This article explores whether human consciousness is a product of free will or a natural phenomenon governed by physical laws, and argues that it is shaped by biological algorithms based on material factors.
Humans have a long history of thinking and contemplating. The tools and structures we have created in our evolution from lower primates to higher animals all stem from the thoughts of our ancestors. The author of this article is currently writing this article in the midst of the same thought process. Furthermore, philosophy, which explores and studies life and the world, including the question, “What is a human being?” and science, which is a system of knowledge about the natural world obtained through verified methods such as experiments, can also be considered to be the product of human concerns and thoughts, or knowledge. Based on this knowledge, humans are defined as highly intelligent beings with a unique life unlike other animals. Based on this knowledge, we build organized societies, exercise our free will and thoughts, and live satisfying lives through interaction. In this way, humans have repeatedly struggled to define their species and themselves, to give meaning to their lives, and to think and think about more definitive definitions. In light of these facts, thinking and contemplation have been important to humans in the past and will be important in the future. Therefore, it is important to define the phenomenon of human consciousness.
But where and how do conscious acts such as thinking and contemplating emerge? I was taught that thinking was something that one could do freely through one’s will, but as I learned more about science, especially about life, I realized that human beings are made up of various substances, and that all of our actions are driven by material elements, such as muscle tissue, neurotransmitters, and skeletons. This led me to believe that there are two possible arguments for defining a human being. First, are humans special animals with free will and the ability to acquire knowledge? Second, are humans just a part of nature governed by physical and natural laws? I believe that humans are governed by physical and natural laws, and therefore consciousness is also governed by physical factors. Modern science has shown that conscious behavior can be expressed as a biological algorithm, and that consciousness is formed through the reaction of chemicals. I also believe that the argument that consciousness is governed by physical laws is more credible because it is difficult to prove its origin if it does not originate from material elements. In the next section, I will discuss how consciousness can be subject to physical laws.
As mentioned earlier, I believe that human mental phenomena, such as thoughts and ideas, are derived from material elements. If we describe the manifestation of consciousness as an algorithm, it can be seen as a process of (sensation → cognition). Let’s assume that our consciousness and body are separate and that external matter exists.
First, let’s talk about sensations, which are the pre-thinking stages of our life. In strictly physical terms, when we observe an object, matter reflects light from its surroundings and our eyes capture it. Then, visual nerve cells convert the light energy into electrochemical signals, which are processed by the visual thalamus in the occipital lobe, and the information is recognized and deepened in the frontal lobe. Through these biological processes, we feel the presence of matter and determine what it looks like and what color it is. This process is biologically precise, and we know it. We think of what we think and feel through our senses as physical forces from the external world being processed and expressed within the biological systems of the internal world. But how do we explain conscious behavior in the internal world, such as contemplation, reflection, and consideration? We don’t stop at feeling the information we get from the external world, we store it if it is influential. This behavior can be defined as “remembering.” Contemplation, reflection, and deliberation are the process of recalling memories and performing other conscious actions based on those memories, which can be considered a higher level of consciousness. This is a stage that is currently poorly explained by biological knowledge, and there is much speculation. For example, it could be information stored in proteins, or the formation of the synapse itself. But does this go against the physical explanation of conscious behavior? Even if we don’t know the details of the physical entity that holds memories, we do know that we are conscious and thinking by getting information from some substance that holds memories and triggers chemical reactions in the brain. As evidence of this, we can think about dreams. Dreams are conscious phenomena in which we see and hear many of the same things while we sleep as we do when we’re awake. When we wake up from a dream, we feel that the dream was an inner contemplation. We don’t know the source of the emotions and sensations we feel in dreams, but the fact that we feel them doesn’t change, and science can confirm it through experiments that show frequency changes or chemical changes in the brain. In conclusion, I think that our internal contemplation can also support the claim that mental phenomena have a material origin.
Second, the fact that consciousness can be controlled by drugs supports the idea that consciousness is material. For example, doctors administer psychotropic drugs to mentally ill or terminally ill patients who are in extreme pain to induce psychological and emotional changes in them to relieve their suffering or stabilize them. The principle is that psychotropic drugs act on the endings of human nerve cells to control nerve signals, and when these altered nerve signals reach the brain, psychological and emotional changes occur. Narcotics work on the same principle. In this way, the brain can receive chemical and electrical signals and influence human consciousness, so it is possible to control human consciousness not only through chemical substances such as drugs, but also through electrical stimulation.
Third, assuming that consciousness is not governed by physical laws, it is difficult to prove. To prove that it is governed by physical laws, we need to draw on various scientific knowledge and show the biological changes that occur when humans undergo psychological and emotional changes. These changes can be algorithmized to analyze and classify emotions, and a third party can look at this data and understand what those emotions are. However, those who argue that consciousness is a product of free will can argue that algorithmic data is not perfect proof. This is because the data presented by the algorithm is a representation of the emotion, not something that a third party can directly relate to. However, the fact that emotions can be derived is meaningful in itself, and I think there is a big difference between the free will interpretation and the biological interpretation in that a third party can understand emotions through reliable numerical data. It is very difficult to empathize with emotions through an interpretation of free will, and it is likely to be less reliable than if the data were presented through an algorithm. In other words, to prove that consciousness is not governed by physical laws, we need to be able to provide reasonable explanations and evidence to third parties. I argue that mental phenomena are governed by physical laws because there are many things that can be explained by physical laws.
To summarize, we have argued that the process of thinking, the occurrence of psychological and emotional changes through drugs, and free will are difficult to explain. The separation of the outer and inner worlds, and the questioning of their origins, leads to the conclusion that the subject of consciousness is material. This argument suggests that human consciousness is governed by material laws, and that we need to understand and overcome them.
