[ExI] Digital Consciousness .

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 10:24:36AM -0700, Gordon wrote:
> Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> >> You certainly know you have intentionality. 
> 
> 
> > No, as a matter of fact I don't.
> 
> Intentionality, as I and most philosophers use the word, is in basic terms the ability to have mental content of which one is aware. 

What does 'mental' mean? Does it mean 'located in the CNS or any information
processing system, including subcellular'?

What does 'aware' mean? Is a bacterium during
chemotaxis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotaxis
aware of existance of a gradient?
Do you think that human cognition is fundamentally
different from other primates, or lower animals
for that matter?

You're not aware of most of processes
going on in your brain, despite being
the sum of your processes.

Do these processes belong to intentionality,
despite being absolutely required for you
to be 'aware' of anything, despite you not
being aware of these processes?
 
> When you open your eyes, do you see something? That perception is mental content. When you imagine a pink elephant, that too is mental content. When you do a mathematical calculation in your head, that is also mental content. When you feel a pain in your body, that is also mental content. Unless you are a mindless zombie or a rock or something similar, you have the capacity to have conscious mental content, i.e., intentionality.

Mindless zombies are impossible.