The 4 Levels Of Consciousness

After long ponderous thoughts, I came to the conclusion that consciousness has 4 levels and after reading another thread I feel compelled to share my thoughts on the matter.

What separates us from the animal kingdom is our level of consciousness. All animals are conscious to a certain degree and I believe we can almost measure where each animal sits on the scale.

I believe consciousness is the ability to ask questions, or what I like to refer to as the 4W's.

Full consciousness

*Why

*What/How

*When/Where

*Who

Low consciousness

Let's start with the lowest form of consciousness 'Who' this is the lowest form because this allows creatures of the animal kingdom to differentiate between friend or foe, all animals have this level of consciousness, I believe that this level is vital even for the simplest of life forms.

Next we have 'When/Where', this level of consciousness exists in a smaller elite of living creatures. The ability to ask these questions isn't fixed, becomes an exponential scale at this point. But basically at this level animals can ask these questions, which allows them to learn, when they should behave a certain way, for example where to find food or when to attack an enemy.

The second highest level of consciousness is 'What/How', this level of consciousness allows animals to learn how to use simple tools or discover how to use certain tools. It gives animals the ability to ask, what or how do I get food or acceptance? This level of consciousness exists in a few very elite animals, for instance apes, crows and dolphins etc.

What separates Humans from the animal kingdom however is the ability to ask 'Why', this is the highest and final level of consciousness. The ability to ask why is what has pushed humanity further than any other animal. 'why', let us create better tools and find better solutions to our problems. Whereas the chimpanzee might use a stick to fish for ants, at this stage we asked why? Why isn't there a better way? Why are we doing it this way? This allowed is to return back over the other questions What, How, When, Where and ask Why at every option and always find a better way.

This is the conclusion I came to and this, I believe is what separates man from the animal kingdom. It's not that man is separate, but the whole animal kingdom can be situated along the scale of consciousness, each animal separated from one another.

But the reason Humanity sits at the top of the consciousness scale, is the ability to ask the question, Why?

a reply to: DAZ21

When we yell at our dogs...and they run to the corner and look at us , eyes down and ears back....is that not their way of asking "Why? What'd I do?"

a reply to: mysterioustranger

No I don't believe so, I think they can understand emotion, and get scared. Then ask what did I do? I don't believe any animal can ask 'why'.

I think these are the four levels.



👣

a reply to: BlueMule

Haha, pretty table, but everything that has some level of consciousness can be assigned to that table. It doesn't divide the animals though does it. If aliens came to this planet and took your table in to consideration, they could group every living thing in to one category.

a reply to: DAZ21

Neither can a stroke victim or one in a coma who cant respond or reply...yet they exhibit consciousness. Many if fact have later stated they knew all along what was going on around them...but were not cabable of responding, speaking, indicating or replying...they just layed there.

That being said...now to the family, attendants and doctors...they were "out-of-it-maybe forever-and no general indications that they-could be-aware of anything".

ie: Daughter of Whitney Houston-Bobbie Brown currently in a coma. Aware? Realizing whats happening? Asking why? Does that put her off or on...your list???

a reply to: DAZ21

Maybe cognition is the word you're looking for, not consciousness.

/shrug

👣

What a coincidence. I was just talking about this with a co worker. My question to him was, "why do we have imagination?" His response was that it was developed through consciousness. I agreed but still want to know why it exists at all. Imagination seems counterproductive to most evolutionary advancements. Day dreaming in the Serengeti 10,000 years ago would have been a sure fire way to get eaten by a lion.

Do lions ever lounge around and contemplate infinity?

I understand that having a supreme imagination could help a rudimentary inventor of sorts come up with a new concepts like cooking over a fire or carving a wheel but in it's most infantile stages imagination was probably a hindrance. Tribe mentality kept people alive in ancient times. If Bob the caveman was always stopping and arguing with the group based on one of his wacky new ideas, the entire tribe could be at risk. My co worker brought up an interesting point that maybe imagination has been developed to function as a coping mechanism. It seems like through out human history we have traveled farther and farther from our roots, or from the source if you will. Some might call this nature, other God, whatever... So maybe as humans delve further from that which completes us, our conscious's have been evolving to help fill that void... Does Imagination keeps us all sane for lack of being conscious enough? Do different people have different levels of Imaginability? Is imagination the next level of consciousness? In this reality our imagination stays in our own head, maybe in the next level it leaks out into everybody else's reality? Thanks for providing more food for thought on this matter!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Of course not, but they're unable to talk or move because they're paralyzed and obviously unable to respond.

A song however isn't suffering from a stroke or in a coma, so we would expect that if it could ask the question 'why?', then it would contemplate God, because it would surely ask 'why was I created?' It would also question why it doesn't eat at the table...

Why doesn't a dog ask these questions? Because it can't ask 'Why' because it's not capable.

Look I'm Not hating on animals and dogs, but if they had the highest level of consciousness they wouldn't be our pets.

a reply to: BlueMule

Consciousness: the fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.

Don't think so...

a reply to: DAZ21

Having dabbled in hypnosis early in my life, there is a mysterious power there that others can acquire and use (sometimes without the giving of permission) to control the actions of others to an amazing degree.

