i learned about the fifth force theory yesterday. it blew my motherfucking puny mind. in mentally handicapped terms, i will describe it as best as i can. basically, imagine consciousness—that is, YOU. your thoughts, emotions, desires; both conscious and unconscious, real or imagined, repressed or fucking celebrated.—as a force, like gravity, or electromagnetism. just simply a force of the universe, constantly present, but invisible and undetectable by humans like all the rest. 

the theory goes that the human brain is analogous to a radio. where a radio can capture electromagnetic waves and from them create the sounds you hear and recognize as voices and music, the brain can capture the consciousness force of the universe and convert it into YOU. this explains why some animals do not seem to have consciousness; their brain radios simply haven’t evolved the necessary mechanisms to capture consciousness. 

its really a shitton like star wars, except instead of midichlorian in the blood, its micro systems in the brain that capture the “force”. 

it seems fucking creepy, i know, the idea that were all plugged into this fantasm of pure consciousness, of power. but i think its comforting. because it means that you, and im talking about YOU, will never really die or disappear. because electromagnetic waves dont disappear when a radio is turned off. 

of course, there are problems with this theory. consciousness, unlike other natural forces, cant be mathematically predicted or governed. and then theres the problem of personality, if were all part of the same stream of consciousness then why do we act differently? i dont know why, maybe the minute differences in our neuro structures change our interpretations and interactions with the force, which in turn change our behavior. but there are certain aspects of consciousness that can be predicted, like our reflexive reactions to certain stimuli: answering a ringing phone, moving away from uncomfortable temperatures, etc. 

i dont fucking know if this shit is true. but im glad my education is teaching me something. 

#fifth force theory  #cognitive science