The unConsciousness Manifesto

By Robert Hughes

The science of who we are. How does the brain produce our identity? Written in plain words for non-specialists, The unConsciousness Manifesto describes what it means to be human according to contemporary scientific findings. In no-nonsense terms, this brief pamphlet concisely and forthrightly overturns centuries of speculation regarding human identity, pointing to the biological basis of decision-making and invention.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Hughes
• Release date: Apr 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9780993805998

Robert Hughes

Robert Hughes has been teaching Literature and Composition for 30 years. The interest which informs his work involves identity in relation to the environment. As Hughes says, words, also, make up much of our environment, as do our own actions. The creating of worded works effects (not affects) our environmental identity. Indeed (Hughes notes) McLuhan makes the point that our environment remains for the most part invisible and inaccessible. Hughes tries to make it audible. This effort to investigate and embody identity itself frequently expresses itself in humour and whimsy, but is no less sincere for that. For more about Robert Hughes, visit bodywisdom.press.

Book preview

The unConsciousness Manifesto

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A ghost is haunting Humankind – the ghost of Consciousness. Around the world an alliance has promulgated this ghost. Police proclaim powers derived from Consciousness, and people are criticized or even imprisoned for their supposedly Conscious ‘crimes’. Churches denounce ‘intentional’ sins, courts assert that ‘ignorance is no excuse’, and schools insist that students ‘pay attention’. Now unConsciousnists confront this nursery tale of the ghost of Consciousness with their own Manifesto.

It is time for unConsciousness to reveal itself openly. To this end, nameless unConsciousnists of various backgrounds have not assembled to sketch the following Manifeste de l’inConscient.

chapter 1

All Action is Unconscious

I stand up, but stumble in doing so. I reach for a glass of water, but knock it over. I swing a golf club, but shank the ball. Why? Actions are unconscious during their occurrence.

It is only in retrospect that I am aware of an action. Milliseconds later, I am conscious of stumbling, the spilling water, or the mishit ball. No matter how I then react, whether with a startled yelp or a self-deprecating smile, that reaction too is unconscious, and I am aware of my reaction, in turn, only in retrospect.

We are explorers. The unconsciousness of any action we take makes life itself a constant adventure. We do not know what we will do next. We surprise ourselves.

An action cannot be KNOWN throughout its happening. If I know each and every motion of my arms, hips, spine, legs, and club while swinging, then I can also correct each motion, and ensure that I hit the golf ball effectively. Ditto standing up or grasping a glass of water. In such a state, I can never make a mistake.

What is true of my motor actions also holds for my thoughts.

I wonder whether I will remain-on-the-couch, walk-about-the-room, or leave-the-room. Each possibility first exists only unconsciously in my brain. It is active and occurring, but unconscious. It is not abstract; it is a very real branching of neuron energy .[1] The possibilities exist before my consciousness is aware of them. This is to say that they are active in the parietal lobe at a low localized energy level that I call ‘quiver’. When their energy increases beyond threshold-strength to globally engage the frontal lobe they ‘flash’ !

Neurons quiver rather than signal.

They are biological cells that act.

They do not use ‘language’

which is a ‘sign’

of something other than itself.

A nerve-cell quivering ‘sit’

IS

the sitting-motion.

It is not a text

for ‘something else’

to read & consider doing.

‘I-will-remain-on-the-couch’ flashes my consciousness as a thought. It passes on to unconscious re-examination brain centres. The thought ‘maybe-I-will-just-get-up-and-stretch-my-legs-instead’, which already exists unconsciously, now flashes my consciousness. And so on.

The engagement of consciousness indicates a partially reportable awareness of the examination process. The final choice, however, happens before I know it. I can only be aware that the thought has (already) been chosen: ‘I-will-get-up-and-go-to-the-kitchen’ flashes my consciousness after my unconscious chooses. I DO NOT CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE ANYTHING. I cannot be consciously aware why one neuron quiver is stronger than another.

This awareness of the thought before I move might seem to contradict the assertion that I am unconscious of an action until after it occurs. It does not. For

even when a thought is