Learning how to think about the human mind implies a simultaneous learning about the flows of information and decision-making in the child as well as through and in other information-processing units of society. Consciousness, as we experience it, is certainly not present in anything other than a biological organism with a central nervous system. Yet without adhering absolutely to either "functionalist" or "structuralist" dogma, I think it's safe to say that there are similarities between the abstract structures of consciousness and those of, say, a democracy. Thus the search for "secret" processes underlying consciousness is only part of the search for a unified theory of meaning and for ways to understand and improve living systems--in particular, human systems.

On the Order of Presentation

First, the basic, cybernetic I-->R-->O pattern of Input, Referent, and Output is shown with enough added arrows to make it more biologically realistic. This structure represents an elemental unit (a nerve cell, group of neurons, or perhaps a distributed function) of neural processing within the model, and it's arrows show the flow of signals, patterns, or images. This diagram is explained briefly.

(2) Diagrams 2 and 3 show what I consider to be the prototypical, five distinct "foci" involved in a unit of consciousness and are accompanied by

(3) a verbal sketch outlining the information flows in Diagrams 2 and 3.

(4) Diagram 4, the line drawings and diagram used in the 1994 edition of Creating Democracy In Time, are followed by

(5) another verbal description,

(6) an explanation of qualia, and finally,

(7) comments on the meaning and "teleonomy," i.e., the appearance of purposive intentionality, in consciousness.

Diagram 2. The Pyramid of Consciousness

Now, with the preceding drawings in mind, let us create a mental picture and a feeling for how it all might work:

Light reflecting off person (P) who, in diagram 2 is standing before you, enters your eyes and stimulates patterns of neural activity at "x," "z," and "o" in your brain. Each pattern or "image" may be inclusive of the angles, straight lines, colors, etc. to which some individual neurons respond specifically.

The image at x then fires off at least three output patterns, one of which becomes a Referent pattern at locus z. The second signal becomes an Input pattern at locus y where a "match" or "comparison" is accomplished between a Referent image y, which is a remembered image, and the image from x. The third output from x becomes a Lower Referent input at o, the apex (or "omega" process) of our imagined pyramid. Pattern y, as mentioned, is a Referent memory pattern to which x will be compared. Y could even be a neural competency built by prior experience into the input tracts that then filter pattern x as it comes in. No matter, in this model at least, the match between x and y has to occur somewhere, and the result of the match is an Output signal that becomes an Input signal at z.

At z, the output from the match which occurred at y becomes Input that is now matched with the Referent pattern coming in from x and is interleaved with the pattern coming in as a Lower Referent from P. Notice that the original image from P has been "split" yet arrives simultaneously from two directions at z. This is only somewhat analogous to the process of splitting laser beams and bringing the beams back together to form interference patterns that result in a three dimensional hologram. It can also be likened to the stereophonic effect that results from music coming from separate sources and into two ears instead of one ear. (Interference patterns occur widely in nature and produce an interesting variety of surprising, "special" effects. However, I do not assert here that they produce holograms in the brain.)

Results of the matching process,including interference patterns, are specifically "defined" and given "values" as they flow to become Input patterns or Referent patterns at other stations in the brain where other pyramid structures are applied to test and retest other aspects of the model of reality that is being formed, piece by piece, in many pyramidal testing units. The output from z, for example, is sent on separate paths to become motor action and/or unconscious process at B and U levels (see diagram 4 below) in the model, and simultaneously, toward matching processes at the C, So, and Sy levels of the model.

C-level, or primary, consciousness occurs when patterns at z are interleaved, matches are tested and retested to ensure accuracy, specific features of the perceived external and/or internal reality are represented as signal "patterns," some of which are then "defined" by attaching "marker" patterns, and given various "values," i.e., additional "marker" patterns. Ultimately, "values" are brain patterns that are attached to autonomic patterns and physiological parameters necessary for survival of the organism and/or the values attached to other organisms or objects related to needs and preferences. Thus a relatively complete or functionally adequate "model" is created of real-time objects in space and relations among them. Each such "model of reality," having been well-tested against previously well-tested models of reality, becomes virtually indistinguishable--to the host of other functional patterns in the brain--from the parallel process of reality itself. The closest we come to a direct contact with external physical reality, however, comes to us through the long evolutionary experimentation with the survival value of various sensory input patterns and "reflex circuits."

