The big illusion of consciousness

Is consciousness just an illusion?

Consciousness feels like it exists in space and time. In space, there are thoughts, ideas, and emotions inside my mind; and there are objects, facts, and realities outside my mind. In time, there are memories, regrets, and remorses in my past; and there are goals, predictions and hopes in my future.

As a result, events feel like they can be in consciousness or out of consciousness: * Outside/Past: historical events I'm not aware of * Outside/Future: unexpected events that haven't happened yet * Inside/Past: active recall (conscious) or passive memory (subconscious) * Inside/Future: events I expect

However, evidence from physics and neuroscience suggests that the construct of a bounded consciousness in space and time is an illusion. First, the concept of an “inner show” with continuous mental representations (a theatre of the mind) is disconnected from the discrete nature of consciousness.

“Unconscious processing is continuous but conscious precepts are restricted to certain short moments of time.” — Dr. Michael Herzog.

Second, altered states of consciousness challenge the unidimensional view of conscious states, suggesting instead a multidimensional perspective.

“It is clear that the analysis of the psychedelic state puts further pressure on the idea that conscious states can be understood in terms of levels of consciousness [...] The psychedelic state is neither higher nor lower than the state of ordinary waking awareness. Although there are certain respects in which the psychedelic state is arguably ‘higher’ than the state of ordinary waking awareness (e.g. it is associated with increases in the richness and vividness of mental imagery), there are other respects in which the psychedelic state is arguably ‘lower’ than the state of ordinary waking awareness (e.g. it is associated with impairments in cognitive capacities such as attention, memory, communication and abstract reasoning).” — Tim Bayne and Olivia Carter in Dimensions of consciousness and the psychedelic state.

In addition, the flow of time itself may be a subjective feature of the Universe (see The Order of Time Carlo Rovelli).