Stephen was inspired by an earlier exchange of blog entries and comments to raise another question about the origins of “the observer and what the observer sees”. He writes:
“I read a fascinating description at the end of a book on Special Relativity by the late physicist David Bohm which implied that all the perception of external objects is really done by the mind in a very deep sense. That is, there is a very direct connection between the observer and what the observer sees. This implies that from the individual’s perspective, it’s not like there’s an individual person and a separate world around them – the two are dependent!”
I agree with Professor Bohm in one sense, and profoundly disagree in another: Contrary to the specious speculation of the physicists (and from another perspective, the Vedic and Buddhist traditions), the “observer” which is You and Me is as one with the physical world ONLY to the extent that they both belong to it. However, the Observer and What The Observer Sees ARE dependent, because they are both inventions — productions — abstractions — creations — of our plastic brains. Now THERE’S an abstraction for you! What The Observer Sees is an abstraction of ‘reality’ that has a presence for that Super-Abstraction which is your Self! What a machine, that brain of yours! What a good set of tricks arises from that 2+ pounds of organized chemistry!
