The Nature of Fundamental Consciousness

Abstract

In humanity’s quest to understand consciousness, much work has been done at the biological and neural levels [1], some also in understanding cognitive higher consciousness [2], and a bit on the contribution and importance of value [3]. But as we have seen, all of this has not led to an understanding of fundamental consciousness. We know a good deal about how the networks of neurons in our heads calculate and process information, shedding light on how we think. This does not tell us how we feel. A mind is thinking plus, especially, feeling. In this article we consider basic mechanisms, the missing explanatory glue from the physical world to value and consciousness. We thus lay out the Sentonic Theory of Fundamental Consciousness (STFC), and end with the topic of sites in the brain where these phenomena may take place.

The Primary Pitfalls on the Road to Understanding Consciousness

“…Because we exist of our own nature and at our large scale, people have assumed that-even for "one's own feelings"-there must be an experience of "those" feelings. At the bottom, feeling happens [4]. It exists freestanding.…”

“…A tragic leap has been made from the simplest to a mind; to the simplest of all-that is, to the universe that has forged the mind. This is a massive and incorrect assumption [4]. The traditional qualia such as the taste of a wine are not fundamental feels.…”

“…The illusion of the mind as a unitary object tends to bias our thinking unhelpfully. Yet, this fusion of experience is also a key clue into how the mind works and especially as to how feeling works in it [4].…”

“…There are multiple ways the computation could have been implemented because the material is just placeholders to represent information (although most of these ways ultimately rely on electromagnetism and matter). But feeling requires that whatever physical mechanism is at play is represented in the brain, by constituents that play that way [4,6].…”

The Primary Pitfalls on the Road to Understanding Consciousness

“…A tragic leap has been made from the simplest to a mind, to the simplest of allthat is, to the universe that has forged the mind. This is a massive and incorrect assumption [4].…”