#hard problem of consciousness

[maximvandaele]

Responses to the hard problem of consciousness: a flowchart

I have created a chart that shows the responses that have been given to the hard problem of consciousness, which has fascinated me for quite a while now.

The hard problem of consciousness is the philosophical debate over how it is possible that consciousness, as we experience it, exists (rather than not exist). At least, that is how it typically seems to be understood. I would add, as Raamy Majeed and Wolfgang Fasching have done, that, besides being about explaining why consciousness exists at all, the hard problem of consciousness can additionally be understood as being about addressing the (possibly even more mysterious) question of why consciousness takes those forms that it does (or appears to do). This will be discussed in a brief essay (in Dutch) soon to appear on this blog.

The chart is my attempt at mapping this debate as clearly as possible. When one learns about the responses to the hard problem, it is easy to get lost in a maze of exotic sounding -isms that are not always defined in a very understandable way. My flowchart can hopefully clear up the positions. All errors in the chart are my own.

Click here to view the chart in full-size, so that you can read the text.

#philosophy #philosophy of mind #consciousness #hard problem of consciousness

[scienceknowledge]

A New Theory in Physics Claims to Solve the Mystery of Consciousness - Neuroscience News

Researchers Dr. Nir Lahav from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and Dr. Zakaria Neemeh from the University of Memphis, propose a solution to the hard problem of consciousness using a relativistic perspective towards consciousness.

#neurophysics #hard problem of consciousness #consciousness #philosophy of mind

[davestone13-blog]

Is Consciousness Stuck In Your Brain? What We Think Now

The exploration of consciousness has long been the domain of philosophers, psychologists, and neurologists, each bringing unique perspectives to this complex and mysterious phenomenon. Let’s take a deeper dive. Edited by David Stone For The Roosevelt Island Daily News Consciousness, at its core, is our subjective experience of the world. It is the lens through which we perceive, interpret, and…

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#conscious awareness #consciousness #hard problem of consciousness

[selfawarepatterns]

The function of color

The function of color Is your red the same as my red? Is this a meaningful question? Maybe when we look at the causal chain, it isn't. New blog post. #consciousness #PhilosophyOfMind #philosophy #InvertedQualia #qualia

In the history of discussions about consciousness, there have always been ideas that some aspects of human experience are irreducible to physics. Colors have long had a special place in these discussions. During the scientific revolution, colors lost their status as objective properties in the world, with people like Galileo relegating them to secondary qualities dependent on the observer,…

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#Consciousness #Hard problem of consciousness #inverted qualia #knowledge argument #phenomenal consciousness #Philosophy #Philosophy of Mind #Qualia

[markllockwood]

Fall in love with Consciousness

Fall in love with Consciousness

Amor Conscientia – the love of pure consciousness. The Roman stoic philosopher Seneca used the word Conscientia in his writings to describe the idea of shared  knowledge, collective consciousness, being in the know or privy to, joint knowledge and knowledge found within oneself; which is simply spiritually going inwards to seek the truth. In contemplative practice this love of higher, deeper and…

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#consciousness #contemplation #contemplative practice #dualistic thinking #hard problem of consciousness #levels of consciousness #spiritual awakening #spirituality

[udurghsigil]

not to sound anti-science or anything but i feel like a big reason for general human suffering right now is because we know too many of the secrets of this world

#x #like an ant doesnt give af abt what lays beneath the earth's crust they r just like 'lol frolicking playing etc' yknow #idk i was just thinking the other day abt 'whats the point of being spiritual when natural phenomena is explainable' #also smth smth atheists and westerners with the obsession with science and logic #maybe its just me but i think that some sort of spirituality #even non religious is essential to living a decent life #like to keep it real everything we've discovered is just a testament to humanity's capability and one of our greatest achievements #thinking abt this bc of a convo i had w my therapist abt carl jung's theories and how i connect w them despite knowing they arent exactly.. #idk... widely accepted as Current... yknow what i mean #i just think of the idea that if we one day manage to explain all natural phenomena except for a few that are just out of our reach #(i.e. the hard problem of consciousness) #how are future humans gonna react to that yknow... maybe the progression of science has led to so many of us having anxiety #anxiety = fear of uncertainty so the constant search of answers or certainty is....... #augh. anyway. food for thought

