The Conscious Structure - neural origin of consciousness and its inherences

The nature of consciousness Our functioning brain, the architect of our identity, presents nature's profoundest enigma. How does this t...

The nature of consciousness

Our functioning brain, the architect of our identity, presents nature's profoundest enigma. How does this tangible mass conjure the intangible mind - our emotions, thoughts, awareness, attention, volition, and ultimately, consciousness?

The elusive nature of the mind poses the greatest challenge to directly correlating it with its material basis. This often leads to the perception of the mind as an immaterial entity that transcends physical form.

That which is truly material can, at times, appear immaterial. Consciousness, for instance, can resemble the phenomenon of a rainbow. A rainbow, while formed from specific matter under particular conditions, remains an elusive property of its originating material. We understand the scientific principles governing a rainbow's formation, but the same cannot be said for the similarly behaving consciousness. Nevertheless, the apparent similarity in their emergence offers insight into how we might approach consciousness.

A rainbow is not matter itself, yet it originates from matter. We can describe it as a special effect stemming from a particular state of its creating matter. While we cannot physically seize a rainbow, we can generate one by properly preparing the necessary conditions. We understand the prerequisites for creating a rainbow, but the creation of consciousness remains elusive. This, however, is not because of the impossibility of physical theory, but a knowledge-based one, due to our current lack of understanding of its material foundations.

All rainbows are alike, yet each consciousness seems unique. However, this is not the case. Rainbows and consciousness are both similar and unique in the same manner. Every rainbow is like every other rainbow, yet they differ in the varied structures of their constituent matter. While no two arrangements of water drops and photon radiation are identical, given the right conditions, each distinct arrangement produces the same rainbow. Similarly, although individual neurons, their environments, and their actual activities are unique in every human brain, the phenomenon of consciousness is emerging consistently in every instance.

To understand the emergence of consciousness, we must base our research on the premise that consciousness is a fundamentally inherent property of the brain's complex, interacting material structure. By uncovering and comprehending the operation of neurons and their self-organizing and integrative processes, we can demystify this enigmatic property and free ourselves from the notion of its immaterialism.

The neural basis of consciousness

The brain is an incredibly complex structure. The human brain potentially being the most intricate in the known universe. Despite its complexity, the fundamental mechanisms that give rise to its enigmatic functions originate from simple, well-understood, and already known processes. (Here, "simple" refers to neural functions rather than the neuron's actual operation. For instance, although the biological processes and chemical reactions underlying the functions of a neuron are complex, the functions themselves are relatively simple, well understood, and thoroughly modeled.)

Even if we have a detailed map of the brain, identifying the specific functions of neural groups and their interconnections, the enigma of consciousness persists. It appears that consciousness isn't merely the operation of individual parts, but rather an emergent, global phenomenon resulting from the brain's high-level, self-organizing, and integrative processes. While we understand the low-level functions, the mechanism by which these processes integrate to form consciousness remains largely unknown. The key to unlocking this mystery lies in understanding the brain's cooperative functions.

Consciousness is an inherent and universal characteristic of the human brain. Despite individual variations, all human brains share a common global architecture. Therefore, the brain's structure and functions underlying consciousness must be linked to this global organization. Consequently, consciousness likely operates on a non-specific, global neural system within the brain.

Evolutionary differentiation toward consciousness

The human brain is the result of the gradual, step-by-step evolution of the central nervous system that created its structure. This evolutionary progression appears to involve the following main stages of structural development:

Forming direct sensorimotor neural pathways
Forming conditional sensorimotor neural pathways
Forming neural interconnections between sensorimotor pathways
Forming flexible neural connections between interconnections
Forming connection loops between neural interconnections
Forming a global network from neural interconnections

Neural origins of brain functions

These are the basic neural operations of the nervous system:

Neurons are biological cells that exhibit constant periodic electrical activity, and exercise environment adaptive firing.
The brain is constructed by a genetically determined, evolutionarily formed network of neurons that are specifically connected to each other by cellular spines called axons and dendrites, even at a distance.
The interconnected neurons can modulate each other's electrical activity in a one-directional excitatory or inhibitory manner, meaning that when a neuron is stimulated by other neurons beyond a genetically defined threshold, the electrical activity response of that neuron is triggered.
If a neuron is close enough to another neuron that the activity of one affects the activity of the other, then the simultaneous activity creates changes that increase the efficiency of the connection that produces the activity. There are also biochemical processes that do the opposite: in the case of neurons in an excitatory connection, if the activity of one is not associated with the activity of the other, then it produces changes that decrease the activating efficiency of the connection. Furthermore, to manage neural connections effectively, other biochemical processes regulate relations known as acquisition, reacquisition, spontaneous recovery, and extinction.
Neural connections are continuously degraded in a genetically determined manner, at the rate developed during evolution.
As a result, the neural connectivity structure of the brain is constantly changing based on the activity of neurons. The result of the effects of these processes is called brain plasticity.

Neural organizing mechanisms creating higher brain functions

During the initial formation of the plastic brain, building neurons creates an extensive structure of connections.
Without external stimuli of conditioning, the brain's spontaneously activating neurons generate and propagate random, unmodulated neural activity. This activity occurs in waves, characterized by the frequency of their activity cycles, and travels along existing connectivity structures when activation conditions are met.
From its inception, the brain's neurons are influenced by the external world via sensory organs. These organs convert environmental stimuli into neural activity levels compatible with the brain's operational mechanisms. The resulting signals, which bear patterns specific to the external environment, impact associated neurons by modifying their activity frequency, and consequently, the activity frequency of connected neurons. Thus, the specific activity of sensory organs, driven by the environment, directly modulates the activity of linked neurons.
Additionally, the pattern of neural activity generated by sensory organ activity affects the structure of neural connectivity, modifying it through the brain's plasticity mechanisms.
The specific conditioning processes lead to the formation of unique neural structures from neural connections. These structures, along with their modulated activity waves, are specific to the pattern of neural stimuli.

The neural basis of global interaction

How do the interacting working blocks of neurons fundamentally and generally organize to create an emergent property? This phenomenon may be due to resonance based on neural activity.

