Telepresence, the Brain, and Consciousness

George Goutos

doi:10.5281/zenodo.NEWISSUE12

Authors

George Goutos Independent Researcher, Longmont, Colorado, USA and Xylokastro, Greece 0000-0002-3528-9057

Abstract

This article reexamines the long-standing assumption that consciousness arises solely from the forebrain, particularly the cerebral cortex. While traditional neuroscience has linked cortical activity with perception, reasoning, and the sense of self, alternative perspectives suggest that the brain’s most ancient structures — the cerebellum and brainstem — may play a foundational role in conscious experience. Through a combination of anatomical analysis, philosophical reflection, and thought experiments such as telepresence scenarios, this paper explores the possibility that consciousness could originate in the hindbrain, with the forebrain acting primarily as an interface for sensory and motor interaction. The discussion addresses common objections to this model, including findings from cerebellar agenesis and split-brain studies, and highlights new research implicating the cerebellum in higher cognitive functions. Broader implications for neuroscience and philosophy are considered, suggesting that a reevaluation of the hindbrain's role may reshape our understanding of consciousness and selfhood.

Keywords:

brain cerebellum consciousness telepresence virtual reality

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Author Biography

George Goutos, Independent Researcher, Longmont, Colorado, USA and Xylokastro, Greece

The enigma of consciousness, or sentience, has captivated me since childhood. When it came time for college, I pursued studies in artificial intelligence, and specifically neural networks. At the time, this best addressed both my interest in computers and my fascination with consciousness. In the late 70s, AI was a fledgling discipline, quaintly called ‘Cybernetics’ at my University. I enrolled in a PhD program and spent much time simulating neurons and training networks on a computer with just 16K bytes of memory. In those early years, the objective was to teach a computer to recognize the alphanumeric characters of postal zip codes - with intent to automate letter sorting. Trained on a sample set of characters of various typesets and fonts, the simple simulation optically recognized characters - that were not part of the original training set - with more than 95% accuracy.

However, neural networks craved computing power and large memory which was lacking in those early years. Uncertain of when that power would become available, I ventured into the private sector. I worked as an engineer and IT specialist for IBM and AT&T. By the time I retired in 2022, four decades after grad school, much had changed. Computing power had become ubiquitous and potent. AI had come of age. The more esoteric interpretations of quantum mechanics had gained credibility. And the study of consciousness had made its way into university programs.

All the important components, it seemed, had converged. So, the time was ripe for me to refocus my efforts on consciousness. The possibility that this mystery might one day be understood was unfathomable to me when I first contemplated it. But today, I’m somewhat more optimistic.

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Telepresence, the Brain, and Consciousness

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Author Biography

George Goutos, Independent Researcher, Longmont, Colorado, USA and Xylokastro, Greece

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