Consciousness is Just a Name

If “Consciousness is All There Is”, as proposed by Dr. Tony Nader in his book of this title, I’d like to give one idea as to how it may work, and an alternative to the dogma of the Big Bang theory.

I shall be following the genius of Albert Einstein and Occam‘s razor in trying to find the simplest explanation for the inexplicable. This will take me a matter of minutes and just a few lines of words.

I realise that I risk falling into the trap of trying to comprehend the incomprehensible with the limited capability of the human mind.

Let Me Begin With Three Formulas

The first will be accepted by everyone I believe, and is the product of the genius of Einstein:- E = mc² where E (energy) equals m(mass) times c squared, where c is that large number 186,000 miles/second.

I would like to add another simple equation (with no scientific data to back it) but bear with me:- I = es² where I (information) equals e (energy) times, s squared; with s being another large number similar to c.

Finally, I would like to add the last equation again with no scientific data to back it:- C = iv² or C equals information times v squared, where v is another large number similar to c, and C represents what we currently call consciousness, but which I feel may be nameless.

With the aid of these three equations, I can now demonstrate that there was no Big Bang and that we live in an eternal learning universe to which you and I and every part of it contribute. 

At this moment in time, we try to perceive a beginning and a future, but I contend that there was never a beginning, and there will never be an end, but that we are experiencing an eternal informed universe.

We have become accustomed to accepting the interchangeability of matter and energy. Maybe in years to come we will be able to accept the interchangeability of energy and information, and if my hypothesis is valid in future years, we may even accept the interchangeability of that which we call consciousness and information. 

Unfortunately, using the word consciousness brings with it a host of preconceived ideas and hence I feel we need a new word for this ultimate “stuff” of the universe.

This hypothesis allows us to envisage a universe without a beginning or end and discards the Big Bang dogma. It also permits us to recognise a learning universe that mankind, all life forms from viruses to mammals, and what we currently think of as unconscious matter are contributing to this phenomenon.

That fundamental “stuff” might be beyond our comprehension, but ancient sages would have termed it mystical, the mind of God, or had the humility to accept man’s infinite ignorance.

A Mind Experiment

I have found a useful mind experiment that I’ve used with many of my patients and friends, again taking a leaf out of Einstein’s book!

Imagine that everything we shall ever know about the universe fills the room you’re standing in now. How much of the room would represent our current knowledge and understanding of the universe?

Is it, do you think, half the room, a quarter of the room, or perhaps just a small corner of the room, or even a bucketful, or an egg cupful?

Interestingly, people’s intuitive assessment of this question leads them to favour a cupful or less. Very few have suggested any significant chunk of that space.

The other mind experiment I have offered is to convert all the matter in the universe, including you and me into energy, then convert all the energy into information according to my proposed formula above, and finally convert all the information into the “stuff” of the universe as proposed above.

We now have a universe that is not material, has no energy, and has no information. This might be classed as the mind of God or the source of everything. It then begins to condense into information, energy, and matter. The mix of these basic qualities will be ever-changing and has no beginning and no end and right now we are trying to interpret what we find in this minute moment in time.

These Are Some Conceptual Hurdles to Overcome!

Although we may have witnessed films of the matter-to-energy effect of an atomic bomb, it is difficult for us to see how energy could convert back to matter except in the acceleration of a particle in a high-powered accelerator. 

When it comes to accepting that information and energy are interchangeable we have a similar problem, except that we are all used to storing vast amounts of information in our computers using energy and regarding conversion of consciousness or “stuff” to information and vice versa, we are up against our innate intelligence limits. 

I find the concept of Morphic Resonance as postulated by Dr.Sheldrake helps us here, in that all matter living or inanimate needs information for its formation. We no longer accept that genes do this work alone. Perhaps the morphic fields are an expression of the fundamental “stuff” or consciousness.

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Words: Michael Lingard