David Bohm and the fish in the aquarium
A month ago, I wrote an article on David Bohm’s quantum theory, at the heart of which lies non-locality. Unlike the Copenhagen interpretation, Bohmian mechanics explains the phenomenon of entanglement—that is, the instantaneous interaction of two particles separated by very large distances—precisely because of its non-local structure.
To put it more simply, we could say that non-locality implies the presence of a structural “connection” within phenomenal reality. I believe that non-locality is the “physical counterpart” to the principle of the interconnectedness of reality (or of dependent origination) found in certain religious traditions. I am thinking not only of Eastern traditions, which explicitly speak of reality as a living unity, but also of Catholic doctrine. I found a passage by St. Augustine that expresses the essence of this interconnectedness in the Holy Spirit.
“Spiritus Sanctus ubique diffusus est.” (Sermo 267).
But let’s return to Bohm. After formulating his own quantum theory in 1952, his scientific inquiry extended to the boundaries between physics and metaphysics. In 1980, Bohm wrote the book “Wholeness and Implicate Order“, in which he presents his unified vision of reality in a text that integrates quantum physics, philosophy, consciousness, and a critique of the fragmentation of thought. In a nutshell, the book presents the idea that reality is inherently undivided and non-local (the “implicate order”). Our phenomenal reality, subject to causality and locality, constitutes the “explicate order,” which is a partial and fragmented view of the implicate order.
To explain that fragmentation lies not in reality itself but in the way we observe it, Bohm gives the following example. Imagine a fish swimming in an aquarium. It is filmed by two cameras, one from the front and one from the side. Each produces a two-dimensional video.
If we look at only one of the two screens, we can see the fish appear on one side of the screen, then suddenly disappear, and then reappear elsewhere. But in three-dimensional reality, the fish never disappeared: it simply changed its position in space, and the cameras were not positioned to show it continuously.
Science and spirituality, too, can be viewed as the two cameras trained on reality. Science studies the “how” and the causes; spirituality investigates the “why” and speculates on the purpose. They are the two cameras through which we view the same reality from two different perspectives.
I’ll conclude by quoting the final part of an article from the magazine “Scienza e conoscenza”1:
David Bohm’s philosophy represents a bold bridge between modern physics and ancient wisdom, between science and spirituality. In an age dominated by fragmentation, his message is an invitation to rediscover the profound unity of all things. Bohm’s holographic universe is not only a scientific theory but also a poetic, philosophical, and spiritual vision of reality, in which every human being is part of an undivided and sacred whole.
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Translated with DeepL.com (free version)