Are We Robots?

In this episode, we explore a striking question: Are we robots? 

The answer may surprise you. We are not robots, yet the people we perceive around us may, in an important sense, appear to be like robots. 

This is a surprising conclusion, but one that follows from the line of reasoning we will develop. 

I invite you to listen as we carefully unfold how this remarkable idea is reached.

For questions or feedback please email us at

jayant@staminteractive.com

Transcript

In this episode, we explore a striking question: Are we robots? The answer may surprise you. We are not robots, yet the people we perceive around us may, in an important sense, appear to be like robots. This is a surprising conclusion, but one that follows from the line of reasoning we will develop. I invite you to listen as we carefully unfold how this remarkable idea is reached.

Introduction

Are we robots? It is an unusual question, and the answer is both yes and no. Much depends on how the question is framed and whom we are referring to. Let us explore this more carefully.

A robot is essentially a machine designed to imitate certain human movements and functions. These abilities are programmed into it in advance. So, what distinguishes us from a robot? The key difference is the mind. Human beings possess a mind and a sense of ego, whereas a robot does not. The mind is a highly complex instrument. It enables us to think, make decisions, be self-aware, experience feelings and emotions, and exercise free will. A robot, lacking a mind, cannot perform these functions on its own; it can only operate within the limits of its programming.

To move the discussion forward, let us consider two important questions:

Ask yourself whether you are a robot. The answer would clearly be no. We are aware of the world around us. We make our own decisions and possess free will, which gives us freedom of thought, speech, and movement. We experience emotions and feelings. We also know that we have a mind, and we understand that it is present within our body. Anything without a mind would be called a robot. Since our body and mind function together as one integrated whole, we are not robots. At first glance, this seems entirely logical.

Are the people around you robots? Your first reaction will probably be to say no, because the people around you are human beings. But consider a deeper question: are their mind and body truly in the same place? You can see the bodies of the people around you, but you cannot see their minds. Therefore, you cannot be completely certain that the mind is present where the body appears to be. You naturally assume that, because your own body and mind are experienced together, the same must be true for everyone else. That assumption feels reasonable, but it may not be correct. While your own body and mind may seem to be united in one place, the same cannot be said with certainty about the people around you. Their body and mind may not be located together. Strange as it sounds, this is the point we must examine.

Let us now examine this more closely. We will argue that the mind of everyone around you is within you, while their body appears in the space “out there.” In this view for people around you, the body and mind are not together but separated.

Location of the Mind

Where is the mind located? Intuitively, we sense that the mind is not situated in physical space. Nowhere in space can we point to it and say, “There it is.” What we encounter in space are gross matter—visible, tangible objects. The mind, by contrast, is subtle; it cannot be seen or touched. For that reason, it seems impossible to locate the mind within space. This suggests that the mind must lie beyond space. But how can we search for something outside space? One possible approach is to identify the point at which space itself begins. If such a starting point can be found, we may infer that the mind lies beyond it.

Locating the Starting Point of Space

Where, then, is the starting point of space? It seems reasonable to assume that such a point would have to be unmoving, fixed, and completely motionless. Anything in motion could hardly serve as an absolute starting point. Yet this is precisely the difficulty: everything in the universe is in motion. The Earth turns on its axis and revolves around the sun; the sun and the solar system move through the Milky Way; and even galaxies themselves drift apart. In truth, there appears to be no absolutely fixed point anywhere in space.

Even the location associated with the Big Bang cannot be treated as fixed. Because the universe is expanding, that point is not stationary it is continually receding from us.

How, then, are we to identify the starting point of space? Ordinarily, we think of space in terms of physical distance: a tree may be a hundred feet away, a house a mile away, or a jet flying at 30,000 feet. But this familiar way of measuring distance does not help us locate the true beginning of space itself. A more fruitful approach is to shift from distance to time—specifically, to consider how long light takes to reach us from different objects. Seen in this way, time offers a new perspective from which to examine the structure of space.

Mind as the Starting and Nonmoving Point of Space

Let us identify the “nonmoving point” in space by considering the time light takes to reach us from different objects. The farther away an object is, the longer its light takes to arrive. Sunlight, for example, takes about eight minutes to reach us, whereas light from a nearby tree may take only a few microseconds. As the distance between the observing mind and the object diminishes, the travel time of light also decreases. If this line of reasoning is carried to its limit, light would take zero time to reach us only when the source and the mind are at the same point. That point may be regarded as the starting point of space. The mind, then, may be understood as existing prior to—or beyond—that starting point.

All Minds Exist Beyond Space

Every mind—yours, mine, and those of all living beings—exists beyond the limits of physical space. If that is so, then all minds must share a single common locus, a location that lies outside space itself. And if that extra-spatial location is present within me, it follows that not only my own mind, but the totality of all minds is contained within me.

