Sandwiched between Zero and Infinity: On Perception, Consciousness, and the Trap of Human Certainty

The Twin Illusions

We tend to think of zero and infinity as opposites. One represents nothingness. The other represents everything. But in truth, they share a deeper similarity: both lie beyond our perception, and both trap us in ways we rarely notice.

Why We Fear Zero and Chase Infinity

Let us start with zero. Zero is something beyond our perception, but below. Because it is below us, we find it very easy to dismiss. Anything that can be called zero is either dismissed or feared. There are only two responses. Think about it. "I will lose all my property" – that means zero. Fear. "I lose my health" – zero. Fear. "I will die" – zero again. Fear. So zero is almost always feared.

Now look at the other end. Infinity.

When it comes to infinity, we are not fearful. We are stuck in a loop. "I want to be rich." How much? You do not know. "I want more, I want more, I want more." So who is happy? The middle class person says, "Not yet, I have to come up." The wealthy person says, "Not yet, I have not become a multi millionaire." And the multi millionaire is trying hard to be a billionaire. Does it ever end? Why? Because infinity is also beyond your perception. You cannot grasp it. You struggle. You still think you have not reached there. Today, we look at Elon Musk and think he is infinity. But is he actually at infinity? No. He is still at it. He has his own problems, challenges, ups and downs, and he is still working toward reaching a destination that is always a step ahead of him, like the proverbial carrot leading the horse on an endless journey.

So here is the core insight: zero is much below and beyond our perception. Infinity is above us, so vast that it is beyond our conception. The one below we fear. The other we revere but cannot reach. And we are always trapped between the two.

When Zero Revealed Itself as Something More

Now consider a famous astronomical study conducted from 2003 to 2004: the Hubble Ultra Deep Field study. The Hubble Space Telescope was pointed at an area of the sky that appeared completely empty. From Earth as well as from space, it looked like absolute zero. They kept the telescope fixed on that one empty patch for eleven days as the onboard camera recorded the same spot over days. Initially it looked empty. As the camera kept probing and the exposure continued, patterns began to appear. That area which they had considered absolute zero was filled with more than we could ever imagine. A follow up study in 2012, the Extreme Deep Field (XDF), showed how grossly mistaken we were in assuming that the patch was just empty space. Our perception of zero was merely the limit of our instruments. The zero was not zero at all.

This is the mistake we make constantly. When I see something, my perception of zero is simply the fact that I cannot perceive. That is why we fear death. We cannot perceive it. We think it is the end. We think it is termination. So we fear death. But what if death is not zero? What if it is simply beyond our current perception?

The Infinity We Cannot Even Conceive

Infinity, on the other hand, we treat as glorious. We want infinite wealth. We want infinite knowledge. We would love to have each of our countless desires fulfilled. For every desire we satiate, another few pop up. It is a never ending cycle.

The Zero and Infinity Paradox

Here is the difference: zero is beyond perception, while infinity is beyond conception. One we cannot see. The other we cannot even fully imagine.

And here is how they are one: they both are part of a spectrum that we cannot perceive. Zero is the infinity below us. Infinity is the zero, the unknown above us.

Are We Really That Blind?

Let me give you a sense of just how little we actually perceive. The entire electromagnetic spectrum, from the theoretical lower limit of ten raised to minus thirty five meters to the width of the universe, is almost infinite. But even without considering those theoretical limits, consider only what man has already discovered. Of the known electromagnetic spectrum, what fraction is visible to us? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, we can perceive 0.0035 percent. Our visibility is that tiny. What we can see is not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg. And in that tiny sliver of visibility, how much do we really understand, how much do we really know? Perhaps a fraction of a percent.

From that minuscule fraction of the EM spectrum that we can perceive, and from that tiny fraction of things we actually comprehend, we are now trying to think about zero and infinity. A Herculean task indeed.

This could be the primary reason why, even with such limited visibility, we consider ourselves to be very sophisticated. It is not that we are not advanced. We are, but that is relative to a caveman. To be arrogant and confined to rigid beliefs will impact our progress. And the reason why we are not open is because we are not even aware of the things we are not aware of. When not knowing is absolute, we tend to be most confident.

The Collapse of Our Certainties

Just to set the context: a couple of years ago I was having a conversation with a friend who is into cancer related research. I asked him how the state of mind could impact cancer outcomes. He gave an all knowing smile and said, "We work on tangible and scientific data."

I then rephrased the question: "Can you let me know how cancer outcomes can be impacted by inter and intra neuronal signalling events, the flow, the rise and ebb of neurotransmitters, and the impact of different neural pathways, their firing and modulation within the brain?"

To which he replied, "Well said. My bad that I did not consider this perspective. The blood brain barrier is like a black box. In fact, I had been researching neuro endocrinology but moved on to cancer research because of the challenges in being able to understand the functioning of the brain."

This blood brain barrier is just one of the millions of black boxes out there. Let us not even rake up the topic of dark matter and dark energy which, though not yet fully understood or directly observed, is suspected to be far more prevalent in our universe than all that we think exists so far. It might account for up to whopping 95% of the universe.

If we could truly understand how vast the universe is and understand our limitations with humility, we could explore consciousness, life, death, the animate and the inanimate, God or energy fields, in a more open and scientific manner rather than being biased and prejudiced. Unfortunately, the current mindset is not as open. It is very simple: "I cannot see God, therefore God does not exist." "Only man and that which man deems as conscious has a consciousness."

We believe that humans are the most evolved, intelligent, and animate life forms. A table, a chair, a rock or a planet – we decide that they are inanimate. But given how little we see, that argument collapses.

We do not know what consciousness is. How am I conscious? Where does this consciousness come from? We are grappling with the most fundamental things – consciousness, awareness, the soul – and we have absolutely no clue.

And yet the universe itself may be offering us clues, if only we are open to receiving them.

Is Consciousness Everywhere?

When we look at the universe through the lens of quantum physics, we talk about quantum uncertainties, quantum perturbations, quantum fluctuations and everything quantum and beyond. Surprisingly, quantum particles do exhibit indecisiveness if not choice. They can exist in multiple states simultaneously or choose to be in one of the many states, and worse, there is this phenomenon of quantum entanglement that is a lot more mysterious than what it sounds. Some of these phenomena could suggest a kind of awareness, a consciousness. But are we even open to saying that?

It would be unfair to generalise and doubt our openness. There are many scientists and philosophers who are exploring these realms too. This contested but growing framework is called panpsychism.

Our Greatest Deterrent: The Anthropocentric Mindset

The only problem is that we anthropomorphize everything. We want to see consciousness as human consciousness. The atom does not have five senses. It cannot see, smell, taste, hear, or feel touch. So we ask, "How can the atom be conscious?" But consciousness is beyond our perception, just as infinity is. The atom need not experience the world as we do. Just because it does not have the sense organs we are familiar with does not mean that it has no awareness. It means we are judging the entire universe by the narrow limits of our own biology.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

We are like the six blind men and the elephant. One feels the trunk and says the elephant is like a snake. Another feels the leg and says it is like a tree. Another feels the tail and says it is like a rope. Each is correct from their limited perception. Each is completely wrong about the whole.

We too have been feeling the zero and calling it an end, death. We have been reaching for infinity and calling it happiness, power, success. It is time we acknowledge this paradigm and try to grasp the Gestalt. To attempt to see the elephant in the proverbial mind's eye.

Once we realize that what we fear as zero may be a universe beyond our instruments, and what we chase as infinity may simply be the edge of our own conception, we are free. Not from desire or death, but from the rigidity and the tyranny of thinking that we understand either one.