Informational Analysis of Consciousness

Abstract

Informational analysis of neurophysiological processes leads to the conclusion that the unconscious and subconscious comprise especially algorithmic processes, which take place according to precise rules, and awareness and consciousness comprise especially heuristic processes, for which the nervous system does not provide precise rules. The part played by awareness and consciousness is to find the processing rules of information which cannot be algorithmically processed. This paper describes the way that awareness and consciousness manage to discover the processing rules of information and the manner of their contribution to the adaptation of the unconscious and of the subconscious to the very variable conditions of the environment.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adrian Restian

Joyce Laing works in the Department of Child and Family Psychiatry, Playfield House, Cupar, Fife, and is a Consultant Art Therapist to Psychiatric Hospitals and Prisons and Chairwoman of the Scottish Society of Art and Psychology.