How does one post to the IGI list On Tuesday, June 9, 2015, Mark Seveland <[email protected]> wrote:
> No idea. But may I make a suggestion... > As things like this would be great to add to the IGI website, could I > implore you to include the orginal reference or file as an attachment so > that I might have an easier time putting it up on our site? > > Thanks, > Mark > IGI website Administrator > > On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 11:47 AM, Kyle Kidd <[email protected] > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');>> wrote: > >> Where is Matt Mahoney to thoroughly debunk all of this? >> >> On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 7:58 PM, EdFromNH . <[email protected] >> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');>> wrote: >> >>> THE COMPWARENESS THEORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS: >>> >>> HOW OUR BRAINS COMPUTE OUR SOULS: >>> >>> >>> >>> At last, an intuitive, explanatory, scientific >>> >>> theory of consciousness. >>> >>> >>> >>> By >>> >>> Edward Winslow Porter >>> >>> aka >>> >>> waveTuned Ed >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Abstract: >>> >>> >>> >>> The compwareness theory hypothesizes that all the qualities we sense in >>> human conscious awareness are nothing but -- and indeed are -- qualities of >>> awareness inherent in the computation of the brain, qualities of an >>> awareness required by the laws of physics, themselves. The Compwareness >>> theory’s teachings combine and expand on those from other major voices in >>> the study of consciousness like Bernard Baars, Giulio Tononi, Christof >>> Koch, Francis Crick, Gerald Edelman, Patricia Churchland, Max Tegmark, >>> David Chalmers and many others. It also involves ideas from many leaders in >>> AI and cognitive neuroscience. The theory’s main features include its >>> belief that: >>> >>> (a) all of physics, and all computation, requires an awareness -- a >>> proto-consciousness -- in the form of compwareness, that is, the awareness >>> of the information a computation computes required for its outputs to vary >>> as a function of that information; >>> >>> (b) human consciousness is nothing but an extremely special form of such >>> compwareness; >>> >>> (c) many of the alleged special qualities of consciousness are qualities >>> of compwareness of meaning, where “meaning” is defined as experiential >>> associational grounding, that is, temporally-unified, rich, interconnected, >>> grounded complexes of awareness of semantic, sensory, and emotional >>> experiential patterns that are associated with concepts we are consciously >>> aware of; >>> >>> (d) brain synchrony, including theta-gamma phase synchrony, plays a >>> major role in unifying massively parallel compwareness of experiential >>> patterns into complex, unified, relational, and temporally coded senses of >>> awareness of such meaning; >>> >>> (e) consciousness comes in many different dynamically varying degrees >>> and kinds, depending, in part, on the extent to which widespread >>> compwareness is focused by synchrony on the meaning of one or more related >>> concepts; >>> >>> (f) we have the most conscious awareness of that which our brain has >>> the most unified compwareness of; >>> >>> (g) one can best explain the qualities, or "qualia," we experience in >>> our consciousness by studying the qualities of what is aware of what, when, >>> and how, in the dynamic, spreading, recurrent activation of extended >>> pattern awareness complexes in the brain; >>> >>> (h) the 200 trillion synapses, 16 billion neurons, and 160 million >>> cortical mini-columns in the cortex have more than enough resolution in >>> sensory/emotional/semantic hierarchical pattern space to provide >>> compwareness with all the representational richness and qualities we sense >>> in our conscious awareness; >>> >>> (i) that, since qualities of conscious awareness are nothing but >>> qualities of the computational architecture of brain compwareness, the >>> study of consciousness can be guided by predicting and mapping the >>> qualities of one such awareness from the qualities of the other; and >>> >>> (j) that brain science already suggests there are such large complex >>> similarities between consciousness and brain compwareness as to create a >>> substantial Occam’s razor argument that they are, in fact, the same thing. >>> >>> >>> >>> ===================================== >>> >>> >>> >>> Many claim explaining consciousness is Philosophy’s hardest problem. I >>> think I have taken a major step toward solving that problem. I have >>> developed a theory of consciousness called the "Compwareness Theory." It's >>> much more explanatory, rigorous, and intuitive than any other consciousness >>> theory I know — although, of course, it builds substantially on the works >>> of others. >>> >>> >>> >>> It says the awareness — the proto-consciousness — from which human >>> consciousness is woven is not something unknown to physics, as most in the >>> field suggest. Rather it’s something that