reply to post by johndoeknows
Because modern physics doesn't include consciousness.
Physics will never say anything about consciousness. That's a field of Psychology. Ultimately, and at it's most reductionist form, physics does lie
at the root of consciousness because it explains the rules chemistry follows - and chemistry is the basis for the explanation of how our cells operate
and their interactions. Physics is the bottom level, and while it encompasses all fields above it - you cannot explain in meaningful dialog how it
relates. It's obtuse and insuffient to explain biological operations, such as sexual reproduction, by it's physics alone. By the interactions of
subatomic particles. Our reality is non-linear, and the sum of the parts is exceeded by the scale of the whole. It's called emergence.
So we have to explain our world in "layers" of relevance. Consciousness (whether emergent or a force as-of-yet undetected) is no exception.
However, in psychology, the discoveries being made are not favorable. Philosophy has split the problem of consciousness into a "hard" and "easy"
problem. There has been no progress at all made in answering the hard question. However, advances in cognitive and neuroscience have revealed much
about how we experience consciousness... how certain highly specific faculties commonly attributed to it's innate function and your concept of your
consciousness... are not... and can be "knocked out", amplified, or otherwise manipulated.
The consciousness or "soul" which is left after the dissection of faculty and function tied to and dependent upon specific regions of the brain is
little more than a passive observer unaffiliated with personal identity or any measure of who YOU are. The "soul" or "consciousness" in typical
regards is as irrelevant to who you are as a fly on your shoulder. YOU are your brain.
While there is still much we don't know about the brain, we know enough to prompt many philosophers and scientists like Dan Dennett to suggest that
the Easy Problem of consciousness is so richly explained even thus far that the Hard Problem, essentially, has been nulled and rendered meaningless. A
question that will never be answered, because when it was asked - we didn't yet know enough about the brain and consciousness to know what questions
to ask.
And if Cognitive and Neuroscience are somehow utterly wrong, and physicists discover a "consciousness energy" we all tap into and isolate, it will
still be up to the study of psychology to explain that energy as it applies to the brains of living organisms - predominantly humans, our behaviors,
and our societies.
[edit on 6-11-2009 by Lasheic]
