Consciousness. Before and After (with some notes on AI)

Today, it is easy to assume that consciousness is the universal form of human existence. It is easy to assume, that is, that all humans have always experienced themselves as an individual, self-aware I or ego; as having a mind or an inner mental space in which the ego exists in the form of thought. In sharp contrast to this assumption stands the historical observation that the concept of consciousness was unknown before 1694, when it first emerged in Europe. Could it perhaps be that consciousness is not a universal but rather a time and place specific conceptualization of human existence? Indeed, a careful study of the written record of the West shows that there are no equivalents to conscious in prior times. A series of intriguing questions emerge from this observation: What came before consciousness? How was thought prior to the late 17th century conceptualized? How did people experience themselves? And if there was a before –– could there be an after? What would it mean to be human ‘after’ consciousness? 4.