How Consciousness Originated - Essay Example

How Consciousness Originated Introduction Consciousness refers to the attribute of being aware of self, the existence, sense and feelings, as well as personal thoughts and the environment. It is fully the activity of the mind (Kaushal and Shyam, 26). The origin of consciousness is complex and a variety of philosophers have over the years tried to explore this question and have come out with varying explanations and arguments. Physical Consciousness After reading this writing, several aspects of consciousness became clear to me. First, there are various perspectives and viewpoints taken by philosophers on this issue. The ancient Eastern philosophers linked the concept of consciousness to spiritual and metaphysics explanations. However, more recent philosophers and modern scientists argue differently. I realized that to the modern scholars, consciousness is not in any way mysterious. It is very simple and clearly understandable. From the writing of Francis Crick, sorrow, all forms of memories, identity and ambitions are all products of a network or assembly of neurons and molecules. This has prevailed with the modern science. I also found it interesting to look at the perspective of a guru and miracle worker Sai Baba from India who is a modern magician who confuses his audience into having a certain belief and yet people continue following him. The Glorious Piece of Meat After reading the above reading, I watched the video “A Glorious piece of meat.” To my surprise, the video echoed the notion in the reading that the concept of consciousness is a mere set of neuronal network. The movie gave me a different and a new view of the mind. It helped me view the mind beyond the brain, as a complex and powerful entities that has strengths as well as limitations and shortcomings. One of such shortcomings is the gullibility. The mind is easily deceived. I noted with much interest that people will often deceive themselves and mislead their own actions to seeing that there is something beyond what is real. Some people will not accept themselves for whom they are and will have weird ideas about who they are not. I related this phenomenon to the fires reading above concerning the self-proclaimed Indian worker of miracles Sai Baba. It is also worth noting that those who hold on this deception may appear to act as such and deceive others too (Tigue 18). Is my iPhone Conscious? The reading by Richard Dawkins gives us another perspective of looking at consciousness. From it, we are able to identify one main suggestion, which for us to learn about anything, we must first argue against our so appearing strong stands. When I read this writing, I was interested in the fact that the writer wants us to argue against what we feel that we have a strong conviction. We are asked to step back and take an opposing side of our own ideas if we are ready to learn more about it. I relate this article to the first reading above and the movie. The mind is easily deceived. We often think of ourselves as what or who we really are not. If then, we take the opposing side, we will learn more about that which we think we have all the truth about. The author also gives another interesting argument; that what we really know so little about is the very thing that we assume we can give information concerning. It interests me when the author gives an example of Christians who know so little about Jesus yet they strictly follow him and His teaching, making statements so confidently about Him. Radiance without an Edge This video is mocking and intriguing. It explains how human beings are assumed to be so developed yet they cannot identify the birth or the death of their consciousness. Watching the video gave me a chance to think more deeply about death, something that I have not done so keenly before. Thinking about the whole concept of transfer from one level of consciousness to another, a different mind state developed. According to the video, what we often experience has been a consciousness stream of which we cannot tell the end, the middle or the beginning. I was made to think consciousness to be infinite but thinking more deeply, I realize if there is a transition late in life, there also must be a point in time when the present consciousness was born. Consciousness as a Mobius strip Using this metaphorical explanation of consciousness, I was first supposed to conceive the notion that consciousness has neither a beginning nor an end. The reading gives us a point that, nothing in the human life can be identified to efficiently describe our entire consciousness. I found it therefore from the explanation to understand or comprehend consciousness. The reading declares that no tool made by man such as language or science can describe fully the concept of consciousness. If I have no knowledge of something for real, the reading tells me that I cannot describe it, which is entirely true. Disneyland of Consciousness This video effectively takes me back to my childhood. Watching Disneyland movies would make me happy on seeing all that happens at Disneyland different from the real life. I sometimes thought that there is a real Disneyland beyond the fiction where all machines I watched were present. This video therefore puts forward the fact that consciousness is the master of the mind. It prevails above the reality and can lead to people fantasizing. Although now I realize that what I watched in Disneyland is not real, watching it still takes my mind away from my space. The consciousness must have been there before the mind if it is to effectively get the mind far away from the reality. Conclusion The origin of consciousness is mysterious, we cannot know how it came to be or how it later transform. However, from these readings and videos, it is clear that consciousness is a master of the mind, it can control the thought process and the reasoning. People have been able to manipulate not only their own actions but also those of others. Blind following and less informed commenting on issues is a result of this manipulation. What we know is that there is consciousness which is neither spiritual nor metaphysical and it controls thinking and doing (Jackson 54). Works cited Jackson, Frank. Consciousness. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. 1998. Print. Kaushal, Radhey Shyam. The science of philosophy: theory of fundamental processes in human behaviour and experiences. New Delhi. D.K: Printworld, 2011. Print Tigue, John W. The transformation of conciousness in myth: integrating the thought of Jung and Campbell. New York: P. Lang, 1994. Print. Read More