Neurons, the brain's fundamental components, operate on an "all-or-nothing" principle. While constantly active, their firing frequency is dynamically modulated by external stimuli and connections with other neurons through processes of reinforcement and inhibition. Neurons interact and modify each other's activity. This intricate interplay ultimately leads to the formation of resonant groups, characterized by synchronized activity where individual neuronal firing cycles contribute to and align with the collective pattern.

Continuous and ever-changing patterns of sensory activity form increasingly complex neural circuit structures. These structures are specific to the actual sensory model of the environment and generate modulated waves of activity when active. The activity of these structures can activate and, together with the sensory activity in a feedback-like manner, further specify the emerging connectivity structures.

Interconnected resonance groups form higher-level self-building synchronizing structures through modulation. A single neuron can simultaneously belong to and contribute to the activity, and connect together of multiple resonance groups during this synchronization process.

Neural modeling of the environment

The brain's internal resonances are intimately linked to the external world. Our sensory organs transmit information to the brain, generating firing cycles that correspond to sensory input. The interplay of incoming sensory experiences and internal brain activity fosters increasingly intricate and distinctive relational structures and activity waves. The brain region responsible for these functions undergoes continuous conditioning through these activities, progressively developing a refined internal model of the environment. Consequently, our brain achieves a state of resonance with the external world.

Initially, the brain, a product of evolution, operates as an asynchronous system, marked by transient, spontaneous synchronizations. Right after it begins to function, it commences learning from sensory inputs. External stimuli engage the brain through sensory input, influencing and altering the firing patterns of interconnected neurons. This neural activity drives synaptic creation and pruning via plasticity. Through synchronized and simultaneous firings, these activities establish and reshape groups of connected neurons. These active neurons can form self-supporting resonance groups based on synchronized activity. These are the imprints functioning as memories. Consequently, the brain's operation is shaped and conditioned by the external world, leading to the formation of the corresponding internal world based on resonance.

An adequately developed brain, with sufficient complexity, can construct self-structuring hierarchies of resonances, form integrative groups, and create what we might call the concepts of the world.

Workings of the world inside

When a well-conditioned nervous system is exposed to a stimulus, this interaction generates activity waves and modulated activity resonances that correspond to the stimulus. Consequently, other conditioned neural pathways become active, exhibiting modulated resonant activity within the structure shaped by prior experiences.

Specific resonances corresponding to stimuli are initially created by external sources, however, they can also be induced internally. Present neural activities and active resonances can stimulate other resonances or resonance groups and activate existing structures, activate extended memories.

Internal feedback can also generate patterns of neural activity that form waves and resonances, extending across various brain regions. The extent and nature of these activities depend on the originating stimulus and the brain's conditioned structure. This resonant brain state, sustained by internal activation and shaped by past experiences, represents the brain's internal experience of the world.

Interacting and integrating resonances enabling memories even without corresponding sensory input can form a kind of inside experience of sense. The connected resonance groups can activate each other, leading to the activation of complex, connected, and situated memories, ultimately forming thoughts.

Resonances interact and trigger one another in ways consistent with conditioning. These interactions lead to the formation of complex resonant structures and cascades, which, like the mapping of the modeled environment through conditioning, contribute to a personalized sense of the environment and the experience of its presence.

Experiencing the existence

Interacting and self-organizing resonances can culminate in the formation of a global resonance. Once established, this global resonance achieves a dynamic, self-sustaining state. Its dynamism stems from the ability of lower-level resonances to flexibly join to couple or decouple from it. Its self-sustaining nature means it can endure without continuous reinforcement from lower-level activations. This global, self-sustaining resonance, which also back-propagates to lower levels, gives rise to the perception of our own subjective experience of existence, the consciousness.

According to this interpretation, consciousness arises from a global, self-sustaining, back-propagating resonance of waves generated by connected and cooperating individual neural activities. This dynamic state is continuously modified by feedback, leading to the presence of both an external and internal state. The feeling of existence is thus formed by this stable yet adaptable resonant feedback loop.

The neural structure of consciousness

Primary neural network

Fast-working neural pathways connecting sensory inputs to motor outputs, enabling rapid responses. These primary neural pathways link the external and internal worlds by connecting the conditioned input and output structures.

Shadow network

A brain with global neural resonance needs a global neural structure, called here as the shadow network, to support global connectivity, in addition to other connections. This global neural structure interacts with local structures, establishes global connections, induces and transmits activity, and creates extensive resonance in a global, back-propagating manner.

This global neural structure, a diffuse network with extensive connections, is not directly linked to the external world. Its primary role is to dynamically react to excitations from the primary network. Once activated, it can back-propagate excitations to the conditioned pathways.

When a primary pathway is active, it excites the connecting part of the shadow network, affecting its periodic activity. With its diffuse structure, the shadow network is capable of conditionally exciting or inhibiting the connected parts of the network by back-propagating resonance.

The shadow network possesses crucial characteristics. It is not input-specific, meaning it does not differentiate between sources of excitation. Also, when connected to excitation, its resonant state changes relatively slowly; consequently, back-propagation accumulates at a slower rate compared to the activity of primary neural pathways.

The driving center

The driving center provides background excitation to the shadow network and is capable of changing its excitation level and activity threshold. Through its neural functioning, the driving center can also inhibit the shadow network's activity.

Conscious awareness is experienced when the shadow network's excitation reaches its activity threshold to form global resonance. Conversely, when the shadow network is inhibited and rendered inactive, no conscious experience is felt, even if there is excitation from the primary network. This specialized, evolutionarily developed subsystem can directly modify consciousness. It can turn consciousness on or off by directly affecting it through modifying, reinforcing, inhibiting, or blocking the intensity of the shadow network's global resonance activity.

The driving center's activity can occur through several mechanisms: activation by direct sensorimotor pathways as seen in natural pain-sensing structures, or by any stimulus exceeding an intensity threshold, or through specific neural structures, such as those governing circadian cycles.

The driving center can be deactivated in several ways: through the consequential deactivation of the primary network in the absence of activating circumstances, or by the driving center itself when its activity directly ceases. Deactivation can also be induced by specific inhibiting factors such as through circadian-type inhibition, or artificially by nerve-affecting chemicals.

How does consciousness emerge from the conscious structure?

