Consciousness: Games and Apps

There are generallty three main theories about consciousness: one is that consciousness is a byproduct of the brain, so that as we organisms evolve to a certain point, all of our awareness is concocted by our brain cells' activity. In this view, a plant has no consciousness, and a rock certainly none; but a cow has more consciousness than a millipede, or a human has self consciousness but other animals don't have any consciousness. Certain perceptual studies are interesting in this regard. For example, a frog has receptors in its visual field that only respond to movement. Thus a frog will not eat an insect that is not moving. A tick waits until some living animal crosses its path that has butyric acid in its sweat, and the tick will drop onto only those animals that stimulate its "butyric acid" sensors. Humans must have Coke vs. Pepsi receptors in their brains (at least that is a joke).. certainly we respond to sex, power, and so on in advertising, movies, our daily behaviour, etc.

But, we are talking about more than just sensory apparati. As humans, we (occasionally) can stop and ponder the mystery that we exist, and wonder who else out there may be wondering the same question?

The second theory is that consciousness is primary, and separate from matter; then as matter develops in the universe, consciousness "involves" into matter. In this view the brain is more like a device that receives the signal of consciousness, like a radio receives the radio station, and it is  even posible to change the channels, I find this view interesting in terms of channeled phenomena. Who are these people talking to, when they channel, is it just a disembodied entity? Or just a part of their Wernicke's and Broca's areas in their brains that are feeling extra chatty that day?

The third viewpoint is held by certain modern-era physicists and scientists, as well as mystics throughout the ages, some of whom say that consciousness is a basic building block of the universe. Just as energy, matter, and the speed of light are "constants" some would also add that consciousness was one of the very components of the big bang, and thus permeates every neutrino, every quark, every organism, and every star in the entire universe.

I think consciousness can relate to an individual's consciousness, such as my own memories, experiences, belief systems, and so on. It can also refer to the collective, as in the collective unconscious, about which Jung had a great deal to say. And also I think it can refer to a developmental system, such as moving from hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies to industrial to information age.. but somehow we don't know what the next step is going to be. That is where you come in!