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The Hard Problems Of Consciousness
One of the best cases for Intelligent Design, related to the problem of explaining “Consciousness” To most scientists, Consciousness lacks tangible and provable facts with which to critically study it and as it has been found out, nothing in the field of science, predicts the presence of consciousness, even though its reality cannot be denied. But yet, how do the scientists investigate consciousness? What are its reductive properties? What are its attributes? What is it? But however much scientists have tried to avoid the subject of consciousness it has thrust itself upon them and demanded investigation and critical analysis!
Many have tried to grapple with it, and have come up with differing suggestions. One of preeminent scientists and eminent philosopher, who have led in its investigation is Prof. David Charmers, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Consciousness at the Australian National University . Professor Charmers contends the problem of consciousness, by suggesting an approach that recognizes the so-called “easy problems” and the “hard problems” of consciousness, or subjective existence . This approach has led to a dualistic perception of the nature of consciousness. Charmers appears to use Kantian methodology, where he separates the analytical character of consciousness, and the empirical character , i.e. of experiences. He states; “There is not just one problem of consciousness. “Consciousness” is an ambiguous term, referring to many different phenomena. Each of these phenomena needs to be explained, but some are easier to explain than others. At the start, it is useful to divide the associated problems of consciousness into “hard” and “easy” problems. The easy problems of consciousness are those that seem directly susceptible to the standard methods of cognitive science, whereby a phenomenon is explained in terms of computational or neural mechanisms.
The hard problems are those that seem to resist those methods. The easy problems of consciousness include those of explaining phenomena. I.e the ability to discriminate, categorize, and react to environmental stimuli; the integration of information by a cognitive system; the reportability of mental states; the ability of a system to access its own internal states; the focus of attention; the deliberate control of behavior; the difference between wakefulness and sleep…… The really hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When we think and perceive, there is a whirl of information-processing, but there is also a subjective aspect. As Nagel (1974) has put it, there is something it is like to be a conscious organism. This subjective aspect is experience. When we see, for example, we experience visual sensations: the felt quality of redness, the experience of dark and light, the quality of depth in a visual field. Other experiences go along with perception in different modalities: the sound of a clarinet, the smell of mothballs. Then there are bodily sensations, from pains to orgasms; mental images that are conjured up internally; the felt quality of emotion, and the experience of a stream of conscious thought. What unites all of these states is that there is something it is like to be in them. All of them are states of experience”. (David Chalmers; Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness)
Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness
The mystery of consciousness as a subject demanding investigation called attention to itself, when scientists sought to investigate the basic substance out of which matter, and therefore reality is made of. The science of physics, while investigating the nature of matter and the stuff its made of, appear to have brought the scientists into a kind of dead end, where tools of science, that is, logic and mathematics, have failed to explain the substance of the very basic fundamentals of reality. Physicists, have found themselves faced with a kind of an unfathomable anomaly as to the nature of mater and therefore reality. A phenomena of reality of matter, where tangible substance and facts ends, and reality and matter become ideological , ephemeral and an elusive super-positioning of states, which cannot be pinned down, existing as swirling wave of energy, undulating in to nothingness, raising question to the true nature of the Macro systems, emerging out of these super positioned systems, which appear as spiritual reality of matter.
While undertaking the sturdy of the quantum nature of matter, scientists have found , that matter, as it were, is not made of small discrete particles. That indeed, “Big things”, that we observe, are not made of “small things” There are no small “things” frozen somewhere in space forming the basic substance, out of which, all matter that make up reality we apprehend is fashioned out of. Rather, it has been found that matter is made up of entities, whose definite attributes cannot be identified with absolute certainty. These entities appear to have a dual state of a wave and particle nature, which renders their very existence to be a mare probability! This then, is what has forced scientists to wonder about Consciousness. The question that has been put forward is this; if matter as it were, appear to be made of entities of supper positioned waves which has probability of existence, what then, is this consciousness that apprehends this “nothingness”? If at all, we, as human being, are made of supper positioned entities that have not material existence as it were, according to quantum theory, what is this “thinking thing” in us, that apprehends an immaterial reality which gives and illusion of materialism? Then again, how can something so material as mater, arise form something so immaterial as these waves of probabilities? Then again, what this consciousness in us, that perceives this mater? How could something so unconscious as mater, give rise to something so conscious as we sentient human beings? This has been termed as the “hard question” of science. This, had not been predicted by anything in science. We cannot deny that we are conscious beings. We cannot deny we are conscious of things. Therefore we cannot deny the existence of Consciousness, because we are the sentient beings perceiving reality consciously. But the, if as it were, all the stuff we are made of, is mare undulating unconscious waves, what is this in us, which is the consciousness we are experiencing and expressing?
