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The Limits of Consciousness
8 March 2017
When we are confronted with a question such as "how do you feel about this situation?" we
are often confused when we find that it is difficult to respond with a definitive answer. And
though many of us are disturbed by the inability to answer such questions with clarity, it is
perfectly normal not to know how you feel about certain things as our cognitive constructs
are highly complex and, more often than not, many opposing sensations are going on at the
same time for any particular cognitive construct compounded with the paradox of
contradictory cognitive constructs, and we can never fully resolve those paradoxes – we just
live with them as life is a vast ongoing paradox.
We can never completely understand our own worldview; i.e., personality — everything we
see, feel, and do, our basic language, style and manner of communication, processing of
information — everything — is an indivisible constituent of our worldview, which is the
absolute essence of our very existence as sentient human beings. Much of that worldview,
and indeed, personality itself, resides beyond conscious access, based on our own unique
disposition of the mechanisms of vision, hearing, smell, touch and other sensory
impressions; our unique physiological functioning; neuronal activity; and all other physical
and biological properties that affect to what extent we are able to perceive various stimuli
and how such stimuli are processed and internalized into levels of awareness and
intellectual proclivities that, together, make each of us unique in our abilities, motivations,
desires, styles of communication, emotional responsiveness, etc. Our essence is composed
of genotype + experience = phenotype; whereby personality = phenotype + worldview in a
constant interaction with the environment in an ongoing dynamic that modifies our
worldview moment to moment at a microsubstratum below the level of awareness.
The billions of sensory inputs that are constantly being processed into patterns of
information by the brain to form impressions and build logical constructs, mental images and
schemas and personal knowledge databases, are so vast and complex, that they would
swamp and totally overwhelm the conscious mind. If such microsubstratum activities were
conscious, all concentration would be totally absorbed in analyzing how each microstimulus
is processed and internalized — and we would starve to death dwelling on the sensations
and impressions of being hungry rather than forming a broad perception of the world that
would enable our interaction with that world to obtain nourishment. Much of worldview
then, is physical/biological, and much is unknowable. Although we pride ourselves on our
scientific, intellectual, and technological accomplishments, much of human functioning and
understanding is subconscious or automatic. It is our paradoxes and little flaws that give us
our unpredictability, quirks, charm and individual personalities that make us human, each of
us unique, precious -- not now or ever before has there been anyone exactly like any one of
us nor will there ever be anyone exactly like any one of us after we are gone. Always striving
to understand more, we should recognize our limits, cherish our uniqueness and delight in
the wondrous and fascinating diversity of humankind.
Spencer M. Robinson
Center for Applied Social Neuroscience (CASN)
http://www.brain-mind-behavior.org/
casn@brain-mind-behavior.org