Kinda wanted to see what this groups thinks of this article. I think its groundbreaking personally. So...the hard problem of consciousness. The qualia issue. I think there might finally be a solution to the mystery of why--if the brain is simply a computer processor made of electrochemical neurocircuitry--organisms (like humans) have subjective feelings/experiences while computers do not. In my opinion at least. Having a mind rather than just a brain is actually a HUGELY important evolutionary adaptation for manipulating conceptual information. Now...the brain of course produces the mind. But (as the article says) the mind also feeds back into the brain. It is a reflexive system, in which the brain causes the mind and the thoughts of the mind, in turn, affect the brain. Qualia--subjective experiences--evolved because they are immensely adaptive as mediators of the interplay between memetic and genetic evolution. Qualia are literally the ONLY way memetic information (ideas, concepts) can impact genetic expression of phenotypic characteristics. Think about that for a second. Can a computer have an idea, and then repeat that idea to its tribe/family in a process called teaching and learning? Nope. Because you need QUALIA to have an idea. The idea itself IS a quale! So if you want to engage with your environment at a conceptual, informational level, you MUST experience the world subjectively. There is simply no other way. Im gonna quote the authors here, because they do such a great job of explaining what consciousness is and why it evolved. Again, notice the authors are talking about consciousness--the experience itself--not the brain. Clayton, one of the co-authors, made the salient comment, this is the first time a microRNA has been shown to RESPOND TO A PARTICULAR THOUGHT PROCESS. We now propose eRNAs are an extra ingredient mediating between the novel qualia of activity or EXPERIENCE-DEPENDENT GENE EXPRESSION that underpins brain plasticity and consciousness. CONSCIOUSNESS is a novelty-seeking modality that EVOLVED as a sensitive detector or qualia to facilitate rapid and creative adaptation to environments manifesting constant change with natural variation and selection. So, the advantage of qualia over simpler behavioral adaptations is their ability to generate novelty and innovation in constantly changing environments. Notice that THIS happens to be the specific difference between computers and humans..puters cant generate new behaviors based on their conceptual understanding of their environments. Because without qualia they have no conceptual understanding! Humans and complex animals might not have the brute-force power of computers, but they are far more adaptable and creative. Qualia are the wellspring of creativity and innovation of behavioral novelty. Further, notice that neurotransmission is far from the only thing involved in the process. In brief, current epigenetic research explores why and how the qualia of experience dialogues with the DNA of our experience-dependent gene expression VIA THE SIGNALING FUNCTIONS OF RNA MOLECULES. We propose that novel qualia of human experience contribute to the adaptive updating of consciousness on the molecular-genomic RNA/DNA level by modulating brain plasticity via natural variation and selection daily and hourly. This means that neurotransmission is only a small part of concept formation...and this is one of the reasons computers cannot (currently) learn like humans do. They would need to have a reflexive mechanism for constantly tearing down and rebuilding their own hardware! The complex chaos of memetic-genetic interactions REQUIRE the manipulation of concepts and a priori principles. Qualia are the ONLY way to manipulate a priori relationships and concepts. Thats what causes subjective experiences. Its not just neurotransmission. Its also cell signaling via RNA molecules (like enhancer RNAs and all kinds of non-coding RNAs) and the resulting changes in the expression of transcription factors...along with neuroplastic changes in the actual neurological, cellular, and chromosomal hardware that incorporate the experiential information communicated by the qualia themselves. Further, a lot of this happens in cells that arent even neurons! Glial cells, specifically, are going to be very involved in this pathway. Essentially, the software codes for constantly reconstructing the hardware, as the hardware constantly rewrites the software...and this happens simultaneously at all times. It The take home is that qualia isnt accidental or epiphenomenal or anything like that. And it wasnt given to us by some deity. Subjective experience is the result of the reflexive interplay between genetic and memetic evolution. Without qualia...genes and neurological architecture would have NO way to code for ideas or concepts. And coding for concepts is WAY more adaptive than coding for behaviors because of their ability to generate novelty in changing environmental conditions. For instance, the chimpanzee behavior wash potato in that lake is way less adaptive than the chimpanzee concept clean contaminants from surface of food. The latter allows for the production of all kinds of novel behaviors as the environment changes--different ways of cleaning, different contaminants, different food items, etc. This is the precise reason that without the ability to manipulate the concepts themselves, our computers are incapable of this sort of creativity. Creativity is the adaptive benefit of qualia. And the subjective manipulation of ideas and concepts seems to be the only way to garner this benefit. So, I know this is long. Im sorry. Its a tough concept (hehe). As far as the paper...concentrate on the first half or so. The last several sections are just proof-of-concept applications of the principle. Also, Im a biologist, so feel free to ask if you have questions about any of the bio concepts. If you arent a bio person, Id have Wikipedia open. Most papers arent worth this much work...but IMO this one solves a problem no one else has really been able to. The all caps are just for emphasis. And all of the emphasis is mine. Wish my phone had a bold key lol. journalofcosmology/Consciousness126.html
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:17:56 +0000
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