I promised Viv I would write about consciousness and our origins. It relates to material in my book “To Fly Without Wings” and the new, expanded edition, now published.

Well, is consciousness a medical topic? Unconsciousness certainly is! So why not consciousness?

It’s one of the hardest topics to speak to, in all creation. Like a knife that cannot cut itself, consciousness may not be able to explain itself. Self-awareness is something we all have in common. But if you think about it for just a few moments, you’ll realize we don’t even know that we have that in common. I’m self aware. But how do I know you’re self aware?

I don’t; and that, to philosophers, is called the “zombie problem”. How do we truly determine if another individual is conscious and sentient in the sense we ourselves feel it? If you come up with a quick answer, you haven’t understood the question properly! Continue reading →