---
slug: paper-bohm-d-and-hiley-b-j-1993-the-undivided-universe-an-ontological-interpretation-o
title: Bohm and Hiley: The Undivided Universe (1993)
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/paper-bohm-d-and-hiley-b-j-1993-the-undivided-universe-an-ontological-interpretation-o
---

## What the subject saw and its core results

David Bohm and Basil Hiley developed an ontological interpretation of quantum theory. They treated quantum mechanics as describing real processes rather than probabilities alone. The work centers on the quantum potential that guides particles. It extends earlier ideas of implicate and explicate order into a full physical model.

The core result is the holomovement. This is an unbroken dynamic totality. Forms unfold from an enfolded ground and fold back. The explicate order appears as separate objects. The implicate order holds them as interconnected aspects.

## Exact primary works and passages

Primary source is Bohm, D. and Hiley, B.J. (1993). The Undivided Universe: An Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Routledge.

Key passage on holomovement (p. 151): "Thus in its totality, the holomovement is not limited in any specifiable way at all. It is not required to conform to any particular order, or to be bounded by any particular measure. Thus, the holomovement is undefinable and immeasurable."

Another passage describes active information: the quantum field carries information that shapes particle trajectories without classical force.

The book builds directly on Bohm's 1980 Wholeness and the Implicate Order and earlier pilot-wave papers.

## Convergence patterns touched

The work evidences flow networks. The holomovement is continuous movement that produces bounded structures through enfoldment and unfoldment. It shows symmetry and scale invariance in quantum processes. Generative order appears as the implicate layer that yields explicate forms.

Mind-matter unity follows. Both arise as aspects of the same undivided process mediated by active information. This matches the synthesis pattern of difference to flow to structure to memory to mind.

See related patterns in /a/oip-the-ladder and /a/oip-principles.

## Distance from the full synthesis

The book supports the grain of reliable patterns in energy flows. It provides a physical basis for flow networks and bounded structures. It reaches mind-matter unity through the holomovement.

It stops short of the full Ladder. Life and explicit memory mechanisms receive little treatment. The Mirror Layer, in which the reader participates inside the system, remains outside the scope. The work stays within quantum ontology.

## Honest limits and disconfirming edges

The interpretation is one possible reading of quantum formalism. It reproduces all standard predictions. No new empirical test distinguishes it from Copenhagen or many-worlds views.

A reductionist objection applies. Weinberg-style arguments note that the quantum potential adds no new observable content. It functions as a mathematical device. The holomovement remains interpretive rather than required by data.

Speculative extensions to consciousness and generative order lack direct experimental anchors.

## Atomic claims

- Claim c1: The holomovement constitutes an unbroken dynamic totality underlying quantum phenomena. Tier: mechanistic. Source: Bohm & Hiley 1993.
- Claim c2: Explicate order emerges by unfoldment from implicate order. Tier: mechanistic. Source: Bohm & Hiley 1993.
- Claim c3: Active information in the quantum potential guides particle motion. Tier: mechanistic. Source: Bohm & Hiley 1993.
- Claim c4: Mind and matter arise as aspects of one undivided process. Tier: speculative. Source: interpretive extension in Bohm & Hiley 1993.
- Claim c5: The model matches observed quantum correlations without non-locality paradoxes. Tier: mechanistic. Source: Bohm & Hiley 1993.

## Sources

Bohm, D. and Hiley, B.J. (1993). The Undivided Universe: An Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12185-X.

Supporting context appears in Bohm's 1980 Wholeness and the Implicate Order for precursor concepts.
