Rene Karamians
In any study concerning the nature of subjective consciousness, it is important to first recognize the bicameral nature of the subjective mind. The problem of subjectivity becomes far less complicated when one gains insight into the idea that subjective consciousness might be a combination of two important characteristics of the mind, namely, the waken-state, and intelligent understanding. In this paper I will attempt to describe both of these characteristics and show how they both play an important role in the overall phenomenon of subjective consciousness.
Subjective Consciousness
It has thus far proven a difficult task indeed to describe the nature of subjectivity (or subjective consciousness) without first gaining insight into the bicameral nature of the subjective mind. It should be clear at this point, that prior to any subjectivity there needs be first a waken-state. A state in which the central nervous system (CNS) is “awake”, or rather ready to obtain and interpret sensory data. Also prior to subjectivity, there needs be a certain level of intelligence which will give the waken CNS the ability to retain and interpret sensory data in such a way which will give rise to subjective consciousness (or subjectivity). What I am suggesting is that the waken-state acts as a medium in which intelligence can reside and give rise to subjectivity. Without insight into this dualistic system any study of subjective consciousness would be difficult if not impossible, for one would be attempting to study two separate phenomena as one system.
The
current model which accounts for the waken-state of the CNS describes the
mental state as a function of the synaptic firing of the rather widespread
reticular neurons. Specifically, it describes the reticular activating system
(RAS), which is located within the central core of the medulla oblongata, the
pons and the midbrain core, as the cause of the waken-state of the CNS. RAS
neurons can be found within the hypothalamus, the thalamus, the cerebellum and
even within the cortex. The widespread nature of these neurons and the rate at
which they fire would indicate that the RAS could have much to do with cerebral
cortical alertness. The reticular formation is also responsible for the
“filtering out” of sensory data. Without this portion of the brain the cortex
would be bombarded by sensory information rendering the subject incapable of
effective interaction with the external environment. This “filtering out” of
trivial sensory data occurs when various mechanisms within the RAS dampen the
impulses which are too “weak” to reach the cortex. Those impulses which are
“stronger” can easily overcome the dampening effects of the RAS and can pass
through to the cortex (Marieb, 1998). It would seem that one of the more
important factors involved in whether an impulse reaches the cortex or not, is
the time in which the external stimuli presents itself to the subjective mind.
Studies show that stimuli that appear for less then 1/25 of a second are never
reported to the cortex, and therefore never consciously observed. However, if
the stimulus is presented for more then 1/25 of a second the impulse reaches
the cortex and the phenomenon presenting itself is observed subjectively (
However, there is
more to subjective consciousness then simply the waken-state. We can easily
assert this due to the simple fact that other species exist, who exhibit a
waken CNS, but are clearly not subjectively conscious. Therefore the question
remains, “what is the nature of subjective consciousness?” We can most likely
find a correlation between subjectivity and higher cognitive ability.
The
higher human cognitive ability, allows first and foremost, for physical storage
space for data and the recollection of that data through a memory. However, more
importantly, the human mind has the ability for reasoning. This type of
thinking is due to the portion of the brain which allows for tool usage and
symbolic thought, namely the neo-cortex. It is rather unclear as to how this
type of cognitive ability occurs within the cortex,
however, the problem was first brought to light by Roger Penrose, a
With
the symptomatic effects of this type of intelligence, proceeding
the waken-state, comes an entirely new phenomenon, namely, a way of observing
and being aware of, the external and even inner psychical world. With
intelligence and a waken-state, comes not only, the ability for language, which
allows for inner thought (Dennett, 1991), but more importantly, subjectivity
through the understanding of the idea of “self” (which occurs through the
rational understanding of the body and the inner psyche). Studies have shown
that any damage to the frontal lobe of the cortex causes a loss of the sense of
“self”. In cases such as these, subjects exhibit behavior without awareness of
their actions. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the idea of “self”
is simply an understanding of the body and mind through use of the intelligence
portion of the brain, the cortex, to understand the idea of “selfness” (Ornstein, 1992).
Also,
intelligence in combination with the waken-state allows for an understanding of
the relationships which exist between the “self” and all external phenomena.
This idea is not that far deviated from the idea of “intentionality” which was
first proposed by Edmund Husserl (1937). With the emergence of the ability to
intentionally relate to external objects, which again occurs through
intelligence, external phenomena no longer appear as vague shadows, as they
would be through the eyes of the waken mind alone. The mind becomes subjective
and with this subjectivity external objects begin to have meaning to the
observer. Primordially, a large rock might be seen as a chair and used as such.
