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Author Topic: self-awareness = supernatural?  (Read 1787 times)

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Skirmant

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self-awareness = supernatural?
« on: June 14, 2012, 05:52:10 am »
Ive always found the concept of self-awareness so mind blowing that I couldn't explain it in any rational way. Ive also never heard of anyone discussing this and I really feel like sharing a piece of my mind :P

 When you think about it we aren't that different from robots. Sure were made of more elastic and natural materials, but the architecture is pretty familiar. But were not really referred to as the same. Hell, we don't even refer to them as living beings.
 If you happened  to 'kill' a robot programed to act like a human, society wouldn't try to punish you. But why is that? I mean the robot acted exactly like a person getting murdered. Many would answer that the reason lies in the fact that a robot can't feel pain,  it can just act like it does. If you asked that person why so, he would likely answer that robots aren't self-aware.
 But then you begin to wonder. Why do I have self-awareness? Why aren't I - as a biological machine, not as disconnected from 'reality' as a robot?
 When you think about it, you can't really tell if anyone besides you is aware ether. I mean they can act like they are, but do they have that higher level? Maybe I'm the only one that can do this? Wow... What an ego boost!
 Wait, wait.. What's that 'higher level', or 'sense of reality' to begin with? Is it just an illusion my psyche is pulling on me? But it can't be, that goes against my logic. Just the fact that I'm aware of the fact I'm reflecting upon this right now makes the idea of my mind interfering invalid. Or is it just my crappy logic?

This is probably the only seemingly supernatural concept that I have ever encountered.

What do you guys think? Is self-awareness just a trick of the mind, or is it something that's beyond our psychology?
« Last Edit: June 14, 2012, 06:01:29 am by Skirmant »
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ferrari32

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Re: self-awareness = supernatural?
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2012, 06:35:35 pm »
Because humans are able to absorb knowledge. A robot has a pre-defined way of reacting to certain things, so if he sees someone else die, he won't feel emotional, but a man has no pre-defined knowledge pushing him to act coldly.
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Re: self-awareness = supernatural?
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2012, 08:14:23 am »
Human can learn by him self, like if there's something hot he will not touch it.

Robot is programed to do something, it's hard to make robot learn by it self.
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Skirmant

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Re: self-awareness = supernatural?
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2012, 03:32:57 pm »
I think you guys didn't get the point. Although I don't blame anyone. Self-awareness is a difficult concept to talk about, especially in another language.

Imagine if your current consciousness was disconnected from your body. But your body would act and think like it always did. The brain would compute the info like it always did and display the appropriate reactions. But you wouldn't be there to spectate how your body behaved. None would feel the emotions. Your body would just act like it did. You would be no different from a robot. And that's the thing I'm talking about.

And the question is: Why can we spectate what our physical and mental body is doing? Why is there a consciousness at all? It doesn't seem to effect anything that we do. IT JUST MAKES NO SENSE!!!  :-\
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Foxtrot

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Re: self-awareness = supernatural?
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2012, 06:46:26 pm »
I don't see why you think that our brains work on the same principle as computers. How can you be so sure that our conscious mind has nothing to do with our actions? There are a lot of things about the human body and how it works that can't be explained. Also, the human body can't be compared to a robot in terms of functionality. EVER. The human body has different types of fluids, nerves, brain cells, and something that can't be reproduced : the heart.
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Skirmant

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Re: self-awareness = supernatural?
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2012, 09:32:45 am »
and something that can't be reproduced : the heart.

Artificial hearts have been made since 1940s. Usually used as a temp backup plan if a donor is late. There have been a few long-term heart transplant attempts. The patients survived from a 100 days to a whole year! Not to mention organ cloning which has been kicking up lately. They can already clone ears, kidneys,  livers ect..

But that's not the point. Robots and humans aren't that different. Wether you are a robot that is made of metal materials and uses electrical impulses, or biological machine that is made of cells and uses chemical reactions.  At the end of the day we both work trough pre-determined patterns in the circumstances we happen to get into. But why can we feel what we experience?

Your answer would be that our consciousness is just a part of the brain, but I tend to disagree.
I can see how a bunch of molecules placed in the right way can create a complex machine that can think, explore and interact with the world around it. But I never seem to see where 'we' come in to play. Where 'we' get attached to these rag dolls that act by the biding of the environment.

Who knows. Maybe I'm just thinking too hard and bullshitting myself x_x
But the idea definitely gives food for thought on who we really are.
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