We understand reality with two main abilities

• As short and to the point as i can make the subject that could be stretched into multiple books.

You as a living being experience, comprehend and understand reality with two fundamental main abilities, not just one. You think about reality and you FEEL it. You understand reality intellectually and emotionally at the same time. Always, all the time.

All living beings comprehend and understand reality in these two major ways. 
In case of humans those two major ways of comprehending reality have evolved the most and became the most complex of all living beings. But we haven't correctly figured out one of these. The older one. The oldest, primordial, the earliest primary "interface with reality" all living beings have - the physical one. Our emotions. 

This oldest ability to understand reality with, that even single cell organisms had in times when life barely started to exist on this planet, was created by our first physical sensations of the environment. Very simple, very, very basic back in those times 3,9 or 4 billion years ago.

As living beings became more complex and evolved this ability to physically feel reality of our environment evolved alongside of us. And it didnt stop only at physical sensations of natural environment. 

 

Those first primordial physical sensations became more complex and evolved into feelings which evolved, became more complex and became - emotions. We are still evolving. We are somewhere in the early middle of our evolution. 

 

When you feel something, you understand something in a different way then your intellect does. Its the other way of comprehending and understanding, not just a chemical or hormonal reaction in your body. The chemicals and the hormones are tools this ability uses, not what it means, what it is. Just like a great song is not the radio waves, or just the "sound", the pressure waves propagating through air or similar medium in specific frequency.

The wind on your skin, in your hair, the smells it brings, the way it moves and embraces you. The way it bites and howls in the winter. The warmth, or heat of the sun, coolness of the rain and thousands of variations any of those make you feel at any time. The feel of her/his skin, and her/his hair, the memory of her/his smile. The yearning, the sadness and the grief. The fear and the bravery. All the disappointments and all the joys.  The feel of that perfect jacket, jeans, sneakers or boots in that specific moment. The way your cat or a dog slept on you, the purring vibrating through your skin and bones, the fur under your fingers, that synchronicity when you are together in the same moment, of the same mind, when you understand each other without words, without thoughts. What you feel about your friends, family, lovers. How other random people make you feel. How their feelings make you feel. How you react to one kind of news or another, political issues, financial issues, anything and everything. 

Anything you think creates a corresponding emotion. And how you FEEL changes and influences what you think. 

All of these different events in reality come in millions of diverse and different variations which your primordial physical interface with reality interprets in as many diverse physical sensations and feelings which create Emotions.

You do it all the time, especially when you "think" you suppressed your "feelings" or when you try to deny them because they feel weird and difficult and sometimes make people feel bad. While denying them sometimes makes people feel better.

You feel any which way you try to run from it.

As i explained in the previous article, or a post here: 

Origin of emotions language and mind

Our emotions are our earliest primary physical interface and direct physical connection with  reality we exist in. Our senses are limited and we mostly just feel our immediate local surroundings  but all the same, It is literally our (all living beings) earliest, primordial,  fundamental ability to experience and understand reality with. Ability that existed billions of years before any kind of minds or even brains evolved. Way, way back when you and me were just single cellular organisms. Or even earlier then that, when we were just first organic molecules. Moving. Combining. Growing. Getting influenced by the environment and constant changes in it, the temperature, the pressure, chemical composition - so we had to constantly adapt and evolve.

Emotions are our ability to physically experience and correctly understand or comprehend large part of the complex layers of reality as a "whole" - all at once. That experience of the whole is limited by our senses and their own limitations, but what we can feel is a real part of universe. As real as any physical matter.

That first fundamental and deepest physical "interface", our direct physical connection to all of reality our physical senses can FEEL emerged and evolved from the very first physical sensations living being FELT, ever since the earliest forms of life on this planet came to exist. Those primordial physical sensations were of course very simple back when we were very, very, very simple. They evolved and grew more and more complex through 3.9 or 4 billion years as we living beings evolved into more and more complex forms and created more complex connections and interaction with the natural environment and each other. And as we created environments of our own.

It is the reason why you FEEL.

It is why you Love, and why you hate, why you can feel sad, ecstatic, morose, bored, calm, fulfilled, joyful, empty, scared, terrified, disgusted, gentle, kind, merciful, ... and any other of the millions of variations of these known major emotions and feelings corresponding to every part and combinations of parts, of ever changing, evolving reality that we are a part of.

Speaking of Love... i might as well tell you what that "feeling" is. Just, not any kind of superficial "love". I mean the True Love, of the deepest kind.

Years back i chanced upon a science news article that mentioned that any particle can become quantum entangled with any other particle. I stopped and stared at that sentence, at that tiny word “any”, transfixed... because understanding blossomed through me in a fusion of feeling and rational logic at the same time. Then i read it again and double and triple checked that they really said what i thought they said. Verily – they did say – ANY.

No restrictions, no special conditions, requirements or holds barred. Any as in, any particle in this universe. As in, even those inside of you. Any particle or more of them that make "you" or anyone and anything else. Such a seemingly small and simple word – Any.

So...

Love is spooky action at a distance.

