Science - It's life Jim but not as we know it...
- Thread starter Treble
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Erwin Schrödinger, the brilliant mind behind quantum mechanics, once offered a profound reflection on consciousness: “Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.” This statement isn’t just a philosophical curiosity—it’s an invitation to explore the essence of our existence and how it shapes our mental, emotional, and physical fitness.
In an era where science has unlocked the secrets of DNA, probed the subatomic world, and charted distant galaxies, consciousness remains an enigma. Schrödinger suggests it’s not merely a phenomenon to be dissected with physical tools—it’s the very foundation of our being. This perspective has profound implications for how we approach our well-being.
Consider the interplay of mind and body. We know that mental fitness—cultivated through practices like meditation or mindfulness—can sharpen our focus and resilience. Studies show that regular meditation alters brain structure, enhancing areas tied to attention and emotional regulation. Yet, Schrödinger’s insight pushes us deeper: the awareness that experiences these changes, the consciousness behind the practice, isn’t just a product of those neurons firing—it’s something more elemental. It’s the lens through which we perceive every thought, every breath.
Emotionally, this idea resonates too. Our capacity to feel joy, process grief, or find peace amid chaos hinges on consciousness. Techniques like journaling or therapy can bolster emotional fitness, helping us navigate life’s highs and lows. But why does a moment of stillness or a heartfelt connection feel so vivid? Schrödinger might argue it’s because consciousness isn’t a passive observer—it’s the active ground of those experiences, irreducible to mere chemical reactions.
Physically, the link is just as striking. Exercise—whether a brisk run or a yoga flow—boosts endorphins and strengthens our bodies. But the awareness of movement, the sensation of a racing heart or a stretched muscle, ties back to consciousness. Schrödinger’s view challenges us to see fitness not just as a mechanical process but as an expression of something deeper. When we push our physical limits, we’re not just training our bodies—we’re engaging the conscious self that perceives effort, pain, and triumph.
This raises a tantalizing question: if consciousness is fundamental, could nurturing it directly enhance our overall fitness? Practices that blend the mental, emotional, and physical—like tai chi, which combines fluid motion with mindful intent—might hint at an answer. They remind us that well-being isn’t just about optimizing parts of ourselves but about harmonizing the whole, with consciousness at the center.
Still, the “hard problem” of consciousness lingers—why does subjective experience exist at all? Is it an emergent property of our complex brains, or, as Schrödinger posits, a primordial thread in the universe’s tapestry? As we advance in neuroscience and AI, building machines that mimic cognition, we might replicate thought—but will they ever truly feel? Consciousness could be the key that keeps humanity distinct, a mystery that drives us to care for our minds, hearts, and bodies.
Schrödinger’s riddle humbles us. It suggests that while we can train our mental acuity, soothe our emotions, and strengthen our physique, the essence of being remains beyond full explanation. Perhaps that’s the beauty of it—a call to live fully, consciously, in every moment. What’s your take? Can science unravel consciousness, or is it the eternal spark that fuels our pursuit of a balanced life? Let’s keep exploring.
- Schrodinger's Riddle; Consciousness and the Pursuit of a Balanced Life
Local realism is the concept that the properties of an object exist independently of measurement (realism), and that influences cannot travel faster than the speed of light (locality). In essence, it suggests that an object has definite, measurable properties that are unaffected by distant events. This idea is natural in classical physics but has been challenged by quantum mechanics, particularly by experiments involving entangled particles, which seem to show non-local connections and quantum properties that are not determined until measured.
The Two Principles
Experiments have confirmed that the predictions of quantum mechanics are correct. This implies that one or both of the fundamental assumptions of local realism must be false. The universe is either:
The Two Principles
- Realism:
This principle asserts that objects possess definite physical properties even when they are not being observed or measured. For example, a coin has a specific side (heads or tails) facing up even if we are not looking at it.
- Realism:
- Locality:
This principle states that an event at one point in space can only be influenced by something within its immediate vicinity, and any effect on a distant point must travel through space at a speed no greater than the speed of light.
- Classical Intuition:
Local realism aligns with our everyday experience and the principles of classical physics, where causes are local and information cannot travel instantaneously across vast distances.
- Quantum Entanglement:
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon where two or more particles become linked, sharing the same fate no matter how far apart they are.
