A philosophical detective story in one act.

Featuring

Herlock Sholmes………………………………………………..The famous detective

Dr. Watts……………………………………………………..The detective's assistant

Hercule Poivrot…………………………………………………..A famous colleague

Ms. Marbles………………………………………………………A famous colleague

Prof. Dr. Tryphon Tourneciel……………………………………An eminent scientist

Alexander Einich………………………………………………….A dead philosopher

"We got a new assignment."

Dr. Watts jumped on his seat, throwing away the October 5^th, 1876 copy of the Times he had been reading for more than a century. "We did?" he asked, utterly surprised.

"Indeed," Herlock Sholmes, the famous detective, answered. "There is something strange to the case, though."

"Murder?" Dr. Watts asked, dusting himself off.

"Quite the opposite."

Dr. Watts frowned. "The opposite of murder?"

"We have to inquiry about life."

"Life? Whose life?"

"Life itself."

"You mean life in general? What it is?"

"And how it is," added Herlock.

Dr. Watts whistled loudly. "That won't be a piece of cake!"

"It gets even stranger."

"In what way?" Dr. Watts frowned again.

"The contractor we got this assignment from is dead."

Dr. Watts' eyes opened wide. "Murdered?"

"Yes. By himself."

"Oh." Dr. Watts took his hat off.

"It happened more than two years ago."

"Oh." Dr. Watts put his hat back on his head. "I guess the assignment has become moot, then."

"Not at all. Quite the opposite, actually: it is an assignment we have the moral obligation to follow up, because…" Herlock took a deep breath, "It is a last will."

Dr. Watts frowned again. "What kind of last will is that?!"

"Our client was a philosopher."

"Oh. Poor guy."

"He found out a lot of stuff that could explain the how and why of a lot of other stuff, but life - consciousness - is something he could never entirely define. Define materially, that is."

"Consciousness isn't material," scoffed Dr. Watts.

"On first thought I'd agree with you, but looking at his last will, I'm not so sure anymore," judged Herlock.

"Let me see that will."

Herlock Sholmes got a letter out of his inner pocket and handed it to his assistant, who read it out aloud.

"Dear Mr. Sholmes,

You are the most famous, and what is of much greater import to me, the most intuitive detective in the world.

During my lifetime, I discovered (or at least found a logical reason as to) why life exists. I also found out a logical possibility of where we comes from and where we are supposed to go.

However, I was never able to identify the definite and necessary link between consciousness and matter. For there has to be one, as consciousness is embedded in matter and happens through matter.

I do not doubt that, given enough time, I would have found this out myself and thus have avoided bothering you out of your well-deserved retirement. Unfortunately, my thinking has developed to such a point that it has overcome my acting almost completely now, and I fear that soon my condition will worsen still.

For this reason I entrust you with solving the following mystery: find out the material definition of consciousness - what is the most elementary "thing" that makes it exist and happen.

I could have asked a renowned scientist, like Prof. Dr. Tryphon Tourneciel, to pursue this inquiry for me. The problem with eminent scientists like him is that they remain firmly entrenched in material things, and will not dare crossing over to anything non-material out of fear from being considered foolish quacks. As they will never cross the frontier, they cannot be able to find it.

I could also have asked an expert philosopher to solve this mystery for me. The problem with philosophers, though, is twofold: first, they often don't have the scientific knowledge to solve this kind of problem; and second, philosophers usually are considered good only after they're dead, so that I couldn't find any who was considered good enough for finding out a worthwile answer to my problem and who was still alive.

That's when I thought of you. I fully believe that you, with your unequaled inquiring skills, will be able to find out the closest possible thing to an answer.

I place great hope in your responding positively to my dire demand, dear Mr. Sholmes. I trust your mind is perfectly suited to solve the mystery of consciousness.

Yours truly,

Alexander Einich^t

PS: To help you start up, here is what was and remains my first and only clue in this matter: Oxford can't be right."

Having finished reading, Dr. Watts looked at Herlock. "So there isn't even any money in it."

Herlock Sholmes shrugged. "Since when did we work for money anyway?"

"Must have been more than a century now," Dr. Watts agreed. "Anyway - are we able to solve something like that? We're neither scientists nor philosophers - just detectives!"

"What do you mean, just detectives? That's why our client chose us. He tells so in his will. Obviously, all he wants is common sense."

"Common sense. Ok. I like to think I have that," Dr. Watts said. "Therefore, I'd say the physical manifestation of consciousness is the living body, or, more precisely, the brain!"

Herlock Sholmes looked for his pipe. "Maybe not that common a sense," he muttered. He found his pipe and filled it with tobacco before remembering he had stopped smoking a long time ago. "Let's start with looking at the clue Einich mentions in his post scriptum."

Dr. Watts grabbed the letter. While he did, Herlock Sholmes grabbed a copy of The Concise Oxford Dictionary he had in his library.

"Oxford can't be right. What does this have to do with consciousness?" asked Dr. Watts, slapping the letter with his right hand.

