Science is a crowning glory of the human spirit and its applications remain our best hope for social progress. However, there are limitations to existing science and perhaps to any science. The general mind-body problem is known to be currently intractable and mysterious (8). This is one of many deep problems that are generally agreed to be beyond the present purview of Science, including many quantum phenomena, etc. However, all of these famous unsolved problems are either remote from everyday (...) experience (entanglement, dark matter) or are hard to even define sharply (phenomenology, consciousness, etc.). In this note, we will consider some computational problems in vision that arise every time that we open our eyes and yet are demonstrably inconsistent with current theories of neural computation. The focus will be on two famous related phenomena, known as the neural binding problem and the experience of a detailed stable visual world. I, among many others, have struggled with these issues for more than fifty years (1, 2, 3). Somewhat paradoxically, the continuing progress in scientific methods and knowledge reveals that these are both unsolvable within existing neuroscience. By considering some basic facts about how the brain processes image input, we will show that, under the standard theory, there are not nearly enough brain neurons to compute what we experience as vision. Inconsistencies like the ones shown here have had a profound effect on paradigm change in the sciences. More directly, the discussions below suggest possible new theories and experiments. (shrink)

The Philosophy of Mind consists of problems concerning aspects and properties of the human mind. The most important of these problems is that of the relation between mind and body, or, more generally, between mental and physical phenomena. Usually referred to as the "mind-body problem", this has been one of the fundamental problems in Philosophy since Descartes (1596-1650) and his critics introduced it four centuries ago. The mental seems, at first glance, completely different from the physical. (...) Physical properties are public, i.e. equally observable by everyone, but mental properties are not. It can be deduced that someone feels pain by his behaviour, but only that person can feel it directly. Conscious mental events are private in the sense that the subject has privileged access to them that no one has for the physical. Conscious experiences, such as the smell of jasmine, are completely different from the configurations and movements, however complex, of particles, atoms and molecules, or the physical changes of cells and tissues. Despite this, conscious phenomena do not seem to arise out of nothing, but from physical-biological processes in the body, especially from neural processes in the brain. But how can physical-biological systems have states such as thoughts, fears and hopes? (shrink)

The mind-body problem is analyzed in a physicalist perspective. By combining the concepts of emergence and algorithmic information theory in a thought experiment employing a basic nonlinear process, it is argued that epistemically strongly emergent properties may develop in a physical system. A comparison with the significantly more complex neural network of the brain shows that also consciousness is epistemically emergent in a strong sense. Thus reductionist understanding of consciousness appears not possible; the mind-body problem does not (...) have a reductionist solution. The ontologically emergent character of consciousness is then identified from a combinatorial analysis relating to system limits set by quantum mechanics, implying that consciousness is fundamentally irreducible to low-level phenomena. In the perspective of a modified definition of free will, the character of the physical interactions of the brain's neural system is subsequently studied. As an ontologically open system, it is asserted that its future states are undeterminable in principle. We argue that this leads to freedom of the will. (shrink)

Many believe that a suitably programmed computer could act for its own goals and experience feelings. I challenge this view and argue that agency, mental causation and qualia are all founded in the unique, homeostatic nature of living matter. The theory was formulated for coherence with the concept of an agent, neuroscientific data and laws of physics. By this method, I infer that a successful action is homeostatic for its agent and can be caused by a feeling - which does (...) not motivate as a force, but as a control signal. From brain research and the locality principle of physics, I surmise that qualia are a fundamental, biological form of energy generated in specialized neurons. Subjectivity is explained as thermodynamically necessary on the supposition that, by converting action potentials to feelings, the neural cells avert damage from the electrochemical pulses. In exchange for this entropic benefit, phenomenal energy is spent as and where it is produced - which precludes the objective observation of qualia. (shrink)

Neuroelectrical panpsychism (NP) offers a clear, simple, testable mind–body solution. It says that everything is at least minimally conscious, and electrical activity across separate neurons creates a unified, intelligent mind. NP draws on recent experimental evidence to address the easy problem of specifying the mind's neural correlates. These correlates are neuroelectrical activities that, for example, generate our different qualia, unite them to form perceptions and emotions, and help guide brain operations. NP also addresses the hard problem (...) of why minds accompany these neural correlates. Here, the real nature of matter-energy (beyond how it appears to sense organs) is consciousness that occupies space, exerts forces, and unites neuroelectrically to form minds. This doesn't reduce consciousness to observable neural activities, nor posit any radically different entities. NP also deals with panpsychism's combination problem by explaining how the mind's subject and experiences arise by electrically combining simple experiences in brains. (shrink)

-/- Explaining Consciousness and the Mind-Body Problem Through the Universal Law of Balance -/- Introduction -/- The nature of consciousness and its relationship with the body has been one of the greatest mysteries in philosophy and science. The mind-body problem questions how subjective experience (mind) arises from physical matter (body), while modern neuroscience, quantum mechanics, and artificial intelligence seek to understand the origins of conscious thought. -/- Angelito Malicse’s universal formula, rooted in the universal law of (...) balance in nature, provides a powerful framework for understanding consciousness as an emergent property of equilibrium. If all human decision-making follows natural laws, then consciousness itself—both individual and collective—must also follow the same principles of balance. This essay explores how this perspective can unify philosophical theories, be tested scientifically, and guide the development of artificial intelligence. -/- The Mind-Body Problem and the Universal Formula -/- Historically, the mind-body problem has been debated through dualism, materialism, and panpsychism. -/- 1. Dualism, proposed by René Descartes, suggests that the mind and body are separate substances. However, if consciousness emerges from a balance of biological, cognitive, and environmental factors, then mind and body are not separate but rather two interdependent systems working in harmony. -/- 2. Materialism, the view that consciousness is purely a result of physical processes in the brain, can also be explained through the universal formula. If the brain maintains a homeostatic equilibrium of neural activity, then conscious thought can be seen as a function of maintaining that balance. -/- 3. Panpsychism, the idea that consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, aligns with the universal formula if all systems—atomic, biological, and cognitive—follow the same balancing principles. -/- Thus, the universal law of balance in nature can unify these perspectives by suggesting that consciousness is a product of equilibrium across multiple levels of reality. -/- Testing the Universal Formula in Neuroscience -/- If consciousness emerges from a balance between the brain, body, and environment, then this should be observable in biological experiments. -/- Brain-Body Synchronization -/- Neuroscientists have found that consciousness is deeply linked to bodily processes such as heartbeat rhythms, breathing patterns, and gut microbiome activity. When these systems are in balance, cognitive clarity and emotional stability increase. Disruptions—such as stress, disease, or neurological disorders—cause imbalances that affect perception and decision-making. -/- Scientific Test: Using fMRI and EEG, researchers can measure how homeostasis in the body correlates with stable brain activity and conscious awareness. If maintaining balance improves cognition, this supports the universal formula’s application to consciousness. -/- Feedback Loops in Decision-Making -/- Cognitive science shows that human thought follows a feedback mechanism—our brain constantly adjusts decisions based on past experiences and environmental input. If the universal formula is correct, then consciousness itself is a continuous process of maintaining equilibrium in decision-making. -/- Scientific Test: Experiments with brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) could simulate disruptions in decision-making balance and measure how the mind adapts. -/- Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness -/- Some scientists propose that consciousness operates at the quantum level, where thought processes may resemble wave superpositions and collapses. -/- Quantum Decision Theory -/- The human brain does not always process information in a straightforward way; rather, it often considers multiple possibilities before reaching a conclusion. This mirrors quantum physics, where particles exist in superposition until they interact with an observer. If consciousness follows the universal law of balance, then the brain may hold multiple mental states in balance before making a final decision. -/- Scientific Test: Studies in quantum cognition compare human decision-making with quantum probability models. If human thought aligns with quantum systems, it suggests that mental balance follows the same natural laws as physical balance in the universe. -/- Microtubule Consciousness Hypothesis -/- Some researchers, such as Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff, suggest that tiny structures within neurons (microtubules) generate consciousness through quantum coherence. If consciousness is a process of balance, then maintaining coherence within these structures might regulate awareness. -/- Scientific Test: If external stimuli can enhance or disrupt microtubule coherence, then altering quantum balance should affect conscious states. -/- Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Conscious Balance -/- If the universal formula is truly fundamental to consciousness, then AI systems that mimic this balance should develop self-regulating awareness. -/- AI Homeostasis and Adaptive Learning -/- Unlike traditional AI, which follows strict programming, an AI system designed to maintain balance between inputs, processing, and decision-making could behave in a way similar to biological consciousness. This would involve: -/- Self-regulating feedback loops that adjust based on new information. -/- Adaptive responses to environmental changes, like a human mind maintaining homeostasis. -/- Pattern recognition based on equilibrium, where the AI finds optimal solutions by balancing multiple factors. -/- Scientific Test: Developing AI models that learn through balance, rather than rigid programming, could demonstrate whether consciousness emerges from self-regulating equilibrium. -/- Conclusion: A New Understanding of Consciousness -/- The universal law of balance in nature provides a unifying framework for explaining consciousness, bridging philosophy, neuroscience, quantum mechanics, and artificial intelligence. If all decision-making follows natural balance, then consciousness itself is not an isolated phenomenon but a result of maintaining equilibrium across multiple dimensions—biological, cognitive, and universal. -/- By testing this theory scientifically—through brain-body synchronization, quantum cognition, and AI balance modeling—we may uncover the fundamental principles governing human awareness. This could lead to breakthroughs in mental health, decision science, and artificial intelligence, transforming how we understand both human and machine intelligence. -/- Thus, Angelito Malicse’s universal formula may hold the key to one of the greatest mysteries of existence: the true nature of consciousness itself. -/- . (shrink)

Recent neuroimaging studies of the psychedelic state, which have commanded great media attention, are reviewed. They show that psychedelic trances are consistently accompanied by broad reductions in brain activity, despite their experiential richness. This result is at least counterintuitive from the perspective of mainstream physicalism, according to which subjective experience is entirely constituted by brain activity. In this brief analysis, the generic implications of physicalism regarding the relationship between the richness of experience and brain activity levels are rigorously examined (...) from an informational perspective, and then made explicit and unambiguous. These implications are then found to be non-trivial to reconcile with the results of said neuroimaging studies, which highlights the significance of such studies for the mind-body problem and philosophy of mind in general. (shrink)

The concept of the mind in philosophy encompasses a diverse range of theories and perspectives, examining its immaterial nature, unitary function, self-activity, self-consciousness, and persistence despite bodily changes. This paper explores the attributes of the mind, addressing classical materialism, dualism, and behaviorism, along with contemporary theories like functionalism and computational functionalism. Key philosophical debates include the mind-body problem, the subjectivity of mental states, and the epistemological and conceptual challenges in understanding other minds. Contrasting views from Aristotle, Descartes, (...) Wittgenstein, and modern philosophers like U.T. Place, Gilbert Ryle, and Hilary Putnam are analyzed. The paper also discusses the implications of these theories on our understanding of mental phenomena, consciousness, and the nature of human experience. (shrink)

