THE HUMAN DEFAULT CONSCIOUSNESS, JHĀNA CONSCIOUSNESS, GAIA “CONSCIOUSNESS” AND SOME THOUGHTS ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Default sensory consciousness, as examined across philosophy, psychoanalysis, Buddhist thought, and neuroscience, is contrasted with the consciousness arising in jhāna meditation. The discussion extends to neuroscience models of nested hierarchies within self-organizing systems and their associated Markov blankets, exploring implications for consciousness in those systems. A brief discussion addresses the outermost hierarchical system—planet Earth interacting with worldwide societies—and the likely information geometries linking outer with inner, in light of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter explores the characteristics of the human default sensory consciousness as it has featured in philosophic thought, in psychoanalysis and mental health, as well as in Buddhist thought and from a modern neuroscience perspective. This default mode of consciousness is then compared and contrasted to the form of consciousness that emerges in jhāna meditation, before extending the discussion to neuroscience models of nested hierarchies within self-organising systems and their associated Markov blankets, with implications for the forms of consciousness that may or may not arise in those systems.This is followed by a brief discussion of the outermost hierarchical system, that of planet Earth in interaction with worldwide societies, and the likely information geometries linking “outer” with “inner”. In light of the current crises of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.