Consciousness and state of consciousness

Consciousness and state of consciousness


"How this sticky and whitish heap inside my skull can be conscious ?...
Some types of alive systems have evolved during long periods. Among them, some have an evolved brain which can speak and maintain consciousness …
Unless we are blinded by bad philosophy or by errors of the official psychology, we do not doubt that the dogs, the cats, the monkeys and the children are aware and that their consciousness is subjective as ours … " (Cf. J.R.Searle - The rediscovery of the Mind, 1992),

In the 1960s, Jane Goodal has found rudimentary thought system of big Tanzania monkeys.
At present we know that the social life of the chimpanzees reveales alliances, separations, attacks, reconciliations, treasons.

On the other hand, according to A.N. Whitehead
: "sympathy and aversion ... acquire obviously all their importance only in the case of superior organisms. They are representative of first step on mental way, without be equivalent to consciousness.

What can we say about consciousness ?,
is it an operator who has power to recognize, judge, choose, ..., and to act ?
Obviously no.

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"According to theory which I defends, it's in the life's nature, of engendering intelligence everywhere where (and as soon as) required conditions are gathered. Conscious thought belongs to cosmos, not as a particular phenomenon of the biosphere, but as a fundamental action of the matter. Thought is engendered and fed by cosmos. " (Cf. Christian De Duve - Nobel - Dust of life).

No ; thought is not engendered by cosmos, but of exceptional increases of the matter's complexity can lead to activities of transcendent order, which emerge from a singular state : consciousness state,
and some of this activities are said "thoughts", what is very different.

"It's clear that the mental phenomena are different of the observable phenomena in brain." ." (cf. Benjamin Libet - Consciousness : conscious subjective, experience),
for example, cerebral activities's chronologies (of transcendent order), are distinct from chronologies which characterize physical behaviors of the neurons.

Thus, for the one who is in a research of primordial causes, true question is not :
how can a brain produce consciousness ? but,
how, a comprehension state characterized by some faculties that enable from transcending phenomena and that we qualify "consciousness state",
does it emerge of a brain ?

So, analysis of the psyche and cerebral phenomena necessitate an extreme rigour, semantic and conceptual.
For that, we don't recognize the organs, particularly brain, as "operators", they are means which enable activities and actions.

We also beware to ambiguities as :
"the cerebral processes are causing consciousness state, a state which is characteristic of a superior order.".
What is this order ?

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Thus, brain does not make spirit but it enables, to the creative entity, of transcendent order, who animates us, from recognizing herself in spirit (in me, ego, subject), 
from managing the body's dynamics and to have thoughts, numerous and diverse.

That is why, according to us, consciousness state is fruit of creation activities ceaselessly more complex, which lead to recognition of proto-states of consciousness.

Nevertheless, take care to misleading concepts as notions of "primary consciousness", "perceptive consciousness",…, and "self consciousness".
It is more sensible to speak about " primary consciousness state ", "perceptive consciousness state", ..., and "self consciousness state",
knowing that these consciousness state levels presuppose of ceaseless creative activities of physical order and transcendent order.

Let us insist more.
Certainly it's necessary to know biological characteristics of a brain, to know how it is structured and was structured, …
however, analysis of this information does not have to mask the essential problem :
what is creative entity who uses it, and by man, can understand world in a coherent way in spite of relative character of the interpretations ?

A vast subject that with regard to consciousness state, naturally must lead us to reflect on nature of faculties that enable interpretation,
but also, on the virtual links associated to the permanent interactions between the body's components, the perceptions, presentiments and feelings :

"Let's take quite simple case of distensions of the bladder and rectum : sensation can become extremely pressing and occupy all our spirit, which becomes then obsessed by an urgent assuagement need. It is so strong as it is difficult to think to an other thing." (Cf. Affective Neuroscience - Jaak Panksepp),
"We could speak about a sensation of thirst when dehydration (of the body) is moderated but it's doubtless that a serious dehydration state provokes a more painful sensation and a strong emotion." (Cf. Physiology of Thirst and Sodium Appetite - James Fitzsimons).

