The difference between consciousness or awareness and just knowing something
If you like the supernatural and metaphysical, you’re gonna hate this
Most of these paragraphs, you may read out of order.
This subject tends to make speakers sound smart. Yet, my exposé is down-to-earth or simple. Theologians, physicists, and philosophers will hate it.
Consciousness seems to be deeply human. So, it is asked whether we can define it to show what makes a human being. Do animals or computers or trees or stones have consciousness? Does extracorporal consciousness exist, and with it (pardon the pun), life after death or a Soul’s immortality?
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Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is nothing dramatic, mysterious, deep, or spooky about consciousness. It just means ‘sharply knowing.’
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Yes, it’s a miracle (so to speak) how some chemical reactions in the retina get relayed to successive visual centers in the brain and then produce, in tandem with previous experiences, an understanding of the three-dimensional world. Yet, this gives just knowledge, not consciousness.
For Reductionists, it should be as puzzling that a heap of atoms can know as that it can be conscious (or that a glass of water molecules can be wet). Certain hormones and brain activities can make us feel certain ways. That is the ‘hard’ difference between mere cellular activity and human feeling and knowing. Awareness implies the feeling and knowledge intensified.
Contrary to popular belief, the brain more stops signals from passing through than amplifying them. But if something is alarming, a lot of inhibitions in the brain go on pause to give priority to whatever fresh hurt is coming our way. Knowledge becoming awareness is the same thing.
Perhaps this stayed ununderstood because we all asked the same stupid query, ‘Why are we aware?’ and not, ‘Why aren’t we aware of so much?’
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Don’t try to find something deep about it. It’s 100% simple (money back).
If consciousness is a form of knowing stuff, let’s explain in three different settings how learning can create awareness. Learning has four stages:
We don’t know X.
We learn that X.
We may learn a lot about that X.
We got used to that X and stopped paying much attention to it.
In sequence, we are innocent, know, deeply know, and are uninterested.
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But it’s different when we learned an X the hard way. Four stages:
We don’t know or are uninterested in X.
We (re)learn that X in a painful shock.
We may learn a lot about that X.
We got used to this X and stopped paying much attention to it.
In sequence, we’re innocent, sharply aware, deeply aware, and past upset.
One example: You knew for years you’re a woman, but suddenly, enclosed only by bossy men, you became painfully and sharply aware of it.
We can also become sharply aware of something by realizing past distress from present goodness. One example: Only her kind words made me realize how harsh I have been to myself.
Lastly, we can also become sharply conscious after a period of taking things for granted and then focusing on those things. Do you realize how blessed we are? Do you grasp how much that must hurt them? Many times a day, I tell myself that our benevolent, loving G^d is watching.
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And it’s different when we learned an X too hard to handle. Four stages:
We don’t know or are uninterested in X.
We (re)learn that X in a painful shock.
Lacking support, we wrestle with that X until we suppress it.
For now, we ‘forgot’ the whole incident.
In sequence, we’re innocent, sharply hurt, in pain, and seemingly OK.
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So many things are not consciousness but are confused with it.
Onlylinguistically related to consciousness, awareness, or realization are:
When people are physically unconscious, it means they are unresponsive.
When people know something subconsciously, it seems as if forgotten.
Expanded consciousness just means that you experience strange things.
Our ‘stream of consciousness’ is simply how we nonstop talk to ourselves.
No conscious, subconscious, or unconscious mind exists. It’s one brain.
Being conscious is more than being not unconscious or not subconscious.
Having awareness, consciousness, and realizations are the same thing. So, ‘Consciousness is being aware of …’ is a tautology, not a definition.
Intuition is super-fast thinking without awareness of the logical steps.
Artificial Intelligence can learn but not think, feel (shock), or be aware.
Trying to understand the brain from dysfunctions is an undying mistake.
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That’s all. Not something that will make your friends look at you in awe.
It won’t get me a Nobel Prize since this makes so many look foolish.
Also, innovators, like Einstein, had great respect for their predecessors, especially if they borrowed from them. But my idea originated on its own.
I was writing my big book on Free Will, which I solved by thinking like crazy for nine months. It took another 18 years to write down the details. One afternoon during the writing, I ran into the problem of consciousness. In a flash, I thought it’s just intensely knowing. While Free Will took a lot of work, as a byproduct, consciousness just fell into my lap for free. Sorry.
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I browsed dozens of YouTube clips searching for anything halfway decent on consciousness. Those clips you’ll find above. (Sorry, I really searched.) Most of it was just much trash, even with viewer numbers in the millions.
They discuss feelings, thinking, reflection, subjectivity, the spiritual, the metaphysical, G^d, electromagnetic fields, rays, telepathy, hallucinations, information, representation, the Self, the Soul, our ego, QM, time, intelligence, understanding, emergent properties, dreams, and more.
Below are any examples with not only twaddle but also still so disappointing. (Sorry, I really searched.)
At least he knows that he didn’t know. And, awareness is not just feeling:
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
