I would like to explain further my idea according to which the spirit and
its properties, consciousness and free will, may emerge from an infinite
nesting of levels of material organizations and of approximative theories
more and more precize (see
http://www.website2u.com/log/text/reflmph/english/naturesp.htm).
At the first level, Descartes said : "I think, therefore I am". The
mind-spirit is seen as a transcendental unity independent from matter.
At first sight, I could consider my life as an interaction between what I am
(my spirit) and what I am not (the matter, and other's spirit) : the spirit
sends actions to the matter and the matter sends perceptions to the spirit.
We could represent it like this :
perception
spirit1 <---------- matter1
---------->
action
But is it a determinated delimitation between the spirit and the matter ?
Looking deeper, we discover that the brain (or more precisely a part of it)
is a sort of computer at our disposal, and we perceive its thoughts, we are
conscious of them. We can then say : "It thinks, and I perceive it
thinking".
This could be represented by
+------------------------------+
| perception | perception
| spirit2 <---------- matter2 |<---------- matter1
| ----------> | ---------->
| action | action
+------------------------------+
spirit1
Concerning free will, we could also say that it (matter2) decides, but this
decision may be influed by me (spirit2).
Perhaps we could go further and locate in the brain an area responsible of
this introspective perception, but the consciousness still remains. We
should perhaps say : "It thinks, it perceives it thinking and I perceive it
perceiving it thinking".
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| +------------------------------+ |
| | perception | perception | perception
| | spirit3 <---------- matter3 |<---------- matter2 |<---------- matter1
| | ----------> | ----------> | ---------->
| | action | action | action
| +------------------------------+ |
| spirit2 |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
spirit1
These successive "I" (spirit1, spirit2, spirit3...) are not the same but
nested kernels of our spirit, getting smaller and smaller but never empty,
and my idea is that consciousness and free will may emerge from this
infinite nesting.
==========================
Jacques Bailhache
Y2K Centre of Expertise (BRO)
DTN: 856 ext. 7662
Tel: +32-2 729.7662, Fax: +32-2 729.7985
Email: mailto:Jacques.Bailhache.domain.name.hidden
Visit my home page :
http://www.website2u.com/log/index.htm
http://www.byoc.com/homepage/134885/
http://www.chez.com/log/
http://members.rotfl.com/log/
Received on Mon Jan 25 1999 - 03:02:47 PST