[miabrown007]

a minute of silence to my skills to estimate how long a project is ever going to take

#my google calendar and Carl bot (and my friends) have been kind enough to inform me today was the estimated posting date of heist au #suffice to say that is not happening #it would have been rad to make a habit out of the co-occurrence of starting a new job and starting to post a finished WIP but alas #that will not be happening for a while longer #I have no idea when will I find the time for writing between two jobs and the big bang but. we'll work something out. #but hey it's good to give your projects breathing space so your brain can do the work in the background and solve the problems for you #I'll probably need to go back and revamp the whole last chapter I've been working on #but I'm still too sick and jet lagged and sick to be thinking about that so I'll consume some more media in the meantime #and complain about how bad the fic I'm listening to is. like god it's supposed to be so romantic and cute and he's literally #depriving her bodily autonomy and her friends support him I want to leave a strongly worded comment so bad #I will not be doing that but god it's so awful I should have stopped listening to this fic long ago. so that's a lesson learned. #put the fucking fic down there's plenty of stuff that's going to be better #hot take I sure no one saw coming sometimes things that are popular are actually bad #anyway have some stream of fucking consciousness /ref to another fic I'm fighting hard to keep discontinued #I know I won't like it why is this so hard #heist au should have been posted today based on maths btw. maths I did wrong for the first time which means it should have been posted #a year ago really #not like I have the proper structure to do a heist au daily #but it would have been fun to post the first chapter on the exact day it takes place. idk just for flavour #does all this make any sense? hardly. this is a diary entry and my two braincells are firing random thoughts at each other #that's fine though. it's all fine. here have some popcorn to go with all this nonsense 🍿🍿🍿 <3 #(and also all the drama in the new shadow and bone season. ugh it's so good I love Wesper SO. MUCH. or just Waylan. and Nikolai. #he's my blorbo assigned at first relevant information. relavant information: he's my friend's blorbo #but gods he's so my type it's scary. of course I'll have him as my blorbo. of course of course! #*puts him on a shelf next to Adrien Draco and Hunter* #*steps back to think before putting Waylan there too and sitting Zuko on the far end* #war crimes look so good on them :3 #miaing #heist au

[ninjaaa-go]

what is this??? one of my characters is actually making me like writing dialogue??? madness

#I am a renowned dialogue hater #but props to my girl Lilith she is a massive chatterbox and really fun to write dialogue for #I think her tendency to word vomit just makes it easier to get a stream of consciousness going #now that I’m thinking about it I feel like part of my problem with dialogue is that it’s very segmented so it’s hard to get a good #flow going like I do with the narrative/descriptive bits #and she seriously makes that way easier to do because she simply does not shut up #anyhow yay for writing breakthroughs! #writing #writer problems #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writblr

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick at Janet Drake's funeral

Dick (internally): The cruel fates, the Greeks called them. The three sisters weaving the loom of life, spinning its golden threads into the years - cutting it whenever the whim took them. Stupid! But I guess we all need something to help us make sense of it all. We need to find meaning in the pain…patterns in the chaos. Tim needs it now, as I once did. As Bruce did before me. So why do we make our faces into masks? Why do we hide the pain we all feel? Tim: Thanks for coming, Dick. I know how busy - (They shake hands.) Dick: It was the least I could do, Tim. Believe me - I know what you're going through. If you need any help, any time - Tim (looking down): I appreciate that. But... I'll cope. (In the background, we see Tim shaking somebody else's hand.) Dick to Bruce: He's a brave kid. He's in control. Bruce: Yes. Dick: You know what comes next, don't you? - Batman 455 (Christmas Eve, the day before Tim officially becomes Robin)

