Consciousness-some conscious thoughts

The International Journal of Indian Psychology ISSN 2348-5396 (Online) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (Print) Volume 8, Issue 4, Oct- Dec, 2020 DIP: 18.01.104/20200804, DOI: 10.25215/0804.104 http://www.ijip.in Research Paper Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Naresh Kumar1* ABSTRACT Consciousness is a widely discussed topic but the real understanding is still elusive. In scientific parlance it is considered a “Hard Problem.” In normal parlance we are conscious when others see us alert, able to think and perform activities in normal way. But when we become inert and are unconscious in Coma, even the Doctors are unable to tell when we shall be able to regain consciousness. Why? Because no one on this earth knows what is consciousness, where does it reside and how it goes off from the body and how does it come back. Brain and mind do have correlation with consciousness because the neural circuitry does impact working of our body and even slight damage results in very evident change in motor and mental functions. The motor and mental actions performed by the body happen only after manifestation of consciousness but how it manifests is not known. It may or may not reside in brain circuitry, I say this, because major portion of brain is still unexplored. If Neuroscience advances to find its location in brain circuitry then it would mean that consciousness is not immortal and dies with our death but till then we can assume it to be eternal and it may even reside outside our body; may be in ether. Thinkers have given deep thoughts and attempted to give explanation about consciousness. This paper tries to assimilate the attempted explanations and adds the authors own logical thinking to come to an updated understanding about consciousness which still falls short of a final view as many questions still need answer before a final understanding on consciousness can surface up. Keywords: consciousness, brain, mind, awareness, quantum realities about consciousness, microtubules, brain circuitry C onsciousness is at work while you are reading this paper on a topic that is still not completely understood. The subject is being researched extensively over centuries and a lot of thinking has gone into it but still, there is no conclusive understanding available. This paper also does not claim that it will reveal all the truths behind this queer aspect of living things but would attempt to assimilate the knowledge gained so far and add to it my own personal logical thinking and suggest a way forward. Yes, true, the consciousness is associated with only the living things; be it humans, animals or insects or even plants (think “touch me not plant”). Consciousness may be about 1 Independent Researcher, Baroda, Gujarat, India *Responding Author Received: November 19, 2020; Revision Received: November 30, 2020; Accepted: December 22, 2020 © 2020, Kumar N.; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Consciousness-some conscious thoughts awareness, awareness of the environment around you, about the world, about your status in the world, and, about your past and present and above all awareness about yourself. On second thought, are we aware of ourselves? - Carl Jung said, "In each of us there is another whom we do not know." As Pink Floyd put it, "There is someone in my head, but it isn’t me” Same way, one question always baffles me-Who am I; what am “I”. “I” am not my hand, legs, heart, brain, mind, or my body. “I” am distinct from my body parts, “I” am independent of them. “I” am always talking to me, guiding me as if there is a distinct individual entity hiding in me, which keeps guiding me on each step. Irrespective of my body movements or inertness, “I” am alive and uttering words non-stop. Whether active and alert in waking hours or in a dream; whether in good health or in ICU lying inert and unconscious, whether aware or lying like a log without awareness, “I” am continuously blabbering. “I” am independent of my body so it will still keep me aware even when my body leaves the company of “I”. The body is, after all, a machine and machines do not work forever, they have their own life span, so my body will meet its end but “I” will be there pestering and guiding me always. During the daytime in waking hours, “I” am somewhat subdued in chains of logic, time, and, distance but “I” experience independence in my sleeping hours when it breaks the chains and moves in a limitless environment of time-space and logic. Those are the moments of real truth—the limitless living unbounded by time-space and logic. To a great extent, this state of “I” can be witnessed in a new-born child which continues in an unbounded state over his/her first month of infancy when he/she is not so much influenced by the environment and society and the “I” is still free and not chained in limits imposed by society rules and environmental binds. At death, when “I” and body break union, there will be a higher plane of unboundedness and it will be thrilling for “I” to move without any boundary and limits but I am sure its blabbering will continue at the same pitch and tone as it is now; only it will attain a happier tone due to freedom from boundaries. Communicate it must, because without communication it cannot survive; it will keep communicating and guiding me in a new environment where I shall be learning to deal with other similar consciousness- infinite in number; some independent and free like “I” while some still carrying the burden of a body. Maybe that if the “I” is understood, we may be close to understanding the consciousness. The above discussion on consciousness went on a philosophical plane. Materialistically, we say that we are conscious when others see that we are alert with our mind and brain functioning and body parts having their motor movement, we are conversing with others and doing normal actions. What happens when we become unconscious? Do our minds and brains stop their function? Medically it is known that even during the unconscious state, the brain remains still active making the body perform auto actions of breathing and pulsating of heart but it loses its power to dictate the body to use five senses i.e., of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting and is unable to express thoughts and do the motor movements. It is true that all motor movements stop, the eyes are closed so we cannot see; but are we sure we cannot hear, feel, taste or smell— Well we may not be sure about these!!... Maybe we are still hearing what is going on around us and can feel the touch and maybe the tongue can still taste and the nose is smelling, however, we do not depict any sign of these to others. © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 838 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts We are not sure whether the mind is still thinking when in an unconscious state; maybe it is, but, yes, these are not observable to others. Our body remains inert in automatic mode with breathing continuing, blood flowing in