The double look on complex dimension
Beyond the appearences Reading a new survey of theories of consciousness, from a computational point of view, I am amazed by the number of a priori which, without seeming to be so, are hidden in the middle of the text. This type of work, however, strives, with meticulousness, to get rid of postulates and ambivalences … Read more
The desire to know and the need not to understand Alexandre Vialatte quote: “Man’s mind never stops dreaming. But it also meditates, supposes and calculates. He wants to know and needs to not understand. In short, to know and to marvel. Contradictory necessities: one demands to know, the other to ignore. Hence science and poetry.” … Read more
Abstract: Proponents of degrowth wrongly confuse individual effort with collective management. Egos can rightly boast of individual effort. But to make degrowth a collective priesthood is to trample on other egos more numerous than their own, who seek to grow only to the point where the former refuse to degrowth… In the anarchist fog Proponents … Read more
Immortal Yellow Shadow(s) With technology capable of exponential progress, the transhumanist dream of saving our minds from extinction is taking shape. Digital media have reached the density of information needed to copy that contained in the brain. All the more so as they can be compressed. There’s no need to record the brain’s entire spatial … Read more
Abstract: 3 biological clocks and a perceptual theory to explain the acceleration of the passage of time experienced with age. Enough to satisfy both the materialist and phenomenological viewpoints. But these two approaches still need to be coordinated for a complete explanation. The mind begins on a tricycle, ends on a high-speed train We all … Read more
Expat A Westerner who moves to tropical islands —yes, it’s lived experience— discovers time management that is also very far from his own. It is not a question of folklore which takes the place of the previous one but of a radically different approach to daily affairs. The Westerner sequences his tasks. He mainly focuses … Read more
Abstract: The introduction sets the scene for a Theory of Everything (ToE): the observable, the provable, the root concepts, the limits, the author. Part 1 presents the transcendental thread, the TD principle (soliTary vs soliDary, whole vs part). From this principle is deduced the fundamental framework of reality, the complex variety, endowed with two dimensions, … Read more
Abstract: As Surimposium is a theory of everything presented on this site, I examine Ken Wilber’s earlier theory, which he expanded throughout his life. I separate the excellent start on Arthur Koestler’s holons, likely to win broad support, and the mystical veneer added by Wilber, which ends up erasing the initial coherence. I highlight Wilber’s … Read more
Abstract: Quantum and conscious mysteries are brought together in the quantum theory of consciousness, where the phenomenon is attributed to the interaction between neurotransmitters and the zero-point field (ZPF). A materialist success, but a philosophical farce, since the qualitative richness of consciousness is not taken into account. A nugget, though: the theory is a simple … Read more
Abstract: Critical review of a reference article on consciousness in AIs, published by Patrick Butlin and Robert Long’s team on 22/08/23. Part 1 analyzes the pitfalls and resulting breaches in the study: sacralized definition of consciousness, exclusions in the chosen method, transposition of human theories to the digital, occultation of the qualitative phenomenon. Part 2: … Read more