The Mystery Of Consciousness
What exactly is consciousness? Scientists and philosophers have been trying to solve the mystery of consciousness for a long time. Consciousness is everything you experience. The warmth of hugs, the sweetness of the strawberry ice cream you like so much, the pain of a breakup with a partner, the enigmatic curiosity you feel when you look at the stars, the fear of death and joy.
The mystery of consciousness is everything. As Descartes once said, the essential property of the mind is that it thinks. By doing so, everything that happens in your mind, whether it is thoughts, desires, desires or reflections, will make you who you are. Now all of these processes define what the Australian philosopher, David J. Chalmers, calls simple explanations.
The conscious mind
Our conscious mind captures everything we see and feel. It interprets, processes and is even able to verbalize it. But then comes the complex explanation that the scientific and philosophical community does not yet seem to agree on.
How do the senses, neurons and chemical processes manage to form a unit that is so characteristic of each person?
William James, a renowned psychologist and philosopher, said that the empirical self (me) actually consists of three particular “selves”. The same ones that the brain itself is responsible for defining, based on everything it experiences consciously. According to James , every person thereby has a material self, a social self and a spiritual self.
As you can see, the challenges, suggestions, and theories that are intended to explain the mystery of consciousness are endless. However, neuroscience is advancing according to defining what consciousness is and even where it is located. Let’s look at the data below.
What is the mystery of consciousness?
First of all, it should be noted that conscience (morality) and consciousness (attention) are two different things. Consciousness is the ability of most living beings to perceive reality and recognize themselves in it. Conscience is exclusively related to moral aspects, to what is right and wrong, based on social codes.
Now that it’s in place, it’s also interesting to talk about the popularity of the idea of the need to pay attention, to open your consciousness. The recurring message in the field of personal development and spirituality has some nuances.
Your consciousness is always alert, so it is impossible not to perceive anything. For example, toothache, the smell of freshly cut grass or a storm.
In 2012, the revelations from a group of scientists from Cambridge also show that consciousness is not exclusive to humans. The rest of the animal kingdom is also conscious. They claimed this in what is known as The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness.
The well-known neuroscientist, Dr. Philip Low of Harvard University, also indicated that it is time to separate the spiritual aspect from the concept of consciousness. Neuroscience has revealing and fascinating answers to this topic. Let’s study them below.
Awareness: The result of brain complexity and interactions
The researcher, Fritjof Capra, a physicist at the University of Vienna, wrote a book entitled The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems .
In this work, he explains that organisms’ degree of self-awareness is based on its interactions with their environment in relation to their brain. Every time we perceive something, our consciousness is built up, little by little.
Next comes the moment when all these millions of synapses and nerve impulses cross a threshold. Now some people ask themselves the following question: “Can a computer or other form of artificial intelligence become aware if it is programmed to experience things day after day?”
Antonio Damasio, a well-known neuroscientist, says it would not. It will never be possible because machines simply do not have emotions.
In addition, physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff conducted an interesting study. According to both scientists, consciousness is a property that is innate in every biological system in every living being.
It is the result of certain quantum changes that occur in our neural circuits and microtubules, which gradually generate a structure made up of billions of moments of proto-consciousness.
The mystery of consciousness
René Descartes claimed that human consciousness lies in the pineal gland. Other researchers, however, think otherwise.
According to an article in Psychology Today , the place where all the processes that shape our consciousness are concentrated are actually three regions of the brain that work to work together as a triad to maintain it.
Research on this topic is still underway under the Human Connectome Project. One of its purposes is to restore consciousness in patients who are in a coma.
