The Nature of Consciousness
I am by no means qualified to speak on such a subject, but consciousness is a concept altogether unique. Consciousness is super weird in that it's hard to define. I may know that I have consciousness. I may know that my friend has consciousness. I may know that my dog has consciousness. But what does it mean to have consciousness?
At its root, I suppose that consciousness comes down to being able to feel and to recognize how others' feel. Perhaps consciousness is an illusion. Life may as well be an intricately designed illusion, something like the world shown in The Matrix. But nonetheless, it is an illusion I believe in, that I have vested my thoughts, emotion, and energy into believing. I only know how I feel, but by observing myself and my actions, as well as others and their actions, I infer that those individuals possess similar emotions to me, based on the way they respond.
Now we have come to the question, can a robot have consciousness? Now, reader, I have faith that you are a human being and have feelings and that you can understand how others feel. I have not experienced your emotions or ensured that you can in fact empathize. But I have come to this conclusion from inductive reasoning, where I have generalized my observation that all human beings are conscious. You are a complete stranger to me, and I can't know for sure even if you are a human being. But based on my interaction with you, or rather your interface with the world, I subconsciously conclude that you indeed have consciousness. You need not be a human being. Beneath your skin, you may just be metal and screws unbeknownst to me. Regardless, I still value and treat you as a human being, because that is the way my brain works. This concept is generalized to humans as a whole. For instance, an experiment was conducted, in which it was demonstrated that humans are unwilling to hurt dolls that look like human beings, despite knowing that the dolls are not real. This observation did not extend to objects that appeared unfamiliar or distinct from objects thought to be conscious.
At its root, I suppose that consciousness comes down to being able to feel and to recognize how others' feel. Perhaps consciousness is an illusion. Life may as well be an intricately designed illusion, something like the world shown in The Matrix. But nonetheless, it is an illusion I believe in, that I have vested my thoughts, emotion, and energy into believing. I only know how I feel, but by observing myself and my actions, as well as others and their actions, I infer that those individuals possess similar emotions to me, based on the way they respond.
Now we have come to the question, can a robot have consciousness? Now, reader, I have faith that you are a human being and have feelings and that you can understand how others feel. I have not experienced your emotions or ensured that you can in fact empathize. But I have come to this conclusion from inductive reasoning, where I have generalized my observation that all human beings are conscious. You are a complete stranger to me, and I can't know for sure even if you are a human being. But based on my interaction with you, or rather your interface with the world, I subconsciously conclude that you indeed have consciousness. You need not be a human being. Beneath your skin, you may just be metal and screws unbeknownst to me. Regardless, I still value and treat you as a human being, because that is the way my brain works. This concept is generalized to humans as a whole. For instance, an experiment was conducted, in which it was demonstrated that humans are unwilling to hurt dolls that look like human beings, despite knowing that the dolls are not real. This observation did not extend to objects that appeared unfamiliar or distinct from objects thought to be conscious.
Comments