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What's a real, possible alternative? If consciousness is not something that arises out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions, then is the alterna
by pohl 13y ago
What's a real, possible alternative? If consciousness is not something that arises out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions, then is the alternative that consciousness is unrelated to the multiplicity of relatively simple interactions but by sheer coincidence vanishes when those interactions are disrupted?
- mgkimsal 13y agomaybe just the ability for the consciousness to express itself in a way humans can understand vanishes. ??
- pohl 13y agoI kind of like that idea. Sort of like how Tomb Raider's ability to express itself vanishes when you turn off the Playstation. Laura continues to proceed through the dungeon, but we just can't see her.
- cristianpascu 13y agoFirst, I don't know which is the difference/connection between real and possible alternatives. By real you mean plausible? Secondly, consciousness goes away even though those many _relatively simple_ interactions are still there. So, I'd say, that we don't really know for sure that consciousness is not there when worms are eating our brains. Consciousness is a subjective phenomenon. That's what makes it impossible to study directly, without relying on reports. And that's what separates it from those _relatively simple_ interactions which we can model and study experimentally.