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Asked by ilsleyteststudent to Catherine, Charlotte, Colin, Becki, Rick on 15 Jun 2013.
Question: What Is the Biological Basis of Consciousness?
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Colin Swift answered on 15 Jun 2013:
Consciousness, being aware of your surroundings, and yourself….nice easy question to start off with. I’d say it has to be the presence of senses which enable us to be aware of our surroundings, sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and the ability to think. Information being processed by the brain – so I guess the biological basis is essentially the brain equipped with sensors, such as eyes, ears etc are all the biological basis. Hope this helps!
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Catherine Fontinelle answered on 15 Jun 2013:
Life is defined by a number of things including response to stimulus.
I get to watch this in action in my job. I grow bacteria in various situations and see the changes they make based on the challenges I give them. -
Rebecca Scott answered on 16 Jun 2013:
The philosophical answer would be “I think, therefore I am”…so in that sense I would agree with Colin that the biological basis is in the brain. In terms of archaeology we look for the evidence that defines us as humans and sets us apart from other animals. So we look at our use and development of things like tools, art and religion. We attempt to identify when ‘humanity’ started to appear. We then compare the archaeology (stone tools, rock art etc) with the fossil record to try and determine which or our evolutionary ancestors were more ‘human’.
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Charlotte Dalton answered on 17 Jun 2013:
I would agree with the other answers that consciousness is defined by being able to react to things going on around you and that our brain allows us to do this. As for the cause of consciousness, where it came from and why we have it but animals don’t (or do they?)…. I have no idea! As a chemist though I am interested by the idea that it could be based on quantum theory which could mean that the atoms and molecules that make us have their own ‘consciousness’ properties
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