The Core Principle

What could a model of reality that unites scientific discovery and spiritual meaning do for the world? How would a religion based on evidence even work?

It’s difficult to fully trust religions who exclude facts and theories in favor of faith and prophecy, while on the other hand, science doesn’t seem equipped to validate our more divine human notions. Combining these conflicting viewpoints may appear impossible, however, the Novel Universe Model ties them together through the technical and spiritual implications of communication itself. Suppose that what creates human connection is the very same process that aligns our atoms. Suppose there’s neither Heaven nor Hell, only the choice of how we relate to each other in life and beyond.

A Near-Death Experience (NDE) on a daytime talk show provided the initial inspiration for this theory. On a late night AM radio program, another man’s NDE repeated key points with additional details. The man on television relayed his near demise on the operating table; on the radio, the man recalled having been struck by lightning. No matter the manner of death, both men had described a functionally identical “afterlife,” in which they experienced the full effects of their actions on others. Not only was independent confirmation compelling, but with deeper insights into the process, that initial inspiration would blossom into a coherent, ever-evolving model of science and religion– a genuine theory of everything.

During their Near Deaths, both men reported a “life review” from a previously unconsidered point of view. These men had returned to the tumultuous, disgusting, even violent behavior they’d inflicted upon others, only, in death’s altered consciousness, the men were not simply replaying their own memories, or observing the scene from some passive, third-person perspective. In every detail, they were a kind of participant from a novel point of view, the grittiest point of view possible– the embodied first-person perspective of their victims.

In their stories, it was as if each man had been temporarily reincarnated as the “ripples” they’d had on others’ lives– the abusive husbands became their abused wives. They experienced every previously unknown thought and feeling running through their spouse’s mind and body– the emotional impact of a slur, lingering pain of being gaslit, physical sensation of an unexpected fist. All the abuse was known.

Spiritually speaking, what justice exists beyond a perpetrator reliving their victim’s exact experience, a reward beyond knowing firsthand the feelings created by every act of kindness? This “Complete Information,” exchanged between people after death, is not some divine force, but rather, an innate mathematical process, a simple balancing of data– the full experience of what is true, no more, no less. If information is everything, “soul” is not some mystical energy or spiritual body, but simply data– an individual’s unique pattern of preference, shared (or not) with others.

Each action is like a rock tossed into a giant river, casting Ripples that interact with the Ripples of other rocks– a growing blockchain [i] of interwoven, knock-on effects. For example, one aforementioned abusive husband experienced a Ripple during and after an argument with his wife– her storming out of the house, entering a nearby business, and verbally assaulting a person behind the counter. This husband bore, not only the direct effects as his miserable wife, but the subsequent series of knock-on effects his short temper had spawned– he next became the miserable store clerk, subject to a wife’s unprovoked attack. By creating suffering in the world, he ultimately came to suffer that pain, and its disruptive spread into the universe.

What those men experienced in death was akin to unfiltered empathy, and they were forever changed by its truth. Both claimed in their interviews that they would never again abuse their wives, as they finally, fully grasped the consequences for their significant other, and ultimately, themselves. The men now knew violence does not move only in one direction– away– but directly back to them in the beyond-life.

Although impossible to fact-check these men’s stories, the idea of an empathetic afterlife certainly impacts the believer’s everyday, inspiring profound consideration for another’s point of view. Unlike those religions that rely on their founding stories to be true– not necessarily logical or meaningful– the veracity of our story does not affect its inherent value, for the believer or society. Imagine a world where we all lived by the “golden rule,” but with that vital tweak– instead of doing unto others as you would do unto yourself, you do unto others as they would do unto themselves– true empathy, requiring theory of mind [ii] and occasional effort. This isn’t selfish versus selfless, but good faith communication between perceived peers.

The core scientific premise at work in the Novel Universe Model is that everything is objectively data, and the somewhat quantifiable essence of our subjective experience of this data is known as qualia. [iii] For instance, qualia is defined as the redness of red, how this one shade of color differs in value along the light spectrum from all others; but also, how its concrete hue (data) is individually experienced between people (qualia). Imagine the wonder of seeing red through another’s eyes– the mundane, even disliked, is seen anew, seen as desirable, even inspirational. It’s qualia’s novelty– its accumulation in life, and potential exchange between individuals in the beyond-life– that is the purpose of the universe. Our every experience of qualia is framed by either Love or Power– does one accept the idiosyncrasies of another’s character as they choose to behave, warts and all, come to a full understanding of the other; or would one forego the unpredictability of others, and force an environment filled only with one’s own preferences? Reality’s raw facts (truth) constitutes the framework of Love, a connection with each other based on a desire for Complete Information. Information Control, on the other hand, shapes the framework of Power, the stories we tell our selves and others in order to manipulate our experience of information, regardless of what is true.

The fully empathetic afterlife of Love is represented in these men who came near death. They chose Complete Information, the intentional, vulnerable participation in the novelty of others. They’d begun to experience all that their Ripples had reached out to, for better or for worse. Power, however, makes a different kind of paradise. Often indifferent to others, Information Control curates a world of novelty through forceful, silencing consumption of that other’s qualia. Theoretically, the men in those NDE’s could have chosen not to experience every Ripple, but instead, cherry-picked from their Earthly existence, reliving only those fonder memories of their wives. Instead, the men chose the suffering they’d spawned, accessing what awaits beyond their ability to fully imagine– their wife’s authentic reality.

Does Love lead to “Heaven,” while Power, to “Hell?” Neither is necessarily a reward nor a punishment, but a flexible, personal choice– what is one’s Heaven might be another’s Hell. The carnal Novel Universe is formed by mixing the two frameworks– all of us have acted out of Power, experienced Love; however, in death, the Mixture does not exist, leaving us to choose one or the other. Either we filter the data we’ve created on Earth, use Information Control to make an afterlife for ourselves that is isolated and under our jurisdiction; or, we accept the effects of all of our Ripples, and coexist with others in an afterlife filled with our collective, Complete Information.

Love and Power aren’t things, neither actions nor individuals, but points of view, frames of communication. We’re always exercising either connection to or control over those around us, always rejecting, incorporating, or ignoring elements of the other, framed by either Love or Power. It doesn’t matter if we are “conscious” of the process or not. Accepting that neither Love nor Power is inherently right or wrong, but that either better “fits” an individual or situation, is the first step in understanding each other, and the Novel Universe Model.