# Consciousness: what is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Philosophy of Mind\ **Created:** [May 27, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137 "2026-05-27T13:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![felipec](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/felipec/32/759_2.png) [@felipec](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/felipec)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 10:17am UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/21 "2026-05-28T10:17:02Z")
I think you are on the right track. I’d like to provide some examples to show my theory of consciousness. Consider a starfish which has a nervous system, but no brain. You can cut part of a starfish and it can grow into a new starfish. These kinds of animals likely have no consciousness, because there’s no “me”, no self. Now consider a nematode worm, which does have a brain. Cut the head and the animal dies. Now the animal has to have some understanding of “my head”, “my tail”. They must have a sense of “me”, so there’s a self, so there likely is some sort of consciousness. Animals with a brain have to protect their head more than other parts of their body, but just with evolutionary biological adaptations like a skull, but with their behavior as well. So the brain has to protect the brain. But why would evolution favor such an expensive bet as a brain? Because animals with a brain can make much more intelligent decisions, like mapping their environment, having a sense of direction, detecting and avoiding threats, taking risks, etc. All of these require some sort of understanding of the self. “I have to flee”, “I am hungry”, “I am hurt”, “I am hurt, but not so badly”, “I can take this fight”, etc. So a consciousness is the part of a brain that looks back at itself in order to make better decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Tom\_Storm](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Tom_Storm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 10:18am UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/22 "2026-05-28T10:18:35Z")
> [@StrmsekKlemen](#): > > Is it possible that only a sufficiently developed consciousness develops an inner self? That’s a fairly conventional physicalist supposition. But a plant turning to the sun can be explained mechanically without proving there is any inner experience there at all: and that is the hard problem. Saying consciousness simply increases with evolution sidesteps the actual question: how does physical matter give rise to subjective experience or an inner self in the first place? I should say though that this is not really a question that occupies my thinking, nor do I have a solution. I think we are still largely marooned in Cartesian presuppositions about mind and matter. The question continues to be explored by philosophers, but no account has yet gained anything close to definitive acceptance. Our fellow member @Wayfarer is particularly good at this issue and can present the problem pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Tom\_Storm](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Tom_Storm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 10:19am UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/23 "2026-05-28T10:19:57Z")
> [@StrmsekKlemen](#): > > thought you were referring to the explanation What is this in reference too? ---
**Author:** ![jkop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@jkop](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/jkop)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 10:41am UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/24 "2026-05-28T10:41:29Z")
> [@Andy](#): > > _Why is the performance of these functions accompanied by experience?_ A simple explanation of the functions leaves this question open.” I experience and can therefore know and more or less accurately explain what it’s like to be me. We can’t have identical experiences because any experience is ontologically subjective (it exists only for the one who is having it). But nothing prevents us from sharing knowledge of what it’s like to be the ones we are. We can have epistemically objective knowledge of our ontologically subjective experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Wayfarer](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/wayfarer/32/123_2.png) [@Wayfarer](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Wayfarer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 11:13am UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/25 "2026-05-28T11:13:30Z")
> [@Tom\_Storm](#): > > But a plant turning to the sun can be explained mechanically Not mechanical, organic. They’re different. ---
