[heyoo]

Also, how can it be surprising that a brain-related phenomenon is not well understood?

I mean, I can think of a few brain-related questions with no good answers:

- What is consciousness and how does a brain become conscious?

- How and why is one specific consciousness attached to one specific brain (& body)? Why am I controlling my body and not yours?

[tsimionescu]

I agree with your sentiment in general. However, I will note that the second question only makes sense for non-biological, dualistic notions of consciousness. If consciousness is taken to be a function or phenomenon happening in my brain&body, then there is no question to ask. It would be like asking 'why am I digesting my food and not yours'.

[konschubert]

> why am I digesting my food and not yours

haha :D

To take it a bit further, I am not sure if the first question makes a lot of sense either.

[tsimionescu]

I think the first question does make sense. By the same analogy, asking what is digestion precisely and how the stomach digests food is perfectly sensible.

I would also note that the second question can make sense, but only if you believe consciousness is not strictly tied to the brain and body.

[mellavora]

Why assume a consciousness requires a brain?

Why assume consciousness is necessarily linked and/or only a property of isolated individuals (vs a community, possibly multi-species)?

Do we define consciousness as awareness of 1 the general environment, 2 of the self as a distinct part of that environment, 3 of the (Freudian) ego as the self?

note that 2 & 3 especially make some pretty strong assumptions-- is it possible to separate something from environment (consider the impact of your microbiome), & for #3, is a person who has temporarily suspended ego (meditation, high-flow state, psychedelic drugs) conscious?

Former brain scientist speaking.

[nextaccountic]

We have some evidence that our own consciousness is specially linked to our brains, because brain alterations can alter it in a way that modifying other body parts don't. For example, removing a foot vs removing a portion of my brain will have different impacts on my mind.

So, it seems I'm a brain mostly (or a nervous system?), or at least it seems it's my brain that is talking to you. The question is: are my feet conscious too?

What if it looks like I'm a brain because only the brain can talk?

Regarding the consciousness of multi-organisms: we are like a colony of many cells already! So it's possible that a group of humans may share consciousness somehow (but this seems different than my own, personal consciousness).

Likewise, we use our environment as an extension of our minds, or at least, spiders do[0]. Perhaps that's what the rest of our bodies is for our brain: just part of the environment.

I took a couple of neuroscience classes.

[0] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24532680-900-spiders-...

[teekert]

Because consciousness itself degrades as the brain degrades? In more or less Predictable ways even.

[nicoburns]

Human consciousness does. But we have no idea which other things in our environment are conscious. We can't directly observe even other humans' consciousness.

[teekert]

Absence of evidence is evidence of absence ;)

[joseluis]

a radio also can malfunction and stop making sounds but that doesn't mean the transmission has stopped elsewhere.