The nature of consciousness

Abstract

Consciousness is a unified state of mind, a qualitative and subjective state. And one of its most special forms is self-awareness, which allows us to be aware that we are aware and reflect on our own thoughts (section 1). This consciousness endows the human being with the ability to interpret the world and also respond to it. Thus (therefore), thanks to qualia, we have the ability to behave according to the circumstances (section 2). It is important to know the brain correlates and causes that give rise to consciousness. The capacity to be conscious lies in the cerebral cortex. The unity of perception might be related to the synchronization of neurons or functional integration (section 3). However, the problem of consciousness is not only to know its nature (material), but also to know how the emergence of the subjective imagination occurs, question for which no answer exists at the moment and even if it did it would not have any practical benefit for the species (section 4).

Keywords

• consciencia
• autoconsciencia
• qualia
• corteza cerebral
• tálamo
• sincronización de neuronas
• integración de información neuronal
• emergencia