Summary
Summary Consciousness - Key Terms and Theories
- Course
- Institution
Summary of the Key Terms and Theories for the course Consciousness
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
breebay
Reviews received
Content preview
Consciousness – Key Termsand Theories
IBP Leiden
,AI (weak vs. strong) • Strong AC: we can create consciousness by building machines
➔ Strong AI: a computer with the right programme would be intelligent and have a mind
just as we do -> Chinese room experiment
• Weak AC: we can learn about consciousness through machines, but cannot create
consciousness artificially
➔ Weak AI: computers can never gain real intelligence and consciousness, only as-if states
• Chalmers: a model that I computationally equivalent to a mind will itself be a mind
• Narrow and general AI: Many AI techniques outperform humans on specific tasks,
but nothing else! Very domain-specific -> NO AI General Intelligence
Altered states of • ‘a qualitative alteration in the overall pattern of mental functioning, such that the
consciousness experiencer feels his consciousness is radically different from the way it functions ordinarily’
(Tart)
• Temporary nature of alterations in the representational mechanisms of consciousness
• Normal distribution of some ASC like psychosis continuum
• Question of definition: physiological, neurological, cognitive/subjective, objectively?
• Laureys: two axes: arousal and complexity of representation (normal: bth high; sleep:
both low)
• Tart: rationality & ability to hallucinate
, • Hobson: ration between amines and cholines: waking – amine neurotransmtters are
prevalent including NA, SE ; REM – acetylcolines take over and thinking becomes more
delusional, irrationa, unreflective -> information source (internal vs external), activation
energy, (high vs low) mode (amino vs coline)
•
Anesthesia • blocking at the level of thalamus (and cortico-cortical reverberant loops)
• breakdown of cortico-thalamic connectivity prevents the integration of information
• functioning at the NMDA synapses may be necessary for consciousness (Ketamine studies ->
NMDA antagonist, blocking glutamate)
• paralysis, pain numbing, amnesia, loss of consciousness
• Being under anaesthetics is not the same as being unconscious
Approaches to AI • Two disciplines in AI:
- CS/engineering = how can we build machines that produce intelligent behaviour?
- Cognitive science = the study of the underlying computations of intelligent BH
• Reverse modelling: looking at implementations of cognition (human brain), can we infer
mechanisms behind it?
• Forward modelling: designing a system, investigating its behaviour
, Arguments for/against NO!: Biological argument
AI
• Searle: collection of cells can lead to a thought/action/consciousness -> needs physical-
chemical properties -> only brains cause minds!
• Rule based manipulation of symbols does not constitute intelligence: the inhabitant of the
Chinese room does not understand Chinese
• Searle: the Turing test or any other purely behavioral test is insufficient to distinguish
genuine cognition from behavior which successfully imitates or simulates cognition
• consciousness can be simulated NOT created
• Searle: if no single part of the room can understand Chinese therefore as a whole the system
can't understand Chinese either
• critique by Dennett: no single neuron can understand Chinese therefore using Searle’s logic
the whole brain cannot understand Chinese
• Brain Simulation Reply: replacing neurons with Chinese rooms -> at what point is it not
intelligence/ language understanding anymore
NO!: Lovelace -> Creativity
• computers will never be able to do anything new -> CREATIVITY
• but there are creative algorithm
• objections: computers cannot do anything new they are programmed
• humans can do new things they are not programmed but evolved over hundreds of
thousands of generations; what have we evolved computers could they then do something
new?
• Objection: Evolutionary robotics: pick a population of random robots that maximizes a fitness
function, replenish population with mutations, repeat Speech; Sims: evolving walking robots can
cause cheating behaviour -> unexpected BH -> creativity?
YES!: Computationalist Argument
• the mind itself is a computational system that is implemented in the brain
• Computation is the rule-based manipulation of information
• computational system ≠ computer
• Substrate independent: if cognition is merely the calculations going on in the brain we should
be able to perform the same calculations in silico
• Blue Brain project: simulating neural systems with supercomputer
• Connectionism:
- Biologically inspired: based on structure of human brain
- Lesion tolerant: lesioned or damaged networks can still process info
- Capable of generalization: ANN are capable of learning, and able to generalize rules to
novel input
- Computation: neurons output a signal based on their input signal -> multilayer perceptions
implement rules like AND, OR, XOR
- =synapse -> computation Is massively parallel: output a signal based on input signal
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller breebay. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.22. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
64438 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now