Consciousness is the most remarkable product of the human brain. It is the medium for our thoughts and gives meaning to our experiences. Without it, we could not experience sight or sound, taste, touch or smell, and from it comes our very sense of identity. Consciousness is so multi-faceted that no single definition can do it justice, but we can start by looking at some of its amazing characteristics.
Without Conscious Perception, Rainbows would not have any Colours
The colors we see are produced in our eyes and brains. Sunlight is split into different wavelengths when it passes through raindrops – but to see this spectrum of wavelengths as a spectrum of colors requires a conscious mind.
Certain Laws Of Physics Are Built Into The Human Brain
Children do not have to learn that physical objects cannot disappear or that they cannot be in two places at once. This knowledge appears in their minds at around the age of eight to ten months, when brain areas related to processing information about the world reach maturity.
Consciousness Steps In Only When It Is Needed
A skilled tennis player does not consciously work out where to place her racquet or feet when playing a shot. Only when a ball presents a special problem does conscious decision-making come into play.
The Human Brain Has A Built-In Awareness Of Other People’s Thoughts
Intuitive awareness of other people’s thinking and their view of situations develops in children at around the age of four. Before this age, children usually assume that others have the same information and feelings as themselves. This ‘mind-reading’ ability is located in the frontal lobes of the brain.
Your Brain Automatically ‘Zooms In’ On Important Information
If your name is spoken quietly, even amid the loud babble of conversation at a party, you will hear it and be able to tune into the person saying it. The brain accomplishes this by processing incoming information at an unconscious level and may bring significant information to consciousness.
Your Brain Never Stops Working, Even When You Are Asleep
Even in deep sleep, there is activity in parts of the brain, including the cortex. Overall, there is practically no difference in total brain activity during a period of sleep and one of wakefulness.
You Can Respond To A Stimulus Before You Are Even Conscious Of It
It takes about a fifth of a second for you to become aware of a visual stimulus, such as a ball thrown towards you. But within a tenth of a second, your brain has calculated what you need to do to catch it and started off the process.
The Brain Creates Our Sense Of Time By Dividing The Flow Of Events Into a Sequence Of Frames
A normal brain detects about ten events per second. The brain’s ‘clock ‘mechanism is based on the regular rate at which certain brain cells fire. Damage to the brain area involved can make time appear to slow down or speed up.
Your Brain Remembers A Face – Even If You Claim Not To Have Seen It
If a photograph of a face is flashed onto a screen in front of your eyes for about one-tenth of a second, it does not have time to enter your conscious awareness. However, if you encounter the same image later, your body will respond to it as though it is familiar.
A Capacity For Spiritual Experience Is Wired Into The Human Brain
Certain areas of the brain’s temporal and frontal lobes produce feelings of transcendence (like experiences of religious ecstasy) when they are stimulated. This suggests we may be drawn to explore the religious and spiritual dimensions of life because of the way our brains are constructed.
