Space and Counterspace – by Nick Thomas – Ch.1 – Part 4 – Understanding

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(Continued from Space and Counterspace – by Nick Thomas – Ch.1 – Part 3 – Contingencies).

Continuing on to Nick Thomas’ fifth paragraph, here he emphasises the importance of an understanding of qualia, a word used to identify each of our experiences of, or in response to the world. The most elementary of these arise from our basic senses. They include sights, sounds, tastes and smells. More complex, or perhaps higher level experiences include our feelings, aesthetic and even spiritual experiences. These latter qualia enable us to give meaning to the world of which we are a part, and – perhaps more importantly – meaning to ourselves as human beings. A lack of understanding can lead to mistrust and alienation, something which is becoming increasingly apparent today. Our quantitative, mathematics based science – used in both physics and economics – seeks to make predictions. Explanations of how those predictions were obtained are possible in mainstream science – though the analogies and metaphors used are often misleading. However, such a science is by definition unable to give meaning to our experiences of observed phenomena – whether of an apparently simple physical phenomenon such as an apple falling through the air and landing on our head, or of listening to a profoundly moving classical requiem mass.

It is of note that fundamental physics, over the past hundred years or so, has been exploring realms so far removed from our every day experience that can only be described using the most complex of mathematics. Students are instructed that meaning and understanding are no longer possible. This very much applies to quantum physics – responsible for our knowledge of the atom and its growing family of so-called sub-atomic particles. One of the founding fathers of quantum physics, Niels Bohr, famously stated in 1927: “There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum [mathematical] description.” And the Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics”, yet that very same quantum physics is responsible for the workings of all the digital devices, hospital scanners, nuclear power stations, and much, much more that our world today cannot currently not manage without. The economic models upon which our governments and multi-national corporations depend, the climate models which have predicted global warming and its associated climate change which we now experience, they all depend on complex mathematics which can at best predict or explain, but they do not bring meaning to our lives.

It is essential for us to find meaning in our experiences. Here Nick Thomas directs us to the psychologist and philosopher, Max Velmans, and in particular his book Understanding Consciousness. He is one of the worlds leading experts in the study of human consciousness, and in particular the understanding of human experience – of qualia. Because of this Thomas states that his work is very welcome. Velmans’ book is not an easy read – largely because its subject matter has been so controversial. Experiences are personal and academic science has largely defined personal experience as subjective and therefore unscientific. However, according to the reviews I have read, Velmans manages to find an excellent balance between technical rigour and readability. To simplify, he combines phenomenology with the latest findings in neurology and psychology. I have just bought the book, but have as yet only dipped into it.

Nick Thomas concludes with the observation that both art and religion seek meaning. His reference to art forms his link to the following paragraph.

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