The universe is not just stranger than we suppose, it is stranger than we can suppose.

We live in a deeply mysterious cosmos. Our world is suffused with tremendous beauty and a subtle order. Why is this so? Why is there something rather than nothing? Was the evolution of conscious creatures inevitable?

Socrates was the greatest teacher of philosophy the world has ever known. My book, "Socrates in Cyberspace," is dedicated to extending the quest he began -- the search for truth and wisdom -- into the furthest regions of cyberspace.

Today, our understanding of consciousness, evolution, and the cosmos is undergoing a transformation. Increasingly, scientists are recognizing that materialistic accounts of man and nature are inadequate. A richer understanding of the cosmos and the role of consciousness in filling in the blanks of creation is on the horizon.

The philosopher Schelling believed that beauty was a bridge between consciousness and the cosmos. It is through beauty and wonder that the individual self comes to recognize its identity with a more cosmic Self.

The Uroboros, the mythical snake that devours its own tail. In fact, the Uroboros has often been used to symbolize wholeness, immortality, and the cosmic process of life itself.

Princeton physicist John Wheeler said: "What good would the universe be if no one emerged to observe it."

In my view, the potential for sentience has been woven into the fabric of the universe from the beginning. Consciousness is like a flower, but its roots extend backwards in time billions of years and also into the fundamental realm of sub-atomic particles, which is governed by the paradoxical laws of quantum mechanics.

The journey from matter to mind and back again is the ultimate in self-reflexivity.

For example, we can follow a path or a hierarchical arrangement leading full circle from: 1) the quantum realm, 2) microtubules, 3) neurons, 4) neuronal cluster, 5) brain tissue, 6) brain region, and finally 7) consciousness, which twists back, as it were, seeking its quantum roots.

There is a mysterious affinity between the inner and the outer.

Science tells us how we can control our world, but it says little about value or meaning.

Modern day science is permeated by dubious assumptions. The notion that consciousness is just a fluke may be one of these.

The psychologist Zeising argued that nature aims at beauty. This is an astonishing thought. The notion that evolution has an aim or telos is out of fashion with most contemporary scientists, but there is something about beauty that attunes us to the world. Why is this so?

According to Wittgenstein, the one item one can never encounter directly is one’s “I” - or the elusive “subject” that lies at the heart of experience. This “I” cannot be found in the world, but it is a limit on the world. The "I" transcends the physical.

To learn more please read "Socrates in Cyberspace" by visiting:
http://www.amazon.com/Socrates-Cyberspace-Search-Soul-Century-ebook/dp/B007...

And:

http://neuroscott.wix.com/socratesincyberspace