Darkness & Light: The Philosophical Path of an Eclectic Pagan

Letter XIV: Collective Consciousness

 Hello again, my friends.

I have just recently been meditating on our own consciousness. I have asked myself what is consciousness and what it means to be human.

I have concluded that there is a continual collection of consciousness that is us and that surrounds us. There is a consciousness within ourselves that is both the physical and the metaphysical, but there is also individual consciousness within our physical, as well as the group consciousness that we are a part of.

To break down in a simpler example: start with a single atom. A single atom, along with it's parts, are all its consciousness. The consciousness of the atom is composed both of the actual structure of the atom itself, along with the consciousness of the individual protons, neutrons, and electrons of the atom. Consciousness can be best related to the nature of the object, or the nature of the thing.

The nature of the atom, and the nature of the protons, neutrons, and electrons, is what makes the atom the atom. Ancient philosopher and scientist Aristotle called this "form" and "matter". The form is what the object "is" and the "matter" is what the object is made of. Using his terminology, it is safe to say that both the form and matter of a certain thing, considering that all objects that occupy space and time have both, is the dual consciousness of the object, because it has a nature and acts on such nature in a way that we observe.

What is the nature of an object? This is where science comes in. Science started, and in many ways still is, measuring and learning the nature of an object or animal or thing. It is to observe its behaviors and patterns until the person studying it can come to a conclusion that "this is the nature of the thing". For many years, this was the common base of science; observing what is perceived to be the nature of something and coming to the conclusion that this is the "form" of the matter. Later, science dove into the "matter" of things, hence how biology and chemistry came into play. To identify the compound of the thing was to identify the matter, while observing and discovering the nature of the thing was the form.

Since we can conclude that everything has both form and matter, we can also conclude that everything has a consciousness. We can come to this conclusion, because we can observe that it has a different nature than something else. A hydrogen atom has a different nature than a aluminum atom or a carbon atom. Both the matter and the form equal the overall consciousness of the atom, or element, because water, that is combined with both two hydrogen and one oxygen has a different property, acts differently, reacts differently, and has a completely different matter altogether than another chemical fusion. This is what gives water its properties, but it is also what adds to its nature, because water, in of itself reacts differently than hydrogen and oxygen that are isolated from each other. The nature of water is not completely defined by the matter, or else we would have no evidence of fusion. Thus, the chemical composition of two hydrogen and one oxygen (matter), as well as the acting / reacting nature of it (form), is evidence of a consciousness, because how can one explain the nature of water other than observe its nature?

This leads me to the question of what is the nature of a human being. What is the natural human being? Many might argue that we are all natural human beings; that we are living natural, normal lives, despite the difference of each person's life. Many others would still claim that we are living gravely unnatural lives, and that we must reduce these unnatural lifestyles and go back to what we were originally created for.

But this is the question, my friend... If an alien were to observe us human beings, over the course of different cultures, races, ages, areas, beliefs... what would the alien conclude to be human nature? What is the consistent and accurate conclusion that they would be able to come to in order to define the "nature" of a human being? Is it natural that we are to live in an industry-driven society? Or is it natural to live among nature and eat only fruits, nuts, and uncooked meat?