Consciousness Explained - Simply

CONSCIOUSNESS EXPLAINED, SIMPLY
Towards a new science of consciousness

g. lawrence murphy,
may 2011
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Qualia are the hard problem
in the study o' consciousness, we say the 12ualia1 are the hard pro&lem meaning that i' we
could only sol(e the 2ualia issue, the rest o' our understanding o' consciousness would 'all
into place. 3 &elie(e 3 ha(e stum&led into a simple empirical demonstration o' the natural
'unction o' 2ualia and through this 3 demonstrate the ine(ita&le progression nature ta%es
'rom there to the creation o' the &rain, the creation o' camou'lage, o' language, and the
creation o' recipes and tele(ision shows and all o' the arti'acts o' consciousness and yes
things do 4ust 'all into place.
What 3 propose here is not astounding or no(el5 it is 'undamentally the notice o' a &lind*
sight. 3t is &ased on an introspecti(e o&ser(ation 3 &elie(e anyone can ma%e, an o&ser(ation
that we do ma%e all the time without reali6ing &ecause it goes &y so 2uic%ly, and an
o&ser(ation that we sadly sometimes o(erloo% and e7ploit to our own disad(antage. 3
propose 'rom there, 'rom this simple matter o' 'act o&ser(ation, only a re*'raming o'
phenomenological purpose and scope o' the 2ualia, a positi(e and demonstra&ly natural
change in perspecti(e on the philosophical concept o' the 2ualia, and &y e7tension then the
phenomenon o' consciousness also &ecomes re*'ramed into a sense where the mystery o'
the mind &ecomes a natural and perhaps ine(ita&le thing.
8his is not a theoretical or technical &oo%. 3 ha(e not tried to e7plain the mechanics o' any
2uantum processes or chronicle the histories o' any pro%aryote to eu%aryote e(olutions or
what ha(e you 9 3 use these concepts in my e7position, &ut 'or the deep details, all o' these
things are 'ar &etter e7plained &y others &etter (ersed in the physics and &iological details
and to this end 3 ha(e pro(ided a &i&liography, much o' it readily accessi&le online. 8his
&oo% also contains no ta&les or plots o' data, there are no e2uations or logs o' e7perimental
trials &ecause none are needed5 this &oo% is only the report o' a simple, direct, :li(e in the
'ield; o&ser(ation that 3 &elie(e o' itsel' signi'icantly changes our prior approach to the
e7isting data, and 'rom there 3 o''er the logical philosophic that emerges spontaneously
'rom this small change in the 'ormulation o' the question o' the 2ualia.
)nd yes, 2ualia were the hard pro&lem, and they still do pose us some signi'icant riddles
&e'ore we can understand their origin or emulate them in our in(entions, &ut 4ust as we had
suspected, once we grasp the &iological purpose and glimpsed the scope and 'unction o' the
2ualia, indeed as 3 hope this small &oo% will show, large swaths o' our understanding o' the
phenomenon o' consciousness do 'all tidily into place.
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Consciousness =7plained, Simply
Table of Contents
8he <ro&lem o' >ualia............................................................................................................"
>ualia are the ?ard <ro&lem..............................................................................................-
We are )@@ Super*Organisms............................................................................................A
8he +esired Besult.............................................................................................................8
8he <urpose o' @i'e is 8o @i(e...........................................................................................$
8he 8rue ature o' >ualia.....................................................................................................11
Crom Simple Drains come Detter Drains..........................................................................12
#onster !ai4u o' the +eep...............................................................................................14
Super*Consciousness in Super*Organisms.......................................................................14
Be(isiting the ?ard <ro&lem.................................................................................................16
8he Dirth o' atural @anguage.........................................................................................2"
>ualia in )d(ertising........................................................................................................2A
8he Ehost in the #achine....................................................................................................."2
8he Synthetic 3 ................................................................................................................"2
Bo&o*)pocalypseF <ro&a&ly not......................................................................................"4
8rans*humanism, perhaps................................................................................................."4
8he @imits o' Consciousness 3ntegration........................................................................."6
>ualia, Consciousness and Eod............................................................................................"A
8he atural Cunction o' <rayer........................................................................................"$
8he Gen o' Consciousness....................................................................................................40
1Who is itF1........................................................................................................................41
8he @esson o' Ga6en........................................................................................................42
Hnity is <lural, at #inimum, 8wo.........................................................................................4-
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The Problem of Quala
:>ualia; are the (i(id li(ing e7perience o' the 2uality o' things, the (i&rant li(ing image o'
our contact with reality. Our senses e7tract in'ormation o(er a (ariety o' channels, and all
o' this in'ormation is pooled into this (i(id sense that we consider sel'*e(ident, that we are
1e7periencing1. We can descri&e a rose or an apple, &ut when we thin% o' a rose, what we
e7perience, su&4ecti(ely, is a rich e7perience that includes en4oying the smell and a(oiding
the thorns.
8he 'irst problem with 2ualia is they would appear, to the pragmatic computer scientist, as
unnecessary. 8he image is o' a colour scientist in a &lac% and white room with access to
e(ery &oo% on colour and optics a(aila&le, &ut only in &lac% and white or o(er &lac% and
white 8I. 8hey learn e(ery lesson and can answer directly any 2uestions posed into the
terminal in the room on the topic o' colour and yet they themsel(es ha(e no actual direct
(i&rant e7perience o' &lue. 8hen one day they escape their achromatic condition and there,
they remar%, is blue! Cor the 'irst time they are actually seeing what &e'ore had only &een
theory and imagination.JS=O<K
1
Why do they speak with the same authority before actually seeing the colour? )ny o&4ect
and its relationships to other o&4ects should &e descri&ed su''iciently entirely within a
data&ase o' 'act assertions o' prior e7perience gathered details, the mi7 o' the redness, the
weight and so 'orth. Such a %nowledge catalogue should &e all that an intelligence re2uires
to ma%e all necessary 4udgements. So then why should the human need also to 1e7perience1
a rose in its (i(id whole*te7ture Bed*1A roseness such as to &egin composing sonnets a&out
itF Why should there &e this gap &etween the assem&lage o' 'acts and the (i(id e7perience
o' the realityFJDlutnerK 3 will rephrase this 2uestion o' why the vividness &y as%ing instead,
What purpose do qualia serve to the natural creature?
8he second and perhaps more pressing pro&lem with 2ualia is where they might actually
e7ist. We %now we ha(e the rich e7perience, this is an e7periential 'act, the rose is (i(id
and e7perience is deep in all the ways that we e7perience, and we %now where the light
1 Cor a real*world e7ample o' the achromatic room, Bo&ert !rulwich tells us o' the history o' the disco(ery
o' the 'i'th taste sense &y Lapanese chemist !i%unae 3%eda who identi'ied the trigger o' this new sense as
glutamic acid. 3%eda had recogni6ed his Umami taste as present in cheese, meats and some (egeta&les, &ut
ha(ing isolated it, )sia was a&le to populari6e the new taste sensation worldwide ... as #SE. J!rulwichK
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enters the eyes and where sound and touch and taste are all processed, &ut since we are
e7periencing this completely integrated suchness o' the 'lower &e'ore us, where does that
suchness-feeling thing coalesce and reside?
8o that last part, 3 cannot say, 3 ha(e nothing readily a(aila&le to &e set under any
microscope 'or direct o&ser(ation5 on that issue o' where the 2ualia may reside and how
they are represented 3 am mostly mute, o''ering some speculation that 3 &elie(e is
compelling &ut speculation nonetheless. 3 ha(e some new constraints howe(er on the
structure and the scope o' the 2ualia that may narrow the search, and 3 &elie(e 3 ha(e a
compelling case to place the entirety o' the 2ualia e7perience in the real world o' corporeal
&iological cell tissue, &ut where, e7actly, and how, 3 cannot say.
8o the first 2uestion, howe(er, 3 will ha(e much to say that 3 &elie(e is o' itsel' enough o' a
paradigm shi't as to either completely re4u(enate the science o' the study o' consciousness
and arti'icial intelligence, or generate a great hearty laugh 'rom a great many scientists who
%now &etter or ha(e heard it all &e'ore. 3t did howe(er seem to me to &e important, and
ha(ing &een struc% &y the 'alling apple o' this direct o&ser(ation, the tum&lers 4ust %ept
setting up and unloc%ing concepts that 3 'elt had to &e written down and shared, whether 'or
science or science 'iction 3 don1t %now, it did not seem rele(ant as 3 wrote this, it only
seemed urgent that the idea &e stated as clearly as 3 could manage. )nd it is an aw%ward
set o' concepts to relate.
3n the 'ollowing pages 3 shall demonstrate that the 2ualia are communications phenomena,
that they are present in the simplest o' li'e 'orms, and 3 shall gi(e new credence to the 1$
th

century &elie' .as held &y Wash&urn, Donet, +arwin etc0 that a consciousness, howe(er
rudimentary, is present in nearly and perhaps all li'e 'orms and that ature may do so
precisely &ecause the consciousness resides 'irmly in the physical chemistry. 3 shall show
how >ualia are re2uired 'or all li'e 'unctions, and that the consciousness in li(ing creatures,
e(en down to the paramecium escaping a pipette, is a natural progression. Curther still, 3
shall show how consciousness, as an in'ormation ecology, is not intrinsically &ound to
li(ing creatures5 a bonafide 1conscious1 arti'icial intelligence may &e completely possi&le.
)nd it will get cra6ier still/ 'rom my initial direct and repeata&le o&ser(ation 3 will propose
a necessary origin 'or the natural language we o&ser(e across the species, a go(erning
process on ecology and perhaps e(en directly on e(olution itsel'J?amero''$8K, and 3 will
demonstrate a uni'ication o' &iology and mystic shamanism through the o&ser(ed e7tension
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o' these &asic component processes and e(olutions in sea e7tremophiles, and 'rom these, a
natural progression in the emergence o' local area and (ery pro&a&ly glo&al or uni(ersal
consciousness networ%s that, while perhaps ordinary and mundane in content and
e7ecution, is nonetheless (ery practical, pragmatic and ine(ita&le once gi(en ature1s &ase
cogniti(e technology. >uestions will remain on 4ust how all o' this is mani'est, managed
and e7ecuted, &ut the 'act o' the span and integral composite consciousness o' all li'e, 3
promise you, will emerge plain as day.
3 e7pect that right there should &e enough to get mysel' laughed out o' any respecta&le
academy. 3 urge the rest o' you to &ear with my madness, and read on.
Qualia are the Hard Problem
?ere is where my thin%ing &egins, with one simple, easily repeata&le empirical test that
anyone can and in 'act o'ten does on themsel(es without reali6ing the implications.
3n treatment 'or a (ery &ad respiratory in'ection, 3 was administered a massi(e dosage o'
anti&iotics, and as happens when the &ody is 'looded with amo7icillin, my gut completely
e(acuated, repeatedly, until clearly there was not only nothing more to mo(e &ut a serious
loss o' lining material as well. 8hat is more than you want to %now &ut the point here is
that 3 was in a uni2ue situation as an o&ser(er/ 3 was now to witness the complete re&uild o'
my own digesti(e system. 3 was reduced 'rom my role as the Ereat and <ower'ul ?uman
Consciousness to &e the mere o&ser(er, and as it turns out, the mediator, the mediator 'or
something else.
When we e7perience a purging situation, our 1'lora1 .as my nurse*practitioner calls them0
will hide away some in the )ppendi7 and on some sort o' a coast-is-clear signal, the gut
&acteria return to their ha&itat and &egin re&uilding the 'amiliar world that will pro(ide me
with 'amiliar human eating ha&its. @et1s not worry here how these &acterial 1%new1 to hide
.pro&a&ly a reser(e is %ept0 or how they determine that the 1purge1 is 'inished, 31m sure a
doctor can tell us. What is instructi(e to us here is in the 'irst 2uestion 3 was as%ed &y my
wi'e on my path to reco(ery/
:Would you like some soup?;
3 as%ed what %ind and she o''ered a &roth. )s happens when we are gi(en concrete
concepts, especially in the situation, 3 e7perienced a deep 2ualia o' the &roth, it was as i' to
2uery my &ody, to as% those Clora, :Would you like some soup?;
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Who did 3 as%FM
Curther to my delusion, 3 recei(ed a clear and une2ui(ocal answer 'or this soup and 'or
e(ery small ad(ance up the meal*chain therea'ter, :Would W like some soup?;
:!" #$%"; or :&'!; all the way down the line. Some 'oods were dis2uali'ied 'or the
smallest detail5 3 could only descri&e the re4ection o' the chic%en &roth &ecause
synaesthetically it :had a sharp orange point; &ut 3 only %new 3 could not stand in the same
room with it. 3 ha(e no idea what a&out it was so unaccepta&le at this point in my reco(ery,
it was &eyond my understanding. )ll 3 could do was to present each o' these options in turn
and to as% :(o we want this?;
Dut you see, 3 don1t %now. 3 don1t e(en really %now where the damage really is in my gut
let alone understand the 'ine points o' the chemical interactions that might ensue 'rom
mi7ing the precarious state o' the gut lining re&uild with whate(er su&stance my wi'e was
a&out to ha(e accepted or surreptitiously re4ected.
Clearly 3 had to &e as%ing some sort o' sta%eholder who did 1%now1 and who %new a great
deal more a&out the situation than 3. Lust as clearly, that sta%eholder was ne(er reluctant to
gi(e a reply. What1s more, as my health impro(ed 3 would e7perience the spontaneous deep
2ualia o' 'oods that 3 %new we had in the house, or that 3 %new were a(aila&le at the near&y
mar%et. :'h ) do really feel like having ...; we o'ten say to oursel(es5 what do we mean &y
thatF
8his is a readily repeata&le e7periment. We see the same thing occur with children and
some o' our culturally more 1ad(anced1 'oods, they will recoil immediately at 'irst, to
e(eryone1s amusement, &ut as they age their wanting to 'it in .and a(oid the ridicule as :too
young;0 they will (enture closer, perhaps try a taste, yet there 2uite 'latly the 2ualia, once
offered is re4ected o(er and o(er again until, at some magic age, :) guess ) do like
mushrooms!;
8here is something more at play here/
1. 3 1present1 to my &ody the pure*2ualia description o' what *e-*yself-) ha(e 'ound
out here in the 1real world1
2. the &ody responds with another pure*2ualia result, either a :warm and 'u66y;
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acceptance, a re4ection or also with another deep 2ualia image o' an alternati(e or a
modi'ication
". &ased on this dialogue, my sel'*3 controls our &eha(iour 'or the ma7imum li%ing o'
all in(ol(ed.
8his is a time*lineM 3t is a communications se2uence diagram/ we send a message 1there1 we
get an answer 1here1 implying the use o' time to draw additional sense out o' the 2ualia
e(ents. 8he >ualia are the 1snapshot1 images relaying the current or desired situation, and
consciousness there'ore arises out o' a simple a&ility to %eep the time*line.
We are ALL Super-Organisms
8he human &ody is not simply a na%ed ape, it is a cauldron o' cooperati(e and
interdependent &ut &iologically distinct organisms wo(en into a ecology o' needs and
contractual o&ligations. Our el&ows depend on micro organisms, our gut o&(iously is a
metropolis o' li'e'orms, our eyes are maintained &y organisms, &y count we are some $0N
some other %ind o' cell other than ape, ha(ing &ound together in ancient times to &etter
utili6e 'ood resources, we now mo(e a&out as an autonomous &ut poly*li'e'orm super*
organism collecti(ely called *an. Our &ody is a whole world o' creatures. JElausius6K
JWennerK
=(en within the ape*creature 'orm itsel', the e(olutionary record tells us that the 'irst multi*
cell 1super*organism1 occurred when one cell engul'ed another and the two continued on in
a happy colla&oration, and slowly o(er the aeons multi*cell creatures &ound with multi*cell
creatures 'or their mutual &ene'it and thus did appear all o' the aggregate li'e 'orms, happy
colla&orations o' consenting creatures.
