Consciousness is Primary: Science of Consciousness for the XXI Century

Consciousness is Primary: Science of Consciousness for the 21st Century. Frederick T. Travis. International Journal of Psychological Studies Archives Vol. 13, No. 1 (2021). DOI:10.5539/ijps.v13n1p1

Abstract. In the 20th century, the understanding of matter was transformed from a world of classical objects to a world of probabilities that were excitations of non-material quantum fields. Psychology may be involved in a similar transformation. In the 20th century, psychological models included specific “classical” content such as memories, attention, or emotions. However, some thinkers model consciousness as more field-like. Chalmers asserts that consciousness is an irreducible part of matter, along with time and space. Goff maintains that consciousness permeates reality and is expressed in degrees in different structures. Tononi’s Integrated Information Theory posits that consciousness is a fundamental property of any physical system and the degree of consciousness expressed reflects the power of the present state to affect the probability of its past and future states. Nader’s model goes beyond these concepts and postulates that consciousness is a nonmaterial, non-physical reality that exists entirely by itself. It has an ontological existence and generates matter, governs the interaction between material structures and is responsible for individual subjective experiences. This model is supported by direct experience of the field of consciousness, called pure consciousness, during Transcendental Meditation practice. This allows empirical investigation of pure consciousness and of higher states of consciousness when pure consciousness is integrated with daily experiences.

Ugh:

1.1.5 Nader: Consciousness is Primary

While materialist models begin with the assumption that matter is primary; Nader starts with the assumption that consciousness is primary (Nader, 2015).

I postulate that there is a primordial consciousness—a nonmaterial, non-physical reality—that is neither classical nor quantum-mechanical, neither a phenomenon nor an epiphenomenon, that exists entirely by itself. It exists in absolute terms and does not depend on anything else for its existence. (p. 2)

Nader’s model expands the concept of consciousness from “classical” mental changing events to a fundamental field that exists by itself. In the following discussion, to keep these two concepts of consciousness separate, classical mental events will be referred to as conscious experience or individual consciousness and the fundamental field of consciousness that exists will be referred to as pure consciousness—pure meaning unmixed with mental content (see below).

Nader’s model is as far away from classical psychological concepts like memory and perception as unified field theories in physics are from classical Newtonian mechanics. Many psychologists may object to the statement that “consciousness is primary and exists entirely by itself.” They might state that they have never isolated pure consciousness in their personal experience or in the laboratory. This was William James’s objection in 1890:

It is difficult for me to detect in the activity [of my mind] any purely spiritual element at all. Whenever my introspective glance succeeds in turning round quickly enough to catch one of these manifestations of spontaneity in the act, all it can ever feel distinctly is some bodily process, for the most part taking place within the head. (James, 1890/1950, p. 300)

While the experience of pure consciousness is seldom reported during ordinary waking experiences, it is reported during a meditation practice, Transcendental Meditation. The Transcendental Meditation technique is discussed in detail in the next section.

How does a field which is posited to be “all that there is” and “does not depend on anything else for its existence” create matter? It is as if one hard problem has been substituted for another. To follow the logic of this argument, I ask readers to temporarily suspend their understanding of consciousness as only being part of a human experience, or from the opposite point of view that “consciousness like ours is everywhere.”