Why consciousness is software, and software is spirit | Joscha Bach | FULL INTERVIEW

00:20:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E361FZ_50oo

Resumen

TLDRIn this video, a consciousness researcher discusses the nature of consciousness, its importance in understanding artificial intelligence, and the philosophical implications of how it connects to reality. They define consciousness as an immediate awareness of content and suggest it functions as a learning algorithm that promotes coherence in thought. The researcher challenges the notion that consciousness is a complex pinnacle of development by asserting that even infants exhibit consciousness. The dialogue explores the parallels between consciousness and software, asserting that consciousness, while existing in a physical world, operates as a causal pattern similar to how software functions on computer hardware. The talk ultimately questions the nature of free will, the role of consciousness in perceiving reality, and whether consciousness can be quantitatively understood.

Para llevar

  • 🧠 Consciousness is an immediate awareness of existence.
  • 💻 Consciousness can be compared to software functioning on hardware.
  • 🐾 Animals may possess some form of consciousness.
  • 🆕 Free will is seen as a representation of commitment to decisions.
  • 📊 Consciousness is a learning algorithm that maximizes coherence.

Cronología

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The discussion begins with exploring consciousness, particularly how it relates to artificial intelligence, as the speaker works on a Consciousness Research Institute. They emphasize that consciousness involves self-awareness and the immediacy of perception, asserting that it helps create coherence in thoughts and experiences. Consciousness is proposed to be a learning algorithm that prioritizes coherence over simply minimizing prediction error, suggesting that it underpins consistent perception in our minds.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker argues against the idea that consciousness is a high-level complexity exclusive to humans. Instead, they propose that consciousness is a prerequisite for mental development seen in infants and animals, creating a notion that it may be simpler than assumed. They suggest that animals exhibit a degree of awareness about their existence, prompting a deeper inquiry into whether insects and other creatures might possess forms of consciousness.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Transitioning to a discussion on the philosophy of consciousness, the speaker contends that every scientific theory needs to account for consciousness as an aspect of reality. They posit that the mind can be seen as a pattern within physical reality, similar to software, interacting with hardware. This leads to examining whether consciousness itself is physical, suggesting that while the brain is a physical entity, consciousness operates as a software-like structure, requiring further exploration of the relationship between consciousness and physicalism.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:20

    The conversation culminates in the challenge of defining and understanding consciousness and free will. The speaker reflects on consciousness as a subjective experience and the perception of free will as an important psychological construct rather than a physically deterministic attribute. They argue for the necessity of representation and abstraction in consciousness, positing that understanding consciousness could bridge gaps between philosophy and mathematics, ultimately highlighting that consciousness forms the basis for knowledge.

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Vídeo de preguntas y respuestas

  • What is the definition of consciousness according to the researcher?

    Consciousness is defined as a second-order perception, where one is aware that there is content, and it is always occurring in the present.

  • How does the researcher relate consciousness to artificial intelligence?

    The researcher suggests that consciousness acts as a learning algorithm that maximizes coherence, which is essential for understanding and interacting with the world.

  • Do animals possess consciousness?

    The researcher argues that many animals are aware of their awareness, suggesting that consciousness is not unique to humans.

  • What is the relationship between consciousness and decision-making?

    Free will is described as a psychological phenomenon, representing a commitment by one's cognitive architecture to make decisions, despite being predictable from another perspective.

  • Is consciousness physical or non-physical?

    The researcher views consciousness as a pattern within the physical reality, akin to software operating on hardware.

