As I was driving home from doing some groceries, I happened upon an interview discussing whether the universe was a hologram.

The interviewer asked Canadian scientist Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski of the Perimeter Institute to explain what this meant as if the audience were a group of 5 year olds.  She tried her best to explain what she meant, but the interviewer didn’t understand, I didn’t understand, and she caught on to that truth of disconnect after the interviewer shifted to complimenting her passion about the subject instead of diving any deeper into the topic.

She named in the interview how challenging it is for academics to create a language of understanding between worlds. She talked about how she could understand the language of physics and the language of Math and how helpful that was. She named how she could see that hadn’t been able to translate such a big topic into a one for the lay-person.

In 2017, when my family was living in France, we took a trip to Italy.  We took our kids to the Vatican’s art museum and bought a few audio guides – one for adults and one for kids.  I very quickly stopped listening to the adult guide and shifted to the guide for kids because it simplified so many things and had a voice of a guide that had wonder for the artwork around it. If you have a chance to get a kids guide in an art museum or place of historic interest, I highly recommend it.

What would it look like to explain the implications of a holographic universe to kids?

Explaining A Holographic Universe to 5 Year olds

I have been playing with ChatGPT and asked it to summarize the implications of a holographic universe like it was talking to a 5 year old.  This is what it wrote,

“Imagine you have a special pair of glasses that let you see things in a magical way. Normally, we think we see things directly, like looking at toys or trees. But, with these magical glasses, we discover that everything we see is like a special picture, sort of like a hologram.

Now, what’s fascinating is that this magical picture is not just on the surface of things; it’s all around, like a colorful bubble around each person and everything else. So, when we look at a friend, it’s not just their body we see, but also this invisible, colorful bubble that’s part of them.

And guess what? This magical picture is not just in our eyes but is created by our brains too! Our brains are like super smart artists that help us see the world in a special way. Sometimes, our brains even fill in missing parts, like when we don’t notice a friend shaved their mustache because our brain thinks it should still be there.

Now, scientists believe that there might be even more magical things out there that our eyes and brains don’t show us. It’s like there’s a whole hidden world waiting for us to discover, and sometimes, people who are really good at understanding these things, like wizards, might catch glimpses of this hidden world.

So, in a nutshell, the idea of a holographic universe is like saying the world is full of surprises, and our eyes and brains help us see the magic in everything around us!”

Explaining a Holographic Universe to a 13 year old

I enjoyed the 5 year old explanation, especially the line, “people who are really good at understanding these things, like wizards”.  That made me smile as I thought of all the energy healers and individuals with clairvoyance and how they’ve now been described as wizards.  

Let’s go a little deeper. I asked ChatGPT to explain the implications of a holographic universe to a 13 year old.

“Imagine the universe is like a giant, mind-blowing hologram. You know, like those cool 3D images that seem to pop out when you look at them from different angles. Well, this idea suggests that everything we think is solid—like your desk, your phone, or even yourself—is more like a complex holographic projection.

In this holographic universe concept, the real deal isn’t the physical stuff you can touch; it’s information. Think of it as the code or instructions that create the 3D holographic image. This information is everywhere, filling up space, and it’s what shapes everything in the universe, including you.

Now, here’s where it gets mind-bending. Our brains act like powerful projectors, turning that information into the world we perceive. When you see something, it’s not just a direct reflection of what’s out there; it’s your brain interpreting the holographic data. That’s why you might not always notice changes, like a friend shaving their mustache, because your brain is kind of predicting what it thinks should be there.

This also opens up the possibility that there’s a whole bunch of stuff out there—like hidden dimensions or aspects of reality—that our brains filter out. So, the holographic model suggests that what we see is just the tip of the iceberg, and there could be way more going on beyond our usual perception.

And when people talk about mystical experiences or moments of deep insight, they might be tapping into this hidden layer of reality—the “frequency domain,” as the text puts it. It’s like catching a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes code that creates the holographic show we call our world.

In a nutshell, the holographic universe idea challenges our basic assumptions about what’s real and suggests that there’s a whole unseen dimension waiting for us to explore. It’s like living in a cosmic virtual reality, but the headset is our brain, and the code is the information that shapes our universe.”

