Consciousness in scientific cont3ext
Consciousness in scientific context = linked to attention, makes higherlevel cognitive operations possible
-> Reductionistic
-> Does not encompass the emergence and function of phenomenal experience „qualia“
-> Qualia are often misunderstood or negated in scientific discussions
What is consciousness?
- Awakeness vs. Deep sleep / coma
- General alertness vs. General inattentiveness (e.g. daydreaming)
- Focal attention
- Reflective, reportable state (metacognition) (e.g. you know what you have seen)
- Self-awareness (self-consciousness)(e.g. you know that you are an individual)
-Qualia (subjective experience) à different from the rest! Cannot be studied by Neuroscience
Simple problems of Consciousness
—> Access consciousness —> being conscious of something, “Knowing”
related to focal attention
can be operationalized —> defined
can be implemented —> shown in physical/biochemical processes
adaptivity —> evolutionary advantages can be explained
Simple problems of consciousness example pain
Operationalization_
reactions on motivational, affective, phsysiological and endocrine levels
Implementation
neural network performs damage detection
central and peripheral defense reactions
Adaptivity
prioritizing to protect system from damage, advantage for survival and reproduction
Difficult problems of Consciousness
—> phenomenal consciousness/qualia/sentience
neuronal states are phenomenally different in their qualia
intuitively often described as part of surrounding —> tomate is red
why extra mile of producing qualia?
no objective operationalisation
no neural implementation —> can artificial networks experience qualia
adaptivity —> natural selection operates on behavior, every cognitive process &behavior theoretically possible without qualia
proposed solutions
= Epiphenomenon
societal & cultural phenomenon
can exist separately from material structures
do not exist
same thing as neuronal states
=neuronal activity from 1st person view
o secondary phenomenon that is produced in the process of another primary phenomenon à this contradicts the law of Conservation of energy
one should not consider the brain in isolation
must take into account overall societal interactions and functions.
but: People that grow up in isolation, they can see color and feel pain
we do not start experiencing these qualia only in societal contexts
o Proposes two Universes à physical and non-physical
o It does not solve the problem but moves it to a mystical universe that is cannot be falsified
o Contradicts occam’s razor
o Cannot argue with people that do not believe they feel pain or happiness
o These are just material correlates of subjective qualia
o These neuronal states can exist without phenomenal consciousness e.g. in artificial neuronal networks
o We believe robots cannot feel pain à therefore it cannot be the same thing
o Spirit & brain are identical to one another but are different perspectives
o Spirit = first person view and brain = third person view
o First person view has no direct access from the outside perspective
o Two versions of this theory
§ Hardware-oriented à neuronal processes can be qualia à problem: neurons do not differ from one another and are interchangeable
§ Software-oriented à functional states determine qualia
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