Monday, January 30, 2012

Electromagnetic lifeforms




Pic above is from Modernartimages.com

Intelligent, sentient, electromagnetic lifeforms.  Now there is a concept that I have been pondering.  It is an activity of pure conjecture, composed of equal parts of science and philosophy.

This is not my own neoterism.  I'm certainly not the first to think of it nor will I be the last, but hopefully I can keep myself strategically placed to read more information on the topic as it arises.  The concept is that of an intelligent lifeform composed entirely of electromagnetic energy.  I'm not saying that these lifeforms would be prevalent by any means nor do I think that they would even come close to being as frequent as carbon-based lifeforms given the stability of carbon or even silicon, I am simply wondering if they might exist.

What would such a lifeform look like?  Again, totally guessing here but I would surmise a gaseous form or maybe even like crackling lightning.  We've seen that life tends to fill certain voids here on our own world, an electromagnetic intelligence might inhabit a nebula or another such "stellar nursery" where energies abound.  Would we even recognize it as intelligent life if we came across it?  Could we communicate with it?  I'm going to say it's doubtful on both counts but what the bleep do I know?

Then there are those who postulate that the entire universe might itself be a living being, similar in concept to the Gaia Hypothesis which states that the Earth is essentially one single living organism.  The universe would operate much the same way with electromagnetic energy serving as "blood."  The chain of logic for this might be, and I stress might:
We have a consciousness.
We evolved from the universe.
Therefore the universe might have a consciousness.

This all ties in with even greater questions of "what is consciousness?"  Could an electromagnetic lifeform have both intelligence and consciousness?  Could what we term as either "intelligence" or "consciousness" be approximated by the interactions within an electromagnetic form?  But would that really be intelligence or just the clockwork movements of the mechanisms of physics?

Think about it, though.  Wouldn't such lifeforms explain a great many things?  Such as occurrences here on Earth that many of us otherwise ascribe to the paranormal?  The fleeting presence of an intelligent electromagnetic lifeform might account for the elusive nature of evidence for paranormal activity. 

Yep.  These are the meandering thoughts that keep me up at night.  Pray for me.


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4 comments:

  1. John, It's my view that our (humans') sentient consciousness is an electromagnetic life form… a 'soul', if you will. As with any electronic system, an electromagnetic field exists in and around our brains, and that 25-odd watts of power dissipation can and does interact with the world around us. If we can figure out how to snapshot our conscious minds, we have a path to immortality.

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  2. I agree. The entire universe is made of energy and we are no different. What religions refer to as chi, mana, Holy Spirit, are all different names for the same energy that makes us up. The Force, if you will. And you're right, the possibilities of uploading or snapshotting our conscious minds are fascinating.

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  3. These thoughts on consciousness reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from H.P. Lovecraft's letters (from 8/8/1916):

    "How do we know that the form of atomic and molecular motion called "life" is the highest of all forms? Perhaps the dominant -- the most rational and God-like of all beings -- is an invisible gas! Or perhaps it is a flaming and effulgent mass of molten star-dust. Who can say that men have souls while rocks have none?..."

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  4. Good call, Gary. Loves me some Lovecraft.

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