I also published this at medium.com, July 2, 2025
I come at these deep questions about human consciousness and origins from a biological bottom-up, evolutionary perspective.
One that, I believe, receives way too little attention. Especially in light of the past couple decades of amazing biological breakthroughs in understanding further layers of detail within our body/brain’s folds within folds of harmonic, cumulative, complexity.
From my Earth Centrist perspective Chalmers’ words personify human hubris and a curious tendency to expect Nature to prove itself to us. Evolution has plenty to teach us about consciousness, why turn the philosophical cold shoulder to it?
As for me, my goal has been a graspable down to Earth understanding of mind, along with who I am, based on solid biology, evolutionary, scientific understanding along with a healthy appreciation for my animal nature and the Human Mind ~ Physical Reality divide.
Here I share representative quotes from David Chalmers and reflect on the blindspots. Then I invite critique and discussion. This is about a learning.
From: The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory ― David J. Chalmers
Chalmers: “There is nothing we know about more directly than consciousness, but it is far from clear how to reconcile it with everything else we know.
Why does (consciousness) exist?"
From within a biological bottom-up, evolutionary perspective, levels of consciousness exist because creatures had to differentiate between inside and outside; Creatures needed to develop ways to find and absorb good things; then to lock out bad things; and also to excrete bad things; while keeping good things within.
Learning how to recognize and maintain dynamic balance has been a life or death challenge since the beginnings of life itself.
Some form of internal awareness~consciousness has been a prerequisite for survival since the dawn of complex single cells — even more, as complex organisms evolved.
Chalmers: "What does (consciousness) do?"
Consciousness doesn’t seem to do anything, it’s the result of our body/brain doing stuff.
A reflection of your biological body communicating with itself.
Humans have gained tools to do amazing things to capture and “materialize” their “consciousness” — turning dreams into memories. But still, in the end, consciousness is a fleeting moment, ever changing as time rushes by. Creature dies and its conscious flow stops.
Chalmers: "How could (consciousness) possibly arise from lumpy gray matter?"
Agreed, it can’t.
Consciousness arises from the whole of the living organism.
Body + Brain + interaction (interior & exterior) = consciousness
Chalmers: "The International Dictionary of Psychology does not even try to give a straightforward characterization:
Consciousness: The having of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings; awareness.
Consciousness is a fascinating but elusive phenomenon:
Chalmers: "it is impossible to specify what it is,"
Sure we can specify it from a biological bottom-up, Evolutionary perspective — it is self-evident that consciousness is the inside reflection of one’s body/brain communicating with itself.
Currently scientists are discovering layers of inner body communication channels that have nothing to with brain or neurons per se. Though they certainly interact with them on levels still not understood — our body is an interwoven web, each component serving its function and consciousness being an emergent by-product of the whole communicating with itself.
We still have much to learn, but without philosophical skyhooks and distracting riddles built upon impossible expectations’.
Some human intellectual humility, and more focus beyond neurons, to the full scope of evidence evolutionary biology has to offer, would help.
Chalmers: "what (consciousness) does,"
Consciousness is on a continuum. Each to their own kind. Different creatures have different hardware and needs. At its most fundamental it's about the body communicating with itself.
Human consciousness is extra special - but philosophers would do good it remember it evolved out of mammalian consciousness, not out of the cosmos.
The continuum of consciousness is in the layers of internal communication, which enable body/brain communication, ... which evolved out of more primitive “central processing.”
Think about the human with layers of sub-conscious doing amazing amounts of scanning, calculating, decision making, below the surface of self-awareness. All dedicated to operating the body and creating the free space, for Mind and self-reflection — and all that fancy consciousness our minds are capable of.
Chalmers: "or why (consciousness) evolved."
The beginning of life provides your answer!
Creatures had to differentiate between inside and outside.
Creatures needed to develop ways to find and absorb good things.
While locking out bad things.
Also, how to excrete bad things, while holding in the good stuff.
How to recognize and maintain balance.
How to move, where to move, why move, all that needed to be internalized with said creature, be it single celled, or a moth, or a hominid.
Some form of internal self awareness has been a hallmark - and prerequisite - for survival since the dawn of complex single cells.
