Consciousness Definition and 232 Threads

Hello, I'm new to this part of the forum and thought it might be fun to poke a stick into the hornet's nest (so to speak). Lot's of folks have alien abduction stories to tell, and lots of these stories have unsettling similarities. Some of these similarities are the apparent ability of...

In the material universe we know, through science we have discovered all kinds of natural laws. But suppose we discovered that consciousness itself is more fundamental than matter, or that consciousness can exist independantly from the physical. I have heard people say that science would...

Does our consciousness have a size? If so, what size would that be? If not, does that mean that it is everywhere or nowhere(nonlocal)?

I'm sure this has already been discussed before, so feel free to provide a link to past discussions. What if a person is annihilated, and then an EXACT replica of him is created. Since it's exact, the new person should have the same memories as the old one. So would being annihilated and...

Hi,after some PM discussion that went into this direction and a short check, I want to persent here a summary of some of the ideas involved concerning a link between the consciously experienced subjective world and physics. First of all, it is probably interesting to find out the controversy...

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/qe/pdfs/cemi_theory_paper.pdf I approached this initially with extreme skepticism, especially since it seemed impossible considering the myriad em fields we're immersed in without any perceptible effect on our consciousness, but I ultimately walked away viewing this...

This thread contains section 2 and part of section 1 of a 5 section paper I'm writing regarding consciousness. Section 2 is intended to create a more general theory around something used in engineering called "control volumes". I've also included part of section 1, the abstract, to provide a...

I have worked on this and would like some feedback. Sorry if the thread does not match the quality standards of this forum. This is my second attempt, and if it don't work just drop a message that I'll delete it ASAP or move it to a proper forum. Thank you for anyone that will take the time for...

There are a few threads about determinism here and a few about interpretations of quantum mechanics, so I thought I'd start one that combines them. Determinism is nicely defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as: Ref: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/determinism-causal/"...

Is it possible to move ones own consciousness inside the brain? For example is it possible to move it to the left or right a little bit, or to the back, or even down the brainstem?

What is beyond consciousness?

Does modern physics need to expand its current ontology to cater for the existence of qualia and consciousness, or is it possible that these phenomena could be explained entirely within our current physical framework of matter, energy, space and time (or possibly strings)?

We don't know what part of the brain experiences events (I think). it probably goes throgh change, as other parts of the brain do (neurons move, make connections, change things). The question is: will my awareness change in such a way that my future experiences will be experienced by another...

Note: This post has been split off from this thread. -hypnagogue ------ Your principle objection seems to be to the knowledge claims of mystics and meditators. It's a reasonable objection, and one I made for about forty years, but it does not hold up to analysis. This is because those...

Having constructed a new theory of causation that culminated with the introduction of the Central Thesis in chapter 12, we are in position to offer a promising new account of what human consciousness is and what causal relationships it shares with the physical. Recall the definition of the...

Expansion of Consciousness ( from http://brainmeta.com/index.php?q=expanding-consciousness ) We are the Universe conscious of Itself Introduction The evolution and expansion of consciousness is inevitable. With the expansion of consciousness comes new ways of seeing reality...

1.I don't know if you have heard about this,but scientists supposedly tested thousand people who prayed in church for minimizing crime in Detroit(I think it was Detroit or some other city).The supposed result was that has been minimized for about 20% to 52% in each part of the city. Does this...

The universe is quantum mechanically. But no one understands quantum mechanics, as Feynman put it. On the one hand the pivotal role and accuracy of QM in describing nature. On the other hand the inability to interpret QM (1. quantum reality- what is a superposed state? 2. measurement problem-...

Since my brain is made of atoms I question as to whether atoms are conscious, at least in the brain but possibly even in inanimate objects, possibly varying levels of self awareness.

I just read this and I wondered about it How are consciousness and energy related? We have three options: (1) Consciousness is a physical form of energy (even if it is very, very subtle energy); (2) Consciousness is a non-physical form of energy; (3) Consciousness is not any form of...

I have a few questions that had been bothering me the past few days. First off, why am I born with this particular consciousness and why am i born this "way" as oppose to an infinite other possibilities? Is it because this is how the chemicals in my brain happened to arranged itself out of all...

how can a seires of electical imoulses in the brain generate consiusness

I have brought this discussion over from the thread discussing Chapter 7 of "A Place for Consciousness". I think it would. First of all, we aren't really sure how we act naturally in the world. I happen to think that we act the way we do because we are vehicles being driven by a consciousness...

In defining consciousness as it relates to humans, is it reasonable to assume that extra terrestrial life having evolved to an equivalent or higher state will interact with the physical universe in the same way, put simply do you think aliens think/experience like us on a deeper level ?

I wanted to see if any of you had thoughts on the following: our feelings and emotions appear to be markers of old evolutionary imperatives (fight, flee, eat, etc.). The mind/body debate in philosophy got started before evolutionary theory was accepted (Descartes evidently thought animals were...

