Raymond Tallis - What Is Consciousness?

Consciousness is what we can know best and explain least. It is the inner subjective experience of what it feels like to see red or smell garlic or hear Beethoven. Consciousness has intrigued and baffled philosophers. To begin, we must define and describe consciousness. What to include in a complete definition and description of consciousness?

Raymond C. Tallis is a a retired physician and neuroscientist from Great Britain. His resume boasts titles like philosopher, poet and novelist. He is also a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Physicians and Royal Society of Arts.

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.

[longcastle]

When I am walking to the pub I am not conscious of my muscles contracting; even less so on the walk home

[doloresabernathy]

Nice to hear someone make sense about consciousness.

[frankjspencejr]

The impression of a self with specific characteristics is made up of thoughts and sensations and emotions, and in fact may be in a sense an illusion, but that doesn’t eliminate the reality of the thoughts, sensations, and feelings. The “I“ as a subject of those experiences necessarily exists. Of course, I can only make the claim about my own subjectivity. Everyone else’s is deduced from external behavior, suggesting it. In fact, everything other than first person, subjective experience, including the apparent defined self, others, the world, could be illusions. But subjective experience, and therefore the subject of experience, the “I” exists, without doubt, at least in this moment.

[stellarwind]

Consciousness is the awareness of the capacity to make decisions and the ability to perceive the passage of time.

[ansleyrubarb]

...I would like to add the following observation. Consensus is the definitions that we apply to living life events we experience, and the definitions we assign to those events. We continue to add to our individual life events, ever expanding, respectfully, Chuck...captivus brevis...you tube...Blessings...

[dr_shrinker]

Consciousness is the brain playing ping pong with the universe, and electrons are the ball.

[browngreen]

Awareness of "reality" (yourself and the surrounding world) through the medium of a living human body.

[sjoerd]

Yes, you should not ignore qualia. Consciousness is not the real thing but that does not make it an illusion. It is a representation of reality, caused by interacting with reality. If my model of reality conflicts with my consciousness, then I have to change the model. Reality will not change to fit my model.

[inkpenproductions]

I posit consciousness to be an emergent property of ongoing (iterative and recursive) information processing, dynamic and adaptive within nested systems, self-defining through information filters, and manifesting dynamically across a spectrum. Qualia are likewise emergent properties, inextricably linked to consciousness but not inherent properties of consciousness. We see them as so fundamental because they represent the iterative abstraction of one's own perceptions and their subsequent reapplication to inner models (sight becomes visualization, smells like home, etc.) Purely speculation, of course. Just a layman.

[Maxwell-mvrx]

Neurosience doesnt know how figure out consciousness so far. He definies consciousness though feelings, sensations, feelings of warm. However he doesnt explains how figuret out Though feeling. Guys It is NOT neurosience proceendings. It is keep out neurosience seriously. Rubbish and rambling. Absolutetly.

[Ekam-Sat]

It is fashionable to use the word consciousness but it points the Self away from itself.

[rangerpartners]

How do we explain nonlocal consciousness?

[bradmodd]

Consciousness used to mean awareness but it seems we are rapidly expanding the scope of this term, to biology and beyond, to the entirity of the universe even, but at some point we need to slice up this monality into little pieces to digest and physical and metaphysical still seems like a likely place to make (one of) the first cuts.

[dennistucker]

Consciousness is an executive level processing thread that seeks to answer 2 questions over and over again. The first question is "What is going on?". The second question is "What should I do?". Cognition, memory, senses, motor skills, reasoning, imagination, emotions, and other blocks are only accessories used within this thread.

[simonlee]

Nobody, but NOBODY is denying 'consciousness'-- though its definition is hotly debated..(not least by neuroscientists - despite indisputable evidence that it is experienced in the RAS of the upper brainstem, most neuroscientists still cling to it being Cerebral)... But what IS frequently called into question - from ancient times onwards - is the concept of or indeed the existence of Self, or at least a separate Self.
Tallis' criticism of Hume is puerile and purely linguistic rather than conceptual.. So yes, Hume wasn't playing word games.. doesn't disprove his assertion - that he couldn't find a Self.
Yes, memory plays an important part in creating the concept (potentially illusory) of a separate Self. But neuroscience has NO IDEA how memory works or even where it is stored - or if is IS stored..
Tallis' quote of' 'I am That I am' - a relatively modern distortion of the Advaita-Vedanta Tat Twam Asi - I Am That - is purely an affirmation of consciousness, but not of a separate Self. Nor is it an affirmation of WHAT the Self is or indeed IF it is... Neti Neti - 'not, this, not this' is the Vedantic process of showing that Self can only be defined by what it is NOT...

[garychartrand]

Our one Cosmic Consciousness is the Mind of God that animates us and gives us life. You shortsighted materialists can deny God all you want BUT He/She/It will NEVER deny you . I can easily explain my stance. I KNOW that God IS because He has performed miracles through me with WITNESSES and many more without witnesses. In January 2008, He gave me a job description that says " I am sending you out by the power of My Spirit to Release those bound by Fear, to Proclaim Forgiveness, and to Show Love to ALL men". We have daily communion. And there's more. Its like God says however " I talk to EVERYONE all the time but who listens❓"

[UTSAVANAND-nksm]

Consciousness is the medium and binding force of existance which joint and try to bind differences in matter and mind any how every how, making new exploration and evolution from entropy to tropy or vise a vera, consciousness has 8 fold of intellectuality in existance, sencing and makingeverything possible through 9th or 10th sencer or observer being, all is one God at ultimate consciousness system, 😂 lalla lalla Lori doodh ki katori

[mikel]

It is never enough to just talk "scientifically" about something, anything, including about consciousness.
One should have a true real practical understanding and application, otherwise it is all another useless hypothetical theory.
When the correct understanding of a real process is in place, the practical application based on it is easy.
It is exactly the case with the real material "conscious" process.
Many people interested in consciousness talk about it, but none of them understand it correctly.

[murphydupler]

Like the heart cell not required to know it is part of a community of shape, coordination and emotion of a whole pump phenomena, conscious is part of a larger phenomena we may never understand. Other languages force different consciousness clues of importance to ?whole we biologically not meant to understand.

[jamesruscheinski]

conscious experience of the past (memory), present (awareness) and future (free will) linked by time?