veins, and heart beating. We know that in Coma, we are not having consciousness but we are alive and the auto mode functions continue; maybe our senses are active but we are not able to depict their action to others. We are alive but unconscious in Coma; so we can logically infer that Consciousness is different from life, though it is causing life. However, consciousness does have something to do with the brain, it may or may not reside in the brain because even when we are unconscious, the brain is functional –this may make us think that the brain is irrelevant to consciousness but it may not be so. After all, brain circuitry certainly impacts our behavior. Even slight damage in circuitry makes us a different person. Above we talked about “I”—this "I" is affected by the above slight damage to brain circuitry. David Eagleman in his book, “Incognito”, talks about the profound impact of even slight damage to brain circuitry on our behavior:“People with a condition called Prosopagnosia cannot distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar faces—they recognize based on other cues such as hairlines, gait, and voices to recognize the people they know. There is a brain disorder called Alien hand Syndrome which can result from splitbrain surgeries. In this disorder, the two hands express conflicting desires e.g., one hand can pick up a newspaper whereas the other hand will slap it back down. A patient in this situation often says he is not doing it is happening by itself.(pp131) Another brain disorder is Anosognosia – This term describes a total lack of awareness of impairment, and a typical example is a patient who completely denies his very obvious paralysis(pp135) On 1-8-1966 Charles Whitman went berserk and started shooting and killing people from the top floor of the University of Texas Tower. After cops killed him, a suicide note was found on him' "I do not really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent man. However, lately( I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts.” Doctors studied his brain and discovered that there was a tumor about the diameter of a nickel. The tumor called a glioblastoma had blossomed from beneath a structure called the Thalamus, impinged on the hypothalamus, and compressed a third region, called the Amygdala. The Amygdala is involved in emotional regulation, especially as regards fear and aggression. It has been researched that damage to this region caused emotional and social disturbances. (pp153) There is a tragic brain disorder called frontotemporal dementia in which frontal and temporal lobes degenerate. Patients lose the ability to control the hidden impulses. Through the impulses, they indulge in violating social norms—shoplifting in front of the store manager, removing clothes in public, or being physically or sexually aggressive The lesson learned from various brain disorders is that condition of your brain is central to what you are. Damage to even the small part of the brain can lead to the loss of shockingly specific abilities. The behavior changes with brain disorders and makes a different 'You'.” © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 839 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Thus, we see that there is a change in “You” or shall I say in “I” through the changes in brain circuitry. Thus, the brain is certainly relevant to Consciousness. Maybe that consciousness does not reside in the brain because there is evidence that the brain remains functional even in our unconscious state but we are not so sure about it because a major part of brain circuitry is still unexplored. Maybe some of us will, one day, discover the part of circuitry which is responsible for consciousness. But as of today, since we know that a person in the unconscious state has a functional brain so we are led to think that consciousness is different from the brain. As per David Eagleman, “One does not need to be consciously aware to perform sophisticated motor acts. You can notice this when you begin to duck from a snapping tree branch before you are aware that it’s coming to you, or when you are already jumping up when you first become aware of the phone’s ring. The conscious mind is not at the center of the action in the brain; instead, it is far out in a distant edge, hearing but whispers of the activity” We know that consciousness has no correlation with heart beating and breathing which are governed by some circuitry in the brain i.e., the brain remains active even when we are unconscious. In fact, it is seen even when we are conscious, the brain can still condition the body so that conscious efforts are not needed to perform some motor actions, e.g., cycling, serving in badminton. In fact, we lose accuracy when we become conscious to perform such acts. Motor movements of the body can, also, happen unconsciously- sleepwalking is an example where motor movement happens unconsciously. This goes contrary to the belief that motor movements stop when consciousness is not there i.e. unless we define consciousness as being inert. So far, we have logically found that Consciousness is an invisible entity that does not reside in the body; it is different from life, it may be different from mind and brain unless and until neuroscience advances to find a circuitry in the brain which triggers consciousness or locates where consciousness resides. However, even during aware moments, we can drift to do motor actions unconsciously and during unaware moments life continues with the brain switching to auto mode for performing breathing and pulsating of heart. So, it will be erroneous to say that consciousness is awareness!! What, then, is consciousness?? On the logical plane, we have arrived at some understanding of Consciousness which we highlighted in the paragraph above. We shall take our logical understanding of consciousness further by assimilating the understanding provided by some other thinkers. Let us see what contemporary thinkers think about Consciousness: Christopher Koch (2018) maintains that, “Consciousness is everything you experience. The origin and nature of these experiences sometimes referred to as qualia, have been a mystery from the earliest days of antiquity right up to the present. Many modern analytic philosophers of mind, most prominently perhaps Daniel Dennett of Tufts University, find the existence of consciousness such an intolerable affront to what they believe should be a meaningless universe of matter and the void that they © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 840 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts declare it to be an illusion. That is, they either deny that qualia exist or argue that they can never be meaningfully studied by science." He goes on to give scientific thoughts on consciousness by defining Neuronal Correlates of Consciousness. As per him, “Consciousness can be defined as the minimal neuronal mechanisms jointly sufficient for any specific conscious experience. What must happen in your brain for you to experience a toothache, for example? Must