Philip Goff did a great job by joining dots of previous philosophical and scientific theories and works on the subject and then he put his own opinion alongside carefully by comparing other aspects of contemporaries. I enjoyed the each bit of this book and i think you will either if you are interested in knowing how Philip reveals the hidden part of Nature that despite of being presented before our eyes is neglected until now.
When we look at different things in Nature and say they speak to us we don't realize what we felt actually and how "consciousness" soaked in the Nature tried to attract our attention in order to register Her presence. There must have been someone who not just has eye to observe it but power to think about it , insight to write about it and courage to share about it through books and articles. Not everyone would show such dare as none of us want to be ridiculed by others.
We all know that whenever something unique comes to a sole mind for the first time it is hard always to say it in a perfect way because Nature process her works gradually through us like everything within her and it take us centuries to take it from that single raw idea to it's developed form that can be presented front of others as "theory or hypothesis.
Philip shares in the beginning that that according to Galileo to understand physical world mathematical language is the only way and conscious remains mystery in his theory that is put aside until someone else discover it. All scientific research going under the influence of Einstein's general relativity tell us only " what matter does" but what are these particles and why certain particles behave in certain way science does not explain it at all.
All scientific discoveries reveal "functions" but not those who do this function ,therefore we must expect that our knowledge about universe is incomplete and fails when it come to define
"intrinsic nature " of matter .
There are few theories developed about consciousness such as Naturalistic dualism who divide nature into two distinct categories "physical objects and their mathematical properties" and "incorporeal minds with consciousness" later is beyond scientific understanding though they do not think of mind as mystery but part of the natural order . Second theory is "Materialism" Such theorists deny that consciousness is a "real phenomena and sits in the physical explanation" they think consciousness is nothing but an illusion.
Third theory is Panpsychism ,pansychists believe that "consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous part of the physical world.
To understand what is right solution we have to understand deeply what the problem is ,this way we can bring consciousness into the business of science once again for further investigation .
Philip shares that according to desecrates early idea of consciousness "mind is better known then body because even when you don't know you have a body you know you exist as a conscious being ". Though dualists take this idea far still there is a limit and they are unable to prove the "area of interaction between immaterial mind and physical body.
If we listen to Hume (1711-1776) he declared that we cannot explain any of the fundamental casual relationship of the universe ,we find dualism out of the race already.
In materialism Physical science tries to give purely Objective characterization of reality that can be grasped by anybody regardless of his or her perspective ,we find no Subjective qualities such as redness of red experience ,feelings of itch ,taste of biting chocolate in this description so materialism has failed to define the whole image of Reality as well.
Panpsychism is a view that consciousness is fundamental and ever present part of physical reality ,Pan mean everything and psyche mean mind ,everything has mind. pansychists put it this way that in human being consciousness is sophisticated thing ,involving subtle and complex emotions ,thoughts and sensory experiences. But there seems nothing wrong to think that Consciousness might exist in every simple form ,like conscious experience of a horse is much less complex than a human being , and experience of a chicken is less complex than those of a horse .
As Organisms become simpler perhaps at some point the light of consciousness suddenly switches off ,with simpler organisms having no experience at all. But it is also possible ,
" light of consciousness never switches off entirely ,but fades as organisms complexity reduces ,through flies , insects ,plants ,bacteria and ameba. For the pansychists this fading while never turning off continuum further extends into inorganic matter with fundamental physical entities perhaps quarks ,electrons possessing extremely rudimentary forms of consciousness to express their extremely simple nature .
What physical science tell us it is about the "stuff and it's relationship to other particles ,fields and spacetime but no light on the "intrinsic nature " of these entities .
Philip has quoted many philosophers in favor of panpsychism i liked Stephen Hawking's words from his book A brief History Of Time , even if there is just a set of rules and equations ,What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe ?
According to pioneer pansychist Eddington " we have dismissed all preconception as to the background of the pointer reading on our measuring instruments, and for the most we can discover nothing as to it's nature,But in one case namely ,for the pointer reading of my own brain -i have an insight which is not limited to the evidence of pointer readings . That insight shows they are attached to a background of consciousness ".
So for Eddington it is intrinsic nature of matter made up forms of consciousness that breathes fire into equations .
The emergentist panpsychist try to solve the sum of consciousness not by how lots of little conscious entities "add up" to a big consciousness but rather they try to discover the basic principles of nature which give rise to "emergent wholes"that is to say complex systems that are more than sum of their parts .
While typing this i have my kindle near my laptop .I am carefully reading what can i pick up from this amazing read to share with you ,everything seems so intriguing and very important to share but it will make post so long and thought that this can bore or irritate some of you is stopping me to do so.
Philip Goff has filled all acquired areas for this topic so beautifully which leave no sense of misunderstanding or not comprehending his point of view .
