Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
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Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#2Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details.
Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need?
Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it?
Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and the subconscious in the brain.
It's like the "I" is an impostor taking over the body. Theories and writings around the "soul" have been around since the dawn of civilization.
Clearly, it worked for the species, but was it really necessary or just a fluke?
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#3Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details. Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need? Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it? Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and…
Well, here's my hypothesis: first, humanity's greatest invention is society. Our ability to work together to achieve larger aims--hunting, planting, protection, invention, etc--makes us unique.
This explains, for example, the complexity of language.
But it also explains the evolutionary benefits of consciousness. I would claim that for society to function we need a sense of self, as that allows us to reason about our role in society, the benefits we gain from pro-social behaviour, etc
Basically, without an "I" there's no "we".
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#4Another nice article trying to drum up support for the idea of a soul (yes, in the religious sense), in this Templeton Foundation-supported magazine.
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#5Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details. Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need? Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it? Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and…
>Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need?
Presumably for social awareness and theory, for the purposes of child care and social living. Reading the intent and feelings of others. In other words, anything with a Cortex.
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#6Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details. Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need? Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it? Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and…
> why did consciousness arise? What was the need?
It may be just a property of matter. If you set up matter in certain way, it gains consciousness. And that certain way is needed for intelligence.
Maybe another good question is can intelligence exist without consciousness ?
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#7Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details. Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need? Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it? Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and…
Well, here's my hypothesis: first, humanity's greatest invention is society. Our ability to work together to achieve larger aims--hunting, planting, protection, invention, etc--makes us unique. This explains, for example, the complexity of language. But it also explains the evolutionary benefits of consciousness. I would claim that for society to function we need a sense of self, as that allows us to reason about our…
> Our ability to work together to achieve larger aims [...] makes us unique.
counter-example: thermites, ants, bees.
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#8Tangent by PhD student in Cognitive Science here - My current belief is that consciousness arises at the cross section of 3 core skills: Theory of Mind [0], Autobiographic Episodic Memory [1], and Embodied Cognition [2].
Principally, recognizing that other people have intentions and beliefs different from your own, being able to understand that you have experienced a timeline of personal experiences and these contribute to who you are, and that you are a physical being that can think in-situ as well as plan your physical actions in the future.
I'm favoriting this link and will try to return to it after my dissertation is done for reflection.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_cognition
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#9Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details. Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need? Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it? Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and…
The 'self conscious I' can make logical inferences about the future and decisions about one's own wellbeing that are sometimes at odds with our lower impulses which govern most of our behaviour, and that's mostly it I think.
'Hunger' is something that has been with us for 200 million years of evolution.
'Emotions' since the dawn of Mammals roughly.
Developed cognition to the degree where we can even try to very conscientiously adapt our behaviour towards achieving goals - this is a very new thing.
I think it makes a lot of sense that we 'really want to eat that cupcake, but also try not to'.
Re: Are the brain’s electromagnetic fields the seat of consciousness?
#10Well it's an easier read than this: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2020/1/niaa016/5909853 but it lacks details. Regardless, my question is why did consciousness arise? What was the need? Would humans not have been able to achieve unprecedented control over the environment without it? Everything I read about self-control (which is a major problem of mine) points to an eternal battle between the conscious self and…
> why did consciousness arise? What was the need? It may be just a property of matter. If you set up matter in certain way, it gains consciousness. And that certain way is needed for intelligence. Maybe another good question is can intelligence exist without consciousness ?
The book Blindsight by Peter Watts addresses this in a sci-fi context.