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But why does that feel like anything? I could write a program that concurrently processes its visual input and its internal model. I don't think it would be con

But why does that feel like anything? I could write a program that concurrently processes its visual input and its internal model. I don't think it would be conscious, unless everything in the universe is conscious (a possibility I can't, admittedly, discount).

delichon 1y ago
> But why does that feel like anything? Consciousness is an attention mechanism. That inward regard, evaluating how the self reacts to the world, is attention being payed to the body's feelings. The outward regard then maps those feelings on to local space. Consciousness is watching your feelings as a kind of HUD on the world. It correlates feels to things.
- EMIRELADERO 1y ago
  Sure, but that still leaves the mystery of how qualia is generated in a mechanistic manner.
  - lanfeust6 1y ago
    Yes. Still perplexing to be thrown into the world. How is it that my individual experience is in this body but not another one? Etc
  - savoyard 1y ago
    Just wait till you hear Geoffrey Hinton’s “little pink elephants” routine; it will all make sense then (it won’t). The mystery is almost rivaled by that other mystery of why some of us fail to be mystified.
Traubenfuchs 1y ago
> But why does that feel like anything? Orchestrated objective reduction or just an emerging proeprty of: Our 86 billion neurons, every single one deafeningly complex molecular machine with hundred million of hundreds of different receptor types, monoaminoxidae, (reuptake)transporters, connections to other neurons.
- akomtu 1y ago
  Appeal to complexity? I see this common pattern when science-minded people need to explain something that's beyond their reach.
  - Traubenfuchs 1y ago
    [dead]
exolymph 1y ago
> But why does that feel like anything? Anthropic principle: because it does. If it didn't feel like anything, it wouldn't. But it does, so it does. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle
- amelius 1y ago
  > But it does, so it does. Explain the first part of this sentence.
  - sigmarule 1y ago
    I have a feeling the response would be “read the latter”
  - pixl97 1y ago
    More of "because you are a continuous chemical reaction that started 4 billion years ago". A bunch of legacy crap gets left around from the time before higher order thought when the brain - muscle interactivity was just based on feelings. If we had all those animals, especially those around the time of the cambrian explosion to experiment on as they developed it would probably make more sense in the 'but it does' department. This is also why your math teacher wants you to show your work.
deleted 1y ago
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delichon 1y ago

> But why does that feel like anything? Consciousness is an attention mechanism. That inward regard, evaluating how the self reacts to the world, is attention being payed to the body's feelings. The outward regard then maps those feelings on to local space. Consciousness is watching your feelings as a kind of HUD on the world. It correlates feels to things.

EMIRELADERO 1y ago
Sure, but that still leaves the mystery of how qualia is generated in a mechanistic manner.
- lanfeust6 1y ago
  Yes. Still perplexing to be thrown into the world. How is it that my individual experience is in this body but not another one? Etc
- savoyard 1y ago
  Just wait till you hear Geoffrey Hinton’s “little pink elephants” routine; it will all make sense then (it won’t). The mystery is almost rivaled by that other mystery of why some of us fail to be mystified.

Traubenfuchs 1y ago

> But why does that feel like anything? Orchestrated objective reduction or just an emerging proeprty of: Our 86 billion neurons, every single one deafeningly complex molecular machine with hundred million of hundreds of different receptor types, monoaminoxidae, (reuptake)transporters, connections to other neurons.

akomtu 1y ago
Appeal to complexity? I see this common pattern when science-minded people need to explain something that's beyond their reach.
- Traubenfuchs 1y ago
  [dead]

exolymph 1y ago

> But why does that feel like anything? Anthropic principle: because it does. If it didn't feel like anything, it wouldn't. But it does, so it does. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle

amelius 1y ago
> But it does, so it does. Explain the first part of this sentence.
- sigmarule 1y ago
  I have a feeling the response would be “read the latter”
- pixl97 1y ago
  More of "because you are a continuous chemical reaction that started 4 billion years ago". A bunch of legacy crap gets left around from the time before higher order thought when the brain - muscle interactivity was just based on feelings. If we had all those animals, especially those around the time of the cambrian explosion to experiment on as they developed it would probably make more sense in the 'but it does' department. This is also why your math teacher wants you to show your work.

deleted 1y ago

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