How does the subjective experience of "me," the feeling of existence, emerge from the back-propagating global resonance of the shadow network? This internal global neural network lacks direct external connections; its activity functions as a feedback mechanism to conditionally connected neural pathways. When activated, the network stimulates, thereby engaging primary pathways and associated neural structures that serve as memories.

Global resonance not only receives stimulation from lower-level resonances, but also stimulates them back. Global resonance connects and integrates lower-level resonances through synchronization. It also induces and reinforces these resonances through connected and conditioned neural pathways, eliminating the need for outside stimulation. It can create an inner cause of activity and form an internally sourced stimulus to the primary network, as if from outside. When the global resonance stimulates the lower levels and activates the related memories through the primary pathways, it creates the experience of "the world inside." This creates the experience of a specifically conditioned "me" from inside, generating the feeling of subjective existence.

The development of consciousness

Upon formation, the brain contains only built-in connections, representing its evolutionary inheritance. At this stage, it possesses inherent reflexes, instincts, and sensorimotor connections, all the knowledge necessary for survival in an evolutionarily inherited environment. As the brain interacts with its specific, existing environment, its plasticity enables functioning neurons to prune unused and forge new, environment-specific connections.

Simultaneously, the brain's primary neural structures initiate the evolutionary shadow network. This neural structure generates background activation loops for the primary pathways. Due to these conditioned connections, excitation in any part of the connected structure can potentially excite other connected parts. As the brain experiences environmental influences, more information is registered, leading to the formation of more specific primary and shadow network connections.

Not every sensorimotor activity contributes to conscious experience. This is because it may not be connected to the shadow network, or it may disconnect from the shadow network, or the shadow network's slower reaction speed may prevent sufficient coupling with the primary pathways. The difference in coupling makes it possible for not every sensory input to become conscious, even if it is connected to the shadow network. Well-developed primary pathways do not necessarily activate and utilize the connected shadow network; their activity will not trigger a conscious experience.

When enough connections form within the system, a primary pathway can trigger its associated shadow network. This, in turn, can activate other primary pathways even without relevant environmental stimuli. The system also accesses connected memories, bringing past experiences into the present.

It is important to differentiate between primary pathways and connections formed via the shadow network. Primary connections are direct, specific, and less diffuse, facilitating rapid activity transfers. Conversely, connections through the shadow network are less direct and specific, resulting in diffuse connections that can leverage extensive memory structures. A key distinction is that the shadow network does not differentiate between various sensory inputs. Its activity is not source-specific.

The operation of consciousness

During unconscious states like deep sleep, the global neural network is inactive, yet the brain is somewhat active. This activity is largely unconscious sensorimotor processing. Consciousness can be initiated either by an internal stimulus, such as the circadian cycle activating the driving center to end sleep, or by a strong external stimulus that alarms the driving center or directly activates the shadow network.

The activation can be a low-level stimulus like the built-in alert system, the pain, or can be even a high-level, learned activation, conditioned function, like avoiding an appearing pedestrian during driving. The shadow network can be activated through conditioned functions, where a specific stimulus is intentionally learned to serve as an alert.

The global shadow network becomes active, receiving inputs from active, connected circuitry. It then transfers activity to other connected circuits and provides loop-back feedback based on resonance. Consciousness arises. A dynamic peak of resonant activity may emerge in the complex system based on strong, specific input or a precondition. Attention appears.

The entire system is dynamic. New inputs enter the global neural network and new activations are created by the network's activity. Other active inputs can lose access to the global neural network by separation. Consciousness extends to or retrieves from primary pathways by dynamically integrating the activity of connected pathways through resonant activity.

Then, the activity level of the shadow network begins to decrease. This can be caused by inhibition of the driving center due to internal (circadian-related or drug-related) factors, or by receiving fewer inputs from connected neural circuitry that cannot be compensated for by the driving center's activity or its own feedback activity. Consciousness remains present but integrates fewer and fewer inputs until the global neural network activity suddenly fades off. Consciousness vanishes until one wakes up again.

The uniqueness of the consciousness

My global resonance is a unique phenomenon that exists only in my brain. It is individual. Even if this extensive resonance disappears from time to time and the phenomenon of consciousness disappears for a while, only my global, yet unique resonance can re-emerge in my brain again. I am me, and only I can return to myself if my self-consciousness ceases.

I exist because I am aware of my existence. My self-consciousness is what makes it possible for me to exist. I will cease to exist when my self-awareness ceases to function irreversibly. Thus, my personal death occurs when my brain is unable to create the resonant state of the internal, global neural structure that causes consciousness.

Consciousnesses

A healthy, normally-connected brain can possess one instance of global resonance, which signifies a single consciousness. However, if widespread damage to the brain's global network disperses connections into separate structures, it is conceivable for the brain to form multiple global loop-back resonances within the remaining interconnected regions. In such extreme cases, this type of brain could potentially support more than one consciousness, leading to the manifestation of multiple related personalities.

Consciousness, at its core, is defined by an integrative, back-propagating function rooted in neural network resonance. While a single brain could potentially harbor multiple consciousnesses, evolution has favored a global, exclusive form of consciousness. This exclusivity proves to be more advantageous, allowing consciousness to operate most effectively.

Consciousness-related global functions

The brain's operational mechanisms lead to an emergent property: resonance. This activity arises from the combined action of a sufficient number of networked neurons and must interoperate with other higher brain functions. Consequently, all other higher brain functions should be interpreted and understood in the framework of the brain's global resonant neural activity.

Awareness - readiness of global resonance

Global resonance, by forming the subjective experience of consciousness, also facilitates and extends lower-level activities. It achieves this by providing an additional internal stimulus, keeping existing neural pathways active even if external or other internal stimulation is insufficient. The global, back-propagating network consequently lowers the threshold for the formation of new local activities.

The global resonance of consciousness can lead to a heightened sensibility through back-propagation to interconnected lower-level circuitry. This process defines the conscious state generating awareness. This awareness is inherently global, as the underlying neural network does not differentiate between various sensory inputs.

Conscious awareness is linked to the active state of the shadow neural network. An active shadow network can stimulate connected peripheral pathways, channeling activation between them or creating feedback loops to active pathways. The overall neural network's activity reduces the activation thresholds of connected sensory and motoric circuits, increasing their sensitivity to stimuli.

