![]() Yet their brain circuits seem to be wired in a different way that creates a similar effect in terms of consciousness and cognition. An example is bird brains, which have many structural similarities to mammalian brains, but different arrangements of neurons. Answering this requires answering the question, what structures must be present in an organism and how would they function for consciousness to be possible? In other words, of all the different ways that the bodies of animals are arranged, which ones contain structures and arrangements that give rise to consciousness? There is no reason to suppose that only a human-like central nervous system will give rise to consciousness, and a great deal of evidence that very different types of animals are conscious. The problem of consciousness can be formulated as follows: how is it that, from a purely material basis (a brain or a centralized nervous system), consciousness emerges? 3 This is what the problem of consciousness really boils down to. The question we have to answer is: what sorts of beings are sentient (and, therefore, conscious)? Or, put another way, what kind of physical structure and arrangement of nerve cells does a being have to have so that it isn’t merely a collection of cells, but a conscious being? 2 What is the problem of consciousness? ![]() If you pet a rock, there is no one there to feel anything. If you pet a chicken she will feel pleasure. A chicken is a subject of experience, whereas a rock is not. An object is a thing that does not experience its world. A subject is a someone, one who experiences their world, as an animal does. The word subjective, which refers to inner, or personal, experiences, refers to this subject. When a being has an experience, there exists in that being what we can call a subject, that is, a “someone” who is having the experience, an “I” who is conscious. Though a conscious being may not be sentient if, through some damage, she has become unable to receive any sensation of her body or of the external world and can only have experiences of her own thoughts. All sentient beings are conscious beings. The difference in meaning between sentience and consciousness is slight. Sentience refers to the ability to have positive and negative experiences caused by external affectations to our body or to sensations within our body. The word “sentience” is sometimes used instead of consciousness. We can have these experiences insofar as we are conscious indeed, the fact itself of having experiences is, as noted above, to be conscious. To suffer is to have a negative experience.Īll emotions and feelings that we have are experiences, and we can also have experiences that are caused only by our thoughts. It is negative when it involves some form of suffering. An experience is positive when the subject enjoys it, is satisfied with it, or is pleased by it. It can be the experience of a feeling or of a thought of any type. Conscious beings can experience something external in the environment or something internal to the body. ![]() 1 We can only experience something if we are conscious, and if we are conscious it means we can have experiences. ![]() To be conscious is to be able to have some kind of subjective experience or awareness of something.
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