some nerve cells vibrate at some magical frequency? Do some special “consciousness neurons” have to be activated? In which brain regions would these cells be located? …….It appears that the sights, sounds, and other sensations of life as we experience it are generated by regions within the posterior cortex. As far as we can tell, almost all conscious experiences have their origin there. What is the crucial difference between these posterior regions and much of the prefrontal cortex, which does not directly contribute to subjective content? The truth is that we do not know.” His thinking gives a feeling that consciousness resides in the brain and is constituted by neuronal circuitry. This could be true only when neuroscience advances to find the exact neuronal-circuitry responsible for bringing consciousness into the body, currently, we know how neuronal circuitry works when consciousness has already arrived into the brain. Doctors are still not able to bring back consciousness in Coma patients. If it was in the brain and the doctors knew the location, probably they could make the brain bring consciousness to coma patients. The fact is that they say that they don’t know when the Coma patient will become conscious; just wait and watch. In fact, when consciousness enters the brain, it becomes active and makes the neuronal circuitry active to make us see, hear, taste, feel, smell and perform motor actions, i.e., the consciousness is the cause for brain activation and when it enters the brain all these things happen. But we don’t know how the consciousness enters the brain and where it resides. The physical actions which happen in the body are due to neuronal correlates of consciousness but consciousness is something distinct. As a matter of fact, Neuroscience, as it stands today, has not uncovered the mystery behind Consciousness. At a point, neuroscience is stuck and unable to figure out a way forward. It is a known fact that we know too little of the brain. To date, the major part of the brain is still shrouded in mystery and we hardly know what secrets it holds there. Are those relevant to provide meaning to consciousness? Thinkers are still trying to understand what consciousness is! What we know is the after-effects of consciousness or the absence of consciousness but we do not know what consciousness is. The thought that the brain creates consciousness may not be true. The brain translates consciousness into physical actions. Instances have occurred which go on to prove that consciousness outlives the brain. Consciousness was found in people whose brains were declared clinically dead. There have been incidents when patients with dead brain suddenly opened eyes uttered a few words and then died. The only thing which cannot be denied that consciousness is not visible after death. But does it mean that consciousness dies with death? This is the question which is debated over the millennium but no concrete answer is yet found. © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 841 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts However, it so appears that consciousness does not reside in the body but when it becomes a part of the body, all body parts become active even the ones that are not working automatically. May be brain gets a thought from the consciousness and orders through neuronal activities to different parts to perform actions—eyes begin to see, ears begin to hear, the nose begins to smell, tongue enjoys the taste and skin feels. The brain is the commander but the commander is inert without the thought and the resulting consciousness. To understand consciousness, we shall have to research how thoughts generate and push the brain to issue orders. I had put forth a philosophical idea in my paper (2020)- “Life after Death—contemporary theories and beyond”, wherein I firmly believe that we are simply invisible energy forms (like wind)- “the conscious entity”—I called it Individual Self Energy Form (ISEF) which is eternal, knowing no limits of space-time and logic; the energy form which can never be destroyed. When this energy form gets transformed it takes shape of living entity which is another energy form called SLEF (Self Life Energy Form) embedded in the ISEF, which adds to it a capability of expressing its manifestation to other living entities. But this transformation inhibits the power of the conscious entity ISEF and gets it caged in limits of time distance and logic. The burden of inhibiting the body wherein it resides brings limitations on the eternal conscious entity. The “the conscious entity” ISEF has no relevance to the living body. It is independent of it— SLEF is just one of its worldly transformation. This conscious entity ISEF goes on becoming more and more conscious by accumulating knowledge while getting repeatedly transformed into a living energy form SLEF when it acquires a living body and the consciousness is visibly apparent to other living bodies. When not inhabiting a living body it is the energy form- ISEF which is the true identity i.e., the SLEF is only a transformation of the conscious entity in life-death-life cycle. To understand the concept in more clear terms, the ISEF or the conscious entity is the music being played with an earplug where the music is not audible to others but only to ISEF or the conscious entity `but as soon as the earplug is unplugged, the SLEF manifests and music is audible to all other SLEFs- the living beings. In that paper, I replaced "soul" from Indian Philosophy with The Energy Form ISEF, the conscious entity. For all that matters, it could be only the “Soul” or ISEF which is Consciousness. In context of the soul, David Eagleman suggests, Do we possess a soul that is separate from our physical biology—or are we simply an enormous complex biological network that mechanically produces our hopes, aspirations, dreams, desires, humor, and passions? The majority of people on the planet vote for the extra-biological soul, while most neuroscientists vote for the latter; an essence that is a natural property emerges from a vast physical system, and nothing more besides. Do we know which answer is correct? I go along with the majority of people that there is an extra-biological soul which I term as an Energy Form ISEF which is the entity Consciousness. Logically as it appears, who knows that the above theory may get proved over time. Till then let us leave it aside only as a mere a logical thought and move on to our approach of understanding the consciousness towing the lines of other thinkers and add to it our logical reasonings. © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 842 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Continuing with the thinking of researchers, we revert to Christopher Koch (2018) who goes on to say“Ultimately what we need is a satisfying scientific theory of consciousness that predicts under which conditions any particular physical system—whether it is a complex circuit of neurons or silicon transistors—has experiences. Fierce debates have arisen around the two