Re:A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explan...
by mensetmanusman on Friday July 05, 2024 @01:43PM
(#40884608)
Entropy gradients are non explanations.
Pointing to statistical mechanics and saying the derivative of an exponent is an exponent is an odd way to explain qualia.
Re:A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explan...
by pixl97 on Friday July 05, 2024 @02:55PM
(#40885109)
They are not an explanation, they are a requirement. You don't have consciousness in a rock because nothing is happening in a rock.
Re:A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explan...
by mensetmanusman on Friday July 05, 2024 @07:35PM
(#40887021)
Tell that to the quintillions of electrons hopping between orbitals taking tens of attoseconds to complete :)
Re:A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explan...
by pixl97 on Friday July 05, 2024 @08:10PM
(#40887189)
I mean eletrons switch orbitals when photons are absorbed or released by said atom. The particular problem we have here is where is the memory at this subatomic level. Memory appears to be an emergent behavior at higher levels.
The entropy gradient is the first one. Of course lots of natural processes have a bit of energy generated so it's not the only part.
Memory is the next one. Being able to take some of that entropy and put it in a more orderly fashion while rejecting the disorganized part. Crystals can use energy to create ordered systems, but they don't have any means of error correcting.
Execution/replay/updating of said memories based on input from the world around it.
Now before humans came along 'life' was the only thing that could readily manage these traits, and that was after a few billion years of trial and error. Humans now have been going down the path of giving other non-living objects these traits. Advanced computer systems are getting closer to the point of recording information and acting on it in a manner that certainly seems like a subjective experience.