The brain vs. consciousness: the phony debate and the real debate
by Jon Rappoport
October 29, 2017
I continue to write about this subject, because the answers are shaping our present and future in huge ways.
Nearly all brain researchers insist that consciousness arises from the functions of the brain.
These researchers concede they don’t know HOW consciousness arises—but “they’re getting there.” They’re making progress. This is their story and they’re sticking to it.
If they have their way, the educated class will agree with them, evidence or no evidence.
Since “consciousness is the result of brain activity and nothing else,” since consciousness is ultimately a matter of physics, neuroscience will reign supreme—manipulating brain changes to achieve certain “values” and political goals.
We are talking about an engineered society at the level of the brain. Brave New World.
For these researchers, that is the final frontier.
But suppose all their fundamental assertions are completely wrong? Suppose they’re never going to prove consciousness arises from the brain? Suppose all their efforts in this direction are dependent on nothing more than circular reasoning—assuming what they’re trying to prove?
“Consciousness must be a function of brain activity, because what else could it be?”
Let’s begin with a very simple version of what consciousness means, and in the process shred several key ideas of the brain researchers:
ONE: Right now, at this very moment, you’re reading the words on this page. You know you’re reading the worlds. You’re aware you’re reading the words. You’re conscious of reading the words. You “have that consciousness.”
TWO: The brain is composed, according to conventional physics, of tiny particles. That’s all. The neurons and their tubes and the synapses and the neurotransmitters—all the elements of the brain, when you go deep enough, without exception, are composed of atomic and sub-atomic particles.
THREE: These are the exact same particles that flow in the earth and the water and the sky and the stars and the whole universe. The particles move and interact according to immutable laws.
FOUR: There is nothing in these particles or any combination of them that suggests KNOWING. There is no KNOWING.
FIVE: But somehow, in the brain, these particles give rise to YOU KNOWING YOU ARE READING THESE WORDS AT THIS VERY MOMENT.
SIX: That assertion would be the height of absurdity.
SEVEN: And yet you do know. You know you’re reading these words. You’re conscious of that.
EIGHT: Since you do know, that consciousness is coming from somewhere other than the brain, which contains no knowing.
This is stark and simple.
Because it’s so stark, it drives some brain researchers to their backup position, which introduces a second absurdity: you’re not conscious of the fact you’re reading these words on the page, you only THINK you are. There is no such thing as consciousness. Consciousness is a bizarre illusion created by the brain. Therefore, there is no need to explain consciousness. It doesn’t exist. It never has.
Here is a third absurdity that enters the scene: there is no you. YOU is another illusion. The individual does not exist. There is a brain-process which results in the illusion of an individual existing.
So you’re not there, and I’m not here.
Well, well. That’s a towering assemblage of bullshit.
And it’s built to sidetrack the stark facts that you do exist and so do I, and we’re both conscious at this very moment, and there is NOTHING in the most basic composition of the brain to account for consciousness.
Pundits and scientist can try to introduce all sorts of elegant non-sense and technical speak to refute what you and I both know, but it isn’t going to fly.
We are not biological machines. We are not some illusion projected by the brain.
We are not badly programmed machines researchers can feel guiltless about, as they try to tweak and re-cast our brains. We’re not cars in the shop.
I could take this line of thought much farther, and I have, in other articles, where I explore the point that consciousness is not composed of matter, but I’ll leave it here for now.
One piece of advice: don’t be taken in by scientists who claim “the situation is far more complex.”
It isn’t.
Complexity is their strategy to escape the noose of their own making which hangs them in public view.
Why do I say “noose of their own making?” Because they own the theory that ALL matter and energy are composed of tiny particles which have no consciousness at all. Therefore, the brain is composed of the same particles. Therefore, there is NO reason to assume the brain can give rise to consciousness.
Consciousness, WHICH DOES EXIST, must be independent of matter and energy.
Researchers can hate this conclusion, but they have to deal with it. They refuse to deal with it in a straightforward manner.
Perhaps they have a special brand of brain that seeks specious, devious, wormy methods of wriggling out of disturbing inferences.
(To read about Jon’s mega-collection, The Matrix Revealed, click here.)
Jon Rappoport
The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.
Actually there are scientists today who know that consciousness is not particle and matter and it relates to Quantum Physics, and their proof is the double slit experiment, but for those who still doubt the existence of the consciousness and even the consciousness of God which we understand to be part of the Speciel Mind which God gives to all life, please view this video from Dr. Becker about hermit crabs.
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2017/10/27/the-amazing-crab-shell-exchange.aspx
What a miracle!!!
