Consciousness Archives

How we experience pain may unlock the mystery of consciousness

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Professor Ambron examines the neurological systems involved in pain.

In a recent publication, Professor Richard Ambron of Columbia University in New York, USA, addresses the fascinating topic of consciousness. He reasons that if we can understand the consciousness of pain, we might better understand consciousness in general. He outlines the neurological systems involved in pain and theorises that the consciousness of pain arises through non-physical ‘waves’ known as local […]

Reality, information, and consciousness: The universe as a cosmic quantum computer

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Peter Verheyen explores the idea that the universe is a quantum computer, questioning ideas about consciousness, information and reality

How does the world around us work, and what is real? Such questions are not only central to scientific and philosophical discourse but have been circulating since the dawn of human existence. Peter Verheyen of the Sola Society and Academy at Vienna University, Austria, explores the notion that the conscious reality we experience as human beings is drawn from […]

New theories expand cognition to fungi

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Professor Nicholas Money argues that fungal communities could be considered to have a form of consciousness as fungi respond to external stimuli.

Consciousness is an elusive concept. Professor Nicholas Money of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio has argued for a new philosophy of cellular consciousness and suggests that fungi have minds. When we explore the sensitivity of fungi and other microbes and recognise their ability to interpret and respond to their environment, it seems logical to extend the definition of consciousness to […]

Rethinking the reverse side of Artificial Intelligence

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The changes brought by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are shaping our social, economic, and political reality, transforming the human world as we know it. These changes are alleged to be radically different from those experienced in the past. Žilvinas Svigaris, a researcher at the Department of the History of Philosophy and Analytic Philosophy, Vilnius University, Lithuania, challenges this notion as he […]

Mind as Energy

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Dr Pollard-Wright has developed a transdisciplinary theory of mind.

Dr Holly Pollard-Wright, independent researcher and CEO of Wild Ride Wildlife Services, has developed a transdisciplinary theory of mind which draws on principles from classic and quantum physics, ancient philosophies of transforming the mind, and modern principles of behavioural and cognitive science. The mind is viewed as energies of relationships, with no beginning and no end, that give rise to […]

On the solvability of the mind–body problem

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The mind-body problem is one of the most enigmatic issues in philosophy that has yet to be resolved. Professor Jan Scheffel from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden analyses the mind–body problem from a physicalist perspective. He finds that consciousness is epistemologically emergent and shows that this result overlaps with the problem of free will. If a theory for consciousness […]

An introduction to the information dimension

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Boyd’s theory on emergent information present a new angle on one of the most pressing questions facing AI.

The difficulty of defining the true nature of information has sparked a rich, seemingly unending variety of questions over the past centuries; from the nature of the human soul to whether artificial intelligence can gain consciousness. Now Daniel Boyd, an independent researcher in the Netherlands, believes that these problems could be solved if we view information as a substance residing […]

Quantum theory for sustainability transformations

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Agriculture significantly contributes to environmental issues and requires deep and urgent transformations in order to be sustainable. Agroecological transition is not only technical but involves the evolution of farmers’ ways of seeing and interpreting the world. Dr Cyrille Rigolot at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), explores the potential of quantum theory as a […]