The book "Physics of the Soul" and Spiritism

Amit Goswami's work contains several points that are at odds with the main Spiritist teachings

 

On 21 and 22 August 2010 it was held at the Eduardo Carvalho de Oliveira Spiritist Culture, Documentation and Research Centre1 in Sao Paulo, the 6th Meeting of the League of Researchers in Spiritism2 with the theme "Spiritism seen by areas of current knowledge", at which a paper titled "A Spiritist Analysis of the Work 'Physics of the Soul" by Amit Goswami was presented. In this study it is demonstrated that such work is contrary to Spiritism. In this regard, a summary of main points of this study for dissemination within the Spiritist Movement was introduced.

The interest of the Spiritist Movement for the Science is old and in the last 10 years good works for clarification has been seen on what Science, Spiritist Science and the threefold aspect of Spiritism are.3-5 Physics, in particular, has aroused much public interest in lay Spiritist public. Works like "The Tao of Physics"6, "The Spirit the Unknown"7, "Quantum Healing"8 and, more recently, "Physics of the Soul"9 by Amit Goswami, have been read and considered by many Spiritists as scientific

Amit's proposal about the SOUL is based on a question of philosophical nature: the spirit-matter dualism. How can a "substance" different in nature from matter interact with it? Kardec was not oblivious to this issue and, in item 17 of the chapter XI of Genesis¹⁰, he proposes a solution by saying, "This envelope designated perispirit, from an abstract being, makes of the Spirit a concrete, defined being, seized by thought. It renders it apt to act over tangible matter, the same as all imponderable fluids, (...)" Goswami, dissimilarly, suggests that the soul is a wave function (see lesson 8 of reference 3) which, according to Physics, is not something physically real, nothing but a method of calculating the physical properties of a material system. Although his proposal also solves the problem of duality, it brings different consequences from what Spiritism teaches.

In its proposal on the quantum nature of the soul, Goswami reviews the concept of consciousness within a different paradigm. On page 44 of chapter 2 (hereafter the reader should imply that we refer to the book "Physics of the Soul") Goswami, in discussing the question of the collapse of the wave function³ by the observer, says: "The response of monistic idealism is that there is only one to choose, that consciousness is one. You and I have separated individual thoughts, feelings, dreams etc... , BUT WE DO NOT 'HAVE' CONSCIENCE, let alone consciences; we 'are' the conscience. It is the same conscience for us all. "(Emphasis in capitals is ours).

The new concept introduced by Goswami, and which Physics does not recognize, is the non-locality in time

The issue 79 of The Spirits' Book¹¹ states that Spirits are the individualization of the intelligent principle, and at number 122 says that "free will is developed in proportion as the Spirit acquires the consciousness of himself" and that "Freedom would not exist for the Spirit if his choice were solicited by a cause independent from his will." In question 621 it is said that God's law is written "In the conscience."  Therefore, the concept of conscience that Spiritism provides is inherent in the soul, and thus different from what Goswami proposes.

The difference in the concept of consciousness becomes clearer when we read the following words by Goswami (Ch. 7, pg. 152): "The souls, understood as we do here, as disembodied quantum monads, CANNOT have subject-object perception, CANNOT grow spiritually in any way and CANNOT be released because they have done spiritual works in Heaven." (Emphasis in capitals is ours). The issue 227 of The Spirits' Book¹¹ makes clear the misconception of the above statement. If this theory of the soul is correct, there could not exist, for example, either Nosso Lar (Star City) or Andre Luiz’s story.

