• Question: What is a conscense?

    Asked by brooket__ to Franco, Koi, Mark on 23 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Mark Booth

      Mark Booth answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      Hi Brooket

      are you thinking of conscience, or consciousness?

      Conscience is about making moral decisions it is a product of cultural evolution.

      consciousness is much harder to answer and nobody really knows how we turn electrochemical signals and interactions between organic molecules into first person experiences of life. we may find out the functional purpose of consciousness and find out more about which animals are conscious and cover some of the neurological and other mechanisms that underpin consciousness but will we ever actually know where our minds lurk – I don’t know.

    • Photo: Franco Falcone

      Franco Falcone answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      Consciousness is awareness of one’s existence and individuality. It is thought that this feature is not unique to humans but also found in some animals such as chimpanzees and possibly dolphins. There is an interesting experiment in which some paint is put onto the brow of chimps (without them noticing) and they are then presented with a mirror. When they look at their own image in the mirror, they notice the paint and immediately remove it with their finger looking at the mirror image. This means that they must have a ‘body-picture’ and an awareness of themselves as living beings. A simple experiment with many consequences!

      Conscience, as pointed out by Mark, is linked with Ethics and is a philosophical/cultural construct.

    • Photo: Arporn Wangwiwatsin

      Arporn Wangwiwatsin answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      Hi brooket__

      I’m guessing you meant conscience (as I recall your question from the chat ;))

      conscience is a personal sense of whether something is morally right or wrong.

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