Re: 'Multiverse Theory' - Universe is a Virtual Reality Matrix

From: Torbj?rn Larsson (070-3993938_at_comhem.se)
Date: 08/02/04 

Date: 1 Aug 2004 19:44:57 -0700

dralexgreen@yahoo.co.uk (Alex Green) wrote in message news:<42c8441.0407290201.3e42aae@posting.google.com>...
> "Jaxtraw" <jaxtraw@nospamnobigfoot.com> wrote in message news:<1091032395.9260.0@nnrp-t71-03.news.uk.clara.net>...

...
> The term 'conscious experience' is preferrable to the term
> 'consciousness'. 'Conscious experience' is all the things during that
> short period of time that you call 'now'. It includes your inner
> speech, perceptual fields, dreams if they are happening, imagination
> etc. The small part of conscious experience that you call *thinking
> about a thing* is a good skill for success in better paid jobs.
...
> > I doubt it. The main activity of most brains on the planet is running basic
> > processes that maintain the organism. The perceptual field is a useful,
> > associative model of the outside world, but it isn't consciousness.
> > Consciousness is that thinking thing.
>
> All the remarks I have made in earlier posts are about 'conscious
> experience'. It is conscious experience that cannot be simulated in an
> information system. If you define 'consciousness' as a symbol stream
> like language then sure, that could be in a computer. I dont like this
> definition of 'consciousness' and would choose another definition such
> as the manifold that contains (or 'is') concious experience. Unlike
> language this cannot be encoded in a bit stream.

Defining things are always good. Defining consciousness in a useful
manner may be as difficult as defining 'life' but at least we make
some headway here.

As far as I know there are no principal difficulties to someday model
perceptual fields in a computer; it may be complex but I'm sure it's
doable. However I agree with Jaxtraw that it isn't enough to
constitute a consciousness, an awareness of what the
organism/mechanism is doing.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Deconversion
    ... not like reality consisting of both consciousness and the physical ... consists of conscious experience and nothing else. ... those patterns genuinely occur. ... And if one trusts God the only things that make sense to ask are wisdom ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: Deconversion
    ... methodology is nicely included within the idealistic worldview. ... beyond and above conscious experience: ... ultimately caused by consciousness, ... Materialism cannot even make any sense of the fact ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: A reply to Marvin Minsky.
    ... the brain doesn't explain WHY it is just the brain or ... why just a brain should have a conscious experience. ... missing something in our explanation. ...
    (comp.ai.philosophy)
  • Re: First Causes
    ... > hypothetical neural 'global workspace' that brings together sensory ... > workspace was a model that allows the brain to maintain position and ... machine to decide that consciousness must be a 'ghost' adding nothing.. ...
    (sci.cognitive)
  • Re: Multiverse Theory - Universe is a Virtual Reality Matrix
    ... much of your brain is an elegant parallel processor. ... > means your consciousness is doing multiple things simultaneously is contrary ... My conscious experience, like yours contains this computer screen, the ... like language then sure, that could be in a computer. ...
    (sci.astro)