Signature Of The Trinity In The Cell
Another evidence of Intelligent Design, who is the Divine Trinity is what American biochemist and researcher Dr Stephen Meyer calls “signature in the Cell’ in his book by the same title. Dr. Meyer calls our attention to the basic building block of life as it were. The four Nitrogenous bases of the gene, which determine the inherited characteristics of all living things. What scientists have found is that a gene is made of predetermined sequence of bases or nucleotides, which determine the type of protein that will be forms. These Nucleotides are adenine (A), thymine(T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C) These combine as a Trinity in groups of three reefed to as codons, that specify which of the 20 amino acids goes into the protein. Any on of the four bases can form the three possible codon position, . These groupings are the genetic codes, that dictate the sequence of amino acids that form the protein. There are rules regarding how these bases can pair. A can only pair with T. And C can only pair with G. A sequence of bases, determine the amino acids in the polypeptides . And a sequence of amino acids, determine the proteins and its functions. And this, is what determines the character of the cell. In their pairs, they form the polymer chain which makes the twisted, ladder like double helix stand of the gene. By themselves, they are like the genetic “Alphabets” which when combined in codons , make up the information which writes the life of an organism. We know that alphabets when written, may appear to be groups of letters, but when combined to transmit information mean something to the intelligent recipient. DNA, therefore, is basically, information. They are molecular instructions for life. And since we know that information comes from intelligence, it means that that some intelligence is somewhere always dictating the specified information which appears as life in the world, and thereafter, disappears! Mr. Meyer sates that this” someone” is a mind. He states “Our uniform experience affirms that specified information-whether inscribed hieroglyphics, written in a book, encoded in a radio signal, or produced in a simulation experiment-always arises from an intelligent source, from a mind and not a strictly material process.” (pg. 347) Stephen Meyer’s “Signature in the Cell”
One of the best cases for Intelligent Design, related to the problem of explaining “Consciousness” To most scientists, Consciousness lacks tangible and provable facts with which to critically study it and as it has been found out, nothing in the field of science, predicts the presence of consciousness, even though its reality cannot be denied. But yet, how do the scientists investigate consciousness? What are its reductive properties? What are its attributes? What is it? But however much scientists have tried to avoid the subject of consciousness it has thrust itself upon them and demanded investigation and critical analysis!
Many have tried to grapple with it, and have come up with differing suggestions. One of preeminent scientists and eminent philosopher, who have led in its investigation is Prof. David Charmers, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Consciousness at the Australian National University . Professor Charmers contends the problem of consciousness, by suggesting an approach that recognizes the so-called “easy problems” and the “hard problems” of consciousness, or subjective existence . This approach has led to a dualistic perception of the nature of consciousness. Charmers appears to use Kantian methodology, where he separates the analytical character of consciousness, and the empirical character , i.e. of experiences. He states; “There is not just one problem of consciousness. “Consciousness” is an ambiguous term, referring to many different phenomena. Each of these phenomena needs to be explained, but some are easier to explain than others. At the start, it is useful to divide the associated problems of consciousness into “hard” and “easy” problems. The easy problems of consciousness are those that seem directly susceptible to the standard methods of cognitive science, whereby a phenomenon is explained in terms of computational or neural mechanisms.
