpretation on the subject.

This book a wide range of topics ranging from an overview of psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy to mysticism and quantum physics. He then ties them together in a way that makes a compelling case that, yes, we do live in an orderly and friendly universe. Whether or not we acknowledge this fact is a matter of personal choice, and this book offers help in how to make that choice.

Warning: This book is not an easy read that can be devoured quickly. Many portions need to be read and re-read, perhaps several times, before the message is fully absorbed. But I believe the reader will find the time to be well spent.

Nothing I See Means Anything is, perhaps, one of the most important books I've ever read.

The concepts taught create a paradigm shift in consciousness and at times I found myself re-reading chapters to comprehend the incredible amount of truth I found within. The book is intelligently written by an accomplished physician who shares his understanding of the world and universe surrounding us. The mind once stretched to comprehend this material will never see the world the same again.

Dr. Parrish begins by reviewing the basic schools of psychology and eloquently explains the focus of each on the mind. He recognizes the diferences between them and then explains how each of them relate to the universe as we perceive it.

Next he moves to explaining quantum physics, the mathmatics of Einstein, to reveal the true nature of the universe and our place within the mind of God.

Perhaps the book should have been titled, "A Brief History of the Mind," as Parrish's keen insight should earn him consideration as the Stephen Hawking of the Spiritual Universe.

David Parrish says that the fields of psychology, mysticism, and quantum physics have all contributed to the notion that the reality we percieve in the world is not an objective reality, but a reality which is colored by our beliefs and our conditioning. Modern psychology, mysticism, and quantum theory have all elucidated the fact that we are particpants in creating and altering our reality.

Parrish says that modern psychology has shed the Freudian notion that our behavior is determined by subconscious obsessions and desires, and external events that are beyond our control. In its place existential and cognitive psychology have for the most part disavowed the subconscious mind and have embraced a more seamless and holistic consciousness, a consciousness of freedom in which we are responsible for our own acts.

Likewise, mysticism, which can be defined as a pathway to understanding reality through a "transcendence" or direct experience, has for centuries taught us that the subject/object duality is a grand illusion, and quantum theory has once and for all demonstrated through theory and experiment that in the subatomic realm there are non-local connections between particles that have been intertwined.

Parrish does an admirable job of drawing toghether the three disciplines, especially psychology and mysticism, however, his understanding of the principles of physics are a bit disappointing for the knowledgeable reader when he attempts to describe such subjects as entropy, the EPR proposal, Bell's theorem of inequality, and some of the basic tenants of quantum theory.

For example, he defines entropy as a state of chaos when, in fact, entropy is simply the tendency of systems to move toward equilibrium--a system's most probable state. He says that the old scientific paradigm is characterized by chance and separateness, while the new paradigm is one of wholeness and harmony, when, in fact, the old scientific paradigm was deterministic while the new paradigm--quantum theory-- is characterized by chance and probability of the purest form. He describes Bell's theorem in terms of "non-local causation", and energy fields, but Bell's theorem of inequality put the final nail into the coffin of hidden variables such as energy fields as an explanation for non-local events. And he misrepresents the EPR argument when he says, "They proposed through errorless mathematical reasoning that if quantum theory were correct, then a change in the spin of one particle in a two-particle system would affect its twin simultaneously, even if the two had been widely separated in the meantime." Instead, Einstein argued the opposite position. And not to belabor the point, he states: "Research has found that in the world of subparticle matter, the state of consciousness of the observer determines the outcome." This completely misstates the "observer affect". Many experiments have been conducted in which a conscious observer is unnecessary in the collapse of the quantum wave function. In an experiment conducted by investigators at the University of Rochester and featured in the November 1991 issue of "Scientific American", researcher Leonard Mandel said, "The mere possibility that the paths [of the photons] can be distiguished is enough to wipe out the interference pattern." Extracting information from a system alone can collapse the wave function.

Parrish's main premise is valid and I think he succeeds in demonstrating that the emerging fields of science have come to an understanding that the universe is an undivided whole, and that we are responsible for creating our own reality, but by the end of the book he destroys his own premises by dividing and subdividing consciousness into layers, and making religious references to God, spiritualism, and miracles. The book begins with so much promise, but it quickly spins out of control. For that reason I give it three stars.

This review by David Kreiter: Author of Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective.

I have always on one level thought that the matters discussed here are fictions based upon wishful thinking. Dr. Parrish does not prove me wrong, but he certainly demonstrates that I cannot any more be certain of my position. He agrees that that the universe seems as if it is illogical and without meaning. The earth can feel like an asylum or interminable obstacle course, and this can ingender in people considerable anxiety and fear. Parrish does not say that God made this planet--for then it might be a better place--but that it was made by the energies of its inhabitants as a place to hide from God, whom we fear by mistake, by projecting onto him our own guilt and repression. We ourselves, however, are actually small parts of God's mind. Dr. Parrish invites us therefore to quiet our worried minds in meditation and to listen for guidance.

