What Things are Conscious? | Episode 508 | Closer To Truth

Consciousness is the great mystery of inner awareness. Where does it exist? Humans, obviously. Animals? Which animals? Chimps, elephants, dolphins, dogs? Termites, snails, amoeba, bacteria? What about non-biological intelligences like super-supercomputers of the future? Featuring interviews with John Searle, Raymond Kurzweil, J.P. Moreland, Marilyn Schlitz, and Rupert Sheldrake.
Season 5, Episode 8 - #CloserToTruth
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Closer To Truth host Robert Lawrence Kuhn takes viewers on an intriguing global journey into cutting-edge labs, magnificent libraries, hidden gardens, and revered sanctuaries in order to discover state-of-the-art ideas and make them real and relevant.
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Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
#Consciousness #Philosophy

[@hamentaschen]

When my dog gets a treat from my left hand she 'knew' was in my right hand.... it blows her mind. That's exactly what Closer To Truth does to me. Thank you CTT!

[@WayneLynch69]

"When I ask for a report on a horse, I don't want a count of the number of hairs in it's tail." Abraham Lincoln The reason he doesn't want that count is....it serves no useful purpose. EXACTLY like CTT's endless hair-counting

[@ktx49]

@@WayneLynch69 99% of the people on this channel are here precisely for the "hair counting" as we haven't found answers or truth in the "reports".

[@mediocrates3416]

@@ktx49 You have to look at the reports in context through a political screen. The most reliable report seems to be the first; Zarathustra's experience is not unique and, like most, makes a great deal of sense in context. The point about hair counting is appropriate, imo.

[@ezbody]

Unlike others, I am here to observe the hair counters themselves and those in comments that haven't yet graduated the kindergarten of civilization, that all of this endlessly repeating hair counting represents.

[@1stPrinciples455]

This may shock you. But the sun and planet is considered as Non-Living thing. But how can this be proven when we do not know the Truth? We are merely Closer to Truth but never reached the Truth

[@peznino1]

Great series. Love my regular hit of Kuhn and Closer to Truth.

[@heavymeddle28]

You just gave me a good idea. I'm going to carv in the name "kuhn" on my bamboo bong😊

[@frankbarbehenn]

Robert has done a superb job with this series. I love the clarity, his pace throughout interviews and his commentaries, while taking us to the “edge” of top thinkers in the various fields. I get to interview top people through him. Great work Robert for which I am grateful. It advances me in my wrestlings for truth.

[@edhiett]

I love these convos! Merry Christmas to you Robert, to everyone at CTT, to everyone here watching/reading, and to the ever sensing all knowing infinite universe! 🌌

[@user-ni6pi6ez3o]

he's jewish

[@robertthomas4234]

Thanks, man, and happiness right back atcha!

[@robertthomas4234]

@@user-ni6pi6ez3o Who's Jewish?

[@user-ni6pi6ez3o]

@@robertthomas4234 the host

[@robertthomas4234]

@@user-ni6pi6ez3o As is Woody Allen and Robert Zimmerman (Aka Bob Dylan). Oh, and Christ was Jewish..

[@mondopinion3777]

Everything is conscious. To be conscious is to feel. Not all things are quick in response. Some, like rock strata, are very slow. I have walked over rock ledges after a forest fire and felt them responding to the noonday sun, after decades of shade, with a kind of enjoyment.

[@Epiousios18]

I love that Robert responded to Marilyn with, "your humbleness is you arrogance." I am usually very open minded with people's theories of consciousness, but I found hers to be hard to take seriously (it flies the face of common sense). Interesting (but I guess not surprising) that it is the most replayed part of the video.

[@user-lz6dm5lk9y]

Wow, I had no idea how long ago these episodes must have been filmed until I saw Kuhn speaking with Sheldrake. These episodes must be 20 or more years old now. I enjoy all of them, though. I tend to agree with Sheldrake, and I was quite surprised to see Kuhn included Sheldrake. I wonder if Fenwick is included in any of these episodes......

