2015-02-04 9:58 GMT+01:00 Quentin Anciaux <[email protected]>: > > > 2015-02-04 9:10 GMT+01:00 meekerdb <[email protected]>: > >> On 2/3/2015 11:46 PM, Quentin Anciaux wrote: >> >> >> >> 2015-02-04 7:43 GMT+01:00 meekerdb <[email protected]>: >> >>> On 2/3/2015 9:12 PM, Jason Resch wrote: >>> >>> Well the question "is something conscious?" is binary, like "is >>>> something alive?". However there is a great spectrum of possible living >>>> entities, and a massive gulf that separates the simplest life forms from >>>> the most complex life forms. I think the same is true of consciousness. The >>>> mars rover might be conscious, but its consciousness might be as simple as >>>> a bacterium's biology is compared to a human's. >>>> >>>> >>>> That seems inconsistent with being "binary", like "being alive". >>>> First, being alive isn't "binary". Are viruses alive? Prions? >>>> Cigarettes? >>>> >>> >>> Any of those things are either alive or they aren't (according to some >>> theory of liveness). >>> >>> >>> So you simply define "alive" to be all or nothing by invoking some >>> "theory of liveness" - however arbitrarily you have to draw the line. Not >>> a very defensible position. >>> >>> >> But wherever is the line... there is a line between dead or alive, if >> there wasn't, then everything is alive... emptying the alive concept... >> same thing for consciousness. >> >> >> There is a line between black and white, if there wasn't then everything >> is black. >> > > But there is a line, there is pure black, and pure white, pure white is > not at all black, and pure black is not at all white... everything in > between is in between, but there is *pure* black and white, so if you're > not pure black, you're not pure black... > > >> Or is everything white? Do you only want to draw lines to define words, >> or do you want use words to discuss concepts? Are viri alive? Are prions >> alive? >> > > Like the example of Jason, there is 0 or positive numbers, no positive > number is null... it's a pure or... you cannot be a something 0, it's > either 0 or bigger... > > Same thing with consciousness, you're either conscious whatever level, or > you're not... > > We can go all the way through stupid example (like the everything is white)... you have a clear path of transformation between a car and a toaster... but there is a line in that transformation where it is no longer a car at all, simply because it can't do what a car does...
but there is in between a car likeness and a toaster likeness, but at the moment this cartoaster thing cannot do what a car does, it's no longer a car... So I agree completely that there are levels of consciousness, as there level of carness, but there is a level (whatever it is) which when you're below it, there is no more consciousness... like when it's 0 it's 0, it's no more positive, whatever word play you want to do. Quentin > Quentin > > >> >> 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/d/optout. >> > > > > -- > All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. (Roy > Batty/Rutger Hauer) > -- All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. (Roy Batty/Rutger Hauer) -- 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/d/optout.
