Is the universe conscious?

[Narz]

You think the universe is a live thing or no?

I really don't know myself. Sometimes I feel like a cell in a universal body but thats usually when I'm under an influence.

 

[Synobun]

No.

 

[Seon]

No.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Define conscious, and then work back through the causal links for what makes your brain believe you to be conscious.

In what ways is the universe similar or different?

 

[Narz]

Define conscious, and then work back through the causal links for what makes your brain believe you to be conscious.

In what ways is the universe similar or different?

I'm aware of stuff going on around me and within me (at least I think I am)

I dont see any way to know whether or not the world around me has any such awareness.

It seems clear that human/animal consciousness comes from the brain/nervous system but that doesn't necessarily imply than consciousness can only come from a brain. Plants probably have rudimentary consciousness (can feel stuff and react to their environment)

I dont see any evidence that "the universe" has agency or an agenda but that doesn't mean it does or doesn't

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I'm aware of stuff going on around me and within me (at least I think I am)

Yes, but what precisely...what precise sequence of events leads to this thought process happening for you?

That we don't know this calls into question what we really mean when we say "conscious". Right now it's a term that short-hands the "pattern of interactions that make up the concept of human self-awareness", not all of which we even know. The universe probably does not have human-like thought.

 

[bernie14]

My guess is that people are uncomfortable not knowing stuff.....maybe I'm projecting....

 

[Lexicus]

No.

No.

So do y'all believe humans aren't part of the universe or that humans aren't conscious?

I'm aware of stuff going on around me and within me (at least I think I am)

I dont see any way to know whether or not the world around me has any such awareness.

Do you believe you are part of the universe?

 

[Seon]

Technically speaking humans are part of the solar system too, but I don't think the Sun is a sentient entity either.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

The universe is a simulation.

 

[El_Machinae]

"The universe" will be defined (by me) as "everything that exists".

In people. 'consciousness' is caused by the over-laying of prediction analysis of the outside environment on top of internal motivation. My hand is going to catch the ball and my eyes track where the ball is going to be. I'm a strong believer in the theory that consciousness requires multi-modal sensory input, but honestly cannot unpack that from the fact that we use language to describe our consciousness.

So, because consciousness is "change self in order to adapt to changing environment", I don't see a way in which the universe can be conscious. There's no external environment into which it is adapting its own behaviour.

Maybe to rephrase "consciousness is an internal model of something external, as it relates to you", but the universe has nothing 'external' to it. Internal regions of the universe can become conscious, obviously.

 

[Lexicus]

Technically speaking humans are part of the solar system too, but I don't think the Sun is a sentient entity either.

Well, two separate problems here. First, humans are not "objects" under the gravitational domination of the Sun and thus are not "technically speaking" part of the solar system. Second, the point would be about whether the Solar System is conscious, not whether the Sun is. If humans are defined as part of the Solar System then it is plainly conscious, but since they are not the question does not arise.

However, to my mind it is impossible to make the philosophical or scientific leap from nonsentient, non-conscious rocks to the human brain writing poems and stuff, so I think the easiest explanation for the presence of consciousness in humans is the presence of consciousness in everything else down to subatomic particles.

 

[REDY]

I like the idea because it may return the idea od human's favorite imaginary friend. Would you prefer to be Gods body cell or bacteria?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I don't think the universe is conscious or has any level of consciousness at all. There are too many stupid people around that have not been purged as defective by the large consciousness.

Or maybe these idiots are just a cancer that has not been cured yet. Who knows? Maybe I am a mote in God's eye...

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Last time I checked I hadn't achieved extra-solar escape velocity, so I'd consider myself part of the solar system.

 

[Birdjaguar]

You think the universe is a live thing or no?

I really don't know myself. Sometimes I feel like a cell in a universal body but thats usually when I'm under an influence.

To begin, "having consciousness" and "living" certainly can be two different things. Definitions are in order.

Consciousness: A thing's awareness of its surroundings such that changes there can create changes in our thing. Consciousness extends down to the atomic and quantum levels of matter. Yes, the individual "pieces" of the universe are conscious. As the complexity of matter increases so does its consciousness. Higher life forms express the most complex form of consciousness we know of. If the collective universe is conscious/aware of itself, we would not be sufficiently aware to know. But we can guess.

"The universe" will be defined (by me) as "everything that exists".

In people. 'consciousness' is caused by the over-laying of prediction analysis of the outside environment on top of internal motivation. My hand is going to catch the ball and my eyes track where the ball is going to be. I'm a strong believer in the theory that consciousness requires multi-modal sensory input, but honestly cannot unpack that from the fact that we use language to describe our consciousness.

So, because consciousness is "change self in order to adapt to changing environment", I don't see a way in which the universe can be conscious. There's no external environment into which it is adapting its own behaviour.

Maybe to rephrase "consciousness is an internal model of something external, as it relates to you", but the universe has nothing 'external' to it. Internal regions of the universe can become conscious, obviously.

Your logic works as long as you assume that there is nothing that exists outside of the physical universe. That is a big assumption, but a common one. Perhaps "universal consciousness" is an unchanging state and the limited consciousness found in matter is a stepping stone to that state.

 

[El_Machinae]

Yeah, I require a definitional axiom. In my definition, there's nothing outside of the universe, because the universe is everything. Not for any metaphysical reason or anything to do with physics, but merely by definition (in this case).

 

[Birdjaguar]

Yeah, I require a definitional axiom. In my definition, there's nothing outside of the universe, because the universe is everything. Not for any metaphysical reason or anything to do with physics, but merely by definition (in this case).

And typically, the axioms we set at the beginning determine what the end picture looks like. By not closing the door on non physical existence, I get to include all kinds of things you cannot.

 

[El_Machinae]

Any non-physical thing that actually exists is encapsulated in my definition of "everything that exists".

 

[Estebonrober]

You think the universe is a live thing or no?

I really don't know myself. Sometimes I feel like a cell in a universal body but thats usually when I'm under an influence.

On the face of it I like the old Michio Kaku line I heard about this decades ago (he might have gotten it elsewhere). It is a wonder to me that this universe has become self aware and dares to explore its own grandeur.

In short yes and you are part of the expression of that awareness.