:)

This is why you sometimes feel the deepest possible connection to some other person, why some people feel their loved one as physical part of themselves and can sometimes literally feel them and their state of being physically, instantly, even when separated by great distance. This is why most parents feel deepest physical connection to their children. This is the reason why when we lose someone we feel a part of us has died too. Because it did.

And this is also the reason why you feel a sense of connection with the Universe. 
Because you are literally connected. Physically, deeply, fundamentally connected. All the way down and into the Quantum levels. Into the emptiness that binds. Because the very "atoms" that make you are.

Those connections are so numerous and deep and complex one could write whole books just listing them all. From the most direct obvious connections like being a body of mass in this planet field of gravity, to being a biological entity in this planet ecological systems and physical limitations they impose on that biological body, to literally being made out of atoms created by stars, to literally being made out of chemicals and molecules of this planet - to multitudes of finer and continually variable connections to your family, romantic partners, temperature of the day, shadows of the clouds, breath of the wind, feel of rain, sunsets and sunrises, music, laughter and literally anything else you can think of – as well as thoughts and feelings other people and living beings around you can have.

This is why we feel like we are a part of something greater then ourselves. Because we literally - physically are.

You FEEL all of this and the reason why you feel it is because - its all true and real.

And it is physical.

***

Have a fact - this fundamental primordial interface with reality enabled us living beings to experience and comprehend reality in a way our intellectual minds cannot ever achieve.

It enables living beings to FEEL the whole of reality (limited by extent of our senses) in an instant. And react to it - in an instant. Our minds cannot do that. They are too slow.

Thinking - reducing and separating complexity of reality into single specific meanings - or thoughts in the form of "words" takes time. We living beings would never had survived if we depended only on our minds early in our evolution, even if we magically somehow had rational minds that early. We would never even get to be multi-cellular life forms, let alone mammals and then hominids.

We all know that animals don't have human kind of intellects, or more then rudimentary language in form of sounds that signify or carry specific simple meanings. (which is what "words" are, see the previous article on their origin).

That directly proves that the primary physical interface with reality we call "emotions" is sufficiently accurate in its understanding and comprehension of reality to enable survival and evolution of all living beings that ever existed.

It is accurate enough to enable living beings to survive and thrive for billions years before any brains developed and deep and powerful enough to cross the threshold of individual death. Deep and powerful enough to get chiseled into the very DNA and then live again in our offspring as potential for future development, as default basic physical understanding, as basic "instincts".

Look at Lions hunting Gazelles. No rational mind, thoughts or language to speak of. And they are pack hunters, coordinating with others and cooperating in the group effort.

Look at a slow motion movie of a Cheetah correctly and precisely judging every step, every move and tensions of every muscle and balance of its whole body in a high speed chase of an Antelope.

Or look at that Gazelle or an Antelope escaping such apex predators - with no rational mind or "thinking" involved at all. Yet "something" is there, correctly understanding and judging every important part of reality. Something far older then the mind or thoughts.

Look at the Hawk or an Eagle expertly flying and hunting with brains the size of walnuts. Again, no rational mind, no language, no thinking in words, no reduction into "wait, i should move this feather this much, and that feather that much, and angle my tail just this way now... No, now, NOW! Beak down, beak down! Flap, flap!"

Then look how a lowly simple slime mold can correctly transverse through a human made labyrinth and reach food in the most efficient shortest routes. It can even remember that route and any place that hurt it even if most of it is destroyed before the experiment is run again – with no brain or thoughts - at all.

Look at the athletes reacting to events almost instantly, faster then any word or a thought can travel across the brain and the rest of the neural connections of the whole body.

All of it, every single step, every reaction, every single judgment of distance, angle, speed, mass, acceleration and comprehension of the whole of the physical environment is done through the Primary Interface with Reality.

Physical sensations evolving into feelings evolving into emotions.

In the "zone" they call it. A state of enhanced comprehension of reality, drilled through years of physical training, practice - and intellectual studying. A zone where the two fundamental abilities meet, each doing the part they were created for but instead of fighting against each other they cooperate and improve each other, creating something more complete, higher, faster – better.

The Truth is - we need them both.

Both of these abilities are crucial for our survival and existence. They literally make us who we are as living beings and as humans as we currently are. We cannot remove or suppress either of these fundamental abilities because doing so would make us inhuman, fundamentally broken, deranged, self mutilated monsters doomed to self destruction and extinction. 

We need them both because they are mutually correcting systems. The mind can correct the mistakes of our emotions in some situations, the emotions can lead, correct and provide the anchor for our minds. 

 We need both of these abilities, because both are limited and faulty by their own. Thats why we have these two seemingly so different and separate ways of comprehending and understanding reality. If we are to evolve forward, instead of devolving, we need to become actively aware of the crucial need of getting these two abilities we have into some kind of balance. Because we are at our best when they work to compliment each other, and at our worst when they dont. The whole of our history is the proof of that.

 

***

The problem we humans have these days is that we started to think that only our "rational minds" should count, or that our intellect is more important and more valuable - to the exclusion of the other main ability. Our emotions.