stares us in the face every time >>> we look at an equation of physics. It’s “computational awareness”. >>> ("Compwareness" for short.) Compwareness is the awareness of the variables >>> and constants of the equations of physics that compute all reality. Such >>> awareness is necessary for reality to compute as a function of those values >>> as demanded by both Newtonian and quantum physics. This compwareness fills >>> the entire universe. It’s arguably a great spirit, of which our bodies and >>> consciousnesses are but a small, interwoven part. >>> >>> >>> >>> But as special, complex, and interconnected as the computation of all >>> reality is, the computation, and thus compwareness, in our brains has >>> special qualities that make our conscious compwareness vastly different >>> than the compwareness in most of the universe. The compwareness theory >>> proposes that human consciousness is nothing but an extremely special form >>> of compwareness computed largely, or entirely, by the brain. >>> >>> >>> >>> In my theory, the famous "hard problem of consciousness" is redefined. >>> It no longer asks what in physics could possibly produce the awareness of >>> consciousness -- since there has to be awareness, in the form of >>> compwareness, of the massively complex and interconnected information >>> computed in our brains. Instead the redefined "hard problem" asks a more >>> narrowly focused and much less metaphysical question. It asks how the >>> brain's compwareness of information computed by the brain could have all of >>> the many miraculous qualities of awareness we sense in our own conscious >>> experience. In other words, how can compwareness explain the qualities, or >>> "qualia", of our conscious experience of, say, the color red; the smell of >>> a rose; the hurt of a pain; or the linguistic, semantic, imaginary, and >>> emotional experiential mix of being swept away when reading a great novel. >>> >>> >>> >>> As mysterious as such qualities are, the compwareness theory provides at >>> least partial explanations for a surprising number of them, and points the >>> way for finding much more complete explanations in the future. Let me >>> discuss just a few of such explanations to give you a feel for the >>> incredible explanatory power of the theory. >>> >>> >>> >>> One important quality of consciousness is its subjectivity. The >>> compwareness theory claims the subjective/objective distinction is one of >>> interconnect bandwidth and point of view (P.O.V., what is aware of what, >>> when, and how). The subjective awareness of consciousness is that of a >>> compwareness having an internal computational bandwidth billions of times >>> more complicated than any description a human mind could model. Its P.O.V. >>> is of massively parallel awarenesses of experiential patterns organized >>> into interactive, associational/generalizational/compositional pattern >>> hierarchies. When measured at the synapse level the cortex has a bandwidth >>> equal to 100 million HDTV screens. Measured by cortical minicolumns it >>> has the resolution of 160 million pixels, where each pixel is a powerful >>> neural net with 100 neurons and compwareness of one million synapses. The >>> thing itself is many orders of magnitude more complex than any description >>> we can ever extract from it, or understand if we ever could – and, thus, it >>> has the qualities of being “subjective”. >>> >>> >>> >>> Another important quality of consciousness is its “aboutness”. Many >>> brain scientists believe much of what we are consciously aware of >>> corresponds to information our brains compute, and, thus, are compware of. >>> This shared “aboutness” includes information defining many, if not all, of >>> the qualities we sense – including qualities of color, shape, sound, smell, >>> objects, actions, thoughts, imaginings, emotions, etc. Brain science would >>> suggest that the computational richness of this correlation of aboutness is >>> in the megabyte to terabyte per second range. This creates a huge, complex >>> correlation between qualities of conscious awareness and compwareness – >>> providing strong Occam’s Razor probabilistic support for the notion that >>> consciousness and certain brain compwareness are, in fact, the same thing >>> -- i.e., If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ( and has million >>> or billions of other similar attributes per second), there is a good chance >>> it *is* a duck. >>> >>> >>> >>> One of the most intellectually challenging qualities of consciousness it >>> is sense of unity. It’s one thing to say the brain might have compwareness >>> of everything we have conscious awareness of – it’s another to answer the >>> question “How could the compwareness of the brain’s billions of separate >>> neurons have the qualities of unity we sense in our consciousness?” >>> >>> >>> >>> Since the compwareness theory claims brain compwareness and >>> consciousness are the same thing, it requires that the unities of >>> consciousness are unities of compwareness. But what are