Crom my direct o&ser(ation o' the call*response 3 e7perienced directly, 3 propose that the
1>ualia1 that we e7perience, the rich pulse all at once whole &ody e7perience image is in
'act the means &y which the super*organism components in charge o' perception and
outward &eha(iour are coordinated. >ualia are the e7pression o' the detected speci'ics in
the present reality broadcast down to the shop*'loor wor%ers and &ac%. >ualia are the
means where&y the decisions made outwardly may &alance the current needs o' all these
many creatures in the hidden inner worlds. >ualia appear to us as 'eature*rich &ecause they
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are much li%e a 'ractal
2
5 the depth o' the accessi&le in'ormation a&out the present conditions
conte7t must include a(enues to e7tract all the details necessary 'or all the sta%eholders to
ma%e their assessments, and that in'ormation will &e (ery di''erent 'or the consumer
epicurean mind than 'or the nutrient digesting gut. Same soup, di''erent points o' (iew,
di''erent in'ormation needs.
) simple #rimary +onsciousness is then a necessary e7tension o' the simple whole*state
2ualia e7perience. 8he conte7t now stated, as the 2ualia, a stream o' consciousness arises
naturally as the creature engages in a &ac% and 'orth call*response o' 2ualia so as to
cy&ernetically steer the controlla&le &eha(iours o' the organism through constant
in'ormation updates and whole*system needs and wants 'eed&ac% chec%s. 8his is primal
and immediate, arising 'rom the com&ination o' the sensory .pro(iding the 2ualia0 and the
desired result only, 'ar &e'ore the standard model o' neuronal maps that are posited &y
=delman and 8ononi J+u&ucK these are 'eed&ac%*guided phenomenon that can occur at a
(ery low*order o' &eing.
3' we return to Stuart ?amero''1s single*cell capti(e, the creature is a&le to sol(e the pu66le
o' the pipette trap &ecause, as a single*cell li'e 'orm, it has no one to 1tal%1 to other than its
en(ironment, so it poses the 2ualia outward, recei(es a pipette*trap 2ualia in return, and
acts to optimi6e that return result so that the re2uest produces a more desira&le result.
The Desired Result
8he simple elegance o' this o&ser(ation on the origin o' consciousness is that we need not
postulate any desire in ature &eyond the already (ery apparent tenacity o' li'e to optimi6e
its har(esting o' en(ironmental resources, and yet 'rom this (ery simple start, all sorts o'
comple7 &eha(iours can arise.
2 3 am using the term 1'ractal1 (ery metaphorically here, to suggest a sense o' location that is in'initely
e7plora&le to ha(e the same access characteristics o' the original, howe(er, the in'ormation is not
replicated, e(en with (ariation5 deeper in'ormation is new and uni2ue although keyed to the &eginning
location. ) more apt metaphor might &e to consider the streaming o' progressi(e meshes in the
presentation o' (irtual reality displays. 3n progressi(e meshes, an initial low*resolution image is 2uic%ly
&rought to the display and the details then 'illed in progressi(ely5 in this way the IB player1s point o' (iew
determines the su&set o' the data&ase that is rendered, and the amount o' time they tarry at any point
determines the depth and richness o' the rendering. 8his metaphor is still not completely apt as 3 mean
here to imply an entry*point to the 2ualia*map where the sta%eholder may del(e 'or deeper understanding,
the chemical composition o' the 'ood 'or e7ample, in'ormation important to the sta%eholder &ut
uninteresting to the consciousness who has selected and 'ormed the 2ualia.
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We are still le't perhaps with a gap &etween the early primiti(e sel'*replicating molecules
up through the still (ery passi(e B), &ut then we see a spar% o' acti(ity with the rise o'
the sel'*autonomous eukaryotes, an e(olutionary leap a&o(e the prior pro%aryotes that had
primed the ground so to spea%. )t this new le(el, there is a sudden comple7ity, a di(ersity
and an e7plosion o' di(ersitiesJ?amero''8AK. 3t is here where 3 propose that the 2ualia
sensation and its re'le7, i.e. the 'irst primiti(e consciousness, saw its 'irst light.
We can &egin at a (ery &asic arrangement, simply with the joie de vivre, the e7u&erance to
continue the chain*reaction o' resources into 1li'e1 as the #rime (irective the initial en6yme
or whate(er 'inding itsel' as a lit candle 2uic%ly 'i66les out, ignorant o' how to %eep the 'ire
&urning, and physically una&le to do much a&out the situation e(en i' it did somehow %now,
e(en i' it did %now that all ) need is to move one small millimetre this way and the sunlight
will be stronger, or the salt content less, or whate(er the condition. Dut it cannot, it can only
&urn out and &e gone. 8o &e li'e, we need more than 4ust the 'ire, at minimum we need to
&e a&le to feed it, to grasp some sense o' sel'*determination, we need free-will &ut we also
need to %now that it matters what we do. We need the %nowledge and the physical a&ility
to shi't oursel(es into a better condition to %eep that 'lame going and to recogni,e when we
get there.
What we need is the reali,ation o' our present, a status report, a snapshot howe(er limited,
we need a &asic qualia awareness o' where we are and how that sits in relation to the
en(ironment, we need to e7press this 2ualia in a whole*&ody way such that the e7pression
causes only the (ery slightest twitch on one protein chain that su''ices as a paddle and lo
we ha(e locomotion and direction. Our 2ualia sensory in'ormation gathering and paddle
twitching are one and the same simple %ha &ut &ecause we can now e7ist, consciously in
time, our simple little li'e*'ire creature has options, our little 'riend can directly a''ect the
outcome o' this &urning, a shi't this way ma%es us happy, pause the paddle until it dri'ts to
the other side and pulse again, happier still. 8he 4oie de (i(re is &ornM
)t the most &asic 'orm, the li'e 'orms that digest the earth1s roc% at the (ery &eginning o'
the li'e se2uence need a 'ew conditions/ water, the mineral 'ood, the air and sunlight. 8he
Consciousness +ialogue o' 2ualia in this creature with its 'ellows and or en(ironment
would &e simply the (i(id &acteriological 1image1 o' growth conditions and the reply
:Detter to the right a little; and the organism gains a huge ad(antage o(er any random
selection o' &eha(iours to gain its +) 'oothold in the roc%. Our new +onscious "oldier
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en6yme is more than 4ust a candle &urning roc%, it can optimi6e and impro(e its own rate o'
de(ouring that delicious stone, it can grow, somehow 'ragment and replicate and the rest, as
they say, is ?istory.
The Purpose of Life is To Live
Oes, we ha(e come to the purpose o' li'e. 3t is not any grand cathedral*&uilding master plan
o&4ecti(e or super organi6ing scheme to the totality o' e7istence, &ut a simple 'act that all
li'e 'orms ha(e one and only one goal/ to %eep li(ing.
)nd li'e 'orms will do so tenaciously. )nyone who has attempted to disin'ect &eer*ma%ing
e2uipment %nows all too well how non*tri(ial it is to ensure the 'ield is (oid o' at least the
larger more o&(ious am&ient li'e 'orms, and how so much so impossi&le to sterili6e a
hospital OB. ) tan% o' water simply le't in the room is primed as an a2uarium in (ery short
order, li'e 'orms 'loc%ing to the wonder'ul new resource. 3n my case, in the depths o' my
in'ection, 3 disco(ered what e(ery health practitioner %nows only too well/ the total 1li'e1
'orm o' the human will gladly sacri'ice the Sel'*3, e(en sacri'ice the &rain, to preser(e 1li'e1
o(erall. Ce(ers will s%yroc%et, cough re'le7 will 'lip into (omit*re'le7, &eha(iours will
&ecome wild and 1irrational1 as the 1whole1 e7press the (i(id 2ualia o' what they need.
)s we see with the (ery simple organisms, the need to optimi6e li'e .i.e. the 2uest 'or 'ood
and right conditions 'or the continuance o' li(ing0 is the only e(olutionary pressure
re2uired to e(o%e the instant recognition o' the e(olutionary appearance o' 2ualia as a
superior li'e strategy. )s the populations thri(e, the single*cells would 'ind themsel(es
progressi(ely constrained and an e(olutionary 1pressure1 would select the more e''icient &ut
in'ormationally more comple7 multi*cell organisms.
3n the multi*cell li'e'orms, 2ualia e(ol(ed 'rom 2ueries against the neigh&ouring reality to a
consensus ecology chec% o' the 1%nown1 en(ironment against the real*time li(ing conditions
within our multi*cell host &ody, the 'irst sel'*consciousness dialogue, re(er&erating the now
o' the 2ualia with the &est*conditions chec% o' the colla&orati(e &ody cells, the multi*
'unction o' such cells pro(iding new speciali6ed means o' locomotion and en(ironment
sensing. )s organisms &egan to interplay and inter*depend, this constant e(olutionary
pressure to optimi6e only the li(ing o' li'e collided with the a(aila&le resources, the
creatures now 4oc%ey 'or position5 the inter* and intraspecies coordinating properties o' the
2ualia would show a 'a(our to atural Selection. 8he &eing that could sel'*impro(e its lot
most 2uic%ly clearly would out*progeny those stuc% with whate(er they1d &een case &y lot.
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3n the ensuing e(olutionary stages 'rom simple one*cell :Stuart put me in the pipette*trap
againM; progressing to the hominid as%ing themsel(es :would 3 li%e some soupF; perhaps
the adaptation o' 2ualia as whole*systems in'ormation sharing may ha(e also unco(ered
e(olution strategies ahead o' a random atural Selection, accelerating the e(olution o'
species as i' in a grand pipette*trap game.
The True Nature of Quala
We ha(e &een 'ooled &y our own neural*connectionist propensity 'or pattern e7traction, &y
our su&se2uent O&4ecti(ist,Beductionist philosophy a&out the >ualia o' this or that as a
-hing )n )tself. 8his was mista%en. >ualia are, rather, a singular, uni'ied thing5 they are
holistic, completely and ine7trica&ly interwo(en, they are the ice&erg protrusions o' a
deeper more massi(e cogniti(e reality. We do not ha(e distinct sets, a 2ualia a&out roses
and 2ualia a&out soup and 2ualia a&out red apples, we ha(e only the 2ualia itsel', the sum*
total mind*map o' our organism1s e7periential in'ormation a&out the present en(ironment,
howe(er accurate that may &e. )s more ad(anced organisms, you and 3 ha(e the a&ility to
6oom the 'ocus o' our present moment to the root o' .ose. We can e(en 4ust imagine it, &ut
e(en there, our 1selection1 o' the sense o' the recall is itsel' our this moment 2ualia
e7perience. We cannot li(e in the past, we re*collect and re*mem&er, &ut we do that in the
now.
3 %now/ 3 am using a plural, 12ualia1, in the sense o' a singular thing. 8his is intentional.
3 hesitate to use the metaphor o' the laser*inter'erence hologram &ecause this would ma%e
no sense. >ualia lac% the holographic 2uality o' ha(ing e(ery 'ragment containing the
complete image o' the whole. 8his would ma%e no sense 'rom a progressi(e de(elopment
e(olutionary standpoint/ in e(ery case we 'ind modern comple7 organisms are still using
1original1 operating system programs 'rom the (ery 'irst li'e 'orms. 8he Clora in my gut
"
,
" While there is compelling e(idence that it is possible 'or a trans*species 2ualia communications to occur,
and this will &e e7plored in depth later, it could also &e (ery well true that my gut*reactions are directly
wired sensations 'rom neurochemical actions within the ape*creature tissue that merely interprets the local
conditions o' the intestines etc and that it is still all within the neural 'ramewor%. 8he effect howe(er is
nonetheless dri(en &y the state o' the intestinal 'lora, howe(er it is that they ma%e their condition %nown
to the &ody, so 3 shall s%ip the middleman and allow that the communications does in 'act 'low 'rom my
consciousness down to the le(el o' my partner micro&iology.
<age 11 O' -4
some o' whom 3 e7pect may &e inherited a'ter &irth and may well &e older than my own
'amily tree, ha(e no %nowledge o' or any care to %now the commercial particulars o' the
&anana mash 3 ha(e 4ust presented. 8he la&el on the s%in, the species, its country o' origin,
all o' these things are a(aila&le to me as the presenter o' the 2ualia, indeed that 2ualia
proposition li%ely includes e(erything 3 e(er %new or speculated a&out &ananas, including
all the good news a&out the essential minerals that the +r would say are 1good1 'or me. Dut
the Clora say :o;.
8he >ualia there'ore is not a &undle thing that is presented e(erywhere the same, the same
hologram seen 'rom all percei(ers. 3t rather needs &e a 'ractal*li%e conceptual mind*map. 3t
needs more resem&le the world wide web as a (ast hyperlin% 'ield o' related in'ormations. 3t
contains images o' Carmen #iranda to distract me, it contains the 'i&rous content inde7
metric that the Clora need to compare to the current state o' the intestinal wall. )cross the
Super*Organism all the parts may (ery 2uic%ly as% the 2ualia re2uest in'ormation important
to them and then contri&ute to the aggregate result*2ualia that 3 will use to gently decline
more &anana.
Dut notice something else at play in my 'irst*person empirical e7amples/ the acti(e
selection o' the Bolode7 as it were is something 3 consciously do, it is 3 who o''er soup or
crac%ers or cheese and see% a passi(e reply5 it is 3 who thum& through the categories o'
%nown a(aila&le or o&taina&le items and try and see, see%ing a passi(e response.
rom Simple !rains "ome !etter !rains
)s we shall see later, the early adaptations o' the 2ualia a&ilities &ring a li'e*resource
o&taining ad(antage, then the stringing together o' e(en the simplest >*) time*line
dialogue o' intra*cellular communications &rought 'urther clear ad(antage to the 'ood*
see%er, the higher*order li'e 'orms could e7tend this to a new le(el o' e7pressi(e power &y
introducing the <rocess Stac%
otice we ha(e no need to introduce any new technology, we are still tal%ing a&out a purely
2ualia &ased consciousness o' :@i%e thisM; (s :!ucchM; tests o' the real*time outside against
the sum o' the real*time inside. What we ha(e so 'ar is the prototype o' Wor%ing #emory,
&ecause we must &e a&le to store the current 2ualia to pro(ide the conte7t 'or the reply, and
this then implies that the 2ualia state, to some e7tent, perhaps only its inde7 into the total
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in'ormation collection, &ut we can retain that place, await in time 'or a response, then
produce a new 2ualia paring the response with the conte7t and 'rom there see%ing options.
3ndeed the a&ility to store en(ironmental in'ormation seems present at a (ery early step in
the e(olution o' li'e as we see the multi*cell cooperati(e communications arise almost
immediately, &ut &eyond that, there must &e a Writa&le Store where we can :ta%e notes; as
it were, and return later to read them &ac%. 8here is a transactional data&ase element that at
minimum stores the Erand >ualia inde7 or whate(er, &ut nonetheless, there is a store. 8his
is (ery important.
Ei(en the original 2ualia element, it is a small step to arrange two or three in se2uence and
ha(e them process in time*'orward direction li%e dominoes. Ei(en a two or three element
stac%, it is ine(ita&le e(olution should add another and another. Since these stac% elements
are themsel(es en(ironmental in'ormation ali%e to our Bose or Soup in e(ery way, these
2ualia*inde7 stores are there'ore accessi&le there &y creating a Sense o' ?a(ing Deen, a
sense i' ?istory.
We now ha(e the 2ualia memory 2ueue o' ar&itrary length where, &eing in the 'a&ric o' the
master 2ualia*map .the whole picture o' the organisms 2ueria&le sense o' e7istence0 each
cell, each 1memory1 is now addressa&le se2uentially or not5 what we ha(e is a sort o' push*
me pull*you re(er&erating 8uring #achine that propels itsel' 'orward &y :3s this what we
wantF; 2ueries posted to the whole community o' the organism and the su&se2uent
instruction e7ecution dependent on the real*time 'eed&ac% as the necessary sta%eholders use
the 2ualia inde7 to dig their own pertinent in'ormation and responding to the whole their
1personal1 choice 'or the su&se2uent cell 'rame to gain 'ocus, &e that more 2ueries, or a
&eha(iour response, or nothing at all.
