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Consciousness and Cognitive Science

The study of consciousness in cognitive science and philosophy. What consciousness is, why it's a hard problem, and how it's studied.

Consciousness is one of science and philosophy's greatest mysteries. Why do we have subjective experience of the world? Why does seeing red feel like something? Why aren't we just information-processing machines without inner experience?

These questions have puzzled thinkers for millennia, but only in recent decades has consciousness become a subject of empirical research. Cognitive science is at the forefront of this investigation.

What is consciousness?

Consciousness refers to subjective experience—what something feels like from the inside. Philosophers sometimes call this qualia: the redness of red, the sharpness of pain, the taste of chocolate.

However, consciousness is a complex phenomenon with many aspects:

Phenomenal consciousness – Subjective experience itself. What something feels like.

Access consciousness – The ability to direct attention to something and be aware of it.

Self-consciousness – Awareness of oneself as a thinking and experiencing being.

Meta-consciousness – Awareness of one's own consciousness: knowing that you know.

The hard problem

Philosopher David Chalmers made an important distinction in 1995 between the "easy" and "hard" problems of consciousness:

Easy problems concern explaining cognitive functions: how the brain processes information, how attention works, how memories are stored. These are in principle solvable with neuroscience methods.

The hard problem asks why subjective experience accompanies these processes. Why couldn't we process information without it feeling like something?

The hard problem has remained hard. Many neuroscientists and philosophers still debate whether it's even a genuine problem or just a conceptual confusion.

Theories of consciousness

Cognitive science has produced several competing theories of consciousness:

Global Workspace Theory (GWT)

Bernard Baars' theory claims that consciousness arises when information gains access to a "global workspace"—a brain mechanism that broadcasts information widely to different brain areas.

Think of it as a theater: consciousness is the spotlight that illuminates part of the stage and makes it visible to the entire audience (the brain's various systems).

Integrated Information Theory (IIT)

Giulio Tononi developed a theory according to which consciousness is identical to integrated information. The more a system integrates information in ways its parts couldn't separately achieve, the more conscious it is.

IIT is mathematically precise and makes predictions about which systems are conscious. It's also controversial because it implies consciousness might exist in surprising places.

Higher-Order Theories

These theories claim consciousness arises when we have thoughts about our thoughts. We're conscious of a perception when we have a higher-order representation of it.

Predictive Processing

According to this approach, brains are prediction machines constantly creating models of the world and updating them. Consciousness relates to comparing predictions with reality.

Embodied and Enactive Approaches

These theories emphasize that consciousness can't be understood by examining the brain in isolation. Consciousness is an embodied, environmentally embedded process.

How is consciousness studied?

Empirical consciousness research uses many methods:

Contrastive experiments

Compare situations where a stimulus is conscious vs. unconscious, and see what's different in the brain. For example, show an image so briefly it's not consciously perceived, and compare to when the same image is shown longer.

Brain imaging

fMRI, EEG, and MEG reveal which brain areas activate during conscious experience. The prefrontal and parietal cortex are particularly linked to consciousness.

Neuropsychological studies

Studying brain-damaged patients reveals which structures are necessary for consciousness. For example, "blindsight" patients have damage to the visual cortex: they don't consciously see anything but can still guess the location of visual stimuli.

Anesthesia and sleep

By studying how consciousness disappears under anesthesia or during sleep, we can understand what makes wakefulness conscious.

Finnish consciousness research

Finland has a strong tradition in consciousness philosophy and research:

University of Helsinki philosophy – Analytic philosophy of mind has been strong in Helsinki. Researchers have addressed the concept of consciousness, qualia, and the mind-body relationship.

Turku – The PET Centre has studied neural correlates of consciousness and the effects of anesthesia on the brain.

Aalto – Research on social consciousness: how consciousness functions in interactive situations.

Consciousness and artificial intelligence

AI development has made consciousness questions more acute:

Can a machine be conscious? Is it in principle possible to build a conscious AI? If consciousness depends on the brain's biology, perhaps not. If it depends on information processing, perhaps yes.

Would we recognize a conscious machine? Even if we built a conscious machine, how could we know it's conscious and not just simulating consciousness?

Ethical questions – If machines can be conscious, do we have obligations toward them? Can they suffer?

Why consciousness matters

Consciousness research isn't just academic speculation:

Medicine – Understanding consciousness helps diagnose and treat consciousness disorders (coma, vegetative states, locked-in syndrome).

Anesthesia – It's critical to ensure patients aren't conscious during surgery.

Animal welfare – Which animals are conscious and how? This affects how they should be treated.

AI ethics – If machines could be conscious, this would fundamentally change our relationship with technology.

Open questions

Consciousness research has progressed, but big questions remain open:

  • Why does subjective experience exist?
  • Where do the boundaries of consciousness lie (animals, machines, plant cells)?
  • Is consciousness a unified phenomenon or a collection of separate processes?
  • Can we ever fully explain consciousness scientifically?

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