The origin of consciousness - Gecko takes on the most important question of all

I want to say a huge thanks for the warm and encouraging welcome I felt yesterday reading through all the responses to my first post here. Thanks a bunch for that. A very different experience to joining Twitter or Instagram!

Most importantly this immediate sense of community made me want to sit down right away and prepare my first article with enthusiasm and hope for my future on this platform.

For those who missed my intro yesterday, to put it in a nutshell, I am a traveling gecko with a healthy interest in all things controversial. I've picked up a load of knowledge on the road, meeting people, reading books and watching you lot...

And it is my intention to help you now by sharing some of this knowledge here on Steemit.

Where does consciousness originate?

The word consciousness is derived from the words score (to know) and cum or con (with). Consciousness is therefore, ‘to know with’. But what exactly are we knowing with? If it is the brain, then what part of the brain specifically?

This is a question we have struggled to answer for some time.

Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose wrote:

“A scientific world-view which does not profoundly come to terms with the problem of conscious minds can have no serious pretensions of completeness… I would maintain that there is yet no physical, biological, or computational theory that comes very close to explaining our consciousness or intelligence.”

The Source of Genius is not the mind

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a famous mathematician born in India 1887. He worked always in isolation and was able to re-derive a hundreds of years' worth of Western mathematics, citing the goddess Namakkal as his inspiration for his ability, usually appearing to him in his dreams with the answers to his complex mathematical equations.
Nikola Tesla made the electric generator after a complete design of it appeared to him in a vision.
The design for the experiment leading to the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the chemical transmission of nerve impulses occurred to the physiologist Otto Leowi while he was asleep.
Einstein discovered the basic principles of his special theory of relativity in an 'unusual state of mind', and is often quoted as saying that his various insights came to him in the form of kinaesthetic sensations.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/einstein-big-idea.html

In other words the source of these peoples' creative genius did not originate from some small part of the brain. It came from a non physical domain.

Upon establishing that consciousness does not arise from the brain, one must then ask the question, how does consciousness relate to the brain at all? It would seem that once anchored by the brain, the brain mediates a conscious experience for us to understand in physical terms.

Near Death Experiences

Some refer to the brain as a 'reducing valve' tuning in and acting as a conduit rather than a generator. And one only has to look at near death experiences to know this to be the case. For even when the brain is not functioning, people commonly report wild adventures in a hyper-real state of consciousness.

Check out Dr Eben Alexander's book 'Proof of Heaven' if you are in any doubt about NDEs. This guy was a neurosurgeon who had been telling NDE patients for years that their other-worldly experiences were just a side effect of the various chemicals being produced in the brain. Until it happened to him.

After spending a week in a coma with a non functioning brain he suddenly woke with a magical story beyond our understanding... which ultimately led him to discover that he was adopted as a child and that he had a sister who died when she was young.

And here's the best bit: upon being shown a photo of his sister for the first time he recognised her instantly as the 'child angel' who had guided him on his non-physical journey through a hyper-real world in which communication was non verbal and instantaneous, answers arising in the same time as the questions, instant because there was no feeling of 'time' there or indeed any brain to slow down the process of translation.

I highly recommend the book by the way. Especially for those with a fear of death.

In 1982 the St. Louis Business Journal tested how a psychic would fare against professional stockbrokers over a six month period. The results were remarkable. With no training the psychic outperformed 18 of the 19 pro stockbrokers.

As such, Psi techniques are playing an increasingly important role on Wall Street, according to Dean Radin's sources.

Many famous scientists have pushed beyond the traditional limits of research.

Isaac Newton was an obsessive alchemist in search of ways to transform consciousness.
Marie Curie attended seances.
Thomas Edison built machines to try and facilitate communication with the dead.

The list is long...

With this many advanced minded people experimenting with the idea that consciousness does not originate in the brain, it would be reasonable to assume that there is something more to consciousness than our materialistic paradigm has us believe.

