Post by jc on Jul 15, 2016 7:58:58 GMT
Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
The virtual simulation theory of consciousness is the idea that our minds run thoughts and concepts before acting. The text, Is the Universe an App? explains that because of the mind’s “inclusivity and insular engineering it has an inherent tendency to believe its own machinations as exterior to itself and not as the byproduct of its own interiority.” (Lane, 75). This means that an individual’s mind is unique, as the way the person sees and interprets things that are subjected to his/her own perspective. The imagination is one’s own. It could very similar to someone else’s notions, but this simulation theory suggests that an individual has their own unique signature when it comes to their intelligence. Lane describes it as, “we are “simulating” a situation within our consciousness and acting accordingly” (85). Another great statement is made in the film, Surfing in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Waves and Their Discontents. At the very end, the speaker clams that “if we can better understand our neural waves from which our informative awareness arise, it may transform our reactions when these strange loops of awareness take shape”. Understanding the mind and why and how it works the way it does changes us. We can consider it from better or worse. But we cannot deny that if we understand it, multiple gateways open. The possibilities on how to move forward can become limitless.
Works Cited
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Lane. Is The Universe An App? Exploring the Physics of Awareness. Walnut: Mount San Antonio College/Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "Surfing in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Waves and Their Discontents." YouTube. YouTube, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCNSqlPjETE>.
How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
The brain tricks us by choosing what to remember because it decides what to hold onto. Neural surfer’s film, Radiance without an edge: Wisdom in 56 Seconds, states “what we should fear about death is not extinction, but the weariness of moving from one level of consciousness to another. I believe what the narrator is trying to say is our being processes an abundance of information in one lifetime. How we come to terms with what we learn is how we cope; that is how our brain tricks us. The brain ciphers between what is reality and imagination and determines how to appropriately act. This is the struggle of life and why it’s scary than death. Being born and dying, the conscious doesn’t remember. What it does recall is the time before and after. The film, Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable, clearly points out that “some things cannot be address by our symbolical, logical systems.” Could this be the brains way of shielding us? I believe this is a level of protection that the brain imposes to prevent itself from wearing and tearing the mind down and ultimately from destroying its consciousness. If not for the brain, Is the Universe an App? suspects “Flatland thinking, of taking the dream brain too seriously, and snuffing out the possibility that deep meditation or self- inquiry could actually lead beyond the rational mind into realms thought impossible by physicalist thinking” (Lane, 41). Without the brain, our genetic survival wouldn’t be insured. It’s presumed that without the brain’s tricks, the damage it could do would be too great.
Works Cited
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Lane. Is The Universe An App? Exploring the Physics of Awareness. Walnut: Mount San Antonio College/Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_9BidUaoE>.
Neuralsurfer. "Radiance without an Edge: Wisdom in 56 Seconds." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzzDisWMEjE>.
The virtual simulation theory of consciousness is the idea that our minds run thoughts and concepts before acting. The text, Is the Universe an App? explains that because of the mind’s “inclusivity and insular engineering it has an inherent tendency to believe its own machinations as exterior to itself and not as the byproduct of its own interiority.” (Lane, 75). This means that an individual’s mind is unique, as the way the person sees and interprets things that are subjected to his/her own perspective. The imagination is one’s own. It could very similar to someone else’s notions, but this simulation theory suggests that an individual has their own unique signature when it comes to their intelligence. Lane describes it as, “we are “simulating” a situation within our consciousness and acting accordingly” (85). Another great statement is made in the film, Surfing in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Waves and Their Discontents. At the very end, the speaker clams that “if we can better understand our neural waves from which our informative awareness arise, it may transform our reactions when these strange loops of awareness take shape”. Understanding the mind and why and how it works the way it does changes us. We can consider it from better or worse. But we cannot deny that if we understand it, multiple gateways open. The possibilities on how to move forward can become limitless.
Works Cited
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Lane. Is The Universe An App? Exploring the Physics of Awareness. Walnut: Mount San Antonio College/Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "Surfing in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Waves and Their Discontents." YouTube. YouTube, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCNSqlPjETE>.
How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
The brain tricks us by choosing what to remember because it decides what to hold onto. Neural surfer’s film, Radiance without an edge: Wisdom in 56 Seconds, states “what we should fear about death is not extinction, but the weariness of moving from one level of consciousness to another. I believe what the narrator is trying to say is our being processes an abundance of information in one lifetime. How we come to terms with what we learn is how we cope; that is how our brain tricks us. The brain ciphers between what is reality and imagination and determines how to appropriately act. This is the struggle of life and why it’s scary than death. Being born and dying, the conscious doesn’t remember. What it does recall is the time before and after. The film, Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable, clearly points out that “some things cannot be address by our symbolical, logical systems.” Could this be the brains way of shielding us? I believe this is a level of protection that the brain imposes to prevent itself from wearing and tearing the mind down and ultimately from destroying its consciousness. If not for the brain, Is the Universe an App? suspects “Flatland thinking, of taking the dream brain too seriously, and snuffing out the possibility that deep meditation or self- inquiry could actually lead beyond the rational mind into realms thought impossible by physicalist thinking” (Lane, 41). Without the brain, our genetic survival wouldn’t be insured. It’s presumed that without the brain’s tricks, the damage it could do would be too great.
Works Cited
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Lane. Is The Universe An App? Exploring the Physics of Awareness. Walnut: Mount San Antonio College/Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_9BidUaoE>.
Neuralsurfer. "Radiance without an Edge: Wisdom in 56 Seconds." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzzDisWMEjE>.