Author | Lightnews

James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 1h

Yes. Presumably there is some set of neurons required for generating the Chinese word for “dog” which you could change back to how they were before the memorizing. The English mind wouldn’t change, but the Chinese mind would. Alt., you could change them all back.

James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 4h

There will be some physical change that you can make which will alter one of the minds without altering the other. I can’t prove this, but I would be shocked (i.e., need some reason to believe) if this is not the case.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 4h

But then he’s no longer just memorizing the rules from the notebook, but instead is learning Chinese. But still, you can partition part of the brain and say English mind, and another (overlapping) part the Chinese mind, and those will be physically different.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 4h

For anyone interested in the idea that pattern recognition is the basis of consciousness [Psychule Theory!], this video w/ @drmichaellevin.bsky.social will be a useful discussion of the role of patterns in nature and intelligence:
youtu.be/imTnPhE20YQ?...

The Hidden Realm of Patterns Animating Life & The Universe | Dr. Michael Levin

YouTube video by Jack Roycroft-Sherry

youtu.be

James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 22h

Based on my understanding of how learning in the brain works, similar to learning in neural nets, the act of ”memorizing” is going to physically change some neurons, but not all of them. I’m assuming some subsequent physical changes will alter the “Chinese” mind but not the “English”. Think not?

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 22h

[didn’t mean to *claim* the trademark on MUM … that’s @wanjawiese.bsky.social ’s, I think]

James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 22h

Read this twice. Happy to report that I’m a dyed in the wool Physicalist, Computational Functionalist, and apparently a Homunctionalist. Woot! I don’t think Searle’s memorizing the rules defeats functionalism as the english and Chinese understanding parts of his brain are physically different.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 22h

Shhhh!!!!

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 22h

Cool. Then I think pattern recognition is going to supply @keithfrankish.com ’s microfunctionalism as a Minimal Unifying Model (TM). Stay tuned.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 23h

Would pattern recognition count as a specific computation or a higher level functional relation?

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Reposted by James of Seattle

Daniel Kennedy @fliglman.bsky.social · 1d

sure, if you enjoy the horrifying limits of human perception

Gavin Buckingham @drgbuckingham.bsky.social · 1d

For your enjoyment (by @jagarikin)

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 2d

This is a really good discussion, and now I can never watch a video with Chalmers without thinking “Math Guy” …

Keith Frankish @keithfrankish.com · 5d

Listen to @petemandik.bsky.social and me talking persuasively about consciousness www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ow4...

5: Our weird beliefs about consciousness

YouTube video by Keith Frankish

www.youtube.com

Reposted by James of Seattle

Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 5d

Videos from the Natural Philosophy Symposium are coming online at last! We start with the opening plenary by David Chalmers @davidchalmers.bsky.social: Can There Be a Mathematical Theory of Consciousness? Commentary by Ryan Smith.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsve...

David Chalmers, Can There Be a Mathematical Theory of Consciousness? | Natural Philosophy Symposium

YouTube video by Hopkins Natural Philosophy Forum

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by James of Seattle

Keith Frankish @keithfrankish.com · 5d

Listen to @petemandik.bsky.social and me talking persuasively about consciousness www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ow4...

5: Our weird beliefs about consciousness

YouTube video by Keith Frankish

www.youtube.com

6 7 20

Reposted by James of Seattle

oh-my-oh-my.bsky.social @oh-my-oh-my.bsky.social · 7d

bsky.app/profile/angr...

Jack Cousteau ⚓️ @angrywaterman.bsky.social · 7d

Seattle No Kings from the monorail

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 7d

Sean Bean dying at the beginning? Did they get that from Game of Thrones, or the other way around?

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Reposted by James of Seattle

Mike Smith @selfawarepatterns.bsky.social · 8d

The Dragons of Marrow and Hammerwing

I've done a couple of posts on Robert Reed's Greatship series, about a giant spherical Uranus-sized megastructure moving through space at a third the speed of light. It's discovered in intergalactic space and claimed by humans, who then invite anyone who can…

The Dragons of Marrow and Hammerwing

I've done a couple of posts on Robert Reed's Greatship series, about a giant spherical Uranus-sized megastructure moving through space at a third the speed of light. It's discovered in intergalactic space and claimed by humans, who then invite anyone who can pay in some manner (resources, technology, science, or even just interesting stories) to join on a cruise around the Milky Way.

selfawarepatterns.com

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 7d

Man, I drove across the country from Seattle to DC, but I couldn’t find the booth for the people paying for it anywhere. Oh well, terror accompolished.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 11d

Not sure what difference that makes. They discovered rules which generated “complexity” such that it was impossible to predict a (far) future state from within the system. They could have put randomness into the rules, or not. Nothing within the system would be able to tell.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 12d

This is exactly what Wolfram and the Game of Life (forgot the creator) showed. Just a few simple rules can lead to forms complex and unpredictable from within the system. “Choice” is just a description of patterns recognized from within the system.

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 13d

Rotflmao

James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 13d

Yeah baby!

CajunBlue 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 @cajunblue.bsky.social · 14d

🚨🚨🚨WA Governor Bob Ferguson responds to a letter he received from AG Pam Bondi in which she threatened to place him in jail. 🧯He is on fire! 1/2

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Reposted by James of Seattle

Mike Smith @selfawarepatterns.bsky.social · 14d

Does consciousness require biology?

Ned Block has a new paper out, for which he shared a time limited link on Bluesky. He argues in the paper that the “meat neutral” computational functionalism inherent in many theories of consciousness neglect what he sees...
selfawarepatterns.com/2025/10/12/d...

Does consciousness require biology?

Ned Block has a new paper out, for which he shared a time limited link on Bluesky. He argues in the paper that the “meat neutral” computational functionalism inherent in many theories o…

selfawarepatterns.com

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Reposted by James of Seattle

Mike Smith @selfawarepatterns.bsky.social · 15d

Alien: Earth, and other TV notes

I've noted on this blog many times that I'm not much of a horror fan. But the Alien franchise has always been kind of an exception. Space horror might be a little better than the garden variety, just because it's space. But mostly I just enjoy the sci-fi…

Alien: Earth, and other TV notes

I've noted on this blog many times that I'm not much of a horror fan. But the Alien franchise has always been kind of an exception. Space horror might be a little better than the garden variety, just because it's space. But mostly I just enjoy the sci-fi worldbuilding, usually in the early stages of each movie. I'm less enthusiastic about the parts where we watch people die one by one, although the…

selfawarepatterns.com

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James of Seattle @jamesofseattle.bsky.social · 15d

Great piece! But I was struck by the suggestion that computational functionalism would suggest simple life forms were not likely to be conscious. If the fundamental basis of consc. is a simple computation, simple life forms might just have simple consciousness. Did I miss something?

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