What is consciousness? | Culture - Live Science

Originally published on Live Science. 

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Grant Currin, freelance science journalist based in Nashville, Tennessee said, The ancient Greeks dove into this question. But what do modern scientists think.

Is consciousness uniquely human? Or do other living things have varying degrees of it?
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Humans once assumed our planet was the physical center of the solar system, so it's no surprise that we also think highly of consciousness, the apparently unique quality that allows our species to contemplate such matters.

But what is consciousness? The topic has been extraordinarily controversial in the scientific and philosophical traditions. Thinkers have spent an immense amount of time and ink trying to unravel mysteries, such as how consciousness works and where it resides.

The short answer isn't very satisfying. Scientists and philosophers still can't agree on a vague idea of what consciousness is, much less a strict definition...

Peering across the tree of life
"Almost everything you can say about [consciousness] is kind of BS," said Joseph LeDoux, a professor of neural science and psychiatry at New York University. "The only way to describe it is in terms of what it is and what it's not." 
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Source: Live Science