Optimality Of I Potentiality by Santosh Jha (the reading list book TXT) 📕

Entropic: There is this seemingly very valid and probably self-verifiable interpretation of consciousness as an entropic situation and expression of human brain. In the long, varied and potentially complex process of evolution, human brain states probably developed and evolved to such an intricate and multilayered system that reached a criticality of entrenched entropy. This entropic ecosystem of advanced brain engendered consciousness that stood exclusive to humans as no other complex organism had this level of criticality of entropy of such a complex brain. What does this mean? What we can make out of this scientific yet ambiguous idea of Entropic Consciousness?

We all know that entropy itself is a complex idea yet in simple terms, we accept entropy as measure of order or disorder in a system. A high entropy system is one with higher measure of disorder. This disorder is broadly expressed in terms of the system’s higher propensity towards randomization. This disorder may in broad sense be accepted as something that makes the overall optimal efficiency of a system uncertain. So, when we say that human brain has far more and greater entropy than any other animal, we are essentially saying that human brain states have greater range and repertoire of mental awareness and cognitive capacities. The core hypothesis is that the consciousness we humans have that makes us aware of ‘I’ or self, as distinct and exclusive from others, is because of our brain evolving to unparalleled complexities, thus having a critical level of entropy that in turn engenders consciousness that we have. Other animals, especially higher organisms also have consciousness but as their brain is less complex and therefore the entropy level is much below the criticality that human brain has, only humans have a consciousness that finds expression in much higher and deeper awareness of ‘I’ or self.

Now, as we have understood and can accept the idea of entropic consciousness, we need to look at the modern and contemporary explanation about ‘I-Awareness’ or what we may call levels of self-awareness. It is accepted by scientific experimentation that consciousness, as it was engendered, happened because of ‘entropy-expansion’ it is designed and wired to a higher state of randomization. Why? It is explained that thermodynamics theory has established that a closed system is always naturally aligned to optimize the system entropy. That is probably why human consciousness that is the outcome of entropy-expansion has this innate and intrinsic orientation and propensity for entropy-optimization. This means, human consciousness, in its innate and intrinsic character is given to higher randomization. Science accepts entropy-expansion as the ‘defining property’ of consciousness but also admits that it has to be automatically followed by entropy-suppression to bring about system reorganization or systemic settlement.

So, what we can conclude for ease of understanding and also for accepting a simplified hypothesis for our further journey towards exploration of ‘media and communication’ of consciousness, is that human consciousness is innately randomized and disorderly because this very entropy made consciousness possible and therefore there is this auto-process within the ecosystem of brain states itself to introduce and install a process of order and stability. In other words, human consciousness has in-built mechanism for disorder and disruption but the same consciousness has the in-built mechanism to feel and recognize the disorder. It also has the mechanism to correct them. Therefore, it is only natural that within the ecosystem of consciousness, there are media and communication plexus to identify and then correct entropic expressions. We are traversing this undulating path of consciousness and cognition to decipher the causality of that ‘media’ and ‘communication’ plexus.

Emergent: Having discussed the probable origin and innate nature of consciousness, we now have the task at hand to have a feel and internalization of the realism of consciousness. This shall facilitate the understanding of the media and communication system of our body-mind mechanism. Defining consciousness and having a definitive idea about consciousness is a tough task. Why? Because, primarily, when we speak of consciousness, we know we are dealing with something that does not have a physicality to it. It is a realism that has all trappings of virtualism. Consciousness is an intangibility that we have to see and understand not with the help of our five senses but with a mechanism, which itself is very much our consciousness. Therefore, the challenge is to understand the realism of a virtualism with the help of the virtualism itself.

So, without further complicating the issue, we begin to attempt a defining process that helps us understand consciousness. There is a rather simplified yet smart interpretation of consciousness that maintains that consciousness is an intangible, emergent and ever transient (shifting) property of two-way information processing by brain states and mega plexus of neurons, spread throughout the body. First, it works as a storehouse of information, which is gathered from sensory organs. It matches these info with the milieus around and creates an imagery of physical model for the body to deliberate on a decision for appropriate action. This imagery is intangible. This is first part.

Simultaneously, when these models lead to tangible actions and behaviors by body, it also stores those ‘experiences’ emerging out of these set of actions of body and converts them into processed information for future decision-making. Therefore, consciousness works not only as warehouse but also as agent of gathering and processing multi-dimensional information. As deliberating imagery of workable models out of the previously stored information is an intangible facility, whereas storing information from actual actions taken by body is a tangible work, the consciousness as a dual mechanism is intangible, emergent and virtual processing of information.

