Summary - Consciousness: An Introduction - Blackmore, Troscianko - 3rd edition

 0 - What is the book Consciousness: An Introduction about?

Consciousness: An Introduction is a book written by Susan Blackmore. The first version was published on the 24th of March 2005. Even since, there were published 3 editions, of which the last one was published in 2018. This summary is based on the information presented in the 3rd edition of the book.

The newest edition covers the topics of consciousness and how it occurs in the brain, the central problem of consciousness, attention and awareness, the self and the will, altered states of consciousness, artificial consciousness, reality and dreaming, and the process of evolution in consciousness. The book is aimed at making the reader think about central questions that are related to the topic of consciousness, not with the aim of actually answering them, but rather to realize that there are still a lot of questions unanswered. The most important question of the book is: Is consciousness a true and existing thing, or is it maybe just an illusion? 

Susan Jane Blackmore was born in 1951 and she currently lives in London, Great Britain. She is a writer of many books and articles, sceptic, and a lecturer at the University of Plymouth. She has written the influential book 'The Meme Machine'. The topic of memes will also be covered in this book. Susan Blackmore has written an extensive amount of literature on the fields of memetics, parapsychology and consciousness.

Chapter 1 - When and how is the concept of consciousness introduced?

What is known about consciousness?

Much is still unknown about the topic of consciousness. The more that is known about the human brain and behavior, the less there is known about consciousness and the more questions we have. The way we perceive consciousness has to do with everyone's own perspective. Everyone sees things differently and has their own perspective. With the issue of consciousness, one must look at the objective and subjective world. It is dependent on your own knowledge of some common bottlenecks which ensures that you can get answers to certain questions about this matter.

What is the relationship between consciousness and philosophy?

The explanation of consciousness can be divided into two types of theories. First, there are the monist theories that state that there is only one matter. Second, there are the dualist theories that state that there are two matters. Descartes was a supporter of dualism. He is best known for the statement 'I think, so I exist'. He said that even when you doubt everything, there is always something that still exists and he therefore mainly looked at things that persisted after doubt. According to him, you have extensive material, such as our body (physical), and undivided material, such as our thinking. So, there must be a relationship between the physical and mental aspects and these interact with each other; they influence each other. This theory is also known as substance dualism.

This theory is however not supported by everyone. From the ordinary-language philosophy perspective, it is thought that many problems arise because the language used to describe mental processes is not clear or is used incorrectly. This idea is mainly supported by Ryle. This researcher tried to bring behaviorism and dualism together in one theory. He supports the idea that the mind is what the brain does; which we call functionalism. There is less proof for the existence of awareness. There appears to be a lot of overlap between how people think about consciousness, reason and the self.    

In 1977 Popper and Eccles proposed the dualistic interaction theory: Popper and Eccles thought that the processes in the brain could be influenced by the feeling of having a self. This would also lead to the feeling of having a free will and subjective experience. This idea was also supported by Chalmers in 2007. He believes that experience comes from physical processes without the physical world playing a major role. This involves obtaining physical and unimaginable information. 

Dennett adheres to the same ideas as Ryle does, by stating that you should not accept the theories of dualism. Yet it is difficult to avoid doing this. He saw consciousness as a theater; which he called the Cartesian Theater. As soon as you say that something is present in your consciousness; it is as if you are the audience of your own show, watching what is happening on stage.

Another approach is the materialistic approach. It is thought that the interaction between all factors is already established and that consciousness can no longer play a role in this. This includes the identity theory (stating that mental status equals brain status) and functionalism (stating that mental status equals functional status). There is no room for a subjective approach within this theory.    

In addition, there is the idea of epiphenomenalism. This is the idea that a mental status is caused by events, but mental status has no effect on these events. This does not seem to exist in reality because it would mean that we can never talk about an event.  

With the extreme theories, it is difficult not to fall back on theories of dualism. One way to do this is by believing in panpsychism:  This theory states that all mental operations are conscious in a certain way. The extreme version of panpsychism even believes that all elements are conscious, even clouds and rivers, which would mean that anything has a certain level of consciousness.  

What is the relationship between consciousness and psychology?

Psychology was introduced in order to describe the philosophy of mental operations. Later, it was seen as a science. James described various parts of consciousness in his book in 1890. He saw psychology as the science that explains the different operations of the brain. This can, for example, be about emotions, but also about awareness. Awareness has no specific definition. James has done a lot of research towards this and also perceived the role of physiology. He studied the field of psychophysics, in which the observations and physical stimuli are combined.    

During the same period, Helmholtz studied the speed of the signals that move from the brain to the nerves. He thought he had also measured consciousness with this, but he had in fact only measured the process described above. His assumption has however led to the field of phenomenology. This field mainly concerns the subjective experience. It was based on the idea that consciousness is about an object or event. This object is not about anything else. In this context, subjective experience is important, for it creates awareness.  

Wundt used introspection, which is about how someone feels inside. According to him, there were sensory characteristics (such as light) and affective characteristics (such as pleasure). A combination of these two characteristics could lead to awareness. A problem with his experiments was that these experiments required that you had to be able to report what you had done or what you felt. This only caused a disruption in the actual thoughts and feelings of participants.

Watson is the founder of behaviorism; which is based on predicting and controlling behavior. Behaviorism allowed for behavior to be measured reliably. Because of his theory, the concept of consciousness has been driven further and further away from psychology. Many of Watson's experiments and thoughts stemmed from Pavlov. Skinner also played a role in studying operant conditioning. This approach was helpful for research towards memory and learning, but less in research towards consciousness. 

In the end, consciousness was reintroduced into psychology, and James's book played a role in this. In his book, he assumed radical empiricism: Experience is linked to meaning. With the introduction of computers, more attention was paid to the connections that might constitute consciousness. An approach that combines the feedback between the brain, the body, and the world is used to explain that the brain is constantly trying to combine sensory input with its own expectations. Vygotsky stated that it is much more dependent on social interaction. There is still much unclear today.   

The term consciousness refers to subjective experiences in this summary.

What is the mystery surrounding consciousness?

A change in consciousness never happens without a change in the brain; and that never happens without a change in consciousness. According to Chalmers, the problem is that consciousness is related to experience. Little is known about experience in scientific terms. This makes it difficult to understand consciousness from a scientific basis.  

How is consciousness seen within the context? 

Nowadays, it is mainly thought that what happens in the nervous system is unconscious, but can eventually lead to conscious experience. This interaction was also described in Freud 's psychodynamic theory: The unconscious factors: id, ego, and superego, would eventually come back in more conscious situations such as dreams. However, Freud's research was not always reliable and therefore this theory is no longer seen as a possible explanation of consciousness.  

It is difficult to distinguish consciousness and the subconscious mind. 

Chapter 2 - What would it be like to be something else?

What are the differences between organisms?

When you label something as conscious, you assume that this organism or object has an own opinion and a certain point of view. So, as mentioned earlier, consciousness is about a certain subjectivity that someone can experience. According to Nagel, we cannot imagine what it is like to be something or someone else. Even if we imagine what we think it would be, we can never know what it would really be like. Through this, Block came up with the concept of phenomenal consciousness: It is about experience and feelings about what it would be like to have that experience. When speaking about access consciousness, Block refers to the possibility to talk about something. There is often much more present in our consciousness than we can describe. If you reflect on consciousness then it is called reflective consciousness. This is of a higher order.      

The problem with consciousness therefore also lies partly in communicating about consciousness. 

What is the relationship between subjectivity and qualia in consciousness?

How we interpret sensory information depends on the person and can therefore differ from one person to another. This is related to subjectivity. Qualia are the factors that together provide sensory experience. It is about the experience and what something like. How do objective brains interpret subjective qualia? Every approach has its own answer to this.   

Dennett's research focuses primarily on intuition. This can be explained on the basis of an example: When someone drinks his or her first sip of beer, almost nobody likes the taste of it. As someone drinks it more often, more and more people seem to like it. Does this mean that the taste has changed or that the opinion of the person has changed? 

There are many different definitions of qualia that people can believe in. After all, it is unclear what exactly is meant by the term. For example, qualia could also be about the characteristics of experiences rather than about the experiences themselves. This cannot be measured, making it difficult to study it. 

Who is Mary (the color scientist)?

Mary is a scientist from the future who knows everything about color perception and the physical characteristics that have to do with it. For example, she knows exactly how the human eyes work and how that can lead to seeing a certain color. Now it is true that Mary grew up in a room that was colored in only black and white; so in fact she has never seen color. At some point, Mary is released and is able to see colors everywhere. She starts pointing to colors and names them. How would Mary respond to the colors?

If you expect that Mary would be surprised then you adhere to the dualistic approach. Maloney's approach expects Mary to be able to recognize all colors correctly because she can imagine the color if she has all the possible information. According to Dennett, anyone who thinks that Mary would be surprised would not have followed the instructions correctly. It is very difficult to imagine that someone actually knows everything about a certain situation. Consciousness is therefore viewed separately from actual knowledge about the world. Nowadays, there has been formulated a new version of this story that uses the metaphor of a robot.

What does the experiment from the philosophy with the zombie entail?

Chalmer came up with the Zombie story, in which the 'zombie' is an exact copy of a real person. The only difference is that the zombie has no consciousness. If you believe that consciousness has little effect on a person, then a zombie would be an exact copy of the person. If you believe that consciousness does play an important role, it means that the zombie, for example, will not be able to talk. Then, consciousness would actually make a difference. According to Moody, this experiment could lead to better empathy, so that we could better understand certain aspects of what makes a person a person. By using these kinds of thought experiments, we can learn more about consciousness.

Through the Zombie experiment, Dennett believes that consciousness consists of thinking and talking about mental representations and dreams. If you believe in zombies, then you do not believe that consciousness can add anything extra to behavior. If you do not believe this, then you choose the dualistic approach. Then you do believe that we need a kind of soul to be conscious.

Is there a problem and if so, how complex is the problem of consciousness?

To conduct research towards consciousness, researchers often engage in thought experiments. Responses to the hard problem; what is consciousness?, can be divided into five categories of possible strategies:

1. The problem is inexplicable: According to Nagel, we don't even have a single idea what a possible explanation might be to answer the hard problem of consciousness. McGinn states that we are simply cognitively unable to understand consciousness. Supporters of this approach assume that we will never be able to know the answer. 

2. Try to solve the problem: Using this approach, it might help to divide the problem into smaller parts. An example would be to first answer the question of how the brain can generate qualia. The physical and experiential factors must be considered. Supporters of this approach do agree that new knowledge must be provided to solve the problem.    

3. We should first try to solve the simple problems: According to this approach, many theories are not focused on the major problem of consciousness, but on various minor problems. Hereby you can first divide it into the easier problems. Then you can eventually solve the difficult problem. In addition, the neural factors that correlate with consciousness (NCCs) can also be examined. 

4. Study more difficult problems: When neural correlations of consciousness are found, this does not mean that consciousness is found. There is also brain activity that, for example, has nothing to do with awakening with consciousness, but this is difficult to distinguish. Chalmer has therefore split the problem into the hard existence problem that looks at how and why we are aware and the hard character problem that looks at the reason for specific brain activity.     

5. There is no difficult problem: We must first solve the easy problems and this will lead to a different interpretation of the difficult problem. The problem is not yet understood well enough. We must not forget that physical activity equals experience and that we should not focus too much on what we can express with language. For example, feelings and emotions also come from the brain. To solve the problem it must be examined why the materialistic approach is incorrect. We must not forget that there are several aspects of the brain that we do not yet understand. We must find out why we think certain things are like that. This is called illusionism.

Chapter 3 - What is the big illussion when researching consciousness?

It is difficult to distinguish between something that does not exist or something that is different from what you think. When something is different than you think, there is a chance that you will come up with a new word for it. Then the previous one does not 'exist' the way you thought. A concrete example is a visual illusion. Seeing is often the most important sense for people. However, vision is also prone to deception. It is important that people see things as they are and not as they seem: It is for example necessary in drawing up theories of consciousness. In this chapter, seeing is described as a possible illusion of consciousness.  

Visual experiences are largely illusive, because you can easily be misled. It is therefore important to know how we perceive things. When we look around us, a certain image of our environment is formed. Ultimately it becomes a mental representation that we consciously perceive. There are three views on this concept. First, this mental representation could be a diverse range of visual input that we are able to verbally explain. Secondly, it could be that we see certain things consciously and that all other stimuli then remain unconscious. Thirdly, there is the idea that seeing can lead to mental photos. That is why we have the mental representation of a visual situation in mind. 

Descartes came up with the idea of a mental photo. This has led to the whole mind within a mind concept, which refers to a kind of person in your head. There are ultimately three arguments about vision: (1) it is very detailed; (2) some input fits inside and other input falls outside of our visual experience; (3) vision is processed and displayed in the brain. You can examine this by looking at the neural connections in unconscious and conscious visual processes. To study these, fMRI is used. Yet, we cannot measure consciousness with fMRI. Moreover, this technique also measures many other brain processes in the cortex.    

How do we fill the gaps of consciousness? 

James found that people's brains automatically fill certain gaps. For example, we miss out on certain visual information that we can fill in automatically. We often see that we perceive the background as continuous. According to Dennett, this phenomenon may occur because we can generalize all the information we see. Your brain makes it easy for itself in order to compare all inputs. Ramachandran has done research into the filling in of gaps of visual information by your brain. He mainly looked at the blind spot and it showed that people can make a new figure out of certain figures by filling the gaps. Research towards persons with brain damage has shown that brain damage can lead to a different blind spot and the filling of figures in a different way. In addition, he found that there is a difference between recognizing objects and supplementing a pattern.  

The V1 area is mainly related to the blind spot: It is a functional area that should be described as a visuotopic area. Visual information still enters after seeing the visual stimulus. It would therefore not only be the retina that is responsible for this, but also the cortex, because otherwise it would not be possible to fill it in after it is out of sight. The brain responds to every stimulus in a different way and at a different speed. The blind spot, just like for example the rods and cones, provide our perceptual experience when we see something. This may occur because the processes do not start at the same time, but they eventually come together. 

What is change blindness?

Research towards change blindness has been done with the help of eye trackers. In these experiments, images are changed in a millisecond to the same image but with a small change. For example, the color of the wallpaper is different in the second picture. Normally, the brain could process these kinds of changes because changes attract attention. In this type of experiment, the rapid eye movements that occur during these millisecond-interruptions cause a major interruption of attention. Therefore, the memory of the brain must be used to detect the change. Now it appears that we store little information when we make these eye movements. That is why the trans-saccadic memory is very disrupting in this experiment. Even when the changes are not gradual, people still find it difficult to distinguish the two pictures. Prior to the experiment, people always think that they are able to detect the changes.

The more loose the patterns are in the image used in the experiments of change blindness, the harder it is to detect the change. Research has also been done in practice, for example in traffic. It showed that relevant changes are noticed more quickly by people. However, it can still take some time to detect these changes, even in traffic. It therefore seems to work better in situations that also take place in reality.   

What is inattentional blindness? 

We actually see very little when we don't pay attention to anything. This has been examined by having people look at a screen, and letting them decide which of the two lines is longer. Occasionally, another stimulus, such as a square, suddenly came in between. Then, the participants were asked whether they had seen the square. In most cases this turned out not to be the case. You can therefore inhibit attention. An example of this is the video in which two teams throw over a ball and a gorilla comes in and walks across the stage. Most people don't notice the gorilla dancing in the center of the screen. So it's hard to see something you don't pay attention to.

According to research by Levin and Simons, this is however not always due to attention. They have, for example, studied the reactions of people when you replace the protagonist of a film halfway through. It appeared that many people do not notice that either. Although you do pay attention to that person, you do not make a clear representation of that person. The change only stands out when you have looked very consciously at the person. This has also been proven by the research in which two people walked through a conversation with a door. After the door and people were over, the person with whom the subject was having a conversation had changed.  

Inattentional blindness could possibly lead to more traffic accidents. Conducting a conversation in the car leads to fewer accidents than conducting a telephone conversation. That seems to be because the other passenger in the car is aware of the situation on the road as well as the driver. In addition, the passenger in the car can also warn the driver in case of unexpected situations. The person on the phone has no view of the road and can therefore not quickly adapt to the situation. The use of a mobile phone also has an effect on walking, because people pay less attention to their environment. 

What are the implications of theories of visual awareness? 

Although we do not always notice the changes in our environment, this does not mean that we have no representations of our environment: It only shows that we have difficulty comparing different representations. Multiple interpretations of this are possible: Some researchers state that we do not include enough details in the internal representations of the environment. On the other hand, it is possible that we base information on a certain general essence and therefore do not include the details of the environment. Rensink states that people can never absorb their entire environment. Ultimately, their representation is made up of individual pieces. According to him, visibility would be the result of virtual representations. These are continuously generated by the brain. They can be stable or detailed, but they can never have both of these properties at the same time.  

O'Regan adds to this by saying that we do not have to remember a lot of information, because we can constantly extract the information directly from our environment. That is why, according to him, we would not have to make internal representations. According to O'Regan and Noë, the problem of consciousness is not solved by making internal representations. That would only avoid the problem. You must be able to extract information from the environment and manipulate it. This is called the sensorimotor theory. According to them, visibility ultimately leads to action. 

You would expect that vision ultimately leads to a detailed overview of what you see. That is because vision is very complex. Nevertheless, the information described before shows that visibility may be an illusion. How we think and talk about consciousness influences experience. Perhaps it could therefore not be an illusion, because this would mean that we should be aware of it. That, however, does not seem to be the case.

Chapter 4 - What is the role of neuroscience and how does it correlate with consciousness?

