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The JPEG can be thought of as an informational abstraction. However, it is always instantiated on some physical medium and it can't exist independent of some so
by glenstein 9y ago
The JPEG can be thought of as an informational abstraction. However, it is always instantiated on some physical medium and it can't exist independent of some sort of instantiation.
As for consciousness, it may not depend on brains, but it may turn out to always depend on some physical medium and physical process, and that would be enough to show that it's a physical phenomena.
- cgio 9y agoThis assumes not only materialisation but also objectification of consciousness. It could be that it is a process that mediates physical phenomena without itself being physical. A hole is not physical but it's realised in the midst of physicality.
- glenstein 9y agoThe JPEG-as-analogy-for-consciousness assumes materialization of consciousness. Insofar as we're using JPEGs as a metaphor for consciousness, the fact that JPEGs can be regarded as an informational abstraction translated across different physical mediums is perfectly compatible with a physicalist story of how consciousness occurs, which was the point of this whole sub-thread. >A hole is not physical but it's realized in the midst of physicality. Yet no one seems to think this poses some metaphysical problem requiring us to go "beyond" physics to explain holes.