Post by johnpenilla on Jun 12, 2015 1:25:45 GMT
Week 5 and 6
1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
Andrea and David Lane, in Is The Universe An App?, elaborate about the virtual simulation theory of consciousness, explaining it is the idea that the brain creates a neurological environment based on “how our central nervous system processes both internal and external stimuli” (page (106). Inside this neural world the interworkings are governed by an agglomeration “of on/ off nodes tied in with trillions of synaptic clefts” (106). However, there are two different states of consciousness- waking and dreaming. In the waking state information is brought in from the body, through our “nine orifices” and, with it, we strategize on how to react in different situations, while in the dreaming we project various images and scenarios, due the brain not being required to focus on a given task (106). The kicker is that what is neurologically simulated as reality might not actually line up with what is happening in a given time and space. As a result, the reality of a given simulation depends on the legitimacy prescribed to it.
2. How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
Our brain plays tricks on us by illustrating our perception with what is most beneficial for our survival. Smaller examples of the brain tricking us were described by Andrea- Diem Lane in her fantastic book Cerebral Mirage: The Deceptive Nature of Awareness. In it, she describes that though there are tremendous amounts of information coming into our brains from various channels it still projects for us a “singular impression of an object” (Diem Lane 10). To accomplish this, according to Lane, “the brain ‘uses impressionistic’ and ‘filling- in’ procedures so as to best compute colour [sic] and motion and synchronize them as a whole” (Diem Lane 10). However, the most prominent example of the brain tricking us to increase our own survival is displayed with near- death experiences. This is so because the brain persuades the individual to live another day with the appearance of an enticing image; the examples given in the book are of a bicycle and of “chapatti,” which reminded the latter individual of her responsibility to make lunch (19 and 20 Diem- Lane).
Week 7
1. Do you think artificial intelligence will be a significant problem in the future?
I don’t know much about artificial intelligence but after watching the videos and reading the text, it seems like it definitely has the potential to be a problem. I was left particularly uneasy with Ray Kurzweil when he said that in “25 years technology with be a billion times more powerful than it is today.” However, I appreciate the precautionary steps that Alan Turing established for himself with “machine intelligence,” as he was actively engaged in creating mathematical problems that he could not solve with his theory machines. But because I feel that the public at large is not aware of the advances made in artificial intelligence I hope that all scientists are taking the same approach as Turning by creating equations that need to be solved before we allow for machines to start thinking like humans. That said, the best example of artificial intelligence’s given capabilities can be displayed with Turing Test, in which a human can hold a conversation with a machine and realize it is a machine.
2. How has technology impacted your life?
The use of technology has impacted my life in more ways that I recognize. I always wonder what it must have been like for all the scholars that came before me to write papers without the assistance of a computer (especially spell check). It must have been incredibly more challenging to get information as well: I would guess that 95% of the information that I get comes from the internet, making completing the assignments I’m given much easier. But as for artificial intelligence, of the kind mentioned in the readings and films, the most significant way that technology as impacted my life is with Cortana. She is the equivalent of Apple’s iPhones Siri but for Windows phones. I interact with her on a daily basis, as I wear my headphones and listen to music she informs me of the texts messages I get and reads them to me and even documents my response to send in reply. Also I can activate her services through my headphones and she will connect me to any corner of the web. But in a one sentence reflection of technologies impact on my life, I could not imagine my life without it now.
Week 8
1. Why is Faqir Chand's experiences important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles?
Faqir Chand’s and experiences, recorded in David Lane’s The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Baba Faqir Chnad, are important to understanding the project nature of religious visions and miracles because they expose that the majority of projections reported by believers are in actuality rooted in the believers own neural complex. Examples of this is are illuminated as Chand pragmatically asserts that he was not aware of himself appearing to anyone. He describes that after he began initiating people surat shabd yoga, they started to say that the appearance of his form was “caused by Faqir's prashad (blessed food), letters, or advice” (11). A second example given by Chand was when his guru Shiv Brat Lon’s form appeared to him when he came under attacking during a battle in Hamidia, Iraq. His guru informed him that the enemy was only there to pick up their dead and to not attack; after reporting this to the commanding officer, he heeded the words of Chand’s guru and did not attack (95-96). But what made this an insightful experience in understanding the projective nature of religious visions was that Brat Lon had no idea that he had appeared to him in a vision when Chand brought it to his attention. Hence, this example highlights how visions are grounded in their own neural complex and are potentially void of a transcend nature.
2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."
This phrase, I believe, means that true philosophy should represent an accurate description of the natural world and the only way to get an accurate description of the natural world is through science; however, if one does not use science as their explanation it remains in the speculative and questioning realm of philosophy. I say this because throughout this course it has been shown that philosophy is the source of the questions that science seeks to answer. As an example I’m thinking of the Einstein- Bohr debate that is highly comparable to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the Indian rishis notion of “maya.” The comparison can be made as the latter physicists sought to answer questions and speculations that had been presented by philosophical thinkers’ ages before. They become even more aligned as Bohr I feel would side with the rishis and Plato as he, even after all his scientific and mathematical reasoning, concludes that we ultimately do not know if there is an objective reality underneath consciousness due to the implications of quantum mechanics.