He believes that we can see the world differently, in celestial gentleness, but this takes significant perceptual change and practice. The collective result of this change in behavior is an upwelling of caring, empathy, and lives lived ethically. Dr. Parrish provides the intellectual underpinnings to the arguments put forth by the ancient and modern thinkers who favor spirituality, peace, mediation, and caring.

"Nothing I See Means Anything" draws from some of the most perceptive minds of recent generations to provide a framework of hope for the disconnected individual. Intense intellectual scrutiny, combined with the non-threatening, nonjudgmental and often humorous prose of Dr. Parrish, give a structure within which we can better understand the flaws and paradoxes of our own observations of the world. To truly "step outside oneself" is usually an exercise in futility, and yet to help ourselves this is what we must learn to accomplish. This book offers a basis by which our "conscious" mind can explore the possibilities of transforming our perceptions of the world around us from "dangerous" to "benevolent," or alternatively, from "force" to "power."

In the field of emerging consciousness, "Nothing I See Means Anything" represents a significant contribution to the collective good. It seems that we humans are stuck in thought patterns that reinforce our disconnection from the other entities that occupy our universe. Only through the compassionate efforts of those who, like Dr. Parrish here, show the uncanny ability to bring together that which seems to divide, can we hope to continue our journey toward our connection with the source energy of the universe.

This is a tremendously important book -- tying together, from a unique perspective, age-old questions and exploratory answers to many of life's conundrums. Nothing I See Means Anything gives each of us a hand to hold on the journey through life.

This book is superb! It's clarifies many questions I had on consciousness, the universe,and the confusion that has clouded my understanding. I came away with a new awareness and some direction that has been very satisfying. I would recommend this book very highly!!!

I liked this book fair enough. I'm fascinated by the topic and know some information on the subject, but I'm by no means a scholar in this field. The book started out really interesting - the author does a great job of sucking you in. He keeps you entertained while educating the audience on the roots of thought and how ideas were molded over time.

You can feel the book starting to plateau in the middle, it starts to become very redundant. His history lesson starts dragging on with a lot less entertainment, and by the end I found myself thinking "get on with it!" It still has gems here and there, so it's certainly don't feel like I wasted my time, it just took more motivation to finish it. The conclusion is pretty vague and lacks interest overall - maybe even a little on the side of cheesy.

He sets the book up as if in the end, he's going to take all the items discussed and then lay out the foundation of his conclusions... Turns out- he didn't really have anything to share on the topic! He spends his conclusion telling you who he thinks has the best ideas. I almost felt the ending was merely a chapter of recommendations on other books written by the authors that inspired him. It was anti-climactic.

David Parrish, M.D. is a Freudian psychoanalyst and endocrinologist. In "Nothing I See Means Anything" he explores the limitations of existentialism and our understanding of consciousness to integrate concepts from three fields: psychology, quantum physics and mysticism. In a chapter entitled "The Emerging Holoverse" he makes this interesting observation: "This scientific paradigm, in which all physical phenomena can be reduced to the mechanics of their elementary units, has been very successful and has led to many important discoveries. However, there gradually developed a growing dissatisfaction with the ideas of separation. These ideas were being gradually replaced with a feeling that the whole was much greater than the sum of its parts. While analysis and reduction are helpful, twentieth-century physics has become increasingly inclined toward an integrated and unified field approach to problem solving."

Parrish frequently cites physicist David Bohm's concept of the "implicate order" and his conviction that "we are in the middle of such phenomena by virtue of the time-space continuum, enfolded holographically in the universe, or holoverse. Other authors have explored Bohm's ideas: Talbot (The Holographic Universe) Radin (Entangled Minds) and Laszlo (Science and the Aksashic Field) come to mind. What Parrish brings to the party is his perspective from psychology, for example: "The existentialist views the traditional concept of consciousness as a human process in which self-awareness imposes an illusion of distance between oneself and the object of one's focus, causing a sense of separation from events and objects."

This is by no means a quick read; never a fan of psychology, I found myself having to reconsider ideas that had initially seemed to me improbable, after following Parrish's full explanations, which included insights such as the following: "It is man's persistent cognitive focus on the observed reality of measurement, separation and chaos! Man just has not felt he is entitled to view a reality of harmony, unity, trust, and love, but has retained suppressed cognitive distortions and misthoughts of scarcity and lack that remain fixed on fear, guilt and aggression. Mental distortions, with their projected limited perception of an observed material reality, severely restrict consciousness." Parrish credits Ken Wilbur with a concept of six levels of reality, ranging from the physical and biological, the mental, subtle and causal, through the ultimate source and nature of all other levels. This truly is an absorbing and intellectually challenging book; I agree with other reviewers who have called it important and potentially paradigm-shifting.

I have read over 5o books exploring a synthesis of the subjects I collectively refer to as consciousness and Dr. Parrish's is the most informative. He ties together physics, psychology and spirituality from a non-dualistic point of view,. The subject matter may be difficult to grasp yet the work is concise. Although some may need to learn more about tangent concepts introduced, the work is convincing and offers a deep, meaningful worldview.