4 ms·

The Brain’s Autopilot Mechanism Steers Consciousness

68 points by tdurden 8y ago

wbhart 8y ago
When this topic is discussed using common speech, it becomes confusing. `Consciousness' is used to describe so many things: the state of being conscious (as opposed to unconscious), the feeling of awareness (as opposed to an automaton that responds to its environment), being aware of oneself as an individual (as opposed to just aware of the world), those thoughts on which you are focusing as opposed to automatic thinking, choices of the will as opposed to unwitting biases, etc. I really don't see all of these as equivalent. Even if we accept that the article is talking about conscious vs unconscious thinking (focus vs automatic), the hypothesis doesn't seem to explain things we choose to do (which are selected by conscious thoughts/focus), which don't arise because they are something unexpected or unpredicted. Sure, if you are about to commit a war crime, the matter may be brought to attention by the conscience, which somehow signals that something unusual is about to happen. But when I decide to take an extra bath today because I like the sensation of warm water, it's not happening because of some odd stimulus that wasn't predicted. Or at least, I'm not conscious of what that stimulus is. Some of the situations where we make conscious choices seem to arise because of habit, morality, suggestion, and any number of other triggers. Another thing that seems to trigger our attention is the need to conduct an ordered set of movements that have not been previously rehearsed, in order to accomplish some desired outcome. And that also extends to things where there are states of mind that must be progressed through in order in order to accomplish the desired outcome, such as arithmetic, or doing a brute force search of potential solutions to a problem, or solving a logic puzzle. All these also demand our attention/focus.
woodandsteel 8y ago
This is a fascinating and very persuasive view of how the mind works. And while the article focuses on a causal flow from the unconscious to the conscious, it also mentions actions that the conscious mind can do to influence the unconscious, like the example of putting a picture of loved ones on one's desk to motivate work. I would like to add something else that the conscious mind can do. Unconscious cognitions often show up in consciousness as vague feelings, like when you feel uncomfortable around someone but can't say quite why. In this case it often works to sit and just attend to the feeling, ask it a question like "what is making me feel this way?" and wait for an answer. And then when some words appear in your mind as answer, check them back against the feeling to see if it affirms it. This last step is like when you have forgotten someone's name and have only a feel of it, and then when you remember the feeling changes to one of affirmation, and that's how you know you remembered it correctly. This process will make it possible to find out what is motivating you, and so you can think about it consciously, like figuring out a better way to reach a goal. Beyond that, it often leads to an automatic process of changes such as emotions reducing and irrational beliefs correcting themselves. In fact, we all know this sort of process from talking with people about problems. A large part of what is going on here is that in the process of talking we put vague feelings into more precise words, and this leads to intelligent thinking and automatic changes in feeling. Other forms of symbolization such painting or composing music can have a similar effect. A good book on this process of attending to unclear feelings is Focusing by the University of Chicago psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin.
emanuensis 8y ago
Does anyone know how to access the ~Friston & Solms article cited here? i cannot find a DOI and i have not been able to break through with https://sci-hub.tw https://sci-hub.tw ~Friston & Solms How and Why Consciousness Arises: Some Considerations from Physics and Physiology. Mark Solms and Karl Friston in Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 25, Nos. 5–6, pages 202–238; May/June 2018. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2018/00000025/f0020005/art00009 https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2018/00000025...

68 points by tdurden 8y ago

When this topic is discussed using common speech, it becomes confusing. `Consciousness' is used to describe so many things: the state of being conscious (as opposed to unconscious), the feeling of awareness (as opposed to an automaton that responds to its environment), being aware of oneself as an individual (as opposed to just aware of the world), those thoughts on which you are focusing as opposed to automatic thinking, choices of the will as opposed to unwitting biases, etc. I really don't see all of these as equivalent. Even if we accept that the article is talking about conscious vs unconscious thinking (focus vs automatic), the hypothesis doesn't seem to explain things we choose to do (which are selected by conscious thoughts/focus), which don't arise because they are something unexpected or unpredicted. Sure, if you are about to commit a war crime, the matter may be brought to attention by the conscience, which somehow signals that something unusual is about to happen. But when I decide to take an extra bath today because I like the sensation of warm water, it's not happening because of some odd stimulus that wasn't predicted. Or at least, I'm not conscious of what that stimulus is. Some of the situations where we make conscious choices seem to arise because of habit, morality, suggestion, and any number of other triggers. Another thing that seems to trigger our attention is the need to conduct an ordered set of movements that have not been previously rehearsed, in order to accomplish some desired outcome. And that also extends to things where there are states of mind that must be progressed through in order in order to accomplish the desired outcome, such as arithmetic, or doing a brute force search of potential solutions to a problem, or solving a logic puzzle. All these also demand our attention/focus.

woodandsteel 8y ago

This is a fascinating and very persuasive view of how the mind works. And while the article focuses on a causal flow from the unconscious to the conscious, it also mentions actions that the conscious mind can do to influence the unconscious, like the example of putting a picture of loved ones on one's desk to motivate work. I would like to add something else that the conscious mind can do. Unconscious cognitions often show up in consciousness as vague feelings, like when you feel uncomfortable around someone but can't say quite why. In this case it often works to sit and just attend to the feeling, ask it a question like "what is making me feel this way?" and wait for an answer. And then when some words appear in your mind as answer, check them back against the feeling to see if it affirms it. This last step is like when you have forgotten someone's name and have only a feel of it, and then when you remember the feeling changes to one of affirmation, and that's how you know you remembered it correctly. This process will make it possible to find out what is motivating you, and so you can think about it consciously, like figuring out a better way to reach a goal. Beyond that, it often leads to an automatic process of changes such as emotions reducing and irrational beliefs correcting themselves. In fact, we all know this sort of process from talking with people about problems. A large part of what is going on here is that in the process of talking we put vague feelings into more precise words, and this leads to intelligent thinking and automatic changes in feeling. Other forms of symbolization such painting or composing music can have a similar effect. A good book on this process of attending to unclear feelings is Focusing by the University of Chicago psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin.

emanuensis 8y ago

Does anyone know how to access the ~Friston & Solms article cited here? i cannot find a DOI and i have not been able to break through with https://sci-hub.tw https://sci-hub.tw ~Friston & Solms How and Why Consciousness Arises: Some Considerations from Physics and Physiology. Mark Solms and Karl Friston in Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 25, Nos. 5–6, pages 202–238; May/June 2018. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2018/00000025/f0020005/art00009 https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2018/00000025...