most popular theories of consciousness. One is the global neuronal workspace (GNW) by psychologist Bernard J. Baars and neuroscientists Stanislas Dehaene and Jean-Pierre Changeux. The theory begins with the observation that when you are conscious of something, many different parts of your brain have access to that information. If, on the other hand, you act unconsciously, that information is localized to the specific sensory-motor system involved. Integrated information theory (IIT), developed by Tononi and his collaborators, has a very different starting point: Tononi postulates that any complex and interconnected mechanism whose structure encodes a set of cause-and-effect relationships will have some level of consciousness. It will feel like something from the inside. But if like the cerebellum, the mechanism lacks integration and complexity, it will not be aware of anything. As IIT states it, consciousness is intrinsic causal power associated with complex mechanisms such as the human brain. IIT also predicts that a sophisticated simulation of a human brain running on a digital computer cannot be conscious—even if it can speak in a manner indistinguishable from a human being. Consciousness cannot be computed: it must be built into the structure of the system. The two theories try to relate to what happens in the brain when consciousness manifests and the theories are not yet able to explain it fully and also cannot explain the existence of consciousness in certain terms; these do not throw light on what consciousness is and how it appears and disappears, all the theories do is to explain the activities in nervous circuitry on the manifestation of consciousness i.e., what goes on in the brain when we become conscious. The brain works on thoughts coming to it; something/ someone tells to perform an action and the neuronal activities begin to command the parts of the body to carry out the command. The actions emanating out of neuronal command make us aware that the body is conscious. The entity-something/ someone which instilled a thought in the brain is the consciousness. But we do not know what that something/ someone really is? One thing appears clear- the brain by itself does not have consciousness, the consciousness comes to it, brain parts become active on the arrival of consciousness –what causes its arrival, from where it comes and, what are the constituent parts of consciousness is still a matter of research. The only new takeaway from Christopher Koch thoughts is that Consciousness cannot be computed—this is in line with the thinking of physicist Roger Penrose—we shall discuss his and Hameroff’s theory later in the paper. So now our understanding of Consciousness is modified slightly by assimilating the above understanding and can be stated as: So far we have logically found that Consciousness is an invisible entity, which cannot be computed, which does not reside in the body; it is different from life, it may be different from mind and brain unless and until neuroscience advances to find a circuitry in the brain which triggers consciousness or where consciousness resides. © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 843 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts However, even during aware moments, we can drift to do motor actions unconsciously and during unaware moments life continues with the brain switching to auto mode for performing breathing and pulsating of heart. So it will be erroneous to say that consciousness is awareness!! Another group of thinkers, namely, Ajai R. Singh*, Shakuntala A. Singh (2011) are attempting to integrate the findings of psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, cognitive neuroscientists, and philosophers. All of them are working in different and important ways to understand the workings of the brain, the mysteries of the mind, and to grasp that elusive concept called consciousness. They summarize their thoughts as given hereunder: “The brain-mind dyad must be understood, with the brain as the structural correlate of the mind, and mind as the functional correlate of the brain. To understand human experience, we need a triad of the external environment, internal environment, and a consciousness that makes sense of both. We need to evolve a consensus on the definition of consciousness. It is equally necessary to understand the connection between physical changes in the brain and mental operations, and thereby untangle and comprehend the lattice of mental operations.” The thinkers here bring in the concept of mind and posit brain-mind connection. But the consciousness is still elusive. Consciousness does impact the brain and mind but is independent of them. How does it get generated is still not known. Its manifestation is visible through the dictates of mind and brain. Towing similar lines, Susan Greenfield talks about brain, mind, and consciousness. Talking about the brain she says--“Brain--Let us consider how the brain is organized. Within each macro brain region, there is no single isolated complete function. We know, for example, that vision is divided up into color, motion, and form processing, and, in turn, the function of vision can preoccupy over 30 brain regions. Similarly, anyone's brain region, like the prefrontal cortex, can participate in more than one function. So brain regions are bit players on the brain stage and not autonomous units. Within each area we know that there is complex brain circuitry, finally boiling down to the synapse, across which we find all the biochemical baggage needed to operate a system of chemical transmission: in turn, this baggage of enzymes, receptors, and uptake mechanisms is the result of gene expression. However, it is hard to see how personalization of the brain — the mind — might develop.” Brain circuitry is there to process information and the resultant action is seen as a body function. What is information, what constitutes it, from where it comes is not known? Further, she brings in the concept of mind as follows: “Not only are these brain connections highly dynamic, but they actually reflect experience. Experiences, then, are reflected in the strength and extension of brain connections and it is this process, whereby connections so exquisitely mirror what happens to us, that I would call the ‘mind’.” The learning takeaway from the two thinkers is that along with the brain, the mind also has relevance to Consciousness and the mind is the experience generated by the handiwork of © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 844 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts brain cell activities. These relate to the manifestation of consciousness but it is not the consciousness On Consciousness, she is not very explicit but has this to say: “Consciousness’ can be differentiated from ‘mind’ in that it is the mysterious, subjective, first-person world as it seems to you, one that no one else can hack into. It can, however, be dissociated from the ‘mind’, which also, in turn, could be related closely to the concepts of personality and