Step one
We wake up
and we want to know, why are we aware?
We ‘wake’ up and want
to know why we are aware – this would be my starting place in building a
model of consciousness. Of course, not everyone wants to know “why am I
aware”? All the pressure of staying alive or maintaining our place in the
world comes first. Some clearly go through their whole life never seeking
such an answer - or do they? I would say the conditions that prompt such a
question are latent in all of us and there is evidence to support this. It
ties in with the question we have put on a back-burner for now - what is
consciousness for? So we will come back to this. For now, I want to
establish the first step, we wake up and we want to know, why are we
aware?
I like the phrase “wake up” because it reminds us that we do this every
day, we wake up from sleep, from unconsciousness to consciousness. We also
wake up from day-dreams and reveries. The extent of how much we are aware
varies. We also know, that consciousness is affected by illness and
injury. Consciousness is not a fixed stable thing. It can be decreased by
injury and old age and it can be increased by the application of various
techniques. The former is established by scientific observation and the
latter by a “case load” of people who report this. The latter is not
supported by any scientific observation. A huge number of people in
different cultures at different times have reported on increased awareness
but it cannot be proved. We can see brain scans of people in altered
states, we can see differing behaviour of people who have had “life
changing” awareness experiences, we can notice different brain waves of
people in deep meditation but these things do not in themselves indicate
more awareness.
Step Two
My
consciousness is mine alone.
Later, we may look at some
experiences that challenge this assumption but for now, we will go with
the overwhelming evidence of ordinary life. I do not share my awareness.
My awareness does not overlap with others. There is one voice talking in
my head. I experience only one “me”. Whilst there may be only one voice
that talks in my head, the forces that combine to create the one “me” may
be many and sometimes contradictory - nonetheless, for most of us, most of
the time, the experience of awareness is singular.
Step Three
The three
aspects of consciousness change continually.
Mental phenomena are often all
mixed up and happening at once, sometimes at great speed. Yet there are 3
main types of events:
There can be many grey areas. When does a thought become a memory? A
thought can trigger a memory that evokes a feeling that triggers more
thought - and all in the blink of an eye.
These three are the building blocks of consciousness. As we mentioned
before, depending on how we cast this problem, they either are
consciousness, or, they are the vehicles delivering consciousness. Science
would say, that they are consciousness, or, that consciousness is an
elusive by-product of their activity.
Simple observations of these three show that they change over time. If we
assume that there is some collective expression of these, something we may
as well call identity, then we can see that this changes over time as
well. If you look back in your memory to the “you” of five years ago, how
much have you changed? Look back to when you were a teenager. How much
have you changed since then? For now, all I want to do is register the
fact that consciousness changes; in the short term (the time it takes two
aeroplanes to crash into two tall buildings) and in the long term, (the
you now compared to the you 5 years ago).
What does it mean, that consciousness is changeable like the weather and
not fixed like H20, the chemical composition of water? This is not a
problem for scientists because they do not need to explain what they
cannot see. For many, thoughts, memories and feelings are not the end
story but the vehicle transporting something. What are they transporting?
What is the soul, if it exists and seems to be so changeable? Could the
soul be an illusion, which is what many scientists think?
Step Four
Wandering
through the fields of illusion.
There is an old story, of Chuang Tzu, who wondered upon waking one
morning. He dreamt he was a butterfly. When he woke, he asked a friend;
‘am I am man who dreamt he was a butterfly, or, a butterfly dreaming he is
a man’? A similar dilemma haunts philosophy, how can we be certain of
anything? It does not matter how certain science may be, if I am dreaming,
then nothing has substance. Uncertainty has an even stronger hold on
science now, with the unpredictable behaviour of some sub-atomic
particles. Science responds with a valiant concept; things are true until
proven false, they are true For All Practical Purposes, (FAPP).
FAPP is a useful concept and it has a corresponding role in our model of
consciousness. There can be no objective stance in our study. The
world may be an illusion, consciousness may be an illusion, our model of
consciousness may be an illusion, the soul may be an illusion – yet we
choose to look anyway. This act of intention becomes important because, at
the end of the day, whether the world is an illusion or not does not
matter, it is how we face whatever is there, that matters. This act of
intention, this act of facing, is intimate to the model.
