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Consciousness is finite

We make a second simplest possible assumption. We assume that all consciousness and thus all physical structure is finite. Each moment of our experience is a finite irreducible gestalt. We exist in a vast and possibly potentially infinite universe of creatively evolving but always finite conscious experience.

Our second assumption restores the earlier mathematical idea that infinity is a limit that can never be reached. In our framework this means each conscious experience has a finite structure. The totality of all conscious experiences may be infinite but there is no single infinite gestalt experience. In the language of mathematics there is no completed infinite totality.

Mathematics is a key to understanding the framework of the creative process. Through Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem (see Section 3.8) we know that the creative evolution of structure can never be captured in finite form. It is an open ended ever expanding process. There is a hierarchy of mathematical truth that characterizes levels of abstraction or self reflection such as the self reflection that is a defining characteristic of human consciousness. Gödel proved that this hierarchy cannot be finitely described[16]. However it can be fully developed by exploring an every increasing number of paths without selecting a best or correct path as biological evolution has done in creating the human mathematical mind.

Completed second draft of this book

PDF version of this book