In other words, consciousness begins with perception of reality, with sensory experience. The experiencing of the now. And it doesn’t require language, complex thought, or self-awareness. It simply requires a mind capable of experiencing what its senses detect.

This also helps sidestep the pitfalls of talking about souls. Too frequently, debates about consciousness get tangled up with human souls. And that’s really talking about something currently unknown, and perhaps unknowable. To claim consciousness is linked to a soul goes beyond the mind-consciousness question into speculative metaphysics. Once you go there, you must address too many irrelevant things. Things like whether rocks have souls, and whether non-human animals and supernatural beings have souls too. To sidestep this problem, separate the soul question from consciousness itself.

TST uses senses, perception, impressions, and ideas very precisely. Senses detect information, perception is the experience of that information, and ideas form when a mind recognizes or interprets impressions, or connects them. Consciousness begins with perception, not with the formation of complex ideas. Therefore, different kinds of minds have different types of consciousness. Each type experiences reality differently. This includes animal, alien, and artificial minds.

— map / TST —

TST Tracker

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Michael Alan Prestwood
Natural Philosopher & Author

Prestwood explores science-first philosophy, with particular attention to the convergence of disciplines. Drawing on his TST Philosophy, his work emphasizes rational inquiry grounded in empirical observation while engaging questions at the edges of established knowledge. With TouchstoneTruth positioned as a living touchstone, this work aims to contribute reliable, evolving analysis in an emerging AI era where the credibility of information is increasingly contested.