Human Perception And The Evolution Of Intelligence

The air nipped at my body while ascending the enormous mountain, tired I yearned for a break from this steep mountain side but, the break did not come till the mountain top was reached. I looked around the high peak and embraced the vast wilderness that surrounded it. A sea of green trees overwhelmed my senses, the bright blue sky pierced the tree line which ascended into the heavens. The beautiful scenery made me think long and hard about why all of this exists the mountains, trees and even myself. The deeper I went, the more confused and lost I seemed to be, and no end seemed to be in sight for this confused feeling I felt towards self-awareness The questions of sentient perception have plagued man since the dawn of his very own†¦show more content†¦Dualism is a huge concept in the theory of consciousness and it states the perception of one self falls outside of the known physical realm; â€Å"Substance dualism, such as traditional Cartesian dualism (Descartes 1644), asse rts the existence of both physical and non-physical substances. Such theories entail the existence of non-physical minds or selves as entities in which consciousness inheres. Though substance dualism is at present largely out of favor, it does have some contemporary proponents (Swinburne 1986, Foster 1989, 1996). â€Å"(Stanford) This is a theory that falls under dualism as it explains perception as something that is not physical. According to this theory perception is something that is within us, both physical and nonphysical elements exist within The Cartesian System is a theory about consciousness deeply rooted in the belief of a god. â€Å"The essence of mind is self-conscious thinking; the essence of matter is extension in three dimensions. God is a third, infinite substance, whose essence is necessary existence. God unites minds with bodies to create a fourth, compound substance, human beings. Humans obtain general knowledge by contemplating innate ideas of mind, matter, and God†(britannica) In the Cartesian system god is essential. God is the one who unites the mind with the body to create self-awareness. If god was not present