World Science Scholars

1.7 The Puzzle of Consciousness

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    • Cogito ergo sum is a famous statement that asserts the only true knowledge we have is the existence of our own consciousness. Do you think this is really the only true knowledge that you have? Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion? Does it matter? Why?

    • In this discussion, I like the question of “Does it matter?” because in all honesty, does it? An illusion is defined as something that is “is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses.” Will we ever truly be able to know that our entire perception of the world is wrong and what qualifies it as being right? If we were to not be here as living beings experiencing the world, would the universe itself be real? Is reality only bound by perception or is there a real reality that we can only experience a part of? I think these endless questions are interesting because it challenges all of human history, who we are and whether or not our actions have true impact on any part of reality. However, I believe we can see our impacts on ourselves and each other. I feel happy, I know I can cause others to be happy. If it were to all be an illusion, I do feel that my emotions are real, who I am is real and my senses are real. Even when we are dreaming, I often can feel my emotions. Just because they are in a dream doesn’t make them less real, they are the reactions I had to my surroundings. I feel conscious through these things and these, for me at least, serve as proof of my consciousness.

    • “Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion?” I have always been fond of the phrase “perception is reality.” I believe that what we perceive is real, yet I believe it is an incomplete image of what is really there. Our senses have evolved for survival. For that reason, we see in only certain wavelengths and at limited ranges, we hear only certain frequencies, and we smell and taste only a certain range of scents and flavors. I believe there is a whole world beyond what we can perceive, even beyond what we can imagine. String theory suggests that there exist 10 or more dimensions yet because we only exist in three dimensions it is nearly impossible for us to even imagine what those other dimensions might look like. Just because we cannot perceive them, does that make them any less real? I don’t think so, I just think humans have been limited in their physical capabilities by what evolution deemed necessary for survival. I am very exited to see what science discovers about the imperceptible aspects of the physical world in the years to come.

    • Ii believe there are different levels of consciousness just as everything else in life… some creatures experience a sense self of being but don’t know love or anxiety or perhaps sadness and pain. I believe there is an entire spectrum of consciousness and that all living things experience varying levels of these conscious feelings.

    • Consciousness is a continuum

    • In my opinion we only have perception of what the human being was “prepared/evolved”. The human being cannot feel, for example, the radiations of many technologies and they walk among us. There is a whole world that we cannot see because of our limitations, but they are still real, we just cannot get there. All this makes me curious and eager to discover more and more

    • Conscious is emerging property of very physical sums.
      Self is not atomic. it is consists of many smaller self. as a whole it boots up consciousness

    • La conciencia es un estado momentáneo donde el hombre aun no ah podido controlar , la secuencia instintiva del homo sapiens sapiens, intenta controlar pero el camino es largo y la capacidad para lograr dicha competencia esta empezando .

    • We think we know a lot because we compare ourselves today, to what we think people knew in the past, or what we think we know about animails, plants and other entities and objects in the world.We do have experience and and without going to the infinite
      cause and effect or (why why why), that is about as close to what might be real as I can get. It is all I have to function with, even if it is not the final reality.

    • La ciencia es como el mar no sabemos cuando tocaremos Tierra.

    • Well, I guess it depends on how you define knowledge. What is the philosophical frame of mind you believe in or are using? For instance, when you use the deductive logic and reductionism of the scientific method, it seems that the mind is too complex or subjective/qualitative to truly understand at times. At least in that way/form of knowledge. However, when I take a step back and think about what I can truly know in general, I suppose it does seem like the only thing for certain that I can understand is that I feel and know my own consciousness. It seems like all we can truly know about what’s outside of us in the world (including other people’s consciousness) will always be indirect. Does it matter? My first thought is that if we don’t hold authority on this or can’t change it, I’m not sure if we could even decide that it matters or not. But I do think since it seems all of our consciousness have this innate desire for meaning and purpose, there must be something to that.

    • My guru told this : I am that …

    • I think consciousness is independent of reality or whatever “reality” means (there are many ways to define it). One way is to define reality as the stimulus that our sensor system can perceive and our brain transforms in conscient sensations, but this is a very limited definition since there are other devices which can perceive higher/lower wavelength radiation than our eyes, for instance. Anyway, “Do you think this is really the only true knowledge that you have?”, yes, because from a scientific perspective, the reality is the only “scenario” and “actor” object of study. Even illusions are based on experiences of reality. “Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion?” No, we cannot. Our experiences are trapped in this four-dimensional space-time. “Does it matter?” It doesn’t matter in the discussion of consciousness, because in different states consciousness we can be aware of reality (awake) or illusions (e.g. REM).