Yes, the Double Slit Experiment! High School Physics 101, but yet so many neglect the easy to understand basics.
We can’t “know” what Life IS, we can only Be IT!!!!
Science will never “know” what Life is.
Consciousness is a Miracle
A mystery
An infinite potential
We know that we know, therefore, consciousness exists.
Diehard materialists say that because we cannot create a machine that detects or measures consciousness directly, it does not really exist. Yet they believe in black holes and dark matter, which cannot be measured directly, by definition. Such arbitrary inconsistency.
Stephen Paddock’s brain…
Doctors prepare for deep dive…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/doctors-prepare-deep-dive-las-vegas-shooters-brain-143753188.html
Reblogged this on astraeaisabella.
The truth is complex, actually. Simpler, and more complex than any researcher wants to acknowledge. Any single living cell is conscious of itself, of its internal status, and of its environment. As soon as it fails to be conscious, and to take conscious actions, it is dead. Consciousness is a measure of life. But then it gets more complicated. There are two paths.
A mass or community of cells, a meta-cell, exists as soon as a single cell reproduces. A community of cells, if it is to be successful, needs to be conscious not of the individual cells, but of the community. Meta-consciousness reaches a second level, even as it continues to exist for the individual cells.
A line of cells maintains a history, and takes actions into the future, by maintaining a memory, a consciousness of past successes and failures, and goals into the future. Evolution is consciousness.
Then an entity evolves that is more complex than a mass of cells, a meta-mass of cells. A meta-meta-consciousness. This consciousness also evolves and develops an evolutionary meta-meta-consciousness.
Body consciousness begins to emerge.
As life entities become more complex, tissue components become organs, with organ awareness, organ objectives, organ consciousness. Limbs develop awareness of their environment, limb consciousness. Organs and limbs learn to cooperate, taking body consciousness to new levels.
Nerve cells, nerve tissues, and nerve organs each develop their own levels of consciousness.
Brains are composite nerve organs, working consciously in cooperation with each other. We might label them meta (cell)-meta (tissue) – meta (organ) – meta (organ system) conscious.
At this point, the level of consciousness has progressed enough for ‘self-consciousness’ to emerge. Self-consciousnessis above the level of the brain, many brains are not self-conscious. It only occurs when brain systems reach a certain level of complexity, support a certain level of cooperation.
You might notice that every step up the hierarchy emerges when lower level individuals cooperate. At every level, there exist individuals. When individuals cooperate, they raise the bar to the next level. Individuals compete. That’s what they do. Individual cells compete, individual tissues compete (and if it gets out of hand, we get cancer), individual organs compete for resources and growth and sometimes that competition causes illness and disease. Cooperation raises the bar to the next level.
Consciousness, self-consciousness can only emerge from the cooperative forces of many layers of consciousness, not from some ‘thing’ we call the brain.
to your health, tracy
nice post! the combination of lower levels of awareness facilitates and builds higher levels of consciousness
Try this: Christ said to someone “Before Abraham was, I am.” Try saying “before anything was, I am.” “I am.” is where it’s at.
I heard this first from Mooji. It works! It give one a deep sense of being real, grounded, peaceful and very deeply grateful. It is real and it is about Reality.
Yes, but consider the caveat of anthropomorphism. When you say “I” you are denoting a person. Aside from the issue that science can not define a person, as they cannot define consciousness, please note person is from the Latin “persona” which means mask; therefore, we have to dig deeper to grasp what is behind the mask. Cheers
Go JON!
This is why the Buddhism, oneness crap is pushed at this time. The Agenda being man as machine- programmable by the state to optimize usefulness as a tool.
The mind-body problem of philosophy is NOT the province of science, although older generations of physicists understood that science was NOT qualified to make assessments of philosophical truth.
I would break it down this way. scientific materialists can CLAIM that metaphysics is invalid, and that only the material universe exists.
Unfortunately they are invoking a metaphysical assumption to deny metaphysics.
baddapaboom.
I think that it is not possible to have a proper discussion regarding Consciousness without including Rupert Sheldrake in the conversation.
https://m.youtube.com /watch?v=46kgmgI9fPs
Are you speaking about “Morphic Resonance?”
Old religions getting software update, new religions coming online… because some software/hardware companies can make really fast and efficient ‘pattern matching’ machines…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-new-religions-obsessed-with-ai
Son’s dichotomy: AI vs Imagination…
Straight from the Billionaire’s mouth…
— In less than 30 years, AI/machine-learning will have IQ of 10,000 vs human genius -level IQ:130 to 200. (However that is all defined).
