WildcatMon, Oct 20, 2008 Thank you for a brilliant contribution Shandora, nevertheless some points I think are worthwhile discussing :
"Seems that at least for life on earth Consciousness emerged, in the evolutionary process, tightly coupled with self awareness.
In this coming age of intelligent machines :-), A question comes to my mind:
Whether self awareness is a necessary step (or component) towards the creation of artificial consciousness. Is a conscious entity ( organic or otherwise ) must be also self aware ? "
one of the most fascinating questions in existence, to my eyes, of course. Consciousness and self-awareness are supposedly tightly coupled in the evolutionary process that has given birth to humanity. Commonly, it is almost a truism that such is the case that both need be present for intelligence to be able to extend its tentacles into reality and reach beyond its original blueprint.
However, there is no evidence whatsoever, empirical or otherwise (folk descriptions of feelings in this respect and context do not count) that consciousness demands self-awareness , though the opposite is probably true.
It is my understanding that an emergent intelligence may very well be conscious and yet not be self-aware. in fact those three concepts : Intelligence, Consciousness & Awareness, create a continuous crisis (or tension) between themselves, a fundamental sensation of 'emergency' to do.
if we look at our civilization, there is no doubt that we have shown a tremendous propensity for doing (as a result of our sensation of emergency), can we say the same for our propensity for thought? consciousness?
I firmly believe that we are only now initiating a move into thought which consequences we cannot yet predict, but which will allow us eventually to answer such questions.
Allow me to ask a question : is it possible to describe the inner relation of consciousness to awareness in a percentile fashion? (example of a possible self -description: I am conscious 70% of the time and aware to this conscious state 20% of the time, and I am being extremely generous:-) makes sense?
btw: if Spaceweaver is reading this, we may ask him for his (always more advanced and more sophisticated) view
Thank you for a brilliant contribution Shandora, nevertheless some points I think are worthwhile discussing :
"Seems that at least for life on earth Consciousness emerged, in the evolutionary process, tightly coupled with self awareness.
In this coming age of intelligent machines :-), A question comes to my mind:
Whether self awareness is a necessary step (or component) towards the creation of artificial consciousness. Is a conscious entity ( organic or otherwise ) must be also self aware ? "
one of the most fascinating questions in existence, to my eyes, of course. Consciousness and self-awareness are supposedly tightly coupled in the evolutionary process that has given birth to humanity. Commonly, it is almost a truism that such is the case that both need be present for intelligence to be able to extend its tentacles into reality and reach beyond its original blueprint.
However, there is no evidence whatsoever, empirical or otherwise (folk descriptions of feelings in this respect and context do not count) that consciousness demands self-awareness , though the opposite is probably true.
It is my understanding that an emergent intelligence may very well be conscious and yet not be self-aware. in fact those three concepts : Intelligence, Consciousness & Awareness, create a continuous crisis (or tension) between themselves, a fundamental sensation of 'emergency' to do.
if we look at our civilization, there is no doubt that we have shown a tremendous propensity for doing (as a result of our sensation of emergency), can we say the same for our propensity for thought? consciousness?
I firmly believe that we are only now initiating a move into thought which consequences we cannot yet predict, but which will allow us eventually to answer such questions.
Allow me to ask a question : is it possible to describe the inner relation of consciousness to awareness in a percentile fashion? (example of a possible self -description: I am conscious 70% of the time and aware to this conscious state 20% of the time, and I am being extremely generous:-) makes sense?
btw: if Spaceweaver is reading this, we may ask him for his (always more advanced and more sophisticated) view