Is consciousness part of a continuum of events (reality)---or do events exist in spite of our being conscious of them?
On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 7:06 PM, chazwin <[email protected]> wrote: > > Whatever reality is, our understanding of it has to account for the > succession of events. > Any claim to freedom of the will forms a contradiction of the notion > of reality in which the necessity of the succession of events exists. > ANy quintessential quality is a god of the gaps to fill any thing we > can't account for. That does not mean that any inference can be drawn > from what is nothing more that a metaphysical concept. Why should we > not simply except that consciousness is a property of matter and > energy in time and space which exists in particular circumstances? > > > On Apr 5, 9:06 pm, Robert <[email protected]> wrote: > > The following is a re-written and condensed form of my earlier draft > > It will hopefully clarify my proposition. > > Please comment. Thank you. > > > > Quintessence Revisited: > > What is Reality Made Of? > > > > Conscious Free will is quintessential: > > The universe cannot exist without it. > > > > Physics has observed four fundamental building blocks, so to speak, of > > the universe. They are matter, energy, space, and time. Everything > > that science observes can be described in terms that require at least > > one of these four basic concepts. > > > > They are the modern version of what ancient scientists called the four > > essences, except that their four essences were earth, wind, water and > > fire. > > > > The ancients found the need to recognize a fifth essence, the > > quintessence. In their case, that essence was what composed the > > astronomical objects they saw in the sky. > > > > Likewise, we also must recognize a quintessential component of > > reality, a fifth fundamental building block of nature. This fifth > > essence is composed of three stages: life, consciousness and free > > will. > > > > Of these three, consciousness is the easiest to discuss, because no > > conscious person can rationally deny that consciousness exists. > > > > Consciousness represents a fifth essence of the universe because it > > cannot be explained in terms of the other four. Life can largely be > > explained in terms of biophysics, but consciousness, as we experience > > it, cannot. And when it comes to the apex of consciousness, that is > > to say, free will, not only is physics unable to explain it in terms > > of the other four essences, it actually forbids free will unless we > > accept it as quintessential. > > > > Free will is the monkey wrench in the standard model of physics, the > > 800 pound gorilla in the room that science strains to ignore. > > Consciousness is the ocean in which that fish, physics, swims. So > > pervasive is consciousness, and its ultimate expression in free > > will--- so pervasive is it that we tend not to notice it. > > > > Okay we notice it, but only in passing. Physics is the conscious > > understanding of reality by scientists exercising free will. But free > > will is far more than just another element on the periodic table, > > vastly more important than the discovery of exotic phenomena such as > > dark matter, and exceedingly more strange than the singularity in a > > black hole. > > > > Free will can be described as, among other things, a non-random, > > purposeful, uncaused cause. > > > > Such a concept must shake the conventional study of physics to its > > foundations. For in conventional physics, every observed event is the > > result of a preceding cause, and that cause, even if it is randomness > > itself, forces the observed effect. > > > > But the concept of free will posits the idea of an independent agent > > in nature, a truly volitional creature, one that can break free of the > > chain of cause and effect, and so to speak, rewrite part of the script > > that nature has up to then been following. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Epistemology" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<epistemology%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en. > > -- nubiaafrika.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Epistemology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en.