Identity scientists believe that the mind and brain are in fact the same thing. Since consciousness is a part of how the brain works, it seems reasonable to think that we could only understand consciousness if we understand the full functioning of the brain. This idea is also supported by various eliminative materialists.   

Extended minders and others do not support this idea. They indicate that the environment and the rest of the body must also be included as well: We must focus on the different interactions. Mysterians indicate that this problem cannot be solved, because the brain also has limitations. Everyone acknowledges that the brain is important for consciousness.   

There are different ways to measure processes in the brain. Firstly, the electroencephalogram (EEG); during which electrodes are placed on the scalp. This allows the brain's response to stimuli to be recorded. Secondly, the X-ray Computed Tomography (CT); which makes use of X-rays. Thirdly, Positron Emission Tomography (PET); that measures radioactive parts. Fourthly, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MRI) uses a magnetic field to measure the chemical processes in the brain. And finally, Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) creates a magnetic field as well. This allows neurons to be activated very locally, and different areas of the brain to be viewed very precisely.        

What does the human brain look like?

The brain consists of many neurons that are connected by synapses. The sensory and motor neurons are scattered throughout the body and eventually end up at the spine; which is part of the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spine.

The brainstem is very important for many different processes. The cerebellum is primarily involved in motor control. The thalamus is located between the midbrain and the cortex, and it largely processes incoming sensory information. Finally there is the cortex, this is the outer layer of the brain. It includes the limbic system, which is primarily concerned with emotions. In addition, the hippocampus is important for awareness and memory and the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating physical events such as blood pressure. These structures all belong to the neocortex. The neocortex mainly consists of gray matter with more white matter on the outside of the brain.

The two hemispheres in the brain are connected by white matter. Every hemisphere consists out of four lobes. The occipital lobe is responsible for vision, the parietal lobe for sensory information, the temporal lobe for auditory information and memory, and the frontal lobe for planning and executive functions.      

Why must the correlations be examined first, before examining the cause? 

To measure neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs), neural functioning must be measured first. One of the methods is to look at vision. In that case, it is important to look at how different stimuli compete with each other and how perception can has a preference for one of these items. This phenomenon can be tested using ambiguous figures. You can test this, for example, by offering different stimuli to each of the eyes. There is a good chance that they both compete' for consciousness. So there is a difference between objectivity and subjectivity. The first experiments were done on monkeys. This showed that the first cells (in the V1) respond to input that does not change. Other cells only respond to the information that is also reported (such as the V4). In the inferior temporal cortex, the cells mainly respond to whatever the monkey indicates to see. It is thought that language is essential for awareness.    

It is especially important to realize that correlation does not mean causation. For example, behavior is often not caused by thoughts, but by neuronal signals. 

What is meant by conscious vision?

Crick believes that we must first find neural correlations that are related to consciousness (NCCs). Vision is an important component in research into NCCs. Together with Koch, Crick said that the brain went more unconscious from the front to the back. In the end, this theory addresses the small problems, but still not the hard problem of consciousness. 

According to Dennett, consciousness takes place in the Cartesian theater. Awareness relates to all brain activity. By researching NCCs, scientists try to find specific parts of the brain that are involved in consciousness. This has, for example, been studied for vision. Damage to the eyes, thalamus or the V1 results in that someone is blind. In this case, conscious vision is damaged. There are also people who are in a vegetative state (PVS): They are awake, but without consciousness. Electric shocks do cause brain activation in that state. It is therefore thought that PVS may be due to a reduced connection between the primary sensory areas and the frontal network.  

Research by Koch has shown that V1 is important for visibility, but not for experience. This could be because a lot of information is processed unconsciously and only a part of it comes into consciousness and receives our attention. Unconscious processing is important for the conscious processing. However, this does not solve the problem of consciousness either. In addition, research has shown that eye movements are not related to consciousness. More energy is needed for consciousness.  

There are NCCs for access to consciousness and there are NCCs for the experience of consciousness. People are often looking for a solution to the problem of consciousness, but they only find underlying correlations. Noë and Thompson argue that perceptual content arises from experience and attention on a personal level and not on, for example, through neural activity. That is on a sub-personal level. After all, it is always from a certain point of view. 

What factors compete with each other in consciousness?

In research with monkeys, electrodes are placed on the brains of these monkeys. This is done to examine which image the monkeys see when two images are presented at the same time. The monkeys could indicate this by pressing a certain button. This is also called research into binocular rivalry. The researchers then looked at areas of the brain that showed more activity. More activity was found in the occipito-temporal regions. A higher correlation was found between conscious visual experiences and sensory pathways in the brain than with activity in the V1. Research provided support for the adapting reciprocal inhibition model. A dominant stimulus also only disappears when another stimulus takes over.       

The research also showed that the oppressed eye can respond to stimuli that are not conscious: This is found at a very low level of processing. This particular process ensures, for example, that we already see words that we then read. This makes it ultimately very smooth. Breitmeyer states that all visual processes happen unconsciously in the subcortical areas and in the LGN areas. As it goes towards the cortex, it becomes more aware. 

Research towards binocular rivalry only shows correlations. Although some results show a causal relationship between brain activity and consciousness, it is still not completely clear how this works. It is not clear why it occurs in one brain area and not in another. An explanation could be that the scientists may not be on the right track. If vision is an illusion, the search for these NCCs will not produce results.  

How does the subconscious mind work in the brain?

The locked-in syndrome, in which people can no longer move except for with eye movements, is caused by damage to the middle brain or brainstem. These people still have a certain level of consciousness, but they can hardly move a muscle in the body. PVS is caused by damage in the higher parts of the brain. It is possible to recover from this. Research towards awareness has also been done by investigating people under the influence of drugs. No clear picture of consciousness has emerged from this. What has been found is that the thalamus might play an important role in consciousness. Research towards the drugs nitrous oxide and ketamine has shown that the NMDA synapse would play a major role.   

Shutting down consciousness is therefore a complex process.

We often no longer know exactly why we know something or when we have learned something. This is called source amnesia. This can also play a role in consciousness. People sometimes think that they have come up with something themselves, while in fact they have heard from someone else. This is called inattentional plagiarism. Brain research shows that tasks that demand a lot from the brain more often use domain-general areas. Automatic processes are often only controlled by sensory areas.   

The above process is often explained on the basis of the dual-process theory. Other research states that there is no difference between conscious and unconscious thinking; because theories would be much more nuanced.  

What is pain?

Pain is a sensory and emotional experience, where there is a risk of damage or there is already damage. It is also a subjective experience. We do not know from others how pain feels with them. When someone is in pain, there is a lot of activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This activity increases as the pain gets worse. This does not apply to the case of someone hurting themselves. 

Researchers have been thinking about the following question: Where is pain located? Identity scientists would say that pain is in the brain; but dualists would say that the pain occurs in the mind. According to researcher Velmans, the pain would actually be in your arm because the experience and the physical world are the same. Yet people who are missing an arm can also have phantom pain in that arm. Phantom pain occurs in a body part that you no longer have. This could be because the damaged nerves still give a signal to the brain. Ramachandran thinks that phantom pain occurs because the motor actions still continue to take place: Because the brain does not receive the feedback it expects, it experiences pain.

The most important thing about pain is that you must be able to feel it. There are groups of people who believe that other animals can feel pain but also happiness. For this, according to Damasio, a sense of the 'self' is needed. You need emotions to be able to experience pain, according to him. There must also be brain activity in the 'pain system' in the brain. You must know that you are in pain to be able to feel it, according to Damasio. 

According to Humphrey, pain is caused by the feeling of pain, as a result of which there is an experience whereby the body reacts in the way it does when it experiences pain. Not everyone agrees with him. According to Humphrey, you should be able to make representations of the sensory stimuli involved. 

With all of the above information, the problem of consciousness research has not yet been solved.

Chapter 5 - How can the brain be compared to a theater?

Hume described the mind as a theater. There are various views on this.

What does the mental theater look like from the inside? 

When people are asked to indicate where they think the 'self' is located in the body, many people think that this is in the head, about between your eyes. When you have the feeling that thoughts always pass by in your consciousness and then fade away again, this fits in with Dennett's idea of a so-called Cartesian Theater. In this theater, all conscious thoughts come together. Everything is conscious within that place, but not outside of it. You are the audience yourself. Dennett thinks that it may feel that way, but that it isn't true in reality. This is also related to Descartes' ideas about which specific area of the brain provides the difference between consciousness and subconscious.  

Then there are also the ideas of the Cartesian materialist (CM). According to the CM, people believe that the brain is not detached from consciousness. Yet, this idea is less confident than the idea of a Cartesian Theater. Many people to misuse this term and confuse it with the ideas of a Cartesian Theater. 

Where does consciousness take place?

According to a CM, neural processes should all come together at the same time to raise awareness. If you want to do something you are reading, you need awareness for that. First you have to read the instruction so that the visual cortex and the brain areas associated with language become active. In the meantime, the motor cortex is getting ready to let you perform the action. The frontal areas of the brain are important for planning. But where does consciousness take place? There is no group of neurons that it is directly associated with. The brain areas involved in the period between the input and output is not clearly determined. In addition, there is also no specific time when consciousness takes place. There is still much uncertainty about this topic. We must first know how we can get subjective feelings through objective actions.

Do we have a mental screen and how would it work?

Shepard did an experiment in which the test subjects had to compare different figures and determine if they were the same. They were often figures build of blocks. For this task, you have to use mental rotation. This is an objective way to measure information. The more the two objects differ from each other, the longer the mental rotation takes, so the longer it takes to process the information in the brain. MRI research shows that actually seeing an object and imagining what something would look like, leads to the exact same activation in the brain: Both ensure activation of the visual cortex.  

Enactivist theories state that sensory exploration takes place without the involvement of the environment when someone has to imagine something. It is not proven that consciousness is needed to be able to imagine something. In addition, awareness is not necessary for mental rotation. The same process takes place when we put a key in a lock. Yet we do not always do that consciously. Some people also think that there would be some sort of mental screen in the brain that would show things like this. Crick and Koch have done research towards this and state that it does contribute something to the organization of the brain.  

It is also a difficult question, for example, where precisely in the brain color is processed. From an objective experience, such as seeing a blue bottle, we eventually have a subjective experience. Objectively speaking, there are three types of receptors on the retina that all respond to a different color. This is dependent of the wavelength of the color. Yet, seeing color is a subjective experience. 

Is there also an approach in which there would be another theater then a Cartesian Theater?

The concept of the Cartesian theater is that we are aware of some things, but not of others. Why would that make a difference? A well-known example is driving a car. On a route that you know very well, you often drive less consciously. When you arrive at your destination, you realize that you have thought of something completely different while driving; and you did not think about the traffic. You therefore have no or only a vague memory of going home. Some people adhere to the idea of the Cartesian theater, saying that there is a certain stream of consciousness. Others do not adhere to this idea. Different theories will now be discussed.  

First of all, the global workspace theory (GWT) of Baars. He indicated that there are many things that are constantly happening in the subconscious, and that only a few things occasionally come into our consciousness. Only a limited number of things can get attention at a time. This is based on the theater hypothesis, where the audience only looks at the things that are in the spotlight. Yet, a lot is also happening behind the scenes: There is an interaction between consciousness, working memory and the environment. The external senses (such as hearing and seeing), the internal senses (such as feelings and dreams) and ideas together form consciousness; and therefore conscious experiences. That, in turn, ensures that memory systems work and that we can interpret our environment. This all happens in the subconscious mind. People are however only focused on the conscious experience. You can also process a lot of information without being aware of it at that time. Baars therefore does not believe in a central point in the brain where all things come together to raise awareness. He believes that there is a visual system where everything comes together. Baars claims that there is a difference between the consciousness and subconscious. 

Secondly, there is the neuronal global workspace model of Dehaene and colleagues. According to Dehaene and colleagues, information does not have to become aware. There is information in the subconscious mind that is trying to get into the global workspace. From there, information can be spread to other areas of the brain. Moreover, according to Dennett, this does not have a greater effect. It only ensures that we can process the information. Yet it remains unclear how consciousness plays a role in this. The information therefore comes into the global workspace, which also forms a kind of theater.        

What theories are there that do not include the metaphor of a theater?

The identity theory states that consciousness equals brain activity and the eliminative materialism theory states that you do not need to explain anything outside of the 'material'. However, this does not explain how you can drive without consciously seeing a red traffic light. According to the theory of Crick and Koch, specific brain processes are involved, such as the activation of parts of the thalamus.     

Pennartz has split the requirements for consciousness into difficulties and 'soft' requirements. Difficulties include the ability to interpret multiple forms of sensory information. Soft, for example, includes self-awareness. His theory still resembles a theater. Pennartz speaks about multidimensional integration.  

This is in line with the integrated information theory (IIT). According to this theory; the more information that is integrated into a system, the more aware this system is. If a system becomes more aware, then it gets a higher value. We can then better distinguish certain things. In this case, awareness occurs for information that has been combined and integrated.  

According to Penrose, you should look at the objects on a larger scale and on smaller levels. When something moves from one scale to the other, it becomes more difficult. The objects on the larger scale cannot take place simultaneously (the traffic light is either green or red but not both colors at the same time). Several physicists have tried to solve this problem. This has led to inspiration for others in formulating new theories. 

Penrose has introduced the theory of orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR). It states that a system must be isolated from disturbances so that it can be used in an objective manner. This is only possible at an extremely low temperature. He has detected this process in small proteins in the cell nuclei (microtubules). It is important because intuition is thought to play a role in consciousness: It is important that you can experience things for yourself. Also, in research they have also found certain channels in the brain where narcotics reduce consciousness. This does, however, not yet solve the problem. It is still unclear how exactly the brain works and how the microtubules work.     

What does the theory of multiple designs say?

Dennett has introduced the theory of multiple designs. Different cognitive activities are created by different processes in the brain for interpreting and processing information. Because these are constantly being adjusted, there are ultimately several designs in different parts of the brain. When someone then wonders what happens when we are consciousness, Dennett calls this the myth of double transduction. There is no self that should consciously experience the experience, only multiple designs that are adjusted at the same time. You never know exactly what happened afterwards, you only know what you've seen. 

Within this theory, the observer is called the Center of Narrative Gravity: We get the illusion that we are the center, like in the theater. However, this is not the case. This illusion is created because, for example, we talk about what we have experienced. How is a red traffic light looked at within this theory that you have not consciously seen? Processing depends on how information is processed at the same time. 

According to Dennett, there is no truth to our subjective experiences. So; there is no real experience. Yet this theory does not provide a clear solution either. It comes with other problems. Also, this theory is also based on language, while for example, people can also be aware of various things without the use of language. He also rejects the idea that the brain could be meaningful. He is only talking about the experience and not about the processes in the brain. 

Chapter 6 - How does consciousness form a unity?

Generally, people have the idea that consciousness is only a singular thing and that it does not consist of smaller parts. However, the brain exerts many processes simultaneously. In this way, it can also simultaneously process visual and motor information. There is not a single area in the brain where all information comes together. This chapter looks at how we can turn singular information and input into a mental representation in our head.

Dualism believes that every person has their own consciousness that this is separate from the physical brain.

Libet believed that consciousness was created by the effects of a conscious mental 'field' (CMF). He also devised an experiment to test this theory. Libet had thought of removing a piece of cortex from the brain and try to keep it alive. If this piece of cortex was then stimulated, the person's brain should be signaled and the person should have a conscious experience, even though the specific part of the brain was removed. His experiment did not work, however.

It is now particularly important to do research on the brain and the question of how the brain deals with all that different information. 

What is the binding problem? 

To be able to observe a moving object you must be able to integrate many different information at a time. You must be able to follow the shape and color of the object, but also the movement. These processes do not all take the same amount of time. For example, people can process color faster than they process motion. Two visual systems are important here. First, the dorsal system; where movement is processed. Secondly, the ventral system; where processing takes more time. The ventral system deals with, for example, recognizing an object (such as recognizing that the object you are looking at is a coin).

There is not one place in the brain where all this information comes together. How is it possible that we are able to see that it is one object; how are we able to make one mental representation out of all information? This is decribed as the binding problem. Memory and attention play an important role in this process. There must always be a connection between different information to draw one single conclusion. Because we can connect the different parts of information, we can also store it in our memory. However, some researchers compare the binding problem with attention: As long as you pay attention to something, multiple characteristics can be linked to each other. Evidence has been found that attention is important for connecting the bits of information.  

People with non-congenital brain injury in the parietal cortex, that plays a role in attention, often show problems during tasks where linking of information is important. Attention and bonding, however, are not the same. We can also connect individual characteristics to each other without being aware of it.    

How does synchronization work?

The theory of Crick and Koch is often used when it comes to the topic of awareness and connecting individual components to one coherent whole. Research on cats has shown that neurons fire synchronously when the animal wants to recognize an object as one thing. In this way, cats are able to assemble the individual parts of information. The thalamus regulates attention and causes the neurons to fire simultaneously. Crick and Koch later stated that synchronization leads to awareness, because there is less competition with other signals. Many experiments have been done on this topic. In addition, a more detailed image of an object could be created through the process of synchronization. Synchronization between cells is common. These ideas mainly seem to fit with the global workspace theory.

However, there is no consensus on this topic. Some researchers deny the existence of the binding problem and others say that it does not focus enough on the cortical processes. Singer states that only the input that is able to connect to each other can evoke consciousness.   

What is micro-consciousness?

Zeki states that there are various smaller forms of consciousness in the human brain. Although our visual system cannot, for example, process all of these at the same time, we are not aware of this. According to Zeki, that would be because all cortical systems have their own consciousness. So there is no central point where information comes together; rather every system has its own consciousness. According to Zeki, connecting the information into a whole is a process that only takes place after awareness has occurred. Zeki does believe that some processes also take place in the subconscious mind. 

