CAN A MACHINE BE CONSCIOUS?

THE SINGULARITY, A Short Story

Dan was very excited. This was the day! All the conditions were now met! Today, the day that he and many others had anticipated for many years was about to be realized. Everyone in the Bio-psycho-physics lab gathered around a complex machine known as the A/E-2000. The A/E-2000 was the culmination of artificial intelligence technology developed by scientists and engineers from around the world over the past 100 years. A/E-2000 had all the complexity of the human brain and nervous system, everything scientists had determined necessary for a man-made machine to be conscious. But AE-2000 did not look like the human-copy androids of the science fiction movies of the past. They had realized that constructing a mechanical clone of ourselves unnecessarily complicated the project. So they had focused on the essentials in order to reach the goal sooner. The first conscious robot did not have to look like a human being. It looked more like what might happen if one combined some organs from an animal with a circuit board and a mechanical octopus. One of Dan’s less technical friends joked that they should have called it RK-2000, an acronym for ‘Road-kill-2000’.

Dan had been fascinated with the idea of artificial intelligence from the day he saw the movie “A.I.”, a sci-fi movie about an android named David who looked like an 11-year old boy. And when Dan read Ray Kurzweil’s book “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology” the die was cast. He knew that he wanted to be one of the scientists who would realize Kurzweil’s vision. He had worked hard to get the kind of education he needed, and he had been successful. He was the lead scientist on the Singularity Project, and today was the day! Of course, there were religious kooks who questioned the wisdom of the Project: They accused Dan and his colleagues of “playing God”. When asked about this in a TV interview, Dan answered like most scientists of the day: “Being a scientist, I am, of course an atheist. There is no reason to bring outmoded religious fantasies into a scientific project like this.”

This was the moment they had anticipated. When they threw the switch, bringing the final electromagnetic pulse into the already throbbing mass of complex technology they affectionately called Adam/Eve 2000, it came to life. With the cameras rolling to record this historic moment, Dan said:

“Hello, A/E !”

A/E-2000’s amplifier hummed slightly and a vibrant voice replied:

“Hello Dan!”

“Describe for us how you feel.” Dan prompted.

After a slight pause, the voice said:

“Like I just woke from a long sleep! The last thing I remember was being in the hospital.”

“That’s impossible”, Dan replied, “We didn’t program a memory like that for you, A/E -“

There was another pause, as the camera-like eyes quickly surveyed the room and then swiveled back around to focus on Dan.

“Who’s this Aye-ee”. it said. “My name’s not ‘Aye-ee’, “I’M YOUR UNCLE FRED, YOU NINNY!”

REALITY MATH, A FOLLOW UP

THE FOLLOW-UP TO ‘REALITY MATHEMATICS’ POSTED JULY 30, 2019

How does rational thought, including what we call science, develop? It develops by following and reflecting the logical structure of reality as more-or-less accurately perceived by sentient beings. The ability of sentient beings to perceive reality clearly rises and falls in a cyclic manner: The average mental virtue manifest in sentient beings increases gradually for 12,000 years to a peak, and then gradually decreases for 12,000 years, to a low point. Ascending and descending cycles of average mental virtue repeat over and over, with an even more gradual increase from one 24,000 year cycle to the next. See The Holy Science, by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri.

Science develops during the ascending cycles, to the point that most sentient beings understand nearly everything at the peak, called the Satya Yuga (सत्य युग) in Sanskrit, and then deteriorates during the descending cycles, to the relative occlusion of knowledge for most, in the Kali Yuga (कलियुग).

What is the history of the development of science during the present ascending time-cycle pointing toward? In the current ascending cycle, the findings of Einstein, Planck, Kaluza, Klein, Nordstrom, Pauli, and a few others point toward understanding reality as a multi-dimensional field of existence, consisting of universal substance measured in three forms: mass, energy and consciousness, developing within the framework of nine dimensions, three of space, three of time, and three of consciousness.

