What Exactly Is Consciousness? Psychologists Reveal How the Brain Creates the Sense of "Self"

What Exactly Is Consciousness? Psychologists Reveal How the Brain Creates the Sense of "Self"

The Mystery of Consciousness

Have you ever wondered why we have consciousness? How does this invisible, intangible thing actually come about?

Consciousness has always been one of the most challenging mysteries in psychology. Scientists have tried to find neural switches related to consciousness in the brain's mysterious "black box," but discovered this is far from sufficient.

Higher-Order Theory: The Brain's Self-Examination Party

Meta-Representation Mechanism

This theory suggests that consciousness arises from the brain's process of rethinking its own thoughts. Like when you see a flower, the brain not only processes the visual signal of "flower" but also thinks at a higher level about "I am seeing a flower."

Theoretical Explanatory Power

- Explains why some content enters consciousness while others don't - Explains the phenomenon of seeing more than actual information in peripheral vision

Limitations

- Pays less attention to global states of consciousness (awake, dreaming, coma) - Insufficiently clear explanation of experiential characteristics - No unified explanation of consciousness function

Global Workspace Theory: The Brain's Information Plaza

Blackboard Architecture Inspiration

This theory imagines the brain as a super blackboard where various information is shared and used.

Information Propagation Mechanism

When a mental state can spread widely in the global workspace and be used by various cognitive processes, that state is conscious.

Practical Application

Hearing someone call your name at a noisy party - this information instantly enters the "global workspace," allowing you to become aware and respond.

Theoretical Challenges

- What kind of workspace qualifies as "global"? - Difficult to determine whether infants, brain injury patients, etc., have consciousness

Integrated Information Theory: The Mathematical Magic Net of Consciousness

Causal Power

This theory uses mathematical formulas to explain consciousness, suggesting consciousness relates to a system's irreducible maximum integrated information.

Φ Value Measurement

The information produced by the system as a whole exceeds the sum of information produced by its parts separately - the excess is integrated information.

Brain Regions

Particularly emphasizes the role of posterior cortical regions (parietal, temporal, occipital lobes) in generating integrated information.

Theoretical Controversy

Predicts consciousness exists widely in nature, possibly even in simple physical systems.

Predictive Processing Theory: The Brain's Prediction Machine

Best-Guess Mechanism

The brain treats perception as "best guesses" about the causes of sensory signals, achieved by minimizing prediction errors.

Practical Example

When seeing blurred object outlines, the brain predicts what it might be based on experience, then adjusts predictions with new information.

Relationship with Attention

Attention acts like a "signal enhancer," allowing sensory signals to better transmit to relevant regions.

Theoretical Challenge

How to determine that predictive processing is the essential feature of consciousness?

Theory Comparison

Scientists seek evidence from different angles: - Consciousness structure: Unity and other characteristics - Neural data: Brain-related regions - New predictions: Theoretical predictive power

No definitive conclusion yet, consciousness research remains challenging.

Daily Applications: Consciousness Games

Metacognitive Practice

When making choices, ask yourself: "Why am I leaning toward this choice?" Install a "little monitor" on your thought processes.

Learning Optimization

Imagine new knowledge as "information messengers," widely connecting and integrating with existing knowledge networks.

Observation Training

Predict others' behaviors, observe differences between actual and predicted outcomes, experience the wonder of the brain's prediction mechanism.

Summary and Outlook

Although consciousness research is challenging, through continuous iterative development and rigorous testing, we hope to gradually unveil this mysterious phenomenon.

Remember: Understanding consciousness theories not only satisfies curiosity but also helps us better know ourselves and improve thinking quality.