Its dual character makes consciousness a virtual agency. It is not body, not purely brain, not entirely the full spectrum of what we know as mind, but a part of mind. That is why consciousness has an emergent and virtual skin and flesh. At best, it is a bridge between the body and brain, very much part of mind and always evolving. This mechanism makes consciousness a virtual agency and that is why there is so much of mysticism and marvel associated with the idea of consciousness. It is because of the virtual nature of consciousness – the sense of ‘I’, mysticism stands as instinctive first choice of acceptance of realism. That is why the old wisdom as well as science maintains that God, ghosts, angels, soul and after life et al are mystical realisms, which are all inside our conscious self and what we do with the above idea in physical world is a virtualism, emanating out of the very character and nature of our consciousness.

The dualism, which the idea of consciousness creates is – ‘You’ are in your perspective and your perspective is in ‘you’. This needs elaboration. Modern scientific insight into mechanism of consciousness says nothing new or against what old wisdom of ancient world had elaborated thousands of years back. Science however puts facts in objective way, elaborating the details of the mechanism, which creates the dualism of consciousness. The primary hypothesis is the fact that human evolution designed a brain, which is far more complex and multi-functional than other developed organisms. In addition, human brain is not a typical single part, like other organs, e.g. liver. It has evolved in a way, which makes it a layered organ, with every new layer evolving as a pile up on previous layer. Brain is a complex ‘cooperative’ of multi-functional parts working in an auto-mode synchrony, which we are mostly unaware of.

From this analysis emerge two important facts about consciousness. First, consciousness is a virtual intangibility that emerges or is realized because of the very complex collaboration and co-option of multiple and multidimensional plexus of organic layers and channels of brain, nervous system and body’s own electro-chemical systems. Therefore, it is only very natural that conscious is always emergent, hence transient. Consciousness being an entropic expression of the body-brain system, it always has this innate propensity for randomizations. However, this same consciousness has this evolved awareness about the entropy-expansion and therefore a potential ingrained for entropy-suppression.

Secondly, science has not yet definitively deciphered as to which way consciousness reaches at the finality of a value-summation, or what we may simply know as decision for behavior or action. This question relates to media and communication of consciousness system. As science has not established the finality of media and communication within and without consciousness, it is open to scientific philosophization or what we may simply term as probability of hypothesis building, based on available objective and logical facts. This we are doing and attempting to do in some credible way in this book.

Vectoral: The third aspect about consciousness is referred to as Vectoral property of consciousness. What does it mean? By definition, Vector is a phenomenon that has two independent properties – magnitude and direction existing simultaneously, like electromagnetic field. When science says consciousness is a vectoral realism, it means that consciousness is a variable and ever transient situationalism because of simultaneous operation of not only two but may be many independent, yet cooperating properties. This needs to be understood.

When we say, consciousness is a vectoral property of information processing, we need to realize that brain states is constantly processing huge amount of information from different channels. There are information coming constantly from outer milieus, of which we are aware only of a very miniscule part. Still, the processing of huge amount of info data is continuously going on. Then we have information channels constantly feeding inputs from the internal milieu within our body to which brain states respond, even while we are not always aware of. There are thought processes, emotional elements, attitudinal aspects, quotient of fear and insecurity, etc that are constantly inputting unimaginable amount of data for brain states to process. As consciousness is an emergent property of collective and cooperative summation of multiple agencies, it is easy to accept that our consciousness is transient, shifting as per the dominant inputted info. Therefore, the ‘I’ or self is different when with the family, watching a soccer match, on the busy streets, in the office board room, at the church, etc. The vectoral consciousness suggests that consciousness being a multi-dimensional situation of an emergent vitualism, it is constantly shaped up and reshaped as per the new situation that milieus and other elements unveil on daily basis or in course of life and living.

The three aspects of consciousness that we have discussed is aimed at understanding the idea of consciousness in holism and entirety. This shall help when we now move on to the real issue we started with. That is the issue of media and communication that consciousness uses or has at its command to effect a range of realism at conscious and subconscious levels. Our primary concern is to discuss and unravel the media and communication system that has the potential to effect and install what we wish to accomplish in our life-living. This media and communication system can and does bring about effective changes in our body wellness and mind sanity and stability. The very idea of discussing consciousness and its nature in detail was to establish some reality that we can hypothesize and philosophize as science has not yet fully and definitively established.

For ease and convenience of recollection and swift reference, we list the reality that we can hypothesize after we have detailed consciousness –

This sense of subjective self or ‘I’ is a very layered realism, bordering and swaying into the domain of vitualism. This sense and feel that ‘we are’ is expressing itself in many layered existentialism of unconscious, subconscious and conscious.

This subjective self or ‘I’ is a collective causality of cooperative and co-opting elements of body and brain of which some are tangible and others intangible. Therefore, ‘we are’ not only body, not only mind, not only thoughts, not only emotions, not only attitudes, not only fears and insecurities, not only bundle of memes but a sum-totality of all, even while being everything. This means, consciousness or sense of