Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Consciousness, a known unknown

On 29 December 2022, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant published an interesting interview on consciousness with Dutch cardiologist Pim van Lommel. In his view, “there is no life after death, but there is continuity of consciousness” (my translation). His opinion would imply that our Data-Info is conscious.

On 16 January 2023, the Wall Street Journal published the results of a remarkable study in the scientific journal Nature Photonics: Lasers Can Guide Dangerous Lightning Strikes to a Safer Path, Study Shows. Does this study imply that energy is conscious too??

In my view, all living matter is conscious. However, it’s hard for me to imagine that rocks would be conscious too. Nevertheless, I have no problem in believing that the entire Universe is conscious, a belief that is also known as panpsychism. Hence, all matter must (then) be conscious.

“Consciousness permeates reality. Rather than being just a unique feature of human subjective experience, it’s the foundation of the universe, present in every particle and all physical matter.”

An excerpt of a 2018 Quartz article: The idea that everything from spoons to stones is conscious is gaining academic credibility

The notion that consciousness is at a particle level may (also) explain phenomena like quantum mechanics and even human instinct, an unknown known (eg, my 2017 blog Religion and human instinct). However, the cooperation of 7 octillion atoms in the human body is very hard to imagine.

If atoms or particles would be conscious, then how about the results of human technology? Despite all of our artificial intelligence efforts, our robots do not appear to be conscious. Is interconnectedness and/or cooperation missing between these particles? If so, then what is (clearly) missing?

After writing the previous paragraph, I was somehow reminded of feng shui, which relates to harmonizing matter and energy:

Feng shui, sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is an ancient Chinese traditional practice which claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. [] From ancient times, landscapes and bodies of water were thought to direct the flow of the universal Qi – “cosmic current” or energy – through places and structures.”

Excerpt of definition from Wikipedia. Note: markings in quote with respect to energy and universal by LO.

Perhaps, the (missing) linking pin is about the cooperation between universal consciousness, energy, and matter, like the Body, Mind and (unknown) Soul concept in humans.

It’s interesting that humans often treat their mechanical devices (eg, cars, houses, massagers) as friends, who deserve a name (eg, Herbie, Tarzan).

A Horse with No Name (1971) by America
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-album, Wiki-song

[Verse 1]
On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.

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