under construction...
(for a very long time)
What exactly is the flow of human thought and consciousness? Where does this thing we call mind originate, and how does it come about? Where is the human mind actually located? Could it be in the heart or chest, as Aristotle suggested? Or in the head, as Plato argued? Or might it be something akin to an intangible soul, one that perhaps cannot even be separated from the physical body? Such discussions about the mind-body problem have a long and intricate history. Capturing the essence of consciousness is no easy task, as it remains a largely subjective concept. In philosophy, even establishing that we have minds at all is no simple certainty, let alone affirming whether others possess them. At least in modern medical and scientific circles, there is a widely accepted view that human consciousness is produced by the brain—a straightforward yet powerful stance that easily eclipses many philosophical debates. In scientific terms, consciousness is often defined as awareness of oneself and one’s environment. In neuroscience, consciousness is likened to the brain’s network structure: imagine drawing a probability distribution that increases as it descends from a high level, and let us define regions with more stability compared to the surrounding areas as attractors. In such an attractor, the brain network behaves in a particular manner; when two or more attractors emerge or shift to another attractor, the brain network changes its operational behavior. For example, the state of the brain during NREM sleep versus when we are fully awake can be represented by different attractor maps. Thus, one might consider consciousness as a specific network in an attractor state. But then, where precisely does consciousness reside within the brain? One of the frustrations faced by physicians dealing with patients who have sustained brain damage, and are thus unresponsive to external stimuli, is this very question. If consciousness were indeed localized in a particular area, one could determine its presence simply by evaluating the extent of damage to that region. Yet, the reality is far more complex. Medicine currently subscribes to Tononi’s Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which posits, among other things, that the cerebellum is not involved in consciousness, and splitting the corpus callosum of the cerebrum can generate new conscious experiences. In fact, the brain is structurally unintegrated. However, the neuronal networks inside the brain tell a different story. The neurons are interwoven into an intricate, complex system. Does this interconnectedness follow any specific rules or patterns? The Neural Information System (NIS) of our brain consists of:
In cognitive neuroscience, Daniel Kahneman introduced the dual-processing theory, which divides perception, memory, thought, language, attitudes, and other experiences into two layers: automatic processing and controlled processing. These two layers enable us to equate even psychological experiences that are challenging to describe—such as thoughts, emotions, or even spiritual experiences—to biological mechanisms. Overall, science’s conclusion about cognition sides with Plato’s view (though not in a Platonic sense, as modern science completely rejects the notion of a separable soul); in science, the mind is simply a bio-psycho-social interaction. Sometimes, it even goes down to the most basic systems, as Richard Dawkins argued with his selfish gene. Science indeed reduces the human mind to something akin to a mechanical mechanism, but there remain unresolved parts that prevent us from finalizing the ambiguous concept of the mind into a definitive statement. Though our brains are far more complex than those of other animals, the fundamental workings of the NIS in humans and other animals are virtually indistinguishable at lower levels. Nevertheless, the human mind appears to possess something uniquely exceptional. What is it that elevates our consciousness? To solve this puzzle, we must revisit the concept of consciousness itself. We know that consciousness involves a series of processes that enable us to “search ourselves and our environment, ensuring that perceptions, memories, and thoughts are accurately represented in awareness.” Notably, consciousness clearly comprises some kind of formal system, and such a system draws ideas similarly from various methodologies (sometimes to the point where those methodologies produce art).