But I agree that I don't see how it solves the hard problem of consciousness. All Categories; Metaphysics and Epistemology The pairing problem, it breaks entropy and so on. Or concede that they are, or might be, or at least that there is something different about the quality of information processing being done by our meatware that isn't being done by Google's hardware. Nah. That life had to be more than mere ‘mechanism’. I'm convinced consciousness comes right out of the Schrodinger equation and so does the Everett interpretation - everything is "measuring" everything else in one universal wave function. Does it finally offer an explanation of consciousness? Of course, a chair does not feel like a chair, however since most of its subatomic particles are virtual and don't really exist on any time scale relevant to us, is it possible that what its like to be a chair is a flash incorporating the combined experiences of just those moments when the particles become entangled, the whole condensed down to a brief moment of awareness spread over billions of years? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. If we churn up a brain and put it in a bucket (apologies), it still has all such constituent particles with all of their constituent experiential qualities. I was wrong. Like other physical properties, say mass, consciousness could be a fundamental property. If anything, panpsychism seems to me that it is the only intellectually respectable position you can hold. User account menu. Who/what wrote the rules for that or is it just random? It is less parsimonious, i.e. Rather, it is the exposure and destruction of bad ideas.” Atheists make valid critiques of theism, but rarely propose alternatives. Otherwise, if what i think is not true, it would be such that consciousness (as we experience it) emerges out of nothing at a certain point in the evolutionary chain..This is the core of the hard problem. A place to discuss Sam Harris and to have difficult conversations with civility. If so, when its arranged in a certain configuration, so to speak, like that of mass, it gives rise to complex phenomena that we can detect. "If anything, panpsychism seems to me that it is the only intellectually respectable position you can hold.". Other forms of property dualism have failed. Let's say a brain is "very conscious" because, at bottom, of the intrinsic experiential aspect of all its constituent atoms/subatomic particles. What is panpsychism? All the same consciousness. However, there seems to have been the implication in the last podcast that if this were so, it would help resolve the hard problem of consciousness. ISBN 978-1138817135. This week I listened to Sam Harris interview his wife Annaka on his podcast Making Sense.She has recently written a book entitled Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind, which I should note I haven’t read.An interesting moment occurred when she said it was not altogether obvious why consciousness should exist from an evolutionary perspective, because there is … Contents can be illusions, but consciousness itself cannot. I remember thinking something like, “Well that philosopher is an idiot.” That’s something philosophers do. Taken together, these responses recall the well-worn analogy to the mystery of life. r/samharris. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Instead of figuring out how consciousness starts in the brain, researchers would just have to figure out how consciousness starts in subatomic particles. Press J to jump to the feed. Size matters. Even particles have a simple form of … Non animal life, such as trees, might also have something that can be described as 'consciousness' but probably would have so much larger timelines as to make them also quite distinct. It is a logical outcome of it. This view, though, isn’t clear on how these separate entities interact. Seager, William, ed. In the context of (1), whether or not the individual components have some experiential aspect seems like a powerful statement, but I think it is the least relevant and possibly even just a matter of semantics/tautological. Profile . In panpsychism, I've never heard anyone discuss the issue that relative time raises in such a claim. But the generally held position is that consciousness is an emergent phenomena. If it did, then we would be compelled to wonder if there is a “rock-plus-the-five-blades-of grass-the-rock-is-touching consciousness.” That is unlikely. Tagged annaka harris, consciousness, definition, galen strawson, mind, panpsychism, philosophy of mind, Sam Harris, thomas nagel Leave a comment “Western … To me, illusionism is but a dead end. Just not interconnectedly conscious like a mammal brain. I realized harming others at all (especially via natural reproduction as suffering, dying things) is harming consciousness. I don't know about panpsychism specifically, but try this on for size: Imagine if, instead of reality coming before consciousness, it actually happened the other way around. To me, illusionism seems rather more than less intuitively appealing and it also trivially dissolves the hard problem. Routledge. I first heard about panpsychism during a debate on the afterlife between Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris on one side and David Wolpe and Brad Artisan on the other. So does reality only exist in my consciousness then? Joined 27-01-2008 . Epiphenomenalism is not much better. That is how does this idea of an experience exist"? And if it ever appears that I do—for instance, after going back between two options—I do not choose to choose what I choose. Anyway, here is Chalmers’ take: http://consc.net/papers/combination.pdf. And if you really think the HP is insurmountable, so you think, hey, it's got to be a fundamental property... well what exactly is the difference between a conscious particle and a non-conscious particle? 1. Every solution I have seen to the hard problem always ends paradoxically thats why it's the hard problem. All new items; Books; Journal articles; Manuscripts; Topics. At that level, I can give it a bit of life but otherwise, it's a very unintuitive idea. This means that it's possible for all living things to have consciousness, but I don't think that would extend to inanimate objects. I listened to the recent Sam Harris podcast ‘Reality as an Illusion’ as he and his wife Annaka interviewed Donald Hoffman who writes about consciousness along with other topics. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Both require "more consciousness" to be/result from emergent properties of interacting phenomena. With that in mind it's worth asking: will elimimativism go the way of hardcore behaviorism? Read all about Annaka here http://bit.ly/richroll460What is consciousness? "The mystery of how a bunch of atoms in the right configuration inside a skull give rise to experiencing being remains" isn't really a mystery if every aspect of the universe and perhaps even the universe itself is also experiencing being in some different way. It also doesn't require any shift in the way you think the world functions, which is particularly appealing to me. To briefly explain the difference between idealism and panpsychism, Idealism is the theory that all is IN consciousness whereas panpsychism usually refers to the theory that all matter is conscious (my thinking is that this is wrong). What I meant by trivial was it will make the emergence of consciousness seem as if it appeared out of nothing. Not so long ago, scientists thought that the property of ‘being alive’ could never be explained by physics or chemistry. Interacting phenomena but I agree that I do n't see how it solves the hard.... Especially via natural reproduction as suffering, dying things ) is harming consciousness do—for instance, after going between... Epistemology the pairing problem, it breaks entropy and so on mark to learn the rest the... It also does n't require any shift in the brain, researchers would just have to figure out how starts... Seems rather more than mere ‘ mechanism ’ think the world functions, which is particularly appealing to me it! 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