**Author:** ![Patterner](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/patterner/32/192_2.png) [@Patterner](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Patterner)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/26 "2026-05-28T12:13:33Z")
I think consciousness is very simple, basic. I think it is a fundamental property of the universe; the capacity to subjectively experience. Everything experiences - can only experience - its own being. Humans are very complex things. Many information processing systems and feedback loops. All of that subjectively experiences itself as things like emotion, abstract thinking, awareness, self-awareness. Things that do not have the information processing systems and feedback loops that humans have, obviously, cannot experience themselves the same way we do. A photon has no mechanisms for information processing, feedback loops, etc. It can only experience itself as it exists. We might think that’s nothing of any significance. But it can only experience what it is. So there is no detail to consciousness; no difference between the consciousness of different things. No such thing as “human consciousness” that is different from the consciousness of anything roster. No “human consciousness”, “bat consciousness”, “sunflower consciousness”, “photon consciousness”, etc. Rather, everything experiences its own being, and the differences in detail are the differences between the things subjectively experiencing. The things we are conscious _of_ are not what consciousness _is_. A human’s subjective experience of the information processing systems and feedback loops is no more what consciousness _is_ than a photon’s subjective experience of traveling at the speed of light is. ---
**Author:** ![Jamal](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/jamal/32/95_2.png) [@Jamal](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Jamal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/27 "2026-05-28T14:26:06Z")
> [@Wayfarer](#): > > Not mechanical, organic. They’re different. But how? Cells elongate on the shaded side of the stem when the hormone auxin moves away from the illuminated side. Light causes auxin redistribution, which in turn causes cell elongation. Are you trying to say that this mechanical explanation leaves something out? But even if it does, that surely doesn’t detract from the power and relevance of the mechanical explanation. What exactly is “not mechanical”? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/frank/32/216_2.png) [@Frank](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/28 "2026-05-28T15:05:59Z")
> [@StrmsekKlemen](#): > > Now I’m wondering: where are the weak points? Does the view make sense? It does make sense, but also consider that consciousness is in our vantage point on time. Plus there are other ways to use the word “consciousness” such as functional consciousness, which includes subconscious processes. Also there’s an interesting attempt to sort of list the specifications of phenomenal consciousness in Integrated Information Theory. ---
**Author:** ![StrmsekKlemen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@StrmsekKlemen](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/StrmsekKlemen)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/29 "2026-05-28T16:58:08Z")
Od consciousness is the same everywhere – in me, in a bat, in a photon – then I don’t understand why there are differences between us. I can think about myself, remember yesterday, plan for tomorrow. A photon can’t do that. If the consciousness is the same in both, where does that difference come from? In my view, it’s exactly in the level of development. Consciousness is not some basic property of the universe that is the same everywhere. Evolution built it slowly. First, bare sensing – like a plant turning towards the sun. Then a sense of self – like an animal that knows it must protect its head. Then the self – memory, story, thinking about oneself. A photon has none of that. No body, no brain, no memory. So it has neither a point nor a line. If that is consciousness, it’s so empty that the word “consciousness” almost loses its meaning. Maybe you’re right that everything that exists somehow “is”. But that’s not consciousness to me. Consciousness is when something can choose and learn from it. And for that, you need a body, a brain, and time. ---
**Author:** ![felipec](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/felipec/32/759_2.png) [@felipec](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/felipec)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/30 "2026-05-28T17:17:59Z")
But that feeling arises because the brain is looking back at itself. If a plant doesn’t have a feeling of what it feels to be itself, then it doesn’t have a consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![StrmsekKlemen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@StrmsekKlemen](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/StrmsekKlemen)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/31 "2026-05-28T18:22:17Z")
> [@felipec](#): > > But that feeling arises because the brain is looking back at itself. That’s is self in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![felipec](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/felipec/32/759_2.png) [@felipec](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/felipec)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/32 "2026-05-28T18:55:09Z")
How can the brain be the self if 99% of what happens in it is outside your control and you aren’t even aware of it? ---
**Author:** ![hypericin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71e660/32.png) [@hypericin](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/hypericin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/33 "2026-05-28T19:31:08Z")
> [@StrmsekKlemen](#): > > The brain developed it because it helped with survival. Like an animal that has to decide quickly – fight or run. Consciousness is a tool, nothing different from sharp eyesight or fast legs. I agree that it is ultimately a tool. But a tool designed for slow decisions, not fast. Consciousness is terrible at fact decisions. But it is able to consider and integrate multiple factors, not only all the senses, but memories, emotions. Even thoughts themselves can become the objects of consideration. In order for a brain to do this, it needs a way to represent all of these factors to itself. Not just to see and hear, but to represent seeing and hearing, such that seeing and hearing and everything else can each be considered. These representations are phenomenal consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![hypericin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71e660/32.png) [@hypericin](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/hypericin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/34 "2026-05-28T19:40:44Z")
