I'm sure the following blog articles by Neuroscientist, Sam Harris will pique your interest
Maybe for some! Given that Sam Harris is looking at consciousness from the viewpoint of modern neuroscience, i would like to know what you think. Here are some extracts but do read the blog posts in their entirety by following the link.
As always, I look forward to your comments!
The problem, however, is that no evidence for consciousness exists in the physical world.[6] Physical events are simply mute as to whether it is “like something” to be what they are. The only thing in this universe that attests to the existence of consciousness is consciousness itself; the only clue to subjectivity, as such, is subjectivity
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the- ... ciousness/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Naturally, it all depends on how one defines “nothing.” The physicist Lawrence Krauss has written a wonderful book arguing that the universe does indeed emerge from nothing. But in the present context, I am imagining a nothing that is emptier still—a condition without antecedent laws of physics or anything else.
At some point in the development of certain complex organisms, however, consciousness emerges. This miracle does not depend on a change of materials—for you and I are built of the same atoms as a fern or a ham sandwich. Rather, it must be a matter of organization. Arranging atoms in a certain way appears to bring consciousness into being. And this fact is among the deepest mysteries given to us to contemplate.
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the- ... usness-ii/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;But other analogies seem to offer hope. Consider our sense of sight: Doesn’t vision emerge from processes that are themselves blind? And doesn’t such a miracle of emergence make consciousness seem less mysterious?
kind regards,
Ben