[@lordemed1]

Every living organism has a consciousness, ie an awareness of self. Period.

[@fantasennay]

Any thing that strive to alive is conscious.

[@KpxUrz5745]

Maryilyn at Noetic Sciences suggests how disturbing it is that humans place themselves at the top of the consciousness heirarchy, enabling us to dismiss all empathy with cows as we slaughter and eat them. I would suggest that to be consistent, we should have empathy with all life forms, such as plants (which do react to stimuli), and refrain from eating them too. We might also consider not using hand sanitizer because it kills bacteria which can be observed to be motile with a purpose, hence display a level of consciousness. So I suppose we can drink water, but are allowed to eat nothing, since eating rocks and sand will not sustain us. As Bob Dylan so brilliantly wrote, "I was born here and I'll die here, against my will". And I would add, "What hidden hand is forcing us to eat only other living things?"

[@stringX90]

Good point

[@copykon]

I have no doubt that dogs are sentient beings with emotions. Great topic.

[@deepaktripathi4417]

I appreciate Robert's work. I really do. I'm fortunate that this channel provide me smart people's thoughts and opinions on questions that I've in my mind. Thanks a lot Robert!

[@clamebuc1007]

Nothing more rewarding than to listen to an intelligent person making intelligent comments and participating in an objective intelligent conversation. On a separate note; you must sense that "we are not alone in the Universe"; Hundreds of proofs left that corroborate the presence thousands of years ago of intelligent life more so and advanced that ours. When are you diving into this subject???

[@flowwiththeuniverse31]

Nice Porsche Robert. I wonder if it has consciousness!!

[@tbarrelier]

That is actually a serious question. I know I am self-aware (i.e. conscious) at times, but how can I know if you are, or anyone else for that matter? I INFER you are conscious, and assume that the Porsche is not. When I think about it , I must admit that is arrogance on my part. As I can NEVER know what constitutes your conscious experience, likewise I can never know if that juicy Porsche has any sort of experience, or not!

[@tbarrelier]

That is actually a serious question. I cannot experience your experience, I can only INFER you have experience. In other words, I cannot experience how vanilla ice-cream tastes to you. If my inference that you are conscious is actually a matter of belief, as it is, how can I deny experience to something I have labelled a "thing", i.e. that tasty Porsche? I can neither confirm or deny it!

[@rogercarl3969]

Love this series and have to say this is one of the best episodes. Larry loves this very topic and it shows by the diversity of of the participants in this episode and his willingness to listen to and hear them out.

[@junrosamura645]

I might be more pan psychic leaning but I think we we were all created by the universe to serve as it's eyes and ears. A way for the universe to acknowledge that it's alive. Not saying that rocks have consciousness but things that have evolved to "think" are fundamentally all connected by a network to the universe as a whole.

[@victor.oliveir4]

Robert , thank you for sharing these investigations with me. Your project is very special to me. I also want to understand these provoking problems. From Brazil, SC, Florianópolis.

[@robertthomas4234]

Yeah, man! I like to imagine people who comment here mean me, though maybe Robert Kuhn reads them too! Peace, brutha!!

[@woodstockjon420]

Me, barely 🤔...☺️

[@rickhattersley2801]

So succinct and so well said.

[@dronereaper7]

I would love to see you interview Swami Sarvapriyananda and talk about the Advaita Vedanta's take on consciousness.

[@joeolson6085]

I totally agree. I think Robert knows of him but is a little afraid of sitting down with him. Why is science so adverse to really getting to the “bottom” of things.

[@ERROR204.]

Don't you think the intro is a little harsh on the ears? I think making it a bit lower pitch would improve it significantly

[@lindataylor6831]

I enjoyed it.

[@VASKweb]

Amazing that the universe itself resembles a brain, and we observe how nature scales itself relentlessly. So, what was the universe thinking?

