When does consciousness actually begin? - "Real recognise real"
At some point in your life if you ponder your existence you will surely stumble upon the enigma of your own consciousness. Where does it come from, how does it operate, and why? This highly complex scientific field can leave you with more questions once you've started researching. An easier way to understand it all and to learn some of its epistemology is to listen to explanations given through music and what better album to do it than with The Rap guide to Consciousness. I am not at all a Rap fan and it's the first album I ever bought of Rap, but the album is such a comprehensive, informative and fun way to look at this field that I highly recommend it to everyone! Your mind is all you have so get digging and check out some of the lyrics below.
By Canadian Baba Brinkman http://www.bababrinkman.com/ This
edu-tainment fascinating and musically pleasing album offers factual
insight into the brain's electro-chemistry, our intuitions, prejudices,
perception, how we predict ourselves, free will, rationalism,
attraction, the magical mysteries we invent in our minds and the real
biological properties of consciousness which will enlighten anyone. Baba worked with
multiple artists and in cross-border collaboration with Professor Dr
Anil Seth, from the Sackler Centre for Consciousness in England, http://www.anilseth.com/ , Heather Berlin, an American neuroscientist https://heatherberlin.com/ and the renown Deepak Chopra and Daniel Dennett, an American philosopher, they all have valuable insights to share.
Please note, are lyrics all copyrighted to The Rap Guide to Consciousness Lyrics © Baba Brinkman 2018. A shout out of thanks to him for sending me the pdf file because my digital I Tunes download didn't provide them. You can visit Baba's website for more information or listen to his You-tube channel where there are live performances as well.
Please note, are lyrics all copyrighted to The Rap Guide to Consciousness Lyrics © Baba Brinkman 2018. A shout out of thanks to him for sending me the pdf file because my digital I Tunes download didn't provide them. You can visit Baba's website for more information or listen to his You-tube channel where there are live performances as well.
Real Recognize Real (feat. Aaron Nazrul)
Yes we have a soul
But it’s made of lots of tiny robots
Not a single one of the cells that compose you
Knows who you are or cares .....
Each trillion robot team is gathered together
In a breathtakingly efficient regime that has no dictator
WIZARD OF ODDS feat. Aaron Nazrul
This super track opens with a part of Anil Seth's TEd talk on "Your brain hallucinates your reality"
"Imagine being a brain: With no lights or sound inside the skull, all it has to rely on are streams of electrical impulses derived from our senses."
Explaining the biological mechanisms of axons in the brain generating consciousness with the key message as "I predict myself therefore I am," this smooth, melody driven song is my favourite on the album. Anything you wanted to know in clear cut layman terms is here. If you buy only one song from the album it has to be this. So from the brain's point of view... (I/it)
It ends with Deepak Chopra saying...
Just tell me: how does electrochemistry
Produce a thought, an idea
And you get the million dollars
I will live up to this
But it has to be a valid scientific explanation
For the biological basis of an idea
One thought, any thought...
One thought, one million dollars
Room
This short minimalistic track has subtle pretty piano notes and showcases Baba's lyrical prowess. He puts functionalism into perfect rhythm lines. It's about the philosopher John Searle's "Chinese Room" thought experiment and whether a computer, enabling an old man to be simulating Chinese language actually means he is speaking Chinese.
Ready for Implants
Another lyrically brilliant and aesthetically pleasing in auditory sensation, this song talks about a patient in a "persistent vegetative state" who is trying to communicate to the outside world. It favours the progression of technology.
Can't stop
Love this one! Perfect lyrics and music again. It includes Daniel Dennett and it's all about the debate on Free Will. If so much of life is biologically determined how much free will do we actually have? It argues that we do have some navigation freedom in pursuing goals.
Daniel Dennett:
In a breathtakingly efficient regime that has no dictator
But manages to keep itself organized to repel outsiders
And serve as the headquarters of one conscious self
One mind
Good Bayesian (feat. MC Lars and Mega Ran)
This is a beautifully rhythmic song, addictive in its punch line title and starts with a short talk excerpt from Dr Anil Seth
And serve as the headquarters of one conscious self
One mind
Good Bayesian (feat. MC Lars and Mega Ran)
This is a beautifully rhythmic song, addictive in its punch line title and starts with a short talk excerpt from Dr Anil Seth
We don’t just passively perceive the world
We actively generate it
So perception, figuring out what’s there
Has to be a process of informed guesswork
In which the brain combines sensory signals
With its prior expectations or beliefs about the way the world is
The world we experience comes as much from the inside out
As from the outside in
MUSIC RAP
Zombie
A hip-hop track about what it is to be a zombie but not the Walking Dead kind. It's a short fun auto-biography about an artist zombie who's into rap.
Anil Seth ends this one explaining the history of knowledge on consciousness.
