levels of consciousness

There has been an evolutionary progression from simple consciousness in lesser beings through to illusory self consciousness in early humans. There is now the potential for a much larger percentage of humanity being conscious of consciousness and thus being the vanguard for the cosmos getting to know itself and for peace in our time.

BEING CONSCIOUS.

If an organism can sense and respond to changes in its environment it is conscious. This process is embodied in many ways. Some  examples follow.

geotropism

If a seed is planted upside down it will sense this and send its stem upward and its root downward. Some flowers close their petals when it gets dark and open them when it gets light. Plants that eat insects are capable of very rapid responses.

Single celled animals are aware of changing patterns of light, temperature and chemicals, and they respond by moving towards or away from them. The cell membrane is the surface where various types of external stimuli are noticed. They then cause reactions inside cells. The reactions are in terms of life processes such as nutrition, respiration, and excretion etc. The various life processes exist to ensure successful reproduction.

Herring Gull

Mature herring gulls have a bright yellow beak with a prominent red spot. Chicks in the nest see the parent coming and gape expecting to be fed. Scientists made artificial beaks. Pure yellow and pure red beaks had no effect but yellow beaks with a red spot caused the gaping reaction. The stimulus caused a response so there is consciousness.

There are many examples of stimuli causing automatic responses. Experiments on nest building in certain species of birds have demonstrated the power and sophistication of the genetic control of behaviour. Chicks were taken from the nest and raised in cages with no access to nest building materials and no exposure to nests. This was repeated over several generations and when nest building materials were eventually made available perfect nests were built. Those birds did not have to go to school – the genes hard wired them with all they needed to know.  Nature provided so nurture did not have to.

As a general rule bird behaviour is based mainly on instinct (nature) while mammal behaviour is based mainly on learning (nurture). But there is a lot of interplay.

BEING SELF –CONSCIOUS

Human beings are hard wired to learn a language – nature has supplied the genes; but the particular language that is learned depends on the environment – nurture supplies the details of the language and thus the world view of the speaker. Human babies are born needing much care and attention – we are learning machines and there are many options.

Language began about 100,000 years ago. Previous to this our ancestors were conscious in the impersonal way outlined above for plants and various animals. But everything changed once nouns and verbs evolved. Reality is a seamless whole but language cuts it into discrete bits and labels them. Fundamental labels were for ‘self’ and ‘other’ and this gave the illusion of dualism.

The concept of ‘self’ gave rise to the notions of being self-ish (greedy and parochial) and of being self-less (generous and cosmopolitan). There came to be the language of ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’. The enervating illusion of ‘self’ came into being and flourished during the move from early hunting and gathering to 21st century globalisation.


In reality there is only the Oneness which is everything. Dualism is an illusion but the Abrahamic religions are founded on it. The individuated self with its desires and aversions is an illusion but consumer capitalism is built on it. A multitude of illusory viewpoints and world views drive contradictory belief systems - and wars are based on them.

Being self conscious is possible only when there is language. But the notion of an individuated self is an illusion. The ‘self’ has no physical properties or location. It is a cognate equivalent of Santa Claus and the tooth fairy.

Most of today’s humans are unaware that their ‘self’ does not exist as a stand alone entity. Most people believe that their self is real and that it has desires, aversions and a mind of its own.  That belief has survival value and has evolved to guide human social development.

BUT - the belief is responsible for more sorrow than joy - BUT that is not relevant in evolutionary terms. The relevance comes from the patterns of consumption that have arisen and the damage inflicted on the planet by capitalist consumers.

BEING CONSCIOUS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Axial Age in human development lasted from 800 to 200BC. Those were times of rapid social change that called for new ways of thinking and being in the world.  Various sages promoted quiet sitting and, by taking thought, changed their minds.

• The troublesome nature of the illusory self became apparent - no self, no problem
• Renunciation of wordly stuff arose without effort
• Cosmic consciousness (interbeing) was awakened in various human heads
• The Oneness was experienced in all its numinosity 
• The inadequacy of language to deal with matters spiritual became apparent
• The advantages of quiet sitting were promoted
• The interplay between consciousness and unconsciousness was recognised

The meditators of the Axial Age may not have reached a critical mass. Their insights were usually institutionalised by the dead hand of established authorities. Impact was therefore very limited.

Things have not changed much up until present times. But, arguably, there is now the potential for widespread promotion of radically alternative thinking. We have widespread angst, and the technology to address it.

There is a fast growing consilience between multidisciplinary western scientific researchers and long standing eastern practitioners to investigate and promote meditation and mindfulness. Consciousness of consciousness will be in a higher percentage of human minds. The planet will thus be more peaceful and sustainably green.