Is the Universe Conscious of Itself Through Humanity?

Sometimes humans are presented as something separate from the universe. Humans, it is said are the only really certainly conscious things in an otherwise dead and inanimate universe. Maybe.

But thought of another way, humans are a part of the fabric of the universe themselves. Humans, it is said, are made of elements, that depended on the death of stars. We are an intimate part of the universe then.

If consciousness has a purely material basis then the development of the human consciousness is also the development of a universal consciousness.

The advent of humanity is the result of a process which involves some part of the material universe, over time evolving conscious beings with linguistic abilities and the ability to reflect back on itself and wonder about itself.

Humans and their language, are both fascinated with their own material composition, but they also represent too, the wider material university developing a fascination with its own material composition.

Brian Cox said something similar in 2023

I was asked to give a video introduction to the COP 26 Climate Summit, said Brian. I said, let’s assume we’re the only civilisation in the galaxy. That means the earth is the only island of meaning amongst four billion suns. So if we destroy this, we might destroy meaning in a galaxy forever.

 

 

Consciousness is not the same as understanding or awareness

Consciousness is not the same as understanding or awareness. Though humans may experience and be conscious of the universe, and represent the universe being conscious, this does not mean we understand, comprehend or are aware of everything in the universe. So in this way, we can also say that the universe does not fully understand itself.

 

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