Are We All the Same Consciousness?

Are we all the same consciousness?

What a weird question. I know we all experience life individually, but stick with me for a minute. Consciousness is one of the biggest mysteries in the scientific community. We don’t understand it at all. Speaking scientifically, we don’t understand how the universe could make itself aware of itself. We don’t even know how we are aware of our own awareness.

Confused yet? Me too.

Consciousness seems to act in its own realm. It goes beyond basic universal laws. Perhaps the reason it even exists is to bring the universe itself into existence. What do I mean by that?

Buckle up.

Remember the question, “If a tree falls in the forest with no one around, does it make a sound?” Not without a listener. Or think about this. Is a sunset still beautiful if no one is there to see it? I would argue no. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? If there’s no eye, there’s no beauty. Things like sound and color exist only in our head. Without us, sound and color are simply vibrations and wave lengths. They’re data. We bring sound and color into existence.

In the same way, perhaps it’s our consciousness that allows the universe to exist in the first place. Just something to think about.

Now! Back to the original question.

Are we all the same consciousness? This is a theory of mine (that I’m sure many other people have had) that I don’t necessarily believe, but I don’t disbelieve it either. Whether you believe it or not, it’s a good thought experiment.

The theory starts here.

As far as we know, the experience of consciousness is the same for everyone. This is a necessary assumption. You experience life as ‘you’. I experience life as ‘me’. We each live life from a first person point of view. We feel pain, see color, and experience emotions. We are each the main character of our individual story. The experience of ‘Experience’ itself is the constant that connects every conscious being. We are aware of our own awareness, and that experience is the same for each of us.

Here, I posit the idea that consciousness itself is one being. One that each of us is a part of. One that we are collectively. In this way, we are all connected. We are simply each a part of this massive whole, experiencing what it’s like to live our lives, with our unique personalities and bodies.

Take a video game for example. Imagine you’re playing a video game and you can play as different characters. You can act through one character from their point of view and then switch to another character to play from their point of view. Even though you played as different characters, it’s still one being that experienced both of their lives… YOU! You were the being of consciousness that experienced both of those characters’ lives.

Hopefully we’re not just characters in a video game (simulation theory is for another time). I don’t think we are. That was just the best way I could explain it.

There’s no way to prove or disprove this theory of consciousness, but how much better would the world be if this is what we believed? If we acted as if this were true, how much help, love, and support would we give to those around us? Maybe this is why it feels so good to help others. Whatever we do for others might also be what we’re doing for ourselves.

If we hurt someone, we will experience that pain. If we show love to someone, we will experience that love. If we give, we will receive. If we lie, we will be lied to. If we help, we will be helped.

There would be no more war. We would work together as one. We would know that the person standing across from us is just us, in a different body, experiencing different things. What a beautiful world that would be.

I know this one was a little funky. It was meta and abstract so if you made it to the end, well done. I think it’s a good thought experiment and may help us do a little more good for those around us. Perhaps we could each bring a little more beauty into the world for all of us to take part in. Thank you for reading!