Chalmers: “Nothing worth reading has been written about it. (Sutherland 1989)”
That may have been true in 1989, but it rings hollow in 2025.
(See, Solms, Damasio, Sapolsky, Nick Lane, Sloan-Wilson, just for starters)
Chalmers: “Why should there be conscious experience at all?
"It is central to a subjective viewpoint, but from an objective viewpoint it is utterly unexpected."
But, conscious experience does seem pretty plausible from an evolutionary viewpoint.
Variations and improvements on a theme with over a billion years of research, development, and culling.
Quotes from ― David J. Chalmers, The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe, as pervasive as time and space.”
Consciousness a feature of the universe?
Based on what?
Using what definition for Consciousness?
Space and time, the universe, is material reality, energy, particles, forces obeying certain natural laws.
Where is there a need for choice?
Matter, electricity, magnetism, gravity, etc., none of that has any need for consciousness. Or?
Now, here on Earth, there is an entirely different state of affair.
Down here on Earth biology managed to take electricity and turn it inside out,
first to drive chemical reactions,
then to go much further and drive biology,
billions of years spent learning how to harness that spark of energy into something useful.
Emergence and all that.
“Consciousness” is a fundamental pervasive feature of biology here on Earth. &
“Consciousness is not just a passive reflection of the external world, but an active process of interpretation and experience.”
David Chalmers
Hmmm, isn’t the active process of experience and interpretation done by the body/brain?
Consciousness registers the body/brain’s experience and interpretation.
The mind processes, trying to keep up, since usually it is the body/brain that decides what to do next. With our mind, being the last to know, so to speak. And doing its best to keep up and rationalize what the body is engaged in.
Body + Brain + interacting (internal & exterior) = “consciousness”
As for other creatures, it is self-evident that consciousness is on a spectrum in relation to biological type and life style. Awareness~consciousness is a product of the entire organism working in harmony, it can’t be isolated to specific locations.
"Understanding consciousness is not just an intellectual pursuit, but a deeply personal and existential quest."
David Chalmers
I absolutely agree. That’s why I believe this is so critically important to realize — our consciousness comes from within our own body’s interactions with itself and the world around us.
Realizing the significance of possessing an evolved body that has gone through a half billion years of iterations, as each new generation was born — to live its life anew — is profound.
All that heritage is flowing through our body and if we are to understand ourselves, we need to reconcile ourselves with that solid scientific reality.
You are a filament in Earth’s pageant of evolution. That means something important. I know this awareness has offered me some foundational peace, not to mention, a good deal of clarity regarding myself and my place.
"The study of consciousness requires us to think beyond traditional scientific paradigms."
David Chalmers
True enough, but it’s at the level of learning more about what biological sciences and evolution has to teach us. And how we incorporate those lessons into our world outlook.
It does not need imaginative philosophical metaphysical skyhooks driven by impossible expectations.
"Consciousness is an emergent phenomenon that arises from complex interactions within the brain."
David Chalmers
I’ve noticed, there’s never any mention of our body, it’s always about neurons. How does Chalmers justify ignoring the whole biological body and its ingrained evolutionary history, not to mention the brain’s intimate link to all reaches of our body?
Body + Brain + interacting (internal & exterior) = “consciousness”.
This is not a trivial distinction.
"Consciousness is a profound mystery that invites us to contemplate the nature of existence itself.
&
Consciousness is a mystery that invites us to rethink our fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality."
David Chalmers
What it does, is challenge us with coming to terms with our Ego driven self-absorption and self-serving nature — in light of our biological, evolutionary heritage, and Earth’s physical reality.
To rethink the nature of our biological evolutionary selves, and consider what it means to be a generational iteration of one particular genetic theme.
In my perspective, our consciousness demands a deeper appreciation for the “Physical Reality ~ Human Mind divide” and a rethinking of our personal relationship with the knowledge we possess.
Body + Brain + interacting (internal & exterior) = “consciousness”
I’m sure I left out plenty, and being a non-academician, or AI assisted, the writing and flow probably isn’t of the best quality. Still, the concepts are solid and scientifically defensible and I believe as important, as getting a solid grip on the question of, who am I, and why does it matter.
Constructive critique is invited.
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