A Revolution in Physics
159
The mind organizes phenomena into complex and comprehensive wholes, and
by doing this creates most of the reality that we perceive.
In addition to this, the mind lures every individual into believing that what
is perceived is present in the external world with the very features and qualities
that our brain has assigned to it. Our biologically-designed model of reality is
thus superposed on the physical stuff of the world and structures it. It is with
this reality that we interact. As a consequence of this, the universe that science
analyzes and describes is the universe according to our inner model of reality.
There is absolutely no conflict between our model and the external “stuff ”,
because what we discern is—you might say—an organized version of the same
matter.
It might be said that the physical universe of matter and energy is the
substrate on which the universe we know is built. This is not quite accurate,
however, because even that is a human interpretation. Instead, as living beings
we have a body made of matter, and we exist in a material environment. Both
of these things are unknowns, but we have experience of the mutual interaction
between them. This (largely unconscious) base of sensory cognition, embedded
in the animal Sensorium, is the totality of our knowledge of the background
universe.
It would appear, from this, that reality is not limited to the physical. On a
par with space and time—with matter and energy—the universe must include
an organizing force which acts to create unified hierarchical structures. These
are not composed of matter, but subsist on something nonmaterial that we
interpret as mind.
In order for physical science to advance to the next level, it is necessary to
overcome a biological force that compels us to perceive the external world in
the forms which our collective mind has created. Classical physics is an elegant
description of the universe as it is laid out in our mental model of reality,
and is a huge achievement. It may appear that it is impossible to go further,
because that would be seeking what the philosopher Thomas Nagel called a
view from nowhere. However, that is unwarranted pessimism. One might begin
by examining the evidence for the existence in the universe of a nonmaterial
mindlike effect that assigns form and structure to matter. The most obvious
place to begin this search is in the phenomenon of life.
159
The mind organizes phenomena into complex and comprehensive wholes, and
by doing this creates most of the reality that we perceive.
In addition to this, the mind lures every individual into believing that what
is perceived is present in the external world with the very features and qualities
that our brain has assigned to it. Our biologically-designed model of reality is
thus superposed on the physical stuff of the world and structures it. It is with
this reality that we interact. As a consequence of this, the universe that science
analyzes and describes is the universe according to our inner model of reality.
There is absolutely no conflict between our model and the external “stuff ”,
because what we discern is—you might say—an organized version of the same
matter.
It might be said that the physical universe of matter and energy is the
substrate on which the universe we know is built. This is not quite accurate,
however, because even that is a human interpretation. Instead, as living beings
we have a body made of matter, and we exist in a material environment. Both
of these things are unknowns, but we have experience of the mutual interaction
between them. This (largely unconscious) base of sensory cognition, embedded
in the animal Sensorium, is the totality of our knowledge of the background
universe.
It would appear, from this, that reality is not limited to the physical. On a
par with space and time—with matter and energy—the universe must include
an organizing force which acts to create unified hierarchical structures. These
are not composed of matter, but subsist on something nonmaterial that we
interpret as mind.
In order for physical science to advance to the next level, it is necessary to
overcome a biological force that compels us to perceive the external world in
the forms which our collective mind has created. Classical physics is an elegant
description of the universe as it is laid out in our mental model of reality,
and is a huge achievement. It may appear that it is impossible to go further,
because that would be seeking what the philosopher Thomas Nagel called a
view from nowhere. However, that is unwarranted pessimism. One might begin
by examining the evidence for the existence in the universe of a nonmaterial
mindlike effect that assigns form and structure to matter. The most obvious
place to begin this search is in the phenomenon of life.