Mankind venturing to space, thinking of new material otherwise
unavailable on Earth, and using that new material to improve our everyday
life are all desirable events. Observation from space of stars otherwise
invisible from Earth would, as a result of our explorative endeavors,
inevitably occur. Furtherance of space medicine as a field of study would
also take place. However, no definitive answer to the question, "Why do
mankind reach for space?" has been offered yet.
There will be more sacrifices in order to acquire the ever increasing
amount of knowledge we seek. On the other hand, the amount of 'knowledge'
that we have lost in the name of technological advancement, through effects of worsening environmental problems, has been immeasurable.
Our urge to head into space has existed for almost half a century
without a clear answer why. It is about time that we have the answer.
I would like to suggest an answer. I propose that there is a possibility for our mind to evolve further while in space. That is, we might hope that our consciousness evolve further from being largely two-dimensional to be more three-dimensional.
Before I delve into the subject, let us examine the commonly-held image
of space. Space couldn't possibly be described in a word. Suffice it to
say that it is full of mysterious worlds. Among the mysteries of space,
weightlessness may possess the most impact. Space does not allow the use
of a balance to weigh objects. Furthermore, it is a world without meaning
for the words, 'up' and 'down'. The force of gravity determines whether a
coin falls face up or down. Life on Earth has been under the influence of
gravity as the absolute force for the longest time.
Gravity has always existed for mankind. It started from the time we
stood erect. When we moved objects, developed concepts of economy,
philosophy, religion, and ethics, gravity was a constant.
Not a moment too soon, we have now entered space age and have made the
world of weightlessness accessible. The study of weightlessness has
advanced in recent years.
We could consider floating sensation as a form of weightlessness. The
sense of speed may, depending on the angle of our cochlea, contribute to a
floating sensation. There is a floating sensation for an instant after
jumping from a high foothold. Visual perception of a thrown basketball in
air may also give an observer a similar sensation. I even experience a
glimpse of elation when I hit a golf ball; the elation comes from, in a
sense, conquering, or personalizing, the three-dimensional space. This is
a form of broadening of our consciousness. Similar sensation could be had
from skiing, paragliding, sky diving, scuba diving, etc. We insist on
pursuing this sensation further through such activities as bungee jumping,
free fall, and roller coasters. Appeal of some forms of sports must be in
the pleasure through this floating sensation as well as the pleasure
through physical exercise. They are embodiments of our relentless
challenge against gravity and the pleasure we get out of them are returns
for our effort.
So far, I have touched upon the possibility of change in our consciousness while under weightless conditions, and our pursuit of the floating sensation, but not on the reason why we even perform dangerous
stunts to get that floating sensation. Of course, we must sense the
existence of something worth the endeavor, else we wouldn't be so
interested in these activities. Now let me examine the reason.
You may be surprised to hear this for the first time, but there is
definitely something at the end of this pursuit that ushers our brain to
emancipation of sorts.
When we venture to space, the all-encompassing power of gravity loosens
its hold on us. As an example of similar conditions, we could examine the
ocean. Underneath the waves, near weightlessness exist for appropriately
buoyant beings. Dolphins exist in this three-dimensional world practically
without the effects of gravity. A dolphin's realm of activity is a cube of
water, not a plane of earth. They must feel some effect of gravity, but
they almost perpetually exist with that floating sensation we earthly
beings long for. In other words, their consciousness may have wider
boundaries. When they see objects, they can be perceived from many
directions without much effort. Their visual perception must be more
acute, with greater ability to perceive things in three-dimensions when
compared to human beings. It is quite conceivable that the development of
their brain under these conditions could have awarded them with an ability
to instantly perceive physical conditions and quickly devise a wider range
of courses of action in response. You may say that buildings are three-dimensional and therefore we humans must possess similar abilities to perceive and react to them. Well, buildings are indeed three-dimensional,
but do we really have truly three-dimensional perception?
Human beings typically experience symptoms known quite simply as space
sickness while in space. We used to think that it must be related to
motion sickness we experience under certain conditions on earth, but people highly trained in extreme kinetic conditions and against motion sickness, such as fighter pilots, tend to succumb first to space sickness. In other words, we cannot explain space sickness along the terms of regular motion sickness experienced on Earth. Recent studies suggest that the cause of space sickness may be the perceptual confusion resulting from discrepancy in sensory perception between what's learned from years of experience on Earth, and the flood of visual and other new perceptual information one experience while in space.
Take directional recognition through visual perception for example. On
Earth, a conversation is ordinarily carried out while making level eye
contact at about the same height relative to ground, with the heads of the
participants on top, of course. On the other hand, in space, the
situation could be quite different. Your conversation partner could appear
to be hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat. Furthermore, it
won't be immediately obvious whether the other person's head or yours is
toward the ceiling. One of the characteristics of space sickness is the
tendency to vomit the instant the observer senses that something is amiss,
as in this example. There is likely to be a fair amount of informational
confusion in a person's head at such an instant.
