Re: MD mental and neural states

From: Elizaphanian (elizaphanian@tiscali.co.uk)
Date: Wed Mar 26 2003 - 16:43:43 GMT

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    Hi Scott,

    > > I have one question: why can't consciousness be an emergent property?
    >
    > Consciousness can (and does) evolve (Barfield's book is all about this,
    how
    > our perception is different from that of earlier times). My argument is an
    > attempt to show that consciousness cannot be an emergent property (that
    is,
    > cannot emerge out of non-consciousness). It is a reductio ad absurdum of
    > what I call the conventional picture of perception, that is, one that
    > assumes that the fundamental stratum of reality consists of
    > non-consciousness entities, yet when they get organized in certain complex
    > ways (i.e., as nervous systems), somehow consciousness happens. Spacetime
    is
    > part of that conventional picture. So when mystics speak of
    > non-spatiotemporal reality, I think they should be listened to.

    Why can't all matter be incipiently conscious, which is only manifested when
    it attains a certain order of complexity? I still don't understand why you
    reject that. (I'm probably being particularly dense at the moment)

    I'm interested in the space-time/mystical question, ie that consciousness
    determines space-time. Have you ever read any Stephen Baxter?

    I will have to look at Merrill-Wolff - but that's some time away.

    Sam

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