“The Ghost in the Machine”: A Deep Dive on Determining the Uniqueness of the Human Consciousness

This is an essay I did in my university philo class.

“The Ghost in the Machine”: A Deep Dive on Determining the Uniqueness of the Human Consciousness

In this essay, we will examine the 2023 short film “After”, directed by Misan Harriman and use it to aid us in exploring one of the factors of human uniqueness: complex emotions involving grief and loss. Throughout the film, we are shown a masterful and raw depiction of the protagonist’s despair as he struggles to cope with the death of his wife and daughter whom he lost in a tragic incident. Dayo realistically portrayed the poignant motions of undergoing grief, including bittersweet reminiscing, withdrawal from his peers, hesitance in seeking support, and the struggles he faced in finding meaning in his existence after. The movie will serve as help to hopefully provide insights on how higher consciousness plays a part in Dayo’s journey as he navigates through the more difficult parts of what makes one human.

II.

“Ghost in the Machine”

  To provide a framework for our ideas surrounding the concept of what a “higher consciousness” is, let us start with the technical aspects before getting into the more analytical parts. One might wonder the purpose of the inclusion of the term “The Ghost in the Machine” in the title. It is a metaphorical term coined by British philosopher Gilbert Ryle in his critique towards Rene Descartes’ “Cartesian Dualism”. He countered Descartes’ ideas of the two substances being unable to operate without the other, that the mind is a whole separate entity than the body. Ryle believed in the emergence of both. Now I would interpret this as the ghost (mind) in this situation cooperating with the machine (body) and with the help of modern neuroscience, we can attribute the possession of higher consciousness to the advanced human brain as the series of simple interactions between networks of interconnected neurons. Going back to the notion of higher consciousness being multifaceted, I would like to enumerate some key components, namely: self-awareness, moving beyond survival instincts, creativity, decision-making, abstract reasoning, and moral agency. First off, self-awareness tackles acts of introspection such as the practice of meditation, journaling, mindfulness exercises, and other deeds involving self-reflection. Second, humans are able to determine purpose in things that go beyond our basic needs. Everyone needs food, shelter, love, and care and yet we are able to think of, be interested, and desire to do more than that such as the development of individual creativity. Higher consciousness also manifests in bouts of self-expression like art, music, literature, and many more. This is also not limited to one’s level of intelligence; it’s innate and can be observed in toddlers and even primitive humans. Next, humans are uniquely able to acknowledge freedom and consider options in their day-to-day life, giving them the power to make decisions regardless if well-thought-of or not, and competence when it comes to reasoning, in conceptualizing complex thought and being aware of varying perceptions which lastly brings us to moral agency. As humans (and societies) evolved over the years, the public’s ethical principles also developed, as well as one’s adherence to this and a sense of morality, the ability to feel empathy, compassion, and everything else that transcends plain personal interests. Finally as a “cherry on top”, I would like to finish this paragraph with Rene Descartes’ cogito, ergo sum, highlighting that an individual’s capacity of just being able to think, to reflect, to reason, indicates the primacy, the distinctness of the human mind.

III.

Back to the Real World: The Spectrum of Consciousness

As some sort of background to my recitation answer last Wednesday, it was a “homage” to a lesson in my tenth-grade social studies module. Put yourself in the shoes of a fifteen-year-old  me on a warm late summer night of the year 2021. I was reading up on my modules, rushing to answer missed assignments and among them was the question, “What makes this person different from this dog in the picture?” That would be the first time I encountered the concept of a  higher consciousness, or as the book called it, mapanuring pag-iisip. One might wonder, what is the purpose of the suffix “-er”? What am I comparing us humans to? Well, none other than non-human animals. Let’s go back to the question I encountered in my social studies module, “What makes this person different from this dog in the picture?” and attempt to answer it by applying the concept of “higher consciousness.” Besides the obvious biological differences, let’s say in the picture, a man running late for work is walking on the street and encounters a stray dog. The dog follows the man and whimpers, obviously hungry and begging for food. The man notices this, remembering that he had a burger packed for lunch. He kneels down and feeds the dog, fully knowing that he would run late. Suppose that the man loves burgers, he eventually gave it away, thinking he could just buy another one later. Now, let us look into the circumstances of the two. Both the man and the dog had the freedom to ignore each other and both are capable of feeling hunger as well. Where does “higher consciousness” fall in the equation, then? If the dog was instead a beggar, they would understand that the man was running late for work and even if the man did not give his food away, they would consider explanations as to why, they might think that the man has no food with him, that he does not want to give his own lunch away, and they could also think of the man as some selfish prick. A mere dog would not be able to think of such explanations. A dog, such as any other non-human animal does not know anything about the concept of “work” (not to be confused with “labor”). For them, their top priority is survival so they approach anyone they think would be of help. Another thing is that the man can solve his hunger problem for he could buy his needs freely using his salary. Once again, a dog would not be capable of even considering the option of “buying” anything.  In hindsight, we can say that the man experienced an ethical dilemma, acknowledging that he would run late if he were to stop and feed the dog but he knows that it was also starving. He understands the dog’s needs and motivations as to why it went to him for food but the dog does not know that because in its core,  the dog was only acting based on its immediate needs and survival instincts. The lack of a higher consciousness limits the ability to think beyond.