Micro-consciousness therefore occurs within macro-consciousness and this corresponds to the idea of Block. Through consciousness, someone can describe things using language, and one has a sense of 'self'. However, what is a problem within this theory is that little information is implicit. Because everything is processed with consciousness, everything would also need to be explicit. 

What is meant by multi-sensory integration?

Most theories that we have discussed so far have focused on vision. Nonetheless, connecting individual factors together is a process that also takes place with auditory information. For example, you can turn your face towards the sound you are hearing. Animals use this principle to hunt. Moreover, the integration of sensory information depends on multi-sensory neurons. These respond to input from various senses. Connections arise towards the cortex. This can lead to an illusion. In general we can clearly distinguish the different senses. Perhaps an explanation could be found with the phenomenon of synesthesia; in which someone automatically combines different senses.  

What is stated in the integrated information theory?

The integrated information theory (IIT) starts with the concept of consciousness. This theory is derived from the dynamic core hypothesis; that states that the thalamocortical circuits in the brain provide awareness. According to the IIT, information is integrated when it cannot be traced back to a specific part of the body. The ITT concerns five key aspects:

1. Intrinsic perspective: Consciousness exists intrinsically. 

2. Composition: Consciousness is structured according to a certain structure. 

3. Information: Every conscious experience is different from other experiences. 

4. Exclusion: Every experience can be traced back to content and spatial location. 

5. Integration: Being able to integrate different images. 

According to IIT, we can have faith in our own conscious experiences. It is also about the amount of information that we can distinguish. Consciousness, according to this theory, is on a continuum. According to this theory, zombies in the Zombie story could exist. It is about the dynamic process, but there is no theater form, as there is in other theories. 

A super concentrator is a graph that depends on complex arithmetic issues. It is unclear why this is related to consciousness. 

According to Aaronson, there is an easier version of the difficult problem. Yet, this problem cannot be solved either; because you can integrate information even without awareness. According to Aaronson, IIT could be part of the solution to the difficult problem, but not the entire solution.

What does the sensorimotor theory entail?

To be able to solve the problem, we can also look at actions: Consciousness would then be the result of interaction between the brain, the body and the environment. So, conciousness would also be about an interaction with the world. In the sensorimotor theory it is stated that a feeling arises during events. 

How can unity lead to an illusion? 

Others believe that consciousness is not a single unity. We cannot catch ourselves at a moment when we are not aware: After all, as soon as we realize this, we are aware of something. So, we have the illusion that we have an idea of how consciousness works, but we are not aware of many moments, so that is not possible either. 

What is the difference between a 'super unity' and disagreement?

This section starts with synesthesia. People who experience this, for example, automatically visualize sound. There are many connections between the language and the visual system. So synesthesia is about combining different senses. The most common form is grapheme; where color and letters are combined. Synesthesia is more common in women and is often related to a better memory and more creativity.    

It is possible that the connectedness of consciousness is affected by, for example, splitting the brain, amnesia or neglect. 

Epilepsy can also have serious consequences for the brain. One way to resolve this is by splitting the brain hemispheres from each other. This surgery is called a commissurotomy. It differs per person how exactly the surgery is performed. A lot of research has been conducted on this group of patients with "split brains". It appears that epilepsy affects the brain. This is because the communication between the hemispheres of the brain changes, so that information in the left visual field becomes more difficult to verbalize: This is because the left hemisphere is involved in language. The connection between seeing and speaking is difficult to make because information normally communicates from one half of the brain to the other (i.e., left with right and right with left). Now the right hemisphere can no longer make contact with the language areas of the left hemisphere.    

The left hemisphere is involved in, for example, language and intentions; also called higher order consciousness processes. Does the non-dominant hemisphere then also have consciousness? This is a question that Sperry asked. Yet the right hemisphere also has certain primitive language skills, but more at the level of animals. 

MacKay has also conducted research on patients with a split-brain (callosal syndrome). It turned out that both hemispheres can learn a game independently from one another, and a person can therefore play against himself. However, you can also teach the hemispheres to work together. MacKay did, however, draw the conclusion that both hemispheres have consciousness. You could not play the game of this experiment without any awareness, he claims. 

Not everyone agrees with the above statemetn. Can only the brain have consciousness? It cannot see or hear. It can only interpret information. Only a person in its totality can have consciousness (or not). Although there are two streams of consciousness towards the two hemispheres of the brain, this does not mean that it can be experienced in that way. 

Next, the study of patients with amnesia. Amnesia is memory loss that cannot be resolved anymore. When people cannot store new memories this is called anterograde amnesia. When people forget memories from the past this is called retrograde amnesia. The memory does not stop working completely, however: Classic conditioning remains possible in most cases. Procedural learning also remains possible. An example of this is learning to cycle. In addition, patients with amnesia also show priming effects. Priming refers to the phenomenon where information that was previously learned is also recognized later on.

Do people with amnesia also have consciousness? It seems that way, since they are still responding. They only have no interaction between current information and previous memories. For example, patients with amnesia can still keep a diary and always read it back. They just can no longer save the information themselves. Amnesia can also occur due to Alzheimer's or dementia. Then it often arises gradually. Memory is not the only factor of consciousness. It is therefore thought that patients with amnesia may also have consciousness. 

Finally: neglect. In cases of neglect, there is damage to the right side of the brain due to a brain haemorrhage. As a result, someone can no longer move the left side of the body: People however do not always realize that this is the case. A part of the patients suffering from neglect have problems with attention. These patients do not pay attention to, for example, the left half of their body. In some cases, training can help to focus attention on the other, otherwise missing, half of the body again. Sometimes unconscious observations can still influence the decisions these people make.

Healthy people can also experience certain forms of neglect. This may be the case with hypnosis; where we do not perceive all present stimuli. Neglect applies to everyday life as well: We filter out much of the information because we can never absorb everything. 

What is the relationship between unity and time?

We often think that consciousness should take place in the here and now. This often concerns an internal awareness of time and not the time expressed by a clock, for example. Wundt has already conducted research related to this topic. People often make mistakes when they have to estimate time in a subjective way. A great deal of experimental research into subjective time-estimating has been done. 

An example is the experiment with color phi; where lights have different colors, such as orange and purple. If the experimenter shows the lights in quick succession then it seems like there is movement and a color transition. However, it is impossible for anyone to know which color will come after the gradient. This process could occur because it only comes into consciousness when both lights have been flashed. Then, the transition can already be made. We do not know this because we do not know when exactly the event starts in the brain. When are the first neurons activated? According to the GWT, the first neurons are activated when the information enters the global workplace. According to Zeki, it happens when brain activity starts explicitly. According to Crick, the neurons must become active in relation to attention.  

There must actually be a starting point for the awareness of information. Personal storytelling could possibly be used to investigate this.

Chapter 7 - What is the relationship between attention and awareness?

There is still much unknown about attention and what it is exactly. Attention can be compared to a spotlight. Fechner states that attention ensures a higher intensity for a certain stimulus. Attention makes the resolution of what we see better. 

How can we prove attention?

Attention to your own experiences is important. In addition, one must also be familiar with the personal experience of paying attention to everyday experiences. It is often thought that consciousness provides attention. As soon as something is included in our consciousness, our attention would be drawn to this event. Yet, is this a correct idea? It appears that awareness and perception are not always necessary for attention to occur, because our attention can also be drawn to something unintentionally. More specifically, attention is a brain process that involves multiple areas of the brain. Attention is related the ventral attention system in the brain. When we consciously focus our attention on something, the dorsal systems are especially important. This is found in all areas of the brain. Note: this separation of a ventral and dorsal system is separate from the same separation in visual systems.  

To regulate attention, the above systems must efficiently work together. For example, we often make involuntary eye movements, which are called saccades. Your eyes can also follow objects in a more flexible way. This is easiest when there is a moving object. Your head and body must also react and move.   

Moving your eyes towards an object is not the same as paying attention to that object. For example, you may not consciously see something, even though you may be looking at it. In addition, you can never focus on everything at once. So there are always certain things that your perception lets go off. In addition, after giving attention to a stimulus, there is an attentional blink, during which your brain cannot pay attention to stimuli for a very short time. Moreover, there are often several things that your brain pays attention to at the same time.  

Covert attention is focusing your attention to a place other than what you are looking at. Overt attention is focusing your attention in the direction you are looking. You use different skills of the brain for these processes. However, this still tells us little about consciousness.    

What are the theories regarding attention?

Helmholtz, Hering and Wundt have conducted a lot of research related to attention. In many experiments, dichotic listening was used, that is based on playing a different sound in each ear. There is always one of the two sides that is preferred over the other, but the attention can be consciously switched to the other ear. 

To be able to process sound, many processes have to work simultaneously. A lot of research has been conducted towards this matter, yet it has only become more and more complex. We therefore call it a bottleneck in research. At some point, attention was redefined: We now think of it as a perceptual filter that leads to the working memory. Various theories have been formulated. 

The perceptual load theory was devised by Lavie. He stated that perceptual processing has a limited capacity. So when a task takes up a lot of capacity, the brain has to choose to what it should pay attention. When the task requires less capacity, we can also pay attention to environmental factors that are not important to the task but are present. It corresponds to Cartesian materialism.   

Attention and memory are interrelated, which means that some scientists see short-term memory as the cause of the limited capacity of attention. Attention would therefore be the processing of information from the short-term memory to the working memory. 

The premotor theory of attention states that attention prepares us for the action that we then perform. The information would then end up in the motor system via visual selection. Research has been done towards the neurons in the frontal eye fields (FEF). This area would consist of two groups of neurons. One group is responsible for moving attention without eye movements and the other group is responsible for moving attention with eye movements. In contrast to the premotor theory, saccades are therefore not per se connected to the selection of attention. Moreover, attention would mainly lie in the visual FEF neurons and not in the motor neurons. Not all motor areas are therefore connected with covert attention.     

The biased competition theory could be an alternative. According to this theory, attention is a mechanism that depends on feedback. There is competition between different sensory-motor systems and the result is attention. Preparing an action increases the chance that the goal will be achieved, but it is not a guarantee. All other input must also be actively processed. However, when a preparation "wins" then it comes to the attention.   

The attention schema theory states that consciousness is directly linked to attention. This is based on IIT and GWT. It is considered to be an internal model where the brain itself could use attention. This occurs via a so-called attention schema.  

In some theories, attention is not seen as a process but as a sequence in which certain processes take place. These are alternative theories such as the cognitive-unison view. In addition, attention is a form of awareness through which we can process all information. This requires higher-order processes.

What is the relationship between consciousness and attention?

There are six possibilities with regard to the relationship between consciousness and attention. 

1. Awareness depends on attention: We often have the idea that we are only aware of things that we pay attention to. Some scientists argue that attention causes us to become aware. The GWT is also based on this. The investigation with the gorilla also confirms this, if we do not pay attention to it, we will not see it. However, this does not mean that attention is all that is needed to create awareness.  

2. Attention depends on consciousness: It could also be the other way around: We pay attention to what we consciously choose through attention. Consciousness directs our attention. The attention ultimately ensures the substantive experience of the event. 

3. Correlating awareness and attention: It may be that attention can be important for the experience without us consciously focusing on it. In this way, these two processes could correlate with each other. 

4. Consciousness and attention are not related: According to this approach the correlations between consciousness and attention are so complex that other brain processes would be involved. Consciousness and attention should therefore be viewed separately.  

5. Consciousness and attention are the same: It is stated here that neural interactions ultimately result in conscious attention. Therefore, it would be the same and therefore; not a causal relationship. It could also be that they need constant feedback from each other. They are parts of each other and they can function without each other, but less well than when the processes work together. 

6. Consciousness and attention (or one of them) do not exist or are an illusion: Not everyone is convinced that these two processes exist. For example, scientists argue that processes involved in attention sometimes also function without attention. There is no brain process that is fully responsible for attention. Watzl states that attention ensures structure of consciousness. The problem is that research into awareness and attention depends on what people report themselves or what they do. To be able to do this, attention is needed. This makes it difficult to examine awareness and attention. 

After information has disappeared, people can still retrieve it. The Very Short Term Memory (VSTM) is used for this. We are however unsure which conclusions we can draw from this. This is also related to the sensori-motor theory. It is difficult to properly study this theory, because you must pay attention to a stimulus to determine whether this stimulus is in your consciousness. In particular, there are many explanations that might be the (partly) true, but no research has yet been done. Sometimes, people may not be aware that they are aware of something. Does this mean that it is unconscious? That is unclear. It may not be an all-or-nothing principle. For that you could do research into neuronal relationships and correlations.  

What is the relationship between meditation and attention?

Meditation is a good training of attention. There are many forms of meditation, but the goal is always about soothing the mind. This requires a lot of practice. Some claim that they can see the mind through intospection methods. Most methods of meditation are related to religion. Mindfulness is also often related to religion: It is about focusing on the here and now. It can be used to treat depression and anxiety, for example. It often requires a lot of training as well. The core of mindfullness is to give attention but not to think. There are traditional ways of sitting, such as sitting cross-legged, to meditate. In some forms of meditation, this can be alternated with walking.  

There are a number of basic principles of meditation. The most important thing is to retain attention, but how do you keep the concentration? It is hard to suppress thoughts. This can actually lead to an obsession, such as when someone says you can't think of a white bear. Then most people only tend to think of a white bear. To meditate, you must let go of these thoughts and also not actively oppose them. There are roughly two forms of meditation: open meditation and concentration of meditation.   

First, open meditation. For this you have to pay equal attention to everything that happens, without responding. Usually it is done with your eyes open. You must be able to stay in the here and now. Secondly, concentration meditation: You must keep your attention without being distracted. This makes automatic processes less automatic, making people more aware. This is done by paying attention to breathing. As a result, your distraction can often be prevented better. It leads to more attention. This can also be achieved through mantras. These are words or sentences that are repeated aloud or internally. 

Meditation can lead to transcendence. Attention is important for this process, and this could therefore also be important for research towards consciousness.

According to research into Zen training by Austin, the different types of meditation also provide training for other systems. The dorsal system focuses on higher levels of attention, whereas the ventral system focuses on involuntary attention. Lutz has also found this in research. Open and focus meditation provide a bias towards cognitive flexibility. 

Meditation and mindfulness provide more cognitive flexibility and ensure less cognitive interference. Attention processes can therefore be used more effectively. That way, people who meditate also get better at the Stroop task. Research has also been done towards the topic of meditation in combination with rest. As a result, the default mode network (DMN) has been discovered; a state in which someone is awake, but is not focused on a specific task. This is the case, for example, during daydreams. The DMN mainly lies in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Meditation can cause changes in these areas.     

Introceptive attention is related to digestion and, for example, breathing. This is very important for mindfulness. The better a person is at meditating, the more awareness of the body arises. Many people start with meditation to experience the world differently. 

It is therefore still unclear whether attention plays a crucial role in consciousness, or not.

Chapter 8 - What is the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness?

We often make the difference between conscious and unconscious on the basis of the seperation of body and mind. Mental processes are considered to be conscious. Physical processes are more often considered to be unconscious. This is also reflected in the ideas of Helmholtz and James. But what exactly is the difference and does it actually exist? We will first look at perception, then at action and finally at intuition and creativity. 

How does unconscious perception work?

Unconscious perception, for example, exists when you suddenly realize that the ticking of the clock has stopped. You will consciously notice the silence, while you had not consciously noticed the ticking before. The earlier ticking is then processed, probably by perception without consciousness. Experiments also show this. According to Sidis and Wegner there would be a kind of secondary self that absorbs and processes these kinds of incentives. 

In previous experiments it was stated that perceptual awareness is formed by what people say. This coincides with the idea that we know when we are aware of something. A problem with this is that it depends on the certainty of people. This problem is partly solved by the signal detection theory: This theory concerns sensitivity, or how well someone's eyes function, and response criteria; how quickly do people want to confirm something when they are not sure about it. Everyone has a different point where they make the decision whether they have seen something or not. 

In research, a distinction has also been made between direct measurements (of consciousness) and indirect measurements (of unconscious perception). Priming is used for indirect measurements. For example, a stimulus is shown here only very briefly, without the participant realizing it, which influences the outcome of the task. In retrospect, it appears that the participants had not consciously noticed the prime. 

Research by Kihlstrom shows that the further the stimulus falls below the subjective limit value, the less likely it is that it can be analyzed semantically. There could be so many threshold values. For example, people still believe that an underlying message in advertising, for example, can help to sell the product. In addition, people believe that self-help using unconscious messages can also help. It has also been found that, for example, it is possible to give people certain information unconsciously during anesthesia. 

What role do emotional and social effects play?

According to the Cartesian materialist, people are either aware of the situation or not. Others see it as different processes that have to be measured in different ways. Unconscious emotions can also have an effect. This has been shown by experiments. The implicit display of positive and negative faces leads to different activation in the amygdala. The same areas of the brain that are normally used when processing faces are active, only less strong.    

What is the difference between conscious and unconscious actions?

Actions can be divided into five different types:

1. Always unconscious: Not everything (such as growing your hair) can be conscious and most processes in the body are also unconscious and very fast. 

2. Usually unconsciously: Some actions that normally take place unconsciously can be brought into consciousness: However, we often still don't know exactly how it works. 

3. Initially aware: Initially, we learn most skills consciously, but biofeedback makes it increasingly automatic. Eventually it succeeds unknowingly. 

