Consciousness

1. Consciousness Tuesday 22 January 2019 – 11:00 to 16:30 Schedule for the meeting

2. Welcome + Introduction. Proposed approach: the ISCRA model (Inform/Structure/Conceive/Review/Act) By Mark • Round the table presentation: name + function: qualifications of each participant. Question about the motivation of the participants. By Guido • About what we can speak and what not? By Mark • Expose about definitions of consciousness and what are the consequences? By Guido • Reactions, comments and input by all participants. • Lunch • Further exchange of views and debate. Some freewheeling. • Can we already structure today’s input? By Mark • Break (if needed) • The way forward… Guido-Henri De Couvreur

3. Is more consciousness needed for a better world? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

4. Some fundamental starting questions • According to some, more consciousness is needed to comply with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). If not, can we not succeed !? • If so, what does it mean to be ‘conscious’? • Are there multiple types of consciousness? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

5. Ludwig Wittgenstein “Philosophy is a fight against the bewitchment of our mind, by means of language” Many traditional philosophical problems arise because of misunderstandings concerning the functioning of a language. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

6. Ludwig Wittgenstein • These problems can disappear only by continually attracting attention to how language expressions actually do their function in specific circumstances. • From this view were born, winged words: "Die Bedeutung eines Wortes ist sein Gebrauch in der Sprache" (The meaning of a word is its use in the language...) • "wenn auch nicht für all Falle" (but not in all cases) Guido-Henri De Couvreur

7. Difficulty of missing words in a language • it has to be faced for philosophy and theology English is a poor language, many words are not translatable • in the tradition of hundreds of years in the Anglo-Saxon world, pragmatics were more important • some people say for studying philosophy it is not needed to learn English (lack of words and not going into depth of philosophy) Guido-Henri De Couvreur

8. Difficulty of missing words in a language • but, English is a very interesting language for all what technical matters is concerned (many English words are find in other languages, eg. Computer language) • anyhow how can one philosophise if there is no word to distinguish a certain category from another Guido-Henri De Couvreur

9. Why will we give some definitions? • “because sloppy use of concepts promotes sloppy thinking” H. De Vos, Introduction to ethics, • if we cannot find some degree of acceptable definitions how can we as human beings then even have a little possibility to understand each other. • if we cannot find some definition at least, not as a definition for ever, but for the time being, is there any human communication possible without? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

10. Definitions? Which one? • Consciousness is the state or quality of awareness or of being aware of an external object or something within oneself. ( nuclear consciousness, Oliver Sacks) • It has been defined variously in terms of capacity to feel, perceive or experience subjectively • awareness, subjectivity, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood or soul, and the executive control system of the mind. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

11. Some conclusions • Despite the difficulty in definition, many philosophers believe that there is a broadly shared underlying intuition about what consciousness is… • Difficulty of language and words. If we see the translation in Google translate we can see a translation for ‘consciousness’ most of the time the word ‘awareness.’ • But is there no difference? Or sloppy word use? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

12. Another possible definition • Consciousness described as subjective reflection on impressions from the outside world (knowing what I see, hear or feel and can tell about it) or on one’s own psychic processes (knowing what you are about and being able to tell about it) Guido-Henri De Couvreur

13. On definitions • In other words, consciousness is a state of mind that is characterized by a sense of self and the environment It is a subject of study in philosophy, psychology and cognitive neuroscience. • The term "Bewusstsein", 'consciousness’ already introduced by the Christian Wolff (1679-1754) a German philosopher • Related concepts are: awareness, notion, realizing, knowing, being aware (of), understanding, being aware of and to some extent also reflection and conscience. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

14. Conclusions for the time being? • Consciousness is a reflection on impressions from the outside world, for example of people, objects or light, and • from the inner world, for example of feelings and emotions, thoughts or needs. • Consciousness is knowing or experiencing what is going on both sensually and cognitively within one’s self, • possibly with the possibility to communicate about it in a certain way. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

15. In the field of consciousness one can find • Further, consciousness (or its essential attributes) is defined as: perception, vigilance, experience, mind-set, arousal, feeling, subject, subjectivity, alertness, intentionality, realization, memory, conscience, knowing and understanding. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

16. conscience : a person's moral/ethical sense of ‘right and wrong’, viewed as acting as a guide to one's behaviour: ’he had a guilty conscience about his desire’s’  • in (all) conscience given the fact that this is probably wrong; in fairness: how can we in all conscience justify the charging of fees for such a service? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

17. Is there any connection with consciousness and wisdom? • “Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind. The more you know, the more it hurts; the more you understand, the more you suffer.” • Ecclesiastes,1:17-18 Guido-Henri De Couvreur

