What is it that observes that I am?

[Loren Booda]

Mentat,

It might be translated "There is other, therefore I am" (et vice versa). The conversion v. v. reduces the phrase to a koan, where we are what we are not - but aren't we, anyway? Old chestnuts are always good for more roasting. (That's a joke, son.)

Latin heped me more in English vocabulary than directly in that "...dead language, as dead as dead could be, first it killed the Romans, and now it's killing me."

 

[Philophysicist]

Awareness

I think awareness is a mechanical-electrical thing in the following way. You have seen,I suppose some, of these little robots that guys are building, for example the ones that have eyes and maybe a little arm or two and run around on the floor.
I remember one that someone built that ran around and looked for an electrical outlet to plug into and recharge its batteries.
If you sit this robot on the floor with its eyes functioning then if it doesn't move its parts even if the background is moving then it is not aware. However, if you move it and it sees its arm move or sees that it can influence the observed background, than it is aware.
In this case Awareness is due to Feedback with the external environment. So where is that machines awareness located? In its memory cells, but I suppose you can argue that is whole feedback circuitry is where the "Awareness" is. The same way with you.

 

[phoenixthoth]

why is it that since we can build machines with awareness that proves our awareness is electro-chemically based ie functions the same way?

 

[Rader]

Originally posted by Philophysicist
I think awareness is a mechanical-electrical thing in the following way. You have seen,I suppose some, of these little robots that guys are building, for example the ones that have eyes and maybe a little arm or two and run around on the floor.
I remember one that someone built that ran around and looked for an electrical outlet to plug into and recharge its batteries.
If you sit this robot on the floor with its eyes functioning then if it doesn't move its parts even if the background is moving then it is not aware. However, if you move it and it sees its arm move or sees that it can influence the observed background, than it is aware.
In this case Awareness is due to Feedback with the external environment. So where is that machines awareness located? In its memory cells, but I suppose you can argue that is whole feedback circuitry is where the "Awareness" is. The same way with you.

Thats cool, how your memory cells work in robots. So are we robots too? If we are, some how the molecules in our memory, would know how to pass on the awareness we learned, to there new brother memory molecules. The memory molecules are replaced many times during one liftime. Maybe awarenss is what looks in not out.