written 17 December 2023
published 24 December 2023
According to the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, a measure of disorder, always increases, the so-called arrow of time. We see things fall apart. Everything ages. But the full statement has a precondition, usually unmentioned, that "in a closed system" entropy increases. When my car breaks, I can fix it. When the battery in my drill motor runs out, I can recharge it. The question becomes, is my current situation within an open or closed system?
Albert Einstein said "problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that created them." Our mindset includes unexamined assumptions, usually culturally implanted before we are even conscious, that define our perspective.
One of the limitations in western science is the assumption we live in a closed system, where matter is the ground of reality, and consciousness arises only within complex matter, specifically the human brain. The arrogance that only humans have consciousness means the rest of the world is just dumb matter. When we believe we are separate from all other life forms, we can abuse them with impunity, which bleeds over into abusing weaker members of our own species, when it benefits the more powerful. Consequently, our civilization tolerates vast inequities and is indifference to suffering. But such flawed thinking is eventually challenged by fundamental failures, such as the climate crisis and the tragedy of endless wars.
For centuries, matter has been defined by the four dimensions of space/time, but it is only an assumption that consciousness is also so limited. Quantum mechanics now demonstrates the non-locality of matter, reacting to patterns beyond the space/time continuum, so consciousness may be non-local also. What if consciousness is the ground of reality, as eastern science and indigenous cultures have known for centuries? What if all life, including human, is an interconnected material manifestation of higher dimensional consciousness? Let's consider what evidence might support this perspective.
DNA is responsible for much of how our bodies manifest. Humans share 99.9 percent of their DNA with other humans. However, we also share 90 percent with cats, 84 percent with dogs, 70 percent with slugs, and even 50 percent with trees.
Plants have been living on Earth hundreds of millions of years longer than humans, mostly solar powered, yet, after only a few centuries, our culture is already being threatened by our own toxic wastes. We could learn from our plant relatives.
Australian aboriginal "dreamtime" allows effective communication across space and time. The perspective of reincarnation suggests some aspect of consciousness persists past material mortality, as does ancestor worship. All psychic phenomenon supports the awareness of information unbounded by the limits of space and time. Biologist Rupert Sheldrake postulates morphogenic fields, existing beyond space/time, affect the cellular manifestation of growing organisms, and information systems. His book "Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home" suggests that animals have transtemporal awareness. Battlefield reports indicate that even a few seconds of awareness of future events can save a life. The founders of Findhorn established meditation communication with the "over soul of the vegetables", which helped them grow fantastic produce and gain worldwide recognition.
Even within orthodox western science, we find that consciousness, as defined by awareness and volition, exists in many other species. Trees communicate and cooperate for mutual survival, even outside their individual species. Over 50 years ago, The Secret Lives Of Plants described evidence of plant sentience. Elephants like to listen to, and play, music.
The Institute Of Noetic Sciences first cataloged documented cases of spontaneous remission, where people with lethal diseases survived without medical intervention. The resulting medical field of psychoneuroimmunology is now well established, exploring how what we think affects our health. The placebo affect is real, showing that our belief can heal. The reverse is also true, as our fears can kill us.
If humanity was to begin relating to the entire world as conscious, living organisms, kin to our human species, think what a difference that could make. We know the way to improve our food production system is to build healthy soil, where 200 trillion living organisms inhabit each cubic foot. We could restore a healthy climate, removing the thousand billion tons of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, by aggressively cultivating phytoplankton blooms in the ocean, while feeding the other ocean species. Working with life, rather than dominating it, is the answer.
This will require changing our way of thinking, and learning humility.
