Mind, Body, Consciousness

1. Mind, Body, Consciousness Is there a Problem?

2. What is the problem? • What is the relation between Mind Body Consciousness

3. Is there a problem? • Nobody has the slightest idea how anything material can be conscious. Nobody even knows what it would be like to have the slightest idea how anything material can be conscious. Jerry Fodor (1992) • The widespread sense of profound mystery about the nature of consciousness stems largely from conceptual confusions rather than factual ignorance … there is no difficulty of principle in describing the ‘presumed phenomenon’ of consciousness. Bennett & Hacker (2003, p243-4)

4. That’s not a mystery; now here’s a mystery Origin of eukaryotic cells & mitosis Origin of genetics & protein biosynthesis

5. This presentation • The mind-body problem: how the mind works • Consciousness - the Easy problem: how does consciousness arise from mental processes? • Consciousness - the Hard problem: how do physical processes give rise to subjective experiences?

6. The mind-body problemComputer Model of the Mind • No longer the best model of the mind

7. The mind-body problemInformation Processing Model

8. The mind-body problemBehaviourist Model

9. The mind-body problemANN (Artificial Neural Network) Model • Implemented in a computer: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

10. The mind-body problemANN: Structure • The input and output layers relate to real data

11. The mind-body problemANN: Learning • Each connection has a strength • The output is the sum of the inputs • To train, give different inputs, and change the strengths if the output is what we want

12. The mind-body problemANN: Cans and Can’t’s • Can do • Pattern recognition • Pattern generation (=association, creativity) • Learning • Memory (= a trained neurodal pattern) • Can’t do • Recursion • Pinker (1997) lists 4 other things

13. The mind-body problemANN: Compared to a Brain

14. The mind-body problemANN: a Real Neural Network • Branching & connections of a single neuron (VUMmx1) in the bee brain (Menzel 2012)

15. The mind-body problemMental Processes & Mental States • “In order for a mind to think, it has to juggle fragments of its mental states.” (Minsky 1985) • Mental process: the firing of a particular neural network. • Mental state: • A more or less static configuration of neurons. • Persistence may be: • Short e.g., the memory of today’s breakfast • Hardwired and permanent, e.g., modules which control movements, vision, face recognition. • Understanding: association between different mental states

16. The mind-body problemHow the Mind Works

17. The Easy Problem of Consciousness What is the neurophysiological basis of cognition? • What is consciousness? • How does it arise? • Is there a consciousness module in the brain? • What are the neural correlates of consciousness?

18. Consciousness: the Easy Problem Common Usage • Has he regained consciousness after the operation? • He was conscious of the nurse in the room. • She was knocked unconscious by the fall. • He’s not really conscious – still half asleep. • Feminists raised consciousness of sexism. • Drugs, meditation, and religion produce altered states of consciousness

19. Consciousness: the Easy Problem Descriptions & Definitions • Oxford English Dictionary • the state of being aware of and responsive to one’s surroundings: she failed to regain consciousness and died two days later • a person’s awareness or perception of something. • Clinical Definition of Consciousness • “ the only reliable method [to determine consciousness] . . . [is] through a predicted behavioral response to an external prompt . . ..” (Owen, 2013)

20. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemConsciousness Occurs over a Range • “One can be almost conscious, semi-conscious, barely conscious, dazed or groggy, half-asleep or not fully awake, stupefied, benumbed etc.” (Bennett & Hacker 2003, p245)

21. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemConsciousness is Multidimensional • Laureys (2005) 2 dimensions: • wakefulness, awareness • Hobson (1990) 3 dimensions (AIM): • Alertness • Input source • Modulation (attentiveness)

22. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemConsciousness is Multidimensional In reality, there are many dimensions: • Focus (attention) • Communication • Senses (hearing, vision, pain, etc) • Memory • Emotions • Reasoning etc

23. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemFunctional Definition Consciousness: • a multidimensional, multi-state phenomenon; • emerges from the integration of multiple cognitive processing systems, including: • attention, sensory perception, responsiveness, communication, long term memory, working memory, emotional expression, and reasoning.

24. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemThe Emergence Model Showing a subset of dimensions, and connections

25. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemThe Principle of Emergence • In a collection, the whole is MORE than sum of the parts, because the parts interact. • Note: The Emergence Model is an elaboration of the “Global Workspace Model” of Baars (1988), and the “Multiple Drafts” model of Dennett (1991).

26. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemThere is NO Executive Control • Consciousness is NOT a module: it is a collection of modules • The appearance of control is an emergent property • Consciousness is NOT directly causal (???)

27. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemMain Components of Consciousness • Attention • Communicaton • “Before my teacher came to me, I did not know that I am. I lived in a world that was no world . . . [a] conscious, yet unconscious time of nothingness (Helen Keller 1910) • Memory • “Now I am really conscious for the first time” (Patient C W, amnesiac, wrote continuously)

28. Consciousness: the Easy ProblemConcept of Self • NOT a product of consciousness • The Self exists because every organism (or part of an organism) exists to survive and reproduce • The Self may be constrained by the social environment • e.g., a wolf in a wolf pack, a human in a society, a cell in a human body • The concept of self arises if there is a mind • Consciousness allows self awareness to arise

29. The Hard Problem of Consciousness • “How [do] physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences”. David Chalmers (1996) • “ . . .we need to understand what we mean when we use the word [consciousness] . . . The result will demystify consciousness, always a threat for those who like their mysteries intact.” Schlinger (2005)

30. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemThe Role of Philosophy • Analytic Philosophy (= C20th philosophy in the English-speaking) • clarify meaning • validate logic

31. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemPhilosophers’ Definitions • Generally, philosophers use extended, imprecise, or counter intuitive definitions • John Searle (1990): includes dreams • Tom Nagel (1974): Consciousness: what it is like to be something. • Ned Block: • consciousness includes perceptions that the subject is not aware of • i.e., unconscious consciousness

32. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemGeneral Philosophical Definition Consciousness consists of having subjective experiences

33. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemWhat is subjective consciousness? • Subjective: • dependent on the observer • each person can see it differently • Objective: • independent of the observer • everyone sees it the same

34. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemSolution to the Hard Problem • How do physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences

35. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemSolution to the Hard Problem • How do physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences • How can they not? • Sensory experiences are dependent on the stimulus and the subject’s nervous system • Non-sensory experiences (eg 2 + 2 = 4) have associations • Why is it subjective? • Because it is dependent on the subject • Why can’t we describe the uniqueness of the experience? • Because it is subjective

36. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemWhat is it like to be a Bat

37. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemWhat is it like to be a Bat • What is it like to be a bat? • Being a bat is like being a shrew with wings. • Being a bat is like being a bird, i.e., a tetrapod that can fly. • Being a bat is like an elephant, i.e., a tetrapod with fur that suckles its young. • Being a bat is like being a human. • Being a bat is like being a mammal that is a bat. • Being a bat is like being a bat.

38. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemAre Different Objects Conscious? • Is a Dog Conscious? • Is a Garden Slug Conscious? • Is a Computer Conscious? • Is a Thermostat Conscious?

39. Consciousness: the Hard ProblemAre Different Objects Conscious? Consciousness: • a multidimensional, multi-state phenomenon; • emerges from the integration of multiple cognitive processing systems, including: • attention, sensory perception, responsiveness, communication, long term memory, working memory, emotional expression, and reasoning.

40. Consciousness: Searle’s Solution • “I promised I would solve the goddamn mind-body problem, so let’s do it” • “[these] four propositions I . . . call biological naturalism” • “Consciousness exists and is irreducible” • “All of our conscious states are caused by brain processes” • “Conscious states are realised in the brain” • “Consciousness functions causally”