The Beginning and Evolution of Consciousness
Hui-Jun Cai, Tianqi Cai, Wenwei Zhang, Kai Wang
November 20, 2016 DOI: 10.2991/aiie-16.2016.51 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Proposes that individuals bisect the universe into "Self" and "Outside World" through touch sensitivity acquired over human evolution, and argues that saddle points and many degrees of freedom in nonlinear dynamics leave room for free will to influence the universe's evolution. Contends that cognitive beings actively participate in physical evolution and that their intelligence is entangled with subjective biases, unlike machine computation. |
Abstract
It is an open question if the explosive computing capability of artificial intelligence could transcend human intelligence. It is proposed that the universe is bisected and encapsulated into Self and Outside World by an individual based on one’s sensitive tactility acquired in the biological evolution of Homo Sapiens. The universe runs according to physical equations, but since there are a lot of degrees of freedom, especially the existence of the saddle points in nonlinear dynamics, the universe can evolve in different directions, and free will can play a role in the choice of directions. The cognitive beings are active participants in the evolution of the physical world and their intelligences are entangled with subjective biases, in stark contrast to algorithmic computing of machines. Keywords-the skin brain hypothesis; the proto-consciousness; Self; free will; hard problem