Here I am trying to figure out one of the most asked questions in life which ill obviously fail to answer but 1- I couldn't care less and 2-I'll mostly try to give my perspective and try to break down the question. So yes there is something to read here. Keep in mind that this are my own thoughts (in case u couldnt figure that shit out) and this is what i think. Don't hesitate to disagree and even lmk abt ur own views on it. Unless its some god/religious shit cuz ill absolutely clown u
Im pretty sure uve seen people wonder or ask about this. Perhaps at school or maybe found some related stuff online of some edgy kid who thinks he's the philosopher of this era. Regardless,it must have troubled u at some point to figure out what the hell is consciousness or where does it even come from. Well, don't u worry a single bit cuz I am here to solve that life crisis uve got bcs of a deep wanna be video. (Is it truly deep wanna be if they actually baited u into the life crisis? 0_00)
The question usually is what is or where does it originate and how did it even happen in the first place.But that's it. Ofc, you can't ask many other questions if u dont have the most basic ones figured out, one thing leads to another after all.
Most of us are somewhat capable of answering the first question "What is consciousness". That's mainly bcs the word consciousness is interchangable with the word awareness and understanding. Which isn't completly wrong but it def makes the whole thing more understandable and simple, which sometimes can lead to oversimplifications of the concept. One thing u gotta keep in mind tho (well acording to me) is that consciousness has always and will always BE SEEN as a state of mind (or dare i say even brain 0_0). Some make it seem like it's not the case, but if u roll around the idea enough ull figure out that it's just that. Yk, making it seem like a "soul" matter. Saying stuff like the soul leaves the body when the person dies. We will get back to that later but just think abt it for a moment.
Oh yes, as i was saying. Consciousness is usually just known as a certain state of a being and to get a better understanding of it you also gotta see it as a gradient scale. Not black or white. This problem happens a lot mainly because we see it like this when it comes to us and animals. "Cows are not conscious, we are". No, its not a sudden thing like that but we do it bcs its being generalized. However, based on what criteria is it being generalized like that? Quite simple, as we said before, understanding, leading us to knowing, to awareness, to intelligence. Yes, cows are not conscious but we are bcs we happen to be smarter. That's it.
hey aint that idea too simple?
Yes, hold on........... Don't forget that im just explaining the overly simplified concept of animals being non conscious beings.
Anyways, the whole thing of consciousness being an intelligence thing isn't really unique to the animals idea. Many times in psychology we lable our own development with being or not being aware enough but this time with a grayer scale. For example, kids development:
Kids before a certain age are labled as unconscious bcs they haven't developed X mental skill. One is the ablity of using an inner monologue. Children who are around the ages of 5 to 7 start developing their inner speech but prior to that u can notice that these kids never really spoke to themselves in silence. They didnt even read quietly. They would say everything out loud even when reading. That's because they're not developed mentally enough to do that. They're simply not capable because their brains haven't progressed yet, they're not advanced enough. Don't confuse inner monologue with the ability to think. Sometimes we confuse that bcs we usually/always think while speaking to ourselves but that's only bcs we are used to it. In the case that u cannot imagine someone thinking without a voice, just think about when u process something in ur brain so quick that u dont even need to break it down to urself prior. If that's not something common in ur life bcs ur unfortunate and unlucky and maybe, just maybe, very dumb, imagine how dogs or animals think. Def not a speech right?
Back to the kids, consciousness in the psychological development of them are like milestones. Recognizing urself in the mirror and reflections, being able to have an inner monologue, then abstract thinking. They're all levels of consciousness.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, no it's not. Bcs we've got more things to solve +_+ and we COULD jump to the question of "where is it?" however the second we try to answer it we will have to rewind back to the "what is it?"
Okay but where is it? You could answer in ur brain but if we were to open ur brain we wouldn't find that inner monologue u were having just a second ago niether that great big fat burger u were imagining urself eating : (. Now it's when u answer with "it's perception". The processing and interpretation of sensory info, right? Just like when you touch some plushie of urs and u think of it. The plushie isn't really in ur brain but what is happening is that you are just processing the information using your senses and MEMORY.Imagination at the end of the day is just replaying what the brain has once processed and is just replaying it just without the first steps. Ofc, to replay the same process u need some good memory---- (And u also need to b sharp enough to be able to do it, right? Some being with an underdeveloped brain wouldn't be capable of doing that)
Exactly. We still haven't answered the question properly nor the where it is question.
Will be finished in the future