[@Arunava_Gupta]

@DOC TOR Come on. Survival is not all that matters. All through history, the most sublime minds have yearned much beyond mere survival. There are higher ideals, truths and morals. Therefore survival as an ideal can appeal only to certain individuals in certain conditions, not to all.

[@vincentkeller4725]

@DOC TOR 😳

[@lancebybee7962]

The consciousness of the universe would be very slow, unless causality is totally misunderstood by physicists.

[@graydon78]

The universe is one big neurological event continuously unfolding and evolving and learning. I study forest ecology, and I have observed that the physical structure of mycelium and how it operates is exactly the same as the structure of galactic Supercluster formation. Exactly the same.

[@rmac8380]

The universe is constantly checking itself for anomalies in the singularity

[@Davudhudson]

Closer to Truth is now our favorite thing on KZbin.

[@L-Prime]

Alan Guth is my favourite scientist on this show. He has appeared 14 times. 1. How weird is the cosmos? 2.How Vast is the Cosmos? 3.Did Our Universe have a Beginning? 4.How Many Universes Exist? 5.What does an Expanding Universe Mean? 6.What would Multiple Universes Mean? 7.Will the Universe Ever End? 8.Does Information Create the Cosmos? 9.Will the Universe Ever End? 10.Does Information Create the Cosmos? 11.Must Multiple Universes Exist? 12.Does the Cosmos have a Reason? 13."Observing Physics, Observing Nature?” 14.To Seek Cosmic Origins

[@kjjohnson24]

I wish Robert would explore the effects of psychedelics on consciousness and what they can teach us about how it works. Loved the program though!

[@daveg4417]

I would be interested in a video on that as well.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

I've explored the effects of psychedelics so I'll tell ya. But first... The discharge frequency of a neuron is the encoded form of an analogy. Thus a brain is stuffed with from 86 to 100 billion analogies all synaptically jostling each other. When, say LSD, changes the discharge frequencies of all those neurons, the meanings of all the analogies are changed differentially. Change them enough and the self becomes unconscious. Change them a little less and one finds oneself sitting cross legged, upside down in a green pea soup colored fog. Less still and one's body rotates one eighty and extends one leg then the other to the ground. Heavens forbid you need to take a piss for paranoia assaults as ya leave the campfire light and hope to find privacy behind a shrub or tent. Who knows who might be watching eh, and ya hope yer not actually in a crowded lecture hall. lol Cheers!

[@beamerUSA]

6:47 That's Robert Kuhn in a different dimension.

[@joeolson6085]

Consciousnesses is the precursor to anything and everything.

[@kuroryudairyu4567]

As always, the BEST channel in the world, and Dr Khun, a warrior and a magnificent being

[@Quidisi]

More RUPERT SHELDRAKE!!!!

[@achakhakan4189]

He cut off Rupert Sheldrake to go back to the completely superficial and thoughtless view of John Searle. This show is useless.

[@megamillionfreak]

Sheldrake's received pronunciation is so superb; elegant.

[@aliozgurarslan]

Such a shame Prof. Mark Solms wasn’t part of this video. Thanks to his body of work, we do know now why and how consciousness emerged in nature and we can go as far as codifying it.

[@beardedroofer]

How can we not be aware of anything else's consciousness? It's apparent to me that everything is conscious, though some are not entirely awake.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

I'm not conscious while dreamless sleeping. Seems to me rocks and plants are definitely dreamless sleeping. Just because a rock swells up in the morning sunlight heat does not make it conscious. It merely means the rock is reactive and reactivity is not the same as what we mean by conscious.

[@Quidisi]

Rupert Sheldrake is new to me. But he immediately brought to mind C.S.Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader: “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of."

[@robertthomas4234]

My dog's nose is ten thousand times more conscious than my nose. He knows the cat is there six gardens away! Oh, and his auditory canal is pretty conscious too!

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

A sense organ and a conscious self are worlds apart in meaning.

