Week 6: Consciousness

Introduction

In the past weeks you have explored the furthest reaches of our universe, considered the beginning of time and whether it is possible to predict the future, and delved deep into the smallest constituents of matter. The thing that makes this entire remarkable journey possible is the human brain. So, our destination now is inside our own heads, to ask how this lump of cells, proteins and water manages such extraordinary feats of thought. This week, your brain will be learning about itself, as you encounter some very intriguing questions.

How are the workings of our brain connected to our personalities, our sense of ourselves and our own inner world of experiences, thoughts and feelings? Could equations be found to describe ‘us’? Or is our own consciousness something that just can’t be explained by science?

As Francis Crick, Nobel laureate for his work on the structure of DNA, said:

Here’s Marcus to introduce this week’s topic.

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Transcript: Video 1 Introduction

MARCUS DU SAUTOY

That we can know anything is thanks to the amazing equipment evolution has given us inside our heads: our brain. But can our brains turn in on themselves, and investigate this most complex collection of atoms in the universe? You’ll explore many of the exciting ways that science has found to build a picture of how the brain works. But one of the ultimate challenges is understanding how a collection of atoms can become conscious of its own existence. Called the ‘hard problem of consciousness’, many philosophers believe that the subjective nature of consciousness makes it a question science will never be able to answer. But is that really true? Or can we perhaps one day understand what makes me ‘me’?

End transcript: Video 1 Introduction

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Video 1 Introduction

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• understand how scientists study the brain
• explain how the brain works in simple terms, including the role of neurons
• discuss some technological advances related to simulating brain function
• appreciate the difficulties involved in studying and understanding consciousness
• describe some current research ideas on consciousness.