...Which is to say that whenever there is (a physical arrangement with) a logical structure that matches (is transitive with) the logical structure of consciousness—then there would be consciousness. It gets more complicated. If you draw a line with a pencil on a piece of paper, so that it encodes a three dimensional trajectory over time of a sentient being’s consciousness—you basically have created a “soulful” being. Except there’s just a drawn line on a piece of paper.
(Assuming you can store a sufficient amount of bits in such an encoding. Think of a “large” paper and a long complicated line if imagining an A4 with something scribbled on is a problem. You can also replace the pencil & paper with a turing machine if you like)
I view consciousness as a process. When tracing the chains of cause and effect from the line to the thing that caused the line, we find a pencil, then a hand, then a mind controlling the hand. Similarly, a programless, empty turing machine will not create these states, but a sufficiently complex state within the machine could. The line may contain an interesting potential, but it lacks motion, and therefor lacks consciousness. In my opinion, consciousness is a peculiar sort of motion.
Meditation: Is logic an ontologically basic thing?
The ontologically basic thing is the relationships between different aspects of reality. Logic is a toolset we use to vet our descriptions of those relationships. I don’t see how the toolset is a given, except in the sense that it emerged naturally (in the same way that, say, pizza and politics have).
So in other words: From the reductionist perspective there’s just physics which can be described with the help of logic. Whenever there is a physical part of the universe that is correlated with the rest of the universe in such a way that it would resemble consciousness when interacted with, that thing would be just as much a person/zombie as we’re. Same goes for simulated people.
Pretty much. What the line on A4 lacks is the interaction (motion, action). Perhaps there is some possible, wildly creative structure that remains static but exhibits conscious behavior when randomly sampled from, but that’s a different rabbit hole.
I view consciousness as a process. When tracing the chains of cause and effect from the line to the thing that caused the line, we find a pencil, then a hand, then a mind controlling the hand. Similarly, a programless, empty turing machine will not create these states, but a sufficiently complex state within the machine could. The line may contain an interesting potential, but it lacks motion, and therefor lacks consciousness. In my opinion, consciousness is a peculiar sort of motion.
The ontologically basic thing is the relationships between different aspects of reality. Logic is a toolset we use to vet our descriptions of those relationships. I don’t see how the toolset is a given, except in the sense that it emerged naturally (in the same way that, say, pizza and politics have).
Pretty much. What the line on A4 lacks is the interaction (motion, action). Perhaps there is some possible, wildly creative structure that remains static but exhibits conscious behavior when randomly sampled from, but that’s a different rabbit hole.
EDIT: Phrasing.