4. Either consciously or unconsciously: All skills can be put into practice consciously or unconsciously. 

5. Always aware: Some actions are always done consciously, such as making moral decisions. 

Unconscious and conscious actions feel different. It is important not to draw conclusions too quickly. It could also be that more difficult actions require more connections in the brain. Through the connections, the actions become aware. 

What are the theories about unconscious and conscious actions?

First, there are causal theories. An example of this is the dualistic theory. Yet, also dualists understand that consciousness must be related to other factors as well: According to Carpenter, consciousness could be the interaction between sensations and emotions and the brain. The scientists of the past could not explain why. Popper and Eccles were also unable to explain this matter. According to Libet, there is an interaction between neurons and subjective experience in the conscious mental field (CMF). The GWT also states that there is a causal role for consciousness because it is important for the processes in the brain. Unconscious actions would not end up in the global workspace. According to Baars, conscious actions receive feedback and the actions are formed accordingly. This would not be the case with unconscious actions.      

Secondly, there are non-causal theories that state that consciousness cannot cause events. Eliminative materialism is an example of this. They state that consciousness has no effect. What seems to be a problem with this is that we can talk about consciousness and that it should therefore exist. Furthermore, there are two other theories namely the higher-order perception theory (HOP) and the higher-order thought theory (HOT). According to HOP, consciousness provides an inner self. According to HOT, consciousness occurs when someone can think about what he / she is doing. Actions would become aware through HOP and HOT. Is it true that you need an extra characteristic to understand consciousness? This remains unclear up to this point.   

Thirdly, there is functionalism, which is used in various ways. It is about the system, where the state of mind is also the functional state. Because you experience pain in your brain, you also experience pain in your body. It is difficult to describe qualia with this. So there is no separate form of consciousness; it is rather a combination of different factors. 

What is the causal effectiveness of consciousness?

People often believe that they have to be able to consciously receive information and respond to something. This is also called the assumption of experiential control. For example, information from the visual system must become a conscious experience. This must then be processed again in the brain to perform an action. Is there a causal effect of consciousness or does the content play an important role in carrying out actions? Currently, this is still very unclear.   

What is the role of awareness in skills-related actions?

Is awareness needed to perform automatic actions? No. It is only unclear when the action will reach consciousness. It might be too late to lead to a causal relationship. For example, quick response times can also be achieved without awareness. Motor responses and conscious perceptions are therefore not the same. This could possibly be because they are dependent on two different systems in the brain.  

What is the difference between unconscious actions and conscious perception?

According to Milner and Goodale, there are two visual systems that depend on two neural systems. The dorsal and ventral path. One could quickly process information to link objects to the self. This is called the vision-for-action path. The second path is used to compare objects and therefore requires more processing time. This is called the vision-for-perception path. What we think we can see does not always have to lead to our actions. This has been shown by experiments in patients where one of the two paths is damaged.     

In addition, it has also emerged from research on healthy participants using visual illusions. The processing of perception is therefore different from the processing of motor control. Others again state that consciousness is dependent on action. 

What is the influence of blindness on consciousness?

Weiskrantz has introduced the term blindsight to describe that patients who later become blinded by one eye due to, for example, brain surgery, can still process information from that eye. However, they cannot consciously see anything with that eye. Could this help you find the place of consciousness in the brain? That still remains unclear, although it seems that the qualia is mainly processed in V1.   

It makes sense that patients with blindsight can still process certain visual information, since often not all visual paths are affected. For example, it is possible that the V1 area is affected, so that the patient is basically blind on that side. However, moving objects are processed in the V5 area , so patients may still be able to see this. According to Morland, the visual cortex is not important for consciousness, but to connect the individual characteristics of objects to each other.   

The reactions of people with blindsight to these tasks can also be explained by the dorsal and ventral processing of information. The recognition of stimuli by blindsight could be due to visuomotor responses. So they are more actions without perceptions, instead of perception without consciousness.     

According to Dennett, there is no difference in the processing of visual information between healthy people and patients who show blindsight. That is because they are encouraged to gamble without getting feedback. If they did receive feedback, they would know that they are successful in what they do.   

Is consciousness involved in blindsight? Functionalists would say that it is, because awareness is the execution of actions. Anyone who believes in zombies would say that it is not possible. Through training, patients with cortical blindness can still regain conscious vision.  

According to Weiskrantz, people with blindsight have no possibility of verbally explaining the information they perceive. This corresponds to the HOT theory. The question is actually whether or not the patients with blindsight can actually see something. Some see it as a paradox, others see it as a paradox only if your vision is seen as a whole process. The dorsal and ventral process are connected to this. They are responsible for perception and action. We cannot just say that one is a conscious process and the other is an unconscious process. We don't have enough information about that yet.      

Can blind people learn to see? Maybe ultimately through artificial eyes. It has already been tried with glasses that transmit electrical signals. By connecting electrodes to the tongue, people can learn to see. It is not clear how visual these and other similar experiences are. It is about a certain interaction with the world and not necessarily about an inner representation of the world. 

What is the relationship between intuition and creativity?

Intuition consists of three parts: cognitive processes in which information comes from a complex pattern, social skills and the associated implicit impressions of others and, finally, emotion. Rational thinking also always contains emotion. Especially the social skills are more important for women, because they use these skills more often than men do. Patients with brain damage to the frontal lobe often become emotionally flattened.  

Creativity is also important for intuition. It ensures that you can get into a certain flow. This happens when someone's challenges and skills are balanced. The difference between consciousness and unconsciousness then becomes less black-and-white. Creativity is also working hard on a problem to find a solution. Hard work is important, but can also be unconscious. Creative people are unique, because they can often come up with new ideas.   

The physical world is also important, as is language. This is important for the development and the way of thinking. 

What are the three ways of thinking about consciousness?

Three ways of thinking about consciousness are explained:

1. Conciousness in a Cartesian theater: Information occasionally comes into consciousness. Sensory information can lead to action when it comes into our consciousness. 

2. Consciousness according to Cartesian materialism: Sensory information enters a system and then it can either enter consciousness or it is handled unknowingly. This is often used nowadays. 

3. Sensory information is processed in different ways. Behavior can be seen as an indicator of awareness. Nothing is ever in or out consciousness. There is no good answer to the question of what behavior is or is not in consciousness.  

Many people state that they know from their own intuition when something is in and when something is out of their consciousness. This could be an illusion in most cases. However, it must be taken seriously. 

Chapter 9 - How are agency and free will related to consciousness?

The problem of free will has often been discussed throughout scientific history. It is about whether we can determine our own actions and choices. What role does consciousness play in this? Religions mainly respond to the matter stating that we have free will. Based on that, you can determine whether you make the right choice and whether you are in compliance with religion. A first problem with this is determinism: According to the determinism approach everything is inevitable. There is then no room for free will. The second problem is moral responsibility: do you really have free will if you are held back by your own moral thoughts?

Determinism is not entirely equivalent to free will, because certain actions can also happen unexpectedly. Yet free will within this approach could be an illusion. In addition, it may also be that determinism does not exist. There is also a connection between the self and consciousness, because we often think we have free will because things come into our consciousness. Does consciousness play a role in making decisions? 

An illusion is not something that does not exist, but it usually occurs when something ends up to be different than you thought before. We can assume that people are able to make their own choices. Various factors such as emotion and thoughts play a role in making a decision. 

What is the neuroanatomy of willpower?

When does consciousness come to the fore of willpower or ambition? Many different brain processes are involved in behavior that is regulated internally. The motor cortex is involved in carrying out actions. External actions provide stimulation of the cerebellum and premotor cortex. Actions that come from the person himself cause activation of the prefrontal areas in the brain. One of these areas is the supplementary motor area (SMA).  

Research on Phinaes Gage, who was an American railroad construction foreman that, due to an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, had damage to its frontal cortex, has yielded interesting results for research towards this matter. First of all, it has led us to know that damage to this area can lead to more stereotyped behavior and less spontaneous activity. In addition, it can lead to more impulsive behavior. 

Motor actions are driven by complex neuronal activity. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in subjective experiences, so we decide how we respond. This includes, for example, refusing a piece of cake because you are on a diet.

Unconscious considerations can also be measured; and this has also been done in an experiment. In the experiment, either 5 cents or one euro was provided, which the participant had to share with someone else. Participants had to press a button and the pressure they exerted on it would determine how much money they received. It turned out that participants were pushing harder when one euro was the potential reward. For example, conscious experiences are measured by asking participants what it feels like to feel that you have to respond to something.

It remains a strange thing for many people to understand that making decisions partly depends on the firing of neurons. People generally feel that they are doing this with their own mind and, therefore, with consciousness. This is what gives people the sense of having free will. 

What is meant by the half-second delay in consciousness?

The timing of consciousness is very important. Libet has studied that about half a second of neuronal activity is needed before consciousness occurs. This was done by doing brain research on people who underwent neurological examinations. Electrodes were placed in the brain. It then became apparent that people only respond when the stimulation lasts longer than half a second. 

Sensory stimuli provide a potential in the brain after about 10-20 milliseconds. Here too it only leads to awareness after 0.5 seconds. This is long compared to the speed of other brain processes. Libet then also studied whether you can touch the skin without it coming into consciousness, by stimulating the cortex within those 0.5 seconds. This turned out to be possible. 

Subsequently, the difference between cortex stimulation and stimulation of the skin was examined. It appears that people first report the stimulation of the skin, even if the cortex is stimulated first. According to Libet, this could be the case because the stimulation must first go back to the original moment; and that is an subjective process. 

Libet has introduced the backward referral hypothesis, which states that stimulation of the medial lemniscus must be traced back to the start of stimulation. This is not the case with stimulation of the cortex. So when the skin and the medial lemniscus are stimulated at the same time, someone feels it at the same time.       

The above experiments are difficult to replicate, because it is no longer ethical to conduct such experiments nowadays. Two important conclusions can be drawn: neural activity must last longer than 0.5 seconds for consciousness and activity with a shorter duration can still be involved in unconscious processes. According to Libet, the difference between conscious and unconscious is therefore the duration of the stimulation. Libet also thinks that the non-physical mind is important to explain subjectivity. This is in line with dualism. All the above results show that timing is therefore important for consciousness.  

What is the role of conscious will in voluntary acts?

How is it possible that you do not have to laugh when you tickle yourself? Timing is important for this. It could be that it doesn't work because the tickling happens in your own consciousness. 

What causes your action in voluntary acts? When does someone become aware and when does he / she start the action? Libet has studied whether the readiness potential (RP) or the consciousness decision comes first. The RP is a change as an electric potential that starts just before an action. RP comes first, and consciousness comes second. This research showed that consciousness is actually too late to play a role in the action. Libet therefore suggested that consciousness does not exist and that the subjective experience of consciousness is an illusion.   

It is also possible that the unconscious processes in the brain cause the action to start, but that consciousness can still give a go or no-go at the last minute. Participants indicated that they sometimes wanted to trade, but that they did not do it at the last minute. As a result, Libet still states that there is a causal role of consciousness. This is in line with the HOT theory.   

Other researchers question whether the above measurements really measure free will. The instructions of the experiment already said what action the participants had to take. So there was no question of complete free will. Moreover, timing is not explicitly included in the experiments, while this seems to be important. 

Hence, timing and voluntary action were included in research. These new studies also showed that consciousness generally comes later, but the activation that comes before this is not by definition the intention. Two areas in the DMN in particular seem to play a role in this. 

According to Dennett, there is no place in the brain where the various stimuli that are in consciousness at that moment come together. Moreover, something cannot just come into consciousness. It can also be viewed from the point of view of the Cartesian theater. The various stimuli do come together in the consciousness. 

If you read Dennett's explanation, it seems as if he states that there is no free will. He himself states that it does exist, but not in the way that we think it does. For example, it could be morally important without being magical. And isn't it just the person who can choose what he / she does instead of the 'will'? For this it is important to look at how others 'want' to experience. 

How do people experience their own will?

First, there is the illusion of having no will. You make people think that they don't have free will, while they do. There is such a thing as unconscious use of your muscles. Some people believe during experiments that they can be influenced, for example, by machines. They would not have free will, but would be led in a certain direction. This is also the case, for example, in patients with schizophrenia. They also believe that they are driven by others and therefore do not experience free will.  

Secondly, there is the illusion of having a will. We may feel that we have done something without having done it. Research has shown that it is easy to influence people's choices without their knowledge. So there is a big difference between actually causing something and thinking that you would have caused something.   

According to Wegner, free will can be created in three steps: First, our brains must make a plan, then we must have the intention to do it and finally, we must implement the action. There are three requirements here: the thought must match the action, the thought must precede the action and the action cannot be explained by other circumstances or factors. Research has been done towards this: The study showed that effects are perceived as planned when someone has had relevant thoughts about that effect shortly before the action.  

Sometimes 'wanting something very badly' can lead to that outcome. Often, people think that consciousness can then ensure that we reach a certain goal. However, that is an illusion: Claxton states that we often think that we have more control than we actually do. We see people as a self that can drown out certain thoughts, for example. That is not the case. He sees the relationship between thoughts and actions as a trial and error process; to predict something and not to control it. 

The idea that we can predict things instead of checking things is also in line with Mandler's idea: He states that we should place actions on a continuum of expected and unexpected events. The fact that free will feels like consciousness does not mean that it is like that. 

What are the consequences of believing in free will? 

According to opponents of determinism, we should believe in the possibility that consciousness causes moral behavior. People generally believe in free will. When reading about research being conducted towards this, it is important to keep a close eye on how the study was conducted. People can take a different view on a case, which might lead to different outcomes. 

Does the belief in free will cause certain behavior? Only correlations were found. For example, criminals more often indicate that they cannot do anything about it because it is in their genes and religious people often show better behavior because they believe in hell.  

Research has shown that more people copied during a calculation test when they had read about determinism. They generally perform worse on tasks anyway than others who had just read more motivating texts. If you read more articles about free will then there is a greater chance that you will help others, for example. Behavior can therefore be manipulated in various ways. 

If it were stated that free will does not exist, then that could have a great effect on, for example, the legal system. Nevertheless, according to Miles, the belief in free will causes poverty and maintains many negative processes.

Fantalism is the idea that everything is fixed and that it makes no sense to do something. A determinist does make choices, but sees the choices as completely determined. These two approaches are often confused. 

Claxton and Harris state that there is no free will. On the contrary, they indicate that free will is an illusion. If you think this too, you can ignore it, you can still live as if you have free will or you can stop believing in free will. The last option in particular changes the view of consciousness.

Chapter 10 - What is the relationship between evolution, the spirit of animals, and consciousness?

It is interesting to compare people's consciousness with animals. 

What is meant by mindless design? 

Paley stated that when we see something as a design, it means that someone must have made it. However, this not nessecarily has to be the case; there doesn't always have to be a designer to change anything. This can be seen, for example, with the process of natural selection.  

Evolution refers to the slow change of living beings and the subsequent evolution of these beings. This is especially studied by Darwin, who did not believe that God had made the world all. Namely, changes within the species had taken place to optimize them. Organisms have to adapt to their environment in order to survive. This created the idea of natural selection ("survival of the fittest").

What is meant by targeted evolution?

Lamarck agreed with Darwin that there is a sort of improvement over time. This is partly focused on the experience of the species according to Lamarck. According to Lamarck, evolution is progressive. According to Darwin, that is not certain. More people nowadays agree with Lamarck's idea. 

Many religions find it difficult to accept this idea because it is replacing God in a way. It is still unclear to what extent consciousness plays a role in evolution. The motivational theory was introduced by Hubbard. He states that we must take control of our consciousness. The quantum theory was devised by Goswami who states that consciousness is the most important energy on earth. Finally, the ideas of Chopra that states that people are able to avoid natural selection when they think it's better. All three theories follow Chardin, who believes that evolution is driven by spirituality. 

Everything we do, such as the food we eat, can have an effect on the next generation through epigenetics. They do not change the genes but the way in which these genes are expressed. 

What is the role of selfish replicators? 

The multilevel selection theory states that selection is done at different levels, also within groups. Organisms have to compete with each other to survive. Due to evolution, the chance of survival is greater. The opposite to this theory is the selfish gene theory of Dawkin. According to this theory, the most important thing about evolution is genetic information, or genes. Genes are selfish because they want to be copied as soon as possible. It does not matter what the effect is, as long as they can repeat themselves. This does not mean that all genes are now optimal, there is always room for improvement. It is also possible that a certain characteristic is adaptive in one situation, but not in another situation.     

How does the spirit of animals work?

When we examine human consciousness, it is good to also study animal consciousness. For example, we originate from the monkey. We do not even know for sure if people have the highest form of consciousness. How do we know what it's like to be an animal? We cannot empathize with this. For example, we think we know that animals can experience certain emotions, but we do not know this with absolute certainty.

Two extremes are related to this issue. First, the idea that only people have consciousness. Descartes believed that this is the case because people are the only organisms that speak language. According to this approach, there is no evidence that animals also have consciousness. Second, the idea that all animals and species have consciousness. 

Feinberg and Mallatt believe that unconscious reflexes ultimately led to brain consciousness. This could ultimately lead to subjective experiences, also in animals such as insects. Others see a difference in primary awareness and sensory awareness. Not all animals would control both forms and there would be different levels of consciousness. 

What different worlds are there?

All different animal species experience the world differently. For example, a garden is different for a bird than for a fish. They are also more or less sensitive to certain stimuli. Each animal then responds differently. Greenfield states that consciousness improves as the brain grows. This just does not seem to apply to all animal species. Every animal species therefore has its own world and its own way of interpreting stimuli. 

What are the physical and behavioral criteria of consciousness?

