I think this is the most important question there is – Why? It betokens a curiosity to find out more about – anything – and is a very human trait. I suppose that being a person with a “curious” and seeking mind I have, seemingly, always had a questioning outlook to the world around me.
My curiosity must have started very early – my mother told me that she was very amused by my asking, when aged about two years old, “Have moffers got mouffers?” – (translation – “ have moths got mouths?”). I’m not sure of the reason for the question. It was quite a long time ago!
The question “why?” is followed closely by its corollary “how?” And also, of course, the equally important, “why not?”
Some questions that have exercised far greater minds than mine will forever, I assume, remain unanswered. Such as, “why are we here – why us?” Likewise, the hard question, “ what is consciousness?”
There is an illuminating quote from the book “Why us” by James Le Fanu, wherein he writes, regarding the discovery of the literal blizzard of electrical activity in the brain:
“But the greatest perplexity of all was the failure to account for how the monotonous electrical activity of those billions of neurons in the brain translate into the limitless range and quality of subjective experiences of our everyday lives – where every transient, fleeting moment has its own distinct, unique, intangible feel: where the cadences of a Bach cantata are so utterly different from the flash of lightning, the taste of Bourbon from the lingering memory of that first kiss.
The implications are clear enough. While theoretically it might be possible for neuroscientists to know everything there is to know about the physical structure if the brain, its ‘product’, the mind, with all its thoughts and ideas, impressions and emotions, would still remain unaccounted for.”
And which comes first – is it the activity of the neurons which by some means create the thoughts, sensations and memories or do the thoughts, sensations and memories somehow activate the neurons?
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 billions 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 (The first Law of Thermodynamics). Likewise with the conservation of Matter – it is constant but changes its form - The Law on the Conservation of Mass (matter).
Then there is a further problem, our freedom to choose – known as the “problem of mental causation”. It is a fundamental fact of science - a precept - which states that nothing can happen that is not governed by natural laws of material causation (i.e. physical things cause physical effects). Thoughts are non-physical (they are subjective), therefore by definition cannot cause anything physical to happen. For example, how 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 body to perform a particular action? This has yet to be resolved.
All human life is bound to individuals who manifest it, and is simply inconceivable without them. But every human is charged with an individual destiny and destination, and the journey to that destination or the fulfillment of that destiny is the only thing that makes sense of human life. The individual journeys and destinations may differ but the fundamental purpose is the same – the expression of Life.
This all seems a bit circular! We are back where we started – what, actually, is Life? And why?
