By Ali Hamza 
There’s a quiet moment that happens to many of us, perhaps when we’re looking up at a star-filled sky or simply sitting alone with our thoughts. We look at our own hands, trace the lines on our skin, and a question, strange and profound, whispers in the back of our mind: What am I, really? Science gives us a straightforward, almost mechanical answer. It tells us that our bodies, the air we breathe, the ground we walk on—everything we can see and touch—is made of atoms. These atoms are bundles of matter and energy, following physical laws as old as the universe itself.
This explanation is powerful and true. It has allowed us to understand the world, build cities, and even travel to space. But then, you think about the feeling of joy when you laugh with a friend, the ache of sadness at a loss, or the sudden spark of a new idea. Can these experiences—the very texture of our inner lives—really be explained only as atoms bumping into each other and electrical signals firing in a brain? It seems to reduce a symphony to the simple vibration of a guitar string. There’s a dissonance between the physical description of us as matter and energy, and the rich, complex reality of what it feels like to be alive.
This article isn’t about dismissing science. It’s about exploring the beautiful mystery that sits at the edge of it. We will look at what science brilliantly explains about our physical selves, and then venture into the profound questions that remain. We are, without a doubt, matter and energy. But is that the whole story, or are we something far more complex and wonderful?
So, if everything is just particles and forces, where does your consciousness—your unique self—come from?
To start our journey, we need to understand what scientists are actually talking about when they say we are made of “matter and energy.” It sounds like a phrase from a complicated textbook, but the idea is surprisingly simple and utterly fascinating. Let’s break it down into something we can all picture.
Think of matter as the “stuff” of the universe. It’s anything that has weight and takes up space. The chair you’re sitting on, the device you’re reading this on, and your own body are all made of matter. This matter is constructed from tiny building blocks called atoms. Now, imagine an atom is like a miniature solar system. At the center, you have a dense nucleus (the sun), and whizzing around it are even smaller particles called electrons (the planets). For a long time, scientists thought these were solid, hard little balls. But then things got much stranger.
They discovered that these tiny particles aren’t really solid at all. When you look closely enough, they behave like concentrated bundles of vibrating energy. This is where Albert Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc², comes in. It’s a simple way of saying that matter and energy are two sides of the same coin. Matter is just a very dense, very stable form of energy. Think of ice and water. They look and feel different, but they are both ultimately H₂O. In the same way, the wood of your table (matter) and the heat from a fire (energy) are different forms of the same fundamental thing. So, scientifically, you are a magnificent, temporary organization of energy that has taken the form of matter—a living, breathing structure of atoms.
This is the heart of the mystery. If we are just a collection of atoms obeying physical laws, like a very complicated clock, then why do we have an inner experience? A rock is made of atoms, but it doesn’t feel joy or pain. A cloud is a beautiful structure of matter and energy, but it doesn’t contemplate its own existence. So, what is different about the particular arrangement of atoms that makes up a human being?
This inner experience is what we call “consciousness.” It’s the sensation of being you. It’s the taste of chocolate, the color red, the memory of your first day of school, and the feeling of love. Scientists can map the brain and see which parts light up when you feel these things. They can see the electrical energy and chemical reactions, the matter and energy at work. But they cannot see or measure the feeling itself. This is known as the “hard problem of consciousness.” We can describe the mechanics of the brain, but we cannot explain how those mechanics create a subjective, personal world for each of us.
Your brain has nearly 100 billion nerve cells, called neurons, constantly talking to each other through trillions of connections. This network is more complex than the entire cosmic web of galaxies in the universe. This incredible complexity might be the key. Perhaps when matter organizes itself in such an intricate way, something new emerges—consciousness—just like wetness emerges from the combination of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, even though a single atom of hydrogen or oxygen isn’t wet itself. So, your feeling of being alive isn’t a denial of the atoms you’re made of, but it might be a spectacular property that arises from their unimaginably complex arrangement.
We’ve established that we feel alive, but let’s dive a little deeper into the origin of our thoughts and emotions. If you decide to raise your hand, your brain sends a signal, a pulse of energy, to your muscles. That’s the physical part. But what about the decision to raise your hand? Where did that intention come from? This is the puzzle of free will versus a universe governed by cause and effect.
Some scientists argue that your “decision” is just the result of previous electrical and chemical states in your brain, which were caused by events before them, in a chain that goes all the way back to the beginning of the universe. In this view, your thoughts are like dominoes falling; one domino hits the next in a predictable way. You feel like you are making a choice, but it was already determined by the laws of physics. This is a challenging idea for many because it makes our sense of self and responsibility feel like an illusion.
Yet, our direct experience tells us otherwise. We feel we are in the driver’s seat, making choices every moment. We ponder, we weigh options, we change our minds. Love, anger, and inspiration don’t feel like predetermined chemical reactions; they feel real and meaningful. This conflict between the objective, third-person view of science and our subjective, first-person experience is one of the biggest unsolved questions. It’s possible that we don’t yet have the full picture. Maybe our understanding of physics is incomplete, or perhaps consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe, like space and time, and not just a byproduct of a complex brain.
When we look at the universe, we see patterns of incredible beauty and order. From the delicate spin of a galaxy to the perfect structure of a snowflake, there seems to be an underlying intelligence to how matter and energy behave. The laws of physics themselves are precise and mathematical. This has led many people throughout history to wonder if there is a mind or a creative force behind it all.
For some, this is a spiritual or religious idea. The belief is that the energy that animates us—our spirit or soul—is a different kind of energy, one that is not physical but is connected to a greater, divine source. In this view, we are not just matter and energy; we are matter, energy, and spirit. Our consciousness is a spark of something transcendent that exists within our physical body. This perspective offers a deep sense of purpose and connection to the cosmos.
You don’t have to be religious to feel a sense of connection, however. Many scientists feel a profound awe when they study the universe. The astronomer Carl Sagan famously said, “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” Think about that for a moment. The stars exploded and scattered the elements that would eventually become our planet and our bodies. The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, was forged in the heart of a long-dead star. In a very real, physical sense, you are the universe become conscious. You are stardust that has begun to think. This idea bridges the gap between the scientific and the spiritual, suggesting that our quest for meaning is itself a beautiful and natural part of the cosmic story.
After our exploration, we find ourselves back at the beginning, but hopefully with a richer understanding. The scientific answer is clear, powerful, and essential: We are matter and energy, organized into a biological form through billions of years of evolution. This story connects us to the Earth, the stars, and the very beginning of time. It is a story of wonder in itself.
But the complete answer seems to elude us. The raw experience of being—the light of consciousness that illuminates our world—does not fit neatly into the box of particles and forces, at least not with our current understanding. It’s like trying to describe a beautiful painting solely by listing the chemicals in the paint. The description is technically correct, but it completely misses the meaning, the emotion, and the art.
Perhaps we are both. Perhaps we are stardust that has woken up. The matter and energy that form us are the necessary ingredients, the canvas and the paint. But the painting—the living, feeling, thinking self that is you—is something more. It is a phenomenon that arises from the physical world but points to a mystery that we are still unraveling. We are matter and energy that has become aware of itself, and in that awareness, we find questions that lead us to the very edge of science and philosophy.
If the universe designed us to understand it, what is it trying to tell us about ourselves?
1. What is the difference between matter and energy?
Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space, like a rock or a person. Energy is the ability to do work or cause change, like heat or motion. Einstein showed they are interchangeable, meaning matter can be converted into energy and vice versa.
2. Do humans have energy?
Yes, absolutely. Your body uses chemical energy from food to move and think. At a deeper level, every atom in your body is made of vibrating energy, and your brain functions through electrical energy moving between nerve cells.
3. What is consciousness made of?
No one knows for certain. Consciousness is not made of a physical material we can point to. It is considered a “subjective experience” that arises from the incredibly complex interactions of the brain’s neural networks, but its fundamental nature remains a mystery.
4. Can consciousness exist without a brain?
This is a major debate. Mainstream science suggests consciousness is a product of the brain and cannot exist without it. Some philosophical and spiritual views propose that consciousness could be fundamental and that the brain merely acts as a receiver for it.
5. Are thoughts made of matter?
The thoughts themselves, as mental experiences, are not made of matter. However, every thought is associated with a physical process in the brain—a specific pattern of electrical signals and chemical reactions between neurons.
6. What is the human body made of?
The human body is mostly made of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. These elements form molecules like water, proteins, and fats. Ultimately, all these are made of atoms, which are themselves composed of energy.
7. Is the mind the same as the brain?
Not exactly. The brain is the physical, three-pound organ in your head. The mind refers to all of your conscious experiences—thoughts, feelings, memories, and perceptions—which are believed to be generated by the brain’s activity.
8. How does the brain create the mind?
This is the central question. We know that the brain’s complex network of neurons, communicating via electricity and chemicals, creates the processes we associate with the mind. But how this physical activity produces subjective experience is still unknown.
9. Do animals have consciousness?
Most scientists believe that many animals do have some level of consciousness. They can feel pain, experience emotions, and show signs of self-awareness, suggesting they are not just biological robots but have their own inner experiences.
10. Can a machine ever be conscious?
This is a hot topic in artificial intelligence. If consciousness emerges from processing information in a complex system, then a sufficiently advanced machine might develop it. However, we don’t know if consciousness requires biological processes, so the answer remains unknown.