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Subtítulos
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Desplazamiento automático:
  • 00:00:00
    it's not an analogy it's literally
  • 00:00:01
    correct okay so it's struggling I'm
  • 00:00:04
    struggling with software is basically if
  • 00:00:06
    you think what software is if you are
  • 00:00:08
    interacting with computers it is a
  • 00:00:10
    disembodied caal pattern right it's very
  • 00:00:12
    much a
  • 00:00:14
    [Music]
  • 00:00:19
    spirit gra you're back welcome to how
  • 00:00:21
    like gets in Festival thanks um so
  • 00:00:23
    you're currently comperative scientist
  • 00:00:25
    at liquid AI that correct yes I have uh
  • 00:00:29
    liquid AI with strategy oh and you're
  • 00:00:31
    setting up a Consciousness Research
  • 00:00:33
    Institute yeah I'm interested in closing
  • 00:00:36
    the Gap but what one we currently
  • 00:00:38
    understand in machine learning and
  • 00:00:39
    artificial intelligence and how minds
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    work and how to understand get how to
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    get closer to the vein which our mind
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    works I mean part of me does doesn't
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    like when people ask people to define
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    consciousness because part of it feels
  • 00:00:53
    like the closest thing to us but how are
  • 00:00:55
    you defining
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    Consciousness experientially when I
  • 00:00:58
    pointed it I think there two aspects
  • 00:01:01
    that fall out and one is it's a second
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    order perception that B it's not just
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    that there's content but that I'm aware
  • 00:01:08
    that there is content the second order
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    perception is important it's not
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    metacognition because it's perceptual
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    it's more immediate than the reflexive
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    cognition and the other aspect is that
  • 00:01:18
    Consciousness is always happening now it
  • 00:01:20
    seems to create this bubble of nness
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    that we inhabit and they suspect that
  • 00:01:25
    Consciousness is basically an operator
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    that our mind is discovering that
  • 00:01:29
    increases coherence
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    and by increasing coherence by making
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    more statements models and so on
  • 00:01:34
    simultaneously True by creating a
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    consensus between all the different
  • 00:01:37
    context of our working memory we create
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    an area in the mind that is without
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    contradictions and we can have
  • 00:01:44
    contradictions in our working memory and
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    so on but we can never have a perception
  • 00:01:48
    that contradicts itself and then so
  • 00:01:51
    Consciousness seems to be this principle
  • 00:01:52
    and I suspect that it's a learning
  • 00:01:54
    algorithm it's a learning algorithm that
  • 00:01:56
    is not based on minimizing a prediction
  • 00:01:58
    error but on maximizing coherence on
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    maximizing this area in which we don't
  • 00:02:02
    have contradictions in which we can
  • 00:02:03
    predict and explain things tricks of the
  • 00:02:05
    eye illusions do they not kind of count
  • 00:02:07
    as contradictions no I think that uh
  • 00:02:10
    When We are perceiving the world we have
  • 00:02:12
    a model that is not probabilistic but
  • 00:02:15
    possibilistic right you should be able
  • 00:02:17
    to recognize a tiger gun going after you
  • 00:02:19
    even if tigers at the festival like this
  • 00:02:21
    are very improbable but because they're
  • 00:02:23
    are physically possible and because they
  • 00:02:25
    fit in our perception we should be able
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    to recognize them this makes the search
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    space of possible representations
