4 ms·

We are all not-conscious for large swaths of the day. We think we are conscious all of the time, because it is only when we are conscious that we think to thin

We are all not-conscious for large swaths of the day. We think we are conscious all of the time, because it is only when we are conscious that we think to think about it. So we subconsciously maintain a kind of linked-list of conscious periods, and so the illusion of permanent/static consciousness persists. But there are gaps between every conscious period, which are scarcely noticeable unless you have figured out to look for them. (It is a paradox of the mind that there can be awareness during non-conscious periods).

xamuel 7y ago
+1. Here's a trick you can use to trip yourself out (also works as a party trick to trip other people out). Look in a mirror. Look at your left eye. Look at your right eye. Look at your left eye. Look at your right eye. You won't see your eyes moving; it is as if your eyes are holding still. But to someone watching you, your eyes make very visible movements whenever you switch which eye you're looking at. It's an example of "Chronostasis", which is very much like you describe, only perhaps at a much smaller granularity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronostasis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronostasis. This gif alone speaks a trillion words if you study it closely: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/ChronostasisTimeline.gif/600px-ChronostasisTimeline.gif https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Ch...
DFHippie 7y ago
It isn't quite this. We have memories for only part of the day. We have no memories for other parts. We don't know whether we are conscious at these times. It isn't that we know we are unconscious when we are asleep except inasmuch as the term "unconscious" is sloppy and applies to whatever we are when we are asleep and the hypothetical state of existing without consciousness. These are two things we don't have direct experience with and which we assume are the same.
gpderetta 7y ago
To this day I still can't say 100% that I'm fully conscious during some deep hacking session when I'm in the zone.
- goatlover 7y ago
  Aren’t you conscious of the code and what the code is supposed to be doing?
  - gpderetta 7y ago
    Usually I code in phases, figuring out the solution, which requires a lot of thinking and expermenting and trials and errors, but once I find what I think is a promising solution I might end up writing lots of code; in this phase I sort of feel that the code comes out of me without a clear conscious effort. This phase might last a few hours or a few days and I'm often limited by my typing speed and the responsiveness of my editor; in a away the code on the screen becomes part of my mental process (similarly sometimes I have to scribble on a piece of paper just to get my mental processes runnin). After that, I snap out and start compiling the code (I program in c++, so 10s of thousands of lines of errors are routine), clean it up and usually end up deleting large chunks of code. Note I'm fully aware of the code I have written but have little recollection of the actual act of writing. After this I might switch to write tests (which Is a much more conscious activity) or move back to phase one. I'm fully aware that's not how most developers work, according to my boss, when I tell him I haven't compiled my code in a few days, I'm just strange.
    - goatlover 7y ago
      > I'm just strange. Maybe. Who am I to judge?

xamuel 7y ago

+1. Here's a trick you can use to trip yourself out (also works as a party trick to trip other people out). Look in a mirror. Look at your left eye. Look at your right eye. Look at your left eye. Look at your right eye. You won't see your eyes moving; it is as if your eyes are holding still. But to someone watching you, your eyes make very visible movements whenever you switch which eye you're looking at. It's an example of "Chronostasis", which is very much like you describe, only perhaps at a much smaller granularity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronostasis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronostasis. This gif alone speaks a trillion words if you study it closely: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/ChronostasisTimeline.gif/600px-ChronostasisTimeline.gif https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Ch...

DFHippie 7y ago

It isn't quite this. We have memories for only part of the day. We have no memories for other parts. We don't know whether we are conscious at these times. It isn't that we know we are unconscious when we are asleep except inasmuch as the term "unconscious" is sloppy and applies to whatever we are when we are asleep and the hypothetical state of existing without consciousness. These are two things we don't have direct experience with and which we assume are the same.

gpderetta 7y ago

To this day I still can't say 100% that I'm fully conscious during some deep hacking session when I'm in the zone.

goatlover 7y ago
Aren’t you conscious of the code and what the code is supposed to be doing?
- gpderetta 7y ago
  Usually I code in phases, figuring out the solution, which requires a lot of thinking and expermenting and trials and errors, but once I find what I think is a promising solution I might end up writing lots of code; in this phase I sort of feel that the code comes out of me without a clear conscious effort. This phase might last a few hours or a few days and I'm often limited by my typing speed and the responsiveness of my editor; in a away the code on the screen becomes part of my mental process (similarly sometimes I have to scribble on a piece of paper just to get my mental processes runnin). After that, I snap out and start compiling the code (I program in c++, so 10s of thousands of lines of errors are routine), clean it up and usually end up deleting large chunks of code. Note I'm fully aware of the code I have written but have little recollection of the actual act of writing. After this I might switch to write tests (which Is a much more conscious activity) or move back to phase one. I'm fully aware that's not how most developers work, according to my boss, when I tell him I haven't compiled my code in a few days, I'm just strange.
  - goatlover 7y ago
    > I'm just strange. Maybe. Who am I to judge?