The double look
Persuade or manipulate, a clear border To persuade is to give the individual ownership of his actions. To manipulate is to steal it from him. Today the border is erased by mass manipulation, which makes it possible to ignore persuasion. Why waste time making a consciousness think about the right action to take when it … Read more
How do our mental representations become intentions? For a materialist scientist, sensory data transformed into mental patterns is not a hard problem. Neurons modify the tree structure of dendrites and synaptic values to establish a symbolic code of the objects presented to the senses. The sight of an apple activates a specific pattern. The brain … Read more
Versatile but not inconsistent I can be a very different person depending on the circumstances: angry infantile infantile calm frivolous responsible insensitive empathic, etc. Some aspects are marked and serve in my loved ones to define ‘my personality’. Nevertheless, if I am calm or angry, my appearance changes quickly, which makes the unity of my … Read more
‘Surimposition’ is a concrete notion Surimposition is the presence of multiple layers of information in a single entity. For example, a bacterium is the surimposition of an anatomical (organelles, wall), biomolecular, molecular, atomic, particulate level. Most striking levels within the boundaries of knowledge. They are not reducible to each other. The intention of a bacterium, … Read more
Pure altruism does not exist When I transmit information on the net, do I do so out of altruism, for the simple pleasure of spreading knowledge? I would like to be selfless, but no. ‘Simple pleasure’ is far more important than it seems. I seek to stimulate my reward circuits. Without this initial starter, I … Read more
Holes in experience are intolerable The section of the corpus callosum, this thick neural cable that unites the two cerebral hemispheres, has been performed in very severe forms of epilepsy. Side effect: the operated person ends up with two effector consciousnesses. Right and left hemibody are potentially autonomous. But they are still firmly attached, along … Read more
Awake without being conscious? It is possible. Situation of the epileptic in grand mal seizure. He is apparently awake but absent, uncontrolled, left to autonomous muscle spasms. Conversely, consciousness is impossible without awakening. These statements attribute to consciousness two additional conditions, in addition to awakening: 1) Mind control over the body and the environment. 2) … Read more
The relative intransigence of quantification Let’s dive into the fundamental meaning of quantification. It implies an intransigent separation between individuations. Is the nature of this separation knowable? Yes, if we can reduce individuation to parties, whose relationships create discontinuity. The separation is therefore intransigent but not irreducible. Except by adopting foundationalism, that is, to postulate … Read more