Come take a ride with me on the rambling, free-thought express this morning as I steer head-long into the most critical question behind our existence, one even the brightest minds have yet to explain: What is consciousness and why do we even have and share it?
In a recent online article on Medical News Today, science journalist James Kingsland wrote, "Scientists and philosophers have long struggled to explain how the brain generates conscious experiences. Some doubt whether the objective tools of science can ever get to grips with a phenomenon that is so subjective. Even so, researchers have begun to identify the changes in brain activity that accompany awareness, and they also have some fascinating ideas about why consciousness evolved."
Thus far, ideas and studies are all we have.
What is it within our bodies that lets us understand right from wrong, good from evil, night from day, distinguish among ourselves, contemplate the universe and perform the simplest tasks and interactions?
Kingsland's article deals with explaining from whence consciousness arises, noting that Australian philosopher David Chalmers decades ago acknowledged this thorny topic as the "hard problem."
I'll take it step farther and call it the "hardest problem," particularly since it remains unanswered after centuries. The attempts to explain I've read are filled with technical scientific jargon most of us can't comprehend. I've long been on the hunt for a fellow human being who can answer the question in eighth-grade English.
There's no question that we who are blessed with higher consciousness recognize the phenomenon in our species and to lesser or differing degrees in other animals. There's a school of thought that says even inanimate objects reflect low degrees of consciousness.
And that, of course, leads me back to my own lifelong search to know where it originates and for what purpose.
The world's religions acknowledge its critical role. Judaism basically says God is the consciousness. Buddha taught consciousness is always continuing, like a stream. Christianity in scripture ascribes consciousness to our creator.
Acknowledging there isn't an iota of science behind my own observation, I've come to believe there's sound reasoning to my belief that it's little wonder that in applying objective data to such a metaphysical problem, science has been unable solve the dilemma. Basically it's been looking for what it understands beneath the most convenient streetlight. To move down the street would mean acknowledging a spiritual cause rooted in light and energy.
That moment when the sperm entered the egg and the physical cells began dividing to nine months later create what would become our bodies necessary to survive on this plane of existence. But before any of that could begin was a microscopic flash of energy that set all into motion.
Without that sudden spark, there is no you, me or consciousness. Where does it come from? I've read explanations that refer to it as a reaction to the sudden collision between calcium released in the egg and the infusion of zinc.
I'm in no position to argue with that. Yet I do believe there is more behind that moment of creation than calcium encountering zinc.
While I'm a supporter of science and all the good it has brought to humanity and the world, I also have come to believe consciousness is not caused by interactions between organs and/or chemical exchanges within our bodies.
Instead I see it as pervasive throughout the universe, and our minds and bodies are receivers rather than creators, as are those of animals and other life forms that reflect the signal to widely varying degrees. People also receive the constant messages in varying degrees depending on their openness to its signals.
Those who have read the book "The Secret Life of Plants" learned of Cleve Backster's experiments that showed plants and vegetables appeared to react, through their connection to the signals of consciousness, to human thoughts and emotions.
The Global Consciousness Project EGG experiments at Princeton set out to measure consciousness using sophisticated equipment worldwide to human reactions to major newsmaking events even moments even before they occurred.
The late professor Valerie V. Hunt and her graduate students at UCLA conducted experiments that revealed a person's spiritual connection elevated the range of the vibrational frequency their bodies emitted from low ranges to off the charts.
Imagine the frequency differences between Jeffrey Dahmer and Mother Teresa. She explored those remarkable results in her book on the science of consciousness, "Infinite Mind."
The bottom line for me is scientists will never find the origins of consciousness until they discover that the answer lies beneath a different streetlamp.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.