In a dream I had it was said that time is an illusion and that all there really is is an endless series of "now".
The nature of the universe is not coincidence, yet nor is it determinism. Then what is it? What we all are, perhaps to varying degrees... Consciousness.
I was pointed today to this very interesting article although I must add the caveat that the website it is found on seems for the most part quite a bit on the tinfoil-hatter side, with its "UFO News" section and the very dubious headlines in the "Latest News" ticker, and also, I have to disagree with the headline of this article itself, "Quantum Theory Proves Consciousness Moves To Another Universe At Death," in particular with the word "proves". If there actually were any proof then this whole debate would be over; neither in this article nor in Robert Lanza's book which I read nor anywhere else is there anything that would constitute any solid evidence for the existence of the soul and for consciousness being fundamental - but of course, neither is there any evidence against it. This has its cause in the very nature of scientific evidence which usually means some physical evidence, and the extreme difficulty to find physical evidence for something non-physical. Science can't even give proof for the existence of consciousness itself, yet few scientists would dispute that it does exist and that they themselves are conscious beings.
This is the thin line I have to walk, this path along a narrow ridge, to one side lies the wasteland of materialist dogma in denial of all meaning to life, and to the other side the kingdom of tinfoil hatters where folly and superstition rule over the gullible; they ought to be observed from afar in order to define the borders of the narrow path, but both sides are to be avoided at all costs.
As for Robert Lanza's book, it is very controversial indeed, most people rated it as either totally brilliant or the absolute pits. Some of the former may be from Tinfoil Hat Kingdom and most of the latter likely from Dogma Wasteland. As you may have guessed I share neither opinion, I didn't experience it as life-changing as the overall idea wasn't entirely new to me at all, but it was certainly not bad either. I must admit the critics have a point in saying "Biocentrism" is not a science book - it's more philosophy than science, but then, what else could be expected when it's about the ultimate question? One point of criticism I don't understand at all though is that Dr. Lanza is telling much about his own life along the way which in my opinion helps to relate to his way of thinking about life, it's really well written and thought provoking so I can't see why someone wouldn't have the patience to read about these more personal chapters.
I certainly recommend the two videos accompanying the article I linked above, the first one being Robert Lanza talking about his theory of Biocentrism in a nutshell. The other one at the bottom is an episode of Through the Wormhole which is altogether a very fascinating series about the questions of cutting-edge science and always representing a very sober view, not pretending science already knew all the answers and thus steering clear of any dogmatism - even if the materialists also get a word in it.
So... if consciousness is the insubstantial "substance" the universe arises from as I firmly believe, does it mean that "we are all one", as some spiritual folks would have it? My personal answer would be a resounding NO!
We are certainly in some sense connected through this proto-consciousness, but no more than we are connected in the physical world. Physically, we are depending on the biosphere of this planet, we all breathe the same air, our bodies share the same chemistry as and are part of the rest of the Earth's biosphere which constitutes the kind of "substrate" we live off. For our souls there exists a similar kind of "substrate" we are rooted in like trees in the soil, yet still they are individual trees - and trees can even be at war with each other, one killing the other to take their place (watch The Secret Life of Plants to see for yourself, plants are not boring creatures at all!).
In any case trees can be vastly different from one another, some bright and delicate, others dark and brooding; all may be part of the same forest but they are not one.
Our souls are connected by sharing the same world of experience and very similar language - ultimately, all human languages are very similar at least in their function, in naming objects and conditions from our world of experience, such as grass, sky, fire, cold, freedom, beautiful, sad, etc., categorizing them and making connections between them. It is this same substrate that also forms the world we experience in our dreams - the other side of the mirror.
By the way, the same night I dreamed about the endless series of "now" I later had a lucid episode, looking at a dark, largely deserted downtown market square of the future with a huge freight train rumbling through but there were no rails; then after flying away I ended up at a sort of bus stop where I found a huge plush bunny, I stepped on its head to rip its ears off and then pushed it with its nose onto a nail protruding from the wall. I hate bunnies. LOL
...It is always "now". A pity to be so rarely aware of it...
Lol I hate bunnies too. Looks like you visited "my" dream city, at least trains without railways and bus stops are very common there. Did u see one of the flying buses? Whatever, weird how close this is to the place in my dream where I met "the girls", remember? Bunny sounds much like them...there is so much I never got to tell you about them. They might, when I had described them to you, sound so full of wisdom, with their dimensions boards and their observing of planets, but they have a problem similar to a problem humans have or at least those who think about it. And they are just funny girls (or ribbons or other shapes sometimes) who also like to tease people. Or the bunny was placed by a "bad robot" who would never want anyone meet them and therefore disturbs everyone who is close to that. Anyway that is where the girls meet you, at the bus stop, of a future city. I told you that already last year. You might still find it back in our chat. Was the most overwhelming dream I ever had. Then who told you about the endless series of now? Or did he/she does not want to have him or herself revealed? However I think when you were at the future city, you are close to huge wisdom. Wisdom carried by those though who have things they can not answer themselves...however...this whole field is so complex I will not continue talking about it here. I only talk to those really interested in it about that. So PM me with any questions. However its a "wow" experience of a dream you described here as it is so overwhelmingly similar to a dream I had! I am stunned! About the other stuff, I did not read that book nor feel that I want to even if it might be awesome. Its weird and call me dumb or fucked up but I know what I should read and what not, its weird, though explainable, I think there are some books that even if might be awesome may lead me astray from my path or keep me from finding out things I should find out in a different way than by reading. Yeah whatever. I am not saying anything against that book at all I am just being honest. I feel I am much more in need to read comicbooks by Alejandro Jodorowsky right now. He whose movies look, like he was in my head, and in the places I dream of.
ReplyDeleteHm, actually I thought the city was downtown Bonn although it did look changed and much vaster. I seemed to be looking from where Remigius Str. enters into the Market Square, the train came along the same street from behind me, from the direction of Münster Square, passing by my right side, crossing the Market Square ahead of me and rumbling on into Wenzelgasse. Yes, it did make a great noise, but not like a regular freight train where the wheels on the rails cause most of the noise, instead it sounded more like a huge aircraft engine, giving a uniform drone.
DeleteI don't know if you know Bonn that well... but in the end the future city in your dream might have been Bonn, too! I saw no flying buses though.
Who told me about the endless series of "now", that's a good question. To some extent I already knew about it,from the different "now-slices" Brian Greene talked about in the documentary "The Fabric of Spacetime", and I also read elsewhere about studies of how long an individual now-moment actually is in human perception. It turned out to be about 0.3 seconds, any signals (light flashes or sounds) had to be spaced at an interval of at least a third of a second to be resolved as separate events. - Anyway, it may have been Don Juan who said it in the dream; I'm reading Carlos Castaneda's book about his teachings, Don Juan was an old Indian shaman from Mexico. Some people claim these books are fiction but Castaneda wrote in the effort to preserve the wisdom of the shamans of ancient Mexico, meant as a study of anthropology, albeit a very personal account. Anyway, I heard Don Juan speaking in my dreams twice before, it was always just before waking up once in the middle of the night (~2am) and I couldn't remember anything that happened before. I sadly failed to write down what he said the second time and forgot it. :( But the first of these incidents also inspired part of the above blog entry: I said above that there is no coincidence (a Satanic brother said it in a Facebook status lately) but no determinism either (because determinism would mean no free will). Don Juan said everything is shaped by intent - everything is consciousness, but not ONE consciousness but myriads, all interacting; this is how the universe was shaped as well as everything that happens, some intent coincides and gets amplified and elsewhere cancelled out... he actually said just one brief sentence about it but I knew what he meant.