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RADICAL NATURE: The Soul of Matter

RADICAL NATURE: The Soul of Matter Christian de Quincey Publisher: Real Books ISBN 978 159477340 2 What is the real role of consciousness in the universe – is it merely the end-result and side-effect of a certain level of biophysical development, or is it the underpinning of he material universe itself? This question marks the modern dividing line between materialist mechanists and those who sense and believe that consciousness is he preceding factor, unifying force and design template for the evolution of matter into life and of life into self-awareness. This author asks questions which for some might eem absurd on the face of it but which are really very deep in their implications. Questions like: Are rocks conscious? Do animals and plants have souls? Can trees feel pleasure and pain? Where in the great unfolding of life did consciousness first appear? Central to his argument is the very notion of consciousness itself.  century ago, it was a given among virtually all except 'fringe' mystics and  scientific mavericks that consciousness belonged exclusively to humans, and was he essential separator of humankind from the entirety of the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms. We now know that idea  to be utterly wrong. Everything that is alive – own to the simplest single-cell organisms, like algae, and even to viruses – shows consciousness of at least 'self' and 'other', f what's 'good' for it and what's not. But what about so-called inanimate matter? If life gives rise to consciousness, as is still the embedded assumption within our Western, materialist culture, then it's patently absurd to discuss rocks as having awareness of any kind. But if consciousness precedes matter in the formation of what is, then there's a whole different conversation to be had. And that's just what this author does. Quietly, thoroughly, with all the necessary research and philosophical steps in their proper place, as he explores the 'hard problem' of philosophy – he delves into the true relationship between mind and matter. His conclusion – startling perhaps to some – is that matter, all matter, literally brims with consciousness at all levels, from the tiniest sub-atomic mote to the atoms that make you and I possible, up through all levels of expression. De Quincey bringshis substantial knowledge of the subject to bear in such a way that the materialist hardliners are simply left standing on the sidelines arguing an irrelevant point because they have missed the point: the union of science and mysticism, theunderpinnings of religious and secular thought, the fact of thought itself, and  the evolution of material substances as our universe goes through the ages of ts vast life-cycle, all point to the unifying principle from which all springs and which we can call consciousness itself. Some may call this force God; some may say t is the fundamental mechanism of the universe's self-expression. But these are merely semantic disputes; the much more important point is that without this nderstanding, nothing makes sense, including physics, the 'hardest' of our  'hard sciences' – which are really the easy sciences, the social sciences being much more difficult to study and work in. With consciousness itself at the core of our understanding, we can now weave a meaningful thread through all that we know, from the way sub-atomic particles relate to each other using Einstein's unhappy reference to 'spooky action at a distance', to the way we think and why we even have thoughts. This is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in making sense out of their world – especially for the sceptics, who are in serious need of an 'actual reality' check.

 

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