Conscious Material: Exploring and Integrating Beliefs About the Physical World and the World Within
Cyrus Wirls, BA in Cognitive Sciences and Mathematics, Rice University, Director of Programs, Institute for Spirituality and Health
In his introduction to Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time, Carl Sagan summarizes that in Hawking’s search to “understand the mind of God,” he finds that there is “nothing for a Creator to do.” This conclusion presupposes a non-physical Creator, the actions of which could be necessitated only by an incompleteness of, or deviation from, physical laws. The further and more general implication is that the material universe and its physical laws are inherently without intentionality or consciousness.
The breakthroughs in cosmology of the early 20th century, and the resulting belief in a world without intention or consciousness, have contributed to the disenchantment Max Weber underscored in his lecture, “Science as Vocation.” Yet a greater loss of meaning has come with the application of physicalism to the questions that now preoccupy science: Who are we? What is consciousness?
When applied in the study of mind, physicalism reduces (human) conscious experience - including thought, intentionality, emotion, and self-awareness - to the exact pattern of neural activity in the brain and nervous system. Thus emerges a paradox:
How can the physical world lack intentionality and consciousness if intentionality and consciousness are entirely physical?
How do physicians and scientists reconcile this paradox, and what are the implications for the practice of medicine and for psychological and behavioral health? A growing trend has been to discount, or even deny, the reality of conscious experiences. In clinical care, this leads to disinterest in patient experience and mistrust of qualitative self-reports. In mental health, it can lead to self-doubt, social disconnection, a sense of meaninglessness, and problems with self-identity.
Seeking a healthier and more enchanting answer, this paper explores the views of physicians and scientists today, and considers, among others, the writings of Hawking, Sagan, Einstein, Weber, Max Planck, David Eagleman, and Sam Harris.
Simultaneously, this paper examines broadly the alternatives to physicalism that are offered by many religions, and questions whether or not religious understandings of Creator and Soul do, as Sagan implied, rely on forces wholly distinct from physical laws. Focus is given in particular to, from the Abrahamic faiths, the Bible and Christian theology, and from the East, Hinduism and the Vedas.
This paper does not intend to comprehensively analyze the full range of relevant work in philosophy, science, or religion, but rather explores particular possibilities for integration among them. It does aim to define a singular answer to the physicalism-consciousness paradox, but instead to draw out questions - Could the universe be the brain of God? Could a single atom be conscious? - that might serve to re-enchant our understandings of the universe and of ourselves.
In his introduction to Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time, Carl Sagan summarizes that in Hawking’s search to “understand the mind of God,” he finds that there is “nothing for a Creator to do.” This conclusion presupposes a non-physical Creator, the actions of which could be necessitated only by an incompleteness of, or deviation from, physical laws. The further and more general implication is that the material universe and its physical laws are inherently without intentionality or consciousness.
The breakthroughs in cosmology of the early 20th century, and the resulting belief in a world without intention or consciousness, have contributed to the disenchantment Max Weber underscored in his lecture, “Science as Vocation.” Yet a greater loss of meaning has come with the application of physicalism to the questions that now preoccupy science: Who are we? What is consciousness?
When applied in the study of mind, physicalism reduces (human) conscious experience - including thought, intentionality, emotion, and self-awareness - to the exact pattern of neural activity in the brain and nervous system. Thus emerges a paradox:
How can the physical world lack intentionality and consciousness if intentionality and consciousness are entirely physical?
How do physicians and scientists reconcile this paradox, and what are the implications for the practice of medicine and for psychological and behavioral health? A growing trend has been to discount, or even deny, the reality of conscious experiences. In clinical care, this leads to disinterest in patient experience and mistrust of qualitative self-reports. In mental health, it can lead to self-doubt, social disconnection, a sense of meaninglessness, and problems with self-identity.
Seeking a healthier and more enchanting answer, this paper explores the views of physicians and scientists today, and considers, among others, the writings of Hawking, Sagan, Einstein, Weber, Max Planck, David Eagleman, and Sam Harris.
Simultaneously, this paper examines broadly the alternatives to physicalism that are offered by many religions, and questions whether or not religious understandings of Creator and Soul do, as Sagan implied, rely on forces wholly distinct from physical laws. Focus is given in particular to, from the Abrahamic faiths, the Bible and Christian theology, and from the East, Hinduism and the Vedas.
This paper does not intend to comprehensively analyze the full range of relevant work in philosophy, science, or religion, but rather explores particular possibilities for integration among them. It does aim to define a singular answer to the physicalism-consciousness paradox, but instead to draw out questions - Could the universe be the brain of God? Could a single atom be conscious? - that might serve to re-enchant our understandings of the universe and of ourselves.