Chautauqua – The exact nature and scope of human consciousness is something great thinkers, philosophers and scientists have puzzled over for centuries. It certainly seems like the more we think we understand consciousness, the more there is to learn, and experience.
It was once called the great mystery, but more contemporary thinkers have labeled it the grand illusion, following Albert Einstein’s lead in considering all of reality as merely an elaborate illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
More recently some folks have built upon that paradigm by suggesting that reality and consciousness is holographic in nature, while others insist that we all exist within some kind of a computer simulation. When the obvious first question is asked regards to the operators of such holographic or computer programs; the popular answer is usually either our future selves, or maybe aliens.
The next question is usually something about what purpose or use such an artificial simulation might serve. The answers here tend to be numerous and creative without being terribly convincing. It’s a test. It’s a game, It’s enslavement. etc. I need better answers than that, I need an explanation way more sublime than that. First and foremost, I need answers which are congruent with my personal experiences with consciousness, yet not limited to just that. After that, I’m looking for an elegance missing from most explanations of consciousness and reality.
I have a problem with the computer simulation and holographic theories. What entities anywhere would have the time to write programs and sub-programs to create everything we see, hear, feel and do? Who is writing all this code, and for what purpose, for what audience or end user group? Seems lazy to me. If we just say consciousness and reality are holograms or computer simulations, does that absolve us from a spiritual purpose?Nifty way to pawn off all our bad moves and mistakes…it was programmed! Sounds similar to another popular movement, but without the religious figurehead at the center.If everything and all of us are just bits of code, it’s easier to say nothing matters. Computer simulations who invent computer simulations to entertain themselves with?
I’m looking for the elegant beauty that certainly must be the foundation of such complex concepts as consciousness and reality. Dear, miss-guided Timothy Leary set me upon the path of the psychonaut; with some help from Carlos Castaneda of course. I see Tim Leary as miss-guided because when he had the hearts and attention of perhaps millions; he gave the wrong advice, he got it backwards! What he should have said on that sunny California day, was Turn on, Tune in, & Take Over!! Had he uttered those words instead, we would be seeing a very different world, and reality today. But, I digress… Continue reading . . .
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