DOCSLIB.ORG

Blind Sight Pdf, Epub, Ebook

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Blind Sight Pdf, Epub, Ebook BLIND SIGHT PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Carol O'Connell | 432 pages | 20 Sep 2016 | Headline Publishing Group | 9781472237866 | English | London, United Kingdom Blind Sight PDF Book The Kurzweil Institute, like everyone else, suddenly had other things to worry about. Hopefully none of us would be getting reacquainted any time soon. You know, there isn't a single baseline human who could just tell you, just off the top of their heads, every prime number between one and a billion? You can feel your blood, syrupy with dobutamine and leuenkephalin, forcing its way through arteries shriveled by months on standby. You couldn't get it from interactive shadows. Then I opened wide; experience flooded up my inlays and spilled across my parietal cortex in glorious high-density fast forward. Maybe it was a predator thing. This information moves through an area of the brain called the lateral geniculate nucleus , located in the thalamus , and on to be processed in the primary visual cortex, area V1 also known as the striate cortex because of its striped appearance. More likely it was just filtering the pallor of the skin beneath. So, I'm going to revert to my usual fallback position of "random typing to see what words show up" and call it a review. Wise Man. The big picture, when it comes to this book at least, is that it is incredibly ambitious, quite clever, but also somewhat boring and unpalatable. We have such need of intellects greater than our own. By pointing out the drawbacks and limitations of consciousness, Watts forces us ask ourselves, "what IS consciousness good for? But we can't wait for them to report back. Details if other :. We won't admit that our creations are beyond us; they may speak in tongues, but our priests can read those signs. I'm just doing a couple of histology papers. Lightreads also has an uncharacteristically long, but characteristically brilliant, review that includes a nice note of what the reader is in for, as well as a long segment of Watt's writing. You think: That can't be right. He had the inclination, was born to it; whether he had ever acted on it was between him and Mission Control. Company Credits. Goodreads Librari I do as I'm told. Every male in the book loves Kathy in his own way, and every one is at the same time terrified of her amazing insights into the criminal mind, and terrified for her that every case will be her last. The writing was a little tedious, pages in and I still didn't have a clue what was going on and nearly put down as DNF. It is sweeping a cm tightbeam radio wave across the heavens with a periodicity of 4. Please tell us where you read or heard it including the quote, if possible. You're mission-critical, after all. Take a look at this quote: "There have always been those tasked with the rotation of informational topologies, but throughout most of history they had little to do with increasing its clarity. Got all these needs and demands that you can't edit out. I looked away to recalibrate my distance vision, to give this ill-behaved hallucination a chance to vanish gracefully before I set my empirical gaze to high-beam. O'Connell liked to leave ideas hanging, as though they had been figured out by someone without our protagonist clearly stating the 'obvious. His face is as bloodless and skeletal as yours. Books by Peter Watts. Oct 21, Julie rated it really liked it Shelves: edelweiss-review , e- book , mystery-shelf. Something in the reflexes, maybe. First Sentence: If they knew why he had come here, all these men would turn away. It's reasonable in context and execution. There remained a new-born-animal awkwardness to her movements, half Coriolis, half residual rigor. The kidnappings and murders kept my attention, but the associated financial shenanigans almost lost me completely. Sarasti opened his mouth, closed it again. Sort order. The last half of this journey has been a constant fight against momentum from the first. The murder of a cloistered nun; the kidnapping of a blind boy; a corrupt Mayor; a thoroughly fascinating and intelligent hitman. Those few TwenCen relics who still believed in God also held that one shouldn't try to improve upon His handiwork. This is a future Earth where most people have been genetically engineered before birth. The reason I've always You know you're in for trouble when the dedication of the book says: "If we're not in pain, we're not alive. It is sort of strange to have a "vampire" in a pure science-fiction novel. He didn't complain. Blind Sight Writer Tsukuyo Inaba's Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism blindness is compensated by immensely sharp hearing. The characters she's created in and around Kathleen Mallory are compelling, flawed, and captivating. They merely glimpsed the lay of the land. Mallory is one of the most interesting characters in mystery fiction. This is one of the reasons why I like to go in to a book without knowing anything about it. But she's still got the tools, my man. What is she, another neuroeconomist? It was normal for them, it was their own unique take on resource conservation. The Janitor Carly Hughes The Blind Side Movie Review The story of Michael Oher and his adoptive family led to one of the greatest movies of the decade, and one of the best I have ever seen. Sep 29, Barb in Maryland rated it liked it Shelves: mystery-thriller-goodies. His silence was hardly necessary to make the point. Perhaps, en route to our original destination, Theseus had seen something that scared her clear out of the solar system. The chair felt subtly, indefinably more comfortable at my back. It was passable as a stand alone but I'd recommend a 3. So we dragged ourselves back from the dead: five part-time cadavers, naked, emaciated, barely able to move even in zero gee. It's just a name. BUT- it's one of those books that you'd likely have to read at least twice to really fully appreciate. Theseus ' spinal nerves ran along its axis, the exposed plexii and piping bundled against the ladders on either side. You better believe it. Those who do not i. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Pag and I even stayed friends, after a short hiatus that reminded us both of the limited social prospects open to schoolyard rejects who don't stick together. Not so much bridge as cockpit, and a cramped one at that. Different thing entirely. This was not going to be an even match. No, it is not the usual bearing for Mission Control. Until we run up against the real thing. I took it, assessing the system before me, sizing up the best approach for a fast yet diplomatic disconnect. An alien mothership hanging off the starboard bow? Maybe not so far removed from her vision of utopia after all , I thought. This extra mass has slowed us, but midpoint braking maneuvers have slowed us even more. From the Editors at Merriam-Webster. Carrie Valarie Pettiford Dark, layered, always with a peek into her past, with a supporting cast that lends just a touch of humor where otherwise there would be none. Every twitch of the phenotype cried aloud to anyone who knew the language. Installations in deep space, long since imagined secure by virtue of their remoteness, were suddenly vulnerable for exactly the same reason. I do now, but that's because I googled that shit along with heaps of funny words that I have now forgotten. I couldn't wait for the resolution but then I was sad that it was over. Readers also enjoyed. We have such need of intellects greater than our own. Jul 11, Stuart rated it it was amazing Shelves: distant-worlds , dystopian , galaxy-spanning , alien- contact , favorites , hard-sf. Society for Neuroscience. We graft people to prosthetics, make their overloaded motor strips juggle meat and machinery, and shake our heads when their fingers twitch and their tongues stutter. Blind Sight Reviews While there were moments of lucidity that kept me turning the pages, there were other moments when I had to go back and re-read pages to figure out what I missed. Contrastedly, Jukka Sarasti is a vampire. The plot is self-contained, with no connections or references to prior cases, and Mallory's relationships with the other characters are straightforward enough 3. View all 7 comments. It's my opinion that Peter Watts's Blindsight is the best hard science fiction novel of the first decade of this millennium — and I say that as someone who remains unconvinced of all the ramifications of its central argument. They took away his walking stick and told him to walk down the corridor. So we have this faithful guide working in our favor and a good entry point for the story. Added to Watchlist. A stunning look at consciousness, identity, reality, extraterrestrial life, technology, evolution, psychology, this is very difficult but mind altering experience if you let it. Despite this and over Rorschach's objections the whole crew except the mission commander enters and explores in a series of short forays, using the ship's advanced medical facilities to recover from the damage the radiation inflicts on their bodies. Looking for some great streaming picks? Pietrini; Costagli A. When an alien invention surveys Earth, a group of people are sent to the most likely place the aliens are lurking.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • ABSTRACT the Zombie Argument and Its Implications for Naturalism
    ABSTRACT The Zombie Argument and Its Implications for Naturalism Autumn S. Averitt Director: Todd Buras, Ph.D. In the discipline of philosophy today, the nature of consciousness is an extremely popular topic. Additionally, there is a general consensus on the truth of naturalism. This thesis investigates whether a naturalist conception of consciousness is tenable. The zombie argument against the naturalist program is very striking, as it clearly delineates the apparent differences between the phenomenal and psychological concepts of the mind. This thesis explores the naturalist program and the nature of consciousness. It then outlines the zombie argument and evaluates naturalist responses to the argument. It concludes that the strongest naturalist response still falls short of defeating the zombie argument. Naturalism therefore fails to adequately account for consciousness. APPROVED BY DIRECTOR OF HONORS THESIS: ________________________________________________ Dr. Todd Buras, Department of Philosophy APPROVED BY THE HONORS PROGRAM: ________________________________________________ Dr. Andrew Wisely, Director DATE: ________________________ THE ZOMBIE ARGUMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR NATURALISM A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Baylor University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Program By Autumn S. Averitt Waco, TX May 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Naturalism and Its Constraints . 1 Chapter Two: The Phenomenon of Consciousness . 19 Chapter Three: The Zombie Argument . 28 Chapter Four: Naturalist Responses to the Zombie Argument . 45 Bibliography . 60 ii CHAPTER ONE Naturalism and its Constraints Introduction Within philosophy, discussion of the mind is dynamic and growing. Neuroscience is advancing rapidly, and discovering many new neural pathways, neurotransmitters, etc. These physical components of the brain seem readily investigable.
