Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- .This section is about consciousness. Topics include: ( ) Definitions and types of consciouness. ( ) Freewill and consciousness ( ) Self identity and consciousness. ( ) Unconsciousness and consciousness. ( ) Unified sensory image. ( ) Evolution of consciousness. ( ) Awareness, attention (see following). --- 1/24/2006
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) Consciousness defined as sensory awareness of the environment external to the body, and sensory awareness of the environment internal to the body. (2) This is not a simple idea. For example, with regard to the internal environment of the body, our brain monitors and controls our flow of lymph, and so the brain is in some way aware of the flow of lymph, but the person has no awareness that their brain is controlling their flow of lymph. Humans do not say, "I sense that my lymph levels are low, so I better adjust them". However, some things in our internal environment we do have some awareness of, for example, we sense the pain of a sprained ankle. (3) If humans were aware of everything in their internal and external environment in the same way that our brains are aware of our lymph levels then our behavior would be automatic, unvarying and we would have no freewill. This is the way insects behave, even the social insects like ants and bees. (3) A similar situation can exist in regard to the environment external to the body. We can imagine that some animals are aware of their external environment in the same way that the human brain controls lymph without the awareness of the person. Humans are aware of their external environment in a different way than the way our brains monitor lymph levels. --- 5/22/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) Some humans think that humans are the best. The best at destroying the world perhaps. (2) Some humans think that the human mind is best, and think that human consciousness is best, but that is also a mistaken view. (3) Human vanity and egoism is destroying the world. --- 3/11/2007
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) Some people distinguish between consciousness as awareness of environment versus consciousness as self awareness. But if you can see your environment then you can probably also see your own body. And if you can see your own body then you have some degree of self awareness. So self awareness is included along with environmental awareness. (2) Another factor is consciousness with language versus without language. Humans have consciousness with language. Other animals have consciousness without language. Language lets you give yourself a name. Language lets you put the label "I" on all the self awareness sensations that you have. --- 2/27/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) The more you can do, including thinking, the more conscious you are. (2) The more freewill you have the more conscious you are. --- 5/15/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) There are many definitions of consciousness. (2) For each definition of consciousness there are many types of consciousness. (3) For each type of consciousness there are many levels of consciousness. --- 1/25/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) Thinking-based view of consciousness, language version. Consciousness means being able to think, when thinking is defined as talking to yourself. (2) Memory-based view of consciousness. Consciousness means sensing your environment and storing information in memory for later recall. A picture in mind. (3) Freewill-based view of consciousness. Consciousness means having freewill, not being an automaton. (4) Self identity based view of consciousness. Consciousness means having a concept of "I". It means being able to recognize yourself in a mirror, which is something that humans, apes and dolphins can do. --- 5/23/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) What is consciousness? There are various definitions and uses of the word "consciousness". (2) Is consciousness the same thing as mind? No. Is a theory of consciousness the same thing as a theory of mind? No. Can there be minds that are not conscious? Yes. Can there be consciousness without a mind? No. (3) Is consciousness the same thing as intelligence? Can there be intelligent minds that are not conscious? Yes, animals that are intelligent but not conscious. By "animals", I mean "non-human animals", since humans are one species of animal. --- 6/13/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- (1) What would consciousness be like without language? (2) What would consciousness be like without a sense of self? (3) What would consciousness be like without freewill? (4) What would consciousness be like without the unified sensory image of the "movie in the mind". --- 12/2/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- An animal that posseses image thinking could only be "body conscious" or aware of physical self. An animal that possesses language thinking is more likely to be aware of its own mind. --- 5/27/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Any mental phenomena above instinct is conscious. Animals that are not 100% instinct-driven are conscious to some degree. Animals that are not 100% instinct-driven are capable of learning, which gives them a survival advantage. Thus, consciousness emerges, and by this definition many animals are conscious, not only humans are conscious. --- 5/25/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Awareness, definitions of. "Aware" as capable of reacting. "Will" as capable of acting. --- 6/3/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Awareness, definitions of. (1) Unconsciously aware of both yourself and your environment. All animals are aware of their environment on some level. And all animals are probably unconsciously aware of themselves in the sense that they have a system of internal monitoring. (This is a different use of the term "unconscious awareness" than the one Freud used). (2) Consciously aware of environment but unconsciously aware of self. There are perhaps many mammals that have this ability. (3) Consciously aware of both yourself and your environment. This can have two components: (A) Consciously aware of the mind. (B) Consciously aware of the body. This is what humans typically call "consciousness". Dolphins, chimps, apes and a few other animals probably have this ability. --- 6/3/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Consciousness defined as talking to yourself. I.e., consciousness defined as interior monologue. To define consciousness as talking to yourself is to equate consciousness with language ability. Some humans, namely infants, have not acquired language yet. Are we ready to say that infants are not conscious? No. Or, to put it another way, are we ready to say that people who have quieted their minds of all thought, for example Zen