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The history of science includes numerous challenging problems, including the “hard problem” (1) of consciousness: Why does an assembly of neurons—no matter how complex, such as the human brain—give rise to perceptions and feelings that are consciously experienced, such as the sweetness of chocolate or the tenderness of a loving caress on one's cheek? 

Beyond satisfying this millennia-old existential curiosity, understanding consciousness bears substantial medical and ethical implications, from evaluating whether someone is conscious after brain injury to determining whether nonhuman animals, fetuses, cell organoids, or even advanced machines (2) are conscious. 

A comprehensive and agreed-upon theory of consciousness is necessary to answer the question of which systems—biologically evolved or artificially designed—experience anything and to define the ethical boundaries of our actions toward them. The research projects described here will hopefully point the way and indicate whether some of today's major theories hold water or not.

Science  28 May 2021:

Vol. 372, Issue 6545, pp. 911-912

Für Gus von Watizname, Consciousness is the delta (∂ - ∆) shift of memory. This delta shift is like a million "vibrations", each with a hum that has various pitches and amazingly fast frequencies and chemical switching between neurons — that can be in tune with the input from our sensors that are modified/adapted neurons. For example, we see things at about 35 vibrations per second. Should we see any faster, we would not be able to watch TV nor films at the cinema without flicker, unless a lot more frames (vibrating changes of successive stills) were inserted in the transmission. Some TVs are now showing more than 60 frames per second, but this makes little difference as our brain is set on 35-ish frames max per second. should we be able to see 120 frames per second, this would demand a higher/faster ability to process images, all demanding more brain power and MEMORY, possibly on an exponential scale… and our machines would have to match — otherwise we would see the flicker. We saw the flicker when the old movies were running at 16 frames per second...

Simple enough. 

But you cannot have a good memory without a large storage capacity nor have no input into the caper. Through these various neurons modified as sensors, including someone yapping in our ears, we store information "not as is" but as neuronal patterns that can be reconnected when we remember… Remember without memory, THERE IS NO CONSCIOUSNESS. We rarely remember “exactly" what we have seen, heard or felt, unless we’re actors who can repeat the same scene over and over… It’s a trick that demands practice, like we learn simple habits, including dexterity. Playing the piano or any musical instrument demands practice to add habits to our consciousness of style. We thus need to develop organ/finger memory. For example, we cannot lift heavy weights unless we train and develop the muscular bulk. Astronauts loose muscle-weight very quickly, because there is no gravity to “fight against” — something we do “without thinking” as we have learnt to walk and balance. This is part of our consciousness, even if the task becomes automatic, or part of our reflex network. Yet when we run, we make a decision to push our conscious choices beyond our ordinary walking reflexes. Athletes thus develop memory of muscular ability — both in strength and balance.

The input into our memory can be faulty, negative or positive, misinterpreted and/or dismissed — or challenging to our previous input. Our brains refuses to learn something contrary to what it knows, even if the new concept is far truer… Our consciousness thus can be delusive or aware… Our billion billion delta shifts can be confused and conflicted, though there will be a majority of unified delta shifts for making decisions. 

The point for many ethical and religious thoughts has been to define when consciousness arise. Are single cells conscious of their existence? Have they got enough memory? One thing that Gus Moronovsky has stated in his third theorem since day one plus another is that the universe has no memory of itself. It cannot be god. God being defined as eternal and absolute cannot exist in a changing universe. We can see the universe but the universe cannot see us. Absolute CANNOT EXIST in any shape or form, otherwise nothing would happen. Think about it.

The history of science tells us that ∫˜µ√ç∂≈Ω•ª = ∑¬˚˚∆˙˚∂¬˙∆. I made this up. This is rubbish. But this is about the extent of what we know of consciousness. The more memory is excited by sensors — including internal sensors such as the ∑µ+ of memory acting upon itself, the more we should be able to be conscious. So, is there degrees of consciousness? (Please forgive me, I use my own symbols.)

Many religions and “non-religions” like Buddhism have exposed us to the possibility that we could be “more” conscious through the “transcending” of whom we are, or even be reincarnated as a better thinking worm or a freedom-seeking beetle. Unfortunately/fortunately, we are singular, though made of many many many cells, each with their own survival purpose in the scheme of the self... So far, despite the effort of the Universal consciouscinators, we are not physically nor spiritually connected to anyone else, but, through our transient memory of relationships. We evaluate these congealed ideas through our sensors as we are aware of others and can participate in common activities by “communication". We are basically alone within. Our mind is our self that we construct by learning and communicating the state of our consciousness with others — and that others, including the environment, communicate with. Amazingly amazing… but singular consciousness.

Our communications have allowed the development of “shared” concepts with others. We learn and we teach. Many animals do this. A mother magpie will stay with her brood to teach the young ones were food is hidden under leaves or bark. She will also watch for predators or annoying other birds such as the Aussie Mynah  The birds are aware and conscious of space and of the others, including of humans should they come too close (say less than six feet to mother maggie)...

Through natural evolution, possibly "being a reject" of nature (nature does not think, but more often than not, unfit species become extinct and individuals die), the human species survived nonetheless by faster adaptation to changes in its spacial necessity. Possibly rejected by the greater apes with whom they could not compete, our (unfinished/dejected) ancestors had to find a way to avoid destruction — or despair into nothingness. I would suggest that at this stage, the Australopithecus was going through a rough patch. Its feet could not grab branches any more. food and shelter had to be found on the ground. This is the "fallen from our tree” stage… Not only this, its fur was thinning out to the point of becoming “the naked ape”. From then on, radical fast adaptation of a different kind was the key to survival. Here, something happened. Rather than develop feathers, human ancestors developed a better memory, possibly by accident and sheer interactive luck. Observation of situation would have complexed with a tremor of analysis — and an aspect of behaviour was also improved: deceit. Many animals use deceit as a means of feeding, in order to catch a prey… Others REMEMBER. From the Australopithecus to Humans, we still remember the success of deceit. We will invent stories that are not true to gain an advantage in our social group… Bats remember flowering trees — and not only from one day to the next but from season to season...

