Why evolution invented consciousness (and how to make the most of it): Bjorn Grinde at TEDxLSE 2014

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Published 2014-03-16
Bjørn Grinde got his education in natural sciences, psychology, and anthropology from the University of Oslo, with doctoral degree in biology. He currently works as Chief Scientist at the Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Bjørn's main area of interest is our understanding of the human brain as shaped by evolution, and how this knowledge can help improve quality of life.

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All Comments (21)
  • @jrlagoni
    A wonderful scientist! Takes a very difficult subject, the evolution of consciousness, and then explains how it can be utilized rather simply for more happiness and less sadness, anxiety, and fear. Thanks!
  • @jz5005
    Amazing that at over almost 50 years into a highly educated & intellectually curious life, in which I've become deeply familiar with vast domains of knowledge.... I've not once bumped into this precise topic... until I just happened to be wondering about this exact question and then found it in 5 seconds on YT. I gather then that our ancestors' survival was enhanced vs other members of the applicable species, at the time each successful randomly mutated, incremental component of consciousness was added to the infrastructure of the evolving brain...Driven at each phase by the advantages conferred from a richer awareness of our feelings. Great presentation! Well done!
  • @RE-qj4db
    Evolution invented conciousness.. So would evolution be conscious
  • @iamsuperfritz
    Right from the beginning how does one define happy? How is it certain that you need to have a nervous system to be happy (Even if at the most very rudimentary level)? The cells do communicate with each other and plants even communicate between each other. They give up defenses when attacked. Who knows when you start win an anthropomorphic assumption.
  • @lepakshi123
    Thanks to YouTube for perfectly timing this video in recommendations just after I gained my consciousness from sleep in the morning.
  • @jvincent6548
    Clearly his unconscious is responsible for his self image.
  • @steghuman9063
    Consciousness is like the immediate center, the stillness where all potentially infinite vibrations continually cross over from collapse into expansion. Betwixt the past and future, the divide of opposing magnetic fields, the inside of insides, the divinity that is the immediate experience. Even the nature of consciousness suggests this awareness
  • @juiceer3320
    It did ? Finally someone explained what consciousness is can't wait for him to explain how it's not a byproduct and it serves anything in evolution, oh nvm 7 years he didn't
  • @holgerjrgensen2166
    Consciousness have never been created, it is an eternal ability, actually the only ability, behind all creation. So, Consciousness have never been 'invented'. Can only be developed.
  • @arlinegeorge6967
    Interesting n informative talk. Thank you, bless you. All your dreams come true.
  • @buggy659
    Evolution and everything else is IN consciousness. This statement can not be proven or disproven. Consciousness is the final lick of the Tootsie Roll. 😉
  • @jdjd8467
    Arghh. I watched that because of the title, but the talk did not answer the question it purported to answer. You don't need feeling to get an organism to go towards or away from something. A signal (no matter how complex or how detached from the inputs - a thought complex is a signal) can be labelled with "bad" or "good" (or any sub-division or colouring of those categories) for the brain to act upon to attempt mitigate or enhance through action (by, again, whatever complex of signals is triggered by whatever complex of processing is triggered by that signal). You don't have to have feeling. To emphasise this, consider this thought experiment. We could, theoretically, given enough insight, skill, and computer power, perfectly simulate the behaviour of a human by writing a computer program made up of algorithms that responded with output (behaviour) that a human would exhibit given the inputs experienced by a human. Their is a myriad of ways these algorithms could be implemented, and it would be a foolish person that claimed that all of them resulted in the computer feeling. Now, it may really be the case that given enough information processing in a certain manner then this gives rise to feeling. This is known as the "hard problem" of consciousness; wow does the lump of meat in our head (and elsewhere) cause feeling? A real answer to the question posed would be something like "we've done calculations/simulations around the different ways in which we might envisage the behaviour of a human being implemented, and it looks like a mechanism that gives arise to consciousness would be the most energy efficient". Obviously we're a long way from such possibilities, and in the mean time we're at the stage of hypothesising. For what it's worth, here's my vague hypothesis. I suggest that as brains evolved in the context of other brains, and in the context of other brains that could be influenced by mutual interest (e.g. kin helping kin) the recognition of other organisms being in difficulty would be beneficial. Once that is established there is then a reinforcing feedback whereby an organism in difficulty is advantaged by being able to advertise that difficulty. Similarly, there's an advantage to an organism if they have a "theory of mind" (I have some sense of what it is like to your mind at this moment). Now, once there is a seeding of some sort of feeling (which could be by the simple accident of a particular evolutionary mutation) that nascent complex of strong feeling is ripe for being rapidly enhanced by evolution: I empathise (theory of mind) what it is like to be feeling your pain, so I will strive help you more; you are benefited by showing more of that feeling. Now THAT'S some kind of explanation of why feeling might have evolved, not this talk's trite "feeling is something that causes you to move away from or towards something" FFS.
  • @joey1160
    Consciousness gives rise to existence. If we have it now, it can be easily said that it has always been "in the cards" of Nature's laws. The deck was stacked - so to speak - and is stacked, for a state of awareness. And to assume we humans, made up of allegedly dead matter, are the only ones with consciousness? Hubris. But I think we're growing up again.