However, many theoretical physicists are inclined to think that the fundamental building blocks of reality are not particles but universe-wide fields, and that particles are simply local vibrations within those fields. If we combine a fields-based picture of the universe with panpsychism, we end up with the view that the fundamental forms of consciousness underlie these universe-wide fields, and that a fundamental mind is the bearer of those fields: the universe itself. This hypothesis has become known as ‘cosmopsychism,’ and I have explored various forms of it in my academic research.
