https://www.scientificamerican.

com/article/what-is-consciousness/
What Is Consciousness?
June 1, 2018

Consciousness is everything you experience. For years philosophers have debated the
question of what exactly consciousness is, but scientists are getting closer to defining it. This
article tries to narrow the definition as much as possible.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-purpose/201807/the-physical-evolution-
consciousness
The Physical Evolution of Consciousness
July 22, 2018
Science is still just at the beginning of understanding the evolution of consciousness, but
progress has been made. Our consciousness is likely to have evolved from less complex
forms, thanks to evolution. Our “self” is just all the info in our brain networks. :)

https://www.pnas.org/content/110/Supplement_2/10357#ref-52
Evolution of consciousness: Phylogeny, ontogeny, and emergence from general anesthesia
June 18, 2013

So, consciousness may have emerged not because we needed to be aware, and have an inner
visual representation of stuff. The original function of consciousness was probably to direct a
moving thing that was short of energy to a supply of food. Consciousness started as a
response to our most basic instincts.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/how-consciousness-evolved/485558/
June 6, 2016

“The theory suggests that consciousness arises as a solution to one of the most fundamental
problems facing any nervous system: Too much information constantly flows in to be fully
processed. The brain evolved increasingly sophisticated mechanisms for deeply processing a
few select signals at the expense of others, and in the AST, consciousness is the ultimate
result of that evolutionary sequence.”
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-temporal/#TimCon
Temporal Consciousness

Aug 6, 2010

Humans have the ability to anticipate the future. Memories allow people to access their past.
We are only directly aware of what’s happening in the present, but the present doesn’t last
forever. So if our awareness is restrained to the present. Then, strictly speaking, awareness
doesn’t have any correlation with temporality. This is called the: ‘paradox of temporal
awareness’.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/brain-death/

Overview: Brain death

April 1, 2019

When a person won’t regain consciousness they will be declared “Brain dead”. The
individual is legally dead. This article points out that consciousness is a quality of life,
meaning that someone who’s not going to regain consciousness is technically dead.

https://www.sciencealert.com/your-consciousness-does-not-switch-off-during-a-dreamless-
sleep-say-scientists
We Were Wrong About Consciousness Disappearing in Dreamless Sleep, Say Scientists
November 10, 2016

It was believed that when you were sleeping and you weren’t dreaming you were
unconscious. We’re still conscious when we’re sleeping. IN FACT, we do not know if we are
still conscious during sleep. Apparantly there are instances where sleepwalkers murder
people, so, this is interesting because apparently this people weren’t completely unconscious.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4
Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken
January 2, 2017

CHICKENS. Chickens have a different, and yet similar set of abilities in comparison to
humans. Chickens can discriminate against other chickens in their social groups, chickens can
also recognize specific members in their social groups. Chickens engage in social learning.
Chickens have a level of self-control. Chickens are emotional animals. To sum up: chickens
have a less complex level of consciousness in contrast to humans.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23649907/
Consciousness in dolphins? A review of recent evidence
May 7, 2013

Further reading about consciousness in other animals.

https://www.pnas.org/content/114/10/E2016
A higher-order theory of emotional consciousness
February 15, 2017

So, basically, emotions are a conscious experience. Emotions stem from consciousness.
When you are aware that you are in a situation, that you have come to recognize as scary, you
are going to be afraid. If you are not aware that you are afraid, you are not afraid. If you are
not aware of that fact, then you are not going to be scared. It is a construct.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-literary-mind/200911/why-do-we-have-
emotions
Nov 14, 2009

Emotions exist because they help us survive. “Human beings are the most self-conscious
animals.” We developed: love, joy, anger, fear. We also developed the ability to look into the
past and future.