http://actu.epfl.ch/news...ciousness-in-time-slice/This new research is directly about brain activity
but seems to refer to an understanding of something called in this article "unconscious processing" that relates to this topic rather well!
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The brain processes specific features of objects, e.g. color or shape, and analyzes them quasi-continuously and unconsciously with a very high time-resolution. However, the model suggests that there is no perception of time during this unconscious processing. Even time features, such as duration or color change, are not perceived during this period. Instead, the brain represents its duration as a kind of “number”, just as it does for color and shape.
Then comes the conscious stage: Unconscious processing is completed, and the brain simultaneously renders all the features conscious. This produces the final “picture”, which the brain finally presents to our consciousness, making us aware of the stimulus.
The whole process, from stimulus to conscious perception, can last up to 400 milliseconds, which is a considerable delay from a physiological point of view. “The reason is that the brain wants to give you the best, clearest information it can, and this demands a substantial amount of time,” explains Michael Herzog. “There is no advantage in
making you aware of its unconscious processing, because that would be immensely confusing.” This model focuses on visual perception, but the time delay might be different for
other sensory information, e.g. auditory or olfactory.
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There is a term not used in the article, but in an included diagram, "unconscious feature integration":
This could include anything that can then exist as a feature, as Twig has mentioned just recently: ''memory, programs,language, symbols, identity, time, space, everything.''