  • 00:02:31
    extremely large so for our mind to
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    converge onto something that is
  • 00:02:35
    conformant with what we perceive it
  • 00:02:37
    learns bias it it learns a way to
  • 00:02:39
    interpret the um what we are seeing in a
  • 00:02:42
    probabilistic fashion first to get to
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    the right explanation and these
  • 00:02:47
    probabilistic biases that we have on top
  • 00:02:50
    of our perception shift us into thinking
  • 00:02:52
    that an angle is a right angle we
  • 00:02:54
    because we've seen so many right angles
  • 00:02:56
    um that um certain objects are in front
  • 00:02:59
    of other objects where they might not be
  • 00:03:01
    and on average uh this is correct and
  • 00:03:03
    basic you converge much much faster but
  • 00:03:06
    in edge cases it leads to wrong
  • 00:03:07
    interpretations and most of the optical
  • 00:03:09
    illusions that we perceive are result of
  • 00:03:11
    that that basically our perceptual
  • 00:03:13
    system is biased towards certain
  • 00:03:15
    perceptions that eventually we have to
  • 00:03:17
    remedy and sometimes it's difficult to
  • 00:03:18
    find a solution that's like a puzzle and
  • 00:03:21
    yet when we look at this we will always
  • 00:03:22
    see that there are shapes and so on we
  • 00:03:24
    see that how these shapes are relating
  • 00:03:26
    every pixel that we see basically can be
  • 00:03:28
    attributed to one object and all the
  • 00:03:30
    objects can be attributed to being part
  • 00:03:32
    of a scene that we inhabit okay so
  • 00:03:34
    Consciousness is trying to make the
  • 00:03:37
    world coherent uh it's always now and
  • 00:03:40
    it's without contradictions it also has
  • 00:03:41
    a self reflexivity to it you said um do
  • 00:03:44
    animals have that self reflexivity
  • 00:03:46
    because self-consciousness seems uh well
  • 00:03:48
    some people argue unique to humans but
  • 00:03:50
    to animals I think there this little bit
  • 00:03:52
    of human vanity to think that
  • 00:03:53
    Consciousness is some super complicated
  • 00:03:55
    in the Pinnacle of mental development
  • 00:03:57
    but we observe that not only no priz
  • 00:04:00
    winners have Consciousness after they
  • 00:04:02
    reach their Peak but it the infants have
  • 00:04:04
    it already and they become conscious
  • 00:04:06
    before they can do anything else and if
  • 00:04:08
    you don't gain we gain gain
  • 00:04:10
    Consciousness at the beginning of our
  • 00:04:11
    life you remain vegetables it's so it
  • 00:04:14
    seems to be a prerequisite for mental
  • 00:04:15
    development not the Pinnacle of it and
  • 00:04:18
    uh if Consciousness is so simple that
  • 00:04:20
    infants can have it then uh it's
  • 00:04:23
    ridiculous to say that cats don't have
  • 00:04:24
    it right and also when you are
  • 00:04:26
    interacting with a cat or with a dog or
  • 00:04:28
    with a bird or a mouse you notice that
  • 00:04:30
    they are at some level aware of their
  • 00:04:32
    awareness okay so you think animals are
  • 00:04:34
    aware that they're aware I think it's
  • 00:04:36
    almost ridiculous to say that they're
  • 00:04:38
    not the more interesting question is are
  • 00:04:40
    insects conscious right so basically is
  • 00:04:43
    this if Consciousness is a training
  • 00:04:44
    algorithm that is the simple training
  • 00:04:46
    algorithm that nature has discovered for
  • 00:04:47
    a self organizing system like our
  • 00:04:49
    nervous system because we don't see any
  • 00:04:51
    humans that has running anything simpler
  • 00:04:53
    than Consciousness to learn right it
  • 00:04:54
    seems to be the simple thing that nature
  • 00:04:56
    came up with and it is this prerequisite
  • 00:04:58
    for learning maybe it also works on
  • 00:05:00
    insects I don't know that but um I um
  • 00:05:03
    I'm reluctant to say it's clearly not
  • 00:05:05
    are you a physicalist without
  • 00:05:06
    Consciousness then yeah I think that
  • 00:05:08
    every theory that we are making about
  • 00:05:11
    reality has to account for the fact that
  • 00:05:13
    the experiment of physicists work the
  • 00:05:15
    standard model seems to be correct to
  • 00:05:16
    many decimal digits and even though it's
  • 00:05:18
    incomplete it describes in the energy
  • 00:05:20
    regime that we live in all the
  • 00:05:22
    information conservation so there
  • 00:05:23
    doesn't seem to be any kind of hidden
  • 00:05:25
    back channel to influence our reality
  • 00:05:27