#nothing will ever be as great as dick's long pained internal monologue about why they hide the pain they feel #followed by a ritualized exchange of condolences with tim #followed by the robin costume as the memorial through which to channel grief #because none of them know how to grieve in normal ways #how could you possibly grieve for your dead parents other than dressing up in a costume at night & punching people?? impossible #also earlier in this comic tim has a nightmare in which dick and bruce are wearing masks & he demands to see their real faces #and they take their masks off & beneath their masks are MORE MASKS #and they're burying his mother and he screams at them saying it has to mean something #and then he sees a doppelgänger of himself with no mask & he demands that it show him its true face #and doppelgänger!tim starts PEELING HIS FACE OFF and underneath is a monstrous face that looks like a cross btw clayface & the joker #and then we cut to tim screaming in his sleep #anyway one of the many great things about this comic from a dick-and-tim perspective is that tim's subconscious mind is obsessing about #trying to make sense of senseless violence & about people hiding their true selves under masks #which is exactly the SAME THING that dick is obsessing about consciously so do they ACT on these insights and stop doing the #thing where they hide their emotions???? of course not are you crazy #anyway i am FASCINATED by that handshake #this is obviously a pre-prodigal interaction they're not really close yet #consider how different this is from dick calling tim when jack drake gets murdered (and also the ways the problem is the same!!) #listen LISTEN they're both people who routinely hide behind metaphorical and literal masks & it's hard to let other people see #and their whole relationship is this back-and-forth btw the defensive masks & slowly trusting each other enough to take off the masks #did you know that in resurrection at the end of their fight tim literally TAKES OFF HIS MASK when he's surrendering #did you know that they spend their entire red robin 4 fight in masks & don't see each other's faces until tim passes out in red robin 12 #and dick catches him and while falling tim's mask has begun to FALL OFF #dick & tim #dick grayson #tim drake #hoc scripsi

[villainsidestep]

.

#gideon shut the hell up challenge #trying So Hard to remember how we’d set up the verse tags but we cannot !!!! #we’re also trying to remember what fawn/ric/angie is bc we remember fawngie and fawnric but the combo..??? idk #Also also still thinking abt mirror puppet bc we did a retri run for funsies #(w temp name being artemis bc quick and fun hunter name) and I love. the conflict of fawn #talking to ric and being like yeah this puppet is like happy me so it’s fucked up he’s dating both of us but I know he’d choose her #and meanwhile talking to danny they’re like :/ hey why tf aren’t u showing this puppet the same attention. what’s ur problem. #LIKE ??? shut up. u don’t even know what u want #other thoughts….. actor au. group interview w yaz eden and fawn talking abt how it took a bit of work and hanging out #to make sure that their mannerisms were all similar enough while still being distinctive to drive home that One Consciousness theme #hb’s actor talking abt how it was their first time playing such a yucky role and how long the makeup takes #just all the fun little interviews !! behind the scenes shots and bloopers !!! the drama of omg is chargestep Actually dating ?? (yes)

[averycanadianfilm]

What is Mind? What is Consciousness? | Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions

Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions during a retreat at University of Nottingham (UK). April 2012. Questions: What is mind? What is consciousness?

#youtube #Thich Nhat Hanh #Gautama Buddha #Buddha #Mind #Conciousness #The Hard Problem of Consciousness #Quantum #Meditation #Vipassana

[girl4music]

Energy is both ever-present and ever-changing.

It is both permanent and fluctuating.

It is both stable and fluid.

Contradictory? Energy is contradictory because energy is never a specific solid thing. It’s a force. It’s immaterial. It’s something you cannot perceive of but interact and engage with always. Constantly. Forever.

It’s energy. Energy is never created, never destroyed. Energy never stays still and yet we perceive it as if it does because we slow it down ourselves. That’s how powerful our minds actually are. How complex it is to exist, to engage, to interact, to experience. To be. And our minds do all of that naturally, instinctually, easily.

We not only generate the information that we perceive and experience, we also edit it in real time. And we turn what is a split-second event/moment/experience into a memory. Into something that has passed but can still be engaged with through the filter thought and emotion. That’s all mental. Every single bit of it.

But reality itself - regardless what it looks, sounds, feels like - is fleeting. It is already something new as nature is nothing but the process of transformation.

Moving - always in movement. Always transforming.

Always in a state and position of there and not there at the same time. Simultaneously 0 and 1 together.

We naturally gravitate towards nature ourselves as human beings because we’re meant to move with it because we are no different to it. We ARE nature too.

