I have been researching how the brain creates sensory experiences as an engine. I majored in psychology and delved into how the brain works, realizing that the brain is like a mystery box. The brain generates consciousness, thus creating subjective experiences. However, it is not clear at all how the physical movements of the brain create such conscious feelings. For example, when we see red or taste salt, those experiences are very clear. But how does that clarity come about? How do experiences like seeing red or tasting salt come to life so vividly for us? Since this curiosity arose, I have been studying the brain for a lifetime. Let me tell you what I have discovered so far. In 1972, [NEW]

Scientists published a photo of a monkey under the title A blind monkey seeing everything in a scholarly journal. This monkey was in the laboratory of Professor Larry Weiskrantz. Helen had her visual cortex removed. When the visual cortex was removed for the first time, about a year later when I saw Helen, she couldn't see anything at all. However, I was curious. There are two pathways through which information is transmitted from the eyes to the brain in mammals. One is a more primitive pathway inherited from fish or reptiles that connects to the midbrain. The other is a more recently evolved pathway connected to the cortex. In Helen's case, the visual system on the cortical side was removed, but the more primitive pathway remained intact. So, just as reptiles see through that pathway, Helen too, over time, spent various.

Visual stimuli were given. After a few hours, Helen started reaching for the apple I was holding as if she could see it. A week later, she began to create a small flame. Seven years later, Helen was able to move freely in a complex room, avoiding obstacles and picking up peanuts that fell on the floor. Those who first saw Helen in action became unaware that she was blind. Dr. Weisz and I have now started researching a human patient who had the visual cortex removed from the left brain due to surgery. The patient, called Debbie, was in a state where she could not see anything on the right side of her visual field. However, we asked Debbie to guess what might be there if she could see something. Surprisingly, Debbie could guess the location and shape of objects. She believed she couldn't see it, but she could guess the location and shape of objects.

I was able to accurately describe the shape. Weiss Crunch named this ability a blind sight. People with blind sight do not have any visual information transmitted through light. It's like being stuck in a puzzle where there is no sense but perception exists. However, as I pondered this, I soon realized. The real puzzle is not about having no sense but having perception. In the case of ordinary people, it means having a sense. If we can feel the position and shape of objects without the sense of sight, why do we see things? People with blind sight see without the existence of objects. I express this as seeing better. Then why do other people see differently? Why do subjective and personal sensory experiences arise in the process of interactions of stimuli transmitted through sensory organs? Why do sensory experiences emerge not only visually, but also in all other aspects?

Regarding senses, perception is about the external world. It is about recognizing things like an apple being red, a rock being hard. On the other hand, sensation is personal. It is about oneself, what is happening to me, and how I evaluate it. Pain happens in my toe and feels terribly. Red light comes into my eyes and I perceive it as stimulating. Philosophers call these experiences phenomenal experiences. I think sensation is what the brain represents about what happens during our sensory period and how we feel about it. In other words, sensation experiences require two stages. For example, let's say you see a red square. Firstly, there is a physical transmission process where information about the light reaching the eyes is transmitted to the brain and secondly, cognitive operation.

There is a process of interpreting physically transmitted information into a phenomenological redness. To give an analogy, when Moby Dick reads a book, there is information contained in the language written by the author. And when we read the book, through cognitive processes, we interpret the book as a story about a white whale. The key point here is that in the physical book itself, Moby Dick, there is neither white color nor a whale. However, through interpretation, we create the idea of a white whale. Similarly, in the process of the brain responding to physical light, there is no phenomenological redness involved at all. Once light enters, the brain reacts to that light, and through the interpretation of that reaction, redness is created. From this perspective, I wonder how human interpretation of external stimuli through evolution, in other words, how sensory experiences as phenomenological experiences, manifest.

I researched whether it was enough. My sense of touch originated from an active response to stimuli touching the surface of my body. Even before the phenomena we feel through senses emerge, living organisms had the ability to sense. When specific stimuli come from the outside, organisms react in specific ways. For example, primitive animals like amoebas floating in the sea faced various external stimuli such as waves crashing, chemicals sticking, and light shining. Some of these stimuli would have been helpful for survival, while others would have been hindrances. Animals that reacted in ways beneficial to their survival according to the external stimuli survived through natural selection. For instance, animals that avoided harmful chemicals survived, and at some point, they developed a specific mental perception of external stimuli.