The hard problems are those that seem to resist those methods. The easy problems of consciousness include those of explaining phenomena. I.e the ability to discriminate, categorize, and react to environmental stimuli; the integration of information by a cognitive system; the reportability of mental states; the ability of a system to access its own internal states; the focus of attention; the deliberate control of behavior; the difference between wakefulness and sleep…… The really hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When we think and perceive, there is a whirl of information-processing, but there is also a subjective aspect. As Nagel (1974) has put it, there is something it is like to be a conscious organism. This subjective aspect is experience. When we see, for example, we experience visual sensations: the felt quality of redness, the experience of dark and light, the quality of depth in a visual field. Other experiences go along with perception in different modalities: the sound of a clarinet, the smell of mothballs. Then there are bodily sensations, from pains to orgasms; mental images that are conjured up internally; the felt quality of emotion, and the experience of a stream of conscious thought. What unites all of these states is that there is something it is like to be in them. All of them are states of experience”. (David Chalmers; Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness)
Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness
The mystery of consciousness as a subject demanding investigation called attention to itself, when scientists sought to investigate the basic substance out of which matter, and therefore reality is made of. The science of physics, while investigating the nature of matter and the stuff its made of, appear to have brought the scientists into a kind of dead end, where tools of science, that is, logic and mathematics, have failed to explain the substance of the very basic fundamentals of reality. Physicists, have found themselves faced with a kind of an unfathomable anomaly as to the nature of mater and therefore reality. A phenomena of reality of matter, where tangible substance and facts ends, and reality and matter become ideological , ephemeral and an elusive super-positioning of states, which cannot be pinned down, existing as swirling wave of energy, undulating in to nothingness, raising question to the true nature of the Macro systems, emerging out of these super positioned systems, which appear as spiritual reality of matter.
While undertaking the sturdy of the quantum nature of matter, scientists have found , that matter, as it were, is not made of small discrete particles. That indeed, “Big things”, that we observe, are not made of “small things” There are no small “things” frozen somewhere in space forming the basic substance, out of which, all matter that make up reality we apprehend is fashioned out of. Rather, it has been found that matter is made up of entities, whose definite attributes cannot be identified with absolute certainty. These entities appear to have a dual state of a wave and particle nature, which renders their very existence to be a mare probability! This then, is what has forced scientists to wonder about Consciousness. The question that has been put forward is this; if matter as it were, appear to be made of entities of supper positioned waves which has probability of existence, what then, is this consciousness that apprehends this “nothingness”? If at all, we, as human being, are made of supper positioned entities that have not material existence as it were, according to quantum theory, what is this “thinking thing” in us, that apprehends an immaterial reality which gives and illusion of materialism? Then again, how can something so material as mater, arise form something so immaterial as these waves of probabilities? Then again, what this consciousness in us, that perceives this mater? How could something so unconscious as mater, give rise to something so conscious as we sentient human beings? This has been termed as the “hard question” of science. This, had not been predicted by anything in science. We cannot deny that we are conscious beings. We cannot deny we are conscious of things. Therefore we cannot deny the existence of Consciousness, because we are the sentient beings perceiving reality consciously. But the, if as it were, all the stuff we are made of, is mare undulating unconscious waves, what is this in us, which is the consciousness we are experiencing and expressing?
Signature Of The Trinity In The Cell
Another evidence of Intelligent Design, who is the Divine Trinity is what American biochemist and researcher Dr Stephen Meyer calls “signature in the Cell’ in his book by the same title. Dr. Meyer calls our attention to the basic building block of life as it were. The four Nitrogenous bases of the gene, which determine the inherited characteristics of all living things. What scientists have found is that a gene is made of predetermined sequence of bases or nucleotides, which determine the type of protein that will be forms. These Nucleotides are adenine (A), thymine(T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C) These combine as a Trinity in groups of three reefed to as codons, that specify which of the 20 amino acids goes into the protein. Any on of the four bases can form the three possible codon position, . These groupings are the genetic codes, that dictate the sequence of amino acids that form the protein. There are rules regarding how these bases can pair. A can only pair with T. And C can only pair with G. A sequence of bases, determine the amino acids in the polypeptides . And a sequence of amino acids, determine the proteins and its functions. And this, is what determines the character of the cell. In their pairs, they form the polymer chain which makes the twisted, ladder like double helix stand of the gene. By themselves, they are like the genetic “Alphabets” which when combined in codons , make up the information which writes the life of an organism. We know that alphabets when written, may appear to be groups of letters, but when combined to transmit information mean something to the intelligent recipient. DNA, therefore, is basically, information. They are molecular instructions for life. And since we know that information comes from intelligence, it means that that some intelligence is somewhere always dictating the specified information which appears as life in the world, and thereafter, disappears! Mr. Meyer sates that this” someone” is a mind. He states “Our uniform experience affirms that specified information-whether inscribed hieroglyphics, written in a book, encoded in a radio signal, or produced in a simulation experiment-always arises from an intelligent source, from a mind and not a strictly material process.” (pg. 347) Stephen Meyer’s “Signature in the Cell”