Consciousness-defined in science ?

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In summary: So in summary, according to Mentat consciousness is something special, indpendent, and above all, something that modern science has yet to define accurately. Furthermore, he believes that it may be something that is "imbedded" or intrinsic to all matter, large or small.

Consciousness-strictly defined by modern science ?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 25.0%
  • No

    Votes: 8 66.7%
  • Not sure

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • Total voters
    12
  • #1
drag
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Greetings !

I had a discussion with Mentat about consciousness.
I think it's an undefined concept according to
modern science and the sciences that do appear
to use it only do this as an approximation to
replace the otherwise almost impossibly (for now)
complex physical discriptions. I mean sciences
like psychology, sociology and other related fields.

Mentat, as I understood him, appears to think that
consciousness is something completely special,
a separate and indpendent concept and that modern
science does define it or at least attempts to do
so precisely (please, correct me if I'm wrong, Mentat).

What do you think ?


Doubt or shout !

Live long and prosper.
 
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  • #2
From the thread, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2264" ...

Where does purpose originate? Does the universe have purpose? If not, then why is man endowed with a sense of purpose? How could that be? That would be tantamount to saying the Universe created a sense of purpose outside of itself? ... And yet, who's to say mankind is not the Universe looking back at itself? ...

Is consciousness an isolated thing? Or, is it really universal? And how is it possible that mankind, through his ability of cognizance, capable of knowing all these Universal Laws pertaining to it? Are we putting the cart before the horse here? If not, then how is it possible for a Universe without purpose, and hence cognizance, and all the laws that go with it, capable of producing such a creature that is capable of "experiencing it?" ... Are you telling me that something rises out of nothing here?

Whereas just as we all have a mother and a father in an "earthly sense," why can't we all be children of the Universe, which in fact is the origin of consciousness? While I can assure you mankind is not the origin of consciousnes, but rather "its receptacle."
How would we know anything without consciousness? Wouldn't that in fact imply that consciousness is somehow "intertwined" with existence? Therefore if truth can only be acknowledged through consciousness, doesn't it also imply that consciousness has always been? (as truth has always been). That indeed existence itself could have conceivably been brought about through an "act of consciousness?"

Look at the world that man has created, through his "express faculty" of consciousness. Could it be possible that he's following in the footsteps of another? ... You know, "Like Father like son."
 
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  • #3
Originally posted by Iacchus32
How would we know anything without consciousness? Wouldn't that in fact imply that consciousness is somehow "intertwined" with existence? Therefore if truth can only be acknowledged through consciousness, doesn't it also imply that consciousness has always been? (as the truth has always been). That indeed existence itself could have conceivably been brought about through an "act of consciousness?"
Please, try to formalise your reponse in a
generally acceptable manner using generally
accepted concepts and definitions of these
concepts.

I'm sorry, but as it is - I can not understand what you said.

Either way though, thank you for your response. :smile:

Live long and prosper.
 
  • #4
Originally posted by drag
Please, try to formalise your reponse in a
generally acceptable manner using generally
accepted concepts and definitions of these
concepts.

I'm sorry, but as it is - I can not understand what you said.

Either way though, thank you for your response. :smile:

Live long and prosper.
Doesn't the nature of philosphy involve asking questions about the nature of existence? ... Sorry, this is all I'm doing.

Now the reason I choose this format is because I've obviously given it a lot of thought. Whereas the questions aren't directed so much towards me, as they are towards those who really want to know, i.e., in the sense that maybe these are questions "they" should be posing? ... You know, if you don't ask (the right question), how can you expect to receive an answer? ...

We also need to understand that we can't answer the question of existence purely by logic. For indeed reality exists on both the left side (rational) and the right side (emotional) and is integrated in the middle. Why focus exclusively on the one side and forsake the other? Why can't we approach it from the standpoint of "wholeness," rather than that which is lop-sided and neurotic? While it's entirely possible to over-analyze things, and then forget what those things actually entail (i.e., the experience itself).
 
  • #5
Defining consciousness is hard enough if not imopossible to the satisfaction of everyone. We don't really know what consciousness is other than discribe the opposite and some of the thing that being counciousness allow us do do.
 
  • #6
I know that consciousness is most often thought of as a "property" of "higher BIOLOGICAL systems" ...but I have been exploring the thought that is is a fundamental ingredient of ALL "matter" -- from elementary particles to large, dynamical, coherent systems like stars, galaxies and the Universe ITSELF.

