Consciousness Explained

[austintorn@aol.com]

Consciousness Explained

Consciousness is not a magic word for something mystical, but is a part of a physical process of the brain. It is therefore not at all a thing in and of itself that can just “float around”, nor it is ever the beginning of something, but sometimes the middle and usually the end of a brain process.

Consciousness is the continuation of the process begun by the senses, memories, learning, associations, and the brain. It is higher in humans, than, say, in dogs or cats, which have kind of an extended present of just primary consciousness. A dog might remember to stay away from a wood stove from which it got burned but does not ruminate afterwards about it or make plans about it.

Our secondary or higher consciousness in which we can be conscious of consciousness allows us to symbolically ponder the experiences of life. We might move the wood stove that we bumped into since it was too near to the path that we must walk to get to the bedroom.

Does consciousness make us pull back from the heat of the stove when we touch it? No, that was a reflex, but the pain was “felt” in consciousness, as well as the “seeing” of whole scene of color, odor, touch, and taste of the event. Was consciousness the first response? No, consciousness was the last to be informed of the painful experience. Then we absorbed the experience, thought about it, and perhaps did something else as a result.

Whatever it is that the brain does to achieve consciousness can be stopped by anesthesia when it dissolves in the oily regions of the neuron microtubules. The brain then stays active but it does not produce consciousness until the anesthesia is taken away. The same kind of result occurs when you faint. Consciousness is of the brain. Thus, consciousness can be turned off and on by the xenon or isoflurane gas of anesthetics.

It then, never makes sense to say things such as consciousness produces everything, for it neither comes first nor does it produce its own inputs. In fact, it is produced only by what precedes it. Then, as a global experience, the experience gets remembered for future use by those who can learn.

Consciousness is not the self or the ego or any such thing; it witnesses what those systems do, whether they present good or bad behaviors. Consciousness is like a stream in which experiences can surface and flow.

(Quantum Biology is the Key)

In the bacterial proteins having to do with photosynthesis, dancing electrons tunnel to other places kind of all at once, as happens in the quantum realm, and produce energy at a staggering efficiency rate of more than 95%.

Instead of haphazardly moving from one connective channel to the next in the scaffolding of the cellular reaction center, the electron solar energy travels in several directions at the same time; then, at the end, collapse the quantum process, retroactively finding a very efficient pathway from its “random walks”.

This kind of thing could also be happening to produce consciousness in the microtubules of brain neurons in that a scenario of consequences is reduced to an action or a thought.

Each brain neuron contains hundreds of long, cylindrical protein structures that serve as scaffolding. Anesthetics affect how some of the electrons in these regions behave, interrupting the neurons’ delicate quantum process.

The microtubules normally are squashed and elongated at the same time since electrons are superimposed everywhere about the neuron. These constantly shifting sections, due to quantum entanglement, have an impact on other sections. It is in the faster-than-light subatomic communication that consciousness is born.

Entanglement is not, like the name might suggest, a hopeless tangle of a mess of string, but a dynamic quantum-mechanical dance of beautiful gyrations of that which is ever affected and continues to be.

Consciousness is a unified brain state. It contains what is on the mind that came from the brain, etc.

Perhaps the entire universe had a quantum wave-function that came to be successful retroactively, but that is just a “perhaps”.

[melanie]

It seems that there are two usages of the word consciousness.

When it is used with a small 'c' it usually refers to a function of the mind - we say 'I became conscious of something' meaning my attention was drawn to something.

In nonduality, Consciousness is often used with a capital 'C'.

This is synonymous with Awareness, Self, Source, Reality, Being.

It is THAT which is the substrate of all that appears. For anything to be, Reality/Consciousness is required (so to speak.)

Theories and speculation about Consciousness (including this) are strictly appearances within Consciousness.

[Mohan.C]

Mel,

The definition you have given to the consciousness with the small 'c' is same as the definition of Awareness.

So, both the consciousness with the small 'c' and the capital 'C' mean the same.