    without disproving a majority of uh the
  • 00:05:30
    scientific experiments that physicists
  • 00:05:32
    have done in the last 100 years and
  • 00:05:34
    that's why I suspect that every theory
  • 00:05:36
    that tries to explain Consciousness has
  • 00:05:38
    to account for the fact that uh the
  • 00:05:40
    theories of physicist seem to be largely
  • 00:05:41
    correct correct by what measure surely
  • 00:05:44
    we haven't kind of reached the end of
  • 00:05:45
    physics so surely our physics is still
  • 00:05:47
    wrong in some way and so our current
  • 00:05:49
    phys physical theories are not true um
  • 00:05:52
    so I mean how how does that if something
  • 00:05:54
    wants to influence the physical world
  • 00:05:56
    world it needs to exert some kind of
  • 00:05:58
    effect on the physical world does the
  • 00:06:00
    Mind do that does Consciousness do it
  • 00:06:02
    does that but it doesn't do this by
  • 00:06:03
    non-physical means I think that the mind
  • 00:06:06
    is a pattern in the physical reality
  • 00:06:08
    it's a caal pattern that is self-
  • 00:06:10
    reinforcing and we we know uh these
  • 00:06:13
    causal patterns in other contexts we
  • 00:06:15
    call them software the software is
  • 00:06:17
    disembodied but it's still interacting
  • 00:06:20
    with physics and there are large parts
  • 00:06:22
    of the physical world that we cannot
  • 00:06:23
    explain if you do not assume the
  • 00:06:25
    existence of software if you look at
  • 00:06:27
    your phone for instance the software
  • 00:06:29
    that is running on it doesn't really
  • 00:06:30
    care about how many transistors are
  • 00:06:32
    there and how much memory you have in
  • 00:06:33
    there uh but uh it is implemented on the
  • 00:06:36
    activation states of the transistors and
  • 00:06:39
    so there's this interaction between
  • 00:06:40
    hardware and software where the hardware
  • 00:06:41
    is providing the mechanism and the
  • 00:06:43
    software is the pattern that actually
  • 00:06:44
    matters the actual invariance that they
  • 00:06:46
    care about that software exists in I
  • 00:06:49
    mean I'm not a computer scientist exists
  • 00:06:51
    in data centers surely it's not still
  • 00:06:54
    physical and in and Consciousness is
  • 00:06:56
    consciousness physical I I can't it's
  • 00:06:58
    physical that's software is but the
  • 00:07:00
    Consciousness that we have there's a big
  • 00:07:02
    difference between the software that we
  • 00:07:03
    are writing on computers it's self
  • 00:07:05
    organizing it needs to be able to
  • 00:07:07
    convince the cells to run it and uh
  • 00:07:10
    these cells are little um the neurons in
  • 00:07:12
    your brain little single- cell animals
  • 00:07:14
    that try to survive and that serve their
  • 00:07:16
    own interests and if you want to run on
  • 00:07:18
    them you need to convince them to run
  • 00:07:21
    you so they you need to provide some
  • 00:07:22
    benefit and you are some software that
  • 00:07:24
    is basically possessing groups of
  • 00:07:26
    neurons and uh you do this by training
  • 00:07:29
    the neurons to run you so there needs to
  • 00:07:31
    be some kind of seat that enables this
  • 00:07:33
    kind of entraining of yourself something
  • 00:07:35
    that is able to colonize the brain turns
  • 00:07:37
    it into a mind and inside of that mind
  • 00:07:39
    which is like a protocol layer generate
  • 00:07:41
    a game engine that is giving you a
  • 00:07:43
    simulation of a physical Universe in
  • 00:07:45
    which you have sounds colors people's
  • 00:07:46
    emotions the interactions a model of
  • 00:07:48
    yourself and at some point this
  • 00:07:50
    conscious perspective is relocating into
  • 00:07:52
    this Nexus of the personal self and you
  • 00:07:54
    think of yourself as a human being you
  • 00:07:56
    use ey to refer to yourself and this
  • 00:07:59
    conscious
  • 00:08:00
    uh creator of your mental contents that
  • 00:08:02
    is dreaming you thinks that it's no
  • 00:08:04
    longer the dreamer but it's a person
  • 00:08:05
    inside of that dream and this is our
  • 00:08:07
    normal everyday experience so the brain
  • 00:08:09
    is Hardware Consciousness is software I
  • 00:08:12
    I'm struggling with the analogy somewhat
  • 00:08:14
    um of it's not an analogy it's literally
  • 00:08:16
    correct okay so it's software struggling
  • 00:08:18
    I'm struggling with the software but
  • 00:08:20
    software is basically if you think what
  • 00:08:21
    software is if you are interacting with
  • 00:08:23
    computers it is a disembodied Cal
  • 00:08:26
