# What Is Consciousness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 20, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013 "2014-08-20T16:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/341 "2014-10-14T05:59:51Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I wonder… I’ve had hallucinatory experiences that aren’t “like” anything else in my life. I once had a “new emotion” that was unlike any of the standard emotions. The ‘[what it’s like-ness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nagel#What_is_it_like_to_be_a_something)’ is a kind of term of art in the philosophy of mind that merely highlights that there is a subjective experience associated with being in a certain state; then, it’s like something to be in that state. It doesn’t mean that there is some fixed reference to which an experience must be comparable; indeed, a new experience is by definition not like anything you’ve experienced before, but there’s nevertheless something it’s like to have that experience. (Besides, your ‘new emotion’ can’t have been wholly unlike any other emotions: otherwise, you would not have recognized it as an emotion—it must have had some property of being emotion-like in order for you to do that.) > [@](#): > > That’s kinda the point, read backward. The illusion of the experience is the same thing as having the experience. But this way round, it’s not grounded; having an illusion is itself an experience. > [@](#): > > In practice, not actually. Read the word “headache” 100 times, and your mind will start experiencing something akin to one, but without actually being one. It’s weird, but true: we are excellent at deceiving ourselves in all sorts of ways. But if we can differentiate that from a real headache, which you’re saying we can (it’s just something ‘akin’ to one), then of course we’re not under the illusion of having a headache. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/342 "2014-10-14T07:21:41Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Oops! Wrong! A lovely little warning against hubris, but it said that “none of the atoms in our bodies are the ones we were born with.” > > Way wrong. Trillions of the atoms in our bodies are the atoms we were born with. The number of atoms in the human body is simply that vast, immensely larger than the number of human-body sized domains in the earth’s biosphere. > > Your body also contains trillions of atoms that were once part of the bodies of Julius Caesar, Jesus Christ, Moses, Saint Mark, and Raoul Mitgong. (“But he didn’t help much.”) > > Otherwise, a well-taken point. At least, the ones that are not mythological anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/343 "2014-10-14T15:24:20Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > At least, the ones that are not mythological anyway. Heh. Your body contains trillions of atoms from the ink used in the writings first describing those fictional characters. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/344 "2014-10-14T23:45:36Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I > There are also the brain-scan studies that show that the motor-control parts of the brain activate slightly in advance of our conscious and self-aware intentions to move our bodies. My brain is already working to send nerve-impulses to my hand, before I am conscious of my intent to make a fist. Yes, it seems that a lot of the time our conscious experience seems to be observing our behaviour, like a film critic watching a film. This might be a result of the apparent fact that we continually verbalise our interior monolog. Presumably this has to involve sending our experiences to the language centres in our brain - a detour that takes a finite amount of time. Of course there isn’t always time for this interior verbalisation, especially if you are performing rapid physical actions - you can’t run, or juggle, thinking ‘now the left leg, now the right leg’ or ‘left hand, right hand’ all the time, or you’ll drop the balls or fall over. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/345 "2014-10-15T05:40:52Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Yes, it seems that a lot of the time our conscious experience seems to be observing our behaviour, like a film critic watching a film. This might be a result of the apparent fact that we continually verbalise our interior monolog. Presumably this has to involve sending our experiences to the language centres in our brain - a detour that takes a finite amount of time. > > Of course there isn’t always time for this interior verbalisation, especially if you are performing rapid physical actions - you can’t run, or juggle, thinking ‘now the left leg, now the right leg’ or ‘left hand, right hand’ all the time, or you’ll drop the balls or fall over. How do verbalise our interior monologue when we are to young to have language skills yet? Surely we are conscious, but perhaps just not fluent in verbalisation yet. That’s one reason I think my car is conscious; she may not reason out her actions in English, but she is certainly awareness of what’s going on and acts accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/346 "2014-10-15T05:50:57Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Yes, it seems that a lot of the time our conscious experience seems to be observing our behaviour, like a film critic watching a film. But of course, this appearance can’t be quite how things really are: if our experience is generated by the internal film critic, then it seems that experience needs somebody/something assessing and interpreting it; but then, how does the interior film critic do the assessing and interpreting? By himself producing an inner matinee, with its own little film critic? This sort of idea is what gives rise to the famous, yet still omnipresent, fallacy of the [homunculus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus_argument). ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/347 "2014-10-15T13:46:28Z")
If the internal monologue is produced by the language-related regions of the brain after the event, then it may well appear to be a subjective, theatre-like process. We do things, then we think about them afterwards. How many times does your internal monologue tell you - ‘I wish I hadn’t done that’ or ‘what was I thinking?’. The regions of our mind that use formal logic and ethics are almost certainly closely bound to the language centres, so we are pretty much doomed to reacting to our brain’s impulsive actions, unless we can take the time to process our decisions beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/348 "2014-10-15T13:53:23Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > How do verbalise our interior monologue when we are to young to have language skills yet? Surely we are conscious, but perhaps just not fluent in verbalisation yet. That’s one reason I think my car is conscious; she may not reason out her actions in English, but she is certainly awareness of what’s going on and acts accordingly. I’m sure that many animals have some measure of consciousness, which makes eating them a moderately difficult ethical choice. Almost all the problems of philosophy arise from regions of the brain associated with language, I’m pretty sure. This does not need to be spoken language, however. Social animals like chimps face many difficult problems in their society which revolve around the relationships between different individuals and various social metrics; they often resolve these using non-verbal communication. No wonder chimps always look slightly puzzled. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/349 "2014-10-15T16:46:58Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > This might be a result of the apparent fact that we continually verbalise our interior monolog. Presumably this has to involve sending our experiences to the language centres in our brain - a detour that takes a finite amount of time. Sometimes I have an internal monologue, about certain things, for many things and for much of the time I do not have an internal monologue, usually it’s more imagery-like thought processes. I think different people are different in this respect. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/350 "2014-10-15T18:07:36Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > If the internal monologue is produced by the language-related regions of the brain after the event, then it may well appear to be a subjective, theatre-like process. We do things, then we think about them afterwards. How many times does your internal monologue tell you - ‘I wish I hadn’t done that’ or ‘what was I thinking?’. Well yes, but I’m just saying that it can’t be the internal monologue, or any other internal representation, that makes us be conscious of whatever it’s talking about—because we’re conscious of the monologue itself, and how could we be in such a case? ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/351 "2014-10-19T21:31:38Z")
The internal monologue depends on language acquisition. If consciousness is a function of being able to carry on an internal monologue, is it fair to say that one who has no language skills has no consciousness? If not, then we must conclude that consciousness is independent of language acquisition. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/352 "2014-11-09T09:21:48Z")
If a thread has not been posted to in close to a month, is it still alive? If a person is immersed in a daydream whole at work, are they still conscious? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/353 "2014-11-09T19:01:49Z")
An interesting article on the internal monologue of deaf/signing people here. [http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind\_readings\_deaf%20speech.html](http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_deaf%20speech.html) > [@](#): > > The discovery of the importance of a fluent inner code to deaf people’s thinking has been only one of two recent blows struck against the oralist tradition. With the advent of new brain scanning techniques in the 1980s, neurologists, such as Dr Ursula Bellugi of the Salk Institute in the US, have discovered that signing uses the same left hemisphere processing centres as spoken language. Up until a few years ago, oralists had been able to dismiss signing as inherently second rate in the belief that, being a visual language, it must be processed in the ungrammatical right hemisphere. Language does seem to be important in the formulation of an inner monologue - but it need not be a spoken language. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/354 "2014-11-12T20:17:45Z")