A branch can be a walking stick and a large mammalian bone can be used as a
weapon. The waken-brain, coupled with intelligence can now understand external
phenomenon not only as they might relate to each other but more importantly as
they relate to the self. The waken-brain and intelligence gives rise to
subjective consciousness just in this way.
In
his book Theory of Religion (1973), Georges Bataille describes the human
emergence from what he calls “animality” to a more “utilitarian” existence. He
describes the animal state as having a certain “continuity” which is lacking in
the utilitarian state. This continuity Bataille is referring to is the lack of,
what I would call, “boarders” which, for us, exist between external phenomena.
In the utilitarian state, we see the object and we can detect where the object
begins and were it ends, however, to the animal, external phenomena have no
meaning and therefore, objects have no begging and no end. The utilitarian
state is, what I have called, the subjective state, or
the state of subjective consciousness, while the animal state, is what I have
called the waken-state, in which the organism is awake but lacks the
intelligence to obtain intentional relationships. The emergence from animality
(or the waken-state alone) into the utilitarian existence (or subjective
consciousness) can easily be traced back through time by observing the
evolution of the human brain.
The Evolution of Subjectivity
Evolution of the Waken-state
From an evolutionary
prospective, it is clear that the wake-state must have evolved first, due to
its position within the reptilian brain. There are two possible ways in which
this could have occurred. In the first model, the trait simply appears and
proliferates due to its immense level of fitness. The advantage of this type of
mental state would most likely have been the ability to react to the external
environment in an entirely new way. An organism armed with a waken brain would
no longer be at the mercy of the environment. Unlike bacterial, amoeboid and
vegetative organism, the waken organism would be able to react to climatic
conditions much faster, would be better fit to find food, and would be able to
better circum navigate dangerous obstacles. The evolution of a waken brain
would also have opened the floodgates for new sensory organs such as the eye,
which would have caused further proliferation of both the primordial CNS and
the wake-state.
In
the Second model, CNS proliferation is driven by the fitness of sensory organs.
The gift of sight for example is a great fitness,
however, with an underdeveloped CNS it would be of little use. In his book Climbing
Mount Improbable (1996), Richard Dawkins describes the evolution of the eye
as something of an inevitability. According to
Dawkins, all that is required for and organ such as the eye to develop and proliferate, is a small-pigmented area on the surface of any
given organism coupled with a crude way to detect the heat emitted from the
photons collected by the pigmented area. Even a simple mechanism such as this,
would increase the fitness of an organism to such an extent, that it would not
take long for the trait to proliferate and develop into an advanced and more
modern eye. However, since organs such as the eye, are only as good as the CNS
which detects them, it would be likely that the development of the CNS could
have been driven by the fitness of the early sensory organs and would have
eventually become “awake”.
Animality: the waken-state
lacking intelligence
Regardless of how the
waken-state developed, after it’s appearance life on
earth would have gone through profound changes. Though there would have been no
true subjectivity as is observed in organisms with higher cognitive ability,
there would have been much room for the development of fixed-action patterns, reflexes
and instincts. This is the first stage of the development of the Freudian Id.
At this stage, an organism would act purely by instinct guided by chemical
reactions occurring within the body. In this state, an organism would exist as
an automaton. When confronted by danger it would obey, as the preprogramming of
evolution would demand, however, it would experience nothing.
At
the second stage, to allow for more complex behaviors such as monogamy, the
limbic system would evolve. At this stage, most of the physical requirements
for emotion would exist, however, with a lack of intelligence,
there would be no awareness of self and therefore no emotion. Studies show that
electrical stimulation of the amygdala, a small oval shaped inclusion within
the limbic system, at times, activated intense fear in house cats and other
chordates (Sagan, 1977). However, subjects involved in this study only
presented the behavioral symptoms of fear. This is not at all in accord with
the subjective experience of fear as observed in humans, for the subjective
experience of fear would first require the cognitive ability to understand the
idea of “self”. Studies concerning visual self recognition show that the lower
IQ of human infants renders them incapable of understand the idea of “self”
(Bahrick,1996). The same would hold true for lower
animals. Without the understanding of the idea of “self”, there would be no
room for the subjective experience of emotions, such as fear, in the sense of
“I fear”, for example. In the case of lower animals, therefore, there would be
no “emotion” but rather the mechanisms which cause the behavioral symptoms of
emotion. Therefore, that which we call “emotion” in lower chordates or even
higher chordates who simply lack all cognitive
ability, can be reduced to a simple behaviorism in the tradition of Gilbert Ryle (1949).
The evolution of intelligence is a rather
interesting story. Though intelligence is a rather fit trait to say the least,
it would seem that without some other selection pressure driving it, it would
not have developed to the extent it has in humans. Early hominids only required
enough intelligence to make and use simple tools. However, in humans,
intelligence has somehow developed to such an extent, that modern man can
effectively describe various phenomenon extending from gravity to “being”. Why
is it that evolution was able to over develop such an “expensive” portion if
the body?
