A Framework for Evolution and Consciousness: Panpsychism Without Tears?

Giving an account of the relation between evolution and consciousness is painted as posing a dilemma between panpsychism, with minimal consciousness in every grain of matter, and radical emergence, with consciousness appearing as from nowhere in living structures. Panpsychism has been seen as suffering from a combination problem and radical emergence as unjustified in physics. The underpinning of physics now lies in field theory, which may provide a way out on both sides. Only, and always, in a field theory account do influences at different points in space-time combine in the same indivisible event. Radical emergence is also inherent to field theory. Moreover, by providing rich patterns of influence involving both discrete identities and quantitative values, field theory might provide a basis for sensed propositional meaning with subjects and predicates. Ordered condensed matter within living tissue may support unusual emergent dynamic units uniquely suited to building representations of the world with sensed meaning. The evolution of consciousness may then be seen as a tractable biological problem centred on increasingly sophisticated ways for external world dynamics to be mirrored by internal representations with semantic content, based in field relations within condensed matter with genetically encoded complex order.

An explanation of the relationship between artificial intelligence and human beings from the perspective of consciousness

What will be the relationship between human beings and artificial intelligence (AI) in the future? Does an AI have moral status? What is that status? Through the analysis of consciousness, we can explain and answer such questions. The moral status of AIs can depend on the development level of AI consciousness. Drawing on the evolution of consciousness in nature, this paper examines several consciousness abilities of AIs, on the basis of which several relationships between AIs and human beings are proposed. The advantages and disadvantages of those relationships can be analysed by referring to classical ethics theories, such as contract theory, utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics. This explanation helps to construct a common hypothesis about the relationship between humans and AIs. Thus, this research has important practical and normative significance for distinguishing the different relationships between humans and AIs.

Balancing Prediction and Surprise: A Role for Active Sleep at the Dawn of Consciousness?

The brain is a prediction machine. Yet the world is never entirely predictable, for any animal. Unexpected events are surprising, and this typically evokes prediction error signatures in mammalian brains. In humans such mismatched expectations are often associated with an emotional response as well, and emotional dysregulation can lead to cognitive disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. Emotional responses are understood to be important for memory consolidation, suggesting that positive or negative ‘valence’ cues more generally constitute an ancient mechanism designed to potently refine and generalize internal models of the world and thereby minimize prediction errors. On the other hand, abolishing error detection and surprise entirely (as could happen by generalization or habituation) is probably maladaptive, as this might undermine the very mechanism that brains use to become better prediction machines. This paradoxical view of brain function as an ongoing balance between prediction and surprise suggests a compelling approach to study and understand the evolution of consciousness in animals. In particular, this view may provide insight into the function and evolution of ‘active’ sleep. Here, we propose that active sleep – when animals are behaviorally asleep but their brain seems awake – is widespread beyond mammals and birds, and may have evolved as a mechanism for optimizing predictive processing in motile creatures confronted with constantly changing environments. To explore our hypothesis, we progress from humans to invertebrates, investigating how a potential role for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in emotional regulation in humans could be re-examined as a conserved sleep function that co-evolved alongside selective attention to maintain an adaptive balance between prediction and surprise. This view of active sleep has some interesting implications for the evolution of subjective awareness and consciousness in animals.

Beyond IIT: (how) can we model the evolution of consciousness?

Tononi et al.'s "integrated information theory" (IIT) postulates rules for assigning measures Phi and qualia types Q of consciousness to classical information networks. We consider whether IIT is compatible with Darwinian evolution. We argue that an IIT-like theory that assigns consciousness to physical systems by relatively simple mathematical rules poses extraordinary ?ne-tuning problems.For example, why, among all possible lawlike theories of consciousness, do we have one that makes us conscious of a high-level narrative of our environment and actions, so accurate that it appears to us to cause our behaviour?We introduce IIT+, a class of extensions of IIT in which Phi and/or Q influence the network dynamics. We argue that IIT+-like theories, unlike IIT-like theories, offer at least partial explanations of how some key features of consciousness evolved. We conclude that if one takes seriously Darwinian evolution and the case for an IIT-like theory, one has to take seriously the case for an IIT+-like theory.

Teilhard’s Catholicity: An Evolution of Consciousness

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit mystic and scientist, was a groundbreaking thinker whose synthesis of evolution and faith challenges the faithful to see God in a more expansive perspective. Teilhard’s vision ultimately posits that the universe is evolving closer in relationship with the Divine. Through the increase in material complexity and consciousness, the spiritual power of the cosmos is revealed, identified by Teilhard as becoming personalized in the Cosmic Christ. This article uses the four marks of the Catholic Church—one, holy, universal, and apostolic—to highlight the catholicity, or universality, of Teilhard’s life and vision and its relevance for seekers who probe for God’s presence in all things.

