original posted to reddit May.13.2019
Consciousness Notes
The meaning for me... consciousness is an emergent property of nervous systems, the more complex, the more conscious, or aware, or perceptive (all closely related labels). Plants have no nerves, but they have vascular networks that are similar to nerves. Instead of electro-chemical pulses, vascular systems transmit fluid solutions (slowly compared to nerves). That's why water is so crucial to life. Fungi have mycelia, which serve a similar function as plant's roots. Indeed, the two entities often have symbiotic relationships together.
All these network systems self assembled via evolution to mediate an organism's physiology to its environment, in order to survive. (Order is a good word for it, life is a function on the edge between the chaos of fire and cold crystalline inertness.) As these networks became more and more complex, functionality sometimes became hyper-performing, overshooting the original function set, enabling very complex behaviors, some of which were superfluous to survival. Fun and pleasure evolved along with basic survival instincts as by-products of behavior reinforcement mechanisms (learning to stay alive).
It so happens that humans developed a neurological system capable of creativity and abstraction; further, to an epi-network called culture that allows new levels of (cultural) consciousness, and someday soon, machines will have networks as good as or better than humans. Which means machines will be conscious too, and eventually more so than humans, but in their own ways.
Consciousness comes in many different styles, or flavors, which depend on the hardware, or substrate that allows them. It must develop along with the maturation of the organism in both physical and experiential arenas (nature + nurture). But some cases have a multiplex interactive relationship with neighbors, social species or integrated collections, like a forest environment.
In case of humans, there is an additional realm of consciousness, associated with culture, especially language and a legacy of knowledge attained from cultural records, eg. oral tradition, literature, architecture, artifacts, technological methods, etc. In the case of cultural consciousness, it also develops along physical and experiential arenas, kept in motion by records and memes.
Humans tend to think their own consciousness is unique, but empathic observation of animals reveals our own emotions are mirrored in animal behavior. See next video.
What animals are thinking and feeling, and why it should matter | Carl Safina | TEDxMidAtlantic 16.5 min
Consciousness has been something of a mystery for a long time. There is the idea that consciousness is something beyond our material selves, that it is bound up with spirit, soul, chi, or many other words like them. My view is that conflating consciousness with these mystical ideas are simply works of imagination. Therefore, death is cessation of consciousness. All that remains of the life are the body and the records (works).
There are many, many articles and videos on this topic. I've gone thru them for many months before deciding to post this, inspired by the previous video about animals. To offer a long list of those others would simply confuse the issue.
Amen.
edit Oct.21.2019 Self-Aware Robots Are Redefining Consciousness 7 min
edit Sep.23.2020 Spider's consciousness, a web of deceit "stronger than steel" (relatively) Is a Spider's Web a Part of Its Mind? 4.7 min | PBS
appended Sep.22.2020, original posted to reddit May.13.2019
Enumerated Senses (Humans) and Consciousness
Making Sense of a simplified Tradition
Traditional, Officially Recognized 5 Senses | vsblbdy
Five Senses: Facts | IDtv.scitrk
additional senses: also have the sense of balance, pressure, temperature, pain,
and motion, a combination of balance and visual. See previous wikipedia link for excellent elaboration.
6th Sense (def) aka ESP
6th Sense | wkdpd
Sensory Receptors
How does the sense of touch work? | shrcr
Human sensory reception | brtnca
SENSORY PATHWAYS | hmnrofiz
Sensations, 5 Senses (Psychology) 2019 | Erptmnd
Is sensation equal to consciousness?
what is sentience?
What is the difference between perception and consciousness? | qra
Introduction to Sensation and Perception
Sensation (psychology) | wkpd
Consciousness Is the Psychology of Awareness 2019 | vrywl
THEORIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS for transhumanism | brnprsv
Mind/Brain Identity Theory 2007 | stfdphl
Is personality equal to consciousness?
Core Consciousness; Carl Jung's Model
Carl Jung Quotes About Consciousness | AZQ
Big 5 personality traits | wkpd
If consciousness is multi-layered, is that a result of the brain's neural networks?
How our brain generates consciousness; and loses it 2019 | NrsciNws
A research team led by Columbia University hypothesized that a person’s ability to discriminate between a set of alternatives at any moment should be rooted in micro-patterns of activity, or microstates, at the level of local neuronal ensembles – the functional building blocks of neural circuits.
Here’s How to Get to Conscious Machines, Neuroscientists Say 2017 | snglhb
Neural Networks and the Computational Brain | trntoU
Understanding the Brain, Help from AI 2019
Neurons need company. Individually, these cells can achieve little, however when they join forces neurons form a powerful network which controls our behavior, among other things. (Emergence)
searching for s/consciousness
study notes
Consciousness notes
wisdom of __
https://issuu.com/helyipenz/docs/charles_eisenstein_-_the_ascent_of__df28d443d7f6f4
Illustrated
Enumerated Senses
5 senses art collection
How Europeans evolved white skin 2015 | scimag
there doesn't seem to be anything here