According to Dr. Nir Lahav, a physicist from Bar-Ilan University in Israel, “This is quite a secret since it appears that our conscious experience can not arise from the brain, and in truth, can not occur from any physical process.” As strange as it sounds, the conscious experience in our brain, can not be discovered or reduced to some neural activity.
” Think about it this method,” says Dr. Zakaria Neemeh, a theorist from the University of Memphis, “when I feel joy, my brain will create a distinct pattern of intricate neural activity. This neural pattern will completely associate with my conscious sensation of joy, however it is not my real sensation. Because of this, we cant minimize the mindful experience of what we notice, feel, and believe to any brain activity.
After more than 100 years of neuroscience, we have extremely strong evidence that the brain is accountable for the development of our conscious abilities. How is it possible that these mindful experiences cant be discovered anywhere in the brain (or in the body) and cant be lowered to any neural complex activity?
This mystery is known as the difficult problem of awareness. It is such a difficult issue that up until a couple of years ago only theorists discussed it. Even today, although we have made huge development in our understanding of the neuroscientific basis of awareness, still there is no satisfying theory that discusses what consciousness is and how to fix this tough problem.
According to the researchers, when we alter our assumption about awareness and assume that it is a relativistic phenomenon, the mystery of awareness naturally liquifies. According to Dr. Lahav, the lead author of the paper, “consciousness ought to be investigated with the very same mathematical tools that physicists utilize for other recognized relativistic phenomena.”
In order to understand how relativity dissolves the tough problem, think of a various relativistic phenomenon, continuous speed. Lets select two observers, Alice and Bob. Bob is on a train that moves with continuous speed and Alice sees him from the platform. There is no outright physical answer to the concern “what is the speed of Bob?” The answer is dependent on the context of the observer. From Bobs context, he will measure that he is stationary and Alice, with the remainder of the world, is moving backward. From Alices frame of referral, Bob is the one thats moving and she is stationary. They have opposite measurements, yet both of them are proper, just from various contexts.
We find the very same situation when it comes to awareness since, according to the theory, consciousness is a relativistic phenomenon. Now Alice and Bob are in various cognitive frames of referral. Bob will determine that he has mindful experience, however Alice simply has brain activity with no sign of the real conscious experience. On the other hand, Alice will measure that she is the one that has awareness and Bob has just neural activity with no idea of its mindful experience.
Simply as in the case of speed, although they have opposite measurements, both of them are proper, but from different cognitive frames of referral. As an outcome, due to the fact that of the relativistic perspective, there is no issue with the fact that we measure different residential or commercial properties from various contexts. Since were determining from the incorrect cognitive frame of referral, the reality that we can not discover the real mindful experience while measuring brain activity is.
According to the brand-new theory, the brain does not create our mindful experience, a minimum of not through computations. Due to the fact that of the process of physical measurement, the reason that we have conscious experience is. In a nutshell, various physical measurements in different contexts manifest different physical homes in these contexts, although these frames measure the very same phenomenon.
For example, suppose that Bob steps Alices brain in the lab while shes feeling happiness. They observe various residential or commercial properties, they in fact measure the very same phenomenon from different points of view. Different kinds of properties have been manifested in their cognitive frames of referral due to the fact that of their different kinds of measurements.
For Bob to observe brain activity in the lab, he needs to use measurements of his sensory organs like his eyes. This sort of sensory measurement manifests the substrate that causes brain activity– the neurons. In his cognitive frame Alice has just neural activity that represents her consciousness, but no indication of her real conscious experience itself.
For Alice to measure her own neural activity as joy, she utilizes different kinds of measurements. She does not utilize sensory organs, she measures her neural representations straight by interaction in between one part of her brain with other parts. She measures her neural representations according to their relations to other neural representations.
This is a completely various measurement than what our sensory system does and, as a result, this sort of direct measurement manifests a various kind of physical home. We call this residential or commercial property mindful experience. As a result, from her cognitive frame of referral, Alice measures her neural activity as conscious experience.
Utilizing the mathematical tools that describe relativistic phenomena in physics, the theory reveals that if the characteristics of Bobs neural activity could be altered to be like the characteristics of Alices neural activity, then both will be in the very same cognitive frame of recommendation and would have the specific very same conscious experience as the other.
Now Dr. Lahav and Dr. Neemeh wish to continue to analyze the exact minimal measurements that any cognitive system needs in order to create consciousness. The ramifications of such a theory are big. It can be used to identify which animal was the first animal in the evolutionary procedure to have awareness, which clients with awareness conditions are conscious, when a fetus or baby begins to be conscious, and which AI systems already today have a low degree (if any) of consciousness.
Reference: “A Relativistic Theory of Consciousness” by Nir Lahav and Zachariah A. Neemeh, 12 May 2022, Frontiers in Psychology.DOI: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2021.704270.
Even today, although we have actually made substantial development in our understanding of the neuroscientific basis of consciousness, still there is no satisfactory theory that describes what awareness is and how to resolve this difficult problem.
According to the scientists, when we change our presumption about awareness and assume that it is a relativistic phenomenon, the mystery of consciousness naturally dissolves. We discover the very same circumstance in the case of consciousness due to the fact that, according to the theory, awareness is a relativistic phenomenon. In his cognitive frame Alice has only neural activity that represents her consciousness, but no indication of her actual conscious experience itself.
It can be applied to determine which animal was the very first animal in the evolutionary procedure to have consciousness, which clients with awareness conditions are mindful, when a fetus or baby begins to be conscious, and which AI systems currently today have a low degree (if any) of consciousness.
Researchers have established a brand-new conceptual and mathematical structure to comprehend awareness from a relativistic viewpoint.
According to the theory, all thats needed to fix the hard problem of awareness is to alter our presumptions about it. When we recognize that awareness is a physical, relativistic phenomenon, the secret of awareness naturally liquifies.
How do 3 pounds of brain tissue develop thoughts, sensations, mental images, and a comprehensive inner world?
The ability of the brain to create awareness has baffled people for centuries. The secret of consciousness lies in the truth that each of us has subjectivity, with the ability to sense, feel, and believe.
