Post by Brittany Roberts on Apr 17, 2016 4:51:50 GMT
1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
According to “Is the Universe an App?”, “because consciousness is a virtual simulator there are times that our dreaming brain can overlap with our waking state and radically confuse us about what is internal and what is external. In certain brain states it is nearly impossible to even recognize our own projections as projections. Near-Death Experiences are a good case in point here" (114). Basically, our brain plays out scenarios in our subconscious or even our unconscious states and our conscious chooses which scenario to act upon.
2. How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
According to “Is the Universe an App?”, "the brain tricks us into believing its own machinations as something that is not sui generis. All this trickery does serve one underlying purpose: keeping our organism intact long enough to recapitulate itself" (102). The film “Disneyland of Consciousness” puts it plain and simple: “we can easily be duped.” But being deceived may be to our benefit after all. If we took everything as it was, we may never be able to adapt and thus we would not live to procreate and our genes would die off. The film goes on to state that “that which we believe is conscious turns out to be on closer inspection unconscious at least in the common sense ways that we use such terms in our day to day lives….Consciousness is a fantastic virtual simulator because of its inclusivity and insular engineering. It has an inherent tendency to believe its own imaginations as exterior to itself – not as the byproduct of its own interiority.” One of the commentators on the film even hit the nail on the head with the statement that Disney is the leader of deception. But this deception is for our benefit if nothing else. Imagine how much magic the kingdom would lose if all the children believed Mickey to be a man in a costume rather than the mouse himself?!