The notion that consciousness is the fundamental presence, energy, phenomenon, present in all that is, nowadays comes from the corner of quantum physics. The notion of consciousness as the underlying and organizing principle of the universe, isn’t a new idea, however. Ancient traditions, including the esoteric Qabbalah, Hinduism, and Buddhism have long taught and devised practices to allow us to realize that the universe is, in essence, a mental phenomenon. I like to say that each thing and phenomenon is a manifestation of some kind of consciousness. It is the essence of what makes that thing that thing. The identity of any given thing is its kind of consciousness. Yet consciousness, as a force, like gravity, is a force, but it is not limited to, or generated by, that entity. Consciousness, whose core characteristic is awareness, also enables us to perceive, sense and narrate reality. Thus in a very real way, consciousness can be said to create reality. Seen this way, it is the cause, both of the way things come into being and the way they are put in relationship to each other thus creating order and meaning. On a more metaphysical level, we might even speculate that consciousness is also the way reality comes to know itself.
So, here we are in a dimension where the distinction between art and science blurs. I actually think it is very helpful to blur this distinction because it makes things a bit more human and more authentic…in the sense of understanding who or what is authoring what we call reality.
To my Darwinist friends – I believe that awareness is the substrate and engine of existence. This is not in contradiction with the theory of evolution. I think that universal awareness, trans-entity, has had to evolve towards every form through matter and all life forms to which it has given expression. This movement through matter and life forms is capillary in nature. At every level, every limitation, obstacle, challenge, problem posed by the processes set in motion, are solved through trial and error. Always developing, expanding and applying the models and principles perceived, discovering new possibilities and using them in an experiential way, consolidating and verifying the discoveries and passing them forward through natural selection. It is not that awareness manifests forms and conditions in an immediate “magical” way. It sets in motion processes that develop naturally. This is also the basis of the scientific process.
Seen like this it is true that science and scientific process are artforms.
Tell me what you think…