Communication is what? Transfer of information between discrete hosts. We’re doing it right now. And like so many other mechanisms, it involves a spectrum of efficiency and sophistication. Setting aside for now the nature of consciousness and its involvement (or not) in the process, let’s look at a few examples. For instance, looking out the window right now I see –
- A chill November morning. Sunbeams fall upon a snow-flecked boulder. The rock becomes slightly warmer. The sun becomes (infinitesimally) cooler.
- A chickadee zips by, feeling the rush of the air across her wings. The air molecules are diverted from their previous positions and trajectories in new and unexpected ways.
- She alights on a bare branch and whistles a tune. I have no idea what she is saying but a measure of joy blossoms within me.
- I write a sentence. You read it.
- Adding one of these might help: 😉
- I call you on the phone and speak to you about these things using my voice.
- I travel to where you are and tell you in person, adding helpful gestures and facial expressions.
- I utilize a symbol to show you something beyond words.
Each of these steps introduces a greater capacity for exchanging information. Bandwidth, if you will. This is the reason that high-level concepts often can only be communicated via symbols because words are primitive tools indeed…
[Insert Irony Appreciation Pause]
Example: Imagine a single source of light. A candle, a light-bulb, a star… whatever. We’ll call the light “Consciousness”. Encase the light in a hollow, thin-shelled but opaque globe. We will label the globe “The Universe”. Now punch the globe full of tiny holes so that individual beams of light pour forth in all directions. Let us call the holes “Beings”. Cover one of the holes. That’s a dead guy. Note that the light is still there. It just doesn’t shine through that particular hole anymore.
Thus utilizing a single symbol, we can illustrate:
- How you are God and how you are <“insert your name”>.
- How the world is completely real and how it is all an illusion.
- How we are all many and how we are all One.
And why you can never die (because you never existed in the first place).
Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to go listen to that chickadee some more.