"Probably a lot," answered Herlock Sholmes while leafing through the dictionary. "C… Concealed… Consciousness: state of being conscious; totality of a person's thoughts and feelings, or of a class of these; perception."

Dr. Watts let the words sink in. "So what would be wrong with that?" he finally asked.

"I don't know," Herlock Sholmes sighed. "Maybe we should start with our own point of view on the matter - on consciousness, that is. So what, for you, is consciousness, Dr. Watts?"

"Thinking?" ventured Dr. Watts.

"But what is thinking? Einich asked for a 'material' definition," said Herlock Sholmes.

"Thinking is… Gosh, I don't know how it happens," admitted Dr. Watts.

Herlock Sholmes shook his head. "We're getting no way like this." He took a deep breath. "Let's start in a field we know what we're talking about: criminology. What would consciousness be there?"

"In criminology, consciousness would be… Somebody who hasn't been killed?" tried Dr. Watts.

"Yes - somebody who isn't dead. Consciousness is something the living have and something the dead haven't. As a matter of fact, it is the exact difference between the alive and the dead. Consequently, our definition of consciousness would be: the difference between a body alive and the same body dead. Now what is that difference, materially speaking?"

"A beating heart?" guessed Dr. Watts.

"That would be part of it, but there would be more. Much more. Exchanges of substances between cells, cerebral neurons connecting, neurotransmitters delivering messages… The difference is that in a body alive, there's a flurry of activity, while in a body dead, nothing happens."

"So the difference would be activity," summarized Dr. Watts.

"The difference would be action," agreed Herlock Sholmes. "And here we have Einich's clue explained: consciousness is not a state as defined in the Oxford, but an action."

"A big difference," remarked Dr. Watts.

"Now, what Einich probably wanted us to find out is which action or which string of actions exactly consciousness is."

"Somehow I'd guess it's not the beating heart," remarked Dr. Watts. "Must be something that happens in the brain."

"Something, or… Everything," added Herlock Sholmes.

"My guess is that it isn't everything. I'd like to go on with your differentiation strategy, if you don't mind," requested Dr. Watts.

"Please do," agreed Herlock.

"Since we agree that consciousness happens only in the brain, we could further exclude from 'consciousness action' everything happening in the brain that also happens in the rest of the body," theorized Dr. Watts.

"Good point," agreed Herlock. "That would be oxygenation, everything that has to do with tissue renewal, and…"

Silence followed.

"We're no biologists," Dr. Watts saw the problem.

"We won't be able to solve the case," Herlock sighed.

"Don't be so sure," Dr. Watts didn't give up hope. "Fortunately, we live in 2003, and there's internet!"

Dr. Watts got up, strode to the desk where his dusty but trusty PC was standing, pushed some buttons and keys, and connected with the world.

"Let's first try the Determined Detectives chatroom."

Herlock watched with interest over his assistant's shoulder. "Technology sure got us further since last time I checked," he remarked.

"Hey look - colleague Hercule Poivrot is online!" exclaimed Dr. Watts. "Maybe he can help!"

DrWatts> Hey Mr. Poivrot!

Poivre> Dr. Watts! Quoi de neuf?

DrWatts> Herlock and I have a difficult case

Poivre> Murder?

DrWatts> The opposite: life

DrWatts> and finding out how consciousness works.

Poivre> ??? Who wants to know?

DrWatts> Somebody who's dead

Poivre> ?????

DrWatts> Einich

Poivre> Ah - the philosopher

Poivre> the would-be Einstein J

Poivre> Didn't he find out himself?

DrWatts> Apparently not

DrWatts> He sent Herlock this will asking for our help

DrWatts> and now we're trying to solve this mystery.

Poivre> Not a piece of cake for sure

Poivre> Let me know if I can help

DrWatts> Maybe you can

DrWatts> We'd need to know what happens in the brain.

Marbles> Hello everyone

"Ms. Marbles is online too, now," Dr. Watts commented.

"Send her my regards," requested Herlock.

DrWatts> @Marbles: Regards from Herlock

Marbles> Well thank you

Poivre> Welcome aboard Marbles

Marbles> You're all very sweet

Marbles> Rgds to Herlock too

Marbles> What's this brain stuff about? Murder?

Poivre> Scroll up

DrWatts> Why does everybody always assume we're inquiring about murder?

Marbles> Because Herlock's the best, and the best is trusted with the most important matters.

DrWatts> Very intuitive as usually, Marbles

DrWatts> but this time we might have something more important than murder.

Marbles> Interesting - let me scroll up.

Poivre> Anyway - I know where brain info can be found

Poivre> needed it for an amnesia case once

Poivre> Just let me find the site again, and I'll paste the address here.

Marbles> Very interesting indeed

Marbles> What have you found so far?

DrWatts> That consciousness is the difference between a body alive and a body dead

DrWatts> that it is action

DrWatts> that it happens in the brain

DrWatts> and that it isn't everything that happens both in the brain and in the rest of the body.

Marbles> You've already narrowed it quite a bit

DrWatts> Yeah, but now we need scientific info

DrWatts> It's going to get rougher.

