Does Consciousness Have an On/Off Switch?

[@BLiNKBeaTs]

Any time I see a video like this... The first thing that comes to my mind is "how can we make this into a weapon?"... it never fails and I'm just starting to ask myself, why?

[@zacknorton7271]

The first thought that came to mind when I saw what happened is how are people going to use this to frame others for crimes. So, you aren't alone.

[@quantummiendfuk9571]

Yer such a dense 3d human. Try "how can we make this into a weapon to protect ourselves. " thats a bit more 4d for ya...but barely

[@TheSinquisitor]

The way I see it, consciousness is the interaction of three things - the ability to take action(whether physically or mentally), the ability to be aware of or sense the action, and the ability to store the outcome into memory(though not necessarily to extensively reflect upon it or analyze it as we sometimes do).

[@buddhistgeeks]

One simple definition to propose: Consciousness is knowing. Self awareness is knowing that you're knowing.

[@thewiseturtle]

So... what is knowing! :-) But yeah, I say that consciousness is the awareness of something. The more complex the entity/being we're talking about (the more complex and diverse the pattern of matter and energy that a thing has), the more conscious it can become, as it "contains" more "interesting" information (patterns).

[@tektitetv]

If one can ask, am "I" conscious? Then yes, one has consciousness. The problem is proving that to everyone else.

[@quantummiendfuk9571]

Jinclops Assuming anyone else is concious enough to listen and hear u say it

[@paolobarberis6827]

Your is a very good definition: Consciousness is to be aware of the environment (and interact correctly with it), together with a sense of self.

[@mikuspalmis]

That's experiencing consciousness but no one knows what consciousness really is.

[@razorrenegade5703]

This video is both incredible and insightful! Great work FW. :)

[@KyleStratacusDrewry]

I wonder if, even for a second, the doctors were like "Oops I think we broke her brain...".

[@shriharimadhav]

me too..

[@BMarie774]

There's always the argument that we have to be conscious to know we're conscious or, for example, there has to be something rather than nothing to be nothing at all relative to something. Those just seem like such easy answers to me. "It has to because it has to". This goes with consciousness but also the universe and that's what drives me so crazy.

[@PCProphecy]

It's crazy how just yesterday I was asking my friend, "I wonder what our consciousness is", the question was stimulated by my recent brain activity with Lucid Dreams. How it feels like I'm in two different places at once, without needing to be in control of my physical body.

[@evelisisdavis7242]

Thank you !!!!!

[@FactBender]

Dude, this is an awesome channel!

[@mrvedejo]

The ability to reflect,love and empathize

[@mikuspalmis]

We are experiencing consciousness and know how it enters the brain but we do not know what it is made of or how it operates at the most finite level.

[@Kwinters1114]

Consciousness is the ability to know that you are thinking "I think therefor I am"

[@quantummiendfuk9571]

Miles Information particles building enough information to analyze its own information ..? I am observation. I am that, that i can see, i am. I am that, i am . If a tree falls in the woods and no ones there to observe the quantum particles changing their spin. Do they act as a wave or a particle? Double slit experiment ? Shrodingers cat. The unobserved... the darkness..what lurks...?

[@TheMuskokaman]

To define consciousness would be to make it static IMO. I would need a book & still probably couldn't quantify what "it" is because I believe it is an ever-changing thing. As a child my consciousness was much different as to when I was a teen & again different when I got..older...& so on. I am fond of Dr. V.S. Ramachandran's work some of which can be viewed here on YT Athene's Theory of Everything

[@Televersity]

consciousness is the electrochemical effect created in the brain from sensory input data that gives the illusion of reality, choice and inner dialogue that we so cherish as 'life'.

[@rfyorfyo5022]

was cool if this guy knew what is consciousness and this video would have 6.5 billion views

[@2424Goldie]

Consciousness is when you are aware of what you are doing and what is happening around you as well as remembering something that happened earlier, and also, it is when you are able to do something you want

[@danphan99]

My definition of consciousness is the ability to know where and what you are in time and your environment. Such as, recalling this is what happed before this, and so I should repeat it to get the same effect. If you pay attention, you do everything in an order because you know that's what you have to do. Like you hit reply or the comment box, type what you think on a keyboard, and click the reply button. You know you have to do that to post a comment.