Attention - creating a peak on resonance

Awareness is not static. It can be globally altered and also locally focused. This ability to create focus is what can be called attention.

Attention occurs when a new or intensified stimulus prompts the brain to not only engage consciousness but also to sharpen our focus on that particular stimulus. The resonance model explains this by proposing that the stimulus increases the synchronization between the shadow network and the specific local brain area. This heightened local resonance leads to a greater contribution and forms a peak within the global resonance. Subsequently, the global resonance provides positive feedback to that area. This process can diminish resonance levels in other regions by synchronizing global resonance with the new or elevated local resonance level, consequently desynchronizing (lowering) resonance with other areas. This mechanism is how attention can be generated.

When we are conscious, we can focus on one of the active primary pathways. Being in focus means that the main resonance activity of the global neural network is determined by the activity of the given primary pathway and the feedback it receives. In other words, the activity of the highlighted pathway defines consciousness, sources, dominantly affects, and supplies the main contribution to the activity of the global neural network. Attention is a shift in the contribution of a neural activity wave to the shadow network's resonance.

Attention can be directed by an unconditioned excitation, which involves elevating the excitation level of the shadow network through the primary determined stimulation system. These are the evolutionarily developed, attention-driving, primary-critical stimulus systems found in living organisms. They can be specialized, such as pain-sensory systems, or the unconditioned excitation can also be driven by an excitation threshold level.

Furthermore, conditioned excitation can direct attention by elevating the shadow network's excitation level, when a stimulus, initially lacking evolutionary significance forming attention, acquires the ability to drive attention through conditioning. For example, if a non-critical sensory pathway is simultaneously excited with a critical, attention-driving pathway, the previously non-critical pathway can gain criticality, becoming capable of independently exciting the shadow network. The brain's plasticity governs the function of attention.

The focus of our consciousness, our attention, can shift. For example, it can shift when we hear our name in the background at a crowded party, when we drive a car without conscious attention and a pedestrian steps off the curb, or when our toothache disappears while we read an interesting book.

When attention arises, it usually inhibits other focuses. We cannot focus our attention on several things at once. Even when we think we can, it is more accurately described as a rapidly shifting focus of attention than as parallel, simultaneous attention. The resonance model naturally explains this property. It can also provide a simple explanation for the phenomenon of focus and inhibition of attention.

Resonance is a unique phenomenon characterized by self-sustaining positive feedback and inhibitory negative feedback on less synchronized waves. While various resonances can synchronize in specific instances, the brain's distinct sensory inputs generate diverse lower-level activity waves. Consequently, only one lower-level activity can predominantly synchronize with the global resonance, limiting the contribution of less synchronized other lower-level resonances, even if present. However, attention can readily shift focus as synchronization can rapidly transition between activity waves when their contributions change.

Attention from outside

An external stimulus can generate attention. If this stimulus is strong relative to others occurring simultaneously, it will not only elevate the global resonance level by increasing synchronization but also receive heightened feedback from the global resonance. This increased feedback, acting as an additional stimulus, enables the local neural circuitry to provide further excitation to connected neural pathways while inhibiting other activity waves. Consequently, resonance creates positive feedback, leading to the formation or refocusing of attention.

Attention from inside

The focus of consciousness, attention can also be modified by internal causes. For example, when reading an interesting book, our attention is focused on the text, while other stimuli, such as noise, do not bother us. Although the visual stimulus of reading is weak, it can still modify attention and create a focus for consciousness. This is due to the brain's preconditioning.

Reading can create focus for example if it is interesting. "Interesting" means that the brain is preconditioned with extensive connections and neural circuitry to areas of the brain where the information from the reading is activated. This setup enables resonances to form with high synchronization through self-supporting ways. Interesting reading activates memories extensively and provides strong low-level activity that can dominate global resonance.

Attention can even be a will-based process. Will-based conscious focusing works by creating positive feedback for the "need-to-be-highlighted" primary pathway through the emerging peak activity of the global neural network.

Will in consciousness - experiencing the determinism

There is an old, still-open philosophical debate about whether free will, a conscious freedom of choice, an un-caused intention exist. According to material thinking, everything must have a prior reason, so classical free will cannot exist. After all, we are molecular machines that obey and follow the laws of nature.

However, we feel we can do whatever we want: raise our hand, stand up, or go anywhere. These actions suggest intentions without prior cause, implying free will because we act without prior reason. However, this perspective leads to dualism and the notion of something existing beyond matter.

If we seek an explanation beyond dualism, we must assert that all our actions originate from its material basis. Let us therefore assume that our will is not metaphysical, and that our behavior is determined by our brain's state. But how does our experienced free will function then?

Let us examine our will as a developmental process. At birth, we possess will but lack the freedom of choice. As newborns, we are instinctive beings, our actions driven by immediate urges, which is the most efficient mode of operation in that stage. We are not born with freedom of choice, nor, most likely, with consciousness itself. At birth, our brains are not yet well-conditioned with sufficiently interacting activity waves to form synchronized global resonance through the shadow network.

At this initial state, wants are present, but choices are not yet developed. The ability to choose emerges later, as we begin to interact with and learn about our world, which in turn specifies our brain. Through experimentation, our experiences and knowledge about the world are stored in our memory. This gradual process leads to the accumulation of experiences and choices, enabling us to make selections.

What kind of freedom does this will have? It is not the classical concept of absolute free will. Our choices are not based on absolute freedom, but on prior experiences stored in our memory. Our "freedom of choice" is based on prior experiences and is not an independent choice between possibilities. In fact, we could argue that these prior experiences and decisions are not based on true freedom of choice either. Therefore, we merely continue the cause-and-effect chain. We only remember our choices, but we don't actually select them. Thus, it doesn't differ from cause-and-effect determination.

However, it differs because we remember not just the choice that was made, which may be truly deterministic, but also its effect on us. Was it right or wrong? How did we feel? What was the impact or consequence of the choice? We follow the cause-and-effect chain, extending it with prior memories and experiences, but this allows us to consider and choose among possible options, remembering how similar circumstances have affected us. We use our personal past to inform our present decisions, trying to maximize their positive impact. We can do this even consciously by operating through global neural resonance.

