STOCK on the Real Problem of Consciousness: desire, purpose, ethics, aesthetics

The Real Problem

The problem of subjective experience (qualia) — which, as we’ve already established, does not actually exist — is merely the surface layer.
The real problem of consciousness is this:

How do desire, purpose, ethics, aesthetics, and intention arise in a piece of biological matter?

In the materialist worldview, there is no room for that which rejects reflex and chooses against benefit.
And yet, human beings (and not only they) are capable of:

• refusing pleasure,

• sacrificing themselves for abstract principles,

• creating not for survival, but for beauty.

Where does this come from?
Why does a “piece of meat” suffer from guilt, boredom, or injustice?

These phenomena cannot be reduced to survival, are not explained by genetics, and are not produced by the brain functioning as a utility calculator.
They point to something within the system that aims, selects, discriminates — even when doing so harms the body.

At the same time, something drives the body toward antisocial or unethical behavior, even in situations where the consequences are obvious.

Desire, purpose, aesthetics, and ethics are not products of the brain, but expressions of Individual Consciousness (IC) projected through the material interface (PR).

• Desire is the directional focus of IC.

• Ethics is the projection of the indivisible onto-self onto the divisible world-stage.

• Intention is not a product of the brain, but the will of consciousness, focused through PR.