The Mystery of Consciousness: Origin, Nature & Theories of Subjective Experience & Self Awareness

What is consciousness? How does it originate? Why does it seem to be a trait primarily found in some living organisms with relatively complex brains? How does the brain generate the feeling of existence? Why each of us has our own inner universe? How does the functioning of the 86 billion brain cells create this seemingly meta-physical realm of thoughts and emotions? Does it all come from some precise arrangements of cell connections in the brain?
Is there an aspect of consciousness that can’t be explained by physical facts alone?
Is it an intrinsic aspect of nature that exists beyond the physical laws?
Being human and having subjective experiences is a truly remarkable and privileged experience, but what if this extraordinary experience expands beyond biological entities? Could there be also an experience comparable to being a star or a planet?
Where does consciousness originate? When it begins? Why does it exist within us? Why does it exist at all?
=====
Thousands of hours have been dedicated to the creation of this video. Producing another episode of this caliber would be nearly impossible without your help. If you would like to see more, please consider supporting me on / disculogic , or via PayPal for a one-time donation at paypal.me/Disculogic
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
04:44 Physicalism
08:25 Emergentism
10:41 Self-organization
14:20 Entropy
17:30 Panpsychism
28:13 (IIT) Integrated information theory
33:34 (IIT) Essential properties of consciousness
35:41 (IIT) Unconscious states
37:41 (IIT) Simulating, cloning, mind uploading
41:10 (IIT) Review & criticisms
43:36 Conclusion
Major sources:
==============
Papers:
Philosophy of Mind: Physicalism
Barbara Gail Montero
The Hope and Horror of Physicalism: An Existential Treatise
Christopher Devlin Brown
Statistical mechanics of consciousness: Maximization of information content of network is associated with conscious awareness
R. Guevara Erra, D. M. Mateos, R. Wennberg, and J. L. Perez Velazquez
Integrated information structure collapses with anesthetic loss of conscious arousal in Drosophila melanogaster
Brain basis of self: self-organization and lessons from dreaming
David Kahn
Books:
Phi: A Voyage from the Brain to the Soul
Giulio Tononi
The Character of Consciousness (Philosophy of Mind)
David J. Chalmers
Is Consciousness Everywhere?: Essays on Panpsychism (Journal of Consciousness Studies)
Philip Goff, Alex Moran, Annaka Harris, Christof Koch, Anil Seth, Galen Strawson
#consciousness #selfawareness #documentary #panpsychism

[@Disculogic]

If you enjoy the content, please consider becoming a Patreon member to support my channel. Producing content of this caliber would be nearly impossible without your help. Thank you.

[@mabaker]

I waited 84 years for your new video.

[@KingBritish]

Another masterpiece from Disculogic? Today is a good day!.

[@robgau2501]

I rather think that matter arises from consciousness, not the other way around.

[@sociallypatterneddefect9580]

There is no matter

[@rockapedra1130]

Very thorough and well made. Plus a very soothing voice ;-)

[@Disculogic]

Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed the content. Appreciate your support.

[@greggc68]

Love the content!

[@Disculogic]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@rockapedra1130]

Instant subscribe. Fantastic in all respects.

[@Disculogic]

💥🙏

[@Biggus_Diggus1]

Whoever made this video has created a true masterpiece in the digital world!!! Well made, great content with an awesome music choice. Thank you. This will be a repeat multiple watch.

[@Disculogic]

Thanks so much. My pleasure.

[@BT-zu2wi]

These are so good, please keep making more

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I do sort of tend towards a panpsychic outlook. We know that there are levels of consciousness; a human is conscious of their world and their self which beholds the world, a dog is conscious of their world but not their self which beholds it, and even a plant has some dim awareness by which it moves towards the light which nourishes it. I think I.I.T. does provide a good solution to the problem. An emergent quality could only emerge from elements which already contain the potential for it.

[@wilhelmvonn9619]

How do you know that a dog is not conscious of itself?

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

@@wilhelmvonn9619 It is conscious of itself insofar as it feels pain and pleasure and understands instinctively that these things are bad or good to/for it, but it does not have a conception of its "self", as it does not comprehend the fact that it comprehends. Self-consciousness is the highest form of consciousness, the recognition of the thinking entity that one is as an individual. A dog does not recognize itself in a mirror, unlike apes and elephants and dolphins, which have higher degrees of consciousness, or "self-consciousness".

[@DisneyPlayhousetv]

NO FUCKING WAY!!!! I AM SO SO EXCITED. THANK YOU. IM SO HAPPY.

[@shars.555]

Thanks!

[@Disculogic]

You're welcome. Appreciate your support.

[@user-ef4df8xp8p]

Well made.....well explained.

[@kyran333]

Physicist Tom cambell has worked this out, consciousness is an information system.