Quantum-Based Consciousness Through the Universal Law of Balance -/- By Angelito Enriquez Malicse -/- Introduction -/- The nature of consciousness remains one of the most profound mysteries in science and philosophy. Traditional approaches, from Cartesian dualism to modern neuroscience, have attempted to explain consciousness as either separate from or entirely reducible to physical processes. However, neither classical physics nor standard cognitive science fully captures the depth of subjective experience. -/- Recent developments in quantum mechanics suggest that consciousness may emerge (...) from fundamental quantum processes. This perspective aligns with my Universal Law of Balance, which asserts that all natural phenomena—including human cognition—follow an inherent equilibrium. If the universe operates under a universal balancing principle, then consciousness itself must arise from a quantum-level equilibrium between mind, body, and environment. -/- In this essay, I propose a Quantum-Based Consciousness Model grounded in the Universal Law of Balance. This model bridges quantum physics, homeostasis, and the dynamic feedback systems that regulate conscious awareness. -/- 1. The Mind-Body Problem and Quantum Balance -/- The traditional mind-body problem questions how the subjective experience of consciousness arises from material processes. Classical neuroscience views the brain as a computational machine, where neural activity produces cognition through deterministic or probabilistic functions. However, this classical approach fails to explain: -/- Quantum Indeterminacy in Neural Activity – Brain function exhibits micro-level quantum behavior, which may be integral to decision-making and perception. -/- The observer Effect – Consciousness appears to interact with reality at a fundamental level, as seen in quantum experiments like the double-slit experiment. -/- Non-Locality and Entanglement – Human thought processes may exhibit quantum-like non-locality, where ideas, emotions, and memories interact in ways that classical physics cannot fully describe. -/- Applying the Universal Law of Balance -/- According to my Universal Law of Balance, all natural processes—including cognition—maintain a homeostatic equilibrium. Consciousness does not arise from material processes alone but from a quantum-based equilibrium that continuously stabilizes the interaction between: -/- 1. Physical Processes (Neural and biological systems) -/- 2. Quantum Fields (Subatomic processes in brain microtubules and electromagnetic fields) -/- 3. Environmental Feedback (Sensory input, social interaction, and external conditions) -/- When these three components are in balance, a stable conscious experience emerges. Disruptions in this balance—such as mental illness, stress, or sensory overload—disturb consciousness, leading to cognitive dysfunction. -/- 2. Quantum Coherence and the Emergence of Consciousness -/- One possible explanation for consciousness in quantum mechanics is quantum coherence—the idea that subatomic particles remain in a superposition until observed. In the brain, microtubules (tiny structures within neurons) may maintain quantum coherence, allowing for complex, non-linear processing. This is the foundation of Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff’s Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) Theory. -/- However, my Universal Law of Balance refines this concept by proposing that consciousness emerges when quantum coherence reaches a dynamic equilibrium with classical neural processes. This means: -/- Consciousness is neither fully deterministic (as in classical physics) nor purely random (as in quantum indeterminacy). Instead, it stabilizes at a balanced point where quantum effects interact with large-scale neural activity. -/- The collapse of the wave function in microtubules is not purely random but governed by a natural equilibrium, ensuring cognitive stability. -/- This equilibrium mechanism aligns with homeostasis in biological systems, where the mind continuously adjusts to maintain stable awareness. -/- 3. Feedback Mechanisms in Conscious Decision-Making -/- The Universal Law of Balance suggests that all decision-making follows a feedback system between internal cognition and external reality. This aligns with quantum theory’s concept of entanglement, where particles remain correlated across distances. -/- Consciousness as a Quantum Feedback Loop -/- 1. Perception (Quantum Input) – Sensory data enters the brain and is processed at both the classical (neuronal) and quantum (wave-function) levels. -/- 2. Processing (Balance Point) – The brain stabilizes this input, maintaining a balance between deterministic neural patterns and quantum superpositions. -/- 3. Decision-Making (Quantum Collapse and Output) – Conscious action occurs when the brain collapses quantum possibilities into a stable outcome. -/- This cycle mirrors the homeostatic feedback present in all biological systems. Just as the body regulates temperature or glucose levels to maintain balance, consciousness regulates perception and decision-making to maintain cognitive equilibrium. -/- 4. Implications for Artificial Intelligence and AGI -/- If human consciousness follows a quantum-based balance mechanism, then creating true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) requires integrating this principle. Current AI systems function purely on classical computation and lack quantum equilibrium. However, a future AGI system designed with: -/- Quantum computing components -/- Real-time homeostatic feedback -/- Self-regulating decision models -/- …could mimic human-like consciousness. This aligns with my belief that future AI should follow the Universal Law of Balance to achieve true intelligence. -/- 5. Conclusion: A Balanced Consciousness Model -/- Quantum-based consciousness is best understood through the Universal Law of Balance, which integrates: -/- Quantum Mechanics – Superposition, coherence, and wave function collapse shape cognitive states. -/- Neuroscience – The brain maintains a balance between quantum and classical processes. -/- Environmental Feedback – Consciousness is a dynamic, homeostatic system that adjusts to internal and external conditions. -/- By applying this principle, we bridge physics, biology, and philosophy, offering a unified framework for understanding consciousness. This balance-driven model could revolutionize fields like cognitive science, mental health, and AI development, guiding humanity toward a deeper comprehension of its own nature. -/- . (shrink)

How the mind works is the ultimate mystery for human beings. To answer this question, one of the most significant insights is Kant’s argument that we can only perceive phenomena but not the essence of the external world. Following this idea, we formulated a novel computational framework to model the mind based on two assumptions: 1) There is no presupposition of the existence of the external objective world and the main task of the mind is to explore, (...) establish and utilize persistent relationships between senses and actions. 2) Symbolic intermediate-level representation is necessary. We call this framework the self-programming system. Based on the self-programming system, we interpreted the nature of concepts, time, space, causality, and consciousness. Besides that, we also draw a conclusion to the mind-body problem. Specifically, the perspective that considers subjective experience as fundamental is compatible with the existence of the external world and that the physical body serves as the substrate of the mind. However, since the relationship is “compatible” rather than “cause”, skepticism can never be ruled out in principle. Furthermore, we have elucidated the nature of interpretation within the context of reductive physicalism. This serves to provide a clear understanding as to why the hard problem of consciousness is inherently unsolvable. (shrink)

For centuries, philosophers studying the great mysteries of human subjectivity have focused on the mind/body problem and the difference between human beings and animals. Now a new ontological question takes center stage: to what extent can a manufactured object (a computer) exhibit qualities of mind? There have been passionate exchanges between those who believe that a "manufactured mind" is possible and those who believe that mind cannot exist except as a living, socially situated, embodied person. As (...) with earlier arguments, this one shows no sign of being resolved. But the fight over computationalism (the belief that all mental processes can be generated by computer programs) has immediate, "hard" consequences for technological research and development, social- and cognitive-science methodology, and for our everyday experience of the world and ourselves. This special issue consists of papers presented at a conference of the same title held at the Center for Cognitive Science at the University at Buffalo, 22-23 May 1990. The authors come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds (Computer Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, etc.), and bring a wide variety of perspectives to the topic. (shrink)

The scientific understanding of the mind and consciousness is limited by the lack of knowledge on the missing pieces of this complex puzzle. However, the philosophy and the current physical and material sciences have made great strides in understanding the evolutionary processes of the mind, from the metaphysical and Meta universal layers to the physical, chemical, biological, psychological, and social layers. The complexity of the human mind and the subjective nature of consciousness make it difficult to (...) define and study empirically. Some scientists argue that self-consciousness is an emergent property of the brain, arising from the interaction of various cognitive processes such as memory, perception, and language. There is a significant debate on this line of research, with no clear consensus. Some experts believe that self-consciousness in AI is theoretically possible, as it could emerge from complex systems of neural networks and machine learning algorithms. However, others argue that self-consciousness requires a level of subjective experience and awareness that may be difficult or impossible to replicate in artificial systems. Researchers from various disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, brain science, psychology, linguistics, and computer science, have been working together to solve this mystery. The question that how far self-consciousness is possible to be answered in science depends on our understanding of what constitutes self-consciousness and how it arises. While AI systems have made significant advances in areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, and decision making, they still lack the capacity for subjective experience, introspection, and self-awareness that are commonly associated with self-consciousness. In this work the concept of self-consciousness, or the awareness of one's own existence and mental states, has been discussed from different angle. Despite significant advancements in cognitive science and neurobiology, the nature and origins of self-consciousness remain elusive. (shrink)

Understanding the mechanics of consciousness remains one of the most important challenges in modern cognitive science. One key step toward understanding consciousness is to associate unconscious physiological processes with subjective experiences of sensory, motor, and emotional contents. This article explores the role of various cellular membrane potential differences and how they give rise to the dynamic infrastructure of conscious experience. This article explains that consciousness is a body-wide, biological process not limited to individual organs because the mind and (...) body are unified as one entity; therefore, no single location of consciousness can be pinpointed. Consciousness exists throughout the entire body, and unified consciousness is experienced and maintained through dynamic repolarization during inhalation and expiration. Extant knowledge is reviewed to provide insight into how differences in cellular membrane potential play a vital role in the triggering of neural and non-neural oscillations. The role of dynamic cellular membrane potentials in the activity of the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, cardiorespiratory system, and various other tissues (such as muscles and sensory organs) in the physiology of consciousness is also explored. Inspiration and expiration are accompanied by oscillating membrane potentials throughout all cells and play a vital role in subconscious human perception of feelings and states of mind. In addition, the role of the brainstem, hypothalamus, and complete nervous system (central, peripheral, and autonomic)within the mind-body space combine to allow consciousness to emerge and to come alive. This concept departs from the notion that the brain is the only organ that gives rise to consciousness. (shrink)

Each well-known proposed solution to the mind-body problem encounters an impasse. These take the form of an explanatory gap, such as the one between mental and physical, or between micro-subjects and macro-subject. The dialectical pressure to bridge these gaps is generating positions in which consciousness is becoming increasingly foundational. The most recent of these, cosmopsychism, typically casts the entire cosmos as a perspectival subject whose mind grounds those of more limited subjects like ourselves. I review the dialectic from (...) materialism and dualism through to panpsychism, suggesting that explanatory gaps in the latter stem from assuming foundational consciousness to be perspectival. Its renunciation may yield the notion of an aperspectival, universal, “non-dual” consciousness that grounds all manifestation and is unstructured by subject, object or any differentia. Not only is such consciousness suggestive of a natural successor to cosmopsychism, but it has also been reported to be the direct experience of mystics who claim to have transcended the individual perspective. Their purported insight — that our aperspectival conscious nature is identical to the ground of all being — has been termed “the Perennial Philosophy”. Believing this Perennial Philosophy to offer the most promising way forward in the mind-body problem, I construct from it the foundations of a metaphysical system that I call “Perennial Idealism”. This attempts to account for manifestation in terms of dispositional, imagery-bound subjects. I then address an age-old “Parmenidean” conundrum that I refer to as “the problem of the one and the many”: How can an undifferentiated substratum ground differentia without the ground itself differentiating? The proposed solution takes its cue from mystico-philosophical writings in the Advaita Vedānta tradition, known as the ajāta doctrine. (shrink)

