What's your theory on "consciousness"

[©linton514®]

I'm currently looking up this guys credentials. But I like how "conventional" science tends to be afraid or ignore these subjects.

[kokujin]

No one can explain it. Not even you armchair scientists.

yeah, I just x'd out mine. current attitude towards it all is one where I don't really care much to know. shit's much easier that way.

[Matrixfart]

It can be observed that various actions, thought processes and emotions have a physical manifestation in the brain, but it does not necessarily mean that is all there is to it. I personally believe that the "mind" or our consciousness is a result of our brain and nothing more, but that is mostly because there is no evidence as of yet to support that it need be anything else.
Some people find that a bit degrading or somehow not good enough, but I don't see the problem with my identity being my brain. Why would the limit of it being electrochemical interactions diminish it's importance?

Then again, I am however hedging my bets somewhat as new evidence will always come to light as our knowledge progresses and our technology advances.

[ROBOJESUS]

It can be observed that various actions, thought processes and emotions have a physical manifestation in the brain, but it does not necessarily mean that is all there is to it. I personally believe that the "mind" or our consciousness is a result of our brain and nothing more, but that is mostly because there is no evidence as of yet to support that it need be anything else.
Some people find that a bit degrading or somehow not good enough, but I don't see the problem with my identity being my brain. Why would the limit of it being electrochemical interactions diminish it's importance?

Then again, I am however hedging my bets somewhat as new evidence will always come to light as our knowledge progresses and our technology advances.

agreed 100%

[©linton514®]

It can be observed that various actions, thought processes and emotions have a physical manifestation in the brain, but it does not necessarily mean that is all there is to it. I personally believe that the \"mind\" or our consciousness is a result of our brain and nothing more, but that is mostly because there is no evidence as of yet to support that it need be anything else.
Some people find that a bit degrading or somehow not good enough, but I don't see the problem with my identity being my brain. Why would the limit of it being electrochemical interactions diminish it's importance?

Then again, I am however hedging my bets somewhat as new evidence will always come to light as our knowledge progresses and our technology advances.

I respect your right to hold such an opinion. Personally I do find it degrading. Especially when you have people flip flopping between issues of equating us to simply being animals and then begging for fairness of a specific group of individuals while criticizing and even calling for the abolishment of another.

The fact that we can surpress/control many of our so called animal instincts is intriguing enough for me to belief that there's a lot more to us than the unimaginative theory of simply evolving from a germ to whatever it is that we choose to accept through our various selective sciences.

Like I said, when alternatives are suggested, they are met with ridicule. That kind of reaction is looked at as being suspicious. Which is why people will subscribe to their own beliefs and disregard what certain people consider factual.

Point being regardless of who presents what "evidence" whether it be metaphysical or scientific. It means nothing until we reach the absolute and concrete answers. I prefer to keep an open mind to everything regardless of what my current beliefs are.

Here's another interesting take:


Personally, I don't know if I'd smoke any of that stuff.

[ROBOJESUS]

The fact that we can surpress/control many of our so called animal instincts is intriguing enough for me to belief that there's a lot more to us than the unimaginative theory of simply evolving from a germ

Through biology and psychology, that is currently the widely accepted fact tho. Evolution is why we are above "animal instincts", even tho we do still show many forms of that instinctual behavior. That evolved brain is why we have a conscious, so animals with that trait had a very increased fitness and survival. (obviously)

Point being regardless of who presents what "evidence" whether it be metaphysical or scientific. It means nothing until we reach the absolute and concrete answers. I prefer to keep an open mind to everything regardless of what my current beliefs are.

I frankly think you are 100% wrong on this. Evidence and facts are VERY important even if we don't have a concrete answer. (especially if you read up on the brain and neuroscience)

[Matrixfart]

It can be observed that various actions, thought processes and emotions have a physical manifestation in the brain, but it does not necessarily mean that is all there is to it. I personally believe that the \"mind\" or our consciousness is a result of our brain and nothing more, but that is mostly because there is no evidence as of yet to support that it need be anything else.
Some people find that a bit degrading or somehow not good enough, but I don't see the problem with my identity being my brain. Why would the limit of it being electrochemical interactions diminish it's importance?

Then again, I am however hedging my bets somewhat as new evidence will always come to light as our knowledge progresses and our technology advances.

I respect your right to hold such an opinion. Personally I do find it degrading. Especially when you have people flip flopping between issues of equating us to simply being animals and then begging for fairness of a specific group of individuals while criticizing and even calling for the abolishment of another.

The fact that we can surpress/control many of our so called animal instincts is intriguing enough for me to belief that there's a lot more to us than the unimaginative theory of simply evolving from a germ to whatever it is that we choose to accept through our various selective sciences.

