PRE-DISCUSSION


Introduction


Consciousness has been one of the biggest mysteries of science for a very, very long time. Honestly, people don't even know the exact definition of consciousness. I will not, unfortunately, be able to solve consciousness fully here, nor do I intend to solve consciousness myself, at all; I am no biologist. Instead, I wish to merely present speculation on the underlying nature of consciousness, for the sake of thought and discussion. Please note that a lot of this is not proven, but merely speculation on my part from facts that I have discovered.


What Is Consciousness, And Ground Rules For Discussion


Before we can move on to the speculation and discussion about consciousness, we need to first define what consciousness is in the context of this discussion. While I did mention that it is debatable, if we don't come up with a clear definition to use as a framework for discussion, our speculation will devolve into nonsense. So, for the sake of maintaining consistency in our discussion, I would like to define consciousness as "The state of being in which one individual is able to think critically and constructively." If you would like to join this discussion, I would appreciate it if you either:
1) Followed this definition for the sake of consistency
OR
2) Indicate what definition of consciousness you will be referring to in your comment, so myself and others are able to distinguish when you are using a different idea of consciousness for the sake of discussion.

Please note that this does NOT mean that I am trying to discourage you from using a different definition of consciousness; any amount of information from other viewpoints is incredibly constructive to the discussion of this topic especially; however, clarity on the foundational arguments you are working off of is also important, so that individuals who are reading an argument that strays off of the originally established definition are not confused by ideas you have presented.

Also, before we begin this discussion, I would like you all to remember to be constructive in your arguments and agreements; I know that the Dreamviews community does tend to be very good about these kinds of things, but I feel like this is worth mentioning anyway.

And so, without further adieu, I will finally begin laying the groundwork for our little bit of discussion.


MY THOUGHTS



An Introduction To The Argument


I was going through reddit, reading stories about lucid dreaming, and, in one of them (Sorry, no link available for this one right now), I read about someone whose subconscious mind likes to mess with them (so really, pretty much every story about lucid dreaming, huh?). This got me wondering about why exactly so many people's subconscious minds were mischievous. I began going through YouTube to find information about the subconscious mind, and I eventually stumbled across "You Are Two" by CGP Grey. Now, I won't go over any of the information discussed in the video; I would not be able to explain it nearly as well without directly copying; but, it got me thinking about consciousness.

If we, as entities, are the result of two hemispheres of the brain that can each function independently, but interact with one another to create a more coherent, capable, and organized whole, then what are the implications of that for consciousness?


My Idea


My take on this whole situation is that we have a total of three separate minds, and you may have heard their names before. They are: The Conscious Mind, The Subconscious Mind, and The Unconscious Mind. These three minds, I believe, work together to form a coherent whole. Their respective functions and relevant information I have listed below.
  • Conscious Mind- The 'left hemisphere' of the brain. This is the interaction of the parts of the brain that come together to create our critical thinking, logic, and some of the other higher-thought processes.
  • Subconscious Mind- The 'Right Hemisphere' of the brain. Responsible for the creativity and dreaming we all do. While the subconscious mind does have logic, it is significantly reduced when compared to the Conscious Mind, which is why dreams can be so random. On the other hand, the Subconscious Mind does have critical thinking abilities of a comparable level to the Conscious mind, which it combines with its reduced amount of logic to create coherence in our dreams, despite the apparent randomness of these dreams.
  • The Unconscious Mind- Many people would use Unconscious and Subconscious interchangeably. However, for the sake of this, I will not be using this manner of definition. Unlike the other two Minds, the Unconscious Mind is, as it sounds, not conscious. Instead, the unconscious mind regulates the communication between the Conscious and Subconscious minds, and also directs primal instincts like fear, which it then communicates to your other minds.


While I do have the two conscious minds labeled by hemisphere, that probably isn't 100% correct. They both likely have parts in both hemispheres.

Anyway, I feel like this explains pretty well quite a few dreams and other processes in our brains. For example, it explains why it is so hard to create a description of the ideas behind a creative work in words, and why people's subconscious tends to behave somewhat independently in lucid dreams, often being uncooperative. There are a few things I don't have quite worked out yet, but I quite like this idea.





Please feel free to add on to this, criticize it, or discuss it!