8he comple7ity is limitless, &ut the mechanism remains the same. Crom the initial simple
pulse*2uery shuddered out into the outer (oid o' surrounding pipette water, to the
internali6ed sounding o' the interior status o' the components in relation to the integrated
pulse*2uery to the incremental spooling o' these momentary results into more interior
components with the new 'unction o' memory, the natural selection would 'a(our the
slightly &etter, slightly smarter, and thus dri(es the e(olution o' the neuron*assem&ly
thought machines, new speciali6ed organs o' 2ualia consciousness management. Dut the
mechanism is the same, the &ouncing &ac% and 'orth o' 2ualia to soma to 2ualia and so
'orth as a cy&ernetic control system.
<age 1" O' -4
8his is where we need to loo% to understand the mechanics o' consciousness/ the super*'ast,
super*e''icient in'ormation dissemination, reco(ery and processing necessary to sustain a
(ia&le real*time stream o' consciousness5 the hard pro&lem is still the 2ualia, &ut 3 ha(e
now reduced the pro&lem to one single somehow integrated hyper*dimensional in'ormation
entity a(aila&le to all &ody citi6ens, and what1s more, we %now where to 'ind one, 4ust
disco(ered, 4ust &eginning, and simple and &ig enough to &e amia&le to our study study.
#onster $ai%u of the Deep
While in(estigating the wrec%age o' the 8itanic, micro&ial ecologist Boy Cullimore and
ocean scientist Charles <ellegrino reported that the wrec% was &eing :devoured by a
monster microbial industrial comple/ of e/tremophiles01&'%%2, a new pre(iously unseen
super*organism had set itsel' upon and is now systematically de(ouring the remnants o' the
steamship. 8his is a massi(e 1creature1, a composite and coordinated e''ort &y a huge
num&er o' distinct and 1autonomous1 creatures who are optimi6ing their distri&ution o(er
the hull o' the great ship. 8o optimi6e their li'e*resource e7traction. 8he scientists report o'
a common micro&ial language, what they descri&e as a :2uorum sensing; &y which 3whole
communities 4sense4 each other4s presence and activities5 aiding and abetting the
organi,ation5 cooperation and growth 8his community uses chemical electrical signal
pathways, perhaps e(en radio*wa(e emissions and that somehow the indi(idual
participating organisms are a&le to use that in*toto 1in'ormation1 'ield, a&le to tap the total
group 1understanding1 and 'rom that in'ormation ma%e choices that are &etter than chance at
getting what it wants. Which is to li(e more.
Somewhere in that ocean 'loor we& o' 1smart1 li'e*goo is the communications technology, or
at least one o' perhaps many, &ut in that goo must e7ist our answers to the teleportation o'
the representation o' the 2ualia state o' the 8itanic Ocean Cloor in a sense that each o' the
participants has can use that in'ormation that is to &oth its and the aggregate1s li'e purpose
ad(antage. Somewhere in that tangle o' algae and whate(er else is a ready la&oratory that
holds a grand secret o' organism communications through an o(er*lording meta*
consciousness, a super*consciousness so to spea% where the awareness o' the &eing o' the
super*organism, much 3 suppose li%e our own awareness o' oursel(es as, well, oursel(es,
there e7ists in that mass a &iological %ey that is &ridging the large*scale to the hungry
indi(idual and &ac% again.
)nd it is here that we step into the mystic.
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Super-&ons"iousness in Super-Organisms
3 ha(e &egun only 'rom a simple sel'*e7periment that 3 am sure, with an attenti(e mind,
should &e repeata&le &y anyone. 3 &egan in a situation where the li'e*(alue o' the outside
world options were not immediately apparent, so 3 as%ed, :+o we want soupF; into the
dar%ness, and 3 recei(ed a reply. +id we want CheeseF We emphatically do not, and the
image that arises is o' the gag re'le7.
3 may ha(e a special situation/ 3 %now this is not a learned response 'rom prior e7perience
&ecause 3 ha(e ne(er &een this sic% &e'ore. =(er. =(en now 3 can pull and pro&e my 2ualia
Bolode7 'or 'ood options 3 can recei(e a great many moaning groan no1s, and the
occasional cough response. )s we say, :'ur body is trying to tell us something;.
gi(en then this primal communications method that can e7tend down to the e(ery simplest
o' organisms, what we 'ind is a (alidation o' the shamans and mystics/ all o' the li(ing
reality is indeed 1conscious1 although not perhaps in the poetic sense that the poets may
ha(e wished. =(ery sur'ace, noo% and cranny o' our earth is a &u66 o' &acteriological,
(iral, micro&ial, insect and so 'orth, all o' it wiggling in a se2uence*test 2ualia stream o'
consciousness dialogue, :We can do this5 yes?; ** this is in 'act how 3 &ecame sic%,
'oolishly allowing my de'ences to &e ta7ed until all the little 2ualia*weighing &acterial
normally all o(er my sinus, throat and lungs 'ound a 2ualia choice that wor%ed. )nd 'rom
there it was downhill 2uite 2uic%ly. +ownhill 'or me. 3t was a mother*load gold mine 'or
them.
8he di''erence &etween their consciousness and ours is, mechanically, no di''erent at all. 3t
cannot &ecause my super*organism &ody contains &acteria and micro&ial li'e who will
depend on the compati&ility o' our in'ormation access operating systems as it were, there is
no concept o' nature o' distri&uting a Ser(ice*<ac% upgrade that o&solesces and
su&se2uently strands all prior organisms until they 1upgrade1M ature cannot do this &ecause
nature will not (iolate the <urpose o' @i'e rule, and i' a mutation did attempt to strand older
already*entrenched li'e 'orms, it would encounter tremendous counter pressure 'rom the li'e
'orms clinging to li'e. ) &iologist can perhaps clari'y this 'or us later, &ut it is my
understanding that all the prior Ereat =7tinctions ha(e &een due to a change in the reality
'or which the then*current li'e'orms did not ha(e or could not 'ind Contingency >ualia to
guide &eha(iours through the change, although clearly, many in 'act did.
What we ha(e &een o(erloo%ing arises 'rom our reductionist approach/ loo%ing 'or .ose
<age 1- O' -4
and "oup as i' they were somehow inherently distinct concepts in the outer or indeed in our
inner reality, we neglected the reality that ature is not so easy to tease apart. 8hings inter*
depend and inter*operate so deeply that it is nearly impossi&le to say where the Bose ends.
Our within*the*creature inner li'e occupies itsel' with our own <urpose o' @i'e and in the
pursuit o' that purpose ature has e(ol(ed this technology o' what 3 might call the 6ualia-
toto, the sum*total 'ractal*li%e 1mind*map1 o' the total cumulati(e e7perience o' &eing ali(e
in that moment. 3n the outside world, our .ose is itsel' another 2ualia*pro&ing li'e*'orm
pro&ing its 2ualia representation o' its own world so that it may 1Bose1 more happily. On
closer inspection indeed we 'ind our &iology is not (ery 'riendly to the reductionist
compartmentali6ation, our .ose needs 7ee, and it see%s to a(oid pests, and we 'ind that
e(en in the world o' &otany, mem&ers ha(e e(ol(ed a da66ling (oca&ulary o' 2ualia*
e(o%ing &eha(iours to :get what it wants; 'rom the companions in its ecology.
!e"stn# the $ar% Problem
!nowing the 'unction o' the 2ualia and how the stream o' consciousness, as an awareness
o' a (i(id e7istence through time, would naturally arise 'rom that is all well and good, and 3
thin% this alone is already a signi'icant ad(ance to our philosophy o' consciousness,
howe(er we are still le't with the pro&lem o' where the master 2ualia map, my super*'ractal
all*inputs, all history encompassing >ualia*toto, may reside. We %now the sense o' (i(id
reality as sel'*e(ident, &ut we are still le't with whether to place this in cell*space or in a
mystic su&space.
Dased on what we %now, what we ha(e a(aila&le, 3 am going to ma%e a con4ecture on that.
3 am going to seat the 2ualia in cell space, &ut in a uni2ue way such at in this hard pro&lem
we may 'ind some answers to our other 2uestions o' the mysteries o' the mind*&rain &ridge,
o' how thought gets turned to the reality o' muscle action 'or e7ample, or why some mo(ies
always ma%e us cry.
=(en in the simplest case proto6oa 1consciousness1 we really ha(e &een o&ser(ing ature
using 2ualia as a language, as a means o' mo(ing in'ormation 'rom point ), generally
1outside1, to point D, generally 1inside1, and collecting the re'le7i(e re(er&eration as a
coordinating pulse*rhythm o' in'ormation 'low that spea%s a 1word1 .or rather, a word*
pointer, i.e. a short*cut, a starting place in the map0 that is 1presented1 &ac% out to answer
with new content, a new 2ualia*pulse that may or may not include change instructions,
e7citers or inhi&itors, contractors or rela7ors. ?ow this sounding o' the inner world &y the
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outer world actually occurs, &y what media or &y what transmitters singular or many, 3 don1t
%now, 3 don1t pretend to %now the mechanism, &ut the demonstration clearly shows, without
2uestion, that the communication does happen, we do as%, :+an you take some soup?0 and
the su''ering digesti(e trac% can answer &ac% in the negati(e or a''irmati(e. 8his is
empirical, 3 thin% anyone can demonstrate this with themsel(es in some situations although
3 thin% most people, not in my distress, would taint the answer with logic, with what they
thought they might get, with what they thin% they should say or can get away with saying.
8he e(idence o' the direct communication would &e di''icult to tease apart without the
2uestion &eing posed in such a way as to ta%e the su&4ect unaware and there'ore
unconni(ing. onetheless, the communications, howe(er it is e''ected, is a real
phenomenon.
)nd using the 'act o' that communication, what we do ha(e in this >ualia model is &oth the
e7planation 'or and a model o' the reality o' consciousness, and an e7planation 'or the
e(olution o' consciousness, &ut we also now see the means &y which the mind*&ody
inter'ace can, as it were, 4ump the conceptual gap &etween an a&stract idea o' motion and
the reality o' contracting muscles or piloting spacecra't.
8o understand this, we need to loo% at the empirical data o' the response to the 2ualia*
o''ering. (o we want the soup? 8he response includes an emotional (alue 4udgement, a
degree o' happiness potential. 8he 2ualia itsel', the (i(id recollection o' an e7perience can
and o'ten does e(o%e emotional response, Loe ?isaishi haunting melody o' -he $ost +hild
'rom 8otoro, the smell o' a 4ust opened &o7 o' presents 'rom Erandma, we e7perience the
intertwining o' the phenomenon o' the 2ualia and the physical reality o' our &rains and
&odies.
)nd there must needs &e a cellular &inding to the process as we see the processing o' 2ualia
increase in comple7ity with more comple7 li'e 'orms, yet the processing itsel' &egins and
ends in the single cell. 8his there'ore implies that the 2ualia is at least rooted in the cellular
tissue/ 2ualia are in'ormed &y sensors and 2ualia can trigger reactors, this is part o' the
access model, perhaps li%e the early micro*controllers where the sensor in'ormation
through a simple crystal diode could trip the 'low o' acti(ity in a related circuit, the trip
switch itsel' is the 1memory address1 &ecause it is the physical reality o' the 6ero*(oltage
(alue shooting a&o(e the Schot6%y threshold when the 6ero is switched to the one. 8his
implies the 2ualia read itsel' is an acti(e process, that it ta%es energy to mani'est and access
the 2ualia data, and this there'ore must place the 2ualia in the ordinary e(ery realm o'
<age 1A O' -4
mundane things, @aws o' 8hermodynamics, all that 4a66.
?ere 3 must disappoint/ 3 do not intend to solve the so called 1?ard <ro&lem1 o' where
ature has located the >ualia5 3 only propose the purpose and 'unction o' the 2ualia
selection process and there&y ha(e simpli'ied the ?ard <ro&lem 'rom one o' mystic
dimensions to a matter o' data storage and the add*read into this 'antastically rich data set at
&la6ing real*time speeds, e(en in small single cell animals. 8hat shouldn1t &e too di''icult.
Becall howe(er that 3 ha(e re*'ramed the classical notion o' the 2ualia 'rom a collection o'
somewhere located somehow organi6ed li&rary o' 'act*&ins to a singular, always uni'ied,
always and only additi(e and completely dynamic whole*systems in'ormation resource.
8he Whole*systems concept is fundamental: e(ery action, e(er motion, e(er perception and
e(ery need is in itsel' part o' the sum total 2ualia map. 3t is an all at once address space
across the entire real*time and sum*history e7perience o' the creature. Duc%minster Culler
called this concept 1Universe1, the sum*total o' our li(ing*gained progressi(e sweep*out data
collection as a li(ing creature.
)nd, annoyingly, at least a primiti(e 2ualia map must &e possi&le a priori to the appearance
o' the 'irst 1conscious1 li'e 'orm, and as we see around us, the introduction into the
+onsciousness +lub occurs (ery early in the phylum tree. 3t may e(en &e the 'oundation.
Consciousness, a primiti(e stream o' consciousness necessary to na(igate the happiness
gradient to &eat a pipette*trap, indeed precedes &rains in the e(olution o' thingsM On the
ocean 'loor we also see that this same consciousness can transcend massi(e scales and
multiple species, again, a priori o' ha(ing any 1&rains1.
=(ery paper in cogniti(e science, and certainly e(ery paper and &oo% on the su&4ect o'
consciousness is permitted 'lights o' pure*speculation 'ar out and &eyond the Universe o'
its author1s %nowledge or e7pertise5 3 am no e7ception and am already way out &eyond
where 3 should pro&a&ly &e, &ut 3 am struc% &y some similarities &etween the needs ature
would ha(e o' the >ualia*map as a cellular resource and the constraints o' the (ery low
le(el at which it occurs.
3 wildly propose that the Orchestrated O&4ecti(e Beduction .Orch*OB0 consciousness
collapse*wa(e pulse descri&ed &y Stuart ?amero'' and Boger <enroseJ?amero''$6K does
not in itsel' descri&e consciousness per se, &ut rather it 2uite per'ectly descri&es the
technology needed to support the qualia. 8o my admittedly imper'ect understanding o'
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their model, each creature is endowed with a sort o' cloc% tic% that allows 'or in'ormational
material to &e collected 'rom sensors or sel'*generated and then this is wrapped into a
&u&&le o' time that is then 1collapsed1 as a 2uantum pro&a&ility wa(e, gi(ing the creature a
sensation o' moments in time, o' integral units o' %ll %t 'nce happening e(en though, in the
reality, sounds, lights and touch were recei(ed at di''erent rates (ia di''erent cogniti(e
apparatus. Orch*OB says they &ecome &ound together into a single nowness. Somehow
'rom there, 31m not sure, perhaps incidentally, the processing automata, the spontaneous
reasoning a&out these somehow pulsed instances o' nowness, would putter through
algorithmic computations, only, Stuart ?amero'' proposes, whereas some o' the processing
may occur at the neuron le(el, it seems the capacity o' the &rain is then 'ar too low and he
and <enrose ha(e proposed that the processing may occur in the (arious potentials 'or
2uantum computing within processes he o&ser(es in the cellular microtu&ialsJ?amero''8AK.
3 cannot 2uestion the physics or the &iology o' their theory, &ut intuiti(ely 3 ha(e trou&le
with this line o' thin%ing &ecause it does nothing to 2uell the notion o' consciousness as a
mere computer program, the program now simply mo(ed out o' the realm o' neurons and
connections and down into the many orders o' magnitude more intricate and microscopic
realm o' the microtu&ial 2uantum computer. We are still le't as mere so'tware, li%e the
'amous 8oyota ro&ots who play as a 4a66 ensem&le, and we are le't with the pro&lem o' the
writing o' all those control programs. 3 always 'elt any purely algorithmic model o'
consciousness, as sel'*consciousness arising somehow spontaneously in a&straction 'rom
the mere comple7ity o' the algorithm, it was depressing. =(ery thought, e(ery action, no
more than a reacti(e su&*routine.
