The eight-circuit model of consciousness is a holistic model originally described by Timothy Leary, later expanded on by Robert Anton Wilson and Antero Alli, that suggests "eight periods [circuits] and twenty-four stages of neurological evolution".[1] This model has been described as a potential route towards reconciling different interpretations of what it means to be a human being.[2] The eight circuits, or eight systems or "brains", as referred by other authors, operate within the human nervous system. Each corresponds to its own imprint and subjective experience of reality.[3] Leary and Alli include three stages for each circuit that details developmental points for each level of consciousness.[4][5][6]
Eight-circuit Model Of Consciousness Pdf Freel
Leary's ideas heavily influenced the work of Robert Anton Wilson. Wilson's 1983 workbook Prometheus Rising is an in-depth work documenting Leary's eight-circuit model of consciousness. Wilson's unproduced 1993 screenplay, Reality Is What You Can Get Away With, published as a book, uses and explains the model. Wilson, like Leary, wrote about the distinction between terrestrial and post-terrestrial life.
The 1987 Angel Tech by Antero Alli, is structured around the Eight-circuit model of consciousness, while his 2014 book The Eight-Circuit Brain expands on this material. Alli defines the word angel as "a being of light" and tech from the word "techne" meaning "art". The title is defined as "the art of being light".[39] It includes suggested activities such as meditations and construction of Tarot card collages associated with each circuit and imprint.
Intelligence; a word commonly associated with intellect and its capacity measured by I.Q. (Intellectual Quotient) tests. However, this definition also woefully fails to recognize other functions of Intelligence beyond, but also inclusive of, intellect. The 8-Circuit Brain model, as first developed by Timothy Leary ("Info-Psychology") and advanced by Robert Anton Wilson ("Prometheus Rising") and myself ("Angel Tech" and "The Eight-Circuit Brain"), posits eight interactive functions of Intelligence. I have been using the Eight-Circuit Brain as an effective diagnostic to track, interpret, and give context to the wild spectrum of consciousness as represented by all eight circuits.
The 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness is a model of consciousness proposed by Dr. Timothy Leary. Leary believed the mind is best viewed as a collection of 8 "circuits", also called "gears" or "mini-brains". Each stage is claimed to represent a higher stage of evolution than the one before it. Some of his ideas may be viewed as protoscience but others may view it as pseudoscience
Leary's model was not widely accepted among scientists, in part because it addresses primarily human traits, because no precise anatomical basis for the model was identified, and because the theory fails to account for the role of other neural structures in basic levels of consciousness such as wakefulness.
Based on a phenomenological analysis, we have argued that consciousness corresponds to the capacity to integrate information. We have then considered how such capacity can be measured, and we have developed a theoretical framework for consciousness as information integration. We will now consider several neuroanatomical or neurophysiological factors that are known to influence consciousness. After briefly discussing the empirical evidence, we will use simplified computer models to illustrate how these neuroanatomical and neurophysiological factors influence information integration. As we shall see, the information integration theory not only fits empirical observations reasonably well, but offers a principled explanation for them.
Viewing consciousness as information integration suggests straightforward explanations for these puzzling observations. Consider the simplified model in Fig. 5a. A main complex having high Φ includes two sets of elements ("hemispheres") having similar internal architecture that are joined by "callosal" connections (top panel). When the callosal connections are cut (bottom panel), the single main complex splits and is replaced by two smaller complexes corresponding to the two hemispheres. There is also a complex, of much lower Φ, which includes both hemispheres and a "subcortical" element that provide them with common input. Thus, there is a sense in which the two hemispheres still form an integrated entity, but the information they share is minimal (see Appendix, xii).
Figure 5b (top panel) shows a simple model obtained by taking three subsets of elements of (relatively) high Φ and connecting them through reciprocal connections. Specifically, the first subset, which stands for supramodal areas of the brain, is reciprocally connected to the second and third subsets, which stand for visual and auditory areas, respectively. In this idealized example, the visual and auditory subsets are not connected directly among themselves. As one can see, the three subsets thus connected form a single main complex having a Φ value of 61 bits. In the bottom panel, the auditory subset has been disconnected, in a functional sense, by mimicking a profound deactivation of its elements. The result is that the main complex shrinks and the auditory subset ends up outside the main complex. Note, however, that in this particular case the value of Φ changes very little (57 bits), indicating that it might be possible for the borders of the main complex to change dynamically while the amount of consciousness is not substantially altered. What would change, of course, would be the configuration of the space of informational relationships. These simulations suggest that attentional mechanisms may work both by changing neuronal firing rates, and therefore saliency within qualia space, as well as by modifying neuronal readiness to fire, and therefore the boundaries of the main complex and of qualia space itself. This is why the set of elements underlying consciousness is not static, but can be considered to form a "dynamic complex" or "dynamic core" [1, 9].
At present, the validity of this theoretical framework and the plausibility of its implications rest on its ability to account, in a coherent manner, for some basic phenomenological observations and for some elementary but puzzling facts about the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Experimental developments, especially of ways to stimulate and record concurrently the activity of broad regions of the brain, should permit stringent tests of some of the theory's predictions. Equally important will be the development of realistic, large-scale models of the anatomical organization of the brain. These models should allow a more rigorous measurement of how the capacity to integrate information relates to different brain structures and certain neurophysiological parameters [38, 50, 59]. Finally, the theoretical framework presented here aims primarily at understanding the necessary and sufficient conditions that determine the quantity and quality of consciousness at the most general level. Further theoretical developments will be required to address several issues that are central to the study of consciousness in a biological and psychological context, such as the relationship of consciousness to memory and language, higher order aspects of consciousness [60, 61], and its relationship to the self) [62]. Undoubtedly, a full understanding of how the brain generates human consciousness remains a formidable task. However, if experimental investigations can be complemented by a principled theoretical approach, it may not lay beyond the reach of science.
Figure 3. A specific relation of human beings to time and a strong feeling of agency (authorship of one's actions) are regarded by philosophers from Augustinus (2007) to Heidegger (1963) as fundamental features of human consciousness. The scheme shows that these features can be deduced from the model of human consciousness developed in this article. 2ff7e9595c
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