Friday Night Philosophy.

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.":

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) German Dramatist

You may have noticed my love of quotes. I love them because there is just so much distilled wisdom to be had in them. That quote doesn’t just pop out of someone’s head. It’s the end result of years of enquiry, thinking, and resolve to impart that wisdom to others. You really have to admire those people. They point the way to those who follow.

Yet, there comes a time when we can no longer look to others for guidance. Sure, we can distil their accumulated wisdom and be grateful for it, but we eventually arrive at a point where that accumulated wisdom can take us no further. The wise men have reached their own brick wall. All that they can do is show us the many paths that lay before us, and let us choose which path to follow.

Which brings me to cosmic consciousness. No-one knows if there is such a thing. No-one can say that there is not such a thing. It is up to us whether we choose to go down that path, or not.

I have chosen to go down that path. I look to those whom I admire, and am guided by their thoughts. Last week I posted Neil de Grasse Tyson’s wonderful essay on the Cosmic Perspective. In particular, I asked readers to note this comment:

The cosmic perspective not only embraces our genetic kinship with all life on Earth but also values our chemical kinship with any yet-to-be discovered life in the universe, as well as our atomic kinship with the universe itself.

I think we too often think of ourselves as distinct from the universe. We’re not. We’re part of that universe. And we’re alive. Could it just be that the universe itself is the yet-to-be-discovered life of which Neil de Grasse Tyson speaks?

Einstein has this to say about our relationship to the universe:

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

“a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness”. I see no reason why we must assume that we don’t share that consciousness with the universe.

I read somewhere that Abraham Maslow had contact with Richard Bucke who was the first to write about cosmic consciousness. To my way of thinking, Bucke’s cosmic consciousness is a continuation of Maslow’s self actualisation. It is for me, anyway. I don’t know where the cosmic consciousness path will take me. It may not take me anywhere at all.

But that’s this fascinating thing we call "life", isn’t it.