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 have been prompt to realise that nature obeys certain rules. The successful application of these rules to the construction of so many dependable machines suggests that the whole universe is nothing but a huge mechanism. This has led to an inaccurate but 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, and obviously reserved to humans as they are so clever at dominating matter.

The apparent passiveness of most things and beings only adds to the misconception. 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. Particles also 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 should not, however, take for granted that matter is devoid of consciousness just because it behaves predictably. Nor should 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, analysing, 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 realisation. It may be so far-reaching as to contain the entire wisdom of the world.

The most compelling argument about the universality of consciousness is our own nature. 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 and 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 conscious Eternons who make us.

Apart from us, countless Eternon structures evidence the presence within matter of:

creative power, as matter invents a world of endless forms.

free will, as matter exhibits self-organizing properties.

intelligence, as matter learns and improves its designs.

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

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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