Like recently I discovered a possible answer to a riddle that had long puzzled me: is there an afterlife, and if not, why does the human race have such a strong intimation that there is?
Now when I say answer, what I'm talking about is a pointer to a possible explanation, a pointer whose validity satisfies my cursory curiosity about the subject. Nothing comprehensive, nothing rigorously reasoned. Just enough to allow me to file the subject away, satisfied that I now have an opinion on it that I can trot out if faced with a fully formed opinion from someone whose beliefs source in a different faith (more on this later).
Awhile ago, a friend and I started to wonder if there was a link between conciousness, the active energy in our physical form, and the electromagnetic field of the earth. Could electromagnetism in a powerful localised field, such as that the earth generates, provide a substrate to support an abstract pattern that would represent an individual conciousness? Firstly, I think this could only work if the proponents of strong A.I. are correct that conciousness is algorithmic, and thus can exist in any phyiscal form as long as the complexity of the algorithm is supported. Secondly, it all seems rather simplistic. We have been studying the electromagnetic field (for a time as seperate fields) for well over a century, and there is no sign that anything special happens to it when a person (or hundreds of thousands of people) die. There's no evidence for transference, and thats what we need. Besides which, what about capacity and entropy issues?
No, its a poor explanation, and I was never happy with it (even on the rather tenebrous level on which I reason about existensial matters). But recently, I've been thinking a bit more about conciousness, and I came up with this:
Basically, it says that the self is related to, and embodied in, it's physical surroundings. Now this brings up the question of the nature of our surroundings, but I don't really think I need to address that here. What I'm talking about is the difference between the view of each consciousness as an independent entity, and the view that each consciousness is merely a facet of a much broader, context-dependent entity that must include what we call our physical body, our environment, other conscious entities and the subconscious ghost in the shell. Quite analagous to the Zen philosopihies. Although I don't believe to the same degree in the illusion of the self - individuation is not what we as individuals intuitively believe it to be, but I don't think that means that it's non-existent, after all individuation is what drives the universe (energy to do work, law of entropy, etc).
So, to be embodied is a prerequisite for conciousness. And embodiment could be an 11, or 6, dimensional state, if you listen to the string theorists. What aspect of conciousness, then, is tied to extra dimensional embodiment? What if there is a mental aspect tied into these extra dimensions that is related to our waking concious mind in the same way that extra dimensional physicality is related to our familiar four dimensions of spacetime?
Could a sentient entity be an energistic phenomenon stretched over these many dimensions, like a rubber band stretched around 11 fingers? And what happens if you withdraw four of those fingers? The band snaps back, to stretch between the remaining fingers. Could that process give us a pointer to the reality of a soul?
Hint of truth, or ramblings of an over-abundant imagination!?
5 comments:
"to be embodied is a prerequisite for conciousness" Well, I had a dream where my body was destroyed in an explosion and then there was blackness, the awareness my body had been destroyed, so I was still conscious. Then I was conscious of entities (I kind of understood them as "agents") preparing a new body for me, I saw the person I was going to be walking with her hand in her mothers hand and was given a name, and then the dream ended. Was consciousness dependant on the body? How could it be, I was dreaming :D unless bodies are the things of dreams
"Was consciousness dependant on the body? How could it be, I was dreaming"
Dreams are definitely the enaction of parts of the brain*, so how then does the state of dreaming isolate your conscious perception (i.e. the qualia produced by the dream) from your body?
*http://science.howstuffworks.com/dream1.htm
"Dreams are definitely the enaction of parts of the brain" Well, its a nice link alright, but I dont think it says that. You cant claim that dreams are so unless you can localise where dreams take place, which I seriously doubt you could. The fact that the physical body is in all respects disconnected from the "dreamer" would suggest to me that there is no need for the phsyical body (as observed by those looking at someone sleeping) to continue the dream, and since dreams cannot be localised, there is no need for any particular part of the brain to dream (you can remove parts of the brain, and a person still functions, and dreams!, no one specific part will change that). If anything, I would say the brain is how consciousness sees itself if forced to observe, after all, the greeks believed that the brain simply cooled the blood. Do you think they thought that dreams were definitely an enaction of the brain? (interestingly, there was a program on tv recently that claimed the heart could store memories, and heart transplant patients were known to inherit the memories and characteristics of their donees)
"how then does the state of dreaming isolate your conscious perception from your body?"
Im my opinion it doesnt. The body is an emanation of consciousness (and hence all the things in the dream are also emanations of conciousness). Or then again...maybe not :( :( :(
"The body is an emanation of consciousness"
In which case, again, consciousness is embodied. You have to try to remember the point of the debate, dude. Eye on the prize, and all that.
Also, plenty of parts of the brain can be removed to prevent dreaming. Chop out the brain stem, lets shut the whole things down!
The fact that the brain displays a specific pattern of activity is almost all you can ever say to link its action and the operation of consciousness. The brain is at ont time both modular and parallel, which is one of the things which makes it so powerful. Doesn't address much to say that you can take out this bit or that bit and the whole still works...I would go so far as to say that the brain you have now is not even the same brain as you had before, and in many cases the consciousness 'attached' will be similarly different.
Point to the debate? there is no point to the debate, and there certainly is no prize that I can see...As for there being no difference between consciousness being embodied and the body being an emanation of consciousness, I could argue there is and do you know what? I will!
In one case the body comes first and t'other consciousnes. It may be a chicken and the egg argument, but it is the only reasonable reply when somebody places causal links between mind and body and places one before the other. If there is only the present (you know what I mean), then neither mind nor body exist before or after the other, so neither is a "prerequisite" for the other.
As for removing the brain stem, that still proves nothing about whether the consciounsess still exists and is still capible of dreaming. All it proves is that we can no longer share those dreams with that consciousness, since its only means of displaying its consciousness to us (its body) has been removed (although there is still the possibility of reincarnation, and of course that inevitably leads into larger questions I shall not bother delving into now)
I agree about my brain not being the same as before, since the brain is physical and the physical is constantly in flux (which as far as I am concerned reflects the constant meanderings of consciousness), it can never remain the same...and it is highly unlikely to repeat itself either, although given enough time anything is theoretically possible...even death!
No, I would say that consciousness is the one constant, how we experience reality though changes depending on our brain, and our brain is an illusion created by consciousness, a kind of mask we paint to attempt to define ourselves, and also to create an interplay between our thoughts...its just my point of view, but I think it is equally valid as any other.
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