Page 122 - Darwin's Dilemma: The Soul

Darwin’s Dilemma: The Soul

are in their offices and that the computers there have their own
independent existence, and that everything will still be there
when they return the following morning. They assume that their
homes will be there when they return in the evening and assume
the continued existence of their friends, families, acquaintances
and relatives, whether or not they can see them or talk with them.
Most of these experiences are repeated every day and permit no
room for any doubt. On the contrary, they are of such a quality to
be thoroughly convincing.
But all these things are actually in our minds, things that we
are led to experience. All we see is an illusory copy of the outside
material world of whose existence we are so certain. It is solely our
perceptions that give rise to our world.
Susan Blackmore defines this world inside the brain:

The mind feels like a private theatre. Here I am, inside the theatre,
located roughly somewhere inside my head and looking out through
my eyes. But this is a multi-sensational theatre. So I experience
touches, smells, sounds, and emotions as well, and I can use my
imagination too—conjuring up sights and sounds to be seen as
though on a mental screen by inner eye or heard by my inner ear. All
these are the “contents of my consciousness,” and “I” am the audi-
ence of one who experiences them. 67
The world we observe is merely a copy. An amusement park
full of lights is only a duplicated image forming in the brain, whose
source is simply electrical signals. The voices of the people around
us, our relatives and birds are similarly, duplicate sounds arising
within the brain, whose source is just electrical signals. The taste
and smell of a piece of fruit we eat are duplicate tastes and smells
forming in the brain. It is impossible for us to eat the original of
the fruit. The source of all the features of the fruit in our brains
is, again, electrical signals.

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