Where are these sensations ?
Logically, it can be only in abstraction's field where are memorized experiences of the past, judged in present moment to anticipate future, in other words, in a timeless and transcendent domain.
Being timeless and of transcendent order, this domain besides, is singular expression of a universal domain associated with space which contains reality,
a transcendent, universal and unknown domain of scientists, philosophers and theologians, containing all virtualities and potentialities which enable the evolutions of the world's dynamics ,
and that we named : spacimplicatio.

Facts rich in expectations because they incite us to believe that during existence, we have a " foot in temporality" and a " foot in eternity " !


Evolutive character of the consciousness state

Man's baby has to wait about twenty months to recognize himself in a mirror.
More exactly, approximately one and a half year is necessary so that the I (ego, subject, spirit) of the man's baby can recognize his body among virtual images which are in his abstraction domain,
images constructed in a innate way.

Experiment became classic :
as soon as he is conscious of himself, a very young child with a make-up on his face, that is placed in front of a mirror, tries to remove make-up, not by wiping mirror's glass, but his face.
Emergence of the consciousness state therefore presupposes,
besides a cerebral potential similar to that of the man,
specific synaptic links established by means of the first lived experiences.

Reactions of certain superior animals in front of a mirror also confirm existence of a proto-state of consciousness.
The first experiments, on chimpanzees, were made by Gordon Gallup in the 1970s (chimpanzees do not stop enjoying themselves with their gestures).
Other anthropoid monkeys : the orangutans and gorillas also express a singular sensibility for their image.
It's true that with gorillas, mirror's experiment is more difficult ; indeed, these do not like looking their face.
It is only when their image is taken laterally by a movie camera and projected on a screen, that they recognize their image,
more precisely, that they recognize their image amid numerous virtualities which are in their domain of the abstraction.

However, why the capuchins and macaques, apparently "evolved" as chimpanzees, don’t have this proto-state of consciousness ?,
macaques females see a rival in mirror, and attack her, whereas capuchins tend to look behind glass to look for something.
A first answer seems credible :
these monkeys don't have sufficient genetic and cerebral potentialities.

There have been other numerous experiments notably with the research workers Joshua Plotnik and Diana Reiss ; we know thus, that the dolphins and elephants react too, to recognition tests in a mirror.
As example, let us quote behaviors of Happy, Maxine and Patty, three asian elephants of a New York zoo.
According to the experimenters, having recognized his image, Happy has touched repeatedly, with his trunk, a white cross drawn behind his eye, the two other elephants having remained totally indifferent to this visible mark.
Maxine opened mouth and examined his palate with a great curiosity.

Nevertheless, even if the elephants, dolphins and some anthropoid monkeys behave differently in front of a mirror, all reveal that they have a proto-state of consciousness and that this singular understanding state can be developped by means of education.

These facts give evidence, naturally, of the evolutive character of the consciousness state, the most refined and most subtle being the one of the man (to tell truth, any understanding of the world presupposes a consciousness state of the other).

Besides, man's consciousness state is more than body's consciousness, it is transcendent state which enables to creative entity who animates him, from recognizing herself in the me (I, ego, subject, spirit).
We here are very far from the theories which try to persuade us that environment's impact is main cause of the evolution !


Fractal (modular) character of virtualities which emerge from consciousness state

In abstraction's domain, transcendent links enable coherence of the abstract images, concepts, …, ideas and their adequacy with reality.
Therefore we cannot ignore the creative entity who is responsible of these links and of chronologies which their are associated.

Talking of this, the experiments of Francisco Varela (1946 - 2001) are rich in information.
This one studying perception of successive intermittent signals of lamps placed side by side, has noticed,
that when extinction duration of these lamps is long, then their intermittent signals are perceived independently,
and if the extinction duration is short enough, illumination is continuous.
Between these extreme cases, when extinction time is adapted, there is a sensation of movement (principle utilized in advertisement).

More precisely, having linked this intermittent signals to alpha rhythm quantified by electroencephalography (a nearby rhythm of 100 ms), Varela showed that statistically, subject recognises no discontinuity if ignition coincides with ascending period of two successive waves ; on the other hand, signals seem independent for ignitions activated during descending period.