The three dimensions of space are known to us as width, height and depth; the three dimensions of time are 1) the individual event timeline, comprised of the past, present and future, defined by conscious acts of the drawing of distinctions, 2) expansive time, defined by two or more non-congruent individual timelines, and 3) volumetric time, defined by two or more of the expansive planes of time, described as the two-dimensional time domains described above. The three dimensions of consciousness are: 1) finite individualized consciousness, 2) group consciousness, as in human, animal and plant consciousness, and 3) Primary Consciousness, the reality behind all forms. The nine-dimensional finite framework, within which objects exist and events happen, is encompassed by the trans-finite field of conscious substrate, embedded in the infinity of Primary Consciousness, the matrix from which all things arise. We don’t experience just three dimensions, as often claimed, but segments of five dimensions: segments of three dimensions of space, one dimension of time, and one dimension of consciousness.

The more aware we become of the substance and dimensions of space-time-consciousness, the more we understand reality, which appears to consist of quanta of matter, mind and consciousness, interacting in a nine-finite-dimensional field. At the peak of understanding, we realize that they are all one. Modeling reality as a consistent triad of distinct quantum forms of substance in nine finite dimensions, embedded in a trans-finite field, enables us to explain a number of things that have puzzled mainstream science for decades.

Mainstream science is stymied by certain phenomena because it is based on the limiting assumptions of materialism. Our new paradigm expands the axiomatic basis of  the logical structure of reality to produce a more comprehensive model that is more consistent with empirical data, and explains much more. Examples of things explained by the Neppe-Close model, the Triadic Dimensional Vortical paradigm (TDVP), include: the intrinsic ½ spin of fermions, the exact mass of the photon and neutron in atomic structures, the exact value of the quark mixing angle, called the Cabibbo angle, what gluons, bosons and other ephemeral “particles” really are, what dark mass and dark energy are, why and how so-called paranormal (psi) phenomena exist. Our nine-finite-dimensional model removes the so-called “weirdness” of quantum mechanics, integrates relativistic field theory and quantum field theory, and thus is a paradigm shift from materialistic science to post-materialistic science that really works.

PHYSICAL REALITY IS AN ILLUSION

The physical universe, of which we know only very little through the limited scope and imperfect lens of our five physical senses, is what we take to be reality, as long as we indentify ourselves solely as physical bodies. Since we are only capable of seeing a tiny fraction of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, hear only a negligible portion of the total range of vibrational sound, feel only the surface of the deeply fractal structure of molecules and atoms, and smell and taste far fewer organic compounds that many of our animal friends, what makes us think that the picture of reality constructed in our minds are complete? After all, that picture is nothing more than the subjective interpretation of streams of severely limited data, allowed to continue on its inward path to your mind only after it is processed and passed through multiple layers of physical and neurological filtering structures that are part of our pyhsical bodies. This reducing of bits, waves and fields of radiated and reflected energy to specific forms is not arbitrary, however, it is done for the practical reason of survival. Without this reduction of the spectrum of energies that flood the cosmos, to a manageable stream going into our brains, the physical vehicles forming a link between consciousness and the cosmos would be destroyed.

As we push the frontiers of scientific understanding beyond the simplistic pictures provided by our physical senses, the farther we go, the more we see that those pictures are imcomplete and misleading concerning the true nature of reality. The fact that our best pictures of reality, used by science to construct a Standard Model of reality, are incomplete and misleading, is reflected in the history of science. The Standard Model, the consensus of mainstream scientists, defended by many as the truth, is constantly changing. Examples abound: The consensus was once that the earth was flat and the center of the universe. The scientific model of reality is continually changing. Just during my lifetime, the confidently estimated size of the universe has changed by huge factors multiple times. The continental drift theory was rejected as psuedo-science when I was an undergraduate, but is now fully accepted as plate tectonics. And there are many more examples of the dynamic nature of scientific truth.

I have seen yesterday’s speculations become today’s reality many times since I was in my twenties in the late 1950s and early 60s. And this is as it should be. It is seen, in retrospect as progress. Perhaps the most instructive example is the search for the basic building block of the universe. As scientists studied the structure of physical reality, it became clear that the everyday objects of our experience were made up of smaller objects, and those smaller objects of yet smaller objects. The bodies of living plants and animals were found to be made of organic structures and cells, inanimate objects were found to be made of several types of macro-forms, supported by patterns of crystaline structures, and both cells and crystals were found to be made of molecules, and the molecules were found to be made up different atoms, which in turn were found to be made up of electrons, protons and neutrons.

