Chapter 100: The Composition of Consciousness

As soon as these words were spoken, the livestream chat exploded once again.

"Wait, doesn't consciousness just exist in the brain?"

"Yeah, didn't you say before that consciousness is an entire network formed by the combination of electrical signals from the Neural Network?"

"No, what Host Jiang seems to be saying is—if the neurons aren't firing, where does the information of consciousness reside?"

"I don't quite understand the person above; if the brain doesn't generate Bioelectricity, wouldn't the person be completely dead? How could there be any talk of where consciousness is hidden?"

"Exactly, exactly! It's impossible to understand at all!"

"..."

Even after Jiang Zhe's previous explanation, many viewers were still a bit unclear.

They believed that as long as the brain's Neural Network was firing, consciousness would exist.

Once the Neural Network stopped firing—meaning the person was dead—then the consciousness within the skull would dissipate along with it.

Jiang Zhe listened to the bullet chat comments being read out by the director through his earpiece.

He then revealed a smile.

"Perhaps everyone has misunderstood."

"What we are discussing is: at the very moment the brain fires, where does the information reside!"

"As everyone knows: a person's ability to think, see, hear, and smell is all based on the firing of the Neural Network in the brain."

If one were to compare the human brain to a power grid,

then every sensation a person experiences while doing anything would be transmitted into this power grid.

Once the power grid's switch is pulled, the grid becomes ordinary, and the person is completely dead.

"Is information the transmission of electrical current?"

"You can understand it that way."

"To understand where the soul is hidden, we must first understand how our brain operates!"

Facing the camera, his tone slowed slightly, as he tried to explain in as much detail as possible!

"The frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, Occipital Lobe, Cerebellum, Hypothalamus..."

"You don't need to understand them completely; you just need to know that these brain organs exist and that they control our language, memory, movement, visuals, and so on."

"Without these organs, we wouldn't be able to speak, move, and so forth."

Though concise, in the eyes of medical experts, these were indeed the foundations that constituted the human brain.

It was just that the medical experts had never imagined that solving Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly would involve such vast and extensive comprehensive knowledge.

"And how is our consciousness generated?"

"The principle behind how we generate consciousness is actually very complex!"

"Currently, the mainstream models include Collective Activity, Neural Connection, Information Integration, and Neuronal Oscillation."

"1: Collective Activity mainly refers to the transmission of bioelectrical signals within the Neural Network of our brain—"

"Only with bioelectrical signals can consciousness exist. With its existence, the functions of the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and Occipital Lobe I mentioned earlier become possible."

"The priority ratio is—"

"Consciousness is greater than everything else, including the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and Occipital Lobe."

For the viewers, this wasn't too difficult to understand.

Consciousness is the boss.

Most of the other organs in the brain are tied for second-in-command.

Without the boss, there's no need for the second-in-command to exist.

Only when the boss is there can the second-in-command be safe and sound.

"2: Neural Connection."

"This principle of Neural Connection posits that the neurons in our brain connect with each other in extremely complex ways, thereby forming a Neural Network."

"Human consciousness is formed precisely during the process of signal transmission and processing."

"The supporters of this Neural Connection model actually have answers very similar to those who support Collective Activity."

"3: Information Integration. The principle of Information Integration and its supporters believe—"

"After the brain receives various types of information from the outside world, it will reintegrate the content of that information, and consciousness will form on this basis."

"What does this mean?"

"This group of supporters believes that the information you have smelled, seen, heard, tasted, and thought from childhood to adulthood is what constructs your consciousness."

"Only with the support of these memories will your consciousness be activated."

At this point in his explanation, he tapped the table, causing more viewers to focus their attention.

"In fact, this [Information Integration] principle is somewhat similar to what we discussed earlier regarding the Ship of Theseus and Cloning."

"We spoke before about the [continuity of information]; as long as our human body suffers a disruption in continuity, then the cloned me is no longer me."

"This third theory is actually a derivation of that part: [Consciousness is the collection of all our human information]."

Upon hearing this, the viewers' eyes lit up.

They had previously thought Jiang Zhe was inventing things or even talking nonsense.

It turned out he was selecting optimized answers based on existing real-world theories.

This caused the viewers' and experts' perception of Jiang Zhe to rise to another level!

"Point 4: Neuronal Oscillation. During the process of oscillatory activity, neurons in the brain transmit signals at specific frequencies, which may lead to the generation of consciousness under this background."