You may say, "But that is an outside influence." True that is what it is, but nonetheless the subject will not know that as they go through whatever act they have been made to do which can be contrary to their normal, willful mind. While it is a back door into the subject's mind, into which aspect of your criteria would you place it?

a reply to: DAZ21

Our consciousness is blocked so that we don't know who we were in a past life. It keeps us sane for the most part. Even though some do slip through the cracks (usually young children) and remember everything, while others are able to have slight glimpses, flashbacks or deja vu. Reincarnation. Just a side thought: perhaps animals can't talk because they have awareness of past lives.

a reply to: Cogidubnus

I think you're right, the ability to question our own imagination is very strange, but imagination is different from dreaming. Using one's imagination allows us to play scenarios over and over in our heads with complete security. So we might imagine how we would escape a lion attack for instance and even though we've never been in that circumstance, we would have a good idea how it is likely to play out.

Of course imagining the impossible is what allows us to question our own reality and even contemplate the existence of God or other dimensions.

So I believe imagination is our consciousness's ability to answer the questions that we ask ourselves.

a reply to: Aliensun

Consciousness is your personal awareness, hypnosis applies to the subconscious, this is the part that you have no awareness of, even though it's very real.

From regulating your heartbeat to controlling certain behaviour (usually addictions and obsessive behaviour), but yes the subconscious can control your actions through hypnosis, so you're right, the thing is it's not really your choice, you act on the decision of the hypnotist. Of course you have to want to do what the hypnotist makes you do.

Let's say you want to be able to sing in front of a crowd, you want to but for some unforseen circumstances you freeze.

You ask yourself why, but nothing changes, there will be underlying factors, and your subconscious is to blame, it is controlling you. With hypnosis you can reverse the previous damage and act in the way that you choose. In this case to sing in front of a crowd without freezing.

So in answer to your question, it doesn't fit into the scale, because I believe the subconscious isn't part of your awareness, it can't rationalise or ask questions, it only deals with actions and the choices that you make.

Does a chimpanzee know its just chimpanzee, or does just go with it instincts without questioning who it is when it eats fire ants or bananas without philosophy and more or less concerned with how it gonna eat?

To eat or not to eat? It ain't questioning who it is, it questioning what or when can I eat?

a reply to: Specimen

That's exactly my point, it can question what it could eat, but it's not contemplating the philosophy of life. Yet we wouldn't say that it had no consciousness.

a reply to: DAZ21

True, and compared to our understanding of consciousness, and how it perceived, it completely different from what and how a Chimpanzee see things. Although it not so much that it makes us superior, for all we know, our alien(animal kingdom wise) like consciousness could very well be our destruction, while radioactive chimpanzees rule the earth.

Imo, "how" would be the first since its more interested its survival, like how it gonna eat, or how it hunts? Like tigers hunting from only behind, but "HOW" does such thing get imprinted into generations of it decedents? Witnessing of family members where aunty tigress saying " Thats how ur uncle Tony got killed by a pissed off elephant, because he thought he was great"?

How such things happen would more or less apply to our definition of what consciousness is.

Who would be the first step in becoming more or less aware, or the idea of sentient I guess. # like religion explaining who made the sun or the earth. Simple stuff.

a reply to: DAZ21

I think your theory is very thought-provoking, and clearly described. I do want to ask your opinion about my 10-year-old dog who I spend many hours with, and talk to constantly (lol).

When I feed her, I usually add a little something special to her dry dog food. But when I don't have anything to add, as God as my witness, she sniffs her bowl and looks up at me with eyes that say "WHY???" The same can be said when I am eating 'people food' and have given her dog food (even with something special on it) she still looks at it, looks at my plate, and then her eyes ask "WHY???" Then she huffs and lays down and turns her back to me.

Another topic to your post: It seems to me that people go thru the very stages that you listed from infancy. Babies learn to recognize their family's faces. (Who) At some point they learn patience, like waiting for diaper change before eating and knowing the changing table is for just that. (When/Where) They begin to identify/recognize things, like special toys and how to manipulate them in simple ways. (What/How) And finally they learn to explore the causal aspect of if/then as they curiously explore whatever they can get their hands/mouth on, lol.

Dogs Release Same "Love Chemical" As Humans, So The Feeling Is Probably Mutual

“That animals of different species induce oxytocin release in each other suggests that they, like us, may be capable of love,”

An excerpt from an article run a few days ago. (here is a link to the rest of it)

www.thedodo.com...

Ultimately all emotions are just chemical reactions in the brain. Right?

a reply to: new_here

Awww....

I know where you are coming from, but I believe it is our emotional attachment to our pets that make us feel guilty when we don't give them what they want. So when they look up at us with big black eyes, we feel that they are asking us why?

But if we think rationally, are they really asking why? Or are they looking up at you and asking where? Where is my special food? I'm not happy with you, you know what I like and you haven't given me any...

The thing is they can't understand that we might not have what they like, they've had it before, but they think you're just not giving it to them.

I have a cat, and he loves jelly meat food, but when I run out, I feed him dry biscuits, now I know he doesn't like it as much, but he will keep rubbing his head on my legs because he's asking, me to feed him what he likes, but he doesn't contemplate why I haven't given him any, because he can't ask why.

So, to answer your question, it's our human emotions making us think what we would say if we were in their position, but if we think rationally, they really are just asking where the good stuff is.