In fact, it may be a "substance" of sorts, that's "imbedded" -- or an INTRINSIC PART OF -- all matter, large or small.

And, just as "matter" is -- in a de facto way -- "connected" by "gravity"...the consciousness of Everything may be "connected" by a similar force operating on a non-physical "plane".

There are lots of quotation marks in the above, because these terms THEMSELVES need to be clarified.

But, this is a starting point for MY "definition" of consciousness...as a SUBSTANCE and a PROPERTY that CONSTITUDES AWARENESS...

...awareness first of "self" ...then of "others" ...then of "context" ...then of "function" ...and then of "purpose".

The last sentence is "off the top of my head" (and a little off the sides:wink:)...but I don't have time now to see if I even make sense to MYSELF !

I shall return.
 
  • #7
Originally posted by Iacchus32
From the thread, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2264" ...

How would we know anything without consciousness? Wouldn't that in fact imply that consciousness is somehow "intertwined" with existence? Therefore if truth can only be acknowledged through consciousness, doesn't it also imply that consciousness has always been? (as truth has always been). That indeed existence itself could have conceivably been brought about through an "act of consciousness?"

Look at the world that man has created, through his "express faculty" of consciousness. Could it be possible that he's following in the footsteps of another? ... You know, "Like Father like son."

We know only of biological organisms on Earth that may have consciousness, but also we know that Earth was not always inhabited with life forms.

So how could "consciousness" then have always been?
In what form? And why?

Isn't it more reasonable to say that matter is primary, and consciousness secondary?

Science proved that this has to be the case.
 
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  • #8
No, not defined. Consciousness is not paradigm-invariant, if one can say so..
Other thing is that to define consciousness, which is product, one needs to use definitions of that underlying it, like thought process, will, etc. It all is still pretty much unclear. Then how can be consciousness strictly defined?
 
  • #9
Originally posted by heusdens
We know only of biological organisms on Earth that may have consciousness, but also we know that Earth was not always inhabited with life forms.

So how could "consciousness" then have always been?
In what form? And why?

Isn't it more reasonable to say that matter is primary, and consciousness secondary?

Science proved that this has to be the case.

It's the "chicken or the egg" conundrum...and my vote goes to CONSCIOUSNESS as "what came first".

In other words -- based on the premise that the Universe is "all energy all the time" -- consciousness would be, perhaps, the "highest" "frequency" of energy...from which "matter" (which, again, is "only" bound-up energy) condensed out.

This also correlates well to another proposition: that INTENTION CAUSES REALITY...in that, at the moment of "birth" (or, more precisely, RE-birth), the Universe INTENDS -- or WILLS ITSELF -- to have yet ANOTHER macro and micro Experience...which is to say, everything that HAPPENS to Everything, past/present/future, in this (and EVERY) of It's (the Universe's) INCARNATION(s) twixt Big Bangs and Big Crunch.

I apologize for the run-on sentense...but I think it can be followed (if not believed).

And, please, let us leave "God" out of it for a moment...and consider the Universe ITSELF as an eternal Entity of energy that re-creates Itself .
 
  • #10
Originally posted by heusdens
We know only of biological organisms on Earth that may have consciousness, but also we know that Earth was not always inhabited with life forms.
So? ... But then why does consciousness ultimately come about? Especially with the "higher life forms?" Could it be this is a higher proclivity of creation/evolution, in the sense that this was its ulitmate intent or design? And that we are now just beginning to become aware of its "conscious intent?" Although I would preface this by extending it over the past 10,000 years.


So how could "consciousness" then have always been?
In what form? And why?
Wouldn't it be reasonable to say truth has always existed, at least in potential? ... And yet what is truth, without the ability to recognize it? It would still be there no doubt, and yet it only belies the fact that there must be some "greater mastermind" that put these principles into place.


Isn't it more reasonable to say that matter is primary, and consciousness secondary?
And yet our origin begins in the center, which is also where consciousness lies.


Science proved that this has to be the case.
It has? ... And yet science is so busy caught up with how things work, that it tends to lose sight -- i.e., become "consciously unaware" -- of the actual function which, is just another means of taking things out of context.

Which is more important? Life itself? Or, the details that science ascribes to it? Is it possible that science is "playing God?" I'll tell you one thing right now, this is why I don't like to go the doctor's.
 
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  • #11
Originally posted by M. Gaspar
And, please, let us leave "God" out of it for a moment...and consider the Universe ITSELF as an eternal Entity of energy that re-creates Itself .
How many moments? Sorry, I couldn't help but spill the beans at the last moment. And yet I think that you'll agree, that most of what I'm saying could apply equally well with what you're saying.
 