selfconsciousness. If we view mind and consciousness as completely distinct but completely rooted in the physical brain, it may be that we have new insights.” The concept of Consciousness though vaguely explained but she, also, affirms the view that the brain and mind are different from consciousness. So the additional takeaway for our learning on consciousness is that the brain, as well as the mind, are relevant to consciousness and that The brain is the structural correlate of the mind, and the mind is the functional correlate of the brain. The functions as per the structural changes occurring in the brain activate different parts of the body triggered by the incoming thought The Consciousness. So assimilating this knowledge, we modify our understanding of consciousness: So far we have logically found that Consciousness is an invisible entity, which cannot be computed, which does not reside in the body; it is different from life, it may be different from mind and brain unless and until neuroscience advances to find a circuitry in the brain which triggers consciousness or where consciousness resides. However, it is a fact that the brain, as well as the mind, are relevant to consciousness and that the brain is the structural correlate of the mind, and the mind is the functional correlate of the brain. The functions as per the structural changes occurring in the brain activate different parts of the body triggered by the incoming thought The Consciousness. However, even during aware moments, we can drift to do motor actions unconsciously and during unaware moments life continues with the brain switching to auto mode for performing breathing and pulsating of heart. So it will be erroneous to say that consciousness is awareness!! What, then, is consciousness?? Let us study what other contemporary thinkers have to say on this topic Dr. Chirapat Ukachoke (2018) of Thailand elaborates a theory of mind--“Based on the wealth of scientific evidence and concepts, this theory has been formed. Its essence is as follows: 1. From the physical properties of the mind and those of the brain (the alive, processing brain), it can be concluded that the mind always occurs, exists, and functions with the brain and that the brain always occurs, exists, and functions with the mind. Both never occur alone without the other. They are a unity. 2. From the physical properties of the mind and those of the brain’s informationprocessing processes, which are non-material processes, it can be concluded that the mind is the composite of the information-processing processes of the brain. The mind is an informational entity He has views on consciousness as follows: “From the physical properties of consciousness and those of a special kind of reentrant signaling state, which is the neural information of the consciousness neural process and is © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 845 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts non-material, it can be concluded that consciousness is a special kind of re-entrant signaling state. A special re-entrant signaling state means consciousness Like the mind, consciousness is a non-material, informational entity, not a mechanical entity.” Summarizing his views, the mind and brain are not separable and the mind is the processing part of the brain. The brain is a physical entity while the mind is a non-physical information entity. Consciousness is a special kind of re-entrant signaling state and is a non-material information entity. entity. Consciousness defined as a special kind of re-entrant signaling state leaves much to be explained viz how the signaling state is achieved, what causes it, and how it is constructed? So the above does not add much to what we know about consciousness. Assimilated above views on hitherto understanding of consciousness, we can say that, So far we have logically found that Consciousness is an invisible non-material informational entity, which cannot be computed, which does not reside in the body and is actually a special kind of re-entrant signaling state; however, the re-entrant signaling state leaves much to be explained viz how the signaling state is achieved, what causes it and how it is constructed? Consciousness is different from life, it may be different from mind and brain unless and until neuroscience advances to find a circuitry in the brain which triggers consciousness or where consciousness resides. However, it is a fact that the brain, as well as mind, are relevant to consciousness and that Brain and Mind are interconnected. The Brain is a physical entity and the Mind is a non-physical informational entity and is the processing part of the brain. The brain is the structural correlate of the mind, and the mind is the functional correlate of the brain. The functions as per the structural changes occurring in the brain activate different parts of the body triggered by the incoming thought The Consciousness. However, even during aware moments, we can drift to do motor actions unconsciously and during unaware moments life continues with the brain switching to auto mode for performing breathing and pulsating of heart. So it will be erroneous to say that consciousness is awareness!! What, then, is consciousness?? Though we shall not add any learning from the spiritual explanation of consciousness to our hitherto earned understanding of consciousness, still I am tempted to devote some paragraphs on spiritual aspects which emerge from Indian Philosophy as these are very pertinent to the topic under discussion and interesting as the paragraph is, it gives as some food for thought; so let us get on to it--Spiritually speaking Deepak Chopra (2006), in his book, “Life After Death”, has the following views on consciousness:"In a survey of brain patients, 82% of resuscitated patients could not remember any near-death experience; why did their brains deprive them of one when the brains of 18% of patients had experienced? © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 846 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Maybe consciousness isn't in the brain. That is a startling possibility but one consistent with the world's most ancient spiritual tradition.