Page 158 - Darwin's Dilemma: The Soul

Darwin’s Dilemma: The Soul

i
c
n
s
s
n
o
u
o
e

r
c

C
o
f
m
a
H
u
n
o
u

S
s
:
e
s

e

T
h
u
e
h
T The Source of Consciousness: The Human Soul l
o
S

So far, we have proved that the external world we perceive
consists of a shadow world that arises within consciousness, and
that we can never directly experience material existence. In the
light of these conclusions, the concept of “absolute matter” envis-
aged by materialist philosophy loses all validity. Yet we still face an
important difficulty that needs to be explained. Peter Russell sum-
marizes the question:
They are asking how it is that a complex network of neurons can
give rise to conscious experience. How does something as immateri-
al as consciousness arise from something as unconscious as the ma-
terial world? Is it a result of the complex patterning of data across the
neural net? Is it due to quantum coherence effects in microtubules
within the neurons? Or is it something else?
. . . When we distinguish between the two realities, the question dis-
appears to be replaced by its opposite: How is it that matter, space,
time, color, sound, form, and all the other qualities we experience
emerge in consciousness? What is the process of manifestation with-
in the mind? 105
This really important question should be clarified. What is
consciousness made up of? What gives rise to this whole vivid
world inside consciousness? This is a question that 21st-century
scientists are still seeking to answer, about which they write books
and hold conferences and seek to resolve—but which, for some
reason, they are reluctant to settle. Hundreds of books and articles
and analyses by countless scientists have failed to provide the ex-
pected answer to what the source of consciousness is.
The subject of consciousness is regarded as one of the great-
est mysteries of the 21st century. Almost all researchers, writers
and professors concerned with the topic have begun by stating
that the subject is as yet unexplained, and end by again em-
156