  • #12
Originally posted by drag
Greetings !

I had a discussion with Mentat about consciousness.
I think it's an undefined concept according to
modern science and the sciences that do appear
to use it only do this as an approximation to
replace the otherwise almost impossibly (for now)
complex physical discriptions. I mean sciences
like psychology, sociology and other related fields.

Mentat, as I understood him, appears to think that
consciousness is something completely special,
a separate and indpendent concept and that modern
science does define it or at least attempts to do
so precisely (please, correct me if I'm wrong, Mentat).


Well, first of all, you didn't give any substantiation for assuming that psychologists (for example) are using consciousness as an approximation.

But, yes, you are slightly wrong about my view of consciousness. You see, I think that consciousness can definitely be explained as a physical process (in fact I'm reading a book right now that attempts to do so (though I haven't gotten very far into it yet)). However, I don't think it can be explained as a concept of the subatomic world (as you seem to have been trying to do). But, then again, you cannot describe the difference between a human and a large rock, in terms of the subatomic world. And yet this difference is what divides Human Biology and Meteorology into two different branches of Science.
 
  • #13
Originally posted by Iacchus32
How many moments? Sorry, I couldn't help but spill the beans at the last moment. And yet I think that you'll agree, that most of what I'm saying could apply equally well with what you're saying.

Of course I agree. That's why you're a buddy.:wink:

However, I am really trying to steer away from discussing "spirit/soul/God/the Divine" -- at the moment (OK, SEVERAL moments) -- because this "realm" is even HARDER to discuss than CONSCIOUSNESS ...let alone "prove"!

I would be willing to discuss -- on a new thread, perhaps -- what the NATURE of SPIRIT might be...as my thoughts haven't "gelled" on this subject and it is, after all, the "final frontier" (or not).

Care to start one?
 
  • #14
Originally posted by M. Gaspar
Of course I agree. That's why you're a buddy.:wink:

However, I am really trying to steer away from discussing "spirit/soul/God/the Divine" -- at the moment (OK, SEVERAL moments) -- because this "realm" is even HARDER to discuss than CONSCIOUSNESS ...let alone "prove"!

I would be willing to discuss -- on a new thread, perhaps -- what the NATURE of SPIRIT might be...as my thoughts haven't "gelled" on this subject and it is, after all, the "final frontier" (or not).

Care to start one?
Actually if you cared to revive https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2564" maybe we could discuss it there? Take a look and let me know, Okay? Otherwise will can consider starting another thread ...
 
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  • #15
Originally posted by Iacchus32
Actually if you cared to revive https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2564" maybe we could discuss it there? Take a look and let me know, Okay? Otherwise will can consider starting another thread ...

I think I'd like to start another thread. "The Great Outsider" refers to "God" while I want to discuss "The Nature of Spirit"...which may or may not include "God" as "God" is generally "understood".

Basicallly, the thread would be an ATTEMPT to DEFINE OUR TERMS with regard to "spirit". What "is" "it" anyway? What are it's properties? It's proclivities? It's "powers"? It's PURPOSE(S)?

If you think what I have just written would make "useful" thread -- that is, one that yields a BASIS for future discussions -- then I'll start it as per.

Even tho I have to tell you I'm on OVERLOAD now !
 
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  • #16
Originally posted by M. Gaspar
I think I'd like to start another thread. "The Great Outsider" refers to "God" while I want to discuss "The Nature of Spirit"...which may or may not include "God" as "God" is generally "understood".

Basicallly, the thread would be an ATTEMPT to DEFINE OUR TERMS with regard to "spirit". What "is" "it" anyway? What are it's properties? It's proclivities? It's "powers"? It's PURPOSE(S)?

If you think what I have just written would make "useful" thread -- that is, one that yields a BASIS for future discussions -- then I'll start it as per.
Sounds like you're a little bit more prepared than I am. Go ahead!


Even tho I have to tell you I'm on OVERLOAD now !
Same here! ...
 
  • #17
Iacchus...

Done!
 
  • #18
From a strickly, for a change, physical scientific view, how can one single electron or photon (or whatever) know what all its cronies are going to do without haveing some level of consciousness of its environment and other electrons etc.
Take a stream of electrons in a vacuum tube or CRT. The vast majority of them will flow to the positive plate or surface from the negative cathode; however, a certain small percentage of them will not go to the positive plate but stay around the negative cathode creating the phenomenon knows as an electron cloud about the cathode. How does an individual electron "know" to go to the plate or stay around the cathode so that the "right" number go and the "right" number stay?
How can a photon know which slit to go thru or know that the observer is watching and looking for particles or waves in the famous two slit experiment it QM without some sort of at least primative consciousness of what is going on around it?
I may be mistaken but QM seems to imply and require some level of consciousness for even the most elementary particle/waves.
 
