by Bernard J. Baars | Apr 20, 2021 | conscious brain, Global Workspace Theory
“So, I want to just return to the Global Workspace Theory. You’retelling me about the context in which it arose, which was in a time when people were beginning to imagine that the brain might work something like a computer. And what I’m hearing you say is that in some...
by Bernard J. Baars | Mar 15, 2021 | conscious brain, Conscious Experiences, Global Workspace Theory
[This is an excerpt from Part II of my latest book On Consciousness: Science & Subjectivity and is Part 2 in a 3 Part series on “A Working Theater of Consciousness”. To read part 1, please click here] ...
by Bernard J. Baars | Mar 1, 2021 | conscious brain, Conscious Experiences, Global Workspace Theory
. . . “Why don’t we start out with a little bit of a definition of what we’re talking about when we’re talking about ‘consciousness’, because we can mean a whole lot of different things by it. I’m wondering if...
by Bernard J. Baars | Feb 22, 2021 | conscious brain, Conscious Experiences, Cortex and Consciousness
[This is an excerpt from Part II of my latest book On Consciousness: Science & Subjectivity.] In Book VII of Plato’s Republic (Plato, 1956) we find the following allegory: Imagine mankind as dwelling in an underground cave with necks and legs fettered, so they...
by Bernard J. Baars | Feb 8, 2021 | conscious brain, Sciencephobia
For reasons that drive scientists close to despair, many media writers get science stories wrong. They make small advances look like Great Leaps Forward, and when really big steps take place they usually miss the real story. This is sad, because real science is such a...
by Bernard J. Baars | Dec 9, 2020 | animal consciousness, conscious brain, Podcast, Psychobiology
. . . “The only way we get certainty or stability in the world is to start from what we know, and gradually move to what we don’t know.” – Bernard...
by Bernard J. Baars | Oct 22, 2020 | conscious brain, Conscious Experiences, Cortex and Consciousness, Podcast, Psychobiology
“Episodic memory involves conscious experiences being encoded. Same goes for semantic and autobiographical memories. All varieties of memories come in through conscious moments of recall. So, I think that consciousness is the means by which any kinds of memories...
by Bernard J. Baars | Sep 22, 2020 | conscious brain, Conscious Experiences, Global Workspace Theory, Podcast, Psychobiology
“All models are wrong, but some are useful.” And I think ultimately that’s the test of a construct like Global Workspace Theory – does it lead us to greater knowledge? Does it suggest areas of research? Does it make predictions that we can...