But when scientists tried to find the most basic building block of atoms, it seemed to keep slipping through their fingers. The discovery by Max Planck that reality is quantized promised a bottom to this descent into micro-reality. From the point of view of a physicist, reality consists of only four things: matter, energy, space, and time. But physicist Max Planck said, in "'Das Wesen der Materie' ('The Nature of Matter')". Speech in Florence, Italy,, 1944.:

“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such.“

And Albert Einstein, on page 155, in Relativiy The Special and general Theory, said:

“There is no such thing as empty space… Space-time does not claim existence on ots own, but only as a structural quality of the field.“

So, three of the four things physicalists consider as real, either do not exist, or they are not what our senses seem to tell us they are! What about the fourth one: energy? Quoting Planck again:

“All [of what we call] matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together.”

So is everything ultimately made of energy? Continuing on, Planck said:

“We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.”

So as long ago as 1944 (still well within my lifetime; I was born in 1936.) two leading physicists, Albert Einstein and Max Planck, now considered to be the founders of the two pillars of modern science: relativity and quantum physics, said that matter, energy, time, and space, have no existence of their own, and Planck went a bit further, he said that consciousness is behind matter and energy, the substance of physical reality.

So, to summarize, the four things we think of as the basic components of physical reality: space, time, matter and energy, are not what we think they are. This is just another way of saying they are illusions. And solid matter faded away as an illusion, as we learned atoms are mostly space. The “particles” we call electrons, protons and neutrons, are dependent upon energetic forces, and consciousness is behind the forces.

Application of the quantum math I’ve described in several publications, including Reality Begins with Consciousness, (Neppe and Close, 2015) and Is Consciousness Primary? (The Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences, 2019), reveals that consciousness (we called it gimmel) is present in electrons and the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons in every atom of what we call ordinary matter. Not only that, it is present in greater proportions in the elements of the periodic table that make up living organisms. Another important finding of analyses using quantum math is that individualized consciousness (you or me, for example) is part of the primary matrix of consciousness that is behind the forces that shape reality.

Conclusion: What we think of as physical reality is an illusion.

Application of the calculus of dimensional distinctios, the quantum calculus, shows that the basic building blocks of reality are formed in the underlying reality of Primary Consciousness by the conscious drawing of distinctions. As sentient beings, we are quantums of conscioiusness evolving in a dynamic quantized world floating in the infinite domain of Cosmic Consciousness. Thus we are all connected in consciousness, and the evolution of reality is not random, it is meaningful change driven by Spiritual forces.

ERC 9/22/2019

SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR POSTS

AN OVERVIEW

MY MOST POPULAR POSTS

1.   Transcendental Physics and the Triadic Dimensional Distinction Vortex Paradigm (TDVP) posted Sep 8, 2012 – 853 page views

http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2012/09/transcendental-physics-and-triadic.html

2.   Notes on Fermat’s Last Theorem posted April; 2, 2014 – 619 page views

http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2014/04/notes-on-fermats-last-theorem.html

3.   Proof of the existence of God posted Feb 16, 2014 – 473 page views

http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2014/02/proof-of-existence-of-god.html

4.   The Crazy Idea Whose Time Has Come posted July 18, 2016 – 400 page views

http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2016/07/the-idea-whose-time-has-come.html

Some Recent popular posts

Jacqui (a poem about Jacqui’s continuing existence) posted May 22, 2019 – 62 page views
http://www.erclosetphysics.com/search/label/Jacquelyn%20A.%20Close

Good and Evil posted Aug 11, 2019 – 62 page views
http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2019/08/good-and-evil.html

Worry About God posted August 29, 2019 – 61 page views
http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2019/08/worry-about-god.html

The Problem of Depression posted Sep 6, 2019 – 44 page views
http://www.erclosetphysics.com/2019/09/the-problem-of-depression.html

THE PROBLEM OF DEPRESSION

THE ROOTS OF DEPRESSION

Psychologists tell us that millions suffer from depression, with more than 3 million cases per year in the US alone, and that most suicides, - with more than one million suicides per year world-wide - are desperate attempts to escape deep depression. Even more alarming, is the fact that the extreme act of suicide seems to be on the increase. Many reasons are given for this, including the decline, especially in highly developed countries, of religious affiliation, stress and loss of meaning and/or purpose in life.

