(October 8, 2014 at 4:22 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: Anyone can see how structural properties can emerge from more basic mechanical processes, like the way an I-beam distributes applied loads to its extreme fibers. The same can be said for dispositional qualities, like the fragility of glass.
Can you see how software emerges from the current flowing through the hardware?
(October 8, 2014 at 4:22 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: As it relates to the mind-body problem, your position allows higher-order structures of the brain to constrain the expression of lower-level brain activities. In theory, someone could fully describe these effects in terms of four physical forces and a handful of constants. That seems reasonable enough, if the only facts under consideration are third-party observable effects. No one can do the same with subjective experiences or concepts. Pride has no mass nor does the sensation red have momentum. We agree that the processes in the brain are physical sequences of events.
The error here is trying to describe concepts is physical terms - like describing software in terms of hardware.
(October 8, 2014 at 4:22 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: My question is this: at what point do you believe a sequence of events becomes a function?
Which function? Any function or specific to consciousness?