So, virtualities that "enamel" abstraction’s domain, are ceaselessly reconstructed ; thus they are discrete and modular.

Consequently,
who can "erase" these myriads of fractures and is responsible of the links between these virtualities ?
who can guarantee coherence of our understanding and body's life ?,
if it is not an operator implicated at every structural level of the body, ipso facto, implicated at every structural level of the world,
an operator of different order from the one, physical, characteristic of the energies, because he is able to transcend matter's states from recognizing them, ..., from judging them.
We here is far from the vital impulse "lauded" by numerous philosophers (Bergson ...) and theologians !
Thus, in research of primordial causes, let's remain watchful particularly with regard to interpretation of the scientific discoveries.

Watchfulness

Watchfulness for example, towards the ambiguous analyses diffused by specialized publications, when it is said to us that the faculties depend on neurones.
Let us be precise, actually faculties depend on neurones because these cells enable the actualization (the materialization for becoming realities) of genetic potentialities.

But then, how to understand and to define innate activities which often express itself by desire, because, evidently, Instinct and Nature are not "masters of the sense" ?
Let us be precise.
Desire don't make action ; desire is correlative of incitements, of transcendent order, more or less necessary for individuals's life and even, necessary for life's phenomenon.

Let's insist more.
Certainly as Claude Bernard wrote it :
"Stability of the internal environment is condition of an independent life … All vital mechanisms, although different, have a unique purpose : to maintain life's conditions in internal environment." (Cf. Lessons on the physiological properties and pathological changes of the body's liquids).
however any need must be beforehand "detected" (rate of sodium in blood, osmotic pressure, …) and "managed" by an unique creative entity who acts according to universal value references (abstract references).

On the other hand, that the brain by means of its structures, is implicated in feelings, nobody denies it,
nevertheless this does not mean that it recognizes, chooses, regulates, ... and that it is master of the sense.
Let us repeat, brain enables physical, biophysical and transcendent activities which are necessary to beings's dynamics having this organ,
particularly, activities which lead to consciousness state.
As a consequence, what is creative entity who utilizes brain ?

Therefore, primordial or subtle, feelings are not at the consciousness's origin as it is so often said, but correlative of physical, biophysical and transcendent activities.
Thus, feelings are subjective constituents of the life's phenomenon, as the qualia (singular : quale ) which represent subjective experiences of the individuals.
Poetically expressed, feelings are auras which enlighten spirit's ways.

Other main facts, the feelings are interdependent, of relative character and necessitate of taking into consideration numerous value references ( useful - harmful, …, just - unjust, …, good - evil).
Mysteriously, some feelings can be controlled by means of a singular faculty : the will.
This faculty that emerge from consciousness state, is it a specificity of the human race ?,
or as we believe, expression of a primordial intention, notably revealed by coherence of the universal dynamics ?

*
Let's consider John's text C. Eccles ( Nobel), one of the fathers of the interactionnisme (recognized as dualism) :

"At each moment, the consciousness gives of global lived experiences of diverse complex domains which assume brain's activity ; for example, the consciousness would give to a mammal the global lived experience of a visual or tactile world, in order to guide his behavior much better than the visual or tactile sensations passed on by the only cortical areas acting as a robot. So, the conscious experiences such as the feelings should favor species in fight for evolution....
The consciousness influences events of the neocortex with of the discernment and understanding.
It would seem that the consciousness knows all the acquired potentialities of the brain .
The consciousness has to have for example a memory that enables it from acting quickly and skillfully in order to utilize the appropriate remembrances stored in brain ." (Cf. How the Self Controls Its Brain).

How must we understand expression "at each moment, the consciousness gives …" ?,
what is this consciousness which knows all potentialities of the brain ?