  • #19
Originally posted by Royce
From a strickly, for a change, physical scientific view, how can one single electron or photon (or whatever) know what all its cronies are going to do without haveing some level of consciousness of its environment and other electrons etc.
Take a stream of electrons in a vacuum tube or CRT. The vast majority of them will flow to the positive plate or surface from the negative cathode; however, a certain small percentage of them will not go to the positive plate but stay around the negative cathode creating the phenomenon knows as an electron cloud about the cathode. How does an individual electron "know" to go to the plate or stay around the cathode so that the "right" number go and the "right" number stay?
How can a photon know which slit to go thru or know that the observer is watching and looking for particles or waves in the famous two slit experiment it QM without some sort of at least primative consciousness of what is going on around it?
I may be mistaken but QM seems to imply and require some level of consciousness for even the most elementary particle/waves.

NOW we're getting somewhere!

Later.
 
  • #20
I agree with royce in the sense that the universe is indeed full of order and interconcetions( though we may not like the way it goes around doing so )

The problem with discusions on consicousness seem to always be that people confuse HUMAN consiciousness with just consciousness on its own. Let me state: the universal implications and realities of consciousness are not wholly expersed under the umberalla of human existence,...human consiousness is a SUBSET of consiousness, it is not consiousness itself.

Just keep that in mind when agruing over conisioucness.

Insofar as it has ( as a observable fact ) been tackeld by science I would have to say there is much more to be asked. For all its glories science seems to be very ill prepared to properly analyze consicousness. I would say that Mathamathics through research in AI Choas and Complexity theroies are really getting somewhere. Tnx god for Alan Turning! Keep out an eye on them. I don't think that we will need new sciences, or new math to handle consoins insofar as that we improve our langue. We have the tools to tackle consicouness just not the right words to do it with.

On the other hand...

Personally I hold the belief that all this seraching for it and not finding it is due to a very simple reason. IT IS NOT THERE. We only wish it to be so. There is no "i" (manent will rig my neck for this one!)There is no "individual", ..."i" do not exist. Dont ask me for proofs because one they are long and I am still working on it...

Either way I hope they never find the answer. It would put philosophers out of work.

Never trust something that seems to offer the explination for EVERYTHING.
 
  • #21
Originally posted by Royce
From a strickly, for a change, physical scientific view, how can one single electron or photon (or whatever) know what all its cronies are going to do without haveing some level of consciousness of its environment and other electrons etc.
Take a stream of electrons in a vacuum tube or CRT. The vast majority of them will flow to the positive plate or surface from the negative cathode; however, a certain small percentage of them will not go to the positive plate but stay around the negative cathode creating the phenomenon knows as an electron cloud about the cathode. How does an individual electron "know" to go to the plate or stay around the cathode so that the "right" number go and the "right" number stay?
How can a photon know which slit to go thru or know that the observer is watching and looking for particles or waves in the famous two slit experiment it QM without some sort of at least primative consciousness of what is going on around it?
I may be mistaken but QM seems to imply and require some level of consciousness for even the most elementary particle/waves.

No, good buddy Royce, it doesn't imply anything of the kind. In fact, it postulates quite the opposite (that all of their behavior (while being tempered by the laws of physics) is subject to Uncertainty).
 
  • #22
Greetings !

Royce I think you're mistaking the interpretation
of uncertainty for that of consciousness. :wink:
If you have waves in the sea and a few tubes of
various dimensions connected to other seas then
the flow will be counted depending on the
dimensions of the tubes.

Mentat, science at its basis is a single interconnected
entity. It is interconnected through mathematics (its
most basic reasoning) and it is interconnected according
to all types of reasoning it currently accepts. Thus it is inconcievable for something to be stated and formulated
scientificly and not be connected to some of its other parts.
If consciosness is scientificly defined then it MUST
be connected to the physical particles and everything
else in science.

Live long and prosper.
 
