Where does consciousness itself come from? Do animals have consciousness?

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2334/
Documentary: From Science to God

Moses Seenarine
Synopsis - Peter Russell starts with the “hard problem” of consciousness - why do we have an inner world of experience? Diving into his eye, and into his mind, we enter a surreal world in which we discover that all we ever know directly are the forms and images arising in the mind. But, he asks, where does consciousness itself come from? Has conventional science got it wrong? Peter explores the mystery of consciousness from two perspectives - the mystery of its origins from matter, and the mystery of the "I", the self. Shot in high-quality digital, this production utilizes animation and innovative post-production to create an exciting experience that takes the viewer to the heart of the emerging new paradigm on human consciousness.

Andrew
thanks for posting this. I'll add it to my psych student blog.

Denise
It caught my attention when Peter said "The next great frontier is not outerspace, it's innerspace". I like it. Thanks for sharing this documentary.

Monique
if I may....here's another good book about consciousness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Astonishing_Hypothesis

Moses Seenarine
Crick's controversial message, "You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules" [2] has caused some controversy over the physiological approach.

Monique
Well I'm not an educated woman and I don't know any of the hard sciences aside from the pop books i've read over the years, but i know enough to be satisfied with a vast assembly of nerve cells and their molecules as the foundation of my 'soul'....doesn't diminish the "me-ness" a'tall. Crick's outlook serves me, I'll take another helping of that meme.
At one point in time though, I had considered getting the book From Science to God. I've got his other book, very cool: The Global Brain Awakens.
Now I think I better actually look at the posted video before scribbling anymore....thanks Moses!

Andrew
What he's referring to seems to actually be more of an aspect of theory of mind. Also, he claims science says animals lack consciousness. This assertion is blatantly false. Science actually indicated various levels of consciousness in most all complex living organisms. Different animals, most noticeably chimpanzees, but perhaps others, also appear to have some levels of theory of mind as well.

There's a certain ego behind the idea that consciousness is all that unique, ours and at the center of things. He's preaching that because we don't know what gives rise to consciousness, then it must be a spiritual quality and he sort of over relies on social constructionist theory (which I do find quite a powerful one for describing a lot of human behaviour) in a way that would imply we are working diligently to deny a spiritual basis. I don't think that's quite the case of you look at the percentage of global religious belief. He also asserts that our primal need for happiness and and our consumerist tendencies is the result of denying our spiritual self, or the "real" nature of our consciousness, but this wouldn't pass the test of occam's razor, as evolutionary psychology offers a much more direct explanation of over consumption.

In the latter third he looks at meditation. The act of being in the present. This does bring about certain physiological changes, but there's no proven correlation of a spiritual change. As you sit still, focus on smooth, slow breathing, your heart beat slows down, neurons rest. This could be what we call "at peace," and is a phenomenal experience that is not diminished by being totally a chemical process....

We do have some great laboratory settings to investigate consciousness, and the exist in hospitals in almost every town around the world.
Ray Kurzweil recently discussed them in h+ Magazine. Anesthesiologists make people unconscious all the time. In studies of what happens to people when they go under, consciousness seems to correlate with gamma coherence; a certain synchrony between neurons that create gamma waves. Evidence shows that gamma coherence goes away with anesthesia and people enter the experience known as unconsciousness. Is that the whole story? Far from it. But it's an example of how the systems that give rise to consciousness can be explored and understood. At various points in human history it was thought that diseases were the work of devils and impure living. It was a great way to wash your hands of the sick and say they had it coming, but not much good for solving problems.

Finally, he states that science describes the world but doesn't give us meaning, it gives us technology, but not guidance in how to use it. He sums up by saying we should combine the knowledge of science with the wisdom of religion. I couldn't imagine a better way to stunt both of them. The goal of discovering the root of conscious, he seems to assert here, is not identifiable and thus a matter of faith so let's stop worrying about it and just accept we're all spiritual beings. But that's the opposite of what science does.