Explaining a Holographic Universe to an Adult

So if it’s all making sense so far, here’s one more summary from ChatGPT that goes just a hair deeper.

“The concept of a holographic universe proposes a radical shift in our understanding of reality. Instead of viewing the physical world as fundamentally solid and separate entities, it suggests that the true nature of the universe is more akin to a hologram—a dynamic and interconnected web of information.

In this model, everything we perceive as solid matter is a result of intricate information fields, essentially holograms, that mold physical bodies and all material existence. The idea is that our perception of the world is not a direct reflection of external reality but a complex interpretation generated by our brains, much like a holographic projection.

One implication is that our sensory experiences, particularly vision, are not straightforward representations of the external world. Neurophysiological studies indicate that our brains actively shape and modify incoming visual information, with less than half of what we perceive being based on direct sensory input. This suggests that our subjective reality is a product of both external stimuli and internal processes, introducing a level of subjectivity and interpretation into our perception.

The existence of a blind spot in our vision, where the brain seamlessly fills in the gaps, serves as a vivid example of the brain’s ability to construct a coherent and continuous reality. The question then arises: if we are only perceiving a fraction of what is “out there,” what might exist beyond our sensory awareness?

According to the holographic model, there could be unseen aspects of reality in a “frequency domain.” This hidden layer, beyond our usual perception, may contain elements that our brains have learned to filter out or edit from our visual reality. Mystical experiences, according to this perspective, might be moments when individuals glimpse this frequency domain—a dimension beyond ordinary sensory perception.

In essence, the holographic universe challenges our conventional understanding of reality, suggesting that what we perceive as solid matter is, in fact, a manifestation of information and that there may be dimensions of existence beyond our immediate awareness. It invites us to reconsider the nature of consciousness, the limits of our senses, and the hidden layers of reality that may lie just beyond our perception.”

There are so many places I could explore from these explanations, but I’m going to focus on energy healing.

Barbara Brennan

Part of the appeal for me to attend the Barbara Brennan School of Healing was to learn more from someone who was a Nasa physicist and a highly skilled energy healer. She had the language of science and energy healing and she then combined this knowledge. Brennan goes one layer deeper than the scientific explanations – she explores how when you heal something inside yourself that this has implications for the world/universe as a whole and vice versa.

Lynne McTaggart explores one way to harness the possibilities of this holographic view in her book, The Power of Eight: Harnessing The Miraculous Energies of a Small Group to heal Others, Your Life, and the World.

Seasoned meditators and masters in the spiritual/energetic world often talk about the impact of “raising one’s vibration” has a positive impact on everyone. David Hawkins book Power vs. Force is a great resource on this topic.  I remember seeing him at a Hay House conference and he lit up the stage with pure child-like joy.

Summary

I realize it’s holiday time December, and you might be thinking, “Juanita, this topic all seems a bit much right now”. But maybe this is also a great time to allow some of these possibilities of a holographic universe to simmer in your sub-conscious as you go about your days.

Sometimes I find this topic overwhelming.  If the universe is holographic, that means there are many routes to healing. Which route do you choose? Energy healing, nutrition, exercise, meditating, psychotherapy, and on and on and on… What does it mean if healing doesn’t happen?

At the same time, I find this concept very uplifting. When we feel powerless to impact what’s happening around the world, I feel empowered by the possibility that “raising our own vibration” and healing ourselves has positive side-effects for our families, communities, and world around us.

Jesus was an individual who carried a very high frequency, so was Buddha.  High frequency individuals aren’t just the famous ones. Notice in your own life the individuals that seem to bring healing to you just by being around them.  I find that there are many individuals who are just “regular people” who bring healing solely with their presence. I often wonder how many of these people exist right now. If I’ve met these people in my city, there’s got to be so many of these people in our world right now.

And as always – be gentle with yourself as you explore what it might mean to heal yourself or raise your vibration. It’s not a magical switch that we turn on, it’s a journey. There is no demand to shift one’s frequency – it’s an invitation to the possibility. What are some things in your life that reduce your feelings of anxiety, sadness or despair? What are things that bring even a little bit of pleasure or joy into your life? Pick one thing.

Wishing you all well this December and looking forward to reconnecting in 2024 and whatever that year will bring us!