    • Perception is really the “Sixth Sense” which is the result of analysis from the brain of the inputs from the five physical senses. The five senses only give you the reality. You smell something and then after anaysis by the brain you conclude that its a rose. Your eyes if open confirm that. Others may or may not agree with you. Its just your perception.

    • Alternatively can we ever be sure that it is an illusion?

    • That is when you try and compare it with observations by others. If you think something is an illusion you can have several people inspect the same phenomenon as what you are observing and then the combined analysis of many brains results in clarification. That is what astronomers do when verifying objects in the sky. Although, when you go to see a magic show you must be prepared for illusions.

    • I think the knowledge is a context for the experience. I believe that Knowledge is the power to act and we can have the access of the individual knowledge , collective knowledge or universal knowledge. I Believe that our life experience is not about knowledge, is about present, about how can we feel; and this is our GPS… Is an illusion because is an individual an collective representation of our ego.

    • I submit twice!

    • I think so. Several courses in this WSU-platform (Special relativity non-math, String theory and Nature’s Consituent) show clearly that in same reality is heavily dependent on the state of the observer. Perhaps this course has to be added to the list. One can argue that other observer’s reality is an illusion.

    • An observer”s conscious experences are all subjective. Math is the common written language that scientists use to convey their observerations (conscious experiences) to other scientists. Other scientists can then translate that mathematical set of euations,numbers etc back into conscious experiences and see if they agree. That is how bodies of knowledge are transmitted in the modern scientific world and collected into larger and larger volumes. If all the scientists on Earth agree on some observation then that becomes an established truth which can be challenged by a future scientist or improved upon. Religion and religious experiences on the other hand are often not mathematically expressed and done so purely with language skills which are all subjective and cannot be easily replicated to other observer’s experience/consciousness.

    • Consciousness is merely a continuum.

    • h

    • I don’t know what consciousness is or what it truly means to be conscious. Perhaps consciousness is an illusion, a first class illusion that increases our evolutionary fitness. Within this illusion they’re second class illusions, which most people can usually, eventuality see as an illusion. I don’t feel this way, but maybe it’s a really good illusion.
      Hope this course gives some clarity.

    • yes

    • I am here, I am aware, I can feel, therefore I am conscious, and that is really soothing to know, I have loved this so far!

    • I think that consciousness is something quite complicated to understand, and well, everyone will know what they think, but probably not everything

    • I believe in the fact the consciousness plays a pi-vital role in understanding oneself. That being said, i feel consciousness is one of the outcome of the survival instincts of any living being, which makes us to believe that it is the only true knowledge. I believe that mathematics is something which describes the world most elegantly and it does not have any element or constant for consciousness in it. 🙂

    • Reply to: reality and consciousness

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    • Our mind has different ways of perceiving reality depending on its state more than what our senses experience.

    • I agree with the way Christof singled out “I think, therefore I am” as a historical cornerstone for this subject, essentially expressing “the rock bottom of what [we] can be certain of” — the most rudimentary starting point upon which the rest of the inquiry into the nature and functioning of consciousness can be built.

      The fact that I can register a thought — from a first-person subjective perspective — implies the existence of some form of consciousness, as a pre-given axiom. The content of the perception is irrelevant; this is the crucial factor that distinguishes “I think, therefore I am” from the mindless processes being carried out in the “Philosophical Zombie Argument,” Leibniz’s “Mill Argument,” or the “Chinese Room Argument.” It is the act of registering the thought — as perceived from a first-person subjective viewpoint — that serves as the basis for the axiom.

      To be clear: I am unable to know whether anyone else who declares “I think, therefore I am” is similarly conscious — because I am unable to experience their first-person subjective viewpoint. All I know is that — when I say it — it is an expression of the state of awareness that I appear to have from my own internal standpoint.

      Beyond this simple observation, there seems to be very little that can be said with anything close to certainty. Questions immediately fan out in all directions:

      > What is the nature of my existence as a “thinker”?
      > Am I generating my own thoughts — or are they simply programmed actions, which I have been designed to perceive as my own creations?
      > Do I exist as an individual entity, or do I subsist as an integrated part of a collective whole? (Or is it possible that both could be true — in the same way that light can alternatively exist in the form of either a particle or a wave?)
      > Would I continue to exist as a “thinker” if I were somehow separated from the physical body that I currently appear to be associated with?
      > Is the nature of reality and my existence as a “thinker” illusory and / or simulated?