We’re not supposed to stay static. A permanence. A “thing” specific from any other “thing” and have a unique identification of from it. We think that we do but that’s because we’re so used to having a dual perspective. It’s the first perspective we ever have when we’re born. To have an “I” and then an “other”, completely ignoring the fact we couldn’t have either without both there at the time working in tandem like a machine. Clockwork. The functionality of the cogs. That’s what we are because that’s what we do. But we forget that we couldn’t do any of it without each other.

As energy and nature we are as a unit of being. One. We put what we experience as “reality” here with us because the whole point is to experience it as real. We have a dual perspective immediately as soon as we’re born because we’re fundamentally not dual. It would be impossible to experience anything if we really were because energy and nature doesn’t ever work alone - separately. There’s always the force and the yield. And nothing ever is or gets done without both interacting.

That’s what “reality” is. It’s interaction and motion. Action and reaction. Cause and effect. There is always an experience of something because there is always a process of change. Ever-present change. Existence is not ever still. It can’t be or it won’t be. It couldn’t be.

But as soon as you place an identification on any part of it that you focus on and zero in on - then it is being. Then it suddenly exists. Because you’ve conceived it.

This processing. This generating. This conceiving. It’s all natural. It’s so natural that we never notice we do it. Our natural state is of what everything else is - nature itself - but we possess a unique trait or skill that gives us dual perspective. Consciousness. Self-awareness. Self-enquiry. And as the theoretical physicist David Chalmers puts it - the hard problem is not figuring out what consciousness is or how any human being can possess consciousness. It is why are we conscious?

But if you ask me - not that you would - the answer is actually very simple. We are because we have to be. I say it’s that nothing would ever exist if we were not conscious. For me consciousness is a fundamental constant of reality. Of having a real experience. It’s a component that is so crucial to the computation of 0+1 that no equation would ever add up without it. You could spend an eternity trying to work it out from the outside looking in, but you’ll never reach a conclusion without the inside looking out. So let’s change the perspective. Not necessarily get rid of the paradigm but rearrange it somewhat. Try something new with it.

Consciousness is as fundamental as energy and nature. Not just in physics, but in every science. You simply cannot “science” without it, so why even try?

If you asked a reductionary classical and conventional physicist to even entertain the thought of combining the metaphysical with the mathematical, they would laugh at you. They would tell you that you’re insane. So it’s not that they can’t do it. It’s that they don’t want to do it because they’re so afraid of the truth. David Chalmers appears to be the only theoretical physicist and philosopher that will ask these questions where the metaphysics does have to be talked about. So, therefore, he is the only one worth my attention.

You know, being a neuroscientist really does sound incredibly exciting. But the restrictions man… the limited perceptions and understandings of the mind… it would drive me crazy to be in a field of science that’s so interesting but is ultimately boxed in lies. To study the brain and its infinite complex capabilities,… just to ignore the fact it is literally rendering itself along with everything else in its energetic field…

I couldn’t be apart of something so close-minded that’s meant to expand awareness of the Universe and that naturally, instinctually, easily does by default. Talking about the contradictions in the world - that’s a big one. I could not be apart of neuroscience because I’d be constantly questioning and challenging the intentions and purposes of studying the mind. I’d say things that were so far removed from the objective of the job that I know I would be fired on the spot for it. Even something as simple as “the mind isn’t in the brain, - the mind is omnipresent. It is everywhere.” Even that is too much for the current neuroscience because it’s too metaphysical. Too esoteric for it. No, I don’t belong in neuroscience. Nor even physics. In fact I don’t belong in any science. I’ll be interested in it, absolutely. But my views are just too unconventional and no scientist except this brave man would listen.

