

The Magic of Consciousness [video] - MichaelAO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHXCi6yZ-eA

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MichaelAO
Description:

Consciousness is at the core of our very existence. An intangible constant
that underpins our experience of the world. But for centuries it has been the
frustrating source of a seemingly impenetrable explanatory gap – it is largely
a scientific mystery.

As we interact with the world, stimuli trigger physical processes in our body.
Nerve cells transmit messages around the body and through the brain. But how
do these physical interactions give rise to the conscious sensations we
experience? Can we get conscious sensation from nerve cells alone?

In this video theoretical psychologist Professor Nicholas Humphrey asks
whether consciousness could all be an illusion. Could it be a mirage
constructed in the theatre of our minds? Perhaps the questions we should ask
are not centered on sensations themselves, but merely on the appearance of
those sensations.

And why does consciousness, in any form, exist at all? How did it evolve? The
answer might lie in our social interactions. Consciousness elevates our
interpretation of the world and the people around us. It alters our
psychological profile and breathes joy into our experiences, and makes us
value life itself.

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georgemcbay
Free from the burden of having to scientifically prove anything that is as-of
yet unprovable, my own thoughts of the role of consciousness as it relates to
evolution are that consciousness is actually the reproductive system of the
universe (still prepubescent as far as we know within our own universe-
organism).

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MichaelAO
Interesting. On both an aesthetic and intellectual level, I like the statement
"consciousness is actually the reproductive system of the universe". Care to
elaborate?

~~~
georgemcbay
Well it essentially grows out of the idea that the universe might be a
simulation, which is not novel though obviously unproven and perhaps wrong and
in either case a controversial idea for some people.

Going beyond that is the idea that maybe there's simulations in simulations.
Just basic shlock-90s movie plot stuff in a way (see: The Thirteenth Floor, et
al), but what if that's the basic nature of the universe(s)? And on a slight
tangent, what if there's no "substrate" universe at all? (There not being one
is no less weird than there being one, IMO), but if it is just purely
mathematical rules based universes all the way down (and maybe around in some
cases, if the idea of looped recursion is universally humorous)?

Taken all of this admittedly out-there whackiness, perhaps consciousness (the
big why question) is ultimately the means by which universes reproduce. Over a
long enough timeline with enough luck and fitness a universe may develop
conscious creatures eventually capable of creating more "simulated" universes
(or not, if that universe is unfit), a situation very unlikely to occur by
randomness alone.

This thought-experiment theory takes the opposite approach from most in that
it attempts to answer the why as opposed to the how.

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MichaelAO
Thanks for sharing. The simulation theory is definitely plausible (as proposed
by Bostrom). A few years ago I stared writing a mini story entitled "Turtles
all the way down" about simulations within simulations. It was a fun thought
experiment indeed.

Speaking of your tangent, the idea of there being at least one original or
'substate' universe seems to be a given by even the most exotic simulation
theorists. I like your style ha.

You might appreciate the work by Thomas Campbell and his My Big Theory of
Everything. I don't endorse everything he says, but his premise is that we're
living in a simulation and that "It's just data". His book was an interesting
read.

~~~
georgemcbay
I will take a look, thanks for the references!

