May 24, 2022 02:51 AM
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/...-are-wrong
EXCERPTS: In recent years, several theories of consciousness have been developed that provide functional frameworks for explaining consciousness, yet almost all remain in the 3rd person perspective. [...] What these theories all lack is the dimension of time.
In a 2021 article by my Australian colleague Lachlan Kent and myself, we emphasized this under-represented aspect in the debate: time consciousness. Consciousness and the felt present moment extend in time and can be described as a continuous flow of events in a felt present moment. My feeling of thirst or the subsequent relief when drinking the iced water is not an instantaneous event but lasts a considerable time. A flow of time is perceived by an event that is anticipated (the glass of water I grasp), then experienced (drinking), and later remembered (feeling the relief). Nevertheless, we experience the unity of the present moment as a fundamental property of consciousness: The gulps of ice water running down my throat.
One example I like very much was coined by the U.S.-American philosopher Dan Lloyd. He thought about how people hear the musical phrase of the Beatles song “Hey Jude.” Anyone familiar with the song will anticipate the “Jude” as soon as Paul McCartney’s voice intones the “Hey.” Even though the word has not yet been voiced, “Jude” is already present. Likewise, when “Jude” is heard, the “Hey” remains present. That is, the line “Hey Jude” is perceived as an experienced whole. Our perceptions, movements, and interpersonal communication with others are behaviorally and experientially chunked into meaningful units with a certain extension.
These examples should convince the reader that the question of how we perceive time is fundamental to understanding temporally extended consciousness. I wrote about attempts to measure extended consciousness in a recent Psychology Today blog. Any theory of consciousness must necessarily include time consciousness, and only then can it explain how the brain achieves this feat at the level of the brain.
Lachlan Kent’s and my analysis in the paper (2021) suggested that most leading theories cannot explain continuity or flow within an extended conscious experience because they are constrained to discrete, nonconscious functional moments without extension. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: In recent years, several theories of consciousness have been developed that provide functional frameworks for explaining consciousness, yet almost all remain in the 3rd person perspective. [...] What these theories all lack is the dimension of time.
In a 2021 article by my Australian colleague Lachlan Kent and myself, we emphasized this under-represented aspect in the debate: time consciousness. Consciousness and the felt present moment extend in time and can be described as a continuous flow of events in a felt present moment. My feeling of thirst or the subsequent relief when drinking the iced water is not an instantaneous event but lasts a considerable time. A flow of time is perceived by an event that is anticipated (the glass of water I grasp), then experienced (drinking), and later remembered (feeling the relief). Nevertheless, we experience the unity of the present moment as a fundamental property of consciousness: The gulps of ice water running down my throat.
One example I like very much was coined by the U.S.-American philosopher Dan Lloyd. He thought about how people hear the musical phrase of the Beatles song “Hey Jude.” Anyone familiar with the song will anticipate the “Jude” as soon as Paul McCartney’s voice intones the “Hey.” Even though the word has not yet been voiced, “Jude” is already present. Likewise, when “Jude” is heard, the “Hey” remains present. That is, the line “Hey Jude” is perceived as an experienced whole. Our perceptions, movements, and interpersonal communication with others are behaviorally and experientially chunked into meaningful units with a certain extension.
These examples should convince the reader that the question of how we perceive time is fundamental to understanding temporally extended consciousness. I wrote about attempts to measure extended consciousness in a recent Psychology Today blog. Any theory of consciousness must necessarily include time consciousness, and only then can it explain how the brain achieves this feat at the level of the brain.
Lachlan Kent’s and my analysis in the paper (2021) suggested that most leading theories cannot explain continuity or flow within an extended conscious experience because they are constrained to discrete, nonconscious functional moments without extension. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule... (MORE - missing details)