Epilogue

The future will most likely bring machines with artificial conscious minds, that at some point will be more intelligent than we are. But their minds will be also different than ours. Will we be able to understand them? Will they understand us? A sense of consciousness is a simple, direct feeling, so it is a quale! This is a subjective, first-person experience. We will never be able to describe it in a strictly symbolic language and even less so in formal one such as mathematics, geometry, or logic. Reflecting on how we can understand our own consciousness, we must consider the foundation for understanding. A sense of understanding requires the compatibility of a stimulant signal with activated cognitive memory fields. The feeling of consciousness is related to every act of recognition and the attribute of reflective consciousness is to realize that we are conscious. The essence of consciousness is to build a model of reality, to define/understand its place in this reality, and to feel emotion and satisfaction arising from that fact. The mind understands what can be “good” for it in the shorter and longer term. The formulation of the long-term goal of existence constitutes a sense of self-existence and, consequently, the meaning of the world as a tool for fulfilling one's mission in this world. It is astonishing that if we ask about the purpose and meaning of the matter, we must admit that no such purpose exists, if there is no consciousness for which we could formulate such a purpose. Thus, the meaning and purpose of the existence of matter is the emergence of consciousness. This sense arises at the moment when consciousness arises. The presented model of a motivated emotional mind explains the main features of the human psyche. It explains how reflective and phenomenal consciousness are created, how the mind formulates the meaning and purpose of a person's existence and the meaning of the world around him, how he obtains his free will, and how he can effectively act for his own good. It explains how the need for understanding, harmony, and beauty can create art, ethics, and goodness, how emotions directing the mind can unleash feelings of empathy and love. It also explains that to fulfill these functions, to learn everything that is good and noble but also what is evil and immoral, it is necessary to have a body able to influence the environment and the mind to reflect on it.