To determine whether animals also have consciousness, we must be able to identify certain characteristics of consciousness. The lower part of the brainstem in particular seems to be connected to consciousness. In addition, certain cortical areas appear to be important. But what about animals that don't have these brain areas? Even without a cortex, animals can still have all of the above areas in their own way. Therefore, all animals should be able to have consciousness in that regard. 

The brainstem in particular seems to be connected with consciousness and the sleep-wake cycle. All mammals make a difference between sleeping and waking and also have a certain circadian rhythm. Does this also mean that they have conscious perceptions or thoughts? We can never know exactly. The neural basis is still unclear. 

Another important approach is focused on behavioral indications. Is awareness related to the capacity to learn or to plan? Or does it have to do with the level of intelligence? We must not forget that other forms of intelligence may exist. In addition, the suffering of different species can be looked at. Is this different? Is there room for consciousness during suffering, for example with pain? These are all questions that are difficult to answer. Most animals may not be able to have higher-order cognitive thoughts. According to Carruthers, therefore, they may not have consciousness. 

It seems like animals can suffer, even animals with less complex brains. Lobsters, for example, make a harrowing sound when they are cooked alive. It would show that they can suffer. They also release more stress hormone in these kinds of situations, which also indicates pain. 

What is the role of self-recognition in consciousness?

People are aware of themselves. After about 18-24 months, children learn to refer to themselves with words like "me" and to other people with "you." Children find it easier to recognize themselves in a mirror rather than in a photo or video. 

Are animals also aware of themselves? Dogs and cats are not aware of themselves when they look in the mirror. They often go looking for other animals. And what about monkeys; are they aware of themselves? That is still unclear. It has been tested, but it is not clear what the behavior they showed implies. Research by Gallup, however, showed that monkeys realized after a few days that they could use the mirror to look at themselves. In addition, it also works to put a dot on the monkey's forehead. Monkeys then tend to grab their own foreheads; which would mean that means they recognize themselves. Not all monkey species are capable of this, only chimpanzees, orangutans and bonobos. Dolphins also seem to recognize a drawed spot, as well as elephants. Elephants are even able to show social behavior with the mirror. Some birds are even able to use the mirror to recognize themselves. The absolute size of the brain is therefore not important. 

Although the mirror test is often used, this test does not make clear to what extent the animal can recognize itself. For example, it does not mean that these animals are also aware of their psychological state.

Why is it important to understand that others also have a mind?

People are also able to understand the social cognitions of other people. We are able to empathize with others. According to the simulation theory we can understand others, because we make a simulation of the event in our mind as if we were experiencing it ourselves. That is how we understand how others feel. This can be explicit (conscious) or implicit (unconscious). According to the interaction theory, we understand others because we understand ourselves. These theories can help to understand how social cognition works. They correspond to Bennett's ideas about intentional stance. We understand others the way we understand ourselves. 

Babies develop this understanding by first following the eye movements of adults, for example. When they are about 3 years old, they can talk about what they want. They do not yet understand that other people may see other things than they see for themselves. 

People often use deception to convince someone of something that isn't true. For this you need social intelligence. Monkeys also seem to have this ability.

Premack and Woodruff have tried to study whether monkeys also have a Theory of Mind. Research has shown that monkeys generally do not have this. Research has also been done with chimpanzees. After all, they do follow the viewing direction to find out what the other person is looking at. They just don't understand when someone else can or cannot see something. In addition, they are also unable to perform the false belief task. Children of 6 years old can perform this task.  

In more recent studies, the false-belief task also looked at the eye movements of monkeys. They were able to succeed the task, but used lower levels of processing.  

What is the role of imitation in consciousness?

People imitate each other spontaneously and very easily. Children start imitating at about 14 months of age. Adults imitate when, for example, they are in conversation with each other. As a result, people have more empathy for each other. This is probably because imitation is an easy, and therefore accessible way to get closer to someone else.  

Imitation is learning to do something because you see someone else doing it. In this process, you do not only have to observe, but you also need to remember. Chimpanzees seem to learn from imitation as well, but nowadays it is thought that other forms of social learning could also play a role. Not all animals can use imitation, probably only those with a more developed brain and a higher-order intelligence. Imitation could lead to self-awareness in people. 

What is the role of language in combination with consciousness?  

The biggest difference between people and animals is that people are able to talk. We can combine symbols and thereby express different meanings. People are the only species who do this. It is often thought that language provides awareness. That would mean that the consciousness of animals is different from the consciousness of people. 

Children quickly pick up language because they have a kind of instinct to learn language. In this way, they can already distinguish different tones and sounds at 1 month of age. Between 12-18 months, children develop skills to form sentences. The cultural environment is important in this process as well. An attempt has been made to teach a human language system to monkeys. This experiment failed, as became apparent that monkeys are physically unable to speak language. Therefore, an attempt was then made to teach monkeys sign language. They could learn this, but it is unclear what exactly they had learned. 

Monkeys seem to use sign language only to indicate what they want, whereas children mainly use it to name things. The experiment has also been tried with a parrot. It was able to learn English. What is important to remember is that people are the only species who learn language by themselves as we know it. 

What is it like to be an octopus?

Does an octopus have consciousness? Perhaps so: Every animal has its own perception of the world so in that respect an octopus may be conscious. On the other hand, however, because octopuses do not, for example, master intelligence, Theory or Mind or language; they may not be conscious after all.

Chapter 11 - What is the function of consciousness?

What is the role of consciousness in evolution?

The evolution theory is aimed at answering the 'why' questions. Consciousness must also have a function, otherwise it is not useful for us to have it. Within evolutionary psychology it has been examined how sexual behavior has developed, whether there are differences between sexes and the roles they assume and what the evolutionary origin of aggression is. There is often a lot of criticism of this approach.   

Evolutionary psychologists see the mind as a collection of different information to solve problems. A bit like a pocket knife. You have various tools to get started. Although we have the same tools, we behave differently. Not everything from the past is still adaptive, such as eating sugar. That used to be adaptive, for example to get a layer of fat, but not anymore. In addition, genes are transmitted in the way the body wants them to. As a person, we have nothing to say about that. 

Some people think that we need consciousness to make moral decisions. One of the factors that plays a role here is the selection of relatives. Because family also shares genes, we take care of each other. In addition, we try to behave well so that others behave in a beneficial way for you. This is called reciprocal altruism.   

Do we need awareness in addition to these factors for moral decisions? Not everyone believes that consciousness has been a part of evolution. This is not in line with religion, for example. To find out if it has been part of evolution, we need to find out what the function of consciousness is. However, this is still unclear. Flanagan claims that consciousness has no function. This is also in line with the idea that the existence of zombies would be possible .     

What is the relationship between zombies and evolution?

Imagine that a zombie suddenly gains consciousness. Will it then be included in the genes to spread? No, because natural selection can not make a distinction here. It is especially important to know why people with certain skills have awareness. There are four ways to think about this: 

1. Physical and behavioral zombies: It remains a mystery how consciousness originated. 

2. There are no zombies: Consciousness must be seen independently of other skills, it is important what the function is.

3. There are no zombies: Consciousness comes from developing other skills, you now have to explain why. 

4. There are no zombies: Maybe we are being misled by consciousness and trying to answer the wrong questions. 

When did consciousness develop during evolution?

Long ago there was no consciousness. When did consciousness develop and which organisms posses consciousness? There is a lot of discussion about this. Greenfield claims that consciousness comes gradually, while others say it was suddenly there. Some believe it was very early, others say it didn't develop until humans came into existence. Is a nervous system needed to experience consciousness? 

According to Jaynes, God takes the place of consciousness. Motivations are heard as voices in the head. These could be hallucinations. Nobody therefore agrees when consciousness has arisen. 

Does consciousness have an adaptive function?

Feinberg and Mallat state that consciousness and the problem surrounding consciousness can be explained on the basis of biological principles. According to Velmans, there are two perspectives. First, from the third person's perspective, people are a kind of machines and, resulting from that, actions can be carried out. Anyone could do this. Therefore, there is no important role for experience. Second, from the first person's perspective, someone could not survive without consciousness. 

According to Gray, consciousness has enough characteristics to survive. Many things would not be possible without conscious experience. He states that qualia are formed by a series of unconscious processes in the brain and that these are linked to each other by the function. This turns it against functionalism. It is only unclear, which leads to a subjective experience. 

Next, we look at the social function of consciousness. According to Humphrey, consciousness must play a role, otherwise it would not have developed during evolution. Awareness would be a combination of various factors from the brain. According to him, consciousness has a social function. Through natural selection we could look at ourselves reflectively. According to him, our brains create a kind of mental photo, which gives us the information we need to understand the world. 

Mithen agrees with the idea described above, but in addition indicates that this would imply that consciousness only focuses on social thoughts. However, it appears that people are also aware of many other things. According to Mithen, language would have developed in this way. At first it only existed to talk about social issues. This still happens often now, as we gossip about most of the day. Finally, language has also developed to talk about the world and, for example, to hunt. It could also interact with symbols. According to the above theories, only intelligent beings could have consciousness.   

One objection to the above theories is that introspection is unreliable. For example, it can be misleading. According to Barlow, consciousness is a social skill that cannot be explained by introspection. 

Humphrey and Mithen state that consciousness has a specific function, as a result of which it is formed by natural selection. It remains a subjective experience. 

Are there any independent functions of consciousness?

Another approach states that consciousness has no independent function. The most extreme version of this is eliminative materialism. The theories that are more often adhered to do not eliminate consciousness, but do indicate that it has no separate function. They state that consciousness is part of, for example, social interaction and language, but that it has no function of its own. The predictive-processing theories of consciousness state that consciousness is the result of interactions between the body and the world. Although awareness may seem magical, the effects are noticeable.     

What does the evolution of illusion mean?

The last option is that consciousness is an illusion. You may then wonder how this illusion of consciousness originated. It could be that our own world is very isolated and consciousness has no separate role in this. Language and our thinking have been improved and developed by evolution. According to Claxton, we have started using our consciousness more and more in recent years. According to him, it was actually meant as a kind of extra alertness, which we now seem to constantly need. If we were to live a more peaceful life, then this could become less.  

The attention schema theory also has much in common with an illusion. The brain makes an internal model of attention, through which the brain can ultimately understand complex stimuli. Consciousness is then the internal model and according to him, consciousness has adaptive characteristics. According to these theories, consciousness is not developed by evolution.    

What is meant by universal Darwinism?

Natural selection can be seen as an algorithm. If you combine several factors, it will result in evolution. So, it can work in different ways and different evolutionary systems can exist. This is called universal Darwinism. There are several forms of evolution. For example, according to Dennett, the brain can develop in different ways. New skills and components can then arise. 

According to Edelman, evolution occurs on the basis of three characteristics: selection during development, for example when the brain grows and neurons die and arise. Secondly, this also continues throughout life, with occasional neurons and connections between neurons falling away or becoming stronger. Finally, new connections can arise that ensure that brain regions are connected to each other.  

According to Calvin, the brain is about copying information from one area to another. Then we could get to the highest level of the Dennett tower. All theories are focused on processes in the brain.   

What is meant by memes and minds? 

Memes are ideas and skills that are passed on from one person to another. These includes, for example, written words. They are copies that arise through variation and selection. For example, it is also about knowledge that is passed on through books. Memes are passed on through imitation and teaching. Often, some changes are made to the content of the meme. In addition to Memes, there are also Memeplex, Selfplex, Viral Memes, Internet Memes and Tremes.         

Memes are often successful because it is convenient for humanity to use them. This concept is important in Dennett's theory. He states that the human brain develops from memes to a machine that seems to work. This process is driven by the memes. So it would be a big mess of memes. There are two problems here. First, a meme can be copied, while our own experiences cannot be passed on. In addition, memes can fall away without the consciousness falling away. Sometimes people then become more aware, such as during meditation. Moreover, the question is how often memes can replicate. The answer could possibly lie with computers, as they constantly transfer digital information. 

Chapter 12 - How are machines related to evolution?

Could there be a machine with consciousness (MC) or artificial consciousness (AC)?  

How can the mind look like a machine?

Descartes stated that the human body is a mechanism. But no mechanism in itself is able to speak and have thoughts. Leibniz turned against dualism and believed that there were substances that he called the little spirit. The question was how a machine could have its own consciousness. Another opponent of Descartes was Offray de la Mettrie, who stated that people were living machines.

To answer the question in this section, we can first look at biology. It must then be understood how the systems in the brain work and this must be linked to human skills. Other processes such as memory have been mapped more clearly in recent years. However, awareness remains a tricky issue. In addition, it is important to study how artificial machines could work as they develop further. Can we implement awareness in these machines?

Are there machines that look like the ghost?

In 1642 work was done on a digital calculator for the first time. This only became successful in the 19th century. That was because all automatic objects became popular at the time. In 1833, Boole tried to explain the human spirit in a machine. He linked logical problems to arithmetic formulas. This did not work as he had hoped. It was discovered by Shannon that it was possible to explain choice behavior based on logic. New machines were eventually developed by the war. 

The first computer can be traced back to the Turing machine. According to Craik, experiences from the external world are moved to the internal world through internal representations and perception. The content of consciousness would therefore be mental representations. At that time, computers were still dependent on programmers who controlled the machine on the basis of, for example, algorithms. This is referred to by the term GOFAI. 

A problem is that the world is seen as symbolic, but these symbols cannot always be traced back to the computer. The computer must be able to bring it back to formulas and this is not always possible. This is how the computational theory of mind originated. According to Searle there are two options within this theory. Or there is strong AI, which makes the computer intelligent and has a mind. In addition, there may be a weak AI, where computers can simulate the mind, but the computers have no consciousness or real mind. This dichotomy can also be made between a strong AC or a weak AC.   

What are the developments in computers?

Computers work digitally and almost never analogally anymore. The human brain is both digital and analog. A lot of information is processed automatically, but there are also analogue processes such as spatial summation. Many digital computers, especially from the past, process information in series. The brain processes information in parallel. Many systems have to work together in the brain. However, the brain is often slower than digital computers. Moreover, the brain cannot always be calculated. Things can happen that we don't know how it works. This is not the case with computers. Finally, computers are deterministic, because the same input always leads to the same output. The brain is not deterministic; it may yield a different answer anytime.  

There are different approaches that can be viewed. These different approaches will be discussed next.

First, connectionism. This is based on artificial neural networks (ANNs). These networks are trained. They also have certain connections and they can become stronger when they are trained. A simple network consists of three layers: input, hidden and output. The training is done by the back-propagation algorithm. The errors then become smaller and smaller, because there is also less weight on the connection. This is based on rules. The ANNs work out these connections themselves, as a result of which the makers do not know exactly what it means. 

Second, the idea of embodied cognition. All the above approaches are based on a system without a body. However, the limbs and the body must be included in the approach. There is a general idea that the mind needs stimulation from the environment. For that you need a body and from that body you can make decisions in the real world. An implication here is that behavior can arise from relatively simple systems. However, this does not mean that it also leads to consciousness.  

Third, intelligence without representations. According to AI, intelligence involves the editing and processing of representations. Brooks' research used a robot that consisted of different layers. Every layer was responsible for a certain task. These layers can also inhibit each other, so that the behavior can be better controlled. This also corresponds to ideas from Minksy, Ornstein, Dennett and Clark. The research showed that the world itself should be used as a model, because otherwise there would be too much interference. Representations of the world do not always seem necessary to be able to build a robot. Representations are important in the sensorimotor theory, for example. 

It is not yet clear how a mental model can also be an inner representation of the world. In addition, representations cause other problems. Various approaches state that experiences that are not driven by consciousness cannot contribute. Recent research has shown that robots can also form their own representations. 

What does the Turing test entail? 

Turing wondered if machines could think. He has studied this by testing what actually machines do. One of the tests was conducted by playing chess. The machines were developed in such a way that they could think several steps ahead. In the end, a computer also beat a grandmaster in chess. This happened in 1997. According to Searle, these computers are based on an illusion. This computer was not intelligent because it could only follow the rules. It was unable to learn new information from itself. 

Now, can these machines think? Fact is that machines require a lot of information from people. The answer to this question depends on what exactly thinking is. Turing then studied whether a computer could talk to a person. However, this was difficult to study and there were many limitations to be found in this investigation. Nowadays, programs such as ELIZA have also been developed to help people with psychological problems.

A more difficult question has arisen from all the above questions. This will be discussed in the next section.  

Can a machine have a certain level of awareness? 

Can an artificial machine possess consciousness when we could make a conscious machine? This is a difficult question to answer because there is no clear definition of consciousness. In addition, there are no objective criteria such as for the Turing test. Consciousness is subjective. Many opponents quickly state that a robot cannot be aware, but that you can learn to exhibit characteristics that are similar to consciousness. The functionalist, and therefore the robot builder, would argue that subjective experiences are all important as functions. If a robot had these functions, the robot could therefore also gain consciousness. 

Given the above arguments, it is very difficult to draw a conclusion regarding machines. Smarter machines still have to been built by human beings. Moreover, there is also an ethical objection. Awareness generally causes a lot of suffering. Why would we want to create a robot that suffers a lot if we don't know why. Others, such as Greenfield, do not support this. They argue that a robot is just a robot and could be used, for example, to save a person. 

Is it true that the existence of conscious machines would not be possible? 

Turing has put together nine options why machines might be able to think. Dennett and Chalmers have given four arguments as to why a robot might not have consciousness. A number of arguments against consciousness in robots will be discussed. 

First, consciousness would be something that is unique to people because God gave it. The non-religious approach states that we cannot give a spirit to a machine. As a result, machines may not have consciousness. Turing does not agree with this. He sees building machines as having children. A thought experiment can be performed. What if you met a machine that could tell what it was like to be a machine? Then there are three options. First, the machine could be a zombie. Second, God could have given a soul to the robot. Third, it could be that we were wrong and that a machine actually can have consciousness.  

