Customer Reviews

Transcending the Speed of Light: Consciousness, Quantum Physics, and the Fifth Dimension

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After listening to Marc Seifer on Coast to Coast I decided to get his book. As a lay reader, since I could follow what he was saying on he radio, I was hoping that his book would not get too technical and I wasn't disappointed. Seifer begins his book with a definition of the word consciousness and makes the case that if it is defined as a form of awareness, then elementary particles are aware because, to put it simply, electrons like protons and are not too keen on other electrons. Thus, if consciousness permeates the very fabric of the elementary particles, when they are combined in special ways, as found in one-celled organisms who are attracted to the Sun and later in the human brain, the ability to become conscious is an unbroken chain from organized matter to thinking man. Where man differs from the other animals is that he is conscious of being conscious.

But Seifer also discusses the term teleology, which is essentially goal directed behavior. Certain forms of matter take into account the future. For instance, snowflakes have a crystalline structure which gives them stability, trees are constructed so that they bend in the wind, squirrels bury acorns to plan for the winter. This all sets the stage for a deeper understanding of precognition, the human ability to glean the future.

Seifer is saying that if we look at the model that the physicists have created, people like Einstein talk about an "observer" but the physicists never deal with the MIND of the observer as a force in and of itself. Seifer wants to expand the 4-dimensional world designed by Einstein with 3 dimensions of space (height, width and depth) and 1 of time to 5 dimensions. The extra dimension would be that of mind or inner space. Just as one can move outward into infinity, one can move inward into infinity as well, in the realm of mind. There, for instance, he talks about something called a "probability future" where potential futures exist. Those that are seen in advance that come true are seen as precognition. Many probability futures, however, never come to fruition. Bob Dole, was president of the United States of America in something called the "hall of future probabilities" but never achieved this in the physical world. The point is, the mental world (of hyper or inner space) is vast and can be tapped by human minds, thus the fifth dimension.

And this is only one aspect of this amazing book. Seifer also covers synchronicity, holographic models for the universe, ether theory and new theories on gravity where he describes Tesla's theories and how they better explain the link between ether, gravity, electromagnetism and even the elusive Higgs boson or "God particle" that physicists are looking for at CERN. Seifer also has a section on tachyonic (faster than light speed) realms. I have underlined so much of this wonderful book that I know I will have to go back and re-read it. In short, I think this is an amazing metaphysical tour de force and simply a must read.

Seifer, Ph.D makes the case for consciousness and intelligent design in the universe simple and virtually indisputable. Furthermore, he gathers togeether a diverse range of thinkers from obscure occultists to the greatest scientists in history to reveal how truly fantastic existence is. This book provides a comprehensive glimpse into the cutting-edge of modern consciousness research and experimental physics and how they relate to such fascinating topics as astrology, synchronicity, precognition, the imaginal/subtle realms, and more.

Very thought provoking. Even if you do not agree with some of the proferences, there is a wealth of cohesive information on theories and philosophies about life and the universe compiled together in here that is not available together in anything else of its type that I have previously read or seen.

In a nutshell, the author knows his clientele well and how to make profit. Mainstream science is ok but ultimately wrong. Out goes Einstein and friends, in come Tesla and Ouspensky. And of course there's Astrology and the absolute importance of astral charting, which mainstream science still fails to fully appreciate given its narrow-minded attitude. If we could only listen to Stan Grof, planet Uranus and Gurdjieff!
So, why two stars instead of none? Because Mr Seifer -- in contrast to most other authors in this vein -- somehow did his homework and provides interesting data, useful references, and some thought-provoking questions in the mix.

Two stars for the courage to tackle such a difficult project. The author draws from an extensive library, but just isn't up for the task. The book comes off as a parade of fantastic headlines accompanied by boastful name-dropping. Parapsychological researcher, Andrija Puharich, figures prominently. At about age 8 (1963), I spent a week at his home in upper state New York with my dad, who worked with him early on with his research. I'm not sure what happened, but recall seeing Puharich several years later with his hair grown long and touting the benefits of marijuana. I didn't know about his claim of being in contact with extraterrestials. Perhaps he experimented too much with LSD.
Never reading a book before have I put so many question marks in the margins. The fundamental flaw in Siefer's thesis is the use of scientific concepts to explain by analogy parapsychological phenomena. Consciousness is the fifth fundamental force and travels faster than the speed of light? What? The book is largely speculative imagination gone wild--characteristic of so much New Age myth-making today. I'm not one to deny the existence of phenomena that can't be explained scientifically; I just don't buy the pseudoscientific explanations that borrow terminology from disciplines that have nothing to say about the phenomena in question. (Remember Social Darwinism?). Hell, Rossignal manufactured a model of skis called "the quantum." "E = mc2" sells T-shirts and coffee mugs. When the ideas of modern physics found their way into popular culture, they provided a language for modern myth-making. That's the spin on quantum spin.

