What is reality anyway? To answer this question, we have to look beyond manifest reality, beyond the substance that makes matter appear solid. We know, in fact, that all matter, at the level of atoms and of electrons and other elementary particles, is mostly empty space. Most of us are familiar with Einstein’s equation E=mc2, where “E” is energy, “m” is matter, and “c” is the speed of light. It tells us that matter and energy are equivalent. It tells us that matter is pure energy, albeit energy that is in a dense form. However, because science has mostly ignored the concept of information, we aren’t taught about the implications of how information plays into this insight. There are many philosophical debates about how to define “information.” In biology, information is often associated with pattern formation, with organising principles—with how individual bits coalesce into a functioning whole where the sum is greater than the parts. Information drives a process called “emergence,” which explains how order arises from seemingly chaotic activities embedded in a process. The body is a beautiful example of information, organisation and emergence, for it starts from a single cell, which divides over and over, making trillions of other cells, which then specialise into different kinds of cells (there are about 200 types of cells in the human body). Then those cells organise themselves into groups of similar cells, forming tissues and organs—until eventually they make a fully-formed and functioning human being. Information both describes the state of organisation of a system and also directs the development of that system, from which “life” emerges.
It takes only a moment to realise that energy itself is not enough to describe and direct organisation. Information must be included, because this is what organises energy. Without information, energy would move chaotically. So, really, we need both energy and information. We need information to describe pattern and function, and to organise the parts of the system into an ordered whole. Then we apply that information to energy, organising it into patterns that we call matter (in its mind-boggling array for forms). We can now write a new equation: Information + Energy = Reality.
When we apply this equation to the body, we come to understand, in a whole new way, how biology works. Research at the frontiers of biology reveals that the body is a structured network of information and energy fields. When we ask, “What is a human being?” the most fundamental answer is just that—we are structured networks of information and energy fields. The great mystery of conventional biology is how we are “self-organising” systems. Once the egg is fertilised, it knows what to do, with no outside influence or help. Nature takes its course. At NES, we have sought to understand how this self-organising process unfolds at all levels of being, from the physical to the psychological. We describe a process we call “matching.” Matching is a process whereby nature seeks the best possible answer, from a plethora of possible answers, to a situation. You might say that evolution itself is a matching process; with old answers (forms) dropping out as new and better answers (forms) are found. The “best” answer will depend on context. especially the environment in which the system/organism must function or live, which is why we see birds with wings, fish with fins, and human with arms and legs. The context determines the parameters of what it means to have arrived at a best possible answer.
In our bodies, the same kind of matching processes are going on all the time as our body deals with environmental—both internal and external—conditions. So, for example, when food is scarce, the body can look to internal resources for fuel, burning fat or even muscle if the scarcity becomes too great. The body needs certain minerals, but if they are not available, in some cases it can make substitutions. For example, some enzymes need zinc to do their job, but if it is not available, they can substitute copper for short periods of time. Once again, however, the processes are all dependent on the body’s “informational code”—on knowing what will work and what won’t. The body doesn’t just choose at random. It seems to “know,” which is why so many scientists are applying information theory to biology and saying the body has its own kind of inherent intelligence.
For the human body, and nature at large, to function intelligently, it must have information. At every structural and functional level, different kinds and qualities of information are needed to keep the body in equilibrium, where it can maintain its optional performance, which is one way we define health. These levels of information involve the various aspects of the body, from the cell level up to higher and more structured levels such as the organs and organ systems. It also directs less substantive but no less highly structured networks, such as our immune, nervous, hormonal, lymphatic, blood, and other systems. According to this view, then, the control centres of the body, such as the nervous system and brain, are really not command centres at all, but can be better thought of as accumulation points, where the controlling informational fields are concentrated. They are not exclusively responsible for the body’s physiological coordination, but are instead concentration points for some of the most intense and active high-level information fields. Even in such complementary medical theories as the Indian Ayurvedic system or traditional Chinese medicine, information is also at play, directing the chakras and meridian systems.
