Hello fellow Steemians! First Philosophy blog - The relationship between mind and matter.
Welcome to my brand new blog! =)
My name is Travis Goede
As a 28 year old philosophy graduate from Amsterdam I have developed a burning passion for everything that is usually labelled as 'extraordinary', 'mystical', 'extraterrestrial' or 'spiritual'.
On this blog I will write about my thoughts, exciting things i've read about or experienced over the years. This is all meant to be thought provoking, and by no means am I claiming to know the truth about anything. However, these are exciting times, there is so much going on in the scientific world as well as within ourselves as individuals and as a species. I hope that we can share our personal knowledge and wisdom, and discuss these interesting topics. To me Steemit seems to be the best place to do this:)
As a child I always had a feeling there was more to this world than meets the eye. From a very early age we are all taught that nature behaves according to rules and laws. These rules are irrevocable and constant. We, as humans, too are subjected to these laws. In a sense we are bound or imprisoned by them. This way of thinking goes even further, we all think we are 'supposed' to do the things we do in our daily lives because of it.
We become victims of our own indecisiveness, we don't decide, we compromise, things happen 'to' us and not 'because' of us.
So this is what is most interesting to me;
Because we believe in certain laws, we believe things have to go in a determinate way.
I don't believe this is true. As humans we create meaning and therefore decide for ourselves what is possible and what is impossible. The moment we let others decide this for us we imprison ourselves in a world that is not our own.
This idea, that nature is a constant, that we are subjected to its laws through our physical bodies, feels kind of constricting doesn't it?
Our parents and teachers have thought us that some things cannot change, they are just the way they are. But is this really the case? This logical 'reality' makes life as an experience a little predictable for my taste. It just doesn't add up, it doesn't account for all the unexplainable things that happen to us or around us. The way we experience reality is different from how we describe it. For example we all know what the colour red is like but we have no way to communicate this to others. Try to explain to someone what red is like without using any objects in the world to rever to! I bet you won't be able to do it.
The perspective that nature follows certain laws has been the dominant theory in the sciences till the early 20th century. Up until then people had a what we call a mechanical worldview. During the 20th century there was a turning point in physics with Einsteins famous theory of general relativity which took hold in the scientific community. From this point onward it was clear that natural laws can only give account for 'how' things work on a certain level of reality but not on other levels (on the level of quantum physics). On these levels matter behaves differently, matter becomes unpredictable, or (and this is most important) behaves differently from how it is supposed to when it is observed by a (conscious) observer.
There seems to be a strange link between our minds and physical matter on a quantum level. Why is this important? Previous modern scientific theories for the most part indicated that; (1)our brains are a part of nature, (2)our consciousness is located in our brain, (3)our brains are subject to natural laws and (4)therefore our consciousness is produced as a 'product' of these natural laws on our brains.
This is why these findings in physics changed not only our worldview drastically but also the way we see ourselves. Our consciousness seems to influence the physical world directly through the decisions we make, this according to modern day physics is directly linked to quantum theory. Humans seem to create reality through consciousness directly! The implications of these theories are baffling and thrilling.
Be aware I am taking some theorethical leaps here. But im not trying to write a scientific or philosophical paper. Im writing this from my perspective as a consciouss human being that wonders, that is in awe of its own spiritual and physical existence.
Ancient egyptian alchemical scrolls allready revered to the connection of consciousness and matter. According to these hermeneutical texts, man is like a microcosmos in a greater macrocosmos (micro= small/ macro=big) and they are the same. According to these beliefs consciousness is the same as matter, which science now seems to prove.
As is above, so is below. As is below, so is above.
I have just recently discovered Steemit and I allready love its premise.
To me Steemit is a free economy of idea's, meaningfull experiences and otherwise interesting thoughts or perspectives.
I will try to post on a range of topics, or expand on the ones i've allready written about! Follow me or start a discussion if you are interested!:D
Next week: The possibility of extraterrestrial live in science; are aliens building a super structure around Tabby's Star(KIC 8462852)?
Hope to see you then!
Hi Travis, nice writing though I don't agree with some of it.
To me the Observer is the Observed. Then the Next question: What is it that you observe? <3
Hi nikaj, thank you I really enjoyed writing it that was kind of its own reward:) The observer as the observed reminds me of a limerick by a philosopher I really like Alan W. Watts;
“There was a young man who said though, it seems that I know that I know, but what I would like to see is the I that knows me when I know that I know that I know.”
Still I must agree the question you pose is quite hard to answer. The observer as the observed is like a knife that cuts itself or a fire that burns itself or a mirror that reflects itself. Arhg this is not a satisfying answer either, I will think about this some more!:) Thanks for your reply<3
Absolutely! I have the exact same philosophy on life. Every living thing in the universe behaves according to natyral laws. I try to live my life according to these natural laws instead of opposing them: eating naturally, living more naturally being outside more and in natural settings, etc. I've studied a little into alchemy too, it's a great subject to understand reality. Everything is connected, nothing is separate, and the ancient cultures knew this, the Egyptians were more advanced than we are with sciences because they started with the assumption that everything is connected where the western world has a very compartmentalized view and education on things.
Exactly! Through dualism we not only separated our spirit from the physical theorethically. We got deforced from nature, as strangers to our own world and our bodies we become alienated from everything that is 'Other' than us. Anything that is unknown or unknowable essentially frightens us to such a degree that we try to instrumentalize objects and processes in order to know their functions. These functions we replace for meaning. Science tries to describe how things work, not what they are. Saying that something is 'something' because of how it behaves is absurd. This is the opposite of enchanting the world with meaning through our direct experiences. Trying to describe 'reality' or however we might call it by chopping it up in little pieces ad infinitum only leads to instrumental knowledge about these little pieces that have to be chopped up again. It is insanely disturbing to realize that funamental laws or particles might not exist that it is all a loop somehow endless repetition. It is as if we at first experienced reality as a whole, not understanding it as a whole. After that we broke it. Like a vase we shattered our experience of ' wholeness' and now we are trying to recollect what ones was, by smashing the pieces even further. It feels like we are only getting further away from the truth, whatever that might be.
I really try to do the same jordan, trying to experience nature, my life and body by not constantly thinking about it. Treating it well, like you said surrounding myself with the free chaos of nature instead of the controlling structures of culture.
The egyptians indeed where very wise, they achieved feats that seem impossible and impropable like building the pyramids. Like you said they knew from the start that everything is connected, while the western world after ages of spiritual oppression, is only starting to see the connections between everything. And even then we see it, but we cannot believe it. This will be the greatest effort for us as a species to overcome if it can be done.
Thank you for your post:)
Hey travis your style is really nice to read :D
Thanks rogier:)
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