Don't look for the ghost in the machine. You can't find what isn't there.
Don't look for the ghost in the machine. The harder you look, the further it recedes.
There is no ghost in the machine. The harder you look, the further it recedes.
Explanation:
Where does a person exist?
Is it in the body? No. If I transplanted my brain to a robot, a robot that could think, feel and act in the same way I can, I would still be me. If I loose a limb or other part of my body, I am no less me.
Is it the brain? No. If my brain exists but the thoughts and patterns do not, I am not alive. A person with a brain which is not functioning is no more alive than [Analogy].
Is it the patterns, the software running on my brain? Yes, it seems to be. Those patterns, those ways of reacting to stimuli are me. No matter how the container changes, I remain me as long as the patterns stay the same.
But, there is a problem. If we are just software, then we are part of the physical world. We, the software, are a certain set of rules, a certain set of reactions to certain stimuli, a certain network of complex transistors. This means that we are subject to cause and effect. With perfect information, all our actions could be predicted ahead of time. If we are just reaction boxes, no matter how complex, then how can we be people? We're just a pattern like all other patterns.
Consciousness/personhood and the idea of free will seem to be inextricably linked. No free will, no people. It's high time more work was done to link the two. Then again, what do I know about the state of philosophy.
Don't look for the ghost in the machine. The harder you look, the further it recedes.
There is no ghost in the machine. The harder you look, the further it recedes.
Explanation:
Where does a person exist?
Is it in the body? No. If I transplanted my brain to a robot, a robot that could think, feel and act in the same way I can, I would still be me. If I loose a limb or other part of my body, I am no less me.
Is it the brain? No. If my brain exists but the thoughts and patterns do not, I am not alive. A person with a brain which is not functioning is no more alive than [Analogy].
Is it the patterns, the software running on my brain? Yes, it seems to be. Those patterns, those ways of reacting to stimuli are me. No matter how the container changes, I remain me as long as the patterns stay the same.
But, there is a problem. If we are just software, then we are part of the physical world. We, the software, are a certain set of rules, a certain set of reactions to certain stimuli, a certain network of complex transistors. This means that we are subject to cause and effect. With perfect information, all our actions could be predicted ahead of time. If we are just reaction boxes, no matter how complex, then how can we be people? We're just a pattern like all other patterns.
Consciousness/personhood and the idea of free will seem to be inextricably linked. No free will, no people. It's high time more work was done to link the two. Then again, what do I know about the state of philosophy.
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