Brain, Mind and Consciousness

This seminar course addresses the big questions related to the emergence of life, and mind in the context of physical law.   Course content and lectures examine what is known about the emergence of natural intelligence in the universe.  This includes consideration of the physical predicates of life and mind with emphasis on the central role of entropy and information in abiogenesis, the formation of life from non-living matter.   Mechanisms of signal transduction, intracellular signaling, and stimulus-response coupling in unicellular organisms will show how these processes provide a highly conserved basis for the cognitive behavioral innovations of multicellular organisms.  The origin  of the vertebrates and the evolution  of the vertebrate nervous system leading to the mammalian neocortex will be discussed in detail as the prelude to the evolution of the Hominins and the Hominin brain.  Cortical innovations that led to the higher-order thinking, meta-awareness as the foundation of modern human consciousness will then be explored.   The fluidity of mind embodiment, theories and philosophy of human consciousness, human creativity and its relationship to the power of abstract thinking will be examined as the foundation of human collective intelligence.   This is the cognitive innovation that led to our species’ great success in populating the globe.  Finally, the existence of a global network of human superintelligence will be considered in the context of questions related to the prospect of humans creating machines capable of Artificial General Intelligence.