Although this was an interesting discourse, bordering on fascinating, I hesitate to venerate it with the term "fascinating" as the book simply tries to do too much. Borrowing quotes and concepts from curious, and somewhat arcane sources as: Tesla, Minkowski, Ouspensky and Gurdjieff et. al; Dr. Seifer goes to incredible lengths to convince his readership that both relativity and quantum mechanics are at best incomplete and that Einstein was a closet advocate of the "etheric" school of teleological thought. Admittedly Marc makes many good, relevant arguments and offers numerous sound and salient points through-out the work; yet I couldn't help but notice that in several instances the syllogisms he employed were incomplete, leaving this reader with a somewhat quizzical countenance. Personally, I thought the chapter on synchronicities was the zenith of this piece, as the reading of this section brought me quite an unexpected gift - a real "kicker" as it were, which was much appreciated.

After my favorite section (see above) the book fell into an onslaught of detailed astrological charting and highly speculative discussion on a six dimensional model of the universe (3 spatial and 3 temporal) which I found to be rather abstruse and confounding, although the book was somewhat redeemed in the "Final Thoughts" chapter. A good, clever but overarching and overextended piece that is bound to do what the author intended (i.e. rattle some cages.) 4 stars on the board, but 3 and ½ to keep it real.

There is so much information that fills these pages and it's continuously interesting, too. It's fascinating how much this guy knows! He cites many scientists, writers, and phiosophers as well as his own experience.

It's definitely worth reading. It presents many points of view on the topic of consciousness from a scientific point of view (with an element of mysticism as well).

When I bought this book, I was looking for a book about the meeting point of science and awareness/consciousness. This book more than hit the spot. For the next book, I'm thinking about reading 'Healing the Rift'...

p.140 interference with the ether
p.163 standing waves instead of DC Fields- Karl Lashley. wavefronts of electric charges and interference patterns reconstruct visual stimuli
Penrose- Shadows of the Mind: A Search For The Missing Science Of Consciousness
Bohm- Wholeness and Implicate Order
p.164 Pribram- brain + holograms both use pulsed frequencies and interference patterns- 3D images are created
p.161 Heisenberg - Physics and Beyond. uncertainty principle
Pelletier- Towards a Science of Consciousness
U of Arizona- consciousness conferences
isomorphic- same form as object viewed
brain is NOT...Gestalt theory
p.161 Bohr- principle of complimentarity particle + wave
Jeweled Net of Indra
tesla
spin
zero point field
p.96 Mach's Principle- all matter in the Universe is interdependent?
p.150 collective psyche is a holarchic structure: each thinking mind contains information for the whole and is part of the whole
p.149 Louis Acker, "Mind: A Holographic Computer" transference of energy from higher dimensions to lower
Akasha
Fred Allen Wolf
Goswami
Science/ New Thought- consciousness exploration
David Wilcox- Multidimensional Harmonic Universe
Gerdjieff
Oupenski
Ken Wilber
Kirlian photography
esoteric
quantum

p.140 thinking creates memories...a thought is a type of energy, a vibration mRNA (messenger RNA) in neurons transfer mental info. to protein chains at end of dendrites (where memories are held)
-so if memory is result of thoughts and beliefs are thoughts held, then what we reconstruct in our physical-atom world (particalized wave forms) is a result of the vibrations we send out. The Universe reconstructs our beliefs. Chakras are tuning forks that send out + attract similar frequencies. The science of consciousness + holography explain the process.

p.139 all physical objects require a constant input of ether to maintain their standing waveform- therefore the collective consciousness is what perpetuates physical manifestations. That's why I disagree with the statement that those who forget history are forced to repeat it. The history of slavery + holocaust perpetuates victim status and blacks + jews...ah nevermind sociology, or macroapplication for now

Schrodinger