Chapter 5 The Mystery of Consciousness

Self-consciousness: the most fundamental mystery of human life

5.1 Fundamental Questions

What is consciousness? How does it evolve from the sentiency of an atom to the reflective self-awareness focused on the brain of a human being?
Does the brain precede or succeed self-consciousness?
Does the evolution of consciousness come to an end at the human stage, or does it keep evolving into more inclusive states of consciousness? For instance, is planet Earth a conscious Being in which the human kingdom serves as its planetary brain?
Is time a fourth dimension of the three-dimensional space? How is the space-time continuum of modern physics related to an evolving consciousness?
Can there be fourth- and fifth-dimensional states of consciousness grounded in the cerebral three-dimensional space?
Can there be information without consciousness? Are quantum bits of information the substance of a living, conscious space?
Do this “living, conscious space” explain the “magical” phenomena of “action at a distance” observed in the new world of quantum physics?

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[Real Magic, pp. 183-184:] Based on the available scientific evidence, it is a virtual certainty that:

Psi (psychic sense) is a genuine “sixth sense.”
Psi capacities are widely distributed among the general population.
These effects arise from the unconscious.
Psi effects are stronger during non-ordinary states of consciousness, such as during meditation, while dreaming, or while under the influence of psychedelic compounds.
We have the capacity to mentally influence the physical world, probably not through application of the four known physical forces, but perhaps through unidentified principles that either affect the probabilities of events or “warp” the fabric of space-time.
We can gain information from sources purported to be nonphysical entities.

[Real Magic, p. 188:] Three ideas at the basis of real magic