Space of representation and revolution of the consciousness

(Source: Image Wikipedia)

Where is perception locates in the body ?

Is't possible to amplified our consciousness ?

In this article we compare theories of perception, introduce the theory «space of representation» and expose news ideas about the consciousness and internal space.

Where « perception-in-action » is structured in the body?

For decades philosophers studied the «enigma» of perception. But few focus on the space of perception, meaning the space where «perception-in-action» is located. In this article we will explore these subjects.

Descartes, Husserl, Cobos and images

Descartes was the first to identify the mind with consciousness and self-awarness. He was the first to distinguish the mind from the brain which is the seat of intelligence. Descartes famous argument for this position can be summarized as follows : «I think, therefore I am.»

Descartes was also the first to refer to «spatiality of representation.» He stands out on this topic, in a letter send to Christine of Sweden, he developed on the point of union between thought and body mobility. Three centuries after Brentano introduced into psychology the concept of intentionality which to took from scholasticism's on Aristotle. Then Husserl with respect to spatiality of represenation, considered that the «form» and the contents were not independent. A fundamental point was said by Husserl, because it establishes the form of extension as a condition for representation (colour cannot be independent of extension.)

But how can we defines representation and perception ?

According to wikipedia perception is the organization, identification and interpretation of sensory information.  If we speak in turns physiology all perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or chemical stimulation of the sensory system. But our topic is the location of perception in the internal space (the inner body) it's not a physiological question.

James Gibson work on an ecological theory of perception that is guided by two principles: animal-environment systems and guiding activity. James Gibson (1966) argues that perception is direct, and not subject to hypotheses testing. According to him perception is «awareness», comprehension or an understanding of something. From an ecological understanding his work relate to "perception-in-action" concept. This notion explained that perception is a requisite property of animate action; that without perception, action would be unguided, and without action, perception would serve a purpose. Animate actions require both perception and motion.

In Gestalt psychology, perception is this apparent movement happens because our minds fill in missing information. Gestalt is based on understanding and perceiving the whole sum of an object rather than its components. It was created against the «atomistic concept of psychology» as well as the general intellectual climate, which was built on the belief that scientific understanding is the result of lack of concern about the basic human details.

According to Alan Clark, today's research on perception have various implications. It's obvious for researchers that not only can there be no completely "unbiased, unfiltered" perception, but this means that there is a great deal of feedback between perception and expectation (perceptual experiences often shape our beliefs). According to Clark predictive coding provides an account where this type of feedback assists in stabilizing our inference-making process about the physical world, such as with perceptual constancy example.

Today, many researchers abandon the last vestiges of the «input-output» model and conceptual atomist. They preferred an environment stimuli repeatedly impigne upon a richly organized structure. In his works Clark proposes a system that is constantly active, moving restlessly from a state of expectation to another, matching sensory state with prediction that harvest new sensory states in a rolling cycle.

What about representation ?

In the recent years, new theories base on a descriptive phenomenon were developed by Mario Rodriguez Cobos (Silo) and the psychology of the new humanism.  In the works  «Contribution to thoughts» Cobos explained that every impulse from the senses or the memory provokes an image (perception-in-action)  in the apparatus of register (the consciousness). His works focus on the phenomena of perception and representation link to spatiality. Cobos distinguish two «space» where perception and representation take place. The psychology of the new humanism distinguishes perception from representation, and image, which is fundamental to comprehend the spatiality of image. 

«Representation is all phenomena of the memory which at any given moment are included within the field of the "present" (see) in the consciousness. Representations or images are distinct from data of the memory which act co-presently and subliminally, and of course, representations are distinct from perceptions ». 

Perception: a) The simple register of sensory data. b) A datum which reaches a sense is registered as a variation in the sense's natural frequency of operation; in addition, this datum is configured and structured by the sense. Thus, a perception is the register of both the incoming datum and the activity of the sense, which is dynamic and in movement. Every perception is a structure of: datum plus activity of the sense which abstracts and structures it. c) A structuring of sensations carried out by a sense, by several different senses, by the activity of the memory, and the combined activity of the consciousness with a sense, senses, and the memory.(Self-liberation p.208)

Cobos give an example of theses two space, «if I see my hand outside myself and from myself, or else I see my hand inside myself and also from inside myself in the case where I imagine it. While all these examples might appear to involve the same space, there is in fact one space in which the objects that I perceive are located and that we could call the space of perception. There is another space in which the objects of representation are located, which we could call the space of representation, and this space is not the same as the space of perception. There is in fact one space in which the objects that I perceive are located and that we could call the space of perception. The is another space in which the objects or representation are located, which we could the space of representation, and this space is not the same as the space of perception. The objects that are located or positionel in these two different spaces have different characteristics. » (Silo, Psychology Notes, p. 58)

Then we understand that various phenomena ocured in theses space. Cobos explain that objects located or positioned in these two different spaces have different characteristics. 

