Consciousness Is Fundamental

It is becoming ever more evident that unconscious matter cannot produce consciousness, while conscious entities can produce phenomena that behave like unconscious matter. 'More' cannot come out of 'less', though the opposite is clearly possible. Crucially, when consciousness and free will are irreducible properties of nature, the evolution of the physical universe can no longer be the work of a 'blind watchmaker', but the result of cooperating and intelligent conscious entities that have always existed and are the ultimate cause of the universe's eternal becoming. In the book 'Irreducible', there is a crucial distinction between conscious and unconscious knowledge that is generally neglected in the scientific literature since consciousness is considered epiphenomenal. This confusion is further facilitated by the lack of appropriate words in the English language to discriminate the two. In the Italian language there are two verbs, conoscere and sapere, instead of only 'to know'. Conoscere is a deeper form of knowing than sapere because it refers to the knowing that is based on experience and comprehension, whereas sapere can describe the knowing by heart of someone who repeats what he does not understand. In the Italian version of this book I have consistently used conoscere with the meaning, 'conscious knowledge', and sapere to mean 'unconscious knowledge', even though in their common usage the two verbs are often used interchangeably. In the English version, I have consistently translated conoscere as 'knowing' and sapere as 'knowledge'. This distinction is essential to discriminate between the symbolic-only knowledge of computers or brains and the semantic knowing of a conscious entity. assumptions describe all of reality, we eliminate a priori what distinguishes us from our machines and we erase our consciousness, our freedom and, above all, our humanity from the face of the universe. If, on the other hand, we take our inner world seriously and begin to investigate it with love and determination, we will discover a new Weltanschauung that promises a creative and cooperative future for humankind, full of profound satisfactions. Life cannot be defined only by mere biological aspects, but, above all, by the triumph of the spiritual nature of the universe which silently guides us. Quantum physics is already telling us that the universe is holistic and creative, and the new developments in quantum information theory justify, as we will see later, a new and revolutionary theory of consciousness and free will. From my perspective, the only possible way to explain how the universe can create life and consciousness is that the universe is itself alive and conscious from the outset. If you take this hypothesis seriously, the entire conception of reality is transformed, with enormous consequences that point to a brilliant and fulfilling future. Creativity, ethics, free will, and joyful love can only come from consciousness. The immense mechanical intelligence, beyond the reach of the human brain, that comes from the machines we have invented will then add tremendous strength to our wisdom. Otherwise our technology will be used against humankind by those who promote the materialistic vision of the survival of the self-proclaimed fittest. "If this science, which will bring great benefits to man, does not help man to understand himself, it will end up turning against man." -Giordano Bruno, 'On the Infinite, the Universe, and the Worlds'.

Federico Faggin is an Italian-American physicist, engineer, and entrepreneur best known for leading the design of the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004, at Intel in 1971. Before that, he created silicon-gate technology (SGT) at Fairchild Semiconductor, a key innovation that made modern integrated circuits and microprocessors possible. Faggin later co-founded Zilog, where he led the design of the Z80 microprocessor, and went on to co-found Synaptics, pioneering the development of touchpads and touchscreens. A recipient of numerous awards, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, he now heads the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation, dedicated to the scientific study of consciousness.

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