Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,... Romans 1:22
"The alarm theory of consciousness (Rohr University of Bochum,
28 
April 2023). This is the press release about a paper described
below. The two guys getting their 15 minutes of fame in this article
think they have improved on evolutionary theories of consciousness by
dividing it into two parts: arousal, then alertness. They call their
divide-and-conquer model the “ALARM” theory.
Humans possess consciousness. But is it merely a by-product of evolution or does it fulfil a fundamental function? Professor Albert Newen from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and Professor Carlos Montemayor from San Francisco State University, USA, have developed a new theory on this question. In the Journal of Consciousness Studies of 1. January 2023, they distinguish two levels of consciousness, both of which also have two different functions.The first stage of consciousness is basic arousal the second is general alertness. “These two stages are linked to two basic functions that build on each other,” says Albert Newen from the Bochum Institute for Philosophy II, explaining why he doesn’t consider consciousness to be an accidental by-product of evolution. According to the alarm theory, basic arousal first emerged in the course of evolution in order to put the body into a state of alarm so that the organism’s life could be preserved. This happens, for example, when core functions of life such as breathing, food supply or temperature regulation suddenly become unbalanced and survival is at stake.
From there, they argue, “general alertness” is sure to follow with
many good things like qualia, because the signal from the lower-level
thalamus is sure to spread upward into the higher centers of processing,
where the animal (or human) can draw on memories of experiences. The
animal is alert.
Q: Can consciousness be reduced to arousal and alertness?
Q: Is human
consciousness the same as the responses of macaques and mice to stimuli
targeting specific parts of their brains?
--- Think of poking a dog’s foot
with a needle while it is sleeping. It wakes up suddenly (arousal), and
begins barking or whimpering (alertness).
Q: Is it ready to do philosophy
and write a scientific paper about consciousness?" CEH
