Evolution of the Mind

Let's have some fun. Let's talk about something super 'rational,' like your brain, but through the wild lenses of observation, mysticism, and the (real or imagined) history of its development.

Where, how, why, and when did the actual split between science and spirituality happen? How did the creation of mental illusions in the brain long ago enable us to give birth to entire civilizations and even a drastic evolution in our collective consciousness on a global scale?

And why do we now seem to experience so much confusion about whether we actually live in a delirious multiverse of endless interconnected parallel realities, all unfolding at the same time or not?

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Let's start our semi-fictional story of the mind's evolution a very long time ago. Imagine ourselves somewhere between the time when we were no longer monkeys but didn't yet know much about what to do with fire or how to build a house.

We were no longer animals, but far from what you would consider a modern human being. We are not fully sure even today what we were or how it happened, so the landscape for speculation about who we are and where we come from was always wide and playful. This is how we could continue to invent and play with all kinds of stories about our own creation and the authentic powers of our minds and hearts.

For now, let's just assume that this story started before the concept of time itself existed. So, I guess, a very, very, very long time ago.

What could have been happening in our primitive brains back then?

I believe the first jump in consciousness we made was creating the concept of Science! This innovation brought our game of shared reality to the next level and developed our brains in unique and powerful ways.

What is science?

At its core, science is very simple. It's about explaining your visible and tangible reality in a coherent and holistic way that can be verified by empirical experiments.

In simple terms, science is about observing reality and experimenting with it, acting as an inseparable duo. Even today, scientific research happens on scales beyond what we can physically observe or experiment with. Theories we play with are beyond our current observational capabilities, so they remain theoretical until they can be proven and engineered into empirical experiments we can reproduce with predictable results.

Both processes, observation and experimentation, usually require only two things: the observer and the physical reality to observe or experiment with.

It's that simple. Almost. How do you get from a monkey brain to the complex civilization of sophisticated collective intelligence?

What we did back then as a radical innovation was to create multiple observer points analyzing the same event and finding ways to communicate about it to create meaning.

We started operating together in 'scientific' cooperation to better understand the world we lived in. We invented languages to communicate more efficiently and precisely.

The idea was to have many brains, eyes, ears, and other senses to experiment with similar but not identical physical reality and bring together our findings to see the bigger patterns or logic behind how our reality works. If we truly understand some deeper patterns about the nature of our shared reality, maybe we could even create artificial realities with that knowledge at some point.

This is how we slowly started building the concept of collective knowledge. It's funny to realize that most 'pagan' rituals and ancient 'mystical' traditions are actually based on scientific principles and processes.

The most primitive forms of 'spirituality' were based on people co-observing their surroundings (stars, seasons, plants, animals, elements) and trying to create coherent meanings. They experimented with their reality to see if there were any patterns involved. Life itself was a forever unfolding experiment. This is how they started creating stories about the movements of the stars and their impact on personal experiences. They ate toxic plants to observe their effects on their bodies.

They did many things to learn about the world around them and understand their deep interconnection with Nature, Life, each other, and everything else in their shared reality.

The key is that it was about describing observable physical reality and engaging in pure empirical and creative experimentation.

This is the origin of mysticism and the foundation of science. Our capacity to observe and experiment with our world enabled us to wire our brains in new ways and evolve as human beings.

We invented routines, patterns, symbols, myths, stories, and theories. We observed and played with our surroundings to discern the truth and uncover the rules and laws of the Universe or Nature.

Science is tangible because it must be based on observable reality we can consciously comprehend and reproduce to be considered true science based on empirical experience.

Science is living and always evolving. What was true 50 years ago might be nonsense today. This does not make science less valuable or true; it shows that explaining the complexity of our reality is a long and complicated process.

As the number of observers increases and we describe the mystery of our shared reality with more accuracy and precision, many current scientific theories might fall apart.

New discoveries and experiments continually question fundamental beliefs and principles about the scientific explanation of our world. For the last 100 years, since the introduction of space-time relativity and quantum mechanics, the entire logic and rationale behind science have been seriously questioned.

New experiments show us where we got it wrong and what we still don't understand. Science is always evolving and transforming, just as primitive forms of mysticism did for a very long time.

