Questions & Answers

Suzie Daggett interviewed Dr. Amit Goswami, a physics professor (emeritus) at the University of Oregon, a physicist in the hit movie "What the Bleep Do We Know", and author of ten books, including his newest, The Quantum Doctor. Dr. Goswami will be speaking in Grass Valley about his life work and his long-term research into quantum physics, consciousness, science and healing. Dr. Goswami is a pioneer of a new multidisciplinary paradigm of science based on the primacy of consciousness, known as Science within consciousness.


What attracted you to become a physicist?

In high school, I wanted to be a historian. However, something about Einstein got me interested in physics. I was a theoretical nuclear physicist through the sixties until the following incident that is vivid in my memory. I was presenting a talk in Monterey for a nuclear physics conference. I was unhappy with my talk and spent all day being jealous of other physicists who were giving better talks and getting more attention. This continued through a party in the evening. At about 1 am, I noticed that I had heartburn, and even with a whole packet of Tums trying to control it, I realized I was still green with jealousy. I went outside where the cool ocean breeze hit me right on the face and this thought came to me uninvited I didn't know wherefrom: "Why do I live this way?" That was the beginning of a new journey into physics, nay life itself, and my true life's work of studying and learning about quantum physics, God and consciousness.


What do you see as the future of medicine?

As the paradigm for medicine shifts from cure-emphasis to healing emphasis, as we turn to a more holistic approach to healing, medicine must work in a way that requires conventional and various alternative medicine practitioners to work together. When HMO's were created, I thought they could recognize that proper maintenance of our health required not only maintaining the physical body but also our vital energies, feelings, our mind, as well as our soul and spirit. For a while I was quite hopeful. Well, the situation was not right then, but now with the development of integral medicine, that will happen. Medicine then will become affordable again. Compared to allopathy, alternative medicine is inexpensive. The thing to recognize is that allopathy really does not work for most of our ailments except for some short term relief.


What is the difference between healing and curing?

Healing is arriving at wholeness, it requires more than just treating the physical body; curing is temporary removal of a malfunctioning of the physical body. One advantage of the new integrated medicine, which helps one heal, is that it allows us to see the role of allopathy in our holistic medicine very clearly. Allopathy is really emergency medicine designed to keep the physical body alive. Although allopathic medicine and procedures almost always have harmful side effects, they are to be tolerated to keep us alive in an emergency situation. As we learn to take care of ourselves holistically following integrated medicine, we will live longer and with health, too.


Can you explain the essence of your theory of "science within consciousness"?

Establishment science is done within the metaphysical umbrella that says that matter is the ground of all being, including mind and consciousness which are brain phenomena. Science within consciousness turns this upside down: consciousness is the ground of all being; matter, including the brain, consists of quantum possibilities of consciousness. When we observe matter, we choose from among these possibilities to produce the actual event that we experience. Which, then can bring us to a study of mysticism.


How does science validate mysticism?

Mystics, contrary to religionists, are always saying that reality is not two things--God and the world--but one thing, consciousness. It is a monistic view of reality based on consciousness that mystics claim to directly intuit. The problem with science has always been that most scientists believe that science must be done within a different monistic framework, one based on the primacy of matter. And then, quantum physics showed us that we must change that myopic prejudice of scientists, otherwise we cannot comprehend quantum physics. So, now we have science within consciousness, a new paradigm of science based on the primacy of consciousness that is gradually replacing the old materialist science. Why? Not only because you can't understand quantum physics without this new metaphysics but also because the new paradigm resolves many other paradoxes of the old paradigm and explains much anomalous data. For example, the success of homeopathy--healing without even a single molecule of the material part of the medicinal substance--is anomalous data for allopathic or western medicine. But science within consciousness explains it.


How can your new book, The Quantum Doctor assist people in their health and wellness?

The Quantum Doctor integrates conventional and alternative medicine and defines the domain of each of these practices as well as explains them. It answers many questions: When is yoga more appropriate than allopathy? What does acupuncture do to relieve my pain? How does homeopathy work? The book also gives hints for self-healing which is really quantum healing. Last but not least, the book charts the healing path to spirituality for the reader.


Dr. Goswami will be giving a talk on his book, The Quantum Doctor, on Tuesday, May 24 at 7pm at The Center for The Arts. Tickets are available at The Book Seller and BriarPatch. Call Suzie Daggett at 530-265-9255 for more information.