Toward a Science of Consciousness?

Börje Peratt participants at TSC – David Chalmers , Stuart Hameroff , responsible for TSC

Now the week-long conference, Toward a Science of Consciousness in Tucson Arizona is over and there is a lot to digest from all seminars, meetings and discussions. The impressions after this 20th -anniversary project ( 1994-2014 ) was that the actual agenda dominates of physics and not consciousness.

Most attempts to understand consciousness is limited to senses of perception and where in the brain the perception chemically manage impressions. Well it may be interesting as long as you also describe a context in which the experience has a role. But just statistics and brain mapping will ultimately be tiring.

Some attempted to explain consciousness with quantum mechanics, but this track is to me a dead end so I leave it. One can use quantum phenomena metaphorical but do they constitute examples of consciousness or are they merely physical phenomenon?

Perhaps the way to understand consciousness needs studying brain damages and anomalies. Then you´ll find new tracks and can see and understand how consciousness works through both the physical world and the world independent of physics. To understand consciousness you need to address both this totally different realities and try to understand how they interact.

Stockholm 2011 raised hopes for Tucson in 2014

The conference in Stockholm in 2011 initiated by Christer Perfjell promised dialogue between different scientific specializations. In Tucson, it was instead back to the trenches and there materialism dominated.

In a way it reminds me of 1980s when I was into “brain mapping”. But it was for a reason to create a better education for driving schools. To me some of the most contemporary research seems to get stuck in the microscope stage where it is enough to find neurons in the brain and possibly see which function just a small area can have. And that is also good. But how this interacts with other areas were left out. A true reductionist style where you are not disturbed by a bigger picture. Lack of holism makes it shallow and even misleading. A rat study mentioned below is a deterrent example.

Personal background from brain mapping

1984-86, I did research on performance psychology with the help of scientists at Karolinska Institutet. Lennart Levi (stress), Martin Ingvar (phobias), Torbjörn Åkerstedt (sleep) and Kristina Orth – Gomér (stress) provided me with new facts when I was producing a documentary about Stress (1986). I explored how the brain, body and consciousness interacted in solving problems, especially in critical situations. The goal was to make a documentary that could give ideas for a course on driving. There were also two educational films made such as ” The new driver role ” (1986) and “Drive Car Harmonic” (1987).

The purpose was providing driving school with convincing facts to motivate and affect their pupils into driving safely.

During this time accidents among young drivers had risen alarmingly. After introduction of the new training program (around 1993), you could then see a reduction in accidents at this particular population. STR (National Association of Driving Schools) distributed the films and informed of the positive changing trend.

Placebo

During this time (mid 1980s) I was also interested in knowing more about the placebo effect, ie the body’s self-healing ability. In the pharmaceutical industry it was regarded as a problem that interfered with the studies on new drugs. The general idea was “It’s just a placebo”. To me it was the other way around so placebo was something amazing that you should investigate.

At this time Scientist Martin Ingvar studied phobias and in one of my meetings with him, I wondered whether it would be able to detect and brain scan placebo in the same way as he could produce “brainimages” of phobias. Ingvar later on did some great findings that proved placebo even could be learnt.

I tell you this because I lack the holistic approach in TSC. There is a loss in details, statistics and research procedures. But what will the results turn in to? Perhaps it is difficult with so many different elements and lecturer. But it was still clear that the instance of Transpersonal psychology was pushed away and Chopra became something of a black sheep as he once and again questioned the conclusions of a more materialistic nature.

Daniel Dennett, Börje Peratt, conference Toward a Science of Consciousness, Tucson 2014

Conversation with Daniel Dennett

For once I can agree with Daniel Dennett (one of the members in the Four riders of New Atheism). He argued that TSC hasn’t reached any progress in understanding consciousness during these 20 years.
This professional rigid new atheist was pretty tough during his speech and dismissed most of the result actually all of it. I could have sat at his side and confirm some of the criticism.

But then again I´m quite sure he wouldn’t agree on my view. And here I quote Larry Dossey:

The brain serves a transmissive but not a productive function

Consciousness doesn´t exist among neurons. The brain allow capacity just as the computer processor and megabite influences how fast your computer is. However, broad band and its capacity affects communication and you can say that there is a kind of collective consciousness that emerges on the screen. But how to search for or understand the consciousness that emerges in and between people?