Look, I know bats…

How does the brain represent the world and allow spatial navigation? One mechanism is hippocampal place cells—neurons that fire according to where an animal is in its environment. Different place cells fire according to different locations, and together they are thought to provide a cognitive map that supports spatial navigation and memory (1). Place cells have been described in a range of mammalian species, including mice, bats, marmosets, and humans. However, most studies have used rats in small enclosures or mazes. Thus, it is unknown how such representations might underpin larger-scale, real-world navigation. On page 933 of this issue, Eliav et al. (2) show that in bats flying in a large (200-m-long) enclosure, most place cells fire in several different locations and with varying spatial scales. Such multiscale representations are likely the most efficient way for a finite number of neurons to encode large distances.

Science  28 May 2021:

Vol. 372, Issue 6545, pp. 913-914

The bats in Sydney are huge. They don’t call them flying foxes for nothing. And they are clever.  For example, there was a couple of cocos tree nearby our house. Every time these trees would flower in a huge heavy clump, they would be visited during the day by Lorikeets (small parrots) and by a couple of flying foxes at night. These animals would have to know where these cocos trees were… Not only that they would have to remember how to find them again and again. In the bunch, the flowers don’t reach maturity all at once… Thus the bunch gives nectar over a week or two and I suppose the bats would be conscious of this by the changing taste of the flower… 

On estimate, the bats would have to fly at least 5 kilometres minimum from their roost. Now, I could throw some anthro-morphological concepts on the value of this travel. First, it looks that the two bats did not tell the others where to find this source of food. Mind you, they did not care for the fruit once the flowers had gone. Too much fibre?... When the lorikeets visit the flowers of the cocos tree, they would fight in a pecking order and high supremacy. Sharing between lorikeets is often limited to a tolerated partner. 

Now one thing to consider is that “is the trip to a food source so far way, worth the trouble?” Is the amount of energy gained from the nectar/pollen sufficient to sustain, help development and propel the beasts more than the energy spent on the trip? Is the taste of nectar/pollen just a trick by the flowers to attract visitors? 

In Australia, Such pollen is (was) a food source (before the white people and their sugar/flour combo, and a Mcsumpthin’ came along) for Aboriginal people. Shake a grevillea flower over your hand and lick it. You might be able to travel another five miles. No wonder the lorikeets go bonkers when the bottlebrushes are in flower. They dispute each others for the best (is there one better than the other?) flowers, yet the tree has thousands of flowers for a mere 47 lorikeets…! 

As well, most of the fruit from fig trees here are edible… The Australian species have small fruit and yet these would have more energy stored than in the European varieties. The difference is mostly in the lower water content. We have to know this, should we get lost while our 4WD has packed up in 45 degrees heat. The explorers Burke and Wills died, because they ate the wrong part of a plant, which has been a staple for the local Aboriginal people...

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The cocos trees were taken down. They had to go. They’re a "weed" in this town. And they attracted the bats which we could hear all night whining and dinning. As well, bats shit liquid stuff from space, while in flight. Backyards, front-yards were doused in the yucky stuff that by morning would be as hard as rock. Trying to remove it from the paint was impossible. The stuff was like paint-stripper. Even by hosing it to soften it was still leaving an indelible mark… Furthermore we know that this stuff harbours many bacteria and virus, such as the Hendra virus that killed horses and a few humans, and of course a plethora of SARS-covid-like viruses. Cleaning the bat-crap needed gloves and googles... (I meant goggles)...

But this is a side-deviation of consciousness… We, humans, living with such bats in our backyards had to BE MADE AWARE OF THE POSSIBLE CONTAMINATION from batshit — this was LEARNED by us after the problem had been studied in earnest by scientists. 

Even in the middle ages, they knew plagues came from rats, though the disease was mostly transmitted from human to human…

Consciousness leads to the awareness of our environment and of our relationships and vice versa.

This is the core of existentialism, which does not mean we have to live like unconscionable bastards towards others. To the contrary. On average, looking after each others and the planet is a better way to survive. We just need to know the possible degradations of these relationships and of the planet status. Our delta shift memory is working overtime while trying to minimise pain. We learn, we know, we remember, we act. The delta shift is not a continuous momentum but a vibration of chemicals between a billion billion neurones that can interpret what we perceive. We know it works, though sometimes our memory fails and our intents/reactions become confuse. 

From the science article:

Solving big questions may require “big science” because such questions are more likely to be solved in unison rather than through isolated, parallel, small-scale attempts. The adversarial collaboration approach builds on the success of large-scale collaborative institutes (such as the Allen Institute for Brain Science) and projects such as the Human Connectome Project or the International Brain Laboratory in neuroscience, which were preceded by initiatives in physics such as the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) or the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment. With this series of adversarial collaborations, neuroscientists will get closer to understanding consciousness and how it fits into the physical world while improving scientific practices along the way. As for the initial theories undergoing this approach, it may be that neither the GNWT nor the IIT are quite correct. No matter the outcome, the field can use the results to make progress in framing new thinking about consciousness and testing other potential theories in the same way. The problem of consciousness will surely remain difficult, but understanding the ancient mind-body problem will become a little bit easier.

Just enjoy being alive and pain-free… for as long as you can...

GL.

Above his head...

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