Aug 24, 2021 08:09 PM
(This post was last modified: Aug 24, 2021 08:42 PM by C C.)
https://thenextweb.com/news/theoretical-...erses-plan
EXCERPTS (Tristan Greene): . . . new theories and ages-old philosophical assertions are beginning to find a foothold in cutting-edge quantum physics research. And it’s beginning to look more and more like we might actually be [...] the figurative center of the universe. Because, theoretically, we’re gods.
This is a two-parter. First we need to establish that the universe is conscious. It might not be, but for the sake of argument let’s say we agree with the growing number of scientists who support the theory.
Here’s a quote I found in Mind Matters News that explains it nicely. It’s from Georgia Tech’s Tim Andersen, a quantum physics researcher: "[...] We have, in a sense, two levels of consciousness. The first is of experience. We experience a flower’s color and smell. Therefore, we are conscious of it. The second is that we are aware of our consciousness of it. That is a meta-consciousness which we sometimes call reflection. I reflect on my awareness of the flower."
[...] The gist is that everything is capable of experience. If you kick a rock it experiences force, velocity, and gravity. It can’t reflect on these experiences and, thus, the rock itself is capable of changing nothing on its own.
It’s conscious because it exists. And, because it sort of doesn’t exist. It’s not actually a rock, but a bunch of molecules smashed together. [...] A tree, a rock, a Volvo, an AI reporter named Tristan: there’s not much difference between these “things” in the quantum realm. It’s kind of like Minecraft. No matter what you build it’s all just ones and zeros on a computer chip.
Here’s where things get cool. The rock, for whatever reason, doesn’t appear to experience secondary consciousness. As Andersen explains it, the rock cannot reflect on its experience.
But humans can. Not only can we experience, for example, falling, but we can also reflect on that experience and create change based on that reflection.
[...] The result of our existence is that the universe’s entire trajectory is, potentially, changed. Whatever the particles in the universe were going to do before humanity emerged, their course has been altered. Who knows what changes we’ve wrought upon the cosmos... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS (Tristan Greene): . . . new theories and ages-old philosophical assertions are beginning to find a foothold in cutting-edge quantum physics research. And it’s beginning to look more and more like we might actually be [...] the figurative center of the universe. Because, theoretically, we’re gods.
This is a two-parter. First we need to establish that the universe is conscious. It might not be, but for the sake of argument let’s say we agree with the growing number of scientists who support the theory.
Here’s a quote I found in Mind Matters News that explains it nicely. It’s from Georgia Tech’s Tim Andersen, a quantum physics researcher: "[...] We have, in a sense, two levels of consciousness. The first is of experience. We experience a flower’s color and smell. Therefore, we are conscious of it. The second is that we are aware of our consciousness of it. That is a meta-consciousness which we sometimes call reflection. I reflect on my awareness of the flower."
[...] The gist is that everything is capable of experience. If you kick a rock it experiences force, velocity, and gravity. It can’t reflect on these experiences and, thus, the rock itself is capable of changing nothing on its own.
It’s conscious because it exists. And, because it sort of doesn’t exist. It’s not actually a rock, but a bunch of molecules smashed together. [...] A tree, a rock, a Volvo, an AI reporter named Tristan: there’s not much difference between these “things” in the quantum realm. It’s kind of like Minecraft. No matter what you build it’s all just ones and zeros on a computer chip.
Here’s where things get cool. The rock, for whatever reason, doesn’t appear to experience secondary consciousness. As Andersen explains it, the rock cannot reflect on its experience.
But humans can. Not only can we experience, for example, falling, but we can also reflect on that experience and create change based on that reflection.
[...] The result of our existence is that the universe’s entire trajectory is, potentially, changed. Whatever the particles in the universe were going to do before humanity emerged, their course has been altered. Who knows what changes we’ve wrought upon the cosmos... (MORE - missing details)