monks, these people are not conscious? No. --- 5/22/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Consciousness is not an "all or nothing" phenomenon that only humans possess. Consciousness comes in degrees. Many animal species are conscious, although not in exactly the same way that humans are conscious. --- 5/27/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Consciousness is not the only defining psychological trait of human beings, nor is it the most important psychological trait of human beings. (1) Consciousness is not the only trait that humans seem to have more of than animals do. There are also the traits of language, culture, thinking, tool making, opposable thumbs, long childhoods for learning, etc. (2) Consciousness is not the most important trait. I would much rather be aware of my environment than be self-aware (conscious) of myself. --- 5/27/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Definitions of consciousness. PART ONE. (1) The unified sensory image. See also, Psychology, sense and perception. The complete working of all senses together (sight, sound, taste, smell, touch). The unified sensory movie, this is perhaps what we are conscious of, but it is not what consciousness actually is, or is it? PART TWO. Recognition of self. The sense of self. (1) The recognition of physical self. See also, Psychology, personality, self. (A) Recognition of the body. You can see and feel your body. You sense your physical self as a unified object. (B) You can observe that you can control all parts of your body to some degree. (2) Recognition of psychological self. Observing that you have some degree of self control over your mental activities. For example, you can decide what to think about. PART THREE. The recognition of social self. Observing that there are other humans out there. We are to some degree autonomous as individuals, yet we also interact socially. PART FOUR. Recognition of "natural" self: occurs when we observe the natural world and figure out that we are not rocks and trees. When we experience and learn about nature we actually learn about ourselves too. PART FIVE. Recognition of our historical self: occurs as time goes by, a series of events and experiences occur, and we change from child to teen to adult to old age. Our temporal self thus has three parts: the passage of time; the events that occur; and the change of ourselves. Consider hypotheticals in which these three requirements did not take place. In principle, time could pass without us ever experiencing any diverse events, which would be a strange phenomenon. In principle, time could pass without us ever changing from child to old age, which would also be a strange phenomenon. PART SIX. All these types of selves interact. Each type of self helps develop the other types of self. --- 5/25/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Definitions of consciousness. PART ONE. Definitions of "unconscious". (1) Either "knocked out" or asleep. (2) Freudian unconscious. Repressed. Buried. Can't recall. (3) Unaware of because your attention was not directed at it. PART TWO. Consciousness, definitions of. (1) Opposite of 1 above. Awake. (2) Opposite of 2 above. Freudian consciousness. (3) Opposite of 3 above. Paying attention to. Focused on. (4) Unified sensory image. Able to talk about a perceived unified sensory image. (5) Aware of self. Able to talk about self. (6) How is consciousness thus dependent on memory? (7) How is consciousness dependent on language? --- 6/13/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Definitions of consciousness. There are many uses of the word "conscious". (1) Some people use the word "conscious" to mean the same as "having knowledge of". For example, "Did you know the earth is round?" "Yes, I am conscious of that fact. I know that fact." (2) Some people use the term "conscious" to mean the same as "paying attention to". Consciousness defined as directed awareness. --- 6/14/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Definitions or levels of consciousness. (1) Aware of the environment. (2) The above plus emotion. (3) The above plus ability to think. (4) The above plus self consciousness. --- 9/20/1998
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Definitions or levels of consciousness. Three levels of consciousness. (1) Focused: thinking. (2) Conscious: Zen, ungrasping, day dreaming, experience, undirectedness. (3) Unconscious: sleep, knocked out. --- 02/01/1994
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Definitons or types of consciousness. (1) To be able to direct one's thoughts, to be able to say to oneself, "I can think about whatever I want.", requires words, language, and requires talking to oneself. This is a component of consciousness. (2) Another component of consciousness is the seemingly unified audio/video experience when all our senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste) are working together. This component is another aspect of consciousness. One could even call it another definition of consciousness. One could even call it another type of consciousness. Many animals besides humans have the hardware to produce a unified sensory input experience. So to that extent many animals may be conscious. But, using the notion from part 1, to what extent are these animals able to talk to themselves about the movie that they see? --- 6/23/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Freewill and consciousness. Conscious beings have some degree of freewill because they can control and direct their thoughts even if unable to take physical action. Freewill implies a degree of responsibility. Therefore, conscious beings have a measure of responsibility. --- 10/13/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Freewill. If human behavior was automatic and unvarying then humans would have no freewill. Freewill is necessary for the wide ranging thinking ability that language enables. --- 5/23/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- How important is consciousness? (1) Is consciousness a cause or an effect of the other abilities of the brain, such as memory, emotion and thinking? (2) Is consciousness a necessary ability for the other abilities of the mind to occur, such as memory, emotion and thinking? Is consciousness a necessary and sufficient condition for the other abilities of the mind, such as memory, emotion and thinking? --- 12/14/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- How important is consciousness? If humans can explain consciousness, then will that knowledge explain everything about the mind? No. How important is consciousness relative to other functions of the mind like memory, emotion, thinking and language? --- 12/14/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- I am a consciousness deflationist. (1) Deflationary view of consciousness. Consciousness is an effect or by-product of an animal having senses, memory, emotion, thought and language. (2) Inflationary view of consciousness. Consciousness is a cause, not an effect, of having senses, memory, emotion, thought and language. --- 1/25/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Language and consciousness. An animal that has language ability, and that thinks by using language, has a different type and degree of consciousness than an animal that does not have language ability. --- 4/16/2006
