Why the sun is conscious (and the scientific revolution made a mistake) | Rupert Sheldrake

Quick Overview

Rupert Sheldrake argues that the modern scientific dismissal of consciousness in nature, exemplified by viewing celestial bodies as inanimate, is an eccentric cultural error rooted in the 17th-century scientific revolution; he advocates for panpsychism, which suggests consciousness is widespread, even in fundamental particles like electrons and atoms, liberating imagination from the constraint that consciousness is only located in brains.

Key Points: The idea that celestial bodies like the Sun and stars are conscious, or are gods/goddesses, was common in traditional cultures (e.g., Japan, Latin cultures, India with Surya) but is now largely dismissed in modern Western thought. Ancient philosophers like Plato called the planets the "visible gods," reflecting a worldview where the heavens were animate and conscious beings, sometimes associated with angelic intelligences. The shift away from this view occurred around the beginning of the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, when the heavens and Earth were declared inanimate, unconscious, and machine-like. Sheldrake cites his 1990 book, "The Rebirth of Nature," as an early argument for reanimating the world and challenging the materialist view that consciousness is solely generated by brains. Panpsychism, which Sheldrake is predisposed towards, liberates imagination by suggesting consciousness does not have to be located only in brains, opening the possibility that even electrons and atoms could be conscious. In the Hindu tradition, the Gayatri Mantra asks for the blessings of the Sun to illuminate meditation, illustrating a cultural context where celestial bodies are actively revered as conscious entities. The modern neuroscientific view, which posits consciousness is generated only in brains like ours, is what Sheldrake finds absurd and dismisses with contempt.

Context: The video features philosopher Rupert Sheldrake discussing the historical and philosophical perspective on consciousness, specifically challenging the modern scientific consensus that consciousness is exclusive to complex biological structures like human brains. He contrasts this view with ancient and traditional worldviews where natural elements, especially celestial bodies, were widely regarded as conscious, animate beings, a concept he links to panpsychism.