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

Consciousness might be action on physical reality.

[@graydon78]

Yes! I believe consciousness is not a feature of reality, it is the only true reality and somehow it creates what we call the physical.

[@spiralsun1]

I like the analogy with flying. Because it emphasizes that our intelligence and our intellect reflect a deep structure of reality which we have adapted to. Like air. In a lot of ways, computers are like a left-hemisphere false idol of itself. But a very very useful one that is not inherently bad, but actually vital. We should just know how to regard it properly.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

In other words there is not enough room in our craniums to grow brains large enough to allow us to become intelligent enough, quickly enough, to deal with all the problems confronting us that civilization is causing us thanks to its making us so fecundly successful?

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

i.e. If there were only a million of us we could all drive hummers.

[@wayneasiam65]

Mr. Kuhn I love your vids. Very thoughtful.

[@t0nyz0]

This is outstanding, well done.

[@Corteum]

We're conscious machines, OR we're consciousness operating through machines?

[@johndawd4616]

Yes we are consciousness operating through machines, now am writing some letters and you can read them and understand what's on my mind, now this is consciousness of two living beings communicating their conscious thoughts and it's amazing.

[@james6401]

Ya gotta love Rupert Sheldrake 💙

[@gmc7298]

honor to your impartial search for the truth ... discussing with varying minds in their fields

[@useridwitheld4934]

Enjoy it while it lasts

[@rahuldwivedi1070]

The correct question is maybe, what dies when one dies!

[@irfanmehmud63]

Agreed.

[@cnault3244]

Based on the available evidence, when a person dies, their body dies, cools, and begins to decompose. Their brain is dead & since no evidence has ever been shown for a consciousness existing outside of a physical brain, that person's consciousness ceases to exist.

[@rahuldwivedi1070]

@@cnault3244 True.. But Humans have long explored only the physical realm. Consciousness is not something physical but is of another realm. Science cannot be used to bisect each and every aspect of this bizzare Universe

[@cnault3244]

@@rahuldwivedi1070 "True.. But Humans have long explored only the physical realm." Can you present evidence for a non-physical realm ? "Consciousness is not something physical but is of another realm. " No other realm required. Consciousness is the product of & exists within physical brains. Do you have evidence for a consciousness existing outside of a physical brain, or of a consciousness that isn't produced by a physical brain?

[@rahuldwivedi1070]

@@cnault3244 I cannot provide any evidence brother. Only Physical things have evidence. But I can assure you the difference between experimental and experiential truths. The Later is what is used by Spiritual practitioners to understand the true meaning of Consciousness. The problem lies in the foundation of science. It excepts any thing with proves and evidences, but does not have place for Experiential methods ( not a problem with science though, its like trying to mix oil and water. )

[@gsczo]

The first guy (john) is spot on. Finally someone who thinks about this topic without irrelevant fantasy, or egoistic human centric view

[@jeremymr]

19:09 - "I would consider that there are different levels of consciousness, different complexities of consciousness..." Isn't that what she called the "arrogant western view" just moments earlier? Haha

[@nicholassoland8025]

"And maybe Chinese consciousness is different than American consciousness..." Whoa! Let's be careful where we let that consideration take us.

[@ThePapsforshort]

.. great episode, synergy of all individual species needs more exploration..

[@jdsguam]

My running theory is #5.

[@v2u2]

EXcellent! 👏

[@samdafoe4817]

The dog in the thumbnail got me here. That dog is very aware of what they are doing with their face - they are sucking us into their will. lol

[@rotorblade9508]

The whole prior to the parts it’s something immaterial? In the case of the brain, it generates abstract thoughts, but it still a result of firing of neurons. Now I don’t know if you can call it immaterial or not but what is pretty clear is that consciousness can’t occur without a brain. If transfer the information to a machine that does the same functions then it is possible for consciousness to occur and that individual will remember the same things and should be able to feel similarly depending on the level of emulation . That’s how I see it working

[@robertthomas4234]

A machine can only imitate consciousness. Biology allows us to have experiences such as seeing light.

