Understanding Consciousness: A Big Riddle#

Consciousness is probably the biggest puzzle nature throws at us. At its most basic level, it’s simply what allows us to be aware – aware of what’s around us and aware of what’s going on inside ourselves.

But here’s the tricky part: thinking about consciousness often sends us in circles. We all feel like we know what it is, right? It’s what you’re experiencing right now, sitting here reading this. Yet, the moment we try to actually define it precisely, it’s like trying to grab smoke – it slips through our fingers.

And it’s not just regular folks like us who struggle! Even philosophers and scientists are wrestling with this. Different schools of thought and ideas clash, but honestly, nobody has truly nailed down what consciousness is. It’s a bit unsettling, isn’t it, that we don’t fully understand what makes us aware of ourselves and the world around us?

In this fuzzy area, consciousness and intelligence are linked, but it’s important to remember they are not the same thing. (We’ll likely dive deeper into theories about consciousness and intelligence in other discussions).

Where Did Consciousness Come From? (The Evolution Story)#

Just like many things that make us human, our consciousness likely evolved gradually from simpler forms. It’s seen as a product of evolution by natural selection.

Think of it as an immense process spanning several hundred million years. Over this vast time, countless tiny steps occurred, creating a sort of slow, continuous rise in consciousness – a gradient of consciousness.

So, the big question is: What was the very first step on this long journey? How did things go from being non-conscious to having even a basic awareness, eventually leading to the complex consciousness we humans have today?

The Starting Point: Stone or Something Else?#

Let’s consider a stone. The general agreement is that a stone is not conscious. However, it’s worth noting that even this isn’t universally accepted. Some people, following a philosophy called panpsychism, suggest that even a lump of rock might have some kind of inner life.

But practically speaking, there’s no real basis for this idea because stones never show behaviour. We can’t prove or disprove any supposed inner life they might have.

The Shift to Life: The Mobile Self#

A more common place to start thinking about the origins of consciousness is with living things.

A living thing, or a “self,” is essentially a part of the universe that keeps itself going and makes more of itself. To do this, it needs energy. And this is where being aware of the world starts to become useful.

The original purpose of consciousness was probably pretty straightforward: to help a mobile self that was running low on energy find a new supply of food.

Early Life: Simple Movement#

On the tiniest scales of life, you don’t necessarily need to be aware to find food.

Take Trichopax adhaerens, for example. This is one of the simplest animals around. It moves around randomly, without direction.

• When it bumps into food, it slows down.
• When food isn’t around, it speeds up.

This simple approach is surprisingly effective! It means the little creature naturally spends more time where there is food than where there isn’t. But it doesn’t move towards a specific goal, and it doesn’t need to be conscious of its environment to do this.

The First Major Step: Directional Movement Based on Inner State#

The first significant move towards consciousness likely happened when mobile selves started to move in a particular direction. They began moving towards things that were good for them (like food) and away from things that were less good (like something that wanted to eat them).

Let’s look at Dugesia tigrina, a tiny worm known for its rather funny-looking face. This worm introduces a new layer:

• Sometimes the worm is hungry.
• Sometimes it’s not.

This is key! When the worm moves, it’s not just an automatic reaction to something outside. Its actions depend on its inner, physiological state – whether it’s hungry or full.

• When it has just eaten, the worm is less energetic.
• But when it’s been starved for a while, it will actively move itself in the direction of tasty things.

It uses chemoreceptors on its head to “smell” its surroundings and guide itself towards the strongest food scent. After finding and eating a meal, our worm buddy heads back to a dark, safe spot to digest in peace until hunger strikes again.

Adding Vision: Perception at a Distance#

However, animals that just follow a smell don’t really have a concrete goal in sight. They still don’t have a sense of where exactly they are heading.

So, the next logical step up the ladder of consciousness is adding perception from a distance, like vision.

• Vision adds context and depth to the world we perceive.
• It gives us a sense of the space we and our food exist in.
• This adds a whole new dimension to awareness and is a huge step towards the kind of consciousness we’re more familiar with.

Having an optical apparatus (like an eye) allows a creature to visualize its goal and lock onto it.

The Move Inwards: Internal Representation and Memory#

But even with vision, a self can only chase its food as long as it can see it. So, the next crucial step had to happen inside the creature.

To be able to think about or “see” food even when it’s not there, a self needs to create some kind of inner representation of the world.

• Because of this internal map of what’s important, an animal can keep looking for food even if it temporarily disappears from sight or goes beyond its senses.
• It can stay focused on its goal (the food) and its desire to get it.

Now, this “self” lives in a world it can start to become familiar with. The ability to remember things has emerged. Thanks to memory, animals can get sidetracked for a few seconds but then quickly pick up their search path again.

A related idea is called ‘object permanence’. This means understanding that things continue to exist even when you can’t see them anymore. Some mammals and birds (and maybe other animals too) have this cognitive skill. Interestingly:

• Human babies usually develop this around eight months old.
• Baby chickens show this ability within a day or two of hatching!

A Sense of Time and Anticipation#

Being able to remember something when it’s not present strongly suggests at least a basic sense of time. And having a sense of time is a big deal on the consciousness ladder.

It might also allow a self to look forward from the present moment and anticipate the future.

For example, adult chickens can resist eating a meal placed right in front of them if they expect to get a bigger meal later as a reward for waiting. This kind of delayed gratification means they can visualize a reward that only exists in the future, which is something even adult humans can find challenging!

Western scrub jays are particularly good at delayed gratification. They show an even more advanced sense of the future when they hide food in a cache to dig up later.

They even take it a step further: the scrub jays will rehide their food if they realize another potential thief has been watching them. This is remarkable! It suggests they understand that there are other hungry creatures out there who are also aware and see the world from their own, different perspective. Crafty scrub jays can, in a way, “read the mind” of their fellow birds.

Mind-Reading and Language#

This ability to “mind-read” – understanding that others have their own thoughts and perspectives – is crucial for higher levels of consciousness. By being able to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes, you can outsmart a rival or feel empathy for a hungry friend.

Then comes language. Language elevates the ability to “read minds” and think about what’s absent to an entirely new level.

• Words let us build hypotheses about the world.
• They enable us to make detailed plans.
• Crucially, they let us communicate these ideas with others.

Words also give us the power to think about ourselves and our place in the vast universe, and yes, even to think about our own consciousness (which is exactly what we’re doing now, and what we’ll explore more in future videos).

The Origin Story Revisited#

So, what’s the bottom line on where our consciousness comes from?

It likely started as the simple act of a hungry self moving directly towards a food source. This gave these creatures a big survival advantage over others that just moved randomly or didn’t move at all.

Essentially, it probably all began with the basic, powerful urge for more food.

Given this history, maybe it’s not so surprising that even with our sophisticated consciousness – the kind that lets us dream about space, build huge skyscrapers, or get lost in novels – we still can’t stop thinking about where our next meal is coming from!

In fact, collectively, we’ve put so much effort and cleverness into getting food over the eons that nowadays, for many of us, we can just make food appear with very little conscious effort at all.

Find Out More & Support#

This video is just part one of a three-part series looking at some of the big questions about life and the universe. This project was made possible thanks to a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

You can find all the sources and suggestions for further reading in the video description. Also, you can grab the book on consciousness by Rupert Glasgow for free – there’s a link for that below as well!

If you’d like to help support making more videos like this, you can do so on patreon.com. Or, check out our shop to get one of our posters.