The Many Compartments of Consciousness
The human mind may not be one united thing, but rather, a complex of disctinct consciousnesses. The split brain and felt presence experiments have raised more mysteries than they solved.
Can the mind be divided? Are minds fluid or static? There are endless questions as to the nature of consciousness. The brain is an interesting launchpad for ideas that bring to light the fundamental mysteries of the human mind. The organ is a result of evolution over time, and there have been many recent discoveries that explore how the human mind can exist over separated consciousnesses.
The split-brain experiments, beginning in the 1940s, revealed that the two hemispheres of the brain can function independently, each possessing unique cognitive and emotional processing abilities. On the other hand, another affliction, called ‘felt presence’, is characterized by the perception of an unseen entity nearby, often associated with dissociative states and neurological disorders. Research has shown that these experiences can be provoked by bodily cues, such as in a 2006 study where a woman’s brain was electrically stimulated in a junction between her parietal and temporal lobe. It created a “shadow figure” that seemed to mirror her body position.
This is due to how the brain co-ordinates information. For example, the patient might select one outfit with their right hand, and then the left hand may disagree and reach for another outfit. This often frustrated the patient. Biologically speaking, the right side of the brain sees and controls one half, while the left brain sees and controls the other. The left side also contains the voice center and so the right side cannot speak. When the right side is asked a question that involves knowledge only the left side of the brain has, it makes something up.
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) published their Census of Hallucinations in 1894, surveying over 17,000 people to understand how common it was for individuals to have seemingly impossible visitations that foretold death. Other studies have also shown that disrupting people's sensory expectations can induce a feeling of presence in healthy individuals. A 2014 experiment used a robot to trick participants into feeling as if they were touching their own back, and when the synchrony was disrupted, they felt another person's presence.
Feelings of presence are now recognized as a crucial element in understanding psychosis. People who hear voices (or have auditory hallucinations) also describe high rates of felt presence. In a 2006 study, a 41-year-old man named "PH" visited a hospital clinic with complaints of fatigue, dizziness, and seizures. During his stay, he experienced a unique sensation of splitting into three parts: his left side, which felt normal; his right side, which felt detached, and then off to his right, another man who wasn’t him.
This figure mirrored his body position, and when he tried to look at him, he looked away; He mentions that “they shared the same soul.” Beyond the man stood a woman, again mirroring him, and beyond that, some girls; he called them his “family.” After a few days the image of these figures receded, but the feeling of their presence remained.
These findings resonate with related ideas and cases, such as Julian Jaynes' theory of the bicameral mind, presented in "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" (1976). Jaynes posits that human consciousness developed from an earlier state in which the two brain hemispheres operated independently. Furthermore, dissociative identity disorder (DID) serves as another compelling example of the existence of multiple consciousnesses within one person.
As we move forward, advanced neuroimaging techniques and brain-computer interfaces offer exciting opportunities for further exploration into the complexities of consciousness.
In light of the evidence from split-brain experiments, felt presence experiences, and related cases, it is clear that the human mind is a complex and multi-layered system that warrants further study. The mysteries of consciousness are far from being fully unraveled, but the discoveries made thus far open the door to a deeper understanding of the nature of our minds. The pursuit of this knowledge is not only intellectually stimulating but also has the potential to significantly impact our society and its approach to mental health and well-being.
Want to learn more about the strange properties of consciousness? Read on to find out more about the collective consciousness formed from the Internet.