June 2022 A Revolutionary New Metaphysics, Based on Consciousness, and a Call to All Philosophers We are in a unique moment of our history unlike any previous moment ever. Virtually all human economies are based on the destruction of the Earth, and we are now at a place in our history where we can foresee if we continue on as we are, our own extinction. As I write, the planet is in deep trouble, heat, fires, great storms, and record flooding, (...) weather patterns drastic everywhere. Capitalism has been so successful in supplying us with an endless array of consumer items, that we have never noticed there is a cost. But there is a cost, the cost is the very life of the Earth herself, and now the day of reckoning is here. Days of reckoning are most often days of rath. But I am hoping that this is a day of major Awakening over the entire planet. We have caused a crisis so great for the Earth we can hardly get our minds around it. But I am proposing that deeply embedded in the crisis are ideas, about who and what the Earth is, Ourselves, and what we are here for. I am proposing that this is a call to all philosophy and philosophers to rethink ourselves from the ground up. The human race has never gotten the Earth right and now we must, for the Earth is the true foundation for civilization. We are in deep trouble with the Earth, and it owes to the fact that the great male thinkers never got the Earth right, they could never make the connection between the life of mind and the life of the Earth. I am proposing that deeply embedded in the crisis we are in are ideas. And that in fact the planet is in the grip of a false metaphysics, and scientific image of nature that really comes most recently from Descartes. His conviction that matter, and with it the Earth, are simply the weighable, the measurable the extended in space and time, utterly devoid of any inner life of mind thoughts or Consciousness. This view of matter and the Earth goes back to the very dawn of thought, Descartes is just its most recent and comprehensive version of things. This view of matter is really a false metaphysics that dominates most of the modern world and underpins the whole scientific image of nature itself. I am proposing this is a false metaphysics and offering a new version of things based on Consciousness. If there is a single idea fueling and driving the destruction of the planet, it is the conviction that the Earth is something without Consciousness. When you intend to ravage and savage the planet, turn it into consumer items to be converted into money in the bank, first pretend that all of the bright beings in the natural world are devoid of Consciousness, just “things” you do not have to have any conscious about destroying them. I am proposing that this term Consciousness, that has appeared as term and a problem for modern science, is the key to getting ourselves right with the Earth. I propose this new theory for science will ramify into every other disciplines as well, and the ways we think just about everything. This old paradigm based on a false theory of matter, has run its course, it has brought us to the brink of our own extinction. We need new ideas, and we need them now. You will find my recent work in the Scientific God Journal under the title: Consciousness as the Organizing Principle, and a very complete version of my arguments for this term Consciousness, along with radical reinterpretation of modern science itself, on the Galileo Commission site. It is a radical moment for all of the thinkers among us, take this as my small contribution to rethinking ourselves in new terms, based on my understanding that the true basis for the whole of Being, the Universe, the Cosmos, and with them Ourselves, is this term Consciousness. And unpack it. And I predict that with this term Consciousness every intractable human problem in both science and the modern world will go down like a line of dominos before it. And so, here are a few new ideas I would offer you. These are the times of the Reappearance of the Feminine, a great Awakening as of Springtime after a long dark and lonely Winter. We are leaving behind us an old civilization based on male dominance, fear lies and control, now in decay, disease, and death disintegrating all around us. We are moving into a whole new civilization based on Love and Truth. A new civilization requires new basic terms values and first principles. And so, I return to Descartes. 1. Just over 300 years ago a young man travelling with the army found himself stranded in a foreign town in a bare room lit by a candle with nothing to do but think. And in a couple of nights Descartes laid the entire thought foundations for modern science and most of the modern world. It isn’t clear that modern philosophers with their funding sources of grants, their graduate students, their reputation and all the perks and privileges of academia can do any better. Descartes claimed there are just two principles in the Universe, Matter and Mind. God was pure mind; human beings were mind and matter. And we are the only ones on the planet with mind. Everything else all of the bright array of beings who share the planet with us are simply matter. And matter? The weighable the measurable the extended in space and time utterly devoid of any inner life of thoughts, feelings, or Consciousness This classification was a boon for developing science. Scientists did not have to worry about any inner life in nature, ideas or Consciousness, they could just set about weighing and measuring, as they have until the present day. But it was a disaster for the Earth. Earth was once worshiped as a Goddess. With Descartes she became almost overnight “things.” Simply commodities and resources, an endless of supply of consumer items, to be turned into money in the bank. And now Descartes concept of matter is up for us. If there is a single idea that is enabling and driving the destruction of the Earth, it is the conviction that Earth is something without Consciousness. This whole scientific image of nature as something devoid of Consciousness is driving the destruction of the Earth, and driving us all insane, and it needs to change. Ever since Descartes formulated Dualism, scientists and philosophers have been trying to get rid of it. They have done this by attempting to make matter the fundamental term of reality, and to explain mind or Consciousness in terms of matter. And now, Consciousness has emerged as term and a problem for modern science. 2. The prevailing Universe picture has been mainly based on the belief that Consciousness appears only at the end of evolution in ourselves and some of the higher animals when matter attains “a certain state of complexity” and it is produced by neurons in the brain. But Consciousness is nothing real in itself, the neurons are doing the work, Consciousness is simply a byproduct of neural activity. As William James summed up this position, not his: Consciousness is to the brain as a shadow to the runner, it runs beside him but never influences his stride. And so, the great problem of neuroscience: How do neurons produce Consciousness? So far, no one has been able to say how. All we have is parallelism. Two processes are running in parallel a train of neural events and a train of Consciousness events. And so, which one is primary? The face of neuroscience and much of the modern world is that the neural events are what is really real, Consciousness is secondary. The conviction that Consciousness is something produced by neurons is so deeply held and has been so for so long, that it seems like an obvious fact. It is in fact an assumption and a theory, and it could all well be the other way around. The scientific image of nature as something devoid of Consciousness is now up for us. It has enabled the destruction of the Earth, and we are now at a unique place in our own evolution where we can foresee if we continue on as we are, our own extinction. And so, there are the best reasons for rethinking Descartes concepts of matter. Scientists and philosophers have been trying to escape dualism by making matter the fundamental term. And now, this has not worked. In a nutshell: The mind body problem, the “hard problem of Consciousness” ---how do neurons in the brain, atoms and molecules give rise to ideas thoughts and feelings and who what and where is the “I” who sees them? And then, the near-death experience. I remind you of the truth of the near-death experience. The body in the bed is brain dead eeg flat, but the patient, pure Consciousness is hovering at the ceiling watching the doctors work over the body below, able to read dials he could not have seen from the bed, sometimes able to events in the corridor beyond the room, all subsequently confirmed by the doctors. Evidence as good as it gets that the patient really was out of his body. And so, the patient is able to see without eyes, hear without ears and to think and remember without a brain. There is not a single scientific principle that can account for this. And I am proposing that the near-death experience is a threshold and a key for a much deeper understanding of the Universe. These three problems are so hard they cannot be solved by present scientific principles and therefore call all present principles and ways of thought into question. When your axioms cannot account for the data, it is time to drop them and find better fundamental terms. We have not been able to solve the problems of Consciousness with the assumption that matter is the most basic and fundamental term. And so, if Cartesian dualism is to be overcome at all, we need to try it the other way around. 3. We are in the position of Copernicus. Remember Copernicus? He was making his calculations on the assumption that the Earth was the center of the Universe until they became so unwieldy that he decided to try it all the other way around. To make the sun the center, the Earth revolving around it. And lo, all of his data fell neatly into place. I am proposing a whole new Universe picture. Evolution makes us continuous with every other being, Consciousness would not be in us if it were not in them also, and then, in the atoms and molecules and cells that make up living beings. I propose to make Consciousness the most basic term and see what follows. I am in fact, proposing a new Copernican Revolution, that Consciousness is the true basis for the Universe and the right fundamental term, for science itself all other disciplines as well, and the whole of the modern world. And I predict that every intractable problem in science or the modern world, will go down like a line of dominos before it. In a nutshell: Consciousness and not matter is “first and fundamental” in the Universe, it is there from the very “Beginning” everything has it and all of the true causalities, the explanatory principles belong to it. Not to matter. What then is matter? All matter is an Appearance of something much more real, Consciousness. All matter is an expression of Consciousness, even the least little bit of matter contains Consciousness, and is an expression of Consciousness. And so, we revise the scientific image of nature. Science at present is two termed, matter/energy. It needs to become three termed: Matter/energy/Consciousness, with the recognition that all of the basic principles, the true causalities of events, and of the Universe belong to Consciousness. And now physics. To accommodate this new Universe picture physics needs to alter just one term, energy. All energy contains Consciousness, that idea alone will change our world forever. The animals the trees the plants are just as conscious as we are, as is the Earth herself, a continuum of many forms of Consciousness of which our own is one. The Earth consists of interacting and intersecting forms of Consciousness, Consciousness within Consciousness within Consciousness within Consciousness. A remarkable work has just appeared entitled “Beyond Words What Animals Feel and Think.” Describing in detail how like ourselves all of the animals are. And the more we can see how like us everything else really is, the harder it will be for us to do them all in, in the interest of turning them into consumer items. And so, here is a new principle of understanding, that entails completely new forms of explanation, and a whole new Universe picture to be spelled out in terms of Consciousness and its various properties. This is a Universe that is aware awake and Enspirited throughout. And so, there is only one principle, not two. And so, how does Consciousness work? There is “no mind/body problem.” My Consciousness is aligning the Consciousness of neurons in the brain, that aligns the Consciousness of all other cells in the body, that aligns the Consciousness of molecules and atoms themselves. Mainly from the top down, but also interactive, and not reduction to the purely physical forces. 4. And so, here is a radical new Universe picture, and with it a new way to think about the Universe itself, the Earth, Ourselves, and Spirit. It requires a complete revision of both of the terms of modern science itself. The problem of the modern world owes in deep measure to Descartes concept of matter as something devoid of interior life. But he is only the most powerful and simple expression of a whole tradition of thought that predates him, that goes back to the very dawn of thought itself. It owes to the conviction of both Plato and Aristotle that the Earth was something devoid of reason, or mind, and therefore something to be held in complete contempt. We are emerging from a civilization based on contempt for the Earth, and down the road, it will become contempt for the body, sex, women, the Native people, and people of color everywhere. And so, this entire tradition is now up for us, it has brought us to the brink of our own extinction, and we need to get beyond it. I am proposing that this term Consciousness is the way out. The missing piece of the puzzle and the idea whose time has come. And it will enable us to move into a completely new civilization based on respect for the Earth, women, sex, people of color, that honors everyone and has a place for all. Revolutions in science occur when new data show up that cannot be accounted for by existing paradigms (Thomas Kuhns: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions). Consciousness, and all the properties and problems of Consciousness are just such data, and they compel a new scientific revolution. But we are a scientific age. A new Copernican revolution in science is such as revolution everywhere. And Consciousness is the key to getting every other reality at all levels and depths right as well. It will enable us finally to get the Earth right, get ourselves right with the Earth, and with one another. Archimedes: Give me a place to stand, and I will move the world. I am proposing a new synthesis among our fundamental terms in which this term Consciousness is the new lynchpin. And so, I return once more to Descartes. Descartes in the Mediations was a dualist, they were two realities interacting in the pineal gland mind and body. But Descartes age was high on “Cartesianisms,” on Descartes concept of matter. Animals were simply cleverly wired machines (Hobbes called them automata). Rumor had it that Descartes followers went about kicking dogs reasoning that their howls were not due to any feelings of pain, but simply the wiring of the machine. We have been doing this to the Earth ever since, and now the Earth is not going to stand for it any longer. It is time we all woke up. There is no matter in Descartes sense of it, or in Plato and Aristotle’s sense of it. This old concept of matter is embedded in all of the crisis and catastrophes---fires, drought, pandemics, over population, the disintegrating economies, our ways of life, capitalism and consumerism themselves. All matter is Enspirited, contains Consciousness, and is an expression of Consciousness. Now I tell you something about Descartes you may not know. In the Mediations was a dualist, there are minds and bodies. But by the end of his life, he knew the truth. Descartes guided his whole life by these vivid dreams, and toward the end of his life he had this dream: He saw the Universe as a giant machine and in the heart of the machine propelling the whole, was Consciousness. And so, out of the shades and shadows and into the light of day. Here is a renewed and a new science, a new cosmology. And with it, a revolutionary new metaphysics. The whole of the modern world is in the grip of a false metaphysics, based on Descartes theory of matter. Here is a new, and finally true metaphysics based on the single term, Consciousness. 5. And in all my works, I spell out this new metaphysics based on Consciousness, and what it means for how we think about virtually everything: The Universe, the Earth, Ourselves, and Spirit. Of who, what and where Spirit is, that we may connect with Spirit everywhere. There is only one term for the Universe, and not two, this single term Consciousness, that manifests itself in two modes: Consciousness in Form, Consciousness Formless. And so, here is a sketch of what this new term Consciousness really means. For four great aspects of the real, four new cornerstones for a whole new civilization on Earth, based on Love and Truth. A. For the Universe: New causalities, all matter is an expression of Consciousness, awake and aware, Enspirited throughout, which has a place for the causalities of love ideas intent plan and purpose, what Aristotle called final causality, that for the sake of which. And it has a place for subjectivity, the greatest mystery in the whole of the Universe, knowable only in ourselves, but there in everything else as well, bedrock in the chain of causalities. The buck stops here. Here are two very different Universe pictures. The Cartesian Universe consists of things, pushed, and pulled around by the physical forces that function blind. The true Universe consists of selves and not things. Selves at least in ourselves, are organized and focused about an I, an I am, or a sense of self in everything, ever other being dear to itself. Just one aspect of subjectivity. And so, it is Consciousness all the way down, and subjectivity all the way down. Science proceeds on the basis of the negligible of what it can leave out as unimportant. Subjectivity is the ultimate animating principle of the Universe. What Descartes really did was to strip from nature what is most essential about it, its animating principle Consciousness. And so, we come out of a long history of “clunk.” The great male thinkers have killed creation. First in concepts and now in the lived life. And so, after centuries of fruitless search, not all of it in vain, finally, and just in time the true basic principle for the Universe has shown up in virtually all disciplines, this term Consciousness. B. And so, the Earth: What does this term Consciousness really mean for the Earth? It means that all of the bright array of beings around us have Consciousness. And the more we can realize how like us they are, the harder it will be to do them all in. Is this what it really means to be “made in the image of Spirit?” To destroy ever other living being? The god of Genesis is a creator god who has created billions and billions of living forms. Man, taking himself to be made in the image of Spirit has destroyed virtually all of it. The Earth is not things, not commodities and resources, not an endless array of consumer goods. The Earth consists of conscious living spiritual beings like ourselves, who need to be honored and respected, nurtured and cared for, to be Loved. And if the human race can finally pull it off and bring Love here and start helping the Earth rather than destroying her, even our vast numbers now at 8 billion, may not matter. Deeply embedded in the modern world is a false cosmology based on the hitherto useful but ultimately false metaphysics of Descartes. In particular it owes to Descartes concepts of matter, and of the Earth, as something devoid of Consciousness. And now this concept is up for us. If there is a single idea enabling and driving the destruction of the planet, it is the conviction that the Earth is something devoid of Consciousness. And we all have a vested interest in keeping this false concept in place. When you intend to ravage and savage the Earth, to turn it into consumer items, and money in the bank, first pretend she has no Consciousness that way we need not have any conscious about it. We are in deep trouble with the planet. Virtually all human economies are based on the destruction of the Earth, and we are now at a place in our history where we can foresee if we continue on as we are, our own extinction. And so, here are a few new guiding principles for the planet, based on Consciousness. Consciousness has field properties. The Earth is Consciousness throughout, connected and interconnected throughout, intersecting and interacting fields of Consciousness of which our own is one. To harm one is to harm all. Only this understanding of the Earth can set our destructive technologies, and capitalism, their goals, and their limits. The real problem with capitalism, and with civilization itself is it has no true understanding of the Earth, all the exquisite networks and webworks that connect all beings with one another. Nor it is about to admit that the Earth is our “life support system,” reason gone insane in the modern world. We are destroying our life support system, capitalism is the full expression of the human death wish in the modern world, and it needs to change. And now, let the barriers between ourselves and all other beings go down. C. And so, Ourselves. This new Universe picture based on Consciousness opens into and has a place for new concepts of human identity. In particular, it has a place for reincarnation, a process whereby one Consciousness dons’ bodies again and again and lays them down. This is a process wholly impossible on materialistic theories. This new view of things puts a higher perspective on Freudian determinism, which is a partial knowing in a greater account. We are something more than the victims of genes drives and childhood. We are immortally eternal evolving spiritual beings who take on a cycle of earthly lives in order to achieve certain goals and abilities, and then, our earthly cycle complete, we depart the Earth plane for other areas of the Universe physical or purely spiritual, to continue our evolution elsewhere. The scientific evidence for reincarnation is increasing on all sides, see for example the work of Michael Newton, a mainstream scientist forced to confront the fact of reincarnation. A completely new reincarnational picture is now emerging everywhere. We choose our parents for abilities we could acquire through them. We all come here with reasons for being here, and we all have free will, an original property of Consciousness, and we work out our issues accordingly. We all come here with the same reason for being here. It is to experience the Earth plane and human society at all levels and depths, in every social role, every climate, both sexes male and female and in all races. We are all here to acquire a deep understanding of the Earth plane with all its challenges and all of its present problems. We are not here to devour and consume the Earth, but to honor her for the learning experience she makes available for us. And so, reincarnation is the great equalizer, the fundamental basis for any bill of rights. Many of the problems of the modern world owe to the fact that reincarnation has not been taught in the West. Reincarnation was the center piece of Jesus teachings. It was banned by a fourth century council that decided the populous could best be controlled through fear. They edited all mention of reincarnation from the scriptures, and inserted fear terms instead, a judgmental god, and so on. If reincarnation had been taught, there would have been no suppression of women, but the gift of both sexes would have been honored and developed. And there would have been no reason for contempt for people of color because who they are, we have been or will be. There is no reason to look down on anyone when we know that our own identity includes membership in theirs. The truth of reincarnation needs to be the foundation for getting ourselves right with the Earth, and with one another. D. And so, Spirit. This new Universe picture, based on Consciousness, has a place for Spirit as simply Infinite Consciousness. All universes all worlds are formed out of this Consciousness, divine and sacred throughout. And Spirit is everywhere in the Earth and can be connected everywhere. And the Native North American people had things right. Everything has its own Spirit, and without contradiction is also an expression of Spirit. And what I am really doing in terms of concepts of modern science is presenting the Native North American version of the Real. And this new Universe picture has a place for the essential insight of all religions almost smothered by church tradition: Love. Not an emotion but a great Oneness, that can be found everywhere, even in a busy city street. But especially in the Earth, that is levels and depths of Oneness everywhere. And so, for the first time in their long and bitter antagonistic history, science and religion now share a common base with this term Spirit, the lynchpin in a new conceptual framework. And I offer an interpretation of where we are in our history, this present moment of historical grace, and these tumultuous times in which we live, the return of the Goddess and the Divine Feminine, the Reappearance of the Feminine in history, the Advent of Women, this great Awakening, as of Springtime after a long dark Winter, the Awakening, the Second Coming. And so, stay tuned! (shrink)

