8 ms·
This fails the brain-in-vat test. Put mine in one, give it the exact same signals, and I’m still sentient and will experience hunger even without a stomach. Or
by raldi 2y ago
This fails the brain-in-vat test. Put mine in one, give it the exact same signals, and I’m still sentient and will experience hunger even without a stomach.
Or even without the science fiction: people with amputated limbs frequently report phantom itches on them.
- pavlov 2y agoHow can you possibly know this? Has your brain been in a vat?
- raldi 2y agoIf my brain were receiving exactly the same signals, why would my experience feel any different?
- poszlem 2y agoWe don't know, maybe it has.
- altruios 2y agoWith reasoning, and logic. Phantom limb syndrome is a real thing. Extending that to a 'phantom stomach' that always reports that it is empty (missing) is not far fetched... So 'know': no, no one knows what it's actually like to be a brain in the vat... but it's a reasonably good guess that you might experience something like this.
- Nasrudith 2y agoI would disagree with the experience hunger without a stomach part, based on my empirical experiences with remembering being under general anesthesia. I didn't even feel my heartbeat and calmly wondered if I was dead until I came to. Phantom limbs are a thing certainly, but there seems to be a certain amount of dependence upon bodily inputs.
- raldi 2y agoIn the scenario I'm describing, the brain inputs would remain the same.
- 0xfeba 2y agoI don't think you can generalize it like that. Hunger comes from signals originating in your stomach. Without a stomach, you're brain would lose energy -- and I'd wager the symptoms would be more like oxygen deprivation than "hunger".
- raldi 2y agoWhy would the symptoms feel any different if my brain were receiving the exact same signals?