As I indicated in the Chalmers post last week, phenomenal consciousness has been on my mind lately. In the last few days, a couple of my fellow bloggers, Wyrd Smythe and James Cross, have joined in with their own posts. We've had a lot of interesting discussions. But it always comes back to the core … Continue reading The difficulty of subjective experience
Tag: Brain
Consciousness science undetermined
An interesting paper by Matthias Michel on the underdetermined nature of theories of consciousness. Consciousness scientists have not reached consensus on two of the most central questions in their field: first, on whether consciousness overflows reportability; second, on the physical basis of consciousness. I review the scientific literature of the 19th century to provide evidence … Continue reading Consciousness science undetermined
The ASSC 23 debate on whether artificial intelligence can be conscious
The ASSC (Association of Scientific Study of Consciousness) had its annual conference on consciousness this week, which culminated in a debate on whether AI can be conscious. Note: the event doesn't actually start until the 28:30 minute mark. The remaining part is about 99 minutes long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97z0OmpTs-Q I was delighted to see the discussion immediately … Continue reading The ASSC 23 debate on whether artificial intelligence can be conscious
Dehaene’s global neuronal workspace theory
I just finished reading Stanislas Dehaene's Consciousness and the Brain. Dehaene is a French psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist who is bullish on the idea of consciousness being something that can be scientifically investigated. It's an interesting book, one that I recommend for anyone interested in the science of consciousness. Dehaene accomplishes his scientific investigation by … Continue reading Dehaene’s global neuronal workspace theory
The unfolding argument: why Integrated Information Theory is not scientific
There's an interesting new paper in Consciousness and Cognition on why causal theories such as IIT (integrated information theory) or RPT (recurrent processing theory) aren't scientific: How can we explain consciousness? This question has become a vibrant topic of neuroscience research in recent decades. A large body of empirical results has been accumulated, and many … Continue reading The unfolding argument: why Integrated Information Theory is not scientific
Michael Graziano’s attention schema theory
It's been a while since I've had a chance to highlight Graziano's attention schema theory. This brief video is the very barest of sketches, but I think it gets the main idea across. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MASBIB7zPo4 Those of you who've known me for a while might remember that I was once quite taken with this theory of … Continue reading Michael Graziano’s attention schema theory
Brain inspired hardware
The Scientist has an interesting article up reporting on the progress that's being made in neuromorphic hardware. But the fact that computers “think” very differently than our brains do actually gives them an advantage when it comes to tasks like number crunching, while making them decidedly primitive in other areas, such as understanding human speech … Continue reading Brain inspired hardware
Emotions, feelings, and action programs
Sean Carroll's latest Mindscape podcast features an interview with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: When we talk about the mind, we are constantly talking about consciousness and cognition. Antonio Damasio wants us to talk about our feelings. But it’s not in an effort to be more touchy-feely; Damasio, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, believes that feelings … Continue reading Emotions, feelings, and action programs
Frans de Waal on animal consciousness
Frans de Waal is a well known proponent of animals being much more like us than many people are comfortable admitting. In this short two minute video, he gives his reason for concluding that at least some non-human animals are conscious. (Note: there's also a transcript.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvehvv9ZOdQ de Waal is largely equating imagination and planning … Continue reading Frans de Waal on animal consciousness
The brain is a computer, but what is a computer?
Kevin Lande has an article up at Aeon which is one of the best discussions of the brain as a computational system that I've seen in a while. For an idea of the spirit of the piece: The claim that the brain is a computer is not merely a metaphor – but it is not … Continue reading The brain is a computer, but what is a computer?
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