Re:Consciousness and Anaesthesia
by softsound on Thursday June 15, 2023 @03:40AM
(#36337516)
I don't think one can look at this as an either or thing but a spectrum of levels too.
Almost nothing in life is 100% black and white, quite literally everything you study has more and more edge cases the more you study, even math breaks itself if you try and prove it. But we have reliable levels of math that function as we need it. And generally most things are good enough you can use it reliably. Just because something may break doesn't mean it's useless or anything.
Free will is also a spectrum and we all have different levels and different experiences of it. We all have choices we make but we might not be even aware of them. Our body influences our choices and our thinking influences our body. A double edged sword.
I remember reading an inspirational tale based on a real author who had to save himself because of his medical bills. He was completely disabled and would write blog posts with his eyes and eventually became such a good writer he was able to publish books and move to Mexico and get nurses to help care for him etc. This guy who has literally only a brain and functional eyes became some millionaire though sheer determination to save himself. Then you might find some rich well off person kill themselves because they can't find a reason to live. Two extremes. One with everything another with basically nothing, I mean would really want to live with that your whole life? Is the natural thought to reverse that?
And then you have those children raised by animals that can't properly communicate like an adult and what are they? Now I can easily communicate with my cat, he has meows and particular tones for how he is feeling. He'll tell me what type of sickness he has and alert me when something is wrong. He has a wide range of communication and used to stuff toys under the door to get me to play with him more. He is extremely picky when it comes to food and most things in general. He'll throw temper tantrums over not getting the right brand etc. I would say of course he is aware of something's in life but certainly not bright enough to survive on his own very well as he was never taught how, nor do I think he has it in him to start learning now. He gets anxiety attacks too, had to take him to the ER Vet for it before. So I'd sorta had to him with his mental state at one point, it's fine now but I do worry. All creatures and humans have a built in self destruct button so you have to be careful to have good habits to avoid it. It's interesting how the human raised by dogs was not able to communicate well, but if they were domesticated like my cat they would know how to pick up the signs we are looking for. My car has so many different meows and if he thinks one type of meow fails he'll try a different one.
I never even got into the whole thing about how your trillion of cells right now are making their own decisions in your body. I mean what even are you but a million things you'll never see or think about unless you get cancer or something when your cells decide not to die. What are you without their death?
Also could go into how memories are stored outside the brain with worm studies etc, and how fungus solves mazes, how plants communicate by smell and sound, there is a lot of werid stuff the more you look.
Almost nothing in life is 100% black and white, quite literally everything you study has more and more edge cases the more you study, even math breaks itself if you try and prove it. But we have reliable levels of math that function as we need it. And generally most things are good enough you can use it reliably. Just because something may break doesn't mean it's useless or anything.
Free will is also a spectrum and we all have different levels and different experiences of it. We all have choices we make but we might not be even aware of them. Our body influences our choices and our thinking influences our body. A double edged sword.
I remember reading an inspirational tale based on a real author who had to save himself because of his medical bills. He was completely disabled and would write blog posts with his eyes and eventually became such a good writer he was able to publish books and move to Mexico and get nurses to help care for him etc. This guy who has literally only a brain and functional eyes became some millionaire though sheer determination to save himself. Then you might find some rich well off person kill themselves because they can't find a reason to live. Two extremes. One with everything another with basically nothing, I mean would really want to live with that your whole life? Is the natural thought to reverse that?
And then you have those children raised by animals that can't properly communicate like an adult and what are they? Now I can easily communicate with my cat, he has meows and particular tones for how he is feeling. He'll tell me what type of sickness he has and alert me when something is wrong. He has a wide range of communication and used to stuff toys under the door to get me to play with him more. He is extremely picky when it comes to food and most things in general. He'll throw temper tantrums over not getting the right brand etc. I would say of course he is aware of something's in life but certainly not bright enough to survive on his own very well as he was never taught how, nor do I think he has it in him to start learning now. He gets anxiety attacks too, had to take him to the ER Vet for it before. So I'd sorta had to him with his mental state at one point, it's fine now but I do worry. All creatures and humans have a built in self destruct button so you have to be careful to have good habits to avoid it. It's interesting how the human raised by dogs was not able to communicate well, but if they were domesticated like my cat they would know how to pick up the signs we are looking for. My car has so many different meows and if he thinks one type of meow fails he'll try a different one.
I never even got into the whole thing about how your trillion of cells right now are making their own decisions in your body. I mean what even are you but a million things you'll never see or think about unless you get cancer or something when your cells decide not to die. What are you without their death?
Also could go into how memories are stored outside the brain with worm studies etc, and how fungus solves mazes, how plants communicate by smell and sound, there is a lot of werid stuff the more you look.