For a few moments
I gaze upon this world.
What does this world
Gaze upon ?
Step Five
As we are
In step 4, we established that
the act of looking, is part of the model. Our model of consciousness must
include our intention. It must include another important factor, summed up
beautifully by Anais Nin, who said: “We do not see the world as it is, we
see it as we are”.
Our minds are made up of millions of things that I have called Reference
Points. I call them that because on their own they are points of
information of varying importance. They become more significant when some
of them they combine to form a Self-Image, (SI). The SI contains a lot of
basic material like: name, address, bank account number, daily life
details, as well as memory, instinct, preferences, obsessions, what kind
of person you think you are, what you believe other people think of you
and so on - all this and much more, often containing many contradictory
things. You may have many different SIs in a lifetime, but with some
overlap, usually only one at a time. The SI pre-disposes you to see things
in certain ways. For all intents and purposes you see everything through
the eyes of your SI, which itself is a coalition of Reference Points. The
SI is not a stable creation. Your stockpile of Reference Points is growing
all the time, your SI is always being added to and bits falling from it.
The Reference Points are the mass of information inside you, the SI
selects those important ones to blend into a control centre.
The SI control centre is a survival mechanism. You need it to get by in
daily life, it serves a tremendously useful purpose. Without it
functioning smoothly, life is a misery of suffering and insanity. However
valuable it may be, it is also a problem for us if we want to go further
then the experiences of everyday life. Because it is a survival mechanism,
and a good one when it is working properly, it shapes everything we see.
This shaping is also a censorship of everything we experience. Everything.
So it follows, there can be no objective knowing of reality, only the
reality we see. We are not separate from what we see.
I do not describe objective reality as it is, I only describe what I see.
For it to have any meaning between us, we must agree on it. This is true
for what might be “out there”, in the world, and it is also true for what
is inside our hearts and minds, our consciousness. So it seems there is a
dual structure here, at least on first inspection. There is the inner
experience of my consciousness and then there is the description of it
that I agree with everyone else – ( or not ). Dualism yes, but something
does connect these two domains . . . . .
Step 6
Choosing
how to walk
Our consciousness model is therefore necessarily subjective, we must build
in how we see and what we think of what we see. Step 6 takes this a little
further.
Our Ethics came from religion that increasingly seems anachronistic, our
laws come from relationships in the market place but neither will provide
a satisfying basis as Consumerism becomes the dominant mode of life for
all. Poverty will be abolished not because it is bad but because the poor
cannot go shopping. Within this relentless drive to buy and sell,
Consumerism will gravitate to the ultimate product – which is meaning.
Consciousness can deliver on this. Focussing on consciousness is thus more
important than ever, because we have to come to terms with the awareness
we have and learn how to develop it further. If we do not, we will die as
species - but evolution will try and prevent this, because that is what it
does.
Evolution points beyond itself. The evolved structures of tomorrow are
prefigured by how things are today. Which leads us to establish our 6th
step - what is consciousness for? It helps us survive and we can see what
shape that took in the past but what shape will it have in the future? We
have already established that consciousness can change and here we develop
this further by stating that consciousness must change. It must change if
we are to survive and we must survive because that is how we are wired.
Our own nature, on its evolutionary track, will force us to develop more
meaning, as it has in the past, as it is doing so now, so it will in the
future. Do we choose this then? No . . .and yes. We don’t choose the road
but we can choose the way we walk. To put it as crudely as possible,
Hitler showed us one way to walk and Ghandi showed us another. Which would
you prefer? The ability to choose between these is the fruit of
consciousness and consciousness should be seen in this light.
Step 7
Walking and
talking
Hitler or Ghandi? Have you made your choice? How do we persuade people to
change their choice? This is our 7th step. Communication, the second fruit
of consciousness. Between 1936 and 1945, 12 million civilians were
murdered in Europe. The guards at Auschwitz were ordinary human beings. I
repeat this so there can be no mistaking this truth. The guards at
Auschwitz, at all the camps, were ordinary human beings. In the light of
that appalling truth, can I be sure I would never do the same? Is my
consciousness so robust, that it can stand any test? What would I do, if
my son was snatched from my arms? What would I do to keep him?