We try to ignore, deny and hand-wave away that other primary fundamental crucial ability - which cannot be ignored, denied or separated from us - and that results in a toxic schizophrenic dichotomy and a lot of bad consequences for our emotions and for our minds too. Because they are not separate at all.

When we misunderstand and deny influence and value of emotions that only enables them to affect us even more in all the wrong ways. Unseen, unchecked and misunderstood in the depths beneath our superficial layers of thoughts and thinking in words, they mutate into cancer of our souls and minds. Constantly eluding and refusing to be dismantled into distinct constituting parts we can control and stop influencing our very thoughts and minds. You know the drill: chemical reactions, "feelings", some sort of signals of our chemistry and biology, evolutionary leftovers, - instincts. 

We bombard them with chemicals, drugs, alcohol, with psychotherapy, with seances, trances, meditation, entertainment, desperate attempts of hedonism and many religious scriptures and commandments. But none of that makes us able to completely control or remove that whole other fundamental side of our nature and psychology. In fact, the harder we try to suppress them the stronger their influence on us becomes. Because doing so pushes them out of our awareness.

The mind, intellect and our “rational thinking” emerged and evolved  from our primary interface with reality to provide a specific service. To help taking apart complexity of the whole of reality into specific important and meaningful pieces of information. It does that function relatively well. It brings real valuable results from that process of untangling of webs of physical and material laws, principles, rules and equations and their fundamental causes. It helps us differentiate and notice important details that make a difference. This ability is responsible for all the material and physical advances and privileges we currently enjoy. Notice the word – enjoy. The other fundamental ability is always there, just under the minds surface. Medicine, science, architecture, industrial revolutions, computers, air conditioners and airplanes. All discovered and created by our intellect and its methodology of reduction. But not fueled and motivated by intellect alone. 

When we try to apply that specific method of understanding that our minds are specialized for to our emotions we don't get very far. The minds specific methodology cannot disassemble and reduce emotions because whenever you try to disassemble emotions and reduce them into basic components they stop being recognizable as emotions anymore. Because the gestalt is lost. 

Funnily enough, the same happens when we try to use reductionist method to figure out our own minds and our consciousness. We end up left with results and pieces that don't fully explain these fundamental abilities we have. We can see a part of the picture of our consciousness and understand parts of it - but not the whole. Because the whole is more then the sum of its parts. A strong emergent "virtual" gestalt arising from our biology that affected the development and evolution of our biology from the very start.

We have a well known and much simpler example of the same kind of architecture and its resulting gestalt effects in our everyday lives. The emergent virtual environment which is created by and  arises from the hardware of computers.

That is a weak emergent virtual phenomena in which we play, watch, listen, experience and even create all kinds of content which is as real as anything else, but cannot be found in the hardware itself. While at the same time that specific content we desire pushed for and influenced the specific development and evolution of the hardware.

No, this does not mean "we are like computers". The opposite is true.

The computers are like us. Limited, simplified and specified versions of some of the natural functions and abilities that living beings have – because those abilities are very efficient in creating greater emergent environments and phenomena. Like video games, or the internet, or in case of biology, minds and emotions and living beings.

In more specific details at this link: 

Consciousness is virtual

Both our minds and our primary interface with reality, our emotions, are strong emergent “virtual” phenomena. Together they create the even higher emergent phenomena of consciousness.

You have to understand and accept that to FEEL is not just to experience a sensation of an emotion or "just a feeling" as if its some kind of chemically induced illusion. Instead it means you physically experience and understand a part of reality in a very old and very efficient way. Its not perfect, its limited, it misses the details which can be crucial - and that's why our brains and intellectual minds evolved.

I am not saying we should just become very, very emotional. We are already plenty emotional as it is and we made ourselves blind to it. Our minds don't properly understand this old ability.

What i am arguing is: we should acknowledge and accept the fundamental importance of emotions as our oldest primary ability and tool for understanding reality. As a force that fueled and shaped the evolution of our very minds and biology that supports all of that. We literally have two hemispheres of the brain specialized to support these two main abilities. Do yourself a big favor and check what dr. Iain McGilchrist has to say about all of that. (some links bellow)

I am arguing we should accept them as fundamental as they are, so we can be actively aware of them and so understand them better to even have a chance to balance them with our "rational" minds.

Because we need both. In balance with each other.

***

 

We need to think and feel in ways that compliment and support each other, that work together, that correct each-other mistakes.

To even start to move towards that goal we must become aware and accept we have two ways of experiencing, comprehending and understanding reality. 

Our rational minds and our primary fundamental interface with reality, Emotions.

These are not separate entities that should be at war with each other but deeply connected and intertwined abilities that cannot be separated or denied although the mind in its extremes sometimes foolishly thinks that way.

Intellect alone is empty without wisdom, the mind alone without emotions looses the anchor and connection to the reality and either malfunctions, looses itself in extremes of solipsism or gets subjugated and destroyed. If you don't already know a million examples of that ask any psychotherapist about it. Emotions alone are too strong in their extremes and cannot properly comprehend many distinct causes and their consequences. Emotions also cause us to feel other emotions. Which again creates errors, mistakes and tragedies. Each of these abilities are imperfect and have their own specific limits. When we lose the balance of our emotions and our minds, we fall into hell of binary extremes.