When the Output from the matching process at z begins to flow into o as Input, it is matched again to patterns arriving more directly from P as Referent, it's matches are interleaved with matches occurring against Lower Referents which came from x and y, and a Higher Referent which comes from symbolic stores or memories of prior thoughts, intentions, time-and-sequence codes, and/or other consciousness-level patterns. From the matches which occur at this level we obtain further "definition," attach further "value," and our internal model takes on yet greater meaning. The process of achieving a subjective experience of a consciousness of both Self and Other--with all the attendant, qualitative features--is also under way. It is the result of a growing "accuracy" of representation, definition, and valuing. Insofar as our internalized model of the "Self" is then able to act competently in relation to our now internalized model of the real-world non-Self, the internal models are now being confirmed as "real," i.e., our brains are creating models that we interpret as real-world stuff because they work when tested.

When our brain models of "Self" and our models of "Other," each interacting with the other in a process that is "parallel" to the world outside our brains, achieve desired results--sometimes even predictive validity--and our internal models are thoroughly tested against real-world realities, then the "illusion" of our "direct" perception of reality begins. Even as our internal models coincide accurately with external reality, the reality of models that are built up "beneath" waves of neural excitation remains hidden "behind the scenes." Or to put it another way, our "illusions" disappear as our models become the "reality" to which we respond successfully.

It's important to note that a single pass through each of the loci in a pyramidal system would not likely produce even a flash of conscious awareness--though it may register in the unconscious mind. An ongoing stream of time-sequenced, rapid-fire matches at each loci may be essential for consciousness. Similarly, a vast amount of parallel processing of related information (for example, ambiant light, sound, and temperature patterns; proprioceptive information about body position; autonomic signals generated by internal organs, hormones, and chemical ratios; "limbic reports" on emotional reactions to perceived internal and external information, and attentional process) participates on the production of consciousness. Matching patterns from the different sensory modalities of sight, hearing, odor detection, taste, and tactile sensation all combine to produce that vivid experience of "brilliant fire" that can't be fully reproduced by "virtual reality" machines but is reproduced expertly in the brain as memory, imagination, or dreams.

In a few hundred milliseconds the brain proliferates thousands of "pyramids of consciousness" at several, dynamically changing locations and scales of size. These units are rapidly sequenced and elaborated to build the complex models of external and internal realities which are continually tested, adjusted, and further developed throughout life. Our models of the external world and its general laws of nature evolve to become so accurate that it is little wonder that we feel we are directly perceiving reality itself.

Sensory Modality 1 ..... Sensory Modality 2 .....

Diagram 3 shows the interactions among pyramidal processes forming the larger structure of a "model." We see at the bottom left a pyramidal process forming on the basis of sensory inputs of one modality, such as vision, and another to the right forming on the basis of, say, tactile input. Output patterns are then brought into correspondence when a representative pattern from each modality is put through the pyramidal matching, testing and retesting process against those patterns coming from the other modality. Each confirms or disconfirms the accuracy of the other. As these flows and comparisons go on inside each pyramidal structure, other structures of matching Inputs to Referents with resulting Outputs are taking place as a proliferating build-up of the neural model proceeds.

This diagram could represent a person putting on a pair of pants. Seeing the pants, holding them with the hands, feeling the sensations of the pantlegs around each leg, perhaps beginning to form a mental image of how the Self will look after the pants are on, all become parts of the model building that could be going on in diagram 3. When our neural models are doubly or triply confirmed by matching defined neural patterns from two or three different sensory inputs, especially from different sensory modalities, our subjective feeling of an accurate and vivid perception of external reality is heightened. Try covering one eye and one ear as you perceive a person coming toward you. Do you not feel a vague sense of unreality, perhaps even a slight apprehension?

