Tag: Consciousness

Consciousness is composed of non-consciousness

The components of a thing are not individually the thing. For example, the components of the chair I type most of my blog posts from are not the chair itself, but the wood of the frame, the springs for the back and bottom, some metal parts for the reclining mechanism, the fabric coverings, cushions, etc. … Continue reading Consciousness is composed of non-consciousness →

Panpsychism and definitions of “consciousness”

Disagreeable Me asked me to look at this interesting TED talk by Professor Mark Bishop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUNHyPFvUWc The entire talk is well worth the time (20 minutes) for anyone interested in consciousness and the computational theory of mind, but here's my very quick summation: The human mind, and hence consciousness, is a computational system. Since animal … Continue reading Panpsychism and definitions of “consciousness” →

Why I think we will eventually have a scientific understanding of consciousness

It's a common sentiment, even among many staunch materialists, that we will never understand consciousness.  It's one I held to some degree until a few years ago.  But the more I've read about neuroscience, the more convinced I've become that we will eventually understand it, at least at an objective level. That's actually an important distinction to make … Continue reading Why I think we will eventually have a scientific understanding of consciousness →

How An Epilepsy Treatment Shaped Our Understanding of Consciousness

I've written before about split brain patients, and what they mean for consciousness. Emily Esfahani Smith has a pretty good write up on the experiments and what they showed: How An Epilepsy Treatment Shaped Our Understanding of Consciousness - The Atlantic. The patients were there because they all struggled with violent and uncontrollable seizures. The procedure … Continue reading How An Epilepsy Treatment Shaped Our Understanding of Consciousness →

Michael Graziano on building a brain

I've written a few times on the Attention Theory schema of consciousness.  It's a theory I like because it's scientific, eschewing any mystical steps, such as assuming that consciousness just magically arises at a certain level of complexity.  It's almost certainly not perfect, but I think it's a major step in the right direction. Michael Graziano, … Continue reading Michael Graziano on building a brain →

Emotional versus intellectual attributions of consciousness

Click through for full sized version and the red button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. This SMBC reminds me of a concept that I've been debating on ways to express, but a brief comment here seems like the opportunity to do so.  We've had a lot of discussions about exactly when we might start to … Continue reading Emotional versus intellectual attributions of consciousness →

When should we consider an AI a fellow being?

Fears of AI (artificial intelligence) are still showing up the media, most recently with another quote from Stephen Hawking warning that it might be the end of us, with Elon Musk, due to his own anxious statements, now being referenced whenever the subject comes up.  I've written many times before why I think these fears … Continue reading When should we consider an AI a fellow being? →