Consciousness is the experience of monitor images in the mind. At any moment, you and the world are revealed in your own separate consciousness. Everything that exists is manifest in consciousness. Paradoxically, we also know that much, if not most, brain activity occurs without the benefit of consciousness. The notion that consciousness is required to assimilate information and make decisions is as popular as it is wrong. The correct assumption is that an unconscious person can receive and process at least some information without awareness of what is going on out there.
Psychoanalytic and other metaphysical descriptions of the mind invented the “unconscious” or the “subconscious” to try to explain some of the more peculiar aspects of human behavior. Often consciousness and the subconscious were set apart as adversaries in a subterranean battle of mind. The findings of neuroscience suggest that all brain activity carries on below the surface and only a glimmer of this continuous brain processing is projected into consciousness as monitor images.
Much of the discussion about consciousness is polemics fueled by confusions that begin with inconsistent descriptions that continue into confusions that arise from that failure to clearly differentiate points of view.
The pathologist slicing a human brain in a clinicopathological conference will have a different understanding of bodybrainmind than a Buddhist monk in meditation. Humans often want to define consciousness using synonyms such as ‘awareness’ or by proposing properties of consciousness” such as "will" or "intentions”. No definition of consciousness will be completely satisfactory since mind and consciousness are inclusive. The problem, of course, is that we exist in consciousness and cannot get outside to begin an objective study.
Consider the Zen Buddhist koan: What is the sound of one hand clapping? Is this a good introduction to the seemingly impossible task of consciousness apprehending itself? The literal-minded person can dismiss the koan quickly by stating that clapping, by definition, is two hands coming together; therefore, one hand cannot clap and there is no sound. This pragmatic, rational approach fails to appreciate the uncertainties and ambiguities involved in language. A curious and open mind is attracted to the idea of one hand clapping and may enjoy contemplating the peculiarities of languages, images of hands in motion and sounds in nature.
Consciousness cannot be constrained by definition, cannot be captured by description, and cannot be limited by measurement. The essence of Zen insight is that conclusions are often limiting and unfriendly. Human names and categories are artificial and distort the understanding of and the appreciation of what is really going on out there. The creative mind stays, open and interested.
The study of the brain has not revealed exactly how consciousness works, but we know practical things about consciousness. Consciousness depends on spontaneously emitted pulses from brain stem neurons that ascend in a complex mesh of activating circuits to awaken neurons in the limbic system, thalamus, and cerebral cortex. Without this ascending activation, humans lapse into a coma. Four neurotransmitters are important in creating consciousness – norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine. Drugs such as anesthetics that interrupt consciousness interfere with cerebral cortical activation.
Pacemaking neurons in the brainstem pulse rhythmically, sending activating signals into the thalamus. Pulses of electrical activation are accompanied by pulses of chemicals released to sustain activation. The thalamus, in turn, activates the cerebral cortex and links all subsystems in meaningful packages of activity that deliver monitor images of their activity to consciousness. Cortical neurons return signals to the thalamus so that cortical activation can be regarded as a looping system that recurs and resonates. We can speculate that several brain modules acting together have high-level executive functions and at the same time contribute to a continuous, composite monitor image.
The deep question is that if I am that consciousness that is the monitor image of my brain activity, where exactly do I exist?
No one will ever know if the conscious experiences of other creatures are similar to our own, but it is reasonable to suggest that there is a range of consciousness that begins as monitor images in animals with little and simpler brains and expands to more diverse and detailed monitor images in animals with bigger more complicated brains.
There is little doubt that birds are conscious, dogs and cats are conscious. You can assume that consciousness is more developed in primates and is associated with increasingly intelligent adaptation to changing environments and increasing complexity of social interactions. You can argue that not only do humans have the chimpanzee experience built into their minds, but humans probably feel most connected, most spiritual, most attuned to the world when they are enjoying chimpanzee-like experiences.
From the book, Neuroscience Notes by Stephen Gislason
Psychoanalytic and other metaphysical descriptions of the mind invented the “unconscious” or the “subconscious” to try to explain some of the more peculiar aspects of human behavior. Often consciousness and the subconscious were set apart as adversaries in a subterranean battle of mind. The findings of neuroscience suggest that all brain activity carries on below the surface and only a glimmer of this continuous brain processing is projected into consciousness as monitor images.
Much of the discussion about consciousness is polemics fueled by confusions that begin with inconsistent descriptions that continue into confusions that arise from that failure to clearly differentiate points of view.
The pathologist slicing a human brain in a clinicopathological conference will have a different understanding of bodybrainmind than a Buddhist monk in meditation. Humans often want to define consciousness using synonyms such as ‘awareness’ or by proposing properties of consciousness” such as "will" or "intentions”. No definition of consciousness will be completely satisfactory since mind and consciousness are inclusive. The problem, of course, is that we exist in consciousness and cannot get outside to begin an objective study.
Consider the Zen Buddhist koan: What is the sound of one hand clapping? Is this a good introduction to the seemingly impossible task of consciousness apprehending itself? The literal-minded person can dismiss the koan quickly by stating that clapping, by definition, is two hands coming together; therefore, one hand cannot clap and there is no sound. This pragmatic, rational approach fails to appreciate the uncertainties and ambiguities involved in language. A curious and open mind is attracted to the idea of one hand clapping and may enjoy contemplating the peculiarities of languages, images of hands in motion and sounds in nature.
Consciousness cannot be constrained by definition, cannot be captured by description, and cannot be limited by measurement. The essence of Zen insight is that conclusions are often limiting and unfriendly. Human names and categories are artificial and distort the understanding of and the appreciation of what is really going on out there. The creative mind stays, open and interested.
The study of the brain has not revealed exactly how consciousness works, but we know practical things about consciousness. Consciousness depends on spontaneously emitted pulses from brain stem neurons that ascend in a complex mesh of activating circuits to awaken neurons in the limbic system, thalamus, and cerebral cortex. Without this ascending activation, humans lapse into a coma. Four neurotransmitters are important in creating consciousness – norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine. Drugs such as anesthetics that interrupt consciousness interfere with cerebral cortical activation.
Pacemaking neurons in the brainstem pulse rhythmically, sending activating signals into the thalamus. Pulses of electrical activation are accompanied by pulses of chemicals released to sustain activation. The thalamus, in turn, activates the cerebral cortex and links all subsystems in meaningful packages of activity that deliver monitor images of their activity to consciousness. Cortical neurons return signals to the thalamus so that cortical activation can be regarded as a looping system that recurs and resonates. We can speculate that several brain modules acting together have high-level executive functions and at the same time contribute to a continuous, composite monitor image.
The deep question is that if I am that consciousness that is the monitor image of my brain activity, where exactly do I exist?
No one will ever know if the conscious experiences of other creatures are similar to our own, but it is reasonable to suggest that there is a range of consciousness that begins as monitor images in animals with little and simpler brains and expands to more diverse and detailed monitor images in animals with bigger more complicated brains.
There is little doubt that birds are conscious, dogs and cats are conscious. You can assume that consciousness is more developed in primates and is associated with increasingly intelligent adaptation to changing environments and increasing complexity of social interactions. You can argue that not only do humans have the chimpanzee experience built into their minds, but humans probably feel most connected, most spiritual, most attuned to the world when they are enjoying chimpanzee-like experiences.
From the book, Neuroscience Notes by Stephen Gislason