The Oxford Companion to Consciousness by Bayne Tim; Cleeremans Axel; Wilken Patrick

Author:Bayne, Tim; Cleeremans, Axel; Wilken, Patrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Published: 2009-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

1. Evidence

Given that the brain is massive and parallel, why is the conscious component so limited and serial? It seems that humans cannot perform two conscious tasks at the same time, such as conversing intently while driving in traffic. Competition between such tasks depends upon the extent to which they are conscious: The more they become habitual and unconscious, the less they compete. This suggests that consciousness as such may be responsible for capacity limits. Why are conscious functions so limited in a brain that is so large?

One possibility is that consciousness, though limited in capacity at any one moment, nevertheless offers a gateway to much more extensive unconscious knowledge sources in the brain. Consciousness seems to be needed to access at least four great bodies of unconscious knowledge: the lexicon of natural language, autobiographical memory, the automatic routines that control actions, and even the detailed firing of neurons and neuronal populations, as shown in biofeedback effects. Consciousness appears to create access to vast unconscious domains of expert knowledge and skill.

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