December 13, 2009 12:00 PM - 32 attended
F Heile: Primary and Symbolic Consciousnesses: Two Conscious Beings in One Brain
Primary and Symbolic Consciousnesses: Two Conscious Beings in One Brain
by Frank Heile PhD
I will argue for the simultaneous existence of two separate conscious entities in the human mind:
- The primary consciousness based on sensory representational systems – this consciousness exists in both humans and animals.
- The symbolic consciousness based on the language representational system – this only exists in humans.
The differences in the characteristics of the primary consciousness and symbolic consciousness will be explored. In particular, the common mistake of thinking that only symbolic consciousness exists will be examined.
Finally, the hypothesis that the God concept and spirituality in general are the likely result of the early interaction between these two separate consciousnesses will be described.
This talk is based on the two presentations I made at the Towards a Science of Consciousness Conference in 2004 and 2008.
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Bob BlumFrank Heile's talk was excellent. The pdf's are here: sites.google.c
om/site/fbh1949/theories-of-consciousness
and are worthy of careful examination. As he stated (and I agree) - primary (animal) consciousness has been around for hundreds of millions of years. Symbolic conscousness is the new kid on the block,
only a few tens of thousands of years old. Discussants argued the nature of symbolic consciousness and its alleged conflict with primary consc. A thought-provoking thesis reminiscent of Julian Jaynes' bicameral mind.
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Frank H+1 guestThanks to everyone who showed up on a rainy day for my presentation. I really enjoyed all the questions and comments from all the audience members. Thanks for inviting me to speak.
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Bill KorbeThe hypothesis was well presented and illustates the great lengths we must go to capture the full essence of human intelligence.
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Lance RoepeA very thought-provoking talk. Well organized in easily understood progressive steps to a very interesting conclusion about God and who we are as human beings.
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Sorry to miss this talk. I'd be interested to hear Dr. Heile's thoughts on Dualism and how he would define "separate".