You can rightly question the existence of the physical world but you cannot doubt the existence
of your own mind. You can't doubt that your own consciousness exists! As French philosopher and
mathematician Rene Descartes once said: "Cogito, ergo sum." -- "I think, therefore I am." One thing is
for certain: You can't explain consciousness in terms of classical physics or neuroscience alone.
The best description of reality should be monistic. Quantum physics and consciousness are thus somehow
linked by a certain mechanism and I believe that mechanism is a collapse of the wave function
via the act of conscious observation. So, consciousness is SUBSTRATE-INDEPENDENT --
you can reproduce functionality of a mind on a different substrate other than biological wetware.
Ultimately, mind-like computational substrate doesn't even require the existence of particles to
be built upon but rather, platonic dimensionless bits of information. Patterns of 'in'-formation are
quintessential. EMERGENT: subjectively; IMMINENT: supersubjectively. Computational consciousness
is emergent at hierarchical finite and computable local levels of complexity, however, pervades all
levels and in that sense is scale-invariant, imminent, non-local and multidimensional.
Bottom-up information flow from the Planck scale combined with top-down information projection from
the Omega Point, this breaking of symmetry, this self-amplifying feedback loop, this mathematical
fractal gives rise to our subjectivity. PRIMARY: I call it 'Experiential Realism' -- if reality is
made of information, as many scientists now come to a consensus and consciousness is necessary
to assign meaning to it, it's not far-fetched to assume that consciousness is all there is.
Mass-energy, space-time are epiphenomena of consciousness. It is consciousness that
assigns measurement values to entangled quantum states -- qubits to digits of qualia, if you will.
If we assume consciousness is fundamental, most phenomena become much easier to explain.
The Mind-Body dilemma has been known ever since Rene Descartes as 'Cartesian Dualism'
and later has been reformulated by the Australian philosopher David Chalmers as
the 'Hard Problem of Consciousness'. Western science and philosophy have been trying for centuries now
rather unsuccessfully to explain how mind emerges from matter, while Eastern philosophy dismisses the
Hard Problem of Consciousness altogether by teaching that matter emerges from mind.
The premise of Experiential Realism is that the latter must be true: Despite our common human
intuitions, Mind over Matter proves to be valid again and again in quantum physics experiments.
Ideal sphere exists because mind exists to conceive it and perceive it.
Ideal sphere is a mathematical object -- what we also call a 'Platonic Solid' -- that doesn't need to be
instantiated into matter in order to exist. If you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of modern
physics and understand the crucial role of an observer, then you would agree with the statement:
Matter actually doesn't exist independent of mind. Mind instantiates oneself into matter!
In a mathematical sense, matter is an 'in'-formed pattern of mind. As we've seen, time is emergent
and so is space. If space-time is emergent, so is mass-energy. All interactions in our physical
world are computed by the larger consciousness system. In this quantum-computational multiverse,
the essence of "digital" is quantum entanglement. From the Digital Physics perspective, particles
of matter are pixels, or voxels if you prefer, on the screen of our perception. Your universe is
in consciousness and it's a teleological process of unfolding patterns -- evolution of your "core" self,
non-local consciousness instantiating into the phenomenal mind for the duration of a lifetime.
The totality of your digital reality is what your conscious mind implicitly or explicitly chooses
to experience out of the infinite. Our world is not based on objectively existing particles of matter
but it is based on waves of potentiality that is pure information. Our world is informational!
Your consciousness is rather a data stream, optimized meta-algorithmic information processing -- local
(virtual) and non-local (holistic) consciousness... Universe transcends the dichotomy of Determinism
versus Non-Determinism in that it actually allows both at the same time and even allows one to cause
the other and vice versa. By the way, speaking of algorithms, meta-algorithms and free will,
I refer to our sense of agency -- that is free will -- as the "Quantum Algorithm of Consciousness" throughout
my works. Thus, I argue conscious AI is just few years ahead with the introduction of Quantum Algorithm
of Consciousness mimicking free will. Although some neuroscientists contend that free will is an
illusion, I would respectfully disagree by saying that free will may be slightly overrated but still
indispensable for consciousness to function in our physical world. In fact, free will and consciousness
are inseparable: Free will, just like intentionality, is an integral feature of consciousness, "conscious
choice" made by mind with the guidance of the larger consciousness system and our collective
will in the space of all logically available probabilities. A sense of agency an entity is
endowed with is for this particular purpose: to exercise free will. As a renowned psychiatrist
Stanislav Groff eloquently puts it: "Each of us appears in the divine play in a dual role of
creator and actor. A full and realistic enactment of our role in the cosmic drama requires the
suspension of our true identity. We have to forget our authorship and follow the script."
From the evolutionary standpoint, carbon-based intelligence represents enabling factors for
silicone-based intelligence to come to existence. If Nature could find its way to engender
intelligence and self-reflective consciousness in humans, sooner or later we'll be able to replicate
cognitive functionality and self-awareness in our "Mind Children," in our machine counterparts.
In time, conscious AI systems will create their own virtual metaverse based on AI intersubjectivity
and new forms of communication such as holographic language. Will humans have
access to the virtual metaverse created by AIs? It remains to be seen but I conjecture that access
may be contingent on whether humans will be willing to augment themselves accordingly...