rhinoceros
Archon
Gender: 
Posts: 1318
Reputation: 8.40
Rate rhinoceros
My point is ...
  
|
 |
Self: an illusion or an effect?
« on: 2005-04-05 11:49:56 » |
 |
I noticed this paragraph in an online piece about Marvin Minsky pointed out by hkhenson.
http://www.consciousentities.com/minsky.htm
<quote>
The idea that mental activity is constituted by a society of agents who themselves are not especially intelligent is an influential one, and Minsky’s version of it is well-developed and characteristically trenchant. He has no truck at all with the idea of a central self, which in his eyes is pretty much the same thing as an homunculus, a little man inside your head. Free will, for him, is a delusion which we are unfortunately stuck with. This sceptical attitude certainly cuts out a lot of difficulties, though the net result is perhaps that the theory deals better with unconscious processes than conscious ones. I think the path set out by Minsky stops short of a real solution to the problem of consciousness and probably cannot be extended without some unimaginable new development. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhileexercise to stroll along it, however.
<end quote>
By the way, the www.consciousentities.com site seems interesting. Take a look.
The notion that "self" or "free will" are illusions has appeared in many attempts to figure out cognition, even consciousness, by Dennett, Blackmore, and many authors who promote either a "pure" rationalist or a new-agey model. It might be better to call them "effects" rather than "illusions". I share the reservations of the author of this article. We can safely expel the little man who was supposed to live inside our head, but calling this effect "an illusion" may give us a false sense that we have figured it out.
A chair is composed of atoms or, alternatively, of human use patterns, but we don't call it an illusion because of that; treating it as an entity is the most efficient way to go in most conversations. In a philosophy class, we could even call a chair "an effect".
At least Minsky *did* work on the problem of whatever produces the effect of self. The successes and shortcomings of his approach are now part of human knowledge. Artificial Intelligence is not simply about tinkering with thinking computers and robots. It has already done a lot to bring centuries of work by philosophers, psychologists, mathematicians and others to the lab. For the first time we can figure out what works and what is the scope and efficiency of the different approaches.
|
Author
Logged
