Is Our Consciousness Really.. Just Us.. Thinking? \ stacker news ~ideasfromtheedge

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Is Our Consciousness Really.. Just Us.. Thinking?

1989 sats \ 14 comments \ @2137003447 5 Sep ideasfromtheedge

I'm doing this for a school project, and I ended up being really interested it. Here's a kind of introduction draft to the powerpoint Enjoy:)

Is consciousness already in our brains or is it part of something much bigger? We tend to think of our brains as creating consciousness - neurons firing and ringing, we are aware.

But some people, from ancient philosophers to modern scientists Think it's not that easy. in ancient philosophies such as Hinduism or Buddhism Consciousness is seen as omnipresent. Not only within ourselves They speak of a universal idea or spirit to which we are all connected. In these views Our individual consciousness is only a small part. of the larger whole And when we meditate or calm the mind We can take advantage of this universal consciousness. This concept challenges the common belief that consciousness comes only from our brains.

And then there is modern science. Some scientists studying quantum physics suggest that consciousness may be the basis of the universe. Like space and time They look at things like the "observer effect," which shows how observing activity changes the behavior of small particles. Some interpret this to mean that consciousness may play a more important role in shaping reality than we realize.

This is not a mainstream idea. But it's growing. and makes you wonder Consciousness is everywhere. And is our brain the only receiver that receives it? If so Our brains do not create consciousness. but adjust perception It's like a radio receiving signals from a station. This could explain why some people have near-death experiences or out-of-body moments in which their consciousness appears to leave their body. It is also linked to ancient ideas about reincarnation or the afterlife. Because if consciousness is bigger than the brain Consciousness is not just a matter of the brain. Or it may be part of... something bigger

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31 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 5 Sep

My quantum mechanics professor had a soft spot for that interpretation of quantum uncertainty. I'm not sure if he fully believed it, but he made a point of there being no way to distinguish the two main interpretations of uncertainty.

73 sats \ 1 reply \ @jbschirtzinger 6 Sep

Had a near death experience. Thinking is not necessarily your consciousness. Consciousness is a larger construct than an individual thought.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja 6 Sep

Agree with the above.

Most top athletes and people meditating train this state of "flow" (or presence) which they achieve with intense focus.

When in this state, it's quite obvious that there is a bigger self that is not thinking, but is quietly aware of the thinking and everything else that arises, and subsides...

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 5 Sep

Douglas Hofstadter mentions in his book Gödel, Escher, Bach (GEB) something similar which he calls strange loops. He actually wrote another book that focuses on this concept. It’s called I Am a Strange Loop:

According to Hofstadter, strange loops take form in human consciousness as the complexity of active symbols in the brain inevitably leads to the same kind of self-reference which Gödel proved was inherent in any sufficiently complex logical or arithmetical system (that allows for arithmetic by means of the Peano axioms) in his incompleteness theorem. Gödel showed that mathematics and logic contain strange loops: propositions that not only refer to mathematical and logical truths, but also to the symbol systems expressing those truths. This leads to the sort of paradoxes seen in statements such as "This statement is false," wherein the sentence's basis of truth is found in referring to itself and its assertion, causing a logical paradox.

Hofstadter argues that the psychological self arises out of a similar kind of paradox. The brain is not born with an "I" – the ego emerges only gradually as experience shapes the brain's dense web of active symbols into a tapestry rich and complex enough to begin twisting back upon itself. According to this view, the psychological "I" is a narrative fiction, something created only from intake of symbolic data and the brain's ability to create stories about itself from that data. The consequence is that a self-perspective is a culmination of a unique pattern of symbolic activity in the brain, which suggests that the pattern of symbolic activity that makes identity, that constitutes subjectivity, can be replicated within the brains of others, and likely even in artificial brains.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad 6 Sep

Intelligence and knowing is what we swim in, the brain is merely a transceiver.

That is what I've adopted as my view through the years :-)

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave 6 Sep

The only thing I know is I don't know. Never will. All I can do is sit in stillness as much as possible to feel what it is about. It's beyond words.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Roll 6 Sep

There is a quote from a spiritual person, Sadhguru :

I m not the body ( which is an accumultation of food) i m not the mind (which is an accumulation of memories)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @03393ec3a3 6 Sep

I also believe that consciousness exists in the quantum physics of our minds, not in the chemistry, though they influence each other.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MaxAWebster 6 Sep

This short talk really spoke to me https://www.organism.earth/library/document/does-matter-create-consciousness

TL;DR there is consciousness (the observer) and there are objects of consciousness (the observed). All mind and matter are objects of consciousness.

I think there's also something big with dependent origination - i.e. you can't have one without the other.

This is an evolving model I like. All models are just that though ;)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatsMate 6 Sep

I've wondered this, but I think it is deeper than thinking. Sometimes you don't even need to think nd your consciousness is set off on something.

It is almost a reptilian gut instinct.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satoshi__Nakamoto 6 Sep

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BTCLNAT 5 Sep

Writing or speaking about consciousness is very difficult.

Philosophical, scientific, psychological, sociological, religious statements, etc.

It is even interesting how the brain acts since in reality it is nothing more than chemical reactions that produce electrical discharges and then become chemical reactions again and thus a cycle. A brain with portions or gyres that determine each function, how stimuli are perceived, integrated into an area and then a response is generated, only through chemical reactions and electrical discharges.

So we can describe consciousness as being like a compass that guides you, which like any compass can be altered by magnets, which would be those around you, the famous collective consciousness. Consciousness can be trained and the better trained it is, the less likely it is to be influenced, the less likely and not improbable, but there is always free will that gives us the freedom to choose.

Consciousness can warn you when you may be going to do something wrong or contrary to what you have learned in your training. But it can also judge and prosecute you when you have already done the opposite of what you consider correct depending on what you have learned. Also consciousness can be cauterized, meaning that it doesn't matter if it's right or wrong from any angle, it's done and done with.

Now, a compass is only useful when we have a map. So the map would be the scenario in which you must walk, it takes you to a place, it is always designed by someone, what happens is that the map will be better designed depending on the experience, techniques and resources available to the designer. of that map.

Then we must choose where to walk.

Who designed the map I use, someone with the same limitations and biases as me? Or someone wiser and more capable than me? Has the map used by those around me always taken them to good places or to disastrous cliffs? What they say is good, is it really good? Has it brought real well-being and truly solved problems?

To think that when the blind lead the blind, they never arrive well.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Msd0457890 5 Sep

Since I was little, I have always been taught or have had this concept that conscience is that voice that tells you what is right and what is wrong in this world and knowing that conscience is also reflecting on the situations and people that we love or hate at the same time.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 5 Sep

OP is talking about consciousness, not conscience