Have you heard of the Singing Forest? During WW2 the Nazis had a forest
where they had big hooks set in the trees, about 6 feet off the ground.
Many Gays, Gypsies and political activists never made it to the
concentration camps because they were eliminated more rapidly. Many were
hung on these hooks and took a long time to die. An eyewitness survivor
recalls, with a look of horror on his face I shall never forget, the
screams went on and on and on. The Nazis who did this, called it the
Singing Forest . . . . .
The possibility of involvement in a Singing Forest is in all our hearts.
We do not need to wait until the world tests us, we can look into our
hearts and see the truth that lives there. All you need is a method and a
will to go try. The place where we do our trying, is consciousness. It is
a two-way street, our consciousness informs (or even determines) our
trying but our trying affects our consciousness. Ghandi said: “You must be
the change you want to see in the world”. Consciousness is how we see the
world, we can change our consciousness, so our perception of the world
will change. When we see it differently then we will be different towards
it.
Step 8
Knowing what we don’t know
The steps up till now have included change and choice but there’s one
extra element to add on. We have seen that philosophy can mount its
quandaries and science is aiming to map the roadways but some people have
dived into the river and started swimming instead of talking about it from
the banks.
There tend to be two responses by people drawn to spiritual matters, the
path of faith and the path of exploration. They do not need to be
exclusive but mostly are. Those who choose faith invest in belief and hope
that that will deliver their salvation within the authority of a creed.
Those who choose exploration take practical steps to find out for
themselves and it is this latter group that add something to the model of
consciousness.
Mystics and meditators, shamans and seekers have many different ways to
describe their experiences but some broad similarities can be suggested.
These themes, though not exhaustive, can be found in many paths from many
cultures:
• Exploring consciousness can be demoralising and difficult
• An early stage involves “loss of self”; seekers do not recognise
themselves anymore and states similar to insanity can manifest
• A state can ensue that some have called the “void”, that being, the
sudden absence of all the usual supports and markers, an emptiness so
profound that nothing can be the same again
• During the void, or at some stage after, an experience or set of
experiences happen that are very hard to describe, (though many have
tried). What can be said is that these experiences are direct. They are
not mediated by others or by the experiencer’s own intelligence. This
direct experience is perceived to be true.
• Often, (but not always), the direct experience indicates that the
experiencer’s consciousness is connected to something else, part of a
continuum not just localised in his or her head. The experiencer often
describes consciousness as an interface between (a)the mechanical workings
of the brain/mind, (that end at the experiencer's death) with (b) . . . .
something else.
• In my opinion, those seekers who have had the more profound experiences,
often report a similar feature, that being, they no longer refer to the
consciousness they use to communicate as “mine”.
If I bundle up all these bullet points, I can add something to the model
of consciousness. Consciousness may not be confined to our heads. Only one
way to find out. Grab a shovel and start digging. There are many shovels –
techniques – to try. The greatest prize on planet Earth is not hidden; it
is closer to you than the air you breathe. The only thing keeping you from
this is . . . . you . . . . . .what you do . . . . . or what you don’t do
. . . . . . . .
Step9
Let’s look
anyway . . . . .
So now we can put the previous
8 steps together and forge our model of consciousness, the ninth step
being more than the sum of the previous 8 parts.
Step one . . . . .
We wake up and we want to know, why are we aware?
Awareness varies over short and long timeframes. It is not fixed.
Step Two . . . . .
My consciousness is mine alone.
Our
minds do not share direct but via communication. At first glance, our
minds are not connected.
Step Three . . . .
The three aspects of consciousness change continually.
Memory, thought and feeling are the changeable building blocks.
Step Four . . . . .
Wandering through the fields of illusion.
Everything is filtered through our perception apparatus and then
interpreted in
the brain. There is a
reality out there but we cannot know it objectively. Our
model must note this
and be usable For All Practical Purposes.
Step Five . . . . .
As we are
We
see the World as” we are” not “as it is”. The information (Reference
Points) we collect about the World are forged
into an identity (Self Image) by
our brains. Our various perceptions of the World
are then agreed, be it
conscious or unconsciously.
Step 6 . . . . . . .
Choosing how to walk
What
is consciousness for? As a survival engine, it will drive us to seek more
and
more meaning as the ultimate consumer product. We may not choose
this road but we can choose how to walk on it.