Borje Peratt and Deepak Chopra at Poster ” On Origin of Consciousness

Meeting with Deepak Chopra

The obvious dividing line was made clear in a session that ended with quite fierce debate between John Searle and Deepak Chopra [1]. We could all see how they talked past each other, describing two completely different realities.
Based on their different views I termed it “Searle’s theater” and “Chopra’s film”. Searle surrounded by a room with walls and ceilings where everything is physically measurable and Chopra free from physical laws, restrictions where time and space are irrelevant. One can describe any situation in reverse order, anywhere in the world and the universe for that matter, and get thrown back and forth in time (Back to the Future).
In order to develop the metaphor to a collective consciousness everyone can have access to the same movie everywhere in the world where it can be displayed in various ways in the TV, computer, etc. .

Deepak Chopra at Poster Borje Peratt 23 apr. 2014 #3

Deepak Chopra at Poster “On Origin of Consciousness”

Later, I showed Deepak Chopra my poster describing views on consciousness. He agreed both on the theory and model. I had a feeling that we could play on the same team and got it confirmed. While Chopra was previously on to quantum physics, he though didn´t bring it up in his lecture, and maybe he has reduced his belief that quantum is one way to explain consciousness. There are perhaps areas were we may disagree but that is how it should be. One need not think alike or understand everything the same way but I appreciate his open-minded worldview.

Killing rats is not NDE

An example of how far TSC still has to go when it concerns “towards a science of consciousness” became evident the last day on the seminar session “Death and consciousness.”

Two, in a way misleading science projects would showcase their results. One was a study on killed rats that were registered at the moment of death [2].

The problem is that the research field of NDE (Near Death Experiences) presupposes that someone revived from a life- critical situation, almost a moment of death and been able to reproduce that experience when one is conscious and able to talk about the memory of this occasion.
How a dead rat to cope with this I do not know. Not even if it is revived, it may tell you about any experiences unless you have access to any ratwhisperer.

The second study “ The Aware study“ has been much criticized for its design since many considers that the arrangement can not capture the experience of the NDE. The leader of the project, Sam Parnia announced the day before that he could not participate (sick relative).

This left the field open to rats and Susan Blackmore who previously considered herself to have an NDE and now dismisses both her own experience and everyone else’s. Her speech testifies to the experience she had not need to be an NDE, but rather some kind of hallucination because of another form of influence. Her conclusions are strongly criticized by other researchers, yet she got a central role at TSC and had a lot of space to ridicule NDE. [ 3]

During Parnias absence and unfortunately lack of credibility the stage was open to kill the NDE phenomenon. This frontal attack on Transpersonal psychology makes me wonder about the purpose of the conference.

Summary of TSC 2014

Despite my criticisms of the direction that the conference has now taken, I can rejoice in all new contacts. Well there were many scientists and doctors who found the seminars uninteresting and we could then instead arrange thrilling encounters that gave a completely different exchange.

But I can´t help to think that it has crept a fear into the TSC that blocks the development of the purpose: “Toward a science of consciousness”. They perhaps would change it “Toward understanding the Brain (TUB).

Next year (2015 ) it is in Helsinki.

Perhaps it would be better to now seek alternatives or create something new.
I have been contacted by several interested to engage me for such a purpose .

But oh, what a job.

Börje Peratt, official website
LinkedIn

Reference

1) try again ! article on Humanism & knowledge that addresses central Chopra philosophy.
2 ) Coaching with Peratt Life Compass
3) A Critique of Susan Blackmore’s Dying Brain Hypothesis by Greg Stone

Fourth day TSC conference april 24 -personal diary

Sitting in the thursday seminar about Time and Consciousness and its mostly about perception and brain with two speaches. The first is David Eagleman, Time and the Brain and second is Julia Mossbridge, Predictive Anticipatory Activity. Both were interesting and also entertaining.

The main subject of TSC seems to me to be perception and brain. And then perhaps still the Quantum field. I think though that track might has come to an end.

Well there is of course a consciousness depending on the brain. And science use different approaches to locate where in the brain different mental and emotional actions and/or signals occurs. That is the mind of the “Searle Theater” (my metaphorical term of a determined materialistic view) where Daniel Dennet always can ask “and then what?” Because that is often what the plot in the play demands – “and then what” questions goes on untill we know how it ends.

