Re: Evolution of consciousness

Mark Isaak <specimenNOSPAM@curioustaxon.omy.net> writes:

My views on the evolution of consciousness are starting to gel.
>
1. Rudimentary nervous systems evolve.
2. Brains evolve, capable of memory and of decisions other than reflex.
3. Those decisions probably work better if the brain has a model of
the world to work with. So such a model evolves.
4. Some creatures live socially. Their brains need a model of that
important aspect of the world: the fellow beings one lives with,
including how they think.
5. So we've now got a model of minds. How about if we apply it to *our
own mind*? That might make our thinking about interactions with
others' minds more efficient.
6. Viola! Consciousness!
>
Does that make sense to people?  Is it time for me to write a book on
the subject? (Do you think publishers will want the book to be more
than 106 words long?)
>
There's also the problem of testing it. I'm open to suggestions there,
too. Step 4 implies that the model of how we think need not agree with
how we think, much as the mental model of our world is flat, not
spherical. This has at least some confirmation (e.g., blindness to
many biases). More would be better.

You might want to read Nicholas Humphrey:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Humphrey

I see he did a lecture "How did consciousness evolve?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QWaZp_2I1k

Back in the days when television wasn't aimed at vegetable based life, I
think he had a TV series about consciousness, but I have forgotten what
it was called.