Is there reality without mind?

Question

and if so did the universe exist prior to concious thought. I like the idea that the Aboriginal Australians sing the world into existence every morning. If they stop are we F**cked.

Answer 1

What's Matter without Mind
What's Mind without Matter
What's the matter
Nevermind....

Yo Penfold! Now that I see Y!Cats's answer I understand why Y!Police told you that you were "chatty". You are too smart for your own good, so just thank the yahoo overlords for saving you from your quantum self.

Answer 2

The Aboriginal Australians mirror a concept echoed in quantum physics. This week's issue of New Scientists states:

" Recent experiments led by a group at the University of Vienna, Austria, provide the most compelling evidence yet that there is no objective reality beyond what we observe. This idea, that our measurements create reality, is controversial and scarcely new, but the mounting evidence for it could have major implications in the search for a theory of everything."

It seems that consciousness must somehow be written into the equation of reality. However, is reality a product of human consciousness or is it the product of a consciousness beyond man?

Answer 3

I agree that it's fun to think nothing existed before we humans developed conscious thought. But it's really anthro-centric thinking, isn't it? Pretty easy to slip from that kind of thinking to "Well, if the tigers and rainforests only exist in my mind, then it's OK to destroy them, because I can make them up again."

The thing is, I know from other people that mountains existed before I was born. That knowlege comes from outside of myself. I know I can bring some things into being by wishing and working, but other things are impossible. For example, if I wished a mountain to grow up in my backyard over night, there's only an extremely small chance it would happen (I do live in Japan, so there is a chance -- and boy wouldn't that freak me out).

So, yes, I believe there is reality without *my* mind, and I suspect that there'd still be a reality even if there weren't anybody to observe it.

If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound? This is a tougher question, because "sound" is partly quantified by having eardrums to receive it. The tree does disturb the airwaves, though.

Hoo, boy, I think I forgot my pontification pills this morning. Interesting question, though.

Answer 4

No, the universe didn't exist before concious thought because God, the supreme conciousness, has always existed and created the universe. Without His concious thoughts we would never have existed.

Answer 5

Yes.

Some cosmologists disagree. They think observers are needed to bring the universe into coherency. A sort of quantum effect in which the observer and observation has a physical impact on the system being observed.

I believe it exists independent of us or any other thinking, observing beings.

Answer 6

If you were to only consider your own observations, it would be easy to conceive that reality would cease with your demise. But as others in this reality have the ability to communicate their observations back to you using the exact same methodologies you would use, this would seem to indicate that your perception of reality is not unique to you. This is why peer review is such an integral part of scientific method. Independence of observations helps us know that individuals are not contriving a reality that others do not see. And as charlatans,Schizophrenics and those with distorted views of reality exist - the process of confirming independent observations is what helps us separate what is real from questionable perceptions.

Answer 7

All is consciousness without end. Have you read *Voices of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal* ? Very helpful :))

Answer 8

I sure hope so...or the rest of you are in deep deep trouble. LOL

Answer 9

of course where does everything come from