You realize, again, ambiguity of the concept : consciousness ; that is why only the notion of consciousness state is realistic.
It is a state of being of two orders (dual) that mysteriously necessitates of the biophysic activities, notably bio-cerebral, and of the transcendent activities,
a transcendent state which enables to creative entity who animates us, from recognizing herself, in the me (I, ego, subject, spirit).
Nevertheless,
"the mental and neuronal processes are overlapped to such a degree .... that no craftiness will enable us to separate them." (Cf. Discussion with John Eccles reported by Derek Denton).

Besides, let's remind, the "virtualities" which participate to knowledge are located in transcendent domain of the abstraction,
a domain which is not reserved to men because, for example, birds of prey have one of it ; indeed, they don't go directly on their preys, but on virtual points situated to crossing of anticipated trajectories, their trajectory and those of their future victims.

Thus, recognition of this transcendent domain,
ipso facto, which is the expression of a universal domain because he cannot exist of punctual transcendent domain (there are only "singular expressions" of the transcendence state),
is absolutely necessary.
Let us add that consciousness, more exactly, consciousness state is a field which does not correspond :
"at a known physical field, as the electromagnetism, gravitation, … Consciousness is not describable by observable physical events or by established physical theories." (cf. Mind time - Benjamin Libet).
For that, ignored by intelligentsia, we had to name it by word : spacimplicatio (contraction of Latin words spatium and implicatio) ; according to us, it is implication domain of the Divine in the world.

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G. M. Edelman does not hesitate to write :
"A global and pertinent theory of the brain's function has to propose a scientific model of the consciousness. But, to be acceptable scientifically, this model has to avoid Cartesian dilemma. In other words, this model must be exclusively physical.",

but too :
"The subjective particularities relative to self-awareness, usage of the first person, sense, …, are nothing more that subjective processes of a person who has a consciousness of superior degree …",
"The will requires consciousness of an objective and a capacity to command action (sensation and perception are therefore necessary). "(Cf. The Remembered Present).

Let's beware to this speeches, the will requires nothing, cannot require.
It's a human faculty associated to the action,

Besides, let's emphasize his poor understanding of the "sense".
Edelman.does not seem to have perceived dual character of the memorization process and of the transmission process of information, notably fact that any organization and any piece of information presupposes interpretation,
a faculty which is not of physical order as the energies and matter.
He is not the only one, alas !

Also let's mention F.Crick and C.Koch :

"… according to our fundamental hypothesis, it is useful to consider consciousness as being correlated to a precise type of activities made by a subset of cortical neurons …
Information relative to a single object is diffused in the whole encephalon. There is therefore certainly a means to impose a temporary unity for all activities of the neurons concerned to this precise moment ...
It is possible that this unit is obtained with cooperation of the swift mechanism of the attention, exact nature of which is unknown." (Cf. Towards a neurobiological theory of consciousness),
"… and it is probably attention which enables representations of threedimensional objects and of objects of more cognitive nature…" (Cf. - Consciousness - Scientific American, 1992).

We adhere gladly to these analyses but, first and foremost, we consider that all phenomena, all activities :physical, biophysical, cognitive, ..., are also, "fruits" of transcendent activities (activities of transcendent order),
and we emphasize, again, that attention is not "master of the sense", but a faculty of creative entity who animates us.
Let's remind that Francis Crick, discoverer with James Watson, in 1953, of the deoxyribonucleic acid's structure (DNA), till end of his life (in July, 2004), interrogated himself with regard to consciousness,
particularly, on " what takes place in our brain, when we see something ".
He imagined even, of the consciousness's neurons.

As for the biological processes organizations, notably genetic, let's insist again, they require at the same moment,
- of sense's vectors as electromagnetic waves that are associated to particles, atoms et molecules, and memories,
- and the innate interpretation of characteristics of these vectors and memories (the biological words are of specific groups of electromagnetic waves).
Of essential facts which are always ignored !

Then, how not to smile when scientists speak :
- "of epigenetic laws that give direction for development of an anatomical, physiological, psychological, cognitive characteristics",
-- "of epigenetic rules managing the penetration and the selectivity of the cultural genes, which would make for example, that the colors become some common characteristics of outer objects." (cf. According to specialized literature).
A if laws and rules had faculties to recognize, judge, choose, ..., and to act !


