Not only do I believe in panpsychism, I have a proof for it as strong as any proof in physics.
Charmers once said, when either discussing or paraphrasing William James' discussion of panpsychism, the problem is explaining how the dust of panpsychism could be unified in conscious experience. That is the challenge facing my theory, one that I think I have at least partially addresses in my prior post. On Friday, June 5, 2015, Logan Streondj <[email protected]> wrote: > so long story short, you're a panpsychist, > welcome to the club. > > On Thu, Jun 04, 2015 at 06:58:35PM -0500, EdFromNH . wrote: > > THE COMPWARENESS THEORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS: > > > > HOW OUR BRAINS COMPUTE OUR SOULS: > > > > > > > > At last, an intuitive, explanatory, scientific > > > > theory of consciousness. > > > > > > > > By > > > > Edward Winslow Porter > > > > aka > > > > waveTuned Ed > > > > > > > > > > > > Abstract: > > > > > > > > The compwareness theory hypothesizes that all the qualities we sense in > > human conscious awareness are nothing but -- and indeed are -- qualities > of > > awareness inherent in the computation of the brain, qualities of an > > awareness required by the laws of physics, themselves. The Compwareness > > theory’s teachings combine and expand on those from other major voices in > > the study of consciousness like Bernard Baars, Giulio Tononi, Christof > > Koch, Francis Crick, Gerald Edelman, Patricia Churchland, Max Tegmark, > > David Chalmers and many others. It also involves ideas from many leaders > in > > AI and cognitive neuroscience. The theory’s main features include its > > belief that: > > > > (a) all of physics, and all computation, requires an awareness -- a > > proto-consciousness -- in the form of compwareness, that is, the > awareness > > of the information a computation computes required for its outputs to > vary > > as a function of that information; > > > > (b) human consciousness is nothing but an extremely special form of such > > compwareness; > > > > (c) many of the alleged special qualities of consciousness are qualities > of > > compwareness of meaning, where “meaning” is defined as experiential > > associational grounding, that is, temporally-unified, rich, > interconnected, > > grounded complexes of awareness of semantic, sensory, and emotional > > experiential patterns that are associated with concepts we are > consciously > > aware of; > > > > (d) brain synchrony, including theta-gamma phase synchrony, plays a > major > > role in unifying massively parallel compwareness of experiential patterns > > into complex, unified, relational, and temporally coded senses of > awareness > > of such meaning; > > > > (e) consciousness comes in many different dynamically varying degrees and > > kinds, depending, in part, on the extent to which widespread compwareness > > is focused by synchrony on the meaning of one or more related concepts; > > > > (f) we have the most conscious awareness of that which our brain has the > > most unified compwareness of; > > > > (g) one can best explain the qualities, or "qualia," we experience in > our > > consciousness by studying the qualities of what is aware of what, when, > and > > how, in the dynamic, spreading, recurrent activation of extended pattern > > awareness complexes in the brain; > > > > (h) the 200 trillion synapses, 16 billion neurons, and 160 million > cortical > > mini-columns in the cortex have more than enough resolution in > > sensory/emotional/semantic hierarchical pattern space to provide > > compwareness with all the representational richness and qualities we > sense > > in our conscious awareness; > > > > (i) that, since qualities of conscious awareness are nothing but > qualities > > of the computational architecture of brain compwareness, the study of > > consciousness can be guided by predicting and mapping the qualities of > one > > such awareness from the qualities of the other; and > > > > (j) that brain science already suggests there are such large complex > > similarities between consciousness and brain compwareness as to create a > > substantial Occam’s razor argument that they are, in fact, the same > thing. > > > > > > > > ===================================== > > > > > > > > Many claim explaining consciousness is Philosophy’s hardest problem. I > > think I have taken a major step toward solving that problem. I have > > developed a theory of consciousness called the "Compwareness Theory." > It's > > much more explanatory, rigorous, and intuitive than any other > consciousness > > theory I know — although, of course, it builds substantially on the works > > of others. > > > > > > > > It says the awareness — the proto-consciousness — from which human > > consciousness is woven is not something unknown to physics, as most in > the > > field suggest. Rather it’s something that stares us in the face every > time > > we look at an equation of physics. It’s “computational awareness”. > > ("Compwareness" for