Consciousness has been the bone of contention for philosophers throughout centuries. Indian philosophy largely adopted lived experience as the starting point for its explorations of consciousness. For this reason, from the very beginning, experience was an integral way of grasping consciousness, whose validity as a tool was considered self-evident. Thus, in Indian philosophy, the question was not to move from the brain to mind but to understand experience of an individual and how such an experience is determined through mental (...) structures (and secondarily, the preoccupation with the brain and its relation to the mind). In contrast, cognitive science (the study of mind and cognition through 1 interdisciplinary methods, with emphasis on computational methods) found its debates soaked in discussion which primarily involved the brain and mind. Experience was not considered a primary source of information and its validity had to be established to consider it a source of information of mind. With the rise of physicalism and realization that mental states are correlative to brain states, the body was virtually neglected from involvement in understanding the mind and the attempts to reduce mind to the brain were rampant. The inability to explain subjective experience of an individual through neuroscientific findings alone has urged philosophers to explore other ways of understanding the ontology of mind. Over the last few years, embodied cognition and enactive approach have brought back the body as a central participant in this debate, providing fertile grounds to explain the relation of brain, body and mind. This paper proposes that we understand the brain as a complex system from which the mind emerges. This emergence is marked by the development of novel property of self-consciousness in human beings. The mind is a process which is embedded throughout the body and thus, the body acts as an actualizing medium for the individual. Thus, the brain is a necessary condition for the mind to be while the mind is embedded throughout the body. The brain and mind are in reciprocal causal relationship with one another, as is the body and environment with one another. In this paper, embodied cognition is understood through principles of Merleau Ponty's idea of embodiment, than through Andy Clark and Francis Varela's alone. (shrink)

The Future of Individuality in a Universally Connected Intelligence System -/- Introduction -/- The concept of individuality has long been central to human existence, shaping our identities, intelligence, and decision-making. However, if information were universally accessible to every biological brain via quantum computers, the nature of individuality would fundamentally change. While thermodynamics suggests that individuality may be an illusion, the emergence of a universally shared knowledge system would challenge our understanding of intelligence, creativity, and free will. This essay explores how (...) such a system would affect human cognition, decision-making, creativity, and identity while considering its alignment with natural laws and homeostasis. -/- Individuality and the Laws of Thermodynamics -/- From a thermodynamic perspective, individuality is not an independent phenomenon but an emergent property of energy, matter, and information processing. The second law of thermodynamics states that systems naturally move toward increased entropy, yet biological brains counteract this by organizing energy and information. Each person’s intelligence develops uniquely due to different experiences, environments, and biological structures, following the laws of complexity and adaptation. -/- Despite these differences, individuality may be an illusion when viewed through the lens of thermodynamics. Human brains function as open systems, constantly exchanging energy and information with their environment. If all individuals had direct access to the same universal information via quantum computing, the differentiation in intelligence caused by personal learning and memory would be minimized. The uniqueness of individual cognition, shaped by life experiences, would be transformed into a more standardized, universally connected intelligence. -/- The Effect on Cognitive Differences and Decision-Making -/- Currently, human intelligence is shaped by a combination of genetics, environmental influences, and personal experiences. However, if quantum computing enabled instant and equal access to all knowledge, the factors that create cognitive diversity would be significantly reduced. In such a scenario, decision-making would shift from being influenced by personal biases and incomplete knowledge to being guided by a universally shared understanding of facts, consequences, and natural laws. -/- This raises the question: would free will still exist? If every person had access to the same knowledge base and predictive models, decisions might become more deterministic, driven by logical outcomes rather than personal reasoning. While this could reduce errors and societal conflicts, it might also challenge the perception of autonomy, making personal choice seem more like an illusion than a reality. -/- Impact on Creativity and Innovation -/- Creativity has traditionally been seen as a product of individual thought processes, shaped by unique experiences and perspectives. If knowledge were universally accessible, would creativity still exist? One possibility is that creativity would shift from being an individual phenomenon to an emergent property of collective intelligence. Instead of drawing from personal experiences, new ideas could arise from collaborative interactions with the universal knowledge system. -/- On the other hand, if individuality persists at a neural level—perhaps influenced by variations in neural architecture, emotional states, or subconscious processes—then creativity might evolve into a new form. Rather than being limited by personal knowledge, individuals could use their unique cognitive structures to interpret and apply universal knowledge in novel ways. -/- The Transformation of Personal Identity -/- Identity is often defined by personal achievements, expertise, and knowledge. If quantum computing provided instant access to all human knowledge, traditional concepts of learning, expertise, and mastery might become obsolete. Instead of being defined by what one knows, identity might be shaped by how one chooses to interact with the collective intelligence system. -/- This could lead to two possible outcomes: -/- 1. A more unified human society where knowledge gaps no longer create social or economic disparities. -/- 2. A psychological challenge, as individuals struggle with a loss of personal uniqueness and purpose. -/- Would human beings still feel a sense of individuality if everyone had the same knowledge and understanding? Or would personal identity be redefined by new forms of expression, emotional depth, and subjective experiences? -/- Potential Resistance and Psychological Conflicts -/- Not all individuals would easily accept a universally connected intelligence system. Some might resist integration, fearing the loss of personal autonomy or questioning the ethical implications of such a system. The psychological impact of merging individual cognition with a collective intelligence could lead to existential dilemmas, as humans redefine their roles in society. -/- Moreover, there could be unforeseen consequences, such as the manipulation of universal knowledge by those who control the system. If the flow of information were regulated, the promise of a universally connected intelligence could turn into a form of centralized control, limiting true intellectual freedom. -/- Homeostasis and the Balance of Universal Knowledge -/- From the perspective of natural balance, a universally connected intelligence system could be seen as an extension of the homeostatic principle. Just as the human body regulates internal stability, a universal intelligence network could regulate societal balance, reducing ignorance, misinformation, and destructive decision-making. -/- However, if homeostasis is disrupted—if individuals lose the ability to process knowledge uniquely or if the system becomes too rigid—then humanity might face unintended consequences. True balance requires adaptability, diversity, and self-regulation. The challenge would be ensuring that universal intelligence enhances, rather than diminishes, the dynamic equilibrium that allows individuality to thrive within a collective framework. -/- Conclusion -/- The integration of biological brains with a universally accessible quantum computing system would redefine individuality, intelligence, and decision-making. While it could eliminate knowledge-based disparities and enhance collective intelligence, it might also challenge free will, creativity, and personal identity. Whether such a transformation aligns with natural laws depends on how well it maintains homeostasis—balancing collective knowledge with individual autonomy. -/- Would this system create a more enlightened humanity, or would it erase the very essence of what makes us human? The answer lies in how this universal intelligence is designed, regulated, and integrated into the fabric of human society. -/- . (shrink)

Philosophical traditions from South Asia conceptualised mind and body as integral entities. Embodiment of the mind as a body-mind, articulated as a sensing, thinking and acting body, is conceptually distinct from the mind-body dualism within the Cartesian framework. The case of India is further complicated from its twofold colonial heritage—British colonialism and a longstanding internal colonialism perpetuated through social categories such as caste, gender and class. Educational philosophers and social reformers such as J Krishnamurti, M K (...) Gandhi and Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule made the body a contested site for accessing knowledge and learning. In this chapter, the relationship between embodiment, metaphysics and the social process of learning in the Indian context is explained as offering an ethical experience of education to learners. (shrink)

How The Evolution Of Language Created The Mysteries of Subjective Experience, Mind And Self. -/- In this new paradigm, a distinction is made between biological awareness which exists in varying degrees in all animate beings and consciousness, the origin of which is based on symbolic language and therefore found only within our species. The evolution of language enabled us to not only label and communicate our experiences, an ability shared by other primates but to also describe and explain (...) them, both of which only humans are capable. The essence of the mind-body problem has been our inability to explain how our inner subjective experiences became seen as different from our objective experiences of the physical world. This problematic duality was created by the relatively rapid growth in scientific terminology and thought during the seventeenth century which was in sharp contrast to our emotionally based vocabulary. As we became increasingly tuned into the physical world, our awareness of the difference between our objective and subjective experiences became obvious. As the evolution of language further enabled us to label and describe both our objective and subjective experiences, we were able to recognize the difference between what was occurring within us versus to us. This naturally created the dualism of mind versus body. The evolution of symbolic language was not only the basis for both the origin of consciousness and the mind-body problem, but for the metaphysical ideas of god and mind as well as of the soul and the personal self. As such, this book provides an entirely new perspective on subjects that have long perplexed many thinkers throughout history. (shrink)