  • #23
Recently saw an experiment that aimed at finding what consciousness really is. A man was seated in a dark room and in front of him was a blue T.V. screen showing a grid consisting of red horizontal lines and green vertical lines crisscrossing one another. He wore a special spectacle with green glass for the left eye and red glass for the right eye. Due to this his left eye could only see the green vertical lines while his right eye could only see the red horizontal lines. This disparity between the information received from the two eyes could not be handled by his brain and so what the person actually ‘saw’ was an alternating pattern. This moment he can only see the red lines but in the next they are replaced by the vertical blue ones. thus at a given moment he is conscious of one set of lines only, but which set of lines he is conscious of at a given moment changes with time.
Before the man there were two buttons. If he sees the red lines he presses button R say and if he sees blue lines he presses button B. above his head there is a large machine that measures the activities of the different parts of the brain. Then the activity level in different parts of the brain during the period the man is conscious of the red line and the period when he is conscious of the blue lines are compared with each other.

It is seen that the parts of the optical lobe which deals with information from the right eye and the part that deals with the left eye are equally active in both cases. Thus the image of both the blue and the red lines are simultaneously formed in our brain. However the route by which this information is transferred to other parts of the brain differs significantly during the two periods. It is as though despite the fact that signals from both the eyes are entering the optical lobe together at a given moment only one of them is transmitted to other parts of the brain dealing with memory, sounds, emotions etc. it is only after a complex interaction between the various centers of the brain do we become conscious of a thing we are seeing or hearing. The region of the brain that is active on seeing the blue lines is somewhat different from that which is activated on seeing the red lines. What is even more intriguing is the fact these regions of activity vary from one person to another. That is each person is becoming conscious of the same fact a little differently. Scientists explain this difference in the neural pathways as caused due to environmental and genetic factors. This also explains why and how one human being differs in his behavior from another human being. From all this it seems clear that consciousness is nothing but the cumulative result of the chain of activities by which information is received and processed in our brain.
 
  • #24
Originally posted by drag
Greetings !

Royce I think you're mistaking the interpretation
of uncertainty for that of consciousness. :wink:
If you have waves in the sea and a few tubes of
various dimensions connected to other seas then
the flow will be counted depending on the
dimensions of the tubes.

Mentat, science at its basis is a single interconnected
entity. It is interconnected through mathematics (its
most basic reasoning) and it is interconnected according
to all types of reasoning it currently accepts. Thus it is inconcievable for something to be stated and formulated
scientificly and not be connected to some of its other parts.
If consciosness is scientificly defined then it MUST
be connected to the physical particles and everything
else in science.

Live long and prosper.

Where were you when I was attempting to make a case for CONSCIOUSNESS being an intrinsic part of Everything, great or small...from elementary particles through to large, coherent systems like us...and the Universe Itself?

If you have the time, please visit "A Conscious Universe?" thread and offer input.

However, regarding your above post:

It seems to me that the "C" word is eschewed by science types ...especially physicists. Of course, it's not hard to see the IRONY in this.

I keep maintaining that any cosmological theory that does NOT include the nature and evolution of CONSCIOUSNESS is an INCOMPLETE THEORY. Would you agree?

Not wanting to take up my OWN time restating my position of consciousness as both a "property" and a "substance" (that was "fragmented" like baryonic matter at the moment of the Big Bang and, like matter, has been ACCRETING ever since -- there, I did it ANYWAY...at least partially), I request that you scan a few of my posts to determine if I'm off my rocker.

Or pose a question on THAT thread, because I'd like to confine my thoughts about this "over there". Thanks.
 
  • #25
Originally posted by sage
From all this it seems clear that consciousness is nothing but the cumulative result of the chain of activities by which information is received and processed in our brain.

That's because you apparently believe that consciousness is only "confined" to "creatures" with brains . There might be other systems -- like the Universe Itself -- that do an even better job of perceiving, receiving, interpretting, processing and responding to information.
 
  • #26
Mentant and Drag,

I thing right now I'm taalking about the uncertainty of my consciousness

Okay let's talk about probabilites in QM within the uncertainty principle. Let's say I have 100 electrons and I calculate that 99% of them will go to point A and 1% of them will NOT go to Point A but either stay where they are or go some where else. My question then is how do all of the electrons decide which one and only which one will not go to point A over 10,000 repetions of the experiment so that the actual events agree with my calculations. I realize that every so often none of the electrons will go to point A and every once in a while all will go to point A but over 10,000 reps they will work it out so that 99% go to point A and 1% does not go to A. How?
 
  • #27
Originally posted by drag
Mentat, science at its basis is a single interconnected
entity. It is interconnected through mathematics (its
most basic reasoning)

Well, while you are right about it's being interconnected, it is not through mathematics. Science's most basic reasoning is the Scientific Method.