I’ve had a theory of everything for practically my whole life. I’ve been building on it more and more as I aged. But it’s too fucking OUT THERE to be heard. Even though it’s logical and based entirely on the information and evidence - both empirical and not - that we have already as well some strong predications from my claircognizance. It is ultimately very sound if one even dares to attempt to entertain metaphysics. Because until you can - it will always sound insane because unknown information is insane. People are afraid of what they don’t or can’t know. Well, I’ve never had the luxury of being able to deny what I shouldn’t know because my mind has never worked that way. I’ve always known shit I shouldn’t or couldn’t possibly know. I’ve always been aware but not of how or why. And it did always drive me crazy until I embraced it. Until I finally fucking accepted that yes, I am psychic. I do possess an expanded awareness than most people. Extra-sensory perceptive abilities very few people do. Abilities that have saved my life more times than I can count. That have led me down a path I couldn’t have possibly seen without it. That have always guided me. Eventually I had to accept that the shit that made me crazy was the same shit that made me able to be me. That only by getting lost could I ever be found again. That’s what a “spiritual awakening” is. A reckoning. And even someone like me - Miss INTP, that needs logic and facts and rationality - was metaphysical and therefore had to accept that the metaphysical exists. Because how the fuck can you deny your own being? I couldn’t deny any of that exists when it was who I am. I am metaphysical. I am spiritual. I am divine. I am multidimensional. There’s no way I can deny it when it’s literally my life every single waking second of it.

So yeah, consciousness is fundamental to me. The subjective is all I have. “Reality” cannot be without it. I don’t think Chalmers is “on to something”. I think he is fucking SPOT ON and people need to listen to him. And not just him. Robert Lanza. Alan Watts. Sadhguru. Spinoza. And even Albert Einstein to a degree as well. We’re all ultimately saying the same thing. Just differently. Majorly differently. Using different terms and definitions, metaphors and frames of reference.

But we are all ultimately saying the exact same thing.

That we have had it all very wrong to begin with. Classical physics. Newtonian physics. Darwinism.

We’ve got it all wrong as a collective consciousness.

And because we’re ultimately stuck for answers in science currently…. We have to do what scares us.

We have to start involving consciousness and talking about metaphysics seriously. It’s a philosophy of physics. A whole new paradigm of getting to the truth of how it all works. Nature. Energy. Us. Everything.

We’re at a standstill. Yes, we’re making discoveries and progress in everything else but the fundamental problem - the umbrella of the whole thing - is ?????.

We don’t know. Except we do - we just can’t face it.

We have to make consciousness a fundamental constant. As fundamental as gravity and electromagnetics. the strong and weak nuclear forces. We have to because we’re getting nowhere without it.

They’re afraid. They’re all fucking afraid. Cowards.

The only one that doesn’t seem to be is Chalmers.

#closer to truth #david chalmers #is consciousness fundamental? #the hard problem #consciousness #philosophy of physics #nature #energy #existence #dualism #neuroscience #Youtube

[hussyknee]

The worst thing the whole Harry Potter discourse has done is making fandom parrot the take: "Death of the Author doesn't apply when they're living and profiting off their work." Idk how we can come back from that one tbh.

#That's. Not. What. Death. Of the. Author. Means. #it's about the fact that the story must be interpreted according to nothing more than what is on the page #that the way you consume and interpret a piece of art relies on nothing more than your own understanding and preferences #instead of authorial intent‚ fiat or motivation or 'Word of God' (info tacked on later by the creator) #it doesnt free you of the onus of consuming it critically while acknowledging it's problems #or finding an ethical way to consume it which includes not giving the creator money if they use it for harmful purposes #so people who use Death of the Author to continue buying the books and merchandise #or simply gloss over the valid criticism of it #and people who rebutt it by implying that Death of the Author LITERALLY MEANS THE AUTHOR'S DEATH #are both stupidly wrong #unfortunately this idea has now rooted itself so deep as the battle line between white liberals and leftists #that it's hard to imagine it being dispelled any time in the near future #ethical consumption under capitalism is necessary and useful #but the west's egoism as usual has taken a concept and rendered it actively counterproductive through hardwired neoliberal individualism #anyway trying to eradicate the third most read book in the world from global cultural consciousness is a fool's errand #that ends up punishing and policing only the most accessible and vulnerable targets with internet access #and making a franchise of wizard school books the battleground of systemic transphobia #is a clear indication of how leftism has been entirely co-opted by the white bourgeoisie #and the fact that how their approach impacts trans and queer people of the global south #is not even on the west's radar‚ let alone having any allyship with our queer folks #harry potter #fandom #fandom discourse #writing #literary analysis #decolonization #knee of huss

[crybabydraws]

An attempt at concept art for the beginning of the Dreamtale AU that rn I'm calling Dreamertale (I know I'm extremely creative and totally good at naming things lmao. Might change it later we'll see).

