PHI 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Qualia, Secondary Consciousness, Neural Darwinism
12 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
The dynamic core and global workspace hypotheses were independently put forward to provide mechanistic and biologically plausible accounts of how brains generate conscious mental content . Dynamic core: reentrant neural activity in the thalamocortical system gives rise to conscious experience. Global workspace: the limited capacity of momentary conscious content is associated with the fast repertoire of long term memory. Multiple brain components make up an integrative workplace. Reconciles narrow momentary capacity of conscious contents with widespread recruitment of unconscious brain functions (ltm) Consciousness is a biological phenomenon that is a product of both evolution and development . Primary consciousness: occurs in animals lacking any linguistic capabilities. Higher-order consciousness: possession of true language with syntax in humans gives rise to higher order consciousness allowing its possessor to be conscious of being conscious. Consciousness is a dynamic, integrated, multimodal mental process entailed by physical events occurring in the forebrain . Certain conscious events occur in the thalamus and cerebral cortex.