If I look at my hand, I see that it is at a certain distance from my eye. I see that it is closer to me than some objects and farther away, perhaps, than others. I see that there is a color associated with my hand, with the shape of it. And if I imagine other things around my hand, the perception of my hand will still prevail. Now let me imagine my hand. The image of my hand may be in front of an object or behind it. I can change its location in an instant. I can imagine my hand becoming very, very small or make it fill virtually the entire field of my representation. I can change the shape of my hand and its color as well. Thus, the location of a mental object in the space of representation changes in accordance with and depending upon my mental operations, whereas the location of objects in external space, the space of perception, also changes, but independently of my mental operations.» (Silo, Psychology Notes, p. 60)

Cobos make a distinctions between external and internal are base on registers ; the boundaries set by coenestactile perceptions. But they cannot be sustained when we speak of the global nature of consciousness-in-the-world is its «landscape and the «self» is its «look». This mode of being in the world on the part of consciousness is basically a mode of action in perspective with the immediate spatial reference is one's own body and no longer only the intrabody. In the book Humanize the Earth Cobos speak of internal and external landscape referring to «space» of representation and «space» of perception.

Space of representation

In the Psychology of the New Humanism, «space of representation» is the internal representation of the mental space, which corresponds to the visual translation of the internal bodily sensations makes possible the connection between the actions or productions of the consciousness, and the body itself. This intermediary connection is needed so the body can move coherently in a given direction. When any system of impulses reaches the body – whether from the senses, the memory or the imagination theses impulses are converted into an image which is located at some height and depth within the internal space of representation; when this image then moves to some other points end depth, it mobilizes activities in the body and the senses.

«It's in this flow of impulses relative to the time and space of the consciousness that the first events occur that will end up modifying the world. We are affirming , in the broadest possible way , that by variation of impulses between «spaces», the psychism is penetrated by, and penetrates the world. We are not speaking of closed circuits between stimulus and response but rather of an open and growing system that grap the world.»

Cobos explains in «Notes of Psychology», that if we consider the mental image to be only a simple copy of perception, we will not comprehend the active function of the image. In his work, «Contribution to though» Cobos demonstrate how images are a «way» for consciousness to be active in the world. 

According to Cobos the image carry psychological charges to physical levels. The function of the image is to transport, contribute and return energy (in a form of responses). Then we say the image acts upon the activity of  internal or external muscular systems and set the numerous physiological phenomena  to complete a response into motion. Perhaps this way of explaining «perception-in-action» as similarities with Alan Clark works. Moreover if images are carrying charge (energy), than we understand that there are different charges and caracteristic. When we say there's different charge and caracteristic, if image emerge within the space of perception (in the field of attention) and if later I recall theses images their locations will be in an other «space». 

Perhaps, the theory of the «space of representation» reconciled the dualism (mental phenomena are non-physical but originated from the physical, from matters) relationship between mind and matter introduce by Descartes 400 years ago. Obviously «the space of representation» is not a scientific theory, but rather it's a phenomenological approach that study perception, images, representation and theirs  transformation. It studies the possibilities of the human being to amplified the consciousness, to eradicate violence, to overcome suffering and to connect with deep experiences that may modify beliefs about our life and death.

« Psychology of New humanism», dispensing with explanations except when unavoidable, is based on registers, which are similar in all people who follow the description. It is as though these descriptions make all human beings, however widely separated in time and space, into contemporaries and compatriots. This type of psychology represents, moreover, a gesture toward uniting all cultures, however different they may be, because it neither lays undue stress on their differences nor tries to impose one culture’s particular schema on all other cultures. This type of psychology unites human beings, it doesn’t divide them, and is thus a valuable contribution to increasing understanding between peoples.» (Silo, Speak p.109)

Revolution and «space of representation» ?

Theses news ideas on the space of representation open new field of study. The study of the «structure perception-image» as a behavior of the consciousness in the world.  Ten years ago I did a research on youth and their socialization through social medias and virtual games. This research had various approaches including the theory «space of representation».

