And Now?

Sometimes it is difficult to write about present times. No one can reach sufficient “height” or have sufficient insight, to see the warp and the woof of the patterns in life that are being woven.

I know that I have written about this before but I still want an answer!

Many will know that I have an abiding interest in psychology – trying to determine why we do the things we do. Allied to this it is always necessary to remember that every action in life, individually or collectively, has consequences – generally unexpected.

But then, firstly, I have tried to establish what we humans actually are – this has puzzled me for a very long time. What are we? Just an accident of nature (but what is nature?) or is there some design and purpose behind the creation of life?

In this regard it is worth remembering that the words Psychology and Psychiatry derive from the Greek ‘psyche’ (pertaining to the Mind or Soul). It would be to the advantage of all not to lose sight of this primary meaning because it should guide our thoughts on these matters. Furthermore, my personal life experiences, a psychology degree, the examination of published papers and extensive reading, have led me to the rather uncomfortable conclusion that research into this subject is trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. There is an attempt to reconcile the objective, quantitative, scientifically measurable aspects of the biological brain with the subjective, qualitative and immeasurable aspects of the mind/consciousness with the intention of arriving at some meaningful answer. 

Any answers arrived at, however, will be dependent on the deep consideration of some difficult concepts that in themselves give rise to many questions. For instance, what is Intelligence? What is “Life”? What is “Consciousness”? Is “Life” the same as “Consciousness”? Is there a difference between brain and mind? What is it that is absent when something that was “alive” is now “dead”? What is a thought or an emotion and how are thoughts or emotions generated? These terms (intelligence, alive, dead, consciousness, mind, thought and emotion) are in the common lexicon, yet there is no agreed definition or consensus as to what they are. The brain is believed to “contain” the mind and consciousness and yet the mind and consciousness may not be confined to the brain – even though they appear to be related in some manner as one affects the other. 

Regarding the brain, while imaging techniques, for instance, have shown that certain areas of the brain are activated when thinking or remembering something, it has yet to be determined whether thoughts or remembrances, by some means, activate the neurons or whether the activated neurons, somehow, create the thoughts and remembrances.

Similarly it will be recalled that all observable forms of matter are constructed from atoms and molecules. This becomes interesting if “Matter” (in the form of the human body and brain) together with “Life” and “Consciousness”, are considered in the light of quantum physics which states (very basically) that Energy = Matter (remember E=MC²?). Einstein, with this famous equation, revealed that the Universe is not just trillions of distinct items separated by inert space but in fact is a dynamic construct in which matter and energy are so inextricably mixed that it is not possible to consider them as separate elements. If this is true, where does this leave ‘life’, the ‘mind’, ‘consciousness’ and ‘intelligence’? How can energy/matter be intelligent or conscious? What is ‘dead’ energy (i.e. some matter which was alive and is now dead) compared to ‘live’ energy (i.e. some matter which is animated and alive)? Furthermore, physics tells us that there is no foundation for a view of life based on the pre-eminence of matter. Energy is indestructible and outside of time, and as a result the total quantity of energy is constant. This is known as the law of conservation of energy. But one of the astonishing results of relativity theory is that there is no law on the conservation of mass (matter).

Something else - humans presume to consider themselves as the epitome of the universe. As confirmation of this assertion the human brain has been described as the most complex single object known to science, with an estimated eighty six (86) billion neurons. The feasible connectivity of these gives rise, literally, to an astronomical number of possibilities. But does this connectivity explain the mind or consciousness? 

There is also this further matter - our freedom to choose – known as the “problem of mental causation”. It is a fundamental fact of science - a maxim - which states that nothing can happen that is not governed by natural laws of material causation (i.e. physical events cause physical effects). Thoughts are non-physical (they are subjective), therefore by definition cannot cause anything physical to happen. How then is it possible for subjective (non-material) thoughts of the “self” to so influence the function of the (material) brain that they compel the brain to direct the (material) body to perform a particular action? This has yet to be resolved.

So where does this leave us?

I really have no idea! That is why I am so interested in this subject.