[@joshkeeling82]

I am saddened that you've interviewed Rupert Sheldrake only one time. Though I don't necessarily fully agree with Rupert, I do think we're going to need radical ideas like his if humans are to ever fully understand consciousness.

[@stratmancruthers]

When robots become conscious we are in trouble

[@HardcorebergO]

Are we? Do you think robots want to rule anything (esspecially without programs for it) is it comes with consciousnes? Humble observations could be perfectly satisfactory. Even while helping organic life forms. (Or was it sarcasm and I fell for it? 😯)

[@downswingplayer9712]

I'm pretty sure my washing machine is making plans to take over the kitchen.

[@jimliu2560]

@@HardcorebergO The point is: once conscious, machines will be able to self program..... why would “Superior” machines want/need ~7Billion humans around?..... maybe a few human pets, but not billions.

[@HardcorebergO]

@@downswingplayer9712 for starters, one should not put washing machine in the kitchen. Atbleast it will take them longer to get there.

[@HardcorebergO]

@@jimliu2560 i understood the point. But this idea that "we want to gain control because we can" is a very human concept. I think.

[@daveg4417]

The Hebrew word often translated as "soul" or "ghost" is nephesh which literally means "that which breathes". It does not mean some eternal spirit thing attached to a physical body. That is also where the old saying "he gave up the ghost" came from for when a person dies -- literally he stopped breathing. I personally believe that dead is dead. There is zero evidence of anything else. It wasn't until later that philosophers like Plato (400 BCE) and the New Testament authors changed the meaning of "soul" to be a persistent eternal entity. Most likely to comfort dying people that they will soon be "united with their loved ones". We crawled out of the trees 200,000 years ago, there was no Adam and Eve, so like all of the other primates we die when we die. That is my personal belief anyway...

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

Interesting coincidence that both our names and thoughts are the same. I say I am not the atoms that serve as my substrate. They come and go in a pretty steady stream. Rather, I am the dancing pattern they describe. The pattern can change a little and I will still be. But too much change spells the end of me. Cheers!

[@S3RAVA3LM]

The humans may be the least conscious of all. You don't see deer lying to other deer. Or rabbits trying to take over and control others rabbits. Bears don't clear cut the wilderness. Weasels don't build tanks, missiles, guns. Blue jays don't try selling you something everyday. Owls don't ridicule other owls for having differing beliefs than their own. Eagles don't take it personally when they see a flock of pigeons -- eagles soar higher anyways. All animals, living things in general, are part of a higher consciousness, and the humans like to think they're above that. The further you go from the garden, the less connected in conscious you are. Nature is greatly part of conscious Light & water is everything conscious.

[@blaster-zy7xx]

This video went from real and scientific, to the woo woo.

[@kuroryudairyu4567]

Even a "fungus" seems to be conscious, the cordyceps family, on arthropods and arachnids

[@value8035]

I have a metaphor: I have observed my cat has an itch inside his ear. He try to scratch it from the outside, but by all possible means, there is nothing he can do about it. So he accept the itch as natural, and move on with his life. He is conscious about his problem, but he has to ignore it to succeed, there is no other option. I propose we humans have a similar problems to some other sorts of problems, even though we have invented the cotton buds to address most of our physically 'itching' problems. Human's greatest itch is 'to know' things. There are things which we cannot know by any possible means. So that is the itch we have to scratch several times from out side, accept it is there, and then move on with other stuff in life. So I define this state of prevailing, but insolvable itch as the "Consciousness".

[@value8035]

So will a computer ever be Conscious? as far as it is deterministic, I don't think so. If there is a computer which can handle paradoxes, and can accept the contrast between what it is suppose to do and what it can achieve by itself without a help of a programmer's instructions, then there will be Consciousness.