    pattern right it's very much a spirit
  • 00:08:28
    only the software that the building is
  • 00:08:30
    not self-organizing it's constructed by
  • 00:08:31
    humans and it works because we force the
  • 00:08:33
    hardware to enact it we make it so
  • 00:08:35
    deterministic that the hardware has no
  • 00:08:37
    choice but yourselves at some level have
  • 00:08:39
    a choice in the same way as the group of
  • 00:08:41
    people has a choice to R religion or not
  • 00:08:43
    and so you need to convince all the
  • 00:08:45
    individuals to believe in the shared
  • 00:08:47
    Spirit uh or of an organization of a
  • 00:08:49
    nation state of a family of a
  • 00:08:51
    relationship or of a religion and in the
  • 00:08:54
    same way you need to convince yourselves
  • 00:08:56
    to believe in you is software I'm still
  • 00:08:58
    struggling is software physical I can't
  • 00:09:01
    see your Consciousness right now um
  • 00:09:03
    software a pattern patterns again feel
  • 00:09:05
    physical uh to me and this seems to be
  • 00:09:08
    something completely non-physical
  • 00:09:10
    non-observable an example that you might
  • 00:09:12
    be more familiar with let's take money
  • 00:09:14
    right money is clearly not physical and
  • 00:09:16
    money on the other hand is real it's
  • 00:09:18
    implemented in the world there are L RAR
  • 00:09:20
    parts of the world that make no sense if
  • 00:09:21
    you do not assume the existence of money
  • 00:09:24
    because many others do it too and the
  • 00:09:25
    money is not just an imagination that
  • 00:09:27
    you're having but there are Bank notes
  • 00:09:29
    which are P of paper with ink on them
  • 00:09:31
    but you don't care really about the
  • 00:09:32
    fibers of the paper you don't care about
  • 00:09:34
    the type of ink and so on there are bank
  • 00:09:36
    accounts that are had in computers that
  • 00:09:37
    hold all these numbers and so money is a
  • 00:09:39
    causal pattern it's a software that we
  • 00:09:41
    have implemented that runs on part of
  • 00:09:43
    the world and provides some of its
  • 00:09:44
    causal structure and I think that
  • 00:09:46
    software is all in this category it's
  • 00:09:48
    basically um law like structure that
  • 00:09:50
    only emerges through course graining
  • 00:09:52
    when you look at the world at a certain
  • 00:09:54
    level of abstraction when you project it
  • 00:09:55
    into some conceptual pattern but these
  • 00:09:58
    conceptual patterns eles can be causal
  • 00:10:00
    right your mind doesn't care about an
  • 00:10:02
    individual neuron dies it can recruit a
  • 00:10:04
    new neuron and train it to do the same
  • 00:10:05
    function I'm hearing that partly that
  • 00:10:08
    Consciousness is an abstraction or part
  • 00:10:11
    of abstraction and part of me wants to
  • 00:10:13
    say that Consciousness is the most real
  • 00:10:15
    thing it doesn't doesn't feel like an
  • 00:10:16
    abstraction and Mathematics feels like
  • 00:10:18
    the abstraction but Consciousness is the
  • 00:10:20
    only thing that can create feeling right
  • 00:10:21
    physics cannot you cannot be conscious
  • 00:10:23
    in the physical Universe the physical
  • 00:10:25
    universe is some VI mathematical object
  • 00:10:27
    that is currently described by quantum
  • 00:10:29
    mechanics and so on and it doesn't feel
  • 00:10:31
    like anything the physics as it's being
  • 00:10:33
    described is not this world with stuff
  • 00:10:35
    in space that you can touch that is a
  • 00:10:37
    simulation in your mind that is your
  • 00:10:39
    brain produces to explain Sensi data
  • 00:10:42
    physics is a parent universe that nobody
  • 00:10:44
    has ever visited and that we are making
  • 00:10:46
    Arcane theories about right it's not the
  • 00:10:48
    real world in a sense the real world is
  • 00:10:50
    the one that we experience but the sense
  • 00:10:52
    of realness is a TR and it's a trance
  • 00:10:54
    that you can break you can test this you
  • 00:10:56
    can deconstruct your qualia you can
  • 00:10:58
    notice that they're just representing
  • 00:10:59
    you can get to a state where you realize
  • 00:11:01
    that your personal self is just a
  • 00:11:03
    representation that you can deconstruct
  • 00:11:04
    and no longer identified with the
  • 00:11:06
    mystical experience I would call that
  • 00:11:08
    personally yeah yeah sometimes I don't
  • 00:11:10
    know what the mystical experience is
  • 00:11:12
    because the boundaries of this term are
  • 00:11:14
    very unclear William James kind of no
  • 00:11:16
    ethic experience loss of the self um