Dut what i' the controlling 1intelligence1 is not arising 'rom the comple7ity o' the
connectionism &ut 'rom the consensus o' the li(ing component sta%eholdersF ?ere the
Orch*OB is not the e7ecutor o' intelligence and consciousness, &ut it does seem to us now
to 2uite clearly descri&e the requisite qualities o&ser(ed in our 2ualia communications
time*line/ 8he creature collects energy patterns 'rom the inside and outside world, summing
these into a single whole*creature 2ualia consciousness e(ent o' now so as to collapse the
pac%age into a 1present1 snapshot o' the in'ormation across the creature. 8his is a whole*
systems picture which may include in'ormation 'rom other creatures, internal or e7ternal, or
may include touching the acti(ation address o', 'or e7ample, hair wigglers that will
re(er&erate as the resulting wa(es are returned &y the e7ternal .or internal0 en(ironment.
8his is the Orch*OB pulse and the reason 'or and speed o' the periodicityM 8he speed o'
each Orch*OB would &e tuned to the needs o' the particular 1owner1 o' the conscious e(ent5
<age 1$ O' -4
in a comple7 &ody, the o(erall creature1s 2ualia pulse 12uery1 is sensory input to the
participant organisms, and they in turn may pass the newly ac2uired in'ormation down the
chain so to spea%, through to their own colony or ecology.
otice here that 'or a simple organism to escape a pipette*trap, it need only (ery 'ew pulse*
2uery*re(er&*respond cycles per second
4
, &ut in a collection o' organisms, the more the
(ariety o' 1listeners1 to the 2ualia push*signal, the higher the clock-speed must be to reach
them all!
So more comple7 creatures are 2uic%er on the ta%e. 3n general. Some o' them. 8he Orch*
OB is constrained &y the pulse*rhythm periodicities o' the component colla&orating li'e
'orms and there'ore would optimally &u66 along at the product o' the prime 'actors o' the
component Orch*OB rates, or something li%e that. ature tends to la7 a &it with the math.
8o return to the ?amero''*<enrose model, Stuart ?amero'' has proposed that the 2ualia
themsel(es, or consciousness somehow, is &ridged to reality through 2uantum processes in
the microtu&ials, in the structure o' the cell, at the (ery 'ine le(el, where there e7ists a %ind
o' tu&ular 'oam wherein actions occur that appear to e7hi&it 2uantum e''ects at room
temperatureJ?amero''8AK, and this is precisely the missing component we need, a cellular
component structure, integrated cellular component structure that is indi(isi&le 'rom the
li(ing cell itsel', &ut which could &e home to 2uantum computing.
Hnli%e the standard model o' 2uantum consciousness, i' there is such a thing as a standard
model, we need not postulate any mystical &ridge into Other Worlds, all we need is a
'antastically 'ast, 'antastically small, humongous capacity 'ractal*na(igated structured
persistent data storage system with only two operations, read and add - e(en here we need
not as% ature 'or so much o(er*design &ecause all we really need is a read 'unction5 &y its
action the reading itsel' is part o' the 2ualia*toto whole*systems accumulation anyway5 a
4 8o &e accurate, the ?amero''*<enrose theory posits a minimum num&er o' neural cells re2uired &e'ore any
Orch*OB collapse can occur, and this threshold e7ists 'ar a&o(e the paramecium, more into the realm o'
simple worms. )mong other details, they compute the intensity o' the e7perience and conclude that the
energy a(aila&le 'or the sensation, the dynamic*range so to spea%, &ecomes impractical &elow a&out "00
neurons. #y 'eeling on this is that the &eha(iours o' the 8oie de vivre are empirical in the simpler
creatures, perhaps e(en down to the le(el o' &acteria5 Stuart ?amero'' himsel' descri&es the paramecium
as 1cle(er1, which implies that perhaps, &elow a certain scale the same natural technology is at play, &ut is
carried out in some other way, through proteins or some other non*neuronal 'ramewor%. 3ndeed the
neuronal method, while wildly popular in ature is too comple7 to ha(e spontaneously e(ol(ed in a
complete 'orm.
<age 20 O' -4
2011*0-*2- .re(/ 2011*06*060
read is there'ore in no way 1di''erent1 'rom an add. !nowledge is, as Duc%y Culler said,
always and only additi(e, and e(en the %nowing o' that is 4ust another 'act5 the
colla&orating sta%eholder read operations may well su''ice as their sel'*report towards the
ne7t Orch*OB 2ualia collapse.
One thing made clear during my illness/ the pull, the in'luence wielded &y my dear trusted
super*organism colla&orators is astounding. )ddicts %now this too5 the su&tle changes to
&eha(iours to &end the creature1s ha&its &ac% to the needed thing are su&tle and deep.
<erceptions too can &e &ent and dramatically altered &y our internal states, the &ody
chemistry reaching &ac% up the chain to create 2uite remar%a&le illusions and
hallucinations.
)nd an important operati(e element in this is the emotions, in the neurochemistry that gi(es
us our 2ualia o' well*&eing, 4oy, sadness5 this control, the strings to these e''ects, lay in the
1@i%e1 &utton under the 'inger o' e(ery participant in the super*organism and how it is here
once again a read,write instruction trigger 'or whate(er neurochemical or hormone or
pheromone or what ha(e you.
:7abies like their *others; read a headline on some recent pop*neuropsychology news o'
the researcher1s detecting dopamine and o7ytocin release in the &rains o' in'ants who are
shown their mother1s 'ace. aturally we also 'ind the con(erse, 3*others like their
7abies;J+ouglasK with the same reasons listed, neuro*rein'orcers 'looding the system. 8he
headlines, o' course, are a&surd, &ut really, so is the research as the intimation is that the
&a&ies and mothers feel happy &ecause there is dopamine in their &rain and that there is
dopamine in their &rains &ecause the &a&ies and mothers are happy. 8his is circular
reasoning and such seems to a&ound in the popular press co(erage on the 1&rain scan1
neurochemical research.
@et1s consider instead the 'act o' the &a&ies1 complete dependence upon their mother and
<age 21 O' -4
the mother1s a&solute concern with the health, well*&eing
-
and mental de(elopment
6
.
Consider the &a&y1s identi'ication with her, as a ha(en, as a Com'orter and as a source o'
spiritual and corporeal sustenance5 clearly there are a great many sta%eholders within the
&oth super*organisms who would consider any e(idence o' the well presence o' the other &e
(ery good news, and thus the colla&orati(e clan1s response is to uni(ersally push the 1@i%e1
&utton, and &oth mama and &a&y1s consciousness is strongly rewarded 'or ha(ing attracted
their mutual attention.
3 am not proposing here that the 2ualia*communications technology itsel' is in any way
mystical, a spoo%y action at a distance, it may well &e, &ut 3 suspect it 4ust may &e that too.
)s 3 learned (ery e7plicitly and empirically during the depths o' my illness, when the
important sta%eholders in the @i'e <urpose status o' the &ody are crossed, ma%e no mista%e,
these little &uggers, my distinguished colleagues and companions in &eing human, will stop
at nothing to get their point across. 3t is no wonder &a&ies cry.
Dut where my e7perience was e7treme, the e(eryday e7perience is 2uite a contented Stream
o' Deing where e(eryone is happy and li'e goes on and we get to the meeting or shopping
or where(er we were going &ecause the path o' e(ery muscle and organ is &eing studied,
e(aluated, modi'ied and endorsed moment &y moment, coordinated all the while through a
pulse out, a pulse &ac%, &oth through the same media o' the 2ualia map.
Dac% at Stuart1s pipette*trap, our tiny 'riend is tiny yes, &ut clearly, as o&ser(ed directly
'rom the &eha(iour that is to 'ollow, he is unhappy with the scientist1s annoying little game.
)nd he wants to &e happy, so he pings out his little trem&le o' a 2ualia o' Where is here?
)nd awaits the re(er&erate result 'rom the only other he %nows, the water o' the tu&e and in
- Clearly a candidate 'or the annals o' impro&a&le research, the Luly 2008 ?ealth Care ews reported on
researchers in ew +elhi who had detected dopamine release in mothers a'ter they were presented with
1stored1 'arts 'rom their own &a&ies. ?umorous as it is, to the 2ualia*sta%eholder model it would ma%e
per'ect sense that there should &e sta%eholders within the mother who could ma%e chemical analysis and
hence health status predictions &ased on the composition o' the 'latulence gasses. Curther to the trans*
creature &inding o' the 2ualia, the mothers were reported as ha(ing no re'le7 reaction to the 'arts 'rom
other &a&ies. <arents reading this will li%ely laugh 4ust as hard, &ut then will secretly thin% to themsel(es
that, howe(er strange the e7periment itsel' must ha(e &een to conduct, the results are not really that
surprising.
6 Still more mother*&a&y &onding research also shows the mother1s &rain response to &a&y1s smile, an e''ect
well %nown to any parent. Da&ies are naturally curious a&out 'aces and progressi(ely learn to distinguish
their mother 'rom others, whereas the mothers will interpret e(en the slightest lip*curl as a glee*e(o%ing
smile.
<age 22 O' -4
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that re(er&eration, li%e the &lind &oy on Oou8u&e who taught himsel' to ride a &icycle &y
clic%ing his throat, li%e the <olynesian sailor who spots islands &eyond the hori6on 'rom the
ripple e''ects that hit the side o' his canoe, our little capti(e spots a pressure di''erential that
could 2uite possi&ly mean yet another escape 'rom the pipette*cra6ed anaesthesiologist. On
the ne7t pulse, on the ne7t 2ualia e7pression o' 9ere ) go! 8he hairs are modulated and the
re(er&erant answer &ac% to his pulse says he is ma%ing progress towards the 1hole1 and so
'orth, pulse &y plus until our little 'riend is 'ree once again.
Crom the single*cell case, o' the indi(idual who pings the en(ironment as its other, the
comple7 li'e'orms are a&le to treat their companion cells as that same en(ironment,
operating as an ecology5 this is the standard (iew o' &iology, that these super*organism
colla&orators are 1'riends1 in an ecosystem. We will return to the new constraints o' this
comple7 en(ironment, &ut 'irst 31d li%e to consider the di''erence &etween these two
models/ in &oth ecologies e(ery actor is out alone, each is set to their own speciali6ed ta%e
on the <urpose o' @i'e, each has wor%ed out its niche and the &oundaries and limits, and
each is seemingly coordinated to some e7tent at a glo&al scale .this is speculation 'or the
meadow, or at least a point o' de&ate0 &ut the undenia&le di''erence in these two ecosystems
is in how within the super*organism the mem&ership ha(e &ecome branded as &eing o' the
in*crowd, and all outsiders are (iciously attac%ed &y speciali6ed 'orces speci'ically tuned to
that purpose. 8o some e7tent the meadow does ha(e an immune system in the territorialism
and +)*relation*'a(ouring that we see e(en in ants and some plant and 'ungi species, and
perhaps 3 underestimate the tenacity o' the 'orest1s a&ility to %eep itsel' in &alance, &ut it
would seem that within the super*organism an identi'ication o' mem&ers vs in(aders is so
deep, complete and immediate that we ha(e great di''iculty transplanting essentially
identical tissue 'rom e(en (ery genetically similar donor sources.
3 only mention this 'or lac% o' a &etter place to mention it, and &ecause it may hold some
clue to the means &y which the 2ualia*toto is made a(aila&le as the in'ormation appropriate
to each sta%eholder rele(ant to the current real*time situation. 3s it possi&le, i' the 2ualia is
indeed stored in a 2uantum computing media, that the replication o' data is range limited or
somehow %eyed to the domain o' the immune system such that in(aders are not only not
pri(y to the in'ormation, or to all o' the in'ormation, or perhaps that unauthori6ed access to
the 2ualia is a trigger 'or the immune responseF 8here would seem some sort o'
identi'ication credential at play which our current medical science can su&(ert &ut not
emulate, &ut 3 am wondering i' in that secret lay a clue to the &inding 'orce that allows the
2ualia at the le(el o' my mind to &e plum&ed down into my intestinal 'lora and returned
<age 2" O' -4
may &e related to how my respiratory system is now a&le to positi(ely identi'y and dispose
o' the unwanted remnants le't &y the anti&iotics.
The !irth of A 'atural Language
o creature e7ists as a truly distinct entity. We are, all o' us, all o' us li(ing things, tri&al
mem&ers within our local 'amily o' creatures 'rom which we came, and we are acti(e
components and su&*assem&lies inside our ecology. Doth the 'amiliar and the larger
en(ironmental impose a &alance o' needs, resources and o&ligations, and each networ%
in(ol(es its own we& o' communications, 'eed&ac%s and opportunities. 8here is, there'ore,
a natural need 'or a medium o' communications &eyond the creature, a need to teleport
2ualia 'rom one &eing to another.
3n the case o' a grasslands or a meadow, the soil &acteria, the insects, &irds, rodents, 'ish,
racoons and deer are all on the loo% out 'or one thing/ Satis'y the <urpose o' @i'e. =ach has
a higher or lower*order o' comple7ity in this pursuit, &ut their concept, and the stream*o'
2ualia 2uery*response*react mechanics o' e7ecution o' their <urpose is nonetheless e7actly
the same, large and small.
)s li(ing creatures, these organisms wish only to optimi6e their own 2ualia 'low in'ormed
@i'e <urpose, only they e7ist in an ecology where they 2uic%ly record that there are
limitations, &oundaries, 2ualia o' places where one can and cannot go. othing much has
changed, the creature is still more or less optimi6ing its happiness in its niche and staying
within the &ounds now &ecome part o' that as they &alancing their inner society needs with
what their 2ualia*memory processing simulators now o(er time e(ol(e to return as 7ad :or
7usiness in the world at large. So they e(ol(e to &ac% o'', to limit their 2uest 'or li'e*
resources &ecause doing so too &oldly clearly leads contrary to the <urpose o' @i'e. 8hey
anneal to territories, they de(elop a decor o' camou'lage, appearance &eing 4ust another
niche, and they anneal to day*time cycles, microcosms, (arious ways to di''erentiate
themsel(es 'rom the competition and predation, again with the simple primary purpose o'
li(ing li'e.
3n the higher*order creatures, recall that the initial <rimary Consciousness o' the reacti(e
cell &ecame the more sel'*oriented qualia-to-me consciousness 2uery*response*react and
still later these 2ualia transcripts as it were are %ept in meta*2ualia simulators5 not 1meta1 in
the sense that this 2ualia is physically di''erent or that it is a qualia about a qualia &ut
1meta1 in that these asynchronous in(estigations running 2ualia scenarios may e(o%e
<age 24 O' -4
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emotion or muscle response &ut with the additional <rimary Consciousness %nowledge that
this replay is not real, and that this is a simulation only. <eople 'eared cinema on 'irst
(iewing too.
ow knowing that the 2ualia recall is a simulation, the simulation &ecomes instructi(e, and
there is then a need to share this 2ualia with others, 'or e7ample, with others o' the same
clan. 3t is in the interests o' the personal <urpose o' @i'e 'or a groundhog to ha(e a tri&e to
help 'eed, care 'or and protect them, and it is there'ore consistent with the <urpose o' @i'e
that the groundhog should anneal to &eha(iours in the interests o' a group*le(el <urpose o'
@i'e. We could appeal to the e7istence o' a being that is the groundhog clan, a super*
organism o' marmot*dom, &ut 'or the moment we can stay with the moti(ation 'or ature
to teleport the 2ualia as a simple one*dog thing.
8he prairie dog senses danger5 we are all 'amiliar with this classic &ut 2uite comic response
among the small groundhogs o' the mid*west/ they 4ump, yelp and duc%. ) 2ualia has &een
shared, and the entire clan may duc% and co(er. =ach mem&er hears the yelp, each
responds as if they had themsel(es physically detected the danger, some will relay the
2ualia*to%en 4ust as the originator, others will gather the small ones, still others will sit with
awareness heightened awaiting 'irst*hand 2ualia con'irmation or perhaps to o(ersee the
group response. 8he completely o' this networ% is unli%e most animal calls in the
organi6ation o' the &eha(iour and the ready repeata&ility o' the display. 3t is a phenomenon
that delights 6oo (isitors.