That’s something to ponder, Eburacum45. We rely very much on our senses in formulating a consciousness; what happens if one or more of those senses is compromised? I’d like to believe that language is one of the ways consciousness expresses itself, yet it is not the only or even the most important way. Perhaps empathy is a component of this. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/355 "2014-11-15T19:37:24Z")
Can a person be conscious in a sensory deprivation tank? That was one of the concepts explored in the novel Altered States, by Paddy Chayefsky, wherein physical changes accompanied mental changes in a subject’s state of consciousness under certain kinds of hallucinogenic influences. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/356 "2014-11-15T20:35:27Z")
Never read the book…what kind of physical changes would occur under sensory deprivation? Was Chayefsky talking about cell loss in certain sections of the brain…or somebody growing a third arm? In my opinion, someone under strict sensory deprivation would slowly lose consciousness. He’d sleep more and more, with dreams that became more and more abstract, until he fell into a vegetative state. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/357 "2014-11-16T20:37:28Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Never read the book…what kind of physical changes would occur under sensory deprivation? Was Chayefsky talking about cell loss in certain sections of the brain…or somebody growing a third arm? > > In my opinion, someone under strict sensory deprivation would slowly lose consciousness. He’d sleep more and more, with dreams that became more and more abstract, until he fell into a vegetative state. In the book and film he devolves into a more primitive state, sort of like a wolf man. It’s pretty far-fetched, but it did make me wonder what a person’s consciousness might be like in an isolation tank. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/358 "2014-11-20T10:18:31Z")
Assuming that consciousness even exists, here are some ways to raise one’s consciousness. [http://www.bodymindsoulspirit.com/how-to-raise-your-consciousness-2/](http://www.bodymindsoulspirit.com/how-to-raise-your-consciousness-2/) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/359 "2014-11-20T21:56:21Z")
That site lost me with their very first entry: > [@](#): > > Connect with nature– Go for a walk in the forest, jungle, field of daisies, or wherever you feel like getting a connection with nature. It is possible to feel at deep sense of peace and oneness when you attempt to connect with nature. As you learn to connect and appreciate nature, you allow your consciousness to rise up. Going for a walk in the fields makes me less conscious! I fall into more autonomous patterns of thought and behavior. To begin with, I’m walking. It’s a hypnotic, rhythmic, routine behavior that I don’t think about very much. The whole experience of being outdoors and enjoying nature is soothing, somewhat trancelike. It allows one to submerge the conscious mind. It’s very relaxing. It can be punctuated with acutely conscious moments, such as when you see a rattlesnake – or just look over a particularly lovely landscape. But oneness with nature is the opposite of enhanced consciousness. Consciousness is increased with concentration. Solving a crossword puzzle raises consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013/360 "2014-11-21T22:25:31Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That site lost me with their very first entry: > > Going for a walk in the fields makes me less conscious! I fall into more autonomous patterns of thought and behavior. To begin with, I’m walking. It’s a hypnotic, rhythmic, routine behavior that I don’t think about very much. > > The whole experience of being outdoors and enjoying nature is soothing, somewhat trancelike. It allows one to submerge the conscious mind. It’s very relaxing. > > It can be punctuated with acutely conscious moments, such as when you see a rattlesnake – or just look over a particularly lovely landscape. > > But oneness with nature is the opposite of enhanced consciousness. > > Consciousness is increased with concentration. Solving a crossword puzzle raises consciousness. I prefer Sudoku myself. Total immersion style problem solving. However, I’m not that’s what consciousness really is either. I get the sense this article is talking about more of a transcendent kind if consciousness, some call it a higher consciousness, as opposed to more if a self-consciousness, where we often find ourselves, sort of preoccupied with the task at hand but maybe missing out on the bigger picture. Maybe “consciousness” just has different meanings. For example, if it means “to be aware” then it certainly has different kinds of meaning for the auto mechanic changing a head gasket, the painter immersed in getting the right details on the building and the guy who just discovered the rattlesnake. If I take the Eckhart Tolle route, I’m guessing it has something to do with complete focus on what I am doing right now instead of thinking about the past or future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-consciousness/696013.md?page=19)