Second, it has been suggested that only living and biological beings can have consciousness. Is it our neurons that lead to consciousness? If that is the case, we could also implement that in robots. Biological beings grow and learn over a long period of time and then become aware. Since machines do not "grow up", they may not develop consciousness. According to Searle, the brain and mind must be seen separately. Awareness is a product of the brain and experiences. 

Third, there is the argument that machines could not do everything, such as make mistakes or have humor. According to Turing, we draw conclusions too quickly. We conclude very quickly that we have consciousness because a robot X cannot. Perhaps we have not yet developed the technology ourselves to teach the robots / computers. Nowadays, computers have the possibility to be creative. However, this is based on an algorithm. Is it creativity then? If we believe that consciousness is important for creativity, then it is not creativity. The mathematical objection of Turing fits in with this. In fact, there are questions that computers cannot solve.   

Robots have been built that look like people. Often, this is done for entertainment. An example of this is the Cog project. This robot had no internal representations of the world, but did learn by combining actions and perceptions. The robot had a number of basic social skills. In addition, there are anthropomimetic robots where Holland wanted to give the robots internal representations. Finally, disembodied simulation in which a robot child was developed who could hear and feel. Because of this, they hoped to get more information about consciousness.    

What does the argument of the Chinese room entail?

According to Turing, the only way to know if a machine is aware is to be through the machine. According to him, we cannot know anything about the minds of others. Searle has devised the Chinese room experiment. It is a thought experiment in which someone is locked up in a room with only Chinese characters, and the person does not speak or read Chinese. The participant receives a rulebook in English. The participant can apply that to Chinese without having to understand it. According to Searle, that is precisely what computers do. They apply rules without understanding those rules. It is constantly about manipulation. Searle constantly gives that as a counter argument to all critics. 

A computer differs from people because a computer cannot interact with the environment and has no intentions. Searle's experiment can be rejected because it makes people think of something that is not possible. We don't know for sure if it would really work that way. There is no clarity about what the Chinese room experiment exactly shows us.

Which considerations are important when building a conscious machine?

First it is important to be able to build a machine that appears to be conscious and then to build a machine that is aware. 

Do machines already have consciousness?

Could a thermostat already have consciousness? A thermostat has two important characteristics: it feels the environment and it responds to the environment. If you agree with Searle, you would still say that a thermostat has no consciousness. A thermostat is not a biological being. 

You can imagine that people have some sort of ingredient that leads to consciousness. We call that characteristic X. You should then find out what X is and add it to machines. McGinn calls the characteristic what would explain consciousness C*. We do not know if we could implement C* in a computer, because we do not know what it is. According to Chalmers, any computer can gain consciousness as long as we find X. For this you could make a list with as many X factors as possible. This may include perception, the ability to present events from the past, attention, planning and emotion. Aleksander has introduced the Kernel Architecture (KA) based on these characteristics. There is also a direct representation of the elements of the world.    

Another approach is to start with existing theories. According to the GWT, for example, you should ensure that a machine has GW. Franklin has developed IDA to help the Navy solve problems. This is based on GW. This was ultimately further developed in LIDA. This system can learn episodically, procedurally and perceptually. According to them, a machine could gain consciousness as a result. This system is not connected to a physical machine or robot. Therefore, it cannot obtain the experiences that people can. 

When a robot also has a model of the world, it can use this for internal simulations. As a result, they can also manipulate information. Machines could also be based on the attention-scheme theory of Graziano. According to quantum theory, all of this would not lead to actual consciousness. In the end, we don't know exactly how it would work because we don't know what consciousness is. Because of all the different theories it is difficult to prove what consciousness in a machine would be. There would always be people who disagree.     

You can also think about X in a different way. Consciousness could therefore be different from what we expect it to be.  According to Sloman and Chrisley, there is virtual machine functionality (VMF). This would consist of different layers and they would like to explain qualia. If people feel that they are missing something, that should be explained.    

Darwin has built a machine that could talk. The early versions of these types of machines used the GOFAI approach, trying to process the correct rules in the computers. Although these computers could pronounce sentences, they did not know what it meant. By memes it was possible to imitate behavior. In addition, their behavior could evolve. Eventually, a computer was developed that was able to produce inner speech. This seems to be a part of consciousness. Machines could therefore learn language.   

Can you be sure that a robot can look like a human?

Children love toys that can talk and what they can care for. The best known example of this is the Tamagotchi. These are simple sensors. However, they do not yet have subjective experiences. People do interact with these beings in a social way and as if they have consciousness. 

Other social robots have also been developed that people can interact with. This appears to work for example in Alzheimer's patients. Many people state that only the people in these interactions bring consciousness. As robots can develop, people have done the same. We have also adapted to what works and what doesn't work has been removed. Simple systems make us think we have plans and goals, but this could be a deception. It seems as if they have consciousness without actually having it.

Chapter 13 - What are altered states of consciousness?

In this chapter, other forms of consciousness are discussed, such as under the influence of drugs, hypnosis, mental illnesses and mindfulness. 

What is meant by ASCS?

The other forms of consciousness are also called altered states of consciousness (ASCs). An objective meaning would indicate the way in which the state of consciousness originated. This concerns, for example, the type of drug. It could also be about the dose. In addition, you could define it based on body functions such as the heartbeat. It now appears that ASCs cannot generally be traced to specific physiological characteristics.    

In addition, you could explain it subjectively. This explanation actually is used most commonly. It was introduced by Tart. According to Tart, it is about the experience of consciousness that is different from how someone feels it normally. It is therefore a temporary change in the subjective perception of consciousness. There is then another state of consciousness (SoC). A problem with this is that it is difficult to discover what a normal state of consciousness is. To discover ASCs you must be able to distinguish the 'normal' state. In addition, subjective experiences ensure that we can make decisions about our own body. It just doesn't work for others. In addition, in the case of alcohol, for example, we do not always see it in ourselves. It is often difficult to describe the experiences with words.  

What is different with an ASC?

What changes in another state of consciousness? The consciousness changes, only we do not know how we can measure this. So you have to start with functions that change. According to Farthing, twelve parts are involved, including attention. It is mainly about mental functions, but the entire system must be viewed. There are three functions that are generally affected by ASC: attention, memory and arousal. 

Firstly, attention. Attention can change from internal to external or vice versa. For example, it may be that someone is going to daydream more, but it is also possible that attention is focused primarily on the outside. In addition, attention can be very broad, but also very specific on, for example, one object. 

Secondly, memory. Memory is related to thinking and emotions. Many drugs have an effect on short-term memory. This can ultimately also lead to gaps in the memory.

Thirdly, arousal. For example, meditation can lead to a low level of arousal, in which someone can relax completely. As a result, someone can enter a state where someone needs less food, for example. 

How can the various states of consciousness be mapped?

Can the brain be divided into a number of dimensions and how would different SoCs fit into these? Tart has attempted to map the states of consciousness. He started with two dimensions: irrationality and the ability to hallucinate. Dreams are considered to play an important role herein. There might be a phase between sleep and waking in which experiences are not important. Another approach is developed by Laureys. He stated that there are three levels: arousal, attention to the environment, and attention to the self. 

Arousal is about the level of consciousness and depends on the brainstem. By paying attention to the environment and the self, consciousness also acquires content. Hobson has introduced the AIM model, in which there are three components: activation energy, input source (external or internal) and fashion. There are differences in the hormones that are involved during waking and sleeping. Awareness can then be classified based on the above components.   

A model from Vaitl and colleagues sees it as a four-dimensional model that revolves around activation, attention, self-attention and sensory dynamics. This can lead to the state of consciousness (C-space). In contrast to the C-space are the functional states of the brain (B-space). The differences between these two should be charted. Therefore, subjective experiences must be combined. However, this appears to be very difficult in practice. 

It remains difficult to map the various states of consciousness. More and more research is being conducted at this point.

What are the consequences of drugs for awareness of states?

Psychoactive drugs have an effect on mental functioning and on consciousness. These drugs change the functioning of neurotransmitters. Psychoactive drugs can be divided into different groups.

First, the group of stimulants. An example of this is MDMA. Stimulants cause that serotonin reuptake is blocked and that more serotonin and dopamine are released. Serotonin plays a role in sleep and state of mind and dopamine plays a role in reward behavior. MDMA, for example, provides more energy. It is therefore mainly taken while going out. It is very addictive and sensitive to tolerance. It is known that it can have negative effects in the long term. It could help with social anxiety and PTSD. 

Secondly, narcotics. This generally does not result in an interesting change of ASCs. An example of this is laughing gas. Davy has done a lot of research towards this. It makes people see the world differently. Tart therefore came up with the idea of state-specific science. Different research should be done on the different forms of consciousness (SoCs). Ketamine also belongs to this category. This can lead to nightmares and schizotypal symptoms. It mainly influences the NMDA antagonist and ensures that various re-recordings of neurotransmitters are blocked. It could be used therapeutically for schizophrenia. Through ketamine the environment seems to dissolve. The taker thereby experiences things that feel as if they happen outside of the own body. You may feel, for example, on your own hand, but then it feels like someone else's hand. You then feel as if the hand is made of rubber, for example. Research has also been done on ketamine in the lab. There it showed the same kind of effects.

Third, psychedelics. These often cause very strange effects. Many people start hallucinating as a result of these drugs. An example of psychedelics is cannabis. Cannabis is often used medically and it ensures that someone can relax. It can be smoked but can also be used in, for example, space cake. Because of smoking it comes into the blood very quickly. When it is eaten, it takes longer for an effect to be felt, but the effect can be felt longer. The effects vary enormously per person. Some people become more aware of themselves and others less. In particular, there are many emotional effects. In a high dose it can even lead to a lot of anxiety. There may also be synesthesia. Memory is often affected during cannabis use. It mainly has an effect on episodic and semantic memory. It also has negative effects on executive functions. Research into the long-term effects is still in its infancy. As a result, no conclusion can be drawn based on current research. What does this say about ASCs? Experiences can therefore take various forms and it is unclear what effect it has on ASCs.

Major psychedelics also exist. These substances can be found in the San Pedro cactus, for example. This contains mescaline, which can also be made synthetically and makes the world a better place. Others see it more as a hallucination. The psilocybin substance is often found in mushrooms. These effects only last 3-4 hours and this substance is often used in scientific research. Another substance is DMT, which leads to hallucinations. This can lead to experiences that feel as if they are taking place outside the body. DMT is an intense drug. An increasingly higher dose must be taken to achieve the same effect. It is quickly broken down in the body.    

Ayahuasca is a healing medicine but it often leads to vomiting. The last drug being discussed is LSD. This leads to hallucinations. Hofmann has studied this by taking it himself. It is already active in smaller doses and can last up to 12 hours per trip. It is not addictive but it does lead to tolerance. It ensures fewer connections between DMN. Some people argue that LSD can change life forever. 

What can meditation mean for consciousness?

Some argue that meditation can lead to ASC. This could be achieved with transcendental meditation (TM). However, this is not the purpose of meditation. In contrast, the goal is to be able to perform meditation. According to Tart's subjective definition, meditation leads to ASCs. Fenwick has in any case shown that meditation is different from sleep. Yet many people fall asleep while meditating. This could also explain some of the positive effects. Sleep has a positive influence on various psychological symptoms.  

The Theravadan tradition is often used in Buddhism. This tradition consists of various steps in which the energy ultimately is brought to a low level. Cannabis has a similar effect. The different levels could also be demonstrated with the help of EEG and fMRI. Here, one should look at the change in the dominant network of connections. This is different from research into NCCs, because in that reseearch there is no extensive search for connections between consciousness and subconscious.   

What is the role of mental illness in ASC? 

Some mental disorders can lead to ASCs. Is hypnosis an ASC? According to Tart's definition, it is an ASC because the mental functioning is different from normal. According to Hilgard, the conscious actions of people during hypnosis are taken over by the hypnosis, which makes it feel like you can no longer make your own choices. A lot of research has been done into this. It has been studied by Wagstaff that despite all the research, we still cannot say whether hypnosis is an ASC. 

It is important to state that mental disorders are never just mental. It is always about interaction with the body. In addition, it is good to know that there is a difference between experiences while someone is healthy and when someone is sick. This ensures that someone often only has consciousness from when he / she was. As a result, they do not always want to look for help because they cannot always remember what it might be like. That is why it seems important for ASCs. Is the disease itself an ASC or does it cause an ASC? This is difficult to study, especially in the case of chronic diseases. According to Revonsuo and colleagues, a mental illness would not cause a change in consciousness, but a change in the representation of relationships between consciousness and the world. The neural connections can change due to a mental illness. Health should be seen as the basis for this. However, after a mental illness you cannot come back to the same health very quickly. There is always a change.

Meditation and psychoactive drugs can help in the treatment of mental disorders. As a result, people may be able to enter another ASC. Yet it remains difficult to study this. An ASC can also be pathological if it has a great influence on the quality of life. 

Is there a state of consciousness? 

Perhaps "a state of consciousness" is not the right way to describe it. This means that there would be a certain condition, but it is unclear what condition this is. A lot of research still needs to be conducted at this point.

Chapter 14 - What is the difference between reality and fantasy?

It is sometimes difficult to name the difference between reality and fantasy. An example of this is the picture of a dress that went viral on the Internet a few years ago. Was this dress colored in black and blue or in white and gold? The dress appeared to be black and blue, yet many people were convinced of the other color combination. The picture was processed differently by the brains of different people. 

How can we distinguish between reality and fantasy?

We often distinguish between reality and fantasy. We often do this unconsciously. Mental images are less stable and can be manipulated more easily than when you speak it out loud. Various experiments have shown that sometimes people themselves don't even notice when they see something or when they are just fantasizing about it. False memories can also arise through guiding questions or by letting people invent something that did not happen. When they repeat it and talk about it more often, people can come believe it has truly happened. In addition, the choice of words is important in this process.

False memories are especially problematic when people remember sexual abuse that never happened. This has often happened, especially when memories are allegedly recalled by hypnosis. Real memories are generally detailed and can come into consciousness more easily than false memories. The context of the memory is also important. 

Remembering an event is an active process. The neuronal processes involved in recalling a memory are also involved when we fantasize about future events. In addition, memory also has a social function. There may be differences in the intensity and accuracy of memories. Language also plays an important role in this. This ensures that we can put memories into words.

What are hallucinations?

It is difficult to define what hallucinations are precisely. The occur internally and therefore differ from illusions; that seem to occur in the external world. Illusions are external. Hallucinations are perceptual experiences that are processed internally. There are also pseudo-hallucinations, where people know that what they see is not true. It is then difficult to determine what actually is a hallucination. Under the influence of drugs, for example, most people are aware that what they see is not reality. People should perhaps consider hallucinations to be on a continuum. This continuum includes fantasy on the one side and hallucinations on the other side.

Hallucinations have been occurring for a long time. It is more common for women than men. A diagnostic test has been developed to measure hallucinations. It showed that hallucinations were often linked to a form of pathology. There are three categories: (1) intrusive mental events; (2) hallucinations with a religious theme, and (3) auditory or visual hallucinations. The first category can also be considered to refer to daydreaming.

Hallucinations are particularly common in schizophrenia and depression. Schizophrenia is about losing control over the self. The most common form of hallucinating is to hear voices that are in fact not there: These voices do not belong to the body. Often a pattern eventually develops in the hallucinations. Patients with dementia can also experience hallucinations. Other causes are drugs, physical disorders, malnutrition and insomnia. It is often becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish what is real and what is hallucination. 

Jackson stated that memories are mental photos, with sensory input generally being inhibited. This is not the case with hallucinations. It is still unclear how exactly this could work. Hallucinations that are combined with the real world are even more common. This makes it seem incredibly real. This occurs, for example, for mountain climbers who think they hear someone calling them. This can also occur with deaf people, who suddenly hear sound in their own heads. This is not a realistic sound, as they experience it differently. 

Auditory hallucinations are an important symptom of schizophrenia. Hallucinations can also occur in the body, such as hallucinating the experience of pain. A common hallucination is the feeling as if ants are walking over the body. 

All different types of hallucinations have a number of similarities. There are a number of visual forms, such as patterns and bright colors, that often occur. These can, for example, take the form of a mandala. This could be due to the organization of the visual system. We process information as it were circles. It is therefore logical that circles are often seen in hallucinations. Complex visual hallucinations often result in fewer similarities. 

Patterns that resemble hallucinations have also been repeated in research without humans. A video camera was used for this. A computer could analyze the images. This also showed that patterns can arise. The machine could therefore induce a hallucination. Google has now also installed networks with multiple layers. As a result, specific objects can ultimately be recognized. It can then always be processed at a deeper level.  

These hallucinations do not yet solve the problem of consciousness. On the contrary, it can be considered to be support for O'Regan and Noë's theory for example. But it can also be used as evidence for higher-order thoughts. It can also support Dennett's theory: Namely, if hallucination consists of predicting and interpreting information, the brain must do what is needed. According to Dennett, a distinction between reality and fantasy would therefore not be necessary. 

On the one hand, hallucinations are not real, because what you see does not exist in the real world. On the other hand, hallucinations are real because they can be measured in the brain. In addition, it also shows changes in behavior. 

What is meant by extra-sensory perception?  

Hallucinations do exist, because people can experience it. J.B. and Rhine wanted to argue against behaviorism. They were planning to solve the mind-body problem. Parapsychology is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and the environment. It is broader than just the research into consciousness.   

