Leading in a Non-Linear World

CHAPTER 2CONSCIOUSNESSES – OUR SENSE OF SELF

Let's start by understanding the importance of connecting deeply with our sense of self and our physical feelings, because when this connection is lost or weakened, it undermines the foundation of our mindset.

Consciousness can be described as the mind's subjective experience, our most profound sense of self. When you wake up in the morning, there are a few moments before you start thinking when you experience it most fully. Our interior world of feelings and thoughts is suffused with this sense of self. Neuroscientist, Anil Seth, borrowing from the philosopher, Thomas Nagel, describes consciousness as what ‘it feels like something to be me’.¹ This sensation is distinct from the awareness of your thoughts, knowledge, identity, or behaviour.

Consciousness has long been held to have mystic properties and assumed to be beyond our comprehension. In the 17th century René Descartes described the mind–body problem which has continued to challenge us for over four centuries. Whilst consciousness was an undeniable quality of mind, Descartes argued that the structure of the brain and body could not explain its existence. The brain and body exist in space, the mind does not. Therefore, consciousness must be a God-given phenomenon. The belief that it must exist outside the discernible physical universe has exerted a powerful, if sometimes unspoken, influence over science ever since, warning researchers off the territory. Stuart Sutherland's ...