Consciousness

                                                                               

By Bill Jones. Thoughts concerning Consciousness have been considered for many years. It has been questioned well before the year 1500. One definition at that time was - knowing that one knows. It seems that the term Consciousness is an unecessary thought because we are all experts on the subject, after all we know that we are conscious. It was a question unnecessary at one time because it was self-awareness or knowing that one knows. What might be a proper definition? There are a number of short definitions, but the real definition would include our abilities such as communication, thoughts. desires, awareness, future realizations, to build and use tools. Our abilities are dramatic.   

There are some unexpected characteristics that will be considered in this note. I think that there is an unknown field involved in our Consciousness. We have no mathematical equations that would describe the characteristics. I suggest a field such as the up/down electron spin effect may be found to be the source of these characteristics. But, the thought of another unknown field could still be valid. While Quantum Mechanics will not describe a field in the mathematics of Consciousness it will probably include Quantum Mechanics.   

The study of Consciousness is becoming popular and will soon be covered in study of several areas. While scientist have had an interest in Consciousness for years there may have been problems as to what should be studied. The brain has been studied for some years, but I think that there is much more of our Consciousness abilities to be found. 

Tools for study are in short supply. A study may have seemed unecessary at one time. This has changed over the past 50 years and a number of well known figures have become interested in the subject.   There are scientists that suggest the there is Consciousness in everything. And I would think that means Consciousness is a variable in magnitude. I would propose that a number be assigned as a value for Consciousness. Let Humans be given the maximum number. Consciousness would be a number from zero to say 100. We then say that a human has a Consciousness of 100 and all other species would be given a lesser number.   While I will not try to list human abilities, We do have the ability to recognize ourselves but most species do not have this ability, There is evidence that some animals may have this ability. They have the ability to enjoy others and the ability to play. Most animals seem to enjoy the act of reproduction. Some animals may stay together for life. If they have the ability to recognize their mates it would seem that they would be able to recognize themselves. Animals have some form of communication. There are animals with a number of human characteristics and this is important in assigning a number to a species. Humans are thought to have an unusual form of communication that may at times be available and will be discussed. Some animals are thought to have this same type of communication ability.   

The first animal lesser than a human may be the Ape species. Some animals can recognize themselves in a mirror. It is said that Great Apes, Dolphins , Asian Elephants and Eurasian Magpies can do this – as can human children around age 2 (From Science.org).   There are water species that could be as intelligent as the Ape species. For example, the intelligence of the Octopus is thought to be high. The Octipi are quite intelligent and some suggest that they are close to having self-awareness. Of course there are some intelligent birds. The size of the brain does not necessarily define the intelligence of the species. The neuron is thought to be one defining factor for Consciousness. The neuron varies dramatically in size. The neuron may vary in size by a factor of more than 1000. The way that the brain is constructed or put together is also of great importance.   Classification would continue with lesser and lesser values of the number that suggest the value of Consciousness. The Consciousness number for humans is a maximum but what is the smallest value? I would suggest that a value of zero would be given to anything that is inanimate and lifeless. If it has no brain and does not reproduce it would have a Consciousness value of zero. This description would be questioned by a number of scientists. While a virus will reproduce it requires a cell to do this and a virus has no brain. There would probably be other defining qualities for a zero value.   Could a computer be Conscious? By my definition the answer would be- no. A computer could certainly appear conscious but it would be software written by humans. It has no neurons and could not have feelings, but could certainly appear to have feelings that were written with software. Since the computer works because of software written by humans it would never have human ability's and the computer could only mimic our ability's. One might suggest that computer driven robots will eventually be life-like. But to have abilities such as humans is not thought possible.   Insects must be included on the scale and I would assume them to have a small number on the Consciousness scale. To make a scale for Consciousness would of course be difficult but there are those that could come up with good starting values.   It is not clear to me how the invertebrates would be classifies with regard to Consciousness. The actual population is said to be over 90% of all species. The species have brains and have various means of reproduction, but it is not clear exactly where they would appear on a Consciousness scale. The water species has the Octipi and is likely the most intelligent of the invertebrates. They may be in a class by themselves. Otherwise I would expect that most of the insect species to have a small Consciousness number.   A Consciousness study for the insect species could be a problem. It would be proposed that there would be a one of the species with a clear maximum value of Consciousness for the species. This number could be used as a start.   

Humans have abilities that have been observed but given little study. Consciousness for example has much interest among scientists but little study since it is difficult to study and there are few tools, There are numerous stories regarding our abilities but they are not accepted as a study because stories are not research. Many of these stories have been told over and over but most are impossible to study at this time.   A story well known to scientists is the double slit experiment. That of sending electrons through two very small slits and one expects to see two lines on a wall that is behind the slits. This is exactly what happens when observed by a human. But, when not being observed two lines do not occur. Instead there are a number of lines caused by the electrons. This can only happen if the electrons are a wave function. This wave function will occur when a human is not observing the experiment. The electron is then a wave function or a particle depending on observation. It turns out that particle mass and wave length are related. But, observation changes the experiment and it is thought to be because of our Consciousness. It is said that this double slit experiment was first shown in 1927.   Actually the mass of an electron has been determined. But, it would appear that it can be a wave if not observed. When observed an electron appears to be a particle. Observation of an experiment may then change the experiment,   The double slit experiment is also known as the Observer Effect. It is also known as the Hawthorne Effect - presumably the scientist that discovered the effect. It is said that discovery was in the 1920‘s. I have been unable to determine the exact date. This effect is thought to be caused by our brain and I would assume that this effect then became important as a desire for a Consciousness study.   The Consciousness effect has been included in a number of our observations of people and has also been known as the Observer Effect. I have to assume that the Observer Effect is caused by an unknown wave function from the human brain. I would also suspect that the effect could be instantaneous and perhaps caused by the well known up/down spin of the electron. There are courses that teach how to observe others for various reasons and these courses are well known. Observation of another may alert the one being observed.   

I have a story that is interesting to me and a type that has been told by many but is difficult to study. It involves communication between people. The story involves a young boy riding his bicycle and falling off his bike and hurting his arm. The fall was painful and the boy was quite concerned. His mother was at home with his sister. I knew the boy, his sister and the mother. After the accident happened the mother became concerned and she got up from her chair and said to her daughter that her son was in trouble. The boy unknowingly communicated a problem to his mother. Since I married the boys sister I have heard the story a number of times. This is communication and there are many examples of this type of story. Again, some animals are assumed to have this ability.   

I am a Christian and pray. I believe that my prayers are heard by God. Since I have this belief that God hears my prayers I then have to believe that there is some type of communication function that is unknown and possibly the same type wave as the Observer Effect function. While the wave may have no relation to the Observer Effect function I do assume that some type of communication function does exist.   The stories regarding the ability of the Human involve Consciousness of the human. Consciousness is then quite important, but it has had little study partly because it is hard to study and it is also obvious to many – as only Self-Awareness. While Self-Awareness is quite important in Consciousness, our various abilities involve qualities that are not so obvious. It is then thought that a study for Consciousness be given some number that suggests the greatest value of Consciousness for each species. The initial scale for other species might have the species name thought to have the maximum Consciousness for that species.   Species is a word that will include a large variety of life with various abilities. Consciousness is a similar word-type which includes a large number of various abilities. My hope and desire for a Consciousness study would be to find some of our unrecognized abilities. And perhaps some of the mathematical descriptions that are involved especially in the communications area. It should be noted that my interest is in the unexplored areas of Consciousness. The cause for this would be because of my curiosity, and also because I worked for years  in communications. 

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