Consciousness from the Outside-In and Inside-Out Perspective by Tina Lindhard

1 year 1 month ago #785 by dorina
Likewise, they (children) are not taught through experimentation how their thoughts affect not only others but also themselves (Lindhard,2015). I do not want to imply here that the teaching of knowledge is not relevant, but that education should also address the importance of our experiencing consciousness. Coming from the perspective of social work, Pulla (2017) points out the importance of empowerment, inherent strengths and humans' resilience. It is these subtle aspects that to a large extent
determine our happiness, especially when facing adverse life conditions.
That the world we perceive outside is related to our consciousness as held by quantum
physicists, is not usually contemplated. In effect, most scientific disciplines, including our
educational systems, still support the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm which considers that
reality, or the world out there, consists of material objects that are separate in space and time
and are unconnected at any deeper or implicate level. According to this view, consciousness
is a product of matter, and more specifically a product of the brain. In addition, the world is
seen as being independent of the consciousness of the observer. Although this paradigm has
been replaced in quantum physics, other disciplines still espouse the old Newtonian-Cartesian
In the West, the prevailing method for studying consciousness is from the outside-in. Whether
it is the neuroscientific approach, which deals with the neural system and also maps the brain,
or psychological theories like that of the Freud, Jung, Adler and other theorists which are
based on the insights arising from the experiences of their clients, the way of obtaining
information is from the outside-in perspective. In science, information about the world is
obtained via the senses, or instruments, which replace the physical senses like microscopes,
electroencephalograms (EEGs) and gigantic telescopes, which explore the heavens beyond
that of our normal sight. Scientific theories are often based on these observations although
some scientists such as Einstein admit to role of intuition and inspiration in forming theories
(Root-Bernstein & Root-Bernstein, 2010).
Based on the assumption that consciousness is connected with the brain, neuroscientific
research is primarily geared around mapping the brain and also establishing how the brain
works. This has given rise to a variety of theories about how the brain functions. To name just
a few, Crick and Kocj's (1990) theory centers about oscillations in the cerebral cortex;
whereas combining quantum mechanics and neuroscience, Hameroff and Penrose's (2014)
theory, known as the "orchestrated objective reduction" ('Orch OR') theory, is derived from
quantum vibrations in microtubules, protein polymers inside brain neurons which is
combined with the idea that consciousness has been ever present. Fisher (2015) also
combines quantum mechanics and neuroscience but his theory suggests that nuclear spins of
phosphorus atoms serve as rudimentary quibits in the brain - which enable the brain to act
like a quantum computer. This has a certain resonance with Hu and Wu's (2004) earlier "spin-mediated
consciousness theory" where the possible roles of neural membrane nuclear spin
ensembles and paramagnetic oxygen are considered.

Note: This article is a preprint

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