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A philosophical journey into the mystery of consciousness and selfhood.
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Who Are You?
And why are you here?
The universe is not just stranger than we suppose, it is stranger than we can suppose.
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Philosophy is the art of inquiring into matters of ultimate importance -- Who am I, why am I here, what is my purpose?
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?
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Socrates believed that knowing thyself was the highest form of wisdom.
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.
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What is the self? - "You would not find out the boundaries of the soul, even by traveling along every path: so deep a measure does it have." -- Heraclitus
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.
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The philosopher Schelling believed that "we are the eyes and ears of the universe." How does consciousness emerge from matter?
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 physicist John Wheeler believed the relationship between consciousness and the cosmos was like a snake biting its tail.
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.
"What good would the universe be if no one emerged to observe it." -- John Wheeler
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.
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.
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“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” -- T.S. Eliot
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.
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.
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"Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe . . . The starry heavens above and the moral law within." -- Kant
There is a mysterious affinity between the inner and the outer.
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A fully scientific account of the mind is impossible since science deals with the objective realm and consciousness is inherently subjective.
Science tells us how we can control our world, but it says little about value or meaning.
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"Philosophy may be blind without science, but science can lack vision without philosophy."
Modern day science is permeated by dubious assumptions. The notion that consciousness is just a fluke may be one of these.
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"Philosophy begins with wonder and aims at understanding. Poetry creates wonder and aims at transcendence. Where the two paths meet, great distances can be traversed in a single leap."
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?
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As the philosopher Wittgenstein noted, "It is the "I" that is deeply mysterious."
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.
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Explore the frontiers of consciousness
Read "Socrates in Cyberspace." Visit: http://neuroscott.wix.com/socratesincyberspace
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
http://www.amazon.com/Socrates-Cyberspace-Search-Soul-Century-ebook/dp/B007...
And:
http://neuroscott.wix.com/socratesincyberspace
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