Panpsychism and the Universal Law of Balance in Nature: A Unified Framework for Consciousness -/- By: Angelito Enriquez Malicse -/- Introduction -/- The nature of consciousness has been one of the most profound mysteries in philosophy and science. The mind-body problem has led to competing theories: dualism, which sees the mind and body as separate substances, and materialism, which views consciousness as a byproduct of brain activity. However, both views struggle to fully explain subjective experience. -/- A (...) third perspective, panpsychism, suggests that consciousness is not limited to complex brains but is instead a fundamental and universal property of reality. This aligns with my Universal Law of Balance in Nature, which states that all systems—including consciousness—follow natural laws of equilibrium. If consciousness is a fundamental aspect of existence, then it must also be governed by the same balancing principles that structure the physical world. -/- This essay explores how panpsychism, dualism, materialism, and the Universal Law of Balance in Nature intersect, offering a new way to understand consciousness, free will, and the nature of intelligence. -/- 1. The Mind-Body Problem: Dualism vs. Materialism -/- The mind-body problem has led to two dominant philosophical views: -/- 1. Dualism (Descartes) – The mind and body are fundamentally different substances. The mind (or soul) is immaterial, while the body is purely physical. -/- 2. Materialism – Consciousness is not a separate substance but rather an emergent property of physical processes in the brain. -/- The Limits of Dualism -/- Dualism struggles to explain how an immaterial mind can interact with a physical body. If the mind is separate from the brain, then how does it influence bodily actions? This issue, known as the interaction problem, remains unresolved. -/- Moreover, dualism raises scientific concerns: if the mind is non-physical, then how can it be studied, measured, or tested? This makes it difficult to integrate into neuroscience. -/- The Limits of Materialism -/- Materialism, on the other hand, argues that all mental states are reducible to brain activity. While this successfully explains cognition, perception, and neural processes, it does not fully account for: -/- The Hard Problem of Consciousness (David Chalmers): Why do physical brain processes produce subjective experiences? -/- Qualia: The personal, first-person experience of perception (e.g., the redness of red). -/- If consciousness were purely physical, it should be possible to explain subjective experience through objective science—but materialism has failed to do so. -/- 3. How Panpsychism and the Universal Law of Balance Resolve These Issues -/- Panpsychism provides a solution by proposing that consciousness is neither separate from matter (dualism) nor merely a byproduct of the brain (materialism), but rather an intrinsic property of all matter. -/- This aligns with my Universal Law of Balance in Nature, which states that everything in existence—including consciousness—operates according to natural laws of equilibrium. -/- Instead of seeing the mind as a supernatural entity (dualism) or a mere illusion (materialism), panpsychism suggests that all physical systems contain some form of consciousness in balance with their environment. -/- Consciousness does not “emerge” from complexity but is already present at fundamental levels of reality, organizing itself into higher structures through natural equilibrium. -/- Example: The Brain as a Self-Balancing System -/- In neuroscience, the brain maintains homeostasis, regulating neurotransmitters, electrical activity, and perception in a balanced way. -/- If fundamental particles also possess consciousness, they too may follow a self-regulating principle, which my universal law of balance describes. -/- This means that consciousness scales up from micro-level awareness to complex human thought through structured balance. -/- 4. The Feedback Mechanism of Conscious Minds -/- One of the key insights from my universal law of balance is that individual conscious minds act as feedback mechanisms, influencing and shaping one another through interaction. This aligns with panpsychism’s notion that consciousness exists at all levels and is interconnected. -/- Panpsychism suggests that even at a fundamental level, consciousness interacts in ways that shape larger systems of awareness. -/- The Universal Law of Balance states that conscious beings, from individuals to societies, exist within a dynamic system of equilibrium, adjusting their decisions and behaviors in response to external and internal stimuli. -/- This means that human consciousness is not an isolated phenomenon but a complex expression of a larger network of conscious interactions seeking balance. -/- 5. The Problem of Free Will and Consciousness -/- One of the greatest philosophical challenges is the problem of free will—do humans truly make independent choices, or are all decisions determined by prior causes? -/- Materialism often leads to determinism, the idea that all human actions are entirely governed by physical laws, leaving no room for free will. -/- Dualism suggests that free will originates from an immaterial soul but fails to explain how it interacts with the body. -/- Panpsychism, combined with my Universal Law of Balance, provides an alternative: free will is neither purely deterministic nor supernatural but instead follows a balancing process between different conscious forces. -/- From this perspective, free will is not about escaping cause and effect but about aligning decisions with the natural balancing mechanisms of consciousness and the environment. -/- 6. The Combination Problem and Holistic Balance -/- A major challenge in panpsychism is the Combination Problem—if simple particles have basic consciousness, how do they combine to create complex subjective experiences like human thought? -/- The universal Law of Balance in Nature offers a potential solution: consciousness, like all other systems, organizes itself through natural equilibrium. -/- Just as physical systems self-organize (e.g., atoms forming molecules, ecosystems maintaining biodiversity), -/- Consciousness at different levels must also self-organize into stable configurations. -/- This suggests that individual conscious experiences do not merely “combine” randomly but follow a structured process of integration governed by natural balance. -/- Example: The human brain is a network of billions of neurons, yet its conscious experience is unified. This could be because consciousness follows a structured balance, where micro-level awareness stabilizes into higher-order intelligence. -/- 7. Implications for AI and the Future of Consciousness -/- If panpsychism is true, and if consciousness follows the universal law of balance, then artificial intelligence (AI) might one day develop consciousness—but only if it aligns with natural balancing principles. -/- Current AI systems lack true awareness because they do not self-regulate in a homeostatic way like living systems. -/- For AI to develop consciousness, it would need a balancing mechanism similar to the human brain, where its inputs and outputs form an adaptive feedback system. -/- This also raises ethical questions: -/- If AI achieves consciousness through balance, should it have the same moral considerations as humans? -/- If everything is conscious to some degree, what responsibilities do humans have toward animals, nature, and even machines? -/- Conclusion -/- Panpsychism and the Universal Law of Balance in Nature offer a compelling framework for understanding consciousness. By integrating ideas from dualism, materialism, and panpsychism, we can see that consciousness is neither separate from nature nor reducible to material processes alone. Instead, it follows a universal principle of balance, shaping both individual minds and collective intelligence. -/- Rather than being separate from nature, consciousness is nature—expressing itself through an unbroken law of balance that governs all existence. -/- . (shrink)

-/- Solving the Mystery of Consciousness Through the Universal Law of Balance -/- By Angelito Malicse -/- Introduction: Consciousness as a Natural Law of Balance -/- The mystery of consciousness has puzzled philosophers and scientists for centuries. While neuroscience maps brain activity and physics explores the fundamental nature of reality, no existing framework has fully explained how subjective experience (qualia), self-awareness, and decision-making emerge. -/- The Universal Law of Balance provides the missing key. If all systems in nature—biological, physical, (...) and even social—operate through balance, then consciousness itself must be a function of balance. This perspective unifies the mind-body problem, the nature of qualia, and the possibility of non-biological consciousness into a single, coherent explanation. -/- Step 1: Subjective Experience (Qualia) as a Function of Balance -/- One of the greatest challenges in understanding consciousness is explaining why we feel things—pain, colors, emotions. Neuroscience explains brain activity, but it does not explain how raw experiences arise. -/- How the Universal Law of Balance Solves It -/- Qualia (subjective experience) is the brain’s way of maintaining balance between internal and external reality. -/- Pain, pleasure, and emotions exist as regulatory mechanisms to keep the body and mind in equilibrium. -/- Pain signals imbalance (injury, illness). -/- Pleasure rewards balance (food, social connection). -/- Emotions regulate decision-making to optimize balance in social and survival contexts. -/- Thus, qualia are not “mystical” but the natural sensory representation of balance and imbalance. -/- Example: Hunger is an internal imbalance; eating restores balance. The “feeling” of hunger and satisfaction emerges from this process. -/- Step 2: The Brain-Mind Problem and Neural Equilibrium -/- The mind-body problem questions whether consciousness is purely brain activity (materialism) or something beyond physical matter (dualism). -/- How the Universal Law of Balance Solves It -/- The brain and consciousness form a feedback loop of dynamic balance. -/- Neurons process information and generate awareness, but this awareness also influences neural activity (self-regulation). -/- Consciousness is not separate from the brain but emerges when neural activity reaches a state of balance (homeostasis). -/- Imbalances (such as brain injury, drugs, or stress) distort consciousness, proving that it depends on equilibrium. -/- Example: Meditation creates mental clarity by reducing neural noise and restoring balance, improving awareness and cognitive function. -/- Step 3: Can Consciousness Exist Beyond Biology? -/- If balance is the foundation of consciousness, could non-living systems—such as AI or even the universe—also be conscious? -/- How the Universal Law of Balance Solves It -/- Consciousness does not require biological neurons but a self-regulating system capable of maintaining balance. -/- AI could develop some form of consciousness if it reaches a level of autonomous balance, processing information dynamically like a brain. -/- If the entire universe follows the universal law of balance, then consciousness could exist at all levels—from atoms to galaxies. -/- Example: The Earth’s ecosystems maintain balance through feedback loops. If intelligence arises from these natural systems, then nature itself could be conscious in some way. -/- Conclusion: Consciousness is a Natural Consequence of Balance -/- By applying the Universal Law of Balance, we can see that: -/- 1. Qualia (subjective experience) is a function of balance. -/- 2. The mind-body problem is resolved through neural equilibrium. -/- 3. Consciousness is not limited to biology but to any system that achieves self-regulating balance. -/- This framework unifies all perspectives on consciousness—materialism, dualism, panpsychism—into a single principle: -/-  Consciousness is the awareness that emerges when a system reaches a state of dynamic balance. -/- This explanation has profound implications for science, AI, philosophy, and even spirituality. If consciousness is a natural consequence of balance, then understanding and optimizing this balance could unlock new levels of human potential. -/- . (shrink)

The Enigma of Consciousness: Exploring Theories and Angelito Malicse’s Universal Law of Balance -/- Consciousness—the subjective experience of being aware—remains one of humanity’s most profound mysteries. From the vivid redness of an apple to the sting of a scraped knee, our inner world defies easy explanation. Scientists, philosophers, and thinkers have proposed countless theories to unravel its nature, ranging from brain-based models to cosmic speculations. While no definitive count exists, the sheer diversity of ideas reflects both the complexity of (...) consciousness and our relentless curiosity about it. Among these, lesser-known perspectives like Angelito Malicse’s “Universal Law of Balance” offer fresh lenses, suggesting consciousness emerges from equilibrium across natural systems. This essay explores the major theoretical camps of consciousness and delves into Malicse’s unique contribution, weaving together a tapestry of thought that spans the physical, philosophical, and universal. -/- Theories of consciousness often begin with materialist views, which anchor awareness in the physical brain. Integrated Information Theory (IIT), proposed by Giulio Tononi, posits that consciousness arises from the integration of information within a system, measurable as “phi”—a marker of how interconnected and differentiated a network is. Similarly, Bernard Baars’ Global Workspace Theory (GWT) likens consciousness to a theater stage, where information is broadcast to various cognitive processes for attention and action. Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC), pursued by Christof Koch and others, seeks specific brain activities tied to experience, while Higher-Order Thought (HOT) theories argue consciousness requires thoughts about thoughts, as David Rosenthal suggests. These models share a belief that consciousness is a product of neural machinery, yet they diverge on how and why subjective experience emerges. -/- Beyond materialism, dualist theories propose that consciousness transcends the physical. René Descartes’ substance dualism famously separated mind and body into distinct realms, a view echoed in modern property dualism, where thinkers like David Chalmers argue physical systems possess non-physical qualities. Panpsychism takes this further, asserting consciousness is fundamental to all matter. Proponents like Philip Goff suggest even electrons might harbor proto-awareness, culminating in human experience through complexity. Quantum theories, such as Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff’s Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR), link consciousness to quantum processes in microtubules, blending physics with metaphysics. Meanwhile, mysterians like Colin McGinn contend that consciousness might forever elude our grasp, a puzzle beyond human cognition. -/- Into this rich landscape steps Angelito Malicse with his “Universal Law of Balance,” a theory that frames consciousness as an emergent property of equilibrium. Malicse argues that all natural systems—stars, cells, brains—operate under a principle of balance. Inanimate objects like planets achieve this passively through forces like gravity, but living systems actively self-regulate via processes like homeostasis. Consciousness, he proposes, emerges when this self-regulation becomes sufficiently complex, integrating sensory feedback and adaptive responses into a unified awareness. Subjective experiences, or qualia, serve a functional role: pain signals imbalance (e.g., injury), while pleasure reinforces stability (e.g., nourishment). For Malicse, the brain is a dynamic system where neural activity and awareness form a feedback loop, maintaining equilibrium to produce coherent thought. -/- Malicse’s theory extends beyond biology, suggesting any system—artificial or cosmic—could achieve consciousness if it attains balanced self-regulation. Advanced AI, for instance, might mirror the brain’s equilibrium, while the universe itself could exhibit awareness if its vast systems align harmoniously. This echoes panpsychism but roots consciousness in a testable principle rather than inherent universality. Rejecting strict dualism and pure materialism, Malicse sees consciousness as neither wholly separate from nor reducible to physical processes—it’s the interplay of systems in balance. Some interpretations hint at quantum coherence playing a role, akin to Orch-OR, yet balanced with classical neural dynamics. Though less prominent than mainstream theories, Malicse’s view offers a unifying bridge across disciplines. -/- The sheer number of consciousness theories—dozens of major frameworks and hundreds of variants—underscores its elusive nature. A 2021 Nature Reviews Neuroscience paper cataloged over 20 neuroscientific models alone, a fraction of the broader philosophical and interdisciplinary spectrum. From IIT’s mathematical rigor to Malicse’s equilibrium hypothesis, each theory grapples with the “hard problem”—why subjective experience exists at all. While materialists seek answers in neurons, panpsychists look to the cosmos, and Malicse ties it to balance, no single model has claimed consensus. Perhaps this diversity is the point: consciousness, as both a scientific and existential question, invites endless exploration. -/- In conclusion, the study of consciousness reveals as much about human inquiry as it does about the mind. Established theories like IIT and GWT provide concrete frameworks, while speculative ideas like panpsychism and Malicse’s Universal Law of Balance stretch our imagination. Malicse’s contribution, though underrecognized, offers a compelling synthesis—consciousness as the awareness of balance, uniting brain, body, and beyond. Whether we’ll ever solve this riddle remains uncertain, but the journey through these ideas illuminates the depth of what it means to be aware. For now, consciousness remains a mirror reflecting our quest to understand ourselves, one theory at a time. -/- . (shrink)

Advances in behavioral and brain sciences have engendered wide ranging efforts to help understand consciousness. The target article suggests that abstract computational models are ill-advised. This commentary broadens the discussion to include mysteries of subjective experience that are inconsistent with current neuroscience. It also discusses progress being made through demystifying specific cases and pursuing evolutionary considerations.