Dylan
We actively generate it
So perception, figuring out what’s there
Has to be a process of informed guesswork
In which the brain combines sensory signals
With its prior expectations or beliefs about the way the world is
The world we experience comes as much from the inside out
As from the outside in
MUSIC RAP
Let me show you how to be a good Bayesian
Change your predictions after takin’ information in
And if you’re thinkin’ I’ll be less than amazin’
Let’s adjust those expectations
Let me show you how to be a good Bayesian
Change calculations after takin’ fresh data in
Those predictions that your brain is makin’?
Let’s get them on a solid foundation
And if you’re thinkin’ I’ll be less than amazin’
Let’s adjust those expectations
Let me show you how to be a good Bayesian
Change calculations after takin’ fresh data in
Those predictions that your brain is makin’?
Let’s get them on a solid foundation
Zombie
A hip-hop track about what it is to be a zombie but not the Walking Dead kind. It's a short fun auto-biography about an artist zombie who's into rap.
Dylan
A
tender human track with cute little Dylan, Baba's son gurgling in the
background, Baba explores when consciousness actually begins, relating
it to the birth of his son, while bringing in society and politics to
explain how ignorance could be bliss for someone who hasn't learnt
language yet. The video is at the end of the blog so I'm deliberately
not adding lyrics, as while listening, the easy to hear story is a great
introduction to the album.
Forget Me Not (feat. Aaron Nazrul)
Heather Berlin, an American neuroscientist finishes the song saying:
There are more connections in the human brain
Forget Me Not (feat. Aaron Nazrul)
One
of my absolute favourites that always gets replay. An outstanding
track, minimalistic with its gorgeous vocals and smooth melody. It talks
about what its like to be an artist and the competition involved. Beautiful outstanding track! Love it!
Just let our song play
Consciousness is nothin’ but fame in the brain
And if enough brains remember your name you get fame
And if you get too much of it you can't step into public places
Without gazes and cameras aimin' your way....
And if enough brains remember your name you get fame
And if you get too much of it you can't step into public places
Without gazes and cameras aimin' your way....
Again and again and again....
This
is a dark track which gives the album an interesting unpredictable
twist and adds to the overall variety. It's about how a subject who had
learnt everything there was to know about colour or sound, but had never
seen or heard either, asking how would it feel when the experience
actually occurred?
Mary
Every physical fact that exists, she was aware of it
And once her brain was suitably enhanced
The last step was a set of cochlear implants
And once her brain was suitably enhanced
The last step was a set of cochlear implants
There are more connections in the human brain
Than there are stars in the milky way, think about that....
So we have a whole inner cosmos inside of our head
So we have a whole inner cosmos inside of our head
The brain is basically like an information-processing machine....
Cephalophile (feat. Alice Andrews)
Another
dark track but thoroughly pleasant musical journey and mind walk. It's
about an octopus and the planet through the lens of a mushroom trip,
explaining the integrated information theory of consciousness and brain
biology. Is an octopus or a worm conscious? What's it like to be an
octopus's arm?
It’s like that theory of consciousness
It’s like that theory of consciousness
Called “Integrated Information”
That says any system is conscious
If it's connected up and differentiated
It’s got that mathematical figure called "Phi"
That's quantifiably calculated
As a measure of how much the whole is greater
Than the sum of the parts when they’re isolated
That says any system is conscious
If it's connected up and differentiated
It’s got that mathematical figure called "Phi"
That's quantifiably calculated
As a measure of how much the whole is greater
Than the sum of the parts when they’re isolated
WIZARD OF ODDS feat. Aaron Nazrul
This super track opens with a part of Anil Seth's TEd talk on "Your brain hallucinates your reality"
"Imagine being a brain: With no lights or sound inside the skull, all it has to rely on are streams of electrical impulses derived from our senses."
Explaining the biological mechanisms of axons in the brain generating consciousness with the key message as "I predict myself therefore I am," this smooth, melody driven song is my favourite on the album. Anything you wanted to know in clear cut layman terms is here. If you buy only one song from the album it has to be this. So from the brain's point of view... (I/it)
You see colours, I see numbers
You hear music, I hear code
You see lovers under covers
I’m in darkness on my own
While you’re dancin’, I’ll be calculating
Chances in your thoughts
Here to guide you from inside you
I’m the Wizard of Odds
You hear music, I hear code
You see lovers under covers
I’m in darkness on my own
While you’re dancin’, I’ll be calculating
Chances in your thoughts
Here to guide you from inside you
I’m the Wizard of Odds
It ends with Deepak Chopra saying...
Just tell me: how does electrochemistry
Produce a thought, an idea
And you get the million dollars
I will live up to this
But it has to be a valid scientific explanation
For the biological basis of an idea
One thought, any thought...
One thought, one million dollars
Room
This short minimalistic track has subtle pretty piano notes and showcases Baba's lyrical prowess. He puts functionalism into perfect rhythm lines. It's about the philosopher John Searle's "Chinese Room" thought experiment and whether a computer, enabling an old man to be simulating Chinese language actually means he is speaking Chinese.
