I agree. I have a problem (conceptual problem) with how the algorithm changes through time, within the individual organism. At time a, given sense datum S, the algorithm produces perception R. At time a + x, given the exact same sense datum S, would the algorithm produce R? What are the variables in the scenario?have a theory that perception is based, going back to a brain's primeval origins, upon an algorithm of searching for patterns in sense data.
Perhaps there are no two identical sense data (S) at different times - Hereclitean flux.
Perhaps with every S, the algorithm (organism) changes slightly - Protogorean 'man is the measure of all things' - i.e. what 'is' sweet to a man at a given time (for instance when he's healthy) 'is' sour at another time (when sick)
Perhaps both are variable simultaneously.
And what is 'R,' the perception? Is it something stored in the memory, to be the subject of the algorithm in the future, thus taking the place of S in a future iteration?
If you had an algorithm (A) on your computer (which you do), which took photons collected by a camera and created a picture (R) on a pixelated screen, could a meta-algorithm (A2) be created to analyse R, pull patterns from it, use those patterns to change A for future processing, and so on? My instinct is that the answer is yes, but I could not begin to prove it.
If the answer is indeed yes, what follows? Could any R ever be recreated by other observers(1)? By the individual who produced R in the first place? How does consciousness factor in - i.e. sometimes we purposefully focus in on a particular part of an S in order to produce a particular kind of R - how is this possible in such a model(2)? If A is producing patterns out of S and A2 is 'pulling' these patterns from R, what is it that A2 could really be doing - how is the pattern 'pulled' different from the pattern 'produced' by A in the first place(3)?
Thus, certain sticky problems come up, as they always do - how is induction possible(3, above)? How are free will and consciousness possible(2)? How is shared experience (translation) of different, privileged perceptions possible(1)?