We can reasonably conclude that the complexity of the structure of the brain corresponds with the complexity of the programs running on it. We also know that Evolution involve the later generation building up on the previous generation. Sure enough, we can see that in the structure of the brain, I don't need to describe it.
So we çan say that in the "older" part of the brain, the program running on it must also be "older". I think we can safely conclude that the "older" here means more basic. The "newer" part of the brain must therefore run more "sophisticated" program. We can picture the programs in the brain just like a pyramid. At the lower levels, we have more basic programs, becoming more sophisticated as we go up the levels.
This is exactly how the computer you're using right now is structured. Not that I know much about computing. Bit I do know that the programs on a regular computer are stacked in a pyramid too.
Since the lower animals have simple brain running simple program, we can say that their brain only have the base level of the pyramid. As we go up the evolutionary scale, more levelss are added to the pyramid. The pyramid will eventually reach a peak in the brain of the higher animals.
Before I continue, let me just say that I'm not concerned with how the brain actually acts like a computer at this point. That's for later.
Considering that all nerve cells are basically the same, we have to extend the brain all the way to the nerve endings. So the most basic programs must operate at these nerve endings. Obviously, at this level, the program must be very simple. At the nerve endings, the programs detect pain, pleasure, heat, cold etc without any context.
As the information moves up the levels, more complex programs are triggered that add contexts to the information. So pain becomes agony, pleasure becomes satisfaction and so on. Simultaneously, as this information moves up the levels, it will also trigger other programs that initiate actions and reactions at different complexities depending on the level.
The actions and reactions will move back down the levels of the brain becoming less and less complex until at the nerve endings, the most basic actions will be initiated. Here, the simple muscle contractions is the result for example.
But the brain doesn't only generate actions and reactions. It also generate Thoughts. Thoughts are not sent back down the levels as commands destined for the nerve endings. Instead, they stay in the higher levels only being sent down to the lower level at the right moment such as to the vocal chord as speech let's say.
So my conclusion is that in the higher animals, their brain pyramid is more complete topped by a peak. But what is there, in the Peak. It seems to me that there can only be one answer, Consciousness. So am I saying that consciousness is just a program?
Well yes! What else can it possibly be? I have already concluded that the Brain is a computer running programs like any computer. So everything in the brain must be a program too. However, it is surely much more than that. That's why I'm not making such a big deal of it here. What consciousness really is will hopefully become clearer as I continue in this investigation.
It is very tempting to say that only the Human brain has the Peak. Meaning, only Humans have consciousness. But I don't think we can say that. Evolution is a Continuum. So in my opinion, the other higher animals do have consciousness too. However, it is also very clear that the different animals don't have the same level of consciousness, whatever that means. In other words, we can say the peak in the Human brain pyramid is in fact the highest.
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