Consciouness's Quandary

I believe! What do ya think; a statement that’s mighty powerful? Well, perhaps just a tad. There’s this dude named Descartes, whose spirit is floating around out here who made this big philosophical proclamation, I think; therefore I am. Rational thoughts, at least in theory, are supposed to separate us from the irrational ones of lunatics. I think; therefore I am. Really? Is this the consciousness factor that makes you and me uniquely different from the Pet Rock that someone gave you back in the 70’s?

Do creatures blessed with the most miniscule ability to think possess some rudimentary sense of self-awareness? Does that wormy-like critter squirming beneath the Pet Rock, which decades earlier you tossed out in the yard, have what scientists call a brain? Now admittedly, it doesn’t possess those enviable opposable thumbs or a saintly massive frontal cortex but it does own a basic neuro-network. While munching away on dirt, is the little guy self-aware? Is he thinkin’; therefore he is?

So what the hell is Consciousness? Here I am floatin’ around in space with my energy particles spread across the universe contemplating the essence of earthly existence and trying to figure out more than just the meaning of navel lint. Is thinking the factor that makes us have a sense of consciousness? Is it what defines our awareness? Okay, if that’s true, then, tell me how it is you know you love your child? Or you love your spouse? Or your incredibly handsome dog, or even your God? Can you prove it? Do you think it and therefore you are? Or is it because you believe?

Believing is a gut feeling, an emotional reaction, a sense of just knowing. While beliefs are open to widely varying interpretations and influences, believing, especially if it occupies a space within our hearts, extends us beyond the rational answers or even the irrational ones our thinking brains gives us.

Our earthly forms are composed of elements and matter that each of us shares. But each of you knows that you are indeed YOU. Perhaps some of us do that better than others. But there is certainly something that makes us different than the mass of granite that was your Pet Rock. Then what is your definition of consciousness?  Is it the essence of your Soul? Is the distillation of all your memories? Or perhaps it’s the cumulative memories of all things genetically imbedded in your DNA and passed on from generation to generation.

From my galactic perspective, I’m feeling the embodiment we call our soul is our conscious knowing we can believe. We can possess, on the faith that it is what is real for us, that which is a truth even without it possessing any proof. We can love another and we can believe it! We are consciously aware. We believe: therefore we are! And so are you.

Thanks for tuning in this week. You folks take care and rest assured I’m seeing all of you just as sure as those twinkling little stars are pounding you with their photons.-Dodger