The Conscious Mind: Self, the Origin

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
The Self, the conscious mind (or the soul from a spiritual outlook) - How did we get this? What are the fundamental prerequisites for the birth of 'self'? Before I get deep into that, let me share some of the questions that bothered me since high school.

1. Why is our vision tuned to the electromagnetic wave's light spectrum (and not radio waves, x-rays, or infrared)?

2. Why do we reason?

3. Why do we (humans) all look different (except the identical twins)?

4. Why do we have just 5 senses and not 3 or 7?

5. Why do we have our own identity? Why cannot I see/know what others think?

Vision

There are many species where vision is tuned into a different electromagnetic wave spectrum. For example, Bats (dolphins, whales) cannot see how we see our environment. It uses ultrasound signals (Echo Location) to see the objects before it and flies away if it finds one in its path. So, think about it: if we had a vision where we got tuned into ultra-sound or X-rays. You can imagine how we can see things. Imagine seeing your friends as a skeleton (How do you differentiate them?) or a dark object (ultra-sound). The following image shows the electromagnetic wave and its different wavelengths in it.

As per the above picture, our vision is tuned somewhere between a wavelength of 10^-6 to 10^{-7 (m)}, while remotes of TV, DVD players, etc., are turned into 10^-6 to 10^-3,and some of the bats are tuned into ultraviolet spectrum 10^-7 to 10^-8 (m). Your favorite FM station is adjusted to wavelength 10 to 10² (m). So, the question remains: why did our vision tune into this spectrum? Let us look at the second question (Why do we reason?) in the series and see if we can connect all these to our ultimate question, the origin of the ‘Self.’

Rational World – Is it really rational?

The thought of a rational world is connected with the fact that it is ordered. The Earth goes around the Sun, The Moon goes around Earth, and there is an order to all these. Events do not happen randomly; they are related in some way. This connection gives birth to the notion of cause and effect. An example. The window breaks because a cricket ball (a British game) strikes a cricket ball, and the ball is hit by a batsman, and he hits it because a bowler bowls it, and so on.

Closely related to causality is the idea of determinism. Determinism implies that the state of the world at one moment suffices to fix its form at a later stage. Determinism was a crucial element in the Newtonian Laws of Mechanics proposed in the 17^th century. Example. Positions and Velocities of planets can be determined at any point in our solar system using Newton’s Laws. Newton’s law doesn’t contain time as a direction. So, we can predict future eclipses and retrofit their occurrences in the past. So, if the world is strictly deterministic, all the events are built in a matrix of cause and effect. All religion focuses on cause and effect as a fundamental principle to determine good and bad. Let us move into the 20^th century and see what happened to the Newtonian deterministic world. On a side note, thinking about destiny is interesting when you think about causality. In fact, destiny can be defined as the reverse causality where the cause is predated by an effect. Destiny in connection with fate can be discussed later once we get some hold of the origin of the ‘Self.’

The matrix of cause and effect (as a fundamental principle) got into trouble with the discovery of Quantum Mechanics in the 1920s. We found the absence of a deterministic world in the subatomic world. In the atomic world, indeterminism is built into its fabric. Werner Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle is an expression of this indeterminism. Numerous tests of quantum mechanics have proved/confirmed that uncertainty is inherent in quantum systems (at the subatomic level). So, does this mean that the universe is irrational after all?

Not at all.

The effects of quantum mechanics are not noticeable at the macroscopic scale. This means in the observable universe, nature tends to follow deterministic laws. Now, what is the observable universe? Who decides what can be observable? Who is observing whom? That’s another set of questions we need to think about.

The observable universe

The observable universe is the 3+1 dimensional (3 spatial – length, breadth, and height) universe we live in, and adding time as the 4^th dimension makes our observable universe complete. However, according to String theory, there are 10+1 dimensions (10 spatial and 1 time) in the universe (that’s the mathematical prediction of string theory and not what we experience as the 3+1 dimensional universe). So, is the current observable 3+1-dimensional universe only for the human species? We may not be able to answer an interesting question soon. Think about a 2+1 dimensional world where you have 2 spatial dimensions (length and breadth and NO height) along with a one-time dimension. The planet in the 2+1D world (time 3^rd Dimension) will be a flatland (Flatland: A Romance of many dimensions 1884 fiction by Edwin Abbot), and the species in that land will be like circles, squares, rectangles, etc.