[@Redstarthehunter]

I believe that consciousness is awareness, but is collaborated by experience, and how you understand something. Hell, depending on the consciousness we have, we "experience" and "understand" something different than another with a separate consciousness. So, at the same time, our consciousness is both unified with multiple other consciousnesses, and independent with how you registered the said experience. That's what I believe, anyway.

[@kyw7435]

Conciouss ness is knowing what is happening presently in your environment or mind

[@joepelletier6694]

to observe and to think about what you have observed to imagine and to dream in a way not necessarily about survival but about living

[@deathsoulger1]

i think contiousness is the ability to observe, make sence of, extrapolate and inovate

[@Unboundedominion]

Consciousness is define by me as emergent abstraction rather than some definite real physical process. The brain's on/off switch is a bus bridge combing memories, reflexive biochemical subroutines and outside sensory input. The components for consciousness are real but the aspect of one's own self-awareness is mental and therefore an abstract concept of a mental state.

[@darkcylander]

here is a better question, what determines why my particular consciousness that perceives the world was born in my body when it could have as easily been born in another? or at a different point in history?

[@Charles-ig6fr]

I've always envisioned it as what happens when enough nodes in that calcium ion state machine we carry in our heads happen to connect that the energy levels pass some critical threshold to create a reflexive echo that we refer to as being self aware (kind of like deja vu, only, just "vu"). Subconscious thought begins by simply endlessly recombining different memories and concepts, but the vast majority of attempted connections don't make sense, and so die off without ever crossing that critical threshold to be brought to conscious "awareness". Then at some point a set of connections *does* work and we say, "Hey, I just thought of something!" Alternatively, in the purely political sense, the very topic of animals and consciousness reveals that "consciousness" is also a human artifact that we use to make ourselves feel more special than the world around us. If we ever do nail down the actual science of consciousness and find a way to test animals and prove they have it too, we are in for a radical rethinking of our entire worldview... again. First we lose our spot in the center of the Universe, then we aren't even the center of the Solar System, now this. What's next? Do we find out that mice have been secretly running the planet? :-)

[@vishwanathreddy7945]

I think that a switch is necessary but may or may not be sufficient for the activation of consciousness.

[@thewiseturtle]

I think the most useful way to talk about consciousness is as an increasing set of levels and combinations of the awareness of perspective taking. So the most basic kind of awareness is internal/physical awareness of the state of the self. All matter has this most primitive physical consciousness. But then living things have at least another level of awareness of not just the physical state of the self, but also the state of another individual (living or not). I call that second-person awareness emotional consciousness. Then intellectual consciousness adds a third person awareness to the previous two. And spiritual/philosophical consciousness is, as far as we know, only available in some humans, and allows for us to consider things from all four dimensions of space-time at once.

[@blue44drums]

i say that it gives you the process to think and make decisions and goes between good or bad

[@1omarrr]

My consciousness turns off when I sleep.

[@targz_]

Whoever liked this comment is an ignorant idiot

[@quantummiendfuk9571]

1omarrr I think since ive had so many lucid dreams and shit, it must go soemwhere else. Brain turns off. Conciousness , goes somewhere else....maybe thats why we can never truely capture it...its trying to capture somthing literally light as air with a net..trying to capture 4d or 5d with a literal 3d net.. we can only grasp pieces. For the whole is above us...but then again..its still here...it still may be..us.

[@TheTwistedbeaver]

nice video , interesting stuff

[@avikashnadan]

Is it possible to save our consciousness on computer before we die?

[@quantummiendfuk9571]

Avikash Nadan I hope so.. i wanna play as master chief on the pc . Halo 2. Oh wait this is a 3d matrix nigga we already in a game just sit back and enjoy

[@-Hercules-]

Consciousness is information being picked up by any nervous system, and the mind makes a thought or captures a memory and stores it in the brain.