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Language and consciousness. Consciousness is merely the individual talking to self. Consciousness is a by-product of the development of animal communication. --- 1/25/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- One could argue that consciousness is simply knowing a lot about your environment. Simple animals know little about their environment and thus are not conscious. Complex animals know much more about their world and thus they qualify as conscious. Consciousness is knowledge, and knowledge is based on memory. The more you know, the more conscious you are. --- 5/15/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Self identity and consciousness. To be able to recognize yourself in a mirror is to have a sense of self identity. Apes, dolphins and humans have this ability. What is the relation between having a sense of self identity and being conscious? --- 5/30/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Self identity and consciousness. To be able to refer to yourself by using your own name is a big step towards self consciousness. When did this occur in ancient humans? Do solitary animals name themselves or even have a notion of "me"? Social animals might have need to name each other, and thus develop a notion of "me" in relation to others. --- 5/27/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Some people make a big deal out of consciousness because they think an entity is either conscious or not, and they think humans are conscious and the other animals are not. However, there may be varying degrees of consciousness, and the other animals may posses varying degrees of consciousness. In this light consciousness is not as big a deal. --- 6/14/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- There are many types and degrees of consciousness. --- 4/16/2006
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Traits supposedly limited to humans. Consciousness, language, culture, thinking, tool making, thumbs, long childhoods, etc. To what degree are these traits dependent on each other? Can you think without language? Can you be conscious without thinking? (List all combos). --- 5/27/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Traits supposedly limited to humans. Consciousness, language, culture, toolmaking, are traits possessed by animals besides humans (ex. chimpanzees). Humans can do some things better than other animals, but other animals can do some things better than humans. --- 6/13/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Types of consciousness. (1) Sense = consciousness. This is not a plausible a view. (2) Sense + memory = consciousness. This is a somewhat plausible view for a limited definition of consciousness. (3) Sense + memory + emotion = consciousness. This view is about as plausible as view number two. (4) Sense + memory + emotion + thought = consciousness. This is plausible view for non-human animal consciousness. (5) Sense + memory + emotion + thought + language = consciousness. This is a view of human consciousness. --- 1/25/2005
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Unconsciousness and consciousness. Relation of unconsciousness to consciousness. If we didn't have a conscious mind then our unconscious mind would be vastly different. Consciousness is not a layer on top of unconsciousness. Rather, unconsciousness is dependent on consciousness. For example, the ability of the human unconscious mind to manipulate symbols, as expressed in dreams, is a result of the ability of the human conscious mind to manipulate symbols. If this is true, then the unconscious minds of animals that lack consciousness are vastly different than the unconscious minds of humans and other animals that have consciousness. --- 12/7/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Unconsciousness and consciousness. The subconscious is even more wide ranging than the conscious. And the subconscious is even more difficult to focus and direct than the conscious. How to get the subconscious working for you to solve a problem? (1) Strong conscious desire ("I really want this") can cause the subconscious to kick into gear. (2) Long hours of conscious work can help convince the subconscious that "This is important", and thus get the subconscious to work. --- 1/7/1999
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Unconsciousness and consciousness. What is the content, structure and mechanism of the subconscious mind? Well, we can safely say that it is not as orderly as the conscious mind. That is, if dreams are any indication. --- 6/3/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Unconsciousnesss and consciousness. When you are awake is your unconscious mind doing every brain function that your conscious mind does? Sense, memory, emotion, thinking, and attitude? --- 12/20/1998
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- We are not conscious in real time. There is a split second processing delay between when event occur and when we perceive them. --- 6/2/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Why are philosophers so amazed at consciousness? Why are philosophers of mind so amazed that humans have a sense of self? If humans can sense (see, hear, taste, feel, smell) that we have a unified body, and if we can observe that we have control over that body, then what is the big deal about having a sense of physical self. Surely, many animals have a sense of physical self. --- 5/25/2002
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Why is consciousness important? Can one "think" without being conscious? If consciousness is a prerequisite for thought then consciousness is important. If consciousness is not a prerequisite for thought then consciousness is not as important. "Thought" meaning active thought used for communication, problem solving, decision making, etc., not passive thought like one does in dreams. --- 10/13/2004
Psychology, mind, consciousness. --- Why is it good that there be in this world conscious animals like humans that can remember, feel and think? Do conscious entities in the universe make the universe a better place? That remains to be seen. Conscious beings add meaning to the universe. And one could argue that any increase in meaning is good. Regardless, given that conscious entities exist, we should understand what is consciousness, we should understand how consciousness works, and we should understand the implications of consciousness. --- 10/13/2004