Atheism and Purpose

[Edward the Theist]

It will be interesting to see what atheists think of it.

I'm going to go ahead and predict that I will find it to be an utter waste of time. What credentials do you have that make you so confident that you will be able to disprove neurologists?

Neurologists have no more idea where consciousness comes from than anyone else. I'm sorry you think they do, and that they've concluded it's a result of the human brain, and even more that they are right. You need to read a little more about the theories of mind in order to realize that consciousness is one of the most contested areas in neurobiology.

One thing is pretty clear, consciousness affects the brain. If you are on the side of the fence that says the brain produces the consciousness that affects it, you have a huge amount of evidence as well as problems and paradoxes. If you are on the side of the fence that says consciousness is external to the brain, you have a huge amount of evidence and problems and paradoxes.

But make no mistake, the study of consciousness is the next frontier. Physics is all but dead as a science. In fact, almost all branches of theoretical science are nearly dead. Until we have a theory of consciousness, we aren't going to be able to go any further in our search for the truth about our cosmos.

But we're not ready for that yet. So, consciousness is the subject of kooks and quacks. Every idiot has a theory about it. Granted, I'm one of them, but what can I do? I have a purpose I must pursue. My life is worth nothing else.

You've already made up your mind about my paper before you've even seen it. And you're different from the fundamentalists, how?

Look, I don't have scientific creditials. If my theories don't sound true, then maybe they are wrong, but they seem right to me. I'm wondering if they will seem right to others, but in the end, unless someone can refute them, it really doesn't matter. If I am able to complete my theory of cosmology, all I am hoping for is that it is internally consistent. It will take smarter people than me to prove or disprove it. All I'm hoping for is to start the work; others will have to finish it in the end, if it's even worth finishing.

I am a psychiatric nurse. I worked in the ICU for five years, including neuro-ICU. I have an A.ASc. in nursing and a B.Sc. in liberal arts with depth groups in psychology and sociology. I have studied the theory of monism and consciousness for the last 16 years. But even before you criticize all that, I already am aware that those credentials don't mean very much.

This paper, which I will hopefully finish tomorrow, is the very first start in what I hope will be a good theory of cosmology. It provides, what I believe to be good evidence for concluding that consciousness is external to central nervous systems. We'll see.

Tell me, do you think you will be able to refute it? Or will you wait for an atheist neurologist with an axe to grind to tell you it's all bullshit? You see, you establish your credibility by hopefully following the right people. You don't really have anything original to offer yourself, do you?