Human life is precious. That is a statement that every person agrees with. But what makes it so precious? What is that one element that makes us who we are? The one thing because of which we consider ourselves above the multitudes of other living organisms is consciousness. David A. Carter, in his book, Our Mysterious Lives, delves deeper into the topic of what consciousness is.
Rather than consciousness being a representation of all our habits and traits put together, we tend to think of consciousness as something that exists only as a part of our brains. Despite the passing of time, all scientists and researchers who have studied the subject agree on one thing: only living things possess consciousness. Carter discovered that specific chemical components are what give organic or living things their consciousness when examining the matter from a scientific standpoint.
In fundamental terms, it is a mixture of common chemicals that make up the majority of organic species in nature, including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. But even with all of this information, the definition of what constitutes a living creature beyond the ability to breathe remains ambiguous.
There are a few schools of thought that have appeared over the years that support the complete opposite ideas. One suggests that we, as people, are not in control of the choices we make or the feelings and emotions we feel. Our minds —considered different from our brains— make the decision for us, and we act accordingly.
Meanwhile, the opposing researchers present the idea that we and our minds combined together to form our consciousness. We exist, and so does our consciousness, because of that very reason. But as David Carter refers to a quote by Sam Harris, “We can only be conscious in the current moment, not in the past or in the future, for the past is gone and the future has not yet arrived.” David A. Carter’s book, Our Mysterious Lives, is now available on the official website and on Amazon.