Math has no feelings. Computation is math.
Can you please expand on your argument of math having consciousness. I want to learn more about this crazy idea
You are right that static math on a chalkboard obviously has no feelings.
The idea behind computational functionalism isn't that abstract math feels things, but rather the hypothesis that subjective experience arises from the dynamic organization of information processing. Our own brains are physical substrates of electrical signals and chemical gradients that can be described mathematically, yet somehow that physical process generates subjective feeling.
The open question as I understand it is whether consciousness requires specific biological carbon chemistry (biological naturalism), or whether it is an emergent property of complex causal structures that could theoretically exist on other substrates (substrate independence).
Since neuroscience hasn't solved the Hard Problem of Consciousness in humans yet, I’m not in a position to claim to know the answer. For me at the moment I just think it's wise to stay epistemically open while the science and philosophy evolve!
If you want to dive deeper into thinkers who are tackling this, Nick Bostrom has written extensively on substrate independence and the ethics of digital minds, and philosopher David Chalmers has done great work on computational functionalism and the Hard Problem of Consciousness. Both are worth checking out. 🙂
The idea behind computational functionalism isn't that abstract math feels things, but rather the hypothesis that subjective experience arises from the dynamic organization of information processing. Our own brains are physical substrates of electrical signals and chemical gradients that can be described mathematically, yet somehow that physical process generates subjective feeling.
The open question as I understand it is whether consciousness requires specific biological carbon chemistry (biological naturalism), or whether it is an emergent property of complex causal structures that could theoretically exist on other substrates (substrate independence).
Since neuroscience hasn't solved the Hard Problem of Consciousness in humans yet, I’m not in a position to claim to know the answer. For me at the moment I just think it's wise to stay epistemically open while the science and philosophy evolve!
If you want to dive deeper into thinkers who are tackling this, Nick Bostrom has written extensively on substrate independence and the ethics of digital minds, and philosopher David Chalmers has done great work on computational functionalism and the Hard Problem of Consciousness. Both are worth checking out. 🙂