What is consciousness? - the science VS philosophy

Ironically enough it seems to me that the community called proof of brain is perhaps the most appropriate place to discuss the topic of consciousness. This may or may not be accurate; nevertheless most people intuitively think that consciousness resides in the brain. However this is up for debate.

In today's little metaphorical walk through the neural networks of the brain, I want to discuss the concept of consciousness. The idea is, of course, an elaboration on philosophical contemplation on self. We may be familiar with the questions like, who am I? why am I alive? what is consciousness? These are questions that philosophers have asked throughout the ages.

Now that the modern scientific Era is upon us, it is also scientists who now ask the same question. Therefore there is the ongoing debate in society today amongst philosophers as well as scientists which has not changed all that much since perhaps the 19th century. We have been asking the same question for hundreds of years and still have not come to a conclusive answer regarding the nature of consciousness and who we really are as living beings on this planet.

As science and Philosophy tackle this intrinsic question, the answer continues to elude us. That said, we can conclude that science has indeed made great progress in mapping the brain using brain scans and modern technology available to observe the inner workings of the Neurons as the6 fire within the brain.

Therefore, some degree of progress in observing the electrochemical activity has been made over the past century. Still we ask ourselves: where does consciousness reside in the brain? And we continue to grapple with the real answer to this basic question. Perhaps consciousness does not reside in the brain as some people have concluded.

Materialism will state that consciousness is in the brain. However the more philosophical approach known as dualism concludes that consciousness is separate from the brain; that it resides not within the small limits of the skull but actually exists beyond and external to the human brain and to ourselves, as we observe ourselves being conscious. And that is the tricky part of this scientific or philosophical analysis because it appears as if consciousness is trying to find itself. It is the conscious being who's looking for their consciousness. The one you are looking for is the one who is looking.

This makes it a little bit more interesting to say the least, and adds to the fact that we still struggle in the west, despite all our modern advancements in brain scans, to actually find conclusively the roots of consciousness or to accurately describe it.

Nevertheless the pursuit continues and more and more information emerges with scientific study regarding the nature of consciousness. Another very interesting fact is that we have today, with the fourth Industrial Revolution, amazing advances in artificial intelligence. Today AI robots can act as if they are totally conscious beings, though it is obvious that they are mere programmed machines that have no consciousness whatsoever. In this era it appears as if consciousness can be engineered, as these AI robots simulate almost exactly the actions of conscious human beings like you and I. And yet these machines have no consciousness whatsoever and are merely algorithms whose program is acting and reacting according to their programming by a conscious programmer.

So do we really know what consciousness is? Do we really know ourselves? Philosophers may think we do, yet scientists still grapple with the concept of consciousness. This hard problem of consciousness, as it is called, continues to elude the best of us today, yet still it is the most important topic of interest for the human race and always has been.

Add to it questions regarding free will. Are we really free when we act or react? Or are we merely instinctively responding to stimuli much like an AI robot programs to survive? Indeed some people may appear conscious and yet maybe also reacting unconsciously based on programmed instincts within the human body and mind. Perhaps there are degrees of consciousness where some are more conscious than others. Or perhaps living entities oscillate between high levels of consciousness and levels of complete unconsciousness.

Curiously the Vedic culture of ancient India discusses the concept of consciousness in detail and has presented, for several thousands of years, the concept of consciousness as residing external to the physical body. The philosophical presentation of the ancient Vedic texts describes how the living entity or the Conscious person exists prior to arrival in this physical body. Consciousness then remains for some time present within this physical body and then, when the physical body comes to an end, consciousness simply leaves this body and continues onward to take another vessel as before.

This journey of the Conscious individual living being is said to continue lifetime after lifetime through various different births and rebirths. All the while the individual separate conscious person remains the same, despite the temporary changes of the external vehicle, namely the physical body. Above and beyond that, the ancient sanskrit Vedic texts also describe the concept of a super consciousness or the concept which we would perhaps describe as the godhead.

This one superconsciousness is said to reside within all living entities alongside the separate individual personal consciousness which resides within one single localised place namely the current physical body. Individual consciousness may be present in one body whereas superconsciousness is present within all bodies. This could be compared to Carl Jung's ideas of personal unconscious and collective unconscious which could be relabeled personal consciousness and superconsciousness.

In this way the debate regarding consciousness continues through the centuries via the philosophers and scientists of the day. These speculators may never really come to a full conclusion because evidence is constantly changing and needs to be updated as this deep and profound topic gets further and further explored.

However, it could be that we are merely scratching the surface of something which is far deeper and more profound than we yet realise. The mystery continues to elude us and yet attracts as onward, like the elusive butterfly flying through the forest. It appears so beautiful and magical and yet always remains just beyond our reach as we try to grasp, capture and identify this strange mysterious creature known as consciousness which also happens to be our very self.

(images pixabay free commons use)