Is consciousness an illusion? | Dr James Cooke

The consciousness illusion by Keith Frankish

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#consciousness #thehardproblem #awareness
We live in a world filled with suffering, where attempts to help have been split into largely separate scientific and spiritual communities. As a spiritually engaged neuroscientist I hope to communicate how these seemingly separate world views can be reconciled. I produce weekly videos on topics at the intersection of neuroscience and wellbeing, including consciousness, meditation and psychedelic science.

Dr. James Cooke:
Neuroscientist, writer & speaker, focusing on perception, meditation, psychedelics, mental health and wellbeing.
PhD in Neuroscience, Oxford University
MSc in Neuroscience, Oxford University
MA in Experimental Psychology, Oxford University

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[darylsmith]

Beneath the sense of self, conditioning, achievements, emotional connections, fears, judgments, beliefs, tolerances, criticisms, morals, conscience and the ego - there is only raw awareness filtered through our sensory perceptions. Consciousness is raw awareness of the phenomena of existence.

[irrelevant]

In the question of "Is consciousness an illusion?", it doesn't make sense to use the word "illusion" in that question.
The definition of an illusion is something which doesn't appear to be what it is. When you use the word "illusion", you're defining something in relation to that thing which is considered to be real.

For example, on a hot summer's day, the road at a distance looks like there's water on it since it appears wet. Getting closer to the road, you then realize that the wetness you saw before was a mirage or an illusion. Since you're calling the wetness you saw before an illusion, then it's an illusion of what? Well, it's an illusion of water where water is considered to be a real thing and what you saw before was not real, thus an illusion.

To call consciousness an illusion, then what in relation to consciousness is it an illusion of?

[Milkshakman]

I was just starting to develop a liking for the houseboat!

[Sqlut]

The way people think. Each people, individually. The way they all think is incredibly subjective. Not everyone has the same genes and environment that will affect brain's developpment like any other. This is even more true if we study the chaos theories, and how the smallest difference might have unthinkably huge consequences, especially in a box with bilions of neurons and even more wires to connect them.


When we use a modular synth (musical instrument with tons of cables and "organs"), we can realize how what I just said is true. One sound is the result of all the current settings and wires of the moment + the past frequency with all the past results, settings, etc. A brain developpment is roughly about the same process, bilions time more complex and with a 3rd dimension to the equation.


Studying an output frequency of a modular synth output to understand what it is and how it's made is like studying its whole "infinitelty" intricate complexity. When you want to study consciousness, it's so subjective and unique to every subject that you might not obtain any significant result, a thing science doesn't like very much. Maybe one day we will finally start to spot some patterns, but I highly doubt so regarding of the complexity and randomness of the "equation".


I don't know if that makes sence, I don't speak english very well, but this is my personal position.

[Tdtsnowflake]

Dr.James amazing channel!
Question:I believe that every particle is conscious, and that the universe itself is conscious!our brains act like an antenna that connects us to this universal consciousness and our attachments would ultimately create our ego or identity!Is this an inappropriate way of seeing consciousness?

[bjrnen]

Saying consciousness is an illusion isn’t very meaningful. When we really boil it down, what we mean by consciousness is the ability to perceive/experience something. The ability does exist, at least in the sense that perception/experience happens. What does it even mean to call that an illusion? You can call the contents thereof an illusion, but I don’t know what it means to call perception itself an illusion. To use a crude analogy, a sensor can detect a faulty signal, but the sensor can’t be a signal itself.

[stussysinglet]

If there is no self can I at least say I am the consciousness from birth to death or is this an illusion too. Am I literally the same consciousness of 20 years ago? 2 years ago? 2 min ago?

[OMAR-vqyb]

You sound and kind of look like Henry Cavill

[naturalisted]

Consciousness/experience is dependent on sensory input. The more input receptors we remove we remove more experience. Eventually we are left with no experience. In this way we see that the entire body is an "exstention" of the brain. It is all electrical - consciousness is electricity captured and maintained in a self-dependent unit/entity. Electricity is consciousness. You, the motor, was started by prior causes, and perpetuates itself. The more electrical exchanges in a brain the higher level it's cognitive abilities, because it has more electricity. The brain will be found to not be the only material that is capable of trapping and maintaining an electric cycle - soon AI will do the same. All that is required is for it to be caused by prior causes.