- Bell Tests:
John Bell's inequalities provided a way to experimentally test local realism. Quantum mechanics predicts results for entangled particles that violate Bell's inequalities, demonstrating that the universe is not, in fact, locally real.
Experiments have confirmed that the predictions of quantum mechanics are correct. This implies that one or both of the fundamental assumptions of local realism must be false. The universe is either:
- Not real: The properties of particles are not definite until they are measured.
- Not local: There are connections between distant entangled particles that are not limited by the speed of light.
I think our brains are generally hardwired for survival, we have 300k years of homo sapiens on this planet and most of our evolution in that time has consisted of us basically trying to stay alive and adapt to our environment. Even our modern brains are still hardwired for this flight or fight survival mode, even though there's very little that actually threatens our existence on a daily basis.
The point I'm making is that we generally use very little of the potential of our brain power, and maybe only in moments of acute focus, meditation, prayer, psychedelic experience, witnessing birth and death, etc, do we step out of this monkey mind programming and see the bigger picture (or a part of the bigger picture) but we can never quite grasp the fleeting sense that there is still something beyond our understanding.
Maybe our brains will evolve to understand this one day, or maybe consciousness exists outside of the brain in the soul ? Maybe the mystery is such a paradox that our minds will never be able to make sense of it. Perhaps it's a bit like trying to explain AI or Broadband to Ghengis Khan, a concept that his mind wouldn't even be able to have comprehended.
There are things we know, things that we know we don't know, and then there are things that we don't even know we don't know.
I often see our brains like analogue radios. We're tuned into a specific station, but we know that there are lots of stations all broadcasting at the same time. We can't tune in to all of them at the same time, because our minds would be overwhelmed (Maybe this is Schizophrenia or Psychosis, hearing voices, seeing visions etc) So our brains filter out a lot of the 'noise' to keep us sane and that's how we define reality. Yet, there are a myriad of other things happening in the background, but we are just tuned into a very narrow wavelength/bandwith.
I love this **** lol
Reminds me of the double slit experiment, that the observable phenomena is changed by the very act of observing it
Brain twisting stuff.
I've started saving some stuff to google documents, because I forget all my sources, that's just easy AI content, because I thought putting up the actual journals would be too much, plus I need time to digest them better and in my own mind sort out genuine scientific findings from bullshit elsewhere - as you say it's proper brain twisting stuff. An example would be is I've been looking at the APS advancing physics site, due to previous stuff I was reading from a completely different source. I need to give my brain a rest now lol.
Scientific realism is dead. The idea that the laws of science tell us truths about reality, reinforcing our perception of a universe populated by objects interacting through contact, applies only at the macroscopic scale in which we live (midway between the atoms and the stars).
At the fundamental, sub atomic level, everything is connected, and matter emerges from fields, not the other way round. Fields include the quantum, the electro magnetic, the gravitational; and possibly consciousness itself. Erwin Schrodinger believed this, so did John Wheeler, David Bohm, and other great minds working in theoretical physics.
At the fundamental, sub atomic level, everything is connected, and matter emerges from fields, not the other way round. Fields include the quantum, the electro magnetic, the gravitational; and possibly consciousness itself. Erwin Schrodinger believed this, so did John Wheeler, David Bohm, and other great minds working in theoretical physics.
I can recommend some books if you do books;
What is Real? - Adam Becker
The Quantum Astrologers Handbook - Micgael Brooks
Helgoland - Carlo Rovelli
Allah created us and he gave us the Quran as a guide into tapping into our souls
no need to explore further bro
get reading
Nov 24, 2025 https://chandra.cfa.harvard.edu/photo/2025/fall/
Four new images that connect to fall have been released by NASA’s Chandra.
They are a star-forming region, supernova remnant, interacting galaxies, and a stellar pair.
Each image contains X-rays from Chandra and data from other telescopes.
Pareidolia is the phenomenon that allows us to see familiar shapes and patterns in data.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/
Four new images that connect to fall have been released by NASA’s Chandra.
They are a star-forming region, supernova remnant, interacting galaxies, and a stellar pair.
Each image contains X-rays from Chandra and data from other telescopes.
Pareidolia is the phenomenon that allows us to see familiar shapes and patterns in data.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/
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“Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By the mass, and ‘tis like a camel, indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale?
Polonius: Very like a whale.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Polonius: By the mass, and ‘tis like a camel, indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale?
Polonius: Very like a whale.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet
