Post by ahernandez on Jul 29, 2016 19:55:50 GMT
Week 4:
1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
According to the reading Is the Universe an App?
“The difficulty gets even stickier when we pause and realize that we don’t even have a full and complete access to our own mind and its labyrinth like permutations since there are so many processes within our own skull and body which we remain dutifully unaware” (75). Basically, our consciousness is a virtual stimulator in which our mind alters the world in which we live in. Meaning what we see is not entirely real but merely an insight into what we believe to see and when we do believe it is real its “realness factor” comes after. What this reading practically portrays is that everything surrounding us using all five senses is not always what it appears to be in our minds. In The Disneyland of Consciousness: Exploring the Animatronic Image, Lane gave good examples of how the consciousness of a human can be easily duped/fooled when it comes to analyzing our perceptions. Professor Lane provides a good example as he recalls his friend who rode the haunted mansion “He assumed the head without a body inside the crystal ball was a real person. He hadn’t realize how far holographic technology had come and couldn’t/t imagine that it was merely a vaporized projection.” In the film Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable, “The Mobius Strip is by definition an endless surface. Any attempt to reorient it transforms it into that in which it is not. Isn’t consciousness akin to this very definitional paradox.” The idea of our consciousness being linked to a mobius strip is clever. Our conscious is the same way as our thoughts are infinite or endless. The way we view something in our conscious, can be viewed entirely different by someone else's conscious. Consciousness is an endless cycle that can go on for eternity until whenever or if ever the world comes to an end. The Chandian Effect is the experience (or illusion) of certainty. Therefore, “we are predisposed to call the waking state ’real’ because it is no longer than the dreaming stage” (110). Faqir Chand realized that the human mind sometimes has a hallucinatory aspect, as the mind sometimes projects fantastic visions but does not realize that they are self-generated. As one continues to dig further into trying to comprehend the depths of the consciousness we come to realize we cannot understand it all at this point of time and maybe what we think is not really what we think we see. With further technology advancement and more research is done there shall continue to be progress to unleashing consciousness’ reality.
Works Cited:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is the Universe an app?. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "The Disneyland of Consciousness: Exploring the Animatronic Image." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
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 brain tricks us by having us believe something to be real when it is not. However, this trickery provides an advantage towards survival. Humans are able to imagine several scenarios allowing us to see which one would be to our advantage. In the film A Glorious Piece of Meat: An Overture on Consciousness a reading by Jeffrey S. Cooper states “I go to sleep because of chemical electrical signals triggered within my skull…I wake up for the same reason yet because my awareness seems distinct from my bodily apparatus I somehow believe that I am running the show.” In this video it talks about human control or power we think we have, but in reality sometimes there are events that are out or beyond our control and power. In the film Brain Burn it says that we develop so many questions through our philosophy that those questions are less to do with reality but more to do with evolutionary needs At the end of the video it states, “those without consciousness do not have this liberty, when they do play out a choice, they do so in a real world.” The brain tricks us into believing something to be real when it is not, provided that such trickery provides with a survival advantage. Basically, the brain can mimic a real life situation and simulate it to allow us to play our possible probabilities and choices so that we can make a decision to survive through a contingency. This evolution in our ability to make decisions and judgments has given us a greater ability than any other species to be naturally selected to succeed in the gene pool and in evolution of the world we live in.
Works Cited:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is the Universe an app?. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "A Glorious Piece of Meat: An Overture on Consciousness." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Brain Burn: Consciousness as a Virtual Simulator." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 July 2016.
Works Cited:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is the Universe an app?. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "A Glorious Piece of Meat: An Overture on Consciousness." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Brain Burn: Consciousness as a Virtual Simulator." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 July 2016.
1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
According to the reading Is the Universe an App?
“The difficulty gets even stickier when we pause and realize that we don’t even have a full and complete access to our own mind and its labyrinth like permutations since there are so many processes within our own skull and body which we remain dutifully unaware” (75). Basically, our consciousness is a virtual stimulator in which our mind alters the world in which we live in. Meaning what we see is not entirely real but merely an insight into what we believe to see and when we do believe it is real its “realness factor” comes after. What this reading practically portrays is that everything surrounding us using all five senses is not always what it appears to be in our minds. In The Disneyland of Consciousness: Exploring the Animatronic Image, Lane gave good examples of how the consciousness of a human can be easily duped/fooled when it comes to analyzing our perceptions. Professor Lane provides a good example as he recalls his friend who rode the haunted mansion “He assumed the head without a body inside the crystal ball was a real person. He hadn’t realize how far holographic technology had come and couldn’t/t imagine that it was merely a vaporized projection.” In the film Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable, “The Mobius Strip is by definition an endless surface. Any attempt to reorient it transforms it into that in which it is not. Isn’t consciousness akin to this very definitional paradox.” The idea of our consciousness being linked to a mobius strip is clever. Our conscious is the same way as our thoughts are infinite or endless. The way we view something in our conscious, can be viewed entirely different by someone else's conscious. Consciousness is an endless cycle that can go on for eternity until whenever or if ever the world comes to an end. The Chandian Effect is the experience (or illusion) of certainty. Therefore, “we are predisposed to call the waking state ’real’ because it is no longer than the dreaming stage” (110). Faqir Chand realized that the human mind sometimes has a hallucinatory aspect, as the mind sometimes projects fantastic visions but does not realize that they are self-generated. As one continues to dig further into trying to comprehend the depths of the consciousness we come to realize we cannot understand it all at this point of time and maybe what we think is not really what we think we see. With further technology advancement and more research is done there shall continue to be progress to unleashing consciousness’ reality.
Works Cited:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is the Universe an app?. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "Consciousness as a Mobius Strip: Wittgenstein and the Unspeakable." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "The Disneyland of Consciousness: Exploring the Animatronic Image." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
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 brain tricks us by having us believe something to be real when it is not. However, this trickery provides an advantage towards survival. Humans are able to imagine several scenarios allowing us to see which one would be to our advantage. In the film A Glorious Piece of Meat: An Overture on Consciousness a reading by Jeffrey S. Cooper states “I go to sleep because of chemical electrical signals triggered within my skull…I wake up for the same reason yet because my awareness seems distinct from my bodily apparatus I somehow believe that I am running the show.” In this video it talks about human control or power we think we have, but in reality sometimes there are events that are out or beyond our control and power. In the film Brain Burn it says that we develop so many questions through our philosophy that those questions are less to do with reality but more to do with evolutionary needs At the end of the video it states, “those without consciousness do not have this liberty, when they do play out a choice, they do so in a real world.” The brain tricks us into believing something to be real when it is not, provided that such trickery provides with a survival advantage. Basically, the brain can mimic a real life situation and simulate it to allow us to play our possible probabilities and choices so that we can make a decision to survive through a contingency. This evolution in our ability to make decisions and judgments has given us a greater ability than any other species to be naturally selected to succeed in the gene pool and in evolution of the world we live in.
Works Cited:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is the Universe an app?. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "A Glorious Piece of Meat: An Overture on Consciousness." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Brain Burn: Consciousness as a Virtual Simulator." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 July 2016.
Works Cited:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is the Universe an app?. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print.
Neuralsurfer. "A Glorious Piece of Meat: An Overture on Consciousness." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 July 2016.
Neuralsurfer. "Brain Burn: Consciousness as a Virtual Simulator." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 July 2016.