Sounds (vaguely) similar to Fred Pohl's "A Plague of Pythons".
On 24 February 2014 20:14, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > On 2/23/2014 10:21 PM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > >> On 24 February 2014 16:49, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> On 2/23/2014 9:26 PM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >>> >>>> On 24 February 2014 11:45, David Nyman <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 23 February 2014 17:27, Stathis Papaioannou <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> John Searle in one of his papers proposes that if our brain were being >>>>>> gradually replaced we would find ourselves losing qualia while >>>>>> declaring >>>>>> that everything was normal, and being unable to make any protest to >>>>>> the >>>>>> contrary. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Replaced with what though? I assume he must stipulate non-biological >>>>> components that supposedly replicate brain "function", although I would >>>>> guess that the idea of a substitution level hasn't occurred to him >>>>> explicitly. That said, the idea seems preposterous on its face. >>>>> >>>> Replacement with computer chips, which he agrees is at least >>>> theoretically possible. >>>> >>>> This would imply that we think with something other than our brain, a >>>>>> soul >>>>>> equivalent, and that in certain situations the brain and this soul >>>>>> equivalent can become decoupled. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Yes it would seem to imply that. I'd never realised that Searle would >>>>> infer >>>>> anything like that on the basis of his so-called biological naturalism. >>>>> Mind >>>>> you, since he is at least implicitly a materialist, I never had much >>>>> of a >>>>> clue what he meant in appealing to some unspecified non-functional >>>>> "causal >>>>> power" of the brain to produce consciousness. AFAIK he never elaborated >>>>> this >>>>> beyond a brute stipulation that this is how the brain can bypass his >>>>> no-semantics-from-syntax prohibition (something like the brain produces >>>>> consciousness like the liver produces bile). >>>>> >>>> I found the quote, from Searle, J. 1992 The Rediscovery of Mind >>>> (Cambridge, Mass : The MIT Press, >>>> Bradford Books): >>>> >>>> "As the silicon is progressively implanted into your dwindling brain, >>>> you >>>> find that the area of your conscious experience is shrinking, but that >>>> this >>>> shows no effect on your external behavior. You find, to your total >>>> amazement, that you are indeed losing control of your external behavior. >>>> You find, for example, that when the doctors test your vision, you hear >>>> them say, "We are holding up a red object in front of you; please tell >>>> us >>>> what you see." You want to cry out, "I can't see anything. I'm going >>>> totally >>>> blind." But you hear your voice saying in a way that is completely out >>>> of >>>> your >>>> control, "I see a red object in front of me". >>>> >>> >>> Greg Egan wrote a short story "The Jewel" on this theme. At maturity, >>> before >>> one's brain starts to deteriorate, everyone has their brain replaces by a >>> "jewel" that encodes and functionally replaces their brain but which will >>> not deteriorate with age. Of course, in the story, the subject >>> discovers he >>> is conscious but has no control over his body and he here's himself >>> telling >>> people that he is conscious just as before and there's been no change. >>> So >>> really the story idea is that the original consciousness loses control of >>> the body but continues to perceive and to think a narrative life story >>> which >>> it remembers. Since everyone who has the operation to install a "jewel" >>> reports that it works perfectly, everyone continues to volunteer for the >>> replacement. >>> >>> Brent >>> >> That's possible if the "jewel" is an adjunct rather than a >> replacement, for otherwise what is doing the thinking if the original >> brain is gone? >> > > ?? Per the story, the "jewel" takes over all function, but the brain > remains - just along for the ride as it were. But no one reports this. > It's like an unzombie - a being that acts perfectly normally, but has an > extra (? it's not clear in the story whether the "jewel" is conscious) > consciousness in the sense of an internal narrative. > > Brent > > > >> >> > -- > 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. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- 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. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
