dogs

You know how we love dogs because they seem "human"? Their "human-ness" seems to have evolved in order to make them appealing to humans. Perhaps the illusion of free will (in OTHERS) evolved in humans as a way to be attractive in the battle for sexual selection. (I am aware there may be a chicken and egg problem here...but maybe not!). Humans who seemed to freely choose seemed more dynamic, attractive. Humans who acted like robots, not so much. This trait is now laughed at (in fact the definition of the kind of thing that makes us laugh and of the nature of jokes). Next step: narcissism. He/she seems attractive because he/she FREELY chose me. Much more flattering than he/she chose me because he/she instinctively like my smell...

misc scribblings

Brain = adaptability Consciousness = present vx. past and future...creates timeline Multiple threshholds and the need for global decisions creates need for consciousness Freedom to choose good for immune system...this created illusion of free will and consciousness or: consciousness without free will creates stress and this led to creation of illusion of free will Consciousness of whole thoughts, memories, etc. requires lots of circuitry...consciousness sets limit for what brain can do. Consciousness creates self by giving a PERSPECTIVE to all sensations, making it seem as if they were centered on a self (or that there is a self on which they are centered...or centering them to create a feeling of a self that has these sensations. Brain takes input and creates an orientation for all of it. Then, when we feel we have a self, we can thin that sounds, etc. are "out there"...relates to us and our point of view Why must consciousness have a point of view? To preserve out body, not other people's. Chicken and egg problem: need self for sensations and need sensations for self...slowly created by memory.

control

Our brain creates just enough of a sensation of consciousness to make us feel in control of our actions. Maybe this boosts the immune system?

conscious choice vs. instinct

Consciousness as a way to process complex options better than "instinct" can.

Workspace / conscious thought allows imagining the future and consulting the past. Instinct makes cruder choices.

Perhaps consciousness allows a time delay that permits more complex decisionmaking. "Hold that decision!" Think it over. Instinct does not think things over.

mirror neurons

Do mirror neurons help us "read" our own feelings? Example: event causes smile; mirror neurons receive facial muscle info about smile and conclude we are happy. This would be on a different pathway from unconscious feelings.

biology

Maybe we need consciousness to give us an illusion/experience of time that is relevant to our biology (as opposed to our physics in which the arrow of time can go in either direction).

body

Consciousness = a very complex way of feeling our body.

Free will = epiphenomenon. Our brain chooses a course of action and consciousness "wills" it (we feel our body choosing).