Implicate and explicate order: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:22, 17 August 2004

Revision as of 11:24, 17 August 2004

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'''[[David Bohm]]''' believed, as countless thinkers^{<small>1</small>} have, that true reality is different in some way from the reality we perceive. In his writings on the subject, Bohm distinguishes between actual and apparent (perceived) reality bywith the terms '''Implicate''' and '''Explicate Order''', respectively. The proposed Implicate Order is to be a [[metaphysical]] entity responsible for matter and energy as well as consciousness (which belong to different categories under his scheme). It is to be the fundamental underlying substructure of everything.

Particularly crucial to his scheme is the notion that objects which seem separated by great distances in the Explicate Order (such as a particular electron here on earth and an [[alpha particle]] in one of the stars in the [[Abell 1835 IR1916|Abell 1835 galaxy]], the farthest galaxy from Earth known to humans) may actually be manifestations of a single object within the Implicate Order. It seems his motivation for this perspective is the room within quantum mechanics for the [[quantum entanglement|entanglement]] of such objects.

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In another analogy, Bohm asks us to consider a pattern produced by making small cuts in a folded piece of paper and then, literally, unfolding it. Widely separated elements of the pattern are, in actuality, produced by the same original cut in the folded piece of paper. Here the cuts in the folded paper represent the Implicate Order and the unfolded pattern represents the Explicate Order.

The term ''holomovement'' isseems to be a double reference to (a) [[holism]], the ideaview that individuala partswhole cannot be coherentlyreduced consideredto asits distinctconstituent fromparts (a wholeview he insists applies to the Implicate Order), and (b) [[holography]], Bohm's favorite analogy for relatingthe relationship between Implicate and hisExplicate ideasOrders. In standard photography, each section of film only stores information about the section of image it corresponds to. However, in holographic photography, sections do not correspond in this way. Rather, [[information]] about the entire reproduction is stored at every point in the holographic film. Effectively(effectively, what is stored is the particular point's view of the object being reproduced). Here the holographic film representsalong with the Intricatelight cast on it represent the Implicate Order andwhile the hologram represents the ExtricateExplicate Order. Holomovement would be the act of casting the light on the film to produce the hologram.

Although holography is not quite a holistic phenomenon (i.e., we can still differentiate what contributions are being made to the hologram by the different sections of the film) some, including Bohm, feel that this analogy helps one to understand the holistic nature of the proposed Implicate Order.

Many, along with Bohm himself, have seen strong connections between his ideas and ideas from the East. Some proponents of [[new age| alternative religions]] (such as [[shamanism]]) claim a connection with their belief systems as well.