34802Y138Today we know of a far more sophisticated

Q&@

TECHNOLOGY -
THE COMPUTER -
so we explain the human psyche as if it were a computer processing data
rather than a steam engine regulating pressure! But also this new analogy
may turn out to be just as naïve?

After all, computers have no minds.
They don't crave anything even when they have a bug, & the Internet
doesn't feel pain even when authoritarian regimes sever entire countries from the Web!
So why use computers as a model for understanding the mind? Well then,
are we really sure that computers have no sensations or desires?

And even ìf they haven't got any at present,
perhaps once they become complex enough they might develop consciousness?
Ìf thàt were to happen, how could wé ascertain it? When computers replace our bus-
driver, our most important schoolteacher and our favourite shrink, how could we determine
whether they have feelings or whether they are just a random collection of mindless algorithms?
When it comes to humans, we are today capable of differentiating between conscious
mental experiences & non-conscious brain activities!!

Though we are far from understanding consciousness, scientists have succeeded
in identifying some of its electrochemical signatures. To do so the scientists started with the assumption
that whenever humans report that they are conscious of something, they can be believed.

Based on this assumption the scientists could then isolate specific brain patterns that appear every time
humans report being conscious, but that never appear during unconscious states. This has allowed these
scientists to determine, for example, whether a seemingly vegetative stroke victim has completely lost
consciousness, or has merely lost control of his body and speech.

If the patient's brain displays the telltale signatures of consciousness, he ìs probably conscious,
even though he cannot move or speak.

09 jun 2019 - bewerkt op 13 jun 2019 - meld ongepast verhaal
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