The Self-Aware Universe by Amit Goswami

Many people believe that the Universe is consciousness. In The Self-Aware Universe Amit Goswami comes up with a coherent theory of how quantum mechanics melds with ancient philosophy and modern psychology to show that "consciousness creates the material world." It is only a theory and I sometimes had trouble following the physics and philosophy, but here is my understanding of what Goswami was saying.

When physicists look closely at particles, they find that sometimes they are in wave form and sometimes in particle form (which has caused at least one writer to refer to them as "wavicles.") Before they express themselves as either a wave or a particle they exist as a bundle of potentialities in "superposition." Then, when measured or observed, they "collapse" into one form or the other.

These terms, "superposition" and "collapse," are standard quantum jargon. Wikipedia says that "collapse" is less popular these days than "decoherence" which means a gradual leakage of stuff into the environment even while its source (the quantum) maintains its superposition (chunk of potentiality) which is by nature unmeasurable. However, the January 2008 issue of Discover says that for the first time ever physicists have been able to watch this process of collapse as it happened in a photon.

If we're not "getting" this, I think it's because the physicists are still a little fuzzy about it.

Anyway, Goswami goes on to apply the "collapse into reality" idea to the nature of human consciousness. He sees our minds as having two modes of functioning: the classical mode which holds our memories, logic, and conditioning; and our rarely accessed quantum mode from which we get creativity. He suggests meditation to better access our quantum mode better.