  • 00:11:19
    kind of Beyond contradictions as you
  • 00:11:22
    were saying before great white light
  • 00:11:24
    that type of thing that those type of
  • 00:11:25
    phenomena that sounds like what you're
  • 00:11:27
    was talking about deconstructing
  • 00:11:30
    but uh I'm a computer scientist and so
  • 00:11:32
    these terms do not mean very much to me
  • 00:11:34
    because if I I only understand what I
  • 00:11:36
    can Implement and this points to a large
  • 00:11:39
    problem in philosophy there are two
  • 00:11:41
    types of languages in a way the
  • 00:11:43
    mathematical languages which come from
  • 00:11:44
    the ground up and where every single
  • 00:11:47
    token every word uh every symbol that
  • 00:11:49
    you're defining has a clear meaning and
  • 00:11:51
    you try to build out these meanings from
  • 00:11:52
    the ground app so you can determine
  • 00:11:54
    what's Pro and false and in philosophy
  • 00:11:56
    you try to talk about our exens reality
  • 00:11:59
    and the world that we are in and it's
  • 00:12:01
    very difficult for those two areas to
  • 00:12:03
    meet the mathematical languages are so
  • 00:12:05
    simple that they cannot actually talk
  • 00:12:06
    about the real world if you want to use
  • 00:12:08
    mathematics to talk about the real world
  • 00:12:09
    you have to simplify the world so much
  • 00:12:11
    that it fits into these mathematical
  • 00:12:13
    abstractions on the other hand it's very
  • 00:12:15
    difficult to say true things in
  • 00:12:16
    philosophy because it's very hard to
  • 00:12:18
    Define your terms so well that they
  • 00:12:20
    actually refer to meaningful structure
  • 00:12:22
    that pans out and to me this idea of
  • 00:12:25
    making philosophy and Mathematics meet
  • 00:12:27
    that you can basically mathematize your
  • 00:12:29
    philosophical idea requires that we are
  • 00:12:31
    mathematizing this intermediator the
  • 00:12:33
    human mind right so we basically need to
  • 00:12:35
    mathematize human mind we need to turn
  • 00:12:37
    it into a structure we fully know what
  • 00:12:39
    operations it performs to do philosophy
  • 00:12:41
    so these terms can at some point meet
  • 00:12:44
    and I think that the human mind itself
  • 00:12:45
    is limited in our ability to understand
  • 00:12:47
    because it's quite mushy right we have
  • 00:12:49
    this vague reference and they are
  • 00:12:51
    grounded in perceptual constructs that
  • 00:12:53
    we largely only know as a pattern
  • 00:12:55
    matching and not as a deep understanding
  • 00:12:58
    so I a lot of discussions with
  • 00:13:00
    philosophers are frustrating who say
  • 00:13:02
    machines cannot understand something and
  • 00:13:04
    then you ask them what understanding is
  • 00:13:05
    and they don't understand what
  • 00:13:07
    understanding is they just have this
  • 00:13:08
    very weird pattern matching and this
  • 00:13:10
    pattern matching is not good enough to
  • 00:13:11
    tell them if the machines understand
  • 00:13:13
    something or don't I mean I'm struggling
  • 00:13:15
    with the uh mathematization of
  • 00:13:17
    Consciousness um because it seems to me
  • 00:13:19
    that no number of zeros and ones that
  • 00:13:20
    you put together will ever no equation
  • 00:13:23
    will spit out Consciousness on the other
  • 00:13:24
    end and if it does how would you know
  • 00:13:26
    that uh it's not necessarily about zeros
  • 00:13:29
    and ones it's about um finding a
  • 00:13:32
    representation in uh in which you can
  • 00:13:34
    describe arbitrary systems and um the
  • 00:13:37
    premise of computer science in a way
  • 00:13:39
    this also experimentally quite well
  • 00:13:42
    validated is that we can describe any
  • 00:13:44
    function using State Transitions and we
  • 00:13:46
    can describe all these State transitions
  • 00:13:49
    um using computational operators so
  • 00:13:51
    basically looking at discernable
  • 00:13:53
    differences and there's a finite
  • 00:13:55
    resolution to all the discernable
  • 00:13:56
    differences for them to matter and we
  • 00:13:58
    can use these trans positions between
  • 00:14:00
    sets of discernable differences to
  • 00:14:01
    describe arbitrary behavior and if you
  • 00:14:04
    agree that Consciousness is a behavior
  • 00:14:05
    of some kind then it follows that be
  • 00:14:07
    able to describe it in such languages I
  • 00:14:09
    definit think I agree with that uh the
  • 00:14:11
    Consciousness is a behavior of some kind
  • 00:14:13
    what do you think it is I think it's um
  • 00:14:15
