Sunday, March 13, 2005

Communique from Neverland

Having noticed that I have been classed as a "panpsychic" by the good people at FutureHi.net, I felt it behooved me to find out what this thing was that I was supposed to be. My first thought was that it might have something to do with Peter Pan. But on that site it is explained that "Panexperientialism or Panpsychism is the belief that mind, or consciousness, is omnipresent throughout the universe and is a fundamental aspect of the universe." In other words, everything in the universe is made out of mind.

I would not disagree with that statement, except that it seems a bit limiting. If the stars, rocks, and seas, as well as the vast multitudes of living beings in the world, everything that exists, is a thought form, a construction of consciousness, then the conditional aspects of that creation must reflect the conditions of mind that constitute them. The objective world becomes a mirror for our fractured psyches. Unless, that is, the partial awareness that we bear is not really causative in this creation; the mind of God is the ultimate subjectivity that is molding things. But that seems too remote to me. In the various forms I perceive, I can only grasp them in terms of what I know and what I am, not in terms of what I am not. For as soon as I see something that is not me, it instantly becomes me. My knowledge of it is only a reflection of that temporary coalescence of thoughts and impressions that I call my self. Now, with that understood, it somehow makes the universe a little too small and claustrophobic, like watching a 60s Bergman movie. Which means that the world in which I find myself is inherently not one in which I feel totally comfortable. Too many pirates, crocodiles, and lost boys—lost souls.

2 comments:

Doug Mackey said...

I'm not objecting; panpsychism is a philosophical position that I have a lot in common with. You've given me some resources to look into and I appreciate the connections you are finding. Basically what I believe with respect to all that is a work in progress, of which this post is just a small piece. Feel free to revisit qubikuity in the future and to make any comments you want--and there is a lot on futurehi.net that I want to digest as well.

Doug Mackey said...

Paul, looking at the glossary on your site I was prompted to put up a further post on panpsychism. Thanks for the links; I'll look at them in more depth.