If the physical world is causally closed, then there is a physical reason we talk about something called "consciousness." Any claims we might make that it can't be physically explained become somewhat outlandish, since the reason we make these claims can be. But even if the physical isn't...

The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach, by Christof Koch "Product Description: Consciousness is one of science’s last great unsolved mysteries. How can the salty taste and crunchy texture of potato chips, the unmistakable smell of dogs after they have been in the rain, or...

In this opening chapter, Rosenberg touches on what phenomenal consciousness is and the philosophical problems it poses, and proceeds to develop a sketch of how his conceptual framework will place it within the natural order. What is phenomenal consciousness (also known as p-consciousness...

This is only a fragment of an idea, but I thought I'd post it to see if anyone else had thought about this and had anything interesting to contribute. We are parts of the universe, and we observe it. This is a kind of self-reference. Other examples of self-reference include those typically...

http://www.julianjaynes.org/pdf/jaynes_mind.pdf

what exactly is the hard problem of consciousness? why is it hard?

Having recently read a chapter of a book entitled "Consciousness and Its Objects", i have run into some confusion. The article in its most basic form questions what we are conscious of when we are, well, conscious. It continues to state that we are conscious of ideas which we acquire through...

I am starting this thread because the other one with regard to consciousness is so long that I doubt I would be able to interject what my researches have found nor do I have time to read through all of it. Recently I read a book named The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the...

I originally posted this under philosophy and someone suggested I go here though it may be a little speculative for some but here goes. I don't know how widely accepted in the physics community nonlocality is. From the double-slit experiment and Aspect's results it seems that nonlocality...

Since the evolution of homo sapiens it appears that there have been some shifts in human consciousness. There have been shifts from a consciousness of hunting and gathering to the eventual consciousness that gave rise to agricultural societies. From this we have rise to our present industrial...

I don't know how widely accepted in the physics community nonlocality is. From the double-slit experiment and Aspect's results it seems that nonlocality seems to be a true attribute of the world around us. This being the case, if subatomic particles are "nonlocal" then so is my brain and...

Facing Up to the Problems of "Facing Up to the Problems of Consciousness" These are actually just problems I have which may be resolved with some clarification- I just couldn't resist that title. (Yes, I know, I'm SO original. :rolleyes: ) BTW I ended up asking more questions than I intended...

Group reading/discussion of "A Place for Consciousness" The purpose of this poll is to gauge forum interest in a group reading and discussion of Gregg Rosenberg's newly released book, A Place for Consciousness. I propose this endeavor because I believe the work is genuinely important enough...

Here's something I wrote, comment on whatever portions you'd like, I tried to put everything into one piece. Imagine the Universe right before the Big Bang. A small perfect sphere of energy. This ball then explodes, sending trillions and trillions of small particles out into nothingness...

The only thing we know is conscious - ourselves - is a lifeform based on carbon, which is in group 4 of the Periodic Table.Silicon is too.Since silicon is found in computers this raises an intriguing possibility that computers could experience emotions and colours and sounds and so on.Silicon...

http://noosphere.princeton.edu/story.html http://www.boundaryinstitute.org/articles/EGG_Salad.pdf also see: http://www.boundaryinstitute.org/randomness.htm http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2320/is_3_65/ai_83262438

If everything happening around us can be explained scientifically, then surely, the way we behave need also to be explained. Do we understand the physics behind consciousness.

Do we experience the passage of time or the advance of consciousness - are we passively experiencing the universe or actively creating it?

coincidence & consciousness I was thinking that if you knew all information about the Big Bang, then you would be able to, with a powerful enough computer, calculate the future(you could calculate every action of every particle and the result of it on all other particles, till the end of...

How well does the following represent an ordering for degrees of consciousness? 1. Being 2. Sensation 3. Action 4. Observation 5. Interpretation 6. Intercommunication 7. Participation

Using the commonly believed logic that animals have "less" of a consciousness than a human if none at all, is it reasonable to assume that while our brains are still developing at an early age (up until about 16?), we were perhaps "less" conscious as kids as we are now? I've really thought...

Consciousness: we know it occurs when there is electrical activity in our brains, but what is this thing "consciousness" that is associated with electrical activity? When we are asleep and unconscious we are not aware of space or time. So consciousness involves awareness of space and time...

Or does it exist outside the physical universe? This is a little old, but it seems there’s a lot of confusion surrounding this topic. Not only that but it seems consciousness has only been brought back into science since quantum mechanics was introduced. Wasn’t sure where to post this so...

Suppose I store all information related to my consciousness or mind - memory, personality, IQ level, knowledge, and etc. - into a computer (when we've that kind of tecnology, of course). Now this data is equivilant to everything of me. Then I give this computer a body for it to move and excecute...

AN EMPIRICAL INDUCTIVE METHOD Metaphysics in philosophy has always had a big problem: evidence. The approach in the past was to assume facts a priori, and then for discussions to proceed rationalistically. Most thinkers now understand that with logic alone we discover little about the...