We are all aware that our “spiritual” development has been lagging, that we haven't evolved our “souls” enough while our minds and technologies made great leaps. This is the reason why. This is what we have been missing.

Quite literally, if we don't step onto the path in between extremes, if we don't have anything else except extremes, they will pull us apart and make us destroy ourselves. You can see that happening all around you more and more. Our technology has become too powerful on a global, planetary scale in the last century. Too dangerous to be left to extremes of only our emotions or of only our minds working in denial of each other.

When we manage to balance and use both together to support and keep each other in check then we are working at our best, most optimal performance. That is when any of us are at our very best.

But that is not easy to achieve.

In fact, it may be one of the hardest things we humans will ever achieve - if we can achieve it at all.

Relevant links:

Iain McGilchrist: The Divided Brain (short animation)

http://iainmcgilchrist.com

Matter is a Relative Matter with Iain McGilchrist

The heart vs mind battle

Your brain does not process information and it is not a computer

Neuroscientists found an entirely new form of neural communication

Physicists entangle billions of atoms

Quantum entanglement between a single photon and a trillion rubidium atoms

A Brainless Slime That Shares Memories by Fusing


All Hail the Blob, the Smart Slime Mold Confounding Science


It’s the End of the Gene As We Know It

How Does the Brain Work With Half of it Removed? Pretty Well, Actually

How Your Nervous System Works & Changes | Huberman Lab Podcast

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Consciousness is virtual

Contents:
- Introduction.
- The first crucial Truth
- The second crucial truth
- The proof
- The Answer
- Some Further explanations and facts
- The Meanings, conclusions and assumptions
- Links

Introduction:

I will dare to call this a theory because it aligns with and is built upon all the facts, empirical proofs and ontological knowledge that we have about the phenomena of Consciousness.And i have an undeniable proof for it.

 

The theory is based on all scientifically proven facts about our brains, bodies, biology in general, history, evolution and many other relevant current discoveries - some of which you will find linked to at the end. 

Before i explain it fully and present my proof i have to be very clear that this actually does not really prove or disprove any of the usual atheistic or religious points of view about what consciousness is. Instead it synthesizes both of these binary extremes, shows they are both right to some extent and leaves open a possibility of understanding and accepting a “spiritual level” of this phenomena. Although that was not the intent. 
The intent is only to figure out the Truth. Not to confirm any pre-established belief or opinion. I dont subscribe to either of these opposing binary systems of beliefor disbelief and rather than calling myself agnostic (which became a loaded term) i usually say i am simply undecided, until some stronger evidence comes along one way or another.  

In fact, i will say that this theory provides a clear and provable basis for the concept of a "soul", without it actually being completely materialistic, or completely non-materialistic entity. Of course that won't satisfy any of the usual binary extremes proponents. But that is largely because humans have a fundamental flaw of “tendency to think in binary extremes”, among a few others such fundamental faults. I am sure that both sides will try to argue to the contrary and try to take this as proof for their side, but i am telling you: this theory does not do any such thing. Which i consider the beauty of it. In this it also satisfies the elegance requirement of scientific theories, although that by itself is not a proof.

When I figured this out, at first I thought someone else had already surely done so. So i checked.

There is already a theory seemingly similar to mine but it went into very limited and therefore wrong direction, as John Searle argued, among others. The "Computational theory of the Mind",

Computational_theory_of_mind 

There are several other hypothetical or theoretical propositions that try to solve the so called "mind-body problem" in "Philosophy of mind" theories.

Philosophy_of_mind#Mind.body_problem

This theory explains and solves that problem, as well as problems of intentionality and dualism.

There is also a "Hard problem of consciousness".

Hard_problem_of_consciousness

This theory of mine solves the Mind-Body problem, the Hard Consciousness problem and all other problems of this kind. Or at the very least, shows a better new approach, as it clarifies and corrects the mistakes in all of these previous approaches.

 

The first crucial truth:

In order to clarify and explain i will need to use the example of the computers, but not in the way most of readers would expect, because: "We are not like computers. The computers are like us. Very, very simplified and specialized versions of us."

This will be repeated many times throughout this article because the opposite and completely wrong meme has been repeated far too many times and has taken root in far too many people's minds. This inverted incorrect, illogical reductionist meme is causing many extremely negative and absurd consequences, such as rejection of individuality, personal agency and responsibility as well as any value we consider fundamental for our existence. But also because the actually true and correct comparison, which is: "We are not like computers. The computers are like us. Very, very simplified and specialized versions of us." - is very useful in explaining what the consciousness and the mind actually are.

