3 ms·

This sounds like the bottom up approach, i.e. that "consciousness" is more like a medium that's everywhere, even an atom has a bit of this consciousness, and wh

This sounds like the bottom up approach, i.e. that "consciousness" is more like a medium that's everywhere, even an atom has a bit of this consciousness, and when such small bits assemble together, a bigger consciousness emerges. In this approach, I'm tempted to equate consciousness with the electromagnetic field - it's this field that allows us to experience the world. However human mind is something entirely different: it's a self-conscious something built on top of "raw consciousness".

visarga 6y ago
> I'm tempted to equate consciousness with the electromagnetic field There would be no point. Consciousness has a purpose related to replication, it's not just a background field.
ryandvm 6y ago
I find the "individual atoms are conscious" to be kind of dopey, but I do like the idea that consciousness is a sort of gradient. I would describe consciousness as the ability for an information processing system to model the world around it, and importantly, said information processing system's place in it. As I sit here, my model of the world around me is humming along nicely. I believe I am quite conscious. My dog is sitting here beside me (awake) seems to be experiencing consciousness. My other sleeping dog is not conscious - perhaps it is dreaming, but that's not really modelling the world around it. And as we move down the scale, I become less and less convinced that various creatures are conscious. Birds? Sure. Fish? Maybe. Ants? Hmm. Bacteria? No. At the lowest level, creatures that simply respond to stimuli are not conscious. But there's a lot of wiggle room between a bacterium and me. Right before I wake up in the morning, my model isn't really working. I would say at that point I'm not conscious. But within a few seconds, the model is running and I understand my place in it. That isn't an on/off situation. It's a gradient that I quickly pass through; becoming ever more conscious along the way. And every night (or if I get a deteriorating neuronal disease and my neurons start to die off), the whole thing plays in reverse. My consciousness dwindles down to nothingness.

visarga 6y ago

> I'm tempted to equate consciousness with the electromagnetic field There would be no point. Consciousness has a purpose related to replication, it's not just a background field.

ryandvm 6y ago

I find the "individual atoms are conscious" to be kind of dopey, but I do like the idea that consciousness is a sort of gradient. I would describe consciousness as the ability for an information processing system to model the world around it, and importantly, said information processing system's place in it. As I sit here, my model of the world around me is humming along nicely. I believe I am quite conscious. My dog is sitting here beside me (awake) seems to be experiencing consciousness. My other sleeping dog is not conscious - perhaps it is dreaming, but that's not really modelling the world around it. And as we move down the scale, I become less and less convinced that various creatures are conscious. Birds? Sure. Fish? Maybe. Ants? Hmm. Bacteria? No. At the lowest level, creatures that simply respond to stimuli are not conscious. But there's a lot of wiggle room between a bacterium and me. Right before I wake up in the morning, my model isn't really working. I would say at that point I'm not conscious. But within a few seconds, the model is running and I understand my place in it. That isn't an on/off situation. It's a gradient that I quickly pass through; becoming ever more conscious along the way. And every night (or if I get a deteriorating neuronal disease and my neurons start to die off), the whole thing plays in reverse. My consciousness dwindles down to nothingness.