Deepak Chopra constantly asks “what if? How? and what of?” But how many of the crowd at TSC know what he means? These are to me the “real questions”. Searching for answers to the so called Hard Questions : “what sort” or “what kind?” How do colour appear and how do we differentiate smell and taste? Well all these are actually materialistic questions.

Searching for Consciousness

• The real question is whether consciousness can ever be explained mechanistically. As I see it you can only mechanistically register and try to analyze different modes and what causes them such as lie detector by polygraph.
• I believe there is also a consciousness in every life and it can be recognized by studying choices and communications that even microorganism and insects do. (Bodyconsciuousness)
• I suggest there is a communication sense in every life so it eventually will develop its language to communicate with others.
• As I propose three different kinds of consciousness, body, brain and the independent mind I also suggest a distinction between mental and physical states or properties.

Perhaps the independent mind is the “One Mind” that Larry Dossey suggests and also Deepak Chopra but then using the word “Non Local”.

When this “One Mind” is dependent of a body or a brain there are physical conditions that determine the capacity and quality of consciousness. When independent there are no such limitations.

How to deliver more studies of true holistic perspectives?

I think this is the motive for Julia Mossbridge. She uses the word Non Local and also sprititual consciousness. To try to use the accepted scientific concept she presented statistic data of her research and that is often necessary in the adademic domain. But not necessarily in a presentation. I hoped for a more reflecting discussion of her result.

There is a need for belonging to the main stream so you are not defined as weird. Therefor most of the researcher “Out on a Limb” has to be restrained att not to far away from accepted or should I say conservative and rigid science.

My interest is more of creating a holistic modell that can integrate body, brain and independent consciousness.
Many discuss the need of it and eventually there will be engagement and guts to do it. Leaving the data and statistics in an appendix for those who are interested.

Anyway what I want now is to seek to fill some gaps that can overlap the reality of “Searls Theater” and the visions of “Chopra film”.

1. I want to develop more about Body consciousness and the theory of an ECO system. (Emotion-Communication-Orientation senses in the body)
   Thank You Camelo for links will add it on https://ontheoriginofconsciousness.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/tsc-poster-session-wednesday-april-23-personal-diary/
2. Another is to develop understanding and theory for the “hub” that transform Independent consciousness to the understanding in Brain consciousness. I call it The Existentialistic hub. This includes research on NDE Near Death Experience that I find have the evidence for an entity outside or within the body and explaining the Independent mind.
3. The third is to find the “hub” that unite the cause and effect of healing.

Some questions are concerning subjectivity and placebo and the effect of for instance meditation. Other questions are related to healing through activity from healer or hypnotist and then again there is the effect of praying that don´t even need to be related by other means than a name and a place and “let the best thing happen”.

This third field is not at all discussed or a subject at TSC. 2014. Its to controversial?

It took me 20 years to step out of that closet to tell about the experiences from NDE and the gate of transpersonal experiences that it opened.

So for them in the “Searls theater” these kind of reality seems weird. But I´m certain that especial in TSC there are a lot more people having sort of the same experiences and also pre cognitions of the future. That is also considered weird of course by those who knows but are afraid (to step out of that closet) and by those who don´t know and reject this possibility. But this precognitions are sometimes very real, they can be helpful and warn you so you can choose to challenge possible events.

Clair Sentience on april 24, example of Independent mind

One example of Independent mind is Clair Sentience another is Pre Cognition. The group of Conference participants that made an excursion into the mountain before the anniversary dinner at thursday evening was likely to suffer serious harm.

Some of us who didn´t participate the excursion sensed or “saw” that something terrible could happen to them. The day after I heard one of the speakers refering to a phone conversation talking about missing this bustrip and got the message:

“Believe me You will not want to be on that bus it will burn and crash.”

The day and time it happened I expressed my concern to Tomas, a person I met at the conference and he can confirm that I was right even about pointing out the man that was in most danger. We had no phone contact what so ever with the people in the bus. I just sensed something was very wrong.

Well they crashed into a house and the corner of the house smashed through the window of the bus just were my friend sat almost decapitating him. Then the brakes of the bus burned so they had to stop and wait for another bus since several of the passenger refused to continue with the unfortunate bus.

When I expressed my sense of fear I was of course “weird” so I tried to excuse my behavior. Sitting still detached just praying for them.

Thank God every one was safe.

Börje Peratt