And still the foregoing can only be a small part of the story. Neither consciousness nor complex models of external reality were programmed by our genes. Consciousness has to be developed over long minutes and years of internal model building experience with millions of sensory inputs, trial matchings and errors, and further evolved with associative and analogical processes built up in the brain from the simple perceptions of objects moving in space. Models of Self and Other(s) are crucial. No small contribution is made, for example, by mothers or fathers who speak in dulcet tones, reaffirming each of us as a "Self" of value.

Learned epigenetically in individuals, consciousness has to evolve through feedback loops of motor action, testing, and of communications that pass through cultures and back into the individual brain to help us achieve "definitions" and "values." Since "defining" and "valuing" are so necessary to guide our behaviors toward individual and species survival, as well as to various other levels of purposeful action, and to the subjective experiences of qualia, we will address them in more detail below. First, however, let's look at the "deep evolution" of the structures and types of consciousness.

Sy=syntropic or purpose-creating consciousness, Isy=input at syntropic level, each line with half-arrow head=a pattern of information flowing on a path, each small circle in the network=an RA node where matching, mixing, and comparison of information patterns occur, So=self-observing level of consciousness, Iso=input at self-observing level of consciousness, C=primary level of consciousness of sensory input, Ic=input at C level, B=sensory or base input level, Ib=input at base level, U=unconscious level which includes B level processing.

(E)=extropic form of conscious/unconscious information processing. (The single arrow here represents the simple appearance of an information pattern that flows until it is interrupted or stopped.) (AS)=associative form of conscious/unconscious information processing with the double arrow representing two or more patterns of information flow that tend to be associated with one another, (AN)=analogical form of conscious/unconscious information processing with one arrow (patterned flow of information) causing the appearance of a like pattern, (SCH)=schematic form of conscious/unconscious information processing in which the arrows represent automatic sequences in the flow of information patterns, (RA)=rational-analytic form of conscious/unconscious information processing in which patterns flow in, are compared or mixed, then flow out to meet other inputs or out to effect an action, T....=time sequences in the above network or lattice of information flows

Diagram 4. The Syntropic Model of Consciousness

Each of these paradigmatic patterns are to be imagined as superimposed on the network of information flows (including flows through pyramid patterns and "models") shown above the U level. As we go through stages of cognitive development, each of these paradigms of information processing takes a turn at being the predominant, identifying structure or mode of functioning. The small circles where the heads of arrows come together for a "comparison" or "mixing" of inputs are "RA nodes." Each of the RA nodes has the functional structure of the I-->R-->O pattern of Inputs, Referents, Outputs, and the feedforward, feedback, and adjustment loops shown in the bottom right corner of the diagram.

The RA unit, together with its feedback loops, is the smallest unit of a consciousness pattern. A "conscious" system cannot be constructed using only the simpler units of information processing which are shown to the left of the I-->R-->O pattern (the RA structure). Diagram 4 shows again the possibilities of comparing or mixing at each node with at least two or three inputs, with split signal processing, interference patterns, and with interleaved matching of patterns (each of which could be simply a summation of inputs). Further, information flow from each node can be modulated or filtered, and the results can be compared with further input patterns which may be Higher Referents (HR) and Lower Referents (LR).

However, at least one of the Input patterns coming into each unit of consciousness must be split so that a remixing or interference occurs together with two or more interleaved comparisons or mixes among several inputs at each node. The Inputs at each node are put to a matching or mismatching and the result is an output from the node. A number of arrows in the diagram bifurcate, showing split signals that then feed back or feed forward to modify one of the other Inputs to a node. The reader can undoubtedly appreciate the almost infinite variety of patterns of information that can develop in a four-dimensional network like the brain. Only a miniscule number of the possible connections and variations of flow among the RA nodes of a complex network can be described--but enough, perhaps, to achieve a fundamental feeling for the complexity that underlies both consciousness and any other advanced, information-processing system such as an authentic democracy with its plethora of feedback loops designed to improve the fidelity of signals, "honesty," efficient decision-making, and progress toward goals.