To me, science gives us a lot of meaning: a dedication to exploration, study and wonder about the nature of all that's around us being one. It also does give us ideas about how to live: Science says don't eat all that crap fast food, you might want to cut down on smoking and boozing it up night after night might not be a good idea. If you want to see the people who are sapping these sorts of ideas out of our culture you'd have to find the corporate lobbyists.

I think this and other sort of spiritual arguments like it make the false assertion that science claims to "know" the truth. That's actually what religion does. Science puts forth what is the most likely explanation and then peers debate the studies, attempt to repeat them and either refute them or build upon them if they can be repeated with the same results.

He says that underneath it all, religions are all basically the same. To me, this would really only be true from an atheistic point of view. At some point we do also need to take into account that religions do differ, sometimes in fundamental ways (hence: fundamentalists). It's great the the interfaith groups are getting together. It's certainly better than the classical way of working things out, but the reason they're doing it is to overcome the obstacles.

There are certain things people are fond of considering to be miraculous, and consciousness, literally who we are, is one of them. We don't know yet what ultimately infuses us with it, but the arguments for a physiological explanation have a lot more going from them. I don't think it makes the reality any less incredible.

Monique
yeah, what Andrew said

Andrew
I store it up for a bi-monthly vomit of text it seems.

Moses Seenarine
my consciousness generated the same thoughts on russell that andrew points out; individualism is an illusion :)

consciousness and unconsciousness are both the product of thought, which is accumulated experiences and memories; this accumulation has been going on in the specie for thousands of years, and is part of of conditioning; thought does have a material basis that crick points to, however, thoughts are mostly unnecessary and mainly serve to limit our perception of reality by keeping us trapped in ego, in the past, in our conditioning; so, rather that seeing and meeting life anew, we operate from the known

the interesting point for me is why are other animals not so trapped in their thoughts, how come they are so much more alive to the ever-changing present? is is because of our fear and desire to change the unknown future? perhaps it all began when we set ourselves apart from nature and sought to control the uncontrollable...

Monique
lol @ Andrew
Ernest Becker theory also states that another pretty big thing that sets us apart from animals is our awareness of the eventuality of death...creates all sorts of anxieties that we have to have to deal with...thus, ego is born...we set up all sorts of rituals and institutions to make us feel like we are more than mortal and so overcome death. Religion is the obvious answer. With that stuff, you supposedly, literally overcome death. Other stuff include sports where we beat out over the 'other', thus giving us a symbolic sense of immortality.
Animals cannot look into the future or grasp memory in the way that we do, so their reaction to death is in-the-moment; fight-flight. They're pretty much happy-go-lucky without this morbid foreknowledge. etc., etc.

Andrew
I would agree that there's some basis for that Monique. I don't recall who said it or the actual quote, but to paraphrase: denial is our natural state.

George Orwell - Animal Farm

http://www.george-orwell.org/Animal_Farm/index.html

I remember reading George Orwell's Animal Farm in middle school, as well as several times at home. It was the first animal rights text I read and it must have had a profound influence on me. The logic and truthfulness of his arguments are hard to refute. I especially like the beginning of the novel, where the pigs lays out the argument against animal exploitation:

"Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired. I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish to speak to you.

"Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

"But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! The soil of England is fertile, its climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of animals than now inhabit it. This single farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep--and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining. Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word--Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it, and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his bare skin. You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year? And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies.

And you hens, how many eggs have you laid in this last year, and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens? The rest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men. And you, Clover, where are those four foals you bore, who should have been the support and pleasure of your old age? Each was sold at a year old--you will never see one of them again. In return for your four confinements and all your labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stall?

"And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span. For myself I do not grumble, for I am one of the lucky ones. I am twelve years old and have had over four hundred children. Such is the natural life of a pig. But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year. To that horror we all must come--cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone. Even the horses and the dogs have no better fate. You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds. As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones ties a brick round their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond.

"Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And above all, pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious.

"And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter. No argument must lead you astray. Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all lies. Man serves the interests of no creature except himself. And among us animals let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades."