The deepest place yet to be explored is the mind - Bhagavad Gita ch3:40

Humans may be aspiring to explore outer space but some of the deepest places in the solar system have yet to be explored, right here on earth. They include the depths of our oceans as well as our own human consciousness.

Our greatest minds still do not fully understand the hard problem of consciousness. Today we have the meeting point of modern science, ancient philosophy and metaphysics all converging to explore, map and understand just what consciousness actually is. And all concur that it is one of the deepest mysteries still to be known.

So much uncertainty still exists because we are looking at ourselves in a self-referential process. The mind goes around in circles, being aware of itself being aware, in a recursive loop. I believe that is the more important terrain to explore, more important than outer space or Mars.

The sense of self, where it arises and what it is... all this is so subjective. How does a bunch of chemical and electrical neural circuits become a cohesive unified localized individual?

While brain chemistry appears to shape personality, conversely the self can also shape the brain, thanks to its neuroplasticity. The flow is both ways in the brain/consciousness interface. However, where and how the one becomes the other remains a mystery hard to grasp.

One thing that is certain is that it's complicated and prone to disaster. As one eminent thinker called Wilson said:

"We have paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology."

With each passing year our technology becomes capable of greater results, up to and including the ability to destroy the entire planet. Yet it is governed by people under the influence of irrational and primitive minds, and run according to a system of laws that may be outdated or irrelevant today.

This is why the planet is not as harmonious and efficient as it could be. If we spent the time and effort that we do on exploring space, on rather exploring our own consciousness, we could make a success of this planet before reaching out to grab others.

After all, if we were to colonize Mars or the solar system, we would only take our problems with us, like greed, war and exploitation. Therefore the first priority is to conquer the mind before we conquer space.

Bhagavad Gita ch3:40

indriyāṇi mano buddhir
asyādhiṣṭhānam ucyate
etair vimohayaty eṣa
jñānam āvṛtya dehinam

indriyāṇi—the senses; manaḥ—the mind; buddhiḥ—the intelligence; asya—of the lust; adhiṣṭhānam—sitting place; ucyate—called; etaiḥ—by all these; vimohayati—bewilders; eṣaḥ—of this; jñānam—knowledge; āvṛtya—covering; dehinam—the embodied

TRANSLATION
The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust, which veils the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.

PURPORT
The enemy has captured different strategic positions in the body of the conditioned soul, and therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa is giving hints of those places, so that one who wants to conquer the enemy may know where he can be found. Mind is the center of all the activities of the senses, and thus the mind is the reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification; and, as a result, the mind and the senses become the repositories of lust. Next, the intelligence department becomes the capital of such lustful propensities. Intelligence is the immediate next-door neighbor of the spirit soul. Lusty intelligence influences the spirit soul to acquire the false ego and identify itself with matter, and thus with the mind and senses. The spirit soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness. This false identification of the spirit soul is very nicely explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇāpe tri-dhātuke
sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma idyadhīḥ
yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salite na karhicij
janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva gokharaḥ.
"A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth as worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered as an ass or a cow."

Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition, freely available at prabhupadabooks.com.

Image: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-naruto-meditation-zen-8299238/
Edited on my mobile device and published onto the Hive blockchain for future explorers of the depths.