3t is, 'rom the point o' (iew o' the study o' 3ntelligence, already 'airly ama6ing that our
prairie dog sentry has e/trapolated 'rom the image o' concert to a conclusion that
something must &e done. 3t is also interesting 'rom a sel'ish*me (s group*happiness &io*
in'ormation networ%ing sense that it should choose then to alarm the clan &y sharing this
personal 2ualia*result which had re(er&erated &ac% 'rom its own 'irst*hand e7perience with
the stimulus presented 'irst to its own 2ualia*toto and now returned as a call to alarm. 8he
image within that shared 2ualia, howe(er, the vividness o' the in'ormation &eing relayed
will now astound you/ recent research tells us the small prairie dog is not simply e7pressing
a general alarm o' 1danger1. 8he super'icially simple &ar% and chatter tells us i' the attac% is
&y air or &y land, i' it is immediate danger or an alert. 8he &ar% e(en tells the group i' the
approaching intruder is a human, and whether that is a male or female human and whether
they are tall or short! 1.eid21"lobodchikoff2 8hat is a pretty 'eature*rich 2ualia, wrapped up
<age 2- O' -4
in an utterance hurled into the air. Clearly a (i(id 2ualia teleportation
A
.
So 'ar so good.
8he 2ualia*pulse as%,response stream o' consciousness as we ha(e seen can &e recorded,
physically and most pro&a&ly somehow in the cells o' the creature, and the recording itsel'
2ueried or simulated as learning emerges &y playing &ac% What 9appened &e/t games
entirely in the conscious mind. ?a(ing used cells to &uild that a&ility 'rom a simple re'le7
to a learned response re'le7 to comple7 &eha(iours, there is no reason why ature could not
add additional 2ualia*processing machines. )ny num&er o' them in 'act. 8hey are cheap
and simple to &uild, apparently, so we are told &y micro&es anyway, and they re2uire no
new technology, it is old*school hardware all the way.
)nd so our prairie dog, e2uipped &y e(olution with hard*wired pre*assem&lies o' 2ualia*
simulator pondering machines had arri(ed at the occupation as sentry, a&le to assess the
dangerousness o' the situation 'rom the minimum o' clues so as to a''ord the den the
ma7imum sur(i(al hopes should an intruder appear.
So now recall, ha(ing e(ol(ed this au7iliary 2ualia*recall machine capa&ility, when we are
running the 2ualia*scenario se2uence through the test harness, the 'act o' it &eing a test*
harness is %nown to the 2ualia*toto, that in'ormation is part o' the map. 3t is addressa&le
li%e any other 2ualia*e7perience &ut not as a memory replay that once again presses the
'light*'ight or pleasure addresses, here it is a sort o' meta*consciousness where the player,
the consciousness stream o' the creature, is aware that :-his is not real; this is a test.; We
ha(e the e(olution o' the interior thought that has in'ormed us o' the conse2uence o' the
haw%1s shadow without our ha(ing to &e eaten, or e(en nearly so.
)nd with that test, can now compare 2ualia inde7 outcomes to prior sum total 2ualia*toto
e7perience, and lo, we perhaps ha(e located a pattern in our neigh&ouring li'e*'orm1s
ha&its. @et1s say now we are the prairie coyote, out 'or a &it o' unwary prairie dog. We also
ha(e &een o&ser(ing what happens ne7t in our o'' hours. We1re pretty good at laying low,
2uiet, all we really need is one o' those sentries anyway, two or three will 'eed the group.
We can get to them, &ut once we separate them 'rom their den o' escape holes, hot damn
A 3n Con Slo&odchico''1s &log on natural intelligence, http/,,www.reconnectwithnature&log.com, a guest post
reports on the remar%a&le capacity 'or ant rescue teams to identi'y mem&ers o' their own clan and also
coordinate the dig to 'ree a trapped colleague. ?e catalogues many other instances o' 2ualia teleportation
across many species.
<age 26 O' -4
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the little creatures are 'ast.
)nd here1s where a &it o' learning occurs that we seen in ature all the time/ the coyote
learns also to in4ect 2ualia into other consciousnesses, only this time, the 2ualia to &e
in4ected is false. Beasons the coyote, :)f we dart left5 they will dart right5 every time5 so we
feign left5 then pow!;
We ha(e e7ploited our memory o' the &eha(iours in our interactions o' other organisms, we
ha(e created 'or oursel(es a new hunting 1tool1, a single 2ualia*inducing 1word1 sym&ol that
we gi(e to the rodent, e(o%e their not*so*2uic%*thin%ing response, and then we e7ploit that.
)s lunch.
>ualia, the inde7 into our memory o' a se2uence o' 2ualia 'low results, is our 'irst
appearance o' language, o' communicating concepts across organisms so as to in'luence
&eha(iour in our own ser(ice. We 'ind concurrent to the sharing o' e7perience or the
prospects o' e7perience that the word is a dou&le*edged sword, 4ust as readily used as a tool
'or deception, 'or in4ecting the illusion o' a (i(id e7perience o' some 2ualia into another,
&ut where the in'ormation is 'alse, and to the hunter1s ad(antage.
We are still only spea%ing o' a simple natural progression, the cumulati(e outcomes o'
2ualia*represented present*state in'ormation &eing o''ered 'or (aluation against the
'undamental <urpose o' @i'e o' the creature1s super*organism colla&orators5 'rom this alone
we ha(e &uilt an ecology o' messages. 8he phenomenon appears to %now no lower &ounds
too, as the a&o(e scenario o' predator and prey and the 2ualia trans'er among each and
&etween each is 'ound also in plant,insect ecology5 as reported &y Bichard !ar&an o' HC
+a(is =ntomology, e(en the sage&rush is a&le to 'orm the 2ualia consciousness o' the
predator and, ha(ing reacted with alarm, then see%s to teleport that 2ualia across as a
warning to its &rethren plants. J!ar&anK
Qualia in Advertising
?umans are (ersed in the art o' mutual deception at a (ery early age. 3t is the &asis o' e(en
the simplest &a&y games, 3 present some situation, my hands o(er my 'ace, you, curious,
in(estigate only to 'ind that it was a trap, 3 was there all along, we laugh. We are preparing
each other 'or li'e among humans, greatest hunters o' them all.
3n a Dy6antine mar%et place, a shopper %nows the 'oods they need to coo% 'or their 'amily,
<age 2A O' -4
the a(aila&ility o' the (ariety is pretty much 'i7ed &y local conditions o' transport and
climate and they wal% the agora e7posed to the smells, sounds, colours and the general &u66
o' the mar%et. 8heir whole &ody, their whole history is in(ol(ed in the selection o'
e(erything 'rom &reads to meats. Dut one day there are multiple 'ruit (endors, and peaches
are in season, and, says a gregarious (endor with a &ig re*assuring smile, :but these
peaches were grown in the very rich soil of the mountain valley! <ery good for you5 very
good for your children!; So while the senses say they are 4ust more peaches, here we are
o''ered intimate access, seemingly, to the 2ualia*toto in'ormation resources o' another
human, we ha(e inside in'ormation that suggests there is something in(isi&ly better a&out
this (endor1s goods, and that additional meta*2ualia is o''ered as a plum& down into the
depths o' our shareholders/ is the claim reasonable and does it portend a desirable and
efficient value?; and a sale is made.
8oday, nearly all o' our goods are sold on their in(isi&le 2ualities only, &ecause the sensory
2ualities o' the agora are, 'or many o' us in the industriali6ed nations, a 2uaint image 'rom
the past. Our industrial*space super*mar%ets are deli&erately without smell, without direct
tactile access to many essential products. )ll in'ormation a(aila&le is o''ered only on the
&asis o' our trust in a care'ully honed media cele&rity, a 'antasy :riendly =regarious
=reengrocer who has no 'ace and no sta%e in the game other than as the angler 'ish, to
ma%e the sale on &ehal' o' the corporate shareholders. )nd do some good too, o' course, i'
possi&le, and a(oid doing &ad should the repercussions a''ect 2uarterly results, &ut the
corporate structure o' the 'ood system ensures that in the sale itsel', the cost,&ene'it ratio o'
that sale is ma7imi6ed as the <urpose o' @i'e. Our own <urpose o' @i'e is at odds with this
and so the 3n'ormation War &egins, our own wanting to 'ul'il our &asic needs vs the store
corporation needing to ma7imi6e the sales results vs the 'ood pro(ider corporations
undermining &oth oursel(es and the stores hoping to place their peaches at that top o' the
2uarterly sales 'igures.
)nd then there are the go(ernment watchdog agencies ensuring the sa'ety o' the
industrially deli(ered products and the consumer ad(ocate groups who sta%e watch*points
around e(eryone to ensure what is e7pressed in the 2ualia are at least appro/imately
correct, in a sense, i' you %now what 3 mean. Oou on the other hand, 4ust want to &uy the
'oods that you need to coo% 'or your 'amily, to optimi6e your own local <urpose o' @i'e.
)s the greatest hunter, our ingenuity to outwit our prey and in4ect the 2ualia we want is
seemingly without limit, and naturally without scruple o' course &ecause, indi(idually each
<age 28 O' -4
2011*0-*2- .re(/ 2011*06*060
o' us is only still pursuing that same <urpose o' @i'e as our single cell escape artist. 3n
ancient .pre*industrial0 times the mar%et e(ol(ed into a sort o' game o' &oasts and calls and
haggling o' price, &ut it is a game &ecause both sides o' the mar%et transaction can plainly
see the (alue, the real body value o' the goods. )ny 'ool could weigh the (alue o' any
claim merely &y o''ering the 2ualia o' the direct e7perience o' the product to their own
inner sta%eholders. )nd so we achie(e a stasis, a &alance &etween the &oasts and the calls,
annealed in that same meadow ecology &alance o' restraint against ta%ing things too 'ar.
Crom the (ery &eginning o' ur&an culture, we 'ind Sumerian 4ars stamped with Boyal Seals,
appealing to a&stract and e(en higher authority to prop up their &oast, &ut e(en we %now
that the >ueen o' =ngland really &uys whate(er Worcestershire sauce she pleases, and
perhaps doesn1t really care which, or has her1s prepared &y a che'. 8he endorsement is a
paid endorsement, a contract the (endor has with the cele&rity. onetheless e(erything is in
good humour, more or less, and we get along 'ine, we continue to &e healthy and our
&alance with oursel(es, with our en(ironment and spiritually with our world around us is
'airly clear sailing in the ?appy Spot.
With the rise o' industrialism, with the rise o' capitalism and (enture*capital*'unded
enterprise pro'it models o' war machinery production in support o' the Doer War and then
World War 3, howe(er, the game is changed, there is a new mode 'or the creation o' goods
according to a new <urpose o' @i'e, the ma7imi6ing o' the shareholder returns. <ost*war,
the da66ling illusion o' success, or rather the da66ling success 'or the wrong purposes, led
the industrial world leaders to posit that the application o' this same industrial method to all
goods could only lead to a long and sta&le peace, e(eryone clearly satis'ied in their
happiness metric on their 2uest 'or the <urpose o' 8heir @i'e. 8he <urpose is still (ery
much the prime directi(e at the helm o' this enterprise, &ut there has &een introduced a
detachment 'rom the sensory &rought a&out &y the 'actory, and then &y the shi't to the city,
and then &y the new needs o' pu&lic health and security in this new en(ironment.
3ncreasingly, 'uelled on &y the commercial success o' it, this new ecology &rought a&out a
two*pronged attac% on the human consumer. On the one hand, pu&lic health and mar%eting
sa((y conspired to remo(e our direct e7perience with the 'ood preparation process, and in
many cases depri(ed us o' the direct e7perience o' the 'ood completely, lea(ing the mar%et
shopper with a dearth o' in'ormation in the 2ualia5 there are now only la&els on cans,
hanging meats already prepared at some distant elsewhere, 'ruits that children &elie(e grow
'rom &as%ets. On the other hand, the mar%eting rushes to 'ill the gap &y pro(iding e7ternal
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meta*2ualia to &e in4ected into the consumer mind as a su&stitute 'or the direct e7perience
o' the pre*industrial mar%et place, and speci'ically, as an inno(ation, the in4ection o' 2ualia
to prompt the purpose o' completely unrelated items, e7ternalities that were pre(iously
un%nown or under*consumed, the mar%eter li%e the coyote, learned to implant the urge to
&uy complete nonsense with cunning shrewdness.
8he &oundaries in the new ecology are now suddenly not so easy to sense. 3s the
greengrocer on the le(elF 3s my sensory access to the 'oods limited 'or my sa'etyF Could
they possi&ly ha(e accurate in'ormation on all o' these goods o' ne&ulous originF Without
direct e7perience, and soon, a'ter a 'ew generations, without any cultural e7perience, the
mar%et shopper is increasingly at the mercy o' the mar%eter to tell them what their shopping
2ualia should contain. )nd what o' these new products 'or which we ha(e no cultural
ground whatsoe(erF )s +oca-+ola really therapeutic?
We 'ind the post 1$18 psychology 'rom Creud and =dward Dernays onward and up through
Eestalt and =S8 1sel'1 actuali6ation and culminating in the cele&rated SB3 <alues and
$ifestyles .I)@S0 the industry single*mindedly directed to replacing the natural inside*
generated natural 2ualia communications &etween people and themsel(es with meta*2ualia
cues care'ully cra'ted and directed entirely toward ensnaring the consumer to the &rand
name on the belief they ha(e &een 'ollowing their natural stream o' consciousness
con(ersation with their component co*li'e'ormsJCurtisK. 8he need is now manu'actured and
in4ected 'rom without instead o' generated &y the actual needs o' the component
sta%eholders, they are .we are0 gi(en rich potent 2ualia to con(ince that our natural choices
are ill*in'ormed, lac%ing in 1science1, not really what we need i' we want to truly win the
<urpose o' @i'e.
8his 'ine science o' consumer deception has &een honed o(er a century, coincident with the
&irth o' the science o' psychology, and the science is 'ully endorsed &y the culture &ecause
it is highly pro'ita&le 'or a great many people and, well, pro'it does satis'y their <urpose o'
@i'e. 8he e''ect is so o(erwhelming, the hunter1s parry is so clean that here now in the early
twenty 'irst century most people ha(e accepted as 1reality1 that they should trust their &ody*
response recommendations last5 only a'ter all a(aila&le e7ternally e7pert*pro(ided 2ualia
2ueues ha(e &een e7hausted. 8o trust one4s instincts with regard to the 'ood one eats or
e(en the way one sits is seen nearly uni(ersally as a highway to disaster, destruction,
o&esity and e7cess. #eanwhile the media*in4ected 2ualia, the 'alse 2ualia painting cheap to
deli(er su&standard 'oods as image*rein'orcing and thus superior are leading the consumers
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to precisely that path, to o&esity and e7cess. )d(ertising is not to &lame/ these humans are
only systematically, methodically, and thought'ully aiming ma7imi6e their <urpose o' @i'e
&y ma7imi6ing the consumer economy.
=(erywhere around us are &acteria. 8hey are on your hands, on your ta&le, on your clothes,
in e(ery &reath you ta%e. 8hey are wriggling and s2uiggling and trying e(ery option they
can to wrangle a hole in your immune de'ences, and 'or one purpose only. Cor the <urpose
o' @i'e. Iirus creatures are doing the same, although they are more rare, they pulse*2uery
push*pull themsel(es where e(er they can get to conditions o' Iirus ?appiness where they
will then ta%e a sta& at in4ecting some host cell with the 2ualia*pulse instructions to change
the host cell1s +) replication process, that cell &ursting out with new (iral s2uigglers who
see% to do the same elsewhere. Cor the <urpose o' @i'e.
8he natural propensity 'or all o' these is to escape the pipette, to o(ercome the hurdles that
are placed in the path o' ma7imi6ing their <urpose.
)nd so in )d(ertising too. 3 am standing in a supermar%et, ne7t to the apples. 8here are
poster images o' air&rushed super*per'ect produce, the am&ient lighting is tuned to gi(e no
shadows 3 might mista%e 'or spoilage, &e'ore me are ta&les o' apples all arranged
conceptually &y ar&itrary di(isions o' su&*species groupings. 8he di(isions are regularly
restoc%ed to maintain a geometry and a colour &alance.
