PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS

One can learn much about reality simply by doing a few thought experiments. For instance, one can learn something about how consciousness relates to the universe, and to itself, by asking oneself the question: What would the universe be like if I had no consciousness of it whatsoever?

We have an example of this thought to work with. What would it be like to be a corpse; to have no consciousness whatsoever? At first, one might say that the universe would go on just as before, that nothing would change. However, one then realizes that this thought is not about how the corpse relates to the world, but about how those who are still alive and conscious relate to the world. One must concentrate on the central question: How does the nonconscious corpse relate to the world?

At this point, one must suspend all beliefs about consciousness and concentrate on the central question. With this accomplished, one realizes that the nonconscious corpse has no relationship to the world whatsoever. He does not know where he is, or what time it is. He does not know that he has a brain, or that he had a mind. He does not know that he ever existed, or that the world ever existed. He knows absolutely nothing. His relationship to himself and to the universe is one of total nonexistence.

The materialist philosopher would object to this view, because he believes there is no such thing as nonexistence. He believes that a nonconscious universe is just the same as a conscious one. He believes that our universe, before life evolved to be conscious of it, was a nonconscious universe that was exactly the same as a conscious one. There were objects passing through space and time, and cause and effects relationships in the nonconscious universe, just as in a conscious one. He believes that this completely material universe eventually evolved life to be conscious of it, and that consciousness is merely an accident of nature.

However, the materialist has forgotten a very important fact. His nonconscious universe is not nonconscious at all. He has imagined his supposedly nonsconscious universe. He has used a part of his consciousness to establish the reality of that which he thinks of as being nonsconscious. He has created a real universe, if only in his imagination.
The materialist has put himself into the same position as those who imagine that the universe is the same for a corpse as it is for those who are still conscious of the universe. He has overridden nonconsciousness by the use of his consciousness. In order to get a true idea of a nonconscious universe, he must refuse to use his imagination. He must think of himself as a corpse.

This condition brings to mind another thought experiment. What would a universe be like that had no consciousness in it whatsoever? Would not such a universe have the same relationship to consciousness that a corpse has to it? There is no time and space to a corpse, and therefore, no time and space in such a universe. Any consciousless universe could only be equal to absolute nothingness.

Anyone who denies this evaluation forgets that in order to deny it, he must first use his imagination to establish a conscious universe. Any nonconscious universe has to be completely different from a conscious one.

This condition brings to mind another thought experiment. If our universe were a nonconscious one before life evolved, then how could life have evolved in a universe devoid of space and time; that is, a universe equal to absolute nothingness? The answer is that our universe has never been a nonconscious one. Our universe has always had a Super-Intelligent Consciousness to create it and to be conscious of it. Consciousness is that necessary engine that generates reality in any real universe. Our universe has always had time and space, and the creation of life, because of the Infinite Consciousness of God.