18. Can it also be, the other way round? • the more we know the less we suffer? • is knowing more also in vain? • are people who know less necessarily better off? • or are they prey to all things they cannot grasp? • nor understand, what leads to many • superstitious thougts and praxis? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

19. The Mind-Body Question • The mind–body problem is a philosophical problem concerning the relationship between thought and consciousness • in the human mind and the brain as part of the physical body. • It is distinct from the question of how mind and body function chemically and physiologically since that question presupposes an interactionist account of mind-body relations. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

20. Is there any connection with consciousness and evolution? • Is coming to a higher Consciousness necessary to enter into the evolution of higher evolved human beings? A better world? • How does higher consciousness fit into higher evolution? • Theilard de Chardin? • Mark Guido-Henri De Couvreur

21. What are the advantages of a higher consciousness or the disadvantages? • In what direction should our culture shift to see more happy people other than those who are extinguished and are hanging out on emptiness and possession? • Does consciousness has anything to do with this? • Is a conscious life, more worth than a non-conscious life? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

22. What are the advantages of a higher consciousness or the disadvantages? • Are people who are unaware of anything better off? But can they also be absent due to a lack of guilt? • Is striving for more consciousness a guarantee for acting differently? • To relate to the Earth and the world differently? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

23. What are the advantages of a higher consciousness or the disadvantages? • In what direction should our culture shift to see more happy people other than those who are extinguished and are hanging out on narcotics, gaming, psycho-farmaca, alcohol, hallucinogenic stuff, • addicted to: you • Neuroleptics, (major tranquillizers) also antipsychotics, used in psychoses. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

24. Can these products being in contramine with consciousness? • ‘uppers’ and ‘downers’ • tranquillizers (‘minor tranquillizers’) used in feelings of anxiety and tension; do not work with psychoses. • antidepressants, used to treat certain types of depression. tricyclic antidepressants and MAO inhibitors. • stimulants, have a stimulating effect on the nervous system. These include amphetamine, but also caffeine and methylphenidate. • sedatives and hypnotics Guido-Henri De Couvreur

25. Can it also be the other way round? • that those who have ‘more consciousness’ are just taking things because they cannot bear their perceived reality? • is for many people life too difficult • is it the kind of ‘escapism’, to take all this means, to make their life ‘bearable’, at least for the moment the products are taken? • have many revealed — so-called — religions the same function? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

26. What are the advantages of a higher consciousness or the disadvantages? • Are people who are unaware of anything better off? • “Wir haben es nicht gewusst” (We didn’t know, many people said in Germany after the Second World War) • Is striving for more consciousness a guarantee for acting differently? • To relate to the Earth and the act differently? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

27. What are the advantages of a higher consciousness or the disadvantages? • what about the subconscious • the pre-conscious and • the conscious • in the sense of Sigmund Freud? • does more consciousness imply also acting differently? • ipso facto? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

28. 'Behavior' implies the basic possibility of consciousness (Jaap Kruithof) • 'Behavior' implies the basic possibility of consciousness, with an internal experience connected. • To the psychic field belong all processes present in the living being that contain the fundamental, therefore not real, possibility of being experienced by his organism. • This does not mean that all psychological processes are de facto conscious, but that they can become aware in principle. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

29. 'Behavior' implies the basic possibility of consciousness (Jaap Kruithof) • JK means with consciousness the mechanism by which a subject-object distinction is assumed. • Targetedness, a higher form of anticipation, can be described as a conscious anticipation in an alternative situation. • This presupposes alternativity, awareness of alternativity, conscious significance and conscious action (the latter indicates that a resource is consciously chosen in function of a goal). Guido-Henri De Couvreur

30. 'Behavior' implies the basic possibility of consciousness (Jaap Kruithof) • although there is, as far as I’m concerned always the difficulty of language in the terms of awareness and consciousness • is doing things unconscious or aware, always so-called a not ‘good thing’? • suppose when we are driving a car, and we would sing the whole time very aware what we are doing, it would be very tiresome. Even for some persons impossible. • sleeping has to do with unconsciousness Guido-Henri De Couvreur

31. World views and ideologies • World views and ideologies can be studied formally and in terms of content. Important aspects that can be examined in a formal analysis include: to what extent is the subject (group, person, class, etc.) aware of his world view / ideology? What is conscious, what is not conscious? • Is there a connection between ideologies and consciousness? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

32. Advertising and consciousness? • Advertising is a form of ‘communication’ with the aim of persuading potential customers to purchase products and services. A lot of advertising is meant to promote consumption by creating and strengthening a brand image and loyalty to a brand. It is also the promotion of a product, service, company or idea through a mostly sponsored message. (Wikipedia) Guido-Henri De Couvreur