Although buildings on Earth are indeed three-dimensional structures and
we perceive them as such every day of our lives, our consciousness must
remain largely in a two-dimensional realm except in certain special
circumstances. Otherwise, if we had already acquired three-dimensional
perception and thinking through our lives on Earth, space sickness would
not be experienced.
This is a fact that I cannot take lightly. I say that this in turn
must mean that our brain has the potential to evolve further through
perceptual modification. Of course, such change cannot take place rapidly.
It may take hundreds or thousands, even millions of years. But if you
could allow a leap in imagination, you may agree that if our consciousness
did approach a three-dimensional state, that is, if our consciousness could
expand in a way, we could examine matters from different standpoints. Such minds could be applied to examine the wasteful and collision-prone aspects of our current social system and hopefully lead to further improvements.
Objects in three-dimensional space aren't as prone to collisions as objects
in two-dimensional space. Such spacial broadening, if it could be applied
to our ability to reason, could possibly lead to discovery of more
solutions and hints leading to solutions.
Returning to my reference to weightlessness in space, I will again
attempt to relate a bit more to reality with tangible numbers. Let us
consider the amount of time necessary to reach space and the percentage of
astronauts affected by space sickness. Today, a Space Shuttle takes only 8
minutes to reach weightlessness in space. Although astronauts are a select
group of highly trained and competent men and women, approximately 70
percent of them succumb to space sickness. You may say that they are mere
human beings after all, but they are specifically trained to be effective
in space under weightless conditions. Seventy percent is a very high
percentage among such a group.
Don't you feel a bit queasy from just reading about it? If you do,
then you are perhaps already a weightlessnian, a person with consciousness
adapted to weightless conditions.
Another interesting consideration is to inquire whether an inkling of
weightlessness consciousness already exist in the brain. As I've mentioned
earlier through examples of sport activities, man seek that floating
sensation, in excess of what necessity dictates. Why? Before the desire
for the medal and before the desire for a new world record, we
unconsciously try to maintain the floating sensation. What could exist at
the end of this endeavor?
In this vein, let us consider the popular sport of bungee jumping.
This used to be a right of passage, a coming-of-age ceremony for young
members of a certain tribe. Such a dangerous ceremony, where just a bit of
bad luck could lead to death, must have set a perfect stage for the young
men to advertise bravery. Then why was it necessary to jump? The act of
jumping could be interpreted as an artificial experience of death and
rebirth with enough impact to promise a trip to another dimension.
During the free fall immediately following the bungee jump, brain,
internal organs and muscles which support the body are all freed from the
hold of gravity. At this instant, the falling human body exists as an
object independent from Mother Earth. The body and the Earth develop a
one-to-one relationship, if you will, not unlike that between one heavenly
body and another. To be free from the rule of gravity may be equated to a
sort of self-realization. It leads to a leap, however brief in time, from
two-dimensional consciousness to three-dimensional consciousness, outside the bounds of everyday reality. Members of the primitive tribe could not possibly have guessed that the Earth floated in weightless space. They must have experienced a brief loss of identity which was built through years of gravitational experience.
They may even have been threatened with the new identity as beings not belonging to Earth.
Possessing a truly three-dimensional consciousness may not merely
broaden the realm of consciousness but could demand preparedness to
confront issues head-on from both front and back. To possess such
perceptual ability may be to bid adieu to the shadowy side, the yang of
ying and yang. Three-dimensional consciousness may have existed in earthly life forms as an unconscious doorway to victory over the shadowy side, in the struggle essential for self-development. That is, I think that our weightless consciousness may already exist in our minds, with its doors open in our unconscious, acting as a powerful archetype which allows us to recognize the broadening of consciousness that accompanies the floating sensation and hold it dear.
Broadening of consciousness is the subject of research in the future,
which will be an exploration of the roots of our consciousness.
Now that we have rattled our brains considerably, it's time to cool
down. After all, a space ship must come back to Earth after flight.
Borrowing (loosely) from the words of Jung, "...a premise hitherto unknown
which may effectively enrich the direction of consciousness cannot be used
as a basis of judgement. It doesn't matter how the judgement may be
rational, multi-faceted and unprejudiced. That is, unless the content of
the unconscious could be elevated to the conscious, such premise cannot be
the basis of judgement. Therefore, things which appear to be irrational to
us are discarded for that very reason..." He is saying that, "Yes, that
may in fact appear to be irrational, but there are things which may appear
to be irrational but are not at their essence." Space age in this light
could be an interesting era.
Jung goes on to say, "Mankind clearly needs an universal idea or
belief which could give meaning to life and help one find oneself's place
in the world. When one believes firmly their meaning, one could establish
unbelievable stubbornness. Furthermore, these allow one to gain insight
which far surpasses the limited existence in reality, provide a wide space
for development of one's personality, and enables one to lead one's whole
life as a complete human being."
My discussion here is neither theology nor philosophy. I merely
observed human beings from a new viewpoint and developed an argument based on purely scientific facts. If you were able to find this discussion
interesting and were able to feel a bit hopeful, I think that maybe you are
getting ready to find a sense of self which isn't bound only by reality.