Essay Abstract

Most theoretical physicists seem to find it difficult to relate notions like information and consciousness to the physical world. I believe that part of the problem is that they are convinced that matter is the fundamental substance in nature. But what if information and consciousness were the very basic constituents of our Universe ? By using simple logic, I will try to show, in just 2 pages, that information and consciousness are inevitable and ubiquitous in the Universe and that our 3D material reality is only an emergent phenomenon.

Author Bio

BSc in Electronics and Computing - BA in Business Studies. Former Sales Director in computer networking industry.

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"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness"

Max Planck (The Observer - 25 January 1931)

    Dear Patrick!

    I read with interest your essay. Excellent analysis, dialectical approach and are extremely important conclusion with which I fully agree: Consciousness is therefore ubiquitous in the Universe. My high score. We are waiting for the continuation.Yours faithfully,Vladimir

    Dear Vladimir,

    Thank you for reading my essay and for your nice comments. I will read yours and leave my comments on your blog.

    Regards,

    Patrick

    Dear Sridattadev,

    I am glad you enjoyed my essay. I will take a look at your links and comment on your blog.

    Cheers,

    Patrick

    Dear Patrick Tonin,

    Please excuse me for I do not wish to be too critical of your fine essay and I do hope that it fairs well in the competition.

    Only nature could produce a reality so simple, a single cell amoeba could deal with it.

    One real visible Universe must have only one reality. Simple natural reality has nothing to do with any abstract complex musings about any imaginary invisible "information and consciousness (that) are inevitable and ubiquitous in the (invisible) Universe and that our 3D material reality is only an emergent phenomenon." The real Universe must consist only of one unified visible infinite physical surface occurring in one infinite dimension, that am always illuminated by infinite non-surface light.

    A more detailed explanation of natural reality can be found in my essay, SCORE ONE FOR SIMPLICITY. I do hope that you will read my essay and comment on its merit.

    Joe Fisher, Realist

    Thank you dear Patrick for your positive comment.

    I read your essay, and although it is very short but it does actually touch on the basic reality, though it requires further analysis.

    In my openion althogh everything is essentially predestined, but since we do not know the destination we need to work in order to arrive to it. So you see it is all about knowledge and information as you said. The best way to understand this is to take two points of view, or two refernces as in Relativity.

    So with respect to someone moving at the speed of light, everything exits all at once (and this is obtained by Relativity itself; a photon encounters no space-time), so everything is known, but with respect to an inertial observer, he/she need to move through space and time in order to realize more potential information.

    In my original model as described in my other articles/books, I explain how one could attain these high states of realization. In summary this has to be by giviing away or giving up mass. This can even be seen through the equations:

    And then integrate from m to zero when dv=0:

    I hope the latex equations work!

    Best Regards

    Mohamed

      The essay is very short, but I like the ideas. It seems that the TRINITY of EXISTENCE CONSCIOUSNESS NONEXISTENCE is at work everywhere.

      Dear Janice,

      Thank you for reading my essay. I am glad that you like the ideas.

      All the best,

      Patrick

      Dear Patrick Tonin,

      Thank you for your beautiful discussion of information and consciousness in the physical world... Your conclusion is excellent... I fully agree: Consciousness is therefore ubiquitous in the Universe....

      For further discussion, hope you not mind, please see your words...

      1....." At the start of the Universe there is nothing, nothing exists, not even time."

      2...." At this stage, we could say that UB's are anywhere and at any time but also everywhere and at every time. From this point of view, we could say that the Universe is infinite and has always existed."

      Are contradicting yourself... ?

      Hope you will not mind having a look at my essay also...

      Best Regards

      =snp

        Dear Snp,

        That's a good point you make !

        In fact, it depends on the point of view. From the point of view of the Universe seen as a whole, we could say that it is infinite and has always existed but from the point of view of someone's reality, it has a definite start. I believe that there is an infinite number of realities.

        I will read your essay and leave a comment on your blog.

        Best regards,

        Patrick

        Thank you Patrick Tonin,

        For your nice reply. it is good to know that you also got similar ideas,Can you please send me that essay as attachment here or through email.

        My essay was available in viXra also, I also uploaded it there.......

        Can you please send your comments again to me thro my mail id snp.gupta@gmail.com

        Dear Patrick,

        This post I am reproducing from my essay...

        I know your words.... "At the start of the Universe there is nothing, nothing exists, not even time. The most fundamental notion, a state of existence itself, has to be defined. But as nothing exists, how can a state of existence be defined ? The only solution is simply to introduce a state of non-existence."... are concepts from Vedas only... As I remember it is from "Shristi suktam or the Hymn of creation"...

        I bow low for knowledge of Vedas..... Excellent... !

        Can you please send me some more details of your paper on your universe model.....

        Best wishes to your essay

        =snp

        Patrick: I like your approach to the philosophy of science -- it is very plain, straightforward, and concise. I would like to hear how you define "choice," given your assertion on p. 2 that a primordial choice can be either made or not made. Does choice evolve, and if so, how would primordial choice be manifested in the emergent world we observe?

        It strikes me that your first-principles approach to a universe ontologically made of information shares similarities to the thesis of my 2012 FQXi essay, which won a prize. I expanded that into a book, which is available online for free if you have any interest in checking it out. Thanks for the read!

        -Karl Coryat

          Hi Karl,

          Thank you for reading my essay and for your nice comments.

          To answer your question, the primordial choice is made by the primordial state of consciousness. It is simply the most basic choice "to exist" or "not to exist". We could say that choice will evolve along with consciousness and I believe that the essence of that choice will always tend towards existence and that's why atoms, matter, plants, living organisms exist. The higher the state of consciousness, the more complex the "organism" is.

          I will take a look at your essay and also the 2012 one.

          All the best,

          Patrick

          Yes snp,

          you are correct: "not the non-existent existed, nor did the existent exist then" , nice !

          Interesting. Another perspective might be, rather than that the essence of choice will always tend toward existence, one could suggest that choice could go either way (perhaps with equal likelihood), and by the anthropic principle, we find ourselves in a world where choice has tended toward existence and ultimately consciousness. -KC

          Dear Patrick,

          I read your essay today and find that we are in more agreement.

          I adhere to view that the Universe is infinite and has always existed. And now, at the dawn of the technological singularity, we have chance to bring potential existence, potential non-existence into a 3D material reality.

          We can talk about problem of digital mind and look beyond the horizon of events after the point of singularity - "Digital mind - one of the ways to immortality"

          https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313724058_Digital_mind_-_one_of_the_ways_to_immortality

          https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278018597_Nanoclusters_as_superatoms_and_supermolecules