This talk has me scratching my head.
We understand chemistry and electromagnetism pretty well. But there is nothing in our entire sum of knowledge that suggests electrical discharges through a chemical medium should result in an aware entity. I mean, just look at that suggestion. It sounds like total fucking woo. What mechanism is behind that? We know of none.
Consciousness is a complete mystery. Trying to figure it out is like a cave man trying to figure out a tablet computer. The only meaningful experiment he could do would be to smash it with a rock. Then he could see its function relied on its physical integrity and might infer that the source of its ability lay within. Beyond that though, he wouldn't have a clue. That's where we seem to be with consciousness. We have enough information to assume it is a result of physical processes of the brain but we have no idea how. We just don't have a scientific explanation for it that fits within the framework of our knowledge. I assume we're missing a big piece of the puzzle. Any serious attempt at an explanation will have to wait until we have that missing knowledge.
We understand chemistry and electromagnetism pretty well. But there is nothing in our entire sum of knowledge that suggests electrical discharges through a chemical medium should result in an aware entity. I mean, just look at that suggestion. It sounds like total fucking woo. What mechanism is behind that? We know of none.
Consciousness is a complete mystery. Trying to figure it out is like a cave man trying to figure out a tablet computer. The only meaningful experiment he could do would be to smash it with a rock. Then he could see its function relied on its physical integrity and might infer that the source of its ability lay within. Beyond that though, he wouldn't have a clue. That's where we seem to be with consciousness. We have enough information to assume it is a result of physical processes of the brain but we have no idea how. We just don't have a scientific explanation for it that fits within the framework of our knowledge. I assume we're missing a big piece of the puzzle. Any serious attempt at an explanation will have to wait until we have that missing knowledge.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
