A human language-based consciousness model
Research Features July 20, 2023 DOI: 10.26904/rf-148-4826361205 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Peer reviewed |
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| Key points | The text argues that consciousness remains unexplained by neuroscience and outlines three competing positions: physicalists hold that consciousness arises from material brain activity, dualists hold that it is a supernatural phenomenon separate from the brain, and panpsychists speculate that it derives from a 'universal field of consciousness'. |
Abstract
e usually think of consciousness in terms of the subjective inner states experienced by humans, such as emotion, thought, perception, and self-awareness.Scientists from a variety of academic disciplines, from psychology to philosophy, neuroscience to mathematics, have been debating how these conscious phenomena arise in the brain.Neuroscientists have investigated the relationship between conscious phenomena and neural circuit activity in the brain, but have yet to get a good grasp of the matter.Consciousness poses many problems and is the cause for many religious and philosophical debates.For instance, physicalists, who believe that all mental phenomena are ultimately physical phenomena, suggest that consciousness arises from material brain activity.In contrast, dualists believe in two opposed powers -the good and bad -and advocate that consciousness is a supernatural phenomenon separate from brain activity.On the other hand, panpsychists, who believe that all things have a mind or a mind-like quality, speculate that consciousness comes from a 'universal field of consciousness'.