I, like you, have a divided self. One part of me says a human being is a composite of things; another part asserts that a human being is a conscious composite of thoughts and feelings. One part of me claims that even the brain is merely a combination--albeit an amazingly complex combination--of elementary particles. The other part believes consciousness is irreducible and may well have at least a partial, very important non-physical component.
My name is Thomas. Thomas l (the rationalist) and Thomas ll (the believer) have been with me all my life. They were at loggerheads in the past, but now, calmed by age, they mostly get along. Thomas l and Thomas ll are undoubtedly part of you, too, so you might be interested in reading about them. Your story is different, yes, but not that different. So let me introduce me, that is, you, and briefly discuss the two basic components of our divided selves.
Since the internal division I speak of is universal, I will dispense with the Thomases as being too specific. I thought of renaming them Head and Heart, but this is a bit too direct, and sounds to me like the title of a bad poem. So I decided to freely translate these terms, with a result that makes them sound like a couple of lawyers arguing their case, which, I suppose, is exactly what they do. Head becomes Breitkopf, (wide Head in German--the adjective's hint of arrogance is appropriate), and Herzl (German for little heart--the adjective is also appropriate, denoting a humble person who has difficulty putting his insights into words.) I want to make clear at the beginning that although these "lawyers" have very different positions, they have never doubted that they are members of the same firm.
I will now proceed with a brief summary of the inner convictions of both Breitkopf and Herzl.
BREITKOPF
I, Breitkopf, am, like the Hindus--that is, Hindu sages-- a monist. I believe that reality is based on one thing, and one thing only. In contrast to gurus, however, who believe that one thing is consciousness, I believe that one thing is matter. I know of no irrefutable evidence that consciousness exists outside a material body, specifically a brain. The Eastern school thinks that consciousness is everything and causes everything. The claims are both irrational and wild. The body is inert, consciousness is what gives the body life; it is an immaterial all-pervading essence which may indeed be conveyed by matter (that is, by a brain) but is nevertheless independent. The modern analogy is that the brain is the receiver of consciousness, not its sender. Yeah, right.
I am what I call a materialist-monist. Everything is matter. It is a fact that there is no atom inside the human body--and brain--that does not exist in the exact same form outside the body. Life, built from inert elements, contains no specific "life element." We are carbon-based life forms; the carbon inside us is no different from the carbon in an asteroid hurtling through space. Our bodies consist of mostly water, molecules formed by two hydrogen and one oxygen atom. The hydrogen of the water came into existence shortly--that is, 380,000 years or so--after the Big Bang, which occurred 13.7 billion years ago. The oxygen of the water (as well as all the other elements in us) were forged in the furnaces of suns which, when they died in a supernova explosion, were spewed into space; the clouds from these explosions eventually became our solar system, our Earth, our bodies, us. All through natural processes, of course!
Life began on our planet shortly after it formed. But for over three billion years life was unconscious life, bacteria. Consciousness--at first, a very primitive consciousness-- began as more and more complex nervous systems arose, beginning with the Cambrian Era, 500, 000,000 years ago. It culminated when the inexorable laws of evolution produced us, the most complex life forms that ever arose on our planet by far, so far.
I readily admit that consciousness remains a mystery. I also believe that this mystery one day will be solved through materialist science.
The brain's complexity is enormous, no doubts about that. 100 billion neurons--as many approximately as the number of galaxies in the observable universe! What is truly astounding is the amount of connections between these neurons, a truly astronomical number, estimated in the billions of billions of billions!
But complex matter is still--matter. Consciousness is an accident produced by our genes; it permits us to survive better, and slowly, according to the laws of evolution, may even grow in complexity, helping us--if we mange not to destroy everything-- to reproduce ourselves more efficaciously. There's nothing immaterial in this truly astonishing process,
Daniel Dennett, the materialist philosopher--a Breitkopf cultural hero--is of the opinion that consciousness is not qualitatively different from matter; the opposite assertion is nothing more than an illusion. I share that opinion. The materialist, empirical world view is responsible for all the amazing theoretical and practical achievements since the Enlightenment. Where are the exceptions to this monist view of the world? Nowhere; there are none.
HERZL
Herzl remains silent.
The next day, Breitkopf and Herzl, fused as Thomas Dorsett, are--that is, is--in his automobile, driving to a place where he will do some volunteer work. He will be playing the piano at a senior center. The last time one of the listeners suggested that he play a hymn. Thomas replied that he didn't know any hymns, but he would order a hymnal and play them for all once he had the music. The online department from which he ordered the hymnal informed him that it would take about a month for him to receive it--hymnals, he mused, aren't that popular. In the meantime, how would he be able to quench the old people's thirst for a hymn? Suddenly, the problem was solved. While he was playing the piano the night before, a hymn, words and music, came to him, out of the blue, as they say.
He arrives at the nursing home and sings the following hymn while accompanying himself at the piano:
GOIN' ON A JOURNEY
(alternative version)
Goin' on a journey,
it's all right;
I'm goin' on a journey,
it's all right--
As I leave this world behind,
Very soon I'll see my Friend
who knows what bright world I'll find?
smiling at the tunnel's end,
Goin' on a journey,
it's all right.
Sister made that journey,
it's all right;
Brother made that journey,
it's all right--
I will have no cares at all
Mother, Father and my Guide
with friends and kin behind the wall;
meet me on the other side;
Sister made that journey,
it's all right.
I have to leave my loved ones,
it's all right;
got to leave my loved ones,
it's all right--
It's hard, it's hard,
it's very hard--
I have to leave my loved ones,
it's all right.
Soon we'll be together,
it's all right;
we're gonna be together,
it's all right.
Soon we're gonna be together,
no umbrellas needed--EVER!
Soon we'll be together,
it's all right.
We're gonna be together, it's all right,
we're gonna be together, its' all right,
soon we'll be together, it's all right--
Everyone together: it's all right!
A few had tears in their eyes; everyone clapped.
On the way home the following dialogue took place inside Thomas's mind:
Breitkopf: How could you compose such nonsense? You have created something moving--but the music does not correspond to reality--and therefore has no meaning. Are the words of your hymn to be taken literally or symbolically? In either case, it is emotional claptrap, what I call S.C.F.A., Santie Claus for Adults. Grow up! Accept the universe as it is.
Herzl: Your vast knowledge misses the one true mote that's essential. You don't know everything. I do; that's why I am silent. And, by the way, the Hindus are right.
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