Brain States and the World

Dr Peter Fenwick

For the moment, let us accept the metaphvsics of our current science. Then the participatory nature of the brain and its functioning with the world goes almost without saying. The electrical and chemical gradients, guided by the genes, form the field structure on which the brain develops. After birth the excess of neurones and redundancy of mechanism are selected by exposure to the environment. At this early stage the principle of 'experience it or become blind to it' directs the maturation process. Come adolescence, the activation of oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone centres within the brain casts a sexual film across the brain and so over the perceived world. Culture and experience complete the process. The brain is a product of its genes, experience, socialisation and culture, and so too is the experienced world it creates.

Every act of perception illuminates a brain structure. Destroy the structure and you limit the world. Is it possible to lift the veil and see beyond into "true realitv." Our current science says no, as each perception is grounded in the physical structure of the brain. No brain, no experience. Can we move beyond the brain? Yes, providing we change the metaphysics of our science, with subjective experience becoming the primary aspect of realitv, and materiality a secondary phenomenon. In this world, consciousness is the basic structural block and the 'real' is only manifested in consciousness. With this view then the truly conscious observer sees through to the heart of reality and the whole of the macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm of the subjective experience.