pg05 Introduction (part 5 of 6)

Key observation 1:  All biological bodies, such as human bodies, refresh its content cells constantly.  This means the body of an 80 year old man is totally different from the body when he was 10 years old.  From physics point of view, it is an entirely different body, just like in a relay run the last person is a completely different person from the first one, even though it’s said to be the same team. This implies that normal physics laws don’t apply to the ever changing bodies.  Different laws must be established.  From physics point of view, a human body (region C) is an illusory concept, like a relay team.  The same is true to molecules (region B) and atoms (region A).  It is observed that not only human body, but “every” object in the world has two levels of reality - form (concept) and concrete-objects, from human bodies, to molecules, atoms, down to elementary particles - electrons, protons and neutrons.  Thus, every object is illusory when viewed from a different level of hierarchy.

Key observation 2:  A human body (region C) is not completely an illusion, because it has its objective existence which cannot be changed subjectively by a conscious mind.  The same is true to molecules (region B) and atoms (region A).  That is, each has its objective identity.  The mystery is how they leave physics viewpoint behind and established their objective identity. 

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. . . . . . . . . above posted on 10/29/2011 . . . . . . . . . .

pg04 Introduction (part 4 of 6)

Since materialism believes everything in the universe follows physics laws only and hence the laws in region A should apply to regions B and C alike.  But it’s hard because there are obvious non-physics laws implemented in region C, which cannot be explained.  On the other hand, idealism believes mind is the originator of everything in the world, and hence region C should apply to regions A and B as well.  But it’s also hard, because no particles or atoms show mind influence (other than claiming they are like objects created in a dream, which is another topic not considered here, as we are here primarily concerned with the mind caused by complexity).   

Instead of sticking to either materialism or idealism completely, the study here tackles the problem from the middle region B: What happened in region B, where nature changes gradually from A to C?  It recognizes the merit of both materialism (regions A) and idealism (region C), and attempts to find a theory which works for region B and extends smoothly to both regions A and C. 

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pg03 Introduction (part 3 of 6)

What is lacking is a theory pieced together organically from all these observations.  This is what is attempted here.  Let’s look at the graph below. 

                    A                                      B                                                        C    

      Simple structures                 medium structures                        Complex structures

      (particles, atoms, . . .)            (molecules, . . . )                     (Plants, animals, societies, . . .) 

      __________________|____________________________|_______________________

Physics laws governing    What laws are governing ????                       mind

              (no mind)

Region A is for simple objects, like particles and atoms, where only physics laws are governing, without mind influence.  Region C is for complex objects showing tendency of mind influence, like animals, societies, even nations.  Although nothing violates physics laws here, there is no proof that other laws cannot be implemented here.  In fact, other laws, such as the economical law of supply and demand, are actually implemented, and there is no proof that they can be derived from physics laws.  In other words, the laws in region C are very different from physics laws in region A.  That is, regions A and C are quite different from each other.  Region B is for intermediate objects between A and C, such as molecules, where chemical laws are implemented along with physics laws.  The boundaries between the three regions are not clearly defined though.

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pg02 Introduction (part 2 of 6)

With the discovery of quantum uncertainty in the 1920s, a door is opened in materialism for mind to manipulate.  Some philosophically minded physicists start to search for theories to incorporate mind into matter, although the quantum uncertainty seems to be too small for mind manipulation to cause sufficient effect in human bodies. 

In his inspiring book “God and the New Physics”, Paul Davies gave an excellent survey of modern observations of mind involvement in matter activities.  The notables include: 1) Reductionism vs. holism: While traditionally it is thought all activities in nature can be reduced to particles under physics laws in the same way as billiards on a table, it is mysterious why life doesn’t show up in each atom but surfaces in a collection of atoms.  A novel tells a lot and may even have tremendous impact on us, but no meaning can be found in each letter.  It is a mystery at what point meaningfulness starts to impact a mind.  There is clearly something which is present when considered as a whole but does not exist in each individual atomic part.  2) Quantum mechanics dictates that the state of matter being observed depends on the observer’s act of measurement.  3) Mind has ability to increase order at one location, although at the price of reducing order elsewhere.  Etc.

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 http://FromPhysicsToMetaphysicsFastPace.blogspot.com

pg01 Introduction (part 1 of 6)

Mind and matter are one of the central philosophical quests of the greatest thinkers for thousands of years (http://www.enotes.com/science-religion-encyclopedia/mind-body-theories). Other than religious thoughts, there are two major branches: Materialism doesn’t admit existence of mind.  It believes everything, including human body activities, is predetermined according to physics laws, but can hardly explain obvious life/conscious phenomenon.  Idealism believes everything in the world is a subjective creation of mind.  But the objectivity of a man or a tree cannot be denied and is beyond mind’s control.  While there is truth in each of the schools, none is realistic.  Also, there are dualism theories (e.g. Plato and Aristotle) which believe both mind and body exist.  However, none of them proceeded to explore how mind and body work together, which is exactly what is sought for in this research.   

That it remains controversial may be because the materialists cannot find any violation of physics laws in the world, while idealists see obvious mind manipulation and can always claim the world being no different from one created in a dream.  Nevertheless, unlike ethics or political philosophy which may be subjective, problem of mind and matter is objective and non-personal and hence should be a scientific subject rather than a philosophical one (in my opinion).  That it still remains as a philosophical subject is because there is no definite evidence to support either of the schools. 

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http://FromPhysicsToMetaphysicsFastPace.blogspot.com