From dbdda47aec59bfc1d93dfd037bbbf5224328801f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: osmarks Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2024 18:51:17 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?Edit=20=E2=80=98consciousness=E2=80=99?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --- consciousness.myco | 38 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-- 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/consciousness.myco b/consciousness.myco index a9012ca..a69adf2 100644 --- a/consciousness.myco +++ b/consciousness.myco @@ -1,3 +1,37 @@ -Consciousness is a widely-misunderstood property of [[objects]]. Unlike [[descriptive properties]], which have empirically observable consequences and correlates, consciousness is a [[normative properties|normative property]] - an object is conscious if and inasmuch as it is [[bad]] to [[harm]], [[inconvenience]], [[kill]] or implode it. Arguments about whether things are or are not "conscious" are, as such, best interpreted as arguments about whether those things have [[moral worth]] rather than anything empirical. +Consciousness is a widely-misunderstood property of [[objects]]. Unlike [[descriptive properties]], which have empirically observable consequences and correlates, consciousness is a [[normative properties|normative property]] - an object is conscious if and inasmuch as it is [[bad]] to [[harm]], [[inconvenience]], [[kill]] or implode it. Arguments about whether things are or are not "conscious" are, as such, best interpreted as arguments about whether those things have [[moral worth]] rather than anything empirical. Frequent references to the importance of consciousness are signalling of virtue and conscientiousness wrt. detecting possible allies. -Twin studies in relativistic trolley collisions estimate that consciousness is responsible for about 30% of variance in moral worth. \ No newline at end of file +Twin studies in relativistic trolley collisions estimate that consciousness is responsible for about 30% of variance in moral worth. + +== Incorrect, bad models + +=== Computationalism + +Consciousness is widely held to result from certain kinds of computation. For instance, [[https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=1799|integrated information theory]] holds that computations which "integrate information" are conscious. This neatly avoids various problems with other models. However, it has many flaws if considered in depth: + +* "Computations" aren't exactly a low-level physical property of the universe: the same systems can be interpreted as "computing" many different things. +* This leads to a number of [[confusing]] scenarios - for example, a [[homomorphically encrypted]] computation may or may not be conscious, but this cannot be tested externally, creating moral problems. +* There is also the problem of measuring "how much" consciousness is happening: for example, what happens if I run a conscious mind on a pair of computers in lockstep, and then disable one half? What if instead of disabling one half, it is instead subjected to slightly different stimuli? +* "Incidental computations" by all kinds of systems should plausibly be creating consciousness in very strange scenarios. Why do we experience a rulebound, consistent, simple universe? See also [[Boltzmann brains]]. +* What if I represent my computable, conscious function as a very big lookup table? + +=== Dualism + +No. + +=== Physicalism + +It is likely that physics, as implemented by the [[universe]], can be simulated to arbitrary precision on a [[computer]]. This includes the parts of physics which conscious beings use. If consciousness is determined by physical hardware, then that physics can thus be simulated on a computer and will behave identically (or at least up to thermal noise limits, with enough simulation precision) to the physical version. Either this is not possible - physics is not computable - or consciousness is [[epiphenomenal]], which is bad, or consciousness is generated by computation of some form. + +=== Julian Jaynes + +== Incorrect, funny models + +* God endows sufficiently parameterized [[neural nets]] with a soul. +* Consciousness is a culturally transmitted phenomenon inherited from crows. +* Consciousness is the inelegant global [[mutex]] of the mind ([[distributed systems design]] is hard). +* Consciousness is proportional to baryon number. +* Due to compute limitations, consciousness was shut down in 1971. +* Consciousness is an ugly hack used by compute-limited agents which allows them to connect their world model to their own observations ("[[https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ethRJh2E7mSSjzCay/building-phenomenological-bridges|phenomenological bridge]]"). +* Chinese-speaking computers cannot be conscious (Chinese Room argument). +* Consciousness scales with parameter count (but in a non-soul-related way). +* Consciousness is fully epiphenomenal - discussions of consciousness is illusory. \ No newline at end of file