X-Message-Number: 8324 From: Stephen Bogner <> Subject: RE: Consciousness Defined Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 12:10:42 -0600 > From: Hara Ra <> > > ------------------------- > Definition: Consciousness > > A system is conscious if: > * 1. It is capable of lingusitic communication (it can talk) * In some respects, the issue of communication (or equivalently, observable behavior) has more to do with our ability to decide whether or not an entity is conscious than it does with whether or not the entity is actually conscious. No doubt an uncommunicative consciousness would be of a rather primitive form, and if it had no observable behavior then by definition it cannot be measured in any case, so we can safely ignore this (hypothetical) case. > 2. It can discuss its own existence (it knows it exists) > * ------------------------- An Alternate Definition (drawn somewhat by my work on conceptual mapping for autonomous systems): A system is conscious if (and only if) it has all of the following 4 features: 1. it has the capacity to sense it's environment (it can perform "Data Acquisition"). 2. It has a capacity for "situational awareness" (it can perform "Data Interpretation") 3. It has the capacity for "anticipation" (it can perform "Data Extrapolation and Inference") 4. It is capable of "behavior" (it can act upon the "Reality State" from within it) Terminology can be a frustrating source of confusion. I will attempt to supply clear definitions of my terminology so interested parties can match the definitions to their own terminology without loss or distortion of the information (meaning and truth) being conveyed. My terminology is defined as follows: 1. Reality State - the observer independent state of reality as defined by the Critical Realist philosophical point of view: "There is a physical world which exists objectively and independently of our minds. Our sense data can be used to examine the world itself." 2. Sensor - a physical system incorporating a measuring transduction structure and a transmission structure to output results of the system. 3. Sensor Capabilities - the limiting characteristics of the sensor system. In general these are technical limitations resulting from the imperfect state of the art and the laws of science. These limitations may also be intentional so that undesired behavior can be avoided. 4. Data Acquisition - the activity of obtaining sense data, and transforming that data into quantitative information about the measured parameter. 5. Sensor Report - a data structure containing, directly or indirectly, quantitative information on the state of measured parameters. In practice, the Sensor Report takes the form of a mapping of the independent variables of the Physical Model to their measured or inferred values. 6. Intelligence - a mechanism characterized by its intrinsic cognitive ability to resolve problems in complex reasoning by manipulating abstractions in an algorithmic and/or intuitive manner. 7. Algorithmic Intellect - a processing mechanism that uses mathematical laws and algorithmic procedures to interpret or reduce data. In practice, the Algorithmic Intellect creates quantitative descriptions of the dependent variables using the independent variables from the Sensor Report, according to the deterministic equations of the Physical Model. 8. Intuitive Intellect - a processing mechanism that rejects the universal validity of the logical law known as the "Law of the Excluded Middle" (a fundamental law of the Algorithmic Intellect), and allows the probabilistic resolution of that class of propositions that are undecidable in the absence of adequate proof. In other words, this is the intellect that resolves ambiguities and generates creative original solutions by supplying theories and hypothesis (which may be tested by other means) when complete information is unavailable. 9. Reality Model - a conceptual map of the idea of reality itself. In particular, this conceptual map will contain a model of the physical (ie sensible or measurable) aspect (a model of being) and a model of the operational (ie. Behavioral ) aspect (a model of becoming). 10. Physical Model - a deterministic set of relationships between measurable parameters based upon physical science. In practice, this model will take the form of a more or less fully defined set of mathematical equations describing the relationships between measurable or inferrible parameters. 11. Operational Model - a probabilistic set of relationships between transformational entities based upon social and operational science. In effect it is a probabilistic model of the steps (operations) required to transform one Reality State into another. 12. Data Interpretation - the activity that transforms Sensor Reports into Situational Awareness, through the application of Intelligence, within the constraints of the Reality Model. In practice, this involves first solving the equations of the Physical Model so that the Reality State of being becomes more or less fully defined, and then assigning qualitative and contextual significance to that Reality State of being (ie. The solution matrix of the Physical Model) such that the driving factors in the Operational Model become defined. 13. Situational Awareness - a data structure containing quantitative, qualitative, and contextual information on the independent and dependent parameters of the Physical Model, with tentative evaluations of the undecidable propositions resolved by the Intuitive Intellect. All driving factors (ie. Independent parameters) of the Operational Model are declared or inferred in the Situational Awareness. 14. Anticipatory Control - the activity that generates a goal oriented Instruction Set on the basis of an intelligent evaluation of the situation. This evaluation is constrained by the Reality Model, which identifies goals, and the set of operations needed to achieve them, on the basis of its Operational Model. 15. Instruction Set - a data structure that contains a quantified description of intentions that are ultimately reducible to sets of controller impulses to mechanisms. 16. Entity - a coherent assembly of physical systems that acts upon the Reality State from within it. 17. Entity Capabilities - the limiting characteristics of the Entity. In general these are technical limitations which result from the imperfect state of the art and from the laws of science. These limitations may also be intentional so that undesired behavior is avoided. 18. Mission Execution - the activity of engaging the entity to perform tasks that alter the Reality State so that it corresponds to the goal intended by the Instruction Set. As a simple test, we can try to assign a very (very) minor level of consciousness to a simple feedback mechanism such as an automatic thermostat: 1. It senses temperature. 2. It forms a situational awareness (from its extremely simple "thermostat level Reality Model" and "thermostat level Algorithmic Intellect") about whether or not the temperature is below its set-point. 3. It decides to switch on (or not) based upon that temperature, 4. It demonstrates "observable behavior" by turning on the furnace or the air conditioner. Some will doubtless argue that at 3 there is no "anticipation"; however I would argue that the anticipation in inherent in the simple deterministic Reality Model of such a system. Others will argue at 3 that there is no opportunity for "wrong" choices, and so there is no consciousness because the outcome is pre-determined. I would argue firstly that this supposes that an absence of determinism is a pre-requisite for consciousness and there is no evidence for such an assumption (for example, evidence that any system in the human organism functions in a non-deterministic manner), and secondly that the appearance of strict pre-determination is an illusion based upon the macroscopic scale of the entity - if we consider a "nano scale thermostat" then the possiblity of "wrong" choices becomes more apparent. My position is that the simple "feedback loop" discussed here represents a possible "quantum" of conciousness, and that the high level conciousness demonstrated by advanced entities (such as ourselves) is an emergent "observable" created by the synergy of countless millions of such quantums. The implication of this view for cryonics is that the information concept of identity could theoretically be valid if it can accurately simulate the function and synergy of these countless quantums, many of which loop through the environment as well as the entity, but that it is difficult to see how this might be done in a practical sense without duplicating the entity physically at the scale at which these quantums occur. Hence, I am inclined toward the concept of reanimation via physical nanoscale repair, which I would consider both necessary and sufficient to re-establish both consciousness and identity. Steve. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8324