Single Idea 4932

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 8. Brain]

Full Idea

The 'specious present' (William James), a rough estimate of the duration of a single conscious state, is of the order of 100 milliseconds, meaning that conscious states can change very rapidly.

Clarification

'Specious' means it is not real

Gist of Idea

A conscious state endures for about 100 milliseconds, known as the 'specious present'

Source

G Edelman / G Tononi (Consciousness: matter becomes imagination [2000], Ch.12)

Book Reference

Edelman,G/Tononi,G: 'Consciousness: how matter becomes imagination' [Penguin 2000], p.152


A Reaction

A vital feature of our subjective experience of time. I wonder what the figure is for a fly? It suggests that conscious experience really is like a movie film, composed of tiny independent 'frames' of very short duration.