(pp42)” Consciousness isn't in the brain is in line with our hitherto gained understanding of consciousness. He goes on to explain spiritually the structure of consciousness which is prompted by his study of Indian Philosophy-Consciousness—Pure consciousness wraps five bodies around itself like layers of an onion (one can also think in terms of vibrations, moving from grossest to highest). The layers are 1. Physical body 2. Prana(subtle breath or life force) 3. Mind 4. Ego and intellect 5. Body of bliss We can call these koshas, these operate in unison, Physical body- The Annamaya Kosha—At this level, the first consciousness is biology. It operates silently as it organizes the myriad functions of the body. Yet even here, if we look at the cellular level, it turns out that consciousness transcends boundaries. Cells cooperate, communicate, exchange functions, perform acts of self-sacrifice, remain in balance, keep aware of the environment, adapt to change, and know that they survive by being a part of a greater whole. Subtle Breath or life force—Pranamaya Kosha—Prana means vitality. In the individual, prana is a breath that sustains life by rhythmically joining us to nature. We inhale all that is necessary to remain alive, then exhale back to wherever it is needed next. At this level, consciousness is a binding force that keeps Nature intact. Humans recognize that we are united with all living things. It brings us closer to wholeness through vitality, kinship to others, balance in the ecosystem, and empathy. Mind—Manomaya Kosha- The root of the mind is individual ideas and thoughts. You know who you are by what you think. This is the level where you process the raw data of the world to make it meaningful. Mind includes emotions, sensations, memories, and other uses of the brain. At this level, consciousness finds itself at play in the cosmos without boundaries, for the mind can fly anywhere, imagine anything. Your mind is free to interpret the world anyway it wants, and unfortunately some of these ways include ignorance of the self. It is impossible to restrict the mind, yet many people fear its gift of freedom. At this level, we come up against the self-created boundaries of belief, fear, and prejudice. It is said that the mind is the first kosha where wholeness dominates over the separation. This kosha brings us closer to wholeness through shared beliefs, social conditioning, religion, received opinions, and common values. Ego and intellect—Vigyanmaya Kosha—This is the level where myth and archetypes operate. Ego gives us knowledge about identity itself, what it means to be human: I cannot know who I am without family and society. At this level, consciousness is self-centered, brought to a focus upon "I". Nothing is more universal, yet ego drives separate us when one person's desires clash with another's. To be fair, this clash develops in the mind and not in the ego itself. When we © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 847 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts say ego, we say ego-personality, which is full of individual desires, dreams, beliefs, likes, and dislikes. At this level, wholeness dominates over separation, as can be seen from the world's shared archetypes and myths. This level brings us closer to wholeness through a sense of one humanity, heroic quests, and mythic exploits, and the need for self-respect, dignity, and inner worth. This also keeps us in separation through personal alienation, separation anxiety, loneliness, and repressed emotions that give shame and guilt. Body of bliss—Anandmaya Kosha- Bliss is more than a feeling of ecstasy. It was the basic vibration, or hum, of the universe, the ground state from which all diversity springs. It is possible to imagine an afterlife where one no longer has a body, where there is no need for breath, where the mind doesn't possess data anymore. But there must be a fair sense of ego and bliss. Ego says, "This is happening to me," Bliss says, “ I feel the spark of creation.” Ananda is the possibility for creation to manifest, and as long as you inhabit the body of bliss, bliss is an intense, dynamic experience and not just potential. At this level, consciousness is the joy of being. Instead of focusing on anything in the external world, our attention comes to rest on the numinous presence that has been described as a golden light suffusing every particle of Nature. In bliss, you perceive that separation is only a thin veil. Behind the veil shines the light of pure consciousness. But bliss is far from the feeling of happiness or even joy, though in the diluted form it can be experienced as both. (pp 144 to 151) The spiritual details given by Deepak Chopra about consciousness are about the behavior of consciousness which comes wrapped in five states and manifests at different levels of our existence. One thing he also maintains in line with our understanding is that it is limitless and is unbounded. At different levels, we experience consciousness differently. Deepak Chopra brings in scientific factors also while discussing consciousness philosophically —he talks about observer effect and quantum consciousness ( we shall elaborate on quantum consciousness later in the paper when we discuss Penrose and Hameroff); his views are as follows: Observer effect:- Seeing is enough to create. The “Observer Effect”, as it is called in Physics, literally creates matter: It takes an observer to turn the invisible energy state of an electron into a specific particle located in time and space. Before the observer effect takes place, there is no electron; there is only the possibility of one. Our eyes cannot detect it, but we are immersed in a sea of possibilities. Every possible electron that could ever exist is here right now. We pluck electrons out of the sea of possibilities simply by looking. Is this really believable? The spookiest thing about the observer effect is that when you see a single electron, all other electrons are affected. This makes sense only in a universe where there are no single electrons, only a vast all-encompassing web of charges, positions, spins, and points—which is exactly the view on which theoretical physics is converging. (pp 163) “Our own consciousness regulates what is real and what is unreal; we have stepped into our own projection. If that projection consists of physical objects only, to the exclusion of subtle objects, it's nevertheless a self-creation. You and I exist not as an observer or observed or the process of observation but all three at once. To deny this is to deny our wholeness and the power that is our birthright. (Pp194,195)--The primary claim is that reality is created from consciousness. To get proof for this we need to have answers to: © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 848 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts • Is Akasha ( the ether) real • Does the mind extend beyond the brain? • Is the universe aware? • Does consciousness have a basis outside time and space? • Can our belief shape reality? At present Neurology doesn't know how memory works, or how brain cells turn raw data into complex thought, or where identity is located. If we knew these things, there might be no need to speculate about "extended mind", the notion that thinking can occur outside the brain. In fact, we do not know answers to any of the above questions and hence we are still groping in darkness about consciousness in scientific terms. He recounts that Physicists believe that space is full of activity in the form of invisible fluctuations in the quantum field. These so-called virtual fluctuations account for matter and energy and also for distortions in time and space. Thus, in a curious way, the notion of ether is revived.” Our understanding that consciousness resides out from brain and mind is confirmed by Deepak Chopra’s scientific discourse, however, the hitherto our accumulated understanding