IV.

“After”-thoughts on Grief and the Human Condition

“Grief, I've learned, is really just love. It's all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in the hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” is a quote by Jamie Anderson that I know a lot, including me could relate to. I would tell my lover that I have this bottomless pit in my heart, full of the love I feel for him and it hurts everytime I feel it overflow because of the sheer number of unexpressed emotions and unsaid words. I could use the same analogy when I lost my mother a few years back and in fact, that was the first thing that came into mind when I heard the quote. Another difficult thing one must deal with in grief is that even though the subject of your affections is gone, the love you feel will live but you eventually must accept the crushing weight of hopelessness and their absence from then on. This is something that Dayo struggled with, especially that his daughter was very young when the incident happened. He had hopes and dreams for her, for his family as a whole and it broke him when he realized it would all be gone in an untimely and tragic way. The loss of such an anchor, a driving force of his life, threw him off the path of life he thought he would walk on as the negative thoughts led him to neglect his relationships with others, his job, and even himself. In fact, him being a ride-share driver is symbolic in a way that since the incident, he has nowhere he wants to go any longer. He has a direction but no destination. This brings us to the question, how does one move on? How does a singular experience force us humans to re-evaluate our life? I have mentioned that the possession of a higher consciousness opens our minds to options for we have this thing called freedom. We have the power to reframe ourselves, to assess our values, morality, sort out priorities, and ultimately find our purpose in life. This all can be prompted by grief as it challenges our consciousness. It tests our minds. Grief is not one emotion and not only humans are capable of feeling such. However, with the presence of other factors in the multifaceted nature of having a higher consciousness, it makes us humans unique in comparison to other “intelligent” non-human animals that also grieve. In grief, we can drown in despair for however long we want unless we make the moves to feel otherwise, to comfort ourselves, and to have compassion and empathy.

V.

Higher Consciousness: The Discourse on Morality and the Categorical Imperative

Before concluding this essay, I wish to expound on the final key component of the higher consciousness: moral agency. For this, I will use Immanuel Kant’s concept called the “Categorical Imperative” to assist in bridging grief with morality. This is in line with the idea that higher human consciousness is able to transcend personal interests for the sake of the betterment of not only the self but also society by following frameworks, principles and reflecting upon morals, one of the many things that sets us apart from non-human animals. The connection between moral agency and grief shows up as an emotional/cognitive response known as empathy. All in all, experiencing grief can foster empathy that can serve as a motivator for someone to express compassion that aligns with the principles of Kant’s idea of a Categorical Imperative in promoting morality in regards to others.

VI.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the concept of having a “higher consciousness” comes with an elaborate collection of key components that are essential in what makes us uniquely and distinctly human. It is the crowning “achievement” of our species as it was able to craft the society we live in today. Speaking of society, higher consciousness goes beyond materialistic things and intelligence but also influences our interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships, remaining mindful of our connections and purpose with others, the environment, and finally, ourselves. Of course, my answer is only one among the many (and mostly unknown) answers as to what makes us uniquely and distinctly human and the concept of a higher consciousness has yet to be studied further, continuing to unfold, presenting new opportunities and challenges, spreading awareness on its positive and negative effects. Despite all this, the unique “ghost in the machine” is the driving force behind our humanity, each ghost in their own lifelong quests in navigating their machine’s life, finding its place in the universe. 

Reflections:

i just wanted to share this as my first blog entry and shii. honestly, if not personal stuff, i might post some academic papers i did over the course of,, a year. as you may have noticed, it's somewhat a film review...because that is the original task our prof gave us and i just felt being a little extra. anyways, this was an expansion of my recitation answer. "what makes us human? higher consciousness obviously and it's multifaceted. anyways, i may or may not know what im talking abt.

references:

Descartes, René, and Bernard Williams. 1996. Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy. Cambridge University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511805028.

Kant, Immanuel. 1981. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals.

Ryle, Gilbert. 1949. The Concept of Mind.

- Julien Maynard Ronwe. 

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