On variability & human consciousness.

Abstract

The topic of consciousness remains central across numerous academic fields ranging from philosophy to cognitive neuroscience. Scholars in all of these fields continue to debate the origins of conscious experiences. More recently, scientists have applied advanced imaging techniques to illuminate brain regions that are at least associated with our subjective feelings of conscious experience. Though much disagreement remains, one point that is generally accepted across fields is that consciousness is not the product of an immaterial substance, but rather is produced by functioning across physical substrates in the brain. This point of agreement is enough to suggest that genetically and environmentally underpinned individual variation in brain structure may contribute to individual variation in consciousness. To the extent that this is correct, it may provide insight on a host of important questions across various academic fields. Equally important, understanding sources of variability in consciousness may be a key piece of the puzzle for understanding not only how consciousness evolved but also how selection pressures might continue to act on the human experience of consciousness across subsequent generations.