In conclusion

Thus, the various understanding levels, particularly the proto-states of consciousness, show that we are evolving in a cyber universe, of which the dynamics presupposes of ceaseless transmissions of processes organizations and of information

Evidently, this dynamics that necessitates permanent creation activities, is not fact (fruit) of laws, process and mechanisms, whatever they are : somatic selection, categorization, selective pressure, …, notably because evolutions have required, require taking into consideration value references by a creative entity "master of the sense", for example durations these intervals which are not space but of transcendent order.

Therefore, let's beware to "simplistic" speechs as the one of Gerald Edelman when he speaks to us about creating a mental scene without recognizing transcendent character of such a scene (his theory of the Neuronal Darwinism).
Such a scene indeed presupposes, existence of a timeless domain, a transcendent domain which contains the past experiences judged in present moment to anticipate future.
This domain, named by us spacimplicatio, ipso facto of universal character and associated with space which contains reality, is not however a particular nothingness ; abstraction's domain that is its singular expression, possesses virtualities and can "grow rich" with man, of concepts and ideas which emerge from consciousness state.

So, we understand better why "Cartesian cerebral theater " is virtual and our spiritual life is eternal !
Nevertheless, why do we have this consciousness state and why do we research ceaselessly ?

Our ceaseless creation activities that moreover, are just like those which take place permanently in our cells, don't they show that from working to know and from researching to know more, is a divine necessity ?
More exactly, considering the potential character of life and because of the astronomical number of planets in the universe (superior to 10 power 24), is not it reasonable to believe that since always, beings as man existed, and also that because of the extraordinary transcendente activities that characterize him, the man is imperatively necessary to the Divine who manages world ?

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"If, in man or animal, we can notice a behavior which presuppose a purpose then we shall have temporarily reasons for thinking that there is in body, an anticipations form which implies capacities to idealize, integrate past and future in present ideas, and faculty for organizing these ideas in a temporal way. " (The organization of behavior ; a neuropsychological theory - Hebb, D.O. ,1949).
Certainly, nevertheless it is necessary to develop this logic.

For example, do you believe that integration of the past and future in present ideas and the organization of these ideas in a temporal way, are hazard's fruits ?
No ; these processes and these activities imply permanent analysis of personal experiences according to common value references and integration of these events in rigorous chronologies,
chronologies, we repeat it again, that presuppose recognition and use of durations, these intervals which are not of the space, but of transcendent order.

These facts, evidently, disturb current intelligentsia, so much that this one often expresses herself, by sentences, let's dare say it: "hazy", as :
"Mental energy identified as action's engine works on mode of the intentional causality.".

Of course, we are not to epoch when Descartes was writing, in good faith :
"… every will is naturally joined to a movement of the pineal gland but by skill or custom we can join it to other movements ..., if we want to look at a distant object, the will widens eyes's pupils, and if we want to look at a very close object, the will contracts the pupils. (Cf. Passions of the soul - Article 44).

In philosophic and theological speech, we cannot any more ignore, even in a scientific approach, activities of transcendent order,
and according to the "sermons", with a semantics often vague, we cannot recognize creative attributes to consciousness state, to the thought, to the thought activities, to feelings, passions, presentiments, faculties, ..., organs, brain.

Nevertheless, consciousness state enables every man to enrich his abstraction domain and from diversifying his activities by means of faculties among which one most remarkable is the will,
and also, to beginning of this third millennium, enables him to hear better Divine who animate us.

As for feelings, thoughts, presentiments, passions, faculties, …, they are not spirit's facets but singular expressions of a transcendent order (sacred, divine) implicated in us.
We are thus, far from Teilhard de Chardin when he was writing :
"There is only Inert Matter that became Spirit ..., in the cosmos ...., we do not have to make of fundamental distinction between what is physical and what is moral" (Cf. The Human Energy).

How not to postulate also ? :
Cogito ergo mundus vivit (I think therefore world is living).

Alas, it's difficult for an individual whose brain was powerfully structured by means of education, from conceiving new logics by too revolutionary !



Paul Moyne
http://www.paulmoyne.com