tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724592643224262209.post8821362821301005906..comments2023-05-08T02:52:16.953-07:00Comments on Cognition and Evolution: Panpsychist Accounts of Consciousness Are Still TestableMichael Catonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01017910055699348111noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724592643224262209.post-46568648213620633242009-10-21T22:14:29.425-07:002009-10-21T22:14:29.425-07:00That's exactly it. The argument that's of...That's exactly it. The argument that's often made about panpsychism is that it's not testable, but this is incorrect. A universal, continuous distribution is testable if it behaves lawfully, as panpsychists (like myself) typically argue. Otherwise, gravity isn't a real theory either.<br /><br />The next step is to leave the realm of theory and start doing neurology. Don't even wait for computers to get smarter, if they can. Look at the machines that are conscious now, if any are. Some questions have already been solved by finding people with unique combinations of conditions (e.g. colorblind synasthetes have shown that yes, Mary the colorblind or sequestered-in-a-nothing-red-room neuroscientist would in fact have a new experience by actually seeing red).Michael Catonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01017910055699348111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724592643224262209.post-2945647556193886762009-10-21T08:28:15.216-07:002009-10-21T08:28:15.216-07:00Just because I can express my entire genetic code ...Just because I can express my entire genetic code in terms of AT & CG, doesn't mean I can build myself a new brain. <br /><br />Existence might consist of four basic units and we might have the public key (dimensional analysis) but that doesn't mean we've cracked the private key...yet. <br /><br />If no observation can test the parts of your theory, it's time to stop working on your theory and start working on improving your observational tools. <br /><br />At a certain point, Galileo had to drop what he was doing and build a better telescope. <br /><br />blah blah standing on the bootstraps of giant shoulders blah blah untestable theory = laziness excuse blah blah <br /><br />I probably only typed this because of the way my quarks were spinning this morning.dbonfittohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08787420987976232701noreply@blogger.com