The idea of Reincarnation according to Goswami is based on the concept of "non-locality" from Quantum Physics. He says (chp.4, pg. 83) that "reincarnations of a same lifetime (...) are linked by the thread of quantum non-locality..."Non-locality is a concept that arises in systems that are linked so that an action on one instantly affects the other, no matter the distance between them. However, Goswami seems to create a new concept from the non-locality in saying that (Ch. 4, pg.83) "The correlation extends to both the past and the future...."The new concept introduced by Goswami, and that Physics does not acknowledge, is the non-locality in time, i.e. instantaneous travel through time to the past or the future. In ch. 4, pg. 82, he says: "Over time, we can sense our specific situation with respect to human monad - (...) - and, in a synchronistic way, partly in NON-LOCAL TIME, partly in the temporality, we can become aware of how such monad-identity IS BEING REBORN IN THE NEWLY FORMED FOETUS, or even share conscience with it in the early years of this new life..."(emphasis in capitals is ours). Goswami asserts, thus that at the moment of death a type of non-local link is formed, connecting instantly the soul in the disembodiment process IN THE PRESENT to the newly formed foetus IN THE FUTURE. An instant journey through time corresponds to leaping from past to future without having lived the period that was spent from one to another.

For Goswami, the disembodied soul has no thought, no
awareness, independent of a material physical body

Still related to the concept of reincarnation, a point of strong contradiction with the spiritist teachings can be seen in the explanation about sex selection in the next incarnation. According to Goswami (Chapter 8, pg. 181), "If as you died you were conscious and did a life review; if you correlated and communicated with the child you will be in the next round, in the way of possibilities for yourself, then your choice is already made(...). Perhaps you've seen their parents and how you were conceived. You have not yet identified with the foetus; you were outside the body and watched telepathically things through the eyes of the parents, so to speak, and perhaps felt their longings of desire. IT IS THIS WISH THAT WILL DETERMINE YOUR SEX AT BIRTH - The appropriate sperm will find the egg, but this is secondary. IF YOUR WISH WAS HEADED TOWARDS THE MOTHER, YOU WILL BE A BOY; IF ON THE OTHER HAND, THE FATHER WAS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR WISH, YOU WILL BE A GIRL"(Emphasis in capitals is ours).

About MEDIUMSHIP, Goswami asserts (chapter 7, pg. 156) "... there is no collapse of the waves of quantum possibilities of a disembodied quantum monad without the help of a correlated physical body/brain. Therefore, the disembodied quantum monad is devoid of any subject-object experience." He thus confirms that the disembodied soul has no life, no thought, and no consciousness, independent of a material physical body. Being a wave function with possibilities, a Spirit can only "collapse" in some material "place": the brain of a medium. When a Spirit manifests and says what he feels and thinks, in fact this would not be a conscious manifestation of thought and feeling, but random events of different possibilities of the wave function (each with a probability) and not the result of a continuous thought of the Spirit. In an instant, the Spirit can manifest one of these possibilities, and other moments following that, they may even be opposite to the first, since the phenomenon would occur by probabilistic quantum laws. No doubt this is quite different from what Spiritism teaches and what the fellow workers of the mediumistic tasks experience in the Spiritist centres. For example, here is the question 459 of Spirit's Book: "Do Spirits influence our thoughts and our actions? Their influence upon them is greater than you suppose, for it is very often they who direct both. "

Despite being based on concepts of Quantum Physics, the theory contained in the book "Physics of the Soul" by Amit Goswami was not achieved by following the rigors of this formal area of Physics. He bases his argument on a new kind of scientific paradigm, outside the traditional scheme of Science, in which the fundamental unity is consciousness and not matter.

According to Amit Goswami, we cannot have experiences without a physical body

Being outside of Science, he cannot validate his theories through a scientific way, so the content of "Physics of the Soul" cannot be considered scientific in the professional meaning of the word, and one cannot say that Physics in a formal way supports it. The use of concepts of Physics does not make its theory a theory of Physics or endorsed by it. Thus, we Spiritists do not need to worry about the fact it has a contrary concept to Spiritism.

Moreover, Goswami's theory has another important consequence which is contrary to the Spiritism. It overestimates matter, which can be deduced from the following Goswami's answer to the psychologist Kenneth Ring's question (Ch. 13, pg. 274): "Do you think that if a great disaster were to hit Earth, we could survive it as disembodied beings?" The answer: "Certainly we would survive as disembodied beings, as does anyone who dies today (...). But, Ken, there is a problem. ACCORDING TO MY MODEL, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR US TO HAVE EXPERIENCES WITHOUT A PHYSICAL BODY. THE STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF A DISEMBODIED BEING IS LIKE SLEEP; the wave of possibilities does not collapse. Thus, as a civilization, we would hardly be satisfied in choosing this state of limbo" (Emphasis in capitals is ours). Questions 84-86 of The Spirits’ Book, for example, show the erroneous statement above.

