Quantum Realism Part II: The Observer Reality
CHAPTER 6. THE MYSTERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Brian Whitworth, New Zealand
“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” Max Planck, (Sullivan, 1931).
This chapter examines the observer rather than the observed of previous chapters. In science, to observe is to acquire information, as a camera does when it records a scene. The camera isn’t aware of the image it forms but we are, and so say “I see”, which implies an observer. In our terms, we observe consciously but cameras don’t, as they don’t experience as we do. Yet science describes our eyes as biological cameras with a retina instead of film, so why don’t we observe impersonally as cameras do? No law of physics requires matter to observe so if we are matter-based, why do we have conscious experiences? The mystery of consciousness is that a purely physical universe doesn’t imply, or even allow, the observer experience that we all report having.
QR6.1 What Is Consciousness?
QR6.2 Evolving A Brain
QR6.3 Evolving Consciousness
QR6.4 Discussion Questions
QR6.5 References