Henry Stapp - Is Consciousness an Illusion?

Is consciousness something special in the universe, its own category, irreducible to physical laws, a carrier of meaning and purpose? Or is consciousness a mere artifact of the brain, a by-product of evolution, a superstition exaggerated by human misperception? If you think or hope consciousness is special, then you should surely be a skeptic.

Henry Stapp is an American physicist, known for his work in quantum mechanics. He earned a BS in Physics from the University of Michigan, and an MA in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[Samsara_is_dukkha]

Without consciousness, the question of whether consciousness is an illusion or not wouldn't even arise.

[loudamiani]

In Vedanta, Consciousness is that which is available for immediate perceptual use but never objectifiable, it is always the knower and never the content or known. If it becomes the known, then we have to postulate another knower (observer) and thus get into an infinite regress. In eastern philosophy consciousness has been studied for millennia and yet it is constantly ignored in western science which seems absurd. The east has literally made a science out of the study of consciousness divorced from religious ideation. The true knower can never be the known except by Being it.

[TheMoonKingdom]

I don't think that consciousness depends on thoughts and feelings, but the other way around. Consciousness is just awareness:)

[sujok-acupuncture]

Henry stapp quoting William James has done the best talk show of this channel.

[LittleMushroomGuy]

If its a illusion, its a illusion to who? Exactly... its not a illusion

[WiiSpords]

I have come to so greatly appreciate Robert’s design sense and deliberate location choices. His personal style is low key on point, and it all leads to this calmness that one can really focus on the material presented. Well done.

[altair-x]

The idea that consciousness is an illusion, is a massive contradiction. we can feel, see, hear, touch and be aware of our surroundings and that's what it means to be conscious. How can there be an illusion if the awareness of the illusion is an illusion?

[Necris-qlpy]

For a long time I honestly tried to understand what the illusionists wanted to tell us. As I understand it, they say that 1) Qualia does not exist. 2) Our feelings exist, but that's not what we think. When we experience pain, we think it's some kind of phenomenon, but in fact it's just a process in the brain. That is, it is such a monistic physicalism in which it seems to us that we have feelings, but in fact these are processes in the brain. In my opinion, this approach has a critical problem in that the illusionist cannot reduce consciousness to clearly defined deterministic processes described by physical formulas, since in this case we will get not illusionism but the identity of the physical and mental. We will get molecules with the illusion of consciousness. Therefore, illusionists call consciousness a digest, a user illusion, a virtual machine, etc. which makes no sense within the framework of physicalism. Illusionists say that consciousness is physical on the ontological level, but fundamentally they are not able to clearly say what it is, since after the answer they collapse into eliminativism or identity. Why do we need such a philosophical system that cannot give an answer understandable to a non-illusionist - only to protect physicalism.

[davivify]

The question is self contradictory. If consciousness is an illusion, to whom is this illusion occuring? Consiousness/awareness is self evident, even if it's the only thing in existance that is. We, here on Earth, might be in some kind of dream, but even so, how are we even aware of it without consciousness?

[jamesruscheinski]

future time in quantum mechanics has or is consciousness? consciousness of future time in quantum mechanics has a role in causation experienced in the present time?

[halleuz]

The question "Is consciousness an illusion?" is brought up over and over again. Equivalent questions like 'Is 1 = 0?' or 'Can arithmetic prove its own consistency?' or 'What is the greatest prime number?' are not. I wonder why that is so.

[highvalence]

Where did all the materialists in the comments go?

[ivanbeshkov]

Other species also have consciousness. My cat is aware that I am a fellow creature, capable of feeling pain, joy, which is amazingly intelligent of her given the huge physical differences. I remain unconvinced by quantum woo. Consciousness is just another coping tool, and it often malfunctions as in obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome. We can't delete the trash stored in our memory, bad memories haunt us, worries ruin our enjoyment of the present. Sleep is a welcome relief from all this awareness.

[MrSanford]

Well, if something as abstract as consciousness has direct influence on the physical material of fleshly bodies then it should not be beyond the realm of possibility that consciousness has influence on all things material- not just restricted to the material body for which it is its host

[stoneysdead]

I have a water meter out in front of my house buried in the ground- and my pressure relief valve assembly is buried right in front of it. A few weeks ago, I looked out my window and saw the water truck pull up to read the meter- and they ran over it- and it started leaking later that day. So- I called the water ppl up- had them send the guy out- and I told him I watched him run over my meter and that he needed to help me fix it. He immediately got angry and insisted he never pulled up in my yard like that, that it wasn't him. So, then I got angry because I'm thinking of all the hundreds of times over the years I've watched him pull up in my yard where he is saying he never parks. Long story short he and I had it out- he left, and I got to thinking - maybe I should look at the camera footage. That's why I bought the cameras after all and if it's on there-I can prove him wrong. So, I pull it up on my computer and I'm all happy with myself, I have proof- then I see it- plain as day- it's not him. It's a gas truck, not a water truck- and the guy gets out and walks around the house to the gas meter. I was shocked- but immediately I realized- it's like Robert's videos- I thought it was the water ppl so that's what my eyes showed me- my brain filled in the rest of the picture with what I expected to see, and it put the water emblem on the side of the truck. I had to call them up and apologize but- really goes to show you- when you start getting older especially- you can't believe everything you think you see. I think as you get older your eyes are filling in less and less of the picture- your brain is filling in more and more- so you make more mistakes. Still have to fix my water- it's not going to be easy. The gas ppl admit they probably did it but they're "not liable" for such things. I could pursue it but- I need gas, and they can deny you service if you piss them off.

[dominicmccrimmon]

*Regarding knowledge of mechanism as a thorn* *(It's real)*
There has been so much work uncovering the activity of the organ of consciousness, and so much evidence detailing the process and result. I have spent time talking with maniacs and they have a blockage, or unspannable gap of logic in their thinking. In a similar, non-pathological way, we all tend to covet and protect whatever embellishes and elevates the magical specialness of our personal experience. Our minds feel more special from the inside than they look from the outside, and no one is thanked for exposing an illusion or fabrication about reality when that illusion brings contentment.

[observerone]

There is (must be) a solution to "What is consciousness ?". Two epistemological 'puzzle pieces' are 1) thought is physically made of forces flowing through the brain's neural structures and sub-systems that include loops, comparitors, differencing and summing, and 2) existence is always and exactly now (the duration of every Now is exactly zero). This is why when being in states of flow, the sense of time disappears. Feeling conscious is 'simply' experiencing those changing, merging, and opposing forces in every moment.

[noi]

To the creators of this channel: Thank you!

[Corteum]

Can you be aware of illusions without being conscious?

[johnclark]

To me, Consciousnessis a keen awareness that we had a past, drawn from memory, we are living in the present time, and we have a future. Each person has various filter, genetic and emotional feelings., that sees reality a little differently. No one knows how the brain 'makes' a conscience thoughts, but I think, it is akin to a Gestalt, the sum is greater than the material we see.