Katie Norris
The Language of Symbols: Consciousness, Cycles, and Quantum Reality
Katie Norris
Interdisciplinary researcher, author exploring symbols, consciousness, and physical models of reality
Why:
Katie Norris is an interdisciplinary researcher and author whose work examines how symbols function as bridges between consciousness, scientific models, and long-cycle understandings of reality. Her research focuses on the role of symbolic language, mathematical, visual, and conceptual in shaping how humans interpret time, causality, and the structure of the universe.
She is the author of Quantum Design, an accessible exploration of the foundations of quantum physics, tracing the development of modern theories from early quantum history through wave mechanics, the Schrödinger equation, entanglement, spacetime models, and contemporary discussions surrounding the holographic principle, parallel universes, and emerging theories of gravity. Her work emphasizes conceptual clarity: how these models arose, what problems they attempt to solve, and how they reshape our assumptions about observation and reality.
In her CPAK presentation, “The Language of Symbols: Consciousness, Cycles, and Quantum Reality,” Katie draws clear connections between ancient symbolic forms and contemporary scientific and philosophical breakthroughs, pointing to a renewed interpretive framework through which these symbols can be read today.
Rather than treating symbolic systems as relics of a pre-scientific worldview, the presentation positions them as durable structures of meaning- revealed in new ways, illuminating their original richness. Traced across time, these forms suggest that early thinkers were not simply preserving traditions, but encoding observations about cognition, temporality, and perception. These same symbolic architectures reveal layered insights into the nature of the self and its relationship to reality, demonstrating their continued relevance as instruments of understanding rather than belief.
What this talk explores
Katie Norris’s presentation explores how symbolic systems – mathematical, visual, and conceptual – function as tools for understanding reality across different knowledge traditions. Drawing from modern quantum physics, the history of scientific thought, and enduring symbolic frameworks, she examines how humans have used symbols to model time, causality, and the structure of the universe.Rather than approaching quantum physics solely through equations, the talk considers how concepts such as wave mechanics, entanglement, spacetime, and observation are communicated and internalized through symbolic language. By placing modern physical models in dialogue with ancient symbolic forms, the presentation highlights how complex ideas are rendered intelligible, remembered, and transmitted across eras.
Participants leave with:
- A clearer, more approachable understanding of foundational quantum concepts, emphasizing meaning and interpretation alongside mathematics
- Insight into how symbolic systems operate as cognitive tools, shaping how knowledge is encoded, preserved, and communicated
- A refined perspective on ancient symbolic traditions, viewed as structured knowledge systems rather than pre-scientific belief
- Practical ways to think about science, consciousness, and creativity as interconnected domains, without collapsing them into metaphor
