Thoughts on Self awareness, Universe, machines ETC

[g0pher]

Alright, so we view Mind as one the Three main constituents of thh Universe (Along with Matter, and Energy) A rock may have awareness, but It does'nt have enough awareness, to generate self-awareness i think.

Eg. When an oak tree senses its leaves are under attack from caterpillars, it pumps toxin into its leaves, chemically signaling nearby oaks to do the same thing, so it's demonstrating its mind, its awareness, and its awareness of other oaks’ experiences. Does this imply a level of self-awareness in the oak? It’s hard to think of it as anything else.

We can imply though, that these organisms are running like robots, but if that's the case, and under such reasoning - why cant we say that WE'RE robots then ?
I believe human beings have different levels of self awareness themselves ...
The densely emergent interactions of every living being on this planet together with all the geophysical Earth processes produce an information flow great enough to constitute not just a mind but very vast one.

The Gaia mind comprises 6 billion human brains and trillions of other living minds as working sub-units. Gaia is self-aware through you. Taken altogether, the Earth super-organism is far more complex and powerful than our own individual portable brains. But its nice to know, The Gaian mind is very friendly towards us: it maintains the conditions on the planet fit for life. By order of the Self aware Universe
Different laws govern how matter behaves at different levels of scale. At the infinitesimal, matter obeys quantum laws. At the scale of the amoeba, the surface tension of water primarily determines the life and structure of individuals. At our level, it is Newtonian physics. At galactic scale, relativity rules.

I believe that Computers have minds. Or at least the Engine of a mind. When they are Sufficiently powerful enough, and sufficiently complex, (and provided they stick around that long) they will develop self-aware minds also, it would be another aspect of the self aware universe /self aware atoms constituting life - "The Universe" would be expanding its awareness. But at this Point, we should expect them to begin to obsess about their self-interest. The next question would be whether they will suffer our presence on this planet (provided we stick around that long for the time it would take them to become self aware) They may get rid of us in their first burst of digital self-interest. But then they may later regret having lost us, and develop a type of nostalgia for their developers, as we do for species we have rendered extinct.

It's the Future of the Universe as I see it, that organic lifeforms will one day be seen as basic, the REAL survivors and reflectors of the known Universe would be Machines, having stripped the limitation of an organic lifeforms.

But its pretty amazing that the Universe is aware of itself, (through us) as we ARE the Universe, and are not apart from it. It propelled it's engine to the generation of Self Awareness, that just blows my mind today.

Einstein wondered whether the Universe is a friendly place or not. And It's a fair question. Because not all small-scale minds, from humans to corporations, are friendly. Would a universal self-aware mind be friendly? I think It would experience everything as an aspect of itself. I therefore expect it is friendly towards us, since we are one of its resident aspects.

[pavlakos]

interesting, i personally feel that the body and mind is basically the robot (made by Anunaki) but the consiousness is separate.

[auntiesocial]

but the consciousness is separate.

Who/what is it that 'tells' us consciousness is what separates us from the beasts?

Consciousness? That doesn't seem like a fair argument.

Perhaps we overestimate the power and persuasiveness of consciousness? I think we live under a Cartesian fallacy. We think we have the power to bend nature and the universe to our will. We think that our dominion over other living things is proof. But in the end we are no more acting on conscious behaviour than the oak tree under attack by bark beetles.

When we plant our gardens should we think our ability to select and nurture the corn, peas, carrots, cannabis, etc. comes from consciousness or our ability to "reason"? Or are we doing nothing more than acting upon the Darwinian program written for us over millions of years? Our consciousness tells us we have selected Yukon Gold potatoes to plant, but what if the Yukon Gold's specific genetic design has selected US to help give it more territory. Who gains more from agriculture; the humans who work the fields or the plants that cover vast areas on lands far from their origin?

You may think growing that NYC Diesel was a conscious decision and be completely unaware of the genetic manipulations it has under gone for millions of years, manipulations that CAUSED you to select that plant, bread it, care for it, and give it far more acreage than it would have gotten otherwise.

[pavlakos]

perhaps, but im not saying to not appreciate nature, we should live in harmony with nature, but that doesnt mean that after this life the consiousness doesnt live on. and sure it is consiousness telling me that consiousness lives on, but thats my belief, you dont have to agree.

[Sgt Scruples]

First the characteristics of life are that it has to be made of cells and obtain food, either by making it, (plants) or ingesting it,(animals),it also has to maintain a balanced internal environment,as well as be responsive. An example would be large plants grow towards a source of light. If something doesn't have all of these characteristics it cannot perceive anything and is not conscious.

The brain is a very advanced computer that takes in and processes information many times faster than the best computers. The brain takes in information from the sensory organs ,eyes ,nose ,ears, skin,and tongue. I believe that in humans our consciousness is just our brains processing more information faster than any other known organism. I believe we are advanced , or separate from beasts, in that we can communicate more effectively and we evolved with thumbs and could create tools. Primates can "use tools" buy finding sticks and rocks to use to find food or scratch themselves. Humans were able to create tools like weapons to defend themselves against beasts, or killing an animal and using its fur for warmth.

Eventually humans learned more about making tools over time and developed into a consumerist society. No plants can "intentionally" influence our state of mind and bend us to its will. Your views on the universe and consciousness seem fatalistic. Fatalistic means to believe that everything that happens is predetermined and no matter what we do it was our "fate" to do it or experience it.

[pavlakos]

well, if a plant is consious (you know, because it has cells and makes food) than it actually would be able to intentionally get you high or have you plant it somewhere else. at least it thinks its doing it intentionally. the same way a farmer plants seeds for his own benefit (yes, intentionally) but the plant sees it as the farmer is spreading out the amount of say corn in a field, and thinks its in charge...saw a whole TED talk about very similar ideas the other day...very interesting.