Abstract
It may seem obvious we are conscious for we are certain we see, feel and think, but there is no accepted scientific account of these mental states as a brain condition. And since most neuroscientists assume consciousness and its supposed powers without explaining it, science is brought into question. That consciousness does not exist is here explained. The alternative, the theory of brain-sign, is outlined. It eliminates the quasi-divine knowledge properties of seeing, feeling and thinking. Brain-sign is a means/mechanism enabling collective action between organisms. Brain-sign signifies the shared world of that action. Signs are intrinsically physical and biologically ubiquitous. Brain-signs are derived moment-by-moment from the causal orientation of each brain towards others and the world. Interactive behaviour which is not predetermined (as in passing a cup of coffee) is characteristic of vertebrate species. Causality lies in the electrochemical operation of the brain. But identifying the changing world by brain-signs binds the causal states of those interacting into one unified operation. Brain-signing creatures, including humans, have no ‘sense’ they function this way. The world appears as seen. The ‘sense of seeing’, however, is the brain’s communicative activity in joint behaviour. Similarly for ‘feeling’. Language causality results from the transmission of compression waves or electromagnetic radiation from one brain to another altering the other’s causal orientation. The ‘sense of understanding’ words is the communicative state. The brain understands nothing, knows nothing, believes nothing. By replacing the prescientific notion of consciousness, brain-sign can enable a scientific path for brain science.
Highlights
A credibility gap lies at the heart of brain science
Many problems are raised about consciousness: What is it? How can it be physical? How is it identified in the brain? How do neural states become knowledge? How do we deal with qualia? These questions assume consciousness exists
As the authors are aware but do not analyse in this example. They summarise: ‘Given that there are at least three dissociable ways in which a process can be unconscious, it makes little conceptual sense to talk about consciousness as a unitary processing feature that can co-occur with other features.’
Summary
While consciousness supposedly illuminates the world, and language subjects its fabric to human mastery, it resists physical description. How it functions is ‘explained’ by substituting other words for it like ‘awareness’ or ‘experience’ which invoke similar nonphysical concepts Brain-sign replaces consciousness as the brain phenomenon It is a biophysical means of interneural communication by organisms about the world (including the organism itself) which facilitates collective action by signifying what in the world is jointly targeted. It results at each moment from the brain’s interpretation of its immediate causal orientation towards the world. After reviewing the status of consciousness and neuroscience (A Background for Brain-Sign Theory), this text outlines the theory (The Theory of Brain-Sign)
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