Camera's Holding the Shaky Drink
I had a great philosophical moment this morning during my journaling, and I thought I'd share with all you lovely people.
I'd like to start off by saying that if you haven't read "Maya" by Jostein Gaarder, I highly recommend it. It's an excellent book I read years ago, but that has influenced my thoughts ever since. The author is a philosopher who decided to use fiction to introduce his philosophy on life's origin and purpose, the human purpose, and the purpose of consciousness. I don't have the book with me currently, but the quote that really has stuck with me is something to the effect of "Why is there consciousness? It would have made more sense for there to be nothing. At least, then, nothing would be asking why nothing exists." Anyway, the reason this matters in reference to what I wrote this morning is that it's expanding upon Gaarder's philosophy that consciousness is the universe's way of seeing itself. Consciousness is the eye of the universe. Without consciousness, the universe cannot be aware of or question itself.
So here's what I journaled:
As contradictory as it seems, life is the opposite of chaos. It is about replicating.
The natural, non-living world or universe is the true chaos. Plates shifting without warning, giant storms appearing in a matter of days and lasting weeks, astroids colliding with planets, black holes forming, big bangs. True, it is chaos with rules and form, but also with weak predictability.
Life is the universe's conscious response to the fear of non-existence, of wanting some control over the chaos. Or at least a way to comprehend it. Somehow, carbon-based compounds realized they had the control to spread and replicate themselves. Which were perhaps followed by virus-like RNA pseudo-life, that could replicate but without control of replication or consciousness. Which was followed by cellular DNA life, that finally had a built-in system for replication and the will to not just spread, but live. Life is the hidden will in all things comprised of matter and energy (which includes the universe's will as a whole) to live, survive, and replicate.
In all life, there is an in-born will to live. However, the MIND is a tricky thing that can create life-loathing in higher-consciousness life forms, most notably humans. The interesting thing is that the brain (made up of cells that have a will to live and that depend on the body for their survival) can convince the body to cease it's will to live, through suicide or behaviors that kill it over time. How bizarre! Every cell wants to live, and yet a path of electrical impulses (the soul, perhaps, since it has a separate will from that of the body) can lead to purposeful death. The body wants to live but the mind/soul doesn't. How can that be? It is so illogical.
What irony! What a dichotomous pickle!
Now, despite the brain's (and life's) purpose to be conscious awareness of the universe and understanding of chaos, the brain cannot know the answers to everything, and so there was created a need for God to help with the answers. But not just any god, a God who resembles human form and who represents the beliefs of those who developed their version of God. Another type of replication in order to end chaos. Religion is a symbol, a metaphor, for the will to live and replicate and reason. For some, religion becomes the sole source of reasoning and it is no longer the symbol of life, but life itself... which is why people will die for it, to protect life. But not everyone's mind has a need for religion for explanation of the chaos, of the need for God representation and replication.
That's not to say that there isn't a God of sorts in the universe. The will to live, the fear of non-existence, the universe's need to be conscious of itself... is that not, in a sense, God? An energy and a will. The will of life to exist and protect itself. A way to make sense of the chaos. God, under these terms may not be all-knowing, but instead all-willing with the desire to know.
I like that.
I'd like to start off by saying that if you haven't read "Maya" by Jostein Gaarder, I highly recommend it. It's an excellent book I read years ago, but that has influenced my thoughts ever since. The author is a philosopher who decided to use fiction to introduce his philosophy on life's origin and purpose, the human purpose, and the purpose of consciousness. I don't have the book with me currently, but the quote that really has stuck with me is something to the effect of "Why is there consciousness? It would have made more sense for there to be nothing. At least, then, nothing would be asking why nothing exists." Anyway, the reason this matters in reference to what I wrote this morning is that it's expanding upon Gaarder's philosophy that consciousness is the universe's way of seeing itself. Consciousness is the eye of the universe. Without consciousness, the universe cannot be aware of or question itself.
So here's what I journaled:
As contradictory as it seems, life is the opposite of chaos. It is about replicating.
The natural, non-living world or universe is the true chaos. Plates shifting without warning, giant storms appearing in a matter of days and lasting weeks, astroids colliding with planets, black holes forming, big bangs. True, it is chaos with rules and form, but also with weak predictability.
Life is the universe's conscious response to the fear of non-existence, of wanting some control over the chaos. Or at least a way to comprehend it. Somehow, carbon-based compounds realized they had the control to spread and replicate themselves. Which were perhaps followed by virus-like RNA pseudo-life, that could replicate but without control of replication or consciousness. Which was followed by cellular DNA life, that finally had a built-in system for replication and the will to not just spread, but live. Life is the hidden will in all things comprised of matter and energy (which includes the universe's will as a whole) to live, survive, and replicate.
In all life, there is an in-born will to live. However, the MIND is a tricky thing that can create life-loathing in higher-consciousness life forms, most notably humans. The interesting thing is that the brain (made up of cells that have a will to live and that depend on the body for their survival) can convince the body to cease it's will to live, through suicide or behaviors that kill it over time. How bizarre! Every cell wants to live, and yet a path of electrical impulses (the soul, perhaps, since it has a separate will from that of the body) can lead to purposeful death. The body wants to live but the mind/soul doesn't. How can that be? It is so illogical.
What irony! What a dichotomous pickle!
Now, despite the brain's (and life's) purpose to be conscious awareness of the universe and understanding of chaos, the brain cannot know the answers to everything, and so there was created a need for God to help with the answers. But not just any god, a God who resembles human form and who represents the beliefs of those who developed their version of God. Another type of replication in order to end chaos. Religion is a symbol, a metaphor, for the will to live and replicate and reason. For some, religion becomes the sole source of reasoning and it is no longer the symbol of life, but life itself... which is why people will die for it, to protect life. But not everyone's mind has a need for religion for explanation of the chaos, of the need for God representation and replication.
That's not to say that there isn't a God of sorts in the universe. The will to live, the fear of non-existence, the universe's need to be conscious of itself... is that not, in a sense, God? An energy and a will. The will of life to exist and protect itself. A way to make sense of the chaos. God, under these terms may not be all-knowing, but instead all-willing with the desire to know.
I like that.