If one looks on reality as causal and mechanistic, as is the view of prevailing scientific theories, does it make sense that “machines” that are sufficiently interconnected and complex (and by machines I mean even biological organisms) become conscious and have a mind? Does it make sense that there is a threshold of interconnectedness and complexity beyond which machines which were previously unconscious “magically” become conscious? If there is not a threshold of complexity beyond which unconscious becomes conscious, what is the connection between the causal mechanistic view and consciousness?
“Where” is the consciousness and “who” has it? March 19, 2019: What connects consciousness to the mechanistic causal explanations offered by science? Think about the conscious beings we know the best…ourselves, and biological beings like ourselves. We can, within limits (for example on or near the surface of the Earth) control the details of our behavior. Within restrictions we can choose where we go, when we go, and how fast we go.
We can therefore, within limits, initiate and control our changes in momentum and the changes of momentum of other objects and other beings in our vicinity. Force is defined as the rate of change of momentum. It has both direction and magnitude. If we biological beings can within limits initiate and control our changes of momentum and thereby “create” forces, it is not unreasonable to assume that all forces are manifestations of the behaviors of intelligent conscious beings.
From the mechanistic causal view of physics, all forces can be explained as arising from the 4 elementary forces:
1. The strong nuclear force holds the nucleus together despite the electromagnetic repulsion of the protons. 2. The weak nuclear force causes nuclear transformations and radioactive decay. Both types of nuclear force are usually confined within the nucleus.
3. The electromagnetic force holds atoms and molecules together via the attraction of negatively charged electrons and positively charged nuclei as well as the repulsion of negatively charged electrons for each other. All chemical structures, biochemical structures, and biological beings are “built” from the elementary electromagnetic force. 4. The gravitational force holds solar systems and galaxies together, and also creates black holes and neutron stars.
With these ideas as a background, it is postulated that all elementary forces are manifestations of the behavior of intelligent conscious beings. It behooves us, therefore, to examine the behaviors exhibited by the elementary forces.
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