Consciousness cannot mean self, even in its capital 'C' form, I'm sure you know why.

[melanie]

Mohan. The concept 'Self' is just that, a concept.

A word used to describe the ineffable THIS

In reality there isn't a self. There's just .....Consciousness with a capital 'SEE'

[austintorn@aol.com]

Awareness, self, source, reality, and being are again of just plain "consciousness", awareness being a focus, the source still being the brain and all it contains, reality being interpreted and given a better face with colors, forms, textures, lighting and more. Being is the experience of what comes into consciousness.

Your self is your memories, experiences, learnings, associations and memory and is quite specific and tailored to what you have become up to now: you. It is, in fact, unique in the history of the universe.

Some people thought that consciousness is a mysterious thing, so, by language alone, they reversed it to be the first instead of near the end, treated it as a thing instead of a part of a process, then made it non-physical and supernatural—a complete opposite of what it actually is shown to be, but that's language for you that likes to apply capital letters to promote a wish.

Consciousness observes the narrative center of gravity of being and living.

[nameless]

All 'definitions' of 'Consciousness' are easily refutable.
Consciousness is ineffable.
'Brains' (existence!) exist within Consciousness, not vice versa.
(See; Copenhagen interpretation of QM; "Consciousness is the Ground of all Being"/existence")
'Materialism' has long been refuted.

[austintorn@aol.com]

Hi Nameless,

Consciousness seemed mysterious but has now become "effable". I am also using the quantum realm in my explanation, so that is not ignored.

It also plays a part in the sense of smell. Odorants' molecule shapes fit the nasal receptors, but that's only the first part of the story, since some molecules have the same shape (one atom different). It turns out that the same superposition of electrons and tunneling described earlier give the molecule a vibration pattern of electric current that finalizes the smell presented to consciousness.

While pinanethiol [C 10 H 18 S] has a strong grapefruit odor, it near twin pinanol [C 10 H 18 O] smells of pine needles.

It's also seems, as you say, that consciousness can summon a particle into being. Maybe it real-ized and actual-ized the entire universe into [real] being and so, now, all is here as actual, everything else having evolved up up to the point of consciousness in a superposition "possibility" type way as we see with the quantum realm.

Altering Human Consciousness

Change the brain and consciousness changes too.
Take drugs and the emotions change as well.
Damage the brain and the mind’s damaged too.
Consciousness emerges only from the brain.

Anyway, what do you think about the anesthesia effects and the quantum parts described in the initial post? (Consciousness can be so easily turned off.)

[Mikal]

Austie...I don't think we have yet solved the riddle of consciousness or what I call the mind/brain dilemma. Lots of studies going on into the phenomena of consciousness and the evolution of consciousness revealing that the task may be more complex than previously thought....


Mikal

[ggullet]

consciousness is the ability to communicate with other than oneself.

[Mikal]

"Damage the brain and the mind’s damaged too." ....Austin


Hi Austie....I would wonder about this statement because four years ago my brother-in-law had one of the most serious strokes one can have. A blood clot moved from his neck up through his brain causing extensive damage. I carefully watched his progress as he was always quite an intelligent guy. He seemed to progress along plateaus of wellness where from immediately after the stroke he was incapable of many things to do with carrying out a thought or articulating his thoughts into words.
Now four years later I ask him what is life like for you now. He told me..."I had to adjust to my thoughts coming to me more slowly which is why when I talk to you, I have a hesitation span where I am gathering thoughts into how and what I will say to you. I can still think but it is slower to get to me and then a longer process to organize thoughts. I still think like I used to but with a slow process I had to learn to stop being in a panic state and be calm, now it is much easier to deal with how I think now."
He used to be a computer technician, one of the best in the city and it has taken him four years to recapture his abilities which he said was like just learning how to work more slowly, with more concentration and mental focus. He has brain damage yet somehow his mind worked it out so I would not think that statement is correct when considering that stroke victims progress until they reach their own wellness plateau.....


Mikal