L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory: globalisation, post-non-classical paradigm and digitalisation

L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory postulates the underlying unity of psychological and social factors contributing to the formation of man. It explains both internal factors determining the evolution of consciousness and social trends in social development. The paper highlights the role of L. S. Vygotsky’s theory in the interpretation of the changes in the modern human consciousness. These changes are caused by new culture tools of knowledge building currently created in the information space. The author emphasises the following ideas proposed by L. S. Vygotsky: 1) signs are functionally analogous to tools; 2) culture intentionally creates objects to realise its communicative-significative function; 3) sign utilization leads to the formation of fundamentally new associative bonds in the brain. Such bonds create a novel regulatory mechanism of human behaviour; 4) social determination of man is achieved with the help of signs; 5) the formation and functioning of mind depend on the means of thought and individual sociocultural experience; 6) ‘socialised speech’ influences the evolution of inner speech as a specific type of thinking-in-words and the logic of thinking; 7) the historical evolution of human culture plays the key role in the formation and functioning of individual psyches; 8) due to sign usage the nature of human evolution changed from biological to sociohistorical; consequently, mankind’s evolution significantly depends on the signs used by individuals. Modern digital technologies actively generate signs whose nature is contrary to verbal ones. The process of globalisation and the values of the post-non-classical mindset sustain generation of such signs. Globalisation creates a standardised and maximally regimented reality, which contributes to the reinforcement of reduplication as the socially approved way of knowledge use. What is more, globalisation requires revision of the traditional humanistic values and customs. Post-non-classical thinking enhances individuals’ feelings of insecurity and uncertainty, thus nearly making them act within the framework of conventional behavioural and mental models.

Vagueness and the Evolution of Consciousness

Either consciousness appeared suddenly in living beings so that its appearance is like that of a light switch being turned on or it arose through intermediate stages. On the former view, consciousness is an on/off matter, but once it arose, it became richer and richer through time rather as a beam of light may become brighter and broader in its sweep. On the latter view, consciousness is not an on/off matter. There are shades of gray. Consciousness arose gradually just as life did, becoming richer through time as animal brains became more complex. I argue that both these views encounter insuperable difficulties and thus that a kind of paradox arises. The way out of the paradox is to accept that the various species of consciousness are vague, admitting of borderline cases, and are to be accounted for within a representationalist view of conscious states but that consciousness itself, or rather a central element of consciousness I call “consciousness*”, is sharp. Consciousness*, I claim, is a fundamental feature of micro-reality, and thus it did not evolve, unlike conscious states. The view with which I end up presents novel solutions to three important problems (of undirected consciousness, of combination, and of tiny, psychological subjects). It also takes up the question of how consciousness can be causally efficacious with respect to animal behavior. The final chapter of the book turns to the question of where in the brain macro-consciousness is located and which animal brains so evolved as to support conscious states.

Sustaining Traditions and the Hollow World

This paper discusses evidence for the argument that contemporary society is undergoing a profound evolution of consciousness and practice in which sustainable traditional practices are continued, adapted, revived, and evolved. The framework that encourages this is described as a cultural hollowing out of the economic and political systems which have resulted in large-scale disenchantment and disengagement. Several examples of ways of responding to the hollow world by adopting more sustainable practices are presented, including making do, makeshift communities, the slow food movement, and the sharing economy. The importance of traditional knowledge is also emphasised. Time will tell whether the new practices will build up momentum and significantly transform the current economic order, but there is compelling evidence that large and increasing numbers of people in the developed countries are ‘voting with their feet' and disengaging from the great world.

Carman Barnes’ vision of the esoteric school ‘of living’ for young Americans: The influence of Peter Ouspensky’s esoteric teaching on American cultural landscape in the second part of the twentieth century

This article seeks to investigate Carman Barnes’ initiative to create a study group for young, artistic, well-to-do women in New York City that was based on Claude Bragdon’s lectures and Peter Ouspensky’s philosophy. Although ultimately focused on spiritual health and the evolution of consciousness, Barnes included a strict fitness routine in her groups. Surveying Barnes’ unpublished archival material, her preparatory notes for the study groups and her correspondence with Bragdon and Ouspensky, the author investigates Barnes’ unique contribution to the New York cultural scene in the 1940s and the promotion of Bragdon’s and Ouspensky’s core belief in the evolution of consciousness and based it on ideas of well-being and the harmonious development of spirit and body. Furthermore, this article aims to locate the effect of Barnes’ effort to bring education in spiritual well-being to the American public.