<div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_msg">On Thu., 9 Mar. 2017 at 9:24 am, John Clark <<a href="mailto:johnkclark@gmail.com" class="gmail_msg" target="_blank">johnkclark@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br class="gmail_msg"></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote gmail_msg" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_extra gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg">On Tue, Mar 7, 2017  <span id="m_1740578225788830244m_-5892887677149141066:105.4" class="gmail_msg">Stathis</span> <span id="m_1740578225788830244m_-5892887677149141066:105.5" class="gmail_msg">Papaioannou</span> <span class="gmail_msg"><<a href="mailto:stathisp@gmail.com" class="gmail_msg" target="_blank"><span id="m_1740578225788830244m_-5892887677149141066:105.6" class="gmail_msg">stathisp</span>@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br class="gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_msg"><br class="gmail_msg"></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote gmail_msg" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><span style="font-size:12.8px" class="gmail_msg"> <div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​> ​</div>If some aspect of my consciousness, or another entity's consciousness if they have it, were due to an intrinsic quality of a brain component which could not be duplicated by duplicating the observable behaviour of that component, then it would imply a decoupling of mind from body.<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div></span></blockquote><div class="gmail_msg"><span style="font-size:12.8px" class="gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><br class="gmail_msg"></div></span></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_extra gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg"><font size="4" class="gmail_msg">But if that<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>mysterious<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>aspect of consciousness is disconnected from observable behavior<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>then there would be no way for<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>anybody<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>to ever discover it, there would be no way Evolution could have produced it and<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>, being <div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​unrelated to </div>observable<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ behavior​</div>,<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>from <div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​my​</div> point of view it would be totally irreverent if a AI had <div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​that mysterious aspect​</div><div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​</div> or not<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​. I</div>f<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>a<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>AI or my fellow humans don't have it that's<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>their<div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>problem not mine.<br class="gmail_msg"></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg"><font size="4" class="gmail_msg"><br class="gmail_msg"></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg"><font size="4" class="gmail_msg">I think we should worry less about consciousness and more about <div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​observable ​</div><div class="gmail_default gmail_msg" style="display:inline">intelligent behavior.  </div>  </font></div></div></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_msg"><br class="gmail_msg"></div></div></div><div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_msg">It's not immediately obvious that the belief that consciousness is only generated by biological systems is wrong. If you have this belief then you would be reluctant to accept non-biological brain implants proved to lead to no behavioural change, because you would fear that your consciousness might be affected, and what would be the point of continuing to behave normally if you have turned into a zombie, or lost some vital part of your consciousness, such as visual experiences?</div><div class="gmail_msg"><br class="gmail_msg"></div><div class="gmail_msg">The problem with this idea is that if consciousness were substrate specific it would mean that it is only contingently related to behaviour. From the point when the brain implants were installed your consciousness would go one way and your behaviour would go another; you would notice in horror that you had gone blind, but your mouth would open by itself and sound would come out telling everyone that everything was just the same. </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote gmail_msg" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_extra gmail_msg"><div class="gmail_quote gmail_msg"><font size="4" class="gmail_msg"></font></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div><div dir="ltr">-- <br></div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Stathis Papaioannou</div>