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Scientists and philosophers have long discussed what level of consciousness have animals and plants, and whether at all. Some philosophers even questioned the existence of any other consciousness, except their own, because they could not with absolute certainty to say that it also exists in other people. All these questions refer to creatures we call living or organic.
And what about inanimate objects? Can they be reasonable? At first glance, such an idea may seem ridiculous but some modern scholars (not to mention prominent thinkers of the past, such as Plato) say that it perhaps.
“The idea is that a thermostat that regulates the temperature of you at home, even roughly knows what he is doing, of course, contrary to common sense, “- wrote in his work about the interaction of mind and matter Henry P. Stapp, theoretical physicist from University of California at Berkeley who worked with some founders of quantum mechanics. However, he said the idea of panpsychism, that is, the idea that all matter is animated, deserves discussion and may be considered from the point of view of quantum mechanics.
In quantum mechanics, the connection between consciousness and matter is so important that “perhaps unnatural, and probably even it is a retrograde to think about the possibility of the existence of phenomena, which are not psychophysical in nature, “said he. It was found that the process of observation, exposure human consciousness affects the results of physical experiments.
However, Stapp in his theory leaves room for purely physical phenomena that have nothing to do with consciousness. Cognitive and philosopher David Chalmers goes further.
He says that perhaps consciousness is fundamental a structural element of physics, and therefore it exists in all things, starting with a person and ending with photons.
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Chalmers is a professor of philosophy and a leading researcher. consciousness at Australian National and New York Universities. At a TED fund conference this year, he said that science is in question consciousness research is in a kind of impasse, and in order to move forward, “radical ideas are needed.” “I I think we need one or two ideas that will initially seem crazy, “he said.
One such idea is panpsychism.
Chalmers admits this idea may seem eccentric, but notes: “Although for us this idea seems paradoxical, it does not so incredible for people from other cultures where human consciousness is seen as much more related nature. ”
In the past, physicists had to accept the recently discovered fundamental structural elements such as electromagnetism, which could not be explained by more basic principles. Chalmers wonders if consciousness is another such structural element.
“Physics is unusually abstract,” says the philosopher. “She describes the structure of reality using a set of equations, but it doesn’t tell us about the underlying reality. “He quoted a question asked by Stephen Hawking: “What does the fire breathe into the equation? ”
“Maybe consciousness breathes fire into equations,” says Chalmers. The equations remain the same as they were, but we look at them as a means to describe the flow of consciousness.
“Consciousness does not hang out outside the physical world like something additional, it is here, right in his heart, “he says.
Chalmers does not claim that photons have the same consciousness as people, but they may have a bit of primitive awareness.
Similar thoughts at different levels of understanding were considered by the ancients. 17th century Indian thinkers and German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. They suggested that inorganic substances are found in sleep state; animals are conscious, but may be in a state similar to a dream; and people realize that they have consciousness, they are more conscious than animals.
In the traditional views of some Native Americans, stones are considered as having consciousness, they can even talk like a “grandfather stone.” A stone, for example, may be aware that he was moved to another place. In eastern spiritual traditions sometimes they say that the soul can be reborn not only as a person, but also as a plant, animal or even stone.
Among famous philosophers who, to one degree or another, supported the idea of panpsychism; there were Plato, Spinoza, Arthur Schopenhauer and Bertrand Russell.
Russell wrote in The Fundamental Principles of Philosophy (1927): “Mine the understanding is that [between mind and matter] there is no clear lines, but there is a difference in degree; oyster is less intelligent than man, but not completely unreasonable. “He said that memory is a key aspect of consciousness, inanimate objects possess their kind of memory: “We cannot build on this basis [of memory] the absolute barrier between consciousness and matter … inanimate matter to some extent shows a similar behavior”.
Stapp also expressed the view that “the boundary between living and nonliving, perhaps not completely clear. ”
The late Clive Baxter, whose experiments in the 1960s. confirmed the idea that plants have consciousness also revealed that eggs and yogurt may respond to the threat. Baxter was a specialist in polygraphs (lie detectors). Some of his experiences in his book An Experiment of Intent, Lynn McTaggart explained: Living bacteria in yogurt showed a reaction to the death of other species bacteria; yogurt also showed a desire to be fed beneficial bacteria for it. The eggs had a scream anxiety, and then doom when one of them was placed in boiling water. ”
She explained: “Baxter found that body fluids showed a reaction reflecting their emotional state the owner. ”
Chalmers calls for the study of human consciousness, which would go beyond exploring the relationship between sites brain and conscious experience. “It’s still a science of relationships, and not a science that gives an explanation. We know that these parts of the brain consistent with certain types of conscious experiences, but we are not know why, “he says. Research that goes beyond brain research can find consciousness in unexpected places.
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