Language, Meaning, and Consciousness
TL;DR: A plain guide to how Chomsky, Searle, Jaynes and others explain consciousness through language and meaning. No single model explains everything yet, but reading across them gives a less dogmatic picture.
This is a long guide in simple words, so people who are new to all of this can still follow it. The goal is to explain each point on the map clearly and fairly.
This part tries to answer one big question, how consciousness works, and it looks at it through one specific lens, language and meaning. It doesn't claim to be the only truth, but it gives you some good tools to think with.
The names on the map are Chomsky, Searle, Koch, Smith, Jaynes, Parrington, Hickey, Drabkin and Skorpielitou, and there is also a whole group of communication theories. Each of them is an important reference point. And for every one of them you can ask the same things. What does this idea explain well, what does it miss, and how can we test it better?
If you are not an expert, you don't need to agree with every claim. So the best way to read this is to compare the models and ask which one explains experience, brain data and everyday life with the least confusion.
If you're new to philosophy of mind, the practical takeaway is that no single model explains everything yet. But each model adds a piece, and reading across them gives you a stronger and less dogmatic understanding.