Time, Space, Matter and Mind(Panel Discussion,The 23rd Symposium on Life Information Science)

Most modern-thinking people seem to have more or less the following world view: There exists only matter in this universe as the entity. All kinds of matter are composed of elementary particles, which move interacting mutually in the stage of space and with the passage of time. The movements of these particles make all phenomena. Some people-such as physicists- have more detailed knowledge that some of the elementary particles are composed of six kinds of quarks, and that there are four kinds of interactions, gravity, week force, electromagnetic force and strong force. As far as this world view reaches, the human body is also a mass of matter, however complicated and refined are the functions that the body, especially the brain, may have. The mind is generated by or is only epiphenomenal with the material activity of the brain. The mind cannot exit independently of the human body or brain. Paranomal phenomena such as clairvoyance and distant healing, and the existence of soul, which is often referred to in relation to near death experiences are all scientifically impossible. Therefore, even though some researchers assert that they have found evidence of these phenomena, their assertions are always based on mistakes apart from their honesty. The purpose of this lecture is to rebut the above world view. First, it is explained with the help of a concrete instance that time and space are not as definite as is generally conceived. Second, it is illustrated that a particle described quantum-mechanically is no longer “particle-like”, but that it behaves as a spatially spread wave, and accordingly that it is impossible even to image that “something” substantial, whether it may be a particle or a wave, propagates through space with process of time. Finally, significance of the mind in the process of observation is pointed out.