of consciousness does not get any new addition from the above discussions. Taking discussions on understanding consciousness to the scientific plane, we take a peep into what Scientists Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff have to say in their proposal on Quantum Consciousness In the scenario developed by Penrose and neurophysiologically augmented by Hameroff, quantum theory is claimed to be effective for consciousness, but the way this happens is quite sophisticated. It is argued that elementary acts of consciousness are non-algorithmic, i.e., non-computable, and they are neurophysiologically realized as gravitation-induced reductions of coherent superposition states in microtubuli. His conceptual starting point, at length developed in two books (Penrose 1989, 1994), is that elementary conscious acts cannot be described algorithmically, hence cannot be computed. His background in this respect has a lot to do with the nature of creativity, mathematical insight, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, and the idea of a Platonic reality beyond mind and matter. With respect to the neurophysiological implementation of Penrose’s proposal, his collaboration with Hameroff has been instrumental. With his background as an anesthesiologist, Hameroff suggested considering microtubules as an option for where reductions of quantum states can take place in an effective way. The respective quantum states are assumed to be coherent superpositions of tubulin states, ultimately extending over many neurons. Their simultaneous gravitation-induced collapse is interpreted as an individual elementary act of consciousness. The idea of focusing on microtubuli is partly motivated by the argument that special locations are required to ensure that quantum states can live long enough to become reduced by gravitational influence rather than by interactions with the warm and wet environment within the brain. Indeed, their approach collects several top-level mysteries, among them the relation between mind and matter itself, the ultimate unification of all physical interactions, the origin of mathematical truth, and the understanding of brain dynamics across hierarchical levels. Combining such deep and fascinating issues certainly needs further © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 849 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts work to be substantiated, and should neither be too quickly celebrated nor offhandedly dismissed.” The complex scientific theory can be summarized as Elementary acts of consciousness are non-algorithmic, i.e., non-computable, and they are neurophysiologically realized as gravitation-induced reductions of coherent superposition states in microtubule. The respective quantum states are assumed to be coherent superpositions of tubulin states, ultimately extending over many neurons. Their simultaneous gravitation-induced collapse is interpreted as an individual elementary act of consciousness. If I may say so, their theory in simpler terms asserts that consciousness does reside in the brain and the circuitry can usher in consciousness by what they call the gravitation-induced collapse of the coherent superposition states in microtubule. But how this collapse occurs is not known. Quantum theory does talk about the collapse of the wave function and Penrose and Hameroff seem to provide meat and body to that theory. The above theory is debated by many other scientists and they express their reservations on the same. The Harvard philosopher Hillary Putnam challenged Penrose’s conclusion in a debate appearing in the New York Times Review of Books, (Putnam, 1994) and numerous logicians have since weighed in, all claiming the non-validity of Penrose’s argument. Thus the Gödel Part of the Penrose-Hameroff approach cannot now be regarded as having been successfully established. Max Tegmark is another scientist not in agreement with Penrose and Hameroff. He supports the intuition of most physicists that the macroscopic coherence demanded by the PenroseHameroff requirement that the microtubular conformal states form the substrate of a quantum computer that extends over a large part of the brain cannot be realized in a living human brain. The scientific theory is being debated between Penrose / Hameroff with other scientists with arguments in favour and against. The theory is important and cannot be brushed aside, however, the other scientists are putting forth arguments which also hold water. The scientific community will be taking the debate forward to come to an agreement. Till then we continue to say that scientifically we are still groping in dark about Consciousness. We have covered a lot of ground on understanding Consciousness and still, we have a long way to go to have complete knowledge about this intriguing aspect of living beings. CONCLUSION I conclude by assimilating the knowledge gained so far including the scientific insight by Penrose and Hameroff to update the understanding of the consciousness as follows--“Consciousness is an invisible non-material informational entity, which cannot be computed, which does not reside in the body and is actually a special kind of re-entrant signaling state; however, the re-entrant signaling state leaves much to be explained viz how the signaling state is achieved, what causes it and how it is constructed? © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 850 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Consciousness is different from life, it may be different from mind and brain but does have a strong correlation with them. It may or may not reside in the brain but we are not sure till neuroscience advances to find a circuitry in the brain which triggers consciousness or finds the location in the brain where consciousness resides. However, it is a fact that the brain, as well as mind, are relevant to consciousness and that Brain and Mind are interconnected. The Brain is a physical entity and the Mind is a non-physical informational entity and is the processing part of the brain. The brain is the structural correlate of the mind, and the mind is the functional correlate of the brain. The functions as per the structural changes occurring in the brain activate different parts of the body triggered by the Consciousness. Consciousness, in normal parlance, is awareness—being active, thinking, and performing actions, however, even during aware moments, we can drift to do motor actions unconsciously and during unaware moments life continues with the brain switching to auto mode for performing breathing and pulsating of heart. So it will be erroneous to say that consciousness is only awareness!! There are divergent views on Consciousness scientists, the most appealing scientific theory is put forwarded by Roger Penrose and Hameroff, which posits the following views on consciousness – “Elementary acts of consciousness are non-algorithmic, i.e., non-computable, and they are neurophysiologically realized as gravitation-induced reductions of coherent superposition states in microtubule. The