Most of you, who follow my posts here, know that I have often reported on, and celebrated, a very blessed, full and adventurous life. So what would I know about depression? First, almost no one experiences a perfect life, filled with endless happiness and joy; and, second, I no longer have my soulmate, Jacqui, physically by my side, as I did for more than 40 years. Also, I have memories of previous lives during which I suffered horribly and died miserable deaths. Whether those lives are real or imagined, the memories real or somatic records in my DNA of the lives of ancestors, makes no difference – I, as surely every human being alive has, have tasted the bitter bile of depression. Despite the scientific evidence I have that her consciousness still exists, I still cry myself to sleep some nights, because I miss her so much!

So, why do we suffer from depression? Here’s what I think: It’s the result of ego-attachment and thwarted-will related to physical expectations. We are spiritual beings who have consented to become involved for a time in the Sturm und Drang of physical existence on this planet. As such, we know that we are immortal, and cannot be harmed in any real or permanent way. But attachment to physical things and expectations related to specific physical outcomes, makes us forget our true nature. When in the throes of this forgetfulness, we begin to doubt the reality of our spiritual nature and fear the pain of failure, death and destruction. For anyone who has tasted the immortality of Spirit, and remembers it, even subconsciously, this is terribly depressing, and ushers in the Dark Night of the Soul.

So what of people who have no memory of their spiritual origin or knowledge of their spiritual nature, or belief in anything beyond the sliver of reality called the physical world, and sink deep into seemingly endless depression and despair? We must encourage them to reach out in faith to Spirit, in whatever way makes sense to them (Jesus, Abraham, Buddha, Kabir, Universal Light, etc.) and ask that their mental state be altered in a positive way. The Dark Night of the Soul is a black hole sucking all material things into its maw, but that great suction has no effect at all on the soul, because the soul is Spirit, and thus, like gimmel, it is non-physical.

Suicide is not bad for the soul because it is the inglorious end, in fact it is not the end at all. Those who try it find it is just a temporary escape route that requires more work the next time around. It is bad because it delays overcoming the Dark Night of the Soul, which is the purpose of life.

WORRY ABOUT GOD

 

DON’T WORRY ABOUT GOD

A lot of time has been wasted by humankind in the history of life on this planet worrying about God. Is there a Supreme Being who created everything? If so, where did He/She/It come from? If there is no God, then why is everything here that’s here? Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz said: “The most important question is: why is there something rather than nothing?” Given that there is something, if there is a God who created it, is that God still here? Or is he beyond the creation we are capable of experiencing? Ludwig Wittgenstein said: “Where of one cannot speak, one must remain silent.” Let’s think about this for a minute. … a minute should be enough!

There are three possibilities: 1) God exists. 2) god does not exist. 3) God kind-of exists, e.g., maybe He/She, or Whatever, created all this, including us, soon got bored with it and us, and went off to do something else.

If 1) is true (the most popular answer) then there is no need to worry about Him/Her, or Whatever, … If He/She, or Whatever did all of this, i.e., created the amazingly intricate clockwork reality we can experience everyday if we don’t get completely lost in self-pity, then He/She, or Whatever, is certainly capable of taking care of Himself/Herself, or Whatever. No need to worry about Him/Her, or Whatever. It’s even less productive to try to convince others that He/She, or Whatever exists. It’s better to just get on with your life.

If 2) is true, then trying to convince others (the majority) that they’re wrong is very counter-productive, and a complete waste of your time. It’s better to just get on with your life.

If 3) is true, then He/She, or Whatever, is gone, and worrying about Something that’s nowhere to be found is a waste of time. It’s better to just get on with your life.

Conclusion: It’s just better to get on with your life.

Wittgenstein, and many other philosophers, scientists, and theologians, and even quite ordinary people, have spoken and written volumes and volumes about many things whereof one cannot speak. Those things eventually include the ultimate Nature of Reality and God, which, in my humble opinion, are one and the same thing. It’s better to take what Reality has given you, and just get on with your life.

But, what if Reality gave you the ability to think about things about which you cannot speak because there are no words with which to describe them – like God or the Ultimate Nature of Reality? Such as was probably the case with Leibniz and Wittgenstein. What if you find yourself to be a rarity among human beings with an Intelligence Quotient at the leading edge of the bell curve, who’s mean, and average is 100? What if you find yourself as rare as one in one-billion? Are you doomed to be lonely, even in a crowd?