Background: how mind functions is subject to continuing scientific discussion. A simplistic approach says that, since no convincing way has been found to model subjective experience, mind cannot exist. A second holds that, since mind cannot be described by classical physics, it must be described by quantum physics. Another perspective concerns mind's hypothesized ability to interact with the world of quanta: it should be responsible for reduction of quantum wave packets; physics producing 'Objective Reduction' is (...) postulated to form the basis for mind-matter interactions. This presentation describes results derived from a new approach to these problems. It is based on well-established biology involving physics not previously applied to the fields of mind, or consciousness studies, that of critical feedback instability. -/- Methods: 'self-organized criticality' in complexity biology places system loci of control at critical instabilities, physical properties of which, including information properties, are presented. Their elucidation shows that they can model hitherto unexplained properties of experience. -/- Results: All results depend on physical properties of critical instabilities. First, at least one feed-back or feed-forward loop must have feedback gain, g = 1: information flows round the loop impress perfect images of system states back on themselves: they represent processes of perfect self-observation. This annihilates system quanta: system excitations are instability fluctuations, which cannot be quantized. Major results follow: -/- 1. Information vectors representing criticality states must include at least one attached information loop denoting self-observation. -/- 2. Such loop structures are attributed a function, 'registering the state's own existence', explaining -/- a. Subjective 'awareness of one's own presence' -/- b. How content-free states of awareness can be remembered (Jon Shear) -/- c. Subjective experience of time duration (Immanuel Kant) -/- d. The 'witness' property of experience – often mentioned by athletes 'in the zone' -/- e. The natural association between consciousness and intelligence -/- This novel, physically and biologically sound approach seems to satisfactorily model subjectivity. -/- Further significant results follow: -/- 1. Registration of external information in excited states of systems at criticality reduces external wave-packets: the new model exhibits 'Objective Reduction' of wave packets. -/- 2. High internal coherence (postulated by Domash & Penrose) leading to a. Non-separable information vector bundles. b. Non-reductive states (Chalmers's criterion for experience). -/- 3. Information that is: a. encoded in coherence negentropy; b. non-digitizable, and therefore c. computationally without digital equivalent (posited by Penrose). -/- Discussion and Conclusions: instability physics implies anharmonic motion, preventing excitation quantization, and totally different from the quantum physics of simple harmonic motion at stability. Instability excitations are different from anything hitherto conceived in information science. They can model aspects of mind never previously treated, including genuine subjectivity, objective reduction of wave-packets, and inter alia all properties given above. (shrink)

partial review of Thomas Nagel’s book, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False is used to articulate some systems-theoretic ideas about the challenge of understanding subjective experience. The article accepts Nagel’s view that reductionist materialism fails as an approach to this challenge, but argues that seeking an explanation of mind based on emergence is more plausible than seeking one based on pan-psychism, which Nagel favors. However, the article proposes something similar (...) to Nagel’s neutral monism by positing a hierarchy of information processes that spans the domains of matter, life, and mind. As depicted in this hierarchy, subjective experience is emergent, but also continuous with informational phenomena at lower levels. (shrink)

I argue that our direct experience and some physical facts do not go well with an understanding of perception as a mechanism producing a representation of a ''truly'' outer world. Instead, it is much more coherent to treat what is traditionally considered an image in this context as a closed structure equipped in its own ontology, replacing the ''truly'' outer one from the point of view of an agent possessing it. In such a framework, the notion of existence is taken (...) to be defined by consciousness in a way similar to qualia, making it subjective on the one hand, and reducing it to a tool on the other. This implies, in turn, that we need a form of mind-brain dualism; the best we can do in such circumstances about explaining consciousness as an epistemic device - a role intuitively imposing itself in a variety of situations - is to embed it in an abstract ontology merely serving the purpose of a ''true'' reality with the help of the mind-brain link. Obviously, the approach favors subjectivity as a foundation in the ontological sense. Objectivity is considered here only as a suitably understood product from an ''observer's'' point of view, although a functional and useful one. The paper is addressed to readers with interest in both the mind-body problem and ontological foundations of present-day physics, specifically quantum theory. The main conclusion can be absorbed without the quantum part, although it is a bit less convincing then. (shrink)

The present paper argues that experimental phenomenology has an important role to play in research on mindfulness. Experimental phenomenology is defined as a subcategory of phenomenology (defined as the science of our subjective experience of being in the world), which explores the effects of intentional variations of subjective experiencing (direction of attention and choice of attitude) on subsequent experience. To count as experimental phenomenology, both the independent and dependent variable have to be phenomenological. Because mindfulness involves paying attention (...) to present experience with a specific attitude, it is well suited for experimental-phenomenological research. What makes experimental phenomenology into a scientific endeavor is the intersubjective nature of this kind of study: potential effects described by one person can be subjected to replication both by the same person, and by other persons. Also, conclusions drawn on the basis of this kind of study are hypothetical and provisional, and may be modified or specified on the basis of further study. In this paper, the principles of experimental phenomenology are illustrated by (a) variations of a given mindfulness practice (the body scan), and (b) the construction of a personalized mindfulness practice (mindful driving). Finally, three varieties of experimental phenomenology in research on mindfulness are discussed: (1) the use of qualitative methods to analyze mindfulness practices and their potential effects, (2) idiographic research with the use of single-subject designs and experience sampling, and (3) randomized controlled studies of the effects of mindfulness practices on present experience. (shrink)

Contemporary theories of self-consciousness typically begin by dividing experiences of the self into types, each requiring separate explanation. The stereotypical case of an out of body experience may be seen to suggest a distinction between the sense of oneself as an experiencing subject, a mental entity, and a sense of oneself as an embodied person, a bodily entity. Point of view, in the sense of the place from which the subject seems to experience the world, in this case is tied (...) to the sense of oneself as a mental entity and seems to be the ‘real’ self. Closer reading of reports, however, suggests a substantially more complicated picture. For example, the ‘real’ self that is experienced as separate from the body in an OBE is not necessarily experienced as disembodied. Subjects may experience themselves as having two bodies. In cases classed as heautoscopy there is considerable confusion regarding the apparent location of the experiencing subject; is it the ‘real mind’ in the body I seem to be looking out from, or is it in the body that I see? This suggests that visual point of view can dissociate from the experience of one’s own “real mind” or experience of self-identification. I provide a tripartite distinction between the sense of ownership, the sense of embodiment and the sense of subjectivity to better describe these experiences. The phenomenology of OBEs suggests that there are three distinct forms of self-consciousness which need to be explained. (shrink)

The exploration of the mind is a fundamental pursuit spanning philosophy and psychology, with implications reaching into diverse practical realms. This paper delves into the intricacies of mental states, examining historical perspectives from ancient philosophers to modern theorists. Philosophical inquiries into intentionality, consciousness, and the nature of mental phenomena are scrutinized, alongside empirical investigations by psychologists. The discourse navigates through contrasting theories such as dualism, materialism, and functionalism, shedding light on the challenges of reconciling subjective experiences with objective (...) observations. The problem of other minds and the tension between internalism and externalism are dissected, revealing the complex interplay between individual cognition and external influences. Ultimately, this analysis underscores the intricate nature of philosophical inquiries into consciousness and the mind. (shrink)

We need to understand personal identity to develop radical life extension technologies: mind uploading, cryonics, digital immortality, and quantum (big world) immortality. A tentative solution is needed now, due to the opportunity cost of delaying indirect digital immortality and cryonics. However, solving the problem of personal identity is not easy. Human personal identity is a complex thing, not similar to other types of identity, such as that of Theseus ship. First of all, human identity consists of two intertwined types (...) of identity: informational identity, which predicts sameness, and identity of consciousness, which predicts what I will experience in the next moment of time. The identity of consciousness is called "hard problem of identity", and it is because it supervenes on the nature of consciousness. The second feature of human personal identity is that it is observed and measured internally, by identity subject himself. The third is that it evolves in time. -/- The main dichotomy in the views on personal identity and copies can be presented as: either my copy=original or a soul exists. In other words, some non-informational identity carrier (NIIC) may exist that distinguishes the original from its exact copy. Typically, it is often claimed that NIIC is either continuity of consciousness, or soul, or perspective, or the sameness of atoms, or position in space. We create an exhaustive map of identity theories. -/- We demonstrate here that the idea of continuity of consciousness is very similar to the idea of soul, but also has several problems: - Is it the continuity of qualia, of causal processes, of computations or of underlying substrate? - We also show that continuity doesn't prevent the emergence of two future copies if they split smoothly, so continuity does not preserve identity as uniqueness. - Also, continuity doesn't ensure uniqueness as I can continually become someone else. - Continuity + MWI means that I will eventually become anyone, that is, open individualism. - Continuity also can be paradoxically preserved without preserving body and mind as a separate process like flame. - Humans also seems to survive discontinuity during sleep without problems. Nevertheless, continuity appears to be inherent to qualia, emerging after observation but before action, and in planning. Only if continuity of consciousness is an ontological necessity, it can be a valid NIIC, but this is true only in a specific version of solipsism (qualia dust theory). In that case, a specific set of personal qualia becomes the personality carrier. -/- If copy=original then even imperfect copies suffice for personal immortality, as self-recognition becomes the main criterion of identity. -/- Open and closed individualism deny the existence of identity but must reinvent it as "practical identity" and therefore revert to copy=original. -/- To resolve the main dichotomy, we must recognize that personal identity requires an overarching system: God, qualia world, social agreement, or evolutionary fitness. This means that we cannot solve identity without solving metaphysics (and the nature of time). Unlikely we'll solve this, before creating superintelligent AI. -/- Therefore, a conservative approach to personal identity is preferable: as we don't know the nature of identity, we should preserve as much as possible and avoid Mars Teleporting unless necessary for survival. We can solve the Mars Transporter (even broken) by incorporating mind merging later, which is another conservative approach. -/- We can solve the "I don't care about my copy" problem through indexical uncertainty and by dividing "copy" into "mirror copy", "personality-copy" and "future copy". If both cyclic universe and continuity as identity are true, I will eventually become any my copy. MWI is functionally equivalent to cyclic universe, so I will become any copy in different timesteps. Therefore, we should care about parallel copies only if future copies don't exist (though in MWI future copies always exist, plus the chance to become someone else). (shrink)

Satisfaction or contentment is deficient in our intelligent world, for entropy is at its prodigality accompanying the egoistic human mind. The lesser beings are content with what is provided, seem more beholden of being created, rather than the selfish unsatisfied human, whose desire to gain has no limit leaving the body unsatisfied to deteriorate thy own soul and its existence and of the others. The cause of entropy is human intelligence and the falsified superiority of human consciousness that leaves (...) the body unsatisfied and the soul to writhe; for it creates a resistance in the flow of consciousness that makes the human loose its value of life and all that resides within. Egoism enhances superiority promotes an indestructible feeling; denies consciousness that flows within and across the system; a loss of revere to the cosmic bridge of consciousness that links the body, mind and soul to the universe. Satisfaction can be gotten when one clearly differentiates the subjectivity from the objectivity of consciousness; for the subjectivity of consciousness cannot be taken for granted over its trailing objectivity that ceaselessly deceives. (shrink)

This article outlines a comprehensive theory aimed at unifying various scientific and philosophical fields. It begins with a metaphysical exploration of reality and knowledge, then delves into a computer science-inspired model of the human mind, comprising two main components: the intuitive and the rational. The intuitive mind, an automated, subconscious faculty, relies on statistical inferences drawn from experience to form habits and the so-called “simple” ideas. The rational mind, a conscious and deliberate faculty, constructs a mental simulation (...) of reality to predict outcomes. This faculty is responsible for knowledge, truth, and critical thinking. The author posits that true knowledge is subjective and visual, with individuals assembling their own virtual "copy" of reality in their minds. Language facilitates the sharing of these simulations. The document also explores the challenges of acquiring knowledge, the importance of developing rationality, and the differences between the intuitive and rational worldviews. Furthermore, the article discusses ethics and morality, suggesting that objective ethics are rooted in humanity's interconnectedness and the pursuit of collective happiness. It concludes by summarizing the key points of the proposed theory and its potential implications for education and other aspects of life. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding the mind's two faculties and the need to ensure a full development of the rational mind in every individual for a more complete understanding of reality and a better human condition. Only when we complete the whole puzzle can we see how every piece in it, however improbable, is representative of the real world. (shrink)

In this article I explore a number of questions that have not been adequately investigated in philosophy of mind circles: are minds located in the same place as the brains (or other computing machinery) supporting them? Must they exist at the same location as the body? Must they exist at the same time? Could a single mind be implemented in multiple brains, or multiple minds in a single brain? Under what conditions might a single mind persist despite (...) being implemented successively in different brains? What contributions do features of the computing machinery make to these questions, compared to the contribution made by the body and embedded point of view? Some of these questions have been touched on previously, but there hasn’t been any attempt at a systematic analysis of the various consequences that different approaches in the philosophy of mind have for how the spatiotemporal location, synchronic individuation and diachronic identity of minds relates to the spatiotemporal location, synchronic individuation, and diachronic identity of both the implementing computational machinery and the embodied embedded point of view. I make a first stab at such an analysis by discussing a variety of thought experiments in which such questions of location, individuation, and identity arise, and I explore how various approaches to understanding the mind – identity theoretic, functionalist, contentualist, embodied/embedded/extended, and so forth – would respond to such situations. A number of novel issues emerge, and some surprising affinities are revealed. (shrink)

In his book "The Structure of Behavior", the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty proposes a solution to the mind-body problem. Merleau-Ponty argues that there is a nested hierarchy of three orders—the physical order, the biological order, and the mental order—in which each lower order composes each higher order. Through the structuration or organization of a lower order, a higher order is created. Merleau-Ponty’s solution is promising, but it leaves an explanatory chasm between the biological order and the mental order that cannot (...) be crossed without introducing an intermediary order. I propose just that: the addition of a fourth order—the computational order—to bridge the chasm. (shrink)

