Consciousness! It’s Only a Model

Sh!

All we ever really deal with are models. To say a thing is or isn’t actually a thing could really be utter nonsense. Even the words ‘consciousness’ and ‘reality’ are just models. They are words that are part of a language that we developed and use to communicate our thoughts and ideas to one another. We all know this but it’s something that’s easy to take for granted.

I’m not trying to convince anyone of my beliefs about the nature of consciousness and reality (at least not yet 😊) I just want to bring more awareness to the idea that models of consciousness and reality are just that: models. Continue reading

On-the-Road-to-a-Science-of-Consciousness – PDF Download

On the Road to a Science of Consciousness

For how long have we wondered what we are? Where we came from? Why we are here? Did Lucy wonder about these things over 3 million years ago? Do apes wonder about it? How about dolphins or dogs or pigs? Bacteria? I believe we owe this wonder to consciousness: the awareness of ourselves, our surroundings, and our place within it. The exact definition of consciousness may be debated by some, or many, but I think this will serve my purposes today. For at least a few millennia we, as a species, have been trying to figure out and describe what this is exactly. It has been proving very hard to pin down and some of the greatest minds we’ve known have set to work on figuring it out. Some approach it from a purely philosophical angle, others from a scientific one, and many from a religious or artistic standpoint. Some of them have even tried some combination of some or all of the above and then some.

Continue reading “On the Road to a Science of Consciousness”