33. Is it communication? • Is advertising a form of ‘communication’? • No, it is one way! • Communication is always at least 2-ways (metaphor coming from physics: communicating vessels) • Advertiser has no intention getting in communication with the potential buyer’s Guido-Henri De Couvreur

34. A lack of words • according to the four principles — mentioned before — sometimes NOT enough words to make philosophical distinctions, especially in English • if there is no such a word we have to look for introducing one • many languages borrowed ‘foreign words’, • let’s look at the IT world were so many English words are creeping into languages like French, Dutch… Guido-Henri De Couvreur

35. Introducing a ‘new word’ • so now we will introduce a new category for a word that is not in (daily) English it seems, but we definitely needed in the case of thinking on philosophy on consciousness and unconsciousness • this word will be ‘reklam’, to make a sensible distinct between two categories. • as we can see in several languages and there are even more the words this present ( see next slide) Guido-Henri De Couvreur

36. ‘Reklam’ in several languages Guido-Henri De Couvreur

37. Advertising (rational) (irrational) Publicity Reklam Imagebuilding, childish language Making people believe they know the product, coming ‘home’ Half-truths Complete lies Impressions, suggestions, Built on subconscious needs of potential clients • Objective information • For instance: consumption, kilowatt-hour, built in energy, size, degree of recycling • characteristics of a book • in formation about a new theatre piece • to make things public Guido-Henri De Couvreur

38. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

39. Guido-Henri De Couvreur

40. Objective information???? • “The fuel that cleans your engine” • “93% less dirt sedenentation in the engine” • “Your engine is cleaner and more frugal • Not a word that all that dirt is coming in the envirenment • No ecological Consciousness • Rekam is producing: nonsens !? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

41. The broadcasting organizations • Many areas of our social life are governed by civil bureaucracies. • We take the broadcasting organizations of VRT (state)VTM and VT4 (private, reklam) as an example: broadcasting leaders determine what millions of viewers see for hundreds of hours. • They often decide what is offered without realizing which power they are guilty of, enslaving listening and viewing figures’. (Jaap Kruithof.) • unconsciously taking in a lot of marketing and reklam Guido-Henri De Couvreur

42. How Reklam functions • Reklam functions basically according a promotional message • attract attention, if necessary by provoking • a recognizable advantage include for a recipient thereof: pleasure, the rapid satisfaction of a need or a direct, real benefit such as discount • the desire for a purchase or an act to arouse • a way to provide a benefit • a average person, watching television, sees one hour a day nothing but ‘reklam’ Guido-Henri De Couvreur

43. Influence, aggression and brainwashing? • for many people ‘reklam’is taken for granted • it looks like reklam is an innocent, guiltless, harmless occupation • but it is so innocent? • it is against the first report to the Club of Rome: Limits to Growth. • it is preaching to buy more, more, more … consumerism • expansion and competitiveness, a dangerous disease? • is it agression on the Earth and people? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

44. Influence, aggression and brainwashing? • by definition in ethology, taking more and more territory, is called aggression. • that is in fact the goal of a ‘reklam’, ‘conquer the world’ • not thinking of limitations of natural resources or pollution or getting less bio-diversity • years ago it was said many times that in the Russia the people were ‘brainwashed’ • is a ‘reclame’ not the greatest brainwashing of all times, in a neo-capitalistic worldsystem? Guido-Henri De Couvreur

45. Advertising Publicity reklam is completely based on unconsciousness is most of the time only based on irrational arguments Not real information a culture that is built on spoiling! producing more consumerism is a system that is contradictory to solving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) the contrary of Limits to Growth • can be looked at on rational grounds • according to (some) consciousness • to be aware what one can see or buy: information • is going back on rational arguments Guido-Henri De Couvreur

46. Robo sapiens, trans humans and androids • are they coming? • special goal? • does that necessarily means that robots cannot be complementary to many human activities? There surely can. • like other technique it can give life more comfort • is there a danger? • will — after some years — robots also have a consciousness • according to Stijn Bruers we have to take care that the robots are not going to look at us like ‘ants’ Guido-Henri De Couvreur

47. Robots in function • if there are 200 robots fired in this hotel, there are still 200 who were not fired • we may never forget that in every starting stage of any technical equipment there are failures and mistakes and refinement needed • at the same time there are so many jobs that are humans on word that can be done now by • at this stage robots have no consciousness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6bQHUlq664&feature=youtu.be Guido-Henri De Couvreur