Rhine studied extrasensory perception (ESP) and tried to study telepathy (information is nonverbally communicated to another person), clairvoyance (information is transfered from objects and events) and precognition (information from the future is predicted). In particular, little evidence was found for clairvoyance. After that, research into remote viewing has become especially popular. Here impressions of one person must be linked to a location by another person. This showed that our brains ensure the understanding of space and time and that there are many possibilities for consciousness.   

Everyone has experienced that you know when someone is watching you. This feeling can also occur when someone is watching from a distance through a camera. However, this evidence is not seen as binding for evidence for ESP. Should a good experiment ever be developed for measuring ESP, then this could possibly explain consciousness. Many experiments still have to be carried out. 

The first ganzfeld experiment was conducted by Honorton. According to him there was a big effect. According to Hyman, this could be attributed to methodological errors. No clear answer was found. Sargent has also found many errors in the investigation. It was therefore not a reliable study to study ESP.   

Pretend play and fantasy

Many people used to play fantasy games. In addition, many people also had a made-up friend when they were young. Children can talk to these invisible friends and really see people in it. This "pretend play" is important for children because it enables children to learn more about reality. In adulthood, people are still able to fantasize. 

Virtual reality can also create simulations by manipulating sensory perception and feedback. In addition, fantasy also depends on culture. In various cultures, certain plants are still used to induce hallucinations. Certain ceremonies are then carried out. In this way, for example, certain legends and stories arise within those cultures. In addition, this also ensures that people believe in certain religions. 

What is really there?

Are all experiences in our head and is none of this a real experience? A lot can be said about this matter. Some experiences are not physically present; such as the existence of an aura. Is the information seen through the use of drugs reliable? It remains difficult to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

Chapter 15 - What is the role of dreams in consciousness?

A lucid dream is a dream in which you know that you are dreaming during the dream. Are we conscious while we dream?

What is the difference between being awake and asleep?

Every day, we go through three phases in our sleep: awake, REM sleep and non-REM sleep. The average night consists of four cycles of REM and non-REM sleep. In between these cycles, we often wake up a few times very briefly. Usually, we cannot generally remember anything about these moments. The brain shows a lot of activity during REM sleep. Yet it is more difficult to wake people up during this stage. Different areas of the brain play a role at different times in the sleep cycle. For example, sensory input is generally isolated. The motor cortex is blocked during REM sleep. This is the probably this way to prevent people from performing the actions in their dreams. The blockage of the motor cortex can however be briefly interrupted, which leads to sleep walking.  

The different phases of sleep can therefore be recognized by brain activity. When people wake up from non-REM sleep, they generally don't dream. People who wake up from REM sleep generally had a bizarre dream. There are often many similarities between dreams within a culture. There are generally differences between adults and children, and between sexes. Events from contemporary life often play a role in dreams.  

We often try to understand why we dreamed something. This way of thinking was first proposed by Freud. He stated that dreams come from the subconscious mind and that they must be viewed symbolically. It is difficult to study and generalize the content of dreams. This is because the way of retrieving the memory about a dream is important. When participants only have to report it selectively, it can give different results than when participants have to report it every day. 

In about 10% of the cases, we experience a bizarre dream. These can be subdivided into three categories. First, bizarre dreams can display incongruity, which is when the characteristics of the characters and, for example, the objects do not match. Second, they can show discontinuity, which involves a sudden change in, for example, the environment or the objects. Third, there could be a matter of uncertainty, when it concerns vague stories that come from dreams. During the dream we often do not realize how strange it is. 

What is the transition from physiology to experience?

Dreams may be the perfect way to explore consciousness. In this case, we could look at the subjective experience. Hobson's AIM model states that the three phases of sleep can be incorporated into brain-mind space. We could add a dimension to this, corresponding to Tart's ASCs. Implications here are that there may be more than three dimensions. However, this is less important because there are so many different neurotransmitters that these dimensions are likely to be found on their own.  

A second implication is that the correlation between REM sleep and dreams is not completely a 100%. So, dreaming is not the same as REM sleep. Non-REM sleep can also lead to experiences that feel like dreams. In addition, it is difficult to distinguish REM sleep and non-REM sleep. REM sleep does not necessarily mean that someone is dreaming. Other research comes from research into patients with brain damage. For example, it appears that damage to the TPO ensures that someone can remember dreams less accurately. Yet, it appears that these people are still able to dream. In addition, REM sleep can occur when someone is unable to dream. For example, babies are in the REM stage of sleep most of the time, but there is little chance that they can dream in the same way as adults. In addition, blind people do not dream with visual images.    

How has dreaming evolved? Do dreams have a function? They could have a biological function, namely to learn how to deal with potential threats. By dreaming about these threats, we can deal with them in real life. It could also be that we dream of forgetting memories. It remains unclear whether awareness also plays a role in this. 

Sleep in other animals is also different from sleep in humans. For example, reptiles do not have REM sleep. It is different per animal whether or not they have REM sleep. Can they dream then? They cannot describe dreams, so it is difficult to study. Dreams do have a correlation with eye movements. The same systems are activated when someone tries to imagine or remember something. The emotions in dreams cause increased activation of the amygdala. 

It is still unclear what the function of sleep is exactly. According to Hobson and Friston, one function could be to improve our ability to make predictions. They are more interested in sleep than in dreams. Dreams would be subjective experiences. 

We almost never get scared of things that happen in our dreams. This could possibly be because dreams are based on top-down processes. Yet, research is nowadays based solely on correlations. Are dreams then conscious?

Can dreams be seen as experiences?

According to the dictionary, a dream is a series of thoughts and emotions that have meaning and a story. Often, the term consciousness is also mentioned when dreams are described. But do we actually have consciousness in our dreams or does that only come after that? According to Tart, we have no awareness of the change in consciousness while we are dreaming. Therefore it could not really be considered an ASC. A lucid dream is an ASC, because someone is aware of it. 

In addition, it is possible that actual events mix with a dream. It may be that there is a noise in the bedroom and that this first occurs in the dream. Only later does someone realize that the sound is real. That is also often the case with an alarm clock. It has been proven that dreams take time. According to Bennett 's casette theory of dreams, certain dreams are available in the brain. They can grab these when there is REM sleep. This has led to the question of whether we have consciousness during the dreams or whether we only create consciousness (and therefore the dreams) when we wake up. We do not know which of these two theories is correct. This is difficult to study, because we still do not know where consciousness takes place in the brain.    

According to the retro-selection theory of dreams, multiple processes occur in REM during sleep. These can take place inside or outside of consciousness. When someone wakes up, the memory can choose from different versions to end the dream. According to this theory, dreams are only conscious when we wake up. However, the dream determines when we wake up according to this theory.   

What are sleep disorders?

We can already experience some kind of dream before we fall asleep. The sensory input is already reduced and a kind of hallucination takes place. People often have the feeling that they are falling. Sometimes people see other things such as animals or a landscape. These are called hypnagogic images.   

Sleep paralysis (SP) can be a symptom of narcolepsy. SP is also a sleep disorder, but may also occur in healthy people. It mainly occurs during REM sleep. The person then feels awake, but the muscles are still paralyzed. People who experience this generally feel very anxious. SP can also be generated in a lab. The best way to deal with SP is to relax. 

What are weird dreams?

Often, people feel as if they are falling when they almost fall asleep. This occurs because the muscles tighten briefly before someone falls asleep. We can also have a dream in which we dream that we will wake up. Someone does not actually wake up. For example, people can also hallucinate. Yet, why don't we realize that we are dreaming? That is still very unclear, hence much research can be conducted at this point. 

What are lucid dreams?

A lucid dream is a dream in which we become aware that we are dreaming. We can adjust the dream and determine what we do in the dream. According to Hobson, Voss and colleagues, there is a difference between primary consciousness and secondary consciousness. Primary consciousness is normally present in a dream. This allows us to understand the dream, even though it often and quickly changes in its content. When we wake up then a process of higher-order consciousness is added: secondary consciousness. In lucid dreams, part of the brain would function in primary consciousness and another part in secondary consciousness. 

According to the retro-selection theory, a lucid dream is a dream based on memory. Although people have more consciousness during a lucid dream, they cannot yet think completely logically. Research into lucid dreams is not always reliable, because people who have never had it can also not fully understand what it is. This causes errors in the reporting of these people. Most lucid dreams last about two minutes, but they can also take 50 minutes. It is more common towards the morning.  

Thanks to the signaling method, we can now also measure the physiological differences and correlations. Can you practice skills in a lucid dream and become better at it in reality? Research has shown that practice in a lucid dream works better than practice in reality. Do the eye movements correspond to the events in the dream? Yes, this has been studied in lucid dreams about tennis.   

Not everyone can just create lucid dreams, but there are techniques that can help to do this. For example, there is a machine that can provide more arousal during sleep. The person does not wake up, but receives a lucid dream. It is possible that a lucid dream feels more conscious through the activation of the cortex. In addition, the left patient lobe appears to play a role as well. So it might be related to language. In addition, the DLPFC is more active. These could be reasons that make us feel more like ourselves during a lucid dream. 

How do out-of-body experiences arise?

When someone experiences the world from a place other than the physical body, it is called an out of body experience (OBE). It is an experience where you have the idea that you are floating above your own body. It remains unclear whether something is actually leaving his or her body. OBEs can also be characterized by seeing a kind of double version of yourself. This is called autoscopy. When someone is not sure in which of the two bodies the own identity or spirit is located, then this is called heautoscopy. In addition, someone may also have the feeling that the double person is watching him or her; while there is no evidence for this. OBEs are relatively common. Here again, there is the danger that people do not know exactly what it is about. You can also experience an OBE while you are awake. It often last for only a short period of time.    

People with OBE often have better memories of their dreams and experience more lucid dreams. It does not happen that often, but epilepsy and brain damage could also lead to the experience of  OBEs. It is often seen as a special form of a dream. Moreover, it is not easy to generate this. The drug that most closely matches this appears to be ketamine: People then also tend to have the feeling that they are independent of their own body, yet the feeling is not as complete as with OBE. Dopamine also seems to play a role in this. 

There are various theories about OBEs. Many people also believe that this happens when someone is about to die. The experience in which the mind leaves the body is called an astral projection. People who believe in this are supporters of dualism. It is, however, difficult to examine this. Others believe that OBE has a paranormal meaning.   

Another explanation is that there would be nothing leaving the body. It would cause a person to be released from trauma or fear. For example, from fear of death. The temporal lobe is thought to be associated with OBEs. According to Persinger, all religious experiences are connected with the temporal lobe. 

Research has been done on patients with epilepsy. An OBE could then be simulated. The right temporal parietal connection (TPJ) seemed to be important here. This area is responsible for the overview of the body. An OBE can be worked up by activating the TPJ. The TPJ is also important for taking perspective. It is therefore possible that OBEs are the result of a disrupted operation of the TPJ. 

OBEs has also been studied in virtual reality. It showed that participants quickly get the feeling that the body in virtual reality was the same as their own. In this way OBE can be properly studied. This gives us insight into how the self normally functions and it ensures that the mechanisms become clear. 

What is the role of near-death experiences?

A lot of people who have almost died mention that they have had a certain experience (which we call a near death experience). Many people call this a vision. A near death experience is abbreviated to NDE. It can also occur in people who are actually not about to die. Most of these near death experiences are positive. It even prevents some people from trying to commit suicide again. NDEs from different people often show many similarities. What does this tell us about consciousness?

Just like OBEs, NDEs fit in with the theory of dualism: The consciousness can move independently of the body. According to Ring, this shows that there is a spiritual world. NDEs show a state of consciousness that is very clear. The timing issue plays a role in this. In addition, it could be paranormal. People see things they didn't know they could see. It is therefore important to study whether consciousness is still present after physical death. 

NDEs could also be interpreted as disinhibition and uncontrolled brain activity. This can be caused by stress, but also by drugs. 

NDEs do not yet show evidence of the existence of consciousness outside of the brain.

Chapter 16 - What are the roles of ego theories and bundle theories about the self?

To create an experience, there must also be someone to experience it. The self is therefore the center of experience. We often talk about ourselves in the 'me' version. We do not always feel united with our body. We talk about the body as if it is ours, but we can also separate ourselves from it. According to Buddha, 'the self' is only a name given to a number of separate parts. In this chapter, only theories that are relevant to consciousness are discussed. 

The most important question is why we feel conscious and how we, as ourselves, have a conscious experience. If we believe that this is true, then this means that we can, for example, make our own decisions. It could also be that it just seems that way. Theories that focus on the ego are especially popular. These theories also fit within religions.  

Young children are a kind of dualists, as they see the body and the mind as different things. When children imagine that someone is dead, they still believe that certain functions are possible. These are the functions of which we cannot imagine what it is like not being able to experience it. We cannot imagine that we have no consciousness. According to Hume, we are no more than a collection of different perceptions. This is taken together in memories. This means that memory would be the source of personal identity. This idea is not very popular. 

Scientists who adhere to the ego theory believe that the self continues to exist and that they absorb experiences. The self can also change because of these experiences. The bundle theory of Hume does not assume the existence of a self. There are only a series of experiences that can be linked to each other.     

What can we learn about consciousness through multiple personalities?

For people with multiple personalities, the connection between memory and self-assurance seems to be important. Many memories have disappeared in these patients. Hypnosis can also lead to a different personality. The personalities generally have no knowledge about each other. There is often one 'main' personality who knows about the existence of the others. It could therefore arise through treatment by a therapist. Nevertheless, there are also known cases where it was not caused by treatment. 

According to the ego theory there are several personalities that all have their own consciousness and will. Therefore, they would know nothing about each other. The discursive psychology believes creates the sense of self that we so often words like "I" used to describe a situation and ourselves. Furthermore, no explanation is given about consciousness.   

For a bundle scientist it doesn't matter how many forms of self are processed in a body. It also doesn't matter which self is the most important. The situation could also tie in with the theory of a Cartesian theater.   

What kind of thought experiments can be done with the concept of 'the self'?

What would it be like if your brain were put in the head of a friend of yours, and their brain would be placed in your head? Would you wake up feeling like yourself, or as the other person? Would the body notice a difference? If you believe that the consciousness is incorporated in the brain, then you believe that you would wake up like the other. The ego theory states that the self must be connected to, for example, the body or memories. They will therefore look between all the different interactions of consciousness. The bundle theory states that there is no real form of yourself. Therefore, none of us are persons who can consciously experience 'the self' according to this theory.  

There is also a thought experiment asking if you would press a button if it meant that a copy of you would be planted on another planet. This person would feel and behave exactly as you do. Many people indicate that they would press the button. They believe that they will feel the same as before. A number of different approaches will now be discussed. 

Is the thought itself the thinker?

James has written a lot about this topic. He wrote about the feeling of 'the self' and the feeling of having your own thoughts. Only then can you distinguish your own thoughts from other thoughts. It would revolve around the 'me' and 'I'. In addition, there is a difference between the material self, the social self (how we behave) and the spiritual self (including religion and moral principles). The "me" depends on subjective experiences. The "I" is the subjective idea about the self and the feeling of one's own experience.  

According to James the 'soul theory' cannot explain anything. A thought can hold the ego together. It can also arise through a stream of consciousness. This is a thought metaphor of James. Is James a bundle theorist? He is against the ego, so it could be. James places his own theory among the extreme theories. However, this theory still does not explain exactly how consciousness arises.  

For example, the idea that 'the self' would just be a stream of words or a collection of memories is not easy to accept. You could see it as universities. They are all buildings and objects, but it is nothing more than that. According to the bundle theory this corresponds to the self.   

What are the neuroscientific models of the self?

Many neuroscientists do not talk about the self or self-awareness. Others see it as a subcategory of attention. There are only a few neuroscientists who try to explain it through subjective experiences. According to Ramachandran, it is related to motivation and emotion. The self in the brain would therefore just be an illusion. 

According to Damasio there is a proto self, a core self and an autobiographical self. The proto-self is an interconnected and temporarily coherent collection of neural patterns which represent the state of the organism, moment by moment, at multiple levels of the brain. We are not conscious of our proto-self. Yet, the mechanism of the core-self requires the presence of proto-self. More complex organisms also have a core. This is not dependent on language but is related to the interaction with the brain. Awareness is related to more complex levels of organization in an organism. The memory ultimately ensures the creation of the autobiographical self. The self is not a separate unit here, but it is rather a combination of factors of how you were born. It also depends on the different experiences.     

The GWT van Baars states that the self is part of a hierarchy. The self provides a certain context through which consciousness can exist. In addition, the self depends on the consciousness to be able to play a functional role. The self is not an illusion. It could tie in with the ego theory. Moreover, the self remains within GWT because it can reintegrate. The connections may change, but it will continue to exist. So it is about the neural basis of the self. 

What is the meaning of loops, tunnels, and pearls on a string? 

The brain consists of circuits. Some are just feedback circuits, others have to do with yourself. According to Hofstadter, for example, it is a problem when the circuits are infinite without beginning or end. The brain is full of symbols. According to Hofstadter, this is the consciousness. It is about the self-description of consciousness. The self is therefore not an illusion, but rather something that can control itself. It is an example of a bundle theory.   

Metzinger also looks to this subject from a representational approach. The phenomenal self-model (PSM) is said to be a pattern of neural activity that allows us to process parts of the world into the self. This is the reason why we can, for example, consider our limbs to be ours. Metzinger has therefore developed the self-model theory of subjectivity. It does not include all sensory information. According to this theory, consciousness would simply be a certain image that we have of the world. How can it be that it feels like there is someone? That would be because our brains stimulate a phenomenal self-model (PSM). In that way, we are able to empathize with others. In addition, we do not realize that it is a model, because it is transparent. We see the world around us.      