[@noushinmazlaghani4353]

To me it's a field of everything that exist, including the things we can't see and don't know about them.

[@Bruhgono]

is that a pebble smart watch?!

[@shakileahamed8008]

actually this is happening to me naturally...even i watching this video i lost my conciousness and i watched again... so i am facing so many problems

[@zacknorton7271]

I think some people are confusing conscious with conscience.

[@remcohoftijzer]

It's not so simple to answer, you could say: anything that know's that it is awake. But how about someone that is sleeping, or in a coma. I think this question is somewhat equaly to: how do we know that anything is accualy real? (There is a video of this subject made by Vsauce, titled 'Is anything realistic?', or something like that. But this question, i think, thoes have answer: it's a specific neurological pattern, which save our incomming data (from our sentices, thoughs and even dreams) that will be saved as a memory (in a hypocampus). To FW thinking: Could you please put the links of the video's you recommand ad the end in the description? Because on mobile you can not click on the video's in the video itself. Or is this possible in the new youtube upgrade? (Memory is full). Thank you.

[@bzorro100]

Consciousness always exists, even when you're asleep or dead. In death the soul still is conscious.

[@Qurlir]

Hard agree.

[@edmundtan8506]

consciousness is simply awareness of everything around u?

[@gipro1]

I think consciousness is probably one of the most difficult things to really define. Not only do we not know everything about it, but I think it might be safe to say that we only understand consciousness in its most simplistic concept. I think consciousness is being sentient as well as being cognitively aware. I think consciousness also gives us the ability to evolve, to learn, to adapt. I don't think that we could ever really hope to hit the nail on the head this early in the game though. Machines can learn, machines can be programmed to sense. They can also adapt. I think it was either on a youtube video, or the discovery channel lol, I can't remember for sure, I saw a video about a guy that made an interesting program. The program involved two 3d objects of simple shape, they were placed apart from each other with a ball or cube in between them. The two objects had to get the ball or cube in the middle. As they tried, the two objects would change themselves to get the ball easier. I remember seeing the objects developing legs and stuff like that, one clip showed an object had a large arm and didn't even move, it was reaching over to grab the ball. This was all expectable though, still awesome, but not mind blowing. However, the last thing the guy in the video said was that at one point, one of the objects quickly reached the ball, but instead of taking it, it jumped over the ball to attack the other object. Apparently that was not programmed, that was mind blowingly unexpected. I do think consciousness is a major thing in all species, I also think it's directly linked to spirituality and the universe and all that interesting stuff. However, I also think it's safe to say that we are technically the physical equivalent of machines. The only difference is that we are biological and evolved as much more complex beings. Machines are processed materials that are much more simplistic, but we both seem to run on electrical signals.

[@TheRoyalStreamerYT]

I believe that consciousness is what makes you feel what makes you be able to think about what you see unlike robots they only have a video feed that sends to a central computer and processes what is needed to accomplish the objective and etc. but in general consciousness is everything that we fell or do or say or smell.

[@tahilaci2976]

There's nothing unusual about this. You can also lose consciousness by being knocked out, drinking too much, or just falling to sleep. Consciousness is just the abstract way of explaining the behavior of part of a machine called the brain, just like saying that the computer is searching for information is the abstract way of explaining it's behavior. Anything that can disrupt parts of that machine, can switch consciousness off. Consciousness is one of those concepts that are intentionally not defined so that people can happily believe it's magic. It can only be replicated once it's defined properly.

[@KnifeCircus]

if we could make people lose consiousness, then we're half way to the men in black thing

[@samuelkelly7115]

How about scopolamine?

[@Zoza15]

Maybe consciousness is also the awareness that we are not our body. Our lives spend is short and when we die it's probably just mere the body that stops functioning or due natural causes or decease, then the answer is, what do we actually look like if we are conscious beings like many other lifeforms on the the planet. Consciousness should not be limited by only life, consider what the other side should look like in conscious perception and understanding..