What is free about this kind of will? It is not the freedom to choose independently from possible options, but rather the ability to consider possible options by remembering prior outcomes in similar situations. This kind of will appears free because it cannot be predicted, even when all the present circumstances of the given situation are known. It is impossible to see all of a being's prior experiences from the outside or even from a conscious perspective on the inside.

To what extent is our internal will truly free? It's not about absolute freedom of choice. Instead, it stems from a networked neural resonance that functions as consideration. This consideration represents a genuine, subjective, and personal choice among various possibilities. This choice is primarily influenced by the remembrance of past events, particularly their outcomes and their subjectively experienced effects. Therefore, our will isn't merely a predetermined consequence of present circumstances. Rather, it's a personal and partially unconscious consideration of anticipated outcomes.

So, do we have free will or not? The question is inaccurate because it incorrectly implies what "free" means in this context. Do we have the freedom to choose among our current options? No, we are not above the physical laws. Are we capable of choosing among available options in a way that is not determined by current circumstances? Yes. We can make subjective decisions based not only on current circumstances but also on prior causes and subjective effects.

My will is actually the presence of myself, my past, and my present. It is my own experiences, modified by my earlier memories. My will is the state of my brain, applying my earlier experiences of cause and effect to the current situation. It is subjective because it is rooted in my memories. This is why it is unique and seems free. However, the will is built on deterministic processes. It appears undetermined due to my complex and unique past applied in the present.

The state of our brain is determined by our current state and all of our past states. When our will is engaged, we mainly experience only our current circumstances. However, our brain can also process and reflect on all of our prior experiences. We can't consciously experience the causes of all our actions, so we think we have free will. However, this is only an illusion. Everything is determined by the present state and prior experiences. However, the system is so complex that we cannot experience the determinism or the causes within it. Our behavior is so complex that we see it as undetermined and therefore free. In this way, we fool our consciousness into thinking that our choice is free. What I have is my will, which is partially based on my prior experiences. I can't recognize all of these experiences as part of my reasoning for my choices. My will is still my will, based on my prior decisions.

The concept of will as an independent phenomenon, or as freedom of choice and spirit over matter, does not need to exist. The actual will is the result of the integration of neural activity—an emergent property of active global neural networks, past experiences, and present circumstances.

Volition - intended determinism

While classical, independently existing free will is absent, the determined individual will that shapes personal actions does exist. This individual will arises from the resonance of a conditioned brain, influenced by both external and internal stimuli, and subsequently manifests in action.

This emergent process directly correlates with conditioned brain activity, influencing both conscious awareness and unconscious behavior. This cumulative emergent activity manifests as a driving factor of subjectivity, a unique behavioral objective, and what we perceive as (free) will.

However, I can still raise my hand if I want and when I want consciously. I can have my intended act. I can present volition. Where is the determinism here? How does the necessarily present determinism work in the act of volition?

Volition in action - interpreting the Libet experiment

In the 1980s, brain researcher Benjamin Libet conducted an experiment where participants were asked to press a button within a set timeframe and note the exact moment they decided to do so using a timing device. Simultaneously, researchers monitored the activity of the subjects brain's motor neurons. The findings revealed that motor neuron activity consistently occurred before the conscious decision to press the button, and subsequently, the button press itself. This suggests that intended actions may not be initiated by conscious thought, as the moto-neural activity precedes the conscious decision to act.

Libet's experiments suggest that the brain's unconscious processes are the true originators of actions, proposing that consciously directed (and seemingly free) will has no role in their initiation. If unconscious brain processes trigger an action before the conscious desire to perform it emerges, then consciousness's causal role in volition is negated. The experiments imply that consciousness either plays no part in the functioning of volition or, as some interpretations suggest, merely acts as a spectator in the brain's volitional control.

Let's try interpreting the experiment using the neurological model of the brain relating to will and consciousness that was outlined previously.

The experiment commences when the leader instructs subjects on their task: to press a button at any point within a specified timeframe, while simultaneously recalling a screenshot taken at the moment they felt the decision to press. During task instruction, the experimenter uses language to impart information, which is then recorded consciously by the subject's memory. This consciousness-assisted learning primes and forms conditioned connections in the relevant brain areas. The precise goal is to have the subject press the button at an unstated moment within a given period. Since the button press within this timeframe is not tied to a conscious condition (as per the task, "anytime"), the experimenter registers this circumstance in the brain, and this condition is also learned.

The experiment proceeds with the practical application of the task. The individual begins performing the learned task, leveraging pre-conditioned neural structures. At this stage, the subject's state is crucial. Their consciousness no longer actively accommodates the learned task of pressing a button at any time. This unconstrained action does not require conscious control because the appropriate neural structures, which were pre-conditioned by the subject's consciousness during the learning phase, are involved in its execution.

In the experiment, a test subject presses a button in a pre-conditioned manner. The subjects identify when the intention to press the button enters their consciousness. However, consciousness, in this interpretation, does not initiate the action itself. Instead, the action is generated by a preconditioned mechanism. Consciousness then “recognizes” the activity of this preconditioned brain process associated with the action by involving it into resonance. This phenomenon is what constitutes the "free-like volition in action."

This interpretation adequately explains the observed sequence of events. During the execution phase of the experiment, consciousness serves not as a dedicated supervisory role, but rather as a feedback mechanism within the neural structural activity of the task.

How do the nervous system structures involved in the experiment function during the task? Furthermore, how does the proposed mechanism of volition and consciousness operate in this context?

In the conditioning phase of the experiment, the experimenter utilizes language and other tools, along with the subject's consciousness, to input information into, and program the subject's brain. Consciousness actively facilitates this process through its attentive operation.

In the executive phase of the experiment, the subject performs the learned, programmed task through an internal, conditioned neural trigger, which activates the relevant neural structures without conscious effort. This completes the learned neural and associated motor processes. Simultaneously, because the neural activity of the action needs to be recorded in memory, hence, need to be sustained, the neural activity of the executed task integrates into the global neural resonance. This global structure then reverberates and provides feedback, incorporating the task's execution into conscious experience.

