Our Consciousness

IronGland

Once again while meditating in my pod, thoughts began to enter my mind. Thoughts that I did not ask to recieve. Consider: If we believe Murray Gel-Mann there is nothing supernatural about quarks, they have charge and spin and no holy grail. With no hidden variables available for contention it seems reasonable to believe, logical as some intellects would say, that the composite particles, which are those which arise from combining cartain types of quarks would have no supernatural bias. If we follow this line of reasoning the correlates of consciousness would have to consist of purely natural substance interacting in such a manner that a conscious effect is achieved - A pure physical science.

Here is my take on the correlates of consciousness. It consists purely of sets of motion detectors arranged in a certain topology which allows detection outside of itself. Some may claim this is the conscious particle, but it is not, it cannot be, it only affords not-being-blind-to things other than itself.

I am not claiming I have the topology all worked out and in place but I am claiming that the base of consciousness is motion detectors or motion sensors, as some of the learned may put it, at that unitary level.

Do any of you sense a difficulty in accepting this physical base of the physical theory of consciousness

Terry

Complexity is largely not.

A gnat zigs and zags; but, so do his companions. The swarm consists of the community of gnats. This community has, from millisecond to millisecond a configuration in three dimensions. As the zigs and the zags combine and reconfigure the shape of the swarm varies.

Now the limits of the gnat are such that the speed of the zigs and zags has a maximum velocity. So too with the swarm constituency. Were one to plot the course of each gnat in time and space and correlate that pattern with all the gnats in the swarm there would be a body of data descriptive of the phenomena in that time and place.

Is this complexity? In so far as the process of description must be rigorous observations, measurements and equations---perhaps this plotting and describing could be termed complex. But, essentially it is just a moving gnat; so are they all, all moving gnats.

Go deeper still and the gnats are made of molecules which consist of atoms. The atoms have motion not dissimilar to the gnats of zigs and zags, etc.

The atoms consist of further components each in their course smaller and smaller zigging and zagging.

To describe all of this one resorts to models. The models are mathematical. At some point the mind of man is no longer merely observing the movement of a gnat; but, instead is caught up in the process of modeling and describing the shape and movement of many gnats.

The MIND is a swarm too.

How we describe the mind really comes down to our common denominator of description. Numbers and velocity. Our comprehension of this finds a colorless analogy. The comprehension is a phenomenon just as the swarm is a phenomenon. One draws the line in a sort of series of "snapshot" captured moments plotted on a graph.

The mind is indeed physical. But, it is in motion and it is teeming with tiny moments of ordinary and unremarkable plotpoints. And, just as a large enough container of pennies can buy you a new Mercedes convertible, so too, enough plotpoints will buy you an idea.

An idea is a kind of latent image (plotpoint) retained and connected to the next until an overall picture emerges of the swarm (concept) and the individual gnat ceases to have the meaning the total swarm now has.

Terry

IronGland

Thank you for your comments Terry. I enjoy your work.

Flash

I am not claiming I have the topology all worked out and in place but I am claiming that the base of consciousness is motion detectors or motion sensors, as some of the learned may put it, at that unitary level.

Do any of you sense a difficulty in accepting this physical base of the physical theory of consciousness

Hmmm, the mechanics of self awareness...deep. Some of the language used is over my head, yet I think I get it. Your saying consciousness is based on a cause and effect relationship with our suroundings, right? How would you factor in our intuitive abilities into that?

Narkissos

Interesting.

I feel consciousness emerges from perceived difference. Motion sure falls into that category. But is all difference reducible to motion?

AlmostAtheist

It's kind of hard to imagine that Microsoft Excel is just 1's and 0's, arranged in a certain order and executed sequentially, but it is just that. I think you're right, it is actually many simple things happening at once.

The "at once" part is interesting, too. How often have you found your "mind" using your body at cross-purposes? For instance, you make an error typing so you hit backspace and type the correct letter. Except you type the correct letter first, then backspace it away. Phooey! So you try again, and do it again! There is more to the picture than simple sequential execution, but it is still simple enough to trip over itself.

Or maybe that's just em. Er.. me.

Dave

frankiespeakin

Iron,

If everything is really "one" maybe "one" is just consciousness,,I think consciousness is the ground of being and in the process of becoming we have movement in these 4 dimensions of time and space as a result,, if everything is really one,, there is no before and after these are illusions od time,,only the present is,,all this movenemt is how our thoughts experience time,,but if everything is "one" then and everything is conscious to the degree of its nessarry scope like human with humans and gorillas and all the way down and beyond sub-atomic particles,,and all the way up to suns,,galaxies,,galaxy clusters and beyond this for who know how far.

I think that we precieve solids and things that make up the space around us only in our thoughts,,and our form of consciousness. There must be other forms of consciousness far surpassing ours. And I wounder if everything is "one" if that is conscious of everything and it must be everything. I think if we can quiet our thoughts,,have the ego release us that we disintergrate into complete oneness. Maybe oneness is not the right word but I'm sure somebody will come up with a better concept than oneness.

I think you started a good subject,, that would be best approached non-dogmatically. There are some I'm sure that have had the "unity" experience. They say you can't speak correctly in concept of the human mind because it would never match what you are speaking about. They say they can only point in the general direction but never explane clearly.

funkyderek

frankiespeakin:

If everything is really "one"

Who says it is?

maybe "one" is just consciousness

What does that mean exactly?

I think consciousness is the ground of being and in the process of becoming we have movement in these 4 dimensions of time and space as a result,

I think it's the other way around, that consciousness is an emergent property of the configuration of our brains. Do you believe we live in a completely imaginary universe?

I think that we precieve solids and things that make up the space around us only in our thoughts,,and our form of consciousness.

Obviously, we can only perceive what we are physically able to perceive. Everything is filtered through our minds.

There must be other forms of consciousness far surpassing ours.

Why do you believe this? It certainly doesn't follow from what you stated previously. I don't see anything that precludes human consciousness (limited as it is) being the most advanced in the universe.

While the exact nature and cause of consciousness is a little difficult to pin down, it appears to be entirely a function of our brains. It may also have a supernatural component but I can see no reason to believe so.

Amazing1914

After reading the foregoing, the Catholic teaching that God created within us an immortal soul is starting to make a lot more sense.

El blanko

I am greater than the sum total of my parts.

I refuse to believe that the I that I feel is that lump of grey matter in my head.

To pin consciousness down merely to the physical, I find ridiculous.

Our Consciousness

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