Consciousness has to be reckoned with as a genuine biological phenomenon
KARACHI: Consciousness is a peculiarly enlightening subject. It is essentially one of the most imperative aspects of our lives because it forms the base of every necessary condition that is needed to remain meaningful. But no one ever talks about it. There have been many appalling things that have been said in the past about consciousness, making us wonder why there is a curious reluctance and hostility towards the idea of consciousness. Consciousness is a combination of conflict of our intellectual culture, which we prefer to think are opposing in nature to each other, but in fact, are based on the same set of assumptions.
The distinction between reality and illusion is how things consciously seem to the human eye and how things really are. Generally, one cannot clearly differentiate between how things consciously seem and how they really are because of limited experiences and exposures. Consciousness fosters an observer-independent reality which is contingent upon one’s experiences and exposures. Despite huge expenses on scientific innovations, confusion between objectivity and subjectivity as features of reality seem to persist continuously. The rationale for this confusion is the mistaken belief of modern-day scientists that objective science can fully comprehend the essence and nature of the human brain, which possesses a refined set of subjective sensory sensations or feelings.
The moment one thinks about consciousness, behaviourism pops up as an embarrassment to behavioural culture. Consciousness has to be reckoned with as a genuine biological phenomenon. It is as much subjective of scientific analysis as any other phenomenon of biology or any other matter of contemporary science.
Sana Imran
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2016.
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