Bulletpoint Consciousness - An Introduction (ch23 to 25)

What do sleep and dreams have to do with consciousness? CH.23

    Every day we take cycles with three states: (1) being vigilant, (2) REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and (3) non-REM sleep. Reports of non-REM dreams are often short and have few details. When people wake up during the REM sleep, they often say that they have had a bizarre and complex dream.

    Hobson drew up three categories to show that bizarre dreams can take different forms. These categories are: (1) incongruity, (2) discontinuity, and (3) uncertainty. He also drew up the AIM model about sleep. The abbreviation AIM stands for three different dimensions of sleep: (1) activation energy, (2) input source, and (3) mode. According to Hobson, sleep phases can be distinguished on the basis of values ​​on these three dimensions.

    Sometimes it happens in a dream that there is 'false awakening'. In that case, the dreamer dreams that he or she has woken up. With a lucid dream, you know that you are dreaming while dreaming. There are various techniques to cause lucid dreams.

    Brain scans show that when we see or hear something, the same sensory areas are activated as when we only imagine it. The same seems to apply to dreams.

What are examples of 'exceptional human experiences'? CH.24

    An exceptional experience is referred to in English as an 'exceptional human experience', abbreviated to EHE. There are different views on the existence of EHE. Some people think that people lie with EHE. Others think that people with an EHE have a paranormal soul and others say that such experiences are normal.

    Out-of-body experiences, OBE, are events in which someone feels that he is outside of himself and looks at the world. The brain area that is involved in an OBE appears to be the tempo parietal junction (TJP), on the right. Visual, tactile, proprioceptive and vestibular information come together in this area.

    During an almost death experience, near death experience NDE, someone experiences a bright, white or golden light, positive and loving emotions, images of a different world, a reflection on life and the decision to return. Two theories to interpret NDE are the 'afterlife hypothesis' and the 'dying brain hypothesis'.

    James states that an experience can be called 'mystical' if four conditions are met: (1) not being able to retell it in words ('ineffability'), (2) 'neotic', (3) impermanence ('transiency') ), and (4) passivity. Other criteria have been added by Suzuki. He says that a mystical experience still goes hand in hand with 'exaltation' and 'affirmation'.

What’s the view from within? CH.25

    The research into consciousness is sometimes divided into two categories:
    (1) the objective third-person approach, and (2) the subjective first-person approach.

    Chalmers distinguishes between three types: A, B and C. People with an A-view are often functionalists or eliminativists. People with a B-view are often also materialists, but reject the idea of ​​logical supremacy of the physical. People with a type C view deny materialism and include different types of dualism. Dennett thinks he is the leader of the A team and that Chalmers is the leader of the B team.

    Phenomenology is about the inner world that people experience. The term neurophenomenology was used by Varela to indicate the search for a modern cognitive science and a disciplined approach to human experience. Varela provided a simple diagram to understand the place of neurophenomenology in science, consisting of the following four directions: (1) functionalism, (2) reductionism, (3) mysterianism, and (4) phenomenology.

    Velmans states that there is no distinction between subjective and objective matters. He proposes a recurring model ('reflexive model of consciousness').

    Heterophenomenology is about studying things that other people experience.