Consciousness - An Introduction (ch14)

What views on the function of consciousness are there? - Chapter 14

An important question is: when did consciousness arise? It seems plausible to say that a few billion years ago there was no consciousness on this planet. How can awareness arise from unconscious matter? James presented the central problem and wanted to investigate how consciousness can arise without mental matter or soul. There are two central questions here:

1. When does consciousness arise during the human evolution?

2. Which contemporary beings are conscious?

Panpsychists

An interesting question is when consciousness has developed during the evolution of man. There is disagreement about how and when consciousness has developed. Some scientists believe that consciousness has developed gradually. Greenfield believes that consciousness is not an all-or-nothing principle, but develops in different sizes. Some scientists believe that everything has a consciousness; even stones.

Pan psychologists believe in this latest vision, but argue that stones have a more simple form of consciousness than, for example, snails. Pan psychologists believe that consciousness was already present before evolution took place. The complexity of consciousness could, however, have been developed according to this vision. Others believe that consciousness can only arise when there is a brain. According to this vision, consciousness is the result of the evolution of complex brain structures. Then finally there are people who believe that the consciousness has been developed fairly recently. This view assumes that social skills have gone hand in hand with the development of consciousness.

The role of consciousness in survival

How can your consciousness help you survive so that you can eventually pass on your genes? Baars answers that consciousness can save you from danger: you are fleeing from a ferocious bear. Velmans suggests that life without consciousness does not represent anything and that survival would be useless. Gray states that the proper attunement (' fit') between our perceptions of the world and our activity in that world can not be a coincidence. It must have originated through selection.

Other theories state that consciousness has a surviving value, but is based on social reasons rather than on individual reasons.

The internal eye

Humphrey states that consciousness is an ' emergent property' . This means that the consciousness stands for a combination of factors. Just as dryness or wetness is a combination of the degree of water and oxygen, there would also be a combination of factors in consciousness. He also stated that consciousness is a ' surface feature' (just like the fur of an animal) where natural selection influences. Humphrey states that consciousness has a social function. Because we function in complex social situations, we want to understand, predict or manipulate people. To do this it is necessary to have a consciousness.

Humphrey states that natural selection has ensured that our ancestors who had a consciousness (or a kind of reflectivity) continued to survive. He states that within the brain there is a kind of internal eye (' inner eye' ) that gives an image of the brain activity of a person himself (and therefore not of the outside world). According to Humphrey, this is the function of consciousness. So consciousness is actually a model of the brain itself about the brain.

A consequence of this theory is that only intelligent and social organisms can have a consciousness. If this theory is correct, many other animal species have no consciousness. Humphrey states that he is not a dualist, despite the fact that he believes in the existence of an internal eye. He believes that the brain functions as a machine and that the internal eye is part of this functioning. According to him, consciousness is a kind of route of self-reflection of the brain itself.

Humphrey and Mithen

Barlow states that introspection (looking at one's own observations and feelings) does not give an accurate picture of the causes of behavior. He gives pain as an example. When we look at our own pain experience, it seems as if we can best avoid pain.

However, it is a fact that pain protects us from further physical problems. People who can not experience pain can not respond well to physical wounds. Barlow states that introspection is not sufficient to explain the evolution of consciousness. Mithen thinks that consciousness plays a biological role in social interactions and that chimpanzees probably also have a consciousness. He does, however, state that the consciousness must be interpreted more broadly. If Humphrey was right, it would mean that the consciousness would only be reflected in social contacts.

The consciousness that we have now, according to Mithen, should have developed about 60,000 years ago. At that time people started to interact more and communicate with each other. According to Mithen, speech was mainly used in that period to communicate about social issues (' gossip' ). Language would gradually be used for more and more purposes. For this reason, today we would also be aware of more than just social matters. Humphrey and Mithen see consciousness as something that natural selection has ensured.

No function

Churchland believes that consciousness does not exist at all and that this term will no longer be used when we understand everything about the evolution of human behavior. This is an extreme vision and most scientists do not go that far. Humphrey solves the mind-body problem by equating sensations to activity. The amoeba-like creatures of the beginning of life on earth reacted to the outside world by being away from it or wobbling to it. A kind of nervous system developed to be able to carry out more effective actions. Ultimately, beings started to learn about the outside world and their own feelings, simply by ' monitoring' how they behaved themselves.

