Mathematical analysis, despite its power, has its own irreconcilable contradictions. It may sharpen our observations within the realm of our senses, but our understanding of dependent origination remains limited. We still can't perceive the six realms or see into the past and future.
Consider a hypothetical scenario where we implant a ChatGPT chip in the brain. Would this grant us the ability to see the past and future? No. While it might enable more sophisticated predictions based on data, these would still be probabilistic and prone to error when data is incomplete. This is fundamentally different from the Buddha's supernatural foresight, which can accurately predict specific events.
Machines, no matter how advanced, cannot truly see the past or future, and their predictions will always have limitations. For example, if we ask why someone is overweight, we might point to immediate causes like diet. However, this is a superficial analysis. The true causes are complex, involving genetics and numerous other factors that extend far back in time.
Even with AI assistance, we cannot hope to unravel all these interconnected causes in the way that the Buddha could. The depth and breadth of such understanding remain beyond the reach of AI and our augmented brains.
Although we believe in cause and effect at the gross physical level, we cannot perceive causality at subtle and super-spacetime levels. As a result, wave functions are called "probability waves," and the unpredictable past and future, whose causes we can't discern, are labeled as "random."
Why is this? Our technology and materialism accept causality at the physical level; otherwise, mathematics would be impossible. At this level, we can see causal relationships, like water being composed of H2O, and use mathematical models to make inferences. In essence, our technology operates within the realm of gross physical causality. However, at subtle and super-spacetime levels, causality becomes elusive. In quantum physics, for instance, the concept of cause and effect becomes problematic. The wave function, also known as a "probability wave," lacks precise causality. The appearance of electrons is unmeasurable and unpredictable, occurring without any discernible pattern or rules. Even their trajectories cannot be observed.
Due to this unpredictability, we cannot foresee or understand the causes of past and future events at this level. Our knowledge of the subtle and the vast is limited, so even AI cannot clearly predict what will happen tomorrow or next year. When unexpected events occur, we label them as "random." If you were to mention randomness to Buddha, he would likely smile at you. In Buddha's view, everything is governed by cause and effect - "Every sip and bite has its prior cause."
The wave function, being a probability wave, is inherently unpredictable. When observed, it collapses; when unobserved, it remains a wave function. Neither the brain nor AI can determine whether I will observe it or not. AI cannot predict what I will look at in the next second. When I look, it collapses; when I don't, it doesn't; when I look again, it collapses again... This lack of perceived causality at the subtle level is why many scientists doubt the universality of cause and effect.
The detailed observation of the material world is called "science."Increasingly detailed observation of the material realm by Brain-based cognition is what we call science. Although these observations are becoming more and more refined, their scope and categories are actually quite limited. Nevertheless, we still regard this as "science."
Constrained by the subject and the method of observation, we cannot see the deeper reasons for the emergence and development of things, so we don't believe in the law of causality.
This is because, with our brain-based cognitive approach, we truly cannot perceive the law of causality. No matter how advanced our machines become or how sophisticated our mathematical models are, they cannot calculate that I was a pig in my previous life (assuming I was). How could you possibly determine what I was in my previous life? Buddha provided a basic inference: "To know the causes of the previous life, look at what is experienced in this life; to know the fruits of the next life, look at what is done in this life!" Although this inference is quite broad, Buddha could refine it into countless inconceivable details.
For instance, why is this flower this particular color? Why does it appear in different colors to different beings? For example, a flower might appear blue to humans, another color to celestial beings, and yet another to dogs. The karma of all sentient beings manifests differently in their consciousness, and Buddha fully knows this. "Fully" means completely - to know and understand everything - this is the excellence of consciousness-based cognition. If you ask whether this is possible, it becomes problematic because this is individually self-realized!
Excerpted from: Cognition and Expression Part Three
