A useful theory of consciousness should explain why it is linked to brains, but findings from evolutionary biology, developmental bioelectricity, and synthetic bioengineering show that many mechanisms and algorithms found in brains have ancient pre-neural roots—minds may have preceded brains. Analyzing popular current theories of consciousness, the authors find that the operations and functional principles emphasized by most theories are not confined to neural substrates; the focus on brains is driven more by convention than by the theories' specific content. Several theorists have applied their ideas to synthetic systems like AI and organoids. The science of consciousness should remain open to minds in unconventional embodiments.
The experience of free will is a conditioned illusion—a misattribution of causality reinforced through operant learning. Decisions and actions are determined, but the temporal contiguity of premotor and motor activations gives rise to superstitious conditioning, shaping an experience of and belief in free will compatible with determinism. Sustained by dopaminergic circuits and reinforced by sensorimotor feedback loops, this framework situates free will as an experiential phenomenon rooted in the functional neuroanatomy of learning. Implications for medicine, ethics, and law are discussed, along with conditions under which the experience may be disrupted or restructured.
The physical properties of water, especially interfacial water and pH shifts from hydronium ion dynamics near surfaces, may underlie the complex electromagnetic patterns linked to consciousness. In an experimental simulation of a human head made from conductive dough with adjustable pH, quantitative electroencephalographic activity over regions equivalent to the left and right temporal lobes showed patterns characteristic of Schumann Resonance, a fundamental electromagnetic frequency generated within the earth-ionospheric cavity. Power densities for specific pH values moderately correlated with those from normal human brains for the fundamental and second harmonic at a level simulating the cerebral cortices.