Consciousness

Twenty seconds ago, how did it feel in your right big toe? To answer this question, you probably direct your attention to that toe and become conscious of how it feels now. Then you guess that, 20 seconds ago, it probably felt the same. But, did you really have a conscious experience of that toe 20 seconds ago? Or did you have an unconscious experience that only became conscious after you attended? Or was there no toe experience conscious or unconscious before you attended? We are all so familiar with conscious experiences that we take them for granted. But even a simple question about the conscious feeling of a toe can raise perplexing issues. Indeed, consciousness is among the most controversial topics in science and ...