RE: Your lack of imagination is your defeat
July 19, 2016 at 5:21 pm
(This post was last modified: July 19, 2016 at 5:34 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
-as an example of the above.
I don't think that consciousness persists after the dissolution of the brain or in absence of the body any more than I think digital computation is possible in the absence of a digital machine, regardless of of whether or not energy - which also forms the motus of digital computation- can be destroyed.
Is consciousness energy...trivially, yes. But that's not a complete or adequate description of consciousness from my perspective any more than "energy" is a complete description of computation. More like, "energy flowing through a particular substrate of specific architecture". Take away the substrate, you don't have consciousness. Take away the architecture, you don;t have consciousness. Take away the energy, you don't have consciousness. If you leave just that last one, however, without the others...you -still- don't have consciousness. It's not -just- energy floating around without structure or substrate..if it were, it's not inconceivable that a power line...... or just the static in the air.... would suddenly begin to quote shakespeare.......which it doesn't...as I'm sure I won't have to argue with anyone.
If you want a human consciousness, you need a human machine. We have never observed a human consciousness (or any consciousness) in the absence of just such a machine. It not "out there" somewhere, independently...or at least..if it it is, no one can show it to be....while it;s trivially easy to show that it;s "in here" with reference to human machines.
I don't think that consciousness persists after the dissolution of the brain or in absence of the body any more than I think digital computation is possible in the absence of a digital machine, regardless of of whether or not energy - which also forms the motus of digital computation- can be destroyed.
Is consciousness energy...trivially, yes. But that's not a complete or adequate description of consciousness from my perspective any more than "energy" is a complete description of computation. More like, "energy flowing through a particular substrate of specific architecture". Take away the substrate, you don't have consciousness. Take away the architecture, you don;t have consciousness. Take away the energy, you don't have consciousness. If you leave just that last one, however, without the others...you -still- don't have consciousness. It's not -just- energy floating around without structure or substrate..if it were, it's not inconceivable that a power line...... or just the static in the air.... would suddenly begin to quote shakespeare.......which it doesn't...as I'm sure I won't have to argue with anyone.
If you want a human consciousness, you need a human machine. We have never observed a human consciousness (or any consciousness) in the absence of just such a machine. It not "out there" somewhere, independently...or at least..if it it is, no one can show it to be....while it;s trivially easy to show that it;s "in here" with reference to human machines.
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