EXPLORING CONSCIOUSNESS

WHAT DO WE EXPERIENCE DIRECTLY?

The scientific explanation of our experience of physical reality makes it quite clear that we do not experience concrete things, such as mountains, rivers, houses, tables, chairs, etc. directly. We experience them indirectly through the transfer of various types of energy through the sense organs. We are able to see a material object, for example, when packets of energy called photons reflected off the surface of an object enter our eyes and initiate a series of energy transfers that ends up in the brain, where an image is formed. A similar thing happens with all of the sense organs, and the combination of those impressions in the brain creates the mental concept of a material object, which is then compared with images previously stored in another part of the brain. If the newly formed image matches the major features of one of the stored images, say a chair, then we conclude that there is a chair in front of us.

It is clear that we don’t experience matter directly; we intercept patterns of energy and interpret them as images and impressions that imply the existence of material objects. So, if we don’t experience matter directly, do we experience the energy that carries the information that is used to construct our impressions of the world? The answer is no. Our experience is an interpretation of patterns of transient energetic impulses. We don’t experience the individual photons, electrons, or other quanta of energy that enter our brains through the sense organs. If we did, we would miss seeing the patterns. We wouldn’t be able to see the forest for the trees!

The patterns that we find to be meaningful appear to exist in space-time. So does that mean that we experience space-time directly? Again the answer has to be no because Einstein’s relativity shows us that space-time has no existence of its own, it exists only as a geometric relationship between matter and energy. The inescapable conclusion from quantum physics and relativity is that we do not experience the physical universe directly.

This leads naturally to the next question: What do we experience directly? The answer should be obvious: The only thing we experience directly, is our own consciousness, our sense of “I am”. But what is that? Our current science says consciousness is an epiphenomenon of physical complexity. But scientists have no explanation for why or how this comes about. If consciousness arises spontaneously from matter and energy, just why and how does this happen? This puzzle is sometimes called “the hard problem”.

A theoretical philosophical solution to the hard problem has been around a lot longer than science has, at least modern science as we know it. It is the idea that there is a non-physical aspect of reality, sometimes called spirit. And this is where it gets interesting! Believers tend to think there must be a spiritual energy, variously called the Elan Vital, Chi, or Prana, depending on the culture. But Scientists say, there is no such thing, because we can’t measure it! It turns out that, in a strange and surprising way, both sides are right, and both sides are wrong! There is a non-physical part of reality that cannot be measured as mass or energy, but it does have an effect, it fact a major effect on physical reality, but not in the way those on either side of the debate expected.

Quantum physics and relativity provided the clues, and Max Planck even stated: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as a derivative of consciousness.” And Einstein showed us that matter and energy are two forms of the same thing. His famous equation E = mc², when expressed in natural quantum units, shows that mass and energy are equivalent. What neither man, nor neither side of the debate about consciousness suspected, is that consciousness is primary, and matter and energy are quantized forms of consciousness. The realization of this came about in stages. The breakthrough came in 2011, when I discovered that there had to be a third form of reality, in addition to mass and energy, in every atom in order for there to be a stable physical universe.

This was not a theory, or hypothesis derived from a theory. It was a discovery that occurred as the result of applying solid principles of mathematics and physics to the combination of quarks to form protons, using Large Hadron Collider data. The math is slightly beyond the scope of this post, but it has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and two books. The second stage was developed by Dr. Vernon Neppe and me. Over a period of a few years, we went from thinking of the third form, which we called gimmel, as an unknown, to realizing that it had to be a primary form of quantized consciousness. This realization came about as a result of solving a number puzzles that couldn’t be solved within the current materialistic paradigm.

The third stage, which I’ve embarked upon, is to explore consciousness based on this new understanding of reality that turns the existing materialistic paradigm on its head. Instead of consciousness being an epiphenomenon of a complex physical universe, we now know that our quantized physical universe is, as Max Planck suggested, an epiphenomenon of consciousness. Suddenly, I have a scientific basis for understanding and explaining experiences like out of body experiences (OBEs), near-death experiences (NDEs), psi phenomena, spiritual, and mystical experiences! Having had such experiences myself, and knowing others who have had them, I am excited at the prospect of being able to explore consciousness and the possible connection of my consciousness with the consciousness of others and the consciousness in all other things.

What does the existence of gimmel in every atom of every object in the universe imply? Does it mean that there may be a way to communicate with other people, animals, plants, and maybe even inanimate objects at the quantum level? Stay tuned!

ERC July 6, 2020