Rabinowitz, Avi (2021) A Brain’s Self-identification as "Materialist" or “Non-Materialist” (dualist, panpsyschist, idealist etc) as an unwitting indication of its deep structure/wiring category rather than a statement of its philosophical stance. A survey associated with the article will identify relevant candidates for a brain- experiment. [Preprint]
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Abstract
We contest the unsubstantiated assumption that all humans share the same fundamental aspect of either having (according to dualists, idealists, panpsychists etc) "non-material consciousness" or (according to materialists, on the other side of the issue) lacking it - and according to many materialists necessarily so since such a phenomenon cannot exist.
Instead, the basic proposition of this paper is that the central tenets of proponents on both sides are true, but only regarding themselves. That is, materialist brains indeed lack the "non-material consciousness" they consider non-existent, whereas brains which claim it exists, indeed possess it.
An associated proposition is that underlying this difference between the two types of brain is a 'biological' difference between them (whether of deep structure or wiring etc).
This biological difference determines the brain’s statements on this issue, which another brain may misunderstand as being merely its ‘philosophical position’.
This inbuilt difference is therefore the source not only of unusual certitude of the positions expressed by both sides (non-materialists state that they know ‘consciousness’ exists, not just believe it to exist, and materialists may say that such a phenomenon is impossible not just that they do not believe it exists), but also the concomitant futility of materialist-nonmaterialist debate.
The paper also offers an alternative/opposing proposition - In the interest of ‘reciprocity’ - to the effect that the materialist claim is correct, and a defect of brain wiring or structure leads to an active illusion of "self-awareness" underlying the philosophical claims of non-materialists. Prospective sources of this illusion are offered, including an analog of the sense of presence experienced during ‘sleep paralysis’.
Another proposal raised in this article relates to potential uses of AI such as in deciding the fates of humans in court-cases, or deciding which grants to award for scientific research; the proposal is aimed at enfranchising the right of non-materialists to insist on a decision made by an entity possessing non-material consciousness as they do.
It is proposed that experiments [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u_ms4tEQtReo-yQzibYxqx8VC0Y1gjBqsGYcvqQOWwM/] on both types of brains be performed to detect relevant differences.
A survey is being composed, with the questions and answers being designed in such a way that they can: i) identify candidates from both types, who would be invited to participate in the experiment, ii) identify possibly-unsuspected correlations between brain-type and other "philosophical positions". Survey participants can discuss the issues raised in a google-group embedded on the survey sitepage.
An extended personal “cover letter” accompanying this article presents what the author - when still a student - felt was a sort of unintentional “bait and switch” due to the disparity between the seeming embrace of “consciousness” by physics and cosmology as presented in popular science literature and private writings of prominent physicists, and the realities of an actual physics department.
An associated article discusses the delineation of what should and should not be considered the purview of science if the paper’s proposition is correct.
Note: The author considers this paper to be in the category of “(speculative) neuroscience”, however expects materialist brains to consider it “metaphysics”.
Insights gained from the discussion of this paper by readers or reviewers, including on the group-discussion page, can be incorporated into the survey.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | mindless materialists | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence > AI and Ethics Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology |
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| Depositing User: | Dr Avi Rabinowitz | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 31 Dec 2021 20:08 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 31 Dec 2021 20:08 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 19980 | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/mindlessmateriali... | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence > AI and Ethics Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology |
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| Date: | 11 September 2021 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19980 |
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