short.) Compwareness is the awareness of the > variables > > and constants of the equations of physics that compute all reality. Such > > awareness is necessary for reality to compute as a function of those > values > > as demanded by both Newtonian and quantum physics. This compwareness > fills > > the entire universe. It’s arguably a great spirit, of which our bodies > and > > consciousnesses are but a small, interwoven part. > > > > > > > > But as special, complex, and interconnected as the computation of all > > reality is, the computation, and thus compwareness, in our brains has > > special qualities that make our conscious compwareness vastly different > > than the compwareness in most of the universe. The compwareness theory > > proposes that human consciousness is nothing but an extremely special > form > > of compwareness computed largely, or entirely, by the brain. > > > > > > > > In my theory, the famous "hard problem of consciousness" is redefined. It > > no longer asks what in physics could possibly produce the awareness of > > consciousness -- since there has to be awareness, in the form of > > compwareness, of the massively complex and interconnected information > > computed in our brains. Instead the redefined "hard problem" asks a more > > narrowly focused and much less metaphysical question. It asks how the > > brain's compwareness of information computed by the brain could have all > of > > the many miraculous qualities of awareness we sense in our own conscious > > experience. In other words, how can compwareness explain the qualities, > or > > "qualia", of our conscious experience of, say, the color red; the smell > of > > a rose; the hurt of a pain; or the linguistic, semantic, imaginary, and > > emotional experiential mix of being swept away when reading a great > novel. > > > > > > > > As mysterious as such qualities are, the compwareness theory provides at > > least partial explanations for a surprising number of them, and points > the > > way for finding much more complete explanations in the future. Let me > > discuss just a few of such explanations to give you a feel for the > > incredible explanatory power of the theory. > > > > > > > > One important quality of consciousness is its subjectivity. The > > compwareness theory claims the subjective/objective distinction is one of > > interconnect bandwidth and point of view (P.O.V., what is aware of what, > > when, and how). The subjective awareness of consciousness is that of a > > compwareness having an internal computational bandwidth billions of times > > more complicated than any description a human mind could model. Its > P.O.V. > > is of massively parallel awarenesses of experiential patterns organized > > into interactive, associational/generalizational/compositional pattern > > hierarchies. When measured at the synapse level the cortex has a > bandwidth > > equal to 100 million HDTV screens. Measured by cortical minicolumns it > has > > the resolution of 160 million pixels, where each pixel is a powerful > neural > > net with 100 neurons and compwareness of one million synapses. The thing > > itself is many orders of magnitude more complex than any description we > can > > ever extract from it, or understand if we ever could – and, thus, it has > > the qualities of being “subjective”. > > > > > > > > Another important quality of consciousness is its “aboutness”. Many brain > > scientists believe much of what we are consciously aware of corresponds > to > > information our brains compute, and, thus, are compware of. This shared > > “aboutness” includes information defining many, if not all, of the > > qualities we sense – including qualities of color, shape, sound, smell, > > objects, actions, thoughts, imaginings, emotions, etc. Brain science > would > > suggest that the computational richness of this correlation of aboutness > is > > in the megabyte to terabyte per second range. This creates a huge, > complex > > correlation between qualities of conscious awareness and compwareness – > > providing strong Occam’s Razor probabilistic support for the notion that > > consciousness and certain brain compwareness are, in fact, the same thing > > -- i.e., If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ( and has million > > or billions of other similar attributes per second), there is a good > chance > > it *is* a duck. > > > > > > > > One of the most intellectually challenging qualities of consciousness it > is > > sense of unity. It’s one thing to say the brain might have compwareness > of > > everything we have conscious awareness of – it’s another to answer the > > question “How could the compwareness of the brain’s billions of separate > > neurons have the qualities of unity we sense in our consciousness?” > > > > > > > > Since the compwareness theory claims brain compwareness and consciousness > > are the same thing, it requires that the unities of consciousness are > > unities of compwareness. But what are