You may ask, “What about me?” The answer is the same: your mind, like every individual mind, is contained within you. This principle applies to every living being. Each one, in its own way, contains within itself the whole field of minds, all existing beyond the boundaries of physical space. This does not mean that there are multiple copies of the same minds. Rather, there is one set of individual minds, each understood as present beyond space and therefore available within every conscious being.

Location of the Human Body

If the mind exists beyond space, then an unusual conclusion follows. For me, not only my own mind but all minds are, in some sense, within me. The same must be true for you: your mind, my mind, and all minds are within you. And this principle would apply to every living being. But what, then, of the body? The body clearly appears within space. We see our own body, and we see the bodies of others. How, then, are we to reconcile these two claims—that the mind is beyond space, while the body is situated within it?

Our Own Body: In immediate experience, we always know our mind to be within our body. We never encounter our body here and the mind somewhere else. We do not ordinarily experience ourselves as divided in that way. Mind and body are given together, as a single, unified presence, and never as two entirely separate realities.

At first, this seems contradictory. The mind is said to lie beyond space, yet the body that contains the mind appears within space and is constantly moving through it. Today the body is here; tomorrow it may be in another country, at a restaurant, or traveling from place to place. How should this be understood? If the mind is indeed beyond space, then the most coherent way to understand the matter is to say that the body is always situated at the starting point of space. Space, as it is experienced, begins with the body. The body is the first object in space, and all other objects appear only as extending outward from it. In this way, both mind and body may still be understood as remaining together in one place.

Since the body–mind complex is thus understood as centered in one place, we need not think of ourselves as robots. Rather, we remain beings endowed with self-awareness, freedom, and the capacity for intentional action.

Bodies of Other People: If your friend is sitting a hundred feet away, are his body and mind truly in one place? Not exactly. What you perceive is not the “now” version of your friend. Light takes time to travel, and from a distance of about a hundred feet it may take roughly ten microseconds to reach you. You would encounter the strictly “present” version of your friend only if light reached you in zero time—and that never happens. What you actually see is a dated version: in this case, your friend as he was about ten microseconds ago. The same is true not only of friends but of everyone around you. Although such intervals are too small for ordinary perception to notice, the principle remains: we are always seeing a slightly delayed version of the people around us.

A useful comparison is a motion picture. When you watch a film, you do not see the actors as they are live in the present; you see only a recorded and therefore dated appearance of them. If someone asked whether the actors’ minds are present on the screen, the answer would plainly be no. What appears there is only the visible form of the actors, not their living presence. Their actual, present existence is elsewhere, outside the screen. In that sense, the figures on the screen have only the body as an appearance; the mind belongs to the living reality that is not present in the image itself.

This, the argument claims, is also what happens with the people around you. Like actors on a screen, they are encountered only in a delayed form, because light takes a finite amount of time to reach you. If this reasoning is accepted, then what you directly perceive is only the body of your friend or of other people around you. Their mind is not present in the delayed appearance that you see. Where, then, is it? According to the line of thought developed here, it lies outside space; and what is outside space is present only within you. In that sense, the mind of your friend and of those around you is within you, while their body appears outwardly in space. The conclusion is difficult, but within this argument it follows in a consistent way.

From this perspective, the people around you may be described as functioning like robots: what appears before you is the body, while the mind is within you. The body remains in space as a delayed appearance, but the mind operates and controlled from beyond space, as though by remote control. All the intelligence and coordinated activity shown by the body would then be directed from that unseen locus. The mind initiates speech, movement, and decision, and the body carries those actions out. Thus, any human body you perceive outwardly would be only the visible form. Just like a highly intelligent robot. 

If your friend is seated in front of you, his physical body may appear before you, yet on this account his mind is within you. And your friend, by the same logic, would experience something similar: your body would appear in front of him, while your mind would be within him. If ten people were sitting together in the same room, each would see the other nine bodies as dated versions in space, while all ten minds would, for each observer, be present within, beyond the limits of space.

I hope you find this episode enjoyable and intriguing. Each of us knows directly that we are not robots, because in our own case the body–mind complex is experienced as centered in one place. But the people around us may, within this framework, be understood differently: their bodies appear in space, while their minds remain within us, beyond space, directing bodily activity from that unseen center. In that sense, they can be said to resemble robots—outward forms animated by a mind that is not visibly present where the body appears.

If you’re interested in delving deeper into topics like this, we invite you to discover more in my book, Science Meets Vedanta, available on Amazon. Additionally, we now have a library of around 35 podcasts covering many different topics —feel free to browse through them at your convenience.

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