[@iamsincere23]

Life was definitely created by intelligent beings we could never comprehend

[@user-hu1os4xh7n]

The universe must be intelligent because it creates life. But is the universe an organism with consciousness?

[@Razrman]

If so, who created the intelligent beings?

[@Razrman]

@@user-hu1os4xh7nconsciousness is a fundamental aspect of the universe to experience itself

[@Dannywillemsen1983]

@@Razrman Why does something have to have a creator, why can't something have always existed on its own, through coincidences that coincide perfectly so that its emergence is just there.

[@wfinn69]

This will sound mad but when I took bufo a powerful psychedelic I could see how this paradox could work, how an intelligence is constantly creating itself because why not, but who knows, maybe it was just the drugs

[@AquariusGate]

2:28 I'm only this far in and I have so many questions! Speaking of existence is d8fferent to existsne itself, the two can't be reconciled in the tense sense of one word. Existing, existed, exist. However long and short the term, there's a lot to life it misses. "....we all carry a universe in our own..." we are not truly aware of humanity, individually, or in some holistic sense. My cosmic view is one that forms and reforms around information others dug out of their oen time and effort. Making sense of meaning left by ancestors of a very long hereditary line. Maybe we build a picture for each other to delve deeper? Great food for thought thank you 🎉

[@Disculogic]

You're welcome.

[@Likides5]

The FIRST thing to do is DEFINE key terms, by distinguishing between HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS (capable of symbolic thinking, metacognition, documented culture passing down the generations, etc) and ANIMAL AWARENESS (incapable of symbolic thinking, metacognition, etc). Without this distinction, people commit themselves to panpsychism: the BELIEF that consciousness is universal, brains mere receivers, and other mystical hokum stemming from theosophical DIVINE IMAGINISM, which posits IMAGINALS (microparticles around a nucleus, solar systems, human beings, galaxies, etc). If human consciousness were rooted in QM, physicalist emergentism, panpsychism, etc, a human newborn raised by chimps in the bush would have human consciousness and speak a human language without ever seeing or hearing humans: IMPOSSIBLE, according to elementary logic. Instead, a human newborn raised by chimps in the bush would have chimp awareness: vocalize, act, and think like a chimp. "Consciousness Is a Cultural Template," 1 of the 59 essays in ATHANASIA, my most recent hybrid book, shows that human consciousness is a CULTURAL TEMPLATE we acquire via nurturing, education, and interaction with other humans. The acquisition of the template of human consciousness begins with parents’ teaching facial expressions and words to their newborns, who imitate human sounds, communicate their needs, learn the names of objects and actions, and thus acquire the intuitive knowledge of what it means to be human.

[@jasonrodwell5316]

I loved the term he used, 'God of the gaps'. The fundamental aspects of all these theories REALLY bother me. Because it is, a God of the gaps, its a number if steps backwards in human evolution to insert mysticism where there is no proof. I want to define consciousness, and recreate it. I have my own beliefs. Which amount to physicalism, but essentially, the brain is organised around inputs or senses. Or internal cognitive standins for senses. Each of those pools of data have structures which process that data in certain ways eg pick out important images and events from your vision. Then there are parts which filter that information and relay to the other filtering centres for other brain functions with a master controller which integrates all of the information, stores it, examines it and acts on it or sensory stimuli. I believe consciousness arises from attention. The act of filtering unimportant information and integrating important information across all relevant systems and the ability store and examine that information from different contexts and perspectives. Essentially like a distributed network of smaller sub processing and filtering units with a main one which integrates all of the information. Its kind of like a computer os.

[@josephdillon9698]

You can define these terms but it is what it is consciousness would be it no matter what it learns Shakespeare said what’s in a word for a turd by any other would smell just as sweet. Of course you used a lot of words I don’t know so maybe I’m not getting your point.

[@BLSFL_HAZE]

Evidently, the three primary modes of being are "reactivity" (i.e. non-living phenomena), "responsiveness" (i.e. flora), and "engagement" (i.e. fauna). The core of an engaged entity naturally enacts the "registration" of both public and private phenomena. The periphery of an engaged entity can simultaneously register with both the core of that same entity, and with core of any proximate engaged entities external to that periphery. All other public phenomena (i.e. responsiveness and reactivity) can register with multiple external cores at once, but cannot, itself, enact registration. Private phenomena can register only with the core of the engaged entity within which it occurs. This form of registration cannot, itself, be registered, as such an occurrence is analogous to the impossibility of light being illuminated by other light.

[@pontussvensson7497]

Very good job making this videos!

[@Disculogic]

Thank you.

[@bettusascaino5532]

As babies we don’t differentiate from the environment, our mother and everything else is one thing. It takes a long time to see ourselves different or individuals and see others as such. I think it takes experiencing others to be able to see ourselves and viceversa. It takes us a life to separate from the world to at the end realise we are nothing in isolation. Full circle

[@curthagenau7858]

Thanks for such a knowledgeable and balanced view of this challenging but rewarding field of consciousness

[@Disculogic]

You're welcome.

