What is Consciousness?

Consciousness—a term that’s fascinated philosophers and scientists for centuries—refers to a fundamental aspect of existence: the awareness of experience. But what is it really, and how does it differ from the processes of the mind and body?

In my view, consciousness is understood as the input of information converging into a singular experience. Every sensation, thought, and feeling that we encounter—whether through sight, sound, or emotion—funnels into a single point of awareness. However, consciousness isn’t what makes sense of these experiences; it is simply the receiver.

The task of navigating and understanding the world falls on the mind and body. The mind processes and organizes the information, while the body interacts with the environment. Consciousness, in this view, is not the driver, but the passive receiver of all the data the mind and body collect and synthesize into experience.

The mind is responsible for interpreting and organizing the flow of information. It gives rise to thoughts, feelings, and decisions. Similarly, the body acts as the mind's connection to the physical world, collecting sensory data and carrying out actions. Together, they create a feedback loop that allows us to understand our surroundings and respond to them.

However, consciousness is not actively involved in this process. Instead, it represents the unified point where all this data converges. It is the medium through which the experience of life is realized, but not the mechanism through which it is understood or acted upon.

A helpful way to visualize these relationships is through an analogy with physics. Mental states, such as thoughts and feelings, can be seen as waves—dynamic and ever-changing. These waves emerge from the brain, which provides the foundational structure, much like particles in physics.

The mind acts as a field that organizes and integrates these mental waves into a cohesive whole. But consciousness is simply the convergence of all this activity into a singular experience, not the waves, the field, or the particles, but the singular point where they intersect.

While many theories suggest that consciousness emerges from the complexity of brain activity, my view sees consciousness as a foundational feature of existence. It’s not something that the brain creates but rather the point where all experience converges.

The “soul”, in this model, represents the singularity at the center of the mind-body connection. The soul is where consciousness (input) and will (output) merge, shaping the experience of life. Consciousness is simply the information received by the soul, a point where all aspects of existence converge.

Consciousness functions as awareness, or the input of experience into the soul. Will represents the output—the driving force of decisions. This relationship between input and output forms a dynamic feedback loop where the body and mind navigate the world, and consciousness experiences it.

In philosophy, the "hard problem of consciousness" deals with understanding why and how subjective experience arises from physical processes. The view that consciousness is simply the convergence of information into a singular experience sidesteps this dilemma. Instead of focusing on how brain matter gives rise to subjective awareness, this model suggests that consciousness is the passive recipient of data, while the mind-body connection handles the active processes of life.

Consciousness, in this model, is not a complex process or an emergent phenomenon; it’s a simple convergence of experience into one unified point. While the mind and body allow us to navigate and understand the world, consciousness is the pure input of information that brings those experiences together.

In this sense, consciousness is fundamental—a necessary element of existence that doesn’t control or interpret but simply experiences.