This is probably the strongest and biggest disagreement i have with the above mentioned "Computational theory of the mind" or any such kind of similar idea. The obvious similarities between us and the modern computers has lead many to make the wrong assumption, that we are like computers. And of course, once people took it as true it became very difficult to make them reconsider because people have difficulties admitting they are wrong. This incorrect and upside down opinion that “humans are like computers” led many to jump to conclusions that we are nothing but some kind of more complicated calculating machines. Yet all that we know about neurology and how our brains work clearly and undeniably shows we do not calculate zeros and ones like computers do, that our neurons and synapses don't really use mathematics in such a crude basic way and we definitely do not behave like any such simplistic machines. In fact, our "brains" dont use digital computation at all, but analog kind.

On the other hand, if we look at that idea in a correct way and realize that computers are actually like us, but very simplified and specialized versions of some of our capabilities, then the picture becomes very different. Much more logical and reasonable. And much clearer.

One thing to point out is that we did not create computers through some subconscious urge to make copies of ourselves. As some maybe would assume. We created computers as they are because such systems are efficient. They provide specific capabilities that are useful in very efficient ways. Nature has been using the same kind of efficiency systems to achieve and create various efficient and capable systems, like for example, living beings and living beings with conscious minds. The computers are very, very, very simplified and specialized versions of these natural systems of efficiency - which are apparently ubiquitous and fundamental in this Universe physical laws.

We made computers able to do everything they can do just based on the most simple form of mathematical calculation. Binary combinations of zeros and ones. Yet even such a simplified basic form has created the Internet and all the incredible things we can do and create with the help of computers today. Naturally, we started with the simplest possible versions we could achieve back in those times of past century, but then the evolution took over and those starting designs and technologies  improved – in other words, evolved.

Imagine what you could do if you had such systems based not just on ones and zeros, but something much more complex. We are already moving in that direction with the advent of quantum computers and DNA based computers which will have three, four or more basic states to calculate with, instead of just binary two like the current ones. Imagine what you could do with neurons that can have hundreds of connections in a biological system.

Well,... you could imagine things like that, for one thing.

The second crucial truth:

What exactly do all those calculations, computation and those connections achieve? That is a crucial consideration or question most people don't think about. What do we create even with that simple binary calculation our computers are capable of? Mathematical results? Endless strings of numbers? Electrical signals? Is that what you see on your screen?

No. You see a Virtual Environment.

At the most basic level, all the computation your computer does - with the help and instructions of software - creates the OS. The Operating System which is Virtual and so immaterial, yet perfectly real. You see it right in front of you right now. You interact with it in many different ways everyday. In that virtual environment you can install and run additional programs which are also virtual, all of which have specific valuable or needed capabilities – which are specifically virtual, despite the fact that their foundations are physical.  You use those virtual capabilities, which are virtual and at the same time no less real for it, to create specific virtual and real things.

I am writing this theory in the virtual environment of Open office, which is itself a software running in the virtual space created by my Windows Operating System. All of it is running on the physical hardware of my PC. Which is used and instructed by the software to create all kinds of different virtual capabilities and virtual environments we ultimately see presented in light pixels on the surface of our screens.

If i want i can start another kind of virtual tool called a “movie player” and watch a movie in this virtual but real environment, maybe a whole tv-show, like Breaking Bad is, and experience the whole story about invented but very well created characters and their “adventures” - all of which is virtual and "magically" appearing in the virtual environment the hardware of my computer creates. Or i can open Photoshop and create some art in that specific virtual environment which has very specific tools and capabilities. Or use a music software and the virtual capabilities that program would give me to create some kind of music. (it wouldn't be any good but that's beside the point). I can also start a whole sub virtual environment of a video game, a whole small virtual world running in the virtual environment of my OS – and then play a game inside that completely invented non-material but real virtual world. Maybe playing as a pale gray dude who cannot die and talks to a floating blabbering skull whom he should not trust. And so live through and experience all that invented, immaterial character experiences in that immaterial invented world.

I could even, if i knew how, use other virtual programs and create a whole video game inside them.  A completely invented virtual world of my own in which i can guide a virtual character through a whole progression of experiences set in that virtual world and its specific setting, rules and conditions.
I could do science, create better computers, design new things or improve designs of already existing real things, study and do medicine, architecture, talk to other people, collaborate on projects that will become real in the real world... almost anything you can think of.

All of that and more can be done in a virtual environment my computer creates, with the help of virtual capabilities various software programs provide inside the virtual space of my OS. All of it running on the materialistic physical hardware. Hardware that is based on simplest binary calculations of ones and zeros.

Remember:

"We are not like computers, the computers are like us. Very, very simplified and specialized versions of us."

The capability to create virtual environments is the main ability of the computers and the result of computation they can do. Not the computation itself. The computation is a tool that is used to create something – greater than computation itself. It is only in these virtual environments that we get all the special capabilities and options i mentioned above. Because you cant use the software directly. You have to boot it up and use its virtual form.

It is only in the virtual environment of our minds, running on and created by the biological hardware and "software" of our bodies and brains, so much more complex than any binary computer, that we gain the capability to be conscious.

To think, to value, to create meanings, to experience all that we can, including ourselves and our own consciousness.

The proof:

Is a thought experiment which is undeniable.

And i think that is very apt.

