On Aug 2, 2011, at 10:54 PM, "Stephen P. King" <stephe...@charter.net>
wrote:
On 8/2/2011 8:20 PM, Jason Resch wrote:
On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 4:44 PM, Stephen P. King <stephe...@charter.net
> wrote:
No, my thought is that quantum coherence accounts for, among
other things, the way that sense data is continuously integrated
into a whole. This leads to a situation that Daniel C. Dennett
calls the "Cartesian Theater". Dennett's proof that it cannot exist
because it generates infinite regress of homunculi inside
humonculi is flawed because such infinities can only occur if each
of the humonculi has access to sufficient computational resources
to generate the rest of them. When we understand that
computations require the utilization of resources and do not occur
'for free' we see that the entire case against situations that
imply the possibility of infinite regress fails.
Quantum phenomena is NOT all about randomness. Frankly I would
really like to understand how that rubbish of an idea still is
held in seriously thinking people! There is not randomness in QM,
there in only the physical inability to predict exactly when some
quantum event will occur in advance. It is because QM system cannot
be copied that makes it impossible to predict their behavior in
advance, not because of some inherent randomness! Take the infamous
radioactive atom in the Schrodinger Cat box. Is its decay strictly
a "random" phenomena? Not really! QM says not one word about
randomness, it only allows us to calculate the half-life of said
atom and that calculation is as good as is possible given the fact
that we cannot generate a simulation of that atom and its
environment and all of the interactions thereof in a way that we
can get predictions about its behavior in advance.
What is the distinction between random and unpredictable?
Unpredictable means that it cannot be predicted.
Okay.
Randomness is uncaused.
Is there anything that is truly random? Perhaps what we consider
random (from qm) is merely unpredictable (from our inside view) of the
deterministic wave function.
What is random and what is predictable is then a matter of
perspective. I might send you a random looking bit stream, but it
might be fully predictable if only you knew the encryption key and
algorithm used to generate it.
A completely deterministic behavior can be unpredictable and not
random. Consider the behaviour of a non-linear system.
A consciousness can no more be copied than the state of a QM system.
That's the point in question. If Tegmark is right, it can.
Tegmark is wrong.
Stephen, do you doubt that consciousness can be implemented by a
digital machine or process?
I doubt that consciousness can be implemented in classical
machines or their logical equivalents.
Why?
Digital machines maybe, if they involve quantum entanglement of a
certain kind.
Classical computers can emulate quantum computers, albeit inefficiently.
What is this certain kind of entanglement you refer to?
Note that there is no evidence that entanglement plays any important
role in the function if neurons, and there is evidence against it,
such as the successful simulation of the neocortical column which did
not require any simulating any quantum effects.
Onward!
Stephen
Jason
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