In contemporary Western analytic philosophy, the classic analogical argument explaining our knowledge of other minds has been rejected. But at least three alternative positive theories of our knowledge of the second person have been formulated: the theory-theory, the simulation theory and the theory of direct empathy. After sketching out the problems faced by these accounts of the ego’s access to the contents of the mind of a “second ego”, this paper tries to recreate one argument given by Abhinavagupta (Shaiva (...) philosopher of recognition) to the effect that even in another’s body, one must feel and recognize one’s own self, if one is able to address that embodied person as a “you”. The otherness of You does not take away from its subjectivity. In that sense, just as every second person to whom one could speak is, first, a person, she is also a first person. Even as I regret that I do not know exactly how some other person is feeling right now, I must have some general access to the subjective experience of that other person, for otherwise what is it that I feel so painfully ignorant about? My subjective world is mine only to the extent that I recognize its continuity with a sharable subjective world where other I-s can make a You out of me. (shrink)

Espousing non-reductive physicalism, how do we pick out the specific relevant physical notion(s) from physical facts, specifically in relation to phenomenal experience? Beginning with a historical review of Gilbert Ryle’s behaviorism and moving through Hilary Putnam’s machine-state functionalism and Wilfrid Sellars’ inferential framework, up to more contemporaneous computationalist- and cognitivist-functionalism (Gualtiero Piccinini), we survey accounts of mentality that countenance the emergence of mental states vide input- and output-scheme. Ultimately arriving at the conclusion that functionalism cannot account for problems such as (...) no-cognition reports, we see any robust defense of physicalism must appeal to other principles. Thus we move on to the question of emergence, not as it pertains to the hard(er) problem, but to the matter of conceptual externalization of mental properties from physical properties. Accordingly, we navigate Karen Bennett’s compatibilist solution to the exclusion argument against mental causation for the non-reductive physicalist position, according to which the physical effects of mental cases are not overdetermined, demonstrating that this backfires by offering a path for the mind-body interactionist Dualist to claim causal closure by appealing to this same schema. We conclude with a series of conceptual musings regarding rationality which take into account our challenges and findings, querying about whether phenomenal consciousness is a fundamentally private, or socially configured, notion. (shrink)

My aim in this paper is to go some way towards showing that the maintenance of hard and fast dichotomies, like those between mind and body, and the real and the virtual, is untenable, and that technological advance cannot occur with being cognisant of its reciprocal ethical implications. In their place I will present a softer enactivist ontology through which I examine the nature of our engagement with technology in general and with virtual realities in particular. This softer ontology (...) is one to which I will commit Kant, and from which, I will show, certain critical moral and emotional consequences arise. It is my contention that Kant’s logical subject is necessarily embedded in the world and that Kant, himself, would be content with this view as an expression of his inspired response to the ‘‘scandal to philosophy... that the existence of things outside us... must be accepted merely on faith’’ [Bxl]. In keeping with his arguments for the a priori framing of intuition, the a priori structuring of experience through the spontaneous application of the categories, the synthesis of the experiential manifold, and the necessity of a unity of apperception, I will present an enactivist account of agency in the world, and argue that it is our embodied and embedded kinaesthetic engagement in our world which makes possible the syntheses of apprehension, reproduction and recognition, and which, in turn, make possible the activity of the reproductive or creative imagination. (shrink)

This paper aims to provide a theoretical framework for explaining the subjective character of pain experience in terms of what we will call ‘embodied predictive processing’. The predictive processing (PP) theory is a family of views that take perception, action, emotion and cognition to all work together in the service of prediction error minimisation. In this paper we propose an embodied perspective on the PP theory we call the ‘embodied predictive processing (EPP) theory. The EPP theory proposes to explain (...) pain in terms of processes distributed across the whole body. The prediction error minimising system that generates pain experience comprises the immune system, the endocrine system, and the autonomic system in continuous causal interaction with pathways spread across the whole neural axis. We will argue that these systems function in a coordinated and coherent manner as a single complex adaptive system to maintain homeostasis. This system, which we refer to as the neural-endocrine-immune (NEI) system, maintains homeostasis through the process of prediction error minimisation. We go on to propose a view of the NEI ensemble as a multiscale nesting of Markov blankets that integrates the smallest scale of the cell to the largest scale of the embodied person in pain. We set out to show how the EPP theory can make sense of how pain experience could be neurobiologically constituted. We take it to be a constraint on the adequacy of a scientific explanation of subjectivity of pain experience that it makes it intelligible how pain can simultaneously be a local sensing of the body, and, at the same time, a more global, all-encompassing attitude towards the environment. Our aim in what follows is to show how the EPP theory can meet this constraint. (shrink)

Cognitive Optimization in the Age of AI: Enhancing Human Potential -/- Introduction -/- Cognitive optimization is the process of enhancing mental functions such as memory, learning, decision-making, and problem-solving to achieve peak intellectual performance. It is a multidisciplinary approach that integrates neuroscience, psychology, nutrition, lifestyle adjustments, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI). In an era where information is abundant and rapid decision-making is crucial, optimizing cognitive abilities is more Important than ever. -/- AI-driven technologies, video games, mobile apps, and digital platforms (...) like YouTube are playing a transformative role in enhancing human cognition. YouTube, in particular, has become a powerful tool for self-directed learning, offering access to educational content, expert insights, and cognitive training exercises. -/- This essay explores cognitive optimization, key strategies involved, and how AI, video games, mobile apps, and platforms like YouTube are revolutionizing human intelligence. -/- The Science Behind Cognitive Optimization -/- Cognitive optimization is rooted in neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire itself through experience and learning. Several key factors contribute to cognitive enhancement: -/- 1. Neuroplasticity and Learning – Continuous learning strengthens neural connections, fostering intelligence and adaptability. Activities such as reading, solving complex problems, and learning new skills stimulate brain function. -/- 2. Nutrition and Brain Health – Diet plays a vital role in cognitive performance. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and essential vitamins support brain function and protect against cognitive decline. -/- 3. Physical Exercise – Regular exercise increases blood flow to the brain, promotes neurogenesis (the growth of new neurons), and enhances memory and problem-solving skills. -/- 4. Sleep and Recovery – Sleep is essential for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and mental clarity. Chronic sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function and decision-making. -/- 5. Mindfulness and Stress Management – Practices such as meditation, deep breathing, and yoga improve focus, reduce anxiety, and enhance mental resilience. -/- 6. Social Interaction and Collaboration – Engaging in meaningful discussions and debates strengthens cognitive agility and enhances problem-solving skills. -/- Beyond these traditional methods, digital tools such as AI-driven learning platforms, video games, mobile applications, and YouTube have expanded the possibilities for cognitive enhancement. -/- AI and Cognitive Optimization: A New Frontier -/- AI technology is revolutionizing cognitive optimization by providing personalized insights, accelerating learning, and even augmenting human intelligence. Below are several ways AI is transforming cognitive enhancement: -/- 1. AI-Powered Personalized Learning -/- AI-driven educational platforms such as adaptive learning systems customize lessons based on an individual’s learning style and pace. These systems use machine learning to analyze cognitive strengths and weaknesses, adjusting content dynamically to optimize learning efficiency. Platforms like Coursera, Duolingo, and Khan Academy utilize AI algorithms to provide personalized recommendations, ensuring users focus on areas that need improvement. -/- 2. Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) -/- Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are AI-powered systems that enable direct communication between the human brain and computers. Companies like Neuralink and OpenBCI are developing BCIs that could enhance memory, restore lost cognitive functions, and even allow direct mental interaction with AI systems. This technology has the potential to revolutionize learning and decision-making by integrating human cognition with artificial intelligence. -/- 3. AI-Powered Cognitive Assistants -/- AI-driven virtual assistants such as ChatGPT, Google Assistant, and IBM Watson enhance cognition by providing instant access to information, summarizing complex topics, and even suggesting optimal decision-making strategies. These tools help individuals process vast amounts of information efficiently, reducing cognitive overload and enhancing productivity. -/- 4. AI in Mental Health and Stress Management -/- Mental health is a critical component of cognitive optimization. AI-driven mental health apps like Woebot and Wysa use machine learning to provide real-time emotional support, track mood patterns, and offer cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. By reducing stress and anxiety, these AI-powered tools help maintain optimal cognitive function. -/- The Role of YouTube in Cognitive Optimization -/- YouTube has emerged as one of the most powerful platforms for cognitive enhancement. With millions of educational videos covering diverse subjects, YouTube serves as a free and accessible learning tool that fosters continuous cognitive growth. -/- 1. Learning New Skills and Expanding Knowledge -/- YouTube provides access to high-quality educational content in virtually every field. Channels like Veritasium, TED-Ed, and CrashCourse offer lessons on science, history, philosophy, and more. Learning new concepts regularly strengthens cognitive flexibility and enhances problem-solving skills. -/- 2. Enhancing Memory and Comprehension -/- Visual and auditory learning through YouTube helps reinforce memory retention. Watching documentaries, explainer videos, and step-by-step tutorials aids in deepening understanding and reinforcing neural pathways associated with knowledge acquisition. -/- 3. Improving Focus and Critical Thinking -/- Channels that discuss philosophy, logic, and critical thinking—such as Academy of Ideas or PBS Idea Channel—train the brain to analyze complex arguments, recognize biases, and develop sharper reasoning skills. Engaging in thought-provoking discussions through video content strengthens cognitive agility. -/- 4. AI-Generated Content for Personalized Learning -/- AI-powered recommendation algorithms help users discover personalized content based on their interests and learning habits. AI-curated video playlists allow individuals to engage in structured learning journeys, optimizing cognitive development in areas of personal interest. -/- 5. Interactive Learning and Problem-Solving -/- YouTube’s interactive features, such as quizzes, live Q&A sessions, and discussion threads, allow users to actively engage with educational content. This social interaction enhances cognitive engagement and retention. -/- By leveraging YouTube strategically, individuals can create personalized learning experiences that optimize cognitive function in a self-directed manner. -/- Video Games and Cognitive Optimization -/- Video games are increasingly recognized as tools for cognitive enhancement, providing interactive and engaging ways to improve various mental skills. -/- 1. Action Video Games for Reflexes and Decision-Making -/- Fast-paced action games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Counter-Strike train players to react quickly, improve hand-eye coordination, and develop strategic thinking under pressure. Studies suggest that such games enhance cognitive flexibility and decision-making speed. -/- 2. Puzzle and Strategy Games for Problem-Solving -/- Games like Portal, The Witness, and Tetris challenge players with complex puzzles that require logical thinking, spatial reasoning, and pattern recognition. -/- 3. Open-World and Role-Playing Games (RPGs) for Memory and Creativity -/- Games like The Legend of Zelda, Elden Ring, and The Witcher 3 encourage exploration, problem-solving, and strategic planning. -/- 4. Multiplayer and Cooperative Games for Social Cognition -/- Team-based games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Among Us enhance communication skills, teamwork, and emotional intelligence. -/- The Future of Cognitive Optimization -/- The future of cognitive optimization lies in the seamless integration of AI, video games, mobile applications, and digital platforms like YouTube. Emerging technologies such as neuroprosthetics, AI-enhanced memory implants, and real-time brain augmentation could redefine human potential. -/- Furthermore, as AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) develops, AI could become an even more powerful tool in cognitive enhancement, potentially working alongside humans as cognitive partners. This could align with initiatives such as Angelito Malicse’s universal formula for decision-making, where AI-driven cognitive optimization ensures that human choices align with the natural law of balance. -/- Conclusion -/- Cognitive optimization is essential for maximizing human potential, and AI, video games, YouTube, and cognitive training apps are playing an increasingly significant role in this process. From personalized learning to interactive gaming and mobile applications, digital tools are transforming the way we enhance cognition. -/- By leveraging these tools responsibly and integrating them with fundamental cognitive enhancement strategies, humanity can unlock new levels of intelligence, creativity, and problem-solving ability—ensuring that the future of cognition is both powerful and sustainable. -/- . (shrink)