8he trou&le is, 3 am in a 'actory &uilding, the hum o' the 'ans is a steady insidious hum that
dulls the senses, the sense o' taste and smell &eing especially suscepti&le to sound, and the
'luorescent light ma%es the produce appear more grey, the eyes 'urther a''ecting the other
senses5 3 pic% up the apple and attempt to 4udge it. =7perience says it is li%ely pasty and
tasteless and my senses can add nothing much 'urther. 3 chec% the 1'irmness1 and loo% 'or
o&(ious, &ut largely irrele(ant 1spots1. e7t 3 resort to logic/ apples are said to &e healthy,
any other (ia&le alternati(e source 'or an apple is a great impossi&le distance away. So 3
&uy only a 'ew, &ut 3 ha(e &een primed, e(en once at home 3 will eat them a hal' at a time,
most will sit in the 'ridge and remain uneaten.
3n the 'all har(est, (isiting the apple orchards that populate the southern Eeorgian Day 3
'ind mysel' in a simple wooden shac%, naturally lit &y sunlight streaming in the old*style
'arm windows, there are &ins and &ins o' apples in the concession, all with e7otic names,
these are the component types lumped together in the 'actory store. 8he 2ualia comes up
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'rom within to hold an apple. We &uy se(eral &as%ets and eat many apples &e'ore we lea(e
the property, and they are so good.
Dut aren1t these the same applesF =(en the age o' the apples is more or less the same, at
least 'or those species where the local stores are permitted to sell the local produce. 8he
only di''erence is in the whole*picture conte7t, the complete (i(id image o' the 2ualia as
presented to onesel' at the moment o' wanting the apple/ the mar%eting machine is entirely
directed at supplementing the sense*deadening industrialism o' the space that is also
deadening my trust o' the 'ood, and they wor% o(ertime to replace my need to trust my
senses with a &arrage o' trust images, o' plenitude, o' per'ection, o' healthy*li'estyle
choices. 3n the orchard hut, on the other hand, they are selling apples too rapidly to care i' 3
want to &uy or 4ust gaw%, and 3 am in an o7ygen rich en(ironment where the air is thic%
with the smell o' apples as 'ar as the eye can see. 8he conte7t has completely changed the
2ualia 1'act1 o' the apple, and that in turn has completely changed my 1gut*reaction1 to the
2ualia 2uery, Would ) like an apple?
Conte7t, as we shall see, &ecomes (ery important to the sensation o' consciousness.
Conte7t 'rom without, the in'ormation that is entered into the creature and summed with the
history and the present state to &e presented 'or the consideration &y the entity, and, as we
shall now see, also the conte7t o' the entity itsel', o' what its own component needs and
metrics o' @i'e <urpose happiness may &e.
The &host n the Ma'hne
8he 2uestion arises, i' consciousness is so readily a(aila&le in ature, down to the simplest
o' creatures, and i' the 2ualia*map &ased sel'*communications sel'*'eed&ac% cy&ernetic
time*pulse consciousness is there'ore easy to model, what then o' synthetic consciousnessF
?ow would it compare to the natural 'ormF Could it compare to our own rich sense o'
&eingF ?ow might it di''erF Where are its limitsF What are our options 'or hybrid ro&ot*
human consciousness or human*enhanced consciousnessF
3 &elie(e many o' these answers are emergent 'rom the 2ualia*map model o' consciousness,
and in some aspects the arti'icial intelligence and trans*humanism 'ans are going to re4oice
at news 3 that 3 ne(er actually e(er thought they were li%ely to hear. Dut it is not all good
news. 8o in(estigate, 3 will &rea% the issues down into the ro&otic consciousness issue 'irst,
then the possi&ility 'or a synthetic personality, and lastly loo% at the prospects 'or the
enhanced human leading ultimately to the human 1uploaded1 into the new machine.
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The S(nthet' I
3' the 2ualia representational en2uiry proposition,'eed&ac% pulse push*pull 8uring*li%e
machine model is indeed the cloc%wor% o' the 1'low1 perception o' &eing ali(e, there is no
reason whatsoe(er 'or a machine to not &ecome 1conscious1. 8he di''erence with our ).3.
8oday is that we once again ta%e a non*holistic (iew that is (ery di''erent 'rom nature, and
we pursue the dream o' creating an a&stract model that we then cannot concei(e o' as &eing
1ali(e1. Our &est attempts ha(e &een mirrors o' our own 2ualia*'rame simulators.
Since consciousness is 'undamental to e(en simple li'e, it 'ollows that a mind'ulness to the
2ualia pulse train must &e &uild into the ro&otic &eing at the 'inest cellular component le(el
possi&le. #imic%ing the methods used &y &iology, e(ery transcei(er, e(ery step motor,
e(ery hing and strut needs its own instrumentation &y which it can, through a pulse*2uery
sel'*chec%, determine its own internal 1happiness1 with the current glo&al conte7t, and then
on each moment o' the coordinating super*process, each component would access the
'ractal map in'ormation rele(ant to its 'unction and respond (ia 2ualia address acti(ation o'
a synthetic neurochemical to gi(e the o(erall sense and state o' are we doing '>? )nd i'
not recommendations on what needs doing to correct the issue that themsel(es &ecome part
o' the ro&otic stream o' consciousness 'eed&ac% loop.
School children will recogni6e this as the design principle o' some o' the (ery &asic le(el
ro&otic %its, autonomous mo(ing o&4ects that are tuned to a light presence or a chal% line.
8hese entry*le(el toys are perhaps our &est e7amples o' 1conscious1 machines, although at a
le(el o' sophistication so 'ar &elow our pipette*trap escape artist as to &e no e7ample at all.
onetheless, i' we grant them the rather &oring li'e mission not o' &eing ali(e and
continuing their species &ut rather as :ollowers of the $ight .or the line0 then the principle,
the cy&ernetic principle o' a pulse*2uery cycle o' course corrections toward 1happiness1 is
the same.
8o &e more accurate, more li%e the simplest li'e'orms we o&ser(e in nature, our science 'air
%it would need draw its sustenance 'rom the light, perhaps a solar panel tric%le*charging the
&atteries. 8his gi(es our creature1s core component, it1s &elly, a sta%e in the game. 8o e''ect
an urgency, also characteristic o' all natural li'e 'orms, we then ha(e its &attery 1happiness1
metric grow e7ponentially more desperate as its charge wanes.
ow here is an important characteristic that 3 had neglected to include earlier, &ut it is
implicit in the 8oie de vivre that we posit as the 'irst*principle in the <urpose o' @i'e, and it
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is &oth hilariously apropos and a little sad that the mainstream o' science has &een so
pu66led &y this result. 8his phenomenon is well documented in animal &eha(iour, 'or
e7ample, we o&ser(e in 'lies that when nothing really matters, when the (isual 'ield is
completely uni'orm and one way is as good as any other, the creatures e7hi&it a :2uasi*
random; acti(ityJDrem&sK, a literal random walk &ecause, well, you really ne(er %now
what you might 'ind i' you do a &it o' e7ploring 9 we1re pu66led &y the not*2uite*
randomness o' the &eha(iour, &ut you and 3 here now can see that the 'lies, when happy,
engage in playM 8hey sweep out, loo%ing 'or more input &ut whate(er they may disco(er .or
not disco(er in the uni'orm 'ield0 gets tangled up in who they are, where they1(e &een, they
simply imagine a (isual 'ield and play with that instead. Our little ro&ot needs a primal urge
to 4ust play around, i' the &atteries are 'ull and there1s no real reason to go one way or the
other, the 8oie de vivre says to 4ust 'iddle a&out a &it, e7plore without and within, see what
you can turn up/ Our ro&ot must &e a curious little dreamer.
3 propose that a randomness really is at play, our ro&ot can learn to play and our 'lies as
well can &e not quite random. 8he reason lay in the &iological*historical grounding o' the
stream o' consciousness as we ha(e de'ined it here in the 2ualia model/ 3 ta%e 4ust one (ery
tiny 1random1 mo(e and that mo(e &ecomes a new 2ualia e7perience which then
re(er&erates through my 'ly*&eing and, i' nothing comes up as @i'e <urpose interesting,
well we can try another little random onwardness, &ut &ecause we are in a constant steady
stream o' presenting the 2ualia and assessing the (alue, &ecause o' the stream o'
consciousness as the pulse*2uery 2ualia con(ersation, it would ta%e (ery little to distract us
'rom our random am&ling ways and get us lost in a day*dream. Cinding themsel(es to &e
nowhere here they spontaneously play at a somewhere there. )nd any somewhere will do.
So too to our ro&ot, we add a little 4itter s%ip i' there1s nothing &etter to do, and then, 'or
completeness, lastly our ro&o*paramecium will need that 'antastic rich map o' its
sense,propulsion state history, at least the 'irst stage o' such so as to compare its last motion
with its last emotion.
Robo-Apo"al(pse) Probabl( not
Could a ro&otic consciousness then outstrip our ownF #y guess is no, or not &y much/ i'
the (ehicle o' the 2ualia map storage is indeed the 2uantum computing within the
microtu&ials it is hard to imagine machines achie(ing the same density o' 2uantum 2*&its
any time soon, and e(en then, my understanding o' 2uantum computing is limited &ut 3
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&elie(e there is &asically one 2uantum 1C<H speed1 so to spea%. ) ro&otic consciousness
could, as we do, add additional 2ualia inde7 memory storage spaces and partition these into
su&*consciousness assem&lies, &ut 3 do not see that they could impro(e on the speed or the
real*time capacity. )t &est 3 suppose they may wor% at a higher 're2uency o' 2ualia re'resh
since they are li%ely to ha(e 'ar 'ewer component sta%eholder su&*processes who need to &e
included in each moment &y moment transactional accounting.
Trans-humanism* perhaps
)s an enhanced creature, howe(er, again, there is no essential o&stacle to augmenting the
natural creature with somehow ad(anced 2ualia*address space, and indeed this could pro(e
a use'ul line o' en2uiry 'or prosthetic e7tensions and human*machine inter'ace design in
general, should we 'ind some means to step our 2uantum address space across into the
synthetic address space that is %eyed into the cy&ernetic controls o' the machine parts.
8his &odes well 'or the trans*humanists, &ut with a se(ere constraint/ the process could only
wor% in one direction. when we say we wish to upload oursel(es into a machine space, yes,
the media are as in'ormation rich, 'rom the s%in to the insides at least, &ut do recall that the
2ualia*2uery process that would &e re2uired to read and copy the original organism1s
2uantum storage state will also trip o(er the hard*wired addressa&le controls, the push
&uttons on the hormones, the muscles, the en6yme generators, e(erything, the copy process
could not help &ut &e completely de(astating to the creature, tearing them up in a chaos o'
rapidly con'licting and 4ust plain nonsensical triggers. 8he resulting 1map1 o' the remnant
mind would certainly &e traumati6ed as to &e as useless as the hapless su&4ect o' the mind*
copying e7periment.
3' a trans*humanist uploading into a machine host is to occur, it must &e initiated &y the
originating host, and since we don1t as% in trans*humanism how anything is possible lets
simply say that one could add prosthetic e7tensions upon e7tensions until e(entually one
has moved into the machine 100N. that is still a leap howe(er as the prosthetics are a case
o' inha&iting new territory, not li%e a hermit cra& &ut li%e ha(ing a new additional space in
which to grow entirely new5 the 2ualia*toto o' the original creature need not &e replicated
e(en in part, only the technology o' operation &y 2ualia. One might learn to use the
additional capacity 'or other cogniti(e processes, &ut there would already &e a signi'icant
hurdle in the trial and error learning o' what 2ualia*pattern insertions constituted the
prosthetic instruction and what might &e spare and a(aila&le, and also how our high*le(el
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conscious*3 2ualia is then plum&ed down into the depths o' the prosthetic to ping the
de(ice1s state o' happiness.
#any issues, &ut many are also issues that nature has sol(ed in e(en &asic creatures, the
learning o' the control inter'ace and learning to communicate deeply with the addition we
do %now is possi&le &ecause we ha(e had some success with transplants and re*attaching
lim&s, we %now the creature has a remar%a&ly resilient capacity to recon'igurations, so
perhaps it is not completely out o' the 2uestion that one might, progressi(ely, learn to mo(e
onesel' hermit*cra&*li%e into a new, completely synthetic a&ode.
The Limits of &ons"iousness +ntegration
8he results, howe(er, should we mo(e completely into the 100N synthetic &ody, may
disappoint. )t the (ery least, we will not get the preser(ed ga6illionaire personality we1d
hoped, although we may still sa(e their &usiness sa((y.
Becall that we did not su&scri&e to a Ludeo*Christian model o' the per'ect spirit personality
that is somehow suspended 'rom mystic space into the &ase physical &ody connected &y
some thread se(ered at death. Our model o' consciousness is (ery di''erent, it is
'undamentally &ased on the happiness o' the component sta%eholders o' the colla&orating
super*organism/ the new mecha*&ody would ha(e different notions o' what constitutes
(alues on the side 'or or against its own <urpose o' @i'e, and thus the priorities o' the
personality, o' the #ersonhead as it were would needs &e changed to suit the criteria o' this
new 1li'e*'orm1. We may 'aith'ully copy the sum*history supporting in'ormation o' the
original human host, &ut e(en there some, pro&a&ly a lot o' the in'ormation will cease to
ha(e rele(ance to the new host and thus &e wasted data, 2uaint relic, memories that won1t
2uite &ecome 1real1 in the mind.
Dut 3 could en(ision a cy&org or e(en 'ully ro&otic creature who1s grace and poise would &e
indistinguisha&le 'rom our own, a copy in silicon, plastic and 2uantum 2*&it technology,
e(ery &it as e''icient 'rom the s%in inward as our own, 4ust di''erent in what we each
consider as conditions and o''erings optimal to the <urpose o' @i'e. Cor e7ample, ro&ot or
cy&org lo(e would not need to consider the &iological dimensions that our research now
shows in the importance o' smell in human se7ual partnering, that the smell sensor 2ualia
are pic%ed up &y the reproducti(e systems in the 'emale and that in'ormation used to
2uali'y or dis2uali'y the prospecti(e partner &ased on their genetic compati&ility, a 'ar
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deeper case o' mere &odily attraction, and an important aspect o' relationships that is
thwarted completely &y the hormone*manipulating &irth*control pill .women are ad(ised to
go o'' the pill 'or at least a 'ew months &e'ore they say :3 do;0 3n a ro&ot or cy&org lo(e,
there is no desire among the component sta%eholders in one 'or the component sta%eholders
o' the other in that same direct physically &inding sense, although there still e7ists the
complementarity attraction where one simply needs the other 'or their happiness in other
ways.
8here is, howe(er, one (ery star% di''erence &etween oursel(es, ature1s people, and the
synthetic person who is conceptually identical in technology &ut physically incompati&le.
Decause they would &y de'inition &e apart 'rom the natural structure o' consciousness 'rom
the (ery large to the (ery small scale, they would e7ist outside o' the greater consciousness.
Our ro&otic cy&org is isolated, an independent and incompati&le operating system among
networ%ed &rethren/ we ha(en1t yet considered how we might attune our ro&otic &eing in
the other direction, in the outward direction, re'le7i(ely &ac% up to inter'ace into the higher
realms o' which it is ecological a part.
Quala, Cons'ousness an% &o%
What does this model o' consciousness say a&out the e7istence, or non*e7istence, o' EodF
8o &egin with, when people spea% o' 1Eod1 e(en i' there is a consensus o' there &eing only
one Eod, there is still a plethora o' anthropological and psychological concepts that are
thrown into the mi7 as i' they were all one thing. 8hey may &e, 3 don1t %now, &ut 'or the
purposes o' the present discussion 3 wish to limit the concept o' Eod to e7clude stories o'
prophets and heroes and scriptures, temples and relics and holy shrines and sites. 3 am
concerned here only with the consciousness aspect o' the creature and o' the relation o' that
consciousness to any Eod Consciousness that may e7ist.
What we 'ind then, loo%ing at our local sel'*&ody instance, where our story &egan was with
a (ery god*li%e o''er to a (ery distressed culture/ Would you like this soup?
