The seeds of consciousness?

Information. It is a word which, like many others today, is used in all sorts of contexts and has been embedded in our daily language to the extent that we no longer think about its original meaning. Literally, in-form-ation refers to being ‘in the form’ (formed, made), or to giving form (to an idea or inspiration). But without exception, information can be observed only when something (some thing, fact or experience, for instance) can be distinguished from the rest. To state it briefly: if everything were the same, homogenous mess, there would be nothing to say about it.

So it starts with differentiation. And the first differentiation happens very early in the history of the living universe: when the first cell surrounds itself with a membrane, it distinguishes itself from the rest of the world. Would it be here that we find the seeds of consciousness?

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Easter Egg

I was singing Easter mass with the choir today. Listening to the priest saying the ritual words and prayers, it struck me that the entire religious framework is centered around the concept of death, and specifically in my culture, its denial.

And then it hit me: the basis of religion is ‘angst’, i.e. the fear of losing life. Krishnamurti is right when he said that in the end it all comes down to our fear of death.  We can invent entire systems and theories about life and death, but they are all screens we put up to hide our existential fear.

So, I guess that if we should be doing anything in this life at all, it is learning to accept the natural cycles of growth and decay - and most of all the ultimate total decay - as equally inherent to nature. It would likely bring that peace everyone keeps talking about…

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