"What does this mean?"

"As the name suggests, when electrical signals are transmitted within the brain, they generate a faint oscillatory frequency. You can understand this frequency as the [rhythm] in music."

"In short, when the brain's neurons oscillate, the neural oscillations in the brain can be divided by their wavebands into—"

"Alpha (α) waves, Beta (β) waves, Gamma (γ) waves, Delta (δ) waves, and Theta (θ) waves."

"Using music as a reference, α music is a type of inspirational music with a tempo between 60 and 70 beats and a frequency between 8 and 14 Hertz."

"When a person hears this sound, α waves—specifically [8~12Hz waves]—are generated in the brain. When brainwaves are in the α state, our human subconscious begins to function."

As he finished speaking, he frowned, listening to the bullet chat reports from the director backstage.

[Can't understand, I can't understand at all!]

[This is too hard, damn it!]

[Please have some mercy on us bad students, dear!]

"Teacher Jiang, please make it a bit simpler... these things are a bit too professional."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhe narrowed his eyes; he had already simplified it as much as possible.

However, since the viewers requested it, he could only simplify it further, as he had to be responsible for the majority of the audience.

"Alright, these are a bit complex. You don't need to understand them completely; you just need to know that the brain has these wavebands."

"To summarize, in the [Neuronal Oscillation] theory—"

"The human brain has five different types of brainwaves: Alpha (α) waves, Beta (β) waves, Gamma (γ) waves, Delta (δ) waves, and Theta (θ) waves."

"Alpha Waves: Awake and relaxed. When we humans are relaxed, the brain is in this waveband."

"Beta Waves: When we are highly alert and focused, we are in this waveband."

"Gamma Waves: When we are solving problems, concentrating, and engaging in complex thinking, our brainwaves are in this stage."

"Delta Waves: When we are in deep sleep and boosting our immunity, we are in this waveband."

"Theta Waves: When we are napping or drowsy, we are in this waveband."

"These wavebands are constantly moving and shifting; the brain is always producing waves of all these frequencies."

"Everything we do and everything we say is controlled by our brainwave frequencies."

"That is what the supporters of this theory believe!"

"Of course, these are conjectures. No one can say for certain that this is exactly how consciousness comes about."

After this explanation, more and more people began to understand.

"Damn, isn't this from junior high biology? How can I not remember any of it?"

"Your junior high biology had this? This is high school biology!"

"Everyone shut up, this is elementary school biology. Stop talking and listen quietly."

"This..."

In the lecture hall,

the biologists and psychologists were not unfamiliar with these concepts.

There was also a psychological model that Jiang Zhe had not mentioned: the [Global Workspace Model].

In this model—Consciousness!

It originates from a special type of information processing.

Sensory information recorded by the brain is used by multiple cognitive systems, such as language, forming or retrieving memories, and executing actions.

Consciousness gradually begins to emerge as data is broadcast to multiple cognitive systems throughout the brain.

It consists of three components: Specialized Processor, Global Workspace, and Context.

[Specialized Processor]:

It is unconscious and machine-like, processing only specific tasks—

For example: if a person tightens screws ten thousand times, they can tighten screws with their left hand while holding a phone and watching a movie with their right, without any conflict.

These are all unconscious, mechanical behaviors!

[Global Workspace]:

This is conscious. The longer information stays here, the deeper the human conscious experience of it becomes.

For example:

Suppose someone was very good to another person for 999 days!

On the 1000th day, that person suddenly disappears.

Consequently, that good person remained permanently in that person's memory for a lifetime!

[Context]: This is the internal world of conscious experience.

For example: a person gets into a car accident, and then that person thinks, 'Why did I get into a car accident?'

Thinking carefully, it was because their walking steps today reached 101.

Whereas that person usually only walked 100 steps.

After careful consideration, that person discovers: this extra 1 step actually became the key factor in the accident.

Thus, that person would think that within this 1 step, life and death, early and late were all contained.

The internal world of conscious experience is where humans contemplate the meaning of certain events.

What was the meaning of the car accident for that person?

What did it teach them?

And other such deep experiences!

While the experts were discussing, on the large screen,

Jiang Zhe wore a mysterious smile.

"Perhaps all of these theories are correct and can explain where consciousness comes from."

"They might believe that the brain's memory exists in organs such as the hippocampus, temporal lobe, and Amygdala."

"These are not wrong!"

"But!"