dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaWhat do neural nets and quantum theory tell us about mind and reality?
| Authors | Paul J. Werbos |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0311006 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0311006 |
| Journal | In K.Yasue, M.Jibu, T. Della Senta eds, No Matter, Never Mind, John Benjamins Books, 2001 |
Abstract
This paper proposes an approach to framing and answering fundamental questions about consciousness. It argues that many of the more theoretical debates about consciousness, such as debates about "when does it begin?", are misplaced and meaningless, in part because "consciousness" as a word has many valid and interesting definitions, and in part because consciousness qua mind or intelligence (the main focus here)is a matter of degree or level, not a binary variable. It proposes that new mathematical work related to functional neural network designs -- designs so functional that they can be used in engineering -- is essential to a functional understanding of intelligence as such, and outlines some key mathematics as of 1999, citing earlier work for more details. Quantum theory is relevant, but not in the simple ways proposed in more popular philosophies.
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"abstract": "This paper proposes an approach to framing and answering fundamental\nquestions about consciousness. It argues that many of the more theoretical\ndebates about consciousness, such as debates about \"when does it begin?\", are\nmisplaced and meaningless, in part because \"consciousness\" as a word has many\nvalid and interesting definitions, and in part because consciousness qua mind\nor intelligence (the main focus here)is a matter of degree or level, not a\nbinary variable. It proposes that new mathematical work related to functional\nneural network designs -- designs so functional that they can be used in\nengineering -- is essential to a functional understanding of intelligence as\nsuch, and outlines some key mathematics as of 1999, citing earlier work for\nmore details. Quantum theory is relevant, but not in the simple ways proposed\nin more popular philosophies.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0311006",
"authors": [
"Paul J. Werbos"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.NC"
],
"journal_ref": "In K.Yasue, M.Jibu, T. Della Senta eds, No Matter, Never Mind,\n John Benjamins Books, 2001",
"title": "What do neural nets and quantum theory tell us about mind and reality?",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0311006"
},
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