Michael Talbot

Talbot was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 29, 1953. He was originally a fiction/science fiction author.^[2][1] He also contributed articles to The Village Voice and other publications.^[2]

Talbot attempted to incorporate spirituality, religion and science to shed light on profound questions. His non-fiction books include Mysticism And The New Physics, Beyond The Quantum, and The Holographic Universe. Talbot often referenced Stanislav Grof, whose work on Holotropic Breathworkwas also of obvious influence.

Although Talbot is not known to have made it much of a political issue, he was openly gay, living with a boyfriend, and has become a role model for gay intellectuals ^[3]. In 1992, Talbot died of lymphocystic leukemia at age 38.^[2][1] With his disease occurring in the midst of the tragic AIDS crisis, Talbot is credited with the ironic comment that he suffered from “an unfashionable disease” since he did not suffer from AIDS but rather from a form of leukemia which also killed him at this young age.

The Holographic Universe

Talbot’s book The Holographic Universe, which has become his most popular,^[4] explores the metaphysical implications that underline quantum mechanics and suggests that the universe is a hologram (metaphorically speaking). After examining the work of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, both of whom independently arrived at holographic theories or models of the universe, the book argues that a holographic model could possibly explain supersymmetry and also various paranormaland anomalous phenomena and is the basis for mystical experience.