What are Consciousness and the Self: Dimension of Determinable Uncertainty
Determinable Uncertainty in Simulation
When we consciously think about things, we are conducting a kind of simulation in our minds.
For example, when comparing taking a flight versus driving to reach a travel destination, we will simulate it in our heads. What would be the time and cost, the fatigue and the impact on subsequent travel, the risk of flight delays or highway traffic jams, various factors are taken into account in simulating and considering. Then, we decide which one to use.
Similarly, when shopping, we may consider whether to buy the cheaper vegetables or slightly more expensive ones, thinking about cost and taste of the dish. Which movie might be more interesting? Should I scold the children harshly? Every day, we carry out numerous small simulations like these.
For simulations, we need to grasp the elements that must be considered. We also need to know the characteristics and laws of these elements, such as the price and time of the flight, how tiring driving a car might be, the possibility and impact of trouble or traffic jams, etc.
If all of these are accurately grasped, a highly accurate simulation can be performed. On the other hand, many elements in reality are ambiguous. But even if they are ambiguous, thinking cannot progress without simulating. We can only think by making assumptions about these ambiguous parts. Depending on the situation, it may be necessary to make multiple assumptions and change plans accordingly.
Now, let’s think a little deeper about this ambiguous part. There are cases where it is ambiguous because there is no past experience. Many things can be predicted by experiencing them many times. However, there are also things that cannot be predicted and grasped even if experienced many times, such as complex things like the weather, elusive things like the human mind, and things determined by random chance, etc.
For such uncertain events, there is no other way but to assume them in the simulation. Alternatively, there might be a way to act in advance to avoid such uncertain things.
Now, I’ll tell you about a slightly mysterious phenomenon. It may seem like a riddle.
Among these unpredictable uncertain things, there are things that actually become real according to the assumptions made within the simulation. They cannot be predicted, but what is assumed becomes reality. It’s strange. In other words, it’s a determinable uncertainty that can decide reality within the simulation.
To reveal the mystery, this determinable uncertainty that can decide reality within the simulation is our own actions.
Our actions cannot be predicted. We can only decide them. And in the simulation, we assume our own actions to progress the simulation. Then, what is assumed is reflected in real actions.
In other words, the “determinable uncertainty within the simulation” is “self,” and the simulation that accompanies this self is “consciousness.”
Child Development and Self-Recognition
The hypothesis that “determinable uncertainty within the simulation” is the self matches the assumptions of child development and self-recognition.
We are not able to recognize ourselves when we are born. But, by observing our surroundings through the five senses and making predictions, we notice what can be predicted well and what cannot be predicted at all. Order and chaos.
Then, we notice that within the chaos, there are parts that behave according to our assumptions and parts that behave completely unrelated to our assumptions.
And we have a strong interest in the chaos that behaves according to our assumptions. This is the child’s body from the perspective of us adults, but the child, born without recognizing itself, notices this part that has the characteristic of behaving according to assumptions even if it can’t be predicted. And, to test the limits of that part, it moves it dramatically or tries various assumptions to see if it behaves according to them all the time. And when it finds that it behaves as assumed, it can’t help but feel joyous. It wants to try many different things wholeheartedly.
To test the limits, it makes big movements or loud noises, or randomly stops and flounders, spins around the same place, or imitates adults to see if it really moves according to any assumption. And when that becomes a conviction, it repeats it, enjoying it over and over again. It’s whimsical, but again and again. This is the reason for the child’s behavior. It’s trying to grasp the self, the “chaotic determiner within the simulator that can decide reality.”
And through this process, it gradually understands the part that can control (its body) and the part that cannot control (others or the world). This is the initial stage of self-recognition.
Unconscious and Conscious
In familiar situations, the unconscious mind automatically predicts, judges, and decides actions. When the unconscious mind can’t make a prediction, judgement, or decision, the conscious mind comes into play — it’s a baton pass from the unconscious to the conscious.
When the baton is passed from the unconscious to the conscious, it means the conscious mind is in a situation where it can’t automatically predict, or even if it can predict, it’s hard to make a judgement or decision.
Therefore, the conscious mind needs to make predictions in a way different from the unconscious mind.
The way the unconscious mind makes predictions is akin to pattern learning based on current machine learning or deep learning. It learns patterns by experiencing the same situation multiple times and uses these patterns to make predictions. Hence, it cannot predict in situations where it hasn’t learned much or in situations that are too complex to be patterned. This is where the conscious mind comes in.
The conscious mind, instead of making predictions based on pattern learning, makes predictions based on simulation — the kind of simulation mentioned above.
Scope of the Self
In the process of simulation, there may be times when we passively predict, and times when our own actions are closely related to future situations. Since we can control our future actions, we should consider controlling ourselves as favorably as possible.
To do this, it is necessary to understand what we can control in the first place. What we can control is the self, and recognizing this is self-awareness.
What we can control is physically connected to our body through our motor nerves, and cognitively it’s our skills. Walking skills, speaking skills, biking skills, skills to ask a favor of someone you know, skills to buy products online.
The physical body can improve the power, speed, and accuracy of actions by growing or strengthening muscles. Money, possessions, social rights, and contractual action resources can also enhance the power, speed, and accuracy of actions. From this similarity, resources can be seen as part of the body.
The mind and body can increase the superposition of future possibilities by acquiring skills and increasing resources.
In this sense, the conscious mind recognizes what can be freely controlled as the self. Generally, the body is recognized as the self, and skills are also recognized as an important part of the self. Furthermore, resources are also a kind of self.
Also, one’s own policies, particularities, dreams, goals, ways of thinking, decision-making methods, etc., the conscious mind can decide on these and use them as principles of self-control. In this sense, these are also recognized as the self.
These include things that can be controlled in the short term and things that can be grown in the medium to long term, but they are all “uncertainties that can be determined by the conscious mind”. In other words, the self can be considered as the “uncertainty that can be determined by the conscious mind”.
In Conclusion
Sometimes, when talking with friends and acquaintances, I notice that some people have a firm grasp of their future, while others don’t think much about it.
We all have a high interest in things that we can decide or control with our will in our bodies, the objects in front of us, or the very near future. On the other hand, things that are physically, consciously, and temporally distant from ourselves, even those that we should ideally decide and direct, are treated differently by different people. Some take these distant matters seriously, while others do not.
This may be related to what I wrote earlier about how far one considers the scope of the self. As a child, I think the self’s scope is only the body and the present, but it expands as one grows. And perhaps that expansion varies from person to person.
Some people may value things that seem beyond their control, but that’s a separate matter from this discussion. It’s about how you perceive what you can decide or control. For example, whether you take care of your health for your future self, or study and train to acquire knowledge and skills. Or whether you think only of your own benefit, or also consider your family, friends, and acquaintances. I think the differences in the breadth of the scope of the self may be manifested in these aspects.
