Thoughts on the “ integrated information theory”

The integrated information theory (IIT) of the origin of consciousness has been labeled as a pseudoscience by some for reasons unclear, though the suspicion is that the theory is wildly popular in excess of its scientific merits. The writer makes clear that IIT still insists “that consciousness has a physical basis and can be mathematically measured.”  Still, I sense between the lines that the real scientists are afraid that the IIT folks are turning mystical.

So, how should mystics, meta-physicists, and genuine pseudoscientists react to being insulted by proxy? (For now, I’ll leave UFO researchers out of this.)

During near-death experiences, where consciousness literally separates from the physical body, experiencers often notice that there is a definite demarcation between physical and non-physical consciousness. Physical consciousness is centered in time and space, while consciousness out of the body does not track time or distance. There are two almost contradictory perspectives on consciousness: Physically-oriented consciousness is self-contained, reliant on the physical body for existence, and while there is no proof that it is physically generated, it is definitely influenced by the physical. On the other hand, when the “I” vacates the body completely, the body dies. The physical body cannot be animated unless something—however you define the “I”—is installed. Science would have to measure the non-physical to discover the true root of consciousness, and I don’t know this is doable by physical people using physical instruments.

Dreams as more than “just dreams”

 

In my readings of Robert Crookall, who I recommend, I ran across an interesting observation about dreams that set me on a small adventure: 

All make these statements. Mrs. Rhys Davids held—we believe rightly—“It is in the shifting from one body [the physical] to the other [the “super-physical” Soul Body via which the impressions are cognised] that we may find some clues to the provoking oddities in dreams”—i.e., it is in the intermediate “semi-physical” vehicle of vitality that genuine impression can be distorted and appear to us as mere meaningless fantasies. The “communicator” of Kate Wingfield similarly stated that most “dreams” are not, as they appear to be, mere fantasies, but are distorted genuine impressions and observations. “H.J.L.”, communicating to J. S. M. Ward (Gone West, Rider, 1917, pp. 156-7), gave the same reason for the distortion of out-of-the-body experiences. He said, “Experiences on the ‘astral’ [ = Hades] plane, being akin to earth, become distorted as the ‘astral’ [vehicle of vitality] re-unites with the physical body: it is as though the physical brain [with three dimensions] attempted to explain ‘astral’ [with four dimensions] phenomena by physical laws …” Later (p. 165) “H.J.L.” said, “Many people occasionally remember, in a distorted manner, fragments of their [Hades or Paradise] experiences.” (“What Happens When You Die”)

 I won’t say a lot about Robert Crookall except that he published several metaphysical books in the mid-20th century, all (except one, available from White Crow Books) out of print. The ones I’ve been able to locate independently seem very authoritative, with many references to Spiritualist books (also out-of-print, but in the public domain). It’s easy to lose a few hours tracking down his sources.

I think that Crookall may have been a Theosophist—or familiar with the teachings—which is reflected in his notion that all physically incarnated beings have “vehicle of vitality” that surrounds the “soul.” He goes into great detail explaining this “vehicle of vitality,” which he defines as:

Vehicle of Vitality. —This, ‘the nerve spirit’ of German communicators, the ‘vital body’ of the Rosicrucians, the ‘etheric double’ of the Theosophists, and the ‘Bardo Body’ of Tibetans, is part (the ‘magnetic’ or ultra-gaseous part) of the total Physical Body. If ‘loose’, it can give off ‘ectoplasm’ and produce such ‘physical’ phenomena as ‘raps’, levitation, direct voice, tele-kinesis and ‘materialisations’. (“The Supreme Adventure,” 1961)

I have patiently read Crookall’s detailed discussions of the “vehicle of vitality” throughout his books, neither believing nor disbelieving, since I don’t find many references to it in other books on this subject. I didn’t understand why we needed an additional body to contend with. But as I read more, it began to click. The “vehicle of vitality” is the only body that we (the physically incarnated) are able to observe. It is sometimes perceived as a mist, or like smoke, or sparkly, or as a light, or with what appear to be electrical fields. It also filters and translates information obtained from “higher” planes during OOBEs, and this information is reformatted into dreams.

This strikes me as an advanced concept, since it’s counterintuitive. Science holds that dreams are part of the brain’s housekeeping function, where memories of the previous hours are sorted and pruned and filed away (somewhere). But “Seth” also argues that dreams contain remnants of astral travels:

At certain depths of sleep, however, the soul’s perception operates relatively unhampered. You drink, so to speak, from the pure well of perception. You communicate with the depths of your own being, and the source of your creativity. These experiences, not being translated physically, do not remain in the morning. You do not remember them as dreams. Dreams, however, may later the same evening be formed from the information gained during what I will call the “depth experience.” These will not be exact or near translations of the experience, but rather of the nature of dream parables — an entirely different thing, you see. (“Seth Speaks”)

The nature of dream production is extensively covered in “Seth, Dreams and Projections of Consciousness,” which I won’t go into right now, except to mention that on numerous occasions, Seth suggests that the dream universe actually exists—it’s not a hallucination—and that it’s electrical in nature. I don’t know if the fact that the “vehicle of vitality” is also electrical is a coincidence. But this “vehicle” is the interface that translates these perceptions of higher levels.

My quixotic quest is my later years has been an attempt to comprehend what these other realities beyond the physical are. We who have been reared in the Western scientific tradition believe that there must be a measurable, objective reality, or it isn’t “real”—if it can’t be measured, or photographed, or smashed in a cyclotron, it’s a hallucination. It’s a bias that causes us to depreciate information that’s obtained “elsewhere.” But I think it’s possible to pick out bits and pieces of information from these elsewheres and to roughly speculate on the nature of that other reality. And if it requires a vehicle of vitality to comprehend it, I’ll take it.