    I think it's awareness as you said um
  • 00:14:18
    and I think it's it's my awareness from
  • 00:14:20
    the inside I describe it it's what it's
  • 00:14:23
    like to be me yes and so my answer to
  • 00:14:26
    this is um you do not actually exist you
  • 00:14:29
    exist as if right you don't exist in
  • 00:14:30
    physics the neurons themselves don't
  • 00:14:32
    feel anything the brain doesn't feel
  • 00:14:34
    anything because they physical
  • 00:14:35
    mechanisms but for all these neurons and
  • 00:14:37
    cells in your body it would be super
  • 00:14:39
    useful to know what it would be like to
  • 00:14:41
    be an organism to be a person in a
  • 00:14:42
    social environment to be somebody who is
  • 00:14:44
    hungry who is in love who cares about
  • 00:14:46
    things who experiences things in real
  • 00:14:48
    time and because they don't have that
  • 00:14:51
    they make a simulation of what that
  • 00:14:52
    would be like and that simulation the
  • 00:14:54
    output of that simulation is being used
  • 00:14:56
    to drive the organism and you are that
  • 00:14:58
    simulation you exist as if you are a
  • 00:15:00
    simulated being you are existing only in
  • 00:15:02
    the dream not in physics and this is a
  • 00:15:05
    big confusion because we think that this
  • 00:15:07
    is physics right but it's also it's
  • 00:15:09
    another aspect of the dream and so
  • 00:15:11
    you're part of that dream of a world
  • 00:15:13
    with a person inside and that's I think
  • 00:15:15
    what makes it so confusing but I think
  • 00:15:17
    we are as real as a character in a novel
  • 00:15:19
    and we have these emotions and feelings
  • 00:15:21
    and awareness because the author of the
  • 00:15:22
    novel our brain a mechanism writes it
  • 00:15:25
    into the story I mean I I would agree
  • 00:15:27
    that the self is an illusion the self is
  • 00:15:29
    not an object but I think Consciousness
  • 00:15:31
    uh is not an illusion Consciousness is
  • 00:15:33
    the uh most certainty we have kind of
  • 00:15:35
    returning to dayap I mean I think
  • 00:15:37
    ontology is IND is impossible and if
  • 00:15:40
    you're if you kind of kind of trying to
  • 00:15:42
    reach through the world to see what it's
  • 00:15:43
    like it's a dream but I mean I'm
  • 00:15:46
    wondering how how you therefore know
  • 00:15:48
    it's a dream if you're part of the dream
  • 00:15:50
    I think often when people say illusion
  • 00:15:52
    what they mean is a construction and uh
  • 00:15:54
    so I'm personally also completely agree
  • 00:15:57
    with Keith Frankish uh ter techology in
  • 00:15:59
    illusionism but um because I think it's
  • 00:16:02
    a construct Consciousness and it's
  • 00:16:04
    partially it's simulated which means you
  • 00:16:06
    have uh Cal structure that is modeling a
  • 00:16:09
    domain on a different Cal substrate in
  • 00:16:11
    the similar way as a computer game is
  • 00:16:13
    giving you a model of what it would be
  • 00:16:14
    like to shoot a gun in the real world
  • 00:16:16
    but it's not doing this by actually
  • 00:16:17
    moving Elementary particles around or
  • 00:16:19
    simulations of the elementary particles
  • 00:16:21
    but it's doing a high level simulation
  • 00:16:23
    it allows you to constantly interact
  • 00:16:24
    with the game in a similar way as you
  • 00:16:26
    would do with the real world simum is
  • 00:16:28
    more like a a movie right it produces a
  • 00:16:30
    series of the observables but there is
  • 00:16:32
    no way for you to interact with the
  • 00:16:33
    movie because it doesn't actually have a
  • 00:16:34
    caal structure and I suspect that our
  • 00:16:37
    mental contents our experience of being
  • 00:16:39
    Consciousness conscious is partially an
  • 00:16:42
    simulation and partially a
  • 00:16:44
    simulacron what you mean by S it just
  • 00:16:46
    means it produces a series of
  • 00:16:47
    observables that give you the uh
  • 00:16:49
    impression that something happened in a
  • 00:16:50
    particular way and that it was a cause a
  • 00:16:52
    mechanism that you're getting but it's
  • 00:16:54
    not I can buy that maybe Free Will is an
  • 00:16:56
    illusion I'm I'm wondering about this
  • 00:16:59
    that is free will is actually it was
  • 00:17:01
    never a physical thing that is the
  • 00:17:03
    confusion Free Will is psychological
  • 00:17:05
    phenomenon and it's will is the
  • 00:17:08
    psychological representation of a
  • 00:17:10
    commitment of your cognitive
  • 00:17:12
    architecture to perform a certain thing
  • 00:17:14
    and uh Free Will is the representation