      Ultimately, however, none of these riddles need to be solved in order for us to begin to explore consciousness, knowing that some form of it must indeed exist. We can use “I think, therefore I am” as a starting point — attempting to connect the first-person subjective experience with the third-person objective mechanisms, as so many brilliant philosophers, scientists, and thinkers have nobly tried to do for centuries.

      In terms of whether or not any of these questions matter … personally, I believe they’re of the utmost importance. I find it helpful to frame the argument in terms of game play: It’s extremely unlikely that I’ll be able to play a game effectively if I don’t even know the rules, the setup, or the nature of the game board. Heck, I might not even be facing in the right direction to achieve the objective! Such is true for life as well: Once I have a better handle on the rules of engagement and the nature of the construct in which I seem to find myself … now I’m finally ready to play to win.

      At the end of the day, I believe that being brave, aware, and motivated enough to pursue the answers to these types of questions is a vital aspect of self-realization — enabling us to achieve full potential, individually and collectively.

    • The only minimum thing we can be sure of is our own conscious, it would be very strange if this was the only truth. We may become sure of the truth of reality only when we get ourselves to somehow develop a device to test the consciousness of other beings, but then again, it might happen it’s part of just the imagination. I believe if we solve the hard problem of consciousness we’ll grow as a civilization as a notch. One possibility to approach the credibility of true reality is to rely on scientific conclusions and believe everything has an explanation. And yeah all these matter, since reality shapes us.

    • Quantum theory has made science into a probability of occurence of any event. So, based on that even the most extreme event which theologians would attribute to a miracle of God has been captured by the extreme probability of occurence. So, from that point of view Science has already accomplished the explanation of every possible event’s occurence. These are all the developments made by conscious minds not the dead scientists. Their(the dead scientists) consciousness has been transferred to modern scientists through their notes, essays, articles writings etc. So the philosophy of consciousness being a universal presence and not just a personal experience is a valid theory. I understand that is a religious philosophy too! Religion is nothing but an ancient science that is explained by scriptures for the common man to understand. Exactly, what people like Prof Greene and others are trying to do through all their videos and books where hardly any equation is presented except metaphorical explanations of scientific discoveries and their mathematical derivations but without showing any mathematical equations. As far as I understand the Vedas are nothing but a large body of ancient scientific discoveries of Rishis and Seers who were ancient scientists. The Bhagavad Gita is nothing but a very detailed exposition of Human consciousness and behaviors. The five Pandavas represent the five senses and Lord Krishna the sixth sense or the intellect/mind/brain. The hundreds of Kauravas and all their cousins and kith and kin represent the myriad conscious behaviors of humankind.

      • I think, Ram Say, that Prof. Greene would say that “…the most extreme event which theologians would attribute to a miracle of God has been captured by the extreme probability of occurence [sic]” isn’t quite right; I think he’d say that the extreme event has to adhere to the laws of physics as we know them. Your thoughts?

    • No, i am of the belief that there is more than our own experience. When we die, life does not cease for everyone around us and in many cases, people sense you are physically gone but something remains. Thinking about something is not the only experience I have. I can feel sensations, sense energy around me, and there are many biological processes that continue within me without me thinking about them. This leads me to believe thinking is not the end of our experience. Then again, I have to process this information by thinking about it and comprehending what is happening through the use of my brain.

      I believe it does matter if our experience is an illusion or not. If it is an illusion and nothing really matters, everything we thinking, feel, and do doesn’t change the fact that its all an illusion. If our experience is not an illusion, we have the capability to investigate our experience and discuss with others to help us discover our purpose.

    • Yes there is a dynamic Universe out there. But its manifestation of reality occurs within each individual’s consciousness differently. Those who align with WorldScienceU’s views bbelong to one manifestation. Others have their own different manifestation of its “truth”. These are the parallel universes. Which is rea? What is out there or what has manifested in your consciousness? Scientists constantly seek to “prove” their “truths” Other’s just don’t care. They will die with the truths they have perceived. If they put it down in writing then that become a another reality that gets passed down. That is what the Vedas are.

