Consciousness, that enigmatic phenomenon of experience and perception, has captivated the curiosity of philosophers, scientists, and thinkers throughout history. In this summary, we embark on a journey to unravel the mysteries surrounding consciousness, drawing insights from the work of Annaka Harris in her book,” Conscious: Exploring the Mysteries of Experience and Perception”.What is the true nature of consciousness? Is it merely a byproduct of brain activity, or does it hold deeper implications for understanding our existence?Consider recent news and events...
Exploring Consciousness: The Quest for Understanding the 'Hard Problem
For something so central to our lives, consciousness remains a mysterious and elusive subject. We all have different ideas about what it means to be conscious, making it challenging to grasp its true essence. To better understand consciousness, let's start by ruling out what it is not. But before we dive in, let's agree on a rough idea of what we mean when we talk about consciousness in the first place.The famed philosopher Thomas Nagel suggested someone or something is...
Our intuition can help us understand consciousness but it’s not perfect
Despite its ubiquity in our everyday lives, consciousness remains an enigma. It’s challenging to define and study objectively. We often rely on intuition to grasp its essence, but intuition can be fallible. Our gut feelings and intuitions may lead us astray, as evidenced by phenomena such as irrational fears or biases. Imagine you're in a dark room, and there's a mysterious object right in front of you. You can feel its shape and texture with your hands, but you can't...
Consciousness is everywhere in nature
We once believed that consciousness was a special gift exclusive to us, humans. But oh boy, were we in for a surprise! Turns out, consciousness is not limited to just us. It extends beyond our species, making us question what it means to be conscious and who else might be sharing this mysterious phenomenon with us.Picture this: plants show signs of having consciousness. They may not have a brain like ours, but they communicate through chemical signals and have memory-like...
Consciousness isn’t necessarily related to our thoughts and actions
The way consciousness and decision-making work together is way more complicated than we thought. Our thoughts just pop up out of nowhere, influenced by genes, instincts, and stuff that happened to us before. A thought about your first love creeping into your mind while working on a university assignment wasn’t exactly a conscious thought, was it? Even though we think we're in control, lots of things we do are automatic and instinctive. When you put on the brakes in response...
Our senses operate independently and are not connected to consciousness
Our assumptions about consciousness can lead to illusions that shape how we perceive reality, as we often believe we are in full control of our decisions and actions. However, this sense of control may be illusory, as external factors and subconscious processes significantly influence our choices. The brain generates self-deceptive illusions, such as the sense of making conscious decisions and experiencing simultaneous sensory events. But that’s not true. Information from different senses takes different times to be processedFollowing are the...
Our sense of ‘self’ and consciousness don’t always go hand-in-hand
The concept of ‘self’ is often deeply intertwined with consciousness, but even this can be called into question. Your sense of self is the sense of everything that you’re experiencing happening to the ‘you’, ‘I’, or ‘me’, distinct from the environment around you. It’s the ‘you’ that experiences raindrops falling on your skin or pain after a bruise. Under certain circumstances though, such as through the use of psychedelics or deep meditation, the sense of self can dissolve, revealing a...
Does all matter have consciousness - even stars, trees, and toys?
Now that we've explored the complexities of consciousness, an interesting question arises: Does consciousness extend beyond humans? Can non-human animals also have consciousness? Could it exist in everything around us? It's like wondering if all matter might possess some level of consciousness. After all, if we can't pinpoint a relationship between any human element and consciousness, why should we restrict consciousness to humans? It's a fascinating thought to consider the possibility that consciousness could be widespread throughout the universe, transcending...
Panpsychism doesn’t have universal acceptance, but it can be valuable in explaining consciousness
Still, many scientists are reluctant to accept the concept of panpsychism. How could, for example, your heart and lungs have consciousness of their own separate from the consciousness of yourself’? Seems counter-intuitive right? Well, we’ve seen intuition doesn't always lead to objective results.So let us look at some other examples supporting our case. Enter split-brain studies carried out since the 1960s. People who suffer from seizures often undergo a procedure known as corpus callosotomy. Our brains are made up of...
Chapter 11
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Summary
Broken down to its bare basics, having consciousness means having some sort of experience. In "Consciousness" by Annaka Harris, we're encouraged to rethink what we know about our experiences and how we see things. As we explore its mysteries, we discover that consciousness isn't necessarily just limited to humans; it's everywhere, even in plants and non-living things. The way we think, the tricks our minds play on us, and the idea of having one single self all add to the...
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About the Author
Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of “CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind” (HarperCollins, June 2019). She is an editor and consultant for science writers, specializing in neuroscience and physics, and her work has appeared in The New York Times. Annaka is the author of the children's book “I Wonder,” a collaborator on the “Mindful Games Activity Cards,” by Susan Kaiser Greenland, and a volunteer mindfulness teacher for the Inner Kids organization. Visit her online at: annakaharris.com
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