What is consciousness? Page 1.

  This is the first question which we could answer as the ability for self awareness:

 

1. Awareness of Self and of Environment

This attribute of awareness in itself involves or needs the following properties:

i. Motivation (thus self-initiation of various activities e.g. sleeping/waking, gathering food)
ii. Emotion (this means ability to feel and to react to danger, anger and to be able to control the emotions for peace)
iii. Memory (The ability to remember is fundamental since this gives rise to other faculties like inference, knowledge)

However, when you talk to the Neuroscientist the view is that consciousness is simply a property of grey mater (brain tissue) thus:
1. MIND - BODY Relationship (Thus a Person - or any living Organism simply a well organized functional biological unit and.)
2. Thus consciousness an Emergent Property (which is dependent only on the excitable cells (neurones) which are precisely organized as the brain)

 

2. When does Consciousness begin?

It could start at various points depending on how we define consciousness thus:

1. The individual neuronal cell made possible the beginning simple reflexes (which eventually become controllable and in this process the brain developed).

2. The nervous system (evolution of excitable cell and development of the nervous system).

3. Thus the movement from ocean to land, 5 million years ago, the mammalian brain grew as extension of the spinal cord (reptilian), at 100,000 yrs it was ½ kg in man and at present 1.2 kg.


4. Individuality or Self-awareness at what point, i.e. are we conscious at birth, 4 years, what point? Thus what about the fetus, until what age can you have abortion.

The other question to ask is - why develop this sense or consciousness?

Is it just a by-product of the various primary brain functions or does it convey some evolutionary advantage. This you have to decide for yourself.

Remember that every form of life is linked to every other since we all originate from the same primordial cells.

 

3. What machinery is necessary Consciousness?

 

Early Greeks believed that the heart = life

Hebrews/Christians that breath = life

Galvani in 1791 showed that electricity existed as force in body.

Golgi 1870 showed existence of individual neurones

Later electro-chemical transmission was demonstrated.

The Brain was therefore chosen as the machine responsible and

in particular the following systems:

A. Cerebral Cortex

B. The Reticular Activating System (and Thalamus)

C. Limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala, hippocampus)

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