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Even knowing the chemical makeup of a stone as being a simple lattice of inert unchanging material? I don't think it's anyone's position that something could be

by rictic 12y ago

Even knowing the chemical makeup of a stone as being a simple lattice of inert unchanging material? I don't think it's anyone's position that something could be mute and immotile yet conscious, but we know a lot more about rocks than that. As far as applications, one of the early uses of a practical theory of consciousness may be to determine the effectiveness of anesthesia on a moment by moment basis.

NoMoreNicksLeft 12y ago
> I don't think it's anyone's position that something could be mute and immotile yet conscious, Until someone tells me what consciousness is, that's impossible to say one way or the other. Do you know what it is? I can make some vague descriptions myself that I think are supportable (it's related to intelligence), but past that I'm willing to admit we don't even have a starting point to work with. It seems to me to be the modern not-quite-atheist-hipster soul. The term is used most often when someone wants to prove to me that it's a sin to eat meat (that chicken was a conscious being!). I see quite a few headlines that are mangled, claiming that a neurologist has proven the honeybee or an orca to be conscious, but when I read the articles themselves it always turns out that the MRI machine has similar readings to those of a human. None of this is meaningful. > As far as applications, one of the early uses of a practical theory of consciousness may be to determine the effectiveness of anesthesia on a moment by moment basis. If we're daydreaming, sure. But that's one of dozens. We're probably looking at the basis for AI too, if we get one. Whether or not that can be accomplished in software. Education will benefit... you'll be able to determine whether a student is learning, or how best to accomplish that. Intelligence testing, personality tests (don't elect him, he only scored an 8 on the non-sociopath test!), lie detection, etc. But I've yet to see a theory of consciousness (debunked or not) that could lead to any of this. Even if the author is wrong, and that theory is correct... even if it is only preliminary and needs to be polished, where will it give us any of this? It doesn't even point us in the direction of a more complete theory, and none of them do.
- rictic 12y ago
  Wow what a typo on my part, sorry I meant to say "I don't think it's anyone's position that something couldn't be mute and immotile yet conscious."

by rictic 12y ago

NoMoreNicksLeft 12y ago

> I don't think it's anyone's position that something could be mute and immotile yet conscious, Until someone tells me what consciousness is, that's impossible to say one way or the other. Do you know what it is? I can make some vague descriptions myself that I think are supportable (it's related to intelligence), but past that I'm willing to admit we don't even have a starting point to work with. It seems to me to be the modern not-quite-atheist-hipster soul. The term is used most often when someone wants to prove to me that it's a sin to eat meat (that chicken was a conscious being!). I see quite a few headlines that are mangled, claiming that a neurologist has proven the honeybee or an orca to be conscious, but when I read the articles themselves it always turns out that the MRI machine has similar readings to those of a human. None of this is meaningful. > As far as applications, one of the early uses of a practical theory of consciousness may be to determine the effectiveness of anesthesia on a moment by moment basis. If we're daydreaming, sure. But that's one of dozens. We're probably looking at the basis for AI too, if we get one. Whether or not that can be accomplished in software. Education will benefit... you'll be able to determine whether a student is learning, or how best to accomplish that. Intelligence testing, personality tests (don't elect him, he only scored an 8 on the non-sociopath test!), lie detection, etc. But I've yet to see a theory of consciousness (debunked or not) that could lead to any of this. Even if the author is wrong, and that theory is correct... even if it is only preliminary and needs to be polished, where will it give us any of this? It doesn't even point us in the direction of a more complete theory, and none of them do.

rictic 12y ago
Wow what a typo on my part, sorry I meant to say "I don't think it's anyone's position that something couldn't be mute and immotile yet conscious."