[@ronjohnson4566]

It seems that this guy just proved the big bang theory. The whole was the point at which the bang happened. And all the parts were one set. We call it the whole. The soul is an idea. In so far as it exists depends wholly on the observer.

[@Westrwjr]

Greet SUMMARY‼️👍🏼

[@rafeller9057]

If an animal acts so to stay alive; it's conscious.

[@rotorblade9508]

I don’t think it works like that. There are chemical mechanisms that lead to certain functions like including survival but it’s not certain that mechanisms leads to consciousness. The brain leads to a single conscious experience but when something is not right it leads to multiple identities so that shows a certain configuration is required

[@rafeller9057]

@@rotorblade9508 well my definition of conscious doesn't necessarily mean self-conscious it just means that you have a living thing and it wants to keep on living and it exhibits behavior that facilitates that. So even if it's automatic, at some point it had to be conscious of its own existence enough to want to protect it. And everything else is on the spectrum from that . . even ourselves. Course that's just one guy's opinion; none of us can really prove the existence of consciousness. .

[@redmed10]

How strange it is to be anything at all.

[@tunahelpa5433]

Based on my hypothesis that there is a field that permeates space; that observers "puddle" when large numbers of them are close together; my new hypothesis is that this was stumbled upon early in the evolution on mammal brains, and that it is evolutionarily advantageous and for that reason as mammals evolved this was intertwined with the growth of biological brain in both size and complexity to make the conscious brain a sort of neural nexus or a nexus of many neural networks in the brain. This explains the emergence of consciousness from observers and allows us to have a sort of panpsychism without having to say that rocks, for instance, are conscious. So: 1 observers are everywhere; 2 consciousness emerged: 3 evolution took advantage of it; and finally, 4 rocks are not conscious.

[@cvsree]

Level of consciousness is the only difference. Everything has consciousness. World itself is a reflection of consciousness.

[@mikefoster5277]

It's not that everything _has_ consciousness, but rather, that everything _is_ consciousness. So you move from a dualistic position to a non-dualistic one.

[@geraldvaughn8403]

Consciousness is everywhere. Matter and energy are intermittent.

[@tbarrelier]

Awareness is non-local. Consciousness is awareness turned in on itself. It is self-referential awareness. Non-local does not mean everywhere. It means that it is beyond space/time.

[@geraldvaughn8403]

@@tbarrelier good points. Do you have a reference?

[@tbarrelier]

@@geraldvaughn8403 I wrote my personal observations based on almost 50 years of taking notes on my experience. As I said, Mind seems to be a fundamental, if the THE fundamental force in the universe. Mind is axiomatic. An axiom is something accepted as true, though it cannot be proven. "I Am" is axiomatic. What would it mean to prove "I Am"?

[@miltontorres7401]

I believe the Universe is Consciousness at it's best. A computer on the other hand is programmable Consciousness limited to human input. It's a fantastic quest for the Truth.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

There is no Truth. There is only what's most likely. Imho naturally.

[@michaelrichmond3315]

Nice Porsche Lawrence soul more aware in that car 🚗

[@davidgifford8112]

I’m with Ray (3) ultimately although we still only have evidence of high order animals (2). This seems to boil down to the Chinese box problem: if the output, when tested, is indistinguishable from human output, it’s likely consciouses.

[@michaelshortland8863]

This can only be the case if consciousness is a product of complicated computation, whether in the brain or in a computer. But as we do not really know how consciousness is created, we may be over estimating the importance of computation. If this is the case, then consciousness may need some other causal mechanism, that we can not at the moment replicate.

[@jesseburstrom5920]

I say energy in universe is there to hold up larger structures indeed this shows why we see accelerated universe and inflation but shows why matter is part of consciousness and maybe in the beginning energy is infinite but to hold structure alive.

