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

by Annaka Harris

many behaviors we usually attribute to consciousness, and think of as proof of consciousness, could actually exist without consciousness, at least in theory. This brings us back to our two questions. And, once again, it’s hard to see how conscious experience plays a role in behavior. That’s not to say it doesn’t, but it’s almost impossible to point to specific ways in which it does. However, in my own musings, I have stumbled into what might be an interesting exception: consciousness seems to play a role in behavior when we think and talk about the mystery of consciousness. When I contemplate “what it’s like” to be something, that experience of consciousness presumably affects the subsequent processing taking place in my brain. And almost nothing I think or say when contemplating consciousness would make any sense coming from a system without it.