Nowadays, several forms of functionalism are popular. For example, some scientists argue that subjectivity is equivalent to functions such as social interaction and language. The consciousness itself would not be a causal factor for behavior. Functionalists believe that consciousness does exist, but that it is not something that is separate from social interaction, language and problem solving.

Deacon and Donald state that consciousness is connected with the use of symbolic representations and symbolic thoughts. This link between symbolic thinking and consciousness is also discussed by Mead. He states that animals have a consciousness, but that only people have a self-awareness. This self-awareness would initially consist of gestures and other non-symbolic interactions. Language skills would then have ensured that it is also possible to form symbolic representations.

Mead states that consciousness has a social and not an individual cause. Claxton has a different idea about consciousness. He believes that consciousness has arisen because of the sudden high level of alertness required to respond to sudden dangers. Jaynes believes that people 3000 years ago did not base their actions on conscious processes, but for example on what the gods had told them. According to him, written articles from that time do not show that people acted on the basis of consciousness. Our understanding of consciousness in terms of subjectivity has only recently arisen.

Universal Darwinism

Many evolution theories speak about the relationship between natural selection and genes. If there is variation and selection, there must be evolution. This principle not only applies to genes, but also to learning processes and physical processes such as the immune system. For example, the development of the brain coincides with the death of some neurons and connections. So a selection is made if there is variation.

Evolutionary processes that act on genes also work on all kinds of other forms of ' replicators' (which genes are an example of). Dawkins also calls this universal Darwinism. Edelman designed the theory of ' neural darwinism' . In it he states that group selection of neurons depends on three processes. First there is ' developmental selection' which is present early in the brain; this ensures the existence of many connections (and therefore a lot of variation) between neurons. Some compounds are often used and others die. Secondly, there is ' experiential selection' . This process continues throughout life. Some synapses within and between groups of neurons are strengthened and others weakened, but they do not die. Finally, there is a process of ' re-entry' . Through this process, different events in different parts of the brain can be linked together. This allows motor and sensory events to run parallel to each other.

Nobleman, however, does not speak about the inheritance aspect that goes hand in hand with variation and selection. This inheritance aspect probably also does not apply to Crick and Koch's idea of ​​competing clusters of neurons. The clusters vary and compete with each other for dominance, but they are not copied. Calvin, in fact, involved heredity in all kinds of brain processes. He stated that there are patterns of neurons in the cerebral cortex. These patterns represent words, concepts or images. These patterns would depend on how cortical cells are arranged in columns. In these columns there is talk of inhibition but also of activation of signals. This creates structures that can be passed on to the next generation. This is where the heredity factor comes into play.

Imitation

'Memes' are ideas, skills, habits and stories that are passed from one person to another person. It can be written and spoken words, but also rules, habits, songs, dance and technical information. Dawkins was the first to use the word ' meme' . He argued that ' memes' can serve as a kind of ' replicator' , just like genes. They also have to deal with variation and selection. Memes are passed on by means of imitation, learning and reading. Sometimes that is perfect, but there is variation when the passing is not perfect because someone for example has misinterpreted part of the joke. Old memes are also used to produce new memes . This means that culture can be seen as an evolutionary process based on memes.

There are differences between genes and memes. Genes are transmitted through DNA and this is done in a very reliable way. The reliability of memes depends on the extent to which people pass on memes well. Both memes and genes can be called selfish; they both want to be passed on. Dennett uses the concept of memes as a fundamental part of his theory about consciousness. He states that it is created by the interaction between our body and the memes that we get. He sees it as a benign, illusionary user of his own virtual apparatus, the consciousness, which itself is also a complex form of all kinds of memes . One criticism is that memes can be passed on: if the consciousness consists of mere memes , we could pass on our own experiences to others in a perfect way. That is not the case, however. No one is the same as you. In addition, memes can be temporarily disabled while the consciousness persists.  

Resources: Blackmore; Susan. (2010). Consciousness, Second Edition An Introduction. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis.