Theos-Talk Archives (October 2006 Message tt00113)

The contrast between the numbers on a CD and the experience of a Bach 
Sonata could not be more dramatic. The numbers are ultimately 
meaningless. The experience is its own meaning. The assumption that 
consciousness is universal is the assumption that all of existence has 
intrinsic meaning and value. Instead of existing as isolated souls in a 
sea of empty matter we exist as focal points of intense consciousness in 
an ocean of universal consciousness.

My conscious experience is affected by the internal structure of my 
brain and by external events. Where do my senses begin and the external 
world end? We can see the issue most clearly in how we experience time. 
Each moment is unique and specific yet each flows into the next with no 
boundary. We can understand how this happens structurally. Our brain 
state changes in an almost continuous way because the firing of neurons 
that give rise to that change are numerous and weakly coordinated. They 
are like an unruly crowd and nothing like a marching band where everyone 
is in step. Just as there are no clear boundaries between experiences in 
time there is no clear boundary between a sense organ and the external 
world it senses. By doing away with a bit of soul stuff unique to each 
person we destroy any absolute boundary between the individual and the 
wider world. There are only the vague and shifting boundaries like those 
in our experience of time.

--Paul Budnik Jr.
http://www.mtnmath.com/whatrh/node30.html