This post is provocative. Maybe I'm gonna catch flak but I think the discussion is worth it : TL;DR: From a mechanistic or physicalist point-of-view, some of the main arguments of the tenants of the "hard problem" are fallacious. I have a mechanistic view of the body and the mind. I define consciousness as 'the pool of information available at any given moment in the internal world model of a computing system that produces sensible outputs', and I think subjectivity and individuality arises frome the discrete and finite pool of total information that system has had in input : the minds of ide ..read more

Does anyone really believe we are getting any closer to explaining consciousness, let alone bigger questions like why is there anything at all instead of nothing? I’ve been really into the consciousness debate over the last several years. It would seem no one can even agree on how to define it. The more I research and investigate the topic, the further I sink into the ontological muck. Today I was in with my son while he was getting an EEG for his seizure disorder. I was staring at the posters on the wall showing the anatomy of the CNS ( sponsored by adderall) lol. Anyway, I was just sitting ..read more

submitted by /u/zenona_motyl [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Hello, my name is Emily! I am a Stage 1 DPsych Counselling Psychology student at Glasgow Caledonian University, looking to recruit participants for my research into the consciousness trait of transliminality. https://hass.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_82qyjBrxdqJQ8TQ Apologies if this is not allowed, and please remove if so, however I shall provide some information below for anyone who would be keen on taking part! My research is a continuation of my Master's which investigates transliminality (the sensitivity someone has to their external and sensory environment), non-ordinary experiences, an ..read more

The idea makes sense to me bit I'm curious to see if others find it compelling, what do you think? Tldr are we a 'way the universe to know itself' as Carl Sagan said. submitted by /u/dampfrog789 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

TL;DR: Every physicalist argument necessarily implies an assumed, non-physicalist arbiter of incorrect thoughts and ideas. Under physicalism, physical systems do not produce errors; they just produce whatever they produce. Rocks falling down a mountainside cannot go on the wrong path, or land in the wrong spot, nor can their paths down that mountainside be in error, incorrect, or represent any kind of flaw in the physics. Under physicalism, then, if my brain computes 2+3=6, then 2+3=6, and if someone else computes that 2+3=5, then that is also the physicalist result. Neither result can be wro ..read more

Just the other night, I had fallen asleep roughly at 12am, and had been undisturbed for around 5 hours until I was suddenly woken up in a very confusing daze. The best way I could describe the way I felt was like being lightheaded and very foggy like I was on psychedelics, I assure I no longer consume substances but is something I gave up roughly a year ago or so, never was anything heavily either, really just when the free opportunity presented itself. I feel asleep with the lights in my room on, and could turn my head to clearly see that the time was around 5:30am when I first originally aw ..read more

submitted by /u/Zkv [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

While it doesn't have a sense of self, the atom is the building block of consciousness itself. Its behavior stems from the concept of if/then statements, described as an act of balance which gives rise to higher and higher stages of consciousness. The complexity of if/then senses creates the basis of reality and our beliefs we hold today. We are all essentially deciding through a series of complex if/then statements how we perceive reality and defining what's real. It's on us to construct an environment that brings peace or suffering. Edit: Here is my poorly drawn concept of the pyramid of co ..read more

Since I am not allowed to post screenshots here, I want to ask you if the evidence this guy claims is really true? Which states that consciousness ceases to exist at the moment of deathA Me: As an agnostic, I don't mess with God, but there is no way to know that we will disappear when we die.A The guy: Agnostic tells me nothing. Do you believe at least one deity exists or no? Also, since literally every bit of evidence we have shows that everything that makes up "us" is contained solely within the brain... all of the evidence points towards the conclusion that once it stops, so do we. There i ..read more