> The simple act of following instructions – which is all a computer can do – never results in actually knowing what those instructions mean, or what it is doing.
The fundamental mistake so many people make is assuming that somehow "real" consciousness is special, and different from this -- that we're not just complex chemical systems blindly following instructions like a computer.
How do you know this? Because your brain has been wired to "feel" like it has agency?
This is sloppy. Consciousness is not clearly defined. We have more information now than ever before about consciousness. This is important because minds appear to have hardware for processing various types and levels of consciousness. Even small insects might have significant and notable consciousness. Humans might be capable of a range of forms of consciousness including bicameral and totemic, both of which are still being initially characterized by science with a full understanding being far off to the point of being hard to envision with what is known now.
Quite an interesting theory. For a moment I was inclining to believe that consciousness can be computed. But I guess I'd have to agree with most of your arguments
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 19.5 ms ] threadThe fundamental mistake so many people make is assuming that somehow "real" consciousness is special, and different from this -- that we're not just complex chemical systems blindly following instructions like a computer.
How do you know this? Because your brain has been wired to "feel" like it has agency?