The PSM theory is also a bundle theory. According to this theory, nobody really has a self. The self is part of a plan of attention, in a self-model, whereby it goes through the same process and we feel that we have consciousness.   

Strawson's theory is based on introspection, just like James's theory. However, he does not agree with the description of consciousness by James. Strawson states that consciousness is something that is uncertain. This is consistent with Hume's theory. He believes that it always comes back. According to Zahavi, there is no self that influences our experiences. The sense of self comes from the sense that events are yours. 

How do the self, the body, the world and other factors interact with each other? 

According to Zahavi's theory, the body is very important. He makes the distinction between perspective ownership (where experience shows itself to be distinctive from experience) and personal ownership (where experience is seen as something that belongs to 'me', as part of a person). According to Albahari, the feeling of self takes care of both of these processes.     

The idea about the self originated from experience: The self could maybe arise in interaction with others. This results in relationships, which in turn ultimately create characteristics of the self. Language is especially an important factor here. Saying something and doing something are two different things. The self therefore interacts with the body. Someone must also be able to learn certain skills by performing physical actions: An example of this is imitation. Most theories that involve the body are ego theories. 

What is meant by power stations of narrative gravity?

There are also people who cannot choose between two extreme theories: They believe that language is a basis, but it remains difficult to determine why we have a self. The self is said to primarily have an important social function. The narrative approach to the self is based on the idea that it ensures that our actions have meaning and that they are in line with what we or others think or believe. It is often unclear how exactly this is achieved. It is a rather complex process: People often display different versions of themselves, for example via social media: We then want to show an ideal image of ourselves and our lives.

According to Dennett, the self does not exist on its own. He believes that no inner observation of the self or introspection is possible. Yet, we do feel that this is the case. According to Dennett, we should not look at it so black and white. We should keep it a bit more vague and keep the two options open. According to him, multiple personalities could therefore not exist as we think they can. The self would only consist of separate pieces. That could lead to the multiple identities. This is an example of a bundle theory. This changes the problem of consciousness, yet it does not yet solve it.   

What will happen to the self in the future?

According to Kurzweil, people will ultimately become dependent on technological inventions instead of being dependent of their body. These computers only still have to be developed. Will this computer also have consciousness and will this consciousness be the same as how we experience it right now? The answer to this question depends on the approach you choose. According to Brooks, we will not let ourselves be replaced by machines, we will only let ourselves become one with machines.  

This is already done, for example, by the technical devices that are sometimes introduced into the human body, such as a pacemaker. In this way, more and more parts of the human body may eventually be replaced by parts of machines. Ultimately, the entire body then consists of a machine. For example, you could also place a memory chip in the brain. You could then retrieve all information. It then remains unclear whether and, if so, how this information will come into consciousness.  

There are more and more virtual people. In addition, everyone can also present himself or herself differently on the internet. Does the virtual self also have consciousness? The answer to this question is also related to the different approaches that were discussed. In the future, there are probably more and more artificial personalities that are able to interact with each other. Exactly how this will occur depends on the different approaches.

Chapter 17 - How do we perceive ourselves?

The way we perceive ourself from within is referred to with the term introspection; it is when you look at your own mind and thoughts. James states that we could discover different forms of consciousness through introspection. But what does it mean to look in your own mind? It is important for consciousness, but we do not know exactly how it works. There is a second person or intersubjective approach: This approach concerns, for example, the development of empathy and the role of mirror neurons and imitation. Is investigating consciousness so different from investigating other brain processes?

Science cannot be performed individually. One is always influenced by the results of others. In addition, a personal bias quickly develops. Since consciousness is an internal process, it remains difficult to do objective research into this. Because the data is all shared, there is no question of first-person data. These are all arguments that prevented first-person science and consciousness research. It does show that subjectivity plays an important role.     

The research method often also has an effect on the researcher as well. For example, when meditation is used, the researcher's approach may change because he or she believes there are other variables that are more important to test. 

Research towards awareness is also compared with research towards, for example, black holes. If consciousness really consisted of the mental and materialistic world, then the research into consciousness differs so much that a different method would have to be developed for it. If this is not the case, then it can be compared to other scientific research. In some cases, you can already distinguish the approach that someone prefers from the way of doing research.  

Do we need a new research method? According to Bennett, there are two teams that think differently about this question. One of the teams believes that the first and second person method is important. So, you could not bring it back to third-person data. In addition, there is, for example, a difference in the use of introspection and the belief in zombies.       

How are team A and team B in relation to each other?

Dennett would be the head of team A. Chalmers would be the head of team B. According to Chalmer, research into consciousness is different from other research because it connects brain processes with the sense of self. The brain processes fall under the third-person data. The feeling of self and the experiences with this fall under the first-person data. According to him, we need more research into obtaining first-person data. Searle, Nagel, Levine and Pinker are also part of team B. They all see the relationship between brain processes and the subjective experiences of a person. 

Team A of Dennett also includes the researchers Churchlands, Clark, Quine and Hofstadter. According to them, you should do research on awareness by watching what people say and do. According to them, we can only know how we subjectively experience something and not how it actually is. They also do not believe in the existence of zombies. Bennett says that it will later prove that this is an illusion. 

According to Chalmers, there are three ways people can look at consciousness. Way A is that consciousness surpasses the physical. Way B is a materialistic image in which the physical is not surpassed. Way C is against materialism and surpassing the physical. Dualism fits in with this. According to Type A, Mary in the example does not learn anything about the world when she comes out of the black and white room. According to Type B, Mary learns something new. According to Type C, Mary learns things about non-physical facts. Chalmers believes in Type C. There remains a discussion between team A and team B. 

What can we learn from phenomenology about consciousness?

The term phenomenology is used to refer to the experience of a person or to the experience in a person. It can also be seen as a research method. The phenomenal experiences are studied. According to Husserl there is no difference between the external and internal world when it comes to experiences. He called his approach eidetic reduction in which he goes back to the actual experience of things.    

Moreover, it fits within this approach to claim that consciousness contains a degree of intention. All experiences are therefore connected to something. It does cause a lot of discussion. It is being studied in different phases. The ultimate method that is often used in phenomenology is to analyze what people say. This fits in with psychology. However, it is difficult to always understand the language that is associated with consciousness.  

What can we learn about consciousness through the field of neurophenomenology?

The term neurophenomenology was introduced by Chilean. He agreed with Searle that you cannot incorporate the experience from a first person into descriptions of a third person. According to Chilean, you should look at the connections in the neural network that are connected with a certain experience. This approach has increasingly been applied in experiments. The variations between people must be carefully considered. This is in contrast to many other studies, where averages and means are often used. 

There is a lot of criticism on these experiments, because it would not be clear that there is now phenomenology in the procedures. Yet, a lot of research is has been conducted into awareness within this approach. For example, this also looks at the difference between the actual time and the experienced time. 

Husserl has introduced two terms. Firstly, retention, with which he refers to something that has just ended. Secondly, protection, with which he refers to the near future. Valera also tried to bring phenomenology and neuroscience together by examining the structure of time. According to him, it would be interesting to study how the feeling of the present relates to the neural connections. To study this, he used a new way of brain research, called intracanial gamma-band mapping (iGBM).     

According to Baars, we do need the field of phenomenology, but not entirely word for word: According to him, what phenomenologists do seems very similar to psychology. 

What is the reflective model?

According to Velmans, it is not possible to make a completely objective observation when studying consciousness. He proposes a thought experiment: When a participant has to look at a light and the researcher watches this, the participant has his own experience of the light. However, the researcher observes it from the third person-perspective. You could also do an experiment during which the researcher looks at the light and the participant looks at the researcher. Does the light then become a more objective stimulus than it was at first?

Velmans rejects the idea of dualism and comes with a reflective model. This means that the mind and body of people are part of the universe. This reflective model assumes that each person has their own perspectives on this. Eventually, different parts of a person become aware of themselves. The reflective part becomes important here. So, there are two forms of reality and there is a causal relationship between the two, but they cannot be brought together.  

There are a number of problems with this model. Firstly, this model assumes that conscious experiences are unique and only belong to the individual. However, this model has led to new insights to other researchers. Price and Barrell, for example, state that human experience is still so unclear and undefined. The reflective model also led to Libet 's wrist-flexing task. This experiment has been described in an earlier chapter. An adjustment could be made to this task. Instead of moving the wrist you could also ask a question like how they would like to make a pizza, in the microwave or in a combination of an oven and microwave.   

Price and Barrell have another option. If you knew exactly how and what the neural networks are connected to the experience of pain, you could show this to researchers. It then works best to let the researchers experience the pain. Then they are the observer and the participant in one. Then you can actually determine whether an experiment works. You could also adjust the rubber-hand illusion that way. It is about the perspective that you take in this. 

What is being studied by second-person neuroscience?

Most people believe that there is the perspective of a second person between the first person and the third person perspectives. We generally feel ourselves as being apart from other people. Observing others and interacting with others are two different things. In second-person relationships, people respond to our actions. This is not done in relationships based on observation.   

In practice it appears that the boundaries between the different 'people' are becoming increasingly blurred. This is especially common in experiments. The second person can help to connect the first person and the third person together. This type of experience can be studied; and it can act as a kind of mediator. 

What is meant by heterophenomenology?

Heterophenomenology is another way to study consciousness. According to Dennett, this is a neutral path from objective science to a phenomenological description, in which subjectivity is also involved. So, a kind of illusion is used here. Through a constructive, neutral way of looking at the matter, they hope that a description of the world can be made. In practice, this can be done in three steps: First, data must be collected. You can think of results of brain scans and self-descriptions of people. Secondly, the data must then be interpreted. You must therefore review the results of the data collection and decide what you think it means. Thirdly, we look at which actions were intentional. You then reason why someone has performed these actions. This then leads to the heterophenomenological world of the person. According to Dennett, this method has often been used in psychology. 

Does this mean that only what people say is the experience; and not what the experience was actually like? This approach remains neutral in this regard. It is always about the why question and what matters is what the person says. From this perspective, the questions within this approach are answered. According to Dennett, this approach needs more skepticism and more demand. It is not the same as having a conversation with someone. However, it still does not answer all questions.    

This approach is also not a perfect way to study consciousness. There is a huge amount of variation in the answers given by different individuals. In addition, it is good for researchers to be less hostile to other approaches. All the different research fields might need to be combined to arrive at an answer. The heterophenomenological approach can be a good start. In addition, this approach also states that you do not have to pin down to a certain idea in advance. That is exactly what the intention is. According to Dennett, we should no longer ask ourselves what consciousness is, but how it behaves. 

It could be that researchers are uncertain about what they might find in consciousness research. To study this, we have to be able to put aside what we already know. This is further discussed in the next and final chapter of the book.

Chapter 18 - What is meant by waking up?

According to the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, there are four truths. The first truth, is that there is suffering. Life would be unpredictable and therefore not pleasant. Secondly, there is the cause of suffering. Because we only do things that we enjoy, we end up in a certain spiral. That spiral is called samsara. Third, it is accepted that life is not permanent and that we have to let go of our expectations. That is why suffering ends. Ultimately, it can lead to the fourth truth, the nirvana.

According to Buddha, the heart and mind come together in this place. You could experience this when you wake up. Many of these stories have been passed on from person to person and may therefore not be completely reliable. An important question from this chapter is whether consciousness can change. According to Buddha, this is possible. Many researchers think the same way about this: It would give the feeling of 'waking up'. In this chapter, much attention will be given to the ideas of Buddha and the stories that go with it. 

How does Buddhism relate to science?

Many religions are based on stories that have been around for a long time, while science is constantly evolving. That is a big difference between these two approaches. Yet, Buddhism does have a place in psychology. This is probably because Buddhism, unlike other religions, has no clear God. They believe that we live in a kind of illusion, where the self and the universe are separate from each other. We all have a kind of infinite self that is called the atman.   

According to Buddhism it is not the intention to worship someone or some god, but to become one with your own mind. Buddhists also believe that when you do A, for example, B will happen. That is reasonably consistent with science. There are 8 phases of concentration that you can go through. You are often accompanied by a teacher in this process. So Buddhism focuses on certain methods that can be used. Buddhists do believe that you can gain a certain consciousness through concentration.  

Some researchers are skeptical about the relationship between Buddhism and science. Certain parts of Buddhism, for example, are already certain. So, this is not likely to further develop like science. Yet, these two forms of science seem to mean a lot to each other. In fact, Buddhism uses techniques that can generate ASCs, for example. With this, they try to free the mind. As a result, other researchers state that it may be closer to psychotherapy.  

How do transformations and therapy relate to each other?

According to Buddhism, you can get into a state that is formed by samsara. You are in a kind of cycle between birth and death. You can be released from this by a samsara experience. Therapy and Buddhism both are aimed at transforming the individual. The only thing that is different is the method. The various forms of therapy are all aimed at making people's lives better. This is also the purpose of Buddhism.     

According to Claxton, therapy is a more specific form of spirituality. It may happen, for example, that psychotherapy causes people to look for the self in a spiritual way. It has been attempted to also form models around it. Nowadays forms of therapy are sometimes combined with Buddhism. Indeed, it is believed that spirituality can have a positive influence on people's lives. To obtain that, you have to pay a lot of attention to yourself. An example of this is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. This type of therapy seems to be about as effective as standard cognitive behavioral therapy.  

What then causes people to 'wake up' spontaneously?

Awakening is often seen as a sort of end point of a spiritual path. It could also be just the beginning. There is still no clarity about this matter. Harding came up with the idea that consciousness simply exists in today's world. There would be no existence of two worlds, because you only see the world that is directly in front of you. Not everyone agreed with him. He eventually came across Zen, who did agree with his ideas. 

For example, these researchers believe that pain is more like a certain sensation and not per se the experience of suffering. In addition, they indicate that sleep could also become a conscious experience. This experience could be called an NDE. According to Dennett, the self and consciousness could always be re-energized. We generally don't see it that way, because we often perceive it as something that is permanent. 

According to Wren-Lewis, an awakening is like a realization. According to him, this does not have to be a long process, but it could just happen spontaneously. For example, a transformation could take place through the experience of a trauma. This could happen because the intensity of suffering causes something to change. Training and exercise could possibly help. 

A koan is a method to get into a deep state of being Zen. Different questions are asked about this matter. Zen therapy was invented in China. The therapy revolves around questions such as: What is your own mind? Or what did you look like before your father and mother were born? You can spend a lot of time answering these questions. Various of these questions are questions that can also be found in mediation, for example. It generally takes a lot of time to master these questions.

What is the experience of light?

Enlightenment has to do with a certain transformation. It is also known as bodhi in Buddhism. How does someone experience the light? The term is used in various ways. First, it is a kind of process, so there should be a way to anchieve enlightenment. Exercise ensures that people eventually reach the end of this road. There may also be temporary experiences of enlightment. This is called kensho. Kensho is often fueled by sensory stimuli that someone does not expect. This can happen, for example, when someone is in the state of deep meditation. Someone may then temporarily feel that there is no sense of self or time. It is difficult to find actual evidence for this.    

It is difficult to study this topic, because everyone has a different definition with regard to lighting. Pure consciousness could also be experienced in the temporary moments of enlightenment. This is an experience of consciousness without anything that anyone can be aware of. An attempt was made to examine this using fMRI. In addition, it is often thought that the lighting is at the end of the road. This is not a state of consciousness; because everything remains relatively the same. People only have the idea that everything is enlightened. Therefore, there would be no way to enlightenment even though something can be achieved.

Pure consciousness would be a state of consciousness where there is no actual content. So there is no question of thoughts or perceptions. It would be a mysterious experience. Not everyone believes this. There is still a lot of discussion about it.   

Lighting is not a meme. Someone else can do things to help the other to enlightenment. In Zen, this transmission is called "outside of the scriptures". This is a paradox, because we often think that we are the only ones who know what our inner world looks like.    

What does this have to do with research into consciousness and are they actually investigating the same thing?

What if everything is an illusion without the self and without dualism?

The visual world could be a big illusion. Buddhism tries to break down illusions as we currently know them. According to Buddha, a daily experience would always be an illusion, because we have incorrect ideas about the external world around us. People try to treat many objects as if they are permanent things. That is also why during meditation we try to experience all the individual components. We find this a difficult thing to accept about the self. This would also be a gathering of various separate parts. People find it hard to accept that they themselves would not have a permanent spirit.  

In addition, according to Buddhism, it is a false idea that we can actually do things ourselves. The person who carries out the actions would not exist in the way we think he or she does. Actions and consequences do exist. Karma also plays a role in this process. In Buddhism, this process only refers to voluntary actions. 

How can we live without being able to do things ourselves? You can live as if you can do things yourself and have a free will. 'Pretending' is often seen as a solution to this problem. If you let go of this, there would no longer be a difference between the self and experience. Then, we could merge different approaches such as science and transformations together. This could indeed happen, as it has emerged in this book that visual experience could be an illusion as well. This could then also apply to general consciousness. In addition, no clear explanation or definition for consciousness has yet been found.  

It has also been discussed extensively why we still want to believe in, for example, free will and in consciousness. Through our own experience, we always see the world differently than what the world actually is like. We may find the sense of control important. Hence, maybe we should try not to solve the difficult problem, but to find out why we feel that there is a difficult problem. We could then formulate new questions on this topic; like for example, how do our cognitive skills create the illusion of consciousness and is this illusion adaptive in a certain way?

We must always remember that our experiences are subjective. There is always a chance that we experience enlightenment and therefore actually awaken. More research needs to be done towards these new questions. Then, the problem of awareness may eventually be solved. For now, even though there are still many questions left to be answered, much information has already been gathered about factors that are related to consciousness.