The Conscious Ape

Human consciousness is a process based upon language in which the external world is reflected to form the internal mental world. This reflection of status is the key feature of our human consciousness - the imaginary becomes real. The real remains real. So everything is real to us. That is our human reality. To begin ask: "What does it enable us to do?" This naturally leads to: "How does it work?" A deceptively trivial answer to the first is that it allows us to do things that other creatures cannot do - the essence of the difference between humans and non-humans. Answering the second lead us to "Models". Jaynes concluded consciousness is based on language. Crick speculated that it has something to do with a brain cell frequency of 42 hertz. Both are building the bridge of understanding from opposite ends. We humans are really quite remarkable creatures. In a fleeting instant we have come so far, it has been so hard, it will not get any easier. I suppose that this is the price we pay for the incredible power and the many other advantages that accrue to us as a result of our consciousness.John Keith Beddow is the author of 'The Conscious Ape', published 2004 under ISBN 9781932998115 and ISBN 193299811X.