Book Description
There are many different views concerning the relationship between consciousness, mind, body and world. Richardson isn't wholly convinced by any of these theories and for many years has been developing his own theory of this family of relationships; he calls this theory D*. One of the key factors motivating and underpinning D* is the Big Bang. Richardson outlines the significance of the Big Bang for the relationship between body, world, mind and consciousness. He also considers the limits of our knowledge concerning these issues, outlines existing views, and suggests that consciousness and mind are distinct phenomena. Finally, he presents the D* Theory of Consciousness and Mind.
From the Publisher
From the first chapter: For thousands of years humans have been contemplating their place in the universe. Two of the biggest questions they have tried to answer are: 'What is the relationship between my mind and my body?' And, 'What is consciousness?' Throughout this period there have been a multitude of attempts to answer these questions, attempts that have been inevitably informed and constrained by our best understanding of the universe prevailing at the time. The rapid scientific advancement in recent times means that today there is a much more rigid framework within which these two questions need to be addressed than at any time in the past. One particular scientific advancement - the realization that the entire universe has slowly evolved from the singularity of the Big Bang - has very large implications for our attempts to understand consciousness and the mind-body relation. Anyone who accepts this well-established theory has also to accept that the fundamental constituents of reality that were in existence at the time of the Big Bang (the ultimates) are the very same constituents that comprise their own body. This means that when we contemplate our place in the universe we have to ask the question: 'Which attributes of a human are attributes of the ultimates of which a human is constituted?'
