The Hard Problem of Consciousness
Why do physical processes give rise to conscious experience? Especially since quite a lot of human activity can be accomplished unconsciously (perception, memory,learning).
ohhh ooohhh ooohhh! uh... it's necessary for freewill?
(You know; so God doesn't have boring "automatons" praying to him!)
(You know; so God doesn't have boring "automatons" praying to him!)
over 2 years ago
No, he just wants coereced ones.
Two separate questions: "How?" and "Why?"
I think the "Why?" question will be answered when we can show how the appearance of consciousness was survival-enhancing for our evolutionary ancestors.
The current "hard problem" is "How?" How do electro-chemical processes in the brain give rise to (generate) subjectivity, the "experience of what it is like"?
Two separate questions: "How?" and "Why?"
I think the "Why?" question will be answered when we can show how the appearance of consciousness was survival-enhancing for our evolutionary ancestors.
The current "hard problem" is "How?" How do electro-chemical processes in the brain give rise to (generate) subjectivity, the "experience of what it is like"?
over 2 years ago
I've been coerced to share this awesome link (in robot voice)...
view link
This is about a team that is developing a supercomputer model of the brain (mind) which is designed to test the idea that we generate our own reality. I'm gonna post this in DeepT too.
view link
This is about a team that is developing a supercomputer model of the brain (mind) which is designed to test the idea that we generate our own reality. I'm gonna post this in DeepT too.
over 2 years ago
ooo ooo, MisterS. You didn't answer the question. You did an end run, and avoided it altogether.
over 2 years ago
Marti,
How would Lyotard answer this?
How would Lyotard answer this?
over 2 years ago
Actually, Richard, I think Lyotard would view all this as an attempt to replace one "meta-narrative" with another.
over 2 years ago
I don't agree with you, Search, that the hard question is How. It's a matter of wiring and will be eventually figured out.
But the why ... why do these physical processes create a consciousness? And why do we need consciousness for survival? Buttercups do quite well without it.
Do you think cockroaches have consciousness?
But the why ... why do these physical processes create a consciousness? And why do we need consciousness for survival? Buttercups do quite well without it.
Do you think cockroaches have consciousness?
over 2 years ago
Cockroaches obviously have an "input/output" circuit--information from the environment "goes in", gets processed, and modifies behavior (output). So, it depends on what is meant by "conscious" and how one distinguishes conciousness from self-consciousness. In one sense, we could say that a cockroach is "aware" of its environment. But, I think, that could simply be a behavioristist conception of consciousness.
over 2 years ago
Like a lot of highfalutin philosophic questions, this "smells like" a loaded question or circular reasoning or whatever. First of all we can't be sure that anyone else is conscious. The Behaviorist would say this is irrelevant. Which is probably true. Consciousness or self-consciousness may be nothing more than a program watching (perceiving) another program, or the same program. This is all occurring in the "Meat-Computer" we discussed earlier in this group.
I have noticed that over the years I have come to realize that many things that don't feel true are true nevertheless.
I have noticed that over the years I have come to realize that many things that don't feel true are true nevertheless.
over 2 years ago
So, Richard, you doubt that your friends and family are conscious beings? (Note I didn't say "intelligent beings")
over 2 years ago
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