http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23285154
It seems strange to me that people can't accept that there is no requirement for conciousness to be other than the evolution of the senses.
When the first creatures sensed a subtle shift in light levels and reacted was there a conciousness? I would say no, it was just a reaction.
Over time the interactions became more involved and complex which led to conciousness. That is the only explanation that is required and the only one that fits the facts.
Quote:In a virtual world adults in a child-like body start to perceive the world more like a child, a study has shown.
Adults were either placed in a virtual four-year-old body or an adult body scaled down to the same size.
It was found that participants in the child's body overestimated the size of objects and identified better with child-like attributes.
Scientists say their work, published in PNAS, could help unlock hidden memories.
Wearing a head-mounted display and a motion capture suit that tracks body movements, adults were able to move in a virtual world just as they would in the real world.
Previous research has already shown that the brain is amenable to accepting such illusory changes. So if a person moves at the same time their virtual body does, they feel as if they are really moving.
Body illusion
A team led by Mel Slater from the University of Barcelona found three situations in which adult participants reacted differently depending on what virtual body they were in.
Embodiment illusions have already established that when placed in a small virtual body, surrounding objects seem larger. What was unexpected was that those in a child's body overestimated the sizes of objects to a greater extent.
Child-like and adult-like room
Presented with two rooms, adults in a child-like body chose a child-like room
The participants were also asked to do an implicit association test, which requires participants to categorise themselves with child-like or adult-like attributes. Those in the child's body reacted faster to child-like attributes to those in the adult body.
A third scenario they were presented with was to pick a child or adult-like room. Those in a child's body preferred the child's room.
"This illusion of body ownership was responsible for these findings," Prof Slater told BBC News.
"Somehow the brain thinks 'this is my body' which makes the whole experience consistent. You see the world bigger, have more childlike attributes and prefer a child's environment rather than an adult one."
It seems strange to me that people can't accept that there is no requirement for conciousness to be other than the evolution of the senses.
When the first creatures sensed a subtle shift in light levels and reacted was there a conciousness? I would say no, it was just a reaction.
Over time the interactions became more involved and complex which led to conciousness. That is the only explanation that is required and the only one that fits the facts.
You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.
Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.
