A recent piece by Erika Erdmann reminded me of the contradiction between two theories of mind: emergence according to Roger Sperry, and panpsychism according to Father Thomas Berry. I have dealt with that contradiction in the essay “The Realm of the Mind” in this Section, where I try to reconcile these 2 views plus 8 others. However, in that previous essay I sit on the fence too much, accepting 4 of the 12 theories, although I call some of them dualistic and some monistic. I should really be more decisive and less open-minded. Yet I am not yet ready to jump into a rigid position.

Emergence theory, which goes back to Henri Bergson and was used by Teilhard de Chardin, states that new entities emerge from combinations of simpler structures to more complex ones. The motto is “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” because of the added structural complexity. This notion links it to general systems theory. Examples of emergent properties are: protons and neutrons from quarks, nuclei from protons and neutrons, atoms from nuclei and electrons, molecules from atoms (most often quoted: liquid water from gaseous oxygen and hydrogen), macromolecules from simple molecules, living cells from macromolecules, eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic cells, multicellular organisms from living cells, societies of some animals of the same species, ecosystems from organisms of many different species. Continuing up the scale of complexity in this fashion, Roger Sperry, the discoverer of the difference between left and right brain hemispheres, postulated that the mind emerges as a new entity from the immense complexity of the brain. It seems plausible.

Panpsychism or “Radical Vitalism” (see essay in Section VIII) is the theory that mind or life is a separate essence co-eval with matter, and it dwells in all living beings, and even non-living items like rocks. The theory resembles pantheism, if we equate Mind with God. It also resembles ancient animistic religions, with their spirits of trees and lakes and rivers. The ancient religions gave the nature spirits powers higher than human powers, and so they had to be propitiated by prayers, rituals and sacrifices. In the modern adaptation, the “spirits” dwelling in non-living entities would be considered to have very low powers, the powers being augmented with the initiation of life and on up the evolutionary scale of increasing complexity. Thus the spirits in the modern alternative theory would have only subhuman powers, though they could have large effects collectively because they are so numerous. The mental power (or brightness of consciousness) increases gradually from bacteria to mammals and birds. (Most humans assume that they have the highest degree, with some concession to whales and dolphins.) Father Thomas Berry propounds panpsychism. He is a nature mystic, and calls himself a “geologian”, though trained in theology.

How should the contradiction between Sperry and Berry, between emergence of mind as a new entity, and mind as co-eval with matter, be bridged? One clue may be in one of the other 12 theories of mind proposed in “The Realms of the Mind” (in this Section): it considers Matter and Mind as two sides of the same coin, one external and the other internal; one to be studied by normal science, the other by introspection. This view is valuable, because it overcomes the dualism inherent in both emergence and panpsychism. Items such as stones, crystals, living cells, and organisms could have the “mind” side of their coin more or less feebly or strongly printed or minted, somewhat smudged in the early states, crisp and sharp in later stages.

In sum then, the mind would coexist with matter from the beginning, but be gradually reinforced as evolution proceeded, perhaps in separate development stages experienced as (gradual) emergence. We would then have gradual (but orthogonal, goal-oriented) emergence instead of the single-stage sudden emergence at a critical degree of complexity, as in emergence theory. (See also “Evolution of Mind” in this Section.)

The key to the reconciliation of Sperry and Berry lies in three principles, as explained above: (1) the concept of two sides of a single coin, abolishing dualism; (2) the concept of degrees of mind or consciousness, increasing with complexity up the evolutionary scale, and (3) gradualness replacing sudden emergence, in the staircase patterns of “Rise and Run”, as explained in the essay in Section X.

Yet again, it is the Great Wrap-around. When the Spirit, The Fool of the Tarot cards (see the essay “Passages” in Section XI) jumps off the cliff from the Guv of unborn souls into Matter, he jumps from clarity and brightness into the barely felt consciousness of an infant. Yet the passage through Matter reinforces the Spirit through Experience, so that it is renewed and strengthened. It is also individualized from the undifferentiated continuum of Guv.

I wonder if the process involved is something like the enfoldment and unfoldment proposed by Bohm (See “From Bohr to Bohm” in Section III) for matter particles-waves. Mind (soul-stuff – but undifferentiated like the sea, not individualized like water droplets) jumps into Matter like a Fool, thereby depriving itself voluntarily of most of its powers until it dwindles to almost Zero (the Fool’s number in Tarot). Its powers then re-emerge, through the process of maturation (at the individual level) or evolution (at the Life on Earth level). It is not yet at its brightest in either whales or humans; but highly evolved, rare humans (the Saints and the Avatars and the Buddhas) can plug into the universal inexhaustible power grid of or beyond the Universe, and complete the cycle from Zero to One.