I will use the Millennium Falcon (from the original movies mind you) as a subject of this thought experiment because it is a completely fantastic, virtual, but real and very widely known term.

Trekkies can swap it for Enterprise as they prefer. As far as i'm concerned i would rather use terms like Neuromancer and Wintermute but those are not so widely known.

So...

Imagine you are watching the Star Wars movie on your computer. In it you will see the Millennium Falcon. The importance of it is not just in the ship by itself, but in all the meanings that “ship” carries with it. The story it is a part of, the connections between specific plot points and events, the characters connected with it and the story and relations between them.

No matter how hard you try you won't be able to find the Millennium Falcon in the hardware or software of your computer. No matter the force or technology you use, no matter how microscopically deep you try to dissemble any particular part of the computer, regardless of how deep you go – you won't find the Millennium Falcon anywhere in it. No super computer or even a godlike AGI can find the Millenium Falcon in that reductionist way in the material hardware of your computer. Not even if you discover the code, the raw data of the movie itself somewhere on the hard drive – all that will show is huge strings of ones and zeroes. Or just electro-magnetic signals on a piece of metal.

There will be No Millennium Falcon anywhere in that.

You could catch the electrical signals traveling through the hardware as you watch the movie, or play a game, but those won't be the Millenium Falcon with all its meanings and importance. You can find all these separate basic ingredients of it in the hardware. But you cannot see or find the Millennium Falcon itself.

Yet the second you put it all of it together, the hardware, the software, the data, and turn it on – the second you boot your OS virtual environment and then start a virtual movie viewing program in that virtual environment - the whole movie is there, before your eyes.

And the Millennium Falcon appears.

With all the meanings, with all the baggage.

If anyone wants to disprove this – you will need to show me the Millenium Falcon in any level of the hardware or software of your computer.

Not the data, not the signals and electrons, not the strings of code.

Show me the Millenium Falcon itself.

And of course it's not just about the Millennium Falcon. You can exchange that concept-idea with anything else that has a meaning, anything else we understand or think about.

Any qualia you can think of.

Virtual, but so very real.

The Answer:

Consciousness is virtual.

It is a virtual gestalt effect, or virtual strong emergent phenomena that is greater than the sum of the parts that create it.

It is created out of, emerges out of several other basic virtual emergent phenomena, all arising, emerging from biological hardware that is interacting with and being influenced by environment (which we are a part of) in numerous diverse force feedback loops.

It is more then the sum of its parts.

Emergence#Strong_and_weak_emergence

These emergent virtual capabilities arise from combinations of all the different physical and biological parts that make us who we are yet cannot be found in any of them, no matter how far down we dissect and disassemble them. Not in the mere biology of the brain, or the body, nor in neurons or synaptic connections themselves, not in chemical reactions transferring signals, or in the signals themselves.

But you need all of those and the interaction with the environment working together for consciousness to emerge.

All the current neuroscience is doing is basically digging through the hardware.

And it will never ever find the consciousness there.

Because it is not in the hardware. It is in the virtual space that our biological hardware creates.

Some of the other emergent capabilities we have that are parts of the whole:

• Our subconsciousness is like bios (only actually it is the bios that is like our subconsciousness) that controls how our biological hardware is running, it keeps us breathing without the need to do it intentionally, it keeps our heart beating while we sleep. And many other crucial things, so we dont have to waste every second of our lives doing it "ourselves" which we wouldn't be able to do either with our emotions or with our minds. Or, if we could, we would be too busy trying not to die to do anything else.

• Our memory, both long and short term, is a feature of the biological hardware but it is also a emergent capability with its own virtual features, capabilities and effects..

• Our capability of logic thinking is a virtual capability of our virtual Mind.

• Our capability to think at all is a virtual capability of our virtual Mind.

• Our capability to formulate language and have thoughts in that language is a virtual capability running in the virtual environment of our virtual Mind.

All of these and many more are partially created out of the physical capabilities of the biological hardware. Just like the operating system or other programs capabilities of your computer are not really in the copper, silicone and transistors of your computer but arise from the interaction of all these different parts. They are not in the software itself, or the data.

Or the electro-magnetic signals.

Just like the Millennium Falcon is a virtual emergent phenomena that cannot be found in the physical matter or data of a computer or in my brain biology itself.

Therefore: consciousness arises as a virtual strong emergent phenomenon from all these constituent parts all working together and affecting each other physically and virtually.

It is virtual – and it is real.

Some further explanations and facts:

Of course you can affect minds and consciousness by damaging or in other ways affecting the biological hardware it runs on. It can also be affected by many chemical changes our body goes through, not just the brain. That is undeniable. There are many new research papers and discoveries that prove our minds can be affected even if any of our symbiotic microbial biomes are damaged or changed.This proves that the emergent virtual spaces our biology creates cannot be considered completely divested from the material or physical reality.

But this connection also goes both ways and that has been empirically proven over and over.

