Being an individual on our planet, in our solar system, in our galaxy, in this universe, is only one component of our reality, not the whole story. There is a comprehensive wholeness to the universe—to reality—to existence—within that universe, which consists of physical matter, governed by physical laws, as well as a variety of unknowns and energies which are not fully understood as yet.
Even more perplexing, according to our modern scientific paradigm, nothing truly can be said to exist, in the strictest sense, without an observer. It’s not so much that we suppose the physical matter we can now observe isn’t there without us observing it, (although some of our modern physicists lean in that direction) but rather, it has become clearer that if there is no one to observe a particular feature of the universe, then the awareness of that existence cannot occur, and thus it becomes, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. According to this view, nothing can be truly described as meaningfully existent without an observer who encounters it and becomes aware of it.
In the ancient epochs of human history, before the advent of modern science and mathematics, there was no awareness of the true nature of light. We saw what we saw and had no conceptual awareness of the full spectrum of light radiation—the ultraviolet portion, x-rays, and gamma radiation—all were outside of human awareness, in spite of having the exact same nature that it has today.
Our relatively recent acquisition, cosmically speaking, of a keen awareness of the fuller nature of electro-magnetic radiation, has been provided by our modern investigation of those properties, and our awareness of the existence of those properties gives us sufficient cause to exclaim that they exist.
It seems perfectly feasible, given the history of discovery in our modern epoch, that we will one day likely uncover other phenomena, and detect the existence of other entities, by employing what may be currently unknown physical laws, or as yet to be discovered properties of matter governing the physical universe.
Similarly, our current awareness of the causes of disease and pathologies of the human condition, far from being completely and fully understood even today, having been greatly misunderstood in ancient times due to their origins being previously unknown, only now are beginning to be explained more thoroughly, because of our awareness of what truly caused them. Today, these aspects of our human nature can now be described as having a clear existence, even though that nature was exactly the same then as it is now.
Before my own physical existence of being a human person, there was no ME that could be said to exist, in spite of the existence of the genetic material which eventually resulted in my appearance on this planet. Even when those chromosomes were united into an embryo and the process of swiftly multiplying cells which launched my development was underway; there would be no awareness of my existence for ME for several years, in spite of the already substantial awareness of my existence by my parents and older siblings. Once they were able to observe ME, wiggling and cooing in my crib, their awareness of my specific existence could then begin.
One hundred years before I was born, the existence of my ancestors, while perfectly able to be observed by those existent at that time, could not be aware of my arrival in a hundred years hence, and had no awareness of ME, nor I of them. Eventually, in the years that followed, my awareness of our family records and of old photographs of my predecessors, confirmed for me, in principle at least, that those individuals had a physical existence back then, and my awareness of my own existence today, may well be noted a hundred years from now, and be part of the awareness of my descendants in the same way.
Since we are currently existent in a physical universe, which clearly came into being at some point, and which has existed for millennia in much the same way as we observe it in our modern epoch, it has taken billions of years and an extraordinary confluence of contingencies to produce individuals with a keen awareness of existing. The difference between a universe with no observers, and the one we currently enjoy as observers of this one, can only be attributable to what we now describe as the SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS!
It seems clear to me, that we are not zombies mindlessly plodding along unaware of our existence or so limited by an insufficient degree of subjective awareness that we cannot grasp the fuller nature of our existence, but rather, that we are a species which benefitted from acquiring a conglomeration of a variety of specialized cells and systems, combined with the development of a highly complex mental organ and central nervous system, which enabled us to develop higher cognitive functions, through our genetic and evolutionary inheritance, resulting in our current status as a subjectively aware and sentient being.
I think that human life—our physical existence as human beings—is only a shadow of a fuller and more robustly complete reality, composed of additional energies and capacities well beyond just our very obvious nature as human beings, with all of its beauty and wonder, and its opportunities for producing everything from ecstasy to tyranny.
In my view, there simply must be a whole other aspect to the world that is outside of the world we know as temporal beings. It’s not magic and it’s not just dreaming. For me, reviewing the accumulation of human knowledge and explorations of every sort over many centuries, combined with the experiences I’ve endured over a lifetime, suggest that whatever might be responsible for this aspect of our existence provides, for me at least, more than sufficient cause to posit that it’s objectively real. It may very well be that the inherent wisdom of nature makes it ambiguous.
For me, it’s intriguing to ponder, what we call “life on Earth,” or “life in the physical universe,” as a reflection of a greater life. The full explanation of the nature of life and reality is not the purview of any one religion or other belief system. Life includes everything from the highest aspirations, all the way to the lowest and most demeaning intentions, and everything in between. We may not currently possess a way of seeing the fullness of reality clearly or comprehensively, and we may never have it.
The universe is unimaginably vast, and no doubt contains innumerable aspects and features which are currently beyond our broader understanding, but you don’t have to be a genius to suppose that there is more to the universe of existence than what we can discern with our current intellectual talents and numerous physical limitations for observation.
We are the inhabitants of a smaller than average-sized planet in an obscure corner of a minor galaxy with only a few hundred million years of being a modern species of hominids, and have the capacity to either destroy ourselves or to flourish in the future as we explore and observe the universe in which we live. It seems prudent to me to give ourselves every opportunity to discover the fullness of our world, and to embrace every possible explanation to account for life and reality as we experience it.
John's Consciousness 
It’s interesting to see the global shift towards materialism and away from “spirituality”.
Here in the UK, a recent survey showed that only 17% believe that God (or energetic equivalent) is important to them, down to single digits in hi-tech industrial countries like China and Japan.
With that in mind, it is hardly any wonder why we are becoming more materialistic in our nature, creating and consuming things at pace and scale, wanting more, caring less for others and becoming self-centred in the process.
Losing that connection with others over personal gain may well be the undoing of us, keeping up with current events sure seems that way.
I guess for those that do believe in a realm of existence beyond the physical one, liberation and salvation awaits after a selfless life lived in the here and now, I’m certain that if we all understood and embedded that, we could explore both outer and inner space, as one, in peace, love and harmony.
Michael,
The early history of humanity is replete with periods of war and conquest, terrible destructive hostility and cruelty of every sort, and along the way to the modern era we have often engaged in similar actions including several world wars and dozens of smaller engagements periodically, including the most recent conflicts in the Middle East and in Europe and Africa, and while these circumstances are awful in all the ways that modern conflicts tend to be, there are many efforts to mitigate the awfulness occurring simultaneously in rendering assistance in defensive and strategic help, as well as providing humanitarian aid and conducting active diplomatic
maneuvering to seek alternate pathways to put an end to it.
While it may seem as though many among us have become “materialistic in our nature, creating and consuming things at pace and scale, wanting more, caring less for others and becoming self-centred in the process,” I suspect that the reportage of those aspects is getting much more airtime in the media than any of the more noble and compassionate actions
of relief agencies and generous folks acting selflessly to help others in their day-to-day travels.
The materialists who often smugly denigrate those with inclinations which include a more profound spiritual viewpoint are often themselves hard-pressed to explain why we should abandon such ideas other than to say that materialism is sufficient explanation, when for many it clearly leaves much unexplained.
As the saying goes, “We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as WE are.” If we are only focusing on what’s wrong, we will often miss what is right. Eventually, we have to seek balance in our lives if we are going to manage our future, and recognize that peace and harmony in the world requires the same within each of us.
Thank you for your thought-provoking comment!