Image of nature in our solar system as a giant whale

1. Why we Need Images of Nature 

Recently I updated my web site to reflect my new understanding of how four levels of reality work and connect with each other: 

(1) the Einsteinian level which I now understand as most fundamental; 

(2) the David Deutsch level, the best mainstream quantum field theory, the version which has passed many experimental tests in the realm of Quantum Information Science and Technology; 

(3) Von Neumann's approach to explaining consciousness, mind and life as we know them in mundane life as the result of emergent statistical patterns embedded in Boltzmann and Bellman equations; and 

(4) the spiritual level, from PSI to cosmos. Minds, Brains, Souls in a unified new mathematical viewpoint explaining what seem like contradictions between objective reality and first person experience.

 I have never claimed to have a COMPLETE understanding of level 4. That would be worse than a biologist claiming to know every species possible on earth and elsewhere! But if we look hard at all the evidence before us, we DO seem to know SOME things. And so, I believe that 

--  we ARE part of a "solar system noosphere," a connected organism reaching at least from deep mud under the oceans of the earth all the way to the sun, and maybe some more in our area  

--  AND that this organism has a "brain," a nervous system, making heavy use of ordinary matter (electrons, protons, neutrons, and photons, whatever these are) AND of "dark matter" (which we can now see in photographs at a scale of many light-years, which includes both "particles" and "force fields").  

--  And that most or all of us are in a state of symbiosis with that "solar bra in." 

--  And finally, that Carl Jung's Red Book  includes an excellent first person account of HIS conscious awareness of his connections with that brain, and more. 

All is in the updated webpage (except for two slides which have yet to upload). BUT: what do we know of OTHER minds beyond us mundane earth animals and the solar brain? That is an area of huge ignorance. And what do we know about the DETAILS of our solar system brain, what is its spirit of telos, and how it connects to our level of life? There is so much we do NOT yet know, which may become easier to understand, bit by bit, if we clear our vision by at least looking at reality here. By using both science and first person observation, integrated together. 

 Jung tells us a lot about how to achieve integration. He shows how greater consciousness of ourselves, of our connections with our own preverbal mind as well as the noosphere, depends a lot on how well we use not just words but images, analogies, feelings, and even music. There is not just one true image we can use, but many, which can blend together like photographs of a 3D object taken from different angles. 

 2. The whale: one good specific image or analogy to represent our local solar system organism 

 My favorite images of our local solar system noosphere brain are a tree (a special type of tree) and an image of the sun which some Shinto associate with Amaterasu. (It helps that I see both of them most of the time on most days through our back doors and windows. No, I don't confuse any tree with the whole noosphere, but most of them ARE alive, and can be used as gateways of the mind.) I have also mentioned the Jewish star and the kabbala of Luria. 

But yesterday I was reminded of the value of ANOTHER image or analogy, our local noosphere organism as something like a great whale. My thinking started in a Quaker Meeting by Zoom, where someone talked about climate: "We should not underestimate the power and intelligence on Nature on our planet, which may help us survive problems which we humans seem unable to solve ourselves." Then two people spoke of the Netflix video "My Octopus teacher." 

We humans are the peak intelligence of a whole mountain range full of species with intelligence on earth, but there are two other whole mountain ranges of animal brains on earth: (1) brains of octopi and beyond, like giant squids; and (2) hive minds of ants and bees (and beyond?). The giant squids reminded me of earth history, and of the giant sperm whale, whose brain is an interesting example of how complex brains can evolve and work. 

 The sperm whale has the largest brain on earth. But how INTELLIGENT is that whale? Scientists debate that, and study that, but do not truly know how to integrate what they know. (Most scientists do not even know how mammal brains work; the upgraded link on my web page above points to very recent explanation of that. Pilot whales are not the same as sperm whales, but are studied more because it is easier. ) 

YES, the whale has a big brain, but it also has a huge body. How much of that huge brain is really just coordinating small pieces of a huge body, lots of neurons, but at what LEVEL of mind? And so, what of our noosphere? It has a huge nervous system, but how much is restricted to local boring tasks? Hazen's book the Story of Earth suggests that Amaterasu is like a brilliant woman who just spent a billion years (1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago) cleaning out the stinkiest, most poisonous giant toilet within lightyears. How do we strike up a relation with HER, and what kind of mood is she in? (Ward and Kirschvink give a similar picture, all backed by very hard science.) But then I think of the sperm whale. It too spends ever so many years just eating and metabolizing. 

But there are also those whale songs, which many say can reach thousands of miles, a very complex social system requiring and displaying intelligence. Lack of hands is a serious limiter, but solar noospheres do not have that problem. It took a long time to de-sulfur earth's oceans (in 1.8-0.8 billion years ago, "the boring billion"), but that does prove that nothing else was happening. 

 It amuses me to remember I published a paper in an obscure place, the Rosicrucian Digest, in 1977 or so, before I even knew about dark matter. Based on recent discussions with Schwinger and his TA Chaikin, I considered how particles like tachyons with negative mass-energy would not only fit their models, but would predict a kind of cosmos-wide ocean of energy and matter, where big organisms would evolve, analogous to whales. I even received a letter from Tryon  saying that this paper inspired his own next thoughts about how things work in our universe. But now that I think of it, sperm whales are carnivores, which is how they evolved brains bigger than what other whales have. (Humans and wolves have a similar relation to cows and deer). We really have no idea what mix of species exist on that scale of length in our cosmos. And how does the Spirit of the Deep change the picture?