[@evelisisdavis7242]

Thank you

[@burningcrisisrobot585]

To me, consciousness is a mixture of being aware of and understanding reality around us, and having an identity in relation to it. It's complicated mixtures of advanced things. Like, being able to think and reason. Since we subjectively value being human, and many of the unique things that go with that, such as morality, intelligence, progress, procreation, and things like that. We describe a lot of the properties of our brain and what it does as "consciousness". A self aware robot would be conscious, but it wouldn't necessarily have emotions. So a lot of people might be a bit disappointed in the kind of consciousness it would have. Some people apparently fear a "robot apocalypse", like a conscious or self aware robot could or would be interested in destroying or enslaving humanity. This seems like a kind of hubris, as coming to such a conclusion would be an emotional decision. It also means that we would have to be important enough to be in the way of an artificial intelligence. You can be conscious without being emotion, I'm sure. But to make a decision like that, you would have to be pretty emotional. I think that while consciousness might be pretty simple and surprisingly easy to recreated, depending on your definition. What we really want to recreated is the kind of intelligence and experience that humans have. Having emotions like curiosity and fear of death, and so forth. As well as verbal and nonverbal communication of emotions and thoughts. Another important human-like trait that people would probably want an artificial intelligence to have, before calling it conscious, is planning. And desire. And having a hierarchy of desire and making decisions based upon a hierarchy of desire.

[@ngkrish1]

We are using the neurons, our memory, constantly to maintain our identity. Whether you are awake or asleep or dreaming, this process is carried on AND YOUR BRAIN ALWAYS PRESENTS THE ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/PAST MEMORIES TO YOU ON-DEMAND AND AT NO TIME. APPLY THIS IN ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. BE IT YOUR PROFESSION, SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, RESPONDING TO PEOPLE, EVERYTHING IS BASED ON THE KNOWLEDGE YOU ACQUIRE, WHICH IS ULTIMATELY STORED IN YOUR BRAIN AS MEMORIES. THIS IS WHERE WE ARE FALLING A PREY TO NATURE'S DECEPTION. WE CONFUSE WITH THESE THOUGHTS AND GIVE THEM A FALSE IDENTITY CALLED CONSCIOUSNESS OR SELF OR SOUL OR WHAT EVER YOU DEFINE. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A COLLECTION OF THOUGHTS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT. THE MOMENT YOU SAY OR START CONTEMPLATING ON CONSCIOUSNESS, THE NATURE'S DECEPTION CREEPS IN. CONSCIOUSNESS IS A DELUSION. THERE IS NO SEPARATE IDENTITY CALLED CONSCIOUSNESS.

[@ExploreLearnEnglishWithGeorge]

Yeah, we don't know that we don't know what knows that we don't know and how this knowledge and it's lack creates different beasts in one body (how ever you want to describe the term 'body').

[@zalphero618]

Very interesting.

[@Wookieelovers]

Unbiased observation.

[@msperling]

actually it reminds me of that "Man in Black"s laser pointer that erases your memory....

[@rguettaht5671]

consciousness is the transportation of informations via senses to the brain with the existance of old informations, and it's not a thing as far as i know.

[@pipethegadoll1376]

I'm just trying to learn to flow like water and use UI,that's all

[@teromartikainen9315]

So there is no afterlife.

[@mercifulzephyr5738]

Conciousness for robots?!?! This is the beginning of the end. Sky net will return.💀

[@fmn2628]

Consciousness simply is electrical neuronal activity in the claustrum (of the brain) , its likely the integration center for all cortical brain activity.

[@mikuspalmis]

It may be the means by which consciousness enters the body but it is not consciousness itself.

[@edso1971]

We'll I can kinda turn my constion on and off just by imagining

[@tadhgman7tm623]

Nice you look like simon pegg can you say something to me

[@SCtester]

I define conciseness exactly how you do. (:

[@dendroxify]

Consciousness is the ability to think and make decisions, it is the fact that you're alive. If you're sleeping, you're still conscious. If you're in a coma, you're still conscious. Idk if they found an on/off switch though, or if it's even possible. Sounds to me like they just put her into a trance, nothing new.