— But, one area where humans will always reign supreme over robots, though, is imagination, says Son. “If you have to envision, 10 years or 30 years later, at least some humans will have a better imagination than them. So, it’s not the end. The power of the brain is no limit. The imagination that we can have has no limit (*). So we are also going to improve our imaginations and our feelings, gut feeling.”
(*) I think he meant to say “The power of [your consciousness] is no limit.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/masayoshi-son-ceo-of-softbank-robots-will-have-an-iq-of-10000.html
It may be that all of our brains are fractal antennas actually receiving Consciousness from the universe for us to process.
Also people seem to accept without question that Elementary particles are actually made of matter. However according to physicist Milo Wolff’s theory of the wave structure of matter, these so-called particles are actually only constructive interference of waves of energy, and only appearing to be particles of solid matter, because they exhibit similar properties.
https://m.youtube.com /watch?v=st4XxXB07ng
Also it is interesting to consider that each of our organisms consist of trillions of cells, 90% of which are not human cells. The 10% which are human cells could not possibly exist without the support system of the other 90%. Each of us is actually an entire civilization of organisms all mutually cooperating to make us who we are. It becomes obvious that each of these cells must have their own individual consciousness in order to cooperate and form the greater whole.
Correct, waves, not particles, is a more accurate depiction. See my comment below. Cheers
It is that each sort of species has their own speciel mind, which in humans is in the Pineal. Our conscience is our Speciel Mind’s counseling of us, and therefore our connection to God. It is the Speciel Mind in the sperm which impregnates the ovum and gives it the memory to reproduce itself. For the first two months it is more like a cancer growing so fast, then the Speciel Mind begins to exert itself and arrange and build the body according to the Speciel Memory.
God works through the Speciel Mind to keep our world in harmony, not all natural selection. As we understand it presently, God can change the genetics through the Speciel Mind to change beak function and shape, ability to digest different foods, or to adapt to different climates.
It appears that all things in the universe have AWARENESS to some degree or another. Not necessarily awareness as you would normally think of it, because much of that which is aware of surroundings is not necessarily aware of self or others. For example an atom is aware of how many protons, neutrons and electrons make it up – evident in the type of element it is. It is aware of any electron imbalance – its ability to conduct electricity. It is aware of any other atoms with which it may have formed a molecular bond. Finally it is aware of every other atom in the entire Infinite Universe – as gravity demonstrates. This is the most basic form of awareness.
A rock is aware of the heat and pressure, the Earth’s gravidic and magnetic fields when it was formed and of which materials it is made – which is why it formed into the type, shape and colour that we observe. Now it is aware of the conditions around it, for example if the rock is out in the weather it will erode in accordance with the conditions around it, if it is heated it will expand and when cooled will contract. – Awareness at the next level.
A plant when in seed form is aware of moisture levels and recently science has discovered a link with seed germination and the Sun and Moon’s gravity combining to mark each season. As the plant grows it is aware of the weather, the condition of the soil, pests, parasites and diseases. It is aware of drought and reacts accordingly, it is aware of seasons for leaf re-growth, reproduction and flowering. Plants are aware of our sun and move to face it better. A slightly higher level of awareness.
Insects are not only aware of themselves as being individual mobile organisms, they are also aware of belonging to a species and/or colony. Insects are aware of food sources, natural predators and even are aware of impending natural disasters. Insects are also capable of communicating and navigating. An amazing level of awareness.
If we continue through different levels of various creatures throughout the Universe we would see greater and greater levels of awareness, though so far we have only discussed the lower forms of awareness.
Higher forms of awareness are evident in sentient creatures, these creatures are not only aware of their surroundings but they are also aware of themselves as living, individual, self-contained personalities. They are capable of interacting with their surroundings and of learning with other similar entities and usually with higher entities. Sentient creatures also have other common traits such as the ability to imagine, to experience emotions and to dream, as well as the ability to express self through their individual personality.
Further up the AWARENESS tree we find creatures, which are not only sentient but are also spiritual, now possessed of the ability to learn without instruction, to create and express self through the arts. That is the creature is no longer evolving in the physical sense, but is now growing through spiritual evolution
our “consciousness” is an aggregated combination of all the forms of awareness
And it for this very truth that the outcome is assured – thank god 🙂
Two thoughts: 1) If consciousness were strictly material, it’s difficult to see how knowledge would be possible. One could argue that evolution has predisposed us to believe certain things rather than others, presumably because those beliefs promoted survival. However, survival value is different from truth value. 2) If consciousness were merely an epiphenomenon–that is, a side effect of the material workings of the brain with no impact on the environment–then our awareness would not track our environment as closely as it does. Natural selection would have no reason to select for a consciousness that tracks the environment, if consciousness has no impact on our survival. Our consciousness instead would be like an incoherent, waking dream as our physical brain took care of the business of survival.