[@cresenciohernandez8310]

To be conscious of another is key to search this out of a whole not just the oneness

[@dongshengdi773]

Consciousness is One tiny part in biological Evolution albeit important. examples: 1. Evolution of mimicry, an animal looking like a Plant, a Plant looking like an insect. 2. in just a few years (less than 10 years) moths have changed their biology to avoid predation 3. plants can evolve weapons to survive , can even evolve in a symbiosis. etc

[@andybrown3016]

Every animal is consciousness just operating at different levels of awareness. The brain of the host organism will determine the experience of consciousness. In human beings we all share that pure unconditioned state of awareness. But as soon as the ego starts to develop our consciousness becomes polluted by our environment. And throughout our lives our conditioned ego obscures our shared essence identity. Everything is a dream within consciousness and every human or animal is just a temporary finite point of awareness through which consciousness gets to experience life.

[@downwinder3]

Love the christian guy using the phrase, immaterial substance

[@jmerlo4119]

I'd rather go for what is obvious and is happening in front of our eyes.

[@terrywheelock9458]

All THINGS are an INFINITE part of an INFINITE universe! Consciousness is within ALL THINGS! ...... even in the material THINGS! ....... What did he juz say! Yeah I said it! 🤣

[@cnault3244]

Can you present evidence for a consciousness that exists outside of & is not the product of a physical brain?

[@theeXodusof730]

I wish this was proven with empirical evidence...

[@terrywheelock9458]

@@theeXodusof730 It has been back in the 70s! 👍

[@terrywheelock9458]

@@cnault3244 We did back in the 70s understand the "background" radiation!

[@theeXodusof730]

@@terrywheelock9458 Do you have any links or video suggestions to help me spread new light on this? I'm genuinely curious.

[@mediocrates3416]

I think there's a nesting of sensation. The self is a control issue; the bits of self disemble the potential more whole self. The nesting is contexts within contexts.

[@brandursimonsen4427]

We are conscious to something, or we sleep. Not just being conscious.

[@GUPTAYOGENDRA]

We are conscious even in sleep of the absence of the universe.

[@numericalcode]

Were there conscious beings during the Cambrian?

[@nayanmipun6784]

Every thing have some form of consciousness

[@jakkritphanomchit]

Searle reference for him supposing non biological machines that create consciousness pls

[@MrTonyJ]

I hope that this is followed up with the question what is personhood?

[@tbarrelier]

Self-awareness is personhood. Going farther, consciousness, itself, is personhood. Awareness and consciousness are not equivalent. Awareness is the blank canvas, infinite and non-local. Consciousness is the picture on that canvas. The Artist? Got me. Who made the integers (counting numbers)? That's who knows.

[@jesseburstrom5920]

The problem of(heaven after extended Einstein) is just that we are together as conscious beings, even lava storms but in heaven it is separated. I agree.

[@robertthomas4234]

James Brown had a soul driving hi

[@seangilmore6695]

"You don't have to have neurons in order to have consciousness" 5:20. The brain is an organ that is used by consciousness and does not solely produce consciousness. I would say that Electromagnetism is the mechanism of consciousness.

[@adwaita6663]

Plzz add the English subtitles... 🙏

[@deepaktripathi4417]

For me Beatles are also conscious.

[@jesseburstrom5920]

I believe consciousness is intertwined with the universe

[@Tazy50]

Perhaps consciousness isn't a tangible thing, but a process involving matter and energy. In that case, what "we" are, are the underlying elements that are performing this action.

[@prestonbacchus4204]

What things are conscious? Only living things?

[@davidhunt313]

How can *_pain_* be perceived without _consciousness?_

[@GUPTAYOGENDRA]

Consciousness alone is conscious which is singular and fundamental

[@nrm55]

Someone...please identify the opening music...anyone?

[@absupinhere]

Literally everything with a nervous system.

[@0The0Web0]

I think we should ask the questions what conciousness does, what its (biological) function is, what the benefits are of having conciousness. Following that avenue might some day bring us closer to truth

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

Indeed. I suspect we are conscious because that's what it takes to do civilization. Civilization is the protective cocoon by means of which evolution makes more of us than mere instinct can accomplish. Cheers!