unities? Nothing is totally > > unified. Virtually all unities are unified properties of separate > things. > > A rock is made up of trillions of molecules and atoms. At the atomic > scale > > these move in different directions at different speeds. But at time and > > distance scales humans can directly sense, these molecules and atoms move > > as a unit because of electrostatic forces. Even a black hole is a > > distributed unity, having an event horizon and gravitational field which > > move in unison with the black hole. (And some believe the massive > > plurality of the universe created by our big bang is the inside of a > black > > hole in a parent universe that occurs in a substantially separated space > > time fabric). Science shows that brain compwareness has many unified > > properties that correspond to unities we perceive in consciousness, and > > there is reason to believe that as we learn more about the brain, the > > mapping between the unities of conscious and computational awareness will > > be become increasingly tight. > > > > > > > > For example, our brains is made of billions of neurons that each fire to > > indicate awareness of a pattern – that is, awareness of the unification > of > > features that *are* that pattern. So brain compwareness is largely > > compwareness of the unities of patterns -- or at least compwareness of > > probabilistic belief in such unities. Furthermore, our brain’s neurons > are > > interconnected in ways that can create compwareness of unities of pattern > > awareness much larger than that which can be represented by a given > neuron > > or a given neural assembly representing a single pattern. This includes > > synchronized unities both up and down generalizational and compositional > > pattern hierarchies. These temporal hierarchical unities can be mapped > up > > from sensory data, down from higher level patterns, or both. The brain > can > > also create synchronized unified awareness of associational patterns > which > > represent groups of hierarchical patterns that have a co-occurring or > > sequential patterns of temporal correlation. > > > > > > > > The brain’s neurons can store and recall patterns of experience, creating > > unities of pattern awareness across multiple different time scales. The > > brain contains billions of these patterns, many of which are reasonably > > stable across time. This creates the unity of a relatively continuous > > audience of patterns and memories -- an audience that is the “self”. > This > > “theater of consciousness” is the homunculus that is aware of our > > sensations, thoughts and feelings. It is self-aware because this “self” > is > > aware of the patterns within it which are activated, and because the > > recursive spreading activation within its > > associational-generalizational-compositional pattern space creates > > awareness of patterns of patterns of patterns.... The brain’s recurrent > > connections enable large complexes of neurons associated with a given > > concept to fire in synchrony, enabling large portions of the cortex’s > > audience of activatable patterns to have awareness of the temporal unity > of > > the complex of pattern awareness associated with that given concept. > > > > > > > > Furthermore, the brain has mechanisms for tuning substantial portions of > > the brain’s audience of activatable patterns into the frequency of one or > > more of such synchronized conceptual complexes, so as to focus the > > receptivity of the much of the brains’ self, i.e., its audience of > pattern > > compwareness, on them. This creates a massively parallel unified > > compwareness of such a concept, as represented by its associated complex > of > > activation of many patterns across many levels of hierarchical and > > associational connection. > > > > > > > > The compwareness theory defines a concept’s “meaning” as a unified > > compwareness of such a concepts associated interconnected pattern > > activation complex. It defines meaning in terms of sensory and emotional > > experiential associations that provide “grounding.” It proposes that > > compwareness of such meaning is a major source of many of the seemingly > > mysterious qualities of consciousness. To understand the qualities of > > consciousness we need to understand the architectures of such meanings, > > that is, what patterns of patterns of patterns is there compwareness of, > > and in what temporal sequencing. This includes trying to better > understand > > the qualities and complexities of the sensory, emotional, and semantic > > experiential pattern spaces defined by the brain's neural networks, and > the > > qualities of the dynamic, interconnected, focused, multiplexed temporal > > patterns of compwareness that take place across those spaces. For > example, > > the different qualities that distinguish hierarchical patterns related > to > > vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste, kinesthetic, bodyspace, and > emotions > > are