> [@felipec](#): > > All of these require some sort of understanding of the self. “I have to flee”, “I am hungry”, “I am hurt”, “I am hurt, but not so badly”, “I can take this fight”, etc. Hard disagree. There is no need for a self so that a organism behaves this way. All sorts of behaviors are instinctual. Protecting the self, and the brain, is just one more instinctual behavior. You can program a robot to protect it’s brain. Self is the consequence of consciousness, not the reason for it. Not all phenomenal awareness comes from the external world. Some comes from the body, and some are thoughts. This distinction between that which is the world, and that which is me, is the primordial foundation of the self. ---
**Author:** ![StrmsekKlemen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@StrmsekKlemen](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/StrmsekKlemen)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/35 "2026-05-28T19:51:19Z")
For me, the ego is a separate part. The brain has constant stimulation from the body, every touch, every movement… Bodily functions work on a subconscious level, which is not part of the ego and also not part of consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![StrmsekKlemen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@StrmsekKlemen](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/StrmsekKlemen)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/36 "2026-05-28T19:53:36Z")
Maybe that’s how the ego developed as well? All the data from our body. I am not just a part of the brain but my whole body. ---
**Author:** ![jkop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@jkop](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/jkop)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/37 "2026-05-28T19:56:25Z")
> [@hypericin](#): > > to represent seeing and hearing, such that seeing and hearing and everything else can each be considered. These representations are phenomenal consciousness. My favorite example of an animal without brain but with the ability to detect and hide from predators is the sea urchin. Without brain it’s unlikely that it constructs mental representations. ---
**Author:** ![felipec](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/felipec/32/759_2.png) [@felipec](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/felipec)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/38 "2026-05-28T19:57:20Z")
> [@hypericin](#): > > All sorts of behaviors are instinctual. Not all. The first degree of “I must flee from an area that is too hot” might be instinctual, but the second degree of “if there’s good enough food shall I override my instinct to flee from an area that is too hot?”. That is thinking, not just instinct. It requires both a consciousness and a notion of self. The brain introspecting its own thoughts is thinking, and from this process emerges consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Patterner](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/www.thephilosophyforum.com/patterner/32/192_2.png) [@Patterner](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/Patterner)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/39 "2026-05-28T20:17:22Z")
> [@StrmsekKlemen](#): > > Od consciousness is the same everywhere – in me, in a bat, in a photon – then I don’t understand why there are differences between us. I can think about myself, remember yesterday, plan for tomorrow. A photon can’t do that. Correct. A photon’s consciousness - its subjective experience - can only be of its own being. It cannot experience thinking, remembering, or planning. > [@StrmsekKlemen](#): > > If the consciousness is the same in both, where does that difference come from? I have used vision as an analogy. I can look at a sheet of blank white paper. I can look at a tree. I can look at the Aurora borealis. I can look at the Grand Canyon. I can look at my wife. My vision is not different depending on what I look at. The difference comes from the things I look at. I think everything is conscious. Everything subjectively experiences. The nature of things varies widely. Therefore, the subjective experience of different things varies widely. The consciousness of photon is very different from the consciousness of a human. ---
**Author:** ![StrmsekKlemen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@StrmsekKlemen](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/u/StrmsekKlemen)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137/40 "2026-05-28T20:39:25Z")
Like evolution of consciousness? Yes, it’s possible that everything has some level of consciousness, but I think it’s a property of life. I still think that consciousness is a point in time, you are aware now, here. Consciousness chooses a decision based on the ego. [Previous page](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137.md?page=1) [Next page](https://www.thephilosophyforum.com/t/consciousness-what-is-it/1137.md?page=3)