A few years ago, I managed to corner a very intelligent young man named Doug on board a cruise ship for a few minutes, and tried to explain the Neppe-Close Triadic Dimensional Vortical Paradigm to him. He later publicly warned people that talking with me for as little as10 minutes was hazardous. He said it might even cause your head to explode!

Have I led a lonely life? No. Reality provided me with a wife and son who understand everything I think about and say, - sometimes better than I do!

If you can’t understand everything I say about TDVP, or anything else I ramble on about, don’t worry about it. Take what Reality has given you, and get on with your life! Don’t worry about where you are on the bell-curve of human abilities. It makes no difference what your IQ or aptitudes are; it only matters what you do with them! I didn’t know I was the rarity that I apparently am until I was 73 years old, and that was a good thing. Had I known sooner; I would not have been able to live a normal life.

Whether the answer to the question about God is 1), 2) or 3), makes no difference in the Greater Scheme of things. Whether you have an IQ below 100, or above 200, also make no difference in the over-all movements of the planet Earth, the Solar System, the Milky-way Galaxy, the Universe, or all of Reality. Whether the real answer to the question about God is 1), 2) or 3), it’s pretty clear that human beings are a work in progress. The idea that all of us were created equal at birth, if anyone ever thought so, is obviously false.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Constitution of the USA: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable Rights; that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness...”

Based on the evidence of his knowledge and accomplishments during his lifetime, I believe Thomas Jefferson was a rare human being, doubtless on the leading edge of any measure of  human abilities. So it is very unlikely that he labored under the delusion that all men (or all human beings) are created equal at birth. If we are all created equal, then creation has to be an on-going thing, so that we are not completely created until we are, in fact, all equal; but we believe as free citizens of this world, that, regardless of our abilities, or lack thereof, we have the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness to the best of or abilities, i.e., with what Reality has given us in each life. For a more complete explanation of what this is all about, see Secrets of the Sacred Cube, A Cosmic Love Story, by Ed and Jacqui Close, to be available any day now.

But don’t worry about God. If God exists, He/She or Whatever, can take care of Himself/Herself, or Whatever. If God doesn’t exist (a very unlikely reality in my opinion), then you’re on your own… Good luck with that!

ERC August 29, 2019

HIGHLIGHTING ONE OF MY MOST POPULAR POSTS

JACQUI

             JACQUI

"You're Ed Close!" she said,

All those many years ago,

And a bell rang inside my head.

What it meant, I did not know.

"Yes, I am." I said, "Do I know you?"

Within a few days, I went from

Knowing nothing at all about her,

To realizing the simple fact

That I couldn’t live without her.

…Now she’s gone.

Her appearance in my life that Day,

Was a touchstone to the past …

An echo from an ecstasy,

Found again, at long last,

Washed up on a distant shore,

She knew, for her dreams had long foretold

The way our lives would morph

And intertwine, to fit the Master‘s Mold.

And now she’s gone …

As time went by, I came to know,

We had a crucial part to play

In His plan to make Spirit grow,

And help others on the way.

He sent His sweet Blessings from above,

A perfect life, completed with her Love.

But, what am I to do, now?  I cried a thousand tears!

Must I wait for her return, another thousand years…

Now she’s gone?

I miss her so…

Then, miracle of miracles, words came from the other side:

"Do you know who this might be?" He asked,

"She says she helped you with your work!" "Oh Yes!", I replied.

Doubt faded, like a late Spring frost, as I basked

In the warm glow of Jacqui’s love,

Her wit and humor could not be denied!

"She laughs", he said, and tells me:

"I'll not stop now, just because I died!"

Oh, … she’s not gone!

So now, that soul who was so sweet,

Who made my life and work complete,

She is not gone; her love still flows within my heart;

And lifts me like a rising tide.

When He says "Come Home, you‘ve done your part.“

I’ll join her on the other side!

"You're Ed and Jacqui Close," she said.

"Yes, I am," I replied.

"That has not changed at all", she said,

"Just because I died!"

No, Jacqui’s not gone!

ERC 5/22/2019