      • I think, Ram Say, that Prof. Greene would say that “…the most extreme event which theologians would attribute to a miracle of God has been captured by the extreme probability of occurence [sic]” isn’t quite right; I think he’d say that the extreme event has to adhere to the laws of physics as we know them. Your thoughts?

    • When considering if all experiences are mere illusions, I am at a loss for what the truth is. How we each perceive the world is subjective, and my reality may differ for someone else’s. Does it matter? I believe it does, mostly due to a morbid curiosity for how I may stray from what is considered the norm. Though that begs the question of what is normal then, if we can only be sure of our own existence?

    • The brain doesn’t know what we experience outside and what we just imagine and feels inside our head. EEG and MRI shows both have the same reading.. Search about Joe Dispenza a Neuroscientist. He’s explanation is great

    • We can use music to apply scientifically in Neuro disorders

    • We can conduct some research on the Mozart effect.

    • I think, therefore I am is probably the only infallible statement. All other statements come after self-knowledge. All other things are such that one can doubt them.

    • Cogito ergo sum is a famous statement that asserts the only true knowledge we have is the existence of our own consciousness.
      For this discussion, I think it is helpful to answer the questions in reverse. A person’s response to these questions will direct you to a level of understanding, gathering of information, about this other being consciousness.
      Why? I lack the knowledge nor have I gathered enough information as a human being to know if you are conscious.
      Does it matter? If I want the statement of the existence of my own consciousness to be true, then yes it does matter. The opposite of yes would indicate that the existence of my own consciousness is immaterial or irrelevant and has no measurable impact on the existence of my own consciousness.
      Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion? A separate but equally important question to answer. I would take the view that the possible answers (yes, no, maybe, uncertain, etc.) are correlated to how I address the answer to the existence of my own consciousness. Like a logic puzzle or decision tree in program development. If I want the answer to the existence of my own consciousness to be yes, then the experiential world existing as not an illusion would any answer I want it to be. My consciousness would influence my perceived truth in this experiential world.
      Do you think this is really the only true knowledge that you have? In the experiential world, it may be the only true knowledge I have, but in nature, it might not be the only true knowledge presented to me. My observed universe, my life in the experiential world, and the knowledge contained in my being are limited in scope to the facts that I can take in. If my experiential world allows me to only answer yes or no to the only true knowledge we have is the existence of our own consciousness, then I would be failing to adapt to other forms of data/information gathering beyond my consciousness.

    • Cogito ergo sum is a famous statement that asserts the only true knowledge we have is the existence of our own consciousness. Do you think this is really the only true knowledge that you have? Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion? Does it matter? Why?

      There’s something interesting about knowledge, to me, knowledge is all about probability and contingency, we are justified in believing whatever seems most probable given our current data. And we should always be willing to revise our beliefs in the light of new evidence. So in that sense, the existence of our own consciousness is certainly not the only knowledge that we can have.

      As for the realness of our experiential world, I think it depends on what we regard as “real.” For example, consider the idea of Holographic Principle, according to that idea, our reality might only be the reflection of a higher reality infinitely far away from us. But to me personally, this reflection is the only reality I can experience, so, it will be interesting to know if that’s actually the case, but I don’t think it will affect the way I live my life.

    • Abordar esta pregunta, me parece un hecho interesante, pero más allá de eso creo que no tiene utilidad. En términos prácticos es imposible responderla sin meterse en los terrenos de la subjetividad. A demás obedece a una visión autocéntrica o antropocéntrica de la realidad.

      • No obstante, dentro de la misma investigación pueden surgir temas interesantes y aportes que sean considerados en la práctica clínica y que permitan desarrollar nuevas alternativas de tratamiento dentro del trabajo psicológico y psicoterapéutico

    • This question makes me think of the spacetime cone that each of us lives in. A person can only have knowledge of events that occur within that cone. Outside of it, the event has not had enough time to reach us. A person’s direct experience of the world is similar with this addition: we interact with other people’s cones and if we are open, share some of their experience, taking possession of it for oneself. The question is not whether my self-knowledge precludes knowing someone else’s but whether I accept it as being as real as I perceive my own.

    • 1. No creo que sea el único conocimiento verdadero, pero si es el único que como humano podemos percibir.
      2. No creo que podamos estar seguros de que el mundo de la experiencia sea una ilusión, pues lo real y la ilusión pueden ser interdependientes, pienso que una genera la otra y viceversa, es cuestión de percepción.
      3. A nivel biológico no importa, pues la existencia de la vida no tiene un fin, solo sucede, pero a nivel cultural le damos sentido a esa existencia, en ese sentido, la consciencia puede que nos ayude a darle el sentido a nuestra existencia.

