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On Consciousness: The Objective Product of Higher Brain Computation

Author: Suhang Zhang | Luoyang, Henan

Consciousness is the reflection of the objective world by the human brain, and it is the result of human brain computation. A computer's response to input information is the result of chip computation; an animal's reaction to the objective world is the result of neural computation. They are all computations, all relying on material foundations, albeit different ones, and all possess the capacity to improve and optimize their computational results. Neural networks are superior to chips, humans are superior to animals, and even within humanity, geniuses are superior to ordinary talents. Therefore, consciousness must never be mystified.

For a long time, consciousness has remained the most easily mystified concept in human cognition. Many viewpoints regard consciousness as a special existence transcending matter, endowing it with transcendental and mystical connotations, thereby severing the essential connection between consciousness and the objective material world.

In fact, from a purely scientific perspective, consciousness has never existed independently of the brain. It is neither a mysterious soul-trait nor a special energy that transcends physical laws. The essence of consciousness is the information representation generated by the computation of the brain—a highly advanced material system—and it is the subjective reflection of the objective world by a living entity. Establishing a unified understanding of matter, computation, and reflection is the core key to comprehending the essence of consciousness.

All information responses and cognitive activities in the world are essentially computational processes relying on material carriers. Different levels of material structures correspond to different levels of computational and perceptual capabilities; there is no cognition or consciousness independent of matter. Chip circuits, animal neural networks, and the human brain are three distinct material computational systems at vastly different levels, yet they follow a unified underlying logic: relying on material carriers to receive external signals, complete information computation, and output corresponding feedback.

The response of a computer is the computational result of a silicon-based chip. Through fixed circuit structures, the chip receives and processes externally input information, completes standardized information computation, and makes mechanical and precise responses to external stimuli. This process relies entirely on hardware material structures and preset computational rules. It is the lowest-level information computation, featuring a fixed structure and extremely poor plasticity; it can only complete passive information processing and cannot form autonomous cognition or subjective representation.

The external reactions of lower animals are the computational results of primary biological neural networks. Animals rely on native neural networks to perceive their environment, capture signals, and avoid danger. Their neural computation can fine-tune behavioral patterns based on survival experiences, possessing basic optimization and adaptation capabilities. Compared to the fixed computation of silicon-based chips, animal neural networks have preliminary plasticity, but they can only complete survival-oriented instinctual computation and cannot form abstract thinking, self-awareness, or systematic world representation.

Human consciousness is the unique advanced computational product of the human brain's neural network. The human brain is the most complex material computational system evolved in nature. Its trillions of synaptic connections and dynamically plastic neural structures allow this system to break through the limitations of rigid machine computation and instinctual animal computation. After receiving signals from the objective world, the human brain forms cognition, thought, judgment, and summary of the world through complex information integration, memory superposition, logical deduction, and retrospective optimization, ultimately generating complete consciousness. Ultimately, all human thoughts, cognition, emotions, and thinking are essentially mappings and reflections formed by the objective world within the material system of the human brain through advanced computation; none of their content transcends the scope of the objective material world.

From machines to animals, and from ordinary humans to genius individuals, the gaps in all cognitive abilities are essentially hierarchical gaps in material computational systems. Silicon-based chips have rigid structures and no autonomous optimization capabilities, making their computational level the lowest; animal neural networks possess biological plasticity, but their computational dimensions are singular, limited to survival instincts; human neural networks possess multi-dimensional, dynamic, and sustainably iterative advanced computational capabilities, forming a unique higher consciousness.

Within the human population, the cognitive chasm between so-called "geniuses" and ordinary people likewise possesses no sacred or supernatural halo. Its essence remains the hardware differences of the brain neural network as a material computational system—geniuses often possess higher densities of synaptic connections, faster neural electrical signal transmission efficiency, and broader dimensions of cross-brain-region information integration. While ordinary people may process information in a linear, single-threaded state, the brain computational systems of top geniuses can complete highly dimensional parallel computing and pattern recognition with extremely low energy consumption. These differences are purely material structural and computational capability differences, devoid of any mystified special attributes. So-called "talent" is merely a higher-level computational system receiving superior physical parameters upon "factory delivery."

Simultaneously, all material computational systems possess the characteristic of iterative optimization. Computers can optimize computational logic through program upgrades and hardware iterations; animals can fine-tune neural response patterns through survival experiences; humans, even more so, can continuously reshape neural connections and upgrade thinking computations through learning, thinking, and retrospection, allowing conscious cognition to constantly approach objective laws. This continuously optimized computational iteration further proves that consciousness is a developable, malleable, and rule-governed material product, rather than an unchanging mystical existence.

Viewing consciousness as a transcendent existence independent of the brain is a cognitive misconception. From the perspective of material computation: No brain carrier means no computation; no computation means no information reflection; no information reflection means no consciousness. Consciousness is born attached to brain matter, changes with neural computation, and derives its content from the objective world. It completely obeys the fundamental physical rules of the material world and possesses no supernatural or supra-material special characteristics.

In summary, consciousness is neither mysterious nor transcendent. It is essentially the representation of the objective world formed by the advanced neural network computation of the human brain. It shares the same origin and nature as machine computation and animal neural reactions, merely existing at a higher material computational level. From silicon-based circuits to biological nerves, and from instinctual reactions to human thought, all cognitive activities are different manifestations of material computation.

We must clearly recognize that even if artificial intelligence performs outstandingly in tasks such as single-item calculation and information retrieval, its essence remains the rigid computation of silicon-based chips. Limited by its physical material foundation, AI finds it difficult to spontaneously break through structural rigidity and cannot generate the highly plastic, multi-dimensional dynamic evolution of the human brain. Therefore, it is difficult for AI to form complete human-like consciousness or achieve a comprehensive transcendence over human intelligence.

But this does not mean the two are mutually exclusive. The human brain excels at autonomously reconstructing cognition, generating goals, grasping essences, and gaining insights into new directions; AI excels at massive data traversal, high-speed numerical calculation, and repetitive information screening. The hybrid complementarity between the human brain and AI constitutes the most powerful information-computing combination of our time. Each performs its own duties: biological neural higher consciousness charts the course, while silicon-based computing power undertakes the heavy lifting of information processing, synergistically amplifying each other's strengths.

Adhering to the core logic that matter determines consciousness, consciousness originates from computation, and cognition originates from objective mapping is not only for understanding the essence of consciousness but also for pointing out a solid physical direction for the evolution of human cognition at the intersection of artificial intelligence and brain science today. Consciousness will ultimately shed all mysterious halos and receive an objective and rational explanation upon the foundation of material computation.