Brains process information, it’s what brains do, so consciousness and awareness must be explained in terms of information processing, data manipulation, computation and in the end, patterns of neural activity.
The beginnings of consciousness could be when the information processing performance is high enough to include processing information on the information processor itself, its position, its separateness from the environment (self awareness) and to some degree the actual processing itself (awareness of ones thoughts).
When enough information is processed to include information on the information processor itself.
When enough information is processed to include information on the actual information processing. This feedback loop, the processor, processing information on the actual processing of information, is I believe, at the core of consciousness on the level of being aware of ones thoughts.
When enough information is processed to enable the constuction of a model of reality and that model of reality includes a model of itself.
I think therefore I am.
When enough info is processed to lead to the conclusion of its own existence as an information processor.

The bottom line is that consciousness is (must be) a system of information processing. The information processor, processes information on the information processor itself and on some levels (i.e. the word and picture level) on the information processing itself. This leads to the conclussion of its own existence and to the conclussion that it is processing information.
(Okay so this is a bit of a oversimplification but you have to start somewhere.)(An algorithmic description of this 'system' is beyond me, although I am pretty sure that there will be feedback loops.)

Levels of consciousness
It is not just a case of something is conscious or it is not, as in "I am conscious; that rock is not." There are definite degrees or levels of self awareness and consciousness. Can you be aware of self without being aware of your own thoughts? A dog displays some degree of self awareness by responding to its name, but I don't think that it is very likely that it is aware of its own thoughts. Compared to humans it displays low level consciousness, but its' level of consciousness is higher than say, a chicken.
Different levels of consciousness exist not only between different species, but within one species. This is especially noticeable in the human race.

Knowledge is the path to higher consciousness
The more you know about yourself the higher your level of consciousness. I am not talking about knowing whether you like peanut butter sandwiches or not, I am talking about knowing what you are, I am talking about knowledge of the universe, nature, physics, chemistry, genetics, biology, evolution, etc.
Scientific knowledge is the only way to higher consciousness.
A human who is aware of the universe is at a higher level of consciousness, than a human who isn't. A person who is aware of atoms and that he is made of atoms is at a higher level of consciousness, than a person who isn't. Quantum theory, nuclear physics, chemistry, evolution, genetics, biology, zoology, anthropology, neurology, psychology , artificial intelligence, cosmology, general and special relativity, and of course mathematics, the more you know about these subjects the more you know about yourself, the higher your level of consciousness. You are a product of the universe, so the more you know about the universe the more you know about yourself.

Sophisticated consciousness
Higher level consciousness is knowing that;

The self aware universe
Every time a consciousness looks through a telescope or a microscope or plays with a particle accelerator,
the universe is studying itself.
Every time a physics experiment is performed, the universe is experimenting with itself, trying to understand itself.

Humans are studying humans,
brains are studying brains,
cells are studying cells,
atoms are studying atoms.
The universe is studying itself, through Homo Sapiens consciousness.

Particle Accelerators
The most complex devices on Earth. They represent the peak of human intelligence, the peak of human civilisation, the most intelligent thing that humanity has ever done.
Link to the CERN particle accelerator and
Fermilab particle accelerator

The schizophrenic universe (OK so the lay meaning of the term schizophrenic is incorrect so technically it should be)
The multiple personality disorder universe
I am conscious, I am aware of my own existence, aware of my body and aware of the universe. I am in the universe, I am part of the universe, I am a product of the universe, I am aware of the existence of the universe, therefore the universe is aware of its own existence, though not only in my consciousness but in billions of different often conflicting consciousness' of varying levels. On this planet the explanations of the universes' existence range from primitive religious mysticism to scientific theories, from magic to mathematics. A much higher level of intelligence than that which presently exists on this planet is needed for the universe to be able to completely comprehend it's own existence.