respective quantum states are assumed to be coherent superpositions of tubulin states, ultimately extending over many neurons. Their simultaneous gravitation-induced collapse is interpreted as an individual elementary act of consciousness.” It appears that they hold a view that consciousness does reside in the Brain and manifests in special situations related to quantum reduction theories on the physics side and situations related to coherent superposition states of microtubule on the Neuroscience side. We are not yet certain whether the theory put forth by Penrose and Hameroff is accepted by science because already a lot of criticism has surfaced over that theory and debates continue. All the above tends to leave us still wonderstruck as to how the consciousness manifests, where does it reside, and whether it is perishable or eternal. If it resides in the brain then it must end with death. There are innumerable questions still to be answered. As a way forward the neuroscientists and experts from medicine and physics must research to study the following aspects and find answers to questions posed above and posed in the coming paragraphs: To understand consciousness further, we need to consider the following observations and try to find answers to the resulting questions: Thoughts lead to influence the brain to signal the body to act when we are conscious. So, naturally, a question comes to mind whether there is a connection between Thought and Consciousness? We must strive to find an answer. © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 851 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Secondly, do thoughts trigger the action only in the Conscious state? Are thoughts the causing factors behind each action or action can precede thoughts? ---there was a case when a murder was committed without conscious thought—David Eagle describes it (Kenneth Parks in a sleepwalking state got in his car went to mother-in-law's house 14 km away and stabbed her to death onMay23,1987 and drove to a police station and in sleepwalking state informed the police that it seems I killed some people(book Incognito, pp164).—in fact person did not know why he committed the murder. He remembers murdering but does not know why he did that—there was no motive but the action was done unconsciously without a thought. In Neuroscience, the killing in a sleepwalking state is termed as Homicidal Somnambulism. David Eagleman, (2011) explains this murder as the result of a brain disorder, “In disorders of sleep, known as Parasomnias, the enormous networks of the brains do not always transition seamlessly between the sleeping and waking states—they can become stuck in between. A colossal amount of neural coordination is required for the transition. While the brain normally emerges from slow-wave sleep into lighter stages, and finally to wakefulness, Kenneth's EEG showed a problem in which his brain tried to emerge straight from a deep sleep stage directly to wakefulness—and it attempted this hazardous transition ten to twenty times per night. In normal sleep, this does not happen even once a night. It showed the presence of a brain disorder in him." Sleepwalking is an action devoid of thoughts —or was there a thought which prompted sleepwalking?? Brain disorders affect our actions—the murder, as discussed above is a result of a malfunction of the brain. Do thoughts and brain correlate? Do thoughts originate in the brain? How are thoughts created? Where are thoughts created? These are vital questions needing an answer. A person can perform motor actions while in an unaware state—sleepwalking- so does it mean that person can be unconscious but still can move, does it mean that to define unconsciousness as being inert is wrong? Consciousness is awareness perceived by others. Why proof of manifestation of consciousness requires an external observer? Where does consciousness reside and how does it enter our brain to make our body conscious and alert? Is it hidden in hitherto unknown circuitry of the brain?? If it resides in the brain then it must perish with death, maybe it isn't then it is immortal, and then it must outlive our body. If this is true then my thinking of us as energy forms must be true? How do we go on to find proof that consciousness outlives our life? If it outlives our life, then it must reside somewhere, does it reside in the ether as a collective consciousness and jumps into the brain thru invisible stimulus? REFERENCES Ajai R. Singh*, Shakuntala A. Singh (2011), Brain, Mind and Consciousness—An integrated interdisciplinary perspective. MSM print, ISSN 0973-1229 E ISSN 19984014—Mens Sena monographs (2011) vol. 9, No. 1, Jan-dec 2011 ISBN 978-8189753-19-1 Eagleman David, (2011) – book Incognito-The secret lives of the brain. Published by Canongate Books Ltd., 14 high street, Edinburg EHi iTE ISBN978 I 84767 9383 © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 852 Consciousness-some conscious thoughts Koch Christopher, (2018)- What is consciousness? Scientists are beginning to unravel a mystery that has long vexed philosophers. Article in Scientific American, June 1,2018 scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/ Naresh Kumar (2018)—Life after death—contemporary theories and beyond. International Journal of Social Impact ISSN: 2455-670X Volume 5, Issue 2, DIP: 18.02.001/20200502 DOI: 10.25215/2455/0502001 www.ijsi.in |April-June, 2020 Penrose Roger and Hameroff (2004 revised april 2020)—in Stanford Encyclpedia of Philosophy; Quantum Approach to consciousness. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-consciousness/ Penrose, R. & Hameroff, S. (1996). Orchestrated reduction of quantum coherence in brain microtubules: a model for consciousness. J. Consciousness Studies 3, 36-53. Penrose, R. (1986). The emperor’s new mind. New York: Oxford. Penrose, R. (1994). Shadows of the mind. New York: Oxford. Putnam, H. (1994). Review of Roger Penrose, Shadows of the Mind, New York Times Book Review, November 20, p.7. Reprinted in AMS bulletin: www.ams.org/journals/bull/pre-1996data/199507/199507015.tex.html Susan Greenfield (2002)—Mind Brain and Consciousness. The British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 181, issue 2, August 2002, pp 91-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.181.2.191 Published on line by Cambridge University Press: 02 Jan 2018 Tegmark, M. (2000). Importance of quantum decoherence in brain process. Physical Review E61, 4194-4206. Dr Ukachoke Chirapat (2018)—Book- The basic Theory of Mind. Original edition May 12, 2018 and final edition in Feb 20, 2020 from Generate Press. Acknowledgement The author appreciates all those who participated in the study and helped to facilitate the research process. Conflict of Interest The author declared no conflict of interest. How to cite this article: Kumar N. (2020). Consciousness-some conscious thoughts. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 8(4), 837-853. DIP:18.01.104/20200804, DOI:10.25215/0804.104 © The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 853