{"id":84937,"date":"2019-01-16T21:56:37","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T03:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=84937"},"modified":"2019-01-16T14:31:04","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T21:31:04","slug":"the-beginners-mind-of-scientist-sir-roger-penrose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/01\/16\/the-beginners-mind-of-scientist-sir-roger-penrose\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beginner\u2019s Mind of Scientist Sir Roger Penrose"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0TONY STULTZ\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Courtesy<\/a>\u00a0 LION\u2019<\/span>S ROAR<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Rev. Tony Stultz on the brilliant mind who models a rich exchange between Buddhism and scientific thought \u2014\u00a0for the benefit of all beings.<\/h4>\n
\"An<\/p>\n

The famous Penrose Triangle is an impossible object devised by Sir Roger Penrose and his father Lionel Penrose in the 1950s. Roger described it as impossibility in its purest form.\u201d Photo by\u00a0Philippe Put<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you don\u2019t study physics or mathematics, you likely don\u2019t know about Sir Roger Penrose. Penrose, a groundbreaking theorist on the nature of mind, is a model for how Buddhists can let go of their assumptions and use empirical inquiry to develop an understanding of the nature of mind and the universe.<\/p>\n

He has collaborated with Stephen Hawking on black hole theory and the popular book\u00a0The Nature of Space and Time<\/em>, and he is the author of two important books on the nature of mind,\u00a0The Emperor\u2019s New Mind<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Shadows of the Mind<\/em>. Now in his eighties, Penrose remains a tenacious contrarian, and embodies a scientific version of what Zen Buddhists call not knowing,\u201d fearlessly questioning beloved concepts and theories. His newest book,\u00a0Fashion, Faith and Fantasy<\/em>, challenges the meaning of several well-known theories. Penrose suggests that much of what is generally accepted in science, like string theory, is fashionable in part because it is near impossible to prove false. He argues that some physicists base their science on faith \u2014 like belief in multiple dimensions \u2014 and that some popular theories may be outright fantasy.<\/p>\n

When I asked Penrose, after a recent lecture at New York\u2019s Hayden Planetarium, what it is that continues to inspire him in his work, he smiled shyly and said that he likes to go back to the beginning, or prime, and work from there as a fresh way to see things.\u201d I couldn\u2019t help but think of Shunryu Suzuki\u2019s classic teaching about not knowing, that in the beginner\u2019s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert\u2019s there are few.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penrose has employed his beginner\u2019s mind methodology to controversially challenge the prevailing theories of mind and consciousness. In his orchestrated objective reduction\u201d theory (a.k.a. Orch-OR), Penrose posits that consciousness derives from quantum vibrations in microtubules throughout neurons in the brain. In this view, individual consciousness is connected to a universal proto-consciousness. This theory may resonate with the classical Buddhist view, that consciousness is the ground\u201d or primordial nature of the universe. Indeed, Integrated Information Theory, the most popular competing theory of consciousness,\u00a0also suggests<\/a>\u00a0that consciousness is an intrinsic property of the universe and has been met favorably by the Dalai Lama.<\/p>\n

\"Sir<\/p>\n

Sir Roger Penrose. Photo courtesy of\u00a0Festival della Scienza<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Penrose\u2019s theory on the origin of the universe also finds common ground with Buddhism. Buddhist theory holds that our universe is ony of many in a cycle of cosmic death and rebirth, as the Buddha explained in the\u00a0Agga\u00f1\u00f1a Sutta.<\/em>\u00a0Based on evidence found in the background microwaves of the universe, Penrose has proposed a theory, known as Conformal Cyclical Cosmology, \u201dthat the universe cycles through eons dominated by big bangs and black-hole collisions.Penrose\u2019s theory casts aside the popular linear Inflationary Theory\u201d origin of the universe, which posits that the universe began with the Big Bang and will continue to expand into the future, and eventually end.<\/p>\n

Penrose\u2019s work demonstrates how science and religion can find a confluence. Many believe that science and religion should be kept separate, some positing even that science threatens religion. But there is a middle way of cooperative engagement that can contribute toward expanding human understanding. The Buddhist tradition has an exciting role to play in such a dialogue. It shares with science a common\u00a0modus operandi<\/em>. First, it promotes the practice of not knowing, the power of honest inquiry matched with the humility of understanding conditioned perception. Second, it bears witness to an interdependent and continually emerging evolutionary process. Third, it values experimental, experiential action above all other testimony.<\/p>\n

In this way, Dr. Penrose is a model for Buddhists and their practice of constant inquiry, reminding us that when we begin to take ideas for granted because they are fashionable, we can summon the great courage necessary to challenge the consensus. Only then can we open to a larger reality beyond our beloved or beleaguered boundaries, and perhaps move forward in this vital quest to develop true understanding.<\/p>\n

For those who would like to learn more about the relationship between Buddhism and contemporary cosmology and physics I would recommend the following books:<\/p>\n