He shared some recent research by other scientists who believe share his opinion. According to certain experiments scientists has proved that just like animals trees and plants also have consciousness . Suzanne 's research in plant communication brought some extraordinary results.
By injecting trees with isotope Suzanne showed that there is beneath our feet is a complex web of communication between trees which happens through mycorrhiza structures which connects trees to other trees via fungi .these trees and fungi enjoy a quid pro quo relationship and deliver carbon to the fungi which deliver it further to other trees.Unlike humans there is no prejudice in tree community and they send carbon to across species .Like humans trees do exhibit preferential treatment for their on young .Trees at the center of the network give not only greater amount of carbon to their kin butalso send them defense signals which can increase by a factor of four young trees survival chances., from this we learn that like humans plants also communicate ,learn and remember .
Dear friends i hope you enjoyed peek inside the new concept of science regarding "consciousness"
As i mentioned so many times before that here in this universe where ever we see nothing looks random or without reason ,and this is biggest proof of this reality i think that whoever has made and developed this scenario has done this for purpose .He has permeated "light" of His own self "that we call consciousness" in the very nature of everything so without coming into our notice he can support us to be what we want to with responsibility of bearing consequences of our decisions . Creation reveals their Creator and each creation we find here seems flawless with may be in raw physical shape yet with complete meaning and purpose of it's being. Denying Creator force and His wisdom will be like we are avoiding sun by putting head under sand or covering eyes with hand.
That is all for now .
thank you for reading, see you soon !
God Bless You All!
I heard about that web of tree communications on the radio not too long ago! I was listening to a broadcast about current scientific things of interest.
ReplyDeleteall we the serenity we feel by being close to trees and plants is because we are one and same dear Debra ,the sense of kinship is installed in our genes .
Deletewith this particular view when we look at the world we never feel alone because everything we look at is part of "whole" with witch we belong to
This is a wonderful and interesting post. I have read about the injections of isotope and the trees. Thank goodness trees, plants, animal have no prejudice. It is only humans that can claim that. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteas human we are gifted with deeper consciousness dear Nichole which make us more responsible as say that with power comes responsibility ,how ridiculous that we are wasting our most precious power of consciousness in earning money and gathering material which adds no good to our future as specie on this planet . we need to pause and remove all the trash like racism ,materialism and running after meaningless things like fashion and fame ,we instead should unite ,share goodness and wisdom with each other and focus on how we can put our combine strength for brightening our future as humans here for ourselves and for all that belong to us . Nature's anger towards us can be delay or end if we do so
DeleteThanks for sharing
ReplyDeletethank you Christine
DeleteGalileo has been of interest to me for many years. I remember seeing is tomb in a basilica in Florence, Italy and being really touched by it. He was such an important person in early science.
ReplyDeletehow nice you visited tomb of Galileo in Italy dear Marie ,philosopher and scientist like him born in centuries indeed
Deletescience owe him a lot so do we
Have a great weekend, baili.
ReplyDeleteyou too Pedro
DeleteHello Baili, I am so glad you mentioned trees and their incredible ability to use fungi and to communicate - I love trees, they feel like people standing around (we have a woodland of trees behind my house)... I read a book called The Hidden Language of Trees, by Peter Wholleben all about this... I think us humans have to open our minds and see that we are not the most important or intelligent living thing on this planet and that we are part of a much bigger organism.
ReplyDeletethank you for sweet comment dear Betty
ReplyDeletei think people who love Nature and trees are happier than people who like being with crowed party .this peace we are given as gift by Nature when close to her is strong proof of our deep obvious bonding with nature ,though we are not connected through visible veins or vessels but i bet we are related to each other like organs of the body that might don't know about their connection yet can't survive without each other
Stopping by to wish you a happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
thank you dear Jan
DeleteHope you and your family are well Baili.
ReplyDeleteTrees are fascinating and it's wonderful to read about them.
good to hear from you dear Margaret
Deletetrees are great support for spiritual health and i think there is lot about them we have to explore until now
Hello Baili,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the book review and your thoughts. I feel that nature speaks to me, some of my favorite times are walking in a forest. Take care, enjoy your weekend.
I will say here, Baili, that reading this post (and others) shows me what a deep thinker you are, dear blogger friend. And, I will also admit that the book you described so elegantly would not be my personal choice of reading material. That is not to say that it is not a good one to read and learn from but that my personal reading choices are more for enjoyment than knowledge these days.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on Galileo's Error by Phillip Goff. I learned more than I knew before simply from reading your review.
Não li o erro de Galileu por Phillip Goff. Gostei de ler o seu texto. Sei que a ciência está sempre em evolução e sempre aparecem teorias diferentes o que nos deixa ver sempre as coisas sob outro ponto de vista. Gostei do que li sobre as árvores.
ReplyDeleteUma boa semana com muita saúde.
Um beijo.