unities? Nothing >>> is totally unified. Virtually all unities are unified properties of >>> separate things. A rock is made up of trillions of molecules and atoms. >>> At the atomic scale these move in different directions at different speeds. >>> But at time and distance scales humans can directly sense, these molecules >>> and atoms move as a unit because of electrostatic forces. Even a black >>> hole is a distributed unity, having an event horizon and gravitational >>> field which move in unison with the black hole. (And some believe the >>> massive plurality of the universe created by our big bang is the inside of >>> a black hole in a parent universe that occurs in a substantially separated >>> space time fabric). Science shows that brain compwareness has many unified >>> properties that correspond to unities we perceive in consciousness, and >>> there is reason to believe that as we learn more about the brain, the >>> mapping between the unities of conscious and computational awareness will >>> be become increasingly tight. >>> >>> >>> >>> For example, our brains is made of billions of neurons that each fire to >>> indicate awareness of a pattern – that is, awareness of the unification of >>> features that *are* that pattern. So brain compwareness is largely >>> compwareness of the unities of patterns -- or at least compwareness of >>> probabilistic belief in such unities. Furthermore, our brain’s neurons are >>> interconnected in ways that can create compwareness of unities of pattern >>> awareness much larger than that which can be represented by a given neuron >>> or a given neural assembly representing a single pattern. This includes >>> synchronized unities both up and down generalizational and compositional >>> pattern hierarchies. These temporal hierarchical unities can be mapped up >>> from sensory data, down from higher level patterns, or both. The brain can >>> also create synchronized unified awareness of associational patterns which >>> represent groups of hierarchical patterns that have a co-occurring or >>> sequential patterns of temporal correlation. >>> >>> >>> >>> The brain’s neurons can store and recall patterns of experience, >>> creating unities of pattern awareness across multiple different time >>> scales. The brain contains billions of these patterns, many of which are >>> reasonably stable across time. This creates the unity of a relatively >>> continuous audience of patterns and memories -- an audience that is the >>> “self”. This “theater of consciousness” is the homunculus that is aware of >>> our sensations, thoughts and feelings. It is self-aware because this >>> “self” is aware of the patterns within it which are activated, and because >>> the recursive spreading activation within its >>> associational-generalizational-compositional pattern space creates >>> awareness of patterns of patterns of patterns.... The brain’s recurrent >>> connections enable large complexes of neurons associated with a given >>> concept to fire in synchrony, enabling large portions of the cortex’s >>> audience of activatable patterns to have awareness of the temporal unity of >>> the complex of pattern awareness associated with that given concept. >>> >>> >>> >>> Furthermore, the brain has mechanisms for tuning substantial portions of >>> the brain’s audience of activatable patterns into the frequency of one or >>> more of such synchronized conceptual complexes, so as to focus the >>> receptivity of the much of the brains’ self, i.e., its audience of pattern >>> compwareness, on them. This creates a massively parallel unified >>> compwareness of such a concept, as represented by its associated complex of >>> activation of many patterns across many levels of hierarchical and >>> associational connection. >>> >>> >>> >>> The compwareness theory defines a concept’s “meaning” as a unified >>> compwareness of such a concepts associated interconnected pattern >>> activation complex. It defines meaning in terms of sensory and emotional >>> experiential associations that provide “grounding.” It proposes that >>> compwareness of such meaning is a major source of many of the seemingly >>> mysterious qualities of consciousness. To understand the qualities of >>> consciousness we need to understand the architectures of such meanings, >>> that is, what patterns of patterns of patterns is there compwareness of, >>> and in what temporal sequencing. This includes trying to better understand >>> the qualities and complexities of the sensory, emotional, and semantic >>> experiential pattern spaces defined by the brain's neural networks, and the >>> qualities of the dynamic, interconnected, focused, multiplexed temporal >>> patterns of compwareness that take place across those spaces. For example, >>> the different qualities that distinguish hierarchical patterns related to >>> vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste, kinesthetic, bodyspace, and emotions >>> are different qualities of representation in the different pattern spaces >>> specific to each such sensory