[@ngkrish1]

You know you are conscious because you say that "You are thinking". What if you "DONT THINK". Will you still be there?

[@shadowdragonvx]

Consciousness is the grounds/primacy of reality. Consciousness is Awareness, Spirit, God, etc. The nature of pure Consciousness is Love. This is all known directly via mystic experience aka enlightenment, illumination, etc.

[@Lujojo223]

Awareness of the brains conchichness and of the brain improving brain

[@fmn2628]

Also improving grammar

[@jhott44]

I dream of robot humans a few weeks ago. It was really eerie. This is even more disturbing.

[@ianmikhail5352]

we near death experience rs. have full exp of councsness

[@Tethloach1]

My self awareness expanded with education and more information. Consciousness is a product of civilization. basically humans have probably been aware of their existence since we discovered civilization. Self awareness is a collective thing, it is also fundamental in the universe if it weren't we wouldn't have it.

[@femteezy1992]

Thats not true at all I'm sure our more premitive ancestors had to be aware at all times to evade predators and gather food. And that was long before civilization was established. And if you walk into a crowd today you'd see that not a lot of people are conscious, they're just there.

[@Tethloach1]

op wfree there is basic animal instincts and self awareness. self awareness requires a level of thinking that you are thinking. animals don't think about things in any high level. babies don't think about their own identities they just react.

[@anmaro22]

+op wfreer

[@DeathByFail]

I think therefore I am

[@oliwiereb]

This is when you do not know what you are doing and will follow orders

[@fmn2628]

Wow the amount of people misspelling consciousness in the comments here makes me want to turn my claustrum off.

[@adrianevangelista959]

I define consciousness is the essence of one's life. Just my thought. :P

[@targz_]

Consciousness is awareness or the ability to experience. Consciousness is the state of being aware. If you were to destroy your body and recreate it somewhere else the original consciousness dies and a new one takes over. Consciousness is continuity.

[@brianwong3441]

I think Quantum entanglement will take place.

[@ArtOfEthan]

Consciousness is like electricity in machines, when you hit the off switch on the computer, the electricity still remains. You being consciousness (not a person having it rather) are like the constant electricity, so even if you flick the brains on/off switch like in sleep or death, you are still here ( you are here to enjoy deep sleep aren't you?). The computer is not the generator of electricity, nor is the brain the generator of consciousness. There is no world, no person, all is the same consciousness generating everything in the universe. So yes, when every thought and concept is left aside for a moment, including identity, you have your answer right here only in this instant! And you're not DOING it! Duh!!

[@m00gleboi]

Consciousness is tetchy IMO since well... I'm sure everyone has had the experience of being so relaxed and grounded in the now it feels like they're barely thinking. If you're conversely overstimulated enough you'll probably see momentary flashbulbs coming through from the latter parts. Really tbh, I guess true consciousness is being almost animal and living life in the fast lane. But well, the rest of what makes up our interaction with the outside world comes from that stressed out high-speed circuitry. To define consciousness is to be using that higher thinking circuitry, even if you lack awareness that it's there. It's also why mornings totally suck and depression in the modern-world is rampant. Or it goes something like that. Deep, I know. Coffee to the rescue.

[@danielsaltvick]

Performing an action that is out side of the biological needs to sustain life. For example choosing to play video games or sit around while waiting for dinner. You are hungry but instead of finding food you wait. I believe any organism that is conscious can make this kind of choice while an organism that is not conscious would only follow the basic needs To survive.

[@Libya4LY]

But really, playing video games is just simulating some other biological

[@MagicOfDark]

Libya4LY sadly millions of dollars probably get spent wondering what evolutionary advantage sticks in ears give chimps. It's hard to say if anything is conscious. For humans, we are alike so we can assume we all are conscious, but to say animals don't is being self-centered. Not until we can communicate to animals can we be sure. For now we can only guess what's on their minds.

