summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorKai Stevenson <kai@kaistevenson.com>2024-01-29 14:47:44 -0800
committerKai Stevenson <kai@kaistevenson.com>2024-01-29 14:47:44 -0800
commita73f6f1972ef126715ed0076b659e73644edfb6d (patch)
tree03bd93c9bba9ea980181a1855a0a0f9f5a5b92bc
parent027c1d2a66405dbb913f75d082376456c2a94a20 (diff)
wrote more on the hard problem, fixed broken link, changed wording
-rw-r--r--src/etc/employment/index.php3
-rw-r--r--src/index.php2
-rw-r--r--src/writing/corrigenda.php4
-rw-r--r--src/writing/hardproblem.php37
4 files changed, 38 insertions, 8 deletions
diff --git a/src/etc/employment/index.php b/src/etc/employment/index.php
index c41b29d..673d4d3 100644
--- a/src/etc/employment/index.php
+++ b/src/etc/employment/index.php
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ $title = "Employment";
require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/head.php");
require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/header.php");
?>
-<p>
- This page is a list of things you could pay me to do. Isn't that fun?
-</p>
<ul>
<li><h3><a href="techsupport.php">Tech Support</a></h3></li>
</ul>
diff --git a/src/index.php b/src/index.php
index f547565..f45e919 100644
--- a/src/index.php
+++ b/src/index.php
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/header.php");
and the specific arrangement of hyperlinks between them generally correlates with the personal connections I make between those
subjects or ideas. In that sense, by exploring this site you are following along with my personal interpretation of the world.
You can start at one of the following index pages, which each contain more domain-specific information. Alternatively, you can
- view the <a href="about/">about page</a>, which details the web technologies used to build this site, as well as my own short bio.
+ view the <a href="about.php">about page</a>, which details the web technologies used to build this site, as well as my own short bio.
</p>
<ul>
<li><h3><a href="writing/">~/doc/</a> /* My writing and notes */</h3></li>
diff --git a/src/writing/corrigenda.php b/src/writing/corrigenda.php
index df9f6d2..b5b7602 100644
--- a/src/writing/corrigenda.php
+++ b/src/writing/corrigenda.php
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/header.php");
I think many of these things will be realized in good time either way.
</p>
<p>
- Unfortunately, it turns out that I've never been wrong about anything! Just kidding, that statement
- was an example of me being wrong about something.
+ Unfortunately, it turns out that I've never been wrong about anything! Just kidding,
+ I haven't written this article yet.
</p>
<?php require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/footer.php"); ?>
diff --git a/src/writing/hardproblem.php b/src/writing/hardproblem.php
index 4c17381..d7af137 100644
--- a/src/writing/hardproblem.php
+++ b/src/writing/hardproblem.php
@@ -4,13 +4,46 @@ require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/head.php");
require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/header.php");
?>
<p>
- The phrase "The Hard Problem" was coined in 1994, and is the subject of no small controversy. It is something that
+ The phrase "Hard Problem of Consciousness" was coined in 1994, and is the subject of no small controversy.
+ It is something that
I have attempted to create a satisfactory explanation for over most of my life, to constant frustration. I am writing
this article now, not because I have solved the problem, but because I have failed to solve the problem enough times
- that I am confident I can clearly describe the exact nature of the problem. It is in describing the very nature of the
+ that I am confident I can clearly describe its exact nature. It is in this description of the very nature of the
problem that many authors begin to introduce confusion; through a careful propositional structuring of my argument, I
intend to avoid this error, and to then convince the reader that my specific interpretation of the hard problem is both
the only reasonable belief, and intrinsically, fatally flawed. In doing so, I hope to enable the reader to share in my
frustration as it concerns this unsolveable problem.
</p>
+<h2>Analogy</h2>
+<p>
+ Consider reading my essay concerning <a href="analogy.php">analogies</a> prior to continuing this article.
+</p>
+<h2>The Brain</h2>
+<p>
+ Defining consciousness is itself no easy task. The term has been used by various authors in various ways, and each of
+ these definitions introduces additional ambiguity. To define exactly what I mean in referring to consciousness, we must
+ first reach an understanding of the <i>scope</i> of the term. Consciousness, as I will use the term, appears to be closely
+ related to the human brain--and so I say that its scope, as far as we are concerned, is limited to complex systems. A complex
+ system may be described as any sufficiently large set of physical objects that interact frequently,
+ and that have been <i>designed</i>, either by intention or by circumstance, to perform some task. In the case of the human brain,
+ that task is of course reproduction and survival. To accomplish that task, the brain must receive sensory information,
+ process it, and, based on the result of that processing, control the body. This process can be modelled at the highest level in
+ psychology, at a lower level in biology, and at the lowest level by physics. At the lowest level, the brain is acting in a
+ (excluding quantum nondeterminism) deterministic manner, defined by the basic interaction of carefully arranged molecules.
+ It is the opinion of some authors that this description of the brain minimizes human agency. I reject this--human agency
+ is itself a product of the process I have described, and cannot be minimized by a description of its origin. The reason for
+ this concern can likely be ascribed to the long-standing belief in some form of <i>soul</i>, or other intangible, immeasurable
+ entity separate from the mechanical processes of the brain.
+</p>
+<h2>The Soul</h2>
+<p>
+ The soul, spirit, or anima is typically taken to be the entity which contains or defines a person's individual nature.
+ The soul is necessarily quantized, perhaps being able to be created or destroyed but never subdivided, and non-fungible,
+ each being unique in some form. While brain cells may die and the body may change, the soul is a persistent, non-mutable
+ identity. The exact purpose, origin, and location of the soul varies by interpretation. Whether it is responsible for will,
+ or godliness; created at conception, or repurposed, from some prior incarnation in rebirth; or whether it is located in the
+ heart, or in the pineal gland--the soul is a concept that has been invented by multiple independant cultures over
+ human history, and is deeply important to the philosophy and religion of a significant portion of those alive today.
+</p>
+<h2>The Problem</h2>
<?php require($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/footer.php"); ?>