1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
Andrea and David Lane, in Is The Universe An App?, elaborate about the virtual simulation theory of consciousness, explaining it is the idea that the brain creates a neurological environment based on “how our central nervous system processes both internal and external stimuli” (page (106). Inside this neural world the interworkings are governed by an agglomeration “of on/ off nodes tied in with trillions of synaptic clefts” (106). However, there are two different states of consciousness- waking and dreaming. In the waking state information is brought in from the body, through our “nine orifices” and, with it, we strategize on how to react in different situations, while in the dreaming we project various images and scenarios, due the brain not being required to focus on a given task (106). The kicker is that what is neurologically simulated as reality might not actually line up with what is happening in a given time and space. As a result, the reality of a given simulation depends on the legitimacy prescribed to it.
2. How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
Our brain plays tricks on us by illustrating our perception with what is most beneficial for our survival. Smaller examples of the brain tricking us were described by Andrea- Diem Lane in her fantastic book Cerebral Mirage: The Deceptive Nature of Awareness. In it, she describes that though there are tremendous amounts of information coming into our brains from various channels it still projects for us a “singular impression of an object” (Diem Lane 10). To accomplish this, according to Lane, “the brain ‘uses impressionistic’ and ‘filling- in’ procedures so as to best compute colour [sic] and motion and synchronize them as a whole” (Diem Lane 10). However, the most prominent example of the brain tricking us to increase our own survival is displayed with near- death experiences. This is so because the brain persuades the individual to live another day with the appearance of an enticing image; the examples given in the book are of a bicycle and of “chapatti,” which reminded the latter individual of her responsibility to make lunch (19 and 20 Diem- Lane).
Week 7
1. Do you think artificial intelligence will be a significant problem in the future?
I don’t know much about artificial intelligence but after watching the videos and reading the text, it seems like it definitely has the potential to be a problem. I was left particularly uneasy with Ray Kurzweil when he said that in “25 years technology with be a billion times more powerful than it is today.” However, I appreciate the precautionary steps that Alan Turing established for himself with “machine intelligence,” as he was actively engaged in creating mathematical problems that he could not solve with his theory machines. But because I feel that the public at large is not aware of the advances made in artificial intelligence I hope that all scientists are taking the same approach as Turning by creating equations that need to be solved before we allow for machines to start thinking like humans. That said, the best example of artificial intelligence’s given capabilities can be displayed with Turing Test, in which a human can hold a conversation with a machine and realize it is a machine.
2. How has technology impacted your life?
The use of technology has impacted my life in more ways that I recognize. I always wonder what it must have been like for all the scholars that came before me to write papers without the assistance of a computer (especially spell check). It must have been incredibly more challenging to get information as well: I would guess that 95% of the information that I get comes from the internet, making completing the assignments I’m given much easier. But as for artificial intelligence, of the kind mentioned in the readings and films, the most significant way that technology as impacted my life is with Cortana. She is the equivalent of Apple’s iPhones Siri but for Windows phones. I interact with her on a daily basis, as I wear my headphones and listen to music she informs me of the texts messages I get and reads them to me and even documents my response to send in reply. Also I can activate her services through my headphones and she will connect me to any corner of the web. But in a one sentence reflection of technologies impact on my life, I could not imagine my life without it now.
Week 8
1. Why is Faqir Chand's experiences important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles?
Faqir Chand’s and experiences, recorded in David Lane’s The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Baba Faqir Chnad, are important to understanding the project nature of religious visions and miracles because they expose that the majority of projections reported by believers are in actuality rooted in the believers own neural complex. Examples of this is are illuminated as Chand pragmatically asserts that he was not aware of himself appearing to anyone. He describes that after he began initiating people surat shabd yoga, they started to say that the appearance of his form was “caused by Faqir's prashad (blessed food), letters, or advice” (11). A second example given by Chand was when his guru Shiv Brat Lon’s form appeared to him when he came under attacking during a battle in Hamidia, Iraq. His guru informed him that the enemy was only there to pick up their dead and to not attack; after reporting this to the commanding officer, he heeded the words of Chand’s guru and did not attack (95-96). But what made this an insightful experience in understanding the projective nature of religious visions was that Brat Lon had no idea that he had appeared to him in a vision when Chand brought it to his attention. Hence, this example highlights how visions are grounded in their own neural complex and are potentially void of a transcend nature.
2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."
This phrase, I believe, means that true philosophy should represent an accurate description of the natural world and the only way to get an accurate description of the natural world is through science; however, if one does not use science as their explanation it remains in the speculative and questioning realm of philosophy. I say this because throughout this course it has been shown that philosophy is the source of the questions that science seeks to answer. As an example I’m thinking of the Einstein- Bohr debate that is highly comparable to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the Indian rishis notion of “maya.” The comparison can be made as the latter physicists sought to answer questions and speculations that had been presented by philosophical thinkers’ ages before. They become even more aligned as Bohr I feel would side with the rishis and Plato as he, even after all his scientific and mathematical reasoning, concludes that we ultimately do not know if there is an objective reality underneath consciousness due to the implications of quantum mechanics.