My research focus on the sensation of «presence» and «embodied presence» of the other in virtual space. Assuming that the sensation of immersion is an illusion, or a belief (immersion : the user has the sensation of being transported elsewhere, the state of internal presence:  is the impression of the user's presence in the virtual environment). Eventually my research face an enigma, the user were saying they felt like being transported elsewhere while chatting or playing with others in the virtual environment ? But where was this place located? and how can they recognize the others in the virtual environment? Is the mental representations are constructed from perceptions and sensations of physical space then transferred to possible actions in the virtual environment? 

In this research I was stunned by the position defended by researchers which is based their idea that space is valid for the external reality. Thus, I decided to explore other theories based on the intentionnality of the consciousness and spatiality of the image. In fact, this research allowed us to design a new conceptual model including the following concepts: immersion register,  embodied presence, the registers of co-presence and the recognition of the other in virtual space. Throughout this research I made a crucial comprehension : consciousness is active in world through the structure perception-image.  

Through this research I comprehend that we perceive our own representations updated from the perception and from the register of the action carried out in the world.  In fact, the consciousness of the user is not a passive or distorted reflection of the natural world, but transcends the natural. Indeed, if everything was reduced to the natural, the user could not, from images that scroll on a flat screen, feel the presence of the other, or even have the impression of walking in a medieval city. 

Obviously, the human being participates with his body in the natural world, but isn't a simple natural phenomenon. According to me, the study of the interactions between the human in virtual space could be applied in several areas. These kind of study could rehabilitate the image of the human being to a being that goes beyond his own nature. These news ideas could change our perspectives on ourselves and on the world.

«We find ourselves, then, in a world in which the perception seems to inform us of its variations, while the image, in stimulating our memory, launches us to reinterpret and modify the data coming from that world. Accordingly, to every perception there is a corresponding representation that unfailingly modifies the “data” of “reality.” In other words, the structure perception-image is a behavior of the consciousness in the world, whose meaning is the transformation of this world.» (Silo, Contribution to thoughts p. 34) 

Silvia Swinden, author of “From Monkey Sapiens to Homo Intentional: The Phenomenology of the Nonviolent Revolution” – propose a new ideas and «images» about transformation, the revolution from within.

«This is the time when people are learning to discover the amazing hidden treasures that dwell in the profound spaces of their own minds. Through various forms of meditation, mindfulness, through different practices, through the awareness that treating others as we would like to be treated gives us inner unity and a sense of growth, through creating new ways to build up Commons, through participating in the great inspiration of young social movements, through rejecting mechanical responses and choosing intentional ones that open the future, the new story, the new narrative is coming alive. It is the great awakening of the human being, conscious of their experiences and the effects of those experiences on their whole being.»

Swinden explain in «The Space of Representation as a psychosocial experience» that «transcendence as a social experience»  is a possibility within an non-violent revolution.

According to Swinden throughout history there's an accumulation of culture, and the interactive exteriorization of the Space of Representation of all the individuals of the species, that radically changed the evolutionary mode of human being. «Evolution was not just depending on the slow and random genetic mutation of nature that creates new characteristics, where some destined to their extinction, others to make the individuals who bear them the most suitable for adaptation to certain environments. In humans, the cultural-historical accumulation provoked an evolutionary acceleration never seen before in any other species. And while the physical body, particularly the brain, may still be tied to its physiological basis, (perhaps in principle not so different from the first examples of the genre) it is due to its plasticity that the new experiences to which it is exposed precisely because of that historical-cultural accumulation have been creating new neurophysiologic structures that have allowed an explosion of understanding and the creation of new horizons». 

In our next blog we will explore the interactions between the human and virtual reality.  We will explain the connection between the actions or productions of the consciousness. We will expose the prediction process, and the mechanism of the consciousness and the intentionnality of consciousness.


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Reference: 

Clark, A. (2016), Surfing Certainty, Prediction, action and the embodied mind, Oxford University Press.

Farrell, A. (2008), Les sensations de présences et d'immersion des jeunes qui clavardent et jouent dans l'espace virtuel. Université du Québec à Montréal.

Silo, (2010), Note of psychology, Argentina.

Silo, (2000), Contribution to thoughs, Argentina.

Swinden S., (2018) The space of representation as a psychosocial experience, La Belle Idée, France.