Hi Jon:
You need to connect with Eben Alexander on this topic.
Cheers
Brigitta
And Dr Robert Lanza
I posted this previously on this subject on another blog:
One Response to Can We Copy the Brain?
truth1 says:
October 29, 2017 at 6:06 am
I am of the opinion that despite claims and brags, We may not have yet created a brain exactly like a human, much less in the same small amount of space. Governments and militaries are great for either overstating something to sort of bluff or intimidate. Or understate something to conceal a great power or ability they they don’t want anyone looking into.
The interaction between the conscious intellect and sub-conscious instinct, which may also serve as a macro-processing unit that you might say crunches numbers and mass amounts of data and deduces patterns. As well, the connections with the body are not distinguishable or separate. They have come a long way with AI but I am still skeptical. But for sure, they can really mess with our minds. And that is enough to put us in serious danger. Just my thoughts on the poker players in our government.
Discard ancient atomism, reality is waves not particles. Consciousness causes the wave-function to decohere to instantiate reality. Discard Platonism, there are no things. Consider Process Philosophy, there are only dynamic processes.
On a related item; http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/27/the-futility-of-looking-for-mass-murder
Jon
I guess that makes those with activated pineal gland (“third eye”) very threatening….!
Best
OT
Peace love & light.
Lovely article by Jon, who argues that consciousness is not from the brain matter. But rather it is the inherent & coherent force that binds all creation at all levels.
Jon I admire ur energy and enthusiasm. Very enjoyable to read. I’m not sure too many souls can even accept the idea that they’re not just human bodies. I’m a long time member of Eckankar and enjoy the understanding I have. Anyway keep up ur excellent work. I’m ever growing also. Thank you.
Perhaps Consoiusness is a field generated by our heart…in otherwords, our soul, where we feel our emotions, love, anger, fear, etc. Last I heard, one researcher said that the heart actually was made up of 60% neurons, … and the Bible even said of us, that the blood is where the life is, when it forbid the use of blood as a food. I suspect there is LOT about our biology that scientists do not understand.
“[W]hich one is primary, the physical process or the process of consciousness? Doctor Skullskins would like to prove that my brain is responsible for my thoughts. He attaches electrodes from an encephalograph to my head and proposes to show me the different signals and graph curves that the machine writes out according to whether I am thinking, fantasizing, or dreaming. I sit down in a chair, and everything is prepared. Then Doctor Skullskins turns to me and says, “Now, Mr. Kuhlewind, please think the following thought: ‘Two plus two equals four.’ Did you hear that? He asks me; I am supposed to think about two plus two. And he asks so politely! But if my brain were the cause of all thought, why should he address me, what do I have to do with it all? He should deal with my brain, if that is the cause. Or does he intend me to pass on his request to my brain? It seems that this is what he has in mind, in which case I am, after all, an important part of the process. I can fool him at this point: instead of thinking “Two plus two equals four,” I can call to mind a cops-and-robbers film or the opera Boris Godunow. Or instead of “two plus two,” I can think simply “Now I’ll fool you.” Or I can silently recite something from A.A. Milne. But I can also comply with the doctor’s request. After all, it was so polite – it all depends on me. What I am to think depends entirely on me and furthermore, what my brain does depends on me. When I choose something, waves appear on the screen of the measuring apparatus according to what I have decided. In any event, I have to begin and then the brain follows, moment by moment. Halfway through my “two plus two” I can decide to recite Bilbo Baggins’ traveling song from the Lord of the Rings: I desire it and my brain follows suit, more or less like the bow and violin played by Mr. Szering. Is there no case in which the brain is the determinative partner? Certainly – at least when I have a headache. Also when I fall into a chain of associations. But when I am wide awake, then the brain obeys me quite completely. And because I can decide each moment how I will behave in the next moment – especially when this question of the encephalograph gets me excited – there are no grounds for claiming that my brain is responsible for my thinking. I bear the responsibility for who I am, as we have just proved experimentally. And by addressing me, as he must to begin the experiment, the doctor shows that he is also of this opinion. Only he doesn’t know it yet.” (Georg Kuhlewind, ‘From Normal to Healthy: Paths to the Liberation of Consciousness,’ 1994)
Hi! I found your blog post incredibly interesting, and it had in part inspired me to write my own blog post on consciousness. I did reference your blog and this post I hope this is okay! You can check out my blog post here: https://alotonyourmind.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/consciousness-in-philosophy-and-neuroscience/
Best wishes!
A Lot on Your Mind