The first mind superpower we acquired was our ability to observe our environment and learn from the patterns we saw repeatedly.

The second was our ability to use the data from our observations to create experiences (new relationships between things) where we could better analyze phenomena to describe the nature of our reality or the mystery of Life.

We created the concept of 'object' and 'subject' in our minds and the idea that we can consciously influence the behaviors and relationships between them if we understand their interconnections.

Primitive mysticism and paganism were actually sophisticated collective processes of scientific analysis and adaptation over hundreds of thousands of years before we even knew how to write about our findings.

What happened next?

How did we evolve to the next stage of our history? What came after the paganistic 'science' worldview to make our minds even more powerful co-creators of our shared reality and its unlimited boundaries?

We created and mastered a new concept in our mind: the Illusion!

This new radical capacity of our brains to comprehend illusions opened a whole new reality of possibilities.

Until this point, we were good at understanding the basics of Life and our physical reality. But our 'primitive' friends, bored with the obvious physical reality, began serious philosophical contemplations about making life more interesting.

They pushed the concept of the 'object' further. Until now, the 'object' was always something visible, tangible, and real. But these 'mystics' challenged this idea.

They wondered: what if we create purely mental objects of observation and play with them in our heads? What if our brain could process completely abstract and imaginary ideas and create meaningful relationships between them?

What if we could create something completely 'illusory' in our minds and consciously experiment with those ideas using only our attention?

This simple but powerful idea allowed us to create realities beyond the physical one.

This is also how the concept of 'time' emerged as useful for our evolution. Abstract thinking and developing our 'sensitive' brain regions became real possibilities. We could manipulate memories and create projections into the future by planning, imagining, and dreaming about things that don't yet exist in the physical reality.

Our ability to imagine and remember made it possible to play with our emotions almost at will. We realized our brains could create unreal objects but weren't smart enough to distinguish them from real physical objects, leading to powerful emotional responses.

They realized they could change how they felt based on the mental objects they played with in their imagination. This realization had a significant impact on the evolution and development of our civilization.

We created and mastered the concept of past and future. Time started to make sense. Our emotions and thoughts became more interesting and powerful. With abstract thinking and the capacity to experiment with imaginary objects, we opened the door to realities beyond the physical, emotional, and mental planes of existence.

We invented the idea of God and 'spiritual' realms in our minds.

What is God?

God is an abstract and invisible object in the collective mind of human brains. We invented this concept to create other planes of intangible existence and experiment with them.

The concept of God became the foundation of all religions and many cults worldwide, born from the idea of an imaginary 'unlimited power' in our minds.

The concept of God and abstract thinking allowed us to extend the boundaries of reality and develop the powers of our creative and sensitive brains even further. Civilization itself might not have been possible without this capacity.

Now, let's come back to the present.

What does all this have to do with our current stage of collective consciousness?

Is God real today?

This is a fair question from a scientific perspective. The concept of God might be very real if you consider that thoughts, beliefs, and feelings are tangible parts of your reality. Considering the power and energy of our ancestors' collective beliefs as true, God might still be real and tangible in our shared reality for real.

Evolution is funny.

Our brain's potential for evolution is unlimited. Our creative power is limitless. When you combine these two things, the lines between the real and the imagined blur. The imaginary can become real at any moment, and the real can transform in ways we've never seen before.

We created a diverse multiverse in our collective mind perceptions of many variations of our reality long ago. No single soul today can distinguish the real from the imagined with complete certainty.

The goal now should be to co-create an imagined and dreamed reality that makes us feel good spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. We should strive to create a collective belief system that makes us happy and joyful, regardless of whether it is real, imagined, or somewhere in between.

However, any exploration of the mind, spirituality, or alternate realities must remain sustainable and coherent with our current understanding of physical laws and natural principles. These principles must be respected and honored for us to survive and continue 'experimenting' with life on the material plane of existence.

Before delving into complex mental, virtual, and spiritual 'objects' in your consciousness, it is wise to first understand how things are interconnected in our physical reality.

Before attempting to grasp the language of God, you must learn to truly listen to and obey the ways of Nature, understanding how it already works and why.