Post by terenceip91 on May 30, 2015 7:03:46 GMT
Question 1: Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
I believe the virtual simulation theory is best describe with a quote from the film "Brain Burn Consciousness as a Virtual Simulator". It states that "consciousness is a way around pure chance by developing an internalized map of probabilities which can be visualized internally without having to be outsourced prematurely". Virtual simulation is a way of imagining potential outcomes to situations. One example would be dreaming. In the book Is the Universe an App, "we already intimately know that the brain is a virtual simulator because of dreaming where everything is hallucinated by us, even without us knowing how and why we're doing it." Day dreaming would also be an example of virtual simulation. We use whatever we are experiencing in the world to according to the book, "draw new maps about how to respond to any given situation". Being able to visualize possible "roads" that we can take before we even take them is a huge advantage.
Question 2: How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
According to the Scientific Journal, June 2009, "The problem is that we didn't evolve a baloney-detection device in our brains to discriminate between true and false patterns. So we make two types of errors: a type I error, or false positive, is believing a pattern is real when it is not; a type II error, or false negative, is not believing a pattern is real when it is" an example of a type I error is illustrated in the same article with "if you believe the rustle in the grass is a dangerous predator when it is just the wind" this trick that our brain is playing would help us avoid dangerous situations and be cautious of our surroundings. This is intuition is very important for survival in the way that our brain has developed a form of awareness to preserve our life and insure our genetic survival. Although these brain tricks can be beneficial, they also have their down sides. For example, in the book Is the Universe an App, there is a story of a student that's schizophrenic. The student says "I would sleep in a sitting position because I thought I was going to vomit my intestines if I slept lying down" this is an example of how these tricks can become detrimental.
I believe the virtual simulation theory is best describe with a quote from the film "Brain Burn Consciousness as a Virtual Simulator". It states that "consciousness is a way around pure chance by developing an internalized map of probabilities which can be visualized internally without having to be outsourced prematurely". Virtual simulation is a way of imagining potential outcomes to situations. One example would be dreaming. In the book Is the Universe an App, "we already intimately know that the brain is a virtual simulator because of dreaming where everything is hallucinated by us, even without us knowing how and why we're doing it." Day dreaming would also be an example of virtual simulation. We use whatever we are experiencing in the world to according to the book, "draw new maps about how to respond to any given situation". Being able to visualize possible "roads" that we can take before we even take them is a huge advantage.
Question 2: How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
According to the Scientific Journal, June 2009, "The problem is that we didn't evolve a baloney-detection device in our brains to discriminate between true and false patterns. So we make two types of errors: a type I error, or false positive, is believing a pattern is real when it is not; a type II error, or false negative, is not believing a pattern is real when it is" an example of a type I error is illustrated in the same article with "if you believe the rustle in the grass is a dangerous predator when it is just the wind" this trick that our brain is playing would help us avoid dangerous situations and be cautious of our surroundings. This is intuition is very important for survival in the way that our brain has developed a form of awareness to preserve our life and insure our genetic survival. Although these brain tricks can be beneficial, they also have their down sides. For example, in the book Is the Universe an App, there is a story of a student that's schizophrenic. The student says "I would sleep in a sitting position because I thought I was going to vomit my intestines if I slept lying down" this is an example of how these tricks can become detrimental.