What is consciousness?

[Ron Erickson]

I thought it might be interesting to discuss more directly a range of issues
that were recently raised by Jake, myself and others. Because I only have
limited time to write/edit these forum postings, I am often missing important
points that I thought of later, and sometimes my "mind-dump" at a particular
moment doesn't precisely address the issues raised by earlier posts.

Have you (that is, any one who is reading this) ever asked yourself these
questions?: What does it mean to be me - as opposed to another person? Why do I
consider this body to be my home instead of some other body? Can my individual
soul/ghost relocate through reincarnation? The key issue here is not the
mechanics of how souls might move around through time and space, but rather:
What is this unique "I of consciousness" that is asking the question, and is
this perceived uniqueness real or imaginary?

Lee Smolin wrote "The universe is made of processes, not things. The whole
history of the world is then nothing but the story of huge numbers of these
processes, whose relationships are continually evolving.". The reason why I
mention this is that quantum theory suggests that all possible states for every
quantum particle/event are superimposed. Conscious apprehension apparently
"collapses the wave function" so that only a specific particle state is
viewable. Until that instant, all possible states are (in a sense) "happening
simultaneously". This aspect of quantum theory is key to the massive
parallelism of quantum computers - which should be practical for general use in
a few years. What I am especially interested in here is the role of
consciousness in quantum mechanics, and how consciousness seems to have an
action-at-a-distance effect on the "external world". So, what constitutes
consciousness? Another Smolin quote: "The idea of space going on and on forever
has nothing to do with what we see. When we look out, we are looking back in
time through the history of the universe.." So, if we can see (for example)
distant galaxies in the state that they were in before human life existed on
earth, then what act of conscious apprehension collapsed the wave function for
the matter and energy which constitute these galaxies. Logically, this
consciousness could not have been human or even terrestrial in origin?

Quantum theory gets especially strange when we consider the "many worlds
interpretation". This says that all possible universes are, in a sense, all
occurring simultaneously, and that the role of consciousness is not to extend
the range of what is possible, but rather to select from what is possible (as
defined by physics). This causes the sprouting of a new branch in a vast tree
whose trunk goes back to (at least) the Big Bang. So, if each branch is a
separate version of a possible universe, and consciousness is involved in the
creation of new branches, then this leads to a few possible interpretations. If
we assume that we are each a similar conscious being, then we are each creating
new branches within the "multiverse" - and we are perhaps the only
creative/conscious being in our particular branch at any moment in time. This
would account for the sense that I (and, I expect others have) of being unique.
The alternate interpretation is that we are all sharing the same universe and
that the perception of separate entities is an illusion. If this is true, then
we must be of a single consciousness.

What I have discussed so far is based on quantum theory and personal
experiences. What I have been referring to as a "multiverse consisting of
separate consciousnesses" might just be another way to describe "3D" experience,
as opposed to higher density modes of consciousness (as discussed in the context
of this forum). I hope that my identified connections between day-to-day life
experience (that I, and perhaps other share) and what seem like fairly abstract
ideas about spiritual ascension could be helpful.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[John Michael Roods]

Ron

Your assumption below sounds very much like a big Oak tree. Each leave is
an individual expression of growth to a higher power and creates its own
branch. Each can see other leaves and can surmise what and who they are or
what there path is. They can experience sun, water, minerals together but
each has a different view of the whole. Some never see the trunk or the
main branches. When the wind blows, or the storms come, or the environment
transitions to winter ALL have an opportunity (free will) to be aware of
something more universal and powerful (oneness ?).

Awareness of others is 'free will' and we can choose to be aware of
togetherness (connected by the branches from the trunk through the earth
from the Universe) or we can see ourself as separate from the other leaves
or as a group on a single separate branch. No 'matter' which way we think
.... when the leaves fall to the ground or the tree is uprooted the 'energy'
is returned to its maker to reform and experience a new awareness.

Just a thought.

Mike R
As I do to others, I do to myself
.................................................. ...........................
From: "Ron Erickson" <ronerick@... (/group/asc2k/post?postID=XuogYqnvK8Vqmj-K6iR_mJQwaZU6b1hiy9JrZT8OsmrgsXL8JqrnL-Ur8TWfHV-Bsgn7twWmMXijG1s)>

Subject: [asc2k] What is consciousness?
Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 00:24:05 -0400


If we assume that we are each a similar conscious being, then we are each
creating new branches within the "multiverse" - and we are perhaps the only
creative/conscious being in our particular branch at any moment in time.
This would account for the sense that I (and, I expect others have) of being
unique. The alternate interpretation is that we are all sharing the same
universe and that the perception of separate entities is an illusion. If
this is true, then we must be of a single consciousness.