In
his book The Evolution of consciousness (1991), Robert Ornstein describes the over evolution of intelligence in
man. The model proposes that after the appearance of Homo erectus, the
thermodynamics involved with the human body were not quite perfected. The new
erect posture seemed to cause the overheating of the brain and led to large
numbers of CNS neuronal death. The evolutionary response to this selection
pressure was most likely the development of a larger CNS, which became a fit
trait. As the overall size of the brain increased, the cortex would have grown
proportionally and hence intelligence would have increased without ever being
directly selected for. With the development of the cortex, and the excessive
proliferation of intelligence in man, subjective consciousness was born. A new
kind of organism armed not only with an awaken brain and intelligence but
subjectivity.
Dream states:
intelligence lacking the waken-state
We
have seen how the waken-state coupled with enough intelligence can lead to a
subjectivity and awareness most philosophers and cognitive scientists refer to
today simply as “consciousness”. However, though the continuity of
intelligence, that is the continuity of the brains ability to, understand,
retain and recall information, is limited only to the amount of nutrient rich
blood delivered to the cortex, the continuity of the waken-state, on the other
hand, is simply limited. The answer to the question as to why the waken-state
can only last for short spurts lasting from 48 to 96 hours (before physical
damage begins to occur) is not yet science. However, in his piece King Henry
IV (act 3, scene 1) (1597), Shakespeare, quite accurately, referees to
sleep as “natures soft nurse” making a reference to
the replenishing effects of sleep. After extensive research, it would seem that
sleep is a rather complex activity involving various different stages. However,
the main objective seems to be to some how restore and replenish something that
is lost during the waken-state.
However, there is something even more interesting
involved with the “non-waken-state” (or sleep) then the evolutionary reasons
for it’s existence. It would seem that during the
sleep-state, certain portions of the brain remain active causing what we call
“dreams”. Within the scheme of this model, dreams can be seen simply as
thoughts the intelligent mind never had a chance to think during the
waken-state. The dream-state, is simply the
intelligent, subjective mind continuing on while the waken-state, is lacking.
If this is indeed the case, it would be consistent with Freudian psychology to
consider dreams as a window to the inner psyche, since dreams would reveal
inner inhibitions.
To
overlap this model with the Freudian scheme, it is evident that the
waken-state, along with all the human instincts and drives, would be consistent
with the Freudian idea of the id, that intelligence would be consisted with the
Freudian idea of the super ego, while the Freudian ego, in many ways, would be
consistent with the subjectivity obtained by the coupling of the all three
properties.
Within
the Freudian scheme, the id represents the animal portion of the psyche. This
animality represented by Freud’s id, is similar to the instincts, fixed-action
patterns and drives, which evolved prior to intelligence (or more specifically,
during the reptilian and early mammalian evolutionary stages of the brain).
These two portions of the brain are where the human drives, instincts and
emotions, such as the human sex drive and love, arise. Evolutionarily they
developed, prior to subjective consciousness, to cause both simple and complex
behaviors.
The Freudian super ego, on the other hand, would be best represented by intelligence. As the super ego suppresses the id, so does intelligence suppress the animal-like human instincts and drives. One of the first things children are taught during their social development is that certain behaviors are not appropriate at specific times. For example, at various times certain stimuli may trigger sexual responses in the human male, however, through intelligent understanding (namely the understanding of the repercussions of the action) the subject can consciously inhibit the instinct which evolution has programmed.
And finally, the waken-state and human instincts, in combination with intelligence, would give rise not to the Freudian ego, necessarily, but to the prerequisite to that which will give rise to the ego, namely, the subjective mind. It is clear that ones personality cannot be accounted for simply by stating that it is caused by the interaction of, human instincts and the waken-state, with intelligence. To accurately account for the totality of ones personality, or ones ego, would require the review of ones past experiences, the levels of the various chemicals within the brain which effect behavior, phylogenetic history, etc. Such a study would be rather difficult to carryout. However, as far as the nature of subjective consciousness is concerned, the model holds rather well.
Contemporary descriptions of “consciousness”, such
as that of Daniel Dennett presented in his major work Consciousness
Explained (1991), reduce human subjectivity to simple behaviorism. These
types of descriptions not only disassemble humanity and refute centuries of
philosophical works, which have held so well over the years, but also fail to
account for mental states. Therefore, it is counterproductive to pursue these
avenues. However, the model presented in this paper, not only leaves room for
mental states, but also holds in harmony with modern philosophy.
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