The long-awaited second part of the unauthorized documentary series based on Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking 1994 book has arrived. The insightful Pale Blue Dot: Humility examines how our perspective on the vastness of the cosmos has shaped our shifting sense of self through the ages.

Pieced together as a mosaic of pop culture clips, historical stills and footage, appealing animations, and Sagan’s own audio commentary, the film is a rebuke against the plague of bloated self-importance, and the need to claim superiority over others for control of insignificant specks of territory. Even the field of science has not been immune to these selfish pursuits.

From that foundation, Sagan’s probing commentary provides a brief recap of our understanding of the heavens and the Earth throughout history. This evolution of discovery represents an epic and ongoing battle between our quest for supremacy and the reality of our insignificance. For many generations, the deeply held belief that the Earth was the center of the universe was impervious to reason or to revelations obtained through further investigation. Mainstream thinking was slow to evolve when it came to the correlation between the Earth and the Sun, or for example, the age of our planet in comparison to the universe at large. The widespread and steadfast acceptance of various theologies further clouded our capacity for reasoned judgment.

But the ceaseless canvas of the universe – adorned with hundreds of billions of galaxies, distant planets and brilliant stars – provides the ultimate lesson in humility. Our modern understanding of the universe demands a more nuanced and less conceited perspective. Yet our yearning to give special meaning to our existence is a barrier to these scientific discoveries. After all, we have to be here for a reason. As Sagan states during the course of the film, it is a battle between our quest for “deep knowledge and shallow reassurance”.

The original 2007 “Pale Blue Dot: Wanderers” can be seen here.

The Double-Slit Experiment

In a double-slit experiment, a bundle of monochrome light is focused on a double slit. A double slit device is in fact just a totally black slide with two thin parallel slits only a few millimeters apart. On the screen behind the double slit you won’t see the projected image of those two slits, as you might think, but it will show you a pattern of light and dark lines. This experiment demonstrates convincingly that light should be a wave phenomenon.

The light waves rippling through the two slits start to interfere with themselves behind those slits, creating zones of maximum and minimum intensity. (more…)

Based on the work by Michael Talbot – Beyond The Quantum

“I would say that in my scientific and philosophical work, my main concern has been with understanding the nature of reality in general and of consciousness in particular as a coherent whole, which is never static or complete but which is an unending process of movement and unfoldment….” ~ (David Bohm: Wholeness and the Implicate Order)

In 1951, David Bohm wrote a classic textbook entitled Quantum Theory, in which he presented a clear account of the orthodox, Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics. The Copenhagen interpretation was formulated mainly by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in the 1920s and is still highly influential today. But even before the book was published, Bohm began to have doubts about the assumptions underlying the conventional approach. He had difficulty accepting that subatomic particles had no objective existence and took on definite properties only when physicists tried to observe and measure them. He also had difficulty believing that the quantum world was characterized by absolute indeterminism and chance, and that things just happened for no reason whatsoever. He began to suspect that there might be deeper causes behind the apparently random and crazy nature of the subatomic world. (more…)

by Rhetta J. Baumgartner

Nature does not transmute by chemical combination and reaction; but by altering the wave field. Energy is flowing into and out of the atom constantly from its wave field.

In this article I will paint a picture of the basic wave field as a series of vortices. The atom is sustained through the vortex which can be considered to function on a fourth dimensional level. The key to transmutation is to establish contact with the vortex. Instead of with the atom’s manifestation on a physical level; and, then change the structure of the atom before it is released and frozen into the physical level. Since the atom can only express what is flowing into it from the vortex, if we change the vortex, then the atom naturally relates to it in a different manner. If there are various interchanges of polarity patterns manipulated in the vortex, then the resulting relationship would be a change in electromagnetic lines of force which stem from the atom. (more…)

by Mohan H. Surujbally

For many years scientists have been saying that only two things exist in the Universe, that being matter and energy. Now they say, there really is just one thing, and that is energy. It is rather strange that it took us that long to arrive at that conclusion, given that Einstein did say that energy is nothing more than mass traveling at the square root of the speed of light. Our reality is split into a duality. Everything has always been separated, day and night, up and down, believer and non-believers, matter and energy, material and spiritual. We make the mistake in thinking that all things are separate. No one thing of a whole can exist without the other. I love the way the Egyptians say it, “Matter without spirit is motionless, and spirit without matter is expressionless.” When we embrace the two and bring them together in unity, then we experience a connectedness, a divine and beautiful wholeness that is perfect and beautiful and is an expression of the infinite energy of Love and Bliss. (more…)

The true nature of the smallest elements that make up our universe – the atoms, photons and electrons – has long mystified and tormented our greatest scientists. Are they ruled by order or by mere chance? The answer could reshape our perception of reality. This field of science is known as quantum mechanics, and it was major point of debate between acclaimed scientists Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. In this probing documentary, theoretical physicist and author Professor Jim Al-Khalili attempts to settle their dispute once and for all.

At the heart of the debate is the question as to whether reality as we know it exists when we’re not observing it. Bohr believed that the smallest matter consists only of probabilities and contradictions, and its true reality cannot be fully known or measured. As a devotee of definitive statistical science, Einstein argued otherwise. The notion that nature was merely a game of chance ran counter to Einstein’s core beliefs. Adding fuel to the fire of their debate, Bohr’s ideas also contradicted Einstein’s groundbreaking theory of relativity because it speculated that these unpredictable sub-atomic particles could move faster than the speed of light. (more…)

From time to time I come across items that I feel assist me with greater understanding of the Unariun core curriculum. I would like to present here three items: First an excerpt from a book, a video, and an article. I hope these examples will also assist the reader as it has with me in better comprehension of the Infinite world around us.

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The Nature of Existence

by Eklal Kueshana (T=teacher, S=student)

T: Do you know how an atom is constructed?

S: Sort of.

T: Tell me what you know. (more…)

by Charles F. Haanel

Yoga is an ancient philosophy of India. A Yogi is one who makes a practice of that Philosophy. An Adept is a Yogi who has become proficient in the practice of that Philosophy.

A Master is a Yogi who has apparently conquered the forces of Nature and thus seems to work miracles, although he is simply putting into practice Universal Laws which he has come to understand. He has acquired the wisdom with which to manipulate the invisible forces of Nature.

He knows that the invisible controls the visible; that it is the mind that controls the Man; the steam that controls the engine; the electrical reactions which control most of the industrial processes in the world today. (more…)