Peter Kassan has an article at Skeptic Magazine which sets out to disprove the simulation hypothesis, the idea that we're all living in a computer simulation. I personally find arguing about the simulation hypothesis unproductive. Short of the simulation owner deciding to jump in and contact us, we can't prove the hypothesis. Even if the … Continue reading Does information require conscious interpretation to be information?
Layers of self awareness and animal cognition
In the last consciousness post, which discussed issues with panpsychism and simple definitions of consciousness, I laid out five functional layers of cognition which I find helpful when trying to think about systems that are more or less conscious. Just to recap, those layers are: Reflexes, primal reactions to stimuli. Perception, sensory models of the … Continue reading Layers of self awareness and animal cognition
Recommendation: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
One of the things that many space enthusiasts find frustrating about the space age is how slow it's moving, at least relative to its early years. Humans made it to the moon almost 50 years ago, but since then seem to have retreated to low Earth orbit, working in space stations just above the atmosphere. … Continue reading Recommendation: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
Panpsychism and layers of consciousness
I've written before about panpyschism, the outlook that everything is conscious and that consciousness permeates the universe. However, that previous post was within the context of replying to a TEDx talk, and I'm not entirely satisfied with the remarks I made back then, so this is a revisit of that topic. I've noted many times … Continue reading Panpsychism and layers of consciousness
Recommendation: The Roboteer Trilogy
I'm sure anyone who's paid attention to my science fiction novel recommendations has noticed that I love space opera. But as much as I love the genre, I'm often aware of an issue many of its stories have. In order to have the characters be in jeopardy, they often ignore the implications of artificial intelligence. … Continue reading Recommendation: The Roboteer Trilogy
Having productive internet conversations
Anyone who's frequented this blog knows I love having discussions, and can pontificate all day on subjects I'm interested in. I've actually been participating in online discussions, on and off, for decades. My earliest conversations were on dial up bulletin boards. Those were usually tightly focused discussions about technology and gaming. With the rise of … Continue reading Having productive internet conversations
The system components of pain
Peter Hankins at Conscious Entities has a post looking at the morality of consciousness, which is a commentary on piece at Nautilus by Jim Davies on the same topic. I recommend reading both posts in their entirety, but the overall gist is that which animals or systems are conscious has moral implications, since only conscious … Continue reading The system components of pain
Predicting far future technologies
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Niels Bohr If you're a science fiction writer, one of the things you do is try to predict what future technologies will come along. If you're not writing hard science fiction, this is relatively easy. You just come up with a cool capability and throw in some … Continue reading Predicting far future technologies
Why embodiment does not make mind copying impossible
A while back, I highlighted a TEDX talk by Anil Seth where he discussed that cognition is largely a prediction machine. Apparently Seth more recently gave another talk at the full TED conference, which is receiving rave reviews. Unfortunately, that talk doesn't appear to be online yet. But one article reviewing the talk focuses on something … Continue reading Why embodiment does not make mind copying impossible
Recommendation: Dark Intelligence
I've been meaning to check out Neal Asher's books for some time. They keep coming up as recommendations on Amazon, Goodreads, and in various other venues, and they sound enticing, like the kind of fiction I'd enjoy. Last week, I finally read the first book of his most recent trilogy, 'Dark Intelligence'. The universe described … Continue reading Recommendation: Dark Intelligence
SelfAwarePatterns 