What is the point of it all? Lent 2022: Day 45

As we approach Easter, the summing up. I look up at the sky on a cloudless night and stand in awe of the Universe around me. Why does it exist? Why do I exist? What's it all about, this existence business? 

If we were not around to consciously observe the stars and galaxies - would they still be there? Well - objectively - yes they would. But subjectively - no. If a tree fell in the forest and there was no conscious observer to hear it, it would make no sound (because 'sound' is a perception, a stimulation of the sense of hearing caused by vibrations travelling through air). The very fact that we are here to observe the Universe is essential to its being.

Rationalist materialists would argue that the Universe did not suddenly pop into existence because one day a conscious observer evolved enough to observe it - but there's a growing body of philosophers and even scientists willing to hold that consciousness could well be a fundamental property, present across the Cosmos.

So - does existence serve any purpose? Why are we consciously observing a Universe? Why is there conscious life at all - rather than just a bunch of scattered barren rocks whizzing around stars? Why did a Big Bang occur, and where it is all heading to? If consciousness is something that, like matter, accretes to take on ever-larger and more sophisticated forms, then - I would posit - this is the purpose. Consciousness evolving. Spiritual evolution. Ever-greater levels of awareness spreading throughout the Universe.

These questions divide us. For some - including myself - there's a purpose to life. It is not a just a brief and meaningless interlude between eternities of oblivion. And central to this is the primacy of our consciousness; we are (I take it you, dear reader, having got here, are) aware of our existence and our place in spacetime. 

I would go so far as to posit that the very fact of that subjective conscious experience of existing is proof that there's more to life than the material world around us. As biological entities we are driven on by the demands of our egos, but we are able to stick our heads outside the window of this rushing vehicle and look around, getting bearings, seeing a bigger picture. We need to spend more time disconnecting the pure experience of consciousness from the ego, vain, demanding and infantile.

As the Lenten period comes to an end for another year, the quest to find meaning and purpose for life, our planet and its evolution within an unfolding Universe will stay as a regular (though no longer daily) thread on this blog.

This time three years ago:
Catholics vs Anglicans, Leave vs Remain

This time five years ago:
Lent's nearly over - what have I learnt?

This time eight years ago:
Automotive industry under fire again

This time 11 years ago:
Old Town, early spring

This time 12 years ago:
The atmosphere in the week after Smolensk

This time 13 years ago:
The accelerating pace of change

This time 15 years ago:
Antonov An-26 in the twilight of its career