States of Consciousness and Self-Organization

Consciousness, like biological ecosystems, is a nonlinear, chaotic, and self-creating system that is never at rest but continuously recreates itself through feedback and feed-forward processes. Nonlinearity is nearly universal in biological and natural cognitive systems, making them famously unpredictable, though general patterns can be recognized. The interior "stream of consciousness," described by William James, follows recognizable patterns over time but cannot be predicted in detail. Small changes in such hypercomplex systems, like minute chemical changes in the brain or the onset of sleep, can dramatically shift human experience.

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Abstract

This chapter explains that like biological ecologies, consciousness is stabilized in nonlinear, chaotic, self-creating, or “autopoietic” contexts that are never at rest but continuously recreating themselves through feedback and feed-forward processes. Nonlinearity is virtually universal in biological as well as natural cognitive systems. Unlike mathematical models of highly abstracted events that take place outside of real-world contexts, these systems are famously unpredictable, though often successfully characterized in general terms as recognizable patterns. Like the weather, the interior “stream of consciousness,” first described in detail by William James during the late 19th century, follows recognizable patterns over time, yet cannot be predicted in detail. The motion of a marble rolling in a grooved space, or “basin,” is often used to models systems. Natural nonlinear systems tend to be complex, so that small changes sometimes produce unexpected consequences. This is especially true in hypercomplex real-world environmental ecological systems, and it is true for human experience itself, which can be dramatically shifted by minute chemical changes in the brain, or changes in internal events such as the onset of sleep or dreaming.