A New Scientist article, published in May 2020 suggests that the whole universe may be Conscious.
The Hard Problem
Science still doesn’t understand how we can experience..anything!
It is sometimes called the hard problem of consciousness – how all these neurons and chemicals in our brain give rise to our inner experiences.
Now some Mathematicians think they have made a breakthrough.
We will be discussing the New Scientist article on this subject in this episode of Punk Science TV.
I’ve got IIT
This new, mathematical theory of consciousness is called Integrated Information theory or IIT.
It says that a system’s consciousness arises from the way information moves between subsystems.
You can see neurons as islands of subsystems.
According to this theory, consciousness appears when the information flow between these subsystems is complex enough to make the islands interdependent.
Changing the flow of information on one island affects all the others.
How well a system integrates information is given a value called phi.
The higher the phi the more consciousness a system will display.
An example of a situation in which this theory works well is when contrasting the cerebrum and cerebellum. Cerebral damage affects our consciousness more because it has a lot of connections – so its phi value is high.
Pixabay
The Cerebellum isn’t so well connected, so damage doesn’t have as much effect on the conscious experience.
Problems
The theory has its drawbacks too.
- A major one is that the value of phi actually can increase in our sleep.
- It also still doesn’t explain our inner experiences, how does this theory explain our experience of the smell of coffee for example.
- Some inanimate systems have more consciousness than humans.
Usually, the concept of inanimate objects or even the whole universe having the property of consciousness is just dismissed but, in this article, they discuss that particles may have some sort of consciousness that is fundamental and human and animal consciousness emerges from this.
The Conscious Atom
The article goes onto consider whether even electrons are conscious and how this may explain the measurement problem in physics – how the wave function collapses with our measurement or observation.
So the idea that everything might be conscious and there is something fundamental about consciousness is being discussed in mainstream science.
This idea forms the basis of The Black Hole Principle – it is the reason why we can’t see light beyond light speed – because it is beyond our normal perception. Consciousness is written into the fabric of reality.
It’s good to see mainstream scientists also discuss these issues.
Thanks Manir really enjoyed that talk, good to know that mainstream science finally catching up with shamanic understand of how the universe workings.
Thank you, Andrew for your comments.
Good reads…
The Self Aware Universe by Amit Goswami.
Biocenttism by Robert Lanza.
Absolutely – very good reads. Thank you, Gerald.
Hi Manjir, looks like mainstream science finally catching up with you. Have you seen a new, three-hour film called “Deconstructing Sentience – from chaos to coherence”? I found it on Magenta Pixie’s Facebook page and it’s also on You Tube. It’s all about consciousness in the universe and features everyone from Bruce Lipton to Greg Braden, Lyn McTaggart and William Henry. Really worth a watch if you have time.
Thanks, Denise. I will look out for it.
Bernardo Kastrup as dealt with the hard problem, it’s not everything is conscious which is Panpsychism but that everything is in Consciousness as in the Cosmic Mind which is the Idealist position I hold to.
It would be nice if you had Bernardo on your podcast Manjir, I am happy to facilitate the contact!
Thank you so much, Tom. I will look him up. Great idea!
Isnt it wonderful we live in a cosmos where all things are connected via consciousness..shows just how childish and narrow minded we have been programmed to be and why wars. And racial bias and constant consumerism and accruement of money are meaniless didtractions in a limiteless multiverse
Yes indeed! Thank you for your comment.
Hello sweetheart
Hi Manjir,
I missed the first two minutes but I think you were saying that everything has some form of consciousness. I have never understood the phenomenon of psychometry but years ago when I still experienced odd stuff I attended an open circle of about 40 people in Swansea. I was given a ring and asked to read the ring . All I could pick up was that the owner had recently visited Stonehenge and had been photographed whilst sitting on a flat stone. To my surprise it was true. It was as if the experience had become downloaded into the ring. For several years I had several such experiences and it’s cool to think it may have some validity within conventional science.
Lovely to hear and see you. Stay safe.xx
Great story, Anona.