If you shift your perspective from what the word “matter” means in a conventional sense and instead view it—and the human body—as structured networks of information-energy fields, then many surprising insights arise. For example, if you know anything about electronics, you can easily see how various aspects of the body look like, and may even function as, antennas. Cavity physics is the science of how containers or hollow structures affect energy. Cavities tune and even amplify energy. Think of a musical instrument. A drum, guitar and tuba are all just different kinds of cavities, whose shape affects the kind of sound they produce. Change the shape and the sound/energy changes. Shape is information in this respect. Now think of the human body—it is made of cavities at all levels, from the cranium to the nasal cavities to the rib cage to the bones. Even organs are cavities: the brain with its two lobes, the heart with its four chambers, the kidneys, liver, and even the cells themselves—all are cavities. And within the cells are tinier structures that are cavity-like, and each organ is covered with or composed of tiny cavities called microtubules and nanotubes.
We have to ask if this kind of structure to our body is a coincidence—or did nature know her physics? Each of these levels of cavities is attracting, tuning, amplifying or otherwise working with energy. This insight stimulates all sorts of other ideas about how the body powers itself. Traditionally, we’re led to believe that 100% of our energy comes from food, and most of that from carbohydrates, many kinds of which may be high in sugar. Yet the people who eat the most sugar are usually the least energetic, and it’s no great secret that eating sugar is not the pathway to vibrant health.
We can also look to nature for clues about how the body is powered. For example, during migration some birds are able to fly thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean without eating, and yet their body weight hardly drops. When calculations are made to determine how much energy they have expended, there’s a considerable shortfall between energy taken in and energy that has been expended. Similar calculations show anomalies with some types of athletes, for instance with long-distance runners. The message is that we, and at least some other creatures, can operate on something more than just nutrition. What’s that something else? It may be cavity physics at work, with our cells concentrating energy from the sun and other aspects of nature in those cavities, storing it, and using it as it needs it. At NES, we call these natural energies that the cavities collect and use “Source energy.” In fact, we believe that between 50% and 75 % of the energy our bodies use may be from our natural environment. My point here is that our bodies run on energy extracted from our surroundings, not just from our food. Yet, foods too can be thought of as structured networks of information and energy. Your diet becomes extremely important when thinking about how to improve your health.
It is the combination of energy and information that transforms our bodies from a diseased state to a healthy one. Let’s go back to our antenna analogy to see how part of this process works. If we take our antenna metaphor literally, we can see how the cranium looks like a horn antennae, and it is situated exactly where you would expect to find a receiver, with the pituitary gland perhaps acting as a switch between the nervous and humeral control systems. The ribs look like a standard (albeit an old-fashioned) TV antenna. Maybe this is why in some cultures people pray with open arms, in the position that optimises energy flow, perhaps opening themselves to the cosmic information-energy flow.
Cells have their own kind of antennas. Can you guess what they are? Most people would guess DNA. But DNA appears to be only a small part of the story of biology. The answer is the cell surface, which contains protein sacchrides that are designed in such a way as to be excellent mini antennas. It is crucial that cells communicate with each other quickly and accurately, and that nearly instantaneous communication must happen not only within the body between cells, but between the cells and the external environment.
This external feedback loop is especially important in health, for it is where you have the most control over your health. You can choose some of the important information that is relayed into your body-field and body by deciding what to eat, making lifestyle choices, managing your stress level and being aware of your emotional state as it relates to family, work, and other external influences. If we push our exploration even further, we come to the necessary conclusion that the body-field must not be limited by the physical body at all, but also must be influenced by the entire cosmos. It must be affected to one extent or another by external electromagnetic, gravitational and other kinds of natural fields, by sunlight, by the moon, by the cosmic rays, and more.
It becomes obvious that what we see and experience through our senses is energy that is dense (matter, light, etc.), but we also perceive at an unconscious or subtle level, with our autonomic nervous system and subconscious and other aspects of ourselves reacting without our awareness to the waves of information and energy that are coming from everywhere in the universe at once. As you increase your awareness and perceptual sensitivities, you are able to discern more of the information and energy spectrum, as many psychics and people who have expanded their consciousness can attest to. Being able to receive and transmit information more easily opens up a whole new world just waiting to be explored. This increased awareness can help you make wiser decisions about how you interact with the world and how you take care of yourself and your body. Information and energy, therefore, are the core of what we think of as the material world—the world of matter—and they are also at the core of what we acknowledge as the world of our individuality, of our personal perceptions and awareness.
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