Our virtual minds, thoughts and emotions can similarly affect, change and or damage our physical bodies, our very biology. The force feedback loops our physical and virtual features create are mutual. They are not separate entities. Our emotions can severely affect our minds and bodies, there is no denying that. From effects of stress, or any sort of trauma, or any kind of less strong feelings, to greater positive ones like love is.

Our emotions are not just "feelings" and they are not "just chemical reactions or signals".

So i should probably explain what emotions really are:

Emotions are the primary interface with reality all living beings have.

We know this because we can see that many "lesser" animals have various "instincts", yet no complicated minds capable of thought like ours.

We know that brains and minds, especially our complicated ones came much later in the evolution of life.

We call these type of emotions "instincts" as if that means it's something not worthy of considering. Something "lesser" and easily dismissed. Another way to make ourselves feel (notice that) greater than the other living beings and so excuse many of our behaviors.

We know that living beings had such "instincts" since ever life began on this planet. Those early forms of life had no brains or minds to use as interface with reality, to comprehend it, to understand it. But they needed something to understand reality with in order to survive. What some call "sensory input" and usually reduce to just a few basic simplified ones, despite the actual reality of a very complex and incredibly diverse sensory input spectrum.

So – the primary interface with reality was created. Physical sensations.

At first very simple, the simplest possible physical sensations, just enough for the simplest survival basics. The feeling of hot and cold, of chemical changes in the outside environment, the feeling of touch, pain, the feeling of hunger, or satisfaction. As life evolved and become more complex, as it expanded into new environments and as those environments became more complex – living beings became more complex, spectrum of sensory inputs became more complex and diverse and so did our primary physical interface with reality. Those early physical sensation evolved into feelings, which evolved into emotions, as we think about them right now.

Much, much later we also developed a separate language to communicate these emotions. Better than our gesticulating, body language or other physical behavior can. Better even than our rational language and words can. Although we try to incorporate and use all of those ways of communication in expressing this primary understanding of reality.

We call it music.

It is the only language that can express the full depth, diversity and width of our primary interface with  reality. There is as many different emotions as there is different kinds of music and songs in the world. And as many as there are different tones, cadences, rhythms, melodies and all other forms of sounds music is made of. Yes, we like to combine the pure emotional language of music and our language of mind and thoughts. To get a fuller, better, more precise expression of all that we are and all we can experience.

 That is why we are at our best when we manage to balance the two main interfaces with reality that we have, our emotions and our rational mind. That is also why we are at our worst when that balance fails or is damaged.

Our emotions provide a deeper primary understanding of reality that our minds cannot efficiently process. Our minds provide a higher level interface with reality that our emotions cannot efficiently  process. They both deeply affect one another - as they should. Both are physical and virtual at the same time.

Neither of these two interfaces should take precedence over another, neither should exclude the other. And that is hard to achieve and maintain. Which is why we fail at it so often.

But we are getting better at it. Slowly.

More on this particular subject is in the second article on this blog:
https://surfacereflection.blogspot.ca/2017/02/origin-of-emotions-language-and-mind.html

The Meanings, conclusions and assumptions:

Unlike the extreme materialistic view this approach does not and cannot lead into assumptions that we are "machines" or "computers" or "chemical reactions".

That is just the hardware and the software.

Not what that hardware and software create.

Unlike the religious point of view this does not prevent us from understanding, does not require the end of attempt to understand ourselves. Nor does it require refusal and rejection of what Science is discovering. A term as a "soul" can too be understood as something arising, emerging from the "material" – but it is not material itself, nor it can be found by disassembling the biological hardware. In that sense, at the very least, this theory leaves open the possibility many ideas of spirituality subscribe to. A "soul" could very well be another strong emergent phenomena, created by all the "lesser" virtual phenomena such as our minds, emotions and consciousness are.

Whether that has any religious meaning – i am sure i do not know.

If you are not religious, this theory gives you an undeniable proof that we are not just material beings, or computers, or machines. Remember: Computers are simplified and specialized versions of some of our basic capabilities.

We are not "machines" or chemical reactions or electrical signals.

Each of us is a unique complex physical-virtual being, arising from the physical biology of our bodies and the environment we are parts of. We are all deeply connected with reality that surrounds us through primary and secondary interfaces of our emotions and minds. We are literally made from reality - created out of matter and energies of our environment. We affect the reality and our environment as it affects us back, which creates meanings and values in our higher emergent virtual capabilities, which then affect our lives, behavior, thinking, even our biology. Sometimes these force feedback loops show results quickly, sometimes more slowly, sometimes over very long passages of time.

This same process is happening to every living being, not just humans.

All life has these same capabilities, all life is conscious - just in many varying lesser or greater degrees. Science confirms this. Your direct experiences confirm it.

You can FEEL it. Down in the bones. In the deepest parts of yourself. As well as know it rationally or intellectually.

This theory of mine shows that reductionist materialism is a limited tool.
It is undoubtedly useful in some or a lot of cases, but that does not mean its the only tool we can use to figure out literally everything. It is almost useless when we need to understand the emergent created phenomena, to experience it, to feel it, and so to understand it as a whole.

As a very, very, very wise man once said:
"He who destroys a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom".

