On Consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience or awareness of internal and external existence.
Just like the meaning of life, consciousness remains one of the greatest unresolved mysteries to date. Despite the efforts of philosophers and scientists and countless debates on the topic, it remains one of the most controversial ideas, with constant gaps in fully understanding the conscious mind.
While some people see the futility in trying to understand consciousness and would give up on this search for an explanation, some enjoy at least pretending to understand some basic concepts concerning the conscious mind. And the reason for that is not for appearing smart or well-read in a bar meeting a gorgeous lady, but because of the fun of it.
While there are many books, blogs, and internet discussions on the topic, I would like to list my four favorite theories for the rise of consciousness. Note that these theories are mainly from an evolutionary standpoint, but if you are more concerned with the philosophical standpoint on consciousness, I ask you to stay nevertheless, and I promise that these theories are equally (actually more in my opinion) interesting.
Communication Theory
The first theory I find interesting is the theory of consciousness as a means to communicate more effectively. The theory proposes that we have to find a better way to communicate with each other to survive. Being conscious made us think more deeply about our problems, and with the rise of our intelligence, we could express those problems much more articulately. When our predecessors were left with increasingly more complex problems, they could more easily associate with each other.
The said theory can be valid even in today’s world. Not all of us enjoy thinking deeply about something when we gather around with our friends or colleagues for a cup of coffee, but most friendships that stand the test of time are the ones in which we frequently share some of the deep thoughts that come to our minds. That sharing of deeper ideas reaches new heights when we are sad or have some sort of unrelenting problem. With the emergence of our cognition, evolution made us conscious to be able to explain what troubles us and to better understand what troubles those around us.
Knowledge-Seeking Theory
The second theory I find interesting is that the rise of consciousness was the fastest way evolution had to make us acquire as much knowledge as we can.
In other words, our brain (predominantly our prefrontal cortex) started to get bigger and more complex in order to vastly enhance the frequency at which we ask certain questions. Those who were wondering about the nature of our world and our place within it had the greatest chances of survival.
This theory is a bit of a stretch, considering that it is impossible to know the exact time we started asking such profound life questions. Even if we manage to do so, asking questions such as what the meaning of life is, by and large very different from questions that made us more capable of surviving in such a harsh environment of our predecessors.
"Those who were wondering about the nature of our world and our place within it had the greatest chances of survival."
Byproduct theory
A third and more pessimistic theory is the one explaining our conscious brains as a simple byproduct of their sudden expansion.
One of the pioneers in Darwin’s theory of evolution, Thomas Henry Huxley, defends this theory in an essay titled On the Hypothesis that Animals are Automata, and Its History.
In the essay, Huxley argues that consciousness is a causally inert effect of neural activity— "as the steam-whistle which accompanies the work of a locomotive engine is without influence upon its machinery"
Considering that evolutionary change is not a smooth process, the pessimistic approach might be the most valid. For whatever reason evolution made us conscious, this theory argues that the evolutionary rise of consciousness might be a sort of mistake. While the pessimistic argument makes sense in its later form, it is safe to assume that the beginning of the conscious mind had a pragmatic purpose, and the collateral effect came some time afterward.
Morality Theory
The fourth argument for the development of the conscious brain is the one that proposes that our morality stems from the evolutionary development of our consciousness.
The innate morality we possess may be a byproduct of evolution’s effort to look after and take care of one another. Being morally good increases our chance of staying in the gene pool- arguably the most important task of the evolutionary process. Another way we can look at the usefulness of being morally good is what stands at the exact opposite of the moral spectrum. Being morally bad decreases the chance of your survival, especially in the times of our ancestors. Even if you were an expert hunter or a master in building shelters and navigating the forest, once you suffer an injury or fall ill, you will almost certainly fall out of the gene pool.
But are there any proofs that our ancestors took care of one another? As a matter of fact, there is an interesting anecdote concerning the earliest form of our morality.
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist who studied many cultural aspects of early civilizations. During one of her lectures, a student asked her what the first signs of civilization were, expecting an answer to be something like early forms of tools or language, but he got a completely different answer. The earliest sign of civilization was a healed femur, said Mead. Femur, being the thigh bone, she then went on to explain that a healed femur is a sign that someone took care of an injured person. A broken femur in animals is almost always a death sentence since an injured animal cannot hunt, search for food and water, or escape from predators. Someone close to the injured had to carry them to safety, bind up their wounds, and bring all the necessities needed for proper recovery.
That is the indisputable proof of compassion in the early days.
While thinking about consciousness is not a pragmatic way of spending your free time, there is a pragmatic sense in understanding the possible outcomes of this evolutionary gift.
Maybe we will never unravel the mystery that sparked the origin of humanity, but thanks to it, we can understand each other much more deeply.
Isn’t it fascinating that we can feel the sorrow and grief of someone across the globe by the mere look of a YouTube video? We can physically feel our chests tightening and our hearts beating faster when we see a picture of a starving child. That child is no one close to us, and no one we will ever meet, and yet we share their misery through this unique human experience called consciousness.
Summary:
In this blog post, I explore the elusive concept of consciousness, defining it as awareness of internal and external existence, and delving into four evolutionary theories explaining its origin:
- Communication Theory – Suggests consciousness evolved to enhance complex communication, allowing humans to articulate problems and emotions, which strengthened social bonds and cooperation.
- Knowledge-Seeking Theory – Proposes consciousness arose to accelerate knowledge acquisition, especially through asking deep, existential questions, which may have given early humans a survival advantage.
- Byproduct Theory – A more pessimistic view, championed by Thomas Huxley, posits consciousness is merely a side effect of complex brain activity, like a steam whistle on a train—present but functionally irrelevant.
- Morality Theory – Argues that consciousness enabled moral behavior, fostering compassion and caregiving, which improved group survival. The story of a healed femur, cited by anthropologist Margaret Mead, exemplifies early evidence of human empathy.