8his said as the whole &eing, 'rom the perspecti(e o' the o''erer, &ut clearly gut &acteria
and the monitors in the stomach and intestinal walls could not possi&ly know what my
personal image o' the steaming 1soup1 actually means, they only %now, through their &eing
alerted to the opportunity and through the a(aila&le in'ormation 'rom the senses on the
smell, the history, the colour and te7ture, they speculate on the pro&a&le chemical and
organic composition o' the o''ering and the &iochemistry li%ely to result should that 1soup1,
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whate(er it is, &e ingested. 8o such creatures .i' 3 can call the cells o' the receptors
1creatures1 &ecause 3 see no reason why not0 this must ha(e seemed li%e a gi't 'rom the
gods, and here is the remar%a&le thing/ 3 could sense their response. 3 could sense their
response.
Dy some means that 3 am &y no means e2uipped to say, 3 am a&le to relay this 2ualia down
to these sta%eholders, and they in turn are, &y a means that is e(ident to me &y the 2ualia
(i(id e7perience o' yes please can e7press the wish and ha(e the need satis'ied. 3 do not
%now anything more than that 3 simply ha(e that undenia&le (i(id qualia o' the soup and
they, in response5 o''er their re2uest to parta%e. 3 %now they cannot understand me the way
you and 3 con(erse, &ut clearly we ha(e understood each other in a (ery deep and essential
way.
8his is happening all the way down the line, 3 am certain. )t the (ery indi(idual cell le(el
there is a stream o' consciousness that is 1happy1 nor not with the present state o' things as
they are. 8he musical player1s muscles are each &alancing their 1happy1 point o' nutrition
re2uirements and limits o' motion with the o(er*lording musician1s 2uest to hit a 1happy1
point o' per'ect e7ecution. )ll o' these relations &ecome &listeringly clear to us in
pathology/ health clearly is entwined with consciousness at the (ery core o' the 'eed&ac%
relation that &inds the creature and ma%es it 1li(ing1.
)nd this is not a 1democracy1 &ut an organi6ational integrity where these 2ualia*pulse
messages 'low inward ... and outward. On a hot summer day 3 may wo&&le o(er a lager or
a pale ale, &ut when push comes to sho(e, when the ground*6ero wor%ers are concerned
directly with the <urpose o' @i'e, my wishy*washy pre'erences, my personal dogmas o'
what is or is not culturally or politically 1right1 all o' that is tossed right out the window, 3
am no longer in charge. 8he gut says it is time 'or gg, then it is time to introduce egg. 3t
is not 'ollowing any te7t&oo% plan, it is not 'ollowing any religious rite or logical
deduction, the emphasis is theirs/ gg! )nd the ca(eat that it should &e poached.
We see this too with pregnancy5 the e''ect is undenia&le, it is the stu'' o' caricature and
humour, &ut it is nonetheless (ery real. 8he cravings are indeed so 'amous the =gyptian
high*priest )&ammon includes mention o' them in his *ysteries of the %ssyrians saying
that the woman is surrounded in a (orte7 o' demons that will ensure that she recei(es all o'
the rare and o'ten seemingly a&surd materials and com&inations o' materials that 9er 7ody
re2uires in this unusual and e7ceedingly comple7 process o' &uilding a complete new
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human &eing. )ll hus&ands %now not to 2uestion the re2uest, &ut to 'ul'il it, accurately and
as 2uic%ly as possi&le.
?ow strange is it then that the mystic should feel connected to the ature that surrounds
them in a same way, in a cogniti(e*&inding communications streamF 3s it odd that they and
the 'lora and 'auna around them are in a communications &alance o' needs, wants, and
trapsF Car 'rom unusual or 'antastical, a field of consciousness with all mem&ers to
di''erent degrees and needs attuned to that 'ield is patently o&(ious within*the*creature, and
there'ore should &e e7pected without. 8hat this 'ield should e7tend across the planet is also
li%ely as there is only e(erywhere one operating system, always and e(erywhere
compati&le.
What this tells us is o' an immediate and personal presence o' the higher*order o' &eing as a
li(ing and present immediate thing in direct 2ualia*lin%ed correspondence with the present
scale, &e that the gut*'lora responding and directing human host mind or the minutae
micro&ial iron*eaters responding and in'luencing the total 2ualia*'ield that is directing its
super*organisms care'ul de(ouring o' the 8itanic, in each case the lone indi(idual is in a
direct and real contact with that which is larger than itsel', almost certainly unaware o' the
larger grand purpose &eyond that it in(ol(es its own personal happiness gradient in the
pursuit o' its <urpose o' @i'e.
The 'atural un"tion of Pra(er
So what then o' prayerF #y gut*'lora will tell you that yes, it is possi&le to petition the
@ord through prayer, &ut that it is a petition only, one (oice, al&eit it can &e a (ery loud and
inescapa&ly imperati(e (oice i' the need is real5 i' the demand appears satis'ia&le to the
<ro(isioner, as my dear wi'e disco(ered, that @ord will smash all o&stacles to get that
which is needed so as to ensure e(eryone can get &ac% to the <urpose o' @i'e. Our e7ample
o' the pregnancy cra(ings too are a power'ul illustration o' the care and the love a higher*
order o' the li(ing consciousness can ha(e 'or the needs o' the (ery small even if they do
not themselves really understand those needs, they understand with complete compassion
and trust that the need is real and there'ore ice*cream really can &e com&ined with a great
many things at 2am.
)nthropologically, the practice o' prayer and incantation &ecomes suddenly (ery
interesting. We %now 'rom cogniti(e therapy that <isuali,ation can &e a potent therapeutic
<age "$ O' -4
tool. )nd place&o too, yet we understand (irtually nothing a&out the mechanics o' either
method, they seem to our science to &e 'ringe and shamanistic. <riming, too, is a popular
new topic in the psychology o' persuasion and here now we see the a''ecti(e mechanism,
the insertion o' 2ualia*tainting in'ormation that may or may not actually &e true, &ut
in8ected &y intention so as to mess with the natural process and turn it to the e7perimenter1s
ad(antage.
8here is a commonality in all o' these practices/ we are lead into a deep and rich qualia that
poses our re2uest, a holistic image meant to trigger a deeper le(el o' acti(ation, a
metaphoric 2ualia that is to &e in4ected into our stream o' consciousness and hoped to cause
a resonant result, in the case o' place&o and (isuali6ation to in(o%e natural healing, in the
prayer and ritual to in(o%e a larger community or en(ironmental healing.
Oes, in a sense we are &eing sold a &it o' ad(ertising, &ut the ad(ertising isn1t o' itsel' the
pro&lem, we trade 2ualia with each other through language and poetry, through arts and
music and 4ust sharing a smile5 the 2uestion is only whether the 4itter&ug pulse o' the stream
o' consciousness is &eing primed 'or the <urpose o' 'ur @i'e, or the purposes o' some
other1s.
Ans,ering to a Higher &alling
3n the e(olution o' creatures 'rom the (ery simple single cell up to the (ery comple7 super*
organisms o' mammals and the li%e the pattern shows dis4oints along the way where,
relati(ely suddenly, the pre(iously independent li'e 'orms are somehow su&sumed and
incorporated into a larger cohesi(e whole. What occurs at these 4umpsF )t what point do
the constituent creatures gi(e up their e7posed autonomy and gi(e themsel(es o(er to the
super*organismF What changes in the consciousness or the &iological &randing o' these
colla&orators such that they do &ecome part of the whole and no longer e7cluded &y the
immune systemF )s new components mutate and e7tend the creature, what %eeps these new
additions in the family?
)s we saw on the ocean 'loor, there is a &inding that occurs, a 2uorum sensing it was said, a
sel'*emergent sel'*go(ernment 'or the greater good o' all that is spontaneously adopted as a
superior e7pression o' the indi(idual1s <urpose o' @i'e, and &eing easier, &etter, more
e''icient on the whole, the parts su&mit, gi(e up their 'reedom, &ecome permanently
sym&iotic with their new 'amily.
<ierre 8eilhard de Chardin remar%ed on this phenomenon appearing throughout the 'ossil
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record. Eenerally when the populations o' the prior creatures reached certain densities
across the ecosystem such that resources were ta7ed and sur(i(al was at sta%e, in order to
conserve resources to more e''iciently use the a(aila&le li'e*support, a natural
ephemeriali,ation would occur, a doing more with less that 'ollows the entropy cur(e &y
countering the dwindling resource with structural comple7ity to more e''iciently distri&ute
the sustenance. 8eilhard de Chardin then speculated whether this coallescing o' li'e 'orms
might &e a general trend, and that someday perhaps the entire &iosphere o' =arth might
coallesce into a single conscious*3 entity that he termed the &oosphere, the =arth1s shell o'
sel'*awareness o' itsel'.
8he noosphere meme is indeed popular in modern times as the metaphor 'or &ringing
humanity together, whether through the 3nternet and Cace&oo%,8witter chatter creating an
e''ecti(e electronic skin around the planet to sense and react to any minor itch .or cute cat
(ideo0, others await the arri(al o' a psyllosi&in or ayahuasca*li%e cosmic connection
consciousness that &lends humanity and nature in a %ind o' rapture that opens the awareness
o' the whole on itsel'. Still others are e7pecting a HCO or some other astral tra(eller to
spontaneously appear and show us all how it should &e.
What is curious in all o' this, and who %nows, perhaps all o' it will turn out to &e true, &ut
the curious aspect is the similarity to the sentiment. )s Carl Lung said o' the alien
spacecra't meme, it is 2uite interesting that the belief e7ists, e(en where all e(idence is
lac%ing.
What is also curious is how this is not in any way a new concept5 human history has &een
1communing1 with higher*order messages as 'ar &ac% as we can detect. Whether it is the
awe*inspiring neolithic magesty o' Eoe&e%li 8epe or the #ysteries o' =leusis or the thrill o'
standing at the !ennedy Space Centre to witness a shuttle launch, there is a distinct sense
o' a unity and a &inding. Dac% to our (ery earliest record we 'ind musician1s tools and as
soon as the record can e7press it, the music is said to &e ritual, spiritual, a means to uni'y
and connect in Sumerian temples as much as stadium crowds singing &o Woman &o +ry at
a Do& #arley concert or mo(ing in a wa(e*cheer at a 'oot&all match.
Hnderstanding a 2ualia*sounding model, howe(er, and a resonance sounding o(er a super*
organism that may e(en o' itsel' &e wo(en into the spacetime, the sense and deep qualia o'
&elonging is not so ununsual. 3t is similar too to the compromising 'or our own &est
interests that occurs in the niche 4oc%eying in an ecosystem, the &inding spontaneously as a
means to more e''iciently counter the entropy, supporting that rage against the dying o' the
light.
<age 41 O' -4
3n humans .and other primates0 there seems a natural propensity to &inding in groups 4ust as
e2ually as, or perhaps the 'lipside, the e7cluding o' any mem&ers seen as outside the group.
Ei(en ar&itrary assignments to nonsensical colour groups, human su&4ects will show a
spontaneous 'a(our to mem&ers o' their same randomly assigned group mem&ership and
will ma%e spontaneous decisions to 'rustrate the progress o' those randomly assigned to
di''erent colour groups5 the mechinism there is perhaps part o' the social immune system,
an e(ol(ed resistance to the introduction o' un%nown micro&iology into the social scene
despite the genetic good sense o' allowing in di(ersity to the gene pool, the micro&iology
ecology curiously dominating the &eha(iour to trump the seemingly more 'undamental
needs o' the +).
Dut in addition to this sense o' &elonging, all our histories also report the receipt o'
messages, o' instructions, the receipt o' sometimes incredulous imperati(es that are in4ected
into the consciousness o' one or more indi(iduals with such clarity that they 'eel compelled
to o&ey. Our psychopathology also a&ounds with su&4ects trou&led &y (isions or (oices,
and our cultures a&ound with stories o' &oth, o' heroes &rought to a 2uest &y gods and the
hapless who wandered to destruction 'i7ated on a mista%en (ision5 mystic literature such as
3am&licus and the writings o' St. 8eresa o' )(ila are stoc%ed with tips and tests 'or
discerning the di''erence &etween the true reception and the 'alse.
Dut what i' there is nothing magical happeningF What i' there is no source 'or these
connections &eyond the massi(ely multi*threaded asynchronous 2ualia*processing attuned
to the deep (i(id sense o' the whole*creature super*consciousness in which we, as
creatures, are undenia&ly im&eddedF
The )en of Cons'ousness
We ha(e seen in the preceding chapters that a new understanding o' consciousness arises
naturally and ine(ita&ly out o' a simple re*'raming o' the 2ualia pro&lem. We &egan only
with the direct and simple o&ser(ation o' how, when we 'orm the 2ualia in our mind, we are
presenting that in'ormation 'or the consideration o' persons we really %now not who or
e(en what they want 'rom our intelligence gathering, and that they are grateful 'or the
in'ormation. 8he only change 3 ha(e introduced 'rom the mainstream is to posit :-he
6ualia; as not a collection o' discreet 'act &undles &ut as one singular in'ormation resource
where the 2ualia o' any particular item o' interest in the moment is reduced to an inde7 into
the sum*total resource.
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3 ha(e then 'urther e7tended the standard model &y the o&ser(ation that this 2ualia, once
'ormed in the mind, is then offered to the whole*creature and a response then e7pected, that
in this way the 2ualia process is inherently a time*pulse train o' cause and e''ect, the e''ect
&ecoming the ne7t cause and so 'orth, leading naturally to a steady stream o' consciousness.
When we hold the rose, we do not retrie(e some &undle o' 2ualium 'or 1Bose1 &ut we whirl
the inde7 around to &egin the search at 1Bose1 and :8his Bose; and 'rom there all o' the
conte7t o' that rose which will, in (ery short order, come to include e(erything surrounding
that rose in time and space, including our air 2uality, the am&ient temperature and our &lood
sugar le(els, e(ery detail needed &y the 'unctioning human, all we ha(e done is to draw the
spotlight o(er to posit -his .ose as a topic 'or the community consideration.
Cran%ly, 3 li%e this model o' consciousness. 3n the classical literature on consciousness, we
were continually 'aced with either the dualism o' the spirit &eing somehow out there and
the &ody &eing somehow 1down1 here and the two o' them somehow connected until death
do us part, or we were o''ered a mechanistic (iew o' consciousness as an illusion o' the
cloc%wor% o' the &iology, a sel'*deception that seemed pointless in the &iological (iew o'
things, an add*on, an e7tra 'eature reser(ed only 'or those li'e*'orms that were to write
&oo%s. Iery depressing.
Dut instead 3 'ind to my delight that this me o' 131 is rather a &undle o' li(ing creatures who
are &ound together &y my sense o' li(ing consciousness. We are sel'*coordinated and sel'*
in'ormed, and the purpose o' this communications is literally to ensure the ma7imum
happiness to one and all, that together, we li(e as a harmonious coe7istence o' &eings. 3
'ind that this go(ernment o' my &ody is dri(en &y the light o' the sum %nowledge that my
human 'orm has accumulated, &oth conscious and unconscious and perhaps e(en inherited,
and this (ast data&ase o' a(aila&le resource and glo&al status then made open and accessi&le
to all component sta%eholders. )nd 3 'ind that my sta%eholders are not cast down and set to
ta%e what they get, &ut that they can directly in'luence and in'orm my &eing e(en to the
highest le(els should their needs arise, and that this same principle, this same importance o'
the small to echo directly to the most*high is there'ore li%ely to &e the rule across all
creation. @astly 3 'ind this grounding in li(ing matter a''ords a 'reedom to 'ree*will that
satis'ies the ?ar(ard @aw o' )nimal Deha(iour, :Under carefully controlled e/perimental
conditions5 an animal will behave as it damn well pleases.;
)nd this all &egan with one simple o&ser(ation, one empirical result.
<age 4" O' -4
-Who is it)-
8here is a Gen story where the student goes to the master and as%s him the way to
enlightenment, to satori, to the reali6ation o' what truly is. 8he master sco''s at the student
and &rushes him away5 he may ha(e hit him, 3 don1t remem&er, &ut the student, de4ected,
wal%ed away across the courtyard. Suddenly the master yelled out his name and the
student, eager 'or the reconsideration, turned around.
3Who is it?0 the master said. Whereupon, as such stories say, the student was enlightened.
