@Cyracuz,
Cryacuz writes:
"We don't know if the universe is a closed system. Likely it's not, if thinking about it as one becomes paradoxical...."Intuitively I tend to think it's arrogant to believe that we humans are the most advanced sentient beings in the universe. I'm starting more and more to see the entire universe as sentience itself, or should I perhaps say I've come to think of sentience as a phenomenon similar to gravity, in the sense that it will inevitably happen under certain circumstances where the combined participation of every little speck of matter creates reality. "
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In this great post Cyracuz doubts whether the universe is a closed system. It seems to me that the observed universe does not nearly provide even a sketchy description of that "thing" we would like to explain "holistically." But regarding what we
do observe, perhaps we can examine those aspects that have (or to which we can realistically or usefully ascribe) systemic qualities. In other words such aspects do not require a closed system, an entirety that is experienced, at least in principle, empirically. On the other hand, when people meditate they sometimes feel that their small experience of life is a kind of entirety in the sense that nothing seems to be missing (but that's a change of topic).
Regarding the Universe's sentience he observes that while it may not
be sentient, it certainly
has sentience. This cannot be doubted given that we have sentience and we are a property of the Universe. When I was asked once if the Universe is conscious, I made the above observation that it is to the extent that we are both conscious and part of the Universe. But Cryacuz goes farther, I think, in suggesting, I think, that like gravity consciousness or sentience is a universal
potentiality. A powerful suggestion.