If sufficient time is available at this stage, the activity of other neural pathways can influence the activity of the neural pathways involved in the experiment through global neural structures of consciousness. Through consciousness, the brain can intervene and modify action by influencing the activity of previously conditioned, currently active neural pathways. This process creates an illusion of freedom of volition.

Consciousness-driven determinism - the relation between volition and consciousness

How does the global neural feedback that generates consciousness cooperate with the neural activity that complements current stimuli with past experiences producing determined will? How does volition result in this action that is experienced as free of determinism?

Consciousness is an emergent property of the active global neural network, manifesting as a back-propagating resonant activity. It operates within a uniquely complex environment, where it connects, integrates, dynamically evaluates, and generates feedback for all corresponding actual and segmented activations and preconditions. This function of synchronization appears as a unique brain state, resulting in a dynamic unity of all underlying states. As an emergent peak, consciousness provides specific feedback to the corresponding circuitry, thereby modifying their activity and even generating new activations.

Sensory inputs can trigger associated memories. The strength of these associations and the similarity of situations determine which memories (neural circuitries) become excited and enter a resonating state. This can lead to the formation of complex, connected, and unconnected resonances of varying strengths. The most excited, connected, and resonating of these forms the related behaviors. If a global resonance is involved in the process, it can aid in the formation of local resonances through its feedback and integrative function. The behavior of the complex brain is a dynamic and intricate outcome of complex and dynamic neural resonance. However, the actions are not governed by "freedom of choice"; instead, it is rooted in experience, the conditioned activity of the network of neurons.

The perception of free action is merely an illusion, a deception of consciousness. The underlying reality is subsumed by global resonance. Actuality stems from the dominant wave within this global resonance, and consciousness then manages this, akin to a freedom of choice, creating the sensation of "me."

The brain can generate actions through unconditioned and conditioned ways, even without conscious awareness. However, if the brain's global neural feedback, responsible for self-awareness, encompasses the neural resonance that gives rise to volitional actions, then this feedback amplifies the will-creating dominant wave. Simultaneously, it integrates this resonance into the feedback loop that shapes self-awareness or directs attention.

Self-awareness and volition arise from interconnected brain processes, as evidenced by the Libet experiment, which highlights their distinct yet mutually influential neural underpinnings. The neural network responsible for consciousness employs feedback mechanisms to modify and shape the activity of connected neural pathways. This interaction, influenced by past experiences including intentionally programmed conditions, contributes to the development of what can be described as "intended determinism."

Consciousness, understood as the resonant activity of a global feedback network, is instrumental in programming the nervous system and shaping the will. Volition, defined as the deterministic outcome of past experiences and current circumstances extended with attentionally conditioned neural pathways, and consciousness, the neural feedback activity of a dedicated global neural network, are dynamically interconnected through neural resonances.

The subjective experience of freedom of choice arises from the global neural feedback that forms consciousness, extending to the deterministic neural resonance that shapes our volitional acts. This same feedback mechanism, by providing additional internal stimulation, also generates attention, which is perceived as an internal focus within consciousness.

How does conscious will, intended determinism, volition process?

While consciousness might appear to merely record our decisions, it actively participates in the decision-making process by providing dynamic feedback during our considerations. In essence, consciousness, functioning as global yet dynamic resonance creating feedback, is not just a spectator. Consciousness plays a role in modeling circumstances and the potential outcomes of different possibilities. This active involvement in decision-making could be a key evolutionary advantage of consciousness.

Perceived freedom of will requires more than just the appearance of independence from external circumstances in consciousness. For a will to be truly perceived as free, it must also be amenable to internal influence and modification. While my personal will, being part of my consciousness, feels independent of external circumstances, I must also be able to internally affect this will.

Although the will appears controllable, it stems from essentially deterministic neural processes. This determinism is obscured by the practically unpredictable influence of past experiences. However, the global neural feedback that produces consciousness seemingly has no direct functional impact on how the will operates. Nevertheless, my will is controllable when forming volition.

To understand the neural mechanism behind the conscious control of will, we must first consider the theoretical aspect of forming volition. I can generate my volition by forming an intention for it, essentially planning what it will be. This intention serves as a pre-volition, a future-oriented form of will that guides subsequent actions.

How are the intentions that determine the future formed? Through conditioning, which is like programming the brain. If such a program can be created, its steps can represent the process by which an intention controls volition. Volition is a consciously supervised conditioning process that affects the neural function of forming intentions.

Determined intention

The primary objective of all living creatures is to avoid pain. For creatures with brains, this "feeling" of pain is largely genetic and has been hardwired into the brain through evolution. The brain has specialized receptors and neural pathways designed to sense and process stimuli that must be avoided. While these circuits often involve simple reflexes, they can also trigger the widely recognized sensation of pain.

Even if the neural pathways for pain are recognized, the subjective experience of pain remains elusive. For pain to be more than a mere reflex, it necessitates extensive connectivity within higher brain structures to generate a universally accessible sensation. This sensation motivates avoidance. From an evolutionary perspective, the development of a globally available feeling of pain offers advantages. It allows for broader utilization of brain functions beyond simple reflexes to avoid noxious stimuli, potentially fostering a rudimentary form of intention.

Pain, a universally felt sensation, compels us to act. This action, in turn, alters our brain state, potentially leading to increased or decreased pain. This feedback loop is crucial for learning and memory. Through these intricate action-reaction interactions, built upon the evolutionary foundation of pain, complex behaviors and multi-layered actions emerge as we navigate and learn from our experiences in the world.

Similarly, pleasure can be a driving force that affects will, just as pain can. The same can be said about pleasure as was said about pain, but with opposite signs and effects. Having two opposing sources of evolutionarily determined motivation can create more complex behavior and consequences of volition.

Seeing our behavior and will as determined by pain and pleasure seems like an oversimplification. However, in an evolutionary sense, this view is adequate. A more complex brain can produce more complex behavior, which is increasingly determined by stored experiences instead of genetics. When we recall experiences, we remember the circumstances and their impact on us, which can be positive or negative.

We must even consider the effect of society because it can encourage or punish us. Society can provide positive or negative feedback on our actual behavior. Society is not a driving force based on biological evolution, but rather an effect that we created together as a community. All of our learned knowledge and subjective experiences affect our decisions.

