ON CONSCIOUSNESS
Description
"The works of Bernard Baars collected here are among the foundational texts of the scientific study of consciousness. Their influence in cognitive science and philosophy of mind is enormous, and their impact on my own thinking has been profound." -Murray Shanahan, Professor of Cognitive Robotics, Dept of Computing, ICL
Global Workspace Theory (GWT) began with this question: "How does a serial, integrated and very limited stream of consciousness emerge from a nervous system that is mostly unconscious, distributed, parallel and of enormous capacity?"
GWT is a widely used framework for the role of conscious and unconscious experiences in the functioning of the brain. A set of explicit assumptions that can be tested, as many of them have been. These updated works, from the recipient of INNS 2019 Hermann von Helmholtz Life Contribution Award, form a coherent effort to organize a large and growing body of scientific evidence about conscious brains.
Throughout human history, people have perceived the conscious brain as the great nexus of human life, of social relationships, of their personal identities and histories, in encounters with new challenges. Consciousness under its many labels and manifestations is widely seen to be one of the core mysteries of life. Many therapeutic approaches can be viewed in a global workspace framework, including traditional psychodynamics and depth psychology, but also cognitive behavioral techniques, and, indeed, many other kinds of carefully studied human functions. Making progress in understanding consciousness therefore has an endless number of implications - philosophical, metaphysical, scientific, medical, clinical, and practical.
A valuable reference for technical audiences and a vigorous intellectual hike for the layman." -Kirkus Reviews
How can we understand the evidence? The best answer today is a 'global workspace architecture,' first developed by cognitive modeling groups led by Alan Newell and Herbert A. Simon. The term "global workspace" comes from Artificial Intelligence, where it refers to a fleeting memory domain that allows for cooperative problem-solving by large collections of specialized programs. Global Workspace Theory (GWT) therefore assumes that the brain can be viewed as a "society of mind."
Global Workspace (GW) theory is consistent with our current knowledge, and can be enriched to include other aspects of human experience.
- Stan Franklin and co-workers have built on GWT to sketch out a more general theory of cognition - LIDA: Cognitive Architecture's Computational Implementation of GWT.
- Stanislas Dehaene and Jean-Pierre Changeux in Paris developed experimentally testable models, making further testable claims about the brain basis of visual consciousness - The Dehaene-Changeux Model (DCM): Global Neuronal Workspace is Part of GWT.
Global Workspace Dynamics (GWD) is the most current version of GWT - attempting to account for complexities of the living brain. These updated works trace the beginnings of GWT/GWD through the continued rise of brain evidence and psychological understanding. On Consciousness is an indispensable addition to the library of both students and experts studying mind, brain, and behavior.
"Bernie Baars is a giant on whose shoulders the future science of consciousness will stand." -Antti Revonsuo, PhD, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Skövde, Sweden
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"On Consciousness: Science & Subjectivity represents a landmark effort to comprehensively address, in an accessible way, the various dimensions of the global workspace, from its cognitive architecture to the living brain dynamics through which it is manifest. This book is an indispensable addition to the library of both students and experts who study consciousness." -George A. Mashour, MD, PhD, Director, Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Global Workspace Theory (GWT) provides a widely used framework to date for our rapidly accumulating body of evidence of conscious and unconscious brain functions. Global Workspace Dynamics (GWD) is the most current version - attempting to account for complexities of the living brain. These updated works spanning 1988 - 2013 trace the beginnings of GWT/GWD through the continued rise of brain evidence and psychological understanding.
Since the rise of neuroimaging our brain evidence has improved spectacularly, and the biological basis of subjectivity has now become a recognized goal in the sciences. Far from contradicting each other, public and private evidence is generally mutually supportive.
CONTENTS
Author's Note 1
Cortex is the organ of mind. 10
PART I.
Consciousness Explored: Making sense of the evidence 13
Introduction 15
1. Conscious experiences 19
2. Unconscious states 31
3. General conclusions 33
4. Major features of conscious states and contents 35
5. Consciousness in philosophy and science 45
6. Consciousness in animals and machines 47
PART II.
A Scientific Approach to Consciousness 55
Introduction 57
1. You are conscious, and so am I. 61
2. Evidence. 89
3. A Working Theater of Consciousness. 99
PART III.
A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness 113
Preface 115
One: AN INTRODUCTION
1. What is to be explained? Some preliminaries 125
Two: THE BASIC MODEL
2. Model 1: Conscious representations are internally consistent and globally distributed 203
3. The neural basis of conscious experience 255
Three: THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF FRAMES
4. Model 2: Unconscious frames shape conscious experience 275
5. Model 3: Conscious experience is informative - it always demands some degree of adaptation 321
Four: GOALS AND VOLUNTARY CONTROL
6. Model 4: Goal frames, spontaneous problem solving, and the stream of consciousness 375
7. Model 5: Volition as ideomotor control of thought and action 401
Five: ATTENTION, SELF, AND CONSCIOUS SELFMONITORING
8. Model 6: Attention as control of access to consciousness 459
9. Model 7: Self as the dominant frame of experience and action 487
Six: CONSCIOUSNESS IS FUNCTIONAL
10. The functions of consciousness 513
Seven: CONCLUSION
11. A summary and some future directions 527
Glossary and guide to theoretical claims 536
Conscious Access Themes 565
PART IV
Global workspace dynamics (GWD): Cortical "binding and propagation" enables conscious contents 571
Introduction 573
1. Dynamic Global Workspace: A functional hub of binding and propagation
in a population of loosely coupled signaling elements 575
2. States and Contents 601
3. Sensory Percepts vs. Feelings of Knowing 613
4. Voluntary Reports of Conscious Events 623
5. The Hippocampus and Conscious Contents: A Novel Prediction 627
6. Summary 629
Appendix 632
Acknowledgments 636
Notes 638
References 639
Extended Credits 668
Illustration & Image Credits 669
