[Wittrs] Consciousness in Three Lists
- From: "SWM" <SWMirsky@xxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 13:09:37 -0000
In response to Joe, here is one version of the processes/functions I suggest
would need to be in place for a more robust CR to actually achieve
understanding (as in the kind of understanding we recognize in ourselves). The
full listing, with some responses to it, will be found on the list to which the
link I have included takes you:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ai-philosophy/message/16330
CONSCIOUSNESS IN THREE LISTS
List # 1: FEATURES FOUND IN HUMAN TYPE CONSCIOUSNESS (all of which may need to
be present and integrated [working together] for consciousness to be said to
have occurred).*
1) Intentionality (aboutness, i.e., the general capacity to relate
representations to things)
2) Comprehension/Apprehension (recognizing and imputing meaning to things,
i.e., making particular connections between symbols and objects -- or, another
way of saying it, associating representations with other kinds of
representations as relating symbols and images of various types [mental or
actual])
3) Awareness (recognizing distinction[s] between Self and Other[s])
* It's possible that there is a great deal of overlap between these three
functionalities and that, indeed, we may need all three to have any one of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List #2 FUNCTIONS WHICH MUST BE PERFORMED AS A BASIS FOR THE ABOVE:
1) Perception (capturing information about the world)
2) Thinking (generating/using representations)
3) Believing (making and retaining valuational distinctions, including, but not
limited to, distinguishing true from false, good from bad, etc.)
5) Remembering (retrieving past representations and making relational
connections -- that is, retrieving alone is not remembering)
6) Picturing (placing particular representations into various larger
representations based on identified relational factors -- perhaps better
understood as mapping, including many levels of tiered and interconnected maps
of various aspects of the inner and outer "worlds" of the entity)
7) Projecting (thinking ahead, i.e., recognizing temporal distinctions and
placing representations in different loci on one or more temporal map/pictures)*
* This last seems to correspond somewhat to Eray's insistence on the
significance of "planning". (Does it support the function of intentionality as
he suggests? I'm not sure, but certainly it is the functions found on this
level, as a group, that enable the higher level functions in list #1 to occur.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List # 3: BASIC PROCESSES/SYSTEMS/PERFORMANCE HARDWARE NEEDED TO ACHIEVE THE
HIGHER LEVEL FUNCTIONS ABOVE:
1) Information Collection (apparatus and sub-systems to bring various kinds of
data into the entity)
2) Information Breakdown (sub-systems to analyze, synthesize, associate, i.e.,
establish relational connections between inputted information)
3) Information Representation (sub-systems to convert one kind of data element
to others, e.g., replacing different kinds of received raw signals with
images/symbols for ease of use and retrieval at other levels)
4) Information Transfer (sub-systems for passing information, in whole or part,
between other systems)
5) Information Storage (sub-systems to capture and hold the information in
various forms awaiting retrieval)
6) Information Retrieval (sub-systems to pull out and return to useable status
stored information)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Note 1: It's the second list that would appear to be of most interest
in any effort to construct a synthetic consciousness because the third and last
list is largely basic and computational while the first is the one that's
mysterious and whose occurrence we want to explain and then make happen.
General Note 2: There would, in a consciousness like us, probably need to be at
least one subsystem separated from the rest to form and constitute the agential
self and this may require a somewhat different and parallel system "tree"
though rooted in the same foundation as represented by list #3. It's not clear
though how far up the tree formed by these three tiers the branch off would
need to be. Maybe above #2 but below #1.
=========================================
Need Something? Check here: http://ludwig.squarespace.com/wittrslinks/
Other related posts:
