Consciousness and Brain Science: Mechanisms by Which Nature Knows Itself Through Us

Abstract

The first argument in this article is that, absent what would truly be a paradigm change (for once that hackneyed term is meet) 21st century brain science is already set on a sterile and unethical course. An alternative, dynamical systems approach based on the work of Freeman, Hoffman and Pribam is outlined. Moreover, it is argued that this allots physicists in the area appropriate work to do, versus the current Herculean/Augean task left behind to them by neuro"scientists". The article continues with a radical reparse of the concepts in what has become the consciousness industry. Finally, a set of promising concepts is explored, starting with the holographic idea of memory. Above all, phase and amplitude modulation of a carrier wave are given a central role, as is the possibility of quantum effects in informational processing of the attentional stream.