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"The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task, it has a

"The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task, it has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain anymore, so it eats it! (It's rather like getting tenure.)" [0] [0] Consciousness Explained, Daniel Dennett. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Consciousness_Explained/ZG0SDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=The%20juvenile%20sea%20squirt https://www.google.com/books/edition/Consciousness_Explained...

mdonahoe 6y ago
Do you recommend that book?
- squibbles 6y ago
  If you are interested in consciousness, then yes, Consciousness Explained is a worthwhile read. If your interest lies with sea squirts, then not so much. While I do not necessarily agree with Dennett's position in whole, I believe his arguments make a valuable contribution to the subject of consciousness -- even moreso in the context of Wigner's thought experiment and the recent empirical results.
  - DanielleMolloy 6y ago
    Would you mind sharing a pointer to the recent empirical results?
    - squibbles 6y ago
      Science magazine [0] and Ars Technica [1] published readable overviews. The paper on the experiment regarding Wigner's friend paradox ("A strong no-go theorem on the Wigner’s friend paradox") was published in Nature Physics. [2] [3] [0] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/quantum-paradox-points-shaky-foundations-reality https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/quantum-paradox-poin... [1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/quantum-reality-is-either-weirdly-different-or-it-collapses/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/quantum-reality-is-e... [2] https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0990-x https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0990-x [3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0990-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0990-x

mdonahoe 6y ago

Do you recommend that book?

squibbles 6y ago
If you are interested in consciousness, then yes, Consciousness Explained is a worthwhile read. If your interest lies with sea squirts, then not so much. While I do not necessarily agree with Dennett's position in whole, I believe his arguments make a valuable contribution to the subject of consciousness -- even moreso in the context of Wigner's thought experiment and the recent empirical results.
- DanielleMolloy 6y ago
  Would you mind sharing a pointer to the recent empirical results?
  - squibbles 6y ago
    Science magazine [0] and Ars Technica [1] published readable overviews. The paper on the experiment regarding Wigner's friend paradox ("A strong no-go theorem on the Wigner’s friend paradox") was published in Nature Physics. [2] [3] [0] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/quantum-paradox-points-shaky-foundations-reality https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/quantum-paradox-poin... [1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/quantum-reality-is-either-weirdly-different-or-it-collapses/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/quantum-reality-is-e... [2] https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0990-x https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0990-x [3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0990-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0990-x