Fundamentals of Eternism: Eternons are consciousness

Fundamentals of Eternism

Four Premises
1 Eternons
2 Energy
3 Consciousness
4 Eternal

3 - Eternons Are Consciousness

If we toss a stick in the air, it always falls back to earth. If we kindle a fire, it always brings forth heat. Humans were prompt to realize that nature obeys certain rules. Before long, the successful application of such rules to the construction of dependable machines suggested that the whole universe was nothing but a huge mechanism. This led to an inaccurate, but still pervasive, vision of the world. On one side, matter: dumb and perfectly obedient to the great natural laws. On the other, spirit: intelligent and creative, though preferably reserved to humans who are so clever at dominating matter.

Adding to the misconception, is the apparent passiveness of most things and beings. If we kick a stone or cut a flower, neither starts screaming nor tries to run away: they show no signs of feeling or reacting. Even particles tend to follow what we want them to do. When we turn on the light, electrons never disappoint us by refusing to flow in our wires. When we build refineries, molecules never fail us by suddenly producing water instead of gasoline.

We cannot, however, take for granted that matter is devoid of consciousness just because it behaves predictably. Nor may we conclude that consciousness is absent from most organisms just because we lack the proper senses or tools to discern it. In fact, consciousness, this capacity for perceiving, analyzing, and acting, extends from the faintest embryo of information to complete cosmic awareness. It may be so imperceptible as to be a potentiality rather than a realization. It may be so far-reaching as to contain the entire wisdom of the world.

Still, the most compelling argument about the universality of consciousness is our own nature. This, because we and everything else are made in exactly the same way from exactly the same stuff. A molecule of water within our blood is indistinguishable from a molecule of water within the ocean. Atoms within a cell of our body are identical to those within a cell of a plant. Particles strive in the same manner within our brain or within a rock.

Although there is no limit to our ability compared to that of a plant or a rock, we are not some kind of matter receptacles into which consciousness has been poured. Consciousness exists deep within the fabric of us as it exists deep within the fabric of everything else. The astounding assembly that we are is a tribute to the expertise of our many trillion of cells, each cell itself a tribute to the expertise of its many molecules, and so forth. Our human consciousness merely sums up the consciousness of all the Eternons who make us.

Apart from us, the planet is filled with countless Eternon structures that all evidence the conscious capabilities of matter:

creative power, as matter invents endless varieties of forms.

free will, as matter exhibits self-organizing properties.

intelligence, as matter learns, analyses, and improves its designs.

coherence, as matter ensures communication to every part, and conjoined action throughout the whole.

Albeit at widely different degrees, consciousness extends to all components of the universe; from stars to stones, from trees to grass, from whales to microbes. Just as Eternons are the matter and energy of the universe, they are its consciousness.

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