My New Book Project
Information — Consciousness — Reality: A Follow-Up
What a modern-day synthesis of physics and philosophy teaches us about the emergence of information, complexity, consciousness, and meaning
Ever since the human mind awoke to its own existence, it has wondered about its cosmic significance. By dispelling myth and religious conviction, science entered the arena of explanatory templates. A tectonic shift in understanding emerged when the mind decoded the mathematical language of the universe. To this day, the technological prowess unleashed by scientific knowledge remains awe-inspiring. However, science excluded two crucial domains from its field of inquiry. For one, the formation of complex systems — especially metabolic structures — appears to defy the physics of cosmic disorder and decay. Then, the nature of consciousness itself was deemed unworthy of academic discourse until not too long ago.
As science penetrates ever deeper layers of reality, the enigmas of existence increase, yet we are still stuck asking ourselves the same age-old questions of existence. What are the fundamental building blocks of matter? What is the nature of time? How does self-organized behavior emerge? What is consciousness?
Today, the contours of a novel scientific paradigm are becoming more evident. Physics is rediscovering its formal language in an information-theoretic dialect. Moreover, a new understanding of thermodynamics speaks of an intrinsic yearning for cosmic complexity. Most radically, however, consciousness is rediscovered at the core of existence.
Information, Consciousness, Reality, and Beyond
This new book project represents the next stage in a journey I embarked upon as a young teenager, curious about the workings of the world and eager to catch a glimpse of the cosmic order. This desire to understand would later lead me to study theoretical physics. After graduating, I was, unfortunately, left with more questions than answers. Many years later, I found myself back at university in the middle of a dissertation on complex systems. Each semester, Ph.D. students were required to attend a lecture, some of which needed to be on a topic outside their field of research. I chose an introductory course on the philosophy of science. This interdisciplinary mix of ideas — from fundamental theories of physics to the emergence of complexity, including the accompanying philosophical insights — would coalesce and form “Information — Consciousness — Reality: How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence,” a 662-page open-access monograph, published in 2019.
Since then, new developments in physics and philosophy revealed that “Information — Consciousness — Reality’’ was only a rough sketch of a puzzle whose pieces are only now coming together.
A New Vision of Reality
The new book will chronicle the ongoing paradigm shifts affecting physics and philosophy. Indeed, most scientists’ disdain for philosophical musings can be identified as a root cause for the regression in understanding fundamental aspects of existence. The adoption of materialism as a metaphysical foundation for science was an enormously consequential choice, which today is erroneously seen as an integral part of the edifice of science. Moreover, contemporary philosophers of mind are contemplating the metaphysical implications of altered states of consciousness.
The expedition embarked upon in the book will include the following:
- An introduction to the philosophy of mind.
- A primer on physics.
- Introducing the information-theoretic paradigm in physics.
- On structure-formation in the universe.
- The many facets of consciousness.
- Science focuses exclusively on the third-person perspective, but what insights can we gain from first-person experiences, for instance, the accounts given by shamans, mystics, meditators, and psychonauts through the ages?
- The emergence of a novel paradigm for understanding consciousness: idealism.
- A cosmic telos: The will to complexity.
- What does this all mean?
- Musings on the Anthropocene.
During the journey, the interested layperson is gently introduced to all the relevant concepts and invited to ponder a radically new perspective on the enigma of existence founded on new ideas entertained in science and philosophy.
A New Vision of Humanity
Today, we appear to stand at the precipice of our civilization. Deep schisms are appearing in the social fabric of society. Ignorance and cynicism abound, and hyperindividualism runs rampant. The biosphere is facing relentless exploitation and destruction. Biodiversity is dwindling, and resources are becoming scarce. As a species, we seem trapped on a path leading toward a dark future.
What if our collective dissonance is rooted in a misguided understanding of our own nature and the cosmos we inhabit? Science paints a bleak picture of a random and meaningless universe guided by blind chance. Abrahamic religions invoke a deity outside of its creation. This book offers an alternative explanation for the fundamental nature of reality and consciousness, informed by a cutting-edge understanding of physics and philosophy of mind.
The takeaway messages are the following:
- An intrinsic structuring force guides cosmic complexity, and intelligence is ubiquitous.
- The fundamental building blocks of reality are bits of information.
- Consciousness is understood as the ultimate foundation of reality, and the philosophy of psychedelics can help guide our understanding.
- Collective blind spots and bad metaphysical beliefs have hidden these insights from our shared experience of reality.
These are essential messages which should enter our global hive mind. By radically rethinking our own nature and that of the cosmos, we stand a chance to alter the course of history.
In essence, the book aims to facilitate the birth of new scientific paradigms offering a new perspective on existence. Suddenly, our mind is rediscovered at the center of the universe. The myth of a universe devoid of meaning is dispelled, as is the need for a divinity outside of reality.
The journey begins…
The working title of the book is:
The Sapient Cosmos
What a Modern-Day Synthesis of Science and Philosophy Teaches Us About the Emergence of Information, Complexity, Consciousness, and Meaning
Chapter posts:
- Chapter 1: Thinking about the Mind
- Chapter 2: Physics and Philosophy
- Chapter 2: The Philosophy of Science: An Idiosyncratic Primer
- Chapter 3: The Information-Theoretic Universe
- Chapter 4: Consciousness Unleashed
- The Sapient Cosmos: A Teaser
- Chapter 5: Idealism: A Consciousness-Only View of Reality
Table of Contents:
