Description There are two interesting philosophical questions, which I feel are interlinked. The first is 'what is the nature of the universe?', the second, 'what is the nature of conciousness?' The world seems divided on the first, with some people stating that the universe is a clockwork machine, completely governed by physical laws. Some say that the natural order of the universe springs from absolute chaos, and reality is fundamentally random. The fun comes in when we ask the question, 'what is the nature of conciousness?' We define conciousness as the part of us that percieves and is aware of the universe, and ourselves. Descartes gave us the idea, 'I think, therefore I am', and formulated the mind-body problem. Some of the people who believe in the clockwork universe would tell us that there is no such thing as the mind, and all the thoughts and feelings we experience are again governed by physical laws (the brain being a physical entity of course). This requires the existence of a total theory of everything, since reality as we experience it must be computable for the brain to percieve it in a purely deterministic way. Interestingly enough though there are many arguments in mathematics that suggest that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. For me this posits the existence of a greater unity, one that cannot be explained, but can be experienced.Experience is another funny thing. Most people would accept that experience is always personal and subjective, and cannot be explained (at least not in a language as we know it) You can tell somebody how to ride a bike, but even knowing everything there is to know, until you have actually ridden a bike, you have no idea how it feels to be perfectly balanced.I personally feel that the universe needs no explanation, it just is, in its infinite random glory. It's when we come along with our conciousness that reality is painted with our colours, given our explanations based in the meaning we choose to give it.
Carl McIntyre, Norwich Member Since July 2009 Artist Statement I'm an unusual beast in the world of Art (I normally wear a hat that says 'Computer Scientist') but as some programmers and researchers would tell you, solving problems within a science is a highly creative process ;) I enjoy making random images as it helps improve my imagination, which is important when I have to think around a problem.
If you would like an easy way to keep up with updates (sorry I can be sporadic) then check out my facebook page (which is the first place I'll post something new to).