[@0The0Web0]

@@REDPUMPERNICKEL That's an interesting thought. On a more fundamental level (the individual) I think i'd go with the views of Damasio and Solms, but that could well be expanded onto a higher level as you laid out. We'll see, looking forward to what insights future research will bring. Cheers too!

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

@@0The0Web0 To expand slightly on the idea... Suppose the conscious mode of human being truly did evolve to address the need to better negotiate the inevitable increase in social complexity that burgeoning civilizations were heir to. (Civilizations that our instinct driven ancestor's discovery/invention of agriculture initiated ten millennia ago ). If true, civilization constitutes the substrate, the foundation, the fundament over which individual consciousnesses float abstractly, on a 'higher' level. Yes, I'm a fan of the theory because I think the theory nails it.

[@danielarnold9466]

Is consciousness a noun or a verb? A thing or a process?

[@dottedrhino]

If consciousness has to do with quantummechanical effects, computers wouldn't have it, because in those machines quantum effects are shut out in principle! You'd have to add quantum effects, but in what way?

[@Flum666]

things aren't conscious, that's why we call them 'things'

[@tbarrelier]

I would agree with you except for the fact that I can't know the conscious experience of anyone else. Consciousness is totally self-referential and self-contained. I INFER that you are conscious, and that is as far as I can go. I have no way of knowing/experiencing how vanilla ice-cream tastes for you, or anybody else. If I can't do that for you, whom I infer to be conscious, what makes me think my inference that a "thing" is not conscious is true? There is no way to know, one way or another!

[@jacobboehme783]

The universe IS submerged in consciousness BUT a catalyst IS needed to become conscious !

[@mediocrates3416]

What happens to my "whole" when i'm sleeping?

[@mediocrates3416]

@Swoosh Swish 😂😂😂 ... I'm leavin it! 😂😂

[@saicharanchepuri8145]

No one knows that..but here is a theory I came up with...while you are in deep sleep you are no more conscious...because our brain is constantly in conscious mode...we are in a particle state...we are in solid state...but when brain does not observe us we become wave...and our entity travels through all other dimensions. That's the reason we experience a lot weird dreams...but those are reality in other dimensions. Main point is when we do not observe a particle it behaves like wave but when we observe it with a detector it behaves like particle again...because our brain observes us constantly 24x7. Only time when we are in deep sleep we enter into other realms that are impossible to enter with consciousness. Like your body divides into 100s and 1000s of waves and travell through all other dimensions while you sleep...you seem solid to others bcz they observe you and when they observe you for them your wave function collapses and you become solid again.

[@mediocrates3416]

@@saicharanchepuri8145 Interesting but; i'm trying to get at specifics of brain function that differ as our experience changes. You should write a book; very thought provoking👍

[@ik1408]

The book has already been written: Reality Transerfing by Zeland. Only its translation into English is not of high quality.

[@ik1408]

Reality transurfing.

[@michaeljordanfansaretheworst]

Question

[@AlexanderR879]

Consciousness is seeing, tasting , hearing, tasting, sadness, happiness, pain, excitement etc and you have every level of consciousness from none to a lot just like everything else there is. ie some creatures can smell see really well and some can’t see at all. Consciousness is the inclusion of all senses including brain function and processing.

[@piespeafield]

I believe most life is conscious, and our language and body make us different. Most animals and birds understand what we are saying, and can recognize hundreds of words. For instance, were not far away from brain transplants, so what If we took the brain from a baby chimp or dog, and transplanted it into a baby human, as It developed what would it be, human or animal? it would learn human traits, and words, and with a voice box it would be able to talk. I would imagine the result would convert a lot of people to vegetarianism.

[@randibeal8591]

Loved it!! 💜💙💜💜

[@HouseJawn]

Main problem that os constantly overlooked is that we don't have a precise definition of consciousness