A Short Case Study about where Human Consciousness Originates and Whether Love Sustains it

Where does human consciousness come from? Science and religion have not answered this question; physics and neuroscience often disagree. This paper asks what one Swedish scientist-turned-mystic, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), reported after 27 years of journeys between physical, spiritual and heavenly worlds. His answer is direct: We do not make life, we receive it, and love is the life we receive. He is the only scientist I know of who experienced, and documented, complex and daily dual consciousness (versus Near Death Experience). Thus I asked three Artificial Intelligence systems (Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT) the same question about his answers. I then tested their point against his own texts. All three agreed on the substance of his experiences. I also explored his theistic cosmology and what he says about love between two people. Finally, studies about human infants, elders, chimpanzees, elephants, and killer whales suggest that they fare poorly without loving bonds, even when their basic needs are met. These studies cannot prove Swedenborg right, and his account rests on his own experience, not on laboratory evidence. However, they point in the same direction. Love may not be an optional extra. It may be precisely what keeps us conscious and alive. Hence the human obsession with finding a “love partner” albeit the Love we require is Life sustaining, not romantic.