Science and consciousness

[Unveiled Artist]

That's a good question. The wonderful thing about talking with John (my friend) was that this idea seemed to be alive, moving, changing, each time he mentioned it and I asked questions or gave my thought. It changed over time. He definitely believed we are all connected in some way that transcended ordinary communication. He would even (though not saying he believed) pray for people in a way: he'd 'send' them help through a kind of prayer where he'd focus on them, the nature of which was never really clear, but it was ongoing over the years. I suppose it was prayer.

Hm. Interesting. I wouldn't know how to interpret that.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Yes, the universe has consciousness.
No, we can not tap into it any more than a tulip or a slug can tap into our consciousness.

All stars are self-aware from the time of their birth to somewhat beyond their death. Stars communicate with one another through the use of photons and quantum entangled photons. Early on in their lives, stars communicate primarily with other stars in their galaxy. As they age, they learn to utilize the capabilities of the entangled photons to communicate instantaneously with other stars anywhere in the universe.

When you say communication are you using that as, I guess, a metaphor or poetic way to describe the interaction both self-interaction (star creating itself) or interaction with others (sun to the earth, for example)?

What do you mean by communication?
(Doesn't sound like a physics term)

 

[ratiocinator]

If you were to entertain the thought, what would support that their could be a universal consciousness to the universe or which does not?

I thought the approach in the video seemed reasonable. Do we see any evidence of a complex network of information processing like we do in the brain? We can indulge in wild speculation (as was suggested) that galactic black holes are somehow connected, but there is no evidence for this and hardly any theoretical support. Might make a good science fiction story.

 

[chinu]

I'm confused. Universe awareness isn't awareness because it assumes duality?

There's nothing left back for universe to be aware of. Universe -- is by default aware of everything. The burden of being aware of something -- never lies on universe.

But, on the other hand we humans with our limited knowledge/awareness are always incomplete -- always retain incomplete awareness. Hence, what a fully-awareness state of affair is -- we humans can never know.

 

[Straw Dog]

What if the universe is self-aware? Is there a cosmic superconsciousness? Could it be a giant brain? Is the universe a conscious mind? There is a short but lazy answer, and there is longer but more intriguing answer. The lazy answer is: We humans are made of pieces of the universe. We are conscious, so the universe is conscious through us.

I thought this was interesting in looking at consciousness from a brain neurological perspective, philosophical, and insightful: universal consciousness.

Although I dig the idea of black holes linking galaxies together in some kind of super neural network, there’s no real evidence of this, as the video pointed out. The universe doesn’t appear to need consciousness, it only needs a chain of causality.

As far as saying the universe is self-aware through sentient life forms, such as ourselves, I suppose that makes sense since we are made of stardust. However, that awareness is extremely limited, since we are unaware of 99.9% of all cosmic activity at any given moment. We could further speculate that there are countless other conscious beings that we’re just not aware of, but that’s kind of a leap beyond evidence at that point.

 

[ecco]

Stars communicate with one another through the use of photons and quantum entangled photons.

. . . and gravity.

Perhaps. But there are those who insist that gravity (the fabric of space/time) has a completely different consciousness.

 

[ecco]

When you say communication are you using that as, I guess, a metaphor or poetic way to describe the interaction both self-interaction (star creating itself) or interaction with others (sun to the earth, for example)?

I thought I made it clear that stars communicate with one another.

The sun is a star and is part of that conscious communication network.

Clearly, that would not include the earth! Planets do not have consciousness nor the capability to communicate.

What do you mean by communication?
(Doesn't sound like a physics term)

Let Google be your friend...
Dictionary
com·mu·ni·ca·tion
/kəˌmyo͞onəˈkāSH(ə)n/
noun

1. 1.
   the imparting or exchanging of information or news.
   "at the moment I am in communication with London"

Like two people, face to face, making comments, and listening to the other's comments. Like two people at their computers posting comments to one another on a forum.

 

[halbhh]

Hm. Interesting. I wouldn't know how to interpret that.

heh, neither did I sometimes. I could intuit or feel what he meant often, but not always, being there, hearing him in person and knowing him. It was evolving also, I knew. He seemed to feel/think he was tapping in or participating with a kind of group connection of people (all people), and probably it was more of a felt thing than an intellectual idea of course, though he could articulate thoughts in a poetic and dynamic way, which was pretty fun.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

My goodness gracious. You make an argument where none was intended.

I thought I made it clear that stars communicate with one another.

The sun is a star and is part of that conscious communication network.

Clearly, that would not include the earth! Planets do not have consciousness nor the capability to communicate.

No. Discussions usually come with asking for clarification rather than expecting each other to understand at one shot-especially on topics like this.

So, no.

Like two people, face to face, making comments, and listening to the other's comments. Like two people at their computers posting comments to one another on a forum.

According to your definition, how do the stars communicate with each other?

Don't give me a definition/scripture. Use your own words. You may have a different context of communication that I'm not aware of.

 

[shunyadragon]

Perhaps. But there are those who insist that gravity (the fabric of space/time) has a completely different consciousness.

At present I consider that gravity is a natural consequence of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum gravity in the macro space/time world. I this is not conclusive and defend, but the line between the Quantum micro world, and the macro world is a fuzzy dependent one, and there is no definitive delineation possible.

One descriptive perspective that fits the relationship is the Quantum World is the natural consciousness of the macro time/space/gravity world.

 

[Bear Wild]

What if the universe is self-aware? Is there a cosmic superconsciousness? Could it be a giant brain? Is the universe a conscious mind? There is a short but lazy answer, and there is longer but more intriguing answer. The lazy answer is: We humans are made of pieces of the universe. We are conscious, so the universe is conscious through us.

I thought this was interesting in looking at consciousness from a brain neurological perspective, philosophical, and insightful: universal consciousness.

I have never understood the confusion of what consciousness is. If one looks at the evolution of behavioral responses from single celled organisms to multicellular complex organisms rather than starting with the most complex neurological organism the concept of consciousness is much easier to understand. Being able to be sensory aware of and organisms surroundings then interpret the sensory information to change mortify a behavioral response is at the heart of what created the complex consciousness that we as humans are aware of. Add in the development of social behavior where on organism must be aware of themselves as well as others in a community which created the evolutionary beneficial awareness of self and other's for increased survival and you have all that is necessary for the development of consciousness we are familiar with (along with the addition of the amount of time needed for the process to evolve).

There are very interesting ideas about the physics to allow this process to occur but to me it is easy to explain it with the increasing complexity of connections which continuously change and are constantly dynamic.

I tried to think of an example to explain how just increasing complexity alone help to explain it and the only example is the periodic table. One proton and one electron gives us hydrogen. Six protons and six electrons creates carbon which is the structural element of life. Both protons and electrons by so deferent. Take two of the atoms with one proton and one electron and combine it with an atom with eight protons and eight electrons and you have water, the liquid solution of life. It is amazing how just changing the number of protons and electrons in an atom to create such different properties and even more amazing how combinations of these atoms give us such different results such as DNA. Why couldn't increasing the complexity of neurologic connections and patterns give increasingly complex consciousness?