4 ms·
Good article on Cris / Koch's perspective on this. A follow up to this article could talk about the views of Mark Solms, Joscha Bach. Both of which would includ
by proc0 3y ago
Good article on Cris / Koch's perspective on this. A follow up to this article could talk about the views of Mark Solms, Joscha Bach. Both of which would include most animals as conscious, but in different ways. Mark Solms talks about how affect (i.e. feelings) is where consciousness arises from. Living organisms developed homeostatic mechanisms (i.e. maintaining oxygen levels, finding energy, etc), and this mechanism becomes more and more abstract in such a way that they become the "feelings" of the organism. From this perspective, any sufficiently complex nervous system that is maintaining homeostasis probably has feelings and with enough complexity will have some level of consciousness.
Personally, I agree with Joscha Bach who says consciousness is part of the simulation that the brain needs to do in order to model the world and the needs of the body. So any organism that has a simulation of the external world is probably conscious. Crabs would certainly have one, even if it's a very simple model. They probably also have a self-model, but no self-consciousness of that model like in mammals.
My guess is that although we don't know what it's like to be a crab, we might have an idea of what it's like to be a non-human mammal, even a bat. I think when we are infants (1-3 yrs old?) we have this kind of limited consciousness, which lacks self-awareness but we still have experience and emotions. From the computationalist perspective (i.e. Joscha Bach), this makes sense because our world simulation is still being "built", and for non-human mammals like chimps, this could be their computational limit.
- felipereigosa 3y agoI agree with you exactly about the simulation idea of consciousness and the difference between conciousness and self awareness. Here's an interesting question, do you actually remember when you were about 1 year old? Apparently most people don't but I do very clearly. I read something recently that autism is correlated with the ability and I always thought I had a bit of it (like a lot of people that is into computers). For people that don't remember and don't know what he's talking about, being conscious without language (so probably what is like to be a dog) is a world of now, there's no past, or future, no planning, no if this then that, just what you can see and hear and feel at that moment. Emotions come and go like clouds for no reason, you don't have the capacity of wondering about reasons and they are very strong, you don't have the ability to regulate them or to compare them with anything else for perspective.
- closewith 3y agoGiven the memory thresholds of the rare few with hyperthymesia, it seems more likely that you hold false memories than that you remember clearly being one year old. Certainly you would be the first person known to have such memories if confirmed.
- felipereigosa 3y agoI've considered that, I'm well aware of how easy is to fabricate memories and think they are real, but I've checked with my parents (without giving them the information, just asking questions), the memories are real. To clarify, I'm not claiming to remember everything about being one year old, just to have a few very clear memories that match with what my parents know happened, the layout of the house etc.