different qualities of representation in the different pattern spaces > > specific to each such sensory modality. Vision grounds out in a 2D space > > of color distributions; hearing grounds out in a space largely defined by > > frequency over time, smell grounds out in a space defined by thousands of > > different types of chemical sensors, emotions ground out in a space > defined > > by different neuromodulators, hormones, and body states and their effect > on > > many processes in the brain itself -- and so on for each of the brains > > basic representional modalities. And much of the meanings of higher > level > > patterns mapped into each of these sensory spaces includes groundings > that > > span across multiple such spaces. > > > > > > > > For example, let us consider our consciousness of meaning within a visual > > scene. The brain is not only compware of a visual scene as a time-varying > > spatial distribution of color information from the eyes projected into a > 2D > > visual field. It also has compwareness of multiple hierarchical pattern > > complexes that are mapped onto that visual field. This includes patterns > of > > lines and shapes mapped into patterns of colors; patterns of objects > mapped > > into patterns of shapes; patterns of motions and actions mapped into > > patterns of shapes and objects across time; patterns of relationships > > mapped between objects and/or actions; and patterns in both short- and > > long-term memory into which patterns mapped onto the visual field are > > themselves mapped. If the brain’s wavetuning mechanism tune a significant > > portions of the brain’s audience of neurons into the synchronous firing > of > > one of the pattern complex activations mapped onto objects in the visual > > field – hundreds of millions or billions of neurons will be tuned into > and > > have a temporally unified compwareness of that object’s complex of > > hierarchically and associationally connected patterns – and you will have > > rich conscious compwareness of that patterns meaning in its current > > context. > > > > > > > > The focus of such tuning can be rapidly changed. In fact, through > > theta-gamma phase synchronization we can be made conscious of the > > interconnected meaning of a rapidly repeating sequence of such concepts. > > For example, a 5 cycle per second theta brain wave can be phase > > synchronized with a 40 cycle per second gamma brain wave, so there will > be > > 8 gamma wave cycles per theta wave cycle, much as there are 8 beats per > > measure in music with an 8/8 time signature. The prefrontal cortex and > > hippocampus can use such theta-gamma phase synchronization to, in effect, > > repeatedly activate the meaning of up to 8 different concepts together, > > each in one of the eight repeated time slots, so as to enable more > > explicitly grounded compwareness of concepts which involve relationships > > between multiple different sub-concepts. > > > > > > > > > > ================================ > > > > > > > > This is far from a complete explanation of my current understanding of > the > > compwareness theory. I currently have many more ideas about > consciousness > > and other high level functions of the brain. But before I spend much > more > > time working on this theory by myself I would like to have discussions on > > the web, by phone, or in person with others who think they have something > > to add to, subtract from, change, challenge, or negate in the theory. In > > particular, I look forward to discussions with people who have expertise > in > > various areas of brain science, including knowledge of the brain’s > > connectome, synchronization, basil ganglia, cerebellum, thalamus, > > hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, mammillary bodies, brainstem, and > the > > cognitive function of various neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. I > am > > interested in talking with people with knowledge of artificial > > intelligence, as it applies to the brain. And I am interested in talking > > with people with knowledge of quantum mechanics, about what, if any, role > > quantum levels of description might play in helping the compwareness > theory > > explain the qualities of human conscious experience. > > > > > > > > If you are interested in learning about or discussing any of these > subjects > > please email me at [email protected] <javascript:;>. > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > > AGI > > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now > > RSS Feed: > https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/5037279-a88c7a6d > > Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?&; > > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > > > ------------------------------------------- > AGI > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/8630185-a57a74e1 > Modify Your Subscription: > https://www.listbox.com/member/?&; > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