Also have this:

(I know the dialogue isn't great but you get the gist. Check tags for further au rambling lmao).

#In this AU the monsters aren't trapped underground after the war but rather confined to their own walled in territory on the surface. #This wall btw is ancient and strong and tall as shit. Frisk's hands bleed so much from climbing it. #Within this territory is the “Tree of Mind” kind of this aus version of the “Tree of Feelings” from Dreamtale but pretty different too. #The Tree of Mind is powerful and almost like it's own character. It purposefully makes the monster's walls very hard to find usually #It's connected to emotions but also consciousness and the universe's very code. #If the tree ever were to die reality would basically be fucked. #Using it's connection to the universe's code it purposefully makes it so the walls are hard to find and that getting there can be deadly. #However Frisk finds the walls no problem and climbs them anyways partially out of curiosity. #Anyways you're probably gonna be seeing more of this au so be ready bc I've got ideas sdujfhasldikfj #dreamtale au #my au #dreamertale #concept art #my art #frisk #mine

[selfawarepatterns]

Do regular people see a hard problem of consciousness?

Do regular people see a hard problem of consciousness? Is there even a folk concept of consciousness?

This week the latest Mind Chat episode focused on whether regular people actually perceive a hard problem of consciousness, or if it’s an issue largely created by philosophers. Keith Frankish and Philip Goff interview Michelle Liu and Edouard Machery. (The video is a bit over two hours. You don’t necessarily need to watch it to understand this post, although if you find it interesting you’ll…

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#Consciousness #Hard problem of consciousness #Mind Chat #phenomenal consciousness #Philosophy #Philosophy of Mind

[hella1975]

omg that tams update fucking INCREDIBLE I adore the role reversal of azulas hope in the avatar and zukos skepticism it makes me ache so much in my heart

also this is now me just gushing about how I love your characterization for the fire siblings just in an overall general sense, like I know it's probably not purposeful the autistic traits I get out of them, that really IS just how they are whether I read into it deeper or not lmao, BUT I STILL ADORE IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ESP FROM YOUR WRITING. LIKE YOU JUST GET IT SO MUCH I LOVE IT. Taking everything from social interactions at face value Zuko and responding very honestly abt it paired with very aware of everything Azula who expresses emotional attachments differently than others are my BELOVEDS thank you for them

im gonna be honest azula in particular ive mentioned a couple times in the tams outline that she's definitely got Something going on and it's v much the same canonically imo. like at the very least she's low-empathy but i definitely lean towards neurodivergent hcs with her and i think tams in particular highlights that (you'll understand later but to summarise briefly without spoilers we get a real recurring thing with azula of her treading on toes/hurting feelings without meaning to and getting very confused and not understanding social cues. it's written in her pov as her just not being used to being around so many people/people who aren't zuko when she's a low-empathy person anyway, but it can definitely be interpreted as autism). zuko also leans into this if you want him to but it's definitely azula i've focused it on

#tams azula breaks my heart bc she's actually trying so hard to be good and do the good thing but you worded it perfectly #she doesnt express emotions in the way people are used to and it gets misinterpreted bc people assume the worst out of her #like even last chapter there was a brief moment of it where she tried to ask aang something 'casually' #but she sounded demanding/interrogatory instead and she doesnt MEAN to and she gets so frustrated with herself #like i put a lot of myself into her bc im self-aware of myself to notice every single thing i do and how it's interpreted #but im also pretty low-empathy so a lot of my responses are like. constructed? i have whole identity crises about this actually #like on bad nights i will convince myself that every single part of my personality is consciously manufactured #and nothing i do is authentic lol. and azula has a LOT of that bc none of my characters are free from my problems #like she has to look at a situation and go 'okay now we're gonna be casual' or 'now we're gonna be sad bc they're telling a sad story' #like has to instruct herself bc it doesn't come naturally. and obviously bc it's not 'authentic' it doesnt always come out right #and people notice that it's not legit and it creates problems but she's really just trying very hard #OUGH i love her. anywayyyyy #ask #tams asks