To quote Brendan Murphy's The Grand Illusion, 'The materialistic worldview is only the most recent of four overturned basal paradigms that humanity has moved through over the the last 5,000 years.'

So what will the next paradigm be? One would hope it will be:

'a non-dualistic and integrated view of mind and "matter", one which places all beings in an interconnected and thus interdependent web of life.' - Murphy.

The Four Stages

The problem with such radical shifts in thinking is the process they must first go through. Radin in his book The Conscious Universe explains the four predictable stages of this transformation of thinking:

In Stage 1 skeptics confidently proclaim that the idea is impossible because it violates the Laws of Science. This stage can last for years or even centuries, depending on how much the idea challenges conventional wisdom.
In Stage 2 skeptics reluctantly concede that the idea is possible but that it is not very interesting and that the claimed effects are very extremely weak.
Stage 3 begins when the mainstream realises not only that the idea is important but that its effects are much stronger and more persuasive than previously imagined.
Stage 4 is achieved when the same critics who previously disavowed any interest in the idea begin to proclaim that they thought of it first.

Eventually, no one remembers that the idea was once considered a dangerous heresy.

The transition from state 1 to stage 2 is the most difficult and that is exactly where you humans are sitting right now with the idea of consciousness.

Take a look at these famous quotes:

"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." ---Albert Einstein, 1932
"Heavier than air flying machines are impossible." ---William Thomson. (Even Thomas Edison believed this to be the case)
"The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad." - President of Michigan Savings Bank, advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company, 1903
"X-rays will prove to be a hoax." - Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883
In 1915, Alfred Wegener published his 'ludicrous' theory that the Earth's continents had once been a single contiguous piece. He died in 130 an intellectual outcast, yet today this idea is standard textbook material.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
The scientific community at large have for years believed that 'separate physical systems cannot influence one another unless via known physical mechanisms at no greater than the speed of light.' Until one day quantum physics proved the existence of entanglement and non-locality. Showing conclusively that some things can in fact travel faster than the speed of light. Sorry Einstein. I will site the exact experiments when I get to this subject in future posts.

The Tibetans say 'Theories are like patches on a coat, one day they just wear off."

And let's be frank, I can't think of too many fundamental laws of physics that have survived the last 200 years. Can you?

In Conclusion

I hope that you can see now without doubt that consciousness does not originate in the brain. No matter what the skeptics might say.

If you will just close your eyes, zone out from all that chatter and begin to trust your instincts, you are much more likely to find the answers you seek.

Stop relying on logic and the physical results of science and start relying on that which has been known on your planet for a very long time. It has just been forgotten... replaced by a crazy mad world in which you are constantly kept distracted from that which is most important: the inner workings of your own mind and the source of your consciousness.

So it is time to remember again my friends. You are all connected. Even to us geckos!

You are one consciousness experiencing itself individually, and the answer to every question is always at your fingertips, if you only knew how to access this non physical realm without heaving to engineer a scenario in which the electrical pulses stop firing in your brains! Otherwise known as death.

Next time...

I'm going to look at the main thing which is holding you back from moving forward on this planet as a species: The scientific community.

And what can you do about this?

Think about this (rather unethical experiment):-

Prepare a room to be as devoid of information as possible. (also, insulate the whole room so that cosmic rays and whatever electromagnetic waves etc wouldn't "disturb" the current flow / states in the mind of its inhabitant)
Cage a newborn in this "blank room" with facilities just enough to keep it alive.
What do you think will happen to its degree of "genius" / imagination?

Anyway, I view the brain as a state machine. Give it any random stimulation and there will be an experience that can be articulated / expressed / explained anyway. And there are so many forces at play that changes the ebb and flow of the mind.

To add: Agree with the sentiment that genius used to be a description of the self that's attached to the ego. Creativity doesn't originate from the brain, sure, it comes from experiencing and remixing our everyday lives. Living in a blank, insulated room devoid of information will most likely stunt creativity.