Consciousness%20and%20Technology%20%20Antti%20Revonsuo%20Academy%20of%20Finland%20and%20University%20of%20Turku

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Consciousness and TechnologyAntti
RevonsuoAcademy of Finland and University of
Turku
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• 1. Technology as a Metaphor of Mind and
  Consciousness
• 2. Artificial Consciousness Possible or
  Impossible?
• 3. Technologically Altered Consciousness

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• 1. Technology as a Metaphor of Mind and
  Consciousness
• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind
• cognitive science, artificial intelligence,
  philosophy of mind
• the dominating view 1950-1990

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• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind
• Theoretical assumptions
• 1) MIND / BRAIN SOFTWARE / HARDWARE
• 2) on/off electrical impulses in neurons
• on/off states of logical gates in computer
  circuits
• gtgt a natural binary code in the brain
• gtgt a basic computational level in both

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• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind
• Theoretical assumptions
• 3) Functionalism
• functional decomposition of mind and cognition
• gtgt digital machine language at the bottom
  level
• mind independent of brain
• functional level independent of physical
  realization
• gtgt cognitive science independent of neuroscience

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• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind

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• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind

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• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind
• Theoretical assumptions
• 4) Mind Intelligent behavior
• behavioristic conception of mind
• The Turing Test

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• The Computer Metaphor of the Mind
• The Turing Test

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• Arguments against the computer metaphor
• Chinese room argument (Searle 1980)
• gtgt mind truly understands symbols, computer
  only mechanically transforms them
• gtgt mind is not a computer program

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• Arguments against the computer metaphor
• Qualia arguments
• gtgt functionalism cannot describe or explain
  subjective, qualitative features of consciousness
• Symbols are observer-relative
• No symbols can be empirically discovered in the
  brain gtgt Brain is not a digital computer

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• The Virtual Reality Metaphor of Consciousness

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• The Virtual Reality Metaphor of Consciousness

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The Concept of Consciousness

• PRIMARY CONSCIOUSNESS
• the totality of present subjective experience
• our subjective psychological reality
• organized as a complex sensory-perceptual world

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The Concept of Consciousness

• PRIMARY CONSCIOUSNESS should not be confused
  with
• REFLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS
• INTROSPECTION
• SELF-AWARENESS

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• CONSCIOUSNESS
• The Phenomenal Level of Organization in the Brain

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• Metaphors and Model Systems
• useful at early stages of theory development!

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• Genetics
• A Metaphor of Genes
• Discrete units like beads on a string
• A Model System
• The fruit fly Drosophila

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A FRUITFUL MODEL SYSTEM

• gtgt exposes the phenomenon in a particularly clear
  form
• gtgt isolates it from other phenomena

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AN IDEAL METAPHOR

• gtgt captures the very essence of the phenomenon in
  a single image

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THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS

• Model System
• The Dreaming Brain
• Metaphor

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THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS

• Model System
• The Dreaming Brain
• Metaphor
• Virtual Reality

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The Phenomenal Level

• ...as revealed by
• The Dreaming Brain...
• gtgtleads to the Virtual Reality metaphor

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The Dreaming Brain

• isolated from interactions with its
  environment
• gt sensory input blockade
• gt motor output blockade

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The Dreaming Brain

• internally activated
• gt wake-like EEG activity
• gt emotional and perceptual brain areas active
• gt PGO-waves mimic external stimulation

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The Phenomenal Level in the isolated, internally
activated brainPure Consciousness
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• What form does this pure, isolated
  consciousness take?

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Dreaming as Subjective Experience

• All sensory modalities involved
• Visual experience 100 (of dream reports)
• Auditory experience 70
• Bodily sensations 10
• Taste and smell 1
• Pain 0.5

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Dreaming as Subjective Experience

• The Organization of Dream Experience
• Dream Self present in over 90 of dreams
• The Dreamer is embodied as the Dream Self
• The Dream Self is surrounded by a spatial
  expanse
• The Dream World

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Dreaming as Subjective Experience

• A Full-Scale SIMULATION of a WORLD!

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• gtgt Pure consciousness is organized in such a way
  as to bring about...

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• BEING-IN-THE-WORLD
• or
• SELF-IN-THE-WORLD
• -experiences!

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VIRTUAL REALITY METAPHOR

• Consciousness is characterized by
• the sense of presence in
• or
• full immersion into
• a model or simulation of the world, constructed
  in the brain

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Sense of Presence

• The phenomenal level constantly creates an
  experience of the form
• I am directly present in a world outside my
  brain
• although...

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• the phenomenal level itself is buried deep
  inside the brain!

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• the phenomenal level itself is buried deep
  inside the brain!
• gtgt AN OUT-OF-THE-BRAIN-EXPERIENCE!

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• DREAMING
• - the illusion that the experiential events do
  not take place inside the brain but out there,
  in an externalized perceptual world
• gtgt Out-of-the-Brain -illusion!
• Virtual Presence!

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• WAKING PERCEPTION
• - The Out-of-the-Brain -illusion We experience
  being directly in touch with an external
  perceptual world

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• WAKING PERCEPTION
• - The Out-of-the-Brain -illusion We experience
  being directly in touch with an external
  perceptual world
• - Telepresence The sense of presence in the
  world currently modulating sensory input

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• Rodolfo Llínas
• Life is but a dream guided by the senses!

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Artificial Consciousness Possible or
Impossible?
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the possibility of AC depends critically on
the ultimate metaphysical nature of
consciousness behaviorism / functionalism /
biological realism / dualism
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The Zombie Problem The Problem of Other
Minds gtgt how to distinguish nonconscious AI
from genuine AC?
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If AC could be created gtgt ethical problems
follow!
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Artificial Emotions? Artificial Suffering?
Robot Rights?
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Would it make any sense to produce new
conscious beings? Is consciousness a blessing
or a burden?
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gtgt Would some of the already existing conscious
beings not be better off without consciousness?
(e.g. production animals)gtgt Should technology
produce Artificial Consciousnessor Artificial
Nonconsciousness?
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3. The Influence of Technology on
Consciousness default values built into the
brain - the VR simulation of the world in
consciousness - original evolutionary
environment
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3. The Influence of Technology on
Consciousness technology has radically
transformed our sensory environment - TV,
computer games, immersive artificial sensory
environments
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3. The Influence of Technology on
Consciousness gtgt will it cause
irreversible changes in our consciousness and
brain? - cf post-traumatic stress
disorder gtgt hypervigilance, emotional
disorders, hot vs. cool memory imbalance
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post-traumatic stress disorder
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post-traumatic stress disorder
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• the
• END