The Conscious Universe: Embracing a Reality Rooted in Mind

The Conscious Universe: Embracing a Reality Rooted in Mind

“The mainstream metaphysics of our culture – materialism – posits that the empirical world is fundamentally outside consciousness. The world supposedly consists of an unfathomably complex assemblage of stand-alone material particles, all of which would still exist in the absence of any subjective experience.” (Bernardo Kastrup, Brief Peeks Beyond)Many people are of the opinion that metaphysical questions – those dealing with the ultimate nature of reality – have little practical importance in our day-to-day lives. It may be interesting to speculate about what constitutes the fundamental substance of reality, but the conclusions we draw won’t change how we live. Or will they? In this article, we explore why it matters whether we believe that matter is fundamental to reality, or whether consciousness or mind is fundamental.For several centuries, materialism has been the dominant metaphysical paradigm. Most scientists, and most members of the general public, believe that matter is the fundamental element of reality, and that all phenomena can be accounted for by interactions of their material parts. Materialism, however, may have reached its peak of influence, as the flaws in this theory are becoming too difficult to ignore.“Materialism is waning in a number of significant respects – one of which is the ever-growing number of major philosophers who reject materialism or at least have strong sympathies with anti-materialist views. It is of course commonly thought that over the course of the last 60 or so years materialism achieved hegemony in academic philosophy. . . It is therefore surprising that an examination of the major philosophers active in this period reveals that a majority, or something approaching a majority, either reject materialism or had serious and specific doubts about its ultimate viability.” (Robert Koons and George Bealer, The Waning of Materialism)One of the biggest problems with materialism is its inability to account for consciousness. For decades, materialist philosophers have tried to explain how matter can give rise to mind, but so far they have failed miserably at this task. Materialists claim that consciousness is an emergent property (an epiphenomenon) of brain metabolism. This assertion, however, is merely a hypothesis, something Carl Jung recognized nearly a century ago:“Despite the materialistic tendency to understand the psyche as a mere reflection or imprint of physical and chemical processes, there is not a single proof of this hypothesis.” (Carl Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious)Another problem with materialism is that it struggles to account for the origins of life. How can certain configurations of inert matter give rise to living and conscious beings? Materialists cannot answer this question and as Bernardo Kastrup writes:“Nobody knows today how life could emerge from dead matter. There are dozens of theories and even more loose avenues of speculation, but no one has ever managed to re-create life from dead matter – a process called ‘abiogenesis’ – in a laboratory. Therefore, there is just no proof that life could ever have arisen from nonlife through purely mechanistic means. Yet mechanistic abiogenesis is indispensable for materialism. Without it, materialism would fall apart, for it would fail to explain that which conceived materialism in the first place: human life.” (Bernardo Kastrup, Brief Peeks Beyond)Due to the failures of materialism many philosophers are gravitating towards metaphysical theories that hold consciousness, rather than matter, as primary. Some philosophers argue that consciousness, or some form of experience, is inherent in all physical entities, a position known as panpsychism or panexperientialism. Others suggest that all of reality is a mental phenomenon, and that what we interpret as matter is a manifestation of mind. This position is known as idealism, or as Kastrup explains, idealism is the view that:“...all reality is a phenomenon of, and in, mind. To idealists, there is only the medium of mind and its contents. Everything you see, hear, feel, think, or otherwise cognize right now exists, to an idealist, only insofar as it unfolds in mind. There is no abstract external world outside mind.” (Bernardo Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney)In his book, Brief Peeks Beyond, Kastrup examines several ways that the world could change should materialism lose its grip on society and idealism take its place as the dominant metaphysical paradigm.Firstly, this paradigmatic shift would shake up the scientific establishment by changing the questions scientists ask and the phenomena they research. Currently, most scientists only investigate phenomena that can be explained within the materialist paradigm. So-called paranormal phenomena, such as clairvoyance, telekinesis, precognition, psychokinesis, and near-death experiences, are ignored or even ridiculed by mainstream scientists, as they shouldn’t be possible if materialism were true. If, however, the scientific community were to adopt the view that mind is fundamental, rather than matter, then these phenomena, which already have substantial evidence supporting their existence, would no longer be considered taboo. Or as Kastrup writes:“If the a priori basis against parapsychology were to disappear, so that critical resources and people could be committed to it in scales much greater than ever before, what could science discover in this field?” (Bernardo Kastrup, Brief Peeks Beyond)A second change that would come from accepting idealism relates to our view of death. The materialist doctrine has us believe that consciousness is an emergent property of the physical brain. When the brain stops working, therefore, our experience ends, and we cease to exist. However, if we believe that consciousness, or mind, is primary we can be more open to the possibility of some form of life after death, or as Kastrup writes:“If all reality is in consciousness, then your consciousness is not generated by your body. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that your consciousness will end when your body dies. Your body is simply the outside image of a particular configuration of consciousness that you experience when you are alive. When you die, that configuration – or state – of consciousness will change, perhaps dramatically. Changes in your state of consciousness, however, happen all the time: when you wake up suddenly from an intense nightly dream, your consciousness changes its state rather dramatically as well. Now, would we live life differently – perhaps in a less anxious, more present and grounded manner – if we knew that death isn’t the end of consciousness? If the fear of death were no longer viable as an instrument of social control or economic gain, what would be the practical consequences for our culture, economy and society at large?” (Bernardo Kastrup, Brief Peeks Beyond)A third way the world could change if idealism were to rise in popularity involves the field of medicine. Medicine, perhaps even more than science in general, is dominated by the materialist paradigm. Most doctors believe that all disease is a result of problems within the physical body and often overlook the mental side of the equation. “Today’s healthcare systems treat us as biological robots because the materialist metaphysics defines us as such. Consequently, doctors often behave as mechanics, instead of healers.” (Bernardo Kastrup, Brief Peeks Beyond)If the idealist position were to be taken more seriously, our approach to healing would dramatically change. Under idealism, it makes no sense to focus exclusively on the physical aspects of disease. Instead, when mind is held to be primary, greater emphasis must be placed on healing the psyche – as the body is but a manifestation of mind. Idealism, in other words, should give rise to a more integrative approach to medicine, or as Kastrup explains:“Integrative medicine encompasses a variety of approaches to healthcare focusing on mind-body interaction. Unlike mainstream materialist medicine, which treats a patient’s body as a biological mechanism, integrative medicine seeks to heal the whole being, including – and often starting from – one’s psychic, emotional functions. It is a more holistic approach to healing that, because of the metaphysical bias carried by our culture’s mainstream materialist worldview, has largely been neglected over the past several decades.” (Bernardo Kastrup, Brief Peeks Beyond)Which metaphysical doctrine we believe in has huge implications for the course of society, the way we view life, death, and the self, and what phenomenon we research using the tools of science. In an upcoming video series, we will delve more deeply into the problems with the materialist doctrine, the idealist alternative, and we will explore the fascinating world of paranormal phenomena.