source: Max Pixel
I'm a sucker for science and love to write about it. But I also like to dig into topics and subjects that science doesn't really know how to deal with. Scientists are usually methodological reductionist; they explain complex systems by describing its smaller parts and the way they interact with each other. They then say that the larger system, or the observed phenomenon, "emerges" from the complex interactions of its constituent parts. A simple example is the temperature of a gas that is reduced to the average kinetic energy of the individual moving and colliding molecules. One molecule can't have a temperature, so temperature is an "emergent" property of the complex system of many moving gas molecules.
This is quite easy to understand, it's a very easy and intuitive example. Life and consciousness are explained in the same way, but for life and consciousness there is no definitive scientific and universally accepted definition yet. There are no equations, diagrams, graphs or any other models that sharply delineate the difference between inanimate matter and a living single cell. We know, or suspect that there are different levels of consciousness, with self-consciousness at the top; a worm is less conscious than a dog is less conscious than you and me. ... Well... You at least ;-) But we have no clue where consciousness begins.
The fact, or strong suspicion that less conscious creatures also have less brain-cells, seems to support the hypothesis of the materialists, that consciousness is an emergent property of the complex interactions between billions of neurons and synapses through countless firings of electrical signals. Still, I'm not convinced that there's not a lot more to it. And this is all just an introduction to what I really wanted to say in today's short post. What I really want to say is this:
source: Picryl
As often as you can! The only thing you can ever be 100% sure about, is your existence in this universe. Sometimes we lose ourself in thoughts about the great questions; what is life, what is consciousness, what is it for, what's my purpose, what's the purpose of it all..? And Why? You know I'm guilty as charged here, you just read through an introduction that's far too long because of this :-) But in the end, there's never been a more liberating moment for me than when I realized that these are wonderful questions to theorize about, to fantasize about even, but in the end it doesn't matter one iota what the answers to those questions some day might turn out to be.
There are scientists now that are seriously investigating the possibility that we actually live in some sort of computer simulation. That we are basically "brains in vats" or attached to some Matrix-like virtual reality. And to some this might sound devastating if ever proven to be true. But think about it, and ask yourself if even that would make any difference to what you are now? To who you are now. To what you experience now.
Would it make a difference if we evolved or if we were created by a being so advanced we would have no choice but to call it a God? I know this is a popular topic of public debate and discourse, but would knowing one way or the other really matter? To the point that you would lose all reason to hang on to your existence? Beliefs do matter, don't get me wrong here; beliefs guide our actions in a large degree. But that's what I mean.
Would you suddenly lose all interest in life, start pillaging the village because it's all a simulation anyway, or because we're all evolved monkeys anyway? Or would you go on as you were, being the accumulation of all your experiences you've always been? I would hope so.
Would science go on to make discoveries about our world, be it a simulation, a divine creation or a cosmic accident, and make our lives better? I believe so.
Would I respect my fellow wire-frame-models any less because they bleed fractals when I cut them? I believe not.
Cherish all your experiences, good and bad, they're who you are, and they got you here, where you are now.
Maybe our biggest questions are the least important to answer. Now wouldn't that be a liberating thought? ;-)
The above is a redacted version of a post I originally released on Steemit in November 2018
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