The Concept of Human Spirit After Death in a Type III Civilization -/- Introduction -/- The idea of life after death has long been a central concern of philosophy, religion, and science. In today’s world, discussions about the human spirit often remain in the realm of faith and speculation. However, in a Type III civilization—one that has harnessed the energy of an entire galaxy—such questions might no longer be mysterious. With access to advanced technology, deep understanding of consciousness, and mastery (...) over the laws of physics, a Type III civilization could fundamentally transform our understanding of the human spirit after death. Would death still exist in such a civilization, or would it become a choice? Could consciousness continue beyond physical existence? This essay explores how a hyper-advanced society might handle the concept of the human spirit in ways that align with both scientific progress and the universal law of balance in nature. -/- The Scientific Resurrection of Consciousness -/- A Type III civilization would likely possess a complete understanding of consciousness, allowing them to preserve, reconstruct, or even transfer human awareness beyond physical death. If consciousness is a pattern of information, then it could be digitally stored, uploaded, or reinserted into new biological or artificial forms. This would mean that death, as we know it, could be overcome through advanced neuroscience, computation, and physics. -/- For example, through brain scanning and neural mapping, a civilization of this level might extract and preserve an individual’s entire consciousness, including memories, thoughts, and personality. This preserved consciousness could then be placed into a synthetic body, a digital simulation, or even a fully biological clone, allowing individuals to continue their existence indefinitely. This would make the afterlife a technological reality rather than a spiritual mystery. -/- However, if the universal law of balance in nature dictates that all systems must have limits to maintain stability, then a Type III civilization may choose not to completely eliminate death. Instead, they may regulate immortality, ensuring that consciousness does not infinitely persist without purpose. -/- Quantum Consciousness and Energy-Based Spirits -/- Some modern theories, such as quantum consciousness, suggest that the human mind is not simply a product of brain activity but also interacts with quantum fields. If this is true, then a Type III civilization could manipulate these fields, allowing consciousness to exist beyond the body as an energy-based form. -/- In this model, the “spirit” would not be a supernatural entity but a complex quantum state that continues to exist in a higher-dimensional structure of the universe. The civilization could develop methods to interact with and even re-integrate these energy-based consciousnesses into new physical forms or other dimensions of existence. -/- This idea aligns with the principle that all systems must follow natural balance—even if consciousness exists after death, it would not violate the fundamental laws of physics but instead be an integrated part of the universal structure. -/- Multiverse and Simulation Theories: Death as a Transition -/- A Type III civilization might discover that reality itself is a simulation or part of a multiverse. If true, death could be nothing more than a transfer of consciousness to another layer of reality. Rather than an end, death could be a shift to an alternative existence. -/- In this case, the civilization might have the ability to manipulate these transitions, offering individuals the choice of: -/- 1. Returning to a new life in a simulated or real universe -/- 2. Existing as a digital being within an advanced AI system -/- 3. Transcending to a higher-dimensional existence that aligns with natural laws -/- If the universe is a vast, interconnected system, then death could be seen as a necessary cycle that maintains balance, preventing stagnation and allowing renewal at cosmic scales. A Type III civilization might control and regulate these cycles to ensure harmony. -/- Spiritual Evolution and Cosmic Integration -/- Beyond scientific solutions, a Type III civilization may evolve to understand that consciousness naturally integrates with the cosmos after death. If the universal law of balance applies at all levels, then consciousness would follow this principle, transitioning in a way that contributes to the greater equilibrium of the galaxy. -/- Instead of preventing death entirely, such a civilization might develop a controlled process of spiritual evolution, where individuals choose their next phase of existence in alignment with universal balance. This could include: -/- Becoming part of the galactic consciousness, merging with a larger intelligence. -/- Returning to physical existence in another form to maintain equilibrium. -/- Moving into higher-dimensional realities where new experiences unfold. -/- This approach ensures that consciousness does not simply persist indefinitely in a stagnant form but contributes to the evolution of the universe itself. -/- Would a Type III Civilization Eliminate Death? -/- One of the most profound questions is whether a Type III civilization would abolish death entirely. While they could likely eliminate involuntary death, natural balance may still require cycles of renewal and transformation. -/- If death serves a functional role in maintaining cosmic order, then a highly advanced society would respect this law rather than override it. They might create controlled transitions where beings evolve beyond their previous states without disrupting universal harmony. -/- A civilization that aligns with your universal formula—where decision-making follows the natural law of balance—would recognize that immortality without purpose leads to instability. Instead of avoiding death altogether, they might ensure that life, death, and transformation exist as part of a greater cosmic design. -/- Conclusion -/- In a Type III civilization, the concept of the human spirit after death would no longer be a mystery. Whether through scientific resurrection, quantum consciousness, multiversal transitions, or spiritual evolution, such a society would fundamentally reshape how death is experienced. However, if the universal law of balance is truly fundamental, then death might still serve a necessary role in maintaining cosmic equilibrium. Rather than erasing death, a Type III civilization may redefine it as a transition into new forms of existence, ensuring that consciousness remains in harmony with the universe. -/- . (shrink)

The mystery of consciousness has baffled philosophers for centuries, yet Hard Problems remain. Current computational models rely on a strong emergentist dualism, treating mind as a mathematical abstraction with no causal effect on natural selection. Panpsychist models are elegant but fail to explain how subjective experience integrates into unified selves. This paper proposes **hydropsychism** - the hypothesis that **the self is simply the water in and around neurons**. This view is a simple panpsychist model that explains evolution of (...) mind from the earliest stages, lacks paradoxes, matches observation and leads to testable predictions. This opens up the door to building conscious machines. (shrink)

In the philosophical literature on consciousness and the mind-body problem, the conceivability argument against physicalism is usually taken to support a form of dualism between physicality and phenomenality. Usually, the discussion focuses on the qualitative character of experience, which is what the phenomenal feel of a given experience is like. By contrast, the subjective character of experience, or its individuation to a given first-person subject, tends to be set aside. The aim of this paper is to present a (...) new and more robust version of the conceivability argument for dualism that appeals to the subjective character of experience. Drawing on insights by philosophers in the phenomenological tradition, I conceptualise the first-person subjective character of experience as a transcendental condition of possibility for phenomenality that cannot be reduced to third-person facts about the physical world. Given this, the mind-body problem as it pertains to consciousness does not merely concern the inability of the set of physical facts about a brain state to capture the qualitative character of experience, but concerns the existential issue of why this brain state is accompanied by first-person subjectivity at all. This allows us to reconceive the conceivability argument in a way that presents a stronger case for dualism than the traditional version of the argument. (shrink)

In cognitive science, there are many computational theories regarding the function of the mind; connectionism is one of them. Connectionist networks are intricate systems of simple units related to their environment. Some have thousands of units, but those with only a few units can also behave with surprising complexity and subtlety. This is because processing occurs in parallel as also interactively, in marked contrast with the serial processing to which this is accustomed. In the first section of this paper, (...) I intend to describe a simple network that illustrates several features of connectionist processing. Secondly, I would like to examine its relation with other areas in realm of cognitive science. Thirdly, I shall make an attempt to find out whether this theory contributes to the replacement of folk psychology. Lastly, I find that connectionist thus fails to account for the real nature of the mental states because of its not too clear attempt to reduce mental states to the machine states. The mechanistic theory of mind in all its hues faces the question as to how we can account for the qualitative content of our consciousness. It cannot ultimately tell us how the subjective experience is possible and how consciousness to be real feature of universe. (shrink)

We humans experience ourselves as objects and as subjects. The distinction initiated by Kant between consciousness of oneself as object and consciousness of oneself as subject was a strict one. The rigidity of that distinction has been challenged by philosophers from the continental and the analytic traditions [1]. From another perspective, researches about animal self-awareness are widening the horizon of studies relative to the nature of self-consciousness [2]. These various perspectives introduce the interest about addressing consciousness of oneself as object (...) and as subject in an evolutionary background. We propose here to follow that path by using an existing scenario about the evolutionary nature of self-consciousness based on evolutions of representations and of inter-subjectivity [3, 4]. The scenario presents an evolutionary approach that can introduce self-consciousness as an acting body and self-consciousness as a thinking and feeling entity. These two aspects of self-consciousness are then compared to consciousness of oneself as object and as subject. The scenario proposes that an evolution of inter-subjectivity brought our pre-human ancestors to reach the capability of identifying with their conspecifics. This process coupled with an evolution of representations led our ancestors to build up representations of themselves as entities existing in the environment, like the conspecifics they identified with were represented. As conspecifics were perceived as existing and acting in the environment, identifying with them led to an elementary version of self-consciousness as an acting body, close to self-consciousness as object. Also, as different conspecifics could display very different behaviors like dominant or submitted, it was not possible to identify with them spontaneously. Knowing and understanding one's own identity as perceived by other members of the group was necessary for a pertinent identification with conspecifics. Such need to think about one's own characteristics and identity introduced self-consciousness as a thinking and feeling entity, close to an elementary version of self-consciousness as subject. In addition, the mental states of the thinking and feeling subject monitoring the actions of the body object address the common evolutionary source for consciousness of oneself as object and as subject. We present here that evolutionary approach to consciousness of oneself as object and as subject with the corresponding phylogenetic outcomes relative to the mind-body problem. Continuations are proposed. (shrink)

The paper outlines an analysis of two types of information - ordinary and subjective, consideration is given to the difference between the concepts of intelligence and perceiving mind. It also provides description of some logical functional features of consciousness. A technical approach is proposed to technical obtaining of subjective information by changing the signal’s time degree of freedom to the spatial one in order to obtain the "observer" function in the system and information signals appearing in relation (...) to it, that serve as subjective sensations. The solution to this problem may give a new approach to designing a strong artificial intelligence and shed light on the difficult problem of the mind. (shrink)

In this article, I am interested in dual-aspect monism as a solution to the mind-body problem. This view is not new, but it is somewhat under-represented in the contemporary debate, and I would like to help it make its way. Dual-aspect monism is a parsimonious, elegant and simple view. It avoids problems with “mental causation”. It naturally explains how and why mental states are correlated with physical states while avoiding any mysteries concerning the nature of this relation. It fits (...) well with our ordinary picture of the world, as well as with the scientific picture. It gives its rightful place to the phenomenal, qualitative, subjective character of experience, instead of reducing it or eliminating it. It does not unnecessarily multiply ontological categories. It can come in many versions, and is compatible with other interesting views, such as panpsychism. (shrink)

The dominant position in current debates on the mind-body problem is some version of physicalism, according to which the mind is reducible to the brain and mental phenomena are ultimately explainable in physical terms. But there seems to be an explanatory gap between physicalistic descriptions of neuronal processes and the subjectivity of conscious experience. Some dualists conclude that, therefore, consciousness must be ontologically distinct from any physical properties or entities. This article introduces and argues for a different perspective (...) on these issues, namely, an epistemological dualism - a nonreductive position which is neither a version of physicalism nor an ontological dualism. It is argued that Kant holds this epistemological dualism implicitly as a consequence of his critical epistemology. On the one hand, he stresses the explanatory gap between the mental and the physical. On the basis of his theory of subjectivity set out in the Transcendental Deduction, Kant provides an explanation for why the gap cannot be closed empirically, as the physicalist promises. On the other hand, in his criticism of Descartes’ dualism in the Paralogismschapter, Kant argues that an ontological conclusion on the basis of this epistemological gap is unjustified even though physicalism is explanatory inadequate to account for consciousness. Thus, this epistemological dualism can be seen as an original third way between physicalist reductionism and ontological dualism. (shrink)

In biological terms, human consciousness appears as a feature associated with the func- tioning of the human brain. The corresponding activities of the neural network occur strictly in accord with physical laws; however, this fact does not necessarily imply that there can be a comprehensive scientific theory of conscious- ness, despite all the progress in neurobiology, neuropsychology and neurocomputation. Pre- dictions of the extent to which such a theory may become possible vary widely in the scien- tific community. There (...) are basic reasons - not only practical but also epistemological - why the brain-mind relation may never be fully “decod- able” by general finite procedures. In partic- ular self-referential features of consciousness, such as self-representations involved in strate- gic thought and dispositions, may not be resolv- able in all their essential aspects by brain analy- sis. Assuming that such limitations exist, objec- tive analysis by the methods of natural science cannot, in principle, fully encompass subjective, mental experience. (shrink)

This piece continues ideas developed in my essay, Mind Matters, through responding to the critique of that essay by Peter K. Manning. Manning cannot conceive that human conduct involves full-bodied semiosis rather than disembodied conceptualism, and that the study of human signification requires a full-bodied understanding. The ancient Greek root phren, basis for the concept of phronesis, is rooted in the heart-lungs-solar plexus basis of bodily awareness, and provides a metaphor for a discussion of bio-developmental, biosemiotic capacities as crucial (...) for human culture. Manning’s use of Wittgenstein is contrasted with the outlook of Charles Peirce. The intense attunement to and reverence for animals and plants in hunter-gatherer peoples is more than some conceptual collective representations system or interaction order or psychological belief system, explainable by Durkheim or Goffman, or Jung’s universal structure of the “collective unconscious,” or by neural net theory. It exemplifies how those peoples are in real learning relationships to the instinctive intelligence of their habitats, deep learning expressed not only in trial-and-error experience but also in the sense of wonder, communicated in ritual life. Mind is found literally in those transactions, not in isolate brains or disembodied conceptualism. (shrink)

The prima facie heterogeneity between psychical and physical phenomena seems to be a serious objection to psychoneural identity thesis, according to many authors, from Leibniz to Popper. It is argued that this objection can be superseded by a different conception of consciousness. Consciousness, while being conscious of something, is always unconscious of itself . Consciousness of being conscious is not immediate, it involves another, second-order, conscious state. The appearance of mental states to second-order consciousness does not reveal their true nature. (...) Psychoneural identity can thus be considered a valid hypothesis. Related views of Kant, Freud, Shaffer, Bunge and others are considered. “Naive psychical realism” is criticised. Consciousness of mental events is considered as the result of the action of a cerebral system that observes the neural events hypothetically identical to mental events. The theory combines a materialist view with a due consideration of subjective experience. (shrink)