On Consciousness: The Evolving Mind

This chapter introduces eight essential components of consciousness. It argues that humans are able to create forms of consciousness that are not based on biochemical signals or electromagnetic waves, and that will one day be able to surpass the human capacities that gave rise to those new forms of consciousness in the first place. The differences between ‘science’ and ‘sapientia’ (wisdom) are described, and two different forms of learning are introduced: representational-symbolic, where we become aware that an object or event is not in the outer world and instead examine our mental representation of it; and connectivist, where we realise that knowledge is generated within a network.