Consciousness (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Friday, October 01, 2010, 20:29 (5166 days ago) @ David Turell


> And I've had a further thought (dangerous) about artificial consciousness. As everyone knows I don't think a complete man-made brain will ever exist, equal to ours. And the thought: some people can be hypnotized and some of their 'free will' seems to be subverted. I know there are limits beyond which the hypnotized subject will not go. If we develop a computerized 'brain' can it be hypnotized, and if not, is that a proof that it is not really conscious? How does hypnotism fit into our discussion of what is consciousness?-
Hypnosis is not absence of free will, it is hyper attentiveness. -"..the real origin and essence of the hypnotic condition, is the induction of a habit of abstraction or mental concentration, in which, as in reverie or spontaneous abstraction, the powers of the mind are so much engrossed with a single idea or train of thought, as, for the nonce, to render the individual unconscious of, or indifferently conscious to, all other ideas, impressions, or trains of thought. The hypnotic sleep, therefore, is the very antithesis or opposite mental and physical condition to that which precedes and accompanies common sleep.." ^ Braid, Hypnotic Therapeutics, 1853-The problem with hypnosis is susceptibility to suggestion, which you equated to loss of free will. -A computerized 'brain' could still simulate hypnosis theoretically. This would be accomplished by having all the 'conscious' processors focus exclusively on a single operation leaving the 'subconscious' processors available to direct interaction. Again, in theory, this could be a quite simple program. So, while I do not think that a machine being able/unable to be hypnotized would provide qualification for proving consciousness, I do think it is key to understanding our consciousness.