"Consciousness", like many natural language terms, is extremely polysemous
A formal definition of "reflective consciousness" was given by me in a blog post a few days ago http://goertzel.org/blog/blog.htm -- Ben G On Mon, Feb 18, 2008 at 3:37 PM, John K Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > "Richard Loosemore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > it is exactly the lack of a clear definition > > of what "consciousness" is supposed to be > > And if we did have such a definition of consciousness I don't see how it > would help in the slightest in making an AI. The definition would be made > of words, and every one of those words would have their own definition > also made of words, and every one of those words would have their own > definition also made of words, and [...] > > You get the idea, round and round we go. The thing that gets language > out of this endless loop is examples; we can point to a word and > something in the real world and say "this word means that". > > And I have no difficulty explaining what I mean when my mouth makes > the sound "consciousness"; producing consciousness is, in my opinion > and almost certainly yours, the most importing thing I am doing at this > instant. I have no definition but I know exactly what those words mean > and I'll bet you do too. What more is needed for clear communication? > > John K Clark > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > singularity > Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/11983/=now > RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/11983/ > Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?&; > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > -- Ben Goertzel, PhD CEO, Novamente LLC and Biomind LLC Director of Research, SIAI [EMAIL PROTECTED] "If men cease to believe that they will one day become gods then they will surely become worms." -- Henry Miller ------------------------------------------- singularity Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/11983/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/11983/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=4007604&id_secret=96140713-a54b2b Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