    [Show full text]
  • Ableism and Futuristic Technology: the Enhancement of 'No Body' In
    TRANSMISSIONS: THE JOURNAL OF FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES 2016, VOL.1, NO. 1, PP. 82-98 nili R. Broyer University of Illinois at Chicago Ableism and Futuristic Technology: The Enhancement of ‘No Body’ in the Films Lucy and Her1 Abstract: Implementing a disability studies and cultural studies framework, this paper offers a critical analysis of the two popular science fiction films: Lucy (Besson, 2014) and Her (Jonze, 2013). In both films, Scarlett Johansson plays the leading female character. In Lucy, the protagonist is a human being who experiences radical transformation due to an overdose of a new kind of drug, while in Her, Samantha is an operating system designed to evolve. Despite their clear differences, Lucy and Samantha share a similar destiny. Eventually, both of these figures develop into a super-able consciousness that continues to evolve beyond the restrictions of the physical world. I argue that the two films reflect what Gregor Wolbring termed as “the transhumanized version of ableism”. Transhumanism is a contemporary social movement that calls for a future in which biological boundaries are overcome. From a transhumanist perspective, all human bodies—impaired or able-bodied alike—are inferior, deficient and ultimately disabled. As such, they all need to be ‘cured.’ Thus, the transhumanist solution becomes not the enhancement of the body, but rather the creation of an independent enhanced mind. Lucy’s and Her’s representations of an advanced mind with no body are aligned with this futuristic aspiration. Both offer the viewers a first glance at a potential future in which technology enables consciousness to prosper without a body.
    [Show full text]
  • Mind a Brief Introduction 1St Edition Ebook Free Download
    MIND A BRIEF INTRODUCTION 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John R Searle | 9780195157345 | | | | | Mind A Brief Introduction 1st edition PDF Book I'm still being introduced to this world of academia. These replies address Searle's concerns about intentionality , symbol grounding and syntax vs. The mind, being a part of our world, must therefore also be entirely be explainable in these physical terms. The high rating may seem out of order when you compare this with some of the other texts with four star ratings on my Philosophy shelf. Perhaps that goes to far, but I really can't stand reading opinionated pieces that have the inclination to hide opinion as fact. Teaching Area. Berkeley, G. Davidson, D. Kurzweil is concerned primarily with the amount of intelligence displayed by the machine, whereas Searle's argument sets no limit on this. Conditions of Satisfaction. The Chinese room argument is a central concept in Peter Watts 's novels Blindsight and to a lesser extent Echopraxia. Some of the most famous idealists were Berkeley, Hegel, Bradley, and Royce. Is this man a new person? Putnam, P. Authority control GND : Knowledge reasoning Planning Machine learning Natural language processing Computer vision Robotics Artificial general intelligence. June 15, The Chinese Room is also the name of a British independent video game development studio best known for working on experimental first-person games, such as Everybody's Gone to the Rapture , or Dear Esther. Given the traditional categories, it is not easy to see how they could be consistent; for materialism so stated seems to imply that there cannot be any irreducible nonphysical phenomena; and dualism so stated seems to imply that there must, in addition to material phenomena, be irreducible nonphysi-cal mental phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • Blindsight: Notes and References
