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Many robot and computer technicians ignore all arguments against designing machines with a consciousness and go stiffly with trying. There are two ways to tackle this:make a conscious machine, ormake a machine that seems to be conscious .We must remember that it may seem as if machines have intentions to achieve goals, while that may not be the case at all. In addition, it is surprising that we do not think that other objects experience subjectivity, while we treat them as if they did.Kismet was the first robot to look like a human being. He had control over attentional processes and vision and watched movement and color. The mood of Kismet was a combination of three variables: happiness, alertness and openness to new stimuli. Kismet could hear and make sounds, but do not understand words. You might think that Kismet has no consciousness because it consists of metal and performs simple routine actions.Yet it is true that there is no place in Kismet where 'everything comes together' (as is sometimes said about consciousness). In short: Kismet did not have a Cartesian theater . Dennett believes that this also applies to people. Suppose a new robot is created that recognizes emotions in people, laughs, can cry and can respond to the person he is conversing with. Would you still think that he has no consciousness? We can say that it only looks like this robot has a consciousness. Another possibility is to believe that he really has a consciousness. Which vision is correct and how do we find out? In 1979, McCarthy, one of the founders of AI, claimed that thermostats have beliefs: they can believe it's too hot, too cold or the temperature is right. A thermostat can observe the environment and respond to the environment on that basis.It seems strange that McCarthy thinks that thermostats have convictions, but his example invites us to think...
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The problem of consciousness is related to some of the oldest questions of philosophy: what does the world consist of? Who am I? It relates to the mind-body problem: what is the relationship between the physical and the mental?
Despite the fact that we are learning more and more about the functioning of the brain, consciousness remains a mystery. In the past, they used the term 'élan vital' to explain how non-living things could be made alive. Nowadays this concept is no longer used, since we know that biological processes are responsible for this. Some scientists believe that the same will also happen with the term consciousness. Once we understand how brain processes create a sense of consciousness, then we might not need to use this term anymore.
Consciousness requires some sort of dualism: objectivity vs. subjectivity, inner vs. outer, mind vs. body...
For example: Take a pencil in your hand and look at it. You see the pencil from your own unique perspective, which you cannot share with others. The pencil is part of the outside world, your experience with the pencil is part of your inner world.
The way philosophers view the consciousness problem can generally be divided into monist theories, which suggest that there are one kind of things in the world, and dualist theories, which suggest that there are two kinds of things. Some theories state that the mental world is fundamental and some theories state that the physical world is fundamental.
Monistic theories assume that the world consists of only one kind of matter (body or mind). Some monistic theories state that everything consists of the mind, according to these theories we only have ideas and perceptions of a pencil. We do not know if a pencil really exists. People who assume this are called mentalists or idealists. Berkeley supported this principle. The disadvantage of this perspective is that we can never know for certain whether objects with fixed characteristics exist.
Materialists are also monists. They believe that there is only matter. An example for this is the identity theory, which states that mental experiences are the same as physical experiences. Another example is functionalism, which assumes that mental experiences are the same as functional experiences.
Epiphenomenalism assumes that physical processes cause mental events, but that mental events have no effect on physical events. Huxley was a supporter of this idea. He did not deny that consciousness or subjective experiences existed, but stated that they have no (causal) connection with physical processes. He used
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