Starting 'rom only one simple une2ui(ocal empirical o&ser(ation, we ha(e recreated the
student1s 4ourney, 'rom the 2ualia o' his hope then dashed &y re4ection, we see his stream o'
consciousness that &rings each 'oot, each muscle o' each toe into &alance and alignment as
he wal%s the path away, his arms and hands in structural sway on the 'rame o' his &ac%, his
mind turning what if 2ualia simulators hamming on his 2ualia*map in hopes o' minding that
thing he his missing, he &reaths in, each cell sac o' the lung gaining enough &ut not too
much air pressure, the muscles %eeping go(ernor o' the rhythm and depth o' each
respiratory cycle.
Who is it? 3t is he who had turned, &ut that turn had &een 2ueued &y a 2ualia, the (oice, the
'amiliar (oice coloured &y the deep hope 'or a reconsideration, that (oice must ha(e
&ounced into the inside and plum&ed the sta%eholders, tic%led the neurotransmitters that
1happy1 is a 'ast a&out*'ace and a pause to
recei(e the ne7t 2ualia, a hope*'eeling, an anticipation 'eeling, perhaps a con'licting 'eeling
arising 'rom a 2ualia simulator result predicting that the insolence o' the 2uestion may ha(e
earned some unpleasant duty shi'ts. Who is it? 3s the 2ualia hurled &ac% at this mi7 o'
happy eager dread, Who is it?
Who is it? 3t is us. 3t is we, it is the yin*yang &io*oscillator stream o' consciousness system
that a&sor&s those words and lets them &ounce into the inside and down through the 'eet
and the arms and the &ac% and the gut and down on through into the parts and mem&ers o'
those same, the reali6ation re(er&erates &ac% li%e the pipette*trap echo that the happiness
path is this image/ it is we.
The Lesson of .a/en
8he lesson o' 6a6en sitting meditation is o' coming 'ace to 'ace with the slippery nature o'
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our so*called 1self1 consciousness, that (oice we hear in our head who 'inds 'it to comment
on e(erything and anything and not necessarily in any meaning'ul useful way, &ut it is &y
times a good thing to ha(e. 3n the Ludeo*Christian traditional psychology, we are taught to
gi(e this component precedence and the story ends there, all other seeming mental 'unction
is deemed sub-conscious. 3 thin% we 4umped the gun there too.
3n 6a6en, the practitioner is told to sit, 4ust sit, and o&ser(e. Lust that. Lust sit, 4ust watch.
Lust observe. Becall that the yin*yang sym&ol is called so &y the Chinese5 it is not called the
!%&=-yin sym&ol, implying that the original consciousness entity sits in a passive state, as
a receptor. 8his is satis'ying 'or the current model as it suits the e(olutionary model, &ut
see what happens in a 'ar more ad(anced creature e2uipped not with a simple reacti(e*only
state o' consciousness or e(en a simple 9ere and &ow awareness, &ut the human has meta*
consciousness upon meta*consciousness upon meta*consciousness 2ualia pattern*
recognition pulse*2uery,response simulators, one of which is that running commentator that
mines the 2ualia map in a language*oriented way in a darling attempt to add (alue to the
current real*time input. 8his is the component we ha(e &e as%ed to restrain.
3t cannot &e done.
3n the sitting meditation, the no(ice is guided &y the instruction to 1count inward &reaths1,
and 4ust that, the count o' the num&er to &e 4ust a count incremented on each inhale, and to
%eep 'i7ed to the &ody, o&ser(ing the &ones as they mo(e with each &reath, to notice the
shi'ting o' the weight and the pressures on the muscles in the chair or on the meditation
cushion. Hpright posture may &e re2uired to %eep an awareness o' the &alance o' the
s%eletal 'rame. We are as%ed to 4ust &e there, watching, noticing the air on our hands, on
our 'ace, the air as it lea(es and enters the nostrils, etc etc.
8he 'irst lesson o' 6a6en is o' course that 14ust sitting1 is in 'act a (ery complicated acti(ity,
there are many things going on, many chec%s and &alances that %eep our posture, %eep our
&reathing .we are as%ed not to control the &reathing, only let it go naturally0, our heart, &ut
most o' all, we disco(er all o' this &u&&ling cauldron o' cognitive activity that &ounces as a
child in a shopping mall, thin%ing o' e(ery possi&le distraction to 1present1 to the sitter.
8o present to the sitterF O! ... that is interesting, &ut let1s mo(e on. @et1s 4ust remem&er
'or now that some circuit, some consciousness processing sub-assembly which we certainly
did not intentionally or e(en desire to in(o%e had &urst in, unin(ited, presenting 6ualia!
<age 4- O' -4
Dac% to the sitter, the situation gets worse/ the original tas%, counting &reaths, pro(es
impossi&le. With di''iculty the no(ice ma%es it to 18 or 1$, may&e stum&les on a
distraction &ut %nowing no one is 1watching1 in here &ut they, they let it slide, 20, they
count, 20.., what time is that game tonight? )nd all is lost. 8hey start again.
8he e7ercise 'or the no(ice is to ta%e 4ust 20 minutes. 3t is an e7cruciating 20 minutes, and
an e7cellent way to generate a wide (ariety o' 'antastic and per'ectly logical reasons why
6a6en sitting meditation is a waste o' time and should not &e indulged in when there are
more worthwhile things to practice. @i%e :armville.
We can return to that too i' we remem&er, the remar%a&le tenacity o' the loss*a(oidance
rein'orcement pattern on usurping completely that attention*see%ing component o' our
consciousness. <erhaps someday an entrepreneur will de(ise some way to plug -he
(istractor in our secondary consciousness permanently into a 'leet o' Cace&oo% games, &ut
completely autonomously 'rom the operation o' the creature itsel', such that instead o' a
des% &ound 6om&ie, they &ecome a 'unctioning li(ing creature once again de(oted to the
<urpose o' @i'e, only with this Cace&oo% Eame*pac% thing stuc% in their headM
Dac% at the 6a6en.
)t a more adept stage o' practice, the +ounter and the (istractor &egin to dissociate, unlin%
themsel(es li%e the way the le't and right hand dissociate when learning to play a musical
instrument. 8he &u66 o' endless idea*'inding is still there, 4umping on signi'icance o'
num&ers, as%ing i' we1re done yet, wonder what will happen when we get to 100, naming
the sounds that enter the room, yet the counting is more consistent, as a metronome,
conscious o' not inter'ering in the &reathing, e7isting as a seemingly independent &ut also
(ery (er&al and deli&erate cogniti(e action that is overlayed on the su&strate o' the actual
2ualia e7perience o' sitting with the air and clothes against our s%in, our 2ualia sense o'
weight and the motions o' &reathing.
Cor the e/pert in 6a6en practice, the count o' the &reaths would &e a distraction in itsel',
something internally imagined and other than the real e7perience o' sitting. What they
see% to &ehold is the >ualia*toto, as it is, at that moment
8
. 8hey descri&e the sensation as
8 8he 'amous irony o' the 6a6en is that there can &e no seeking in the sense o' a want or desire to attain or
capture some thing, as these are constructs5 the practitioner instead aims to simply &e, to o&ser(e without
<age 46 O' -4
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one o' e7panse and in'inity5 they gain no new in'ormation, &ut they gain a direct 2ualia*
e7perience o' the whole o' the Orch*OB summation, and then 1watch1 the echos that come
&ac%, the &ody e7perience &ecoming only 4ust part o' the >ualia*toto, there &eing, in 'act,
no actual point o' focus, &ut only the sum total holistic entire past*summation inter*species
+onsciousness :ield completeness that is that same 'ractal 2ualia map their component
&odies are using the %eep that &ody in sitting meditation. 8he practitioner &ecomes aware,
or rather the practitioner is made re*aware o' their relationship to this &ody as one o' a
whole system that can communicate (ia this ping*pro&e &roadcast within and without o' the
2ualia o' the moment as it is which is to say, &y ature, in its totally.
8he totally as %nown to the creature o' course, nonetheless the feeling certainly should &e
one o' a calm connectedness and an assurance &orn o' the con'idence to &e aware o' those
needs and 'unctions which 'all within the person1s personal domain, their 1space1 that turns
out to lea% 'ar out into the &eyond.
Our ad(anced sitter then sits attempting to o&ser(e each higher-order Orch*OB, i.e. )t the
le(el o' the cognisant &eing, and watch as that 2ualia e&&s and 'lows and mi7es with the
inner 2ualia, letting them all &e, 4ust watching.
3 told a #aster o' <ractice that 3 had great trou&le with this e7ercise, that my mind would
wander almost immediately, that it was impossi&le not to &e distracted and carried away
into some cogniti(e train o' pointless thought instead o' simply %eeping to the per'ectly 'air
and seemingly possi&le 20 minute plan. :) must spend ?@A of my time chasing the monkey
through the trees5; 3 said5 she replied that she too, as #aster o' <ractice, also spent at least
$-N o' the time o''*tas%, :'nly in my case5; she added, :) can still feel my feet on the floor5
) can still feel my breathing.;
3n her description, we notice two distinct streams o' 1consciousness1 running
asynchronously. 3n one we ha(e the organ grinder1s mon%ey who s%its a&out the crowd
loo%ing 'or interesting o&4ects with which to disrupt the show &y some cute display5 this we
might term a secondary and sel'*autonomous consciousness that is clearly ungrounded &y
comment or aim. ) popular Gen story tells o' one poem descri&ing the #ind as a mirror and that they
%eep it 'ree o' dust, a second poem says that the mirror and the dust are the same, no need to wipe, and the
third and winning poem declaring, 3where is the mirror? Where is the dust?0 - it is actually remar%a&le in
practice how resisitant the &ody is in allowing this unattached unannotated e7periencing to occur, howe(er
it does &ecome more possi&le with practice and there e7ists much e(idence on how the mastery o' the
practice physically alters the &rain in use'ul ways as a result o' allowing 'or this non*&eha(iour.
<age 4A O' -4
reality, 2uite out o' our control, and insatia&le. 8hen, independently we ha(e the steady
stream o' the <rimary Consciousness o' the >ualia*toto .or perhaps >ualia root*pointerF0 as
each moment &rings a new re(er&erati(e pulse re'reshing that last moment with this ne7t
new one, the well*practiced sitter ta%ing care to %eep the focus o' this
?ow 'ortunate 'or us that the &reathing, the heart*rate, the digesti(es and endorphins and
really all o' the important &odily 'unctions should &e tuned to that latter stream o'
consciousness, and not to the 'lighty 'ormer.
Unt( s Plural, at Mnmum, T*o
Duc%minster Culler descri&ed unity thus/ Unity is plural5 at minimum5 two. Dy this Duc%y
meant that the one, &y itsel' has no reality, no point o' re'erence, no sel'*consciousness
could occur &ecause there would &e nothing to de'ine it. 8he single point in space has no
dimension, no orientation, no motion, it simply is. 8wo points, said Duc%y, de'ine a line, a
minimum o' in'ormation, the sel' now has distance 'rom other, speed relati(e.
Diologically spea%ing it would seem unity is also plural, and also at minimum two although
we ha(e the ad(antage o' &eing 'ar 'urther 'rom the Dig Dang and so e(en our single*cell
na(igator has the otherness o' their containing en(ironment as an echo*&oard to sur' along
a one*sided stream o' sel'*consciousness. 3ndeed, most o' our little 'riends do not li(e in
la&oratory petri dish en(ironments, they li(e in a rich multi*species ecosystem where there
are others in all directions, including outwardly in scale where their one little (oice is not
an isolated 2uantum anomaly causing one mem&rane shell to 4iggle, &ut may well &e a
prayer communications gateway resonance to calling in some hea(y*artillery higher*power
aid to 6oom in and rescue their la&oratory &ound comradeM
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+blo#ra,h(
J"'#K/ #ichael 8ye, )re >ualia 3rreduci&le, on*<hysical =ntitiesF,
200$,http/,,plato.stan'ord.edu,entries,2ualia,,
J7lutnerK/ Beinhart Dlutner, >ualia and the ?ard <ro&lem o' Consciousness, ,
http/,,www.&lutner.de,color,2ualia.pd'
J?amero''$82: ?amero'', Stuart, +id Consciousness Cause the Cam&rian =(olutionary
=7plosionF, 1$$8,http/,,www.2uantumconsciousness.org,penrose*hamero'',cam&rian.html
J=lausius,K/ Losie Elausius6, Oour Dody 3s ) <lanet,
200A,http/,,disco(ermaga6ine.com,200A,4un,your*&ody*is*a*planet,
JWennerK/ #elinda Wenner, ?umans Carry #ore Dacterial Cells than ?uman Ones,
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2011*0-*2- .re(/ 2011*06*060
Al,habet'al In%e-
Dernays, =dward..................................................................................................................."0
Consciousness.............................................................................................................-, 18, 40
consciousness dialogue.................................................................................................$, 1-
cy&org lo(e......................................................................................................................."6
Eod Consciousness..........................................................................................................."A
higher*order o' &eing........................................................................................................"$
mysticism.........................................................................................................................."8
<ersonhead........................................................................................................................"6
place&o.............................................................................................................................."$
play...................................................................................................................................""
prayer................................................................................................................................"$
<rimary Consciousness...........................................................................................8, 24, 4-
Super*Consciousness.........................................................................................14, "6p., 44
synthetic consciousness...................................................................................................."2
Cullimore, Boy R <ellegrino, Charles..................................................................................14
ecology........................................................................................4, A, 10, 16, 1$, 22pp., 2App.
=delman,8ononi #odel...........................................................................................................8
Cace&oo%............................................................................................................................4"p.
'ractal.........................................................................................................A, 12, 16, 20, "", 44
Creud, Sigmund....................................................................................................................."0
Criendly Eregarious Ereengrocer.........................................................................................28
Culler, Duc%minster...................................................................................................18, 20, 4-
Eestalt..................................................................................................................................."0
?amero'', Stuart....................................................................................................................22
?amero'', Stuart B.......................................................................................................8, 18pp.
?ar(ard @aw o' )nimal Deha(iour.......................................................................................41
?isaishi, Loe .Composer0......................................................................................................1A
4oie de (i(re....................................................................................................................$, ""p.
!ar&an, Bichard....................................................................................................................2A
meditation.........................................................................................................................42pp.
mind*map........................................................................................................................12, 16
atural Selection...................................................................................................................10
ature....................................................................2, 4, 8, 11, 1-pp., 20, 24pp., "2, "6, "8, 44
Orch*OB.....................................................................................................................18pp., 44
<age -1 O' -4
<enrose, Boger................................................................................................................18, 20
<urpose o' @i'e.........................................................................$, 1-, 2"p., 2App., "6, "8p., 44
>ualia..............................................................................................................1, ", -, A, 11, 1-
meta*2ualia..............................................................................................................2A, 2$p.
2ualia in4ection.................................................................................................................2$
2ualia insertion.................................................................................................................26
2ualia simulator..........................................................................................................26, 42
2ualia teleportation...............................................................................................2", 2-, 2A
2ualia*inde7.......................................................................................................12p., 26, "4
2ualia*map............................................................................................................18, "2, 41
2ualia*processing machines..............................................................................................2-
2ualia*tainting..................................................................................................................."$
>ualia*toto...............................................................................1-p., 20, 2", 2-pp., "-, 44p.
the ?ard <ro&lem.............................................................................................1, -, 1", 16p.
2uantum physics........................................................................................18pp., 2", "4pp., 4-
2uantum physics........................................................................................................................
2uantum consciousness....................................................................................................20
Bo&o*)polcalypse................................................................................................................."4
Sel'*3..................................................................................................................................6, 10
super*organism............................................................................A, 12, 14p., 21pp., 2A, "6, "$
8itanic..............................................................................................................................14, "$
8rans*?umanism..................................................................................................................."-
8uring #achine.....................................................................................................................1"
Hni(erse................................................................................................................................18
I)@S....................................................................................................................................."0
whole*system..........................................................................................................8, 10, 18pp.
Wor%ing #emory..................................................................................................................12
yin*yang.................................................................................................................................42
Gen..................................................................................................................................2, 40p.
sensing..................................................................................................................................14
<age -2 O' -4

Consciousness Explained - Simply

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Consciousness Explained - Simply

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CONSCIOUSNESS EXPLAINED, SIMPLY

Towards a new science of consciousness

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