Consider how these species react when encountering someone from our world (3+1D). Let us take the example from the flatland perspective: if a put a hole in a flat piece of paper (the 2+1 D world of the flatland people) using a pencil, the people in the flatland will see a small circle in their land becoming bigger and bigger then it stops. Now, if we take someone out of that 2D land and bring him to our 3D world and show him exactly what happened, how will he go back and explain to his fellow beings about another dimension. They are going to call him crazy. The following images show the different spatial dimensions.

A 3D projection of a four-dimensional hypercube performing a simple rotation about a plane that bisects the figure from front-left to back-right and top to bottom. Created by Jason Hise with Maya and Macromedia Fireworks.

After looking at all these different dimensions, we can ask again why we are in the 3+1 dimensional world. 3 spatial dimensions are the minimum requirement for the consciousness to reach the level where it can see the universe and try to enjoy the beauty of nature and unravel the mysteries one by one. Imagine if the time dimension is not there. Then, the concept of past, present, and future is gone, and events will unfold randomly. So, for rational thinking or to understand the mysteries of nature, consciousness requires the time factor and the 3 spatial dimensions. Without time, the change will become constant. You can measure the difference only if you can compare it (change) in two time frames. As we live in ‘now,’ we do not see the change as it happens.

Let us recap some of the critical points.

Why is our vision (mind) tuned to the light spectrum in the electromagnetic wave? That is the best frequency to see and understand the 3+1 (3 spatial, 1 time) dimensional world.
Three (spatial) dimensional space with time as the fourth dimension will be the essential fabric requirement for the brain to develop the concept of ‘self,’ resulting in the ‘self’ trying to understand the universe and how the Self got created in the first place!
Time is a critical dimension (along with the 3 spatial dimensions) for the birth of ‘self.’ Without the concept of past, present, and future, learning and comparing things in this 3+1 space is difficult.

Apart from the above three points, something more is required for the concept of Self to be projected by our mind. A forward direction of time becomes critical for the evolution of consciousness to assemble the necessary events together in a logical order. Before the consciousness (human mind) starts to string things together, it must identify itself first. Let us look at that in the next section (part 2) and address the 3^rd question in the series – why do we (humans) all look different (except the identical twins)? We will see that in the next section.

Read more in Part 2 of the series.

References

Vision

1. Wikipedia – Bats

2. How stuff works – Bats Vision

3. Vision in echo locating Bats

4. The Hindu (newspaper) – Bats scan rainforest with UV vision

Flower-visiting bats need UV vision, as the flowers they visit in the rainforest are characterized by a strong reflection of UV-spectrum light at night.

5. Nature: UV vision: Flower power

Ultraviolet vision in mammals is a rarity, known only in a few rodents and marsupials. So, the discovery of UV vision in an echolocating nectar-feeding bat is surprising. Bats orientate primarily by echolocation, but bats do have eyes and make some use of vision. The phyllostomid flower bat is color-blind but UV-sensitive down to a wavelength of about 310 nm.

6. National Geographic – How do rodents communicate with UV light?

Many fish, reptiles, birds, and insects can see ultraviolet light. Some even use pigments that reflect it to attract mates and communicate. However, most mammals have lost the ability to see ultraviolet light and lack the cellular machinery necessary to detect it.

7. National Academy of Science – Molecular analysis of the evolutionary significance of UV vision in vertebrates.

The use of UV vision is associated strongly with UV-dependent behaviors of organisms. When UV light is unavailable or unimportant to organisms, the SWS1 gene can become nonfunctional, as exemplified by coelacanths and dolphins.

Sub Atomic World – Quantum Physics

1. Wikipedia – Quantum Physics

2. Wikipedia – Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

3. Wikipedia – Heisenberg Uncertainty principle

4. Wikipedia – Quantum entanglement

5. Wikipedia – EPR Paradox

6. Wikipedia – Copenhagen Interpretation

7. Quantum Physics – Double Slit Diffraction

Internet videos

1. David Bohm on perception