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    • Cogito ergo sum… it be enough for me to be aware of my existence? Too reductionist assertion… The reason is not the whole of existence as Descartes stated … emotion is a fundamental part of our existence …if i can feel my emotions, give them a meaning i will be aware of my existence.

    • Consciousness: I developed the impression that consciousness arises when there is durable neuro-representation of experience (mapping) which becomes reified and given a name (and treated as a discrete thing). Those then are constructs and more complex juxtapositions begin to occur. I’m looking forward to how this impression changes with this course.

    • Would you say that consciousness is a combination of thoughts and feelings in the adult hood, but it starts (when we are babies) by sensing the environment (both internal and external) and interpreting it, and as we grow we make the process a little bit more rational and start labeling those interpretations according to the culture and what we have learned?
      But the basis of all is that primary sense inside that are not able to explain until we know “the names” of the things and feelings? If you agree, what do you think would happen if we learned the wrong names?

    • Yes! A caveman could not describe red as the color if you show him red or 1,2,3 etc. May be lines vertical or horiz.
      But learning is necessary for communication but not awareness or consciousness. Animals are conscious. Plants are conscious.

    • Consciência, posso perceber que sim é a forma de sabermos que existimos. Acredito que se a pergunta foi com relação ao que eu penso ao que eu me importa, sim importa pois nunca essa frase havia feito sentido pra mim, porem nessas aulas consegui compreender o porque dela.

    • conciousness is presence of mind so then what do we call the fact that when we are looking at something but our mind our own consciousness
      is somewhere else.

    • Assuming ‘true knowledge we have’ is referring to our brain’s preferential encoding of information given the intrinsic qualia of our experience, and that the perceived information is at least a fair representation of what is true, it would seem some kind of conscious knowledge is obtained. If we are limiting our definition of knowledge to that information which is seated in our brain, it does at first seem like this is the only true knowledge we can have. However, knowledge can come in more than one form, and importantly instinctual and reflexive behaviors seem to point to some innate kinds of knowledge that we may not become fully conscious of until later. In a similar thread shared knowledge that is verifiably true seems to validate that true knowledge can exist separate from whether we experience it or not. However, if this knowledge is based on illusions and all our systems for verifying truth are actually just part of this great illusion, then it would seem that it may not matter whether it’s all an illusion because it still is in effect the ‘reality’ we have to work with.

    • If people asleep are said to be “not aware”, what about when they speak in their sleep? Could it mean they are fluctuating between consciousness and unconsciousness? Or that maybe their consciousness is awakening? Or is it all down to their unconsciousness?

    • I would like to start answering with the question “Could we be sure of it?” Because, in effect, I believe that we will never be sure of what is really true what we see and perceive, since from the beginning the fact that as human beings arises, despite physically having a brain that, although it is not identical, is excessively similar to each other, each one has a perception and consciousness totally different from another human being.

      Following the previous point, if consciousness between humans is so different, what makes us think that what we see and perceive is the absolute truth?

    • Each person has their own vision of the world and of reality, feeling happy for example is a personal decision, there are those who say that happiness is a state of mind, however, what we perceive through the senses may be an illusion, what matters is trying to be well, seek the well-being and contribute to that of other people, for me in this world the truth has an expiration date, until scientific advances show us the results of things that we did not know or that we had some false belief that science has banished. That is why the important thing is to do everything possible to be well and help other people to be well.

    • ‘Cogito ergo sum’ is a famous statement that asserts the only true knowledge we have is the existence of our own consciousness. Do you think this is really the only true knowledge that you have? Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion? Does it matter? Why?

      IMO, human knowledge is quite wider than self-consciousness and consciousness of the sensations.
      On the other hand, all subjective experiences matter since we need not only to live and know but also find meaning and purpose in life.

    • Acredito que nem isso podemos ter certeza. O conhecimento é limitado quanto sua finitude para a nossa compreensão. O simples fato de não conseguirmos provar este axioma, nos diz muito a respeito do que não dominamos. Sem domínio não há conhecimento.

    • It would at least be artificially generated from a similar intelligence mechanism that would have relatable concerns regarding you and the rest at some similar physiological source apparatus. I love this.

