Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!newsfeed.xs3.de!nntp-feed.chiark.greenend.org.uk!ewrotcd!news.eyrie.org!beagle.ediacara.org!.POSTED.beagle.ediacara.org!not-for-mail From: Mark Isaak Newsgroups: talk.origins Subject: Evolution of consciousness Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2024 16:36:45 -0700 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 28 Sender: to%beagle.ediacara.org Approved: moderator@beagle.ediacara.org Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Info: beagle.ediacara.org; posting-host="beagle.ediacara.org:3.132.105.89"; logging-data="86623"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@beagle.ediacara.org" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird To: talk-origins@moderators.isc.org Cancel-Lock: sha1:0F5fOPokQe9er+F/2fI2uXpBk3I= Return-Path: X-Original-To: talk-origins@ediacara.org Delivered-To: talk-origins@ediacara.org id A0FAA22976C; Mon, 29 Apr 2024 19:36:24 -0400 (EDT) by beagle.ediacara.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7C26B229758 for ; Mon, 29 Apr 2024 19:36:22 -0400 (EDT) id 9662B7D128; Mon, 29 Apr 2024 23:36:50 +0000 (UTC) Delivered-To: talk-origins@moderators.isc.org by mod-relay.zaccari.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 738117D009 for ; Mon, 29 Apr 2024 23:36:50 +0000 (UTC) id C6B75DC01A9; Tue, 30 Apr 2024 01:36:48 +0200 (CEST) X-Injection-Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2024 01:36:48 +0200 (CEST) Content-Language: en-US X-Auth-Sender: U2FsdGVkX1/A3SfLahbIyHVL5XlRm29oZdon5bLwouc= Bytes: 3024 My views on the evolution of consciousness are starting to gel. 1. Rudimentary nervous systems evolve. 2. Brains evolve, capable of memory and of decisions other than reflex. 3. Those decisions probably work better if the brain has a model of the world to work with. So such a model evolves. 4. Some creatures live socially. Their brains need a model of that important aspect of the world: the fellow beings one lives with, including how they think. 5. So we've now got a model of minds. How about if we apply it to *our own mind*? That might make our thinking about interactions with others' minds more efficient. 6. Viola! Consciousness! Does that make sense to people? Is it time for me to write a book on the subject? (Do you think publishers will want the book to be more than 106 words long?) There's also the problem of testing it. I'm open to suggestions there, too. Step 4 implies that the model of how we think need not agree with how we think, much as the mental model of our world is flat, not spherical. This has at least some confirmation (e.g., blindness to many biases). More would be better. -- Mark Isaak "Wisdom begins when you discover the difference between 'That doesn't make sense' and 'I don't understand.'" - Mary Doria Russell