Bewusstsein

Consciousness - more widespread than previously assumed - is the feeling of being alive. It is not a computational process nor a clever trick. In this book, Christof Koch provides a straightforward definition of consciousness as conscious experience, ranging from the most mundane to the most extraordinary - the very feeling of living. Psychology explores the cognitive processes underlying conscious perception. Neuroscience investigates the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not the liver or another organ? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable tissue, an object in the universe that obeys the same physical laws as any other object, produce subjective experience? To find an answer to this question, Koch argues, one needs a quantitative theory that starts with experience and progresses to the brain. In this book, the author outlines such a theory based on integrated information theory. Koch describes how the theory explains many facts about the neurology of consciousness and how it has even led to the construction of a consciousness-measuring device applicable in clinical settings. The theory predicts that many, perhaps all, animals experience life in many facets; consciousness is much more widespread than generally believed. Contrary to popular belief, however, Koch argues that programmable computers will not possess consciousness. Even a perfect software model of the brain is not conscious - it merely simulates consciousness. Consciousness is not a specific type of computational process; it is not a clever trick. Consciousness is being.