What are thoughts comprised of, or composed from, and can they be reduced to matter'? — Jack Cummins
I wonder to what extent the "I' is able to reflect upon it itself? — Jack Cummins
What are thoughts comprised of, or composed from, and can they be reduced to matter'? — Jack Cummins
I do feel that many materialistic pictures of consciousness are so reductive that they appear to leave awareness out partially or entirely. — Jack Cummins
I separate "consciousness" and "subconsciousness", if only because from time to time we see nightmares. And we are afraid of them. Most likely they are seen by "consciousness". And the "subconscious" shows. Otherwise, "consciousness" would not have been frightened. :) It turns out that there are two of them.I am glad that you have raised the topic of the subconscious because I do feel that many discussions about consciousness don't go into enough focus on the subconscious. We are most aware of the subconscious in our experiences of dreams and the role of the 'I' consciousness here is interesting. Certainly, in my own dreams I am still consciously related to my own waking identity. But, it seems to me that we retain the same witness consciousness in most dreams, even if events of dreams are fragmented in unusual ways. — Jack Cummins
So, I am asking what does thought tell us about the nature of personal identity and about the underlying source of consciousness? Do thoughts help to explain the nature of consciousness? — Jack Cummins
I am glad that you have raised the topic of the subconscious because I do feel that many discussions about consciousness don't go into enough focus on the subconscious. — Jack Cummins
Can you speak in your own words? Without Freud, Jung And Capra. In their time, there was no "big data", a computer, and even the "Chinese room" was just an inference. And now it is a reality.The area of the subconscious is a large one indeed because it does involve many interpretive viewpoints. I have come across psychology texts which see the subconscious as more of a processing of data and I think that it is possible that you see it in this way because you mentioned data and systems.
However, we do have to bear in mind that ideas about the subconscious also emerge within psychoanalytic thought. In particular, both Freud and Jung speak of it, and their approaches are extremely different from one another. I am aware that many may see the ideas of both these thinkers as being outdated and not evidence based to be worthy of serious debate. However, they do provide frameworks.I think that both writers would probably see nightmares as material which is repressed and surface.
One aspect which I am aware of is how I often notice that I begin having nightmares, or even hypopompic and hypnagogic experience when I am in stressful life situations and I know many other people who have found this too. This probably points to chemicals which are triggered by stress.
Also, I think that the systems approach of Fritjof Capra is very useful and that thoughts, including those which are consciousness and those emerging from the subconscious can be viewed as arising within us as living systems, and as parts of larger systems. — Jack Cummins
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