The present material paradigm, or mindset, is one that places matter as the primary source, with consciousness as a product of matter. Look at the universe – its atomic particles are the building blocks for all form. Consciousness then is a self-reflexive awareness that emerges from a specific level of intelligence – or is it? The popular explanation is that humans have such a complex degree of neuronal activity, such an intricate and complex brain activity, so that consciousness emerges from the firing of these billions of interconnecting neurons….

Well – lets look at a different hypothesis: matter is a product of consciousness. The universe is conscious because it is a manifestation of consciousness. All matter thus has the capacity to connect with this universal consciousness. How then are we conscious? The fact is, we don’t have consciousness – we only tune in to it. We don’t have consciousness any more than a radio has the music.

Our central nervous system is not the producer of consciousness, as some may think, but is the antenna for receiving the consciousness we are living within. It’s like the young fish who go to the old wise fish to ask where this thing called water is… we don’t perceive consciousness because, like the fish, we’re living in it – it is the medium of our existence, and our material form is the construction that our perceptions create for us. We breathe it, yet recognise it not.

Evolution may in fact not be concerned so much with material development but rather with a convergence towards consciousness. The growth of intelligence towards self-reflexivity and conscience can be seen, in an alternative way, as a precursor towards recognition and, finally, integration with the consciousness behind materiality; rather than as a tool for integrating with material structures. Seen in this light, our evolutionary trajectory is towards immateriality, rather than more evolved technological materiality.