Consciousness Flashcards
What do people generally associate being “conscious” with?
Having control, being aware of surroundings, responsive, making decisions.
What is Rene Descartes’s argument for knowing if he is real?
“I think therefore I am.” He believes that even though he can not be certain that anything in the physical world is real, he knows he has a mind. If there is a greater force out there trying to trick him, he knows he needs a mind in order to be tricked. The fact that he has a mind and the ability to think is proof enough.
The Grand Illusion
The idea that all sensations and memories could be just a dream.
The Grand Deception
If there was a being more powerful than him, something that could manipulate his senses. He would have no way of knowing the difference.
Reality is an illusion, but…
the deceiver is you.
Dualism
The mind can somehow be separate from the physical human body. (Spirit, soul)
Ghost in the Machine
The mind exists in the shell of the human body, the mind is in control, and the essence is separate.
Accepting dualism means…
Something non-physical creates physical changes. How the mind can exist without the body (brain.)
Monism
There is only one kind of stuff, everything is physical or everything is mental.
Materialism (Form of Monism)
Everything is made from physical stuff, mind is a byproduct. The mind is not special. It could never be separate from the brain. (Professor claims this negates free-will)
Idealism (Form of Monism)
Everything is made of mental stuff. The world is a projection of the mind. Nothing physical even exists.
You can not prove that idealism…
is not true.
What is similar about technology and the human brain?
Neurons firing in your brain are binary, they fire or they don’t, much like mechanical On and Off. 1’s and 0’s.
Descartes doubts existence because…
all knowledge comes from the senses
(sight, sound, touch, etc)
The Mind-Body Problem
Does the activity of the body create the mind?
Or does the mind exist separately but somehow interact with the body to make it active?
Monists
- there is nothing special about your mind, it is a big complicated robot filled with behavior programs
Dualists
- your mind exists on its own, your body is just a big vehicle to pilot your mind around
Panpsychism (form of monism)
Every phsycial object has a form of “consciousness”
“Mental activity without needing brains”
Flowers know when the sun shines
The Combination Problem
Pansychism argues everything has it’s own form of consciousness, but if all the pieces are already conscious, how do I combine into one?
The Knowledge Problem
Can subjective experiences be explained with knowledge alone?
Explanatory Gap
- The aspects of a feeling or experience that cannot be explained with words or knowledge
The Easy Problem of Consciousness
-Research in psychology and neuroscience
-Testing cognitive abilities
-Identifying functions of specific brain areas
The “Hard” problem of consciousness
Why do our experiences feel the way they do?
◦ How do neurons firing equal subjective experiences?
Do we see the same red?
Maybe your version of red looks green to me.
Qualia
◦ The unique quality of your conscious
experience
You can’t experience things inside another
person’s mind - this is an example of…
Qualia
Problem of Awareness
What exactly does it mean to be aware
of something?
◦ Brain is processing many sensations
◦ Only some are actively perceived
◦ Are you aware of all the sensations that you are
not perceiving
Conscious
Immediate “Awareness”
Preconscious
Possible “awareness”
- Information you are not immediately aware
of, but could become aware
- Preconscious can become conscious by changing the focus of attention
- Autopilot
Unconscious
Not available to “awareness”
- Information that cannot be assessed by
conscious awareness
◦ The conscious mind has no way of knowing
what happened during unconscious states
Unconscious Knowledge
Sleepwalking (and sleep talking)
Sleepwalkers that walk, talk, and do chores all while
being completely unconscious
They will have no conscious memory of their
unconscious behavior
Blindsight
Ability to be aware of visual information without being
able to “see” it
- Blindness due to damage to visual areas of the brain
But, they could still respond to visual information
Would avoid obstacles in their way
They could not explain why they “knew”
There is no “center” of…
consciousness. No single brain area seems to “control” consciousness.
Consciousness as an…
emergent property. (Consciousness occurs from several different brain areas
being synchronized together)
