Human consciousness - NOT amateur radio

Time and again I am amazed by the things that had to happen for me to be here on this planet, at this time, in this country. I am the result of generations and generations of ancestors. If just one had not existed I would not exist. 

The number of planets in the universe is huge. Some estimate this as 100 billion billion billion billion  The number of planets with sentient life is probably huge. On the Earth now there are around 8 billion humans. Yet I exist.

Exactly what is human life? What exactly is self awareness? Why am I here now, in this country, on this planet? 

Some would say there is a religious element. Whilst I understand this, to me the explanation is too small and too Earth centred.

We always think of time going from the past into the future? Is this an illusion?

Consciousness - NOT amateur radio

This has been discussed before, but I am intrigued by consciousness. We, and arguably some other animals, have the ability to think and contemplate our very being. 

Is this a function, as yet not understood, of our brains? Does our consciousness just go when we die? Does it somehow survive after we die? Can some computers be sentient? 

Arguably, one of the greatest mysteries is exactly what is consciousness? Will we ever be able to answer this?

Consciousness - NOT amateur radio

As human beings we all experience consciousness. To us, this means experiences and memories. We have no comprehension of how other sentient creatures think. What does a pigeon or an ant think? Do they think? What is consciousness?

Astronomical Numbers - NOT amateur radio

According to Google there are 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in the visible universe. This is a huge huge number.  

Only some of these planets may have intelligent life, but even if this is just a tiny fraction of the number of planets, this is still a huge number.   

I find it mind blowing that I am here at all. One of the greatest puzzles is human consciousness.  On Earth we have about 8000,000,000 people. In such a vast universe, you would think kindness and love would have no meaning, yet nearly every human knows this is not the case.

Although we have being trying for about 50 years via project SETI, we have still not found any signs of interstellar intelligent life as far as I am aware.

Time and memories - illusions? - NOT amateur radio

In the last century, our views of physics were radically changed by Einstein and then quantum physics. Things we had believed in for centuries required new ways of thinking. One wonders what our world view will be like in the next century. You can almost hear them saying,"did they really believe that?".

I wonder about time and memory. In our minds we wake up each day with our understanding of the passage of time and the assumption that our (fading) memories are as old as us. It is entirely possible that this is an illusion and each day is unique and the memories we think we have are illusions too. I have already discussed the mystery of human consciousness.

No, in 100 years' time our whole world view could be totally different.

The mystery of consciousness - NOT amateur radio

All humans are conscious beings who can contemplate our pasts and futures. We do not know about other animals.  As it is highly likely we evolved from animal species, it highly probable (at least) some animals are conscious and aware of themselves as we humans are.

In all the vastness of our observable universe, we are here on this planet at this time.

At some point in the future we may be able to explain what consciousness is. For now, it remains a total mystery. Is it linked to our physical body?

Human Consciousness - NOT amateur radio

Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is what happens when we die. Do we just cease to be and our consciousness dies with our bodies?

This has been the central question of all religions for millennia. I certainly do not have the answers. On a logical level we are only conscious because of our brains and synapses. As far as I know, no-one has explained why we are conscious beings.

And yet, there is so much we do not know. One thing is certain. This is the ultimate question.

Human Consciousness - NOT amateur radio

Human consciousness is perhaps the biggest puzzle we know. All of us have the gift of being able to contemplate ourselves and our universe. Some say we just expire when we die along with our bodies. Some say something of us lives on. The truth is no-one knows. It is the mystery all religions try to answer.

It is like living in a one dimensional world and trying to imagine a 3 dimensional world. Human consciousness is indeed the biggest mystery of all. I don't have the answers.