Panpsychism Makes a Comeback (General)

by David Turell , Wednesday, February 24, 2016, 20:13 (3193 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: How can materials possibly “become” intelligent/conscious? How can a “universal intelligence/consciousness” possibly just “be” intelligent/conscious? There is of course no answer to this, and please don't say “first cause”, which is just as likely to be unconscious as it is to be conscious. That is why I myself find all three hypotheses (the other being sheer luck) equally difficult to believe in. - I understand your problem. First cause, if it is unconscious, then how did consciousness appear on a rocky planet. I strongly feel consciousness had to precede conscious organisms.
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> David's comment: Presented just for dhw. My own theory is that there is a universal consciousness just as in Eastern religions.
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> dhw: Thank you for a very interesting piece. Panpsychism basically means universal consciousness, but since you constantly talk of God, your version is a single conscious being, which is not at all in keeping with many Eastern religions.....Unless you are secretly striving to break the cycle of samsara over there on your Texan ranch, I think you are far more Westerner than Easterner! - You are welcome, a good piece. Of course I am Western, but each of us can have our own example of the universal consciousness.