Page 98 - Darwin's Dilemma: The Soul

Darwin’s Dilemma: The Soul

sounds they make in such a way as to confirm the impression of
distance. If our friend is far away, we are assured that his voice
is also coming from a distance. Yet these sounds are neither close to
nor far away from us; they exist only in the form of electrical sig-
nals. To put it another way, these sounds are not inside our brains
either. There is actually a profound silence inside the brain.
No matter how crowded and noisy the place where we hap-
pen to be there is still no sound inside the brain. The impulses
transmitted by electrical signals inform us of the existence of a
crowded and noisy outside world. In truth, however, we can make
no direct contact with that noisy, crowded world outside, and nei-
ther can we re-create it in our heads. Sound is something we per-
ceive.
As Peter Russell explains,

I hear the music of a violin, but the sound I hear is a quality appear-
ing in the mind. There is no sound as such in the external world, just
vibrating air molecules. 59
Therefore, in hearing sounds, we make the same error as we do
with regard to seeing images. We imagine that sounds come from
the world outside. Yet the sounds we perceive are actually a part of
the shadow world brought into being for us. Just like the images,
tastes, smells and sensations belonging to that illusory world,
sounds also represent part of this world of perception. The noise
from the crowded environment we imagine exists in the external
world, the voice of a friend calling to us, and the music we listen to
belong solely to this perceptual world.
We have no way of knowing whether or not these correspond
to the reality outside, because we can never step outside our brains
and experience the physical world directly.

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