kimrathbone (July 20, 2008 at 4:57 pm)

Wonder if involves a novel type of physico-chemical reaction involving a buffer and electo-directed reaction.

kimrathbone (July 20, 2008 at 4:47 pm)

So I suppose what Mr Dennett is saying is tha consciosness is like a buffer between the instant of receiving raw sense data, our perception of it and our reaction to it.

kimrathbone (July 20, 2008 at 4:43 pm)

I think he's not quite saying that but rather that there is a lag between the sense data quanta arriving and the brain characterising that information, so that if the source of the data vaishes the brain might still be left characterising it. So the feedback the brain gives to the body might not correspond to the real world. Then the lag between what is sensed and what is actual has to be allowed for by us. This 'allowing for - is consciousness.

chmsprg33 (July 20, 2008 at 3:13 pm)

It's the Macadamia nut, I believe.

kimrathbone (July 19, 2008 at 7:54 am)

Thats a thought. Would a habitat tracking program be the mechansm of consciousness.

kimrathbone (July 19, 2008 at 7:30 am)

From a biological systems perspective - I think 'habitat tracking' a trait that living organisms show - also goes on internally in the brain and I think it could throw more light on conscioussness.

kimrathbone (July 19, 2008 at 7:13 am)

ie that there are theorems out there which exist anterior to evolution -that cannot be derived using Dennetts 'sum of many small problems' approach to 'the hard problem' [because this is how a computer would solve 'hard problems] I would say that the Math is telling us that possibly consciousness is derivative of the computerlike iterative or evolutionary process or vice versa, however we are stopped by the words in our language from understanding it As we are shackled by God & Evolution.

kimrathbone (July 19, 2008 at 6:55 am)

Dennett is just looking at the way a complex computer might work. If the computer is that large it solves things in a boringly iterative way - if you like it is capable of mimicking evolution but over vastly shorter timescales. So if you like - it can solve the same problem as evolution, but by comparison with physical evolution - it solves problems almost instantaneously. Such a huge computer, because of the way it works will have discovered by accident that it gets results in other ways.

kimrathbone (July 18, 2008 at 8:25 pm)

Seems to be saying that consciousness is the after glow of the interactions of the brains computing. I suggested in Newscientist that long range signalling between biological molecules could provide a mechanism of recording neural stimulation at the synapse and influencing subsequent signals at the same synapse. I suggested this as the mechanism of consciousness. Subsequent to the physical signal, the signal routing would continuously be reconfigured depending on the previous signal.

kimrathbone (July 18, 2008 at 7:36 pm)

Dennett says the brains job is as a control center allowing the orgaism to live.Why would it want to allow the organism to live. Does this mean that consciousness is oal oriented.If so - why should it be - as evolution is a blind process.