So, the old man is nothing but a cog
In a machine designed to produce hip-hop
He adds nothing, no skills, no comprehension
No linguistic invention
It’s the code that’s intelligent, the code understands
What the old man doesn’t: how to bust raps
In a machine designed to produce hip-hop
He adds nothing, no skills, no comprehension
No linguistic invention
It’s the code that’s intelligent, the code understands
What the old man doesn’t: how to bust raps
Ready for Implants
Another lyrically brilliant and aesthetically pleasing in auditory sensation, this song talks about a patient in a "persistent vegetative state" who is trying to communicate to the outside world. It favours the progression of technology.
Implants, forget a digital wristband
I wanna be cognitively enhanced
With implants, like Angelina
I’ll pass a test from a cancer screener
With implants, a nanobot’ll beat it
Robotic bodies for quadriplegics
I wanna be cognitively enhanced
With implants, like Angelina
I’ll pass a test from a cancer screener
With implants, a nanobot’ll beat it
Robotic bodies for quadriplegics
Implants, oh you wanna debate?
Okay, just lemme get my implants, wait...
Okay, just lemme get my implants, wait...
Love this one! Perfect lyrics and music again. It includes Daniel Dennett and it's all about the debate on Free Will. If so much of life is biologically determined how much free will do we actually have? It argues that we do have some navigation freedom in pursuing goals.
I can’t stop, I won’t stop livin’
Makin’ decisions as if I can pivot
I can’t stop, wont stop sellin’ mad “isms”
Natural, rational, and compatiblism
I can’t stop attraction and avoidance
Trapped with no choice but to make choices
I can’t stop, whatever happens
Free will, I’m determined to have it
Makin’ decisions as if I can pivot
I can’t stop, wont stop sellin’ mad “isms”
Natural, rational, and compatiblism
I can’t stop attraction and avoidance
Trapped with no choice but to make choices
I can’t stop, whatever happens
Free will, I’m determined to have it
Daniel Dennett:
Free will is like the air we breath
We count on it, but it is neither a
Metaphysical background condition
Nor a fundamental physical condition
It evolved, and is still evolving
We count on it, but it is neither a
Metaphysical background condition
Nor a fundamental physical condition
It evolved, and is still evolving
Memes up
A sing-along funky track and Baba's talent in showcasing all this knowledge lies in his ability to mix up pace and use the crossover of light and dark in tunes making it an album that is already over, when you feel as if you've only just listened to two or three tracks. The synopsis of this track:
"With the right memes, you can skeptically assess your environment and act strategically in accordance with your long- term goals.
With the wrong memes, you end up voting for Trump. Get your memes up."
So get your memes up, try to read stuff
If you don’t read get a book on speaker
If you want to be a truth-seeker
Get some memes up in your cerebrum
Get your memes up, try to see stuff
If you can’t travel, get on Wikipedia
Get it from a teacher, or social media
Get your memes up if you want freedom
Still here feat. Tymisha Harris
Another absolute favourite track on the album. Even without the excellent lyrics, musically the track is just catchy and intelligent. The lyrics then add complete perfection. It's about the dilemma of humans not having a super-natural god or promise of an afterlife and how we find meaning and purpose in life.
If you don’t read get a book on speaker
If you want to be a truth-seeker
Get some memes up in your cerebrum
Get your memes up, try to see stuff
If you can’t travel, get on Wikipedia
Get it from a teacher, or social media
Get your memes up if you want freedom
Still here feat. Tymisha Harris
Another absolute favourite track on the album. Even without the excellent lyrics, musically the track is just catchy and intelligent. The lyrics then add complete perfection. It's about the dilemma of humans not having a super-natural god or promise of an afterlife and how we find meaning and purpose in life.
We can do things to improve the experience
Of all the other sentient beings sharing this
Sequence of sensational, celebratable moments
So take a deep breath
And see what you notice
Of all the other sentient beings sharing this
Sequence of sensational, celebratable moments
So take a deep breath
And see what you notice
We were nothing when this all began
And soon we’ll disappear
And be nothing once again
But until then, we’re still here
We’re stardust, we’re memories
Flesh and blood and self-aware
We’re dancin’ electricity
While we’re still here
So give me roses, give me oceans
Give me love and tears
Give me all the riches of my senses
Stimulation, while I’m still here
And soon we’ll disappear
And be nothing once again
But until then, we’re still here
We’re stardust, we’re memories
Flesh and blood and self-aware
We’re dancin’ electricity
While we’re still here
So give me roses, give me oceans
Give me love and tears
Give me all the riches of my senses
Stimulation, while I’m still here
Another message is given by Anil Seth at the end... which sums up the album.
Anil Seth:
With a greater sense of understanding
Comes a greater sense of wonder
And a greater realization that we are part of
And not apart from the rest of nature
And, when the end of consciousness comes
There’s nothing to be afraid of
Nothing at all
With a greater sense of understanding
Comes a greater sense of wonder
And a greater realization that we are part of
And not apart from the rest of nature
And, when the end of consciousness comes
There’s nothing to be afraid of
Nothing at all
To end this blog a track from Baba Brinkman's Youtube channel
