MIND AND MATTER
The basic question of philosophy dwells on Mind and Matter. The idealists believed that there is a universal consciousness or intelligence existed and the matter is a creation or an expression of this phenomenon. The materialists believed the other way, that mind is only an expression of matter.
There was a group of people who had taken a middle path. They are called duelists, who thought there is a parallel development of mind and matter.
Before we jump into any conclusion let us consider certain available data of the development of matter and mind.
Mind or consciousness is supposed to be the result of the activity of the nervous system or the brain. It is a conglomerate of, instinct, reasoning or logical thinking, emotions and intuition.
Our five senses play a substantial role in these matters. These are the pathways through which we know the external world. We collect the data through these pathways. They are processed in the brain. There are many centres in the brain, which deals with each activity of the brain. amygdala for that matter is the centre of emotional activity. The cortex for logical activity, etc. etc. All of them are interconnected and even interdependent. If you consider the evolution of the nervous system, the centre for involuntary activities were the 1st to develop later the centres for voluntary activities. The intellectual activities, language spirituality, artistic qualities etc. developed much later.
As far as we know by pure reasoning and logical analysis we have to hypothesize that there is no mind with out matter and mind is the product or property of the matter.
However, in the science of investigation there is a paradox. If you have to analyze a new phenomenon, you should have a tool, a yardstick. But how do we develop this yardstick? This has to be based on something relative or based on a hypothesis and then prove or disprove this hypothesis.
As I am not a physicist, I am not in a position to analyze the Big Bang, theory which is supposed to be the origin of the universe or the theory of the origin of matter. However, I want to mention that there is a theory, which states that the matter could originate from nothing. They say that in the vast vacuum matter could originate as charges or particles – may be to maintain the density of the ever-expanding universe.
Coming to the origin of life in our planet, we know that life originated somewhere about 2000 millions of years ago. Then, about 200 crores of years after the birth our planet, this globe of ours was a warm cesspool of chemical activities. It was a vast laboratory where elements and molecules were formed and destroyed. More stable ones survived. The weak and the unstable ones reacted with others to form stable ones or even divided to form new ones. In the process amino acids and proteins were formed. We know stability is what every matter, even elements finally long for. Even two hydrogen atoms for stability combine together and form a hydrogen molecule by sharing their orbiting electrons. Likewise some unstable proteins could form a protective covering of stable proteins. So, the 1st form of life originated by natural chemical activities. The 1st requisite or law for life is self-protection.
By creating a protective covering the protein or the life matter could create an environment of its own. We could say that ‘Life is a property of matter’. The movement of such a form - if you want to call it a ‘life form’ - was due to chemical attraction and repulsion, which is called chemotaxis. Again reproduction was a chemical reaction only. It could be the 2nd requisite for life, that is making a replica of its own from the molecules surrounding it, which is called chemoautotrophism.
Well, when the two essential prerequisites for the survival and propagation are achieved life went on for further pursuit of advancement or evolution. It is definitely not competition but co-operation that stimulated the evolution. If it was competition, the life in its early stages would not have survived the hostile environment. The development of multicellular organism form a single cell was a glanring example of co-operation. It is widely accepted concept that mitochondria were a separate organism, which was incorporated to the cell and became an inevitable part of the cell to conduct the metabolism. It is probably one of the striking examples of symbiogenesis.
The ameba moves about protruding its podium and changing its shape. It is actually either a repulsion or attraction to a particular molecule and is a passive movement by chemotaxis. But in higher forms the passive movement has changed over to active. Instinct is a higher form of chemically directed activity. Nobody teaches a bird to build a nest. It is more of an instinct. Most of the activities of lower forms of animals are directed by the external environment. For example there is a fish, which develop into a male or female depending on the sex of the fishes of the same species in the vicinity.
Well, from passive movement to active movement, from molecular antagonism and affinity to instinct was a slow progress or even quantum jump in evolution.
In higher forms slowly emotions and logical thinking come into play and the highest to develop was intuition and self-awareness.
One nobel laureate in physics once said, “The greatest example of telekinesis is the movement of molecules and particle in response to your thought”. This could be considered as the power of mind over matter.
Passive movements or activities are evident in higher forms. Pavlov’s theory of conditioned reflex holds a clear example for this. Salivation at the indication of food is one.
Higher forms like we the humans, could reject the temptation of the external stimuli. How hungry we may be, we can reject food. This is the power of the mind. It is winning of mind over matter. Our great minds could even reject strong temptations and can be raised to a state bliss by achieving ‘Indriya Nigraha’. May be as we evolve further. We may be able to control the external world by the power of mind not indirectly but directly.
In conclusion I would like to opine that consciousness (or mind or thought process), which is a sum total of instinct, emotions, reasoning and finally self awareness (unique to humans) though linked to matter and to our knowledge, which is not having a separate existence devoid of matter, has got a parallel existence and have an evolution of its own right.
We started observing the expression of consciousness from the start of the living organism. The materialists believe that it is only a property of the living matter. But in higher forms thought can move the molecules or otherwise matter. The expression of consciousness looms bigger and bigger as the living forms evolved to higher and higher forms.
If such is the case, can we retrace back and presume that consciousness was there even before the 1st form of life existed? That it was not evident to us for there was no means of expression for it.
When we consider the opinion that matter is created in a vacuum – from nothing, how do we explain? Can we say matter is only a property of the consciousness – A universal consciousness? Or is it only the product of consciousness?
Human beings have got the largest gestation period among the living organism. The lower forms, if you mince; each cell will grow into an individual organism.
From creation of matter to the expression of consciousness is only a gestation period in the reproduction of consciousness. Reproduction is the highest form expression.
Thrissur,
The real valuable thing is intuition.
Albert Einstein.
The superior man understands what is right, the inferior man understands what
will sell.
Confucius.
When the electron vibrates the universe shakes.
Arthur Eddington.
The heart has reasons of its own, which the head can never understand.
Pascal.
‘Above the logic of the head is the feeling in the heart’
Rousseau.
Man is that process of reality in which and through which the cosmic process has become conscious and has begun to comprehend itself.
John Huxley.
“Devine which was the earliest seed of spirit”
“He who surveys it in the highest heaven.
He only knows – or even he knows it not”
Song of creation – Rig-Veda.
veeyem
No comments:
Post a Comment