    • if we all think deeply about that sometime world is an illusion. just an example we see the viral photo THE DRESS which was captured in 2015 some of us see this white and yellow and some of us see this blue and black. .every vision is right at someone’s personal point of viwe but when it become social then some time the viwe was maybe wrong. And that always matter because no one want to be wrong that’s why some of us fight between them to prove one of them right, example – 2+2=4 and 3+1=4.both are possible …but no one redy to agree that someone in front of me also right.

    • The study of hypnosis shows either creatibility beyond our comprehension or that past lives exist.

      Before the east and west division of the Holy Roman Empire, about 554 A. D., Pope Julius was imprisoned for protecting the consciousness of past lives. His captor introduced the unity of church and State as the Emperor in Constantinople. It took another 200 years to end past lives as a recognized factor. Persecuting to only allow one resurrection, the Christian heretical silencing of voices allowed a greater territorial control, and ecclesiastical control.

      But there was once a Pope from Rome that went to jail, in chains, to suffer for consciousness.

      The illusions of life are to be more than a physical body.

      Phenomena occur, yet state and ambition can silence alternatives.

      Experience guides, yet even in a place such as Canada, we do not recognize the birth of the country to be accurate as 1841- the rule by baton of Lord Sydenham-chicken Charles Poulett thompson. All say Canada was born on 1867 to hide the beating of the French Empire.

      So there are ghosts- both in empires and in consciousnesses of non-temporal events.

    • Therefore, consciousness is greatly affected by the original environment, and individual deviations will be caused by the inherent “thinking bird cage”. The most obvious thing is that modern people are generally in the “information cocoon room”.

    • NLP studies the structure of the subjective experience.
      In some way, the subjective experience is the consciousness. And yet, if we consider the holographic model of the universe, how do we know if consciousness is really something separate from the outside?

    • The only reality is perception. Facts are negotiable; perception is not.

      Since this is the case, I believe that the only knowledge we can gain through our senses is that of our own consciousness. However, if science is done properly, I believe that we can gain additional knowledge from this. Of course, we need to acknowledge the fact that we might be living in Plato’s cave and that science is being done with this backdrop. Should this be the case, then the only knowledge we would have would be that of our own consciousness.

    • Ladies and Gentlemen,

      Amoung works we can question in life are the works of Carlos Castenada.

      His series on investigating consciousness include the use of magic mushrooms of his region- peyote.

      Being athletic in youth, we rejected the drugs, but i had an older brother who was a druglord a few years, making me adverse to drug use.

      In the works of Castenada we see concepts of both Tonal and Naugal.

      This can be recognized as ego and super ego, consciousness and non-consciousness.

      Castenada points out that we have regions of science that can be classed as known, unknown, and unknowable.

      If those three things define science, then we always have an unknowable .

    • I don’t know, if we don’t have the answear, we have to find it.

    • Is something quite complicated to understand…

    • “Cogito ergo sum” recognizes that our own consciousness is a crucial aspect of knowledge. Consciousness plays an essential role in perception, cognition, and behavior, and shapes our interactions with the world. Although absolute certainty of the mysterious nature of the experiential world is not achievable, this possibility is significant. Studying the nature of consciousness and the limits of knowledge helps us understand the complex processes of the brain and their relationship to our perception of reality. Engaging in these philosophical questions is importantbecause it promotes scientific research, deepens our understanding of our biological existence, and promotes a deep appreciation of the mystery of biological consciousness.

    • The existence of our own consciousness is, in fact, a direct and immediate experience. We know we are conscious because we experience thoughts, sensations, emotions and perceptions. This subjective experience of consciousness is the starting point for our knowledge.
      Idealism argues that reality is fundamentally mental and that everything we experience is a construct of the mind. Other currents, such as realism, maintain that there is an objective reality independent of consciousness. Although the experience of consciousness is undeniable for us, we cannot be absolutely certain about the ultimate nature of external reality.
      As for the importance of this issue, it may vary according to the perspective of each individual. Some people, like myself, may feel that the nature of reality is crucial to understanding existence and the purpose of life. For others, the focus may be more on subjective experience and human interactions, regardless of whether they are illusory or not.

    • De alguma forma, a experiência subjetiva é a consciência

    • La conciencia como capacidad de auto-observación. y la interrelación entre ella y la autorregulación emocional sería un tema interesante a desarrollar.

