Search found 8 matches

by Arik-Alb
Sun May 21, 2017 10:17 pm
Forum: Philosophy of Language
Topic: can we simulate meaning consciousness in artificial intelligence using language and program proper association
Replies: 5
Views: 3027

Re: can we simulate meaning consciousness in artificial intelligence using language and program proper association

I suspect that consciousness - that is, a "what it's like" - comes first, then meaning/intelligence can arise. Reason is that anything I imagine has a "what it's like" to it - e.g. a bright shade of blue spanning across a plane. A computer can output this to a screen, but that do...
by Arik-Alb
Sun May 21, 2017 4:02 pm
Forum: Metaphysics
Topic: Derived from Nothing
Replies: 15
Views: 5534

Re: Derived from Nothing

Keep up that backtracking towards first cause and it all comes down to you. The question is, who are you? I'm not sure about "I" being the cause of all particular existence. However, it seems intuitive that "I" have no essential properties or character. My personality could chan...
by Arik-Alb
Thu May 18, 2017 8:29 am
Forum: Ethical Theory
Topic: Suffering and the categorical imperative
Replies: 3
Views: 2984

Suffering and the categorical imperative

Kant's categorical imperative can seem a purely abstract principle, ungrounded in experience. If one said "I don't care whether the maxim's of my actions can be universalized", what could anyone say to him? Would such a person just be beyond morality, able to happily live their lives despi...
by Arik-Alb
Wed Aug 10, 2016 9:02 am
Forum: Philosophy of Mind
Topic: What is the use of consciousness when it comes to thought?
Replies: 93
Views: 23247

Re: What is the use of consciousness when it comes to thought?

For a thought to form, doesn't there need to be (conscious) experience along with it? For example, if I think of a particular that I want for dinner, it's because I have some prior (conscious) experience of eating such a salad, and I know I liked the taste of it and felt good afterwards. If I were n...
by Arik-Alb
Sun Jul 24, 2016 2:46 am
Forum: Metaphysics
Topic: ~ YOUR ETERNITY ~
Replies: 98
Views: 20548

Re: ~ YOUR ETERNITY ~

Bill Wiltrack wrote:I welcomed that young lady into the forum...
Actually I'm male, and not all that young. Wondering how you thought this though.
by Arik-Alb
Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:32 am
Forum: Philosophy of Mind
Topic: ~ Consciousness; the brain’s non-conceptual theory about itself ~
Replies: 11
Views: 3961

Re: ~ Consciousness; the brain’s non-conceptual theory about itself ~

This theory sounds reasonable, though I'm not sure what a "non-conceptual" theory is. I believe there is non-conceptual knowing, but I'd also consider that to be a non-theoretical (i.e. non-verbal) type of knowing that comes from (or just is) immediate experience. If the claim is that the ...
by Arik-Alb
Thu Jul 14, 2016 8:30 pm
Forum: Metaphysics
Topic: ~ YOUR ETERNITY ~
Replies: 98
Views: 20548

Re: ~ YOUR ETERNITY ~

Regarding computers being more capable of tasks than humans - Computers must be programmed by a human, who gives the computer a framework to operate within. A car driving computer can know all the rules of driving, and operate a car, because a human already had those rules in mind. But could a compu...
by Arik-Alb
Sun Jul 03, 2016 12:41 am
Forum: Metaphysics
Topic: On the Nature of Free Will
Replies: 19
Views: 5154

Re: On the Nature of Free Will

I'd also like to hear people describe what goes on within one's experience, when one makes a choice. Here is how it seems to me: Any decision has some buildup that precedes it, and during this time all kinds of things occur in my mind (and body), some of it happening at the edges of consciousness. R...