You've heard of the tree of good and evil? It's part of a story about the beginning of certain conditions. A better interpretation is that it's how man is constructed: an impossible combination of opposites. The oddities of man's right and left hemisphere is just one example of how opposing modes of thinking are somehow combined into one thing. Better yet, think of the tree of good and evil as an attempt to combine opposites, resulting in the experience of man...and woman. Even better, think of it as a mental illness resulting in the compartmentalization of what WAS one mind. We take it for granted, but a mind, of which only 10% we are aware of...this is really odd. A mind mostly unaware of what it is up to. Yet without this enigma wrapped inside a riddle, man could not be what he seems to be: limited. And this is just an experience. It's both awesome and awful...a strange combination of opposing experiences...first high, then low through a combination of believing and "knowing", yet two more opposites that go toward the building of a bipolar experience/existence. An unlimited being having a limited experience...how deranged is that?
That is interesting, although I don't know that I would instill good and evil into scientific concepts. Not that it is not true, but in science we try to fix as many things as possible so as to make abundantly clear that which we are after. I missed one thing though, how is he unlimited, or what do you mean by that? Maybe the subconscious is the waste product of the mind, and sleep is the waste management.
The way i use the phrase "good and evil" is mainly about opposites combined together into one thing. That would be man, or what man is: opposites combined together into one thing. So there's one tree (one thing) and it's fruit (one thing) is a combination of two complete opposites ("good and evil"). So there's man (one thing), which is built of opposites (good and evil) combined into one thing: a fruit. Er, man is like the fruit of something that combines utter and complete opposites into one thing, kind of like forcing a square peg into a round hole. Evil is a term that speaks of whatever is opposite of good. So it means *not good*. Put what is good and what is not good together, mix it up, shake and bake...and you've got man. How this applies to evidence of a compartmentalized mind: A non-compartmentalized mind (good) is confined to an apartment (not good). Or, a non-secret - open - mind (good) is combined with a private - closed - mind (not good). The net effect is: man. This theme is ubiquitous throughout the phenomenon we call man and his experience. Without the confinement of apartments, man would be, well good! And that would essentially end the phenomenon of man and his experiences. To prevent this, man's mind must remain compartmentalized, where it can store all kinds of secrets in it's closets. The truth is stored somewhere in one of those closets, bound and gagged, lest it should escape and well, END the phenomenon of man...end his very existence, if ever he had one. Likewise the power (good) of the truth is secreted away so that man can have the experience of a combination of power (good) and powerlessness (evil). I am just suggesting that while we may be fascinated with the various compartments of man's mind, and what they potentially hold (besides secrets), many of us are still fascinated with haunted houses and what each room in them might be holding. I'm saying it could get ugly until, unless we find the room where the truth is bound and gagged, and set free. Sleep is a symbol of unconsciousness which is the opposite of consciousness or awareness. Man is a combination of awareness (good) and unawareness (evil) and so he seems to be awake some of the time, and asleep at others...and various states in between. Sleep is a micro-symbol of what's going on at a macro level. Man is the product of one mind (good) that is unconscious of it's oneness, and expresses itself as many minds (evil/not good). The one mind is unlimited, while the many minds are all - apparently - limited. Does sleep do anything for man? It seems to re-energize him. Without it he'd die. Likewise, without unconsciousness, the phenomenon of man and his experiences...would come to an end (die). The subconscious is another way of saying unconscious. Without a subconscious mind, man and his experiences would come to an end. Yes, it's what manifests man. But ultimately, an unaware mind that is busy, busy busy... is a dreamer. And it's manifestations are a dream. I recommend the movie "Inception" as a hint. It talks about dreams, deep dreams, and even deeper dreams. This is what we are dealing with. Man is on a deep level of dreaming. Possibly, he could be stuck there...forever.
Are you Hindu? What you just described is basically "Maya Illusion" (Dream within a dream) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_(illusion)
I do not formally study as a *Hindu*, or any discipline that can be described as *eastern*. I don't even participate in yoga. But i do appreciate the similarities between what i've concluded, and what many in the east have been saying for centuries. This concept *Maya*, as described on this page does a good job of trying to explain what's going on in terms of human experience. I've highlighted that mixture of opposites often called "duality" as ubiquitous to the human experience...something you can easily observe given just a little bit of attention. While you may not at first easily see that it is an illusion, you should, without any extra investment in "faith", without any allegiance to any teaching tradition, see that you are completely surrounded with expressions of opposites. This can be observable to anyone, anytime, anywhere. It's the foundation of human existence...anything and everything a human can experience. I just take it a step further by saying that there would not appear to be humans without first this concept of opposites combined into one thing. A compartmentalized mind, for example, is a combination of an open mind (good) and a closed mind (not good). When combined, the net effect is NOT good because it's not ALL good. There's a certain amount of morbid curiosity about all things BOTH. It's this curiosity that keeps us confined in our compartments until death is combined with what we thought was life.
"The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution" - by Gregory Cochran , Henry Harpending http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...9780465020423&itm=1&usri=10000+year+explosion Quick read. Fascinating.
"Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman" http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thi...75631&itm=1&usri=thinking%2bfast%2band%2bslow
Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/qua...0043400?ean=9780393064711&itm=30&usri=feynman I like LK books. This one is one of his best.
The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inf...53?ean=9780465021444&itm=7&usri=quantum+field Very interesting book that deals with a technique that is at the heart of modern physics, without it the logical edifice would come tumbling down. Must read for anyone wanting to understand how it came to be...