Subhash Kak - Does Consciousness Cause the Cosmos?

Some claim consciousness, our inner awareness, is part of a 'cosmic consciousness'. Not only is consciousness the deepest reality, but also it brought into existence the totality of reality. This would mean that mind, the mental, is fundamental and primary, while the entire physical universe is derivative and secondary. Even some scientists take it seriously.



Subhash Kak is Regents Professor and Head of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.


Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[nsbdnow]

The human experience of reality is just so wild that it even exists.

[kfwimmer]

More on this subject please! I've been waiting for you to go down this road for a long time. Thank you

[MagicJoshua]

I love that you keep exploring this question! ❤🙌

[alsindtube]

I love this program. So nice to see you exploring eastern perspectives!

[RolandHuettmann]

There is more to these arguments, and I fully appreciate the direction because it leads us out of the box of "common" but limited understanding. What is a reality to thousands are experiences of higher states of consciousness. To discuss them away is a fallacity even for "hard" science.

[chyfields]

We are in a soap opera. We wanted to be part of the story, at this time. So here we all are. (So my consciousness is telling me.)

[CarlosElio]

At 4:50 Subhash talks about consciousness acting on reality. "Everything is based on a certain conception of reality and that conception is that of materiality. If we can, by making use of projections onto the materiality of this astonishing inexpressible thing which we call consciousness then this would be the most amazing thing to happen in our lifetime, in history." That's powerful. I need to mull it over.

[tac]

For as long as I can remember I have always had a very strong intuitive sense that nothing is as it seems. Actual reality is something completely different than what we perceive it to be. I also have a strong sense of peace, regardless of what happens everything is ultimately okay. I've also always felt that I will witness and likely die in nuclear war. Its almost as if I've done all of this before and on some level I remember what is going to happen. These are all feelings I have never shared with another human being. I enjoy life, its so interesting.

[michaelmckinney]

Mr. Kak is correct in his general assertion that "consciousness" is a fundamental property of the universe. Consciousness is a word most people associate with their private internally generated view of the world around them, but this is an erroneous perception. We don't generate consciousness, we experience consciousness and the difference is critical in any understanding of what consciousness is and most importantly where it originates. If consciousness is a property of the universe than it had to exist prior to human experience and if it's something that we enter into rather than something we produce through brain function then it explains why people are very different in their levels of perceptive intelligence and intuitive understanding. The reason why a scholar has a more subtle and deeper understanding of his life and the world is because through his habits of study and contemplation he's entered more deeply into that preexisting realm of universal consciousness that was always there and in a sense waiting for him. However, the man who had a violent upbringing and found himself in prison for a serious crime never really had the opportunity to study and learn about the interesting possibilities the world offered and so never entered the realm of universal consciousness to the same degree and so had a very different outcome. Consciousness is an expression of omniscience, and omniscience is an attribute of God.

[Spirit_sunya]

To Robert, I love that we realize it's a gigantic leap of faith to realize the radical nature of who we are! To me it's very much true that only one who is either having absolute TRUST or FAITH OR one who is CRAZY or INSANE can take the leap.

[tolbaszy]

Consciousness is hunger, that motivates all life. Human consciousness is divine privilege to observe wonder. The universe will exist without humans, as long as life persists to keep the universe from collapsing.

[onreality]

An excellent talk! In defence of idealism (column A) one can list all the direct, first person, subjective experiences which we call 'mystical', which can include psychedelic experiences which support the claim that consciousness is fundamental. In defence of materialism (column B) we can list all the everyday experiences we have of materiality and the common assumption that the world outside of our heads is material. The experiences in column A shine a light on those in B, and do not contradict them. They reveal the necessity of the apparent contradiction, the coincidence of opposites: mind is an illusion generated by matter (eliminative materialism) AND matter is an illusion of mind (idealism).

[Upuaut]

consciousness doesn't create the cosmos, but shaped it in a specific human-readable form

[Soulartist]

Subhash Kak presents the "ineffable" with a poetic clarity.

[jpilegaaard]

Please invite bernardo kastrup on your show. he is the guy to go explain this to you

[SimonMclennan]

Experiential understanding - understanding through language. I like the drift. He makes more sense than many to my mind.

[mosesexodus]

​Modern Quantum Physics has shown that reality is based on probability:
​
A statistical impossibility is defined as “a probability that is so low as to not be worthy of mentioning. Sometimes it is quoted as 1/10^50 although the cutoff is inherently arbitrary. Although not truly impossible the probability is low enough so as to not bear mention in a Rational, Reasonable argument." The probability of finding one particular atom out of all of the atoms in the universe has been estimated to be 1/10^80. The probability of just one (1) functional 150 amino acid protein chain forming by chance is 1/10^164. It has been calculated that the probability of DNA forming by chance is 1/10^119, 000. The probability of random chance protein-protein linkages in a cell is 1/10^79, 000, 000, 000. Based on just these three cellular components, it would be far more Rational and Reasonable to conclude that the cell was not formed by un-directed random natural processes. Note: Abiogenesis Hypothesis posits that un-directed random natural processes, i.e. random chance formation, of molecules led to living organisms. Natural selection has no effect on individual atoms and molecules on the micro scale in a prebiotic environment. (*For reference, peptides/proteins can vary in size from 3 amino acid chains to 34, 000 amino acid chains. Some scientists consider 300-400 amino acid protein chains to be the average size. There are 42, 000, 000 protein molecules in just one (1) simple cell, each protein requiring precise assembly. There are approx. 30, 000, 000, 000, 000 cells in the human body.)

Of all the physical laws and constants, just the Cosmological Constant alone is tuned to a level of 1/10^120; not to mention the fine-tuning of the Mass-Energy distribution of early universe which is 1/10^10^123. Therefore, in the fine-tuning argument, it would be more Rational and Reasonable to conclude that the multi-verse is not the correct answer. On the other hand, it has been scientifically proven numerous times that Consciousness does indeed collapse the wave function to cause information waves of probability/potentiality to become particle/matter with 1/1 probability. A rational and reasonable person could therefore conclude that the answer is consciousness.

A "Miracle" is considered to be an event with a probability of occurrence of 1/10^6. Abiogenesis, RNA World Hypothesis, and Multiverse would all far, far, far exceed any "Miracle". Yet, these extremely irrational and unreasonable hypotheses are what some of the world’s top scientists ‘must’ believe in because of a prior commitment to a strictly arbitrary, subjective, biased, narrow, limiting, materialistic ideology / worldview.

Every idea, number, concept, thought, theory, mathematical equation, abstraction, qualia, etc. existing within and expressed by anyone is "Immaterial" or "Non-material". The very idea or concept of "Materialism" is an immaterial entity and by it's own definition does not exist. Modern science seems to be stuck in archaic, subjective, biased, incomplete ideologies that have inadequately attempted to define the "nature of reality" or the "reality of nature" for millennia. A Paradigm Shift in ‘Science’ is needed for humanity to advance. A major part of this Science Paradigm Shift would be the formal acknowledgment by the scientific community of the existence of "Immaterial" or "Non-material" entities as verified and confirmed by observation of the universe and discoveries in Quantum Physics.)

[JustAThought]

I find it interesting that most individuals focus on the how rather than the why. My thought is that the real exercise is to understand the why. Why does reality exist and what are our individual responsibilities?

[Ykpaina]

Thank you for this snippet I love your channel such a source of nourishment for the philosophical 🧐

[Raj]

This man is a perfect example of how idealists dualists are so deluded.
Looks like he is frequent user of Deepak Chopra quantum random word generator.