Consciousness Unexplained
A particurarly interested piece on Mental Deviance.
I don’t buy it either. Quantum theory is telling us that observer is an important element in the participatory universe.I don’t buy it when scientists say that the brain creates consciousness or awareness.
It all boils down to this: the brain is a system of particles and energy. The brain can only do what other hunks of particles and energy do — obey the laws of physics.
And if so, where do the laws of physics are coming from? Are laws of physics part of the material brain? Popper and Eccles understood that the world of knowledge and information is different from the world of matter.
When a photon of light hits your eye and triggers an electric impulse down a neuron which then sends electrons bouncing around in your brain, that’s just a series of physical reactions. It’s the same as kicking a rock and seeing it bounce off a tree. If the system of someone kicking a rock into a tree isn’t a conscious entity, then why am I? Why isn’t a computer?First of all what is a kick? Does Nature, the material one, understands the concept of a kick? When, exactly a kick starts, and when it does it ends? It seems that consciousness is necessary to introduce the very concept of a kick. And kicks are particular cases of events. Quantum theory, the orthodox one, knows nothing about events. John Bell understood it well.
Which brings me to my next issue. The Observer. Why are we aware? Why is there an internal observer that suffers and feels pain and feels pleasure? We certainly aren’t necessary to our bodies’ survival.But, as Wheeler points it out - we may be necessary for the Universe to become . See for instance: Towards the theory of matter, geometry and information.
The brain is simply a computer that our “soul” or awareness uses to process input into meaningful patterns and store them. Saying that our brain creates our awareness is like saying that computers created us so we could surf the internet for porn.It seem to me that while consciousness as such is timeless, matter involves the concept of time. How precisely it happens, I do not know. This brings us back to the question: what is time? Can we read and interpret Signs of the Times?