    • I Would like to comment about something.While at the moment cognitive neuroscience finds itself in the peak of research, we are far far away from truly understading consciounsess. How come, a cell, can produce something as complex as consciousness, the thing is, as mentioned previously, there’s no way we can prove somebody else has it. Using the scientific method for example, would not be useful to prove somebody else consiousness. It would not even be useful to demostrate I have it in the first place. Another question for researches would be to define, at what point does it start. How many neurons does it take. Can we give consciousness to something that does not have it?

    • Ladies and Gentlemen,
      |||||||||||||||||||

      With the lead-in of:

      ‘⏹️Cogito ergo sum is a famous statement that asserts the only true knowledge we have is the existence of our own consciousness⏺’… here are the questions:

      ▶1️⃣Do you think this is really the only true knowledge that you have?
      🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

      When considering primal awareness, it is somewhat similar to seeing energies in the sky, but turning around to see them as they happen, energies on the Celestial Sphere.

      To be more specific, the tool extension aspect of the mind recognizes our own consciousness. But we can uptool. The really incredible thing of the brain is a main area that seems to contain information. New tools become biological. Research says we can have bio-learning.

      ⏩2️⃣Can we ever be sure that the experiential world is not an illusion?
      🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

      This is a really deep question 😶.

      🔀3️⃣Does it matter? Why?
      🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

      Purpose and meaning matter for human beings. If those include illusory…even STYX Grand Illusion rock music from the 70’s… then we uncover secrets of the universe and more new science.

      This allows progress. This allows LISA measured gravity waves located on the same scale (but farther than and) beside radiowaves on the often atmosphere blocked electromagnetic scale. LISA is important to be built, instead of a Waxahatchie, Texas, USA 24 km of a larger planned 89 km SSC- Super Super Collider- as a stalled & nearly built effort…possible to awaken? Anyone here hired onto that? Ukrainia may stall CERN efforts.

      Huge efforts seem to require the plasma collective action of international participation & untold, LIGO-like courage- a #!@?ing complicated machine! Waxahatchie required a yearly billion dollar budget after building. Human minds are plasma… is gravity music? Then we need LISA music.

      CLG
      🙂
      🍵☕🍵🍵

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    • The awareness of what I can be sure of, arises with the “I am.” All our mental conditioning that forms in the waking state arises from the consciousness which, on one hand, follows the path of “I am.” Let’s then consider this period of wakefulness: consciousness would be completely linked to the EGO, which has neither a negative nor positive connotation but through which we have evolved to survive as a species. According to it, other factors have been born that make us human, such as emotions, feelings, thoughts, words, actions, habits, and even what we could call in this latter case: if I continue doing that habit over and over again, it will lead me to a certain place that can be called destiny.

      But this gives us a glimpse of our 50% of what we are, since there is another 50% that we find in our unconscious, and what I personally like to call without conditioning. Along this path, we can find our being, balancing our conscious with unconscious to live pleasantly focused on the present moment. What does this mean? That we all have all emotions (some clearly won’t have them due to pathologies). The issue is how you interpret that emotion into feeling and make it endure or not, making it dominate your life, control it, or have a practice like meditation and manage it as you wish, enter what you want to enter and leave what you want to leave or maintain, because life happens here, not in the past or future.

      So with this, I conclude since I could develop much on this topic. I trained as a meditation instructor to get to know my being, but just as theory is important, practice is even more so.

      Greetings to all. Anyone who wishes to contact me to discuss this topic, I leave my social networks:

      Instagram: sabach.meditacion
      Cell phone: +5492612530100

      La conciencia de lo que puedo estar seguro, nace con el “yo soy”. Todos nuestros condicionamientos mentales, que se nos forman en el estado de vigilia, nacen desde la conciencia que, por un lado, va por el camino del “yo soy”. Veamos entonces este período de vigilia: la conciencia estaría totalmente ligada al EGO, el cual no tiene una connotación ni negativa ni positiva, sino que a través de él hemos evolucionado para subsistir como especie. De acuerdo con él, han nacido otros factores que nos hacen humanos, como emociones, sentimientos, pensamientos, palabras, acciones, hábitos y hasta lo que podríamos denominar en este último caso: si sigo haciendo ese hábito una y otra vez, me llevará a un lugar determinado que se le puede llamar destino.

