Where Are You ?
Rocco
Note from Rocco: The following is a compilation of two articles I wrote on my blog at the beginning of this year. Given the recent discussion of Quantum physics I thought I might add to the discussion...
Exactly where is self awareness located? One thing is for certain: no matter how many times you look at the human brain you are not going to find anything but an intricate system of electrical and chemical connections. It is true that stimulation of specific cells in the brain will stimulate memory, but the only way we measure that is by the report of the subject. There is nothing in the cell itself that is particularly distinctive from any other cell. Clearly the area stimulated generates memory, but as yet we are not able to physically identify any one memory by the physical aspect of the cell stimulated. Connections also increase as a function of training but there is very little evidence to suggest that cognitive functions can be improved via a brain fitness program. In short, you are not your brain. You (self awareness) are something not confined to the cerebral cortex.
“One of the problems in the contemporary neuro-scientific study of consciousness, I think, is really sort of a basic fundamental one, which is that we’ve been looking for consciousness in the wrong place. We’ve been looking for it inside of us. For me, that’s a sort of profound mistake. It’s a little bit like trying to find the dancing in the musculature of the dancer or trying to find the value of money in the chemical composition of the dollar bill. It’s the wrong kind of place to look.” Alva Noe
Well if you are not inside your skull then exactly where are you? The problem with the question is that there is an a-priori assumption that there is in fact a physicality of self awareness and also a physical location. However, if self awareness is similar to light ( photons ) it would be difficult to locate one specific set of photons in a field of other lights. As an example shine two lights on a dark wall and try to distinguish which part of the light on the wall came from which flash light. There is in fact some evidence that the human body does emit light and there is a sort of communication link between all photons.
Side Bar: Start
Illusions occur at many levels. And most of it is simply due to our lack of comprehension regarding the nature of existence. Now in order to provide some context to ‘illusions’ we need to look at some laws of physics. Surface laws are almost self evident, such as what goes up must come down (Newtonian physics). Subsurface laws are not self evident and at times seem to be metaphysical in nature (Quantum physics). However at both Surface and Subsurface there is what is known as the Observer Effect:: you actually change the outcome of a measurement by observing it. A simple example of this is measuring voltage. A certain amount of voltage exists in the line (X). Now you want to measure X but as soon as you connect to the line, the measurement you get is not what was there before you measured because your measuring instrument adds more load to the system. You can’t measure that electric current without changing the outcome. Of course that is a very simple example of measurement at the surface level. The simple fact is that the measurement changes many things at the subsurface level. Such as the interaction between the current and the wire. You may not see them but things are in a constant state of change. In a way the outcome is an illusion of the reality of what was there before you measured.
Now you might say: “well that wouldn’t happen if I were measuring a table. A tape ruler doesn’t change the measurement of the table. If it did we could never really measure anything.” And of course you would be right. It is true that the measurement itself would not change. But think about it…when you laid that ruler on the table, residue from the ruler is now a part of the table, including your finger prints. Something did change, but not enough to make any difference to you. What is important is to understand that things happen at a subsurface level, that could at some point reach the surface level: a drop of water that seeps into the grain of the table could eventually produce a crack.
Sometimes the illusions change simply because of how we approach the task of observation. In a double slit experiment in 1803 Thomas Young demonstrated conclusively that light was a wave. However, Einstein also proved that light is a particle. So which is it? This is where the universe starts looking a bit metaphysical. In his classic book on Physics “The Dancing Wu Li Masters” Gary Zukav presents the following:
Since Einstein 'proved' that light is composed of photons, let us go back to Young's double-slit experiment and run it with photons. (This has been done). Suppose that we have a light gun which can fire, in effect, one photon at a time. The experiment is set up as before, except that only one slit is open. Now we fire the photon, it goes through the open slit, and we mark where it hits the wall (using a photographic plate). Because we have done this experiment before, we notice that the photon has landed in an area that would be dark if the second slit were open. That is, if the second slit were open, no photons would be recorded in this area. To make sure, we do the experiment again, but this time we leave both of the slits open. Just as we thought, there are no photons recorded now in the area where the photons hit in our first experiment. When both slits are open and interference is present, this area is in the middle of a dark band.
The question is, how did the photon in the first experiment know that the second slit was not open? Think about it. If both slits are open, there are always alternating bands of illuminated and dark areas. This means there are always areas where the photons never go (otherwise there would not be any dark areas). If one of the slits is closed, there is no interference and the dark bands disappear; the whole wall becomes illuminated, including those areas which previously were dark when both slits were open.
When we fired our photon and it went through the first slit, how did it 'know' that it could go to an area that must be dark if the other slit was open? In other words, how did the photon know that the other slit was closed?
There is no definite answer to this question. Some physicists, like E. H. Walker, speculate that photons may be conscious!
Side Bar: End
Those photons do not just blink out of existence. They are a constant part of everything in three dimensional existence. As such you are likely to be anywhere and everywhere in the Universe: a part of all that is. Your awareness exists in infinity itself, not just the third dimension. It would be another mistake to assume that the photon is anything more than a vehicle of your self awareness. You are no more a photon than you are your brain. The construct of your awareness is thought that is received by an assemblage of photons. If visualization helps in formulating your self concept than think of the photon as a sort of messaging device that allows transmission of thought across all of existence. And that is what you need to focus on when you are seeking information from All That Is.
The method for accessing this information is usually refereed to as meditation. If you are just starting you can’t do this in a space filled with distractions. Find a suitable quiet area free of all distractions. (3) In all of this there is a cautionary note. What you have to keep in mind is that many well meaning individuals will fill your thoughts with (static) concepts that insist on excluding yourself from All That Is. You are not a creation of All That Is. You are an extension of All That Is; you always existed and you are infinite. You just don’t know it…..but you will.
(1) Coma
http://aubreyallyn.hubpages.com/hub/What-it-feels-like-to-be-in-a-Coma
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/geoffrey-lean-i-was-in-a-coma-but-i-could-hear-every-word-415327.html
(2) Self Awareness Measurement
http://philosophy.hku.hk/courses/cogsci/files/gallup-final.pdf
(3) Meditation
http://www.buddhanet.net/ftp10.htm
http://www.meditationsociety.com/108meds.html
Roger
On Saturday, September 8, 2012 11:31:57 AM UTC-4, Rocco wrote:
Note from Rocco: The following is a compilation of two articles I wrote on my blog at the beginning of this year. Given the recent discussion of Quantum physics I thought I might add to the discussion...
Exactly where is self awareness located? One thing is for certain: no matter how many times you look at the human brain you are not going to find anything but an intricate system of electrical and chemical connections. It is true that stimulation of specific cells in the brain will stimulate memory, but the only way we measure that is by the report of the subject. There is nothing in the cell itself that is particularly distinctive from any other cell. Clearly the area stimulated generates memory, but as yet we are not able to physically identify any one memory by the physical aspect of the cell stimulated. Connections also increase as a function of training but there is very little evidence to suggest that cognitive functions can be improved via a brain fitness program. In short, you are not your brain. You (self awareness) are something not confined to the cerebral cortex.
“One of the problems in the contemporary neuro-scientific study of consciousness, I think, is really sort of a basic fundamental one, which is that we’ve been looking for consciousness in the wrong place. We’ve been looking for it inside of us. For me, that’s a sort of profound mistake. It’s a little bit like trying to find the dancing in the musculature of the dancer or trying to find the value of money in the chemical composition of the dollar bill. It’s the wrong kind of place to look.” Alva Noe
Thanks, Rocco.