Long ago, on the kind of list that i wanted to sign up on, a person posted
something about consciousness, which happens to be an activity i engage in
as much as possible, and even like thinking about. So i'm going to jump on
that thread like its solid ground.
The peculiar thing about consciousness is that it isn't an object, it is the
subject. therefore it isn't really a good 'object' of study for science. the
fact of consciousness and what to do with it comes under the realm of
philosophy, the same with existence. Science doesn't examine 'Existence', it
examines the things that exist and how they work. Science can't study
'Consciousness' but it can study the things that people are conscious of and
how they are conscious of it.
Even with self-reflexive consciousness, our brain can only simulate what it
thinks consciousness 'is'. Just as our central nervous system sorts and
filters the 11+ millions of bits of data that our nerves percieve each
second, our brain has to create a model of consiousness that is
comprehensible to itself. But that is only a map, not the territory Imagine
a mirror looking at itself!?
The slippery thing about consciousness is that it is a presupposition that
we can't get around and still be consistent and sane. You have to be
conscious to think about consciousness. Otherwise you'll fall into a kind of
solipism. So the two truths on which all, yes i said it all, sane thoughts
are based are 'consciousness' and 'existence'.
So there's consciousness (the subjective realm, the realm that percieves)
and existence (the objective realm, the realm that is percieved). Betwixt
these two humans possess a volitional consciousness. This consciousness is
channeled through the human nervous system. On a bit of a tangent, i was
always curious to find what other people thought of the question:
does the 'classic' correspond to the CNS or the PNS? and the same for the
'romantic'?
Amilcar
P.S.: Is mentioning other philosophers not allowed? My references for some
of these thoughts are Ayn Rand and John Searle.
P.S. #2 - i'm not on the MD list, but i'd like to mention Ayn Rand's book
"The Fountainhead" as a thorough examination of the conflict between the
social and intellecutal 'aesthetics'. I also agree with the sagacious, but
nonetheless ignored question "Is it Art" which Rand also deals with.
Laugh like its your last
dance like nobody's watching and
love like it won't hurt
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