[extropy-chat] Consciousness is a process in multi-dimensionaltime![Was: Qualia Bet]

[Brent Allsop]

Marc

 

>> Atoms can't have 'phenomenal' properties of the type your're describing.

 

This is completely false.  First off - I was talking hypothetically which
means any possible universe.  Surely God could create a universe (or maybe a
software engineer could design a simulated universe) in which causally
identical Atoms could have different phenomenal properties like this when
they are in some kind of appropriate physical lattice or something.

 

And since such is logically possible for some possible universes - unless
you have evidence otherwise to prove this theory incorrect - it could be
possible in our universe.  My argument is that there is still a chance that
evidence proving just such could theoretically turn out to be what
phenomenal properties are.  Although I would bet it would be something else
besides a causally indistinguishable atom or that it is something that is in
fact causally different - like different atoms - or different molecules - or
perhaps even some higher level different neural correlate.

 

>> My logic not 'plain dumb', I think it's pretty clear-cut actually.  I
pointed out that many different brains can implement the *same* mathematical
algorithm (i.e the same 'program').  <<

 

And abstract computers can implement the same algorithm.  But this doesn't
mean that their respective representations of this same "algorithm" would be
fundamentally "like" each other (even though they are abstractly like each
other or the same algorithm).

 

This shows that the program (the mathematical algorithm) is an 'event'
extending beyond our single physical time-dimension.  <<

 

How does anything like this follow?  Computation, even that represented by
phenomenal properties, can simply exist in our regular 3D space and 1D time
dimension.  Why must you insist we move into something outside of this here?

 

And again, even if we had to - what does that have to do with the difference
between red and green?  We obviously do not understand each other here.

 

Brent Allsop

 

 

 

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