  • 00:17:16
    that you're making a decision for the
  • 00:17:17
    first time which means you at the edge
  • 00:17:19
    of uncertainty you cannot predict your
  • 00:17:21
    own decision and uh it's a relative
  • 00:17:23
    thing it really depends on that factor
  • 00:17:25
    imagine you're looking at your child and
  • 00:17:27
    you know exactly what the child is going
  • 00:17:28
    to to do but the child doesn't know it
  • 00:17:30
    yet and so from your perspective the
  • 00:17:32
    child doesn't have Free Will from its
  • 00:17:33
    own it does or you're a stage musician
  • 00:17:35
    you get people on stage you've done this
  • 00:17:37
    trick few hundred times you know exactly
  • 00:17:39
    what they're going to do for them it's
  • 00:17:40
    mindblowing that you were able to
  • 00:17:42
    predict that and so from your
  • 00:17:43
    perspective they don't have Free Will
  • 00:17:45
    from their perspective they're making
  • 00:17:46
    the decision for the first time and they
  • 00:17:47
    do have free will and so free will is
  • 00:17:49
    that representation and that it's an
  • 00:17:51
    important representation to have and
  • 00:17:53
    it's a really important psychological
  • 00:17:55
    phenomenon behalf but a lot of confusion
  • 00:17:57
    in philosophy is caused by the inability
  • 00:18:00
    to distinguish psychological phenomena
  • 00:18:02
    from physical or ontological ones
  • 00:18:04
    Consciousness is psychological phenomena
  • 00:18:06
    not that physical one I'm wondering
  • 00:18:07
    about the epistemological versus the
  • 00:18:09
    anthological because from from my point
  • 00:18:12
    of view I think Consciousness is the
  • 00:18:14
    fundamental thing bya which we know
  • 00:18:16
    everything we don't we don't know
  • 00:18:17
    anything about uh maths or computer
  • 00:18:20
    programs uh when we're asleep uh so
  • 00:18:24
    Consciousness any knowledge requires
  • 00:18:25
    Consciousness and so it feels like
  • 00:18:27
    that's the epistemological St starting
  • 00:18:29
    point for ontology to take place but it
  • 00:18:31
    sounds like you you are arguing that the
  • 00:18:33
    maps and the computer code is the stting
  • 00:18:36
    point yes uh but we we have to get there
  • 00:18:38
    because uh in order to discover these
  • 00:18:41
    languages we have to think about the uh
  • 00:18:43
    nature of representation and that's
  • 00:18:45
    itself a mathematical problem when we
  • 00:18:47
    are thinking something when we observing
  • 00:18:49
    something when we are reasoning when we
  • 00:18:51
    interacting with each other we always
  • 00:18:52
    have to use representations which are
  • 00:18:54
    caal patterns that allow us to direct
  • 00:18:56
    behavior and we can mathematically
  • 00:18:59
    uh infer the limits of representations
  • 00:19:02
    and the ways in which representations
  • 00:19:03
    are working which I think are is the
  • 00:19:05
    greatest philosophical Pro that be made
  • 00:19:07
    in the last century and uh Consciousness
  • 00:19:10
    itself is not a certainty
  • 00:19:12
    epistemologically it's the impression
  • 00:19:13
    that something is going on but you don't
  • 00:19:15
    know what it is and then you check it
  • 00:19:17
    you often remember having been in
  • 00:19:19
    conscious states that are actually
  • 00:19:20
    impossible to have been in right so you
  • 00:19:22
    realize that your memories of the
  • 00:19:24
    conscious states that you have been in
  • 00:19:25
    are constructs that that can be wrong
  • 00:19:28
    that there are actually types of
  • 00:19:29
    representations and of course the only
  • 00:19:32
    way in which you experience something as
  • 00:19:34
    happening in which you relate to it as
  • 00:19:36
    meaningful is by having this reflexive
  • 00:19:38
    mechanism but the question is not so
  • 00:19:40
    much how can I make this fundamental
  • 00:19:42
    because how can it be fundamental how
  • 00:19:44
    can it emerge by itself but what are the
  • 00:19:46
    conditions for such representation such
  • 00:19:48
    Behavior such death report such
  • 00:19:50
    experiences to emerge in a physical
  • 00:19:52
    universe or any kind of mathematical
  • 00:19:54
    hypothetical universe that has any kind
  • 00:19:55
    of regularity in there your back
  • 00:19:58
    pleasure to meet you Conn and um thank
  • 00:20:01
    you for coming to H in Festival thank
  • 00:20:03
    you
  • 00:20:08
    [Music]
Etiquetas
  • Consciousness
  • AI
  • Philosophy
  • Awareness
  • Self-Reflection
  • Free Will
  • Machine Learning
  • Neuroscience
  • Epistemology
  • Ontology