When we look at and are in awe of Nature, is it really Atoms looking at other Atoms?

Question

Perhaps this uncovers the hidden mystery of conciousness. Deep down, indivisible particles Aka. Atoms became "Aware" of other Atoms. These atoms that are "Aware" combined to make a whole.
I.E. The 95 trillion atoms that make you ... U are all aware of eachother. This awareness combined to make one whole (You), thus came conciousness. We are able to look at and perceive other atoms because are atoms are aware.

Sounds strange? Welcome to the world of Quantam Mechanics.

Damn Don! You blew my mind with that one.

Answer 1

This is more easily understandable if one considers the actual scale of the components of an atom. If one takes into account the fact that the neutrons, protons and electrons of an atom actually have huge spaces between them it becomes clear that the atoms that make up seemingly solid objects are made up of 99+ percent empty space.

This alone does not seem too important till you add the idea that the atoms that make up seemingly solid objects are more of a loose conglomeration that share a similar attraction but never really touch each other.

At first glance this does not really seem relevant, but closer analysis reveals that this adds a tremendous amount of empty space to solid objects that are already made up of atoms that are 99 percent space. When so-called solid objects are seen in this light it becomes apparent that they can in no way be the seemingly solid objects they appear to be.

We ourselves are not exceptions to this phenomenon.

These seemingly solid objects are more like ghostly images that we interpret as solid objects based on our perceptual conclusions.

From this we must conclude that Perception is some sort of a trick that helps us to take these ghostly images and turn them into a world we can associate and interact with. This clever device seems to be a creation of our intellect that enables us to interact with each other in what appears to be a three dimensional reality.

I hope that helps to answered your question.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 2

Humm... I was a little hesitant to answer this one, but..."what the heck". I went through this 'phase' were I liked Physics, and I came across this book by Ernst Mach about all objects, on some level, encompassing wave properties...

Kinda interesting stuff, but here's the thing. Somewhere there's a part of allof us that respects the unfathomable. Awe and wonder are good enough words to describe it the feeling you get when you look up at the night sky and see just how small you are, compared to everything else. But, there's also the part of you that realizes that maybe Wittgenstein was correct in saying that metaphysics is just 'bad language'.

So what's the point?: There's a sort of balance between the two. Between understanding the empty voids and the hard wood (matter) we see in our daily lives. Anyway, I like both, so it's fun talking about it... and that's a good enough reason too!

If you're interested I'll add some links to cool books...

Have a good one, hombre!

Answer 3

I suppose if we go back in time much the way we can with astronomy it is possible to find the place where consciousness first started....anyway, we are conscious on a macro level and individually, of ourselves.
To be conscious of things of a micro level requires extensions of our outward "receivings" (5 senses) brought to our level of reception (which requires translations)
The awareness you speak of is really a form of fitting and evolution.
An electron has an affinity for a proton and 2 alcohols combine to make a sugar...so it appears their is a pairing but I believe this is built in to the law of attraction. 2 protons are mutually exclusive. It is most likely we perceive "awareness" because it makes sense to our brains based on past experience

Answer 4

But atoms are protons and neutrons looking at other protons and neutrons.

The problem of reductionist theories is that they only look at the part and not the sum.

A handful of atoms (you) and a handful of atoms (a tree) are not the same thing though even though both are composed of atoms. Atoms do not imply consciousness.

In fact, we cannot directly perceive atoms. We must use indirect and secondary means to confirm their existence. I cannot see atoms when I look at.

Answer 5

We know energy is the fundamental cause to the effect of an atom going from point A to point B. Romanticizing inanimate objects is human. Sort of your way to give back to nature what it has given to you. It doesn't sound strange and I don't believe it's quantum mechanics but each to their own. Thanks for sharing :)

Answer 6

by the way, atoms don't "look"

so if you want to take it in the literal sense, no.