I would claim that the specific nature of any quale, such as the various nuanced pain sensations, depends (in fact, is the same thing as) the code being run/ computation being performed when the quale is perceived. I therefor don't find it at all surprising that insects perceive pain differently, in what might be called a diminished manner, from the way we do. Also human consciousness can be diminished, for example by drugs that interfere with the usual computations.
Jiri> Eric, I'm not 100% sure if someone/something else than me feels Jiri> pain, but considerable similarities between my and other humans Jiri> - architecture - [triggers of] internal and external pain Jiri> related responses - independent descriptions of subjective pain Jiri> perceptions which correspond in certain ways with the internal Jiri> body responses Jiri> make me think it's more likely than not that other humans feel Jiri> pain the way I do. The further you move from human like Jiri> architecture the less you see the signs of pain related behavior Jiri> (e.g. the avoidance behavior). Insect keeps trying to use badly Jiri> injured body parts the same way as if they weren't injured and Jiri> (unlike in mammals) its internal responses to the injury don't Jiri> suggest that anything crazy is going on with them. And when I Jiri> look at software, I cannot find a good reason for believing it Jiri> can be in pain. The fact that we can use pain killers (and other Jiri> techniques) to get rid of pain and still remain complex systems Jiri> capable of general problem solving suggests that the pain quale Jiri> takes more than complex problem solving algorithms we are Jiri> writing for our AGI. Jiri> Regards, Jiri Jiri> ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: Jiri> http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your Jiri> options, please go to: Jiri> http://v2.listbox.com/member/?&; ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=231415&user_secret=e9e40a7e
