Define Consciousness

[Haech]

a collection of neural-networks and chemicals signals (... perhaps?)

What's your definition/explanation?

There is a nice long article on wikipedia with many physical and philosophical ideas about consciousness; however, I found most of the explanations and theories rather unsatisfying. The most sensible theory to me was the Quantum Mind hypothesis, but it really is no more an explanation than an excuse to say that we find it rather mysterious. Anyway, what do the educated/smart readers of the forum think.

[lawcat]

Self instruction

[lemit]

To paraphrase Potter Stewart, "I know it if I see."

--lemit

[Essay]

Originally Posted by Haech

a collection of neural-networks and chemicals signals (... perhaps?)

Sounds good to me.... ~

and...
Lemit, the key to your point, in that coined phrase, is the definition of "see."
Because, as you see, it implys that one is making sense of--or coordinating--the visual information. ~
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I find the phenomenon of "blind sight" particularly revealing; especially when combined with Varela's findings.
Blindsight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by wiki

In Type 1 blindsight subjects have no awareness whatsoever of any stimuli, but yet are able to predict, at levels significantly above chance, aspects of a visual stimulus, such as location, or type of movement, often in a forced-response or guessing situation.

...like catching a ball coming from the blind "spot."
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...and then, combined with Varela's work....

Originally Posted by Fritjof Capra

Varela's hypothesis establishes a neurological basis for the distinction between conscious and unconscious cognition.... According to Varela, the primary conscious experience, common to all higher vertebrates, is not located in a specific part of the brain, nor can it be identified in terms of specific neural structures. It is the manifestation of a particular cognitive process--a transient synchronization of diverse, rhythmically oscillating neural circuits. ~Web of Life, p.293

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems by Fritjof Capra
"This book is about a new scientific understanding of life at all levels of living systems-organisms, social systems, and ecosystems..."
Excerpt - on Page 85: " ... Hermann Haken and Manfred Eigen in Germany, James Lovelock in England, Lynn Margulis in the United States, Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela in Chile. ... "
Key Phrases: Lynn Margulis, Francisco Varela, Norbert Wiener, James Lovelock, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Gregory Bateson, autopoietic network, continual embodiment, organismic biologists, binary networks, deep ecological awareness.... ~ Amazon.com: "Francisco Varela": Key Phrase page
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Consciousness?

"It is the manifestation of a particular cognitive process--a transient synchronization of diverse, rhythmically oscillating neural circuits." ~Capra

[arkain101]

Consciousness almost has no meaning without awareness...

Can you have consciousness when you remove knowledge? When you remove knowledge you remove awareness.

In that sense, a child is born pretty well unconscious. It is not aware, it lacks almost all possible knowledge. Even considering the ability to focus its eyes.

Our consciousness evolves with our growth of knowledge. From childhood to adult hood we (hopefully) transform our sense of awareness and consciousness.

When you think back to your youngest age... do you find your consciousness was different? You can only think back as far as your sense of awareness, and most likely your sense of self awareness of self. By self awareness I mean things like, feeling you should change your cloths in private. Developing a preference of music, books, and toys. You begin awakening into the world of choice and preference.

I believe consciousness is bounded by beliefs. And we must always reside under a belief set. It is almost as though you are ensared.

However, you can evolve your snare. You can, like Neo in the matrix, unplug for them world and belief set, then you can plug back in, because you have to plug back in to take part in anything, but you can plug back in with a different boundry.

Human consciousness has evolved. We have unplugged and plugged back into the matrix of reality many many times. To the animal world we are NEO the magician. With our mind, we create houses, and roads, and buildings, and cars, and computers and internet, and spaceships.. etc... etc..

We dont even break free from the matrix of consciousness, we can only evolve our boundry of belief. Disbelief is one of the greatest obstacles of advancement. For as long as man believed it is impossible to fly, they did not fly.

Consciousness has gone through a series of transformations. Each of different levels and complexity.

I wouldnt know how to produce an accurate list..

But the most recent transformation was the one where we broke out of the tribal mind into the culture mind. Or whatever transformation that enabled our creativity and inventive communication to break free form the animal mind..

One mistake I think we make is that this evolution is permanent. It is not.

Our consciousness is our knowledge, and our knowledge is floating in the wind as it were. It developed through cooperation, and is continually taught back to more cooperators.

If we ever lost our ability to teach.. If we lost 99% of the world population.. Our consciousness would easily fall back into a tribal animal state.


So I think by this explaination, to understand consciousness, then one should learn all there is no know about knowledge. How we store, it, share it, make it, communicate it, define it.

It is that consciousness' level of meaning is related to its knowledge.. Your only as conscious as the meaning you develop out of chaos.

[arkain101]

I consider my reply a rash one. I haven't brushed up on any of this material in awhile. Except a recent Matrix essay and discussion.

I am not satisfied with that response.. I will respond again after giving it some thought.

But I will leave you all with this.

What is NOT consciousness?

By that question I mean, Is it possible for us to conceive anything with the exclusion consciousness?

[carlton-temple]

I have just finished my first reading of professor Roger Penrose's book: Shadows of the mind,(vintage books), which I can highly recommend. Mainly the book is a speculation on the biological processes that might promote conciousness. My own opinion, for what its worth, is that conciousness is a result of compounded awareness synergisms and is to some extent or degree present in all organisms. No organism can be viable without some measure of decisive capacity that is able to optimally exploit its environment and an evolutionary "compounding" of these "capacities" founds heightened conciousness.

[UncleAl]

Consciousness is the ability to feel sad.
It is the only intellection that requires more than internal existence.

--
Uncle Al
UNDER SATAN'S LEFT FOOT
Vote a 10 for the experiments!

[Michael Mooney]

Consciousness can be functionally defined as that which/whom is aware.
The question, "aware of what" is about content of awareness. One can say, "I am consciousness," but it is false to say "I am that of which I am conscious."
It is indeed a deep subject. Mystics see consciousness as one omnipresent awareness... (not to say, God!... which opens The Big Can-O-Worms about religious belief.)

My favorite author on consciousness was Franklin Merell-Wolff. His masterpiece was "The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object," but the most accessible intro to his work was an address given by a friend of mine, Thomas McFarlane :The Heart of Franklin Merrell-Wolff's Philosophy

Great topic.
Michael

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by UncleAl

Consciousness is the ability to feel sad.
It is the only intellection that requires more than internal existence.

Can you elaborate on this, Al?
Instead of "feel sad", why not say "feel emotion"? Though even then I find it an inadequate definition of consciousness.