    Notes and References 1 Blindsight: Notes and References (Longwinded Version) Peter Watts References and remarks, to try and convince you all I'm not crazy (or, failing that, to simply intimidate you into shutting up about it). Read for extra credit. A Brief Primer on Vampire Biology I'm hardly the first author to take a stab at rationalising vampirism in purely biological terms. Richard Matheson did it before I was born, and if the grapevine's right that damn Butler woman's latest novel will be all over the same territory before you even read this. I bet I'm the first to come up with the Crucifix Glitch to explain the aversion to crosses, though— and once struck by that bit of inspiration, everything else followed. Vampires were accidentally rediscovered when a form of experimental gene therapy went curiously awry, kick-starting long- dormant genes in an autistic child and provoking a series of (ultimately fatal) physical and neurological changes. The company responsible for this discovery presented its findings after extensive follow-up studies on inmates of the Texas penal system; a recording of that talk, complete with visual aids, is available online1; curious readers with half an hour to kill are refered there for details not only on vampire biology, but on the research, funding, and "ethical and political concerns" regarding vampire 1 http://www.rifters.com/blindsight/vampires.htm Notes and References 2 domestication (not to mention the ill-fated "Taming Yesterday's Nightmares For A Brighter Tomorrow" campaign). The following (much briefer) synopsis restricts itself to a few biological characteristics of the ancestral organism: Homo sapiens vampiris was a short-lived Human subspecies which diverged from the ancestral line between 800,000 and 500,000 year BP.
    [Show full text]
  • Being Mindful of Zombies and Phenombies” M
    METAZİHİN YAPAY ZEKA VE ZİHİN FELSEFESİ DERGİSİ METAMIND: JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF MIND ISSN: 2651-2963 Cilt: 1, Sayı: 2, Aralık 2018, 159-165 www.dergipark.gov.tr/metazihin Volume: 1, Issue: 2, December 2018, 159-165 Being Mindful of Zombies and Phenombies [Zombiler ve Fenombilere Zihnimizde Yer Açmak] Erdinç SAYAN * Middle East Technical University Tevfik AYTEKİN ** Bahçeşehir University Received: 07.11.2018 / Accepted: 19.12.2018 DOI: ………………………. Research Article Abstract: “Philosophical zombies” often figure in the contemporary philosophy of mind literature to argue for or against some theories of the nature of mind and mental states. In this paper we draw on zombies to illuminate certain aspects of our common, ordinary concepts of consciousness and mind. We also call in, for the same purpose, the help of a hypothetical being that we created, which we call “phenombie.” Keywords: zombie, phenombie, blindsight, intentional mental states, qualitative mental states, consciousness, mind. Many discussions in contemporary analytic philosophy of mind feature zombies. Philosophical zombies are imaginary creatures indistinguishable from a normal human hin Yapay Zeka ve Zihin FelsefesiDergisi as far as their appearance, behavior and biology are concerned, except they lack qualia Zi and consciousness.1 The big issue is whether they are conceivable or metaphysically possible. Some philosophers think that, even if zombies are not actual creatures, their Meta * Author Info: Prof. (Emeritus) – Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Philosophy, Üniversiteler Mah. Dumlupınar Blv. No: 1, Çankaya-Ankara, TURKEY. E-mail: [email protected] / Orcid Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9889-2315 ** Author Info: Assist.
