Lent 2019 - looking for the Wonder of it All

Lent 2019, Day 1 - Ash Wednesday

Here we go. 46 days between now and Easter Sunday. Time to set off on this year's spiritual quest. Let's begin by being aware that we are alive; that the conscious being that is you, reading these words, intelligently seeks meaning in the human condition.

We humans find ourselves placed between the micro scale and the macro scale, unable to observe or fully comprehend either. From the atomic to the galactic, the orders of magnitude are daunting. And then there is time - eternity. From Big Bang to Big Crunch, then repeat ad infinitum? The collection of atoms that has been gathered together to form you - via your ancestors going all the way back through evolution to the earliest protozoa - is it there by accident? Or were those atoms, that have been around since the earliest millennia of the universe, meant too become you? Is there some purpose guiding your existence - if so, what is it? We grope in the dark, but intelligent seeking sheds light.

There is the atomic scale - the Bohr radius (distance between the nucleus of a hydrogen atom and its electron) is 5.3 x 10^-11 m.  Zoom right out to the totality of the observable universe, all 93 billion light years of it, and here the radius is 8.8 x 10²⁶ m. We are incapable of getting our minds around these measurements, and yet here we are, science constantly striving to define our universe in more and more precise terms. Back in the 1990s, Big Bang was thought to have happened around 15 billion years ago; better measurement of cosmic background radiation has now placed the scientific consensus at the 13.8 billion-year mark.

This Lent, following on from last year, I wish to explore the strange subatomic world of quantum mechanics, the notion of uncertainty (and therefore probability) and to link this to consciousness. Time and memory, memory and identity, identity of who we are and our place in the cosmos. And yes, my spiritual quest regarding my anomalous memories, qualia of familiarity that may shed some clues as to the existence of consciousness outside the living human body. The notion of will should also be considered at the quantum level; if Schrodinger's famous cat is both alive and dead until we peek into the box, can we will the outcome before lifting the lid?

Contemplation and meditation coupled with scientific reading with the goal of uniting our numinous yearnings for the transcendental with physics. A tall order, but there is some sense to this - increasing peace of mind, spiritual well-being, greater joyousness derived from the very awareness of being alive.

At the heart of this is the mystery of the quantum world, where something is and isn't at the same time until consciously observed, when it becomes one or the other. Science - and philosophy - are yet to make sense of it. I feel I 'sort of' get it in the same way a cat gets electricity from watching a human turn night into day by touching a small white square on the wall.

The seat of consciousness is linked to the mystery of quantum mechanics; last year, I wrote about orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR), the theory that consciousness is the result of quantum events taking place within the microtubules within our brain cells. On the one hand, this theory is still considered fringe by mainstream science, on the other, it has yet to be overturned despite being first published 25 years ago.

The war between science and organised religions is entirely understandable - bastions being defended, the status quo, academic tenures, religious doctrines etc. But it is counterproductive. If our lives are not just meaningless accidents, a greater dialogue between the two camps is necessary, although abandoning fears of the supernatural or ditching dogma makes this extremely difficult. I have long stressed the need for a life in balance. Balancing scientific fact with our spiritual instincts is part of that life in balance. Even if we stand no hope of reaching that goal within one lifetime, at least we are further on down the road from zero to one than when we started.

Ideas I shall again take forward throughout this Lent.

For the record - I was quite unable to last a day without fish or dairy - there was simply not enough vegan protein on offer at either of the hotels I was in today to keep me going. So some mackerel paste, herring and goat's cheese was essential. No matter - no meat, no alcohol, no fast food, salt snacks, fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits etc. Walking and exercising - ticked those boxes too today.

This time last year:
That was the winter that was

This two years ago:
Self-discipline, habits and Growth

This time five years ago:
Putin - tactical genius, strategic failure
[I had - the West had - evidently underestimated the man.]

This time six years ago:
Socialist Realist architecture in late winter sun

This time eight years ago:
The Cripple and the Storyteller - part II

This time nine years ago:
The station with no name

This time ten years ago:
Lenten thoughts on motoring

This time 11 years ago:
Flowers, spring - already