Consciousness is One

[wynn]

Maybe it hasn't occurred to you that the thread title ''Consciousness is ONE'' has a particular monistic flavour to it?

Apparently, it hasn't occurred to you that the thread title ''Consciousness is ONE'' has a particular monistic flavour to it.

Silly me, I thought I could make a joke on monists and someone here would actually understand.

 

[Jan Ardena]

Apparently, it hasn't occurred to you that the thread title ''Consciousness is ONE'' has a particular monistic flavour to it.

Silly me, I thought I could make a joke on monists and someone here would actually understand.

I missed the joke.
Care to explain it?

jan.

 

[Genius]

"The key to understanding selves and consciousness is the “strange loop”—a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called “I.” The “I” is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.

How can a mysterious abstraction be real—or is our “I” merely a convenient fiction? Does an “I” exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics?"


Douglas R. Hofstadter

The "I" is a convenient fiction. It is pushed around by the particles in our brain.

 

[Genius]

Both consciousness and cosmos might be subsumed under the same hypernym or higher-level concept, which could tentatively be called a "nomological system". Which would include those variable instantiations of consciousness as multiple, experiencing, thinking agents being integrated under its governance. As an historic proto-example:

Immanuel Kant introduced the breakthrough of a "mind" essentially being as much a principle or rule-driven system of organization as a natural world (the very ordering of received influences into such an exhibited phenomenal domain, no less). Experience resulted from the mingling of regulating faculties (sensibility and understanding), and lawfully conformed to them as its inferred "observer" progressed anywhere through the presentation of universe, maintaining the coherence and inter-consistency of objects and their changes.

Since the objectivity of Kant's "empirical realism" (which accompanined critical idealism) was grounded in the interpersonal availability of these extrospective events and circumstances, the regulating a priori forms of consciousness were necessarily universal and coordinated with all humans (or similar conscious entities). This overarching controlling "logic" that pervaded all anthropic minds actually seems to compromise Kant's attempt to establish freedom or autonomy in his practical philosophy, but it is perhaps only applicable to the mutual agreement or consensus of reality encountered in the awareness of nature (that half of the twofold view of "phenomenal / noumenal"). Although Kant certainly believed there was an independent, yet experientially unknown "source" for phenomena "outside" of experience and cognitive faculties, he devised a standard for "real" and "objective" which did not solely rely upon a metaphysical counterpart for this "shown realm". (One might consider individual "things" as being represented rather than the world which their relations constituted, the latter not being even a deceptive copy, and thus appeasing both the commonsense realists and indirect realists).

You are correct.

 

[kwhilborn]

I buy into the entire "we are one", but I also think consciousness is our individual perspectives and must be many. I think our souls were all a part of one entity but have been cast out as individuals in order to experience reality. This would mean we are all connected but each of us has our own consciousness.

If we all shared the same consciousness then we would all know what everyone was doing and thinking.

 

[Sarkus]

This may be the philosophy forum, but you should surely still be providing a modicum of support for what is otherwise mere speculation and, at the extreme, delusional fantasy.

I think our souls were all a part of one entity but have been cast out as individuals in order to experience reality.

Any support at all for any of this? Souls? Previously being a part of one entity? Being cast out?

 

[Bowser]

I'm hesitant to jump in on this, but what the heck. Isn't consciousness simply a point of observation? We might not observe the same thing at the same time, but don't we all have the capacity to observe? Awareness might be a better word for it. I would liken consciousness to an inner light. Stripped of all its entanglements, it probably looks the same for everyone.

 

[hansda]

Although there are many selves we all share the same rudimentary consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is One.

Thoughts/ ideas?

Do you mean to say, consciousness of all living beings are same?

or,

Do you mean to say that, consciousness is one continuum?

 

[Cyperium]

Well, how could there be more than one subject? On the subjective side there is only one consciousness, and from what I can understand there is no such thing as objective consciousness.


The question is; "how can there be more than one person, conscious at the same time?"

I think the answer is, that there is only one person conscious and that is the subject, whoever that is. That would mean that each person will be conscious as every other. So there is a kind of queue where each person gets to live the life of all other persons.

That would also mean that before or after your life you have actually been the person you are talking to , so you're basically talking to yourself at different settings all the time.

You have to take into consideration that there is no "before" or "after" in nothing, so there is no "before you were born" or "after you die", that's how you can exist as different persons at the same time, but only experience your subjective self at any one life.

I guess that it is either that or that there are souls, and each are given a unique subjectivity, but without souls I don't think that there are any objective subjects.

There is also a problem consisting of "what is it that chooses the life that you are going to live next?", this is a big problem for my idea, which makes it just as plausible to believe that there are souls, cause both ideas have to introduce unphysical entities or processes (nothing can get as unphysical as a process happening in "physical nothing"). If you can think of a third possibility then I'm all ears.

 

[rr6]

Whales semi-asleep and awake sometimes.

You state one thing..."Although there are many selves"
But say another..."Therefore, consciousness is One."
So you can't have it both ways. Since there are "many" then there must be many thoughts going on about many things but in certain cases there is a consensus about one or two things that we all agree upon which would tend to suggest that only at that point are we in unity with each other.

Buddha, isn't it whales-- and/or other cetaceans --who have it both ways? As I recall, some or all whales have one part( half? ) of their brain asleep while the other havlf( part) is semi-conscious?

I forget but I think it has to do with then getting air while their asleep.

I also think I've seen some info that show whales--- If not also other cetaceans --sleeping in vertical position, and this keeps their head ergo their blowhole not to far from the surface. So maybe the bob in out of the water when sleeping. I dunno. Lot of recall info.

R6

 

[rr6]

One Consciouness many Subconscious'es ?

If our finite, occupied space Universe, is considered to be conscious, then yes there exists only one grand/great/overall consciousness, composed of many sub-parts or is that sub-conscious'es....ha ha!

H,mm that is a new way of looking at it.

R6

Buddha, isn't it whales-- and/or other cetaceans --who have it both ways? As I recall, some or all whales have one part( half? ) of their brain asleep while the other havlf( part) is semi-conscious?
I forget but I think it has to do with then getting air while their asleep.
I also think I've seen some info that show whales--- If not also other cetaceans --sleeping in vertical position, and this keeps their head ergo their blowhole not to far from the surface. So maybe the bob in out of the water when sleeping. I dunno. Lot of recall info.
R6