Forming intention by programming the brain

In the case of the human brain (and perhaps the brains of some other animals), some goals appear to be set against evolutionary imprints. This phenomenon manifests as our experience of free will. We can consciously recall and envision the repercussions of our actions. Through consciousness, the global resonance feedback mechanism, we can simulate the outcomes of our choices internally. These mental models can then be committed to memory, conditioning our brains to respond accordingly. Ultimately, the interplay of knowledge, experience, and the modeling capacity of consciousness enables us to program ourselves with the self-organizing potential of resonances. Consciousness allows us to intentionally program our brains to define personal objectives.

The programmed driving of the attention: the power of the language

How can a brain conditioning program be created whose steps correspond to intention and can control will? The function of thinking, specifically the use of language, can serve this purpose. Language creates the ability to think through its mechanism of abstraction. Since language and memory are fundamentally related, language can create memory structures through language-modelled thoughts. These structures can influence the will, which cooperates with consciousness by directing it according to the program modelled in memory by language.

Language shapes memory, forming a conditioned neural structure. This structure manifests as experience and functions as intention, influencing neural resonance. Consequently, it programs volition, expressed as action, by impacting the formation of consciousness-involved will.

Language is also an effective learning tool. Fundamentally determined by self-awareness, language is an abstract means of learning about the world. Consciousness is a key aid in the learning process and thus in the programmability of the brain. In the interplay of these functions, a conditionable will emerges within consciousness. The programmability of the will through language creates volition that can be influenced by awareness, resulting in the perception of freedom of will in consciousness.

Language primarily serves to facilitate social interaction and information exchange, particularly in its spoken form. However, language also possesses an internal, silent function: the capacity to construct an abstract model of the world. This internal function may predate spoken language and could be present in other species, evidenced by their intelligent, problem-solving behaviors.

Through language's hierarchical and abstract architecture, we can define, analyze, describe, model, and conceptualize our environment. This enables us to devise future plans and pathways to our future behavior; we are able to think, as thinking itself is the process of establishing connections across diverse contexts.

Language empowers us to "imagine" diverse scenarios, activating corresponding brain regions as if experiencing them in reality. This allows us to forge connections between currently active regions, establishing neural pathways to achieve desired outcomes - in essence, language makes us able to think. Thinking, including programming the brain, is a defining role of the language.

Extending and narrowing consciousness

Activities in the brain that are not part of global resonance cannot become part of our consciousness or perceived reality. However, the brain is malleable and capable of forming new connections when properly stimulated.

Consciousness is shaped by an internal global neural structure, which is both evolutionarily determined and part of a plastic network. When this network is properly conditioned, it can form new connections with previously unlinked nervous structures. Through appropriate stimulation, consciousness can be expanded, even extending into processes that were originally entirely subconscious. By building connections to the shadow network, these subconscious processes can become consciously controllable. For instance, some individuals can intentionally influence their body temperature or heartbeat only by thinking about it.

Similarly, self-awareness can be narrowed. The nervous system activity that extends to global resonance is experienced as part of consciousness. For those that do not, it does not become part of consciousness, even if they are connected to the global nervous network that creates consciousness. This is how motions can become automatic. A tennis player cannot play well if he or she has to consciously control the movements, although conscious control is necessary while learning to play. The same process takes place when we learn to ride a bike or perform any other motor activity.

A well-conditioned sensorimotor pathway can work quickly; its activity can disappear before influencing global resonance. These pathways are more effective in practice because they don't require slower-activating attention. Therefore, effectively conditioned pathways can bypass conscious awareness, even if they are connected to the shadow network.

However, if such a pathway activity remains present because it could not fulfill its task properly, then its activity wave will contribute to global resonance. Conscious awareness and attention will form around that activity until the modification of conditions changes to make it fast working enough to cause activity of the pathway to fall out of conscious presence again.

Pseudo consciousness: dreaming

The body and brain require rest, a state we call sleep. During sleep, our sensory system largely deactivates or significantly reduces its sensitivity. Our consciousness also appears to turn off, facilitating efficient bodily rest and recovery.

However, sleep includes periods of dreaming characterized by high brain activity. Even the body can show signs of activation during dreams. We are often capable of recalling our dreams, experiencing them as if they truly happened to us, as if we were conscious. This raises the question: how do we dream?

Neurons operate through a continuous process of charging and firing. The brain's activity is marked by the synchronization of neural firing, which can be governed, driven, and modulated by the environment through the active sensory system. In the absence of defining sensory stimuli, this synchronized firing, even if it is related to momentary sensory inputs, lacks sensory-governed modulation. This can result in random activation, which can occasionally lead to emerging spontaneous modulation. Spontaneous modulation might extend to activate the shadow network with its feedback and stabilizing mechanism. As a result, a phenomenon forms that we experience as dreaming: a spontaneous conscious experience without governing sensory inputs extending it to memories.

Spontaneous modulation, in contrast to sensory-induced modulation, is a random occurrence. However, once initiated, it induces activity in connected neural pathways, meaning that dreams are not entirely random after they begin. The neural pathways most likely to be activated are relatively the most significant ones. This phenomenon elucidates why dreams frequently pertain to experiences from the individual's recent awakened periods.

Spontaneous neural synchronization is a transient, shallow activity. Consequently, the neural activity associated with dreams is present only if one awakens shortly after experiencing them. This allows for the recording of the neural activity in a more sustained form, enabling the retention of memories.

Dreaming appears to be a spontaneous emergent property of neural activity related to consciousness. However, it can play a role in memory consolidation by activating and conditioning present neural connections.

From a functional standpoint, dreaming can be regarded as a form of "pseudo-consciousness," which is consistent with the mechanisms as previously outlined. It is plausible that dreaming is a byproduct of conscious neural activity, a spontaneous secondary effect of its neural functioning during periods of lacking modulation defining sensory neural inputs.

Qualia and consciousness

Qualia, defined as the subjective experience of physically non-existing sensations, and consciousness, the awareness of our subjective existence, are both mental phenomena that appear closely intertwined. Despite their seemingly non-physical nature, both arise from neural processes within the brain. Similar appearance and function suggests potential connection between the physical processes responsible for qualia and self-awareness.

Qualia can be understood as the activity of a high-level brain state. This state involves a complex interaction and configuration of neurons, formed in response to sensory stimulation, and is characterized by broad and distant associative relationships.