[@thewiseturtle]

Technically everything we do serves life (genes/memes) as we procreate information throughout the universe. But I get your point. Some things have more freedom to do more "interesting" (complex) behaviors that serve more long term needs of the whole species and even the whole planet (many species). Social animals like humans procreate in more than just one way. We can make art, technology, and culture as a way to support life, rather than just making more human babies. :-)

[@thewiseturtle]

***** Well, since at least most of us are animals (rather than plants or AI), I think we're communicating fairly well already! And we know how to work with at least some other species, to a limited extent.

[@Shadowkey392]

Cool!

[@rohithvasudevan4574]

Hello sir it’s interesting topic. Somany things beyond our mind.Becuse we are not creater,we are just a small part of creation. As per the spiritual masters consciousness is life and it you.There is no end for that it keep move.It is the divine. Even Buddha through his meditation he comes through somany past life. If we go invert close all 5 sensations,you can feel it. It’s not simple because our intellect makes problem and our hormones makes problem.Still we should go beyond of invert. If our mind in calm peace easily we can go invert and we can realise the consciousness,After that what ever happening to this life it will be a small happening and we will in fine state always.

[@IDOMIN3CRAFT]

*gasp* The Silence!

[@norabellerose8560]

A living creature aware of what their doing.

[@ArtOfEthan]

also, all beings are consciousness, you don't need to classify which animals have it or don't, they are aware of you and you are aware of them is that not the same thing? lol

[@Libya4LY]

It's not that simple. Define aware. Do they know that you can make decisions like they can? Moats animals have failed these kind of tests, although some of the "smarter" ones have. You're grossly oversimplifying things by saying all beings are concpscious.

[@ArtOfEthan]

define aware? that question is within your awareness, no? A fly is within an "unsmart" frog's awareness. This awareness is the same in both beings. In the same way you are observing a dream at night and then the life before your eyes, the frog is watching the fly like a dream. We don't see how simple existence is when we are thinking it's not simple, that's why we aren't happy cuz who doesn't love the simplicity of being!!!

[@xoom1712]

***** So if an electron is sort of "aware" of an other electron because of the repulsion, does that make it life?

[@ArtOfEthan]

Jason Brody Even the double slit experiment proves that when you observe an electron it appears as a particle, but when it is not observed it is merely waves in an ocean of emptiness. This shows that consciousness manifests the subatomic particles. the existence of all forms like electrons is the expression of the formless source, consciousness, aka "life". The electrons eventually form into a body with senses,so consciousness can experience all these sense flavors it produced, and we call this life, yet life is what has always existed before even time and experience. when you find out your nature as one with the source of the universe, these understandings come to you naturally, without having to spend decades doing scientific experiments.

[@xoom1712]

***** It's kind of stupid how Dawkins says that the elements which make us are different are from their whole i.e non-life put together in a complex way makes life. It's just insane.

[@peacekeeper9187]

Anyone else think that if you give a robot consciousness to a robot that it will try to take over the world?

[@starboardpanic]

And they are trying to put chips in our brains... hmmmm

[@CMConnolly]

This is now a weapon...ah shit. :(

[@soupgirl1864]

creepy, about a coupla decades till self-aware robots...just as the great MatPat foretold

[@quantummiendfuk9571]

TheEnderLeader1 True but were self aware humans... we are their daddy...they will worship us like gods.

[@MrBoneSpeaker]

Great. SkyNet inbound.

[@AnonymousPopper]

omg a switch for being high on weed sign me up

[@Ytremz]

Don't give consciousness to the machines? Skynet anyone?

[@billyclarke6868]

u know what u are doing

[@KeKKi]

We shouldn't play God, but hey who am I, right...

[@Architect172]

i just pooped my pants

[@mrhninmoe]

Robot wife hahahaha

[@samuelkelly7115]

It does. Just look at the average woman.

[@bencovington6180]

#pebblewatch