Sounds like a fascinating read. And all new to me. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Hi Baili! Interesting book and theories! I personally see life and consciousness in all living things. There are subtle ways that Nature communicates with us and if we are able to tune into our intuition, we can feel Nature speaking to us for sure!
ReplyDeletedear Rain sorry for late reply
Deletei agree with you completely that as being part of one " wholeness" we are part of nature with particular gift of conscious mind which makes our ability to connect and communicate with everything far greater than other things ,all depends on our approach towards life .if our spiritual side is more alive we can receive the message of Nature through everything we encounter in life
Sounds like an interesting book. Glad you have brought it up here. i read the latest post and we have a family member who has severe OCD and is young and right now she seems to have a good balance with the medication. It was interesting to read the post.
ReplyDeleteYou shared quite a large amount of information, I've not read the book, but enjoyed your take on it. So very true... if one tries to deny the Creator of the universe, as you said it so well "Denying Creator force and His wisdom will be like we are avoiding sun by putting head under sand or covering eyes with hand." May the blessings of the Lord be with you and your precious family!
ReplyDeleteBack again, Baili! Dishes done, kitchen clean.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your succinct summary of Goff's book. I've only made it to page 71, but I've read the first chapter over and over and over (I've read hundreds of pages ~ LOL). You grasped the main ideas so well, while I was floundering around.
My needing to read certain sections over and over again is no reflection of Goff's ability to write or to explain philosophy. It's a reflection of how dense my brain is when it comes to philosophy. As I read forward, I wonder if I can be a panpsychic dualist?
I'm looking forward to reading about tree communication. I asked my high school science teacher in grade nine if he thought trees could communicate. I had been staring out the window at the trees. The whole class burst out laughing, and he did too. He thought it would be better if I paid attention to our science lesson and not at what was going on outside the window. Squelch!!!
Well, we know a whole to more about tree communication now! I got the last laugh! And just last night I was reading about new research that proposes that mushrooms may communicate with electrical pulses. The world is far more complex and connected that we humans, in our superior arrogance, once supposed.
And you now know, you probably knew anyway, why I get so behind in things. I fall down rabbit holes chasing all sorts of interesting things instead of doing what I should be doing. With Terry gone, I'm really out of control ~ hence the pileup in the kitchen.
The unending question: "What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?" I'll be very interest on reading Stephen Hawking's take on this.
I find it hard to accept that the only thing that I know for certain exists is my consciousness. I went over to Terry and poked him and said, "I think you are really real." He's such a tease. He said, "I don't know, Babe. I may just be a figment of your imagination!" I think we are far, far more than expressions of brain chemistry. But enough for now. I need to read on.
thank you for this one specially dear Louise !
ReplyDeletei secretly waited for what you have to share about it :)
it is not in any case that i am better in understanding philosophy than you my friend but only one thing ,my curiosity opens my eyes wide to see ,read and comprehend such stuff because of my deep interest in philosophy when you have so many things to think ,write and read and topics vary too of course .this can be the issue . though i too will reread this book to understand it better .
the experience you had in nine grade reveals that we both were similar in staring at the Nature :) the only difference you had courage to ask and you hoped to get some answer but i had no such thing but my deepest stare and pondering over natural phenomena and it grew with time instead of fading wonderfully .
i think we are lost as specie in worship of material ,power and money if this was not the case we might have academies and schools where children can learn their true connection to Nature and how to explore and strengthen it for further insight and peace of find which can lead us to live in harmony and without harming eachother for things don't matter at all . i wish some people can develop this idea and practice it in practical world to inspire others .
please recommend me when you find book on this by Stephen Hawkins
I so agree with you, Baili. We are lost as a species, and a major reason is that we are divorced from nature. It's so important to connect children with nature.
DeleteI read a book years and years ago called "The Sense of Wonder" by Rachel Carson. It was first published in 1987 when I was beginning my teaching career. She was a famous environmentalist. The book was a memoir about the time she spent with her young nephew exploring the natural world in Maine. It was also about the importance of connecting children with nature. I did everything I could as a teacher to teach my students about nature, and I took them on field trips outside of the classroom to experience nature as much as I could.
Unfortunately, education in my country is under attack by politicians and parents. INow, 'd likely be fired for some of the things I di back then as a teacher.Schools must teach about nature and the environment!!! Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.
Hugs and love to you!
the more we are growing technologically the more we are being apart from Nature i agree.
ReplyDeleteas we know that modern world does most what benefits the capitalists so we have entered in the world where we are acting "fuel" for capitalists who are inventing new "needs" to produce more buyers and filling their account only .
we are as common people following this falsity blindly and madly .
it makes us trouble creators actually and when living life full of trash away from Nature make us ill mentally we seek solution through the falsity again . i feel we are born with ability to repair our thought system if it was not the case our brain would have not "plasticity or flexibility " ,but the y have and it is because when we need we can mend them with what is loose inside .the only thing we need to start is " will power" a choice that we can make only for ourselves .