    [Show full text]
  • Science and Fiction
    Science and Fiction Editorial Board Mark Alpert Philip Ball Gregory Benford Michael Brotherton Victor Callaghan Amnon H Eden Nick Kanas Geoffrey Landis Rudi Rucker Dirk Schulze-Makuch Rüdiger Vaas Ulrich Walter Stephen Webb Science and Fiction – A Springer Series This collection of entertaining and thought-provoking books will appeal equally to science buffs, scientists and science-fiction fans. It was born out of the recognition that scientific discovery and the creation of plausible fictional scenarios are often two sides of the same coin. Each relies on an understanding of the way the world works, coupled with the imaginative ability to invent new or alternative explanations—and even other worlds. Authored by practicing scientists as well as writers of hard science fiction, these books explore and exploit the borderlands between accepted science and its fictional counterpart. Uncovering mutual influences, promoting fruitful interaction, narrating and analyzing fictional scenarios, together they serve as a reaction vessel for inspired new ideas in science, technology, and beyond. Whether fiction, fact, or forever undecidable: the Springer Series “Science and Fiction” intends to go where no one has gone before! Its largely non-technical books take several different approaches. Journey with their authors as they • Indulge in science speculation—describing intriguing, plausible yet unproven ideas; • Exploit science fiction for educational purposes and as a means of promoting critical thinking; • Explore the interplay of science and science fiction—throughout the history of the genre and looking ahead; • Delve into related topics including, but not limited to: science as a creative process, the limits of science, interplay of literature and knowledge; • Tell fictional short stories built around well-defined scientific ideas, with a supplement summarizing the science underlying the plot.
    [Show full text]
  • Zombies and the Active Imagination
    ZOMBIES AND THE ACTIVE IMAGINATION By CASEY WOODLING A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2006 Copyright 2006 by Casey Woodling For my family. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Gene Witmer, which I hope to one day repay, for his insightful comments and suggestions and acute criticism, as well as his encouragement and patience in seeing the product to completion. I am also indebted Professor John Biro and Professor Murat Aydede for helpful comments and criticisms. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support I received over the past year from my wife, Emily. Completing this project without her is simply inconceivable. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................1 Zombies and Other Minds: A Brief Introduction...........................................................1 Similarities Between Zombies and Other-mindless Creatures.........................................2 Differences Between Zombies and Other-mindless Creatures........................................3 General Skepticism about the Conceivability-Possibility
    [Show full text]
  • Science Fiction Beyond Borders
    Science Fiction beyond Borders Science Fiction beyond Borders Edited by Shawn Edrei and Danielle Gurevitch Science Fiction beyond Borders Edited by Shawn Edrei and Danielle Gurevitch This book first published 2016 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2016 by Shawn Edrei, Danielle Gurevitch and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-9955-0 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-9955-0 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................... vii Shawn Edrei Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 Character Degree Zero: Space and the Posthuman Subject Elana Gomel Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 14 Androgynous Aliens and Gender Migrants: Experiments in Genderlessness in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and Greg Egan’s Distress Anat Karolin Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 31 The Importance of Telling Lies: SF Ethics and the Story
    [Show full text]
  • A Look at the Problems Associated with Chalmers's Zombie-Argument
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Philosophy Theses Department of Philosophy 6-9-2006 Ways to Skin the Zombie Cat: A Look at the Problems Associated with Chalmers's Zombie-Argument Walter Scott Clifton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Clifton, Walter Scott, "Ways to Skin the Zombie Cat: A Look at the Problems Associated with Chalmers's Zombie-Argument." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2006. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/3 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Philosophy at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WAYS TO SKIN THE ZOMBIE CAT: A LOOK AT THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH CHALMERS’S ZOMBIE-ARGUMENT by W. SCOTT CLIFTON Under the direction of Reina Hayaki ABSTRACT In contemporary philosophy of mind, the issue of consciousness has taken center stage. Broadly speaking, those who deal with consciousness fall into two camps: those who prioritize empirical work and those who favor conceptual investigation. One prominent argument has served to deepen the divide: the argument for the possibility of zombies. In this paper I intend to examine closely this argument, as it’s presented by David Chalmers, and some of the attempts to discredit it. In so doing, I present some of my own arguments against it, as well as the claim that if it’s sound, then materialism is false.
