Mental faculty {common faculty} {common sense, sensation} compares and associates shapes, sizes, and motions from all senses [Bayne and Chalmers, 2003] [Cleeremans, 2003].
Subject observers can have sensations {observation} of objects observed. Sensations are like reports in parallel. People feel that they are behind sensory apparatus, observing outward. Observations are in three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time. Self seems to be observing events in the present, looking backward to memories, and looking forward in imagination. Events circumscribe observer in time, forming envelope around observation point [Sellars, 1963].
Stimuli can have intensity too low or duration too short for conscious awareness, but information affects behavior {preconscious processing}. EEG and brain blood flows indicate that sense regions, motor regions, association areas, emotion areas, and memory areas are active during unconscious processing.
If attentional load is high, people can be unaware of non-attended stimuli, but information affects behavior. Anesthetized patients can remember and process information, so unconscious processing can affect conscious perceptions. Brain-damaged patients can remember and process information, so unconscious processing can affect conscious perceptions.
Self knows about past, present, and future and can distinguish imagination, memory, and reality {reality monitoring} {reality discrimination} [Sellars, 1963]. People typically can discriminate between what they imagine and what they receive from environment or body [Johnson and Raye, 1981].
Consciousness involves presentation to self {self-presentation} of quality type {cognitive quality}.
Stimuli have three intensity levels that affect same brain regions differently.
objective threshold
Intensity below threshold level {objective threshold, experience} is too low for perception.
perception
Intensity above objective threshold causes non-conscious perception. If stimulus intensity level is above objective threshold but below subjective threshold, stimulus does not become conscious but can influence preferences for same or associated stimuli [Kunst-Wilson and Zajonc, 1980] [Murphy and Zajonc, 1993].
subjective threshold
At higher intensity level {subjective threshold, experience}, people begin to detect sensations. For all senses, consciousness requires intensity level higher than intensity level needed for brain to detect and use stimuli [Dehaene et al., 1998] [Morris et al., 1998] [Morris et al., 1999] [Whalen et al., 1998].
accumulation
Perhaps, activation must build to pass subjective threshold. Building counters dissipative and inhibitory processes and has positive feedback and signal recursion.
feedback
Perhaps, positive feedback must cause response spiking to pass subjective threshold. After spiking, activity falls, but sensations can linger [Cheesman and Merikle, 1984] [Kihlstrom, 1996].
Subjective experiences require relation {symbol grounding, experience} between internal thing or event and external thing or event. External things or events are physical memories or environmental effects. Internal things or events are sensations. Symbol grounding includes both perceptions and mental experiences.
symbol
Symbols are perceptions that label, index, or refer to perceptions or concepts. Both symbol and reference perceptions are mental representations. Perceptions have relations and form reference system. Nothing is intrinsically symbol, because only relations make symbols. As perceptions, symbols have space, time, intensity, and quality. Most symbols are non-conscious, but symbols, such as colors, can be conscious.
symbol system
Most perceptions are objects that are not in systems. Symbols have added meaning, because they have relations in coding systems. Coding systems use symbol sets and have processing mechanisms that have symbol reading, processing, and writing rules. When symbol appears, typically in a symbol series, coding-system processing mechanism follows rules to use symbol. Results/outputs are symbol meaning. Meaning occurs only in symbol systems.
environment
Perhaps, isolated systems cannot have subjective experiences. Perhaps, systems must learn, have memory, or interact with environment. Learning can supply outside information. Memory can supply secondary information sources. Environment can provide intention references [Harnad, 1990] [McGinn, 1987] [McGinn, 1989] [McGinn, 1991] [McGinn, 1999] [Velmans, 1996] [Velmans, 2000]. For example, computer programs on installation CDs do not interact with other information {isolation, system}. They cannot run, receive input, or produce output. Installing programs on computers allows programs to receive environment input, so they can establish references to real things [Chalmers, 1996] [Chalmers, 2000].
1-Consciousness-Sense-Experience
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Date Modified: 2022.0225