On Solipsism (definition of solipsism)
and panpsychism (belief that reality is constituted by the mind)
I think therefore I am. I think therefore I have a thinking apparatus, I am a thinking apparatus. I (the thinking apparatus) have deduced that I could not have been designed.
There are only three conceivable ways a system as highly complex as me could come to exist;
1) I spontaneously burst into existence from the surrounding chaos. (the chances of this are near zero.)
2) I was designed and manufactured by some intelligent entity. (at first glance this seems more probable but on closer scrutiny this leads to an infinite regression as one has to ask how that intelligent and therefore necessarily complex entity came to exist.)
3) I have resulted from a self organizing system, the core of which lies in the valence bonding of the elements. Valence bonding resulted in complex, highly complex, and even self replicating molecules forming. The replication was not always perfect, which resulted in variation and mutations. Occasionally the mutations were beneficial. The various self replicating molecules were subjected to natural selection, sometimes resulting in incremental increases in complexity which over billions of years eventually led to a system as complex as me. (Even without taking the evidence into account, this is the only logical, rational explanation.)
So the only way I could have come into existence is through the system of evolution.
In the system of evolution a brain cannot evolve in isolation. For a brain to have evolved, a universe and millions of other brains are needed. Therefore I am not the only consciousness and the universe is real.

Immortality, low quality brains and infinity
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, most human brains believe that they will go on thinking for ever. To overcome the obvious fact that brains have a limited lifespan, these people conclude that thinking is not done by the brain, but by a 'soul'. This 'soul' exists beyond the bounds of physics. It is matterless, massless and magical.
This is low quality brains concluding that thinking is not done by brains.
These brains also cannot fully grasp the concept of infinity. The idea of being conscious for an infinite amount of time is a truly absurd concept. Conscious for a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion years and still infinitely more to go. Most of these brains also believe that there is a god that made them and this universe in a magical process. (click for more on soul)

Tradition, nationalism and patriotism, more indicators of low quality brains.

Denying death
Either you believe you will be conscious for infinity or you believe in death.

The measure of intelligence
Take a brain or any information processor, input information (knowledge), check the conclusions (output). The conclusions it reaches is a reflection of the quality of the processor. The information went in, was processed and conclusions were reached. These conclusions tell us about the quality of the processing. This is the essence of intelligence. Brains that have processed the information available to them in modern civilisation and come to the conclusion that the earth is flat or the universe is geocentric or that there is a personal, all knowing, all powerful, perfect, benevolent and loving god behind the universe are simply less intelligent than brains that have concluded that this earth is a globe and it and all the planets move around the sun and there is no evidence of and no requirement for, the supernatural.
A creationist is simply less intelligent than an evolutionist.

In other words a persons intelligence can be measured by how much their worldview correlates with actual reality.

The question of dolphin intelligence
Trapped in Plato's cave
If dolphins had an intelligence anywhere near ours, surely it would be hell, stuck in a kind of Plato's cave, with no hands to construct things, no tools, no telescopes, no microscopes, no ability to research and experiment with reality, no ability to explore the nature of reality, and consequently not knowing about the universe, atoms, etc.
Would a super intelligence be able to work it all out purely by thinking? Deduce the fact of atoms and valence bonding, molecules, evolution, genes, cells, neurons and synapses, stars, planets, black holes, the universe, the big bang, E=MC squared, etc?

All is not knowable
I believe the universe is finite and therefore knowledge is finite, but all knowledge is not knowable because it would take a structure with more atoms than there are in the universe just to know the position of every atom in the universe. And then of course there is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle which states that it is not just practically, but fundamentally impossible to accurately know both the position and momentum of a particle.

Because human intelligence is limited there is probably knowledge that is beyond the scope (understanding) of even the best human brains.

Reason, instinct and intelligence
Rational reason is a sign of intelligence.
One of the factors that is supposed to distinguish man from other animals is the ability to reason. Instincts are genetically inherited programs, i.e. behavior patters shaped by natural selection. A spider builds its web on instinct. Even though a spiders' web is a fairly complex structure, a spider cannot be described as intelligent. Instinctual behavior cannot be described as intelligent. Whenever there is a conflict between reason and instinct, reason should override instinct. By behaving instinctually humans reduce themselves to the level of lower life forms. Territoriality and tribalism are primitive instincts that nowadays manifest themselves as nationalism and patriotism and which are often the root causes of wars. Emotions are instinctual. Breeding is instinctual.

CONTINUE
To page 3
PSYCHOLOGY AND PROGRAMS

Copyright © Alfred Karius