Thus it is inconcievable for something to be stated and formulated
scientificly and not be connected to some of its other parts.
If consciosness is scientificly defined then it MUST
be connected to the physical particles and everything
else in science.

First off, I didn't say that consciousness was scientifically defined, merely accepted by scientists.

Secondly, even if consciousness can't be explained in all fields of Science, yet, that doesn't mean it won't ever be so. Think of gravity, for instance; it can't be explained in all fields of Science, but that doesn't mean it never will be.
 
  • #28
Originally posted by heusdens
Isn't it more reasonable to say that matter is primary, and consciousness secondary?

Science proved that this has to be the case.

No No No. It has not.
 
  • #29
Originally posted by sage
b] From all this it seems clear that consciousness is nothing but the cumulative result of the chain of activities by which information is received and processed in our brain.[/b]

Actually, it seems clear that the brain has something to do with it. This tells me nothing that I didn't already know. But playing a part in a process and creating the process are not the same things.
 
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  • #30
Get a Clue Science!

Sounds like Science has the same problem with consciousness as it does with God. Hmm ... I wonder why? Is it possible that they're related? And yet how could Science continue on with its endeavors without a grasp on something so fundamental as consciousness? How is it possible to inquire about anything without first being conscious? Doesn't that sound like a clue? How else do we compare the results then? From the standpoint of being unconscious? That would be like sailing out on the sea without a rudder! Does that make sense? Come on Science, GET A CLUE!

So we can't pin down God, we can't pin the fact that we have a soul, and we can't pin down the fact that we're conscious, three "distinct things" which all seem to be related. Hmm ... Will wonders never cease.
 
  • #31


Originally posted by Iacchus32
Will wonders never cease.

No, I don't think they will. :wink:

Give 'em heck, Iacchus. I'll spot you when you're tired!
 
  • #32
Greetings !

Sage, thanks for telling us about that experiment. :smile:
Originally posted by Fliption
Actually, it seems clear that the brain has something to do with it. This tells me nothing that I didn't already know.
Would a bullet blowing out the whole brain convince
you otherwise ?

Royce, again - it's just the interpretation or way of
looking at it that you might find confusing. Read my
water tubes example again. If you approach things the
way you did here then you can ask all sorts of "intuitive"
questions - why does something move - conserve momentum
after being pushed ? That is, how does it know it was pushed ?
There are many other examples. Science only has exact
mathematical discriptions but no single prespective
on the interpretation.

Originally posted by Mentat
Secondly, even if consciousness can't be explained in all fields of Science, yet, that doesn't mean it won't ever be so.
That is a subjective claim depending on your interpretation.
I could say that consciousness is already approximately
defined if I have an arbitrarily large enough active
nueral pathways collection. It's just that such a definition
is not precise and it is arbitrary in application - hence
of little practical use or value.

Peace and long life.
 
  • #33
Originally posted by Fliption
Actually, it seems clear that the brain has something to do with it. This tells me nothing that I didn't already know. But playing a part in a process and creating the process are not the same things.
This would be comparable to creating a stereo system (the brain) and listening to the actual music (the mind/consciousness). Or, to understanding how a car functions, "properly," and actually owning the car (outright) and driving it. There's quite a difference! :wink:
 
  • #34
Actually, it seems clear that the brain has something to do with it. This tells me nothing that I didn't already know. But playing a part in a process and creating the process are not the same things.
Fliption,why do say brain has something to do with it and not that it has everything to do with it? We have seen that processes occurring within the brain has a direct relation to our consciousness. We have not yet seen any other phenomenon that has anything to do our being conscious. So the most plausible hypothesis is that these processes occurring within the brain are the only things responsible for our consciousness. Until any evidence to the contrary comes our way that is.

That's because you apparently believe that consciousness is only "confined" to "creatures" with brains . There might be other systems -- like the Universe Itself -- that do an even better job of perceiving, receiving, interpretting, processing and responding to information
gaspar, I only said that consciousness in creatures with brains can be explained as a set of electrochemical processes occurring within their brains. We do not need anything else in this case. Your claim is interesting but needs proof, as I have said earlier. I am only refuting the claim that supernatural phenomenon are needed to explain consciousness in humans.
 
  • #35
A point that should be noted, is that consciousness cannot possibly be non-physical; because, if it was, it would be unable to interact with the physical brain/body. This means that consciousness must be a physical phenomenon (not the "ghost in shell" conception, that many have held since the days of Descartes).
 

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