    [Show full text]
  • Pumping Dust
    Evolutionary Psychology www.epjournal.net – 2013. 11(5): 1077-1083 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Book Review Pumping Dust A review of (1) Daniel C. Dennett, Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 2013, 512 pp., US$19.64, ISBN # 0393082067 (hardcover), and (2) Nicholas Humphrey, Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness. Princeton University Press: New Jersey, 2011, 256 pp., US$12.88, ISBN # 0691156379 (paperback). Austin John Jeffery, Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA. Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author). Todd K. Shackelford, Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA. Daniel C. Dennett is co-director for the Center for Cognitive Studies and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, his academic home for 40 years. His work on philosophy of mind, free will, evolution, meaning, religion, and philosophy of science has animated philosophy, cognitive science, and popular non-fiction for decades. Dennett’s most recent book, Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, is a catalog of thought experiments, organized by topic. The book includes exercises for developing understanding and skepticism in the teeth of philosophical argument, and it is in this spirit that we here dissect a recent philosophical work, Nicholas Humphrey’s Soul Dust (2011), at once test-driving Dennett’s thinking workshop and critiquing Humphrey’s novel philosophy of evolved consciousness. Nicholas Humphrey, emeritus professor of psychology at the London School of Economics, is renowned in psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science for the discovery of blindsight (1970), for contributing to the philosophical foundations of modern evolutionary psychology (1976), and as a popular non-fiction author on subjects ranging from philosophy of mind, to evolutionary theory, to religion.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophers Recommend Science Fiction Eric Schwitzgebel Consider
    Philosophers Recommend Science Fiction Eric Schwitzgebel Consider two possible views of the relationship between philosophy and science fiction. On the first view, science fiction simply illustrates, or makes more accessible, what could be said as well or better in a discursive philosophical essay. Those who can’t stomach purely abstract discussions on the nature of time, for example, might be drawn into an exciting story; but seasoned philosophers can ignore such entertainments and proceed directly to the abstract arguments that are the meat of the philosophical enterprise. On the second view, science-fictional storytelling has philosophical merit in its own right that is not reducible to abstract argumentation. For at least some philosophical topics, one cannot substitute for the other, and a diet of only one type of writing risks leaving you philosophically malnourished. One argument for the second view holds that examples and thought experiments play an ineliminable role in philosophical thinking. If so, we might see the miniature examples and thought experiments in philosophical essays as midpoints on a continuum from purely abstract propositions on one end to novel-length narratives on the other. Whatever role short examples play in philosophical thinking, longer narratives might also play a similar role. Perhaps entirely abstract prose leaves the imagination and the emotions hungry; well-drawn thought experiments engage them a bit; and films and novels engage them more fully, bringing along whatever cognitive benefits (and risks) flow from vividly engaging the imagination and emotions. Ordinary literary fiction engages imaginative and emotive cognition about possibilities within the ordinary run of human experience; speculative fiction engages imaginative and emotive cognition about possibilities outside the ordinary run of human experience.
    [Show full text]
  • On a Confusion About a Function of Consciousness
    BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (1995) 18, 227-287 Printed in the United States of America On a confusion about a function of consciousness Ned Block Department of Unguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 Electronic mall: [email protected] Abstract: Consciousness is a mongrel concept: there are a number of very different "consciousnesses." Phenomenal consciousness is experience; the phenomenally conscious aspect of a state is what it is like to be in that state. The mark of access-consciousness, by contrast, is availability for use in reasoning and rationally guiding speech and action. These concepts are often partly or totally conflated, with bad results. This target article uses as an example a form of reasoning about a function of"consciousness" based on the phenomenon ofblindsight. Some information about stimuli in the blind field is represented in the brains ofblindsight patients, as shown by their correct "guesses." They cannot harness this information in the service of action, however, and this is said to show that a function of phenomenal consciousness is somehow to enable information represented in the brain to guide action. But stimuli in the blind field are both access-unconscious and phenomenally unconscious. The fallacy is: an obvious function of the machinery of access­ consciousness is illicitly transferred to phenomenal consciousness. Keywords: access; attention; awareness; blindsight; consciousness; function; retrieval 1. Introduction with reasoning, not with data. Long stretches of text without data may make some readers uncomfortable, as The concept of consciousness is a hybrid, or better, a will my fanciful thought-experiments. But if you are mongrel concept: the word "consciousness" connotes a interested in consciousness, then if I am right you can't number of different concepts and denotes a number of afford to lose patience.
    [Show full text]