As a conclusion, we suggest more caution to the Spiritist Movement against the scientistic fad, in which concepts of Quantum Physics, inaccessible to the understanding of the lay public, are sometimes mistakenly used in Spiritist theories without proper scientific rigor in Physics. Kardec, in the Spiritist Magazine issue of July 1860, at the end of the text titled "General Observation", comments: "There is a proverb that says: 'Nothing more dangerous than a reckless friend." Well, it is the case of those that, in Spiritism, get carried away by an ardent zeal rather than a reflected one. Eager to see Spiritism valued by science, there has been a zeal more ARDENT rather than REFLECTED towards the promotion of works such as "Physics of the Soul." Our purpose here was to present an instance of REFLECTION on this work, demonstrating that its concepts are contrary to Spiritism, requiring greater caution of our part in spreading it.

If "Spiritism invites us to a permanent kind of charity - the charity of its own spreading (in the work by Emmanuel Ref. 12), that charity requires that we have, according to Kardec, a PONDERED zeal. And in face of the doubt about the novelties in Science, whether or not they confirm any Spiritist concept, let us see what Kardec has to say¹³ in Posthumous Works, chapter titled "Constitution of Spiritism. Explanation of Reasons, II Of Schisms):" “If it is true that the utopia of yesterday often be true the next day, let us leave for the following day the care to achieve the utopia of yesterday; but let us not embarrass the Doctrine with principles that would be considered but chimeras and would be rejected by positive men."

References:

[1] http://www.ccdpe.org.br

[2] http://www.espiritualidades.com.br/Liga/6_ENLIHPE_2010/liga_6_encontro.htm

[3] AF Da Fonseca, “Curso de Ciência e Espiritismo: Aulas 1 a 18” (Spiritism and Science Course: Lessons 1-18), GEAE Bulletin numbers 483 to 500 (in 2004 and 2005)

[4] A. Chagas, Introdução à Ciência Espírita (Introduction to the Spiritist Science), Publicações Lachâtre, 1st edition, Bragança Paulista (2004).

[5] SS Chibeni, “O Espiritismo em seu tríplice aspecto: científico, filosófico e religioso” (Spiritism in its triple aspects: scientific, philosophical and religious) Reformador   August, pp.37-40 (2003);   September, pp.38-40 (2003), October, pp.39-40 (2003).

[6] F. Capra, O Tao da Física (Tao of Physics) Editora Cultrix, 16th edition, São Paulo (1995).

[7] JE Charon, O Espírito Este Desconhecido (The Spirit, this Unknown) Editora Melhoramentos, 10th edition, São Paulo (1990).

[8] D. Chopra, A Cura Quântica, O Poder da Mente e da Consciência na Busca da Saúde Integral (Quantum Healing, The Power of Mind and Consciousness in the Pursuit of Comprehensive Health), Editora Best Seller, 42nd edition, Rio de Janeiro (2004).

[9] A. Goswami, Physics of the Soul, Editora Aleph, 2nd reprint, São Paulo (2005).

[10] A. Kardec, Genesis, FEB, 34th edition, Rio de Janeiro (1991).

[11] A. Kardec, The Spirits' Book, FEB 1st edition, Rio de Janeiro (2006).

[12] CF Xavier and W. Vieira, Emmanuel and Spirits by Andre Luiz, Estude e Viva (Learn and Live), 11th edition, FEB, Rio de Janeiro (2005).

[13] A. Kardec, Obras Póstumas (Posthumous Works), IDE, 1st edition, Araras (1993).

Alexandre Fontes da Fonseca is a teacher of physics at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, Volta Redonda (RJ).