Qualia's non-physical manifestation stems from two unique aspects of neural structure activity: it doesn't necessitate originating sensory input, and its appearance is distinct. The subjective experience of qualia arises from an internally present active state, rather than a physically present forming cause. Its mystery lies not in a lack of physical representation, but in its uniqueness and independence from the physical activity that initiated its formation.

Qualia are complex sensations, echoes of perception in the brain. They are physically represented by dynamically changing neural connections, which form when sensory inputs are active. The sensation of qualia is an activated, complex memory trace, formed by, but not directly caused by these sensory inputs. Qualia can be evoked by neural activity, even in the absence of the originating sensory input.

By comparing the physiology of qualia with that of consciousness, we can recognize an operating relationship between these two functions. When the network of neurons that creates qualia becomes self-sustaining and operates without the need for external stimulation—that is, when feedback connections form within the neurons—the neural network could function similarly as the network that creates self-awareness.

The formation of physically non-present sensations, qualia, and consciousness are intricately linked operations of the neural network. From this perspective, the nervous system structure responsible for consciousness may represent an evolutionary advancement of the structure that produces qualia.

Emotion and consciousness - similarities

This physiological description, however, falls short when attempting to explain all phenomena linked to qualia. How do we define fear or anger? What about love, affection, suffering, joy, or even happiness? What exactly is this peculiar, behavior-defining sensation we call emotion?

Emotions are definitely a type of qualia. Although emotions are rooted in sensory activity, it can be challenging to link specific emotions, such as suffering or happiness, to a particular sensory experience. Emotions are manifestations of qualia; however, it is difficult to apply the previously formulated physiological processes of qualia to emotions. Emotions seem to be superior to physical existence. Nevertheless, emotions exist and influence our actions, causing specific, direct nervous system activity. The connection between the nervous system and emotions is more indirect yet indisputable.

Emotions are definitely global phenomena involving a significant portion of the brain. Emotions are a special form of qualia, a physiological process that affects the nervous system's electrical activity globally and interactively through inductive and feedback mechanisms. Emotions complement, connect, trigger, and condition the nervous system mechanism of the qualia with global effects. In the physiological functioning of emotion, it is like the awareness of the nervous system; it creates intention and will, and thus develops behavior. It is an established fact that decision-making is impossible without emotion. The physiology of emotion underpins volition and provides a form of necessary motivation for action.

In living beings with sophisticated nervous systems, emotion serves as a fundamental regulator of behavior. It functions as a global signal, indicating the necessity of intervention and prompting action due to the presence, or prior presence, of the triggering stimuli. This pervasive signaling subsequently generates intricate behavioral patterns, even independently of any direct, indirect, or associated sensory activity. Consequently, this physiological process, known as emotion, plays a pivotal role in guiding actions.

Consciousness and emotion share notable similarities. Both are pervasive, globally acting phenomena within the nervous system. They are also intrinsically linked to behavior and serve as interactive influencers on intention and will. Furthermore, although both are primarily formed by causal sensory inputs, their operations are not fundamentally dependent on them.

However, they differ fundamentally in their physical mechanisms. Emotion operates globally through the release of neuro-modulator hormones, triggered by neural activity in the brain. Self-awareness, on the other hand, appears to function as a resonant feedback neural activity of a global neural network.

Since they are both related to the nervous system, they can interact with each other. Self-awareness can affect hormone production through neural activity, which can affect emotions. In turn, emotions affect self-awareness by affecting neural activity globally.

An advanced brain is a complex and intricate organ, operating with various feedback control systems. Despite this complexity, its functioning must be consistent and comprehensible.

What consciousness is for?

The philosophical debate surrounding the existence of consciousness, its evolutionary advantages, and its purpose has long endured. The hypothetical "philosophical zombie"—a being capable of all human actions without consciousness—cannot logically exist. If it could, consciousness would offer no evolutionary benefit and would have been eliminated as an evolutionary dead end, had it ever emerged.

What makes us "more" with consciousness? One main advantage of having consciousness is that it offers a highly sophisticated and effective adaptation mechanism. Using consciousness, we can learn more quickly and deeply, and act more efficiently than without consciousness. Conscious learning can utilize a broader range of inputs through the shadow network's distributed connections, more effectively identifying relevant connections that describe the external world. Conscious learning can "program" the brain, indirectly fostering a form of will, creating volition.

Consciousness enables us to draw from a wide range of past experiences, resulting in more effective problem-solving ability, which is known as intelligence. Our potential to adapt to our environment becomes significantly more flexible and successful. Furthermore, when coupled with a high-capacity memory and effective intelligence, consciousness empowers us to think efficiently and discover novel connections between diverse concepts. Moreover, and most importantly, as a profound side effect, consciousness gives us the feeling of personal existence and, consequently, of the existence of the world.

Conclusion

The resonance model is offered as a bottom-up mechanism to form consciousness, building upon the fundamental operational principles of individual neurons. When neural resonance is utilized on a dedicated global neural network, this model extends basic neural functions to complex systems, implementing various emergent functions. The mechanism of neural resonance requires no specific prerequisites beyond the pre-existing neural structure, which itself is a product of gradual evolution.

The brain exists in a state of resonance with the external world, a resonance that is both influenced by and complemented with the lasting impressions of our past experiences.

The resonances can act as self-organizing processes that create the brain's emerging properties: thoughts, feelings, awareness, attention, will, and furthermore, the brain's greatest mystery: consciousness.

The cooperation of consciousness—the capacity to perceive a state of being—with a sophisticated, abstract language for communication and adaptable modeling gives rise to the thinking human, which in turn fosters civilization.

Consciousness, the global neural resonance, however, is not a controlling or driving function, rather it integrates and supports. Through this integrative process, it produces the "me" feeling as a side effect, the subjective sense of existence, as a byproduct of its feedback function.

If global, integrating, back-propagating resonance creates consciousness, then it is a mechanistic model whose function can be replicated by a machine, either through simulation or emulation. The essence of resonance that creates emergent functions can be implemented in computers or other sufficiently complex systems by computational mechanisms. If this is consciousness, then it can be created artificially.

An entry to the 2025 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition