That title grabbed your attention so while I still have it, where does the conscious awareness of a newly conceived baby come from? One day the embryo is a ball of cells and the next it has a neural plate and then tube and hey presto its kicking and dreaming and thinking. — Benj96
Unfortunately we first have to define consciousness. Sorry. — John Onestrand
where does the conscious awareness of a newly conceived baby come from? — Benj96
So is the developing brain simply following genetic rules. — Benj96
As a matter of fact, I don't know. But I have a hypothesis, based on the philosophical notion of evolutionary Emergence, and the scientific concept of physical Phase Change. Any new properties or qualities, such as awareness of the environment, "come from" a chain of prior Causes, and from the integrated state of an individualized functional System. But the Potential for those later phases of being were Latent, as encoded information, in the "DNA" of the evolutionary chain, all the way back to the original Singularity (the Cosmic Egg).where does the conscious awareness of a newly conceived baby come from? — Benj96
We don't know. — Bert Newton
The conscious part of our brain is tasked with executive function. It casts judgment on the rest of the brain, proliferating or inhibiting the competing urges generated by the unconscious areas of the brain. Once you reflect on that, it doesn't seem so surprising that consciousness arises. If the cluttered chatter of the unconscious mind can be improved by organization and judgment, then the thing that serves as the judge/organizer likely has a bird's-eye view of the sum of all those sensory inputs. The process of that bird's-eye view itself would be human consciousness. We have awareness for the purpose of decision-making. Decision-making would be more difficult without awareness, so that's why consciousness ("something") takes place.
The conscious part of our brain is tasked with executive function. It casts judgment on the rest of the brain, proliferating or inhibiting the competing urges generated by the unconscious areas of the brain. Once you reflect on that, it doesn't seem so surprising that consciousness arises. If the cluttered chatter of the unconscious mind can be improved by organization and judgment, then the thing that serves as the judge/organizer likely has a bird's-eye view of the sum of all those sensory inputs. The process of that bird's-eye view itself would be human consciousness. We have awareness for the purpose of decision-making. Decision-making would be more difficult without awareness, so that's why consciousness ("something") takes place.
The conscious part of our brain is tasked with executive function. It casts judgment on the rest of the brain, proliferating or inhibiting the competing urges generated by the unconscious areas of the brain.
Couldn't a sufficiently advanced robot be programmed to do what we do without consciousness? — Bert Newton
I think you are conflating consciousness with conscious mental processes. — Bert Newton
I don't know but I would got to neuroscientists first for an answer and they unanimously agree they can't pinpoint the conscious experience in the brain. The question remains: where is it? — Bert Newton
How do you know that the "brain science" is lacking? — Bird-Up
what your specific principal is that allows the distinction to be made between the consciousness and the physical brain — Bird-Up
So, yes: DNA is followed. But there is more to it. And it stays that way for life. DNA governs the brain, but lots of other stuff also affects the brain. — Bitter Crank
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