By William C. Bushell, Ph.D. and Maureen Seaberg

A significant shift is taking place in the field of physics and its related areas, gaining momentum but largely unnoticed by the general public and even by many within the scientific community. This surge of inquiry centers on uncovering the human ability to directly experience crucial elements of what might be termed the “fabric of the universe.” Astonishingly, science is edging closer to a time when direct human sensory perception of quantum phenomena could provide answers to longstanding physics questions.

Indeed, this refers to human sensory perception, not machines.

Recent findings encompass all human senses, including their fundamental capabilities and potential for enhanced function. In this initial segment of a forthcoming series on this topic, we will concentrate mainly on human vision.

Research has shown that humans can directly detect individual photons of light, as documented in the journal Nature. This groundbreaking revelation is linked to what several prominent physicists anticipate will be an even more extraordinary discovery—likely to emerge within the next few months—regarding our ability to perceive radical aspects of light's quantum nature, particularly superposition and quantum entanglement/non-locality.

Moreover, some leading physicists suggest that pivotal advancements in quantum physics and cosmology may hinge on what trained human observers can perceive regarding the quantum characteristics of individual photons, especially in relation to superposition and entanglement.

In a recent article in Scientific American, Anil Ananthaswamy highlighted a research team’s goal “to utilize human vision to investigate the very foundations of quantum mechanics.” Rebecca Holmes from Los Alamos National Laboratory, a member of this team, suggested that findings from studies involving human observers could yield “evidence that something extends beyond standard quantum mechanics.”

Ananthaswamy noted that the team, which includes quantum physicists Paul Kwiat and Nobel Laureate Anthony Leggett from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, might “illuminate a potential solution to the core issue of quantum mechanics: the so-called measurement problem.” Many experts believe that resolving this measurement conundrum has eluded previous experimental approaches, leaving the question of whether observation collapses the wave function—integral to the foundation of the “fabric of the universe”—unanswered.

It’s crucial to recognize that this new insight into the surprising scale, accuracy, and precision of human vision—its ability to directly access light at the single-photon level—emerges within a broader context encompassing biophysics, psychophysics, and physics itself. This context, which remains largely absent from popular culture and even the broader scientific community, includes groundbreaking discoveries regarding not only vision but other senses as well.

Biophysicist A.J. Hudspeth of Rockefeller University has reported astonishing statistics about human hearing. The healthy human cochlea can detect vibrations with amplitudes smaller than an atom's diameter and can discern time intervals as brief as 10 microseconds. Remarkably, studies indicate that the human ear can detect energy levels ten times less than the energy of a single green photon. Research on human tactile and related senses reveals that “human tactile discrimination extends to the nanoscale,” as published in Scientific Reports.

Additionally, revolutionary advancements are occurring in our understanding of the human olfactory system, which now seems part of a larger organism-wide chemo-receptor system. This system may operate through quantum tunneling of electrons within olfactory receptors, among other mechanisms. Recent findings indicate that the human olfactory sense can differentiate over a trillion stimuli, surpassing the previous estimate of 10,000.

All this evidence regarding the previously underestimated precision and range of human sensory perception is converging from diverse scientific disciplines, painting a new, radical picture of human sensory-perceptual potential. Furthermore, these discoveries—particularly those related to human vision—are being intentionally directed by some of the world’s leading scientists toward investigating the very foundations of the universe.

Yet, one might ponder why this fundamental understanding of human potential is only now coming to light in this advanced scientific era. Why has this essential knowledge about our capabilities remained elusive until now? Why has our inherent ability to experience the world not been more apparent?

Several profound answers to these questions will be explored throughout this series. For now, it is worth noting that some cultures have long recognized that humans possess the ability to perceive at incredibly minuscule, hyper-acute, and even microscopic levels. This knowledge has been held by various cultures for centuries, with practitioners engaging in these capacities to achieve direct sensory experiences of the universe’s fundamental properties. Cultures such as Tibetan, Indian, and East Asian traditions have all acknowledged these potentialities.

Over a decade ago, Bushell's research into the sensory capabilities of adept practitioners of specialized observational meditation revealed that some were explicitly studying light with their highly trained visual skills, including attempts to perceive the most fundamental "partless particles" of light. Many of their methodologies align with those utilized by contemporary biophysicists and vision scientists to test the human capacity for detecting minimal light levels. Key factors in this protocol include a completely dark chamber to achieve a dark-adapted state, relative motionlessness to avoid distraction, extended focus, and multiple trials for training in light observation.

While contemporary neuroscience has yet to examine these practitioners’ ability to perceive the quantum nature of light, a growing body of research demonstrates that they possess superior sensory-perceptual and attentional skills in general. Although Bushell’s scientific model is still developing, it holds significant potential for the ongoing investigation into human capacity to perceive quantum phenomena, particularly as skilled observers are crucial for this groundbreaking research.

Bushell's model focuses on “adept perceivers” who have trained extensively to enhance their sensory-perceptual-attentional abilities to exceptionally high levels, as established by experimental evidence in Western science. This training may be vital for the success of this revolutionary new agenda exploring the sensory-perceptual relationship between humans and the universe.

William C. Bushell, Ph.D. is a biophysical anthropologist affiliated with MIT and co-director of ISHAR (Integrative Studies Historical Archive & Repository), a Chopra Foundation Initiative, the largest free and open access database for the field of integrative sciences, including physics and neuroscience.

Maureen Seaberg is coauthor of *Struck by Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel*, optioned for film by Academy Award-nominated producer Carla Hacken. She is an expert blogger for *Psychology Today* and has been published in *The New York Times*, *National Geographic*, *Vogue*, and more.

Originally published at www.psychologytoday.com.