Tag Archives: cognitive science

Jul 14 2023

Picturing the Unique Nature of Consciousness

In the previous essay, I discussed the possibility that the brain is necessary to consciousness but that it is not sufficient. In other words, that there seems to be something needed beyond our current understanding of the physical. History, however, shows that science has often been challenged with such paradigm shifts.

Sometimes metaphors can help us see beyond such biases and preconceptions, so in this essay we’ll consider a picture that may illustrate why consciousness is so unique, and why it’s too early to start limiting options for explaining it.

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Jun 23 2023

Sufficient Reality

The nature of consciousness is generally considered to be a big mystery. Is it the result of only physical, material processes, or is there something immaterial involved? Many experiments show a strong relationship between material and mental processes and a common viewpoint is that these correlations indicate that the material processes cause the mental processes. In other words, there is an implicit assumption that material processes are sufficient for generating the mind, that nothing else is needed beyond the material.

Of course, it’s well known that correlations do not mean causation – just because two items seem highly related, that does not mean that one must be causing the other. One reason for this is that the same thing can occur when one item is necessary for the system to function, even if it is not sufficient.

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Jun 5 2023

Human Identity and the Uncertainties of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently a hot topic that’s being talked about in many media outlets as it continues to roll out. It still remains to be seen whether this activity will begin to cool off, as often happens with new technologies, or truly start to transform society.

Even a brief look at the ways that AI is being used makes it clear that there are enormous possibilities for both good and evil. This is certainly true in the short term, because people will find both good and evil things to do with it like we do with virtually all new tools.

There are even greater uncertainties in the long term, however, when we will start to deal with things like Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which may be able to solve problems that humans cannot, and machine agency and consciousness, which will raise the possibility of AIs acting on their own in ways that may not be good for humanity.

A common theme across all these possibilities is the great uncertainty about what will happen. One of the sources of this uncertainty is the level of mystery in our understanding of how both machine and human intelligence works. It’s common to hear how current AI developers are surprised at the things that their creations are able to do. This uncertainty is mirrored by the amount that we still don’t understand about the human mind, which is often the primary model for designing these systems.

Consciousness, for example, still remains a great mystery even though all humans experience it. Despite this universal experience, and many different investigations, it still isn’t clear whether consciousness can be fully explained with strict materialism. This has resulted in a growing number of researchers proposing additions beyond the current materialist models that enable consciousness. They do this in ways that avoid having to resort to the supernatural, yet still point to something beyond the physical.

In other words, there seems to be a persistent metaphysical aspect to consciousness that has not yet been explained. Our lack of understanding of consciousness extends to its most fundamental nature, illustrating our lack of understanding of the nature of reality itself.

While such immaterial viewpoints are actively rejected by many researchers, it’s also well-known that there is a deep human need for the metaphysical, for transcendence. So while there is still this uncertainty regarding the mind, we need a story that allows us to remain human in this way, that allows us to accept the personal experience of self as something real and not just a tricky behavior of matter.

We need to keep open the possibility of a fundamental difference between humans and machines.

Feb 23 2023

Seeing Confirmation Bias

Photographers often strive to find new ways of seeing the world. In a sense, this involves looking for new information, which is a healthy way to live. Unfortunately, we tend to avoid this due to our innate tendency for something called “confirmation bias”.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. –Wikipedia

Confirmation bias makes it harder for us to adopt new perspectives, perhaps even to learn new ideas, because we will tend to avoid information that could lead us to change existing beliefs.

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Jan 26 2023

Ways of Thinking

If there are limits to rational thinking, does that mean that there are limits to what we can know at all or just limits to what we can know rationally? In other words, are there ways of discovering and knowing things, perhaps even truths, other than rationally?

If so, we would need other ways of thinking that can still produce improved understanding. So then, if reasoning isn’t available, what other ways of thinking might be helpful?

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Nov 13 2022

Seeing Better

An easy trap to fall into is to become complacent in our beliefs, to not pay attention to the full depth of a topic. Instead, it’s easy to stop with a limited understanding, form opinions that we like, then reinforce them by finding sources that agree with us. This tends to further solidify our thinking.

The reality is that some topics, such as those related to metaphysics*, have many different dimensions that are continuing to be explored. Our understanding of fundamental physical reality is so nascent, still so evolving, that to claim any certainty, especially without constant learning, is simply arrogant. Thus, it seems the proper posture is one of humility and continual learning rather than dogmatic certainty.

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Jun 9 2019

Investigating Consciousness

multicolored pebbles on white ceramic bowl

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

Imagine you have a bowl full of little chunks of unknown material. You want to determine what sorts of materials are in the bowl so you decide to sample some and analyze it. You gather a sample from the bowl by placing a magnet in it and removing whatever sticks to it. Upon analysis you discover that everything in the sample is made of metal, and so conclude that all the material in the bowl was metal.

Do you see anything wrong with this scenario? Continue reading →

Nov 1 2018

Perspectives of Consciousness

YHL-lighthouseIn a recent photography project, I explored the idea that the way we look at something affects how we interpret it. This is similar to an earlier project that explored the importance of viewpoint, a related topic. In both cases, our personal biases and ways of looking at things influence what we see and how we understand it. It takes deliberate effort to try different perspectives, something that doesn’t come naturally. Yet, some of the most important things in life demand that we do this. For example, understanding someone else’s point of view can greatly strengthen a relationship. The deliberate effort pays off by helping us navigate something that’s inherently complex and subject to misinterpretation. Continue reading →

Jun 20 2018

Stained Glass and the Mind

347px-Chartres_-_cathédrale_-_rosace_nordWhile taking a picture recently that included some beautiful stained glass windows, I learned how difficult it is to make a good picture. The back light through the windows makes it challenging to capture an image that blends with the rest of the scene. The key seems to be balance between the front lighting and the back lighting. If either one is too strong, the result is not beautiful. With only back lighting, the colors are beautiful, but the context of everything is gone. With only front lighting, the picture is clear and balanced with the context, but much of the beauty is gone.

This brought to mind the interplay of the physical and the transcendent, and in particular, how they intersect in the human mind. Continue reading →

Feb 15 2018

VR Photography as Metaphor

FallSimple virtual reality (VR) photographs, sometimes known as spherical panoramas, are all around us. A few years ago, they were novelties used in special effects productions, advertising, and other niche applications. Now they are frequently used in common applications like Google Street View, games, Facebook, and so on, and smartphones provide an easy way to view them. Specialized hardware can even be used to extend the effect to 3D, but the basic idea of looking around the inside of a sphere remains a useful variation of the standard flat picture.

I dabble with making VRs for fun, especially of waterfalls, because doing so reveals other beautiful things. As scenic as most waterfalls are, they are often in surroundings that are also striking. Lush canyons, austere cliff faces, and so on. When we take a single still picture, the surroundings are rarely included. By taking a VR, other elements become visible. It’s as if you are there, and can look around and appreciate the whole environment.

In almost any situation, VRs capture a more complete, and in some ways more honest representation of a scene. This has been used in journalism, for example. When taking a standard picture, simply framing the shot is an editorial decision. What to include versus what to leave out influences how the viewer responds, what they learn, and so on. This sort of thing can have profound influence on how one interprets a scene. Even if all someone wants to do is provide information, the simple act of framing changes how the information is interpreted. Perspective is important, and VRs illustrate that. Continue reading →