Animals that have experience would have an advantage. As life and the environment become more complex, preserving external stimuli in a mental form and using it as a basis for planning and judgment becomes helpful for survival. When stimuli come in, the body doesn't just react automatically without any internal mental processes. Instead, evolution allowed for creating meaning of external stimuli internally, embracing it, and then being able to react based on that. In my opinion, this is the origin of sensory experiences as we know them now. Through evolution, the separation between internal reactions and external actions occurred, giving rise to the sensory experiences we know today. For example, in the previous stage, if an animal automatically contracted when light shone, now it can receive a feeling of fear towards that light internally without physically contracting. In the past, animals simply

Immediately responding to movement, the brain continues to hold external stimuli within itself after everything is over, creating a continuous internal experience that leads to another. Therefore, when you see a red box, even if you show no external reaction or take any action, you can still have an internal experience of seeing red. So, is this ability of experiential phenomenon necessarily good? Why did this ability emerge through the process of evolution? Many people offer critical views on the existence of consciousness. Philosopher Jerry Fodor argues that even without consciousness, our minds could still function just as they do now. In other words, experiential phenomena are not necessarily needed. Why is feeling red internally important if eating a red apple is crucial for survival? However, I believe it is important. If we were

What would change if we didn't have phenomenal experiences? If we had blind sight, blind touch, and blind hearing, in other words, if everything happened without phenomenal experiences, what would disappear from what we have now? I confidently answer here. What would disappear in that case is oneself. Patients with blind sight do not think they see anything and feel that their visual experience has nothing to do with themselves. If we do not experience any phenomenal experience for any sense, we will not feel that any experience is ours. Then, probably oneself will disappear. I am not the only one who thinks this way. Scottish philosopher David Hume said, If my senses were to disappear forever, so that I would be like one who has fallen into a deep sleep, I would not be able to say that I exist. In the process of evolution, phenomenal

The ability of experience would have become a psychological and social norm once it emerged. Animals that possess phenomenal experiences perceive themselves with deeper importance. Not only do I feel this way about myself, but I also witness other peers around me having consciousness about themselves and valuing their own importance. With phenomenal experiences, I can not only internally experience myself but also understand what others feel. In other words, phenomenal experiences serve as a pathway to understanding others' minds. For example, if I can phenomenally experience the color red, I can infer that others may experience red similarly to me. In this way, humans can live in society where various selves coexist. What about animals other than humans? Which animals may have phenomenal senses?

Here, we need to consider the brain and lifestyle. First of all, there should be a brain structure that enables continuous internal experiences that I mentioned, and animals with a lifestyle where experiential experiences contribute to survival likely evolved experiences evolutionarily. Considering these criteria, around 200 million years ago, due to the changes in the Triassic period, habitat was significantly limited because of changes in body temperature. Also, the body's activities change significantly according to the surrounding temperature changes. For example, reptiles' body temperature drops as the temperature drops when the sun sets, leading to a decrease in their activity. On the other hand, endothermic animals can explore various environments because their body temperature remains constant, allowing them to move more actively regardless of day and night or seasons, continuing social activities with surrounding peers. In other words, endothermic animals are more independent from the environment compared to ectothermic animals.

I believe that in the process of evolution, the senses of self emerged. Not only that, but the speed of neural transmission in the brain increases with temperature. Unlike reptiles, mammals and birds maintain much higher body temperatures, so the activity speed of brain cells is much faster. Therefore, the time delay in information transmission is reduced, and the brain is more likely to create internally connected experiences that continue in a loop. I think that phenomenal experiences give animals a significant advantage in evolution. Phenomenal experiences can change the way of thinking, change one's own thoughts, and change thoughts about others. Among animals, many behaviors are observed purely for the sake of feeling. For example, there is a video of a dog continuously sledding for fun. Perhaps that dog is experiencing joy phenomenally.

If not, they won't bother riding the sled like that, and mammals or birds know how to treat other individuals as subjects with their own selves. Chimpanzees that play with their children understand that the child's self will feel happy. On the other hand, arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians do not have this ability. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that these animals have a self. So, what about machines? Robots that can see, taste, and feel already exist. However, at the current level, they only have a blind spot like frogs. But in the near future, when robots responsible for social roles are needed, they will have to possess the ability of phenomenal experience. Because to take on a social role, they need to understand others' minds, where the sense of self will likely play a crucial role. When such a need arises, perhaps software

Engineers will create a structure of robots that enables internal sensory experiences by referring to the circuits of the brain.

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