Because what is created by the fundamental particles and energies (and what are those, huh?) has capabilities and qualities and utility that cannot be found in those basic constituting parts. Just like the Millennium Falcon cannot be found in the constituting parts of a computer.

This is nothing strange or unnatural, or supernatural.

If you take a look around you can easily see that the whole Universe and every single thing in it is emergent phenomena. A process of emergent complexity which has its own extra features and capabilities that cannot be found in the constituting parts. Some of these emergent properties can be traced backwards (but only to some specific point after which we simply do not know) and the others are strong emergent phenomena and reductionist approach fails as a tool of discovery and complete understanding of those.

I think that the best thing about this theory is that it does not present an end of understanding,

But only a new, better and more true beginning.

*****


- Edited 02.07.17
For purposes of clarity and easier reading. Shifted one section to another position. Hopefully improved some sentences.
Several new links added to the relevant research and recent discoveries are added to the previous ones bellow.

- Edited 10.05.18
Slightly edited some sentences to improve readability and clarity.
Added a few more links of relevant scientific discoveries since last edit.


- Edited 15.10.19
Slightly edited to improve readability and clarity.

Links:

henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets

So close.

When i was watching this presentation by mr. Henry i thought "Shit! Someone figured it out. I should have written this theory of mine... there goes my fame and glory..." - and then he switches back to that old "machine" regression reductionist logic just at the last moment. 
While actually watching the visualization of the "virtual space" of our consciousness right in front of him. Its right there at the end of the presentation. Glowing - for all to see. 



andersonbrown mereological-fallacy
A very nicely written article that very much aligns with my view and provides more insights about the usual sides in this discussion.



David Deutsch: How close are we to creating artificial intelligence
An excellent and very easy to read article where David Deutsch explains how and why the computation itself is not enough and will never be enough to create an actual consciousness. Among other things. 




Split brain does not lead to split consciousness
Just what it says.



Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)
Very relevant.



Neuroscientists just accidentally discovered a whole new role for the cerebellum
New discoveries about the cerebellum, which is considered one of the most ancient evolutionary lineages of all the brain regions and is wired in similar ways across all classes of vertebrates. 
This new research shows the deep connection of our sensations and feelings with most basic functions of our body.



A higher-order theory of emotional consciousness
Although emotions, or feelings, are most significant events in our lives, there has been relatively little contact between theories of emotion and emerging theories of consciousness in cognitive science.
We offer modifications of higher-order theory, a leading theory of consciousness, to allow higher-order theory to account for self-awareness, and then extend this model to account for conscious emotional experiences.




Same genes and environment create different personalities
Genetically identical Amazon mollies raised individually and under identical environmental conditions, nevertheless develop different personality types.



Cliques of neurons bound into cavities provide missing link between structure and function
The lack of formal link between neural network structure and its emergent function has hampered our understanding of how the brain processes information. We have now come closer to describing such a link by taking the direction of synaptic transmission into account.
Applying this approach to a local network of neurons in the neocortex revealed a remarkably intricate and previously unseen topology of synaptic connectivity.



Neurons form up to 11 dimensional structures

Blue Brain Team Discovers a Multi-Dimensional Universe in Brain Networks

When simulated virtual neurons would form a clique with each neuron connected to another in such a way that a specific geometric object would be formed. A large number of neurons would add more dimensions which in some cases went up to 11. The structures would organize around a high dimensional hole that researchers called a "cavity". After the brain processed the information, the clique and the cavity vanished.

Henry Markam director of the Blue brain project, said the findings could help explain why the brain is so hard to understand. "The mathemathics usually applied to study networks cannot detect the high dimensional structures and spaces that we now see clearly", he said. "We found a world that we had never imagined. there are tens of millions of those objects even in the small speck of the brain, up through seven dimensions. in some networks we even found structures up to eleven dimensions".



No two neurons are genetically alike
Accepted dogma holds that - although every cell in the body contains its own DNA - the genetic instructions in each cell nucleus are identical. But new research has now proved this assumption wrong. There are actually several sources of spontaneous mutation in somatic (nonsex) cells, resulting in every individual containing a multitude of genomes.
There are reasons to think somatic mosaicism may be particularly important to the brain, not least because neural genes are very active.



Natural systems show nonlocal correlations
This article points toward future research that will very probably be very relevant to the understanding of how our biology and so our consciousness works, as it points toward the possibility that quantum entanglement plays a big part in how we function and think.



Survival-mode-tiny-worm-brain.html
These animals are not just hibernating--- they are actually triggered by their environments to rewire their own brains.


Why genes don't hold all the answers for biologists
The function of genes is now understood to depend on systems of epigenetic inheritance and environmental signaling. Whether a gene is activated (or not) to produce a protein depends on how it is "packaged" into chromosomes, and information the organism receives from the environment.


Nature-meet-nurture
In a study published in Nature Neuroscience on Jan.21, neuroscientists and systems biologists from Harward medical School reveal just how inexorably interwoven nature and nurture are.



Further links to relevant scientific discoveries will be added as they appear.