Marbles> I have an idea

Marbles> Have you tried consciousness as the difference between wake and sleep?

Marbles> After all, we're said to be "unconscious" when we sleep!

DrWatts> Sounds like an interesting idea

DrWatts> We're definitely going to follow that up.

Poivre> http://ifcsun1.ifisiol.unam.mx/Brain/index

DrWatts> Thanks a lot Hercule!

Poivre> Welcome

DrWatts> Now please excuse us

DrWatts> we're going there asap!

Poivre> G'luck

Marbles> Bye Watts and Herlock!

"So let's meet… the brain!" Dr. Watts said as he pasted the link into the browser.

During the next three hours, Herlock Sholmes and his assistant went through the pages of the site, reading and printing them out, slowly understanding their way through the complex circonvolutions of the mind.

"What did we want to find again?" Dr. Watts, wiping his brow, asked after they had gone through the Membrane Potential page for the third time.

"Maybe we should rest a little and sum things up," proposed Herlock.

"Agreed," said Dr. Watts. "But please - you do the summing up!"

They both moved away from the computer desk and let themselves down on the Victorian leather sofas.

"I think we are looking for two different things here," started Herlock. "First we want to find out what action is the unit of consciousness - its 'pixel', so-to-say . Then we want to find out what the whole screen is - how all the pixels are coordinated or coordinating to form the whole of our consciousness."

"I suggest we try to zoom on the pixel first - you try to zoom on it, that is," proposed a still confused Dr. Watts.

"The pixel… Right. Provided what we read is accurate, my guess is that the pixel of consciousness is what happens in the neuron between the receiving of a signal, that is the input, and the emitting of another signal, which would be the output. Between the input and the output, that's where consciousness must be taking place."

"I don't think I really got what happens there, though," admitted Dr. Watts.

Herlock went through the papers again. "What happens there must be closely linked to the signals, since the neuron cell has to somehow translate them. Let's see… It seems that those signals can be either chemical or electrical. They're chemical between neurons, and electrical within a neuron."

"I guess we'd rather be interested by those within a neuron, then," deduced Dr. Watts.

"As the chemical signals induce the electrical ones, yes, these are the ones we should be interested in. However…" Herlock frowned.

"There's always a however," Dr. Watts sighed.

"They're still only signals. I think that what we should be looking for is a process that is able to change something in the brain physically for a longer period of time. After all, something of our strongest experiences always remains in our consciousness, so there must be a long-term physical modification somewhere! And that, that exactly is what we're looking for: the process that, as a result of these signals, modifies something in the long term!"

"…Because when we get an idea, we don't forget it immediately. Herlock, you're a genius!" exclaimed Dr. Watts. "Now, is there any mention of such a process in these papers?" he asked.

They went through the papers once again. "I think I got something," Herlock said after a while. "It is entitled Second Messengers."

"We went through it already, didn't we?" asked Dr. Watts. "Aren't those carrying and amplifying the signals received from outside through the inside of the neuron cell?"

"That's what they do, and that's why they were called second messengers. But then something else seems to have been discovered… Here! Here is what we are looking for!" Herlock exclaimed, pointing at a line in the document.

Dr. Watts bent over to read.

"The keyword is altering gene expression," said Herlock as his assistant was reading. "That is the long-term modification we were looking for: genetic change! Because genes are what we are, a genetic change, even if it happens in just a few cells in the brain, will change who we are! That is how experience, how consciousness, changes us! This action, the altering of gene expression, is the pixel, the unit of consciousness!"

"Herlock, you're a genius - as usual! Congratulations!" exclaimed Dr. Watts.

"And consciousness as a whole would be the sum of these alterations, the continuous change of genes in the neurons' cores," added Herlock. "To sum it up, we could say that consciousness is a continuous biochemical reaction. Which actually makes me wonder…"

"Yes?" asked Dr. Watts as Herlock remained sunk into reflective silence.

"Genetic change… Isn't that the key component in the long-term change of consciousness, too?" reflected Herlock.

"You mean evolution?" Dr. Watts' eyes grew big.

"Yes. The similitude between short-term consciousness change and long-term consciousness change is probably not fortuitous," suggested Herlock. "Now I know it's a long shot from the brain to the reproductory system, but if somehow any genetic changes in the neurons found their way to the sperm or the ovula, evolution would turn out to be be a lot less random than we thought it was… Instead of being the result of random mutations, we'd much more have evolved through experience - through facts!"

"That's a mind-boggling thought," admitted Dr. Watts.

"But somehow it sounds logical - more so than the randomness scientists have been throwing at us for the last century, at least," estimated Herlock.

"Maybe we should try to contact Professor Tryphon Tourneciel, the eminent scientist, for his take on the question," proposed Dr. Watts.

"Maybe we'll do that tomorrow. Anyway - that's quite another matter. The case Einich burdened us with is closed, and we sure deserve our rest for today," finished Herlock.

"You're right as usual, Herlock," agreed Dr. Watts. "Still… I can't wait for tomorrow!"

(To be continued…)