[@markmaloney8154]

Memory is the source of consciousness. When babies are born, they appear to be conscious, but they are not; they're exhibiting autonomic responses to environmental stimuli. As they experience things in life, they start building memories, and the more conscious they become. It takes years to acquire enough memory to become fully conscious. Another term for consciousness is ‘awareness.’ Without memory, you wouldn't know (be aware of) what things are. Memory is the heart of consciousness…

[@wolf5505]

Not quite. Memory is a feature of consciousness not the 'source' of consciousness. Self-awareness is a feature of consciousness as well. Babies are indeed conscious - the physical body is the limiter/inhibitor of consciousness while in the embodied state.

[@JonathanSigwart]

Is this saying that consciousness is a emergences of physical properties or that consciousness is some something separate from matter

[@RushikeshA1-xp5dk]

#rushikeshasurlekar Very informative video , brain and system Like real universe but it's not real universe , real universe is huge and in infinite space .

[@AquariusGate]

23:19 do buildings and architecture convey ideas from a different consciousness? Ancient meaning we can translate in modern terms?

[@simoneerceg7116]

We only percieve all that manifests within 3D and think thats All there is. Existence of All that is arises out of conciousness. Everything has an aspect of consciousness because it was created from within that.

[@ecelsozanato5603]

A drop of water knows how to behave like a drop of water 💧, it isn’t necessary for a human to teach it. A kitty that never saw an adult cat knows that it has to bury its poop. Who taught a knitting bird how to knit its nest?

[@joshwright2286]

Fuckin love it

[@halcyon2864]

Thank you for this great video. In which group can we put Vedanta philosophy which says pure Consciousness or existence itself, undifferentiated substratum of reality, cosmic Energy, Brahman... only is. It is fundamental and the all universe is made from this Consciousness and it is the only thing that is real. Matter depends on Consciousness, not the other way around. Thank you.

[@Disculogic]

You're welcome. My content is mostly science driven, even though I go through philosophy to some extent. There's no empirical support for the philosophy you mentioned as far as I know.

[@halcyon2864]

@@Disculogic Thank you for the reply. I get it, you only deal with the world of phenomena or physics not metaphysical or spiritual. Pity, being only one way of seeing and understand the all creation . 😔

[@Disculogic]

@@halcyon2864 Yes. That's the only area where you can make predictions and test your theories to confirm or falsify.

[@halcyon2864]

@@Disculogic OK, but make predictions and test theories could be quite limited, the human intellect and the five senses being very restricted in the scheme of things, meaning not getting the entire picture but only looking from a small window kind of thing.

[@JonathanSigwart]

So is this saying that there is a consciousness universe

[@elitezero2k]

Farsi English accent hitting hard 😂

[@SchibbiSchibbi]

Non local consciousness

[@Boris29311]

I'm afraid I've learned nothing new.Problem with metaphysics : there are no testable experiments.Problem with physics : we've no idea whether the observer sees reality. No real progress has been made for quite some time now.

[@Disculogic]

If you've learned nothing new then I envy you. I wish I knew all the details about IIT, possible connections between consciousness and entropy and the rest years ago.

[@Boris29311]

These are all just unproven ideas

[@Disculogic]

@@Boris29311 But what did you expect as you played the video? We're talking about the origin and nature of consciousness. Of course we haven't developed a proven theory yet. We start with hypotheses and hope one of them will turn out true. Also as I mentioned in the video, it could be totally out of science, but even proving that could be seen as a great achievement.

[@Boris29311]

Like I said , I expected to learn something new

[@PravdaSeed]

🧞TelepathiC Common Sense Translate @ Now The" point" 360° =Consciousness. Buddhist and Taoist have been Synchronous with It @ all corners 360° in The MATRIX of Subjective times Imbued @ the Exact sublime Virtue... MERITOCRACY Of CHINA 💯%. i wish 🧞 i was CHINESE 💯%. 💜☸️☯️🕉️💜

[@petercombs4119]

The brain is not consciousness.

[@amreshyadav2758]

He is saying, sub atomic particles have some level of consciousness lol😅 What you guys smoking these days? Why you talking like frauds, please do not mix science with your wishlist bucket

[@Disculogic]

Please don't just play a random time frame and call people frauds. That's a speculation in panpsychism. I explained the panpsychist position and also discussed all the criticisms surrounding it: 25:15

[@sudd3660]

ramblings of the ignorant mind,

[@curthagenau7858]

Thanks!

[@curthagenau7858]

Thanks!

[@Disculogic]

Thanks so much 🙏 glad you enjoyed the content.