This choice is the first fruit of
consciousness.
Step 7 . . . . . . .
Walking and talking
Communication is the second fruit of consciousness. As soon as
survival
dictates a solution we
must follow, but if there is more than one solution then
we approach
free-will. We must persuade others to the best course and
consciousness is the
best tool; (willing, rather than enforced, participation
gains the most
effective results, this too, is a survival aspect).
Step 8 . . . . . . .
Knowing what we don’t know
Philosophers, scientists and psychologists all have fortified views on our
Nature but there are other ‘experts’, the
mystics and meditators, seekers and
shamans who have told us, in one way or another,
that our “inside” experience
of consciousness is not the whole story and that
this consciousness is
connected to “something out there”, (outside of
our heads).
. . . . leading us to:
Step 9 . . . . . . .
More than the parts
We
compete amongst ourselves and something survives. It is a fair
assumption to make, that the primal drivers of survival inside us may be
similar to our ancestors but the places they act out in, are very
different. So the drivers, to make us survive, will change too.
In a world where physical survival becomes less pressing, the need to find
meaning, the ultimate consumer product, will grow stronger and stronger.
That consciousness is a by-product of the complexity of survival drivers,
is a compelling crux of the model. Science can find the bits of the
brain that fire off and we have our road. Those who have “more”
consciousness have through survival of the fittest, ensured their genes
pass down the generations. Is this all? Science may be content
to stop here but there are many seekers and sages from many different
cultures and at different times, who seem to be reporting experiences that
are broadly similar. These experiences are reported by many to have
real bearing on the demand for meaning.
So our survival drivers, which
are potent interactions between biological instinct and persistent
successful memes, will press for more and more meaning. Science,
describing the road in ever greater detail,
will deliver more meaning but it will need help from those not restricted
by its methods. We need to open to the “religious”
experiences without making the mistakes of the past, that converted the
experiences into creeds and dogmas to oppress others - this will no
longer work as a survival gambit. So it would be wise to loose the label
“religious” and call it something else. I like the old fashioned term
“mysteries” and I like to add some distance so I use the word “deep” a
lot; most people instantly understand if you described a feeling as
“deep”. Those who have experienced the “deeper mysteries” of life have
assembled a variety of techniques that can be sampled and chosen for those
wanting to continue these explorations. These can be as rigorous as any
scientific method but the laboratory where these experiments happen is in
each seeker’s heart and mind. Each then compare notes. In the past,
relatively few have done this, but with our rapidly expanding global
village and greater numbers taking on the quest, a critical mass may be
reached where new meanings are forged. Thus a new version of “survival”
can be seen to be growing.
From all this, we can create a
model of what consciousness is:
Although you experience yourself as one person, consciousness is a
collection of parts, it is made up of ‘things’. The identity we all
think we own, arises from the complexity of survival drives and much
is already mapped by neurologists and predicted by psychologists. Even
when these parts are completely mapped and predictable there remains a
singular and defining crucial fact - consciousness is a collection of
"things" and an experience.
The direct experience of the deeper awareness states delivers a
validity that all will eventually come to crave, inevitably to be
packaged as the ultimate consumer product but pointing beyond the
market place. This validity is based on direct experience as well as organised empirical description.
A
consistent facet of consciousness can be described this way :
consciousness is not just a localised ‘head encapsulated’ event but a
dispersed field. Anyone can find this out, just pick a shovel and
start digging. It does not matter that we cannot yet “prove” the field
exists in a scientific sense. It has as much meaning as we choose to
give it, meaning such as : “this can be a better world because we want
it so”. Whether we are smart enough to make it so, remains to be seen.
And if it fails, will the effort have been less worthwhile?
It
has been said that we are our own worst enemies. But it then follows
that we can be our own best friends too. Which would you prefer to be?
The act of making that choice is who we are. Consciousness is the
experiential ground of our effort, self-discovery is the necessary
spade-work we take on, to find the compelling truth - our digging
leads us to . . . . choice.
the act of choice
reveals who we are,
to
ourselves
and everyone else
What does a strawberry
taste like for you?
We will never know - but we
can have fun
trying to compare and
describe.
The time we spend together
having that fun,
and the way we have that
fun,
is what consciousness is for.