Implications of rare neurological disorders and perceptual errors in natural and synthetic consciousness

Allen D Allen

doi:10.4236/wjns.2013.34031

Abstract

Recent theories on natural and synthetic consciousness overlook the geometric structure necessary for awareness of 3-dimensional space, as strikingly illustrated by left-neglect disorder. Furthermore, awareness of 3-dimensional space entails some surprisingly tenacious optical illusions, as demonstrated by an experiment in the text. Awareness of linear time is also crucial and complex. As a consequence, synthetic consciousness cannot be realized by simply intercomnecting a large number of electronic circuits constructed from ordinary chips and transistors. Since consciousness is a subjective experience, there is no sufficient condition for consciousness that can be experimentally confirmed. The most we can hope for is agreement on the necessary conditions for consciousness. Toward that end, this paper reviews some relevant clinical phenomena.

Highlights

Advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging have made it possible to observe the reaction of the human brain to a given stimulus during both waking consciousness and deep unconsciousness, e.g., due to the administration of propofol [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
Since consciousness is a subjective experience, there is no sufficient condition for consciousness that can be experimentally confirmed
Since consciousness is a subjective experience, there is no sufficient condition for consciousness that can be experimentally tested

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have made it possible to observe the reaction of the human brain to a given stimulus during both waking consciousness and deep unconsciousness, e.g., due to the administration of propofol [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. But not otherwise, a stimulus generates integrated global activity all across specialized regions of the brain. This has led to the conjecture that such an information-processing methodology may be a sufficient condition for consciousness and admits to the possibility of synthetic or non-biologic consciousness. This theory is contradicted by rare neurological disorders that provide empirical evidence as to which conditions are, and are not, necessary for consciousness. The present paper reviews the implications of some real clinical phenomena as a guide to recognizing the necessary conditions for consciousness

Cerebral Geometry

Optical Illusions

Waking Consciousness

Emotional Precognition

NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS FOR CONSCIOUSNESS

CONCLUSIONS