
The Kekulé Problem (2017) - dil8
http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/the-kekul-problem
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aurizon
Of course, if you shake a bottle of Benzene, you can hear the Benzene ring ;)

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kaffeemitsahne
> since the unconscious understands language perfectly well or it would not
> understand the problem in the first place

Says who? It's quite ridiculous to assume all thinking happens in the form of
language. Not even all conscious thinking does.

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namibj
I can say from experience that one can treat unnamed abstract concepts like
any other concept (e.g., a specific meaning of a noun is a good example of
what I mean with "concept" here), they are just _much_ harder to recall due to
the mental delay line storage requiring words for it's operation.

Thinking can be on a meta-level, and these meta-levels can be conscious or
unconscious. More than 4 levels in total are unrealistic. Conscious thinking
allows single-stepping the thought process and introspecting the paused state
from a meta-level above. Unconscious thinking is more like a locally-
executing, black-box API. It's possible to change it's behaviour from the next
meta-level, but it's dangerous (I once collapsed from dehydration as I lost
thirst, and since then I substitute full belly/acute low blood sugar for the
traditional hungry feeling.).

You can sum the levels up from 0. The first unconscious level (non-meta) is 0,
each further 1. The first conscious level is 0.5, each further 1.5.

E.g., thinking about how your crush consciously perceives your conscious
behavior is 0.5 + 1.5 + 1.5 and with 3.5 at the limit of the comfortable meta-
depth.

3 would also be analyzing how you consciously guide your unconscious control
of a pencil when drawing a portrait. Low-level stuff is unconscious, but
overseen by conscious, and to improve this drawing process, you have to go
meta on it. Drawing itself is only 0+1.5, so not deep on a meta-level. Still
deeper than dancing without regard for how you are perceived, which is
unconscious oversight of unconscious motoric control. The oversight is needed
to not end in a position that has you bang your head or kick someone.

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GolDDranks
2017:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14155533](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14155533)

~~~
Double_a_92
For anyone that enjoys looking at the older discussions, you can actually find
them all by clicking on "past" right under the title.

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markbnj
> All animals have an unconscious. If they didnt they would be plants.

Is this a thing that is known and accepted?

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nephrite
> That is, why is the unconscious so loathe to speak to us?

Well, if it spoke to us it would not be UNconscious.