The intensity or strength of any signal can influence or be influenced by any information flowing to the arrow that represents it. The strength of a signal could be signified by altering the thickness of the arrows or assigning (+) or (-) numbers to each arrow. We can assume that signals related to basic survival or to sexual desire, or any intensely felt emotion, are often "strong" enough or repeated frequently enough to modify, or predominate over, other inputs and outputs.

The single stream of consciousness with sustained attention occurs at the C and So (self-observing) levels when inputs and outputs are held to a sequence of closely related images or patterns. The C level stream is achieved by matching, feedback, and feedforward to the next time frame--all of which occurs at subliminal sequencing speeds. Sampling and feedback control frequencies of the higher level processes can occur at different rates than lower level consciousness streams as they hold the attention to specific tasks. This may be one of the reasons for the specific EEG frequencies associated with focused attention. Intentional consciousness and behavior imply a larger purposive action that binds microsequenced processes into macrosequenced frameworks.

The "fullness" and the partial unpredictability of conscious experience are, once again, facilitated by: (1) the vast storehouse of memories and reference values, (2) the huge variety of inputs that may occur from the outside and from internal state reports, (3) the enormous number of information flow paths that occur simultaneously in the massive, parallel processing that is constantly occurring, especially at lower levels in this lattice, (4) from the multimedia (multiple sensory modalities) experience of the world around us, (5) from the fact that, depending on the strength of signals, an "intrusion" of inputs to or from C or the Sy (syntropic) levels may result in a new focus or a redirection of the flow of consciousness at any time, and (6) the more or less constant testing and verifying of reality via sensory input patterns and reflex circuits.

With regard to the richness of conscious awareness, it may be interesting to add that there is experimental evidence supporting the view that the "unconscious mind" can continue a search through memory stores at a rate of about thirty items per second even after the conscious mind has moved on to other subjects. And as a further aside, according to the above model of consciousness, every thought or verbalization at one level of consciousness is also a "suggestion" to other levels of consciousness; hence, the common experience of trying to remember something momentarily forgotten then finding that the unconscious searching process may be improved by consciously saying to a friend or to oneself, "Perhaps you'll remember that in a few moments."

Consciousness must be thought of as occuring in various degrees and at several levels. We can define "C level consciousness," most simply as the sequenced process of one after another "mappings or matchings" of a C level neural reference pattern with split inputs that result from the outputs of B (perceptual) level matching processes. The ability to concentrate, or to maintain a "train of thought," depends on the ability to repeat or feedforward the matching process with the remembered same, or a similar, Referent while the Input to the next timeframe varies with "real time" changes in the environment or imagination. Sudden shifts in the "train of thought" without an awareness of the shift may occur at the C level if movement occurs that invokes neural pathways related to survival needs, if spontaneous events occur at subneuronal (perhaps even at subquantum) levels, or if the shift is initiated purposively at the Sy level.

C level consciousness, which we share to some degree with other mammals, enables one to be aware of both the outer environment and the inner environment including autonomic information, to model that mixture of perceptions, and to choose among possible actions. The B level input patterns may come from outside the brain or from other parts of the brain. The B input and reference patterns may come from different primary or secondary sensory processing areas or from memory stores. Again, confirmation and filling out of the "3-D, stereophonic, or multimedia experience" of the world and of one's conscious self occurs when patterns from different sensory modalities are "compared," and associatively reconstructed as space-time models.

The C level "pattern matching" is of essentially the same structure as the other matching patterns except that it's C level input patterns come from the results of B input-reference matching processes which are then output to a matching process with C level reference patterns that are more specific to C level processing. The C level process also has the capacity to send signals which may influence B level matching processes and, to a lesser degree, can influence the U level mental processes.