why DID we evolve into humans?

I too would like a better sense of your definition of consciousness. this is not how I use the term. I actually think that when I'm nonverbally sensorial aware that I'm more conscious than when I'm think. When I'm translating (abstracting) my sensory experience into words and then operating in linguistic mode I have important functionality such as this writing, but I have less sense of actually existing, of self awareness.lfen

Antonio Damasio in his book THE FEELING OF WHAT HAPPENS does this. He is a neurologist and an excellent writer. He identifies core consciousness and autobiographical consciousness. Bernadette Roberts in one of her books, perhaps her third book WHAT IS SELF makes that point about sensory intelligence of animals vs. the human mode of discriminating concepts, I don't think that is what she calls it though.Buddhist and others in the east have been studying consciousness for many centuries phenomenologically.It seems you are refering to autobiographical consciousness which is an important function of homo sapiens in culture and that does seem to be based on memories and our penchant to construct stories. Language is however hightly abstract and that functioning accesses a limited but very useful part of the total brain/organism.In one sense much of the effort in the eastern traditions is to get free of the conviction that that we are the story we constructed and return to the greater organisms functioning. The idea is that this story of ourselves holds us in effect hynotized with a restricted awaresness. One use of meditation is to break this fixation and experience our being free of the concepts we have accumulated.lfen

But you do make motor/sensory the greater? Doesn't that indicate it's consciousness is greater also?lfen

My approach is primarily from the eastern nondual schools and I also look at philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience to help try and find personal progress, so my approach is not primarily scientific but subjective phenomenology. Could you amplify or provide some links about these experiments? I think there is a relationship but they are differing kinds of awareness.lfen

Ben,Just got up and am making morning coffee. But I am very excited about your information because I think it will be helpful in another interests of mine which is dancing Argentine tango. An activity that is more complex than driving a car but which requires learning skills to the point that you no longer need to concentrate or even be aware of them as you move with your partner expressively to the music. I'm hoping this may lead me to greater clarity on some issues around learning and teaching as well.Dancers will talk of "muscle memory" which I find a misleading phrase. I've preferred the term "neuro-motor skills". In his "Inner Game" books such as THE INNER GAME OF TENNIS Tim Galwey talks about self 1 and self 2. Self one is what I've come to call the deliberate ego and Self 2 I've been thinking of as the total organism. Self 1 learning has a large linguistic component with self talk, verbal instructions, whereas Self 2 learning is by sensory input observation with modification by sensory feedback. It's not an either/or but a how much time is spent in one mode or the other.It may take me sometime to work through your links but I will be getting back to you. Thanks,lfen

Ben,I'm a little uncertain on how to track citations in this style, is this a Pub-Med citation?I'm beginning to muse of the comparison of simultaneous translation and expressive dance. Of course the translation of the first is from linguistic to linguistic, while the second is music to movement and auditory to kinesthetic but I'm still looking for ways to get dancers to move from executing steps in time to music to the point of listening to the music and their feelings and then find a way to move that is expressive of the music/feeling at each moment and now I'm wondering if translation might be a helpful or valid analogy. I can see it could be confusing is someone thought there were literal analogues. I'm not addressing content but the process how to parallel listening and moving.lfen

Ben,I'm not impatient at all. I'm a slow thinker prone to mulling by degrees for years in the case of these issues about dancing. That is a good tip on finding free articles on researchers home pages, thanks.Are you at all interested in synesthesia? I've read some speculation that it's that aspect of the brain that makes art, even language possible. I've toyed with the idea that dancing expressively or musically involves an auditory kinesthetic synesthesia.Many social dancers keep acquiring new technique (steps or moves) and refining it. I'm trying to find language and ways to get them to connect to the feeling quality of music and move expressively. This has led me into aesthetics a bit and the notion of phrases as a way of looking at feelings. Movement is phrased. Linguistics is phrased, music is phrased, and dancing should be phrased.Manfred Clynes' work with sentics is one attempt to figure out why music conveys feelings as it does. Another question I have is why so many of us humans enjoy tragedies, sad love songs, etc.Well, I've just did a broad sketch of some of the things I've been considering in the last few years. If any of this interests you respond at your leisure, no need for you to push yourself on any of this. I appreciate what you've shared already.thanks,lfen

Ben,Sounds like you got some real work done. I'd guess your girlfriend is happy to have made some progress on her thesis.I wasn't sure what you were familiar with so just sketched an outline. Go ahead and ask me to amplify anything that interests you.lfen

lfen