> So let's try it. If I randomly connect my neurons to the neurons in a dog's > brain, then I get a lot of novel sensations that just confuse me. After years > of experiments I learn their meanings. When I taste metal, it means the dog > is scratching it's left ear, and so on. > > Eventually our minds work as one. It's as if I have two bodies, one human and > one dog. It doesn't tell me if the dog is conscious because it feels like > there is only one consciousness connected to both bodies.
But I suspect the interesting part occurs between the above two paragraphs. In the state where it's quite as if a separate system is feeding you sensations, yet not quite as if there is a single mind spanning the human and dog body. There will be an intermediate state where you sense the dog's consciousness subjectively and experientially, in the vein of what Martin Buber called an "I-Thou" experience. And this state will not be remotely so intense an I-Thou experience if the dog is replaced with a toaster... I don't expect you to believe this will happen, given your current state of understanding. But I do expect that if you survive the Singularity, you'll look back at some point and remember this chat and experience a nanosecond of mild amusement that silly Ben was right about this ;) ------------------------------------------ Artificial General Intelligence List: AGI Permalink: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/Ta5ed5d0d0e4de96d-Mdb70bb0cd44e62cb72c47919 Delivery options: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription
