On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 04:40:10AM -0700, Craig Weinberg wrote: > > > On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 3:27:03 AM UTC-4, Russell Standish wrote: > > > > On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 01:02:59PM -0400, John Clark wrote: > > > On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 , Russell Standish > > > <li...@hpcoders.com.au<javascript:>> > > 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. > > > > Sleepwalking? > Hypnosis? > Blackout drunk? > Dementia? > Delirium? > Dreams of waking up? > Seizures? > Dissociative Identity Disorder? > Distraction? > > Certainly the quality of consciousness varies and is associates with the > types of awareness one has and the quality of their integration. The > quality of consciousness at the moment you wake up is not the same that you > have in the middle of the day or struggling to keep your eyes open driving > late at night. Being aware that you are aware should not be conflated with > base level awareness (as we know when we are awakened from a sound sleep by > our awareness of a noise). >
Sure, there are different states of consciousness. And differnt levels of alertness. But in each of those examples, either you are conscious, or not conscious. There is no "in between". -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics hpco...@hpcoders.com.au 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
