On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 01:02:59PM -0400, John Clark wrote: > On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 , Russell Standish <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> If so and consciousness is a all or nothing matter and is not on a > >> continuum then you should vividly remember the very instant you went to > >> sleep last night. Do you? > >> > > > > > Why? I don't remember every waking moment when I'm fully alert either. > > > > But you have fallen asleep many many thousands of times, in all your life > have you EVERY remembered the exact instant you've passed from > consciousness to unconsciousness? I think you don't remember it because > there is no such instant, it's a continuum.
The last time I had general anaesthetic, I remember the count of the anaesthetist up to 4, but not any number higher than that. I would presume he would have continued counting, until he was sure I was unconscious, though. If someone stood next to my bed counting while I was trying to go to sleep, though, I would probably strangle them! > Are you really trying to make > the case that consciousness is a all or nothing matter that is so simple it > can be completely described with just one bit of information, on or off? > Yes. I don't see how it could be otherwise. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
