More Miscellaneously Miscellaneous Ramblings

It's been brought to my attention that it's been some time since I last blogged. Several times.

I have a fan, who knew? LOL.

So, for lack of any specific thing to rant or rave about, I'm just going to wing it and give in to stream of consciousness.

It's a risk, as I am not necessarily equipped to ramble aimlessly in the blog-o-sphere. I may not be conscious either, which is an interesting philosophical thought.

I mean, there's always "I think, therefore I am". But honestly, computers are thinking these days. That's what AI is all about, right? Computers developed to think and learn based on experience? So, does this single ability give sentience to the ghost in the machine? Is it an "am"?

Let's take into consideration the HAL 9000. It certainly seemed to "feel" afraid of being turned off. Is that a soul in there?

(My mind often diverts to these tendrils of philosophical detritus...it's how it rolls, LOL).

I don't know when a machine might cross over to something closer to soul-having. I believe that much of what we refer to as "soul" is electrical in nature - which is why I also believe in life after death and reincarnation and such. It's a basic principle of physics that energy is neither created or destroyed, it merely changes form - so it follows that energy called "soul" would take a different form when it departs this mortal shell. Following that thread, it doesn't seem entirely out of the question that some modern computers capable of self-directed thought and learning might indeed be sentient. A whole new world of litigation opens and the world cringes a bit.

Does thought and the ability to learn bring about enough self-awareness to constitute consciousness and thereby sentience? It's thoughts like these - rambling and off the path as they are - that can take up a good half hour of my day as I ponder and work through it all...(heh - scared yet?).

We shouldn't be surprised. it's been debated on Star Trek for generations. :)

(Ah, rambling...it feels good, doesn't it?)

So, when do we define something or someone as conscious? Are any of us really conscious at all? How do we know? Is it just a mass hallucination a la The Matrix? Or something less sinister, but equally believable? Or more so, depending on your position on science fiction (or science fact, again depending on your position)?

Is consciousness the definition of existence? Or is that a value judgement? Or is lack of consciousness lack of existence? I don't think so, but philosophically, it's possible. Is sentience attached in any way to consciousness, or must we simply be self-aware?

So few are truly self-aware that it's not a bad bet that many so called humans are in fact not conscious, self-aware or sentient for that matter.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Which brings me back to my original thought...am I conscious?

It certainly feels as if I am...in my experience, it jibes with other times I've thought myself to be conscious, but on the other hand, I could be dreaming this reality. And if that's so, then I need a better programmer.

I mean, there are some things that are going really well...like scuba diving and life at home.

But there are others that just don't live up to expectations. Camano and the troll detachment up there for one. It would be a relief if I could just chalk that all up to bad programming. Wouldn't that rock?

DO OVER! DOES NOT COMPUTE! HEHE :)

If it were only that easy, huh?

Everything that was wrong, or bad or unjust or just plain didn't go the way that is should have...just a bad loop of programming waiting to be corrected and run again?

Both scary as hell and comforting in a way...is that what reincarnation is all about?

Reboot and rerun program. Test for completeness and positive outcome. Once attained, shift parameters and rerun.

An endless loop.

Interesting thought, that. And a nice way to ramble through cyber-space on a rainy evening...I may take this walk again later on. Good exercise, though not cardio dammit.

Think about it and let me know...

M&G