Like I said, when alternatives are suggested, they are met with ridicule. That kind of reaction is looked at as being suspicious. Which is why people will subscribe to their own beliefs and disregard what certain people consider factual.

Point being regardless of who presents what "evidence" whether it be metaphysical or scientific. It means nothing until we reach the absolute and concrete answers. I prefer to keep an open mind to everything regardless of what my current beliefs are.

The fact that you find it degrading has to do with your self-importance. You feel you are above certain things and this sense of superiority is a result of your upbringing and surroundings as much as your personality. This is a very common state of mind among faithful as they feel they are the chosen, or special in some way. This flip-flopping you speak of is a common thing in humans, as we have one opinion about one thing, and another on other things. I can truly say that I don't find myself superior to anyone, but I am still very capable of criticizing things and people I disagree with or dislike for various reasons.

The fact that we can suppress our animal instincts is because our higher brain functions can override them. This too has been observed, but this too is not fully understood. As for the "unimaginative" theory of evolution, it wasn't unimaginative enough to be discovered before Charles Darwin came along. Trying to belittle a cornerstone of modern biology by calling it unimaginative is a rather petty attempt to avoid it's significance. The way you said it also shows that you really don't know very much about evolution or what it implies. Our sciences are only selective insofar as they deal with facts and observation. Science is about finding the truth and observing the world around us. If observations do not support a hypothesis (intelligent design, astrology, homeopathy etc) then the hypothesis is discarded for something that explains the observed evidence better.

The usual reason why some things are met with ridicule is because they were either dis proven long ago, or they fly in the face of current evidence. If the evidence supports another hypothesis, then that is/becomes the accepted theory. I will grant that unfortunately there is a tendency to follow conventional wisdom and ignore radical notions, but where the notion is truly factual it will eventually gain ground and be accepted. In time the truth will out, despite stubborn opposition in some cases.

Your last paragraph makes little sense. You mention evidence sarcastically, then jumble metaphysics and science together and finally demand concrete answers. You need evidence to get to concrete answers, and metaphysics will never give you a concrete answer to anything. Science on the other hand will eventually get to the answers, though it may take a very long time to get to them. Your say your mind is open, but you are biased in what you would believe as answers and it appears you are not completely able to distinguish between fact and belief.

If I may ask, what exactly do you see as concrete answers?

[©linton514®]

Hehe, I'm pretty far away from having a superiority complex and I may sound crazy but I also know the difference between facts and beliefs. I said that I understood why people will disregard certain facts for their own beliefs. But I also do understand that todays fact might not be valid tomorrow(yes yes this is the "best" we can do). Without 100% understanding of everything including what reality actually is, I can agree with one thing that I'm sure that you do...question everything. Regardless of what camp you role with, we all want to know more about our own conciousnses. In the end we still know so little. Not many people will admit that.

For my last paragraph I guess it kind of goes in line of your comment about advancement in technology...because it's impossible to measure something you cannot 'see' or don't know exists. My statement is that I hope we can unlock more mysteries through tech. Again, only time will tell.

To: Robo, yes it's obvious how our brain works. I don't think anyone is questioning that.

[Matrixfart]

Hehe, I'm pretty far away from having a superiority complex and I may sound crazy but I also know the difference between facts and beliefs. I said that I understood why people will disregard certain facts for their own beliefs. But I also do understand that todays fact might not be valid tomorrow(yes yes this is the "best" we can do). Without 100% understanding of everything including what reality actually is, I can agree with one thing that I'm sure that you do...question everything. Regardless of what camp you role with, we all want to know more about our own conciousnses. In the end we still know so little. Not many people will admit that.

For my last paragraph I guess it kind of goes in line of your comment about advancement in technology...because it's impossible to measure something you cannot 'see' or don't know exists. My statement is that I hope we can unlock more mysteries through tech. Again, only time will tell.

I didn't mean that you had a superiority complex, as in the mental disease, just that you feel above certain things, such as animals or certain stupid people, as you find it belittling to think that our minds is just our brains. Then again, I may just be misunderstanding you somewhat.
I agree that we certainly cannot understand anything 100%, and that our knowledge changes all the time, I just have an aversion to believing things that haven't been proven, or even worse cannot be proven per definition. I am also behind you on questioning everything, at least to a point. On some level we have to trust our senses lest we believe nothing. Yes indeed we know so very little. We have only scratched the surface of what can be known.

I have full faith (yes even I have that sometimes) that the advancement of technology will eventually aid us in unlocking most of the secrets of the universe, though it may take more time than anyone can ever know, if it ever ends.