Thinking about Consciousness

Steve Pavlina’s overcoming fear podcast is one of my all-time favorites.
It starts off as expected, but veers off in a surprising direction and ends up being a fantastically lucid explanation of a difficult concept. I agree with his conclusions, here’s why:

(Warning— amateur philosophizing ahead, please use caution!)

If there is 1 person in a room, most people would agree that there is 1 consciousness in the room. But if there are 5 people, does this mean there are 5 consciousnesses? And if 100 people, then 100 consciousnesses?

Another example: assume Earth is only populated world in universe. As Earth population grows, then consciousness is also growing in proportion? And if there was some catastrophe that eliminated all life on Earth, then the quantity of consciousness in the universe drops down to zero?

It doesn’t make sense!

Using a plural form of the word consciousness is awkward (consciousnesses? consciousnessii?). I wonder if this is a clue that there is no plural form of the thing itself.

Similarly, if all the people in the room leave the room, leaving only a chair and a table, then how many minds are left in the room?

To quote from Ervin Laszlo:

What we call “matter” is the aspect we apprehend when we look at a person, a plant, or a molecule from the outside; “mind” is the readout we get when we look at the same thing from the inside.

With no people in the room, then the chair and table still represent a form of consciousness, incomprehensible to use because its in a different manifestation that we aren’t in tune with, just like we cannot comprehend the mind of an insect.

The interesting thing is, if one assumes that there is no separate consciousness, isnt this how sociopaths think? They are unable to empathize with other people, to some extent they do not even believe that other people and their feelings exist. So does this mean that sociopaths have a better understanding of reality than the rest of us?

Maybe not, because sociopaths operate in the incorrect belief that they are the only island in the ocean, without believing that other islands exist. A more correct view would be that other islands exist, but understanding that each is connected underneath the ocean and their apparent separate nature is just an illusion.

Written by Parker on August 12th, 2006 with comments disabled.
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