Carter Blakelaw

Consciousness is real. It exists at least for me when I assert that it exists. It is thus, at the very least, at those times, a thing in the universe. Consciousness comes and goes. There must be a change in some other aspect of the universe that makes at least the first of these transitions happen. Any change that induces either transition must involve energy of some kind (although if consciousness is an emergent property more elaboration is required). Furthermore, whatever causal role we may ascribe to it, consciousness interacts with the physical world, at the very least to the extent that the brain governs the content of experience. We take the physical world to be made up of fundamental particles (quarks, electrons, and so on). The candidates for the mechanism whereby consciousness comes about are such as: special arrangements of physical particles and changes in those arrangements (including e.g. emergence), OR transitions in the states and energy levels of those particles, OR interactions between particles of different kinds. Interactions, transitions, or establishing particular arrangements, as well as receiving content from the brain, all involve energy (although emergence demands more elaboration). Even the collapse of a wave function in quantum entanglement involves the energy of the interaction that triggers the collapse. Since consciousness comes about through an energetic transaction, it must at least for some time appropriate some part of that energy for itself (i.e. the energy from the interaction, process or whatever that brings it about). While energy is transmuted to underpin consciousness it is its own distinct form of energy (available to interact with like-energies in some characteristic way). Blakelaw posits that consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, meaning we need look no further than this energy field, and the particles and interactions that might arise in it, for an explanation of consciousness. After this text establishes this baseline, it goes on to explain how we arrive at the rich multi-sense, multi-feeling psychological life that we experience, including the 3D world-building that accompanies it. Which is to say, the putative homunculus (or inner eye) in our heads is rendered redundant.

The howl of the bedside clock-radio carves through your dreams like a buzz-saw through butter, and you are awake. In another place. Never mind the bright yellow sunlight that flecks your pillow and warms your face; you are rudely awake, and resent it. Gah You roll onto your side, cantilever your legs over the side of the bed and plant your feet squarely on the carpet. You rub your face. Massage your neck. Oh, what it is to be alive --and conscious--oh oh oh, indeed. But what is it to be alive, and conscious? Alive, we have some inkling of; you eat, you sleep, you exercise. You stay healthy and keep your body going as best you can. But conscious? What even is that? A good question is what that is, and a question for which this book has an answer. So in this text, first I set the scene: Did our consciousness evolve? Does consciousness give us free will? Which animals do we think are conscious? Where does consciousness go when we sleep? How does consciousness deliver meaning? What might a theory of consciousness look like? Then I propose: A model for consciousness at the macro scaleA mechanism for consciousness at the micro scaleFinally, I suggest some real world tests that science will one day be able to perform which will either corroborate or invalidate the theory I present here. This is a workable, testable theory. Science and philosophy demand nothing less. Table of ContentsIntroduction1. A Poodle Ate My Homework2. Life Is a Comic Strip 3. How Do You Explain Anything?4. As Time Goes By (A Kiss Is Just a Kiss)5. This See, Is the Conscious Bit6. Qualia, the Possible and a Particular7. Evolution and Free Will8. The Good, the Bad and the Choosy9. Finally, Making It All WorkA must-read for the curious-minded, which you are, are you not? So read on...