Frankly, on Fridays I'm not even sure I have consciousness

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1596138]

inspired by

Comments

[andrewducker]

Just to qualify - just because I believe it is reducible to computation doesn't mean that I think that we're going to do so with perfect fidelity, or that I think a perfect simulation of my brain _is_ me.

[simont]

on Fridays I'm not even sure I have consciousness

Me too, at least this Friday; and in situations like that I find it particularly easy to believe that a computer could simulate what I've got without being overly taxed! Hell, a very small shell script might get more useful work done this afternoon than I will.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Hm. When I first saw arguments like Penrose's I was comparatively young, and responded something like "wow, that's interesting. it's weird, but the guy is such a notable scientist, it must make some kind of sense, which is awesome".

Now, I think more like "I don't see why it should make any kind of sense." I suppose its possible that the brain does something a computer can't (although it seems unlikely to me) but there certainly doesn't seem to be any evidence other than wishful thinking that it does.

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

SOMETHING ELSE: Not sufficiently defined to answer the question.

Consciousness...

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

Created by bacteria.

[nameandnature]

"reducible" is the nearest, though I suppose someone like David Chalmers could be right without interactive dualism being true (which is the usual explanation preferred by people who believe in souls and whatnot).

[yalovetz]

I don't think consciousness is reducible purely to computation, I think it's probably an emergent property that results from a combination of computation, the hardware it runs on, and possibly other stuff we're not yet aware of, like maybe when and where the computation is instantiated on that hardware. I don't think the hardware necessarily has to be biological, however. So my answer is somewhere in between options 1 and 2.

[captainlucy.livejournal.com]

I would say it lies somewhere between can be simulated by a computer, but the simulation couldn't produce "real understanding" and can't even be simulated by computer, but nevertheless has a scientific explanation
.
One day it will probably be possible to simulate true consciousness (hell, given sufficient time, computing power and imaginative soft- and hardware architecture, it may even be possible to recreate a true consciousness) but I think it takes more than just raw computation to do this (though admittedly I would be at a loss to even start trying to explain why this is...)

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Rephrase: could be simulated by computer in theory, possibly, given a powerful enough computer, the likes of which we're not yet capable of building. Which may mean my real vote should be for the first option.

(I'm firmly in the "Do I believe science can explain everything? Yes. So I believe we know all there is to know about science? No." camp)

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

I think people tend to confuse consciousness with being human. Humans also hunger, thirst, lust, love, and seek shelter. These things are motivated by our core animal nature, not by any sort of abstract reasoning.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Consciousness is primary and everything else is merely a deduction to explain the contents of consciousness.

[alextfish.livejournal.com]

Either 1 or 4, and I'm not sure which. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out consciousness doesn't have a scientific explanation, but Hofstadter's reductionist arguments are persuasive.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

I'm the one vote for "doesn't have a scientific explanation.."

Consciousness is part of Spirit. Like many things in the Mind and a few things in the Body, Consciousness (being part of the Spirit) cannot be seen or measured, (aside from extensive behavioral observation.)

[nmg.livejournal.com]

[x] I'm an AI researcher, and I'm not sure that I can answer this question.
[x] Sometimes I worry that I'm a zombie, on the grounds that I cant prove that I have qualia.