Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind

by Annaka Harris

With so many behind-the-scenes forces at work—from the essential neurological processes we previously examined to bacterial infections and parasites—it’s hard to see how our behavior, preferences, and even choices could be under the control of our conscious will in any real sense. It seems much more accurate to say that consciousness is along for the ride—watching the show, rather than creating or controlling it. In theory, we can go as far as to say that few (if any) of our behaviors need consciousness in order to be carried out. But at an intuitive level, we assume that because human beings act in certain ways and are conscious—and because experiences such as fear, love, and pain feel like such powerful motivators within consciousness—our behaviors are driven by our awareness of them and otherwise would not occur. However, it’s now obvious that many behaviors we usually attribute to consciousness, and think of as proof of consciousness, could actually exist without consciousness, at least in theory.