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Scientifically, there is a lot to learn. If we understand alternate forms of consciousness, we can potentially alter our own and open up new avenues of experien
by TaupeRanger 2y ago
Scientifically, there is a lot to learn. If we understand alternate forms of consciousness, we can potentially alter our own and open up new avenues of experience.
Your last comment strikes me as strange for someone who seems to be well read on the topic. Saying that consciousness is an ability to recall memories doesn’t really describe what it is in the natural sense. The memories themselves are composed of conscious experiences, so that definition is circular. An explanation of what consciousness is would include an explanation about why, for example, chocolate tastes the way it does, rather than like vanilla, or some other completely unknown taste. Until we can explain its character (rather than just describe it), we can’t explain what it is. It’s sort of like dark energy: we can describe the phenomenon but we haven’t fully explained what it is.
- smokel 2y agoMy last comment on consciousness should probably also be interpreted from the rock perspective. It does not make sense, because I assume that a rock has no consciousness to begin with, and no memory to entertain it. A sister comment suggests that memory and consciousness are less intrinsically linked that I tend to believe. It might be fruitful to come up with a decision tree on what people believe consciousness to be :) Personally, apart from the rock meditation, I am not as much interested in the definition of consciousness, because I think it is a trap, based on a categorical mistake. I'd rather get away from the anthropocentric viewpoint. Then again, I sometimes doubt that a scientific method will get us there.