THE TRUTH ABOUT HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS
The most important thing about us is that we are aware. That leads to notions
that there is something non-physical in us that information from the senses goes
to. We cannot touch our thoughts and they seem like spirits, non-material
things, that we summon up.
Religion founds itself on this perception though there are exceptions. Some
religions such as Mormonism hold that ultimately spirit is a material thing
itself.
Free will is based on the notion that you have the power to transcend physical
constraints or any constraints and do what you will.
These things happen because we are programmed to exaggerate how good our
awareness is. We also trick ourselves on top of that.
Consciousness can be called “about-ness”. It is being aware of something. In fact
being aware of your beloved partner entails some illusions. You are aware of
things about them. Sounds. Traits. Shape. Smell. You have a picture of the
person in your head. The list of things about them is endless. Yet each thing
you think you know about them is more complicated than you realise. It's more
about how you see it than anything else. There is far more to any person than
what you can learn about them from talking to them every minute of your life.
There is far more to what any person does than what you can learn from them by
talking all that time. If they are a doctor, you know stuff that is very broadly
accurate but that is all you can hope for. It is not as clear as you tell
yourself.
It is warned that we must not think of consciousness as a pure or 100% reality.
Psychologists tell us you do not need it for an action to be all yours. There
are forces in you that you are not aware of that prepare for a possible thing
you may do. There are unconscious forces at work WHEN you finally act. There are
also non-conscious forces as well. For example, you may not realise you don’t
have enough water taken and this is affecting your decision making. To be
consciously acting is not JUST consciously acting and it does not matter. The
notion of a pure consciousness is in fact so like the notion of a supernatural
soul that it is not fit for any sensible or atheist or natural or secular
anthropology or psychology.
Religionists try to argue that our power to have thoughts seems to be based on
something non-physical. They say that your thoughts are not things in the
physical sense therefore they are ultimately caused by something that is not a
thing either such as the soul and the soul is caused by God who is a totally
immaterial being. But to cause – whatever – does not mean that the cause has to
be like the whatever. The wind causes the apple to fall but that does not mean
the apple is made of air.
The argument that consciousness is a mystery is distorted by
religion to allege that the mere fact that it exists may point to a
miracle working conscious God. But we know far more than just the
bare fact that consciousness is there and is real. We know the
equally important truth that brain damage wrecks it and diminishes
it. This does not support the idea of consciousness being like a
ghost or spirit. So if there is a mystery it is not a religious type
one. Leaping to God is an overreach.
It is easy to see why we think our consciousness is magical and why we think it
can survive death. It is anything but magical when you look at the facts.
As it poses as telling us more than it actually does, and as free will would
require informed choice, it is not the great basis for free will it seems to be
either.
If God created your soul and it is the same as your consciousness then God is a
liar.