Consciousness and Free Will.

Question

According to the experiments that some neurobiologists have performed and according to what a large set of philosophers maintain, consciouness is a pure illusion, a mere side-effect of neuronal functions.

Everything happening in the universe is genarated by an uninterruped chain of cause/effect, does not matter if there is a deterministic relationship between these two events or not.

"Free Will", as commonly defined, cannot exist as people behave like simple material bodies.

My question is: if this is true, why do we need a consciousness at all? Everything in the world would work exactly the way it is without consciousness: people (i.e. material bodies) would talk and interact with each other without "realizing" what is happening.

Sound waves produced by mouths would be intercepted by ears, transformed into electric impulses in the brains, which would then trigger new impulses, possibly triggering a physical action (and so on...)

Just like every other physical phenomenon, everything would just "happen".

What´s the point of consciousness??

I cannot deny that it exists, as I know that I have one.

Answer 1

The point of consciousness is to allow you survive and reproduce so your genes can move through time. Simple!

Answer 2

Good question !! With a little effort it may be 'easy' to understand.

Consider this... what if its your neuronal functions that are actually an illusion arising out of the 'consciousness' that as you agree... exists.

People that you see are behaving like simple material bodies because thats what they are choosing to do so from their 'free will'. If they wished they could always use their 'free will' and choose to behave in some other way instead.

We do not 'need' consciousness... we 'are' consciousness. What you are perceiving through any of your sensory organs is ultimately being perceived by your 'consciousness' and so if you take the 'consciousness' out of the equation, then 'nothing' can exists.

Interestingly if 'nothing' 'exists' then it would mean that 'nothing' is got to be 'something'. And if there is awareness of this 'nothingness' that is also 'something' then it in itself would mean that there is someone or something that is 'conscious' about its existence. That in itself can only be 'consciousness' and it could not be possible for this 'consciousness' to become aware of the existence of this 'something' unless it was aware of 'itself'. And this 'awareness' = 'consciousness'.

As such it turns out that this 'nothingness' that is also 'something' is one and the same with that which has become aware of it... the 'consciousness'.

So in conclusion, there is nothing that could be perceived as something without the existence of 'consciousness'.

Answer 3

I'm afraid you've got the wrong definition of Free Will (Liber Arbiter in Latin). The term has been coined and defined by philosophers as Man's ability to rationally control his instincts and emotions.  

Answer 4

Testing and research can be (and has been) skewed to "prove" anything the researcher is looking for.  

I believe, based on my study of the Bible, that conscienciousness is the seat of the soul.  Further, mankind is not a physical being with a spirit.  We are actually spiritual beings and only housed in a physical body for a brief span of time.  Since we are spiritual beings, and consciencousness is the seat of the soul THAT is why we need consciencousness.

Answer 5

The Fortune Cookie ♥ says:

How do you know life even exists?

What if you, as a person, were the only spirit in the world?

What if this life didn't exists.

This is what we make of life.

It's philosophy. Love it. Live it.

=)

Love, The Fortune Cookie ♥  

Answer 6

Just like every other physical phenomenon, everything would just "happen".

How would anyone know what would or would not happen if there is no conscious living being to witness it?  Can a stone witness or experience anything? Even a child understands that a body without consciousness is dead and cannot be experiencing anything. 'Scientists' give up on consciousness because it cannot be measured, probed, manipulated, etc like physical matter. This doesn't mean that consciousness doesn't exist, it simply means they don't have an adequate means to understand it. To get around this inconvenience while dogmatically clinging to empiricism they come up with crazy ideas that defy logic and common sense.

To understand consciousness it is necessary to purify consciousness and isolate it from adulteration with material desires. This is accomplished in the systems of yoga espoused in the Vedas. When our consciousness is purified we realize that consciousness is the only important element in the universe. Gross and subtle matter exist only as elements to be used and discarded by the conscious living being as he moves from one body to the next life after life trying to fulfill his desires for happiness.