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When people say we’re nothing but computers, neurons firing, chemical reactions, etc they think they’re saying that humans aren’t special. But I take it to mea
by kouru225 3y ago
When people say we’re nothing but computers, neurons firing, chemical reactions, etc they think they’re saying that humans aren’t special.
But I take it to mean that the rest of the world is way more special than we’ve been giving it credit for.
- operatingthetan 3y agoSometimes I entertain the idea that inanimate objects have consciousness too and it's pretty disturbing because it would mean we are doing pretty much everything wrong.
- kouru225 3y agoYou mean we’re killing things?
- operatingthetan 3y agoNot sure about killing, but maybe harming.
- kouru225 3y agoI feel like it would mean we’re doing less damage than before: if everything is conscious then death isn’t what we think it is. Decomposing suddenly means something completely different.
- mgaunard 3y agoDo we even have consciousness or merely the illusion of it?
- operatingthetan 3y agoI'm not sure what the illusion of it would even mean. A known true statement for me would be "I appear to be experiencing something."
- kouru225 3y agoI don’t think it makes sense to ask this question without rigorously defining what we mean when we say “consciousness.”
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- anon84873628 3y agoCall it qualia, or "having experience", or "what our mind does" -- that is subjectively real. Perhaps especially so because of our ability to notice and reflect on the fact. But that doesn't mean we actually have free will, or aren't automata. Most of the time we are lulled into the "illusion" that we do, to some extent.
- anon84873628 3y agoWell I wouldn't worry much about inanimate objects (especially looking at how we treat animals already). But then consider higher order systems like a forest or human society itself. Can those have consciousness or at least some sense of experience?
- r721 3y agoThe keyword to look up is "panpsychism" - it was discussed a few times in the past year: >Is Consciousness Part of the Fabric of the Universe? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-consciousness-part-of-the-fabric-of-the-universe1/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-consciousness-... >Scientific American on a philosophical grift: panpsychism https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2023/10/01/scientific-american-on-panpsychism/ https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2023/10/01/scientific-america... >Is the Universe conscious? A panpsychism Q&A with philosopher Philip Goff https://bigthink.com/13-8/panpsychism-universe-purpose-philosopher-philip-goff/ https://bigthink.com/13-8/panpsychism-universe-purpose-philo...
- Kim_Bruning 3y agoBy this point I think the "nothing but" part is the bit that's actually wrong. It's about putting yourself up on a pedestal while downplaying others. Of course, at some point those "others" (be it peoples, genders, creatures, or machines) turn out to be as good or better at certain things than you are. And what do you do then? You won't have anywhere to go psychologically without devaluing yourself. So then you end up shutting down avenues of thought that might otherwise have been productive.
- kouru225 3y agoYes exactly. It’s hierarchical thinking from an anthropocentric pov. IMO the longer I live and the more I learn, the more I see hierarchical thinking as the biggest obstacle towards learning and understanding.
- Waterluvian 3y agoAt that point it’s just semantics and relative comparison, I think.