      Pero esto nos da un aliento de nuestro 50 % de lo que somos, ya que hay otro 50 % que lo encontramos en nuestro inconsciente, y a lo que personalmente me gusta llamar sin condicionamientos. En este trayecto podemos encontrar nuestro ser, equilibrando nuestro consciente con inconsciente para vivir enfocados agradablemente en el momento presente. ¿Qué quiere decir esto? Que todos tenemos todas las emociones (algunos por patologías claramente no las tendrán). El tema es cómo interpretas esa emoción en sentimiento y haces que perdure o no, haciendo que la misma domine tu vida, la controles o tengas ya una práctica como la meditación y la manejes como desees, entres a lo que quieras entrar y salgas de lo que quieras salir o te mantengas, ya que la vida pasa aquí, no en el pasado ni en el futuro.

      Entonces, con esto cierro ya que podría desarrollar mucho sobre este tema. Me formé como instructor de meditación para llegar a conocer mi ser, pero al igual que la teoría, es importante la práctica, que lo es aún más.

      Saludos a todos. Quien desee contactarme para hablar de este tema, dejo mis redes sociales:

      Instagram: sabach.meditacion
      Celular: +5492612530100

    • Consciousness is actually a temporary state that is limited by our cognitive functions. At this moment, we can be aware of reading this comment; our cognitive functions are doing the work through the brain. However, if we think about what we were doing when we were three years old, we will have little awareness of it, despite the fact that at that time we were conscious and had our cognitive faculties intact. Consciousness is the result of the union of brain systems that give rise to cognitive functions that, when united, produce a functional state.

    • Desde los inicios del universo, este se ha regido por sobre su curso natural, en donde la evolución y los cambios del mismo, conducen siempre a la supervivencia de los más aptos para habitarlo. Considerando nuestro reciente paso por el mismo, nos debe dejar orgullosos ser la especie dominante, sin destacar en aspectos fisiológicos o en tamaño del cerebro, hemos logrado funcionar como ningún otro, ser conscientes de al menos nuestra propia existencia. Seria grandioso descubrir la fisiología en donde se lleva a cabo la conciencia, si bien tenemos un acercamiento, aún no es univoco. Creo que la lupa también debería estar en ¿Qué pasaría si todas las personas tomaran a la conciencia como algo esencial para la supervivencia humana? ¿Cuál seria el impacto en nuestra especie? ¿Cómo pasaría a ser la vida en nuestro planeta?. Miles de preguntas rondan por mi mente, pero de lo que si estoy seguro es que cada vez estamos mas cerca de descubrir las incógnitas de la conciencia.

      Since the beginning of the universe, it has been governed by its natural course, where evolution and its changes always lead to the survival of the fittest to inhabit it. Considering our recent passage through it, it should make us proud to be the dominant species, without standing out in physiological aspects or brain size, we have managed to function like no other, to be aware of at least our own existence. It would be great to discover the physiology where consciousness takes place, although we have an approach, it is not yet univocal. I think the focus should also be on What would happen if all people took consciousness as something essential for human survival? What would be the impact on our species? What would life on our planet be like? Thousands of questions haunt my mind, but what I am sure of is that we are getting closer and closer to discovering the unknowns of consciousness.

      Desde o início do universo, ele tem sido governado por seu curso natural, onde a evolução e as mudanças no universo sempre levam à sobrevivência do mais apto a habitá-lo. Considerando nossa recente passagem por ele, devemos nos orgulhar de sermos a espécie dominante, pois sem nos destacarmos em aspectos fisiológicos ou no tamanho do cérebro, conseguimos funcionar como nenhum outro, para estarmos cientes pelo menos de nossa própria existência. Seria ótimo descobrir a fisiologia onde a consciência ocorre, embora tenhamos uma abordagem, ela ainda não é unívoca. Acho que o foco também deveria ser o que aconteceria se todas as pessoas assumissem a consciência como essencial para a sobrevivência humana? Qual seria o impacto em nossa espécie? Como seria a vida em nosso planeta? Milhares de perguntas passam pela minha cabeça, mas o que tenho certeza é que estamos cada vez mais perto de descobrir as incógnitas da consciência.

    • Our understanding is limited by our subjective experiences and perceptions, making it impossible to be certain about something that is completely subjective and personal.

    • The puzzle of consciousness is one of the most profound and unresolved questions in philosophy, neuroscience, and cognitive science. It revolves around understanding what consciousness is, how it arises from the brain, and why subjective experiences exist at all.

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