modality. Vision grounds out in a 2D space >>> of color distributions; hearing grounds out in a space largely defined by >>> frequency over time, smell grounds out in a space defined by thousands of >>> different types of chemical sensors, emotions ground out in a space defined >>> by different neuromodulators, hormones, and body states and their effect on >>> many processes in the brain itself -- and so on for each of the brains >>> basic representional modalities. And much of the meanings of higher level >>> patterns mapped into each of these sensory spaces includes groundings that >>> span across multiple such spaces. >>> >>> >>> >>> For example, let us consider our consciousness of meaning within a >>> visual scene. The brain is not only compware of a visual scene as a >>> time-varying spatial distribution of color information from the eyes >>> projected into a 2D visual field. It also has compwareness of multiple >>> hierarchical pattern complexes that are mapped onto that visual field. This >>> includes patterns of lines and shapes mapped into patterns of colors; >>> patterns of objects mapped into patterns of shapes; patterns of motions and >>> actions mapped into patterns of shapes and objects across time; patterns of >>> relationships mapped between objects and/or actions; and patterns in both >>> short- and long-term memory into which patterns mapped onto the visual >>> field are themselves mapped. If the brain’s wavetuning mechanism tune a >>> significant portions of the brain’s audience of neurons into the >>> synchronous firing of one of the pattern complex activations mapped onto >>> objects in the visual field – hundreds of millions or billions of neurons >>> will be tuned into and have a temporally unified compwareness of that >>> object’s complex of hierarchically and associationally connected patterns – >>> and you will have rich conscious compwareness of that patterns meaning in >>> its current context. >>> >>> >>> >>> The focus of such tuning can be rapidly changed. In fact, through >>> theta-gamma phase synchronization we can be made conscious of the >>> interconnected meaning of a rapidly repeating sequence of such concepts. >>> For example, a 5 cycle per second theta brain wave can be phase >>> synchronized with a 40 cycle per second gamma brain wave, so there will be >>> 8 gamma wave cycles per theta wave cycle, much as there are 8 beats per >>> measure in music with an 8/8 time signature. The prefrontal cortex and >>> hippocampus can use such theta-gamma phase synchronization to, in effect, >>> repeatedly activate the meaning of up to 8 different concepts together, >>> each in one of the eight repeated time slots, so as to enable more >>> explicitly grounded compwareness of concepts which involve relationships >>> between multiple different sub-concepts. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ================================ >>> >>> >>> >>> This is far from a complete explanation of my current understanding of >>> the compwareness theory. I currently have many more ideas about >>> consciousness and other high level functions of the brain. But before I >>> spend much more time working on this theory by myself I would like to have >>> discussions on the web, by phone, or in person with others who think they >>> have something to add to, subtract from, change, challenge, or negate in >>> the theory. In particular, I look forward to discussions with people who >>> have expertise in various areas of brain science, including knowledge of >>> the brain’s connectome, synchronization, basil ganglia, cerebellum, >>> thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, mammillary bodies, >>> brainstem, and the cognitive function of various neurotransmitters and >>> neuromodulators. I am interested in talking with people with knowledge of >>> artificial intelligence, as it applies to the brain. And I am interested >>> in talking with people with knowledge of quantum mechanics, about what, if >>> any, role quantum levels of description might play in helping the >>> compwareness theory explain the qualities of human conscious experience. >>> >>> >>> >>> If you are interested in learning about or discussing any of these >>> subjects please email me at [email protected] >>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');>. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> >>> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/12578217-f409cecc> | >>> Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription >>> <http://www.listbox.com> >>> >> >> *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> >> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/27079473-66e47b26> | >> Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription >> <http://www.listbox.com> >> > > > > -- > Regards, > Mark Seveland > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/8630185-a57a74e1> | Modify > <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> > Your Subscription <http://www.listbox.com> > ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
