How do you feel at this moment? Are you experiencing happiness, sadness, or excitement? Is your body warm or cold right now? Are you feeling hungry?
Every thought, emotion, and sensory experience we have is processed through our consciousness. This state of awareness is the most familiar part of our existence. It is the only gateway our minds have to understand the world around us.
Despite our deep understanding of our own consciousness, it remains mysterious. Scientists have not been able to explain it clearly, and we often find it challenging to define or measure what consciousness really is.
We do know there is a connection between consciousness and the brain. Changes to the brain, like those caused by drugs, injury, or stimulation, can affect how we experience consciousness.
For example, different medications, alcohol, or psychoactive substances can lead to noticeable shifts in awareness. Similarly, brain damage or direct stimulation can alter our conscious experience.
However, there are puzzling cases, such as blindsight, amnesia, or split-brain patients. These individuals may respond accurately to a stimulus while claiming they had no awareness of it. Furthermore, even in straightforward cases, it is unclear how a certain brain condition translates to a personal experience.
The philosopher David Chalmers described this confusion as the hard problem of consciousness. He pointed out that even if we were able to connect every experience to a brain state, it wouldn’t clarify why that arrangement of neurons should produce subjective awareness.
For years, researchers and thinkers have worked to find answers to this dilemma. Many ideas and theories have come up. Some suggest that brain states and experiences are essentially the same.
Others propose that consciousness arises from the integration of information within the brain. There are even more unusual theories, like the idea that consciousness could depend on a particular viewpoint or frame of reference.
These theories are interesting and have helped shed light on certain elements of consciousness. However, none of them seem to fully address the core questions we have. This has led some experts to consider a different perspective: could consciousness itself be a basic part of the universe?